Investigators in Vero Beach are diving back into a 34-year-old cold case in hopes of finally closing the investigation for good. WPTV reports authorities in Florida have exhumed a body they buried more than three decades ago. The news station was on the scene and captured video of the exhumation of the vault.
The unknown woman was discovered in 1982 lying in a canal off State Road 60, the report adds. The victim was murdered – shot four times. It is believed she may have been dead in the water for up to three days.
There wasn’t much known about her at the time with the exception that she had brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a short sleeved pullover terry-cloth blouse with gold fringe on the bottom. She was also wearing jeans, the report notes.
At the time of her death, the woman was most likely between the ages of 21-35, investigators said.
The hope in exhuming her body is to utilize new facial reconstruction to help put together a better composite. WPTV said, according to investigators, a full 3-D scan of her skull will be done. That information will the go to a forensic artist and the person putting together the photo will create a full profile.
Sheriff Deryl Loar of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office spoke to the local news station and said, “We hope to give closure in this case. Somebody out there is missing a mother, a wife, a family member. We want to identify this woman and bring her killer to justice after all these years.”
The report also said the victim wore a gold and silver wedding band on her left hand and a turquoise ring on her right hand.
WPTV reports that this technology has been successful in the past. In fact, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office was able to identify another victim, Tina Beebe, because of the profile enhancements, the report said. The hope is the same will be done for this victim — and hopefully her killer will be brought to justice.
For the last 10 years, the family of Jason Salazar has been searching for answers and digging for justice. It was April 24, 2006 when police say Salazar was gunned down inside his own house. The unknown gunman, according to reports, was waiting in the wings for Salazar to return home. It’s not clear if the mystery suspect forced his way inside or found an opportunity to enter without anyone knowing.
According to Fox 17, the Grand Rapids Police believe it was simply a robbery gone bad, but for Salazar’s sister it’s much more –she cannot fathom why anyone would want to harm the loving man who blessed their family.
Adda Addi, Salazar’s sister, remembers the day her brother was murdered and she lives with the lingering reality of their family not knowing who did this every single day. Addi told Fox 17, “We were the ones who went to his home and we discovered him lying there dead. You know that pain just never goes away.”
Addi took time to share with the station a little about who her 32-year-old brother was. She said Salazar was a father and a hard-working certified nursing assistant for disabled patients. Addi said he loved his job and he lived for his daughter and his patients.
She told the news station, “He had a dog that he called Mixer that he would bring to patients and they said when he brought the dog there it made all the patients happy. They said he was the first one there making coffee in the morning and always the last one to leave.”
Sgt. Terry Dixon with the Grand Rapids police department also spoke to Fox 17. He said their station reviews Salazar’s case “periodically.” He added, “With the application of new technology and recent advances in DNA analysis, our ability to identify unknown offenders has dramatically increased and would aid in us to be successful in solving the case.”
This fall, Salazar’s daughter starts a new chapter in her life — one her family wishes he could be here to not only watch, but to help with. The now 18-year-old, who was only seven at the time of her father’s death, will become an engineering student at the University of Michigan. Addi knows Salazar would be the proudest father in the area.
Addi told the news station, “She loved him, adored him, he was just so active with her. He was a great dad, really close to his daughter, very close, they had a really good bond. …We feel that my brother deserves justice. He didn’t deserve for this to happen to him.”
She’s hoping those who were afraid to come forward before, will have the strength and the courage to do so now. Having the answers in her brother’s death is all her family has ever wanted.
“Our family is really hoping and praying and pleading to the public if any information regarding my brother’s death please just contact authorities,” she told Fox 17.
If you have any nuggets of information to share with authorities, please contact the Grand Rapids Police department directly. No lead is too small and anyone who contacts them can always keep their identity anonymous.
If you want to help solve the murder of two sisters from Chicago, you don’t have to search far for information. The brutal deaths of Barbara and Patricia Grimes have been in the spotlight for nearly 60 years. Through all of these decades, the case has never been solved, and the creepy mystery only continues to grow.
According to Chicago Now, it was just a few days after Christmas in 1956 when 15-year-old Barbara Grimes and her 13-year-old sister left their home around 7:30 p.m. Many reports say the pair went to dinner and to see the movie “Love Me Tender,” starring Elvis Presley.
By all accounts, they made it to the theater. After the show, they were supposed to meet their other sister and brother at a bus stop, but they never showed, NBC News reports. For more than three weeks, NBC says the search to find the Grimes sister was the most labor-intensive missing person cases in Cook County, Illinois history. Related: Mystery: Was Prostitute’s 1932 Murder The Work Of A Vampire?
On January 22, 1957, both of the girls were found – they were dead, and their naked bodies were discovered off the side of a road. There was no obvious signs of blunt force trauma, gunshots, or stab wounds, reports said, though the older girl was reportedly molested.
Chicago Now reports, according to a medical examiner at the time, the girls died from “secondary shock due to cold temperatures.”
The infamous show “Unsolved Mysteries” recently tackled the case as well.
Ray Johnson, a former investigator for the West Chicago Police Department, spoke on camera to the program, along with giving insight to the case on his blog and to Chicago Now. He said at the time of the sisters’ disappearance, their mother reported the girls missing. Johnson said their mother knew all along they didn’t just run away and there wasn’t a chance they would leave behind all their new Christmas gifts — many of which were left under the tree.
Johnson said at first police did not take the case seriously; they thought the girls vanished on their own. He added it took police about a week to really get going on the investigation and Elvis Presley himself even spoke out about it, which added a tremendous amount of attention to the case.
Johnson added this case is still the biggest investigation with the most man-hours ever put into a case by the Chicago police. Authorities said the sisters died about four hours after they were last seen leaving their home.
As for the girl’s mother, according to Johnson, she received a number of letters and phone calls over this time. He said some of the calls were extremely cruel; some folks were upset that Ms. Grimes would let her young daughters venture out solo on a cold winter night.
Over the years, police said they’ve made only one arrest: a man by the name of Edward “Bennie” Bedwell. He said in reports Bedwell was a local dishwasher who was interrogated for three days at a local motel. He eventually admitted to the murder, Johnson said.
Bedwell couldn’t read or write, so it would be nearly impossible for him to understand what he was confessing to, Johnson added. After a time, everyone realized Bedwell’s story didn’t add up. There were inconsistencies, including the fact that Bedwell said he was with the girls for a month before they died, Johnson said. The problem with that confession was the girls were dead within four hours of leaving home, reports say.
Over the years, investigators looked into a number of suspects, but no one has been formally charged. Johnson believes there are at least two or three people still alive who may have answers in this case.
Ms. Grimes died in 1989, Johnson said, and is now buried near her daughters. She went to her grave never knowing who took their lives.
An unsolved murder from the 1950s still hangs heavy over residents in the small town of Eaton, New York. It’s a case that New York State Police believe they might still be able to solve today, however, with some help from the public.
