CYNTHIA HENDY - Accomplice of The Toy Box Killer
SYNOPSIS
Hendy was the girlfriend and accomplice of David Parker Ray, also known as The Toy Box Killer. Ray was an American criminal involved in kidnapping, torture, and suspected homicides. While no bodies were found, Ray’s accomplices accused him of killing several women, and police suspected him of murdering as many as sixty women from Arizona and New Mexico. Ray was known to hold his victims captive for extended periods, during which they were subjected to severe abuse. Ray was eventually convicted of kidnapping and torture in 2001 and received a lengthy prison sentence, but he was never convicted of murder.
RAY'S BACKGROUND
Although my channel mainly focuses on female criminals, I can’t overlook the impact of one of the most notorious male predators, as my subject in this video was his accomplice for about three years. From the 1950s until March 22, 1999, David Parker Ray committed numerous crimes involving sexual torture. Born on November 6, 1939, in Belen, New Mexico, Ray had a troubled childhood. Abandoned by his parents at age 10, he was raised by his grandfather but maintained an abusive relationship with his father, who exposed him to inappropriate material. Ray struggled in school and was shy around girls. As a teenager, he abused alcohol and drugs. As an adult, he served in the U.S. Army and later became a mechanic and park ranger at Elephant Butte State Park. Ray was married four times, each ending in divorce, and had two daughters, one of whom became an accomplice in his crimes. His criminal activities likely began as early as the 1950s.
hendy's background
Born Cynthia Lea Hendy on February 6, 1960, in Seattle’s University District, Hendy had a tumultuous upbringing. She was raised in an impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Everett, Washington, by an alcoholic mother who worked as a bartender and often neglected her children. A childhood friend recalled, “She would never give the kids a dime. All of us were hungry. We’d be lucky to get a can of tuna fish out of her. We’d go over after school, and Cindy would have to beg like hell till her mother threw out a can of tuna fish just to get rid of us.” This neglectful environment contributed to the troubled path Hendy would later take in life.
Cindy’s father was in the US Navy and frequently away at sea. Her mother, an aspiring model and local Seattle beauty queen, regularly participated in pageants around the Seattle area. Precocious and headstrong, Cindy showed little interest in school and often ranked near the bottom of her class, frequently skipping classes to hang out with friends. By her early teens, she had developed a fondness for drugs and alcohol, disappearing for days at a time to party with her friends all over Seattle.
As a child, Hendy saw her mother get beaten by an abusive boyfriend named Dick. Hendy’s mother eventually married another man when her daughter was eight. Hendy was around 11 when he crawled into her bed and attempted to assault her. He convinced his wife he drunkenly mistook one bed for another. Hendy’s mother took her new husband’s side and the two kicked Cindy out of the house around age 12. Left on her own, Hendy dated drug dealers, prostituted herself, and became dependent on alcohol and cocaine. She enjoyed aggressive, near-violent sex that included rape fantasies. One partner recalled she once said they should “rape somebody, maybe a prostitute.” When her youngest child turned 10, Hendy gave up on raising them and sent them off to their grandparents.
After dropping out of school in the 8th grade, Cindy became pregnant at sixteen, giving birth to a son named Shane. But after his father left, Shane would mostly be brought up by his grandmother and assorted foster parents. In the years to come, Cindy would have 2 more children, Heather and Muffy, both by different fathers. Cindy’s dysfunctional childhood had done little to prepare her for adult relationships. She was immature and always turned to drink and drugs to avoid reality. But even more dangerous was her attraction to a long line of abusive men who often beat her up. Court papers show that one of her reported three former husbands was a convict who later served jail time for assaulting her. Another ex-boyfriend pushed cocaine.
In the late 1980s, Cindy was briefly married to Robert Hendy, going as far as getting his initials tattooed between her thumb and forefinger, along with a formation of shooting stars on her left breast. Then, in 1992, another husband received a sentence of more than two years in jail for choking and threatening to kill her. “She made some really poor choices in men,” remarked her Washington attorney, Harvey Chamberlin, who represented Cindy during her multiple court appearances. “She struck me as someone who was susceptible to being victimized by violence.”
