A Birthday Errand Turns Tragic

It was October 31, 1968 in Fulton, NY. Fifteen-year-old Darlene Ashby was celebrating her birthday. After dinner, the family planned to have cake before heading out for some trick-or-treating. But there was one problem: no birthday candles.

Carolee, the youngest of the Ashby children, insisted her big sister have candles on her cake. So, their mother sent Darlene and four-year-old Carolee, along with their cousin Sheryl to a nearby grocery store to pick some up. After buying the candles, Carolee spotted the Carvel ice cream shop next door and convinced her sister to buy her an ice cream cone before they walked home.

As the girls crossed South Second Street (more commonly known today as State Route 481), Sheryl ran ahead but Darlene saw a southbound car approaching and stopped in the middle of the roadway while holding tightly to Carolee’s hand. What she didn’t see was another car coming northbound from behind them. In an instant, the vehicle struck Carolee. The force ripped the little girl from her sister’s grasp and hurled her body more than 100 feet down the road.

Darlene later recalled screaming and rushing toward her sister, only to be held back by bystanders who warned her not to move the child. The driver never stopped. Carolee was rushed to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.

A Little Girl Everyone Loved

The Ashby family was devastated. Carolee was remembered as imaginative, energetic, and endlessly cheerful — the kind of child who instantly became the center of attention wherever she went.

As the youngest of three children, she was adored not only by her siblings, but by neighbors, friends and extended family members throughout the community. Darlene remembered that little Carolee used to get free doughnuts when she visited the LaFornarina Bakery next door to their home on South First Street.

Darlene shared that she and her brother often competed for Carolee’s affection because they simply wanted to spend time with her. And now, the sudden loss of such a vibrant little girl left an emotional wound that never fully healed.

The Original Investigation

Police launched an investigation immediately. The scene itself was haunting: Carolee’s ice cream cone still lay melting in the roadway as officers interviewed witnesses and searched for clues.

Darlene was among the first people questioned. She remembered investigators showing her different taillights from vehicles in an effort to identify the car involved. But despite dozens of interviews, police had no definitive suspect vehicle and no clear description of the driver.

Investigators checked local repair garages for cars with front-end damage. A local radio station even helped raise a $600 reward fund — a substantial amount at the time — in hopes that someone would come forward. No one did. Instead, rumors spread throughout Fulton. Two young men from prominent local families became the subjects of persistent community gossip, despite investigators finding no evidence linking either of them to the crash. The whispers endured for decades.

After several years, the reward fund—originally raised in hopes of generating information about Carolee’s killer—remained unclaimed. Rather than reclaim the money, the Ashby family asked that it be used to purchase speed RADAR equipment for local police, hoping that something positive might come from their loss and help prevent another family from enduring the same tragedy.

A Family Haunted by Loss

As years passed, the case went cold. But the Ashby family never stopped living with the tragedy. Halloween became a painful annual reminder of what had happened. The family eventually welcomed another son, Fred Ashby, and as he grew older, one of his close friends was a local boy named Michael Batstone. Years later, Batstone would become a police investigator. He remembered visiting the Ashby home as a teenager and noticing what appeared to be a memorial to Carolee displayed prominently in the living room. Even decades later, the family still hoped for answers.

The Case Reopens

In 1999, the case landed on the desk of then-Police Chief Mark Spawn and Lt. Russ Johnson of the Fulton Police Department.

Johnson reviewed the old files and found extensive investigative work from 1968: witness interviews, photographs, crash diagrams, and paint-chip evidence recovered from Carolee’s clothing. Still, the case lacked the one thing detectives desperately needed — a reliable lead.

The department held a press conference in 2000 and renewed public attention on the case, hoping someone might finally come forward. Again, nothing happened. The investigation stalled once more.

A Facebook Post Changes Everything

Then, in 2012, retired Lt. Russ Johnson tried something unexpected. Living out of state, he posted information about the case in a hometown Facebook group. Almost immediately, a woman contacted Carolee’s sister, Darlene.

The woman revealed that shortly after the crash in 1968, she had been asked to provide a Halloween night alibi for two brothers: Doug and Lenny Parkhurst. According to the witness, she refused and then she became frightened. Investigators reopened the case yet again. This time, Investigator Michael Batstone (Fred Ashby’s childhood friend) — and now a detective with the Fulton Police Department — took the lead.

A Buried Lead Resurfaces

Batstone interviewed the female witness, who described being asked to say she had been trick-or-treating with the Parkhurst brothers the night Carolee was killed. The information immediately stood out as credible.

Detectives then tracked down Lenny Parkhurst. To their surprise, Lenny vividly remembered the night of the crash — despite more than 40 years having passed. He described drinking with his brother Doug and being asleep in the back seat when they struck something. That interview prompted Batstone to revisit the original 1968 police reports. Buried inside the old file was a stunning detail. A patrol officer had interviewed Doug Parkhurst shortly after the crash and documented damage to the front driver’s side of his vehicle — damage the officer described as consistent with the shape of a small child’s head. At the time, Doug claimed the dent came from striking a concrete roadside marker. The explanation was accepted. But now, with fresh witness statements and Lenny’s recollections, the old report suddenly carried enormous weight.

The Discovery of the Car

Investigators went to speak with Doug Parkhurst. At first, he claimed he remembered very little about the incident. But during the interview, Batstone indirectly showed him a photograph of Carolee that he had attached to the back of his notebook. When Doug saw the picture, he reportedly turned pale and became visibly distressed. Detectives believed guilt had haunted him for decades.

While Batstone interviewed Doug, other investigators followed another lead involving the car itself. They traveled to a relative’s rural property north of Fulton. There, hidden deep in overgrown woods, they were shown the car. It had been abandoned upside down since 1968. Investigators noted that, the car was located far off the road and covered with branches. So, unless you knew specifically where it was located, you were not going to find it.

Investigators identified it as the same make, model, and color connected to Doug Parkhurst. Remarkably, the front fender contained a rounded dent matching the exact area documented in the original police report. Despite sitting exposed to the elements for 44 years, the vehicle became the single most important piece of physical evidence in the case. The witness later confirmed that the Parkhurst brothers had hidden the car there shortly after the crash.

Doug Parkhurst’s Confession

Police interviewed Doug Parkhurst multiple times. Because of the age of the case and limitations in New York law at the time of the offense, prosecutors determined there were effectively no criminal charges that could still be filed. Detectives were honest with Doug about that reality. Their goal became uncovering the truth and giving the Ashby family answers.

Eventually, Doug admitted he believed he had struck Carolee that night. Batstone later said Doug appeared consumed by guilt and trauma throughout his life.

Shortly after the crash, Doug joined the Air Force — something investigators believed may have been an attempt to escape the emotional burden he carried. As detectives escorted him from the police station after their final interview, Doug reportedly paused in the parking lot and quietly said: “I really hope someday that I could do something to make up for this.”

Years later, those words would take on a chilling significance.

A Strange Twist of Fate

In June 2018, Doug Parkhurst was living in Sanford, Maine when tragedy struck again. While attending his grandson’s baseball game, a woman identified as Carol Sharrow drove her vehicle onto the ballfield filled with children and spectators. Witnesses said Parkhurst stepped into harm’s way as chaos erupted. He was struck and killed.[1][2][3][4]

News reports later credited both Doug Parkhurst and coaches with helping to save lives that evening. To some, the moment felt like redemption. To others, it changed nothing about the pain left behind decades earlier.

The Rumors Finally Ended

One important consequence of solving the case was the clearing of two innocent men whose names had circulated in community gossip for decades. Investigators emphasized that the longstanding rumors had deeply affected those individuals and their families. After 44 years, the truth finally put those suspicions to rest.

“Closure” Never Really Came

For Carolee’s sister Darlene, learning the truth did not erase the pain. She later reflected that while the answers mattered, they could never restore what was lost.

She wondered what kind of aunt Carolee would have become… how she would have interacted with her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Those are the kinds of questions that never truly go away.

Carolee’s father died in 2010 without ever learning who killed his daughter. Her mother died in 2016 after finally receiving answers, but still carrying the heartbreak of losing her child.

A Case That Refused to Die

The investigation into Carolee Ashby’s death became the product of decades of persistence by detectives, reporters, witnesses, and family members who refused to let the little girl’s story fade into history.

Retired Lt. Russ Johnson said the case stayed with them long after he left law enforcement. “You always hear cops say there’s always that one that you still think about. This was the one,” said Johnson. He recalled that when the case was first reopened in 1999 he went to visit the family. He said they were appreciative, but were still plagued by the agony of her loss. “It was so painful for them still, all those years later, and we’re talking 1968... that many years later, they still had that hurt and pain, and that loss.”

And although no prosecution ever occurred, the truth finally emerged from the shadows after 44 years. For the Ashby family, that truth may never bring peace. But it did bring answers.

Click button below to listen to this episode. And check out our show notes including photos at www.apbcoldcase.com and listen on all major podcast platforms

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©2026 The Spawn Group, LLC; All right reserved

Note: Local news reporter Carol Thompson is the author of the book, Who Killed Carolee? ISBN 9781492985334

[1] Sanford driver Sharrow has two OUI convictions; Sun-Journal, Lewiston, ME; 6/3/2018; p. A5; Accessed 12/6/2024

[2] Park; Sun-Journal; 6/3/2018; p. A5

[3] Girl’s Family; Journal Tribune; 6/5/2018, p. A6

[4] Man Killed when car drives onto ballfield; Fosters; 6/2/2018 https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2018/06/02/man-killed-when-car-drives-onto-ballfield-woman-charged/12018202007/

Photo: Courtesy of the Ashby family; used with permission.

On December 27, 1994, just days after Christmas, 24-year-old Bobbi Ann Campbell left her friend’s apartment in Salt Lake City to run a few errands. She never came back.

More than 30 years later, her disappearance remains one of Utah’s most troubling unsolved cases. What happened to this young mother? The question still haunts her family, investigators, and the friends she left behind.

A Normal Day That Turned into a Nightmare

That morning began like any other. Bobbi and her five-year-old daughter, Stephanie, were living at the home of Bobbi’s grandparents in Draper, Utah.

“I was 5 years old….it was Christmas break, so we were playing with all of our new toys. My mom and I were playing Super Nintendo that morning. She had done our laundry and folded it and put it in a tall blue laundry basket.”

They had plans to go to Salt Lake City. They packed up the carefully wrapped Christmas gifts for Bobbi’s friends, Grandma gave them a few dollars for gas, and they were on their way. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

They arrived at a small triplex apartment on Herbert Avenue South where Bobbi’s friend Jewel lived. After getting her daughter inside, Bobbi told Stephanie she needed to run a few errands—just pick up a few groceries and collect her paycheck. Stephanie didn’t want to be left behind. “I wanted to go with her, but she told me I had to stay with Jewel, so I threw a temper tantrum like little 5-year-olds do,” said Stephanie.

Stephanie didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the last time she would ever see her mother.

Last Known Moments

Stephanie remembers watching from a little window bench at the front of the apartment as her mother walked away. She recalls her mom leaving with the man who lived in the back apartment. That man, known as “English Tony,” who later told Stephanie that they parted ways once they reached the street.

According to witness accounts, Bobbi got into her blue Chevy Nova and drove off alone.

Inside the car were:

• Folded laundry in a blue laundry basket

• Wrapped Christmas presents

• Cash

• Personal belongings; wallet, makeup bag and keys

A Child Left Waiting

Hours passed. Then more. Stephanie remembers waking up—her memory is a little fuzzy and she is unsure whether it was later that day or possibly the next—but she sensed something was wrong. The adults around her were acting strangely. She asked where her mom was. No one had answers.

Instead of calling police or family immediately, Bobbi’s friends at the apartment seemingly delayed action. At one point, Stephanie said that she was brought a change of clothes and taken to a park by a male and a female, acquaintances of Jewel. The trip to the park was under the pretense of looking for her mother. “They drove around a bit, we went to Liberty Park… we were there to look for my mom, but I remember feeling unsafe, and they were trying to get me to play and I wasn’t there to play, I wanted to look for my mom,” recalled Stephanie.

What remains unanswered is the ‘why?’ – why did Stephanie need a change of clothes that day? Had she been at Jewel’s for a long time, perhaps into a second or third day at that point? And why was she taken to Liberty Park? They eventually returned to Jewel’s apartment where Stephanie told APB Cold Case that when she asked to call her grandparents, Jewel refused. Only when she seized an opportunity to call them herself did help finally come. But then the situation became even more strange.

Stephanie said that when her great-grandmother came to pick her up, Jewel wouldn’t allow Stephanie to go. “She (Jewel) said that she had given my mom $40 for groceries, and that was the last of her money and she needed that money back if I was gonna leave. And so, my grandma, went to the car and got as much cash as she had and gave it to her, just to try to settle the situation.”

A Delayed Investigation

Bobbi was not officially reported missing right away. Stephanie said that her great-grandfather repeatedly contacted police, but it took about a week before a missing persons report was filed—creating confusion about the official date of her disappearance.

Stephanie told APB Cold Case about her great-grandfather going to the police station at the time, “He was going in there every other day saying, ‘hey, she’s still not home, she’s still not home.’” But he had recently retired as a truck driver, and Stephanie said his daily routine was the search for Bobbi Ann. “And so he was waking up, he was still packing his lunch and packing his thermos like he was gonna go on the road… and he would just drive around Salt Lake all day looking for the blue Chevy Nova. And that’s how he spent every day until the police opened up an investigation.” No one else appeared to be searching including her friends. Private Investigator Jason Jensen thinks it’s almost like the people in her inner circle had an idea of what had happened. He said, “it does seem to be that the friends that she hung around with at that time did know what happened, because there wasn’t really a sense of urgency or a sense of wonder, they just kind of, like, moved on.” He added, “if you don’t know where someone is, you’re out looking. You love them, you’re beating the pavement, trying to find somebody. But when you know, you don’t really feel that, or react the same way like you want to know.”

Who Was Bobbi Ann Campbell?

To better understand this case and the circumstances of her disappearance, we need to know more about Bobbi.

She was described as:

• Loving and devoted to her daughter

• Quiet at times, but also unpredictable and strong-willed

• Resilient, despite a difficult upbringing

Bobbi Ann grew up in Wyoming. Her childhood was marked by instability, born to teenage parents in a family that fractured early. Custody battles, constant moves, and changing caregivers defined her childhood. There were allegations of abuse and neglect. As a teenager, she ran — and ran often. At one point, she said her own mother tried to push her from a window. She was sent to a girls’ school… As a young woman, she became pregnant under circumstances she tried to hide — a sign of just how vulnerable her situation had become. In her adult years, relationships were turbulent and often dangerous. One boyfriend stabbed her. Another, she secretly married… she later told friends she was afraid of him. By the time she disappeared, a pattern had already taken shape: instability, violence, and a life spent navigating risk. Yet by 1994, she was trying to rebuild.

At that time, she and her daughter were living with her grandparents in Draper, about 20 miles outside of Salt Lake City. She had finished her GED after Stephanie was born, and dreamed of becoming a cosmetologist. She was working at SOS staffing, a temp agency and raising her daughter as best she could. She loved being a mom to Stephanie, but she was battling some inner demons.

Stephanie shared that her mom struggled with depression. “My mother was not a drug addict. She did smoke pot sometimes, she did mushrooms sometimes when she went camping with her friends, but… I don’t think she had a drug problem. I think she had a lot of undiagnosed mental problems.”

Despite personal struggles, those closest to her agree on one thing: Stephanie was her world.

Drugs, Rumors, and Uncertainty

The social circle Bobbi moved in included casual drug use—common in parts of Salt Lake City during the 1990s.

Accounts differ on the extent of her involvement:

• Some friends say she only used marijuana and psychedelics

• Others believe she may have begun experimenting with harder drugs

On the day she disappeared, people claimed she had borrowed money to purchase drugs. But no one can say definitively where she went, who she was with—or who she went to meet.

According to the man known as English Tony who lived in the rear unit at the triplex where Jewel lived, “…I can’t say, because I don’t know. You know, honestly, because she knew a lot of other rockers, too… she used to get other stuff from, other drugs.”

But English Tony also recalled that he and Bobbi did make a trip at some point earlier that same day. “I don’t remember where we’d gone, but… I was in the car with her when she got there… when we got back. And I’d got out, and I went and got my gear from the back.” Tony explained that in 1994 he was training as a Thai fighter, similar to MMA fighting, he explained.

“And I come back over, and I was in Jewels’ for a bit, and that’s when Bobbi was saying, ‘yeah, Steph is gonna stay with Jewels’. And I was like, alright, yeah, well, when I’m done, I’ll come back, check-in and whatever. And that was it. I was outside talking to my mate Chad,” Tony told APB Cold Case. He added that Bobbi was talking to the neighbor who lived on the right-hand side and took money from him. “And then it was, you know, see you later, basically. Take care, I’ll see you in a bit,” said Tony, adding, “And she got in her car, and that was the last I seen of her. Ever.”

A Critical Timeline With Gaps

Here’s what is known:

• December 27, 1994: Bobbi leaves the apartment to run errands

• She never picks up her paycheck

• She never returns to pick up her daughter

• January 7, 1995: She is officially reported missing

• January 9, 1995: She fails to appear for a scheduled court date

There was confusion about whether she attended that court hearing on January 9th, but no documentation confirms that she did appear. At one point, the discrepancy caused her missing person case to be closed by mistake, before being reopened days later.

The Car: A Disturbing Discovery

Nine months after her disappearance, in September 1995, a break in the case came—by accident. Bobbi’s grandfather received parking ticket notices linked to her vehicle. The car was eventually located by Bobbi’s grandfather just over a mile from where she was last seen.

What he found was unsettling:

• The car had been sitting there for months

• The car was unlocked

• Bobbi’s personal belongings were still inside including her wallet

• Cash inside the car remained untouched

• A large “machete type” knife was found under the driver’s seat

• The keys were missing

The car was found in a rougher part of town. It was unlocked with cash inside. Why was it untouched? And why would little, petite Bobbi Ann have a large machete under her car seat? Was it hers? Stephanie said, “So, we don’t know if it was there for protection, we had never seen it before.”

Even more troubling—at the time, no clear investigative connection was made between the vehicle and her disappearance. It appears that her missing person report was made in Draper, while her car was recovered in Salt Lake City. It appears that no connection was made to that fact that there was an active missing person report attached to the car, so it was not processed for evidence.

A Theory Emerges

Stephanie told APB Cold Case about a tip that was received 10 years ago concerning her mother’s death, “…it was that they were at a party about a block or two away (from where her car was discovered) and my mom was given a hot shot and then she overdosed.” She continued, “I guess everybody panicked, and just rolled her up in a rug, and put her in the attic. And then the person said that she was there for a few days until the smell got too bad, and so then they put her in the back of a car. The woman didn’t specify if it was my mom’s car or whose car.” Stephanie then described that, according to that same source, Bobbi’s body was placed in the Jordan River. “There’s a bridge, probably 30 to 40 feet south of where my mom’s car was found, and she said that they drove over there, and that’s where they disposed of my mom’s body.”

According to Private Investigator Jason Jensen who has been working on the Bobbi Ann Campbell case for several years, “We did at one point get a suspected description of a home, and we chased down an address, and it’s consistent with the description of how they treated her body… put her in an attic, and then at some point removed her.” This account that was provided to a non-law enforcement individual has never been confirmed. When questioned by police, the source reportedly would not verify the details.

The Search for Answers

In 2019, Jason Jensen led a search of the Jordan River based on the tip.

Divers recovered:

• A rolled-up carpet

• Jewelry consistent with Bobbi’s style

• A set of keys believed by Stephanie to be her mother’s

Private Investigator Jensen told APB Cold Case, “And that was the site that we were pointed to that supposed witness said, they dumped her body there, and pointed to that part of that bend of the river.”

“When they pulled out that carpet and not seeing anything in it, I was beside myself,” remembered Stephanie of the day that she hoped she might finally get some answers. “I had a panic attack unlike any I’ve ever experienced. I had to hide behind my truck and throw up. After that day, I started having night terrors that I was trapped in the Jordan (River) ...it got really dark for a while.”

But there were problems with the items found in the river:

• No remains were found

• No way to link the jewelry to Bobbi

• No DNA evidence was recovered

• The keys were ultimately lost

Silence and Suspicion

One of the most troubling aspects of the case is the lack of urgency from those closest to Bobbi at the time.

Investigators note:

• Only her grandfather actively searched for her

• Witnesses have shared information privately—but not with police

• Some individuals relocated shortly after her disappearance

This pattern raises a critical question: Do people know more than what they’ve said?

What Likely Happened?

Investigators believe one of two scenarios is most plausible:

1. Foul play connected to drugs or associates

2. An accidental overdose followed by a cover-up

Even today, law enforcement emphasizes that this case is no longer about prosecuting drug use or panic-driven decisions made decades ago. It’s about finding the truth. Said Detective Ben Pender, “There’s no longer a statute of limitations with that personal use, but that’s not my intent anyway. I wouldn’t pursue that. I’d advocate for someone who provides information.”

A Daughter Still Waiting

For Stephanie, this isn’t just a cold case - it’s her life. She has spent decades searching for answers—revisiting memories, chasing leads, and holding onto hope. She doesn’t want revenge. She wants closure.

Private Investigator Jason Jensen, speaking about persons with knowledge of what may have happened to Bobbi in 1994 said, “The first order of business is to confirm that they did dump her in the river. And then you kind of give Stephanie that peace of mind…”

Clinging to the Good Memories

As Stephanie continues her mission to bring her mom home to rest, she hangs on to memories of her own, and those shared by her grandparents. She holds onto one memory in particular which demonstrated her mom’s resolve and persistence even as a young girl.

Stephanie recalled the story told to her by her great-grandfather: “They had a farm with a canal that ran through the back, and she was about 14 years old. And she came in the house and said, ‘Grandpa, can I borrow your fishing pole? There’s a fish out there in the canal.’ And he said, ‘no. There are no fish out there, you’re not gonna waste my bait, you’re not gonna use my stuff’. And she was like, ‘well, can I have some fishing line and a hook?’ And he was like, ‘yeah, okay, do what you want?’ So, she built herself a fishing pole with a long piece of wood and she went out there and caught a 5-pound carp, and brought it into the house, and she said, ‘see, I told you so!’ That was his favorite story to tell about her,” said Stephanie.

Stephanie has been writing a book for the past 5 years about her experiences in the search for her mother and hopes to finish it later this year. “The title is going to be Mandy’s Mother’s Missing,” she said. Stephanie explained that after Bobbi went missing, her great-grandparents changed Stephanie’s name to Mandy, though she also continues to be called Stephanie today. “That book will be more about my mom and facts about her going missing.”

A Final Plea

Someone knows what happened to Bobbi Ann Campbell. After more than 30 years, fear, loyalty, and past mistakes no longer need to stand in the way of the truth. This case will not likely be solved through physical evidence. It will be solved when someone decides to speak.

Leah Bills, a friend of Bobbi’s from the 1990’s told APB Cold Case that after 32 years, somebody needs to step up .“There’s got to be somebody that’s just willing just to finally say what they got to say. (The) damage is already done, just… say it already.”

If you have information about Bobbi Ann Campbell’s disappearance, contact the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

For Stephanie—and for Bobbi—answers are long overdue.

TIPS: Contact Detective Ben Pender at the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 385-468-9816.

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Audio podcast, maps, timeline and more photos at www.APBColdCase.com and listen on all major podcast platforms

©2026 The Spawn Group, LLC; All right reserved

Super Bowl Sunday — And a Tragic Disappearance

On February 3, 2019 — Super Bowl Sunday — much of the country was focused on the matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta. But 1,300 miles away, just outside Rapid City, a crisis was unfolding in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

At approximately 10:45 a.m., inside the gymnasium of the Black Hills Children’s Home on South Rockerville Road, nine-year-old Serenity Dennard bolted toward an exit door. Lt. Paul Stevens of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office explained that Serenity was playing in the gym with 5 other kids under the supervision of 2 staff members. “One of the other juveniles ran, left the gym, caused the distraction and Serenity took off out some other doors,” he said.

According to investigators, the distraction was deliberate. Police and family said that Serenity had a history of running away, and in this incident, she had strategized her flight with another child. Serenity’s father, Chad Dennard, believes his daughter understood exactly how the facility’s supervision policies worked.

“She tried to convince a kid to go off in this direction, and then she went that direction… if they go after this person, the other person has to stay here and can’t go after her…”, said Chad Dennard.

Staff members began searching the grounds immediately. They checked buildings and the immediate area around the children’s home, but they didn’t call law enforcement right away.

An 80-Minute Window

Chad Dennard said that Serenity had run from the children’s home before, as well as from their home, school and day care. He said that because of previous instances, some of those with Serenity watching while others searched for her, staff did not appear to be gravely concerned.

But this time would be different. Roughly 80 minutes passed with no sign of her. Lt. Stevens told APB Cold Case that his office received the first call from the children’s home at about 12:30 PM.

When Serenity exited the building, the temperature was 13 degrees. She was wearing only a gray long-sleeve T-shirt, sweatpants, and snow boots. She had no coat, gloves, or hat. It began snowing shortly after she left. By the time deputies arrived, the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees — and it was falling.

“The weather deteriorated very rapidly,” Lt. Stevens said. Soon after police arrived, they requested search and rescue to be deployed in the search for Serenity.

Who Is Serenity?

Serenity Dennard’s nine years had already been marked by instability. According to reporting by the Rapid City Journal, both of her birth parents had been incarcerated. She moved through approximately 12 foster homes over a two-year span before being adopted at age five by Chad Dennard and his wife. The couple later divorced in early 2015.

“I ended up having full physical custody of Serenity after our divorce,” Chad said. “And that was a hard time. You know, here I am, like, dealing with all that divorce stuff, …a single dad with two kids...”

Later, Chad met KaSandra while working at the Veteran’s Administration in Fort Meade, South Dakota. She quickly became a mother figure to Serenity. “She was a rock star. She helped me through so much...”

Chad described Serenity’s electric personality, her beautiful smile, and contagious laugh. “She was goofy… she was a little wild child, though… whenever she went into a room, she commanded attention.”

Chad said Serenity had an aversion to most animals — except for dogs. Dogs were different. She also loved riding her bicycle. “That was a big one. I think it was a freedom thing. But you had to be careful with that one,” he added. And then there were her dolls. “She would dress them and take them everywhere,” Chad recalled. “She had some favorites. She had some at the children’s home. They’re still in a box that I have.” Those dolls remain packed away — small, quiet reminders of a child who filled rooms with life and laughter.

But Chad also acknowledged the depth of her past trauma. Serenity had been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder. He said that Serenity had some behavioral and emotional issues from being in the child welfare system. “She doesn’t have boundaries.… she has to control everything around her.” He continued, saying that when she began feeling comfortable in a new situation, she would run.

“Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a trauma-related condition,” said Alyssa Stolarcyk, a nationally certified school psychologist (who did not treat Serenity). Stolarcyk added that RAD is“…often induced by stressors that impact a child in their early development… kids who experience maybe severe neglect, instability, or just lack of consistent caregiving early on in life… struggle to form that initial attachment.” She continued, “People are usually familiar with that fight-or-flight response. When they encounter stressful situations… children may run away. Not because they’re being bad, it’s just their brain hasn’t developed those healthy pathways…”

Running away, for Serenity, had become both coping mechanism and control. “I think she just liked to watch people look for her… because she’s making somebody do something,” Chad said.

Serenity’s need for control often showed up as calculated manipulation. “She convinced a little girl to run away with her at daycare once, which caused a lot of issues,” Chad told APB Cold Case. Other times, she tested boundaries in quieter but equally deliberate ways. “She would go knock on random doors say that she was looking for her sister,” Chad said. She used her persuasion skills on a school staff member on one occasion. “There was the time when she convinced a lady at the school cafeteria to make her a sandwich to go.”

The Last Sighting

As Serenity fled the gym that morning, a witness saw her near the road.

Lt. Stevens said, “…we did find one person that had seen her run that was independent of the Children’s Home. There was a grandmother and a child who were dropping off another child at the Children’s Home that day, and they’d seen Serenity running.”

Chad confirmed that woman was the last person to see Serenity. “She saw her at, kind of, like, there’s a little culvert going up onto the road, and she saw Serenity right there. She went off into the woods, and was never seen again.”

The Search

By 12:30 p.m., deputies were on scene. They checked Serenity’s room and the immediate area surrounding the children’s home, confirmed Lt. Stevens. But at least 80 minutes had elapsed since Serenity ran from the gym, and fresh snow was covering any traces indicating where she may have gone.

Search and rescue teams were deployed, but there was no sign of Serenity. Chad told APB Cold Case that the National Guard was grounded from searching because of the storm, something that he believed could have helped in the search as they could have used FLIR, an infrared heat-seeking camera to detect a person in open ground.

By 8 p.m., temperatures hovered near 2 degrees, and the snow persisted.

At one point during the search, woodcutters reported seeing someone moving through the trees. For a brief moment, there was hope. Was it Serenity?

But when rescue teams followed up, the sighting turned out to be another volunteer searcher combing the area. In a landscape filled with first responders, dogs, and volunteers, potential breakthroughs could dissolve quickly.

The Black Hills region encompasses roughly 8,500 square miles of rugged terrain — hills, canyons, dense forest, creeks, and ravines. Just up the road from the children’s home, the landscape opens into something strikingly beautiful. From certain vantage points, you can see Mount Rushmore in the distance. The Black Hills rise and fall in sweeping ridgelines carved by gullies and steep canyons. But beauty doesn’t mean accessible.

According to reporting by South Dakota News Watch, more than 6,000 miles of terrain were physically searched over hundreds of operations. The terrain is physically exhausting to traverse — uneven, wooded, and unforgiving. Beyond the facility, there is little development: a handful of houses scattered within a mile or so, a single main road in and out, and no nearby businesses. It is, in many ways, isolated country.

Initial ground searches were impeded by the accumulation of snow that had fallen following Serenity’s flight, and base layers of earth would not become visible until the Spring thaw. It was only then that searchers would begin finding items to be scrutinized to see if they were relevant to Serenity.

Lt. Stevens said that in the course of two years, 200-250 searches have been conducted for Serenity, using various agencies and canines. Chad said that specialized avalanche dogs were brought in from Colorado, but again, without a trace of his missing daughter.

The Dennard’s are grateful to all of the people who logged untold hours in the searches for Serenity. Chad recounted an observation by his mother during one of those searches. “This guy had his pickup parked by my Mom’s car, he had a big beard and it was completely frozen. He just sat and leaned on the tailgate of his pickup, because he was so exhausted, he couldn’t even get into his truck,” said Chad.

What Investigators Believe

Beyond the physical search, investigators pursued more than 370 leads in 37 states, coordinating with agencies across South Dakota and the FBI.