The newly released black-and-white photos unveiled by police of the business where the crime took place looks like something out of an old movie. You can see a worn-down one-lane stretch of road paved in front of a Gulf convenience shop. There are two small gas pumps out front and the cars parked outside were new at the time, but now they’d six decades on them. Although it looks quiet and peaceful, the shop holds a secret. The now-abandoned property — or someone who was nearby at the time — may hold the key to cracking a murder.
The police’s release of the photos is part of a new effort to have a fresh set of eyes and social media posts helping get the word out about the unsolved case. Peter Pavlovic commented on the State Police’s Facebook, saying, “This is so wonderful that you are still trying to solve this case. Someone knows something and the suspect or suspects might very well still be alive.”
It was September 22, 1958, according to a police press release, when a 63-year-old man named Ernest Chaney was working at that Gulf station. Chaney not only worked the overnight shift, but authorities say he also lived on the property. This was a time in Eaton when doors were left unlocked and crime generally wasn’t a concern.
Around 1 a.m., according to investigators, someone stopped at the station for help with their vehicle. Investigators know Chaney walked outside to help the motorist. At some point when Chaney was adding oil to the engine, he was attacked. Related: Why Was This Father Gunned Down Inside His Own Home?
Thirty minutes later, another motorist stopped for gas and found things amiss. The witness told police the lights were on at the station, but there was no one around to fill up their vehicle.
That motorist, who has not been identified to the public, said they got out of the car and went inside the station along the south side of route 20 to look around. When he walked in, the witness heard moaning, and discovered Chaney on the ground. Chaney was lying on the floor of an oil storage room and it appeared he had been hit in the head. Police say there was a “large amount” of blood at the scene.
An ambulance was called and the press release said Chaney was quickly transported to the Hamilton Community Memorial Hospital before eventually being transferred to Syracuse Memorial. Less than two weeks later, on October 2, Chaney died of his injuries. It’s unclear if his family lived in the area or if he left any children or grandchildren behind.
Based on the police investigation into what happened, they determined Chaney was struck nine times in the head. The suspect took only Chaney’s wallet – which held a mere $80 in cash. The suspect didn’t lift any cash from the register or anything of value from the station. At this point, it is not clear if the motive was robbery, or if the vicious attack was of a targeted personal nature.
Because there were no surveillance cameras in those days, investigators are hoping for more eyewitnesses — or anyone who may know something. A man named Charles Zawisza commented on the police’s Facebook page: “There is a decent chance that the killer was just passing through. Rt 20 was the main highway across that part of the state back then, as was Syracuse was a much larger city, by 70-80,000 people.”
You can continue following the case and updates on their Facebook page.
The parents of a 6-year-old Hawaii boy who went missing almost two decades ago have been charged with his murder after new evidence came to light which implicated them in his disappearance.
Peter Kema Jr. vanished in 1997. According to KHON2, family members claimed the boy and his siblings were abused by his parents. The youngest child allegedly told a psychologist in 1998 that he saw his brother dead in a box. But being five at the time, she believed her brother was alive in Honolulu.
On Wednesday, Peter Kema Sr. and Jaylin Kema were indicted on second-degree murder charges.“It is a day we’ve been waiting for a long time, and we’re happy to bring justice to the family,” Hawaii County prosecutor Mitch Roth commented. “On Sunday, May 1, Peter Boy Jr. would have had his 25th birthday, so it’s been a long time coming.”
“We assigned a team of ‘blind mules’ to plow the ground,” deputy prosecutor Ricky Roy Dammerville told the news station. “[They] looked at everything all over again, didn’t assume anything, just went and looked at everything that had been done and we decided now’s the time.”
Peter Kema Sr. is being held on $500,000 bail while Jaylin Kema’s bail is set at $150,000 because she is considered an accomplice.
Andrew Moore lived life to the fullest. As a 26-year-old college student in San Diego, Moore was working as a chef at night at the Gaslamp Quarter restaurant and by day, he was studying at the San Diego City College with a dream of one day going into international business. His parents said their son was in a good place in life and he loved everything about being in California.
On Sept. 12, 2000, life stood still for the Moore family. CBS 8 said a relative went to Moore’s rented studio apartment to make sure he was okay. The uncle received a call from his worried sister back in Pennsylvania, who asked him to check on her son because she couldn’t reach him. When the uncle peeked in a window, he could see something was terribly wrong. The police were called to the apartment and the reports say Moore was found dead in his bedroom – he had been murdered. Moore had been shot and stabbed, the San Diego Union Tribune notes.
At the time, according to CBS 8, Moore’s apartment was found not only ransacked, but with expensive cutlery was taken. But one of the most important clues was also taken from the scene: Moore’s beloved 1994 Suzuki Katana motorcycle. Authorities said a month later, the bike was found abandoned in the Golden Hill neighborhood. It’s unclear if anyone was every seen on surveillance dumping the bike.
Last week would have marked the young man’s 42nd birthday, and in his honor, Moore’s parents, Rita and Richard, spoke out in front of police headquarters about their son’s case. She said her son was adopted from Vietnam in 1974 and he hailed from Pennsylvania. She said he fell in love with California when he stayed with his uncle one summer and worked for SeaWorld.
“Andy was a friend to everybody, you could say. He was very friendly and outgoing. We could just picture him having an apartment there and leaving the door open, “ Rita added.
That theory may very well be the case. According to CBS 8, Moore was seen only 48 hours before his death entertaining three unidentified people. The report said there were two men and a woman inside his apartment. It is investigators’ belief that he died that night, the report added.
But who were those people? Were they friends or fellow college students? At this point that is unclear, but Rita said she does receive regular updates about the investigation from authorities in San Diego.
The print publication spoke to homicide Lt. Manny Del Toro. Despite the odds and the length of time that has gone by, he said, “We run DNA checks on that case about two or three times a year in hopes of obtaining additional information. Although there are no known witnesses at the time, we continue to interview individuals who we believe might have possible information.”
Richard Moore, the victim’s father, also spoke to the CBS station about the investigators saying they “really do work very hard” to solve his son’s mysterious death.
Although the Moore family remains heartbroken their son’s case has not been solved, they do something every year in his honor. In memory of Andrew Moore, there is a scholarship fund for the city college. The winner of the scholarship receives $500. The goal is to screen students who apply and to give that award to the student who is in the workforce, but returned to college — just like Andrew Moore.
Rita added, “We want justice for Andy. That’s what we went. That’s what we need. Andy deserves that. Someone took his life from him.”
If you know anything about this case, please contact Crime Stoppers directly at 888.580.8477. You can always remain anonymous.
By all accounts, Roberta Johnson had a heart of gold. After serving in the U.S. Army, the Florida middle-school teacher had a passion for working with troubled kids. She was known to take the children with the most difficulties under her wing and nurture them as best she could.
Which is why no one can understand how this mother — who was also 9 months pregnant at the time of her death — could have been murdered and buried in a shallow grave in Marion County.