Friends recall Cindy as having a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality. When sober, she was kind, considerate, and enjoyed reading romance novels and watching her favorite television soap operas. However, once she began drinking and using drugs, she became obnoxious, foul-mouthed, and aggressively picked fights with strangers in bars. Her criminal record began in 1979 with an arrest for forgery and possession of stolen property. Subsequently, she accumulated numerous felony convictions related to alcohol, drugs, and theft. She proudly boasted about her criminal activities, which included five court appearances for domestic violence incidents with various partners. In 1990, she faced a felony charge, resulting in 14 days in jail and a year of probation. Three years later, Cindy was arrested for attempting to sell cocaine to an undercover sheriff’s deputy in Monroe, Washington, leading to a 30-day jail sentence after admitting to a lesser charge of cocaine possession.
Shane Larson later revealed to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the devastating impact of his mother’s life marred by “abusive men, alcohol, and drugs.” Recounting his own harrowing childhood, he shared how he and his two sisters had sporadic contact with their mother as they shuffled between various homes. “Most of her boyfriends were heavy drinkers, prone to violence, and often physically assaulted her,” Shane disclosed. From the age of 13, he found himself frequently entangled with law enforcement. According to Shane, some of Cindy’s partners would also abuse him while under the influence. Despite his mother’s efforts to shield them from harm, he recalled witnessing the cycle of abuse throughout their upbringing. Although Cindy concealed her substance abuse from her children, Shane, as the eldest, was aware of the situation. He recounted pleading with his mother to leave her abusive partners when they mistreated her, but she would resist, citing financial dependency and a fear of being alone.
By the early 1990s, Cindy was officially designated as mentally disabled and relied on her Social Security payments for sustenance. She had relocated to live with a 39-year-old construction worker, marking the onset of a tumultuous relationship. This union was marred by repeated incidents of domestic abuse, leading Cindy to file charges against him on at least two occasions, resulting in multiple court appearances. The couple’s troubles culminated in their arrest on July 4, 1995, in Kirkland, Washington, for the theft of $3,300 worth of aluminum pipes from a Department of Transportation storage shed, landing Cindy back in jail. Described on her booking slip as a five-foot-four, blue-eyed blonde, Cindy weighed just one hundred pounds.
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
In the summer of 1997, at the age of 37, Cindy Hendy was indulging in even more reckless partying and faced the prospect of significant jail time for refusing to comply with a court-ordered drug counseling program. Determined to evade incarceration, she decided to flee, making her way east to Truth or Consequences just days before Marie Parker fell victim to the Toy Box Killer. Encouraged by John Youngblood, whose father resided in T or C, Cindy sought refuge there with the assurance that Youngblood would join her once she secured accommodation.
Upon her arrival in Truth or Consequences, Cindy Hendy, donning her finest attire, wasted no time and headed straight to the social services department seeking assistance. The staff was taken aback by the well-presented and groomed woman in her thirties, and they promptly reached out to the Marina Suites Motel in Elephant Butte to inquire about lodging availability. Jean Clarke, the motel’s manager of English descent, recounted the interaction, stating, “Social services said they had a lady who was new to the area and asked if she could stay at the motel. We said yes.” Later that day, Clarke personally assisted Hendy in moving her modest belongings into a two-room suite with a mini-kitchen at the Marina, which prides itself on being a “Home Away From Home.” Impressed by Hendy’s demeanor, Clarke took a liking to her and offered support. Reflecting on their encounter, Clarke remarked, “She was a very smart young lady. Make-up, nice clothes, hair always immaculate. She didn’t know many people, and she’d come here for a new start to get away from past drug use, etc.” (It is worth noting that Hendy had actually fled to evade imprisonment for drug-related offenses – a crucial distinction.)
Clarke, who was in her late forties at the time, brought her experience counseling HIV patients struggling with drug addiction to her interactions with Hendy. Sympathizing with Hendy’s plight, Clarke felt compelled to assist her in turning her life around. “It was just like a support thing,” Jean explained, noting that she had only arrived in Elephant Butte herself two months prior. “I was new to the area, and I didn’t know any other girls in town. But I’m also one of those people who always helps somebody that’s down on their luck.” Approximately two weeks after Hendy’s arrival, John Youngblood joined her. Unable to remain at Marina Suites due to social services’ policies against accommodating couples, Hendy and Youngblood opted to reside in a small bubble tent by the lake at Elephant Butte, with a new kitten that Cindy had acquired.