Stevens said that in addition to interviews of staff at the children’s home and Serenity’s family members, they questioned sex offenders and anyone whose telephone number pinged on a cellular telephone tower in the area. All were visited and vetted, he said.

Given the weather, rural setting, and limited traffic on Super Bowl Sunday, Stevens expressed his professional assessment. “I mean, personally, I don’t believe, she is anywhere other than that in those hills somewhere.” He emphasized, however, “…we can’t rule anything out until she’s found, and we and we won’t rule anything out.”

Chad Dennard said that Serenity’s decision to run from the children’s home was most likely spontaneous – since it was something she had done several times before – and she may have decided to hide and watch the response of staff as she had also done before. But he believes that the answer to her whereabouts lies somewhere in the Black Hills, “I think the weather just got her.”

Scrutiny and Aftermath

An oversight investigation later criticized the Children’s Home’s response and policies regarding runaways. Reporting by Seth Tupper in the Rapid City Journal cited findings of “failure to follow established procedures” and “disorganization” in the initial search effort.

Whether the 80-minute delay changed the outcome is unknown. What remains is this: no confirmed clothing, no remains, no definitive evidence of what happened after Serenity entered the woods.

Investigators continue to test evidence. “We’ve tested various pieces of hair, we’ve had lots of different bones analyzed by anthropologists, we have done DNA testing… But nothing’s come back with any evidentiary value so far,” Stevens said.

A Father’s Hope

The Dennard’s cling on to their last memories of their beautiful little girl. Chad’s final moments with Serenity came just one day before she fled the children’s home. He, KaSandra, and their 3 other kids had stopped by for what he remembers as a happy, uncomplicated visit — just time together, talking and laughing. At one point, Chad snapped a photo of Serenity. He didn’t know it then, but that image — taken during an ordinary, joyful afternoon — would be the last photo he would ever take of her and would become the photograph used on her missing persons poster.

The case remains active. The hills near the children’s home are heavily used for recreational activities like hiking, hunting, ATVs, and UTVs, and leads still continue to come in.

Lt. Stevens asks that anyone with information to contact police.

For Chad, hope persists in the possibilities of finding evidence, hoping that perhaps a hiker or hunter will find something of significance. “God, I want answers so bad. Oh my god.”

And in the absence of answers, he holds on to memories. “When she would hug you, like a… like a for-real hug, it just filled your soul.” He remembers a photo his mother took in a movie theater — Serenity sitting on her grandfather’s lap. “…you could just tell, like, those two… were buddies, that was a true Serenity moment, where she was just happy as hell.”

If you have any information regarding Serenity Dennard’s whereabouts, contact the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office at 605-394-6115 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

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More than fifty years later, the murders of Roger Eastwood and Leon Rascoe remain unsolved—linked not by geography or acquaintance, but by ballistics. The same gun ended both of their lives.

A Routine Run That Never Ended

On a warm evening in August 1975, Nancy Eastwood returned to her home in Federalsburg, Maryland, to find an unanticipated surprise. Her husband Roger—whom she had been married to for nine and a half years—was home early.

She wasn’t expecting him. Roger hadn’t been home long and planned only to eat quickly, take a shower, and get some sleep. Another run awaited him. Nancy agreed to wake him later that night.

Roger was a truck driver for Poultry Incorporated1. His truck, already loaded, was parked not far from their home. Sometime between 11:30 and 11:40 p.m. on August 28, 1975, Roger left the house and headed north toward New Jersey, hauling a load of processed poultry.

That was the last time she saw him alive.

A Body in the Road

At approximately 5:15 a.m. the next morning, a lone motorist was traveling west along Beverly-Rancocas Road in Westhampton Township, New Jersey, when headlights suddenly illuminated a motionless figure lying in the roadway. The driver swerved, narrowly avoiding the body, and drove straight to a nearby gas station to call police.

When officers arrived, they believed they were dealing with a hit-and-run. The man had no identification, but investigators noted a tattoo on his arm bearing the name “Roger” and a set of keys marked “IH.”

The body was transported to the medical examiner’s office. Meanwhile, New Jersey State Troopers located an abandoned International Harvester tractor-trailer on Interstate 295, just a couple of miles from where the unidentified man had been found. The “IH” key recovered from the scene fit the truck’s ignition. Inside the cab, paperwork identified the driver: Roger Eastwood.

Nancy learned the news when Roger’s brother and his dispatcher arrived at her door.

Her life changed in that moment. It was Labor Day weekend. They had plans. But Roger never made it home.

Not an Accident

The autopsy quickly refuted the initial hit-and-run theory. According to Detective Taylor Bonner of the New Jersey State Police, the medical examiner found no trauma consistent with a vehicle strike. Instead, he found Roger Eastwood had been shot twice in the head with two .32 caliber bullets.

Roger had been murdered.

A Disabled Truck and a Narrow Window

Investigators soon learned why Roger’s truck had been parked on the shoulder of I-295. Two of the right-side tires had blown out. Despite the breakdown, evidence suggested Roger was calm and methodical. He had placed reflector triangles back behind the truck, indicating no immediate distress.

Witnesses later reported seeing Roger sitting in the cab around 3:00 a.m.

But by 4:15 a.m., a motorist saw a man believed to be Roger walking northbound along the shoulder of I-295 toward a vehicle parked about 400 feet ahead of his truck. The car’s trunk appeared to be open, and two men were seen nearby.

Less than an hour later, another witness reported seeing two men standing beside a small green pickup or panel truck on Beverly-Rancocas Road—looking down toward the ground. That location was just two miles from Roger’s disabled rig.

At 5:15 a.m., Roger’s body was discovered in the roadway.

Investigators believe the critical window—when something went terribly wrong—occurred between 4:15 and 5:00 a.m.

Robbery—or Something Else?

Roger’s cargo remained untouched. Company checks totaling $50.10 were never recovered, nor were three fuel credit cards. His wallet appeared to be missing.

Robbery was considered, but it didn’t fully explain the level of violence.

Nancy Eastwood struggled with the idea that her husband would have willingly entered a stranger’s car. She believed Roger fought back. Wherever the confrontation occurred, it wasn’t far from where his body was found.

Who Was Roger Eastwood?

Roger Eastwood was 35 years old. Tall, thin, with dark-hair and an easy smile. He loved fishing and bowling. He was a devoted husband and father to his seven-year-old daughter.

By every account, he was living a full, ordinary life—until someone made the decision to take it all away.

A Timeline That Raises Questions

• 11:30–11:40 p.m. – Roger leaves his Federalsburg, MD home

• Just before 2:00 a.m. – He stops for gas in Delaware

• After 2:00 a.m. – Truck breaks down on I-295 North in New Jersey

• About 3:00 a.m. – Witnesses see Roger in his disabled truck

• 4:15 a.m. – Roger seen walking toward a parked vehicle on I-295

• About 5:10 a.m. – Two men observed beside a small green truck, on Beverly-Rancocas Road.

• 5:15 a.m. – Roger’s body found on Beverly-Rancocas Road about 2 miles from his disabled truck.2

The investigation uncovered a disturbing realization.

Another Trucker. Another Shooting.

In the early morning hours of August 9, 1975, 20 days before Roger was murdered, Leon Rascoe was doing what he had done countless times before—driving through the night, alone, on a long stretch of highway.

Leon was 47 years old, a truck driver from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, hauling a load of aluminum for Capitol Products. At 1:41 a.m., his truck entered the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-76 East, at the New Stanton interchange. The highway was quiet, the kind of pre-dawn stillness familiar to anyone who works overnight routes.

After traveling roughly 73 miles, Leon began to feel the weight of fatigue. He pulled his rig onto a wide shoulder near mile marker 149.7, a place that likely felt safe enough for a brief rest before continuing on.

What happened next would not be discovered until hours later.

At approximately 7:10 a.m., a passing motorist noticed something unusual near Leon’s parked truck. A man was lying on the ground beside the rig, motionless. Police were called, and troopers arrived to find Leon Rascoe unconscious and bleeding from severe head wounds. Though still alive, he was gravely injured.

Leon was rushed to Johnstown Memorial Hospital in critical condition.3, 4

Inside the cab of his truck, investigators found an envelope from his employer and his hat. The scene suggested interruption—an ordinary stop violently altered. Further investigation revealed that Leon had been robbed. Some of his personal belongings were later recovered in the median nearly 50 miles east of where his truck had been parked5, indicating the attacker had continued traveling eastbound after the assault.

How Leon was lured or forced out of his truck remains one of the central unanswered questions. Investigators considered multiple possibilities. One theory suggests Leon was startled awake by someone throwing a fist-sized rock against the cab6—enough to draw him outside. Another theory is that he exited the truck on his own, possibly to use the restroom, unaware that someone was watching and waiting.

What police believe is that once Leon was outside the cab, he walked around to the right side of the truck. There, at close range, he was shot twice in the head with a .32-caliber pistol.7 The attack was swift and brutal.

Leon Rascoe never regained consciousness. On September 13, 1975—more than a month after the shooting—he died from his injuries. He left behind a wife, two daughters, and five grandchildren.8

At the time, investigators had no suspects.9 But the ballistic evidence recovered from Leon’s head would later take on chilling significance. The bullet fragments showed specific markings that uniquely tied them to a single firearm – the same one that killed Roger Eastwood.

Despite the similarity, the Leon Rascoe case remains particularly difficult. Unlike the Eastwood murder, there were no known eyewitnesses to Leon’s shooting. No reports of suspicious vehicles. No clear timeline of movement after the attack, other than the discarded belongings found miles away.

What remains is a haunting image: a truck pulled safely onto the shoulder, a driver stopping only to rest, and someone taking advantage of that moment of vulnerability.

Investigators continue to ask whether Leon was targeted because he was a truck driver—or whether he was simply the first known victim of a killer who would strike again. More than fifty years later, the murder of Leon Rascoe remains open.

Are There More Victims?

While examining the murders of Roger Eastwood and Leon Rascoe, we widened our search to see whether other cases shared similar characteristics. What we found was another troubling case—one that, at first glance, seemed to fit an unsettling pattern.

In September 1977, two years after Eastwood and Rascoe were shot, 28-year-old truck driver Frank Ziegler was found dead inside his truck along Warrendale-Bayne Road in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Ziegler had last been seen around 11:30 p.m. on September 26, 1977, after delivering a load of milk to a processing plant. According to reporting in The Pittsburgh Press, Frank called his wife, Karen, from his final stop at a dairy in Ambridge to tell her he was on his way home to White Chalk, Pennsylvania. He mentioned that his truck needed two new tires and that he was carrying $400 in cash to purchase them.10

Sometime later, feeling fatigued, Frank pulled his tanker truck over at a familiar spot along Warrendale-Bayne Road in order to rest before continuing his drive home.

The following day11, September 27, Frank Ziegler was found dead in the cab of his truck. Newspaper accounts from the Simpson’s Leader-Times reported that he had been shot twice in the head12. Investigators believed he was shot through the truck window from outside. His wallet was recovered—but the $400 in cash was gone. Frank left behind a wife and three young children, all under the age of six.13

Geographically, Frank Ziegler’s murder fell within a striking range: roughly 360 miles from where Roger Eastwood was killed in New Jersey, and about 120 miles from where Leon Rascoe was shot on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Chronologically, it occurred two years later. The similarities were hard to ignore—truck drivers, pulled over on the roadside, shot twice in the head. But unlike the Eastwood and Rascoe cases, the Ziegler murder did have a suspect.

Published reports identified Edward Surratt—an unemployed truck driver and former Marine14—as a person of interest. Surratt would have been 35 years old at the time. He was also reportedly suspected in the brutal beating deaths of a couple in Marshall Township, Pennsylvania, just three days after Ziegler was killed.

Surratt went on to commit a series of violent crimes with varying methods before being captured in 1978.15 More recent reporting has indicated that investigators believe Surratt was, in fact, responsible for Ziegler’s murder.16

That raises an obvious and unsettling question: if Surratt killed Ziegler, could he also be responsible for the murders of Leon Rascoe and Roger Eastwood? We put that question directly to Pennsylvania authorities. While investigators are well aware of Surratt and his crimes, they do not believe he is connected to the Eastwood or Rascoe murders. For now, the Ziegler case appears to stand apart—similar in some ways, but not part of the same violent thread.

Still, its existence underscores a haunting reality of the 1970s: for truck drivers working long overnight routes, pulling over to rest could carry deadly consequences—and some killers may never have been identified.

An Open Investigation

Despite decades passing, both cases remain active. Advances in forensic technology continue to offer hope. Investigators urge anyone—no matter how insignificant the detail may seem—to come forward.

For families, answers matter. Nancy Eastwood still wants to know who killed her husband. Not for vengeance, but for the truth.

How You Can Help

• Leon Rascoe case (PA): 1-800-4PA-TIPS

• Roger Eastwood case (NJ): 1-833-4NJ-COLD or ColdCase@NJSP.gov

The Pennsylvania State Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information in Leon Rascoe’s murder (see PA Tips for details of the reward).

Click buttons below to listen to this episode. And check out our show notes including maps and photos at apbcoldcase.com

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CITATIONS:

A desire to serve their country and a plan for the future brought them both to Hawaii. But their dreams were shattered in an instant.

On a warm September night in 1980, two young United States Marines—Lance Corporal Larry Martens, 21, and Lance Corporal Rodney “Rocky” Padilla, 19—left Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, looking for nothing more than a night of fun. They drove off in a blue Buick Skylark, windows down, radio playing. By sunrise, both were dead.

A Dark Undercurrent Beneath Paradise

Oahu is known for its postcard type beauty—white sand beaches, swaying palm trees, and crystal-clear turquoise waters. But back in the late 1970s and early 1980s beneath the island’s natural splendor, there was tension simmering. An anti-military sentiment between some locals and the thousands of servicemen stationed across the island.

For Marines stationed at Kaneohe Bay—known simply as K-Bay—that tension was no secret. Many were warned not to go out alone, to avoid certain areas, and to keep a low profile when off base.

Larry Martens and Rocky Padilla both knew this when they left base on Saturday, September 6, 1980.

Two Marines, Barely Acquainted

Larry and Rocky weren’t close friends. They served in different units—Larry in Motor Transport, Rocky in an amphibious assault unit known as AMTRACs. The reason they were together that night came down to something mundane and unavoidable in Marine Corps life: Mess Hall duty.

Both men were serving their required rotation in the base kitchen. During long shifts scrubbing pots and serving meals, they struck up a casual friendship. When it came time for a night out, Larry didn’t want to go out by himself. Rocky, known for always saying yes to adventure, agreed.

It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t special. It was just bad timing.

The Night They Never Returned

Larry and Rocky left the barracks around 9:00 PM. They were expected back on base that night. When Sunday morning came and neither had returned, concern spread quickly through the barracks. Then the rumors started. By mid-morning on September 7, 1980, word broke: two Marines had been found dead.

A Gruesome Discovery at Maunalua Bay

A local fisherman checking the tide at Maunalua Bay Beach Park, roughly 30 minutes south of K-Bay, found two bodies lying near a parked Buick. The men had been brutally beaten and shot. NCIS did not divulge the location of wounds or number of shots, though one published report in the early days of the investigation indicated that both had been shot in the head[1].

In 1980, the area of the murder was remote, sparsely populated, and not well lit—an unlikely place for Marines to end up after a night on the town. Their wallets were still on them; the car was not stolen; there were no reported gunshots. But in the sand near the bodies, investigators found a message written in the sand, not yet washed away by the tide. Its contents have never been publicly disclosed.

Who Were Larry and Rocky?

Larry Martens was goofy, kind, and free-spirited, said former Platoon mate Dan Boatman who retired from the Marine Corps as a Sergeant. They enjoyed exploring Oahu—Pearl Harbor, beaches, sightseeing trips with friends. Both Marines were preparing for their next deployment, eager for what came next.

Rocky Padilla was gregarious, athletic, and deeply patriotic. He volunteered with kids, loved music and photography, and dreamed of rising through the Marine ranks. He was due to be promoted and transferred back to California, where he hoped to become a drill instructor—and someday, a police officer like his older brother Joe.

Larry and Rocky were young. Both were ambitious. Both were robbed of everything.

What Happened That Night?

Investigators believe the Marines left base around 9:00 PM and were killed around 2:00 AM That five-hour window remains a mystery.

Did they go to a club?
Were they lured somewhere?
Did a drug deal go wrong?
Were they targeted simply for being Marines?

Former Marines stationed on Oahu at the time describe a volatile environment—bar fights, harassment, and ambush-style attacks by groups targeting servicemen. It would have taken multiple assailants, or a surprise attack with lethal force, to overpower two trained, fit Marines.

A Witness Who Never Came Forward

Investigators are confident of one thing: someone saw what happened.

They believe there was a witness at the scene—someone not involved in the murders, someone who may have been too afraid to come forward.

“We know there was a witness. I can’t tell you how we know that, but we do know that there was a witness there,” said Special Agent James Curry of NCIS Hawaii. “Even if that witness is no longer with us. they probably told their family, their, their child or somebody who would now be of an adult age today. And we need that person to come forward,” he added.

A Ray of Hope

Honolulu Police investigated the murders in 1980, but the case eventually went cold. Decades later, NCIS reopened the investigation, applying modern forensic science, including advanced DNA techniques unavailable at the time of the murders.

Investigators won’t reveal what evidence they have—but they say it offers real hope - something that families have waited more than four decades for. “Right now, we’re in the process of using that science to help develop new information about this case,” said Special Agent Curry.

The Families Still Waiting

Rocky’s brother Joseph, a retired law enforcement officer, has never stopped pushing for answers. His mother—now elderly—has spent decades waiting to find out who killed her son. “My mom’s had a difficult time with it,” said Joseph Padilla. “She’s waiting. She’s experienced some health problems recently … I’d like to see some movement while she can still appreciate it,” he added.

Former Marines who served with Larry and Rocky still feel the tragic loss. They imagine the lives their friends should have lived. The families they never had. The milestones they never reached.

Speaking about his friend Larry Martens, Sgt./Retired Dan Boatman put it simply: “He should be here.”

A Plea for Justice

NCIS is asking anyone with information—no matter how small—to come forward.

There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murders of Lance Corporals Larry Martens and Rocky Padilla.

If you know something:

• Call CrimeStoppers Hawaii: 808-955-8300

• Or submit a tip to NCIS at NCIS.navy.mil

Even after 45 years, it’s not too late to do the right thing.

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CITATIONS:

[1] No Lead Turns Up in Marine Slayings; Honolulu Star Bulletin, Sept. 16, 1980, p. 2.

Tourists Make Horrific Discovery

In December 1989, four women vacationing in Las Vegas decide to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, they make a spur of the moment decision to check out a ghost town they see on the map. Their destination takes them down Highway 93 into Mohave County, and after a turn onto White Hills Road, a desolate stretch with no traffic, they see nothing but miles of desert sand, scrub oak and an occasional yucca tree.

Along the way, they spot what appears to be a dead animal off to the side of the road on an intersecting dirt trail. They make note of it and continue on. But after traveling for miles, they see no sign of any ghost town, so they turn around and retrace their route back to the highway. This time, as they approach the ‘dead animal’, they decide to pull over and take a look. To their surprise, it is actually a dead person. The shocked women drive 36 miles to a phone in Kingman, Arizona. A Mohave County Sheriff’s deputy responds to the scene, quickly assessing the situation and confirming it is a homicide. The deputy summons detectives to the scene.

The Scene

The dirt track where the body is found is called Old Temple Bar Road which intersects with White Hills Road. The location is about 3 miles east of Highway 93. Today there is a truck stop and service station at that highway exit. But back in 1989, it was uninhabited and mostly undeveloped. The female victim is found naked, lying in a pool of her own blood, an indication that she was killed at that exact spot. According to Investigator Lori Miller who has the case today, the original detectives determined that the suspect(s) first tried running over the victim’s head with their car, which caused severe facial injuries, but not her death. Then, it appeared that her throat was slashed repeatedly with some type of knife. Miller said that no weapon was found at the scene, but they did recover a piece of black yarn and a blue bra strap which could be connected to the murder.

Miller said that, at autopsy, it was determined that the victim had recently delivered a baby, and that she was likely assaulted around her hips and abdominal area prior to her death. Interestingly, two of the detectives who were on scene in 1989 were expert trackers, and they provided a detailed analysis of footprints and tire impressions in the sand. Inv. Miller said those detectives reported the following descriptions based on the footwear: Suspect #1, an approximate height of 5’ 10” – 6’ 2”, stride of 29”, and an approximate shoe size of 10 ½, and the shoe brand was Nike; Suspect #2 was described with an approximate height of 5’ 4” – 5’ 8”, and a stride of about 28”, and shoe size 7; the brand of footwear was not determined. APB Cold Case asked Inv. Miller whether Suspect #2 could be a woman, which she did not discount as a possibility. The tire impressions were also described in the reports as being consistent with a mid-size sedan with a tire width of 6 ½”, 3-groove radial, wheel base of 99”, an inside width of 49 ½”, and an outside width of 62 ½”. Asked about the location where the victim was dumped, Miller said that Highway 93 runs from Las Vegas to Phoenix, but the seclusion of the trail where the body was found could indicate that a person had an awareness of the location. Said Inv. Miller, “You almost have to have some kind of knowledge that the road exists. She was found at noon, and so, she hadn’t been there that long.” She added, “At that time of year in December it stays dark here pretty long, so if you’re traveling down that area in the dark, I don’t know how you could just spot that road without having some kind of knowledge that it exists.” Miller said it was determined that the victim had been dead about 8 hours before she was discovered. But despite the relatively quick discovery of this Jane Doe, there was no identification, and no belongings found at the scene – nothing to help identify her. In many homicide investigations police will canvass neighboring residences and businesses, seeking out witnesses or surveillance video, but in this section of sprawling desert there was no one to interview.

Autopsy and Investigation

Miller said the victim was described by the medical examiner as being about 25-35 years of age, 5’ 3”, with double pierced ears. A rape kit revealed no signs of a sexual assault, but a small fleck of evidence was secured from her abdominal area – something that glowed under a forensic light source. The speck was saved as potential evidence. However, DNA science in 1989 was not as advanced as it is today. At that time, most analysis was conducted by private laboratories which required a significant sample to conduct an examination.

Police did take fingerprints from Jane Doe and sent them to Las Vegas Metro PD and the FBI, but there was no identification. Mohave County Sheriff’s submit the murder case to the FBI’s VICAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) which uses an in-depth questionnaire to collect information about known and unknown murders and other major crimes, including details of the victim and any known offenders, along with modus operandi. But no leads came from that submission. They also sent teletype messages to law enforcement agencies who may have reported a missing person matching he description, and they also placed an article in a detective magazine. But with no leads, the case goes cold.

Possible Lead – Serial Killer?

Then in 1991, the FBI contacted Mohave County Sheriff’s investigators with information about a serial killer named Joseph Nissensohn. At the time he was in custody in Tacoma, Washington, his murders having similarities to Mohave’s Jane Doe. Nissensohn was eventually convicted of the murders of 3 teen girls in California between 1981-1989, and the murder of a 46-year-old woman in Washington State in 1991. One news report said that Nissensohn “preyed upon vulnerable runaway girls and subjected them to unimaginable pain and torture.[1]

Nissensohn and an associate, Henry Staub III were once arrested in Mohave County in 1987 for a narcotics crime, and their physical descriptions were consistent with the footwear analysis in the Mohave desert murder. But detectives did not make any connection between Nissensohn and their Jane Doe. Nissensohn has been sentenced to death in California for his crimes. Staub does not appear to be connected to any of Nissensohn’s murders. Again, the case went cold.

Seasoned Detective Brings New Eyes to Case

In 2020, Inv. Lori Miller a retired Los Angeles PD detective joins the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office and is assigned the decades-old cold case. After reviewing reports in the file, she begins to retrace the investigative steps from prior detectives. One of her first moves is to run the fingerprints again which results in a hit to a female arrested in Bakersfield, California in 1989 for shoplifting. Miller contacts Bakerfield police and learns more about the arrest of ‘Maria Ortiz’. A family member was listed in the paperwork named Esther, then living in Tennessee. When they finally speak, Esther tells Miller that her cousin Marina Ramos had been missing since 1989 and that she had used the fictitious name, Maria Ortiz in the past. Police conduct a DNA comparison between Esther and Jane Doe, and it confirms that Marina Ramos is the true name of the Jane Doe found murdered and dumped in the desert along the desolate dirt trail two weeks before Christmas 1989.

Detective Stunned by Family’s Question

But then Esther asks Inv. Miller a question that shocks the veteran detective – ‘where are Marina’s two babies?’ Miller said, “That’s when she proceeded to tell me that Jasmin was born while Marina was in jail for the shoplifting, and Elizabeth had been born the year prior to that.” Now, in addition to investigating the murder of Marina Ramos, Inv. Miller learns she now has a case of two missing children. Marina Ramos’ family back in California had assumed that Marina, because of her impulsive and spontaneous lifestyle, had settled down somewhere with the girls. But it had been 30 years since any family had seen or heard from her and her babies who were just 11 months old and 2 months old at the time.

Marina Ramos was the oldest of 5 children. Her parents were from Puerto Rico. She and her siblings were raised in Lamont, California, about 20 miles from Bakersfield. Marina’s sister, Margarita, told APB Cold Case that she and Marina had fun when they were young. But as Marina got older, she became more rebellious. Marina had been living with her aunt in California while the rest of the family was in Puerto Rico for a time. Marina’s mother sent for Marina to come and join the family, but when she arrived Marina’s mother found out that Marina was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter she named Maria. But according to Margarita, Marina continued to be a rebel, finding herself in disagreements with her mother and wanting to leave the family home and live life on her own terms. Marina’s mother told Marina that because she was 18 she could do whatever she wanted, but she could not take baby Maria.

The Tale of 2 Fernandos

Marina returned to Lamont, CA as did the rest of her family. But according to Margarita, the family was still trying to tell Marina what to do. By this time Marina had given birth to hersecond daughter Elizabeth in June 1988; and she would give birth while in jail to Jasmin in 1989. At about the same time, Marina was in a tumultuous relationship with a man named Fernando. The family doesn’t know his last name or much about him except, they say, he used to hit Marina. The relationship was rocky, said Margarita. “They would break up, but then she would always go back to him. But Fernando used to hit her… always used to beat her up,” said Margarita who added that Marina was also secretly seeing another man named William. Marina’s family did not approve of Marina’s lifestyle, and they told her as much. Tired of being told what to do, Marina drifted away from most of her family except for her cousin, Esther and her sister Margarita. It was around 1988-1989 when Marina stopped by a convenience store where Margarita was working. It would be the last time that Margarita would ever see her sister. And Esther, who passed away in 2023, told Margarita about the last time she saw Marina. It was at Esther’s home in 1989 when Marina showed up with a different Fernando – a man who was also called “Monico”, though he reportedly did not prefer that name (see police sketch below). This second Fernando – who we will refer to as Fernando #2, apparently met Marina at a park near the family home in Bakersfield. Margarita remembers her cousin Esther saying that she believed Fernando #2 was “shady”, and she did not believe his real name was Fernando.

But this Fernando #2 wore fancy clothes and was last seen driving a large SUV as he was taking Marina and the girls to Ontario, California to “a better life.” Esther was adamantly opposed to the babies going with Marina and Fernando #2. Margarita recounted a conversation she had with Esther about the incident. “Esther says, I even got on my knees and I begged her please don’t take the girls, don’t take the girls,”. But Marina insisted that the girls were going with her and Fernando #2. Esther went to retrieve the girls’ clothing and birth certificates, but when she came back, they had left. Esther never saw Marina, Elizabeth or Jasmin again.

Who Killed Marina; Where Are Elizabeth & Jasmin?

The tire impressions at the murder scene in Mohave, Arizona are not consistent with the type of vehicle that Fernando #2 was driving when he drove away with Marina and her girls. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have been driving another vehicle. Esther assisted police in developing a sketch of Fernando #2, also known as Monico.

And because Marina was always returning to her ex-boyfriend, Fernando #1, there was some suspicion by the family that perhaps he could be involved. “That’s what we’re thinking. That’s what me and Esther were talking about. We think that she called Fernando (#1)”, said Margarita. “No matter where she went, she would always call and go back to Fernando #1. But Fernando #1 used to hit her, always used to beat her up.” Margarita said that she and Esther deduced that the reason Marina kept returning to Fernando #1 is because he always had a place for her to live.

Elizabeth and Jasmin

When we first reported this case, police told us that Marina had obtained social security numbers for her girls so that they could receive public assistance benefits, but there was never any activity under those accounts. When APB Cold Case first interviewed Inv. Miller, she believed that the girls could have been brought up under new identities. “They’re hopefully living and thriving as somebody else under different social security numbers,” said Miller in 2024 - and she was right!

DNA Evidence

As part of her follow-up work on the case, Inv. Miller submitted the biological evidence to the lab that was recovered from Marina’s skin during autopsy. This is one aspect of the decades-old case that holds more promise than it would have when Marina was murdered in 1989. DNA science at that time would not have been able to identify a genetic profile. But advances in recent years can amplify even the smallest of specimens, which offers promise for a significant break in the case. Miller said that she now has a DNA profile which is on file in CODIS, the national Combined DNA Identification System. So far, there have been no hits to that profile.

Time is typically the enemy to detectives in homicide cases. But in this investigation, the advancements in genetic genealogy became a friend to police. In recent years, open-source DNA databases allow anyone to upload their own DNA profiles to search for relatives. These resources are also being used by police to identify unknown human remains and to help locate missing persons.

UPDATE: Marina’s Missing Girls Finally Found

In 2025, a breakthrough occurred when investigators got a match on those DNA samples. It turned out that Jasmin and Elizabeth had been adopted by a family near Oxnard, California shortly after being left alone in a public bathroom at Colonia Park just days after their mother’s murder in Mohave County, Arizona.

The girls were unaware of their adoption until their teenage years when they simultaneously discovered the story of their abandonment in that park. One of the sisters, Tina (born as Jasmin), was actively seeking information about her birth parents, while the other, Melissa (born as Elizabeth), was less interested, believing they had been heartlessly dumped by their parents as infants.

Now in their mid-thirties, the sisters are beginning to reconnect with their birth mother’s family as they also learn about the details surrounding her murder.

New Leads

Now, with new information about where, when and how the girls were found at Colonia Park in Oxnard, new leads are emerging about the circumstances surrounding their abandonment. Two Hispanic men (no further description), and a woman dressed in a long red skirt and white boots were seen during that time in a black mini pickup truck. Police are interested in the connections between Oxnard and Bakersfield in California, and the location in Mohave County, Arizona where Marina was tragically killed. Who were those people? Inv. Miller wants to speak with anyone who can shed light on any of this new information.