According to Fox 35 Orlando, it was a spring morning on April 24, 1999, when Johnson left to take her 17-year-old daughter to school. It was a Saturday and the teen was set to do some extra classroom schoolwork. On that trip, according to the report, Johnson made a phone call to her own mother and then shuttled her daughter’s boyfriend back to his house. That was the last time Johnson was seen alive.
Johnson never made it back to the school that afternoon to pick up her teen. Arkeisha Johnson said at the time, “It was unusual for my mother not to pick me up.”
Those initial hours turned to days. Little did Arkeisha know at the time: “When she dropped me off at school, I told her I loved her; it would be my last words to her.”
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, on a recent position about the case, Arkeisha said about her mother’s murder, “It’s been a very long road. An emotional road. It happened three or four days before my 18th birthday, a week or two before I graduated high school. So to have to go through those two very important milestones without her when she had been there for me since day one, it breaks your heart.”
Lauren Lettelier, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, told the Fox station, “It’s unimaginable what kind of person is still out there, that we need to find. We need to bring justice … and close this case.”
In 2003, Ocala Star Banner spoke with Louise Jackson, who at the time of the report was 62. Johnson was her oldest daughter. Jackson was filled with emotion as she relived the moments and days following the death of her daughter and her unborn grandson.
Authorities also say, according to the Fox station, they’ve looked closely at a person of interest over the years, but they won’t release any other information about the possible suspect. The Ocala Star Banner said Johnson was beaten to death with an instrument of some sort. When her body was found, it was covered not only with dirt, but also with the hood of a car. Some speculate the murder was not only planned, but executed from a known attacker who may have wanted her dead.
Detective Jeff Owns also touched on a motive for Johnson’s death. In 2003, he said, “As the case gets colder, it gets difficult. We’ve turned this case inside out. We’ve interviewed more than three dozen people and have come up with nothing.” Owens also added it is a “troublesome” murder because there is no evidence of a robbery or of a sexual crime. It does not appear Johnson had any known enemies.
In 2010, Jacksonville.com said Johnson’s murder was re-examined in a cold-case technique class. Detective Donald Buie spoke out and said her body was buried in a four-feet-deep grave. The report also said it’s possible Johnson was trying to “shake down” a married lover at the time of her murder.
The man, who the publication identifies as a former professional football player, spoke out to the newspaper at the time of their reporting and said, “I know I didn’t do it.” CrimeFeed will not name Johnson’s friend because he’s never been charged. The man also said, according to the report, he did cooperate with detectives in 1999 when his friend was found murdered.
It’s important to note witnesses never put the friend and Johnson together prior to her killing. The report claims if the friend was the father of the unborn child it would have been his third out of wedlock and he would have to pay child support. You can read more about law enforcement’s analysis and theories on Johnson’s case here, including information about someone who may have seen her at a local convenience store, where her vehicle was found.
Johnson had plans to name her unborn child Nerriah Izrael X.
If you know anything about this case or if you have any fresh leads, please reach out to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office directly. This is one of 33 cases the department says they work daily. Arkeisha pleads, “Help us bring peace to my family and justice for the mom and my brother. No matter how small you may think it is, it could be the one missing key that we need to solve this case.”
Investigators in Phoenix, AZ are hoping forensic evidence can help solve a case four decades old. The brother of Pauline ‘Robin’ Burgette told News 12 he wants the killer to answer for what she or he has done.
It’s been 38 long years that Chad Burgette has gone with a huge void in his life. At the age of 16, his sister Robin was not only murdered, but she may have been sexually assaulted. “I miss her, I miss her a lot, we got cheated out of a lot of years,” Chad told Fox 10 Phoenix.
News 12 said it was March 12, 1978, around 5 p.m. when Chad, clear as day, remembers finding his sister’s body in her bedroom inside their duplex apartment. At the time of the murder, Fox 10 Phoenix said Chad and his mother were away on a weekend trip. Chad was only 1 at the time, and the discovery will haunt him for the rest of his life.
“I live with it every single day,” Chad said.
The only thing Chad knows for certain is Robin, a blonde, bright-eyed teen with a big smile, left a friend’s house the night before around 8 p.m. to meet her then-boyfriend, the report said. She was alive, and she was well. Reports say Robin may have been planning to have that boyfriend over to her place later for dinner. It’s unclear if the meeting ever happened. Reports say Robin was seen various times and places the day before her murder. Related: The Gruber Family Murders Remain One Of Strangest Unsolved Mysteries Ever
At the scene of the crime, there were unfortunately very few clues left behind. AZ Central reports Robin was stabbed to death. Fortunately, police was able to collect forensic evidence, but there has not been a match over all these years.
It is not clear who Robin’s boyfriend was at the time and if he was ever questioned. No reports name her partner publicly.
Police spoke out to Fox 10 Phoenix and said the killer was most likely someone she knew, but they aren’t giving any insight as to who they think may have committed this crime.
Det. Schwartzkopf spoke out to the Fox station and said Robin was not in school at the time of her death; she had dropped out. “Being out of school, she had a lot of boyfriends, a lot of ex-boyfriends, what we’re hoping is that somewhere along the line someone said something to someone and admitted to something,” Schwartzkopf added.
AZ Central reports at one point there were more than 2,500 unsolved homicides and sex crimes dating back 60 years in the Phoenix area. The report indicates over a long period of time, a squad of Phoenix police investigators sifted through each and every unsolved case and ranked them according to the quality of evidence for each one. Robin’s case ranks number four on that report. You can link and scroll through each case listed.
“It’s time for that person to answer for what they’ve done,” Chad said.
If you know anything at all about Robin’s case, you can contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS. You can remain anonymous.
Her smile shines from an old photograph, offering a glimpse into the beautiful world of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood. But darkness lurks at the edge of the portrait.
Georgette Bauerdorf was a young socialite with a grand future—until 1944, when her life was cut short in the dead of the night. The most unsettling part of the story? Georgette’s murder remains unsolved over 70 years later.
Born to an oil tycoon in New York City in 1924, Georgette lived a life of privilege. She and her older sister attended a convent school on Long Island, where they were trained in goodness and propriety. When the girls’ mother died in 1935, the Bauerdorf siblings and their father moved to California, where Georgette was once again enrolled in a school that befit her place in society—alumnus of the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles included Shirley Temple and Myrna Loy.
Upon graduation in 1941, young Georgette moved to West Hollywood to pursue an acting career. By the age of 20, she found work at the Los Angeles Times in the Women’s Service Bureau and at the Hollywood Canteen—a dining and dancing club that catered to young men in uniform. Georgette called El Palacia her home, a grand Spanish-style house that played host to numerous celebrities. Her evenings were filled with nights out on the town; she was courted often and enjoyed the attention of her many suitors.
Exactly what happened on the night of October 11, 1944 remains a mystery. It was a Wednesday; Georgette was at the Canteen, where her role as a Junior Hostess meant she danced with and entertained the servicemen on layover in Los Angeles. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary that night. At the end of her shift, she climbed into her sister’s Pontiac coupe and drove home.