On August 2, 1997, Jean tied the knot with her boyfriend, John Branaugh, with Hendy and Youngblood serving as witnesses. In the ensuing weeks, the two couples frequently spent time together, but Jean began noticing a concerning shift in her friend’s behavior, particularly under Youngblood’s influence. “She went back to alcohol pretty badly,” Jean recalled. “She would get any pills or any drugs she could. I knew she used to do the crank or coke. When she was in a real distressed state, she would never admit to me that she was back into it. But I strongly suspected.”
In September of that year, Hendy lodged a domestic abuse complaint against Youngblood, only to retract it later, admitting that she had intentionally harmed herself and falsely accused him. Living within earshot of the tent, Jean Branaugh often found herself kept awake at night by the tumultuous arguments and disturbances emanating from their location. “They had some really bad fights,” she recounted. “It was pretty volatile. We’d often hear a lot of arguing, shouting, and banging coming from the tent. It seemed that once that relationship flared up, everything went from bad to worse.” Shortly thereafter, police were summoned to the tent by concerned neighbors to intervene in a dispute between John and Cindy. Subsequently, Youngblood departed town, relocating to Arizona and entering into a new relationship.
Now navigating life solo, Cindy Hendy immersed herself in the local bar scene, swiftly earning a reputation as a hardcore reveler, a status even more extreme by T or C standards. She openly flaunted her ex-convict status, gleefully regaling strangers in bars with tales of her criminal past. Eager to be closer to the hubbub, Cindy transitioned from the tent to a dilapidated old trailer devoid of basic amenities like electricity and hot water, located at 1603 Corzine Street, off Morgan Street, T or C. There, she eagerly embraced the town’s party culture. “We called her ‘six-pack Cindy,'” reminisced one of her companions, George Padilla. “She’d cozy up to any guy in a heartbeat if he’d buy her a drink or give her some crank.” Throughout early 1998, Padilla and Cindy formed a tight bond as they frequented the town’s lively social circles. “I heard she’d been in jail,” Padilla recalled. “She was always on drugs, and she had this crazy obsession with cigarettes. She chain-smoked and always needed one; otherwise, she’d lose it.”
Hendy was rumored to sustain herself by exchanging sexual favors with local businessmen for money. One notable store owner even whisked her away on a gambling escapade to Las Vegas. However, the trip took a sour turn when Hendy, inebriated and out of control, was ejected from their hotel room partially clothed. Later, she alleged that he had transmitted a sexually transmitted disease to her and threatened legal action. “She once mentioned to me that she had leverage over most of the police and business figures in town,” recalled Jean Branaugh. “I didn’t take it seriously at the time, but now I wonder.” Branaugh could only watch with a heavy heart as her friend careened down a path of alcohol, sex, and drugs. “She was on a downward spiral,” lamented Jean. “It reached a point where I hesitated to give her any money, knowing how she’d use it—for drugs.”
As Branaugh grew closer to Hendy, she started noticing signs of serious mental distress. “It became apparent through her unusual sexual behavior,” she recalled. “The S&M practices and nymphomania. She confided in me about the sexual abuse she endured as a child by family members and the hardships of her upbringing.” Branaugh even began to entertain suspicions that Hendy was involved in an affair with her husband, John Branaugh. “One night, she was partying in a trailer south of Broadway, right here on the main street,” Jean recounted. “My husband didn’t come home that night. I had to pick him up at 9:30 a.m. the next morning because he had stayed the night with her.” Despite her suspicions, Branaugh never directly confronted Hendy, and their friendship persisted.
meeting
Hendy crossed paths with David Parker Ray in 1997 while they were both employed at a state park. Sharing common violent sexual fantasies and S&M, the two formed a quick connection. Despite Ray being two decades her senior, Hendy, then 37 years old, moved in with him shortly after relocating to New Mexico. “When I moved in, he started to tell me all the women he had murdered. He said at least one a year for about forty years,” Cindy later recounted. Initially unsure whether to believe Ray’s claims, she admitted feeling both nervous and intrigued by his revelations. According to Hendy, Ray boasted about his knowledge of killing someone and disposing of their body in a lake. “They seemed to feed off of each other, and Cindy got an opportunity to let go of all of her inhibitions,” explained reporter Yvette Martinez. Before long, Hendy found herself actively assisting Ray in selecting targets to satisfy his twisted sexual cravings, beginning with an acquaintance.
THE sex chamber
So why was David Parker Ray also called The Toy Box killer? Well, he spent $100,000 on a trailer, sound-proofing it and fitting it with sex toys and torture devices. He nicknamed it “the Toy Box”. On one of the walls of this trailer he had also written in bold letters “Satan’s Den”. The trailer, which one officer described as a demented “toy box,” was full of sinister sexual devices and sadomasochistic equipment, some of which had been handcrafted by Ray himself with clearly one purpose in mind – torture and pain. One disturbing item was the centrepiece of the toy box: a modified gynaecological chair with electrodes to administer electric shocks which was used to strap the victim in. A mirror had been mounted on the ceiling above the chair so that his victims could see themselves be raped and tortured. There were modified drills with sexual devices attached to them. Diagrams all over the walls illustrating ways of inflicting pain. Wooden contraptions that bent the victims over and immobilized them while Ray had his dogs and sometimes other friends rape them. He has been said to have wanted his victims to see everything he was doing to them. There were boxes full of surgical instruments, syringes, chains, pulleys, straps, clamps, shock machines, saws, leg spreader bars and ankle spreader bars all labelled by Ray to indicate the measurement of spread. Dildos made from plastic with nails soldered into it that would rip the victim’s thighs to shreds.
Ray and his accomplices targeted sex workers, luring them with some kind of ruse such as soliciting them or pretending to be a police officer. He would then take them to this homemade torture chamber, the “Toy Box”, where they would wake up already strapped into the chair. Delirious, restrained and immobilised, they would be forced to listen to an audio tape recording that Ray had prepared. On this recording, Ray would tell his victim what had happened to them, what he was going to do with them and for how long.
On another recording, Ray told his victims “We both know what you’ve been brought here for. I’m going to use you for a sex slave. And it’s going to be painful as hell. That’s the way I want it to be.”
Ray would record the torture, either by audio or with a video camera that he had set up in the trailer, and take trophies such as clothing and jewelry. At least some of the victims were let go after a few days. Ray claimed to have drugged them to make them forget about what happened. According to Cindy Hendy, the fatal victims were dismembered and buried, dumped in the Elephant Butte Lake or dumped in ravines. It is thought that he terrorized many women with these tools for many years with the help of accomplices, some of whom are alleged to have been several of the women he was dating.
The couple’s first victim was Angela, whom Hendy admits knowing beforehand. “I felt for Angela because her and I were friends (sic),” Hendy said. She said they used to party together sometimes, so she felt she could relate to her.
Soon, the couple shared their first victim and released her after promising not to disclose her abduction. Hendy also said that most of their time with the victims, Ray would torture them more while she would stand by and watch him. Hendy recalled she had no remorse at that time and no feelings of any sort. She described her state as slow motion.
ARREST & INVESTIGATION
On March 22, 1999, 911 dispatchers received several calls reporting a frantic woman attempting to flag down passing cars on a street in Elephant Butte, New Mexico. The woman, Cynthia Vigil, was found naked except for a metal dog collar affixed to a 6-foot chain. Three days earlier, Vigil had been abducted by David Parker Ray, with his girlfriend Cindy Hendy serving as an accomplice. Recounting her terrifying experience, Vigil, who had previously worked as a sex worker in Albuquerque, revealed that she had visited Ray’s RV for a date. Upon entering, Ray claimed to be an undercover police officer and promptly handcuffed her. “He told me I was under arrest and put a handcuff on my wrist,” Vigil recalled. “I knew something was wrong.” Subsequently, she was tasered, drugged, blindfolded, and restrained to a bed. In the darkness, Vigil heard the click of a tape recorder, followed by the chilling sound of Ray’s “instruction tape.”
“Unspeakable acts were inflicted upon her,” described John Glatt, author of “Cries in the Desert.” Despite losing consciousness from the pain, Vigil later managed to escape when Hendy inadvertently left a key ring within reach on a nightstand. Sensing an opportunity, Vigil attempted to flee, prompting a confrontation with Hendy. In the ensuing struggle, Hendy struck Vigil with a lamp, but Vigil managed to unlock her chains and defend herself by stabbing Hendy in the neck with an ice pick. Wearing nothing but an iron slave collar and padlocked chains, Vigil ran down the road seeking assistance. She eventually found refuge with a nearby homeowner who provided aid and alerted the authorities. Vigil’s escape led law enforcement to the trailer and facilitated the apprehension of Ray and his accomplices, ultimately resulting in the arrest of both Ray and Hendy.
Hendy asserted that her involvement in the ordeal primarily entailed administering physical punishment to Vigil while Ray carried out the majority of the heinous acts. She portrayed Ray as the orchestrator of their sinister activities, detailing her role as aiding him in locating victims, witnessing his acts of brutality, and at times, participating in their torment.
When authorities searched Ray’s property, they uncovered not just equipment but also incriminating evidence. “There were videotapes capturing the victims,” remarked FBI agent Frank Fisher. “Audiotapes played for the victims outlining Ray’s intentions.” Among these tapes was Ray’s instruction for Vigil to refer to him as “master” and Hendy as “mistress,” and to speak only when prompted. Fisher noted the discovery of Ray’s meticulous journal documenting abducted victims and their fates. Vigil, recalling Ray’s chilling demeanor, sensed his familiarity with such acts. “He told me I’d never see my family again… he’d kill me like the others,” she recounted. Seizing a moment of opportunity on March 22, 1999, Vigil liberated herself when Hendy carelessly left the keys to her restraints within reach. She then defended herself, injuring Hendy with an icepick before fleeing. Ray and Hendy were swiftly apprehended. When questioned by a reporter about her involvement, Hendy offered a cryptic response: “No…kind of.”
Fisher highlighted another crucial find: David Parker Ray’s journal. Within its pages were numerous entries devoid of names but filled with dates and the frequency of each victim’s torment. The journal’s contents, coupled with other evidence, amounted to over 1,000 pieces collected by investigators, as reported by The New York Times.
Following their apprehension, Ray and Hendy attempted to deceive authorities by asserting that Vigil was a heroin addict they were assisting with detoxification. However, law enforcement swiftly debunked this fabrication upon inspecting the trailer. The discovery of an audiotape corroborating Vigil’s account, along with an array of torture implements including pulleys, whips, and sexual devices housed within the infamous “Toy Box,” exposed the true nature of their activities. Moreover, police unearthed footage depicting the torture of another woman, prompting suspicions of additional criminal acts.
A month prior to Vigil’s abduction, Angelica Montano endured three days of torture before being abandoned by the roadside. Despite alerting law enforcement to the ordeal, her claims went uninvestigated until after Vigil’s escape. Montano recounted her harrowing experience to an off-duty officer, but her account was dismissed, and she was left at a bus stop. Subsequent attempts to report the incident yielded no follow-up from authorities. Tragically, Montano passed away at the age of 28, succumbing to pneumonia-induced heart failure less than two months following Ray and Hendy’s arrests.
Police identified another victim, Kelli Garrett, also known as Kelli Van Cleave, through a videotape dated back to 1996. Garrett was located alive in Colorado after authorities recognized her from a tattoo on her ankle. In her testimony, Garrett recounted an evening where she got into a dispute with her husband and opted to spend the night playing pool with friends. Ray’s daughter, Jesse, who was acquainted with Garrett, accompanied her to the Blu-Water Saloon in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, where Garrett may have been drugged. Under the pretense of offering a ride home, Jesse took Garrett to her father’s residence instead. Garrett revealed that she endured two days of torture before Ray eventually returned her to her residence, falsely claiming to her husband that he found her disoriented on a beach. Despite her ordeal, Garrett refrained from contacting law enforcement, unsure of what to disclose, and ultimately moved to Colorado after her divorce. She later shared her experience on Cold Case Files.