Theory

Inv. Miller told APB Cold Case that the events which led to Marina’s murder are truly unknown, but she speculates that Marina’s spirited and carefree lifestyle may have caused her to meet up with a person or people that resulted in her murder. “I think she left her daughters with somebody; she hooked up with these people and her activities got a little out of hand, and that led to her demise,” said Miller.

Share Your Tips

Inv. Miller continues to work the case, hoping to get an answer to ‘who killed Marina Ramos?’ She is thankful to all those who have assisted her and previous detectives in the investigation: Marina’s family, including Margarita, and Esther who recently passed away, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

If you have any information about the murder of Marina Ramos or the circumstances of the abandonment of Elizabeth or Jasmin contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753.

To listen to the podcast episode, click button below and for photographs, timeline and Who’s Who, visit apbcoldcase.com

Listen now

© 2025 The Spawn Group, LLC; All rights reserved

CITATIONS:

[1] Placerville Mountain Democrat; Nissensohn sentenced to death; 6/11/2014, p. 1

Police artist sketch – Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Crime Scene photo - Mohave County Sheriff’s Office

Who’s Who – Ramos family photos provided, used with permission

By former Police Chief Mark Spawn

One of my mentors as a new cop in upstate, New York was Lt. Larry Mullen (Fulton PD/Ret.). A former military man (U.S. Army 1963-1966), he exuded professionalism. I was fortunate to work on his crew in my early years at Fulton PD. He retired in the 1980’s and has since relocated to Florida. Each year around Christmas, he shares the story of one of the most memorable times of his career – the delivery of twins. But on that fateful Christmas of 1974, the joy of bringing new life into the world was preceded by the carnage of a multi-fatal head-on DWI crash, as well as a separate accident that critically injured a State Trooper, both crashes occurring in the hours preceding the maternity call.

Lt. Mullen remembered, “When we came on duty for the midnight shift, we were all told that a beloved State Trooper had been injured while investigating an accident.” Trooper Larry Wood (NYSP Fulton) had been struck in the head by the mirror of a passing truck. “That was heartbreaking,” said Mullen, saying that Trooper Wood was well-known in the region and liked by all.

Mullen went on patrol for the Christmas shift, ready for whatever holiday calls awaited him and his colleagues. He told me, “It was just around midnight when we got called to the city limits, finding a two-car wreck. A drunk driver struck a vehicle head-on, killing the occupants – a young mother along with her three children ranging in age from 1 to 5 years old, and her grandfather. “They were incinerated, not even recognizable as human,” Mullen recalled. He said that the crash occurred just feet outside of the jurisdiction of Fulton PD, so they awaited the State Police who came to investigate the crash. The DWI driver sustained a broken leg, he recalled. While on the scene of the gruesome collision, Mullen said he received a radio call for a woman in labor on the other side of the city. “I broke away from the crash scene and went to the Clark home. When I ran in the front door, the husband was in panic telling me, ‘she’s going to have twins!’” Mullen said that Sgt. Arlen Cline (Fulton PD) arrived on the scene, and they both tended to the mother who was laying on the couch in the living room next to the Christmas tree. “One of the things I still remember, aside from knocking a few ornaments off their Christmas tree, was how calm Sgt. Cline was. He positioned himself at the mother’s feet and delivered the first baby.” Mullen continued, “He noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, and without signaling any concern, he unwrapped the cord and stepped aside.” Mullen said that Cline never displayed any fret over the umbilical cord. “Then, I knelt down by the mother’s feet, and very soon, I delivered the second baby. We took a blanket and wrapped up the mother and two babies, one under each of her arms, and carried them to the back seat of a patrol car.” Mullen remembered that there were no ambulances available because of the multi-fatal crash, so police quickly whisked the family to the Fulton hospital less than a mile away. The maternity hospital in the region was in Oswego, about 12 miles from Fulton, but the emergency room staff checked the mother and babies at the urging of the police. By this time, an ambulance had arrived at the ER from the previous crash, and promptly took the mother and babies to the Oswego Hospital.

For Larry Mullen, the memories of these events are as sharp today as they were 47 years ago: the critical injury of a friend and fellow officer, the horrific tragedy of a family’s loss, and the joyous birth of two healthy babies. “It’s something you don’t forget. That night, we went from one extreme to another,” said Mullen.

Thousands of first responders will be protecting and serving communities across the nation this holiday season just as Officer Larry Mullen and Sgt. Arlen Cline did almost half a century ago. Cops, firefighters and EMTs will be protecting, helping, and consoling our citizens. Some will wear the emotional scars from gruesome crime scenes and the aftermath of accidents; life as a first responder is an emotional roller coaster, and we all have different ways to handle those stresses. Always remember that there are peers, groups and organizations that are ready to help when a first responder needs help, even if it is just a friendly ear.

Listen to the Podcast: Christmas in the Trenches [CLICK HERE]

First Responder Wellness – resources here; National Alliance on mental Illness/NAMI here

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC

June 3^rd 1998 was windy and overcast in central New York, but the weather did not dampen the spirits of Marla Ware who had invited some friends over that evening to celebrate her upcoming 35^th birthday. Little did she know, she had only days to live and that one of her party guests would become a focus of the police investigation into her death, the circumstances of which are bizarre.

Who was Marla Ware?

She grew up as Marla Greene in Oswego County, New York. Her father was a tenant farmer, said her brother Marc Greene. Their parents came from prior marriages - his father already had 4 children, and his mother bringing 2 children into the new family that would result in three more children. “I always joked about us being the 3 M’s – because it’s Marlene, Marc, and Marla,” said Marc.

But when Marla was 5 years old, her parents divorced and that was the beginning of Marla’s downfall, said Marc. “She (Marla) was bounced back and forth between the two of them. She lived with my mother for a while down in Florida, and we had to go down and pick her up and bring her back to New York,” he added.

Marla struggled throughout her life and eventually got involved with drugs and alcohol, according to her brother. She didn’t have steady employment that early summer of 1998, but she had been able to get into that apartment and according to friends, she always kept it neat and tidy.

Birthday Party 1 – June 3

At the birthday party Marla hosted at her one-bedroom[1] apartment were a small group of friends, according to Oswego Police Lt. Bryan Thompson who is handling the case today. He told APB Cold Case that one of the guests mentioned by witnesses was a man named Raymond Newton. “People that we spoke to… gave his name as the 2 of them being romantically linked, on and off again, seeing each other,” said Lt. Thompson.

During the night something happened that drew the attention of other party-goers, said Thompson, Ray Newton, then 40 years old, asked Marla to be his steady, full-time girlfriend, and he wanted to move in with her. “She basically says ‘no’ in front of all these people.

And, all the reports were that Mr. Newton was very upset and didn’t talk to anybody the rest of the night, whereas, before he was being very boisterous and talking to the other guests and had no issues,” added Thompson.

Birthday Party 2 – June 4

The next day, Marla celebrated with another male friend named Frances “Fritz” Dann. He was 30 years older than Marla, and the characterization of their relationship is somewhat ambiguous. In the summer of 1998 he would have been 65 years old.

Frances Dann was alternately described as former boyfriend; on-again, off-again boyfriend; and ‘kind of’ boyfriend to Marla.

So, even though she’d already had one get-together with friends, Frances Dann stopped by with some food and a small cake to celebrate with her, said Marc Greene, recalling a phone conversation that his wife had with Marla around that time.

Stolen Money Order

We don’t know if Marla mentioned this to anyone other than police, but at some recent point she had reported a money order as stolen. Lt. Thompson said that on June 6^th, there were reports that Newton was trying to get people to cash a money order. Shortly afterward, Lt. Thompson said that Newton stole a vehicle in Syracuse. That date of June 6^th would become important later on.

Newton Seen at Marla’s Apartment Building

Lt. Thompson said that during the evening of June 9th or 10^th, 1998 a man was entering Marla’s apartment building to visit her when he encountered Ray Newton coming down the stairs.

Newton told the man that Marla was not feeling well and that they should leave, and both reportedly did, said police. But during that encounter, the man told police that Newton had his hands in his pockets and never shook the man’s hand, something uncharacteristic of Newton, he said.

Other “Boyfriend” Looking for Marla; Landlord Checks the Apartment

Marc Greene told APB Cold Case that Dann had stopped at his house, presumably in June or July 1998. “He never stopped without Marla, and says, have you seen your sister? I said no…” Apparently, he had been unable to reach her and was concerned. But, said Marc, Dann stopped by again a few days later. But by the fourth time that Dann stopped by Marc’s home still asking about Marla, Marc reached out to his other sister, Rosamond, and they called Marla’s landlord and asked if he would check on Marla. On July 23, 1998 the landlord reportedly went to the Mohawk Street apartment, noticing clutter and a bad smell that he attributed to garbage and a sink full of dirty dishes, according to a report in the Syracuse Post Standard.[2] Asked about the landlord checking on Marla’s apartment, Lt. Bryan Thompson said, “He actually went in and did a check, noticed a smell, but for whatever reason, just didn’t notice what was going on…. and left the apartment at that point.”

Family Goes to Apartment; Body Found

More days pass and still, no one has heard from Marla. Eleven days after the landlord checked her apartment, family members decide to go and check for themselves. It was now the height of summer in Upstate New York, which can be very hot and humid, and 1998 was no exception. When Marc and his sister Rosamond arrived, they were met with a foul stench inside the door. Marc recognized the odor of death, he said. He asked the landlord if Marla had a pet, and the landlord answered, ‘no’.  Marc remembered telling the landlord, “well, it’s a possibility she’s in here because from what I’m smelling, it lines up with it.” Marc made his way through the small apartment. “So, I continued in through to the bedroom, and… all the sheets and everything were pulled off the bed, the blankets and everything,” remembered Marc. “And I noticed 2 suitcases and a duffel bag on top of the pile of blankets.” He continued farther into the room and made the startling discovery. “Up in one corner I could see what looked to be a hand sticking out from under the blanket.” Marc knew that it was Marla, and he immediately called police.

Police responded to the scene on the corner of Liberty Street and West Mohawk Street, near the Oswego High School. Lt. Thompson said that circumstances caused suspicion right away. “She was covered with several pillows and suitcases, and a sheet that was over the top of that. So immediately, it’s obviously a suspicious death,” said Thompson.

Police believe that Marla died around June 5^th, 1998. And by the time her body was discovered on August 3^rd, there was extensive decomposition.

No Official Cause of Death

Because of the condition of the body, Lt. Thompson said the medical examiner was unable to determine the cause and manner of Marla Ware’s death.

Police are unsure what happened to Marla but her apartment is treated as a crime scene. Evidence technicians comb through the apartment, securing evidence and taking photos and video of the scene. Simultaneously, detectives are interviewing neighbors, and the family members who found Marla’s body. But they also want to speak with anyone who was with Marla in her last hours or days.

Police Examine Newton

Because of the witness accounts from the gathering on June 3^rd, police began looking into Ray Newton. There were some things that stood out in his background; Lt. Thompson said there are four unrelated investigations that occurred after Marla’s death which are “reference guide” to his behavior.

The first incident from 5 years before Marla’s death involved a brutal assault that was initially charged as an attempted murder.[3] In 1993, just outside of Oswego, NY, Newton and his then live-in girlfriend had been out for the evening, leaving a child with a babysitter, said Thompson. When they returned home, there was an argument in which Newton beat the girlfriend severely. 

According to a report in the Syracuse Herald-Journal, the woman sustained broken ribs, a broken nose, collarbone, sinus cavity, eye socket, along with internal bleeding in the head. Lt. Thompson said that Newton allegedly threatened to kill the babysitter if she told anyone about the assault. It was also reported that Newton left the girlfriend without medical attention for 24 hours. The victim, who had slipped into a coma, spent 6 weeks in intensive care.

Reports say that Newton was initially charged with attempted murder, but accepted a plea bargain to felony assault and reckless endangerment. Prior to sentencing Newton’s girlfriend pleaded with the judge not to send Newton to prison, insisting that she believed his story that she slipped and fell rather than being assaulted[4]. But Newton was sentenced to a year in jail.

Lt. Thompson also told APB Cold Case about the 2006 assault of a woman who Newton was dating. “Mr. Newton actually slashed the throat of a girl he was dating with what they believed was either a small knife or some sort of crystal that he wore on his neck,” said Thompson. The woman was taken to the hospital and survived, he said. But curiously, after the woman had been taken to the hospital Newton remained at the residence even though they did not live together,” added Thompson. One published report said that Newton was convicted of reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon after a trial.[5]

Then, in 2015, Ray Newton was involved in another incident in Oswego, New York at the Newton family homestead, said police. Newton’s mother had reportedly sustained a leg injury and required assistance. Lt. Thompson said that Mrs. Newton had asked for something to drink from her son. “At that point, he very, very calmly walks in, drags her to the floor and tries to suffocate her with a pillow.”

And in 2020, Newton would be arrested after an investigation into a burglary at the home of a member of the National Guard who had been deployed to New York City during the pandemic. Speaking about Ray Newton, Lt. Thompson said, “He ends up burglarizing the residence, stealing various items and actually lives in her house for an unknown amount of time.” Because Newton was not caught inside the apartment, detectives had to piece together various clues. Among them, hours of surveillance camera footage from neighbors. “During interviews with people in the neighborhood, this common thing kept coming up across interviews, they’ve been seeing what they called ‘the man in the trench coat’ in the area. A guy walking around in a trench coat and they’re not sure who he is,” said Lt. Thompson. As police viewed the footage, Thompson and Lt. Aldo Bonacchi both recognize Ray Newton. “Some of the video that we reviewed actually shows Mr. Newton coming out of and going into the residence, sometimes with some of the items that were stolen,” he added.

In addition to seeing Newton on video, crime scene technicians secured swabs from brickwork surrounding the window they believed the burglar entered the home. Those efforts proved fruitful – police got a positive DNA hit on those swabs. It was Ray Newton. Thompson said that the case went to trial and that Newton was found guilty. State prison records indicate that Newton was sentenced to 15 years[6]. At the time, District Attorney Greg Oakes said that Newton, was “…incapable of change,” and that “…for the safety of the community, he needs to be locked away for the remainder of his life.”[7]

Pattern?

Lt. Thompson said there are other clues which lead them to believe that Marla’s apartment was being used while her body lay decomposing in her bedroom.

In the 2006 throat-slashing incident, police said that Newton stayed at the residence after the victim was taken to the hospital; but they also suspect that he may have been staying at Marla’s apartment after she died and before her body was found.

This pattern of staying where he was not supposed to be appears to go back several years. A news report from 1980 said that Newton, then 21, was discovered in an unpaid hotel room. He was reportedly found in the company of a 15-year-old who’d been reported missing. He was charged with theft of services and endangering the welfare of a child.[8] 

In the burglary case of the National Guard member, Newton had allegedly sold or gave away some of the victim’s personal property. Marla’s brother, Marc, said that as he was cleaning up Marla’s apartment in the days following the discovery of her body, he noticed that some things appeared to be missing. “I didn’t find one speck of jewelry. And I mean, she had some of my grandmother’s and some of my mother’s jewelry, and stuff that she had bought. That, you might say, was a hobby of hers. She liked going and looking at jewelry and stuff,” said Marc.

Police Question Newton

Lt. Thompson said that Newton was in the county jail for the forgery of that money order that Marla Ware had reported stolen, as well as an unrelated vehicle theft. Lt. Thompson said that Newton was upset that he was being interviewed and was dismissive of the detectives. But when detectives floated the idea of a scenario of how Marla may have died and that Newton may have continued living there, Lt. Thompson said that Newton ‘did not outwardly deny it.’

It may seem beyond belief  that someone could live in a closed-up apartment with a decomposing body lying on the floor of a bedroom. But police say that they have witnesses who told them they heard footsteps, a flushing toilet, and running water in the days which, according to Lt. Thompson, Marla was believed to have been dead. “The apartment itself was in stages of disarray, and, all accounts from witnesses are that Marla was very orderly and clean, she kept a very clean house.” Thompson said that it appeared a couch appeared to have been repositioned to watch a TV that had also been moved from another location. “I’m guessing that the TV itself may have been in Marla’s bedroom and he couldn’t stay in there any longer so he brought it out to the living room and moved the couch.”

The Man on the Stairs

As previously mentioned, on the evening of June 9^th or 10^th, 1998 a witness told police that he went to Marla’s apartment building to visit her. But when he got to the exterior door of her apartment, he encountered Ray Newton. Lt. Thompson described the witnesses’ account, saying, “Mr. Newton comes down the stairs. Mr. Newton has his hands in his pockets when he comes down, tells [witness] that Marla’s not feeling well, she doesn’t want any visitors, and we should leave.” Thompson said that the two men walked to the sidewalk where there was a concrete drop-off and both men jumped down. But the witness describes that Newton kept his hands in his pockets, rather than using them to protect his balance, described Lt. Thompson. When the two men went their separate ways, Newton did not shake the witness’s hand, said Thompson, something uncharacteristic of Newton’s normal behavior.

In addition to the neighbor’s report of noises coming from Marla’s apartment Thompson also said, “I believe there was one report of a neighbor who found a male either climbing up or coming off of the balcony of Marla’s apartment…” Who was the man on the stairs? Could it have been Ray Newton?

Wallet Found in the Couch

After police released the apartment back to the family, Marla’s brother made a discovery. Marc shared, “As I was cleaning out the apartment, in the couch under the cushion was a wallet.” Marc said that he carefully placed the wallet into a plastic bag and promptly took his find to police headquarters.

Lt. Thompson said that wallet belonged to a male friend of Marla’s who had last seen her about 6 months before she was last seen. Police said that receipts in the wallet confirmed the man’s version of events.

What about Frances Dann?

We’ve talked a lot about Ray Newton’s history. What about Frances Dann? He was one of the last known people to see Marla alive. Asked about the relationship between Francis Dann and Marla, her brother said, “If Marla needed some money or for something she’d always call him. He would come down, take her places, and they’d go and do things together…he was kind of a boyfriend, but it wasn’t (an) exclusive type deal.”

Lt. Thompson told APB Cold Case that Frances Dann was questioned by Oswego detectives on August 5^th after the discovery of Marla’s body. According to police, Dann said that the last time he saw Marla was on June 4^th; and while it is likely that police examined Dann’s story, it also appears that detectives had cause to focus on the Ray Newton theory. Perhaps the physical evidence will bring clarity to the picture…

Does the Pillow Hold the Answer?

Among the items of evidence that police have in the Marla Ware death investigation is a pillow. Lt. Thompson, pointing to the incident in which Newton allegedly smothered his mother with a pillow, believes it may be their best physical evidence in the case. “So that pillow has actually been sent off to the New York State lab to get it re-tested, especially with the theory that, if he grabbed onto it on both sides to smother her, there’s potential there could be some DNA evidence there.”

…if he grabbed onto it on both sides to smother her, there’s potential there could be some DNA evidence there.

The passage of more than 25 years can make it more difficult for detectives to get answers – memories fade, witnesses and family members move away, some have died. But one thing that has improved is DNA science. In the years following Marla’s death forensic technology has improved to the point where technicians can identify traces of DNA, something that was not possible on the same level in the year that Marla died.

Identifying DNA from crime scene samples such as in the case of the burglary of the National Guard member’s home in Oswego in 2020 are now routine, and that technology can also be used on evidence from old cases.

Police are awaiting the results of DNA testing on the pillow from Marla’s apartment.

Ray Newton

Newton remains incarcerated in a New York State prison. His current sentence expires in 2036, but he is eligible for conditional release in 2034.[9]

Lt. Thompson said that Newton has been in touch with Oswego Police in recent years. He and another investigator received cryptic letters from Newton which Thompson believes is Newton’s way of letting them know how much time he has left in prison.

Family Still Seeking Resolution

More than 25 years have passed since Marla died. Her brother, Marc, said that the family still wants answers and it would be a relief to get some resolution; and he fondly remembers how Marla would visit and play with his kids. “She was taken from us way too early. My kids loved her,” Marc said.

Police Tips Hotline

If you or anyone you know has information about the death of Marla Ware, call the Oswego Police Department Tips Line at 315-342-8131.

Click button to listen to the podcast:

The Death of Marla Ware

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; All rights reserved

[1] The Post Standard; Oswego Woman Suffered Mental, Drug Problems; 8/6/1998, p.5

[2] Post Standard; Oswego Woman Suffered Mental, Drug Problems; 8/6/1998, p. 5

[3] Syracuse Herald Journal; Scriba man admits assault that injured his girlfriend; 2/16/1994, p. 153

[4] Woman Cries in Court for Man Who Beat Her; The Post Standard; 4/28/1994, p. 25

[5] The Post-Standard; Man convicted in slashing of ex-girlfriend’s throat; 2/13/2007, p. 49

[6] New York State Dept. of Corrections and Community Supervision; Accessed 8/28/2024

[7] Press release; County of Oswego; Oswego County Jury Convicts Newton of Burglary in the Second Degree and Petit Larceny; undated; https://www.oswegocounty.com/news_detail_T17_R1320.php

[8] Syracuse Herald-Journal; Trespass nets four; May 28, 1980; p. 5

[9] New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; Incarcerated lookup;

The Evolution of DNA

Since the 1980’s DNA has been a game-changer for law enforcement. Whether it’s identifying the body of a John or a Jane Doe or connecting a suspect to a crime scene, DNA has transformed the way police, prosecutors and juries look at evidence. Crime laboratories no longer require pristine, high quality biological samples in order to make an identification. With advances in technology, even old, degraded specimens can be identified. Then, in 2018, a pivotal case would signal another turning point for the way DNA can solve crimes.

The Golden State Killer

On April 24, 1980 Joseph James Deangelo was identified as the Golden State Killer, a man whose identity had eluded police for decades and who had been only known by that moniker along with others including; the East Area Rapist, the Visalia Ransacker, and the Diamond Knot Killer. Deangelo was identified because his DNA, which was found at various crime scene over the years, was connected to familial DNA that had been uploaded to an open-source genealogy website. It was this marriage of forensic DNA and investigative genetic genealogy (also called forensic genetic genealogy) that has changed the face of police investigations.

With the popularity of consumer DNA test kits, anyone who was interested in exploring their own DNA could search for family connections with others who also shared their DNA. As the number of people participating grew, more and more were able to find connections. With all of this genetic information now publicly available, law enforcement began querying DNA profiles from various crime scenes that were never matched to known criminal DNA samples in systems such as CODIS, the Combined DNA Information system managed by the FBI.

Simply put, it was a law enforcement search of open-source DNA compared with crime scene DNA from the Golden State Killer in 2018 that resulted in the identification of Deangelo, a man who had terrorized several California communities for years.[1] One of his sadistic crimes was the double murder of a couple in Ventura, California in March 1980. Charlene Smith, 28, and her husband Lyman Smith 38, were asleep in bed when they were wakened by an intruder who ordered Charlene to tie her husband’s wrists behind him. The intruder then bound Charlene’s hands and Lyman’s ankles before forcing Charlene to another room where her brutally raped her. He brought Charlene back to the master bedroom where he then bludgeoned both victims to death. Their bodies would be found three days later by Lyman’s 12-year-old son. At the time police questioned whether this could be the work of the East Area Rapist.[2] Detectives looked at several potential persons of interest early on in the investigation, but eventually the case went cold.

Genetic Genealogy Emerges

By 2018 the crime laboratory at the California Department of Justice had been working on the unknown DNA from some of the crime scenes when they identified Deangelo who would have been 34 years old at the time of the Lyman and Charlene Smith murders. Tobi Kirschmann previously worked at the California crime lab but had moved to New York State when the revelation of the Golden State Killer was announced. She contacted her former colleagues to find out how they made the connection. “Nobody knew anything.” But once Deangelo had been arraigned, Kirschmann reached out to another contact in the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office who told her it was genetic genealogy that provided the identification of DeAngelo. Kirschmann was told that a team of 5 technicians made the connection, taking 63 days to find him, she said. Kirschmann, recognizing the enormity of this event remembered this as “a game changer.”

Enter investigative genetic genealogy, also called forensic genetic genealogy, described by author Clair Glynn in an article in the National Library of Medicine as a combination of the fields of forensic genetics with both genetic and conventional genealogy.[3] In its simplest terms, genetic samples can be compared to determine how much DNA is in common – the more in common, the closer the relationship.

Prior to investigative genetic genealogy, DNA samples from crime scenes were being compared through state or regional DNA databases or through CODIS, the national DNA database. But with the advent of open-source DNA databases for public use such as GED match, Family Tree DNA, and DNA Justice, the possibility of matching DNA profiles to family lines became a reality. If a crime scene sample did not match to a profile in CODIS, it could be compared to DNA profiles in the open-source systems, looking for those entries which shared DNA in common which could then indicate some type of familial relationship. Depending on the amount of DNA shared, the specimens might indicate a close relationship such as a parent, child, or sibling, or perhaps a more distant relationship such as a cousin. For detectives, even though they might not be able to identify the actual person within a family tree, by knowing what that familial connection presents a substantial clue.

In some cases, it may confirm a theory that already existed in a case, or it may present a whole new theory.

Scenario 1 – Jane Doe in Bensalem, PA

One example of how genetic genealogy allows police to connect the dots in a cold case investigation can be found in the APB Cold Case podcast about a Jane Doe found in an abandoned industrial well in Bensalem, Pennsylvania in 1988. The episode, The Girl in the Well details the steps that Detective Chris McMullen took to find the identity of the girl whose skeletal remains indicated that she was a white female, about 5’ 4”, 110 pounds, and about 17-23 years old.

Det. Chris McMullin chased down several leads, including the case of a girl who went missing 5 years earlier in 1983, methodically collecting DNA reference samples from family members of the girl, but there was no match. Frustrated but not giving up, McMullin looked at other reports of missing girls, one of them, 22-year-old Jeanette Tambe who also disappeared from Bensalem in the mid-80’s. He located her brother Joe Tambe who provided a DNA swab. McMullin sent the brother’s DNA sample to the lab and after a few months he received a call from the Center for Human Identification. “They said, ‘we got a mitochondrial hit on your family reference DNA sample for Joseph Tambe,” recalled McMullin. The exhilarated detective felt that he had finally gotten an answer to the identity of his cold case victim, the girl in the well. But his celebration was short-lived. “Then they told me (the DNA) was matched to a Jane Doe in Buena Township, New Jersey…,” he said.  The Jane Doe in the New Jersey case was Jeanette Tambe, her body had been found in August 1986 at a rural construction site for a new home. (Listen to the APB Cold Case podcast Tortured for details of the Jeanette Tambe murder investigation).

The years ticked by but the case was not forgotten by Det. McMullin. In 2012, there been enough advances in DNA technology for a laboratory to develop a partial genetic DNA profile on his Jane Doe. Then in 2019, one year after the pivotal case of the Golden State Killer that opened the door to genetic genealogy, Jane Doe’s profile was uploaded to GED match, but unfortunately, the sample was found to be insufficient to develop a family tree. But that would only be a temporary setback. McMullin began working with noted crime scene specialist and genealogist Yolanda McClary who began building a family tree using open-source DNA. McClary identified a first cousin who was living in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. Det. McMullin found a telephone number for that cousin and made the call. But he would learn that this cousin was actually adopted. As much as she wanted to help, she regrettably told the detective she just didn’t have the knowledge. But a few days later, McMullin received another message from Yolanda McClary. “She sent me 2 names: Linda Todd and Joseph Todd, who both lived in Philadelphia,” remembered McMullin. “She said your Jane Doe is their sister.” McMullin was awestruck. “That’s, that’s a pretty powerful statement,” he said.  So, the detective called the family to learn if they had a sister who disappeared around 1985. Joseph Todd tells McMullin that his sister Lisa disappeared at that time. McMullin recalled some of that conversation with Lisa Todd’s brother, “He said, you found my sister? I said, I believe we did.” The identity of the girl in the well was finally confirmed to be that of Lisa Todd.

It was later learned that Lisa Todd had been reported missing from, Philadelphia by her family, but for some unknown reason her missing person report was apparently purged by Philadelphia police on Lisa’s 18^th birthday. Det. McMullin believes her death to be a homicide. “I have a very good theory as to who killed her. I think placed her there, hid her there, because they were aware of that location,” said McMullin. “She wasn’t just dropped down that hole, she was placed there,” he added. Asked about the suspect’s identity, McMullin said, “He knows he’s a suspect – I’ll tell you that. That’s all I’ll say at this point.”

Scenario 2 – John Doe in Bethlehem, NY

Another case that underscores the value of genetic genealogy in police work is a case from Bethlehem, New York. In the Spring of 1981 a decomposed body was found in a field. There was no identification with the body and the man did not match the description of any open missing persons reports in the region.

The case was investigated by Bethlehem NY police at the time of occurrence, but without a cause of death and no identification the case went cold. This investigation brought with it a number of obstacles in locating physical evidence, original reports, regulatory and legislative blocks, and more. (Listen to the details in the APB Cold Case episode Dead Man’s Cove.)

Commander Adam Hornick of the Bethlehem, NY Police Department was in charge of the cold case and began reconstructing the missing case file as well as the evidence – in this case – the jaw bones of the deceased that had been in storage for 41 years. Those bones would hold the key to the identification of the John Doe. Hornick with private laborary and the FBI who developed a DNA profile from the bones. Hornick said the FBI started building a family tree based on his John Doe DNA profile. One day, Commander Hornick received a call from the FBI saying they had a lead.  Hornick remembered the agent telling him, We’re at fourth cousins, we’re moving the tree up.”

Hornick said that they found a family member near Boston, Massachusetts in her 80’s, and that everyone else that had been identified in the family tree at that point was deceased. So, the FBI went out to speak with that one relative. Hornick said, while there was not an exact kinship ratio, they were confident that this was a close relation to their John Doe. According to Hornick, the woman told agents, “this sounds like my nephew, Franklin Feldman. Nobody in our family’s seen him in 50 years.”

For the first time in more than 4 decades, the man who was found at the corner of a farmer’s field had a name other than John Doe. Ultimately the FBI obtained DNA swabs from an aunt and first cousin which confirmed the identification. Family members explained to police that Franklin was independent and had not been seen by family members since the 1970’s. His cause of death is undetermined and remains an open case for Bethlehem police.

The Power of Genetic Genealogy

The cases of Lisa Todd and Franklin Feldman are just two examples of the power of forensic genetic genealogy. Today, more labs are acquiring updated technology; more forensic genealogists are being trained to interpret this information; and open-source ancestry databases are continuously being populated with even more family DNA; all of which is helping people find family connections. But it’s also helping law enforcement in identifying human remains, and in solving crimes.

Said Tobi Kirschmann, “It takes about a year to 18 months to solve one of these crimes once you start the DNA work. And there are thousands of cases. I just want to reiterate to the investigator that it all begins with a phone call... And then it will happen, magic will happen from there.”