At 11:00 a.m. that following morning, Georgette’s maid and a janitor arrived to clean her apartment. They were met with an unlocked front door. The cleaners entered and found Georgette’s lifeless body face down in her bathtub, the water still running.
She was wearing the top part of a pajama set. Her hair floated in the water. When police surveyed the scene, they found little evidence of a struggle—though the coroner later confirmed the bruises on Georgette’s body suggested she put up a fight before her death. A partially unscrewed light bulb outside her front door led investigators to believe that her killer had hidden in the darkness, perhaps even entering the apartment before Georgette arrived, lying in wait to make a move.
Police assembled a rough timeline of Georgette’s final moments: They believe she came home late, ate a snack in her kitchen, and was then killed by someone who may or may not have been a stranger. A downstairs neighbor heard screaming at about 2:30 a.m., along with shouts of “Stop! You’re killing me!” The neighbor assumed it was a domestic dispute and returned to sleep. The janitor himself claimed he heard the sounds of high-heeled footsteps from Georgette’s apartment, and then a crash—as if something had been dropped—yet he couldn’t confirm if there had been a second person in her apartment. Whatever occurred, Georgette’s last moments were certainly a desperate attempt to save her own life.
In the days following the murder, police RECEIVED A LETTER from a Sergeant Gordon Aadland. Aadland claimed that a woman matching Georgette’s description gave him a lift through Hollywood on the night of October 11. In the letter, he described the woman as appearing quite nervous, though he would DOWNPLAY this claim in later years.
The killer, meanwhile, vanished into the night after the slaying, driving off in Georgette’s car. The vehicle was found some distance away, abandoned and out of gas. It was the last trace of the killer in a case that quickly went cold.
Elizabeth Short’s mugshot
Georgette Bauerdorf’s body was shipped back to New York, where it was interred in a family-owned plot in a Long Island cemetery. While much has been written about the killing, little is concretely known. Some speculators associate Georgette’s death with that of Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. the BLACK DAHLIA, claiming that the same man murdered the two Hollywood hopefuls. Implicated in THIS THEORY is a tall individual with a limp named Jack Anderson Wilson, who plays a part—although peripherally—in both stories.
The murder remains a mystery to this day. Seventy years from that fateful night, there’s little chance that Georgette’s death will ever be solved.
A female body in a ditch and a single fingerprint are all detectives in Iowa had to go on for decades when trying to solve the October 1978 murder of an unidentified woman whose body was found dumped like trash in a roadside ditch near Lake Pahoja, Iowa. In 2006, detectives had the first big break in the case, having finally been able to piece together the identity of the victim. Her name: Wilma Nissen. Now, investigators not only believe they have a motive for the killing, but they are releasing a photo of their primary suspect in hopes of getting an independent identification.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said Wilma was born to Charles Clarence Nissen and June Simmons Bradford in San Francisco in October 1954. According to reports, investigators learned Nissen bounced from foster home to foster home throughout her young life. Sheriff’s Deputies say her biological father died in 1986, while her mother was married several times and assumed the last names of Cummings, Anderson and Long at one point before her death in 2003.
Nissen, investigators discovered, had lived with a number of people in various states across the country before landing in Sioux Falls, Iowa. For example, during her time in California, Nissen gave birth to three children and married a couple of men herself. Chief Deputy Jerry Birkey told KSFY that he believes Wilma was married “three or four times” prior to her murder, and that she also spent time in Georgia, along with many areas on the west coast.
Doing their best to track her various life milestones, detectives said once Nissen arrived in Iowa, she joined an escort service in the area, possibly working under the name “Playgirls” or “Playmates.” Investigators surmised that Nissen may have been meeting men for dates, and then going back to an undisclosed area to live in a car with her sister.
During her time working as an escort, investigators believe she was also possibly working as a prostitute, attending sex parties in the area. Authorities believe Nissen was murdered at one of those parties, her body tossed in a ditch after she was already dead. Investigators are hoping that there are witnesses or at least people who have further information about what led up to the murder, as someone who knows something more.
In 2007, after Nissen was identified, investigators had Nissen’s body exhumed in hopes of gathering DNA evidence, but according to the Sioux City Journal,the casket was filled nearly to the brim with water, ruining any remaining DNA evidence. There was so much water, in fact, some of Wilma’s bones were floating in the vault, the report notes.
The case came to a standstill for the next couple of years, until investigators made an arrest and alerted the media. In 2009, according to KTIV, an 82-year-old man named John Vangammeren was arrested in connection to Nissen’s death, but he was not charged with her murder. Instead, Vangammeren was charged with six felony counts of perjury. According to reports, investigators alleged that Vangammeren had lied under oath when he was questioned about the sex parties held at his home.
Although police suspect Vangammeren knew more than he was saying about Nissen’s death, they believe someone else knows everything. Just this month, detectives released new information about a woman they allege had something to do with Nissen’s death the night she died. Chief Deputy Birkey told KSFY that he knows the female suspect’s name and where she lives, but he needs an independent witness to come forward to formally verify her. He told the news station, “Our suspect was an escort, a prostitute, a dancer, who liked to rob other escorts, prostitutes and dancers.”
The motive for Nissen’s murder, according to Birkey, was robbery.
Can you help identify the African-American woman shown in the above right photograph, believed to be a suspect in Nissen’s murder?
As for Wilma Nissen (above left), she has been described as a white female with brown hair and blues eyes. She was found wearing white boots, green khaki pants and had on a silver and gold ring. At the time of her death she stood about 5′ 4″ and weighed around 110 to 120 pounds.
If you know anything at all about this case, please contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office directly: 712.472.8300. You can also e-mail Chief Deputy Jerry Birkey with any questions or information directly to his e-mail: jerry.birkey@lyoncountyia.com.
There is a reward for information leading to an arrest.
Over the years, Shannon Matthews Stewart has collected every single article ever written about her mother. The research hasn’t been for the best circumstances and the stories have been difficult to read, but Stewart is on a mission.
In 1985, when Shannon was just eight-years-old, Matthews was found dumped on the side of Interstate 71 in Ohio, barely alive. WKYC said the 25-year-old had suffered serious brain damage as a result of a fractured skull and head trauma, succumbing to her injuries a little more than 48 hours later. Authorities believed the young mother had been beaten and then dropped from a stopped vehicle.
During the initial investigation, police interviewed a truck driver who said he was with Matthews at a truck stop less than three hours before she was found on the side of the road. The truck driver and Matthews spent time together and may have been sexually involved. According to WKYC, the man told authorities that Matthews woke him up at around 2:30 a.m. so he could head back out on the road. That was the last time he saw her alive. A few hours later, retired Mansfield Trooper Kevin Titler discovered Matthew’s body — she was still alive, but unresponsive.
“That was probably one of the most prominent things that ever happened in my career,” Titler told news station WKYC. Matthews was identified because she had been arrested before for prostitution and her mugshots and fingerprints were on file, the report said.
In 2002, according to WKYC, Richland County Sheriff’s Captain Larry Faith spoke to the News Journal and said he tracked down a lead from a woman who said she saw Matthews during those final hours.