Despite extensive investigations, no additional victims came forward, leading investigators to suspect that Ray may have murdered the others. However, there remains a lack of concrete evidence to substantiate any claims of murder. “No matter where they looked, they couldn’t uncover any bodies,” noted reporter Yvette Martinez. Nonetheless, the testimonies of the three women who did come forward provided sufficient evidence to convict the couple on over 25 counts of kidnapping and rape.
The FBI deployed 100 agents to thoroughly search Ray’s property and the surrounding areas, yet no identifiable human remains were discovered. Ray’s modus operandi involved drugging his victims to induce amnesia, thereby preventing them from reporting the assaults. He even recorded himself telling one woman that the drugs administered were designed to induce amnesia and numb pain, likely consisting of ” and phenobarbital [sic],” known for their amnesic and analgesic properties. During his time in custody awaiting trial, Ray conversed with FBI profilers, expressing his fascination with cases like the kidnapping of Colleen Stan and other sexually motivated abductions. The FBI had previously interacted with Ray in 1989 regarding his involvement in manufacturing and selling bondage-related sexual devices. Additionally, there are suspicions surrounding other potential victims, including Jesse Ray’s former girlfriend Jill Troia, who went missing in 1995, and Billy Ray Bowers, whose body was discovered shot and floating in Elephant Butte Lake in 1989.
Now in custody, the gravity of her actions hit Hendy like a ton of bricks. Faced with the prospect of 197 years behind bars if found guilty on 25 felony counts of kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration, she decided to cooperate with authorities and struck a plea deal on April 6, 1999. Through her cooperation, more of the couple’s sadistic methods came to light: they forced victims to witness their own mutilation and subjected them to a wooden contraption where dogs and acquaintances could rape them. Additionally, Hendy disclosed that Ray had another accomplice named Roy Yancy. “David confided in her that he had a friend by the name of Roy Yancy who he forced to kill a woman,” explained Martinez. “He strangled her and then buried her body out in the desert.” In exchange for testifying against Ray and Yancy, Hendy still faced a maximum of 54 years and a minimum of 12. She provided investigators with information about 14 murders Ray committed and indicated potential burial sites. “She knew of at least 14 girls that he’d murdered,” noted Glatt. Prosecutor Jim Yontz added, “David had told her of a body that he had disposed of in the lake and that he had learned from that, that when you put a body into the lake, even if you weight the body down, you have to eviscerate the body cavity so that the air does not bring the body back up to the surface.” Despite efforts, a search of Elephant Butte Lake failed to uncover any bodies. The lake, spanning 23 miles in length and three to four miles in width, reaches depths of 90 to 100 feet in some areas.
Breaking down under questioning, Roy Yancy confessed that he was “ordered by David Parker Ray to kill a woman by the name of Marie Parker and then to dispose of her body,” according to the FBI. Yancy claimed that Ray left him no choice, holding a gun to his head to ensure compliance. Despite Yancy’s cooperation, investigators were unable to locate Parker’s body. It is believed that Ray relocated Parker’s body after Yancy initially buried her.
THE TRIALS
It appears that the judge’s ruling regarding the separate trials for Cynthia Vigil, Angelica Montano, and Kelli Garrett, as well as the admissibility of certain evidence, presented challenges for the prosecution’s case. Prosecutors expressed concerns that the separate trials would impact their ability to corroborate each woman’s story. Despite this setback, District Judge Neil Mertz deemed the evidence sufficient to suggest that Ray may have committed the crimes outlined in the indictment against him.
District Attorney Ron Lopez emphasized the likelihood of additional unidentified victims and suggested that Ray derived pleasure from inflicting pain and torture. On the other hand, Ray’s attorney, Jeff Rein, argued for the dismissal of some charges, contending that Ray did not directly wield the gun used to threaten the women, and that the injuries sustained by the victims did not demonstrate significant bodily harm. The exclusion of the introductory tape message in Cynthia Vigil’s trial was also noted, deemed irrelevant due to Vigil’s inability to recall its playback.
Cynthia Vigil’s emotional testimony during the trial vividly recounted her harrowing experience of being held captive by Ray. She described her desperate struggle to break free, recalling how she fought back with an ice pick and managed to escape from Ray’s lakeside mobile home, fleeing naked with a padlocked metal collar and chain around her neck. Her testimony conveyed the sheer terror and trauma she endured during those three days.
Additionally, another woman who had been abducted and tortured by Ray testified against him during the pre-trial hearing, further bolstering the case against him. Meanwhile, Hendy opted to waive a preliminary hearing, resulting in a reduction of charges from 25 counts to five. As part of a plea bargain, she agreed to plead guilty to the reduced charges, testify against Ray, and accept a sentence ranging from 12 to 54 years in prison.
The first trial, concerning the crimes committed against Kelli Garrett, commenced on March 28, 2000, following the completion of jury selection. However, the proceedings were abruptly interrupted when Ray suffered a heart attack, leading to a postponement of the trial. Prosecutors faced further challenges when both Roy Yancy and Cindy Hendy, who were incarcerated at the time, reversed their decisions and refused to cooperate. Yancy received a threatening note that warned, “Rats die in jail,” while Hendy received letters professing love and marriage proposals. Despite her earlier confession, Hendy, still emotionally attached to Ray, recanted her statement and claimed it was fabricated.
The trial faced further delays when the judge decided to postpone proceedings in order to allow for Ray to be tried for a 1996 murder case in Colorado. Despite the limited strength of the evidence, which primarily consisted of a sheet discovered by the FBI during a search of Ray’s trailer, detailing routines for managing prisoners, and the absence of the torture devices from the “Toy Box” as it couldn’t be definitively proven that they were in Ray’s possession in 1996, the judge deemed it necessary to address this additional legal matter before proceeding with the current trial.
On May 7, 2000, amidst Ray’s trial for the Colorado murder, Angelica Montano tragically died of a drug overdose, taking her testimony with her. Following this, on May 23, jury selection for Ray’s new trial commenced, charging him with 12 counts of kidnapping, sexual abuse, and conspiracy. However, in July, the judge declared a mistrial due to the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous verdict; some jurors were not convinced that the victims had been held against their will. Ray’s defense contended that the activities in the trailer were part of his fantasy life and that any sexual encounters were consensual.
In November 2000, a retrial commenced, but a few days into the proceedings, the presiding judge passed away, necessitating a delay until April 2001 to resume the trial. This time, Ray was found guilty on all twelve charges. Moreover, the new judge overseeing the trial allowed Ray’s introductory tape recording to be presented as evidence, enabling the jury to listen to it.
In June 2001, Ray’s second trial, concerning crimes against Cynthia Vigil, commenced. However, just a week into the trial, Ray opted for a plea bargain. This agreement was made in exchange for leniency for his daughter. Prosecutors stated that the surviving victims had consented to the deal.
As part of the plea bargain, Ray’s daughter, Glenda Jean “Jesse” Ray, pleaded guilty to kidnapping. Additionally, Dennis Roy Yancy, aged 27, confessed to the 1997 murder of 22-year-old Marie Parker in Elephant Butte. Yancy admitted to assisting Jesse Ray in luring Parker into captivity in her father’s trailer. He recounted how Parker was subjected to torture and revealed that Ray compelled him to strangle her to death. Despite extensive efforts, Parker’s body was never recovered, and prosecutors lacked forensic evidence linking Parker to the Rays. The murder was captured on video by Ray.
Yancy faced additional charges, including kidnapping, two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, and tampering with evidence. Hendy cooperated with authorities, providing testimony against David Parker Ray’s crimes and pleading guilty, which led to a reduction in her sentence.
Ray’s alleged admission to having an accomplice named Billy Bowers, a former business partner whom he purportedly murdered, added another layer of complexity to the case. However, Ray passed away before this lead could be fully investigated.
Tragically, on May 28, 2002, while being transported to the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, New Mexico, for questioning by state police, Ray suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 62 years old. With his death, the investigation hit a dead end. No bodies linked to Ray were discovered, and no additional potential victims were identified. Suspicious deaths possibly related to Ray were never definitively linked to him.
In November 2002, the Toy Box, where many of the heinous acts occurred, was opened to the public in the hopes that it might prompt more surviving victims to come forward. Additionally, in October 2011, the FBI conducted a search of McRae Canyon near Elephant Butte Lake, hoping to uncover evidence of additional victims, but their efforts yielded no results.
Furthermore, in February 2012, the Australian Federal Police reached out to the FBI regarding a potential victim known only as Connie. This individual was mentioned in a letter from a man named Mark, which was postmarked in Sydney and discovered in Ray’s residence following his arrest.
VERDICTS
Hendy was sentenced in 2000 for her roles in the abduction and torture of Cynthia Vigil and Angelica Montano, receiving a 36-year prison sentence. As his daughter Jesse Ray was about to stand trial for her involvement in the kidnapping of Kelli Garrett, Ray offered to plead guilty to all remaining charges in exchange for his daughter’s release. In 2001, Ray was sentenced to “224 years in connection with kidnapping and other charges involving two women who said he sexually tortured them at his residence,” according to the FBI. Despite never admitting to murder, Ray contacted authorities in May 2002, expressing willingness to provide information. He claimed to have abducted approximately 40 victims, according to the FBI. A meeting was arranged, but Ray suffered a fatal heart attack before it occurred.
Ray’s daughter was sentenced to time served with an additional five years of probation. Although Roy Yancy refused to testify, he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In 1999, he received two 15-year prison terms. The Rays were never charged with Marie Parker’s murder.
THE ACCOMPLICES
Billy Bowers
- A previous business partner
- Was killed by Ray, although there was no evidence to convict him
Cynthia “Cindy” Lea Hendy
- Ray’s current girlfriend
- Aided Ray in abducting his victims
- Participated in the torture
- Sentenced to 36 years in prison for first-degree kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration
Glenda Jean “Jesse” Ray
- Ray’s daughter
- Drugged Kelly Garrett’s beer as part of her kidnapping
- Aided Ray in killing Marie Parker together with Yancy
- Sentenced to time served and five years of probation for a second-degree kidnapping
Dennis Roy Yancy
- An acquaintance of Ray’s
- Aided Ray and Glenda Ray in killing Marie Parker
- Sentenced to two consecutive 15-year sentences for kidnapping and second-degree murder
WHAT NOW?
After being eligible for parole halfway through her sentence, Hendy was released in 2019. Originally scheduled for parole in 2017, she served the remaining two years in prison. While she initially moved to Hamilton, Montana upon release, concerns from the local community, particularly regarding her proximity to a school, led to social media discussions. According to a Reddit post, she might have relocated back to Washington State, although her current whereabouts remain unclear.
It’s unsettling to think that individuals who assisted a sadistic serial rapist, like the Toy Box Killer, are now free in society. Despite their involvement in such heinous crimes, their release raises questions about the justice system and the challenges of ensuring accountability for accomplices. The lack of concrete evidence linking the Toy Box Killer to murder further complicates matters, leaving these individuals free to walk among us despite their role in facilitating his atrocities.
The release of these images by the FBI demonstrates a continued effort to seek information and potentially identify victims of the Toy Box Killer who may have gone missing. By reaching out to the public, particularly family and friends of missing individuals, law enforcement aims to gather any possible leads or connections that could aid in solving unresolved cases and bringing closure to affected families. It’s a crucial step in the ongoing investigation and underscores the importance of community involvement in addressing cold cases and unsolved crimes.
ENDSCREEN NOTES
The toy box itself remains on the lot of the FBI field office in Albuquerque to this day.
Police believe David Parker Ray killed more than 30 women.
No bodies have ever been found.
The number of the Toy Box victims, dead or even alive, is still unknown.
David Parker Ray died of heart failure soon after the trial.
He had served 8 months of his sentence.
Ray’s daughter, Jesse, had only served two and a half years and has been a free woman since 2002.
Cynthia Hendy is now a free woman, even though she believes that what they did was “not horrifying”.
Cynthia Vigil later founded “Street Safe”, New Mexico, a volunteer harm reduction nonprofit that works with sex workers and other vulnerable people living on the street.
ALL OF PARKER RAY’S ACCOMPLICES ARE WALKING AMONG US!
IN MEMORY OF
Pattie E Rust
an FBI agent, who tragically ended her life just after spending 5 days in the torture chamber documenting every single item
Angelica Montaño
who survived the toy box but sadly died before she got the chance to testify against Ray
and, of course, all the other unknown and unnamed victims.