Summary

Since the 1980’s when DNA made its first appearance in crime scene forensics, the science has continued to evolve. In the early days substantial, quality specimens were required to make an identification. Today, old, degraded and microscopic samples can be identified. With the advent of investigative genetic genealogy making its revolutionary appearance in 2018, there’s no telling when the science will go from here.

Click here to listen to the podcast:  Spotlight: DNA

You can find links to DNA Finders and other information in our show notes at www.apbcoldcase.com

©2024 The Spawn Group, LLC – All rights reserved

References:

Law enforcement agencies seeking guidance on he DNA cases: contact Tobi Kirschmann at DNAFindgers.org

FBI Interim Guidelines

DNA glossary

Understanding DNA Terminology:

Sequencing – described by Tobi Kirschmann as the analysis of a DNA sample; there are 2 kinds: STR and SNP

STR - STR analysis is the current method of choice for DNA testing in crime laboratories and yields results that are nearly equivalent to individualization. The keys to the success of STR typing are multiplexing and the ability to label nucleotides with fluorescent tags. It should be noted that early work on STRs did not involve multiplexing, but rather visualized the separated fragments by the use of silver staining or a special type of green dye. (6/16/2023)[4]

SNP or ‘SNIP’ – single nucleotide polymorphism; a quick and easy way to analyze a sample, said Kirschmann, where specific markers are examined to compare one person to another, rather than performing whole genome sequencing .

Mitochondrial - mtDNA refers to mitochondrial DNA which is passed from mother to child. While men receive mitochondrial DNA from their mother, they do not pass it on to their children. Testing mtDNA allows for investigation into your maternal line and can help identify living relatives whose mtDNA is similar to yours, as well as ancient migration routes your maternal ancestors may have taken.[5]

Investigative Genetic Genealogy or Forensic Genetic Genealogy – “Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) has fast become a popular tool in criminal investigations since it first emerged in 2018. FGG is a novel investigatory tool that has been applied to hundreds of unresolved cold cases in the United States to generate investigative leads and identify unknown individuals. Consumer DNA testing and the public’s increased curiosity about their own DNA and genetic ancestry, have greatly contributed to the availability of human genetic data. Genetic genealogy has been a field of study/interest for many years as both amateur and professional genetic genealogists use consumer DNA data to explore genetic connections in family trees. FGG encompasses this knowledge by applying advanced sequencing technologies to forensic DNA evidence samples and by performing genetic genealogy methods and genealogical research, to produce possible identities of unknown perpetrators of violent crimes and unidentified human remains. This combination of forensic genetics, genetic genealogy, and genealogical research has formed a new subdiscipline within the forensic sciences…” [6]

CODIS – The Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, blends forensic science and computer technology into a tool that enables federal, state, and local forensic laboratories to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically, thereby linking serial violent crimes to each other and to known-offenders. Using the National DNA Index System of CODIS, the National Missing Persons DNA Database also helps identify missing and unidentified individuals.[7]

CODIS and NDIS – CODIS and the National DNA Index System -  https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/dna-fingerprint-act-of-2005-expungement-policy/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet

Rapid DNA – Guide to All Things Rapid DNA (FBI)  https://le.fbi.gov/file-repository/guide-to-all-things-rapid-dna-4-10-2024.pdf/view

[1] https://orangecountyda.org/press/joseph-james-deangelo-jr-sentenced-to-11-consecutive-life-terms-without-the-possibility-of-parole-for-13-murders-and-an-additional-consecutive-life-term-for-13-kidnappings/

[2] https://www.thequesterfiles.com/murder_3___4_--_lyman___charle.html

[3] Glynn, Claire L.; Bridging Disciplines to Form a New One: The Emergence of Forensic Genetic Genealogy;

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9407302/; August 2022; Accessed 10/8/2024

[4] National Institute of Justice; Crime Scene and DNA Basics for Forensic Analysts;  https://nij.ojp.gov/nij-hosted-online-training-courses/crime-scene-and-dna-basics-forensic-analysts/history-and-types-forensic-dna-testing/short-tandem-repeats-str

[5] Family Tree DNA - https://www.familytreedna.com/products/mt-dna

[6] Claire L. Glynn; Bridging Disciplines to Form a New One: The Emergence of Forensic Genetic Genealogy (abstract). Published in National Library of Medicine; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9407302/; Accessed 10/8/2024

[7] https://le.fbi.gov/science-and-lab/biometrics-and-fingerprints/codis-2

Her Last Known Hours

Leona Kinsey, a 45-year-old mother and grandmother was at home on Hall Street in La Grande, Oregon when she likely received a telephone call on Monday, October 25, 1999 from someone she knew. According to reports, Leona then made a call to her friend Nancy saying she was going to meet ‘John’ at a nearby grocery store parking lot and that she would stop by to visit Nancy afterward. But Nancy never got that visit. And as hours elapsed into days Nancy became concerned about her friend. On October 28 she called La Grande police to report Leona Kinsey missing. In addition to the report made by Nancy, Leona’s former boyfriend and her daughter, Carolyn also made reports to police.

Leona’s Home and Vehicle Searched

La Grande, located in Eastern Oregon, is a small town of about 21,000 people which increases by a couple thousand when college is in session. Leona lived alone in a single wide trailer with her black Labrador Retriever, Libby. As friends and police checked for Leona at her home, what they found was concerning – her car was gone, but her eyeglasses, purse, pager, and cigarettes were still there – and Libby was also there, the beloved pet she treated as if she were her child.

Knowing that her mom didn’t have her eyeglasses concerned Carolyn. “My mom couldn’t see without her glasses. She couldn’t watch TV without her glasses, she would not drive without her glasses.” And, Carolyn added, she would not have left home for any considerable amount of time without her dog. But nothing appeared disturbed inside the home. “Nothing was out of place. But what was odd about it, some of her belongings that she would never leave the house without were there, like her purse.”

Leona’s missing car was a tan older model GMC Jimmy. At the time Carolyn thought that perhaps her mom was off visiting friends, or foraging in the mountains as she often enjoyed fishing, picking huckleberries and mushrooming. But even if that was the case, it was a little odd that she left her dog, eyeglasses and purse behind at home.

Her Car is Found

Nancy was driving by the grocery store a couple days later when she spotted Leona’s vehicle, remembered Carolyn. “That was really surprising and kind of a relief,” she added. “We were excited, this is over!” But her elation was short-lived - Leona was not in the store, and she never returned to her vehicle.

Police impounded and searched Leona’s GMC Jimmy looking for any clue that might shed light on what happened to her. Lt. Jason Hays of the La Grande Police Department told APB Cold Case, “There was nothing, no blood, no physical evidence in the car, nothing to indicate that there was a struggle or foul play in the car itself.”

Investigating People Close to Leona

As with any other mysterious disappearance, police detectives begin looking at the people closest to the missing person or victim. They explore Nancy and Leona’s 2 former boyfriends. According to Carolyn, her mom had recently split with one of those boyfriends following an argument. But after an investigation which included polygraph examinations, both Nancy and one boyfriend were cleared.

An earlier boyfriend was also investigated. Someone had commented on one of Carolyn’s Facebook posts about that former boyfriend who was reportedly acting strangely at the time of Leona’s disappearance. “He said that he had gone out looking for her in a well down Owsley Canyon Road and it got dark and he couldn’t find anything,” said Carolyn who added there was no follow-up with that man as to which well he referred to, and what his motivation was to go looking for Leona in the first place.

Leona’s Struggles

But there some difficulties in Leona’s life that brought a layer of concern to the investigation. She had suffered injuries from a couple of assaults including a broken leg and was prescribed pain medication which would escalate into an addiction to illicit drugs, including methamphetamine. Police wanted to interview those who may have been buying from or selling drugs to Leona. “This is where investigators had problems in the early onset,” said Lt. Hays. “Leona at the time was a pretty significant drug dealer. She was heavily involved in the use of methamphetamine as well. While Leona’s daughter agrees that her mother’s drug of choice was methamphetamine, she disagrees with the characterization of her mother being a large-scale dealer. “She often would get a little and sell a little to be able to pay for her own use,” said Carolyn, adding that she never knew her to be a big-time dealer.

The Man Leona was Supposed to Meet in the Parking Lot

Let’s go back to the man who Leona was supposed to meet in that grocery store parking lot on October 25, 1999, he was a man who was said to have once been a boyfriend of Leona, named Juan Pena Llamas. Lt. Hays said, “we had enough people say that he was involved in the illicit drug trade, mostly methamphetamine. We were told that he had connections to a nearby county which is the hub where our drugs come from, so this was all adding up.”

Was Juan Pena Llamas involved in Leona’s disappearance? Carolyn said she later learned of rumors that her mother was an informant for police. But Lt. Hays said Leona was not an informant, at least not for his police department. Regardless of whether Leona may have been providing information to police, if Llamas perceived that she was, could that have been a motive for him to silence her?

Obstacles in the Early Investigation

One of the problems detectives faced as they investigated Leona’s disappearance, particularly in the first months and years after she vanished, was that some people were not forthcoming when speaking with police. “The difficulties being that when we tried to interview those closest to her… they didn’t want to talk because they didn’t want to implicate themselves and their own drug activity at the time.”

Another problem was tracking her movements through technology. Even though there were cellular phones and surveillance cameras, those devices did not have the degree of technology as they do today. “We didn’t have GPS locators like we do … we didn’t have instant credit card data available right at our fingertips; businesses and homeowners have more security cameras now that solve more crimes for us, when that was pretty much nonexistent at the time,” said Lt. Hays. “So, we didn’t have physical evidence. We had to base our investigation off testimonial evidence. And nobody was talking about this case. Nobody was giving us information,” Hays added.

Theories

What happened to Leona Kinsey? Law enforcement and family members each have their own thoughts about what happened on October 25, 1999 when Leona was supposed to meet a man in the parking lot of Albertson’s grocery store in La Grande. Their theories are similar, but only to an extent. Lt. Hayes believes that something happened when Leona arrived at the Albertson’s parking lot and was taken away. Leona’s daughter Carolyn also suspects that her mother was taken by force, but that it was from outside her home, and that someone drove her mother’s GMC Jimmy to the grocery store parking lot where it was later found.

Both scenarios do seem to line up with the circumstances that are known about the case. Particularly, that there was no sign of a struggle or disturbance either in her home or her vehicle. Both Lt. Hays and Carolyn concede that Leona’s slight build, 5’ 3” and 110 pounds, could have made her an easy target. But Carolyn old APB Cold Case that her mother’s tenacity would have made her difficult to overpower. “My mom was such a fighter. I know it wasn’t easy. I know she didn’t go out without a fight,” she said.

Person of Interest?

So, there are theories as to what happened to Leona. But who was involved? One of the people who police spoke with, was that former boyfriend of Leona’s named Juan Pena Llamas.

Lt. Jason Hays said that Llamas was interviewed by police in the early days of the investigation. “He denied having any responsibility in her disappearance,’ said Lt. Hays. “He also lied to us, because he denied having any involvement in drug activity whatsoever, when we had enough people say that he was involved in the illicit drug trade.” Hays said police learned that Llamas had connections to a nearby county which was a hub in the supply of methamphetamine to La Grande.

As for the presence of Mexican cartels in La Grande, Hays said there is no direct connection, but rather, an indirect one from counties about 45 miles from La Grande. “Those are the hubs, that’s where the Mexican cartel is.” Hays said that local drug dealers would typically sell to their own smaller clientele. “It’s smarter that way, a little bit more secure from a drug dealer’s perspective. So a lot of our drug dealers would be dealers just enough to support their own habits. And what they would do, is they would collect money from their clients… and then they drive 45 miles. That’s where they meet the Mexican cartel drug dealers and get their drugs and then they bring it back.”

Leona’s daughter Carolyn said she first learned of “Mexican John” from Nancy who said that Leona was going to meet him in the Albertson’s grocery store parking lot.

Lt. Hays said that based on interviews he conducted, “…the consensus of information is that Leona owed the Mexican cartel money for drugs and they are responsible for her disappearance.” Police asked Llamas to submit to a polygraph examination, and he agreed. But when the time came for him to take the test, he failed to show up. Shortly afterward he was arrested and jailed, according to Hays. Then in 2006 while in jail, Llamas was deported to Mexico. Hays told APB Cold Case that he believes that Llamas is still alive and living somewhere near Manzanillo, Mexico. Hays continues to work with the FBI and hopes to arrange an interview with the elusive Llamas.

So was it the fact that Leona owed money to the cartel, or that Juan Pena Llamas feared that she was working with police? Either one of those scenarios could have resulted in something nefarious happening to Leona. But was Llamas a violent man?

Juanology

Lt. Jason Hays describes his investigation into the background of Juan Pena Llamas as ‘Juanology’. “I’ve interviewed ex-girlfriends that live 300 miles away from here, in that life that he lived prior to him living in our community,” said Hays. “When you look in his relationships with women, he was abusive. And, if he’s abusive to his past girlfriends, then I have every reason to believe that when he was involved in an intimate relationship with Leona, he was also abusive.” Hays has spoken with Llamas and describes him as having a history that is “a recipe for being involved in homicide.” Hays remembered an unrelated incident in which he was investigating burglaries. “I ended up finding Juan hiding in a shed and he was armed with a gun,” he said.

Hays also said there were reports of physical violence, including domestic violence and drug use. “Those things start to make him, based on my training and experience, capable of him doing something like making Leona disappear.”

There was even more disturbing behavior that Carolyn discovered after she was assigned a nonfiction writing assignment in school around 2006. She chose to write about her mother’s disappearance, and when her aunt read the story she sent it to the local newspaper which published the essay. One day, Carolyn received a call from a woman who read the story. “She was an elderly woman whose husband had died, and she had hired a man to work their ranch,” recalled Carolyn. “And she hired this man named John, and he was charming, well-spoken and clean cut, and had a lot of ranch experience, and he became really close to the family.” The woman reportedly told Carolyn that John ended up raping the woman’s granddaughter who got pregnant from the incident and eventually lost the baby. “She told him he was going to have to go. This is the end… this is the end of your employment,” added Carolyn. But, she said that John refused to leave and began threatening the woman, driving her past Leona’s home, pointing out the location and saying ‘they never found her.’ John reportedly drove the woman up into the mountains and tried to get her out of the car, but she wouldn’t get out, said Carolyn. The woman said that John told her ‘you could get rid of a body down there, they’d probably never find it. They never found Leona,’ remembered Carolyn of that conversation. It was those words and particularly the mention of the name Leona that resonated with the woman after reading Carolyn’s essay in the newspaper. She apparently realized it was the same man: Juan Pena-Llamas. “It’s a small town. There weren’t a lot of Leonas,” said Carolyn.

Connecting Dots

Given the violent history that was uncovered by Lt. Hays, and the circumstances of the gun possessed by Llamas in that prior encounter with police, and considering the rape and threats to the woman and her granddaughter in the account provided by Leona’s daughter Carolyn, and the rumors that seem to have been circulating at the time that Leona may have been an informant and owed money to the cartel, could any or all of this be a motivation for Llamas to silence Leona?

Tying up Loose Ends

Lt. Hays told APB Cold Case that the mystery of what happened to Leona Kinsey is something he has taken personally as he has sought to get to the truth of the case. He describes it as a ‘loose end’.

But one of the biggest ‘loose ends’ for Hays is getting another interview with Juan Pena-Llamas, or perhaps a tip from someone to whom Llamas may have disclosed exactly happened and where Leona can be found. Leona’s daughter thinks there is a possibility that the daughter of Juan’s ex-wife may know additional information that was not previously shared with authorities.

Some holes in the early investigation have been filled-in with information from witnesses now willing to share pieces of the story they were previously reluctant to discuss. “With the passage of time, I am finding that they are pretty cooperative in talking about their own activities which validates now that Leona was heavily involved in the use and sale of methamphetamine at the time,” said Hays. This is another piece of information that police have amassed over the years and which drives Hays to arrange that next interview with Llamas. “I’m armed with more knowledge now than we were when we talked to him in the early 2000’s…” he added.

Getting Answers

Leona’s daughter and police want a resolution to the investigation. APB Cold Case asked Carolyn what it would mean to her to finally get those answers.  “I have imagined him killing her and enjoying it. In thousands of different ways… it would mean that I wouldn’t have to imagine all of those anymore.” But the troubling dilemma for Carolyn is whether her mother’s remains should be recovered or left in nature.  “The odds of them finding all of her, they’ll just find parts. So I go back and forth between, do I want to find her? Do I want to find her and just have it in my head that I don’t know if this is her or not, and if it is there’s only parts of her and the rest of them are out there somewhere,” said Carolyn. But as another fall season arrives in Oregon, she realizes there could be a chance that a hunter or forager finds something that could be a clue and she does hold out hope that someone will find that one little piece that investigators need. “So people are always out picking huckleberries and mushrooming and hunting and getting firewood… this time of year I just hope that they’re going to stumble across something.  What are the chances of them stumbling across a leg or a rib and thinking it’s an animal?”

Leona’s Legacy

Carolyn knows that her mother faced challenges in her life, but she prefers to remember the proud and creative woman who not only raised her but embraced the role of being a grandmother to Carolyn’s children. “My mom was, she was funny, she was witty, she had an off-beat sense of humor, she would send CARE packages to my kids every months and they would be things like, I don’t know where she got them, but once it was sombreros and books, cowboy boots, and different things for costume, booger candy. If it was silly, she liked it… She loved being a grandma.”

Leona also inspired her daughter, nurturing the traits that live on in Carolyn today as a mother and an advocate. Today Carolyn works in the Domestic Violence Advocacy Program for the Puyallup Tribal Nation where she manages the Anti-Trafficking Program, a position that requires her to help people work through adversity. Carolyn draws upon her mother’s mentorship instilled in her during the precious time they shared together. “I just knew she expected me to buck up and get through things if they bothered me, to not be so sensitive, to be more confident, more sure of myself.” Carolyn uses those life lessons to help others – lessons that she learned firsthand. “Just offering my prayers to other families, just talking with them and saying I’m sorry you’re going through this, I been there and I know what it’s like.”

Carolyn’s aunt has also encouraged her through the years, helping when she has faced adversity. “If something comes and it’s hard and I’m down and it sucks and I want to cry about, I’ve gone through worse,” said Carolyn who recalled this lesson from her aunt: “You’re an old oak tree and the wind is going to blow but it won’t blow you down; and your branches are going to break but it’s not going to kill you; you’re leaves are going to fall and you’re going to be cold and ugly but they’re going to come back and you’ll be strong and beautiful and you’ll be bigger than you were the year before,” she said. “It’s not going to break me. I see that, nothing can break me.”

Police have received tips and suggestions about possible locations where Leona might be found. Lt. Hays said that they have searched certain areas based on those tips, enlisting the assistance of the Forestry Service, Search and Rescue Teams, cadaver dogs to conduct those searches including ponds (visit www.APBColdCase.com to see police photos of one of those searches). They even received a letter from a ‘web douser’, described by Lt. Hays as something akin to the practice of water witching through the use of diving rods or sticks to locate a water source. “They do this over a map, and it’s supposed to indicate… where lost items or people are.” Hays said that the letter writer provided exact coordinates of where police should search. “I went and looked, and it was an impractical area, but I searched nonetheless.” Hays said he checks out every lead, never knowing if someone is providing a veiled tip based on some firsthand knowledge. But so far, Hays said they are no closer today to finding Leona. “And that’s a struggle for me,” said Hays.  “I think that there’s somebody out there, so does her daughter, that has answers, and hoping they’ll come forward.”

Epilogue

It’s been 25 years since Leona Kinsey seemingly vanished from La Grande, Oregon. Did something happen at her home, or the Albertson’s parking lot? Was she targeted because she owed money to the Mexican drug cartel or because someone feared she was an informant for law enforcement? Whatever the answer, police do believe Leona was murdered. Lt. Jason Hays said the most reasonable explanation for him is that this case is a homicide, but they are missing two things.  “You need a body, and you need somebody talking about the body,. We have neither.” Hays hopes that perhaps a former cell mate of Juan Pena Llamas, a person of interest in the investigation, may come forward with details of what he may have talked about while incarcerated. Hays described him as a bragger and feels that it is possible he disclosed the details to someone. He encourages anyone that knew Leona or Juan Pena Llamas to call him. “…please call me. Let me sort it out. Whether it’s relevant or not, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned,” said Hays

If you have any information about the disappearance of Leona Kinsey from La Grande, Oregon in 1999, contact La Grande police at 541-960-1017.

Click here to listen to this podcast: Link to Podcast

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence or human trafficking call police. There are also agencies and resources available for victims seeking help. Visit www.APBColdCase.com/resources for links and reach out to programs in your area.

©2024 The Spawn Group, LLC – All rights reserved

Resources:

StrongHearts Native Helpline is a 24/7 safe, confidential and anonymous domestic and sexual violence helpline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, offering culturally-appropriate support and advocacy. 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) https://strongheartshelpline.org/get-help

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national anti-trafficking hotline serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community in the United States. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year in more than 200 languages. 1-888-373-7888  Text: 233733  humantraffickinghotline.org

The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides essential tools and support to help survivors of domestic violence so they can live their lives free of abuse. 24/7/365

Contacts to The Hotline can expect highly-trained, expert advocates to offer free, confidential, and compassionate support, crisis intervention information, education, and referral services in over 200 languages. https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/

This haunting mystery has now spanned 50 years since two teenage girls disappeared in Florida after leaving a small gathering. It was the end of summer in 1974 when Teresa “Terry” Alfonso, 12, and Cindy Gooding, 16, were last seen in Marathon which is in Monroe County located in the central Florida Keys. But where did they go and who were they with? Were they hitchhiking to go to a party or to run away? Or did their path lead them into danger? The timeline in this case is unclear, but the fact remains that Terry and Cindy are missing and their families have not given up on them.

Cynthia “Cindy” Gooding was the youngest of 4 children and the only girl born to Wayne and Doris Gooding, who would later divorce. Cindy’s mother remarried and had 2 more children. She had run away from home before, apparently because of a strict and regimented stepfather. Cindy was 16 years old and had moved from Virginia to Marathon in the Florida Keys to live with her father and older brothers who all worked in the fishing industry and who were often away from home.

Teresa “Terry” Alfonso looked older than her 12 years according to family and friends. She sometimes used the surname Riggs, the name of the man to whom her mother, Mercedes, was divorcing around that time. Because the marriage was ending, the children were relocated while Mercedes tried to get back on her feet. Terry was sent to live with her biological father in Miami, Florida. But around Labor Day 1974 Terry had returned to Marathon and was staying with her 14-year-old sister, Darlene at an efficiency apartment rented by their mother called the Gerri-Dale.

Darlene believes that she first met Cindy Gooding at Indie’s Inn, a hotel on Duck Key near Marathon where they both worked as maids. Darlene and Cindy also attended school together in Marathon. “I was very young but I had to work, and I worked as a maid during the day. On nights that I didn’t go to night school I worked at the movie theater,” said Darlene. Cindy and Darlene became friends and would occasionally hang out together, and when Terry came to visit, it was apparently that circumstance which introduced Terry and Cindy.

Marathon, Florida in the 1970’s

According to several people we spoke to for the podcast, Marathon, Florida was much different than it is today. In the 1970’s it was largely focused on the fishing industry; tourism did not explode until later years. For teenagers at that time, there was not a lot to do. Teens would often hang out in the parking lot of a local bar or perhaps go to Marathon’s only movie theater.

One resident who grew up in Marathon in the 1970’s said there was an atmosphere of naivete, especially for the younger crowd. “You just don’t think that there’s anything dangerous down there, but there definitely was,” said Sharon. “We came across people that were just absolutely nuts. We coined the phrase, the Island of Misfit Toys, because, people that didn’t belong anywhere gravitated down there because it was very cheap living.... If you were trying to get lost it was a place to go, because nobody could ever find you down there.”

Terry and Cindy’s Last Known Movements

So, what were the last known movements of the girls before they disappeared? There are different accounts depending on who you talk to, as well as different dates. But we distilled the most discussed theories that are supported to some extent by witnesses:

The Movies?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) missing person reports for Terry and Cindy say that they were last seen at the Marathon Movie Theater.  But, according to one witness we spoke with who was familiar with the girls said she was working at the theater that night and the girls were not there. That witness said that Terry Alfonso had called the theater crying and asked to speak with her sister, Darlene, who was working at the theater. However, Darlene said that she was not working on the night the girls were last seen.

But in another report, Terry’s mother Mercedes told police that she dropped off the girls at the Marathon Movie Theater around 7:30 PM, and when she returned at 10:30 PM the girls were not there.[1]

This highlights one of the problems with the timeline in this case – that depending on when some witnesses first learned that the girls were missing, days could have passed and perhaps their memory was of another day or time. We are unsure if the girls ever actually arrived at the movie theater.

Party on Grassy Key?

Cindy Gooding’s brother, Joe, reportedly invited the girls to a party at Grassy Key on the night they were last seen. The location was described as the Hatton home which appears to have been on Morton Street in Marathon. Cindy’s brother Joe, now deceased, said that the girls never came to that party, while a third-party witness told Terry Alfonso’s family that the girls were at that party.  

Hitchhiking, Getting in a Van?

Terry Pease Cameron, who was a friend of Terry Alfonso, said that she saw Terry and Cindy getting into a van on the main highway near the dry cleaners. Cameron said the van was presumably occupied by two people as she witnessed a passenger open side doors for the girls to enter the dark colored vehicle with blacked-out windows. She last saw the van heading north, and that would be the last time Cameron ever saw the girls, but she remembers the last words she said to the, “Y’all have a good time. Tell me about it tomorrow.”

The theory about the girls getting into a van was present throughout a number of the interviews we conducted for the podcast, and from the research about the case. Altogether there were 14 references to vans of varying colors mentioned to APB Cold Case throughout production.

Bar Parking Lot?

There was also a reported sighting of the girls in the parking lot of the Idle Hour bar, a place where underage teens who could not get into the bar would commonly hang out. Local resident Sharon told APB Cold Case that the parking lot was the ‘place to be’. “The Idle Hour is where we lived on the weekends. For young kids, it was a blast. People that would hang out there knew they would run into somebody they knew from school.” Did Terry and Cindy go to Idle Hour instead of the movie theater, or on their way to or from the theater? One witness reportedly told Terry’s mother that the girls were going to meet Cindy’s boyfriend at the Idle Hour parking lot. Merecedes Cruz (Terry’s mother) told police that when she went to the Idle Hour several kids told her that they had seen them there earlier.[2]

Walking Away From a Gathering at a Trailer?

The most credible witness is Terry’s older sister Darlene as she was with both Cindy and Terry at a mobile home trailer on 74^th Street which was rented by Greg Koltunak and his roommate. Upon release of the Part #1 episode of APB Cold Case Missing in the Keys, Greg contacted producers to say that the trailer was his. Darlene recalled that Terry and Cindy left the trailer at one point, and after they left an unknown male asked if they might need a ride. The man left in a white panel type van and returned sometime later. Greg Koltunak also said that he remembered Terry and Cindy being at his trailer, though he did not recall Darlene being there. Koltunak said there had been discussion about going to the movies, but that Terry and Cindy left on foot, walking in a direction away from the theater.

Darlene told APB Cold Case that she and the girls were going to meet up later that night, but she didn’t see them again. She was not initially concerned, believing they were off somewhere enjoying themselves. But the next morning, Darlene found that Terry’s purse and other belongings were still at her efficiency apartment at the Gerri-Dale. Now she knew that something was wrong. Darlene said she remembered the van at the trailer where the gathering was on 74^th Street the night before, and she had an uneasy feeling about it. “And I didn’t look in the van. I don’t know why I got that feeling, but that’s always haunted me from that day. I should have looked in that van.”

Missing Persons Report to Police

But as the hours tick by on Tuesday, September 3, 1974, Darlene becomes more nervous. At 9:30 PM she and a friend go to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and file a missing person report. Then, she called her mother from a phone booth to tell her what happened.

The missing person report described Cindy Gooding as 5’ 8”, 87 pounds, with shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a light blue shirt with white and yellow flowers; Terry Alfonso was described as 5’ 5”, 138 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, wearing high heeled shoes.[3] The color of her shirt varied in reports – one saying blue, and another white. Terry’s mother told police that she has a gap between her front teeth, pierced ears, and wears a necklace with a cross and a St. Theresa medallion.[4]

But according to Darlene, the police did not investigate their disappearance right away, believing they were runaways.

Breakup with Boyfriend

Darlene said that Cindy had just broken up with her boyfriend David, known in Marathon as Little Dave. (We are not identifying him by last name here as we were unable to interview him for this story; it appears that he has since died). In the several interviews conducted for this story, everyone who knew about Little Dave and Cindy Gooding referred to them as boyfriend-girlfriend despite the age difference at the time – Cindy was 16, and Little Dave 26. In an interview with police years later in 2011, Little Dave acknowledged knowing Cindy for about 8 weeks and seeing her daily during that time, saying that she had a crush on him. But he denied having a relationship with her, though police expressed skepticism about his denial.[5]

Little Dave told police that the last time he saw Cindy was at a hotel in Marathon Shores. He explained that he went to the bar because Cindy was asleep, and that 45 minutes later his two friends came into the bar and said that Cindy was still sleeping. According to reports about Little Dave’s statements, he said when he went back to the room Cindy was gone, and he claimed to be unaware of anything being wrong until 2 weeks later when Cindy’s brother asked if he had seen Cindy.[6] When asked about 12-year-old Terry Alfonso, Little Dave said he did not know her and was unaware that she, too, was missing.[7]

Detectives inquired of Little Dave if he had any idea who might have taken the girls. He suggested it could have been un unnamed man he used to work with at a resort in Marathon – a man who drove a delivery van. Little Dave said that the man may have been arrested for killing a woman on Grassy Key.[8]

Skeletal Remains on Grassy Key

We were unable to find any record of a murder on Grassy Key, but there was a record of skeletal remains being found on Grassy Key in 1976. Those remains were reportedly discovered by a friend of Little Dave’s named Terry Fryfogle who would have been about 18 years old at the time.[9] When APB Cold Case contacted Fryfogle, he denied finding any remains and said that any such report was disinformation.

Cindy Intoxicated at Indie’s Inn and Gerri-Dale; Where was Terry?

Police noted that in 1997 they interviewed Terry Fryfogle about the last time he saw Cindy Gooding. Reports says that he told police he was with his father, Robert Fryfogle, Sr., Little Dave, and Cindy at Indie’s Inn on Duck Key. He explained they had been partying and were all intoxicated from drinking and drugs. At one point, he said that they Cindy was “so out of it, that in order to dance with her, he had to hold her up.”[10] He also said that they returned to the Gerri-Dale at some point, although the chronology of what activities happened at which locations is not clear from the reports we reviewed. According to one report, Little Dave had sex with Cindy, and Terry Fryfogle said his own father also had sex with a sleeping Cindy who woke up and began to “complain about what happened”.[11] Terry Fryfogle said that the next morning Cindy was asleep in bed when the three men left to go to Miami.

When we asked about the details from the report of one of the last times that Cindy was seen, Terry Fryfogle, told producers that he might have been at Indie’s Inn with his father and Little Dave, saying, “we might have been dancing over there or something.” But when asked about Terry Alfonso, he said he did not remember the name of the other missing girl. When asked what condition Cindy was in that night, Terry Fryfogle said that she was probably in the same condition as everyone else, “trashed.” He explained that “back in those days, it was a perpetual party.” When asked about his father’s background, particularly, a federal investigation, Terry Fryfogle declined comment.

Robert Fryfogle, Sr.

Robert Fryfogle, Sr. would have been about 41 years old in 1974, and the account of him having sex with a “sleeping” 16-year-old is particularly disturbing. In 1997, the elder Fryfogle was the subject of an investigation into the production and distribution of pornography using minors during the period of 1994-1996.[12] Reports say he pled guilty to the main count, using persons under 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing videotapes and photographs which were distributed through the mail. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.[13] So, that certainly raises a concern when we go back to Robert Fryfogle, Sr. being seen in the company of Cindy both at Indie’s Inn and at the Gerri-Dale.

Greg Koltunak grew up in Marathon and was a teenager in the 1970’s. He knew the Fryfogle family and recalled an incident when he went to their trailer one day. After knocking at the door, Koltunak said that Robert, Sr. answered the door. “…And there’s this girl, and she had her top off… and he’s grabbing her, and he’s got his hands all over her…” Koltunak said that he was at first reluctant, but Robert, Sr. encouraged him to come in and have sex with the girl. “We go in the back room, and I’m taking my clothes off, and all of a sudden, I hear the door. He’s opening, he’s peeking in the door... He wanted to watch.”

Koltunak said that Robert Fryfogle eventually moved away from Marathon but then returned after having received a settlement for a worksite injury. Koltunak described how Fryfogle had a box of videotapes and offered to show him one which depicted “kids going at it,” said Koltunak, inferring that it was Fryfogle who recorded the images.

Robert Fryfogle reportedly died in federal prison. Little Dave since died in Oregon.

Exploring Other Possibilities

In the multi-episode podcast we examine a number of persons with either violent histories, admissions to murders, or who were suspected in assaults, kidnappings and homicides. One potential lead that police explored extensively was Oliver and Paul Cron, the father-son duo who were known to live in Florida. Paul Cron alleged that he witnessed his father kill 2 girls in the Keys in the 1970’s. He also made some other shocking admissions, but his narrative changed, apparently adapting his original story to facts matching the description of Terry and Cindy that he learned from Internet searches. Cron also claimed that he played board games with Ted Bundy in prison.

Speaking of Ted Bundy, his crimes spanned the time period of Terry and Cindy’s disappearance, but he was known to be living in the Washington State and Utah areas at the time. We also look at a notorious Outlaw Motorcycle Gang member and one of his associates who each separately escaped from custody in the Keys in 1974. One of them escaped at the same time of our girl’s disappearance. But police found no direct linkage to Terry and Cindy.

There is also the “killer cop”, Gerard Schaefer, who was brought to our attention by the family of Terry Alfonso. Schaefer abducted and killed teen girls in Martin and Broward counties in Florida in 1972 and 1974.[14] But he was eliminated as a suspect in this case as he was incarcerated at the time.

We also take a look at serial killer Anthony Joe Larette, accused of killing Jeanette Wade, age 25, in her home in Marathon in 1976. According to published reports, Larette was apprehended in 1980. He confessed to 30 murders, rapes and assaults in 11 states, including the murder of Jeanette Wade.[15][16]  Larette was initially charged for Wade’s murder, but was never extradited, any prosecution becoming fruitless considering that he was facing the death penalty in Missouri for other crimes. He was executed in 1995 for the 1978 murder of a 19-year-old girl in St. Charles, Missouri.[17][18] Even though he  reportedly claimed knowledge of 30 murders and rapes, and considering that one of his alleged victims was killed in Marathon, detectives in Florida did not find any connection between Larette and the disappearance of Terry and Cindy but they have not eliminated as a suspect.[19]

The podcast also reviews the known crimes and patterns of Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, Bobby Jack Fowler, Gerald Stano, Carl Eric “Charlie” Brandt, Robert Clark Keebler, Rodney Alcala, and Christopher Wilder, some of whom were known violent offenders in or around the Florida Keys in the 1970’s. We also examine the theories behind Terry and Cindy’s last movements and where they went, or may have gone. It is clear that they were at a gathering at the rented trailer on 74^th Street at one point, but where did they go next? – and on what day were those observations? Did they actually go to Grassy Key? And who picked them up in that van? Some answers remain elusive.

For the families of the missing girls, their search has now spanned more than a half century. But they still want answers. The next generation is keeping the investigation alive on the family side. Kevin is Terry Alfonso’s nephew by marriage. He said, “I know there’s a lot of pain, and since I’ve been in this family, I’ve seen the pain firsthand, and it’s real. It’s in their eyes. You can’t hide it.” He added, “There’s somebody still alive today that knows something, and they’re not divulging it. And they’re not divulging it because they’re scared.”

Terry’s sister Bonnie Padron has long feared that her sister is not alive. “I know my sister and I know we were all close. And, I feel that if she was alive she would have gotten in contact with us. It’s been such a long journey,” Bonnie added, saying that they will not give up on their sister.

Cindy’s younger sister Diane urges anyone who had even the smallest bit of information to share it. “Give it up – talk about it, even if you think it’s unimportant. Because what you think is unimportant may be very important for someone to find an answer and have a way to close the door.”

Conclusion

For all of the theories we explored in this podcast, we are drawn back to the description of events that occurred at Indie’s Inn and the Gerri-Dale during one of the last known times the girls were seen before they disappeared. The reported circumstances of Cindy’s purported boyfriend having sex with her while she was possibly under the influence of drugs and alcohol and then a 41-year-old man having sex with her while she was “sleeping” at an unknown apartment at the Gerri-Dale, is shocking and disturbing. Perhaps there is still an opportunity for answers to so many lingering questions.

Cindy Gooding and Terry Alfonso have been missing for more than 50 years. And while the record is not clear about the exact date they disappeared, that is not as important as the fact that they were never heard from again. Two young girls were seen walking away from that trailer on 74^th Street – what happened next? Did they hitchhike and get into a van? Did they go to Grassy Key? Their purses were left behind at Darlene’s apartment. Why?  

Cindy Robin Song

Cindy’s brother Joe Gooding passed away several years ago. But in 1986 he wrote and performed a special tribute to Cindy and Terry (the song can be heard in Part #5).

Cindy Robin - Written by Joseph A. Gooding – 1986

There’s a time in my life

When I had to realize

All the things that could be

Could be changed in just one night

Cindy Robin disappeared long ago

Never to be seen again

Cindy Robin had no reason to go

Is this how it should end?

In 1974 two young girls decided to

Hitchhike to a party somewhere in Marathon,

The Florida Keys. My sister, Cindy Robin and her friend Terry Riggs never arrived.

And now, no one I know has spoken to them since.

Cindy was 16 and Terry 12, and if they are alive, I pray they’ll call home.

You know, I’ve seen a lot of pain,

And I’ve done my share of misery,

But the hardest pain of all,

Is this little girl named Cindy!

Cindy Robin where are you today?

Are you able to be heard?

Cindy Robin would you come home today?

Everybody misses you – everybody misses you.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Terry Alfonso or Cindy Gooding from Marathon, Florida in 1974, call Crimestoppers at 866-471-TIPS or go to Crimestoppers305.com or call 1-800-THE-LOST.

If you or anyone you know is being abused or exploited call your local police or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. We also have other contacts for victims on our Resources page.

Show Notes for these episodes include age-progressed images of Cindy and Terry, a Who’s Who of the people mentioned, a timeline, maps and more – go to www.apbcoldcase.com

Listen to the audio podcast series Missing in the Keys in your favorite podcast platform, on our YouTube Channel, or on our website.

This story came to us through a friend and law enforcement colleague in New York State who met a woman who is a namesake of Cindy Gooding. Thank you Asst. Chief/Retired Nick Macherone.

©2024 The Spawn Group, LLC – All rights reserved.

[1] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office reports; pp. 27-28

[2] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, p.28

[3] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office; 9/3/1974

[4] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office; 7/23/1987

[5] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, various reports; p. 18

[6] Ibid, p. 17

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid, p. 18

[9] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, p. 25

[10] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office reports; p. 163

[11] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office; 11/17/1997

[12] United States v. Norvill Robert Fryfogle and John Clarence Lightbourn II; 1:97CR4-MP; 2/6/1997

[13] Ibid

[14] Florida Jane Doe IDed after nearly 48 years may be victim of serial killer cop Gerard Schaefer; Crystal Bonvillian, Cox Media Group; 6/3/2022; www.kiro7.com/news/trending/florida-jane-doe-identified-after-nearly-48-years-may-be-victim-serial-killer-cop; Accessed 7/3/2024

[15] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, p. 11

[16] Panama City News Herald, 12/24/1995, p.22

[17] https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/11/30/murderer-claims-two-70s-victims/),

[18] Panama City News Herald; 12/24/1995; p.22

[19] Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Office, p. 11

With the collapse of the first tower at Ground Zero in New York City, a plainclothes police sergeant finds himself in the street, blinded by debris and fighting to breathe. A high school student is watching the horror unfold from inside a church when he sees that the sergeant is in trouble and rushes to his aid. Join us for this inspiring “Behind the Badge” episode of APB Cold Case – the story of two men whose bravery and determination saved lives, their chance encounter resulting in a friendship that continues today.

This special story was borne out of the 9/11 tragedy at Ground Zero in New York City. It is the tale of two men from tat fateful day in 2001 – Jerry Kane, then a New York City Police Detective Sergeant; and Jonathan Stewart, a 17-year-old high school student. Their chance meeting takes a number of twists and turns, and you may be surprised when you learn who saved who...

Det./Sgt. Jerry Kane

Detective Sergeant Jerry Kane grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager he thought that he would likely go to work for the telephone company as did many of his relatives. But it was at a Mets game in 1984 when the New York Police Department was handing out flyers for one of their hiring campaigns that Jerry considered a different career. He applied in June 1984. He took the test in December that year, and by July 1985 he was in the police academy.

Jerry started working in Midtown and eventually worked in Anti-Crime, Intelligence, and Detective Divisions. Then in 2000 he got his “greatest gig” when he was transferred to the Police Commissioner’s Office where he responded to all major incidents and handled visiting dignitaries.

From Peace to Turmoil

On the morning of September 11, 2001 Jerry was detailed to meet the Commissioner of Scotland Yard at the airport in New York City. But he would soon find himself diverted from that assignment. “I worked late the night before. So I just decided to go in late – that’s one thing that saves my life,” remembered Sgt. Jerry Kane. “When the first plane hit, the detective who worked with me called me on the Nextel and said ‘there’s a huge explosion.” Jerry raced toward the World Trade Center. But before he got there he saw something that is etched in his memory to this very day. “I can see the towers out in the distance, and the black smoke… it looked just like the USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor.” Then, the second plane hit the other tower, and Jerry knew that the world had just changed. Over his police radio he hears one of the top commanders on the radio calling the dispatcher with the most chilling radio call he had ever heard. “The chief said, ‘Have Operations notify the Pentagon, the city is under attack,’” recalled Sgt. Kane.

It was at 8:46 AM when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center; at 9:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 175 hits the South Tower. Jerry did not know it at the time, but simultaneously, 2 other planes have been hijacked – United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, and American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon.

Live news coverage all over the world is broadcasting live pictures of the events unfolding at what would become known as Grond Zero in New York City. The world knows that America is under attack.

By 9:15 AM Jerry has arrived in the area of the World Trade Center and meets up with command officers from NYPD. “I’m standing right in front of the towers and the jets come overhead. Let me tell you something. When the Air Force showed up, that was scary. It was a good feeling because no more planes would crash into our buildings. I knew those guys had that part up there covered.”

What Jerry does not know at the time, is that the South Tower will only be standing for about 45 minutes. He sees smoke pouring from both towers, and the sight of people jumping to their death. He struggles to process all that is going on and what he can do about it. “It did occur to me at that moment, that the brain is only built to like take in so much data and I’m probably taking in more data than the brain can handle. And I decided that I was only going to really put a lot of brain power into anything I could put my hands on. I can’t touch the planes, the jets, anybody up there ya know a thousand feet above me, I can’t touch them. But if you came in front of me and you were going the wrong way and I had to take you by the shoulders and direct you, turn you the right way. I could do that.”

EMT Jonathan Stewart Deploys

Not far away was high school student Jonathan Stewart, a newly trained EMT who had received an alert on his pager about the emergency unfolding at the World Trade Center. “The only number I had to call at the time was our Training Command which is at Fort Totten, and I was asking, ‘what do we do? Where do we go?’ It was pandemonium. The person on the phone said, ‘just go there, go there!’ And that’s what I did.”

Unknown to one another, both Sgt. Jerry Kane and Jonathan Stewart are each helping as many people as they can.

South Tower Collapses

And then at 9:58 AM, the South Tower collapses. Jerry Kane is in the street, as the 1500-foot-tall building starts to come down. “I was like maybe a hundred fifty feet from the base of it it’s a 1500’ building so it’s pretty bad. I thought I had 2 seconds maybe 3 to run and I actually had about 8 seconds,” said Jerry. “So I ran two seconds and got behind an NYPD truck that’s like the size of an ambulance… and then it was one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, and I’m like, I should have kept running. But I didn’t. You know this was it, this is just like playing poker. My chips were now in the center of the table and there’s nothing I could do. I knew I couldn’t run again; running was over now. The building came down.”

As many others in the street, Jerry found himself enveloped in a cloud of dust and debris. He described the collapse of the building as deafening. “…you went from the loudest noise ever, to the quietest quiet ever…. It was freaking eerie.”

With the collapse of the South Tower, Jonathan Stewart had taken refuge from the dust and debris in a nearby church, having just experienced the same phenomenon as Jerry Kane. “Just imagine New York completely quiet. It is dark in the daytime. It is probably something of Biblical proportions…,” said Jonathan.

Det./Sgt. Kane in Trouble

Jerry Kane is in the area of Fulton and Church Streets about one block from Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, struggling to breathe. “I was choking to death, literally. I had taken a breath and the stuff, which was like falling like flour, jammed my throat. By reflex I took a second breath and that made it worse. I wasn’t quite sure if I was gonna to be able to get it out of my throat.” Jerry said he was not sure if he was going to make it, but he started crawling down the street. He makes his way to Church and Barclay Streets and comes into view of Jonathan who was inside St. Peter’s Church with other men taking cover and watching the carnage outside. The men see Jerry. Jonathan said, “I remember saying, ‘someone has to go get that guy,’ because he’s just laying out there.” With that, Jonathan rushes outside and grabs Jerry Kane and escorts him into the church. Jerry asks Jonathan, ‘where are we going?’, to which Jonathan replies, ‘a church.’  Now Jerry felt hope. “There’s something psychological about being inside a church that made me feel good.” The horror and trauma was still raging outside. But for now, Jonathan had rescued the man who would become a friend for life – he just didn’t know that yet. Jerry begins to compose himself. “So I get inside the front door and I just sweep my arm out I can’t see a thing my eyes are so full of dust… I find the holy water and I… put it in my hand… I took a handful with one eye and a handful on the other on the other eye.”

A medic inside the church checks out Jerry and takes his blood pressure which is ‘sky high’.  The medic suggests that Jerry go to the hospital. Jerry tells the medic, “‘dude, do you see what’s going on out there? I’m not going to the hospital.’ I got calm and then I did what I was trained to do – I’m a police Sergeant and I tell people what to do whether they like it or not.”

From Victim to Leader

Sgt. Kane begins to look for resources to help others. He tells Jonathan to start ripping up anything made of cloth. But they’re inside a Catholic church – and the only cloth around are holy vestments, clergy robes, altar palls. It was at this moment when Jonathan realized that this guy giving orders was a cop. But more than that, this guy was a leader. Said Jonathan, “This is not just someone off the street, it was someone in an authority position… You know, a 17-year-old says something, doesn't make it in the air. Jerry said something, people move.”

Jonathan said that one of the orders that Jerry Kane had barked out was to cut up various religious cloths in the church. Jerry realized they were doing something highly unorthodox – something that would have been sacrilegious on any other day. But not today. Jerry felt he had to assert himself to convince Jonathan and others to do whatever they had to.

Sgt. Kane said, “I was an old altar boy and I knew exactly where the sacristy was which is the room off the altar where the priest prepares Mass. I knew that in there would be a sink, there would be flower vases, cruets, there was some chalices in there, there was other glassware in there…” Kane said they used two sinks to continuously fill and refill the  containers, getting water out to people, and then bringing them back in a continuous cycle.

Sacrilege on any Other Day

Jonathan said, “While I’m not a Catholic, one has to understand that being in the doors of that church was probably the only time that I felt safe. It was symbolic but it wasn’t. God was in that building.” Jonathan said he understood that they needed masks and bandages, but he also said that Jerry’s direction made it easier.

Sgt. Kane said, “I had a knife on me and I gave it to Jonathan and I said, ‘John, you see that cloth that covers the altar like that tablecloth…take that, cut that into strips, we’ll soak it in the water for people to tie on their face.” Kane said that Jonathan recoiled at the idea of cutting up the religious vestments. But Jerry assured him that it would be fine, asserting another ‘rank’ besides Sergeant. “I go, John I’m retired altar boy, you can, you’re authorized.” And they did what they had to do. Jonathan said that although thigs were chaotic, everyone was respectful, knowing that they were in a place of worship and only using what they absolutely needed.

Rescuers Part Ways…. For Now

Sgt. Kane and Jonathan Stewart had been working in unison during one of the world’s worst tragedies. But at the time, they didn’t even know each other’s names.  Jonathan went to an aid station that was set up at a nearby Chase Bank, but before he left the church, Sgt. Kane gave ‘the kid’ his NYPD business card. Jonathan remembered the words that Sgt. Kane said to him, “if we make it out of this, like look me up.” 

The American Flag

On September 12^th, about 24 hours after the collapse of the first tower, Sgt. Jerry Kane and his partner Detective Pete Fresher are at Ground Zero when they notice an American flag stuck on a light pole.  Jerry said, “It was upside down that’s why we recovered it. It was like stuck up there we didn’t we didn’t like the look of it because it looked like a distress signal… We get it down, we had some soldiers fold it, the soldiers were there, and I brought it back to the office. I gave it to Commissioner Kerik. Commissioner Kerik gave it to Mayor Giuliani; Mayor Giuliani gave it to NASA; NASA flew it on the space shuttle in December of ’01.” The following year, on Flag Day of 2002, the flag was returned to Ground Zero – and it makes an appearance every year at September 11 memorial events escorted by NYPD, FDNY, and the Port Authority Police. Jerry is proud that he had a part in that, never thinking that it would become such a profound tradition.

Religious Vestments

There’s another important part of Sgt. Jerry Kane’s story. It is from September 10^th - the day before the terror attacks. Jerry’s aunt Helen passed away. But because of all of the new restrictions for travel in and out of the city following the terror attacks, her wake was delayed. Eventually calling hours would be held. Jerry explained that, in the Catholic religion, it is customary that the family will donate robes, vestments or other religious items to the home church of the deceased. Jerry said, “These would have gone to Saint Anselm’s where my aunt lived, it’s a parish in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. But my cousins Marilyn and Ellen sent them to Saint Peter’s because I told them the story. The significance and emotion of the donation is not lost on Jerry who gets emotional as he recalled the story. “I just thought it was wonderful,” he said.

Whenever Jerry is in Manhattan and in the area of the special church where he took refuge on 9/11, he stops by. Jerry said, “I go to Ground Zero every 9/11. I always go to Saint Peters, say a few prayers…” Jerry used one of those opportunities to square-up with the new priest of the church, letting him know what happened on 9/11 at the church. “And I got to talk to this young priest, nice guy, and the caretaker of the property,” remembered Kane. “And the caretaker of the property today is the same caretaker of the property back in 2001. He was like, ‘You’re that guy, you’re the guy that did all that stuff?’” Jerry said he was  relieved by the conversation and the understanding of the priest and caretaker.

Reunion

Jonathan Stewart was finishing up his senior year in high school and had confided in his guidance counselor about his experiences at Ground Zero with Sgt. Jerry Kane. That counselor reached out to Sgt. Kane to let him know that Jonathan was nominated for a Liberty Award and asked if Jerry would support the nomination. Jerry wrote a letter, and Jonathan received the award. And then, Sgt. Kane was invited to be a commencement speaker at Jonathan’s graduation, something that Jonathan said was a proud and indelible moment in his life. “That kind of solidified his place in my life because there are certain people that you cannot write your life story without including them... I cannot mention a large part of my life because it circles back to our relationship,” said Jonathan. The story of their relationship caught the attention of the news media which would result in a full scholarship for Jonathan.

Inspired to Serve

After high school and college Jonathan worked for a consulting firm in Rye, New York. But he said that he always had a burning desire to enlist in military service, something inspired by the events of 9/11. But he would need to work for it. “I’m out of shape, I’m huge, and I couldn’t run a block,” said Jonathan. But he worked at it, losing about 80 pounds and making his goal weight, telling his Navy recruiter that he wanted to work on a submarine. When the day came for Jonathan to leave for Boot Camp, his friend Sgt. Kane was there. not only was Jerry there, so was Jerry's wife Madeline. “That was the first time I ever met her. My mom is crying, but I remember Jerry and Madeline being there as a support for my mother, and I remember Jerry giving me some phone cards which really came in handy…it enabled me to call home when I was in Boot Camp.” Jonathan said it gave him peace of mind knowing that Jerry and Madeline Kane would be there for his mother if she needed them, and said Jonathan, it motivated him even more. “It was a reminder of why you’re doing this, and then I’m off to Boot Camp.”

Reflections

Today, Jonathan and Jerry speak frequently. Jerry retired from NYPD, and Jonathan is a social worker working with middle and high school kids. But they often reflect on their chance meeting and how it’s bonded them for life. Sgt. Kane said, “We would have never ever met.., and instead, not only do we meet, but he has such an impact on me. He got me to safety which was important. It was important to be in a place of safety. The sooner you got into a place of safety, the sooner you could reorganize your thoughts and start to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. When I was out on the street, I was part of the problem. Once I got inside the church and got myself together, I was part of the solution, John made that happen. Without Jonathan, that doesn’t happen. So, a lot of guts, I mean, he was standing there with four adults - and who came and got me? The high school kid, he’s just a great guy!” Jerry Kane certainly made an impression on Jonathan at a formative time in his teenage years. Said Jonathan, “These are like figures that we look up to you but this is a real-life person that was able to transition seamlessly from, ‘it's all over’, to, ‘let's get the job done’, and be able to rally people around him and that way but, to be able to be that grounding force, grounding presence for others around him in an emergency.”

Heroes

But Jonathan is the hero in the eyes of Jerry and Madeline Kane. As much as Jonathan feels his life has been shaped by Jerry, Jonathan’s impact on the Kane’s is truly heartfelt. Jonathan will never forget what Jerry’s wife told him when they first met as Jonathan was shipping out to the Navy. “I remember Madeline coming up to me and saying thank you for bringing my husband home.”

APB Behind the Badge is grateful to Jonathan Stewart and Sgt. (Ret.) Jerry Kane for sharing their story of compassion, ingenuity, and courage.

The episode Heroes of 9/11 is dedicated to all of those whose lives were lost in the attacks of 9/11 at Ground Zero; near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and at the Pentagon.

Listen to the podcast episode Here

When firefighters responded to an early morning car fire in a community outside of Rochester, New York, they had no idea that it was a trap. An ex-con allegedly shot and killed his sister, and then set a car and house on fire – his plan? An ambush. Former Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering describes the events from the moment the call was received, including the quick actions by a police officer that likely saved lives. Chief Pickering remembers the heroic firefighters who were killed and injured in a senseless Christmas Eve tragedy that shocked the nation.

The Scene

Firefighters from the West Webster Fire Department were dispatched to a car fire on Lake Road just outside of Rochester, New York at about 5:30 AM on December 24, 2012. The Town of Webster lies to the east of Rochester, a cozy community in Monroe County boasting the scenic waterfronts of Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay.

When the first police officer arrived on Lake Road, he pulled his patrol unit past the fire so the fire trucks would have access. The burning car was dangerously close to a home so time was critical. The fire department in West Webster is a volunteer department, so firefighters would be alerted and then respond to the firehouse to bring trucks and equipment, while others might respond from their homes directly to the scene. Shortly after the police officer had arrived on scene, West Webster pumper 125 was arriving.  Chief Gerald “Jerry” Pickering said, “The officer began to hear popping noises which he thought were exploding tires or the struts on the trunk lid, and then he started to see firemen go down. He initially believed they were getting struck by shrapnel from the car exploding…”

The pumper was driven by Michael J. Chiapperini, a volunteer firefighter for the West Webster Fire Department (WWFD) who was also a full-time lieutenant with the Webster Police Department. Also on board the pumper with Chiapperini was Firefighter Joe Hofstetter. Another WWFD firefighter, Tomasz M. Kaczowka, responded with the EMS vehicle, and Firefighter Ted Scardino had arrived on scene in his personal car.

Firefighters Under Fire

Chiapperini realized they were being fired upon and the firefighters bailed out on the opposite side of the car fire, apparently believing that the pumper would shield them from the bullets. But the shooter had positioned himself across the street from the fire, hiding within a mass of rocks and boulders and when the firefighters bailed out, they were in a direct line of fire.

A firefighter radioed to the dispatch center that they were in trouble: “We are being shot at, multiple firemen down, multiple firemen shot, I am shot. I think we need an assault rifle. We have multiple firemen down. Working fire.”

Pickering stated that the lone police officer on the scene, Officer Mark Reed, immediately retrieved the patrol rifle from his cruiser and began to fire at muzzle flashes in the early morning darkness. Moments before, Reed had also been standing directly in the line of fire, but was not shot at by the gunman. That changed, however, when the gunman realized he was being shot at by the police officer. Pickering said, “The officer heard rounds whizzing past him as he was firing at the gunman.”

Firefighters Down

Firefighter/EMT Tomasz M. Kaczowka was in the road donning his gear, apparently unable to hear the gunshots. He was shot twice and killed instantly. Firefighters Ted Scardino and Joe Hofstetter were also shot and seriously wounded. Scardino had crawled underneath the pumper in between the rear dual axles, believing it to be a position of safety and cover. Firefighter Hofstetter had been shot in the leg and back and was bleeding. He made his way to the fire truck and made a call over the radio to the dispatcher: “Any idea on status?” The dispatcher, knowing that police were saturating the area but were unable to confirm where the sniper was, provided the best advice and comfort he could in the moment, “…we have multiple police agencies in the area. We’re waiting for the scene to be secured before we can come into you. Just hang tight.” Hofstetter replied. “Alright, be advised, I’m struck in the lower leg, knee area, and the lower left back.” The agonized dispatcher replied, “10-4 brother, hang tight.”

Chaos

At some point, Firefighter Hofstetter, who had dragged himself up into the fire truck, decides he needs to get out of the line of fire. “He’s got critical injuries, so he drops the truck into gear… and drives. He can’t see where he is going. He drives it like 1/10^th of a mile and goes off and hits a concrete culvert.” What Firefighter Hofstetter did not know at the time, was that Firefighter Scardino was underneath the fire truck, still taking refuge between the dual axles.

The fire was now spreading to other structures, but responders could not be sure where the gunman was hiding, so they could not allow any additional firefighters to attack the fire or even approach the area. Scardino laid on the roadway close to the fire scene awaiting rescue which would not come for almost an hour. “The guy that had been shot, he’s got wires arcing over him, he’s got 7 houses burning, he’s getting burned from the fires, but he doesn’t want to move because he’s afraid he’s going to get shot again, and he’s bleeding out”, said Pickering.

Pickering continued, “It was a chaotic scene. We had an active shooter – but this one was unusual because he was outside and we didn’t know exactly where he was. We had two firemen shot and killed, two critically injured, and other fire units were still responding to the scene.” He continued, “There was an off-duty Town of Greece police officer who came upon the scene and took fire from the shooter in his private vehicle. He backed up and shut down the road to prevent additional firefighters from responding.”

Sunrise Revelations

Pickering said that when the sun rose that morning, they were finally able to get a fix on the gunman, apparently dead in his sniper’s nest. He was observed by marine patrols from the shore and his location confirmed by a helicopter. Armored vehicles and a SWAT team rescued the injured and recovered the deceased victims. Since firefighters were unable to attack the fire, five homes burned to the ground, and 2 other homes were damaged.

Firefighter Chiapperini Charges the Sniper

Chief Pickering said that there were 70-80 bullet holes in the fire truck, many through the windshield. Pickering said that one of the surviving firefighters told investigators about the heroic actions of Mike Chiapperini. “Lt. Chiapperini thought that they were being shot at from where the car was burning. They didn’t realize the gunman was on the north side of where they were. So, he let the other firemen know, ‘we’re taking fire, we’re being shot at’. And he put the truck in park, jumped over the doghouse (cab of fire truck) in the front, told the other firemen to bail out, and they actually bailed out right into the line of the fire of the bad guy. We believe, we don’t know this to be sure, but we think that Lt. Chiapperini, realized, and saw Spengler, and ran directly at him, he was shot, took one fatal shot to the head, probably within 15 feet of the gunman. So, we think that perhaps Chiapperini saw him, decided he was going to tackle him and try to take him down, because he (Chiapperini) was unarmed.”

First Responding Officer Contained Shooter

Pickering said that Officer Mark Reed arrived on the scene within 2-3 minutes of the call. He noted that it was Reed who, within the first 10 minutes on the scene, likely changed the course of the assault and probably saved further people from being killed, the sniper possibly not considering that he would be distracted from his intended targets by police counter-fire.

The Gunman

The gunman was later identified as William Spengler, age 62, who lived at the Lake Road address where the fire was started, with his sister. Chief Pickering said, “Spengler had started the house on fire as well as the car – it burned fast because he poured accelerants on it.”  He had been previously convicted of manslaughter in the first degree for the killing of his 92-year-old grandmother in 1980 when he bludgeoned her with a hammer. According to New York State Department of Corrections reports, he was released in 1998. Pickering said that the shooter was well known in the neighborhood, and didn’t hide the fact that he had killed his grandmother.

A Possible Motive; Sister Recovered

Chief Pickering noted that the shooter had several hundred rounds for his assault rifle, a shotgun, and a .38 caliber handgun, saying, “He had really prepared himself for a lengthy fight.” He added, “Spengler left a note at the scene that said he intended to burn the neighborhood down and kill as many firemen as he could. He had lived in his grandmother’s home with his mother. In her waning years she often required the assistance of the ambulance, which is attached to the WWFD. She asked in her will that any donations be made to the fire department. We’ll never really know, but we think that he had a grievance against the fire department that the money was sent to the fire department instead of him.” Pickering said that besides state prison, the Lake Road residence was the only home Spengler had ever lived in, and he co-owned it with his sister after their mother’s death just a couple months before his murderous rampage. Pickering said, “She (Spengler’s sister) wanted to sell the property and split it because she was fearful of him – she slept with a .38 caliber handgun under her pillow. Her remains were found in the home with a .38 caliber hole in her skull. Our assumption is that he killed her, set the house and car on fire, summoned the fire department to the scene, to ambush the responding firemen.”

Epilogue

Pickering remembered that there was a massive response from a number of agencies on the federal, state and local level. He also noted that this incident brought the community closer together than ever before. Chief Pickering retired from the West Webster Police Department on January 3, 2015. He currently serves as the Deputy Director for Public Safety at the University of Rochester.

_________________________________________________

This special Behind the Badge episode of APB Cold Case is presented in memory of Firefighters Michael J. Chiapperini and Tomasz M. Kaczowka, and as a tribute to their courageous service.

Listen to the audio podcast here or on your favorite podcast platform; the podcast includes riveting excerpts of dramatic emergency radio traffic. You can find more episodes and show notes at apbcoldcase.com

Every day in every community, dedicated first responders and dispatchers stand ready to serve the public. This tragedy shines a light on the service and sacrifice made by those professionals and their loved ones. Firefighters Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka embodied those traits – they served with honor and distinction, and that is their legacy to all others who continue to serve.

Editor’s note: While we would not ordinarily acknowledge the name of the shooter, the story necessitated his identification due to the relationships and history with other family members. The names to be remembered in this story are those of the courageous and heroic first responders: Firefighter/Lt. Michael Chiapperini, Firefighter/EMT Thomasz Kaczowka, Firefighter Theodore Scardino, Firefighter Joseph Hofstetter, and Police Officer Mark Reed, along with all others who responded to the scene and the 911 dispatchers of Monroe County.

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

The mystery of who killed Holly Branagan has lingered for 45 years. 17-year-old Holly lived with her father and her older brother Sean in a modern 3 level home on Pine Top Trail, an upscale housing tract that was considered one of the safest neighborhoods in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

 “There were a lot of kids on the block,” said Eric Dowdle who grew up on Pine Top Trail just four houses down from the Branagan’s. “We were always in the street playing... It was, it was a good place to grow up,” he said. Eric knew Holly as a babysitter for he and his little brother Kurt. “She was a nice young girl,” remembered Eric who today serves as the First District Attorney in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. “She was, she was kind and pleasant… Holly was just a nice young lady.”

It was a spring afternoon in 1979 when Holly, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, arrived home. Her father was out of town, and 18-year-old Sean would be staying overnight at a friend’s house. After fixing herself a snack and heading up to her room, Holly sat on her bed, chatting on the phone with a friend when she suddenly heard knocking downstairs. She told her friend, “Someone’s at the door.” Moments later she got back on the phone to tell the friend she would call her back later.

Who was Holly?

Holly Moira Branagan was born on December 8, 1961, the second child of Richard and Peggy Branagan. Her mom Peggy passed away in 1976 from Leukemia.  According to a news report, Holly sang in the high school choir[1]. “She was reserved until she got to know you. And then she was very fun, she was never like the center of the room, but, she did always have something fun to say or do or be. I think she just wanted to fit in, and she did it beautifully, naturally,” said Sally, one of Holly’s close friends since kindergarten. Holly also helped to manage team sports. Sally told APB Cold Case that extracurricular activities helped elevate their social status at school. “She got with the more popular kids once she was the soccer manager for the high school team… because our team had some good players and most of them were popular kids.”

Crime scene tape on Pine Top Trail

On March 29, 1979, Eric and Kurt Dowdle were walking home from the bus stop. As they neared the Branagan home, Eric witnessed something that has been etched in his memory ever since – it was something that he described as surreal, the end of innocence. “It was clearly a nice March afternoon… the weather was getting warm, it was Spring, there’s rebirth. And then the bright yellow caution tape stood out in stark contrast to the buds and the green… it was jarring,” recalled Eric.  

Last known moments

On March 28, 1979, Holly arrives home from school around 2:30 PM; the house is empty; she goes upstairs to her room and after changing her clothes, she heads downstairs to the kitchen and pours herself a bowl of cereal; she takes the cereal and a bottle of soda back up to her room; around 4:30 PM she is speaking with a friend on the telephone when she hears knocking downstairs. She reportedly tells her friend ‘hold on, someone’s at the door’. A moment or two later, it appears Holly picks up a downstairs phone extension and tells the friend, ‘I’ve got to go, I’ll call you back.’ But it is unclear if she mentioned who was at the door. One police report indicates that Holly called her father’s office at Lonestar Industries around 4:45 PM learning that he had already left for a business trip to Atlantic City. According to a police report, the employee who spoke with Holly said she “did not seem upset or disturbed at the time”.

Around 5:00 PM, Sean Branagan told police he tried calling Holly at home but the line was busy, noting that their phone had a call-waiting feature and that he should have been able to get through. Sean was staying overnight with a friend, and he tried calling again around 11:00 PM, but still no answer. Holly was a popular girl and perhaps Sean thought that Holly was busy or out with friends, but the unanswered phone calls did not apparently cause him to be concerned.

On the morning of March 29, Sally arrives at the Branagan home to pick up Holly for school. “I drove up, and drove under the carport like I always did, beeped the horn. And I waited and waited and waited. And she didn’t come out, and I thought that was kind of weird”, said Sally. So, she goes to the door and rings the bell. The Branagan’s dog Clancy sees Sally through the sidelights of the front door, he’s wagging his tail, happy to see her, but Holly still doesn’t answer. Sally starts toward the stairs on the side of the house that leads up to the deck off the kitchen where there is a sliding glass door, but she stops herself. “We were raised not to go in anybody else’s house or anything, even as close as Holly and I were, it’s just not what you do. You don’t just walk in somebody else’s house. So, I got about half way up the steps and I just got this feeling, turn around, go back down the steps.” Sally feels this was a prophetic moment. “I still swear I heard my mom’s voice say ‘stop, go back in the car’, said Sally, who heads off to school. During her first class and having not seen Holly in school, Sally asked the teacher to use the telephone. Sally dials Holly’s home. “…it was some out-of-order type of message. And then after I called, all I got was busy signals, which again didn’t make sense because I knew she had call waiting,” said Sally.

Holly found dead; Police respond

At about 10:40 AM Sean Branagan and his friend arrive at the Branagan home. They are shocked when they enter the kitchen to find Holly dead on the floor, a knife protruding from her back. Sean and his friend quickly leave and Sean locks the door behind him. They summon police from a neighbor’s home and officers respond to the typically serene neighborhood.

One of the first police officers on the scene was Officer Craig Stefko. Now retired, he remembered the day he got the call. Officer Stefko told APB Cold Case that as he and others arrived, they found the house locked but could see a victim lying on the floor. As they prepare to force their way inside, Sean and his friend walk up the driveway, approaching the officers. According to Officer Stefko, Sean unlocked the door and led them to the kitchen where he pointed at his sister and said, ‘there she is.’ Officers check the house to ensure that no intruders are anywhere inside the home, and they call for a coroner – the investigation begins. Stefko described that Holly was lying face down on the kitchen floor with a large knife protruding from her right side; he said that Holly was fully clothed in jeans and a shirt.

One of the first things officers noted was the cold demeanor of Sean Branagan when he pointed out Holly’s body. Stefko recalled that Sean appeared calm and unemotional. His friend, on the other hand, was crying and visibly upset. But both Sean and his friend were cooperative.

Officer Stefko also took note of some lettered refrigerator magnets that were arranged on the freezer door to spell the word VI-O-LATOR. Could that have been a clue left by the killer? It’s been done by other sadistic killers such as Charles Manson’s followers with the message of “Helter Skelter”. Stefko took note of the evidence and continued his observations of the scene. In particular, he noted that the otherwise organized kitchen had one chair that was pulled out and facing away from the table (see show notes for crime scene diagram – this is the sketch that retired Bethlehem Police Officer Craig Stefko speaks about in the podcast), as if someone had been sitting in the chair. There was a magnet on the kitchen floor, and a towel on the refrigerator door that was partially hanging from another magnet, said Stefko, but nothing suggesting a long, drawn-out struggle with objects knocked over or broken. Was she killed quickly? Was she easily overpowered by her assailant?

The knife that was used to kill Holly reportedly came from the Branagan’s kitchen. The autopsy would determine that she had been stabbed 18 times. According to an AP article published in the Indiana Gazette, the autopsy showed that there were “15 serious knife wounds, 3 slight wounds, and 2 defensive wounds of the hands apparently received while trying to ward off the knife blows.”[2] Did the killer go to the Branagan home intent on killing Holly, or was it a confrontation that escalated to murder?

Police methodically searched the rest of the home which appeared to be neat and orderly. Officer Stefko recalled that in Holly’s upstairs bedroom he found a half bottle of Pepsi and a bowl with a spoon in it; a telephone off-hook and sitting on Holly’s unmade bed, its long cord trailing from the master bedroom; her wristwatch was on the dresser, and a pair of brown shoes and light blue socks were on the floor. But, said Officer Stefko, nothing to indicate a struggle or ransacking upstairs, and nothing to suggest a motive of robbery.

So exactly when was Holly killed? The now-retired Officer Stefko noted that the evening newspaper dated March 28 was still in the mailbox, as was the previous day’s mail. But we also do not know whether Holly routinely picked up the mail, especially when her father was away on business. From this fact alone, it is difficult to draw any conclusions.

In addition to the investigation on Pine Top Trail, police needed to speak with others who knew Holly and had contact with her. Detectives went to Freedom High School to speak with Sally. She remembered, “We had some sort of assembly that day. And that’s when they took me to the principal’s’ office.” Sally arrived in the principal’s office to find her stepmother there, causing her to immediately be concerned that something had happened to her father. Police transported Sally to the police station which is where she first learned the shocking news that her good friend had been killed. She was questioned for hours and said she felt that she was being accused of having something to do with Holly’s death.

Another major event unfolding

On the morning of March 28, 1979 and before the discovery of Holly’s murder, Reactor #2 at Three Mile Island, just 90 miles from Bethlehem, was beginning to melt down. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation, a combination of equipment problems and human error caused the emergency[3], described as the most serious nuclear power plant accident in American history.[4]

Theories and speculation

Former neighbor Eric Dowdle described the Branagan property and offered his thoughts on how someone might have approached the home. “There were 2 ways to approach the home,” said Dowdle. “One was up a steep winding street and up into the driveway of the Branagan home. If that’s the case then it had to be a car… that didn’t seem out of place in the neighborhood, because it obviously happened during the daylight hours, and there were always people around. Or somebody came through the back woods.” Dowdle also suggests that the killer could have been someone who blended in with the neighborhood – someone who would not arouse suspicion. He likens it to a science fiction horror story titled The Invisible Man. “It was about a murder carried out by a person posing as a mailman,” said Dowdle adding, “We’ve become so used to people who belong in a neighborhood that they become invisible, we don’t even see them moving around. And so, I submit to you, that really what had to have happened, it was someone who looked like they belonged in the neighborhood, or it was someone who came up through the back, through the woods, which is equally plausible.”

There is no public information indicating that the police canvass of the neighborhood resulted in any leads to indicate any one person or vehicle that seemed out of place.

And though Sean’s behavior seemed cold to arriving officers, he reportedly had an alibi and was cooperative with the investigation.

And the odd message left on the refrigerator in magnets – “VIOLATOR”… detectives would determine that it was a play on the name of one of Sean’s friends and was not a message left by the killer.

Police will routinely investigate persons close to the victim, including current and former boyfriends. But Sally did not believe that Holly had a boyfriend at the time. “If she did, it was something that she did not tell me, which, would surprise me,” said Sally. Eric Dowdle, however, believed that Holly did have a boyfriend. But, he said, it was something he came to learn in later years. “There is one theory of an individual who was involved who is now dead. But we’re still trying to get to a place where everybody’s comfortable to say it was or it wasn’t him.”

Another tragedy

On September 9, 1979, 6 months after Holly was killed, Sean Branagan was working at Renner’s Mobile service station with his friend, Mark Viola, cleaning the floor of the garage with gasoline. A spark reportedly ignited the fumes and Sean and Mark were both burned. Mark’s injuries were relatively minor, but Sean sustained third degree burns over 80% of his body. He languished in a hospital for a week and died from his injuries. Was Sean’s death an accident – or was he silenced? According to the Morning Call newspaper, Sean’s father believed it could have been related to Holly’s murder as Sean had said he was going to tell people he knew who murdered Holly in order to flush out the killer.[5] Notably, it was Mark’s name that was referenced in the refrigerator magnets spelling VIOLA-TOR during the investigation of Holly’s death. In the early phases of the murder probe, police took note of the letters as a possible clue left by the killer prior to learning the connection to Sean’s friend, Mark Viola.

Retired police officer Craig Stefko told APB Cold Case about the theory that Sean may have been targeted since he was going to confront the suspect in his sister’s murder; Eric Dowdle said, “We had heard that that Mr. Branagan, had told people that Sean was very afraid for himself”; and Holly’s friend Sally has doubts as to whether Sean’s death was an accident. “He went to Lehigh University, he was a highly intelligent individual, and he had worked at gas stations for at least 2 years, maybe longer. He knew the right process to do everything… and maybe it was a faulty machine, but I still think he was too smart. I think somebody had to fly by and close those garage doors and cause the spark,” said Sally.

The investigation continues – Another theory

Another theory came about from a flat-out confession to the crime. About 2 years after Holly’s murder, a prison inmate named Michael Jezick told police he knew who Holly’s murderer was: a 31-year-old petty thief and drug dealer. The informer said that he was present when Holly was killed in a secluded area of the woods near her home.[6] But the description of the murder and location offered by Jezick of Holly being killed in the woods, do not match up with the objective facts and circumstances of the crime scene indicating that Holly was killed in the kitchen of her home.

The investigation continued off and on throughout the years. It was reported that the FBI developed a suspect profile of the killer[7], though it does not appear that police have released any part of that report. The District Attorney picked up the case in 2009[8] and the following year empaneled a grand jury[9] to investigate the crime. Reports says that some persons of interest were excluded because of the investigation, but nothing led to an indictment. There were also hopes that the evolution of DNA science might help to bring resolution to the case. But the district attorney later said in an interview with WPVI in 2019, that even with DNA testing of the evidence, they were unable to get an indictment.[10]

Then, on March 23, 2014, Bethlehem police announced that they had identified a suspect in Holly’s murder.[11] The suspect was not publicly named, but persons who are close to the case seem to know the identity of the man whose name has become a focus in the case. In March 2024, Jim Friedman, a photojournalist for NBC 10 Philadelphia released a feature story exploring the murder of Holly Branagan. (link here) The puzzle of what really happened on Pine Top Trail has become part of Bethlehem lore and has also turned into a passion project for Freidman who has delved into the intricacies of the case, speaking with several people attached to the decades-long probe; the family, and the neighborhood. His knowledge of the circumstances of Holly’s murder and subsequent investigation likely afford him a distinct vantage point akin to the actual case detectives. Said Holly’s friend Sally, “I think Jim (Friedman) has a suspect in his head. But I can’t tie any kind of motive or thought process to it. I have never known who did it, I didn’t even have an inkling.” Eric Dowdle would also like to see an ending to the saga that began when he first saw crime scene tape in front of his babysitter’s home. “It’s like you’re carrying a weight with you that’s always is there,” said Dowdle. “I’d like to get to the end of it.”

In 2024, Eric Dowdle’s younger brother, Kurt Dowdle, released a memoir titled Dream Monster in which he describes growing up on Pine Top Trail, how Holly’s murder shook he neighborhood, and his theory on the killer’s identity. Sally, her husband, brother and sister all read the book with varying degrees of reaction – Sally and her husband, who also went to school with Holly, were not persuaded to any particular motive or theory; her sister was surprised at the family dysfunction described by the author; but Sally’s brother had a different reaction. “My brother, on the other hand, read it and said, ‘that makes perfect sense. I believe that, that’s who, who did the murder’,” said Sally. Eric Dowdle told APB Cold Case that he would not comment about the validity of the book.

Resolving the case

Sally told APB Cold Case that getting an answer to ‘who killed Holly’ would bring some peace to her and the neighborhood, even if the killer has passed away. “I don’t like walking around not knowing,” she said. “It’s fear of the unknown, fear of the unsolved… it just keeps looming...” Sally also believes that getting Holly’s killer identified might also answer questions about her brother’s tragic death. “I also feel that if we could solve the Holly side… we could solve the Sean side, because I still believe that that’s hokey. His death, I don’t believe was an accident. I never have.”

W. Richard Branagan, the father of Sean and Holly, died in 2016. He had reportedly remarried and began a second life with a new family. Sally attended the funeral of the man who was like a second father to her. But she noticed something was missing from the funeral bulletin. “Apparently he had life #1 and life #2, because not one thing in the bulletin or in the service talked about Holly and Sean, or that era,” remembered Sally. In an interview published in The Morning Call in 2014, Richard Branagan, then 95, said he sold the house in Pine Top Trail and that the new owners had offered to have him come back to see his former home and some of the renovations they made. But Branagan declined the offer, saying, “Once I went out that door, I’m not going back in. It has nothing to do with Holly or Sean. It was just time. That door has closed.”

Since 1979, people have been waiting for the end of this story. They still want an answer to who killed Holly? And if authorities can get that answer, will it shed a light on Sean’s death? Was he silenced because of what he knew or claimed to know? At one point in the investigation, there was hope that DNA might bring police closer to the end. It hasn’t happened yet. But DNA science continues to evolve – could there still be hope for this case through the physical evidence? Or will someone come forward with the clue that will finally close this case? 

If you have any information about the murder of Holly Branagan call the Bethlehem Police Department TIPS line at 610-691-6660

LINK Someone’s at the Door – Part 1 and Part 2

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

[1] Holly Branagan murder; The Morning Call, Allentown, PA; 3/23/2014, p. A21

[2] Search for teen’s killer continues; Indiana Gazette; Mar. 27, 1989; p. 10

[3] Three Mile Island Fact Sheet; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html­­­­­­­­­­­­­

[4] Ibid.

[5] The Morning Call, Allentown, PA; 3/23/2014, p. A21

[6] Search for teen’s killer continues; Indiana Gazette; Mar. 27, 1989; p. 10

[7] The Gettysburg Times; https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gettysburg-times-holly-branagan-murd/449630/?locale=en-US

[8] Huntington Daily News; 4/22/2009; p. 9

[9] Bethlehem police identify suspect in 1979 murder of Holly Branagan, district attorney confirms; Lehigh Valley Live

[10] WPVI; Walter Perez; 40 years later, police still hope to solve Holly Branagan murder in Bethlehem, Pa.; 3/18/2019

[11] Bethlehem police identify suspect in 1979 murder of Holly Branagan, district attorney confirms; 3/24/2014; https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/2014/03/bethlehem_police_identify_susp.html

This story is a true whodunnit, laden with possible suspects: war-time spies, a disgruntled tenant, a rich banker, and a long-suffering wife. Surprisingly, this case has more detailed information than many contemporary investigations, even though it is over 100 years old! Could DNA from the old evidence solve this case today?

The Dean Homestead

Dr. William Kendrick Dean and his wife Mary lived in the town of Jaffrey, in southwest New Hampshire. Trained as a medical doctor, William Dean never practiced as Mary did not want him to have the busy life of a doctor. Instead, they settled onto what is today known as Dean Farm Road, a winding dirt lane leading to  a large house, smaller cottage, and a barn. Because of financial issues at the time, the Dean’s lived in the cottage and rented out the house. Their tenant in 1918 was a man named Lawrence Colfelt, thought by some to be of German descent, which was looked upon by some in the community with cautious curiosity and others with downright suspicion, as the world was then at war with Germany.

Wartime

Nearby Mount Monadnock is located only a few miles from Jaffrey, and on a clear day has views to Boston Harbor. At a time when the President of the United States had warned the nation to be on alert to anything suspicious, many residents in and around Jaffrey frequently reported seeing strange lights emanating from Mount Monadnock. Could those lights be signals from spies sent to waiting naval craft off Boston’s shores? According to Ken Sheldon, author of Deep Water, a meticulous exploration of the history and events surrounding the murder of Dr. Dean, “people were on a heightened sensitivity to anything they perceived to be espionage…” Especially, said Sheldon, in a small town like Jaffrey where, at the time, “everybody knows everybody else’s business.” The flashing lights were not just one incidental sighting, they seemed to happen with frequency. “It was credible enough that people believed what they saw,” said Bruce Hill, archivist at the Jaffrey Historical Society.  Hill said there were so many reports, that any suggestions of an innocent explanation were dismissed. “There was just too many coincidences, too many details that proved worthy of further consideration,” added Hill.

Important Information for the Government

On Monday, August 12, 1918, Dr. Dean had a conversation with Arria Morison, a summer resident of Jaffrey who was collecting items for a rummage sale to benefit a hospital. As the Dean’s prepared a donation for Morison, the conversation led to her upcoming trip to Boston. Knowing that the Bureau of Investigation had a field office there (the precursor of what is known today as the Federal Bureau of Investigation), Dean asked Morison to relay a message for him – that he had sensitive information to share. He would not elaborate on the details, and would not consider telephoning the authorities either over fears of being overheard.

Dr. Dean Missing

The next day, August 13, Dr. Dean went to the barn to milk the cow, part of his twice daily routine. It was around midnight when he left the cottage. Minutes passed, then hours, and Mary Dean became concerned. But she was very fearful of the dark, and when morning came, she went to look for her husband. Unable to find him, Mary Dean summoned a neighbor who came to help her look for Dr. Dean. Knowing that Mrs. Dean had problems with her memory and was sometimes confused, he also checked inside their cottage. But still, no sign of Dr. Dean. More neighbors and local officials joined in the search, focusing around the barn. One of those searchers noticed some blood on the porch steps and the door to the barn.[1]

Dr. Dean Found

The men searched a nearby cistern, an underground structure used to contain rainwater for future use. As the cistern was probed with a long pole, they made a gruesome discovery. They recovered Dr. Dean’s body with a large pair of ice tongs and summoned the undertaker. They likely knew that something mischievous was afoot – something the medical examiner, Dr. Dinsmore, would soon report.

The findings of the examination by Dinsmore indicated that Dr. Dean’s body was covered with a burlap sack; inside the sack was a 27 ½ pound stone resembling a foundation stone; there was a light horse blanket wrapped around his head; beneath that, a rope was found wrapped tightly around his neck, creasing the skin deeply on one side; his hands were tied behind his back, his legs were tied above the knees, and also tied at the ankles. Dinsmore noted that Dean sustained a broken neck, a head injury, g with a cut and other wounds along the left temple.

If the Town of Jaffrey wasn’t already on edge over the mysterious flashing lights on Mount Monadnock, the murder of a citizen as prominent and well-liked as Dr. Dean escalated their fears.

Investigations; Autopsies; Mood of the Town

There was actually more than one investigation into the death of Dr. Dean, said Ken Sheldon. First was the local investigation conducted by county solicitor Roy Pickard, known for his tough-on-crime stance. Pickard enlisted the assistance of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, reputed for its investigative acumen, to aid in the probe. But simultaneously, Dean’s brother, Frederick Dean launched his own investigation, recruiting William derKerlor from New York City. derKerlor was well known as a psychic detective whose brash mannerisms tended to infuriate people. Said Sheldon, “this is New Hampshire, filled with reticent country people not used to having their doors banged on at midnight with someone asking a bunch of questions about a murder that they were already hesitant to talk about.”

Frederick Dean also demanded a second autopsy, this time by an experienced Boston pathologist, Dr. George Magrath. It was about 2 weeks following his death when Dr. Dean’s body was exhumed from a Jaffrey cemetery (photographs are available of the exhumation – see show notes at apbcoldcase.com). Magrath noted blood staining or hemorrhage on the subcutaneous tissues of the large neck muscle that begins at the bottom of the neck and ends at the base of the skull. He also noted a fracture of the hyoid bone, a bone in the neck often found fractured in cases of strangulation; also noted were fractures of the spine and skull, with a particular note about a freely moving section of skull about 3 centimeters square. Magrath’s conclusion was that Dr. Dean died from asphyxiation. Magrath was quoted as saying, “the murder was not committed in a hurry to get the body out of the way, but to make absolutely certain it was dead”.

Grand Jury Investigates

The investigations into Dean’s death continued. But with no resolution after several months, a grand jury was empaneled to hear the facts. As with any grand jury, the proceedings were transcribed, and the stenographer’s notebooks were carefully secured – out of sight, and out of mind… until the 1980’s when the Keene County courthouse was being moved from one location to another.

But the original stenographer’s notebooks were not the only discovery in the recesses of the old courthouse. They also found some of the original evidence in the case – an exciting revelation. Ken Sheldon described the items saying, “The things that were used in the murder of William Dean were all things that came from the farm. The rope had been something that was hanging around where he was; there was a burlap sack put over everything; underneath that there was a horse blanket that had been wrapped around his head, I think to contain the blood from the bruises that he had been given. His hands and feet were tied with cords…” Sheldon noted that  all of these items came from the barn, something that was suggestive as to the intent of the killer. In addition to the restraints and items used on Dr. Dean, there were other articles found at the courthouse. “…there was also a box, and in that box, were the clothes that Dean was wearing the night he was murdered, the rope that was tied around his neck, a bloody doorknob to the barn uh where he was murdered; the ropes, chains, I think, and some pieces of wood with blood spatters on them.” But for all of the evidence that was in the file, there was something glaringly absent – the cigarette case.

The Cigarette Cases

Cigarette cases were commonly carried during the time whether a person bought cigarettes or rolled their own. When the water was drained from the cistern and Dr. Deans body removed, a cigarette case was also recovered. Sheldon said that the case was then dried on the grass and secured. But Dr. Dean’s own cigarette case was in his pocket, and there was even a third cigarette case in this story, one that was found inside the Dean residence. Who did the cigarette case found in the cistern belong to? Could it have fallen from the killer’s pocket?

The missing cigarette case may have been one of the most significant clues of the investigation, and its disappearance does not reflect well on the investigation. Ken Sheldon believes that this may have not been a mishandling of evidence as  much as it was purposely lost to protect someone’s identity.  By the time the grand jury investigation was underway, there were two cigarette cases brought in as exhibits. But, says Sheldon, neither was the one from the bottom of the cistern. “Nobody knows what happened to that cigarette case – it still hasn’t turned up to this day,” said Sheldon. “In my mind the only reason for it to go away was because it implicated somebody.”

Motive to Kill?

Who had a motive to kill Dr. Dean? Who were the suspects of that era? Sheldon said the suspects can generally be distilled to three: Mary Dean, the doctor’s wife; Lawrence Colfelt, the tenant and who was thought by some to be a German spy; or Charles Rich, a well-known banker, judge and supposed close friend of Dr. Dean.

Mary Dean

Mary was 67 years old when her husband was killed. Because she was the last person to see her husband alive, said Ken Sheldon, she became a suspect. But she was forgetful, and some thought her to be insane, which may have motivated her to kill her husband. But others deduced that she did not have the wherewithal to commit the acts of killing her husband and disposing of his body into the cistern.

Lawrence Colfelt

Again, Colfelt was a renter of the Dean’s house, a means for them to supplement their income. Ken Sheldon described Colfelt as a trust-fund baby; his grandfather was a millionaire. For the wary residents of Jaffrey, some suspected that he was of German descent. About a month before Dr. Dean was murdered Colfelt moved away because of a “falling out” with Dr. Dean, said Sheldon.

Charles Rich

Rich was one of the most prominent people in Jaffrey. He was a local judge, grand master of the Masonic Lodge, a banker, and connected with other major business people in the community. Rich was also one of Dr. Dean’s closest friends, said Ken Sheldon. What caused some people to begin looking at Rich with suspicion is because he had an obvious black eye on the day after Dr. Dean was killed. Rich explained the injury saying that he was kicked by his horse in the barn. But Sheldon said that Mr. Rich’s story seemed to change as he continued to tell it to others; and there were witnesses who said that Rich’s horse was not even in the barn at the time he said it kicked him.

Grand Jury

With the investigation going nowhere, a grand jury was impaneled to review the facts about 8 months after Dr. Dean’s death. As revealed in the grand jury transcripts, County Solicitor Roy Pickard leaned toward the theory that Mrs. Dean was the killer. Ken Sheldon said that the mood in Jaffrey at the time was one of division -those who bought into the theory that it was Mrs. Dean who murdered her husband, and others who leaned toward Mr. Charles Rich, not that the townspeople would openly talk about it, fearful for their jobs and even their lives. “When I was younger person in high school and college, people would not talk about it because they were afraid. At the time they were afraid that whatever happened to Mr. Dean would happen to them if they talked…”, said Ken Sheldon.

Which Theory?

Bruce Hill is an Archivist at the Jaffrey Historical Society which holds several documents, transcripts and artifacts from the Dean murder. Hill rules out the possibility that Mary Dean was the killer, noting her mental capacity and physical limitations. Hill does consider that Colfelt deserves some scrutiny, but said that while Colfelt was suspected of being German, he was actually Irish. It was his odd lifestyle that drew attention and consternation of some of the locals that likely made him a focal point at the time. Then, says Hill, is Charles Rich. “His black eye is a condition that can’t be ignored.”

Could the motive have been someone who wanted to silence Dr. Dean from speaking with federal authorities? He had just sent word with Arria Morison that he wanted to speak with them about important information – whatever it was. Did that information coincide with one of the mentioned suspects? – or someone else altogether?

Can Modern Science Bring Answers?

We discussed the several items of evidence that were found in the Keene County Courthouse, some still bearing blood stains from 1918. But Ken Sheldon said those exhibits have been handled by hundreds – taken on school tours and viewed at the historical society. And even if DNA technology was able to isolate genetic profiles, since there will never be a prosecution in the case, we cannot expect any exhumations for DNA exemplars. Today’s science provides for a work-around, however. Genetic genealogy uses the DNA profile of descendants to draw connections with profiles from evidence. But in this instance, said Ken Sheldon, there are no descendants. Sheldon said that Mr. and Mrs. Dean were actually cousins, and they decided not to have children; Charles Rich and his wife Lana also did not have their own children; and Lawrence Colfelt had a stepdaughter, but no children of his own lineage. And so, the mystery will continue.

The Puzzle

The investigation into the murder of Dr. William Dean has transcended from a criminal investigation to folklore over the course of 100 years. It is something that will likely continue to challenge the minds of residents and visits to the quaint town of Jaffrey for centuries to come. Archivist Bruce Hill sees the significance of the murder and how it has shaped Jaffrey over the years. “It’s gone from dividing the community to being a historical curiosity,”, he said.

For Ken Sheldon, truly an expert on the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dean case, he said that the Dean riddle has become its’ allure. He said this is a case about a man who still deserves justice. “Imagine you’ve been given 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, but you haven’t been given the box with the picture on top. So, you don’t really know what the picture is that you’re putting together.” Sheldon added, “You’re not sure you got all the pieces, and maybe some of the pieces you have, don’t go to this puzzle. That’s what it is like trying to figure out the Dean murder.”

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

_______________________

Thanks to David Fletcher, a resident of Dean Farm Road in Jaffrey who recommended this case for an APB Cold Case episode;

Sources and citations: Interviews with Kenneth M. Sheldon and Bruce Hill; listen to their interviews in the APB Cold Case podcast: Silenced.

More information: Deep Water: Murder, Scandal, and Intrigue in a New England Town; by Kenneth M. Sheldon. Down East Books; Also on Amazon.

[1] Sheldon, Kenneth M.; Deep Water: Murder, Scandal, and Intrigue in a New England Town; Down East Books; 2022; p. 10

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

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What could have possibly happened to the handsome young man born to a naval officer father and a native Australian mother[1] that turned him into a prolific serial killer who wound up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list?

Early Years: Evolution of a Serial Killer

Christopher Bernard Wilder was born in 1945. He was sickly as an infant and was not expected to survive. His teenage years were spent near Sydney, Australia where, at the age of 17, he was charged with the gang rape of a 13-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty and received a year of probation.[1] When he was 23, Wilder got married in Australia. But when he was accused of another sex crime, his marriage ended. According to one report, Wilder’s ex-wife approached authorities over concerns that he could be the suspect in the infamous Wanda Beach murders in which two teenagers had been murdered in 1965 when Wilder, who allegedly lived near the victims, would have been about 20 years old.[2]

Wanda Beach Killings, Australia

The girls, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock had taken Marianne’s younger siblings to Wanda beach on the morning of January 11, 1965, according to Marianne’s brother in comments to the Sydney Morning Herald. The report says that Marianne and Christine went to pick up their belongings from the beach but never came back for the younger kids, who eventually went home on their own. The girls were reported missing that evening. The next morning, a man discovered the girls’ bodies, at first thinking they were mannequins. The article goes onto say that the girls had been raped, slashed and stabbed. Marianne’s brother told the newspaper, “She’d been stabbed 25-30 times. She’d almost been decapitated because her throat had been cut so viciously.”[1]

Wilder’s Journey and a Trail of Victims

It was in the 1970’s, according to Robert Khan in an A&E TV article, when Wilder immigrated to Florida where he “reinvented himself as a playboy real estate investor”[2] and began a home contracting business. It was during this time in the 70’s when Wilder was charged and convicted of various sex crimes, though he never served any jail time.[3]

Wilder was suspected of committing several brutal and horrific sex crimes throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. Check these links for details:

·      Elusive ‘Beauty Queen Killer’ Led Double Life as a Florida Playboy (A&E TV): https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/beauty-queen-killer-christopher-wilder-florida-playboy

·      Beauty Queen Killer Takes Boody Ride (New York Daily News): https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/beauty-queen-killer-takes-bloody-ride-1984-article-1.2366878

·      Kidnap Victim Accompanied a Serial Killer in Final Days of His Rampage. Now She's Speaking Out (People magazine) https://people.com/she-accompanied-a-serial-killer-in-final-days-of-his-rampage-now-she-s-speaking-out-8648050

·      The Day a Spree Killer Reached the End of the Road., Leaving Dead and Missing Models Behind (Miami Herald) https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article228348854.html

Wilder was a race car enthusiast, reportedly racing his own car in the Miami Gran Prix in February 1984 and who frequented shopping malls looking for victims under the guise of being a fashion photographer[4]. He was on the lookout for his next fashion model or beauty queen.

He travelled back to Australia on at least one occasion before returning to Florida. Reports say that on February 26, 1984 aspiring model[5] Rosario Gonzalez went missing – she’d been doing promotional work for the Miami Gran Prix, the same race in which Wilder had just competed.[6] About one week later, a Miss Florida finalist and former Orange Bowl princess[7] also went missing. Police would later connect these crimes to Wilder.

His savage spree continued, abducting women, torturing, and killing them, although at least one escaped in Tallahassee when she broke free after having been shocked and having her eyes glued shut. Murders continued in Texas, Kansas, Utah, and Nevada. Then in Torrance, CA, he abducted and raped 16-year-old Tammy (not her real name)[8] but he didn’t kill her – he decided to use her to help him get other victims. Wilder began a trip back across the United States through Arizona, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Using his captive Tammy, Wilder abducted a 15-year-old in Indiana, stabbing her and leaving her body in the woods. But she survived and was rescued by a passerby. Wilder and Tammy headed to New York State where Wilder abducted a 33-year-old woman, then shot and killed her. He directed Tammy to drive the victim’s gold Firebird as he followed. Wilder ultimately released Tammy at the airport in Boston, allowing her to return home to California where she reported her harrowing ordeal to police. The FBI had been tracking many of Wilder’s crimes, and now, this surviving witness would help them put some of the pieces together.

Former Police Chief, Peter Carnes told APB Behind The Badge about Wilder, “When he came across the country from the west coast to the east coast – he had picked up women at different locations. He was a fairly attractive male. I think he was probably early 30’s, and he’d wind up taking them to motels; and in the motel, he engaged in some activities there and wound up murdering these females. Usually, they were woman from 20-35 years of age. He was just a very sadistic killer.”

Compared to Ted Bundy

In the realm of notorious serial killers, Christopher Wilder’s name may not be as well-known as Ted Bundy, but Wilder was every bit as much a lethal killer. He used his good looks and charm to lure women, making them believe he could get them lucrative modeling jobs and their photos on the covers of magazines. “No question he was smooth,” said Carnes. “he had a lot of finesse… was able to charm his victims, he was able to accomplish his devious acts and designs to entice these women into coming with him.”

Last Victim

Wilder’s last murder victim was Elizabeth “Beth” Dodge from upstate New York. She had been abducted and killed on Thursday, April 12, 1984. Her vehicle, the gold 1982 Pontiac Firebird, was reportedly stolen[9] after her murder and police were on the lookout for that car suspecting that the killer may be behind the wheel.[10]

Good Samaritan Turns Bad 

According to a former police official from the area, the following day, Friday, April 13, Wilder was driving the Firebird on Route 128 in Wenham, Massachusetts when he spotted a young woman in a disabled vehicle on the side of the highway. Wilder pulled over and asked if he could help. She warily took him up on the offer, needing only to get a ride to the nearest exit where she knew she could find a mechanic. She directed Wilder to the Grapevine Road offramp. But when she told him to turn right, he instead turned left. The woman panicked, now aware that she was in danger. As Wilder was making the turn, the woman opened the passenger door. At that moment, Wilder drew a .357 magnum pistol and aimed it at her head. But she leapt from the moving car which apparently caused Wilder to become frightened and he drove away. The woman ran toward a nearby college campus and called police. As a Wenham police officer arrived in the area, he noticed women’s shoes in the roadway of the exit ramp. The officer soon located the victim who described her terrifying encounter with a man who was yet to be identified as a serial killer.

Police Investigate Attempted Abduction

Peter Carnes was the Chief of Police in Wenham, Massachusetts at the time. He told APB Behind The Badge that they believed they were dealing with an isolated incident of an attempted kidnapping and assault with a firearm. Carnes said they broadcast APBs and teletype messages to police throughout the region. But one of his primary concerns was that the suspect was last seen in the area of Gordon College, and he needed to search the grounds to see if the suspect was there and to make sure that students were safe. But at this time, neither the victim nor Chief Carnes were familiar with the name ‘Christopher Wilder’.

Do You Think this is Christopher Wilder?

Because of all of the police activity and radio chatter about the attempted kidnapping, a Boston TV news reporter called Chief Carnes for a quick interview – they were sending a news crew for the breaking story. Carnes recalled that the reporter asked him, “Do you think this is Christopher Wilder?” Carnes said he had not heard about Wilder, but the reporter told him that media outlets had been talking about the serial killer being added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

Victim Description Matches Wilder

While Carnes and his officers were working on the investigation and securing the nearby college, detectives were interviewing the victim who assisted police in developing a composite sketch of the perpetrator. Simultaneously, Wenham police were getting a bulletin from the FBI with a picture of Christopher Wilder. Said Chief Carnes about the picture of Wilder and the composite sketch provided by their victim, “Lo and behold, it was an identical resemblance to Christopher Wilder!” With that, another radio alert went out to law enforcement agencies throughout New England – ‘be on the lookout for Christopher Wilder and a gold Pontiac Firebird’.

Photo:FBI.gov

All Points Bulletin Leads to Wilder’s Last Stop

The dragnet was out for Wilder, and police were desperate to find him before he struck again. Carnes told APB Behind The Badge, “About 2 hours later in northern New Hampshire, 2 state troopers in plainclothes went by a gas station and saw a Firebird. The 2 troopers exited their car and approached the vehicle.” Wilder drew his .357 magnum, and was cornered by the troopers, said Carnes. Various news reports from the time suggest that Wilder either shot himself or was shot by the troopers. However, one of the troopers did receive a gunshot wound, suspected to have been the first bullet that Wilder had fired into himself. Wilder’s second wound was fatal, ending the sadistic and murderous crime wave of the 39-year-old.

The Humanity of the Ice Cream ‘Scam’

The national and local news media had descended on the small town of Wenham police station. Chief Carnes said that the parking lot was filled with news crews and satellite trucks covering the breaking story of a serial killer and an attempted abduction. Inside the station at the time was the victim who was telling police in meticulous detail every memory she had about the man and the car. With her was Officer Dave Doyle, who had quickly established a rapport with the victim. She had been at the police station for hours already, and police were not close to being done with their interview. “We asked her at noon time about getting her lunch. ‘What can we get for you’?” asked Carnes who was simultaneously managing a myriad of questions from other police agencies and the news media. Her only request was a Dairy Queen ice cream, said Carnes. After the trauma that this young woman had been through, nothing was unreasonable, said Carnes. Not wanting to disappoint, Carnes’ next question to himself was, “how can we get this woman a Dairy Queen ice cream?” Carnes told the uniformed Officer Doyle to take the witness and just walk out of the building, chatting as if they were old friends. And they did just that, walking past the dozens of news media in plain sight. “And nobody picked up on it. Nobody said, ‘oh, that’s the victim let’s get a picture.’ She got into a cruiser and rode away with a couple of officers.”

Looking back at the way they got the victim out of the police station for an hour, Carnes told APB Behind The Badge, “it was one of those things that was either going to be a huge success, or an instant failure. It was a little scam we pulled. It was successful.” Chief Carnes said when the witness returned to the station after lunch, they reunited her with her husband and her family. “We heard from her for several years thereafter.” But now as many years have passed, Carnes said he has not spoken with her, but he hopes she is successful and doing well.

Never Forgotten

Whenever now-retired Chief Carnes travels along Route 128 near Grapevine Road he remembers the victim who bravely jumped out of Wilder’s car back in 1984. “These stories don’t go away. That’s where she was that day. The gears start turning, they never stop.” He credits the young woman for setting in motion the events that ultimately lead to his apprehension at the gas station in New Hampshire. “To have the foresight to jump out of that car when she did, we were proud and honored to work with her.” said Carnes.

Listen now - to the interview with former Police Chief Peter Carnes in Last Stop of the Beauty Queen Killer a special Behind The Badge episode of the APB Cold Case podcast series.

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

[1] Sydney Morning Herald,7/3/2014; Anne-Louise Brown)

[2] Elusive ‘Beauty Queen Killer’ Led Double Life as a Florida Playboy; Robert Khan; A&E TV; https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/beauty-queen-killer-christopher-wilder-florida-playboy

[3] Elusive ‘Beauty Queen Killer’ Led Double Life as a Florida Playboy; Robert Khan; A&E TV; https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/beauty-queen-killer-christopher-wilder-florida-playboy

[4] The Boston Globe; Accused Slayer Kills Self; Apr. 14, 1984

[5] The Daily News; dailynews.com; Beauty Queen Killer Takes Bloody Ride; 1984

[6] The Boston Globe; Accused Slayer Kills Self; Apr. 14, 1984

[7] Ibid

[8] Tammy – not her real name; fictitious name used to protect victim’s identity

[9] The Boston Globe; Accused Slayer Kills Self; Apr. 14, 1984

[10] North Adams Transcript; N.Y. Woman May be Killer’s Latest Victim; Apr. 13, 1984, p.2

[1] https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/wilder/3.html

[2] Elusive ‘Beauty Queen Killer’ Led Double Life as a Florida Playboy; Robert Khan; A&E TV; https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/beauty-queen-killer-christopher-wilder-florida-playboy

¹https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/predators/wilder/3.html

Summertime is peak tourist season in Saratoga Springs, New York, known for its mineral spas, national monument battlefield and of course, thoroughbred horse racing at the Saratoga Race Course. 28-year-old Pam Devizzio was born and raised in Saratoga and her family is in the restaurant business. She works at Mangino’s in nearby Malta. But on the Fourth of July, she takes the day off to go boating with a girlfriend in nearby Lake George. That same night, Pam’s sister and brother-in-law are celebrating down in the bar district on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs. It’s a popular destination for tourists, locals and especially for other restaurant workers because the bars stay open until 4:00 AM. As Pam’s sister and brother-in-law walk into a bar called Madame Jumel’s (see map in our show notes at apbcoldcase.com), they run into Pam and her roommate, Andrea. Pam explains to her sister that she did not go to Lake George that day as planned. Instead, she stayed around Saratoga Springs after hearing that her ex-boyfriend was in town visiting from Florida.

About Pam

Pam grew up on Nelson Avenue with her parents, two brothers and two sisters. Pam was the second youngest in the family. Her sister told APB Cold Case that Pam had lots of friends, and enjoyed the typical childhood experiences of sleepovers and pool parties. In high school, Pam excelled in business courses including shorthand and typing. She was offered a job with the State of New York when she graduated from high school.

Before working at Mangino’s, Pam was a bartender at Sage’s Casa 13, a popular downtown bar. She was active in the Saratoga’s night life, she knew a lot of people, and a lot of people knew her.

A Difficult Breakup

Pam had previously been living in the nearby Town of Northumberland with a boyfriend. Her sister said that it had been a serious relationship which lasted about 5 years, until Pam learned that he was allegedly cheating on her. After the breakup in 1987, the boyfriend moved to Florida and Pam moved to an apartment on Court Street in her hometown of Saratoga Springs with her friend, Andrea, within walking distance of the bar district.

Former Boyfriend Back in Town

As Pam had explained to her sister, the reason she and her girlfriend did not go boating that day was because Pam got a call from an acquaintance who said her former boyfriend was in town to visit his father who had terminal cancer; and when Pam heard this, she and Andrea opted to stay in Saratoga Springs, hoping to run into him. Pam had previously mentioned to her sister that the former boyfriend owed her money for a utility bill from the time when they lived together in Northumberland. Pam’s sister also suspected that Pam wanted to reconcile with him.

Last Stop of the Night

After the brief conversation with her sister at Madame Jumel’s (see photo above – Madame Jumel’s circa 1988; Photo courtesy Saratoga Co. Sheriff’s Office) Pam and her friend move on to another nearby bar: Gaffney’s. Pam’s sister and brother-in-law leave Madame Jumel’s around 3:00 AM and as they walk down Caroline Street, they spot Pam through the front window of Gaffney’s. They notice Pam’s friend, Andrea, leaving with a guy named Jimmy just as they enter. They stay only a moment to wish Pam a good night. At around 4:15 AM that morning, July 5, 1988, Gaffney’s is closing up, and Pam is seen leaving the bar alone.

Where is Pam?

The next day, July 5^th, is a work day for Pam. Her family told APB Cold Case that Pam didn’t have a license and didn’t drive a car, a decision made after a friend was involved in a fatal crash. So, Pam routinely walks everywhere – as long as it’s within the surrounding neighborhood. And when she needs to go farther, she relies on her sister or father to give her a ride. On this day it’s Tuesday, her sister’s day off, so Pam’s father goes to pick her up for her shift at Mangino’s restaurant, just outside of Saratoga Springs. 

When he arrives at her Court Street apartment Pam doesn’t answer the door. For the reliable and punctual Pam, this is out of character, and it alarms him. He calls family members looking for her and then he goes over to the bar district on Caroline Steet with a picture of Pam, asking anyone and everyone if they have seen her. Without any success, he goes to the Saratoga Springs Police Department and reports her missing. By the end of the day, family members, friends, and co-workers are all looking for Pam.

Discovery on Putnam Road

The next day, July 6 at about 10:00 AM, a truck driver notices a dog in a drainage ditch along Putnam Road in the rural town of Northumberland, just east of Jacob Drive. He notices that the dog has a bloody snout and then he sees a body lying in the ditch. (Photo below – police on scene of murder investigation in 1988; Photo: Saratoga Co. Sheriff’s Office). He drives to the nearest house to call authorities.

Is this Pam?

Investigators with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s office respond to the scene and it is obvious to them that this is a homicide. The woman’s body is sent to the medical examiner where she was identified through dental records as the missing Pam Devizzio.

The location where she is found is just 10 miles from where she was last seen.  Sheriff’s investigators believe that the location is significant. Putnam Road is rural, and lightly travelled. But it is in relative proximity to the apartment where Pam and her former boyfriend lived until about one year prior to her death.

Notification to Family

At the family home in Saratoga Springs, Pam’s father, sister and others gather to consider what they can do to help find Pam. But then, a detective knocks at the door. The news is their worst nightmare. He tells the family that a body has been recovered in Northumberland, and it matches Pam’s description.

The Investigation

Saratoga County Sheriff’s Investigator Jonathan Grady said they believe that Pam died on the side of the road from injures sustained in a violent attack. The autopsy was performed by the renowned pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden. Capt. Kevin Herrick (Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office) told APB Cold Case that the cause of Pam’s death was blunt force trauma, and the manner of death was determined to be homicide. Asked whether a weapon was involved in the attack, Herrick said they are uncertain. While they did not find any direct evidence of a sexual assault, Herrick indicated that they are not discounting the possibility that the crime was sexually motivated. “The way the body was left leads me to believe that’s a possibility,” said Herrick.

Police interview restaurant workers, patrons, family, and friends; they canvass the bar district, and the area where Pam’s body was found.

Saratoga County Sheriff’s officials also met with Saratoga Springs police to compare notes on another unsolved homicide: In 1980, Sheila Shepherd was murdered in her apartment in what police described as a ‘staged’ scene by a calculated killer. In 1988, Pam Devizzio was last seen not far from where Shepherd’s murder occurred. Sgt. Chris Callahan of Saratoga Springs Police Department said, “Other than the fact that they’re both young women, and last seen in the the downtown area, that’s about where the similarities end.”

Motive to Kill? – Last seen Alive

By all accounts Pam was well liked by her friends and colleagues, and no one indicated that she had been the victim of harassment or stalking. Was she specifically targeted? Was it a random attack? Or did something else happen that escalated into murder? Police said the last witness account they have of someone seeing Pam alive was when she walked out of Gaffney’s at around 4:15 AM, heading in the direction of her apartment. But what happened after that? Did someone meet her? Offer her a ride? Did something happen as she walked toward her apartment? Pam’s sister said that Pam was always conscientious about safety and would not have accepted a ride from someone she didn’t know. But she also would not have wanted to walk alone at that hour either. It seems that Pam did connect with someone. According to Investigator Jonathan Grady, “It was the family’s belief that whoever she left with, she probably knew.”

The Case Goes Cold

After investigators conduct multiple interviews, including polygraphs and door-to-door canvasses in the Saratoga bar district as well as the area where her body was found, and after scrutinizing the physical evidence in the case, they do not have enough information to arrest anyone for Pam’s murder. The case goes cold.

Today’s Investigation

Through the years police have continued to work on any new leads as they come in. But recently they have gone back to the evidence, considering whether modern forensics can provide a clue that was not possible when the investigation originally began. Because of advances in DNA science, the Sheriff’s office has sent some of the physical evidence in Pam Devizzio’ s case back to the lab. One of the processes they used is called M-VAC, a sterile vacuum device that extracts DNA particles from items such as clothing. Inv. Jonathan Grady said that they do now have a “DNA lead.” Police are not saying whether this new information is pointing to a suspect, but they did say it has allowed them to rule out others.

Challenges

In addition to the challenges of a typical cold case – fading memories, the passing of witnesses, deterioration of evidence; this crime also occurred at a point in time when there was a large influx of visitors to Saratoga County.  Is there a connection to the tourist season and seasonal employees from 1988 that might be involved with Pam’s murder? Or was that only an unrelated circumstance? While investigators continue to search for answers, they are also hoping that renewed publicity about Pam’s case will draw out new tips – perhaps someone who remembers even the smallest detail from July, 1988.

If you have any information about the murder of Pam Devizzio, call Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office at 518-885-6761.

Listen to this episode and see show notes including photos, maps and timeline at apbcoldcase.com

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© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

Tracy Onawa Jones

Tracy Onawa Jones was just 19 years old when she decided to join a travelling magazine sales crew in 2006. Her father, of Cherokee heritage, gave her the middle name of Onawa meaning “wide awake”, a reference to the spirit and energy she exhibited just after she was born. These traits would be symbolic of her personality and the way she lived her life, albeit a short 19 years.

Intrigued by Travelling Sales

The new job caught her attention when a young lady selling magazines knocked on Tracy’s door in Albany, Oregon. She couldn’t afford to buy a subscription herself, but she was interested in what she saw as an exciting venture – travelling across the United States with an end goal of winning the top sales prize of a European vacation. Tracy’s magnetism made her a natural for sales. A childhood friend remembered her, saying, “Hanging out with Tracy was always a good time; she was always happy and kind. An occasional jokester with an engaging smile and a contagious laugh; a beautiful girl, inside and out.”

Tracy’s older sister told APB Cold Case that Tracy enjoyed a challenge, wanting to do something different than her current job of working in the deli at the local Safeway supermarket. “With the magazine sales, it gave her a chance to explore and not have an average 9-5. She was seeing the country, she was doing cool things, meeting new people.” Tracy’s father was more skeptical, but he knew that Tracy was going to do whatever she wanted – “I said, you be careful, watch your back. There’s people out there trying to hurt you and they will,” cautioned Tracy’s father.

After speaking with a sales manager about what the job would entail, Tracy was eager to get started, and she set out with new friends across the United States, going door to door selling subscriptions, living on the road, and staying in budget hotels along the way.

Danger on the Road

When the sales crew was in Lincoln, Nebraska Tracy had her first brush with danger when someone tried to force her into a car. Robert Blair was not only Tracy’s crew manager, but he had also become her boyfriend. Though he wasn’t present when Tracy was accosted, she did tell him about it when they met up later that day. “She approached the vehicle… as she was going door to door,” recalled Blair. “And as soon as she approached the vehicle, they tried to pull her in,” he said.

Tracy’s sister said they would text from time to time while Tracy was travelling, and it appeared that Tracy was homesick. But her sales record was above any of her colleagues and she had a real chance of nailing the top prize – that European vacation or the cash equivalent.

Selling Magazines in Truck Stops

At one of their stops across country they were staying at a hotel across the street from a truck stop. Blair said that when his crew and others assembled that morning to begin working the Little Rock area, they sent the sales crew across the street to a truck stop to get breakfast. When Tracy returned to the hotel Blair learned that she had already been asking people to buy magazines. Blair said, “it shocked me that she already had 10 sales before the actual work day started. She told me, ‘I’d prefer to work truck stops, because I know how to talk with the truckers.’ So, from that day forward instead of putting her in regular neighborhoods or apartment complexes I would go out of my way to find a truck stop to put her at.”

Good Job, Keep Going

So, on November 15, 2006, while other crew members were working neighborhoods in Little Rock, Tracy was selling at the Pilot Truck Stop in North Little Rock/Galloway along Interstate 40. But since it was such a distance from the other 10 crew members, Blair was unable to physically check on her in person as he was moving other crew members to different areas on an hourly basis. But Blair did call Tracy every couple of hours, checking on her which was part of their routine. During one of those calls, Tracy gave Robert a positive progress report. “I said good job, keep going. I’ll check in with you later, I’ve got to go pick up these other guys. I love you.”

Tracy, Where Are You?

Blair said it was probably his third phone call to check on Tracy that went unanswered. At first it was not concerning – she could have been speaking with a customer. But successive calls also went unanswered. “So, I left her a message and said call me back, just checking in on you. And she never called back… I kept calling, and calling and calling. It freaked me out,” said Blair. At the end of the work day and still without any contact with Tracy,  Blair and the rest of the crew drove to the Pilot Truck Stop to look for her. But Tracy was not there. One of Blair’s colleagues suggested that Tracy may have just decided to leave – something that does happen from time to time in this line of work where crew members are considered independent contractors. But her belongings were still in the hotel room, said Blair. “So, I gave her the evening thinking maybe she would show up, maybe she had gone out decided to party with some people. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I gave the situation the benefit of the doubt, tried to remain optimistic.” But the next morning – November 16, 2005, said Blair, Tracy still wasn’t there.  He knew that Tracy had a list of telephone numbers in her belongings and he decided to call Tracy’s mother in Oregon to see if she had heard from Tracy. But the family, too, had not heard from her. A fretting Blair goes to the local police to file a report. But, said Blair, police told him it was too soon. “They said because of her age and the line of work that she was in, that she probably just ran off. They gave me hell about leaving her at a truck stop being a female. And looking back, I regret that, I believe I had tunnel vision at that time. I saw the money she was making and didn’t really think about the consequences about a female being at a truck stop. I just didn’t really grasp the danger of it...”

Body Found in Tennessee

The danger would soon become all to evident when a body is found along the road in Memphis, Tennessee. The young female died of blunt and sharp force injuries.[1]  Since there was no identification on or near the body, she was a listed as a Jane Doe until around December 10, 2006 – then 3 weeks from when she was last seen at the truck stop. At that same time Tracy’s family and Robert Blair were visited by the FBI. They were shown photographs of the tattoos on Jane Doe. Both Tracy’s mother and Blair identified that those were Tracy’s tattoos. They were informed of the circumstances known at the time – that her body was found near Memphis, and that she had been murdered. Tracy’s sister learned the heart-wrenching news from her mother. “…I didn’t think that something like that could happen to her. I thought that she was smarter and stronger than that,” said Tracy’s sister.

A Grisly Murder

The details of Tracy’s murder are disturbing. Tracy’s sister described some of the findings from the autopsy report.  She said that a knife blade had been broken off in Tracy’s head; there was tape residue on her thighs; and there was wire around her arms and hands, with tape over the wire. Tracy’s sister added, “She, she had to have been fighting really hard for the tape to go all the way up her thighs like… it was like almost to her hips. The tape was that far up.”

According to FBI Agent Ann Alexander in a 2022 interview with Overdrive Radio, she said that Tracy was assaulted and murdered in a “rough manner”; that she was not killed where her body was found. Agent Alexander also commented about the time of death, indicating it was closer to the date when her body was found (November 26), not the date she was last seen (November 15), raising the question, where was Tracy for those intervening days? And what happened during that time? Alexander noted that there was a “lot of evidence” in the case, and that there were “multiple DNA samples.” So far, there has been no word on whether those samples have led to a suspect.

Tracy’s murder was not the only case tied to truck stops along the Interstate 40 corridor. There were others in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas[2]. Most of those killings involved young women, prostitution and drugs. Although clearly, Tracy does not fit that victimology, it would not likely have mattered to a predatory and opportunistic killer. The FBI said that most of the suspects in those murders were long-haul truck drivers. They also noted that the cases are difficult to solve because of the mobile nature of the offenders, the unsafe lifestyles of the victims, the significant distances and multiple jurisdictions involved, and the scarcity of witnesses.[3] In 2017 the FBI brought a renewed focus to Tracy’s case starting with a media push. According to THV-11 News, billboards featured Tracy’s picture along with reward information and a contact number for the FBI[4]. But so far, it doesn’t appear that anything has led to a suspect.

Where is Tracy’s Sales Portfolio?

When Tracy’s body was found she was wearing only a sweatshirt. There is no information available as to whether other items were recovered elsewhere, or details of any other evidence found at the scene where her body was recovered. However, one item that appears to be missing is her pad case, a portable folio where sales agents would keep a listing of the magazines offered for sale, subscription forms, along with their identification. Robert Blair explained, “That’s where they would put the orders, the checks or cash, they would carry their magazine list, price list, everything was carried in that pad case.” Did she lose her pad case in a struggle? Did the killer discard it? Or did he keep it as some offenders do as a trophy? – something that let’s them relive their crime.

Tracy’s Impact

After 17 years without resolution, Tracy’s family and friends continue to mourn the loss of a vibrant young woman on the brink of an exciting future.  Her sister said, “when she was in your life, she touched it in some way…” When one of Tracy’s friends posted a remembrance on social media a few years ago, it resulted in a number of comments remarking about Tracy, and how she was their “best friend.” Those same family and friends still want answers, and they hope that between DNA and information from the public, that an answer will come. “…if somebody knows something, it would be great if they come forward…if we could catch this person, it would be great because we’re going to save someone’s life,” said Tracy’s father. Her sister said, “I would like to know what happened and I would like to know whoever did it, gets what they deserve.”

Report Tips to FBI

Report tips to your local FBI Office or to the FBI Little Rock Field Office at 501-221-9100. At the time of this report there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Tracy’s killer.

Episodes and Show Notes at apbcoldcase.com including: Map, Timeline, Who’s Who, and Photographs. You can also listen on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@APBColdCase or wherever you listen to podcasts

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[1] According to Special Agent ANN ALEXANDER and Public Affairs Officer CONNOR HAGEN of the FBI Little Rock Field Office in an interview from 2022 with (Overdrive Radio, Feb. 4, 2022); Accessed 6/10/2024)

https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=CRg-32EyosY; Accessed 6/10/2024

[2] https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609

[3] Ibid

[4] THV -11.com News

Los turistas hacen un descubrimiento horrible

Cuatro mujeres de vacaciones en Las Vegas deciden hacer un viaje por carretera al Gran Cañón. En el camino, toman la decisión de visitar un pueblo fantasma que ven en el mapa. Su destino los lleva por la autopista 93 hacia el condado de Mohave, y después de un giro hacia White Hills Road, un tramo desolado sin tráfico, no ven nada más que kilómetros de arena del desierto, matorrales de roble y un árbol de yuca ocasional. En el camino, ven lo que parece ser un animal muerto al costado de la carretera en un sendero de tierra que se cruza. Toman nota de ello y  continúan. Pero después de viajar durante kilómetros, no ven señales de ningún pueblo fantasma, por lo que se dan la vuelta y vuelven sobre su ruta de regreso a la carretera. Esta vez, cuando se acercan al 'animal muerto', deciden detenerse y echar un vistazo. Para su sorpresa, en realidad es una persona muerta. Las mujeres conmocionadas condujeron 36 millas hasta un teléfono en Kingman, Arizona.

Un ayudante del alguacil del condado de Mohave responde a la escena, evaluando rápidamente la situación y confirmando que se trata de un homicidio. El oficial llama a los detectives a la escena.

La escena

El camino de tierra donde se encuentra el cuerpo se llama Old Temple Bar Road, que se cruza con White Hills Road. La ubicación está a unas 3 millas al este de la autopista 93. Hoy hay una parada de camiones y una estación de servicio en esa salida de la autopista. Pero en 1989, estaba deshabitada y en su mayor parte sin desarrollar. La víctima femenina es encontrada desnuda, tendida en un charco de su propia sangre, un indicio de que fue asesinada en ese mismo lugar. Según la investigadora Lori Miller, que tiene el caso hoy, los detectives originales determinaron que los sospechosos primero intentaron atropellar la cabeza de la víctima con su automóvil, lo que le causó lesiones faciales graves, pero no su muerte. Luego, parecía que su garganta fue cortada repetidamente con algún tipo de cuchillo. Miller dijo que no se encontró ningún arma en la escena, pero sí recuperaron un trozo de hilo negro y una correa de sostén azul que podría estar relacionada con el asesinato. 

Miller dijo que, en la autopsia, se determinó que la víctima había dado a luz recientemente a un bebé y que probablemente fue agredida alrededor de las caderas y el área abdominal antes de su muerte. Curiosamente, dos de los detectives que estuvieron en la escena en 1989 eran rastreadores expertos, y proporcionaron un análisis detallado de las huellas e impresiones de neumáticos en la arena. Miller dijo que esos detectives reportaron las siguientes descripciones basadas en el calzado: Sospechoso # 1, una altura aproximada de 5 '10 "– 6' 2", zancada de 29 ", y un tamaño aproximado de zapato de 10 1/2, y la marca de zapatos era Nike; El sospechoso #2 fue descrito con una altura aproximada de 5' 4" – 5' 8", y una zancada de aproximadamente 28", y talla de zapato 7; No se determinó la marca del calzado. APB Cold Case le preguntó a Inv. Miller si el sospechoso #2 podría ser una mujer, lo que no descartó como una posibilidad. Las impresiones de los neumáticos también se describieron en los informes como consistentes con un sedán de tamaño mediano con un ancho de neumático de 6 1/2", radial de 3 ranuras, una distancia entre ejes de 99", un ancho interior de 49 1/2" y un ancho exterior de 62 1/2". Cuando se le preguntó sobre el lugar donde fue arrojada la víctima, Miller dijo que la autopista 93 va de Las Vegas a Phoenix, pero el aislamiento del sendero donde se encontró el cuerpo podría indicar que una persona tenía conocimiento del lugar. Miller dijo: "Casi tienes que tener algún tipo de conocimiento de que el camino existe. La encontraron al mediodía, por lo que no había estado allí tanto tiempo". Y agregó: "En esa época del año, en diciembre, permanece oscuro aquí bastante tiempo, así que si viajas por esa área en la oscuridad, no sé cómo podrías detectar esa carretera sin tener algún tipo de conocimiento de que existe". Miller dijo que se determinó que la víctima había estado muerta unas 8 horas antes de ser descubierta. Pero a pesar del descubrimiento relativamente rápido de esta Jane Doe, no hubo identificación ni se encontraron pertenencias en la escena, nada que ayudara a identificarla. En muchas investigaciones de homicidios, la policía recorre las residencias y negocios vecinos, en busca de testigos o videos de vigilancia. Pero en esta sección del extenso desierto no había nadie a quien entrevistar.

Autopsia e investigación

Miller dijo que la víctima fue descrita por el médico forense como de entre 25 y 35 años de edad, de 5 pies y 3 pulgadas, con orejas perforadas doblemente. Un kit de violación no reveló signos de agresión sexual, pero se obtuvo una pequeña mancha de evidencia de su área abdominal, algo que brillaba bajo una fuente de luz forense. La mota se guardó como posible evidencia. Sin embargo, la ciencia del ADN en 1989 no estaba tan avanzada como lo está hoy. En ese momento, la mayoría de los análisis se realizaban en laboratorios privados que requerían una muestra significativa para realizar un examen.

La policía tomó las huellas dactilares de Jane Doe y las envió al Departamento de Policía Metropolitana de Las Vegas y al FBI, pero no hubo identificación. El alguacil del condado de Mohave presenta el caso de asesinato al VICAP (Programa de Aprehensión de Criminales Violentos) del FBI, que utiliza un cuestionario en profundidad para recopilar información sobre asesinatos conocidos y desconocidos y otros delitos importantes, incluidos los detalles de la víctima y los delincuentes conocidos, junto con el modus operandi. Pero no hubo ninguna pista de esa presentación. También enviaron mensajes de teletipo a las agencias de aplicación de la ley que podrían haber reportado a una persona desaparecida que coincidía con la descripción, y también colocaron un artículo en una revista de detectives. Pero sin pistas, el caso se enfría.

Posible pista: ¿asesino en serie?

Luego, en 1991, el FBI se puso en contacto con los investigadores del alguacil del condado de Mohave con información sobre un asesino en serie llamado Joseph Nissensohn. En ese momento estaba bajo custodia en Tacoma, Washington, y sus asesinatos tenían similitudes con Jane Doe de Mohave. Nissensohn fue finalmente condenado por los asesinatos de 3 adolescentes en California entre 1981 y 1989, y el asesinato de una mujer de 46 años en el estado de Washington en 1991. Un informe noticioso decía que Nissensohn "se aprovechó de niñas fugitivas vulnerables y las sometió a un dolor y una tortura inimaginables.[1]

Nissensohn y un asociado, Henry Staub III, fueron arrestados una vez en el condado de Mohave en 1987 por un delito de narcóticos, y sus descripciones físicas eran consistentes con el análisis del calzado en el asesinato del desierto de Mohave. Pero los detectives no hicieron ninguna conexión entre Nissensohn y su Jane Doe. Nissensohn ha sido condenado a muerte en California por sus crímenes. Staub no parece estar relacionado con ninguno de los asesinatos de Nissensohn. Una vez más, el caso se enfrió.

Detective experimentado trae nuevos ojos al caso

En 2020, Inv. Lori Miller, una detective jubilada del Departamento de Policía de Los Ángeles, se une a la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Mohave y se le asigna el caso. Después de revisar los informes en el archivo, comienza a seguir los pasos de investigación de los detectives anteriores. Uno de sus primeros movimientos es volver a tomar las huellas dactilares, lo que resulta en un golpe a una mujer arrestada en Bakersfield, California, en 1989 por robar en una tienda. Miller se pone en contacto con la policía de Bakerfield y se entera de más sobre el arresto de María Ortiz. Un miembro de la familia figuraba en el papeleo llamado Esther, que entonces vivía en Tennessee. Cuando finalmente hablan, Esther le dice a Miller que su prima Marina Ramos había estado desaparecida desde 1989 y que había usado el nombre ficticio, María Ortiz en el pasado. La policía realiza una comparación de ADN entre Esther y Jane Doe, y confirma que Marina Ramos es el verdadero nombre de la Jane Doe encontrada asesinada y abandonada en el desierto a lo largo del desolado camino de tierra dos semanas antes de la Navidad de 1989.

Detective atónito por la pregunta de la familia

Pero entonces Esther le hace a la inspectora Miller una pregunta que sorprende al veterano detective: "¿Dónde están los dos bebés de Marina?" Miller dijo: "Fue entonces cuando procedió a decirme que Jasmin nació mientras Marina estaba en la cárcel por el robo, y que Elizabeth había nacido el año anterior". Ahora, además de investigar el asesinato de Marina Ramos, Inv. Miller se entera de que ahora tiene un caso de dos niños desaparecidos. La familia de Marina Ramos en California había asumido que Marina, debido a su estilo de vida impulsivo y espontáneo, se había establecido en algún lugar con las niñas. Pero habían pasado 30 años desde que una familia había visto o escuchado de Marina y sus bebés, que tenían solo 11 meses y 2 meses en ese momento.

Más sobre Marina

Marina Ramos era la mayor de 5 hermanos. Sus padres eran de Puerto Rico. Ella y sus hermanos se criaron en Lamont, California, a unas 20 millas de Bakersfield. La hermana de Marina, Margarita, le dijo a APB Cold Case que ella y Marina se divertían cuando eran jóvenes. Pero a medida que Marina crecía, se volvía más rebelde. Marina había estado viviendo con su tía en California, mientras que el resto de la familia estaba en Puerto Rico por un tiempo. La madre de Marina mandó llamar a Marina para que viniera y se uniera a la familia, pero cuando llegó, la madre de Marina se enteró de que Marina estaba embarazada. Dio a luz a una hija a la que llamó María. Pero según Margarita, Marina seguía siendo una rebelde, encontrándose en desacuerdos con su madre y queriendo dejar el hogar familiar y vivir la vida en sus propios términos. La madre de Marina le dijo a Marina que como tenía 18 años podía hacer lo que quisiera, pero que no podía llevarse a la bebé María.

El cuento de 2 Fernandos

Marina regresó a Lamont, California, al igual que el resto de su familia. Pero según Margarita, la familia todavía estaba tratando de decirle a Marina qué hacer. Para entonces, Marina había dado a luz a su segunda hija, Elizabeth, en junio de 1988; y daría a luz mientras estaba en la cárcel a Jasmin en 1989. Casi al mismo tiempo, Marina estaba en una relación tumultuosa con un hombre llamado Fernando. La familia no sabe su apellido ni mucho sobre él, excepto, dicen, solía golpear a Marina. La relación era difícil, dijo Margarita. "Se separaban, pero luego ella siempre volvía con él. Pero Fernando le pegaba... siempre la golpeaba", dijo Margarita, quien agregó que Marina también salía en secreto con otro hombre llamado William. La familia de Marina no

 aprobaba el estilo de vida de Marina, y así se lo dijeron. Cansada de que le dijeran lo que tenía que hacer, Marina se alejó de la mayor parte de su familia, a excepción de su prima, Esther y su hermana Margarita. Fue alrededor de 1988-1989 cuando Marina pasó por una tienda de conveniencia donde Margarita estaba trabajando. Sería la última vez que Margarita vería a su hermana. Y Esther, que falleció en 2023, le contó a Margarita la última vez que vio a Marina. Fue en la casa de Esther en 1989 cuando Marina apareció con un  Fernando diferente, un hombre al que también llamaban "Mónico", aunque al parecer no prefería ese nombre (ver croquis policial a la derecha). Este segundo Fernando, a quien nos referiremos como Fernando #2, aparentemente conoció a Marina en un parque cerca de la casa familiar en Bakersfield. Margarita recuerda que su prima Esther dijo que creía que Fernando #2 era "turbio", y que no creía que su verdadero nombre fuera Fernando. Pero este Fernando #2 vestía ropa elegante y fue visto por última vez conduciendo un SUV grande mientras llevaba a Marina y a las niñas a Ontario, California, a "una vida mejor". Esther se opuso rotundamente a que los bebés fueran con Marina y Fernando #2.  Margarita relató una conversación que tuvo con Esther sobre el incidente. "Esther dice, incluso me puse de rodillas y le rogué que por favor no se llevara a las niñas, no se llevara a las niñas". Pero Marina insistió en que las chicas iban con ella y Fernando #2. Esther fue a buscar la ropa y los certificados de nacimiento de las niñas, pero cuando regresó, se habían ido. Esther nunca volvió a ver a Marina, Elizabeth o Jasmin.

quién mató a Marina; ¿Dónde están Elizabeth y Jasmin?

Las impresiones de los neumáticos en la escena del crimen en Mohave, Arizona, no son consistentes con el tipo de vehículo que conducía Fernando #2 cuando se fue con Marina y sus hijas. Pero eso no significa que no pudiera haber estado conduciendo otro vehículo. Esther ayudó a la policía a desarrollar un boceto de Fernando #2, también conocido como Mónico (ver notas del programa en APBColdCase.com).

Y debido a que Marina siempre regresaba con su ex novio, Fernando #1, había cierta sospecha por parte de la familia de que tal vez él podría estar involucrado. "Eso es lo que estamos pensando. De eso es de lo que Esther y yo estábamos hablando. Creemos que llamó a Fernando (#1)", dijo Margarita. "No importaba a dónde fuera, siempre llamaba y volvía a Fernando #1. Pero Fernando #1 solía golpearla, siempre solía golpearla". Margarita dijo que ella y Esther dedujeron que la razón por la que Marina seguía regresando con Fernando #1 es porque él siempre tenía un lugar para que ella viviera.

Elizabeth y Jazmín

Según los informes, Marina obtuvo los números de seguro social de Elizabeth y Jasmin para que pudieran recibir beneficios de asistencia pública. De acuerdo con el Inv. Miller, nunca ha habido ninguna actividad bajo esas cuentas. Pero dado que las niñas eran tan jóvenes cuando desaparecieron, Miller cree que es posible que las niñas hayan sido criadas bajo nuevas identidades. "Creo que todavía están vivos. Creo que alguien aprovechó la oportunidad en ese momento para obtener nuevos números de seguro social para ellos", dijo Miller. "Es de esperar que vivan y prosperen como otra persona con diferentes números de seguro social", agregó.

Pruebas de ADN

Como parte de su trabajo de seguimiento en el caso, Inv. Miller presentó la evidencia biológica al laboratorio que se recuperó de la piel de Marina durante la autopsia. Este es un aspecto del caso de décadas de antigüedad que es más prometedor de lo que habría sido cuando Marina fue asesinada en 1989. La ciencia del ADN en ese momento no habría sido capaz de identificar un perfil genético. Pero los avances en los últimos años pueden amplificar incluso los especímenes más pequeños, lo que promete un avance significativo en el caso. Miller dijo que ahora tiene un perfil de ADN que está archivado en CODIS, el Sistema Nacional de Identificación de ADN Combinado. Hasta ahora, no ha habido visitas a ese perfil.

¿Eres Elizabeth o Jasmin?

Miller ocasionalmente recibe llamadas de personas que creen que pueden ser Elizabeth o Jasmin. Afortunadamente, la hija mayor de Marina, María, tiene su perfil de ADN en línea. Si crees que podrías ser una de las hijas desaparecidas de Marina, el Inv. Miller te ofreció este consejo. "Lo mejor que puede hacer la gente es tomar un kit de ADN comercial y subir su kit a GED Match y Family Tree DNA". Y continuó: "Si quieren ponerse en contacto conmigo con su número de kit, puedo compararlos, pero en esencia, si suben su propia información genética, coincidirá a mitad de precio con el kit de María".

Teoría

Miller le dijo a APB Cold Case que los eventos que llevaron al asesinato de Marina son realmente desconocidos, pero especula que el estilo de vida enérgico y despreocupado de Marina puede haber hecho que se reuniera con una persona o personas que resultaron en su asesinato. "Creo que dejó a sus hijas con alguien; se conectó con estas personas y sus actividades se salieron un poco de control, y eso la llevó a su desaparición", dijo Miller.

Miller espera que quienquiera que haya estado involucrado en el asesinato de Marina y, más específicamente, en tomar o retener a Elizabeth y Jasmin, decida presentarse y contarle lo que sucedió. "Es hora de cavar profundamente en sus corazones y decir: 'esto es lo correcto, y déjame contarte lo que sucedió ese día' y dónde terminaron esas dos niñas. La familia de Marina reza por cualquier información que les diga lo que les pasó a las niñas de Marina. “… Significaría mucho para nosotros encontrar a las chicas. … especialmente a mi mamá. Porque esa era su primogénita, Marina", dijo la hermana de Marina, Margarita.

Llame para dar sus consejos

Miller continúa trabajando en el caso, con la esperanza de obtener una respuesta a dos preguntas: ¿quién mató a Marina Ramos? y ¿dónde están Elizabeth y Jasmin Ramos? Está agradecida con todos los que la han ayudado a ella y a los detectives anteriores en la investigación: la familia de Marina, incluidas Margarita y Esther, que fallecieron recientemente, la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Kern, el Departamento de Policía de Bakersfield y el Centro Nacional para Niños Desaparecidos y Explotados.

Si tiene algún consejo que pueda ayudar a la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Mohave en su investigación, llame al 928-753-0753 o al NCMEC al 1-800-THE-LOST.

Para escuchar el episodio del podcast y ver fotografías, cronología y Who's Who, visite apbcoldcase.com

Si tiene alguna información sobre el asesinato de Marina Ramos o sobre las dos hijas desaparecidas de Marina, Elizabeth Ramos y Jasmin Ramos, comuníquese con la Oficina del Sheriff del Condado de Mohave al: 928-753-0753 o Centro Nacional para Niños Desaparecidos y Explotados al 1-800-THE-LOST.

El podcast está disponible en inglés. Para ver fotografías, cronología y quién es quién, visite apbcoldcase.com. Este podcast también está disponible en YouTube y dondequiera que escuches podcasts

Boceto de artista policial - Oficina de Investigación de Tennessee

Quién es quién: fotos de la familia Ramos proporcionadas, utilizadas con permiso

©2024 The Spawn Group, LLC Todos los derechos reservados. 

[1] Demócrata de la Montaña de Placerville; Nissensohn condenado a muerte; 6/11/2014, p. 1

Tourists Make Horrific Discovery

In December 1989, four women vacationing in Las Vegas decide to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, they make a spur of the moment decision to check out a ghost town they see on the map. Their destination takes them down Highway 93 into Mohave County, and after a turn onto White Hills Road, a desolate stretch with no traffic, they see nothing but miles of desert sand, scrub oak and an occasional yucca tree. Along the way, they spot what appears to be a dead animal off to the side of the road on an intersecting dirt trail. They make note of it and continue on. But after travelling for miles, they see no sign of any ghost town, so they turn around and retrace their route back to the highway. This time, as they approach the ‘dead animal’, they decide to pull over and take a look. To their surprise, it is actually a dead person. The shocked women drive 36 miles to a phone in Kingman, Arizona.

A Mohave County Sheriff’s deputy responds to the scene, quickly assessing the situation and confirming it is a homicide. The deputy summons detectives to the scene.

The Scene

The dirt track where the body is found is called Old Temple Bar Road which intersects with White Hills Road.

The location is about 3 miles east of Highway 93. Today there is a truck stop and service station at that highway exit. But back in 1989, it was uninhabited and mostly undeveloped. The female victim is found naked, lying in a pool of her own blood, an indication that she was killed at that exact spot. According to Investigator Lori Miller who has the case today, the original detectives determined that the suspect(s) first tried running over the victim’s head with their car, which caused severe facial injuries, but not her death. Then, it appeared that her throat was slashed repeatedly with some type of knife. Miller said that no weapon was found at the scene, but they did recover a piece of black yarn and a blue bra strap which could be connected to the murder. 

Miller said that, at autopsy, it was determined that the victim had recently delivered a baby, and that she was likely assaulted around her hips and abdominal area prior to her death. Interestingly, two of the detectives who were on scene in 1989 were expert trackers, and they provided a detailed analysis of footprints and tire impressions in the sand. Inv. Miller said those detectives reported the following descriptions based on the footwear: Suspect #1, an approximate height of 5’ 10” – 6’ 2”, stride of 29”, and an approximate shoe size of 10 ½, and the shoe brand was Nike; Suspect #2 was described with an approximate height of 5’ 4” – 5’ 8”, and a stride of about 28”, and shoe size 7; the brand of footwear was not determined. APB Cold Case asked Inv. Miller whether Suspect #2 could be a woman, which she did not discount as a possibility. The tire impressions were also described in the reports as being consistent with a mid-size sedan with a tire width of 6 ½”, 3-groove radial, wheel base of 99”, an inside width of 49 ½”, and an outside width of 62 ½”. Asked about the location where the victim was dumped, Miller said that Highway 93 runs from Las Vegas to Phoenix, but the seclusion of the trail where the body was found could indicate that a person had an awareness of the location. Said Inv. Miller, “You almost have to have some kind of knowledge that the road exists. She was found at noon, and so, she hadn’t been there that long.” She added, “At that time of year in December it stays dark here pretty long, so if you’re traveling down that area in the dark, I don’t know how you could just spot that road without having some kind of knowledge that it exists.” Miller said it was determined that the victim had been dead about 8 hours before she was discovered. But despite the relatively quick discovery of this Jane Doe, there was no identification, and no belongings found at the scene – nothing to help identify her. In many homicide investigations police will canvass neighboring residences and businesses, seeking out witnesses or surveillance video. But in this section of sprawling desert there was no one to interview.

Autopsy and Investigation

Miller said the victim was described by the medical examiner as being about 25-35 years of age, 5’ 3”, with double pierced ears. A rape kit revealed no signs of a sexual assault, but a small fleck of evidence was secured from her abdominal area – something that glowed under a forensic light source. The speck was saved as potential evidence. However, DNA science in 1989 was not as advanced as it is today. At that time, most analysis was conducted by private laboratories which required a significant sample to conduct an examination.

Police did take fingerprints from Jane Doe and sent them to Las Vegas Metro PD and the FBI, but there was no identification. Mohave County Sheriff’s submit the murder case to the FBI’s VICAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) which uses an in-depth questionnaire to collect information about known and unknown murders and other major crimes, including details of the victim and any known offenders, along with modus operandi. But no leads came from that submission. They also sent teletype messages to law enforcement agencies who may have reported a missing person matching he description, and they also placed an article in a detective magazine. But with no leads, the case goes cold.

Possible Lead – Serial Killer?

Then in 1991, the FBI  contacted Mohave County Sheriff’s investigators with information about a serial killer named Joseph Nissensohn. At the time he was in custody in Tacoma, Washington, his murders having similarities to Mohave’s Jane Doe. Nissensohn was eventually convicted of the murders of 3 teen girls in California between 1981-1989, and the murder of a 46-year-old woman in Washington State in 1991. One news report said that Nissensohn “preyed upon vulnerable runaway girls and subjected them to unimaginable pain and torture.[1]

Nissensohn and an associate, Henry Staub III were once arrested in Mohave County in 1987 for a narcotics crime, and their physical descriptions were consistent with the footwear analysis in the Mohave desert murder. But detectives did not make any connection between Nissensohn and their Jane Doe. Nissensohn has been sentenced to death in California for his crimes. Staub does not appear to be connected to any of Nissensohn’s murders. Again, the case went cold.

Seasoned Detective Brings New Eyes to Case

In 2020, Inv. Lori Miller a retired Los Angeles PD detective joins the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office and is assigned the case. After reviewing reports in the file, she begins to retrace the investigative steps from prior detectives. One of her first moves is to run the fingerprints again which results in a hit to a female arrested in Bakersfield, California in 1989 for shoplifting. Miller contacts Bakerfield police and learns more about the arrest of Maria Ortiz. A family member was listed in the paperwork named Esther, then living in Tennessee. When they finally speak, Esther tells Miller that her cousin Marina Ramos had been missing since 1989 and that she had used the fictitious name, Maria Ortiz in the past. Police conduct a DNA comparison between Esther and Jane Doe, and it confirms that Marina Ramos is the true name of the Jane Doe found murdered and dumped in the desert along the desolate dirt trail two weeks before Christmas 1989.

Detective Stunned by Family’s Question

But then Esther asks Inv. Miller a question that shocks the veteran detective – ‘where are Marina’s two babies?’ Miller said, “That’s when she proceeded to tell me that Jasmin was born while Marina was in jail for the shoplifting, and Elizabeth had been born the year prior to that.” Now, in addition to investigating the murder of Marina Ramos, Inv. Miller learns she now has a case of two missing children. Marina Ramos’ family back in California had assumed that Marina, because of her impulsive and spontaneous lifestyle, had settled down somewhere with the girls. But it had been 30 years since any family had seen or heard from Marina and her babies who were just 11 months old and 2 months old at the time.

More About Marina

Marina Ramos was the oldest of 5 children. Her parents were from Puerto Rico. She and her siblings were raised in Lamont, California, about 20 miles from Bakersfield.

Marina’s sister, Margarita, told APB Cold Case that she and Marina had fun when they were young. But as Marina got older, she became more rebellious. Marina had been living with her aunt in California while the rest of the family was in Puerto Rico for a time. Marina’s mother sent for Marina to come and join the family, but when she arrived Marina’s mother found out that Marina was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter she named Maria. But according to Margarita, Marina continued to be a rebel, finding herself in disagreements with her mother and wanting to leave the family home and live life on her own terms. Marina’s mother told Marina that because she was 18 she could do whatever she wanted, but she could not take baby Maria.

The Tale of 2 Fernandos

Marina returned to Lamont, CA as did the rest of her family. But according to Margarita, the family was still trying to tell Marina what to do. By this time Marina had given birth to her second daughter Elizabeth in June 1988; and she would give birth while in jail to Jasmin in 1989. At about the same time, Marina was in a tumultuous relationship with a man named Fernando. The family doesn’t know his last name or much about him except, they say, he used to hit Marina. The relationship was rocky, said Margarita. “They would break up, but then she would always go back to him. But Fernando used to hit her… always used to beat her up,” said Margarita who added that Marina was also secretly seeing another man named William. Marina’s family did not approve of Marina’s lifestyle, and they told her as much. Tired of being told what to do, Marina drifted away from most of her family except for her cousin, Esther and her sister Margarita. It was around 1988-1989 when Marina stopped by a convenience store where Margarita was working. It would be the last time that Margarita would ever see her sister. And Esther, who passed away in 2023, told Margarita about the last time she saw Marina. It was at Esther’s home in 1989 when Marina showed up with a different Fernando – a man who was also called “Monico”, though he reportedly did not prefer that name.

This second Fernando – who we will refer to as Fernando #2, apparently met Marina at a park near the family home in Bakersfield. Margarita remembers her cousin Esther saying that she believed Fernando #2 was “shady”, and she did not believe his real name was even Fernando. But this Fernando #2 wore fancy clothes and was last seen driving a large SUV as he was taking Marina and the girls to Ontario, California to live “a better life.” Esther was adamantly opposed to the babies going with Marina and Fernando #2.  Margarita recounted a conversation she had with Esther about the incident. “Esther says, I even got on my knees and I begged her please don’t take the girls, don’t take the girls”. But Marina insisted that the girls were going with her and Fernando #2. Esther went to retrieve the girls’ clothing and birth certificates, but when she came back, they had all left. Esther never saw Marina, Elizabeth or Jasmin again.

Who Killed Marina; Where Are Elizabeth & Jasmin?

The tire impressions at the murder scene in Mohave, Arizona are not consistent with the type of vehicle that Fernando #2 was driving when he drove away with Marina and her girls. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have been driving another vehicle. Esther assisted police in developing a sketch of Fernando #2, also known as Monico

And because Marina was always returning to her ex-boyfriend, Fernando #1, there was some suspicion by the family that perhaps he could be involved. “That’s what we’re thinking. That’s what me and Esther were talking about. We think that she called Fernando (#1)”, said Margarita. “No matter where she went, she would always call and go back to Fernando #1. But Fernando #1 used to hit her, always used to beat her up.” Margarita said that she and Esther deduced that the reason Marina kept returning to Fernando #1 is because he always had a place for her to live.

Elizabeth and Jasmin

Marina reportedly obtained social security numbers for Elizabeth and Jasmin so that they could receive public assistance benefits. According to Inv. Miller, there has never been any activity under those accounts. But since the girls were so young when they went missing, Miller believes it is possible the girls were brought up under new identities. “I believe they’re still alive. I just think somebody took the opportunity at that time to obtain new social security numbers for them,” said Miller. “They’re hopefully living and thriving as somebody else under different social security numbers,” she added.

DNA Evidence

As part of her follow-up work on the case, Inv. Miller submitted the biological evidence to the lab that was recovered from Marina’s skin during autopsy. This is one aspect of the decades-old case that holds more promise than it would have when Marina was murdered in 1989. DNA science at that time would not have been able to identify a genetic profile. But advances in recent years can amplify even the smallest of specimens, which offers promise for a significant break in the case. Miller said that she now has a DNA profile which is on file in CODIS, the national Combined DNA Identification System. So far, there have been no hits to that profile.

Are You Elizabeth or Jasmin?

Inv. Miller occasionally receives calls from people who believe that they may be Elizabeth or Jasmin. Fortunately, Marina’s eldest daughter Maria has her DNA profile online. If you believe you could be one of Marina’s missing daughters, Inv. Miller offered this advice. “The best thing for people to do is to take a commercial DNA kit and upload their kit to GED Match and Family Tree DNA.” She continued, “If they want to contact me with their kit number, I can compare them, but in essence if they upload their own genetic information, it will match halfway decently to Maria’s kit.”

Theory

Inv. Miller told APB Cold Case that the events which led to Marina’s murder are truly unknown, but she speculates that Marina’s spirited and carefree lifestyle may have caused her to meet up with a person or people that resulted in her murder. “I think she left her daughters with somebody; she hooked up with these people and her activities got a little out of hand, and that led to her demise,” said Miller.

Miller hopes that whoever was involved in Marina’s murder and more specifically in taking or keeping Elizabeth and Jasmin, will decide to come forward and tell her what happened. “It’s time to dig down deep in their hearts and say, ‘this is the right thing to do, and let me tell you what happened that day’ and where those two little girls wound up. Marina’s family prays for any bit of information that will tell them what happened to Marina’s little girls. “…it would mean a lot for us to find the girls. … especially to my mom. Because that was her first-born child, Marina”, said Marina’s sister Margarita.

Call in Your Tips

Inv. Miller continues to work the case, hoping to get an answer to two questions – who killed Marina Ramos? and where are Elizabeth and Jasmin Ramos? She is thankful to all those who have assisted her and previous detectives in the investigation: Marina’s family, including Margarita and Esther who recently passed away, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

If you have any tips that can help Mohave County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation, call 928-753-0753 or NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.

Listen to the podcast here: episode and for photographs, timeline and Who’s Who, visit apbcoldcase.com

© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved.

Citations:

Police artist sketch – Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Who’s Who – Ramos family photos provided, used with permission

[1] Placerville Mountain Democrat; Nissensohn sentenced to death; 6/11/2014, p. 1