“One lady confirmed Marcia Matthews had been down at the plaza that night and they had been working together,” Faith recalls. The woman also told the investigator she remembered Matthews hopping into a semi tractor-trailer with a man, but she wasn’t able to give a helpful description. She did, however, remember that the truck had an Arkansas logo on the door, but so far, that information hasn’t helped investigators get any closer to finding Matthews killer. One of the biggest lingering questions today is whether Matthews’ case be linked to the deaths of nine other prostitutes between 1985-1986, though authorities said they have yet to find evidence of a connection.
Since then, the case has gone cold.
“I really feel like that was ripped from my life,” Stewart said of growing up without her mom. “I was robbed of everything maternal from me. I was closer to my grandmother as a young child. My dad’s mother raised me to be a woman, and she loved my mom.”
Although she had a tough childhood, Stewart graduated from high school in 1995 and joined the Navy. According to WKYC, for many years, Matthews did not have a headstone, but during her first year in the military, Stewart was finally able to buy one and honor her mom. Having served her country, Stewart has made it her sole purpose to find out who took her mother away all those years ago. She realizes she can’t buy tips to find her mother’s killer, but she can plead for anyone who might have answers to come forward. This summer, Stewart plans to meet investigators in person to talk about the case.
If you have any information about the Marcia Matthews’ case that could help bring justice, please contact the Sheriff’s Office directly at 419-774-5610.
On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls were scrubbing down counters and sweeping the floors at a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, when they were brutally attacked and shot to death. The incident would ultimately lead to court decisions that shocked the community, leaving questions unanswered and a murder mystery that still lingers more than 20 years later.
Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were working part-time at “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” a small shop situated snugly in a strip mall off of W. Anderson Lane. On the night of the murders, they were busy cleaning up the store after hours, anticipating a sleepover after their shifts ended. Jennifer’s 15-year-old sister, Sarah Harbison, was sitting at one of the tables in the shop, waiting for the girls to finish work. Sarah’s friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, sat beside her.
At around midnight, firefighters responded to a fire at the yogurt shop. As they worked to distinguish the flames, one of the firefighters spotted what looked like a human foot. He rushed through the smoke and rubble to take a better look.
As he drew closer, he discovered three girls near the back door, naked and stacked on top of each other, covered with Styrofoam cups that were drenched in lighter fluid and set afire. As the firefighter looked closer, he realized the young girls were dead, lying in a mixture of blood, smoke, debris, and chocolate syrup. All three had been shot in the head, execution-style.
The youngest teen, Amy, was found a few minutes later, lying alone, barely alive, near the yogurt shop bathrooms. She died shortly after, having sustained two gunshot wounds to the head. Some of the girls had been raped, but it would be years before DNA testing would become available.
Shanon Quaranta, a former student at Austin’s Crockett High School, was a teen when the killings happened. She remembered how it shattered the illusion in the community that teens were safe while working after-school jobs.
“When I found out I was shocked!” she explained. “Here are teens that were out working instead of being at the mall hanging out, partying or sitting around home watching TV. They were working, they were being responsible and such a horrible tragedy took place…. I think the biggest impact was that could have been me. That could have been my friends.”
Since the firefighters arrived first, the crime scene was contaminated. While they worked to put out the flames, a lot of the evidence was obliterated and washed away. This innocent mistake would prove to be costly in the years to come.
Austin investigators worked with what they had, trying to piece together exactly what happened that night, but for over a week, they had no leads. Their first break came when a local teen, Maurice Pierce, 16 at the time, was caught at nearby Northcross Mall, carrying a .22 caliber gun.
When questioned, Pierce bragged that the gun was used to kill the “yogurt shop girls.” He said a friend, Forrest Welborn, 15, gave him the pistol, but after police wired Pierce and listened in on a conversation between him and Welborn, it was obvious Wellborn had no idea what Pierce was getting at.
“It was obvious to everyone that Pierce was trying to force the issue on Welborn, who had no idea what Pierce was talking about,” said one of the homicide detectives on the case,
Welborn was brought in for questioning afterwards, and although he passed a polygraph test, he mentioned two other teens, Michael Scott and Rob Springsteen, both 17 at the time. Wellborn said he traveled with the teens in a stolen Nissan Pathfinder just days after the murder, but with no evidence to link any them to the crime, the case stalled. Authorities let Pierce off the hook after the ballistics with the gun he had didn’t match up. Detectives noted that Pierce seemed to have a mental illness.
Five years later, despite thousands of tips pouring in, the case remained unsolved. In 1996, a new detective, Paul Johnson, took over, and while searching through numerous tips, Pierce’s name stood out to him. Working off of an FBI profile for the murders, he brought in Pierce, Scott, Springsteen, and Welborn for questioning. All of them denied any involvement in the murders at first, but after a series of intense interrogations, Scott was the first to break, and admitted that he helped carry out the murders.
According to Scott, both Pierce and Springsteen brought a gun into the yogurt shop, planning to rob it, while Welborn acted as a lookout and stayed in the car. Scott said he took a gun from Pierce at some point after Pierce began yelling at the girls for money. Scott also indicated that Springsteen hit one of the girls and sexually assaulted her. As another girl began screaming for her life, Scott said he shot her in the head at Pierce’s insistence. He then remembered running out the door to the getaway car, while the yogurt shop began to catch on fire. He stated Wellborn had apparently fled the scene while they were inside.
In 1999, all four men were charged with capital murder. Springsteen admitted to shooting one of the girls, but Pierce and Wellborn never admitted to the killings and were let go. The problem remained that most of the evidence had been washed away years ago by the fire department, and aside from their confessions, detectives had nothing else to go on.
Regardless, prosecutors won their case based on confessions and circumstantial evidence. Springsteen was sentenced to death. Scott was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
While the case should have been closed with two convictions, it was only the beginning. In 2006, Springsteen’s sentence was reduced from death to life in prison without parole. In 2007, new testing revealed an unknown man’s DNA on the youngest victim, Amy.
Investigators argued that an additional person was with the suspects that night, but without DNA evidence to place Scott and Springsteen at the crime scene,they were released from prison on the condition that they could be arrested again should new evidence against them arise. Scott was released in 2007, followed by Springsteen in 2009.
Their defense attorneys argued that two teenage boys were railroaded, bullied, and coerced into giving false confessions. Surveillance videos show detectives relentlessly questioning the boys and pressuring them with threats. One detective pulled out a gun and placed it beside one of the teens.
Detectives said that Scott and Springsteen gave similar accounts to what happened without coercion, and that they also detailed things about the crime scene that only the killers would know. For instance, Springsteen knew how Amy was positioned and knew the type of gun used to kill her.
Sgt. Ron Lara, who questioned both teens at the time, said there’s no doubt in his mind that they arrested the guilty parties. Nevertheless, the DNA found didn’t match any of the four suspects, and there was no other evidence linking them to the crime.
Meanwhile, Pierce was reportedly suffering anxiety attacks stemming from the murder investigation. In 2011, he was killed in a run-in with police, after he pulled a knife out and stabbed one of the officers. Family members said Pierce hadn’t been the same since the 1991 murders, and always thought the police were out to get him. In reality, he was stopped for a traffic infraction and allegedly panicked.
The same year Pierce was killed, Springsteen filed a lawsuit against the state, seeking $700,000 for the wrongful conviction. While the lawsuit currently hangs in limbo, prosecutors are adamant that since Springsteen still remains a suspect in the case, the lawsuit is simply “legal fiction.”
Detectives are still working on finding more evidence in the murders, but for now, it remains an unsolved mystery. In the meantime, the senseless killings of four girls persistently hangs in the air in Austin, while many locals await a conclusion that may never come.
For two decades a woman found dead in Wisconsin went without a name, but now everyone across the nation will know who she was. The potential of there ever being closure for this female homicide victim was once grim, but one investigating agency in another state refused to give up.
According to the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, on May 11, 1998, authorities received a call from someone fishing in the area who said they found something disturbing in the Tomorrow River near a small town called Amherst, with a population of little more than 1,000. The caller told deputies they thought the discovery was possibly human remains, but they weren’t sure. After an expansive, exhaustive search, investigators said they found a pelvis and two lumbar vertebraes. They did not say how the person died, but they also uncovered “numerous items of clothing” at the scene, the press release said.
The bones were sent in for DNA testing, but the results did not come back as a match for any missing person or case the Sheriff’s Office was working. Detectives said they “exhausted” all of the tips and leads at the time and eventually the case of the unknown woman went ice cold. It’s unclear if over the years other tips came into the sheriff’s office or how extensively the case was worked through the ’90s and 2000s, but in 2014 proved to be a game changer for authorities.
In February 2014, the Portage County investigators said the Criminal Division of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota contacted them. The press release said they were asking the sheriff’s office for a DNA profile from the pieces they found in the water years before.
Investigators from Ramsey County said that in 1997, someone reported a missing woman to them in their area and they think the discovery in Wisconsin could possibly be a match. The profile was sent, but after processing the findings, authorities in Minnesota said they were wrong. The woman was not their missing person – and then both departments were back to stage one.
Although all investigators were back to the drawing board, they still weren’t ready to give up. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension then offered to do an updated test, the release said. Two months after the profile was sent to them, the unidentified remains were then shipped to Minnesota for formal testing. Those results came back and they still did not match the missing person – but all of the collected information was sent to the National Missing Person Database (NMPDD). That proved to be a jackpot.
The press release said the NMPDD program was developed by the FBI in 2000 to help identify unknown human remains and missing people. In July, just five months after the remains were sent across state lines, investigators finally had a match. The bones were linked to 36-year-old Susan Glaser from West Allis, the release said. She was reported missing to the Wisconsin Police Department in 1995.
For nearly two years, and at the request of the West Allis Police department, the case remained confidential. The reason why no formal information was released to the public because the West Allis Police department, according to the release, wanted the details to remain under wraps so they could work on the case and new leads without anyone finding out. When that proved not to be successful for them, authorities jointly decided to release the case details last week to the public.
Glaser had black hair, fair skin and a clear complexion. No word on where authorities found her photo, but they have now made it public. It’s unclear how she died, but reports say her family did report her missing. Sheriff Mike Lukas spoke out to WREX and said, “I didn’t think we’d ever find a match.”
If you know anything about this unsolved mystery, please contact the West Allis Police Department directly. Det. Vanderwerf will take your call: 414.302.8079. You can also contact Crime Stoppers: 414-476-CASH.
In 2015, CrimeFeed told you about WWE legend Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka being charged for a murder that occurred more than 30 years ago. Now, according to the Morning Call, the 40-year veteran of the WWE recently spent an hour testifying in a Pennsylvania courtroom as part of a hearing to determine if Snuka is competent to stand trial for killing a former girlfriend.
During his time on the stand, Snuka often referred to Judge Kelly L. Banach as “dear” and “hon,” and said he could’t recall his age or who is currently President of the United States. He reportedly attributes some of his memory loss to the time he spent in the ring sustaining many concussions, although the report notes that there are no current medical documents showing Snuka was treated for head injuries.
“They kick you in the head, everything,” Snuka said. “They take a run at you against a pole. It’s bad when you get hit in the head.”
Snuka, now 73, is accused of being responsible for the death of his girlfriend, then-23-year-old Nancy Argentino. The victim was found dead inside a Whitehall Township motel 33 years ago, the Morning Call originally reported.
Argentino was Snuka’s mistress, as he reportedly had a wife and four children at home. At the time of the young woman’s death, first responders said Argentino was “unconscious, barely breathing and her dilated pupils and rapid heart rate indicated she had a head injury.” She reportedly passed away at the Lehigh Valley Hospital emergency room the next day.
It appears there were a number of contributing facts leading up to Snuka’s arrest. First, The Morning Callconducted its own investigation in 2013, prompting a grand jury probe. The publication even unearthed a never-before-seen autopsy report that ruled Argentino’s death a homicide. In addition, the autopsy said she had 39 cuts and bruises and was likely a victim of “mate abuse.”
The publication says 20 witnesses testified in front of the grand jury in 2013, including an original case detective who worked on the homicide in 1983. Snuka was present, but did not testify himself and asserted his Fifth Amendment rights.
As for the WWE organization, it did release a statement to PWInsider.com saying it “[expresses] its continued sympathy to the Argentino family for their loss. Ultimately this legal matter will be decided by our judicial system.”
According to the Morning Call, Snuka gave several different accounts of how Argentino died. One account stated that “…the victim passed out in the room and hit her head on the side of the chair or bed. He kept checking on her, and she was breathing OK.”
In his book released a few years ago, Snuka wrote about being arrested for assaulting Argentino only four months before her death in 1983. Apparently the book’s account is different than what was documented in the the police report. During that incident, Argentino was treated for injuries she sustained to her back and scalp after Snuka was seen “forcibly dragging the naked Ms. Argentino down the hallway by her hair.”
Third-degree murder is defined as the intent to kill with malice, and Snuka could spend 20 to 40 years behind bars if convicted. The Morning Call reports more testimony will be heard on June 21 and a final ruling as to how this case will move forward will take more than a month.
Jane Doe. It’s the only name Tammy Jo Alexander had for 35 years. Investigators say Tammy Jo was only 16 years old when she was murdered and dumped in a cornfield in Caledonia on November 10, 1979. For more than three decades, Alexander’s clothes sat in limbo in evidence storage. It wasn’t until a few years ago that every single piece of clothing and other items left behind were shipped to the FBI crime lab.
Through a lengthy process, the lab finally positively identified the victim as Tammy Jo Alexander on January 26, 2015.
Tammy Jo Alexander (Photo: FBI)
According to the FBI, Alexander was originally from Brookesville, Florida, and had a history of running away, even sometimes hitchhiking because she lived near a truck stop. A few years after her disappearance, according to ABC Action News, a friend of Alexander’s, Laurel Nowell, reached out to the local Florida police department to formally file a missing person’s report, the first time the local sheriff’s office said they had heard about the young woman going missing.
After Alexander’s remains were identified in 2015, her family spoke out to dispute the authorities’ claims, saying they filed an official missing person report more than 35 years ago.
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt there was a report,” Pamela Dyson, Tammy’s sister, insisted.
Dyson said she remembers police coming to the Alexander house to take items for DNA comparison, including a hairbrush. Dyson also told ABC Action News that although their home life was tough and they lived with a “volatile” mother, the Alexander family was always concerned about Tammy Jo’s whereabouts.
Dyson admits she never questioned her mom and stepfather about the status of the official report because they always spoke about their daughter, even up to the day they died.
“Maybe it is my naive status, but to me, when you file a report and over the years, you are given updates by your mother and your stepfather, you feel it is being handled and taken care of,” Dyson explained. “You have your faith in the law enforcement that they are doing their job. They will contact you when something is found out.”
Alexander’s necklace (Photo: FBI)
In the year since Alexander’s body was positively identified, 76 new leads were called in. Out of those leads, three people have formally turned over samples of their DNA. Livingston County Sheriff Investigator Brad Schneider said, “These are persons of interest and we’d like to know a little bit more about these people and their past.”
Alexander’s case continues to gain attention 30+ years after her disappearance and murder, from a podcast about her death, to a local filmmaker who is raising funds to make a documentary about the case.
You can view all of the items Tammy Jo was wearing when her body was found, along with a unique piece of jewelry and a key chain.
If you know anything about Tammy Jo Alexander’s death, please submit your lead to the FBI directly.
In 1995, one single gunshot to the chest left a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department detective dead, and all these years later, the hunt to find his killer continues.
Detective Lonnie Miller was a popular police officer who stood apart from the rest of the department, thanks to his eyepatch and the celebrities who called on him to provide security when they traveled to the area. The sheriff’s office said Miller was known for his work with children in the community and he served on committees such as the local Democratic Executive Committee and the National Council of Negro Women and Associate Men.
According to First Coast News, on May 6, 1995, Miller and a few other officers responded to a burglary alarm at a friend’s business. It turned out to be false and deputies cleared the scene, but Detective Miller stayed behind to chat with his friend, business owner Abdullah Shah.
It was during that conversation that a Black male reportedly walked up behind Miller and shot him once. Shah was shot twice, but instead of calling for help immediately, Shah explained, he determined that Miller was beyond help and he needed to get himself to the hospital as soon as possible. This seemingly “odd” behavior made investigators initially suspect he might have been involved in the shooting, but Shah insists he had nothing to do with it.
“Here’s a guy going home and because he knows me, he goes and checks out my business and gets killed,” Shah said. “I should have died. Not Lonnie. He’s my hero.”
As for a motive, Shah said he ddid not believe the suspect was looking for anything of value, “If it was a robbery, why didn’t they take my money?” Shahwondered, noting that he had $400 in his pocket at the time of the incident. “If it was me they were after, they could have made sure they killed me. Maybe if I didn’t show up, maybe Lonnie still would have gotten hit.”
Over the last 20+ years, there have been few solid leads in the investigation into Miller’s murder. However, a convicted killer named Pressley Alston once allegedly confessed to killing the detective, and many still believe he could be the culprit. The problem is, Alston’s story has changed over and over – he’s confessed, recanted, blamed others, confessed again, acted as if he didn’t know a thing about the killing and now reportedly believes Miller’s death was a contract hit involving a police cover-up. Several detectives and other family members believe Alston is guilty of the crime, but prosecutors say Alston has zero credibility.
Now, the case is at a dead end and Miller’s loved ones still have no closure. If you know anything about the mysterious murder of Detective Lonnie Miller, please contact the Jacksonville County Sheriff’s Office directly.
Welcome to the latest edition of Crime Feed’s book club. Be sure to come back each month for the latest suggested reading and share your reviews in the comments below.
In 1992, college student Emily Winslow was raped off-campus by a stranger. In 2013, the man was identified by a DNA match in the FBI’s CODIS database of criminal DNA. This excerpt from Emily’s memoir of the cold-case prosecution that resulted, JANE DOE JANUARY (her fourth book after three detective novels), describes her journey back to Pittsburgh to testify in the preliminary hearing to establish the charges against him.
Read an excerpt from the author’s gripping story. Image Via Harper Collins
***
The preliminary hearing is not set in Pittsburgh’s historic courthouse near my hotel. Instead it takes place a few blocks away, in the municipal court, a run-down building awkwardly shaped to look like a police badge from above.
Bill, the original detective from my case, has walked me there. We’ve been instructed to meet the other detectives, Dan and Aprill, in front of the “broken elevators.” They’re easy to find once we’re through the oversensitive metal detector and past the chipper, already-bored security lady; there are no working elevators to trick us.
Everyone knows Bill. He’s greeted by passing uniformed cops, security, and press. Newspaper journalists are there, and TV cameras. They’re only allowed to film my feet. I’m glad for the whim that had led me to use the hotel’s shoe-polishing service.
Our courtroom is very plain, just rows of stackable chairs lined up to face a high area at the front, for the judge and two assistants. The judge looks youngish and is wholly bald, leaning back in his big swivel chair like a throne. He looks powerful and a little bored, reminds me of Lex Luthor, and chews gum the entire time.
I sit between Bill and my victim advocate. Dan’s wife sits behind us and holds my handbag for me for when I testify. She pokes her head between me and the advocate and points to the screened-off area in the corner to the right of the judge. That’s where the defendant is. “Do you know what that’s called? That sort-of cubby where they keep the criminal?” she asks. Bill and the advocate and I all demur. She whispers, fiercely, “I call it the cubby of shame!”
I can see the man, huddling with his defense attorney. There are flashes of his bright jail uniform, but no tug in my gut. It’s been more than twenty years. He’s old now, old-old, not adult-old like me. “Across the room” feels very far away, safely so. We’ve swapped: now he’s the one who has to defend himself.
After a group swearing-in, I testify first. There’s no seat or box or fancy setup. We all go up together to stand before the judge, with our backs to the rest of the room. We stand in a line: me, Bill, Dan, Kevin the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant. Aprill’s attached to the other woman’s case against the same man, not mine, so she stays seated. Kevin positions himself, kind of leaning, to block me from having to see the accused while I speak.
I’m glad we practiced. I’m glad we carefully chose the words to use. It’s just like it was in Kevin’s office, except that when it’s over there’s cross-examination.
The defense attorney’s questions try to pin me down to a physical description that he’ll later be able to dispute. Our case is based on DNA, not eyewitness identification, so, though I do in fact recognize the man, this whole road is just an unnecessary diversion to try to catch me out. I don’t fall for it. I’d read advice about this very thing, about defense attorneys prying for nonessential details, the kind of details that aren’t really the point so the witness won’t have prepared for them, in hope of mining a contradiction. It’s important not to let the natural social form of at least trying to answer direct questions prompt me to guess at anything I’m not absolutely certain of.
I say “I don’t know” to most things. Did he have a beard? Was his hair gray or dark? That’s not what I remember. I remember his round cheeks, his babyish face. I remember him as “big.” That’s what I’d told the police, because he’d seemed huge to me. He’d been powerful. I worry now that that could be used against me, because I can see in court, clearly, that he’s not. I’d been warned that he’d lost weight in jail, but it’s not just that. He’s taller than me, yes, but shorter than my detectives and lawyer. I literally cannot even see him when he’s behind them.
The defense attorney points out that it was evening when it happened and asks if it was dark in my apartment. I don’t know. Was a light on? I don’t know. “Well,” he says in a folksy, skeptical tone, “was there really any opportunity to get a good look at his face?”
Something fills me up. My voice hardens, solidifies from the quivering, careful tone of the rest of my testimony, and I bellow at him, “Yes, while it was bobbing up and down in front of mine while he was fucking me!”
No more questions. We return to our seats. I glance at the two newspaper reporters nervously.
After the others take their turns to testify, probable cause is considered established and the case bound over for trial. The defense requests that the $400,000 bail be lowered. Lex Luthor casually doubles it, to $400,000 for each victim.
We all stand and mill in the aftermath, debriefing before facing the hallway. There’s a cameraman out there. I’m torn between wanting to get away and wanting to hide in this room forever. There’s lots of verbal back-patting and smug nods over the bail rise.
The next steps—arraignment, where the accused will be formally told the charges against him and asked for his plea, and pretrial conference—are scheduled together for two months onward.
I make myself leave. The hallway is long. I try to walk normally but it’s hard to do while a huge video camera dogs my feet. Bill puts his hand on my back to push me along faster and get me out of there.
On Wednesday, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward is being offered to anyone providing information leading to the capture of the Original Night Stalker, a notorious cold case.
ABC News reports that he is believed to have carried out 12 murders, 45 rapes, and countless burglaries throughout California in the ’70s and ’80s. The serial killer was called the East Area Rapist and the Golden State Killer before authorities realized he was the same person.
The Original Night Stalker (not to be confused with the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, who died in 2013), would break into victims’ homes and shine a flashlight into their eyes while wearing a ski mask, according to LAist. He was also unique in that his victims didn’t fit a “type,” as he victimized men, women, and children.
“This serial offender was probably one of the most prolific, certainly in California and possibly within the United States,” Sacramento County sheriff’s homicide Sgt. Paul Belli said recently.
Though his DNA is on file, the Original Night Stalker’s identity remains a mystery. And with June 18 being the 40th anniversary of his first attack, officials are eager to bring him to justice. Along with the hefty award, the FBI says they are launching a nationwide multimedia campaign to increase public awareness.
An FBI press release highlighted some details they hope will facilitate an arrest. If alive, they believe the Original Night Stalker would be anywhere from 60- to 70-years-old. They describe him as a white man “close to six feet tall, with blond or light brown hair and an athletic build.”
Based on his style of carrying out crimes and proficiency with guns, they suspect he is interested in the military or law enforcement. The FBI also released audio of the serial killer saying, “I’m gonna kill you. Gonna kill you. Gonna kill you,” to one of his rape victims following the attack.
“Regardless of the amount of time that has passed,” Sgt. Belli said in the statement, “the sheriff’s department never gave up on the investigation. This person ruined a great number of lives, and he should be held accountable.”
Yesterday, the New Hampshire Attorney General announced that there’s finally been an arrest for the horrific 2011 murder of 11-year-old Celina Cass. According to a press release, 52-year-old Wendell Noyes, Cass’s stepfather, has been charged with second-degree murder, five years after the girl’s body was found submerged in the Connecticut River.
The body of Celina Cass was pulled from the Connecticut River in August 2011. [Photo: CBS Boston]
On July 26, 2011, Noyes reported that his stepdaughter was reported missing to West Stewartstown police. On August 1, 2011, the little girl’s body was pulled from the Connecticut River, just a half-mile from her home. She was wrapped in a blanket.
Days after Celina’s death, according to CBS, Noyes checked himself into a mental hospital. NBC News has covered the case since first happened, and reports that Noyes acted very bizarre in front of their cameras in 2011. At one point, they said, Noyes threw himself off his porch, crawled along the ground and pretended he had a grenade in his hand, which he then attempted to toss. His most recent interaction with the law occurred last fall, when he was arrested and charged with trespassing.
Over the last five years, the Attorney General said the case has remained active, and there’s no word on why it took this long to make an arrest and bring charges. A major crimes truck was camped outside Noyes’ trailer after his arrest. It’s unclear what evidence they may have gathered from inside. A motive for the murder is still unclear, but authorities say more charges are likely. Noyes will be arraigned on June 21.
“Sort of weepy,” Marcia Laro, the girl’s paternal grandmother told CBS Boston about the family’s reaction to the arrest. “Just a relief. Just to know that they arrested him and that they have been working on this case all this time.”
Shelia Wysocki was a typical stay-at-home mom. She focused on maintaining her household, taking care of her children and keeping things orderly for her family. Never would she have guessed that she’d end up investigating a murder – that is, until she realized her college best friend’s death was unsolved and not much was being done about it.
People magazine has an exclusive profile of Wysocki and how she’s helping other families solve the cold case murders of their loved ones.
In 1984, Wysocki’s roommate at Southern Methodist University, 20-year-old Angie Samota, was raped and murdered, having been stabbed 18 times. Two decades later, her murder was still unsolved, and Wysocki knew it was time for her to do something about it.
Wysocki said it took 750 phone calls and four years, but she uncovered and provided detectives with “lost” crime scene evidence which contained DNA from her friend’s killer, People reports.
It really wasn’t as easy as it sounds. According to WSMV, although Wysocki was pouring over evidence and meeting with possible suspects, she didn’t have the formal credentials to be taken seriously by police. That changed when she decided to license up and get certified to be a Private Investigator.
Wysocki told WSMV that when she finally scored a meeting with a police investigator, they still refused to reopen the case. “I will never forget what he said to me,” she recounted. He said, ‘some cases are not meant to be solved and this is one of them. You need to back off.’ And I thought at that moment I am not backing off.”
Wysocki claims she kept pushing and pushing and eventually got authorities to re-test the DNA. Those results matched a serial predator named Donald Bess. At the time of the murder, Bess was on parole for aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping.
In 2010, according to the Dallas News, a jury took less than hour to convict Bess for Samota’s murder and sentenced him to death. At that point, Bess was already serving a life sentence for a 1985 Harris County rape conviction.
Bess, 67, is currently on death row; just this year, Texas’s Court of Criminal Appeals refused his request for a new trial. Bess’s execution date has not been set, and it’s possible more appeals are coming.
You can read all about Wysocki’s journey to get justice for her best friend in this week’s People magazine.
And here’s a look at the episode of Investigation Discovery’s “Suspicion” about Wysocki’s investigation:
