In the quiet mountain town of Keddie, California, a small wooden cabin once promised a new beginning for the Sharp family. Surrounded by the stillness of the Sierra Nevada and the calm flow of the Feather River, Cabin 28 looked like any other modest getaway — a picture of rustic peace. But in April 1981, that image was shattered. What happened inside its walls remains one of the most disturbing and infamous unresolved murder cases in American history.

Family, in its simplest form, is meant to represent safety and belonging — yet, in Keddie, those ideas were upended overnight. After the Sharps moved into Cabin 28, they dreamed of starting over, unaware that only five months later, their hopes would collapse into one of America’s most haunting and inexplicable crimes.

The concept of family is peculiar. We can all define it in our own way, but something about it always escapes clear understanding. Memories, shared moments, and silent conversations become the unseen threads that hold people together — fragile and invisible until they’re suddenly gone. A family offers stability, but also the quiet possibility of loss waiting beneath it. And when tragedy strikes, the closest a family can come to its own reflection is often through grief.

Cabin 28 was meant to mark a new chapter, a place for the Sharp family to build new memories. But the promise of that sentiment was short-lived.

A picture can still carry the weight of imagination, speculating what a Family's moments of happiness could have been. Those moments taken for granted might, unfortunately, be a precursor to the end of good times. And there is no way to see them.

Their past life had been marked by abuse. Glenna Susan Sharp — known as Sue — fled Connecticut with her children, John, Tina, Rick, and Greg, to escape an abusive father. They traveled cross-country, staying with friends along the way, until they eventually settled in Northern California, living in a trailer once occupied by Sue's brother. It was located in Claremont Village, Quincy — a temporary stop to leave the past behind.

By the fall of 1980, Sue was eager to leave the cramped trailer and move into a converted low-income cabin in a quiet resort town in the Sierra Nevada. The town's name was Keddie, and Cabin 28 would soon become their home. The children found solace in their new surroundings, exploring the forest, streams, and nearby railroad tracks — finding small joys in the simplicity of mountain life.

Four months later, Sue's daughter Sheila returned from Oregon to reunite with the family. For a brief time, life in Keddie seemed peaceful, almost ordinary.

36-year-old Glenna Sue was a resilient woman and a devoted single mother raising her children on her own. Facing financial hardship, she relied entirely on herself to provide for her family. Determined to improve her prospects, she enrolled in a California Education Training Act program, receiving a modest stipend, and took a typing class at Feather River College as part of the program.

The money she received barely covered the rent. She also received $250 from her ex-husband, along with food stamps and social welfare. Although she wasn’t home all the time, she held onto hope for opportunities and positive change.

Sue mostly kept to herself. Those who knew her described her as attractive but quiet. The family’s new neighbors, the Meeks, soon became good friends with the Sharps. After moving to the area, it was evident that she wanted to make connections, frequently arranging meet-ups and spending time at a local bar known as The Back Door. Several of the people she met there, however, seemed at odds with her character and background.

Fifteen-year-old John, the eldest, was Sue's son from a previous marriage. He attended high school and shared a close bond with his younger siblings. At their new home, John was happier than ever; he claimed an unfinished room in the basement, adjacent to the utility area. The room could only be accessed from the outside via a back staircase.

Sue and her youngest daughter, twelve-year-old Tina, occupied the rear bedroom across from the kitchen. Meanwhile, the two younger boys, ten-year-old Rick and five-year-old Greg, shared a bedroom at the front of the cabin near the living room. Her eldest daughter, fourteen-year-old Sheila, had returned from Oregon, and Sue would sometimes sleep in a twin bed while the girls shared the queen-sized bed. Other nights, Sue slept on the pull-out couch in the living room, often falling asleep in front of the TV.

On April 11, 1981, at 11:30 a.m., Sue Sharp and her children — Sue, Sheila, and Greg — drove from the Meeks family home to pick up Rick from a baseball tryout six miles away in Quincy. On their way back, they picked up John and Dana, who were hitchhiking. After returning home, the two boys hitchhiked back to visit friends in Quincy.

That evening, Sheila left to stay overnight with the Seabolt family in Cabin 27. She planned to accompany her neighbors to church the following day, while Sue remained home with Rick, Greg, and their twelve-year-old friend, Justin Smartt.

Seventeen-year-old Dana Wingate, a close friend of John Sharp, was like an older brother to the younger Sharp children and occasionally stayed with the family. On that particular day, he planned to spend the night at their home.

At 9:30 p.m., Tina, who had been watching television at the Seabolt residence, returned home for what should have been a regular night like many before.

At around 8:00 a.m. on April 12, 1981, the mountains echoed with the chatter of birds. Returning from the Seabolts' house, Sheila opened the door to a grim reality no one could have been prepared for. On the living room carpet lay the bodies of Sue, John Sharp, and Dana Wingate — brutally murdered in the ransacked cabin.

Startled by the blood-soaked scene, Sheila screamed and fled to the Seabolts, seeking help, as the Sharps' home had no phone. She frantically recounted what she had witnessed, urging them to call the police.

Their neighbor, Jamie Seabolt, briefly entered the house through the back door to check if anyone remained alive. Remarkably, Rick and Greg — Sheila’s two younger brothers — along with their friend Justin, were discovered unharmed.

Authorities arrived at the Keddie Resort shortly after receiving the distress call. During the initial response, it took hours for investigators to realize that Sue’s twelve-year-old daughter, Tina Sharp, was missing.

The sheriff's office had come under scrutiny from the outset, with the investigation criticized for errors and the alleged mishandling of the crime scene.

The walls have witnessed unspeakable brutality.

Inside the house, chaos reigned. Furniture was overturned, and the walls bore the marks of unspeakable brutality.
Blood spatter painted a gruesome picture, streaking across furniture, staining Sue's bedding, and smearing doorknobs. Even the ceiling was not spared, marked with crimson evidence of the violence.
Blood was also found on both bedroom doors and the handrail of the backyard stairs.

The three bodies were left on the green carpeted floor, bound with electrical cords and medical tapes not belonging to the cabin.
The injuries were so brutal that it was impossible to identify the victims by their faces.
To describe the scene as grotesque would be an understatement.

There were no signs of forced entry. A hammer, a plastic piece from a pellet gun, and two kitchen knives, including a steak knife from Sue's kitchen, were recovered at the scene, believed to be murder weapons.

A yellow blanket was draped over Sue's lifeless body near the living room sofa. She was partially nude from the waist down. Her mouth was gagged with a blue bandana, her underwear, and tape held in place with an extension cord. She had been inflicted with a chest stab wound and a blow to her head using a pellet rifle. Her throat displayed a horizontal injury that cut through her larynx and scraped her spine.

There were signs that someone had forcefully repositioned her, given the defensive injuries discovered on her arms.

Sue and John Sharp were subjected to blows from a claw hammer and multiple stab wounds in their bodies and throats.

Dana Wingate, on the other hand, suffered a beating with a different hammer. He had also been strangled to death.

The exact number of attackers involved was unknown.

The autopsy findings would later indicate that Sue and John succumbed to puncture wounds and blunt-force trauma. Dana met his demise due to asphyxiation.

They have endured horrific torment.

Although the sequence of events remained unknown, investigators speculated and reconstructed several narratives based on the available evidence.

Sue and her daughter might have been asleep in bed when the commotion began, as her glasses were left on the bedside table.

Sue and Tina were forced out into the living room where the atrocity took place.

Red-marked footprints suggested the victims were mobile at some point.

Lone pools of blood on the living room floor and the sofa pillow indicated that the assailants moved the victims' bodies post-mortem.

It was assumed that the victims had been taunted. Since the living room walls bore knife punctures aligned at approximately eye level.

Tina had likely witnessed the tragic demise of her family— perhaps she was the one to cover Sue with the blanket. And then forced to leave with the assailants.

The evidence offered no clear motive, leaving investigators as baffled as the rest of the community. With answers still elusive, rumors began to circulate. Some speculated the murders were ritualistic, while others suggested a substance-related feud fueled by personal vendettas. The Plumas County Sheriff, however, dismissed any connection to drugs, saying no evidence supported such claims.

Investigators faced mounting questions about how the perpetrators gained access without leaving a trace, with attention turning to family members as theories continued to emerge. Authorities suggested that the suspect would have needed assistance to maintain control over the victims.

Clues repeatedly led to dead ends. The only remaining physical evidence consisted of DNA traces found on the medical tape used to restrain the victims. Strikingly, despite the violence at the scene, no other DNA evidence was recovered.

During the initial investigation, several residents reported seeing a green van near the Sharps' residence around 9:00 p.m. The Seabolts, with whom Sheila had stayed overnight in a neighboring cabin, reported hearing nothing unusual. However, a couple living in adjacent Cabin 16 said they were abruptly awakened at 1:15 a.m. by faint screams.

Investigators assumed that Rick, Greg, and Justin—who were in the house at the time—would have reacted to the commotion. That, however, was not the case. Rick and Greg were asleep and unaware, and Justin's account shifted over time. Authorities believed the three boys might know more than they had shared, yet fear kept them silent.

Justin Smartt provided inconsistent statements about the night of the murders. It remained unclear whether he had actually witnessed the events or if his recollections were influenced by media coverage. He described experiencing visions of the crime as though in a dream, at one point claiming to see Sue on a boat that he said resembled the cabin's living room. The traumatic experience left a severe impact on him, leaving emotional scars. It's also plausible that the intruders had threatened him. When his mother, Marilyn Smartt, discovered blood on his shoes, it lent credibility to the idea that he had undoubtedly witnessed something.

Justin underwent two hypnosis sessions in an attempt to recall details of the night. During one session, he recounted a strange dream. In it, he said, he found himself on a boat a mile from the shore, surrounded by a crowd. He described witnessing a confrontation between John, Dana, and a man with long black hair, a mustache, and black glasses. The man carried a hammer, while another similarly-dressed brown-haired individual in the crowd wielded a pocket knife. According to Justin, one of the men attacked John using a knife, threw him overboard, followed by Dana, whom he had described as being very drunk. As the dream continued, Justin ran down to the covered body lying on the bow, still surrounded by people. When he lifted the sheet, he found Sue, who had a wound in her chest. He attempted to help her with a blue-and-white flower-patterned rag as the dream ended with the men taking the life raft and Justin waking up.

It later came to light that Justin, Rickey, and Sue Sharp had been watching The Love Boat on TV before going to bed, a detail that seemed to resonate with his narrative of the incident, leaving an impression on Justin's imagination.

During another hypnosis session, Justin shared a vivid memory. A noise drew him to the living room doorway. There, he saw Sue lying on the sofa while two men stood in the center of the room.

Shortly after arriving home, John and Dana entered through the front door. An argument broke out between John and the two men, escalating into an altercation. Dana attempted to flee toward the kitchen, but the brown-haired man struck him with a hammer.

Sue rushed to John's aid, while Justin retreated to his room and hid behind the door. The assailants then bound both John and Dana.

Amid the chaos, Tina emerged from her room, clutching a blanket, terrified about the commotion. One of the intruders reportedly seized her, carrying her through the kitchen and down the back stairs. He later returned, retrieved the hunting knife lodged in a wall, and left again, taking the blanket with him. Later, the brown-haired suspect returned and covered Sue with a blanket.

Furthermore, Justin recounted that "Sue was cut in the middle of her chest by a black-haired man using a pocket knife." In his "dream," he rushed to Mrs. Sharp, applied a rag to her chest wound, and then returned to bed, somehow falling asleep.

The account offered little explanation for the bloodstains found on the bedding in Sue’s and Tina’s rooms.

According to Justin, a sketch artist produced composite images of the two men. The artists reportedly lacked formal training in forensic sketching. The suspects were described as being in their late 20s to early 30s.

Tina's disappearance was initially investigated by the FBI as a potential abduction. On April 29, 1981, the agency reportedly scaled back its involvement, citing confidence in the California Department of Justice’s handling of the case. A grid-pattern search covering a five-mile (8 km) radius around the home was conducted with police canines, but the effort yielded no results.

Authorities remained determined to pursue any potential leads. Based on Justin's description of the attackers, detectives identified Martin "Marty" Smartt, Justin's stepfather, as a key suspect in the cabin murders.

Shortly thereafter, Department of Justice investigators questioned the Smartts family, neighbors from Cabin 26, and their friend Severin John "Bo" Boubede, who was temporarily staying with them. Both Smartt and Boubede were Vietnam veterans and had met a few weeks earlier at the Veterans Administration Hospital, where they were receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

During the investigation, Smartt reported that a claw hammer had been stolen from his garage. Despite lingering suspicions, a polygraph test administered to Smartt led investigators to conclude that neither he nor Boubede was involved in the murders.

Smartt's alibi placed him at the Backdoor Bar, where he worked as a chef, on the night of the killings. Off duty that evening, he visited the bar with his wife, Marilyn, and Boubede. On the way, they stopped by Sue Sharp's residence and invited her to join them, but she declined. Marilyn and Smartt had also been classmates with Sue in a typewriting course.

After spending several hours at the bar, the group left when the music shifted from country to rock, which they reportedly disliked, expressing their displeasure to the bartender before leaving. Marilyn returned home to watch television and went to bed, while Smartt and Boubede called the bar's manager to complain. They later returned to the bar for a final round of drinks, staying until shortly before closing at 2 a.m., before heading home to sleep.

Marilyn would later be reinterviewed, during which she revealed that Martin held a grudge against John Sharp. She also admitted witnessing him burn an unknown object in the fireplace on the morning of April 12, a detail that matched another observer’s account of Martin throwing a pair of shoes into the fire without explanation.

She told investigators that she and Martin had separated the day after the murders, citing his anger issues and history of violent and abusive behavior.

Reports also described Martin Smartt as having an intense, eccentric obsession with the Bible. Some claimed he frequently preached to those he believed had immoral or "tainted" behavior.

Some investigators speculate that Martin supported himself and his family by selling illicit substances, believing that he became involved after he met with Boubede.

Boubede served in the Air Force and had a history marked by inconsistencies, often making claims later proven false. He asserted that he had worked as a Chicago police officer for 18 years and retired after being shot in the line of duty. However, his date of birth contradicted this claim, and his criminal record suggested a different past. He had served time in prison for bank robbery, held convictions for home invasion, and was reportedly involved in organized crime in Chicago, with ties to the Chicago Outfit mafia.

Various theories circulated about the case. Some alleged that the Department of Justice covered up aspects of the crime to protect its reputation, claiming that Boubede had served as an informant in the Reagan Administration's Witness Protection Program due to his organized crime connections. Others speculated that Bo had harbored romantic feelings for Sue Sharp and had been rejected by her.

Sue was reportedly counseling Marilyn Smartt, Martin's wife, advising her to consider leaving him due to alleged abuse and infidelity. Martin eventually discovered Sue's involvement in his marriage, a development believed to have fueled his animosity toward her. Some theories suggested that Marilyn's own envy of Sue may have contributed to tensions, as Martin reportedly paid attention to her.

Marilyn moved out of Cabin 26 the day after the murders, and shortly afterward, Martin left Keddie. She later claimed to have discovered a bloody jacket in their basement, which she believed belonged to Tina. Although she turned it over, there is no record that it was officially entered into evidence.

Marilyn also provided a letter that Martin allegedly sent 16 days after the massacre, in which he appeared to confess to the Keddie cabin murders. The letter contained a single line that drew particular attention; in it, he wrote:

"I've paid the price of your love & now that I've bought it with four people's lives, you tell me we are through." This evidence was allegedly overlooked and was not entered into the records.

While the sentence initially seemed incriminating, when viewed in the context of the letter, he expressed remorse for prioritizing Marilyn and her children over his four children from a previous marriage.

John "Bo" Boubede passed away in 1988. During the murders, he would have been in his 50s. The exact date of Martin Smartt's death is disputed; some sources indicate 2000, while others claim 2006. Smartt would have been in his early 30s at the time of the Keddie murders. Shortly after his death, a psychotherapist at the Veterans Administration whom Martin regularly visited also alleged that he had admitted to the murders of Sue and Tina. Martin justified that Sue was responsible for Marilyn wanting a divorce and boasted about beating a polygraph test. He claimed he didn't have anything to do with the two boys, allegedly telling the counselor that Tina was killed to prevent her from identifying him, as she had "witnessed the whole thing."

100 miles away from Keddie, in April 1984, a bottle collector stumbled upon the cranium portion of a human skull and part of a mandible in a wooded area near Feather Falls in neighboring Butte County. Later, forensic pathologists confirmed that these remains belonged to Tina.

The call, which investigators do not believe was random, took place on the third anniversary of the murders.

"Hello, I was watching the news, and they were talking about the skull they found at "the Feather Falls", and they asked for any help. And I was just wondering if they thought of the murder up in Keddie, up in Plumas County, a couple of years ago, where a 12-year-old girl was never found?" The caller said.

Following a search in the vicinity, investigators recovered a blue nylon jacket, a pair of Levi's jeans, and an empty medical tape dispenser.

As crucial as the call was, it went undocumented. Weirdly, the tape with the call recording surfaced in an evidence box in 2013, discovered by a deputy assigned to the case.

The identity of the anonymous caller remains a mystery to this day. How they knew that the remains belonged to Tina remains an unanswered question.

In 2016, a claw hammer that matched Martin's description was discovered in a local pond.

In 2018, A piece of tape containing identifiable DNA found on the floor near the body of Glenna matched that of a known living suspect. However, nothing more has been released to the public.

Why take Tina? Many speculated she had fallen prey to a trafficking ring. However, that turned out far from the case, as she was eventually found.

John E. Douglas, the renowned former FBI special agent and criminal profiler, suggested that the perpetrator's actions may have been driven by a deep sense of attachment and paternal concern for Tina Sharp.

Douglas theorized that Tina may have considered running away with the individual, having little remaining attachment to her new home. Many who knew her claimed she had long resisted her mother's control over the family. Some speculated that the perpetrator may have manipulated Tina's trust and suggested that she covered her mother with a blanket, possibly as a sign of guilt.

The case remained confusing, fueling ongoing speculation. Many locals smeared the Sharp family after the torturous events they had gone through. Some pointed fingers at Sheila as a potential accomplice, while others considered a drug-related angle. Carla McMullen, a family acquaintance, informed detectives that Dana Wingate had gotten into trouble with local drug dealers. She further explained that he had stolen an undisclosed amount of LSD.

However, police discovered no traces of drugs or paraphernalia inside the Sharp family's cabin, and there was no evidence linking the victims to the drug trade. Further, it appeared that Dana was not killed in the same fashion as the other two victims; in other words, less brutally.

The victims, by all accounts, could not have been less deserving of such a horrific crime. It remains deeply unsettling that justice was never fully achieved.

The actions of the perpetrators reflect a capacity to dehumanize others, particularly children, in the most disturbing ways. For these individuals, inflicting pain and suffering may have served to validate themselves and assert control. Their motives likely stemmed from a history of abuse, family dysfunction, and unresolved emotional trauma, manifesting in acts of retribution.

The sadistic component of the crime appeared fueled by a profound hostility toward the concept of a complete family, with women as the primary targets. The decision to leave the boys alive may have reflected a complex calculus—perhaps recognizing themselves in their victims, or sparing potential witnesses, or some other motive tied to their disturbed psyche.

Neither sexual desire nor financial gain appeared to motivate the killers. Instead, the crime demonstrated a compulsion to assert control, display power, and confront their own capacity for violence. Their actions reflect deep-seated anger, frustration, and rejection, manifesting in a deliberate and horrifying rejection of humanity.

The murders at Cabin 28 remain one of the most baffling and infamous unsolved crimes in California history, a grim illustration of a family's tragic demise. Sue Sharp's surviving children left the state to live with an aunt. Eventually, they entered foster care when their guardian could no longer manage additional children. The house where the murders occurred was ultimately demolished in 2004.

Murder in Cabin 28: A Look Back on the Keddie Murders | abc10.com

Keddie murders revisited part 1: New evidence discovered links living to suspect to the grisly scene - Plumas News.

Keddie murders revisited part 2: Following the clues - Plumas News.

Keddie murders revisited part 3: Hypnosis, counselor's revelations, mob connections - Plumas News.

Feather River Bulletin from Quincy, California - Newspapers.com™

Cabin 28 Murders - Witness or Dream? (historicmysteries.com)

Are Martin Smartt and John "Bo" Boubede Dead or Alive? Where is Marilyn Smartt Now? (thecinemaholic.com)

Keddie Cabin Murders: Quadruple Homicide Unsolved After 40+ Years - The CrimeWire

The Cold Case of the Keddie Cabin Murders (thoughtco.com)

John Douglas' FBI Profile of the Keddie Murders- 4 - keddie cold case (tapatalk.com)

*Warning: This article entails potentially upsetting content.*

West Mesa, Albuquerque.

The barren flatland of the West Mesa region in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is limitless in its vast landscape. A sprawling desert on the outskirts of Southwest Albuquerque bordered by State Road 45 and Interstate Highway 40, the intersection of 118th Street and Dennis Chavez Boulevard became the site of a tragic account unprecedented to the State of New Mexico. It was a grim unearthing for a series of unsolved murders casting grief across the state, shocking communities, and triggering changes in structuring investigative departments and agencies.

The canvas revealed a patchwork of broken lives concerning the disappearances of multiple women between 2001 and 2006.

The economic collapse of 2009 had already devastated many dreams as the unemployment rate in Albuquerque soared, hitting the predominantly working-class Hispanic community of West Mesa, and with scarce opportunities, desperation mounted. Many residents, particularly women, resorted to risky and unstable forms of work, like sex work or informal labor, exposing them to increased susceptibility to be targeted by crimes already on the rise.

On February 2nd, 2009, a woman from Albuquerque had been walking her dog when she stumbled upon a large bone protruding from the trail. It seemed large enough to be of a human, so she snapped a photo of it and texted it to her sister, who was a registered nurse. Soon, her sister replied and told her that the bone resembled a human femur. The woman alerted the Albuquerque Police Department right away.

When the investigators confirmed that the bone was human, there followed days of massive excavation using heavy machinery and cadaver dogs.

In the following weeks, the investigators uncovered the skeletal remains of 11 women and one unborn child, all buried in makeshift graves, believed to be the work of a serial killer, to be dubbed the West Mesa bone collector.

The murders defined a killing ground across a 92-acre property. The land owned by a home developer operated as a landfill for building waste and debris. The soil was already graded, leveled, and disturbed; which made it difficult for the exhumation to distinguish human remains from other materials.

Identifying the West Mesa victims required a range of forensic techniques demanding more than just genetic blueprints. A victim story can sometimes be etched in bones, deciphered by anthropological methods, reconstructing lives from fragmented remains, piecing together their previous backgrounds, and tracing potential locations to glean clues about the victims' final moments.

The Medical Examiners identified the eleven victims, most of whom were Hispanic females. The police used satellite footage to determine when the graves indicated disturbance of potential digging and tire tracks near the burial sites from 2003 to 2005.

On a run-down stretch of Route 66, Central Avenue is infamous for its low-rent hotels, abundance of drugs, and nocturnal clients looking for sexual services, their stories woven together by trauma and poverty. Albuquerque Detective Ida Lopez devoted her career to uncovering the truth behind their disappearances. Since the detective started working on the case in August 2005, the files of several missing women connected her to more women from the streets of Albuquerque holding the same profile. By 2007, the former Detective for the Albuquerque Police Department linked a pattern of at least 18 women with similar backgrounds who vanished between 2001 and 2006. Two years later, the string of disappearances came to light upon the mass grave uncovering.

Following retirement, Investigator Ida Lopez and APD homicide Sgt. Elizabeth Thomson Sgt. Elizabeth Thomson still works the case on a contractual basis to examine the West Mesa murders and other unsolved disappearances in the Metro area, compelled by the duty of bringing justice for the victims and a compiled list of the still eight unsolved missing women cases potentially connected to the same suspect.

The Victims "by Date of Disappearance"

Born on the 20th of June, 1981, 22-year-old Monica Diane Candelaria from Albuquerque was reported missing by her family on May 15th, 2003, after vanishing for three days. She was last seen near Route 66 by Atrisco and Central in Albuquerque. Her mother, Isabel Candelaria, reported to a Bernalillo County Sheriff's detective that soon after her daughter went missing, rumors began circulating in the neighborhood about her daughter's death.
The investigators discovered a human jawbone near the location, not belonging to Monica. The cold case unit took over the case.
Candelaria grappled with personal struggles during a vulnerable time, including the heartbreaking loss of a daughter during birth. And when, unfortunately, her life was cut short at the age of 22, she left behind a young son.

Born on the 19th of June, 1976, 27-year-old Veronica C. Romero, a mother of five children, was last seen getting into a white truck at the intersection of Wyoming Boulevard and Central Avenue. Romero’s family reported her missing on February 14th, 2004.

Born on the 27th of November, 1978, and 28th of September, 1988, 25-year-old Evelyn Jesus Maria Salazar and her cousin, 15-year-old Jamie Yvonne Catalina Barela, were last seen at a family barbecue gathering in April 2004. They had left the gathering to go to a park near San Mateo and Gibson SE and were supposed to return within an hour, but unfortunately, they were never seen again.

Evelyn was reportedly involved in drugs, however, her disappearance was unrelated to her use.

Barela was just 15 years old at the time of her disappearance. She was a victim of opportunity for a predator and had no connections to drugs or sex work.

Born on the 26th of November, 1987, 15-year-old Syllannia Terene Edwards of Harris County was reported missing from Lawton, Oklahoma, in August 2003.

She is the only non-Hispanic victim of the West Mesa Murders.

Law enforcement authorities in Lawton had classified her as an endangered runaway when she went missing from her Fostercare home.

A victim of unfortunate circumstances, at two years old, her mother was serving a life sentence for a murder charge and believed that her father and brother were also in and out of prison. Edward spent her life in the foster care system.

In 2003, she had been staying at the Parker Pointe home, a group home for victims of abuse and neglect.

The investigators speculated that Edward was a victim of human trafficking, coerced into sex work.

In May of 2004, Edward had been seen around East Colfax Avenue in Aurora, Colorado, associating with prostitutes. She may have been staying at the Ranger Motel.

Born on the 24th of October, 1972, 32-year-old Cinnamon Elks was a young mother of two children and the oldest of all victims. Her transient lifestyle and experience with drugs during her teenage years escalated when she became a mother struggling to take care of her children. She was arrested many times and disappeared after her last arrest in July 2004.

Similar to the other victims, Cinnamon relied heavily on her family for money, but she gradually stopped visiting them. Her family soon noticed her disappearance and worried about her fate. Her mother reported her missing in August 2004, but many months would pass before the filing of her case in December. The investigation was so slow that they made no progress.

Her mother, Diana Wilhelm, reported having heard rumors shortly before her August 2004 disappearance that “a dirty cop was chopping off the heads of prostitutes and burying them on the West Mesa,” according to Joline Gutierrez-Krueger of the Albuquerque Journal.

Elk's family sent her dental records to the police in case they needed to identify her remains.

Born on the 28th of August, 1980, 24-year-old Juliean Cyndie Nieto, also known as Julie, was last seen by her family in August of 2004 and was soon after reported. She was a young mother and the fourth victim to be identified.

Nieto's dependency on drugs and work in prostitution got her convicted several times, despite many attempts to turn her life around for her son whom she dearly loved and cared for, she struggled to make it work, and shortly after, she unfortunately disappeared.

Her disappearance had devastated the lives of her loved ones; when two years after her disappearance, spiraling into depression, her sister and best friend died from a drug overdose in an Albuquerque motel.

Heartbroken, their families will remember them as the devoted and kind daughters they were, who will forever be missed.

Born on the 7th of August, 1981, 24-year-old Virginia Ann Cloven of Albuquerque was reported missing in 2004, also shaped by a series of heart-wrenching events. It all began with the loss of her brother, Robert Cloven, Jr., who was fatally shot. Elizabeth Cloven, Virginia's mother, bore the weight of worry as they searched for their missing daughter. She confided to KOAT ALBUQUERQUE, revealing how this tragedy tore their family apart. Virginia's life took another devastating turn when she moved in with her boyfriend. Their shared dreams crumbled when her boyfriend was struck by a car, ending in a coma. Losing their home, Virginia wandered from one place to another out on her own, moving around and staying with friends. Eventually, it led to a life of drug use, according to the family.

The once-regular phone calls home ceased abruptly in October 2004. Tragically, Virginia would later be positively identified as one of the victims.

Born on the 31st of August, 1976, 27-year-old Doreen Marquez of Albuquerque was last seen in October 2003, near Calvary Christian Academy, dropping her child off to school. Another possible sighting was reported by a friend seeing her walking in the Barelas neighborhood of Albuquerque.

She left behind two daughters and a sister, who reported that Doreen had only been involved with drugs in the last year of her life and that she had no arrests for prostitution.

Doreen attended West Mesa High School, where she was a cheerleader.

But when her boyfriend went to prison, she managed the stress of being the only parent with the use of drugs, and in return, Doreen had a change in character. When she lost her apartment, she refused help from her family after they expressed their concern about her use. Doreen ended up kicked out of her sister's home when her drug use became a problem, with the condition of return getting clean, but unfortunately, her family wouldn't see her again

24-year-old Victoria Ann Grace Chavez of Albuquerque disappeared on June 5th, 2003. Victoria was a mother of two.

She had a history of drug-related incidents and was involved in prostitution. It wasn't unusual for Victoria to disappear for a long time. Victoria's mother, Mary Gutierrez, grew concerned when she reported her daughter Victoria Chavez missing in March 2005.

In 2009, her remains were found intact in a grave 18 inches deep and identified through dental records provided by the family.

Born on the 1st of August 1982, 22-year-old Gina Michelle Valdez of Albuquerque was a mother when she disappeared sometime between 2004 and 2005. She aspired to turn her life around, but unfortunately, it was too late. Her family reported her missing in February 2005 and were distraught by rumors circulating regarding their daughter being murdered and disposed of in the area specified as located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque.

In 2009, Valdez was identified as one of the victims found at the site.

And the heartbreak grew as Michelle was pregnant at the time of her death. But her family has taken comfort in laying her to rest in peace and will forever remember her dearly as an angel survived by her daughter.

Most of the women listed by Ida Lopez as missing sex workers were victims in the West Mesa Murders. However, six were not. Felipa Gonzales, Nina Herron, Leah Peebles, Darlene Trujillo, Anna Vigil, and Shawntell Waites all vanished from 2001 to 2005 when they were in their twenties. Today, they would all be in their thirties or early forties.
The site where the bodies were found is now a memorial park.

Beneath the exterior of a man, perhaps in his 30s or 40s, was a dark facet of vengeance shrouded in secrecy and hatred towards women speaking of a past traversed with domestic violence and sexual abuse.

This individual had an undetected compulsive familiarity with the terrain, indicating a level of comfort within the area, potentially meaning the killer resided nearby. Although the group burial suggests some pattern of disorganization, his possible fixation on the location for such an extended period suggested attentive planning to avoid detection.

There exists a possibility that the killer may have had an accomplice or may have been part of a larger group. Some of the victims had been seen with different men before they vanished, and some of the bodies might have been moved or reburied after their initial burial. Which prompted the authorities to consider the possibility of a sex trafficking ring operating through neighboring Texas. This ring may have targeted prostitutes during events throughout the Southwest, Southern, and Western United States, especially during regularly scheduled events like the New Mexico State Fair. Luring the victims with promises of money, drugs, or protection and then killing them after using them.

The West Mesa murders stopped abruptly in 2005, coinciding with the "Mesa Sting" police operation that cracked down on prostitution and drug trafficking in the area, probably deterring the killer altogether. But there is always the possibility of their own death or perhaps an unknown conviction.

The truth remains untold, and the gathered evidence remains insufficient to call any of the following persons of interest as suspects.

Persons of Interest

Joseph Blea is a convicted rapist, dubbed the "Mid-School Rapist" for his activities in the 1980s when he would break into the homes of teenage girls near McKinley Middle School in Albuquerque and sexually assault them. After the police uncovered the grave site on West Mesa, April Gillen, Blea's former wife, contacted the police and pointed toward her ex-husband, Joseph Blea.

A search warrant affidavit revealed that police had run across Blea more than 130 times between 1990 and 2009 in the East Central corridor – the same area where most of the West Mesa victims were last seen.

The police monitored Blea for days, suspecting him of stalking prostitutes along Central Avenue. However, no concrete, incriminating evidence could be pinned against him at the time, despite a search of his home revealing women's jewelry, underwear, and crime articles his family didn't recognize.

The link against Blea includes his DNA found on the jeans of a prostitute who was killed and dumped off East Central Avenue in the late 1980s. He also allegedly confessed to a cellmate that he had hired the victims of the West Mesa murders. According to DGOmag, the only piece of evidence that the APD says may connect Blea to the murders is a plant tag for a Spearmint juniper found near Virginia Cloven's buried remains. The plant tag found near a victim led to a California nursery that also supplied nurseries in Albuquerque. Blea's landscaping business records showed purchases from these Albuquerque nurseries.

Blea was a monster, as marked by law enforcement officials, having been accused of multiple rapes in the 1980s and 90s, particularly near McKinley Middle School. His modus operandi involved wearing a ski mask and often carrying a knife. He targeted dozens of teenage girls during this period. Joseph Blea was convicted in a rape case. He assaulted a young girl 26 years ago when she was an eighth grader. The masked attack occurred in her home after school. A rape kit was collected in 1988. Upon testing in 2010, it led investigators to Blea. He was convicted of the crime in 2015. And he pled no contest when charged with the rapes of two women and another child that occurred between 1990 and 1993.

The case for charging Blea as the West Mesa Bone Collector never materialized, but fortunately, evidence of other crimes did. He denies any involvement in the killings. By 2015, Blea was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center, awaiting trials on nine counts of sexual assault against a child under 13 years old and four counts of kidnapping. Blea is currently serving a 90-year sentence for sexual assaults unrelated to the West Mesa case.

Within a two-mile radius of the West Mesa burial site resided a printing company employee nearing his forties, Lorenzo Matthew Montoya.

On the 19th of December, 2006, 19-year-old Shericka Hill connected with Lorenzo Montoya through an online chat room and agreed to meet in person. During their encounter, Hill and Montoya arranged for her to visit his mobile home at South Valley on 4000 Blake Road S.W. to perform a dance for him. Hill's boyfriend, Frederick Williams, drove her to Montoya's house and remained in the car while Hill went inside.

After an hour of waiting; Williams grew concerned and decided to check on Hill, bringing his gun. Outside the home, he encountered Montoya, who also had a gun. Feeling threatened, Williams shot Montoya dead. When Williams entered the residence, he found Hill's lifeless body. She was bound with duct tape and had been strangled. It appeared that Montoya was attempting to move her body to his car.

Authorities did not charge Williams in Montoya's death.

Montoya was previously charged in 1999 under suspicion of raping a 23-year-old prostitute. She reported having been choked by Montoya in an attempt to kill her. The case was later dismissed in metropolitan Court and never refiled. Montoya had also been arrested on suspicion of patronizing prostitutes in 1998 and 2005. Weirdly, prior prostitution and rape charges against Montoya had been dropped. One year before Shericka Hill's incident, in 2006, there were alleged tire tracks connecting Montoya's trailer to the burial site of the West Mesa victims.

Lou Fred Reynolds of Albuquerque was a man allegedly reported by the police to be a pimp, according to El Paso Times. Information is scarce regarding his involvement. Some sources claim he owned an escort company called Have Mercy Escorts.

Police possibly found pictures of several West Mesa victims at his home, reportedly, including photos of Doreen Marquez. But no physical evidence linked him to the murder. Reynolds was allegedly arrested in 2001 and in 1998 on suspicion of promoting prostitution. Reynolds died of natural causes on the 2nd of January, 2009.

Scott Lee Kimball was a convicted serial killer, con man, and fraudster from Boulder County, Colorado. Over two years, he murdered at least four people. Kimball was sentenced in October 2009 to 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to the killing of four people in Colorado between 2003 and 2004. Investigators suspect his involvement in as many as 21 other unsolved killings. His criminal career intertwined with his role as an informant for the FBI, which paid him and shielded him from justice for some of his fraudulent schemes. Unfortunately, most of the information he provided to the bureau proved useless, and some were even false, leading to embarrassment for the agency. Kimball's troubled past included sexual abuse during his teens, which fueled a life of crime. As a skilled forger, he ran a legitimate business while primarily enriching himself through bad checks and forged documents. These white-collar crimes facilitated his murders, allowing him to create evidence that his victims were still alive after he had killed them. Shockingly, two of his victims were close to him: his uncle and the daughter of his third wife. His second wife, who bore his two sons, accused him of kidnapping and rape. Despite an open arrest warrant for the second assault, the FBI hired him as an informant. Eventually, an investigation into a check fraud scheme led to the discovery of the murders, and Kimball faced charges for both his crimes and his fraudulent activities.

A relative told reporters that authorities, who suspect him in more deaths, were also looking at him for possible links to the West Mesa murders in Albuquerque. Kimball traveled frequently across several states, and police are trying to construct a timeline for his activities in those places. He denied killing any of the women in New Mexico.

Robert Howard Bruce, infamously known as the "Ether Man," was a was a serial rapist whose heinous crimes spanned multiple states. His modus operandi involved using chemical-soaked rags to disable his female victims. The chilling details of his offenses unfolded across Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and beyond. Bruce was sentenced in 2013 to 177 years in prison by an Oklahoma court for sex-related offenses that occurred in Norman, Oklahoma., between 1985 and 2001. Police said he used chloroform and stun guns to incapacitate his female victims. Through DNA and other evidence, he was connected to rapes in Albuquerque, N.M., as well as in Colorado and Texas. For his attacks in New Mexico, he was sentenced to 156 years in prison. Bruce has not been connected to any homicides.

Joylynn Martinez, a single mother, unwittingly married Bruce in 2001. Initially, he appeared as her prince charming, showering her with gifts and affection. However, their marriage took a dark turn. Bruce became controlling and derogatory toward women. Joy discovered a horrifying video of him having sex with her while she was unconscious. Alarmed, she noticed that the timeline of the sexual crimes matched Bruce's movements. When reports surfaced about the "Ether Man," Joylynn's suspicions intensified. Joy alerted that the timeline of the sexual crimes coincided with the traveling of her husband. The rapes in Albuquerque had started when Bruce had moved to the area and ended as he left. She alerted investigators, leading to Bruce's arrest. DNA evidence tied him to the crimes.

In 2011, Robert Howard Bruce received a 64-year sentence for attempted murder when he tried to blow up a police officer's home and an additional 333 years for his various sex attacks.

In connection to the West Mesa killings, there was lastly one person of interest who came under scrutiny, a local photographer and businessman from Joplin, Missouri, Ron Erwin.

Although there was no specific reason publicly given for Erwin being a suspect, Erwin was known to frequently visit the state fair held near the burial site in Albuquerque, which added to the suspicion.

In August 2010, armed with search warrants, FBI agents and Albuquerque police officers searched his properties and confiscated tens of thousands of pictures from him; the police found no evidence linking Erwin to the murders.

Erwin told the Joplin Globe he didn't know how he became a suspect in the case. Though he was never formally charged with the murders, Ron Erwin spent significant time trying to prove his innocence behind the scenes.

Erwin's attorneys provided a copy of an Albuquerque police report concluding that Ron Erwin is not a viable suspect.

Authorities are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for this crime. If you have any relevant details concerning the victims or potential suspects, contact the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273 or 505-768-2450/ Crime Stoppers can be called at 505-843-STOP.

You may also email information to Investigator Ida Lopez at ilopez@cabq.gov.

West Mesa Homicide Investigation — City of Albuquerque (cabq.gov)

Top 10 Facts About the West Mesa Murders - Discover Walks Blog

Dateline: Unforgettable: Who is detective Ida Lopez and what is her role in the investigation of the Albuquerque disappearances? (sportskeeda.com)

Identities of Bodies Found on Mesa Emerge, but Killer Remains Cloaked - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

abqjournal.com/community-data/west-mesa-murder-victims

The West Mesa Memorial – Las Desaparecidas

No quit in the hunt for West Mesa killer | Local News | abqjournal.com

Police 'persons of interest' in Albuquerque serial murders investigation (elpasotimes.com)

West Mesa Bone Collector (Part One: The Pit) — Unresolved

Who's Murdering the Prostitutes of Albuquerque? (thedailybeast.com)

West Mesa Murders: Theories Differ On The Identity Of The West Mesa Bone Collector, Or If He Even Exists - DGO Magazine

Accused serial rapist, West Mesa murder suspect sentenced to 36 years in rape case (krqe.com)

Serial rapist Robert Howard Bruce dubbed 'Ether Man' - spotlight (dailycrime.com)

Colorado Inmate Dubbed 'Ether Man' Gets 156 Years For NM Rapes - CBS Colorado (cbsnews.com)

*Warning: This article entails potentially upsetting content.*

The East Texas Region

The 1970s and 80s. The Lone Star State had a remarkable spike in population growth. Borders the south of it, the astonishing Galveston coastline was teeming with tourists who flocked to its island for its breathtaking beaches, vibrant counterculture, and an array of outdoor summer pursuits. The era marked a drastic rise in the oil and construction industry, a spring-up evolution leading to a ripple to build some of the nation's largest refineries. Sadly, there was a sudden and alarming rise in crime rates, along with societal and cultural changes. According to the crime report observations, in 1984, a major crime took place in Texas every thirty-three seconds, and among those, a murder every four hours and twelve minutes.

Theories suggest that media and public fascination with serial killing unintentionally boosted the narcissism of mentally unstable individuals. It is also presumed that the development of the interstate highway system allowed the geography of opportunistic killers. And the lack of communication between different jurisdictions significantly impacted the investigation of the Texas Killing Fields cases.

The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre lonely patch of land characterized by its swampy terrain and overgrown vegetation, and it became a notorious place that rendered a lot of tragic stories in League City, owned by Robert Abel, a former scientist and engineer for NASA. An isolated stretch located a mile from I-45, between Houston and Galveston, its secluded location has made it a chilling backdrop for over 30 slain women; a plague of unsolved murders disturbed the area and confused law enforcement officers. Even though most were named after the field, many bodies were discovered in different surrounding areas. The Texas field killings imply the vicinity surrounding the Interstate Highway 45 corridor southeast of Houston.
The period of the killings in the Texas Killing Fields ranges from the early 1970s to the year 2006. It is believed that it had been the work of more than just one serial killer.

The Victims

The 1970s

The first disappearance was of Colette Anise Wilson, a 13-year-old student attending a band camp at Dulles High School in Sugar Land. On June 17th, 1971, her band director dropped her off at Highway 6 and County Road 99. But when they arrived to pick her up, Colette was nowhere to be found.

After they could not find any sign of her, they assumed she had gotten a ride with someone else.

They contacted all her friends living nearby, but none had any information. Authorities initially labeled her a runaway. The Wilson family organized volunteers who searched the area for the next few weeks.

Alice Killough, her younger sister, remembers how agonizing that time felt. They knelt around her bed and prayed for her return, which held them together for five long months before they knew what had happened.

On November 24th, 1971, a man stumbled upon a body 35 yards near the Addicks Reservoir in west Houston, inflicted with a gunshot wound to the skull, but that was not the first incidence; a few days earlier, the man had stumbled upon the body of 19-year-old Gloria Ann Gonzales.

On July 1st, 1971, a 14-year-old resident of Galveston, Brenda Kaye Jones, attended holy rosary catholic school. Brenda had visited her aunt at the hospital. She took the bus back home. Dropped off at Avenue 1 and 31st Street, she was last seen by the bus driver walking toward her apartment at the terrace public housing. Unfortunately, the next day, her body was found floating in Galveston Bay near Pelican Island, with the cause of death being strangulation.

14-year-old Rhonda Johnson and Sharon Shaw of Webster disappeared on August 14th, 1971. The pair were reportedly hitchhiking to Galveston to visit a surf shop. They spent the day on a beach. Eyewitnesses reported last seeing the girls walking on Seawall Boulevard.

On January 3rd, 1972, two young boys fishing in Clear Lake made a chilling discovery as they stumbled upon a human skull.

Six weeks later, a search team discovered the rest of the body, along with another, in a Marsh near the lake. The grim reality began to unfold as dental records confirmed the skull belonged to Sharon. A crucifix, found entwined around the jawbone, was recognized by Sharon's mother as her daughter's.

In a heartbreaking revelation, the other body found in the marsh was identified to be Rhonda.

In the same area in early September of the same year, the headless body of a teen male was also found.

Presumably, a runaway, 16-year-old Adele Margaret Crabtree, a cocktail waitress and service station attendant from Cincinnati, Ohio, and living in a hippie commune in Houston, disappeared after hitchhiking a ride from her commune in November. Adele had been shot twice by the perpetrator using a shotgun. Very little is known about her case.

19-year-old Gloria Ann Gonzales was a bookkeeper who lived on Jacquelyn Street in Houston. Gloria was last seen on October 28th, 1971, near her home. After being reported missing, she was discovered three weeks after, near Addick's Reservoir in west Houston, within 35 yards from where the body of Colette Wilson was located months earlier, with the cause of death being a blunt trauma to her head.

21-year-old Linda Faye Sutherlin of Brazoria, a bartender, was a keypunch operator and former bartender. She was last seen on November 4th, 1971, at Telephone Road after leaving a bar.

Linda's body was discovered on November 7th, 1971, in a Pearland ditch near a ravine bridge crossing County Road 89. Her body was riddled with buckshot. She had also been beaten and strangled.

Authorities had initially suspected a boyfriend with a history of aggression. However, they identified the culprits as Harry Andrew Lanham, a 24-year-old with a criminal record, and his associate, Anthony Knoppa, a 24-year-old ex-convict.

12-year-old Alison Anne Craven had disappeared on November 9th, 1971. Alison's mother left their Galveston apartment to run errands and when she returned, Allison was nowhere to be found.

On January 29th, 1972, three months later, her partial remains were found in a field near her home, and the rest of her skeleton was found on February 25th, 1972, 4 miles away from Linda Faye Sutherlin's body.

15-year-old Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson have been inseparable as friends since childhood, both students at Ball High School in Galveston. They were planning to travel to Houston, Texas, and part of the plan was to hitchhike. They were seen by residents on November 15th, 1971, near an island ice cream shop, tagging down passing vehicles.

According to eyewitnesses, they entered a white van with a man. Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone ever saw Debbie and Maria alive. On November 17th, after two days of a statewide search for the missing girls. Debbie and Maria's deceased bodies were eventually discovered in Turner's Bayou, both having been bound and shot.

15-year-old Margaret/Mildred Jo AnnKnighten, a junior high school pupil of Pasadena, very little is known about the case, but when she left her parent's home on the evening of October 20th, 1972, she hadn't returned. Three days later, her partially covered body was discovered lying on the side of the road near a construction site in Pasadena. She had sustained more than 50 stab wounds.

January 3rd, 1973, 16-year-old Kimberly Rae Pitchford didn't return home after taking a driver's education class at Frank Dobie High School in Houston. She was supposed to call her parents for a ride home, but the call never happened. Law enforcement worked tirelessly on her case but to no avail. Two days later, her partially clad body appeared 30 miles away, floating in a canal in Brazoria County on Road 65, Iowa Colony, Texas.

Edward Harold Bell has claimed responsibility and says he picked her up near Gulfgate Mall in Houston.

Dickinson, Texas, in 1974, 12-year-old Brooks Bracewell and 14-year-old Georgia Caroline Geer were best friends, their houses connected by a short trail through tall pines along Dickinson Bayou. Both girls attended MacAdams Junior High School; they walked together to the bus stop but decided against attending their classes that day.  On September 6th, 1974, Georgia and Brooks were seen at El Rancho motel. Eyewitnesses reported seeing them later Hitchiking along County Road 517.

On April 18th, 1976, a roughneck working for a Houston drilling company found two skulls and multiple bones in a drainage ditch area at a Philips Oil site. Investigators questioned suspect Henry Lee Lucas about the killing but later cleared of suspicion. Edward Harold Bell claimed he was responsible for the deaths of two high school girls.

12-year-old Suzanne "Suzie" Bowers disappeared on May 21st, 1977, walking on her way back to her home from her grandmother's house.

Her mother drove day and night the routes she might have taken searching for her daughter, but unfortunately, to no avail.

On March 25th, 1979, Her skeletal remains were found 22 months later in a vacant field in Alta Loma.

Henry Lee Lucas confessed to her slaying in 1984.

The 1980s

Harold Dean Clouse Jr. and Tina Linn Clouse were a couple living in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. They both met in 1978. The couple's daughter, Holly Marie, was born on January 24th, 1980. Both were described as devoted parents by those around them. In the summer of 1980, the Clouses moved with baby Holly to the suburb of Lewisville, Texas, in the Dallas metropolitan area.

The Clouses were last seen alive in Lewisville, and their families lost all contact with them in October 1980. On January 12th, 1981, their bodies were found in undeveloped and swampy woodlands north of Houston, 250 miles from their last confirmed address. Dean's death resulted due to blunt trauma, while Tina's cause of death was due to strangulation.

In a surprising development in 2022, Holly Marie, the daughter of Harold Dean Clouse Jr. and Tina Linn Clouse, was discovered alive in Oklahoma.

"Finding Holly is a birthday present from heaven since we found her on Junior's birthday. I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it... we have found Holly." Said Donna Casasanta (Holly's grandmother).

14-year-old Sherri Ann Jarvis of Stillwater, Minnesota, was in state custody due to truancy. It didn't take long before Sherri ran away, but she didn't return home. Instead, she ended up outside of Texas.

She was last seen at the Hitch 'n' Post truck stop alongside Interstate 45, where a waitress drew her a map providing directions to the prison farm, which she then handed to the girl. Believing she was a runaway, confused, the waitress asked her about her age. The young woman claimed to be 19 from Rockport or Aransas Pass, Texas, but after expressing doubt, she asked her whether her parents knew her whereabouts, but the girl replied, "Who cares?".

On November 1st, 1980, a truck driver observed a body in a grassy area adjacent to the side of the road while navigating I-45 just outside of Huntsville. He reported the sighting to the sheriff's department. Unfortunately, the scene indicated a vicious assault and beating. The young woman had no identification. The Harris County medical examiners assigned her as Walker County Jane Doe, with the cause of death being asphyxiation. Her identity remained a secret for more than four decades.

Searching for contacts led to deadends, but few witnesses had reportedly interacted with her, suggesting she had been asking for directions to get to the Ellis prison unit. Others reported her hitchhiking near a truck stop. However, the lack of evidence set the investigation to a halt despite efforts to determine her identity using facial reconstructions.
In 1999, the body was exhumed for DNA testing, but skeletal remains failed extraction.
In 2015, the case was officially reopened, and regardless of the challenges, Detective Thomas Bean of Walker's County Sheriff's Office determined to employ advanced DNA testing had worked tirelessly on identifying her. In 2020, despite the chances being low, Miraculously, Othram's laboratory scientists performed testing to collect enough information to build the DNA profile with a paraffin-embedded tissue suggested by Detective Bean enabling her identification. Soon after matching potential family members, the positive identification of Jane Doe as Sherri Ann Jarvis was concluded.

15-year-old Michelle Angela Garvey from Connecticut was a teenage girl murdered in Texas shortly after running away from her home on June 1st, 1982. Her body was discovered near Dean and Tina Clouse in Baytown, Texas, a month after she went missing.

Michelle was strangled to death and believed to have been assaulted by the killer. She remained unidentified until 2014 after an amateur Internet researcher suggested a connection between the Texas unidentified decedent and Connecticut missing-person data.

20-year-old Susan Lee Eads, a resident of Seabrook, Texas, vanished on August 30th, 1983, after concluding her shift at Charlie's Bar in Nassau Bay.

Her lifeless body was discovered the next day, August 31st, 1983, in a vacant lot near the crossroads of NASA Road 1 and Elam Street, as stated by DPS officials.

Her vehicle, a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, was found in the parking area of Gulf States Yachts boat store, close to the site where her body was found.

The cause of death was determined to be strangulation. For nearly 40 years, her murder remained unsolved.

In May 2020, the offender was identified in this case. After an exhaustive investigation, by the Texas Rangers, Seabrook Police Department, and the FBI, Arthur Lee Davis, 35, has been named as the killer of Susan Eads. DNA research, including scientific examinations by the Texas DPS Crime Lab, played a crucial role in closing this case.

Arthur Davis was killed in a one-vehicle traffic crash in January 1984, approximately four months after the murder.

The disappearance of 23-year-old Heide Marie Villarreal-Fye, a cocktail waitress who worked at a local bar named Texas Moon, resided right around the area.

On October 10th, 1983, Heide Fye left her parents' place and walked to a local gas station, where she made a phone call. The store owner last witnessed her exiting the store back towards her home, but no one had heard from her again.

On April 4th, 1984, a resident near Calder Road discovered her pet dog carrying a human skull. The authorities were alerted, and a search led to the recovery of Heide's remains. The state of the remains suggested sexual abuse, with the cause of death being determined to be blunt force trauma to the head. This tragic discovery marked the end of a six-month-long search for the missing young woman.

14-year-old Sondra Kay Ramber of Santa Fe, Texas, mysteriously disappeared on October 26th, 1983, and has not been seen since.

On the day of her disappearance, the door to her home was left open, and the oven was still on.

Although initially believed to have gone to the store, she never returned.

Other reports suggest she vanished while on her way to school.

Despite being classified as a runaway by authorities, the circumstances of her disappearance remain unclear. Investigators speculate that Sondra may have carried a new identity and started a new life, but little evidence exists to support this.

The later disappearance of Michelle Thomas in 1985 and Suzanne Rene Richerson in 1988 is assumed to have a connection to Sondra's case. But it still hasn't been determined by Law enforcement.

On the evening of September 10th, 1984, 16-year-old Laura Lynn Miller disappeared not far from her residence in Texas. She had requested her mother to take her to a payphone for a conversation with her boyfriend. The Millers had recently moved into a new house in League City, and their phone lines weren't set up yet. She was supposed to return home walking after the call, but Laura never made it.

Tragically, her remains were discovered over a year later on February 2nd, 1986, in an area near Calder Road, 60 ft away from where police had found Heide Villarreal-Fye the year before. Fye's remains were discovered in April 1984, while Miller's were found in 1986. The body of another woman was discovered. Sadly, she could not be identified immediately and was referred to as Jane Doe. However, in 2019, Jane Doe was finally identified as Audrey Lee Cook, a mechanic aged 30, who was last seen alive in December 1985.

The case of Laura Miller has garnered substantial attention after its feature in the Netflix series Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields. Laura's father, Tim Miller, has been searching for his daughter and hunting for justice since she disappeared. Frustrated by the lack of progress in the official investigation, he took matters into his own hands.

In 2000, he founded Texas EquuSearch (TES), a volunteer organization dedicated to assisting in the search for missing persons. As of publishing, TES has worked on over 2,500 cases and has been instrumental in locating nearly 436 individuals alive and recovering 341 bodies.

Tim Miller is a hero, along with all the families of victims involved in suffering at the hands of predators.

Please consider supporting Texas EquuSearch Search And Recovery Non-Profit.

Texas EquuSearch Search And Recovery Non-Profit

Texas EquuSearch is a non-profit organization that provides search and recovery services to families of missing persons and law enforcement.

Texas EquuSearch Search and RecoveryAstoundz

A 30-year-old resident of League City, Ellen Rae Simpson Beason, was last seen alive at a nightclub where she and her friends gathered at the Texas Moon Club in League City, where she met a man.

She held significant popularity among her community and circle of friends due to her kindness and generosity. Although the exact date of her disappearance is not publicly specified, she went missing in July 1984 after visiting the same bar. When it was time to return home, she asked her friends to leave without her. Ellen and the stranger made plans to swim in a nearby lake.

In the wake of Ellen's disappearance, her family, fraught with worry, organized a search party, combing through every area she might have visited, including the lake where she was supposed to go. The local police force also joined the search, leaving no stone unturned in their investigation.

Ellen's decomposed remains were eventually discovered hidden under a sofa in a wooded area beside Old Causeway Road in Galveston County. At the time, the medical examiner was unable to ascertain the cause of death. However, a subsequent exhumation of her remains in 2012 revealed that she had suffered severe skull fractures. It became clear then that Ellen had been struck on the head with a blunt object before she drowned.

The investigation led to a stranger in question, later identified by her friends as Clyde Hedrick, a local League City resident and construction worker. Hedrick maintained an alibi that the young woman's drowning was an accident. Overwhelmed by panic and fearing accusations of foul play if he took her to the hospital, he chose to dispose of her. Since the cause of her death couldn't be determined at the time, the only charge he faced was abuse of a corpse. He was found guilty of this charge and received a one-year prison sentence.

His far-fetched version of the story and after a report by his ex-wife, officials conducted a second autopsy, which brought out the undeniable evidence of blunt force trauma. He was later convicted in 2014 for involuntary manslaughter in connection with Beason's death.

Clyde entered a plea of not guilty, yet he was ultimately found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Despite being sentenced to 20 years, Hedrick served only eight years and was released due to a Texas law from the 1980s that allows for early release based on good behavior. Clyde was granted an early release from the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary in Huntsville in early October 2021.

"I just want to make sure no one forgets," said Josie Poarch, Fye's sister.

On October 5th, 1985, 17-year-old Michelle Doherty Thomas left her home in Santa Fe with two friends. She had just returned from her job at a gas station in Galveston, Texas. She was seen leaving with Carlos Garcia Jr. and Warren Lyn Richardson, planning to spend the evening at a nightclub on Galveston Island, but Michelle never arrived.

Garcia and Richardson later recounted that they had stopped at a convenience store on the way to the club. They claimed Michelle left their company to join two unknown men in a different car. That was the last time anyone saw Michelle. After two days without any word from her, her family reported her missing on October 7th, 1985.

The timing of her disappearance was heart-wrenching, as it happened two days before her infant son's first birthday.

By December, Garcia and Richardson were facing charges of aggravated kidnapping in connection with Michelle's disappearance. Their story changed, now claiming that Michelle was taken by force from her vehicle at an intersection. However, the case against them never went to trial. There was not enough evidence to prosecute. Investigators began to draw connections between Michelle's case and the disappearances in Galveston.

Earlier that year, Michelle and her husband had been working with law enforcement as informants in a drug operation. Facing burglary charges, Michelle had agreed to provide information to the authorities in exchange for leniency. By the time of her disappearance, she had reportedly been hearing rumors of a threat against her life, likely connected to her role as an informant.

Despite the belief of law enforcement that Michelle was likely abducted and possibly killed, the absence of solid proof has left her case unsolved. There is some discrepancy regarding the exact location of her disappearance, with some records indicating it was Alta Loma, Texas.

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, 30-year-old Audrey Lee Cook moved in 1976 to the Houston/Channelview area, Texas, where she worked as a mechanic. Known for her generosity and kindness and described as a "free-spirited" motorcyclist, she had started a new life, although it is alleged that there was a side of her story involved with drug dealing and abuse.

She communicated with her family regularly through letters and emails. However, the last time she contacted them was via email in December of 1985, after which she disappeared.

The remains of Cook were discovered in a field on Calder Road's 3000 block on the same day as Laura Miller's body was found nearby. The bodies of the victims were not interred but were instead concealed from sight. The manner of death showed that she had been shot in the back and had several broken ribs as a result of blunt force trauma, but the exact cause of death couldn't be confirmed due to decomposition.

19-year-old Shelley Kathleen Sikes, a college student at the University of Texas, was last seen on May 24th, 1986. After finishing her shift at Gaido's Seafood Restaurant on the Galveston beachfront, she began her journey home about fifteen miles from her workplace, but in a tragic turn of events, she never returned home.

Her vehicle, a Sikes's blue 1980 Ford Pinto, was located the following morning on May 25th abandoned and trapped in the mud along an Interstate 45 access road south of the Galveston Causeway. The driver's side window had been broken, and bloodstains were discovered on the door and the driver's seat. There was no trace of Sikes at the scene.

John Robert King called the police department in El Paso, Texas, in June 1987, over one year after Sikes's disappearance. He claimed that he tried to commit suicide the night of the call and that he and a friend, Gerald Peter Zwarst, in a vehicle veered Sike's off the road, abducted and murdered her in 1986. Even though they were sentenced to life imprisonment, the location of Shelley remained unknown. Both men passed away in jail without disclosing the whereabouts of her remains. Shelley is presumed to have died.

The 1990s

22-year-old Suzanne Rene Richerson had relocated to an apartment in Galveston for three weeks. She had begun a new relationship with an ex-student from College Station.

On the early morning of October 7th, 1988, Suzanne was doing her job working as a night clerk at the Casa del Mar Hotel condominiums on Galveston's seawall, and out of nowhere, she vanished without an eyewitness. Her belongings were left behind, along with a borrowed car parked outside.

Bystanders claimed to have heard a female scream followed by a car speeding away. Despite the tireless efforts of her parents, university officials, fellow students, and the police, no substantial leads were found.

In the aftermath of her vanishing, an unidentified person contacted the Austin Crime Stoppers, alleging to be one of the kidnappers. This led to unavailing searches for her remains in secluded fields along FM 2004 in Brazoria County.

As time passed, three individuals became persons of interest, but due to insufficient evidence, no arrests were made.

Nearly 16 years later, a new witness came forward, alleging to have observed two men relocating Richerson's remains. The police discovered fragments of bone at the purported site, but it was unclear whether they were human.

34-year-old Donna Marie Prudhomme, a mother of two from Port Arthur, Texas, was seeking a fresh start after escaping an abusive relationship. She had moved to Nassau Bay and was last seen by her family in July 1991. Despite her frequent relocations, she had always kept in touch with her family. Her sudden silence raised alarms, so they reported her missing, sparking a thorough search by law enforcement and volunteers.
On September 8th, 1991, the body of a female victim was discovered by two people riding horses in a field near Calder Road.
The detectives and the Medical Examiner's Office attempted to identify the victim, but after a thorough investigation, they were unable to.
The Medical Examiner's Office named her case "Janet Doe."
According to the League City Police Department,
the Cold Case Detectives involved genetic genealogy and DNA phenotyping, rendering a close representation of what the victims looked like at the time of their death, which later led to the positive conclusion that the body was of Donna in 2019.

14-year-old Lynette Bibbs and 15-year-old Tamara Fisher were two teenagers murdered in La Porte, Texas. They were last seen at a Houston nightclub and a motel on February 1st, 1996.

A couple of days later, unfortunately, two bodies were discovered off a dirt road near Cleveland, Texas. Both girls didn't have identification. However, investigators found Lynette's uncle's phone number at the scene. A subsequent call to him provided further identification.

Lynette was the first to be killed, and when Tamara attempted to escape, she was shot in the back of her head. Lynette had been shot in her face and head. Fishermen found their bodies floating in Turner's Bayou in Texas City. Both girls had been shot twice and dumped in the water, their hands and feet bound and partially clothed.

Despite the efforts, the tragic case of Lynette Bibbs and Tamara Fisher remains unsolved.

Because different types of bullets were found in the wooded area where the girls were killed, investigators believe two assailants were involved.

13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker from Galveston County was the great-niece of Marilyn Monroe. Her case had gained nationwide media attention. On March 5th, 1996, following a dispute with her grandmother, she left her home. Unfortunately, she was abducted outside the residence in Texas City. Two hours later, her body was found discarded under the Trinity River Bridge along Interstate 10 in Chambers County. She was sexually assaulted and murdered by strangulation.

For many years, the case remained unresolved. However, in April 2012, a breakthrough came when Kevin Edison Smith was arrested and convicted for her murder, 16 years after Krystal's body was discovered. The key to solving the case was when a Chambers County sheriff's officer decided to resubmit her dress for analysis, which led to the identification of her killer. It took 26 years for her killer to be brought to justice.

Kevin Edison Smith, a 45-year-old man from Louisiana, was apprehended at his refinery workplace in Groves, Texas. He was arrested on a warrant issued by the Chambers County Sheriff's Office, which charged him with the murder of Krystal Jean Baker.

A 12-year-old resident of Friendswood, Laura Smither, tragically disappeared on April 3rd, 1997. As mentioned by Cinemaholic, she is remembered as a brilliant, lively, and cheerful young girl who lit up any room she walked into. She was passionate about ballet, Girl Scouts, and scuba diving, and Laura was beloved in her community.

On the fateful day, she had asked her mother's permission to go for a quick jog before breakfast. Usually, Laura would return home within half an hour at most. So when she didn't arrive as expected, her parents and neighbors began combing through several areas.

Despite the tireless efforts of her family, volunteers, and law enforcement canvassing the area, Laura remained missing. Tragically, seventeen days later, her family's fear became true when her body was found near a retention pond in Pasadena, about 12 miles from her home. It was determined that she had been deceased for several days before the discovery.

The investigation into Laura's murder was initially challenging due to a lack of leads or suspects. Eventually, Suspected serial killer William Reece has been charged with this crime.

William Reece's scrutiny extended beyond this, as he was suspected of also being involved in the killings of Jessica Cain and Kelli Cox, all of whom vanished from the same vicinity in 1997. He was also under suspicion for the 1997 homicide of Tiffany Johnston, a resident of Bethany, Oklahoma.

Regrettably, due to a lack of additional leads or information, the case remained slow until 2015. That year, Oklahoma investigators employed sophisticated DNA tracing techniques to connect William to the murder of Tiffany Johnston. William confessed in 2021 to the killings of Jessica and Kelli. He guided the police to their remains, and the investigators observed similarities between these murders and Laura Smither's. Subsequently, William had a change of heart and pleaded guilty to Laura's murder. As a result of his confession, he was found guilty of three counts of murder and received a life sentence in 2021.

William is serving his sentence at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, Texas. Prison records indicate that he will be eligible for parole in 2047. However, it has been reported that he has been condemned to death for Tiffany Johnston's murder and will be transferred to Oklahoma's death row upon release.

A 20-year-old resident of Farmer's Branch, Kelli Ann Cox, was a Criminal Justice student at the University of North Texas and a loving mother known for her caring nature and vibrant personality. On July 15th, 1997, she traveled to Denton, Texas, for a police department field trip. Reported indicate that she had parked her car opposite the station, and after mistakingly locking herself out of the car, she called her boyfriend around noontime, but when he arrived, she was nowhere to be found.

Despite search efforts, Kelli remained missing until her remains were found in 2016 in Brazoria County, near Houston. The cause of death was undetermined due to decomposition.

The investigation led to William Reece as the perpetrator.

The 2000s

17-year-old Jessica Lee Cain from Liberty, Texas, had just left a Clear Lake area restaurant to drive home on August 17th, 1997, where she was celebrating her role in a high school musical. Her car was discovered deserted near I-45, the highway leading to her Tiki Island home, but Jessica was nowhere to be found.

In February 2016, a breakthrough came when search investigators discovered her remains pointed by William Reece in shackles in a field on East Orem Drive in southeast Houston.

DNA testing confirmed the identity. William Reece was also convicted of Jessica's murder.

57-year-old Tot Tran Harriman grew up in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In 1968, she met with Clinton H. Harriman, who would become her husband. Together, the Harriman's moved to Maine in 1974. Tot was a hardworking woman recognized for her warm hospitality, culinary skills, and contribution as a translator for Vietnamese refugees at local hospitals.

In 2001, Tot decided to relocate to Texas to be closer to her children. Searching for real estate opportunities along Route 35 between League City and Corpus Christi.

On July 12th, 2001, she had an appointment with a realtor scheduled. She set off from her son's home near League City in her car, but sadly, she was last to be seen that morning. Despite numerous reported sightings of her car, neither Tot nor her vehicle were ever found. The prevailing theory suggests that she may have been the victim of a robbery and possible homicide. Still, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unsolved.

23-year-old Sara Ann Lewis, from Algoa, went for a bike ride on the night of July 12th, 2002, but unfortunately, she never returned home.

Sara was seen for the last time at about 11 p.m. Friday near the Algoa Baptist Church on Orange Street. The bicycle Trusty was last seen riding was found the next morning in the church's foyer. Her wallet and purse were left in a travel trailer at her home, and her cell phone was inside her house.

The story took a heart-wrenching turn when two weeks later, on July 28th, 2002, A body found in Texas City was positively identified yesterday as that of Sara. Sara's lifeless body was found on a dike near the floodgates on Skyline Drive that separated Moses Lake from Galveston Bay when recreational fishermen discovered the body. The once vibrant 23-year-old had met a tragic end.

It is believed that she was abducted during her late-night bike ride and subsequently murdered. The chilling circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death remain shrouded in mystery.

Dickinson young woman, 16-year-old Terressa Lynn Vanegas's life was tragically cut short in 2006. She went missing after attending a party on Halloween night. Terressa was reported missing by her family the following day.

Her body was discovered three days later in an abandoned athletic field across from Dickinson High School. Despite extensive investigations and DNA evidence, the case remains open with no leads.

Terressa's mother, Jeanette Vanegas, and sister, Amanda Vanegas, have been tirelessly seeking justice for Terressa. They have made public appeals for anyone with information to step forward.

If you have information and would like to submit a tip, please consider contacting your Local Crime Stoppers Organization or call the Tip Line at 1-800-252-TIPS.

They will be remembered as heroes.

The Suspects

How many killers operated within the grounds along I-45  is assumed to be more than two based on their methodology. But concerning the concept of a serial killer who deemed it to be his symbolic hunting ground, probably not more than one.

He acted on his fantasies using demand, with a choice of victims based on his preference. He understood their vulnerability and used a methodical approach to lure them into his bait.

The staging of the killer's crime reflected in posing the victims nude against trees with their arms folded; this disturbing pattern was him showcasing his power as a trophy. He wanted them to be discovered. The desolate area and news circulating may have allowed unidentified copycat crimes to occur with different orders and sometimes motives, as discarding in an active place might conceal and confuse the investigation.

The I-45 killer had similarly abducted at least two victims, with the fashion being young women in an area unfrequented by bystanders who could use a form of transportation "hitchhiking," two of his victims, both Laura Miller and Heidi Fye, were making a call at the payphone at a Local gas station's convenience store. His upper ground was exploiting hitchhiking as a practice by putting himself in the right situations. He might have changed his discarding sites around the area and expanded his range to reduce the odds of being caught.

However, there's a resemblance between the locations where he operated his modus operandi, which urges him to reconsider the crimes unfit with the same setting and manner of killing. All the locations where he baited his victims were areas where young people tended to gather, which gave him a selection of young women to suit his needs. These hunting places were familiar to him, and the areas where he committed the crimes were obscured, instilling boldness and confidence in him and a feeling of being unstoppable. His confidence escalated his thrill.

He used his signature of posing the victims near each other to assert his dominance and showcase his work to mark himself as having control and to attribute his portfolio.

Born in southern Texas, Edward Harold Bell's life was anything but ordinary. A graduate of Texas A&M University, a licensed diver, and a father of three with a very sinister reality. His childhood was marked by frequent moves surrounding Houston due to his father's job as an oil field worker. Edward claimed to have endured physical abuse at the hands of his father, scoutmasters, and a cousin. Bell alleged that his father had urged him to engage in violent criminal activities, which included bank robberies and sexual assaults. He also claimed that his father had pushed him towards suicide. Despite this, Bell managed to carve out a seemingly ordinary life for himself; he married his university colleague, with whom he had three children, and settled down on a ranch in Terlingua, Texas, working as an itinerant pharmaceutical salesman.

His life took a turn when he was arrested in 1966 for exposing himself to two young girls in Sudan, Texas. He was then sent to Big Spring State Psychiatric Hospital for treatment. He was arrested again in 1969 for a similar offense. To avoid prosecution, he was interned at the University of Texas Medical Branch and was supposed to be subjected to further treatment, but he continued to romance underage patients. Upon his release, Bell, now divorced and barred from seeing his children, married a 17-year-old female patient. Together, they relocated to a beach house in Galveston.

Bell was repeatedly arrested for flashing and masturbating in front of young girls in Lubbock, Pasadena, Plainview, Bacliff, Houston, and Gretna, Louisiana, but the cases never led to convictions.

On August 24th, 1978, while driving his truck around Pasadena, Bell stopped in front of a group of young girls, pulled down his pants, and began flashing himself in front of them. 26-year-old Larry Dean Dickens, a Marine with a young daughter, saw Bell and got hold of his keys to prevent him from fleeing. Bell pulled out a pistol and fired at Dickens, who stumbled into his mother's garage, collapsing on the floor. His mother, who had witnessed the entire incident inside the house, attempted to soothe Dickens. Still, mercilessly, Bell retrieved a rifle from his vehicle, approached the wounded Dickens, and shot him in the forehead before making his escape. The police apprehended him shortly after, and he was detained pending trial with a bail set at $125,000. Bell didn't attend the trial and was subsequently declared a wanted fugitive.

He was Captured in Panama City, Panama, in 1993, and was extradited, convicted, and sentenced to a 70-year term for the murder of Larry Dean Dickens. While in prison. According to excerpts obtained by the Houston Chronicle, he admitted to the murder of  Debbie Ackerman, Gloria Ann Gonzales, Colette Anise Wilson, and eight other girls. He later recanted the claims.

Despite his confession in a letter sent to Harris and Galveston county prosecutors from his maximum security cell in Huntsville 17 years after the crime in 1998, the cases are still officially unsolved. Bell blamed his sick desires on being brainwashed, his confessions were inconsistent and lacked details, and he later recanted them. He died in prison in 2019. Bell allegedly fits the profile of a psychotic killer who is motivated by delusions. He was reported to have a history of mental illness, with it being paranoid and delusional. His motive for killing them was likely a combination of sexual gratification and religious fanaticism.

Clyde Edwin Hedrick's childhood and background are not documented. He moved from Florida to Texas as a young adult and worked as a roofer in the construction industry. He resided near Calder Road. Despite his reported deceitfully charming persona, Hedrick had an extensive criminal record, including offenses against minors, strangers, former partners, and the state.

When the body of 29-year-old Ellen Rae Simpson Beason was found on a dirt road in Galveston County in 1984, Hedrick was convicted of abusing a corpse and sentenced to a year in jail. In 2014, after gathering considerable evidence, Beason's death was ruled as a homicide, and Hedrick was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Clyde Hedrick maintained his innocence and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of murder. Despite this, in 2014, a jury in Galveston County convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.

His character is often associated with manipulative traits. Hedrick disregards laws and social norms by habitually breaking them at any chance given. Ignoring any involvement or responsibility suggests a lack of remorse for his actions and a disregard for the rights of others without empathy. He avoids any responsibility while manipulating his narrative using deceit.

Tim Miller, the father of Laura Miller, firmly believes Hedrick is the man responsible for his daughter's murder. He had known both Fye and Miller and had a history of violence against women. However, he denied involvement, and his DNA did not match the evidence at the scene. In October 2021, Hedrick was granted release from the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary in Huntsville due to his good behavior.

"As time goes by and the more information I get and the more information I am continuing to get, I have no doubt in my mind Clyde Hedrick is responsible for Laura's murder." - Tim Miller told the KPRC 2 News, as documented by Newsweek.

William Lewis Reece was a truck driver from Oklahoma. He grew up in Yukon and Anadarko. William was a convicted kidnapper and rapist who confessed to killing four women in 1997, including two whose bodies were found in the Texas Killing Fields. He also led the police to the remains of two other missing women in 2016. He is currently on death row, awaiting trial for the 1997 murders.

William left school after ninth grade and worked as a farm laborer. In 1979, he married Judy Flaming when she became pregnant. Reece joined the Oklahoma National Guard but didn't stay long. His marriage ended in divorce within a year, but he persuaded Judy to remarry him. Reece's heavy drinking and physical abuse led Judy to report him to the police in 1982 after he threatened her life with a knife and shotgun. She divorced him again. Reece went on to remarry, but his second marriage also ended in divorce within a few months.

In 1986, Reece kidnapped a woman after luring her with the promise of driving her to a payphone. He tied her up and assaulted her, but she escaped him. He was arrested but released on bail. A month after his release, he committed another assault and was re-arrested. He was sentenced for both rapes to 25 years in prison, but due to procedural errors, his sentence was reduced and he was paroled in 1996.

After moving to Texas, he became a suspect in the kidnapping and attempted sexual assault of Sandra Sapaugh in 1997.

In May 1997, Sandra was at a gas station in Webster using a pay phone, but unbeknownst to her, she had caught the attention of Reece. Sandra returned to her car only to realize a few minutes later that one of her tires was flat. As she pulled over, Reece, following her in his white truck, stopped by and offered assistance. Under the guise of help, Reece managed to lure Sandra into his truck. Once inside, he overpowered her, binding her wrists, and dove off along I-45. Despite the situation, Sandra managed her strength to break free from her restraints and jumped from the moving truck, sustaining severe injuries. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she contacted the police. Although her memory was hazy, she was put under hypnosis, which allowed her to recall Reece's license plate number, leading to Reece's arrest when Sandra identified him in an array of photos.

His first victim was 12-year-old girl Laura Smither. On April 3, 1997, Reece claimed to have accidentally hit Laura with his car on a rainy day in Friendswood. He hid her body in a lake, later confessing to strangling her.

A few months later, on July 15th, 1997, Reece was driving from Oklahoma to Houston. He stopped at a gas station in Denton to buy whiskey, where he got into a physical altercation with Kelli Cox, a 20-year-old student at the University of North Texas. In the heat of the fight, Reece strangled her. He buried her in the woods of Brazoria County.

On July 26th, 1997, Reece stopped at the Sunshine Car Wash in Bethany to clean his truck. He accidentally sprayed a teenager named Tiffany Johnston. Seizing his opportunity, Reece dragged her into his trailer and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. He struck her over the head with a horseshoe and attacked her. He confessed to strangling her and leaving her body in the woods by the side of a road, where it was discovered the next day. Reece knew Tiffany's mother, Kathy Dobry, who lived in Anadarko. She had once helped him renew his expired driver's license after he got out of jail and was a friend of his mother and other family members.

On August 17th, 1997, 17-year-old Jessica Cain disappeared. She was last seen alive after leaving a Bennigan's in the Clear Lake City suburb of Houston. Her car was found abandoned on an interstate highway later that day. Reece claimed he had approached her outside the restaurant, but she rejected him. Angered, he followed her vehicle until she was forced to stop and confront him. He admitted to beating and strangling her.

He was identified by DNA evidence that matched the cases of Jessica Cain, Laura Smither, Tiffany Johnston, and Kelli Cox. He confessed to the crimes and led the authorities to the locations of the bodies. He was sentenced to death in Oklahoma and life imprisonment in Texas. Reece was a calculating, narcissistic individual who held hatred toward women and blamed them for his problems, a sign earlier demonstrated by domestic abuse. It was likely that he considered it as a form of revenge, as he felt rejected and humiliated by women.

Anthony Michael Knoppa was convicted for the murder of Linda Faye Sutherlin, a young 22-year-old woman. Knoppa was sentenced to 50 years behind bars.

The gruesome details of the crime scene still haunt the county - Sutherlin's death, having been riddled with 72 bullet wounds. The pair was also accused of the murder of Adelle Margaret Crabtree.

In 1971, Knoppa found himself under investigation for the deaths of six women across Montgomery, Harris, and Brazoria counties.

In the summer of 1971, a housewife named Huebner vanished without a trace from her home in Houston, Texas. A year later, a chilling confession emerged from his accomplice, Harry Andrew Lanham, a tow truck driver with a dark past stained by convictions for rape and assault. He admitted to the heinous act of violating and ending Huebner's life.

They were convicted in 1972 of the murder of Linda Sutherlin; Lanham was sentenced to 25 years in prison and Knoppa to 50 years.

The authorities suspected that Lanham's trail of terror extended beyond these six victims, possibly claiming as many as nine lives. However, he was never formally accused of Huebner's presumed murder. In a twisted game of deception, Lanham twice led the authorities to locations where he claimed to have discarded Huebner's body. Both times, the police's hopeful searches yielded nothing but disappointment, and Lanham confessed to fabricating the locations of the remains.

However, due to a shocking turn of events, After serving 15 years of his sentence, the case fell apart when Harry Andrew Lanham, Knoppa's alleged accomplice, was shot dead in the Harris County Jail when Lanham lunged for an officer's gun in the Harris County Jail. The officer shot Lanham to death, eliminating the witness against Knoppa. Taking with him the testimonies against Knoppa.

Before the murder that led to his incarceration, Knoppa had already been convicted in a rape case. Court records reveal a horrifying account of a young woman taken to an auto salvage yard and subjected to repeated sexual assault. The victim was so traumatized that Knoppa managed to plead guilty to a lesser offense.

Even behind bars, Knoppa continued to instill fear, threatening to kill several officers. He rejected offers of parole. After serving 15 years of his sentence, Knoppa was released, leaving authorities on high alert due to the threats he made in the past.

Arthur Lee Davis was incriminated in the murder of Susan Eads, a 19-year-old woman from Seabrook, Texas.

On August 30th, 1983, Susan tragically vanished. Her body was found in a vacant lot on Nasa Road, and she had been sexually assaulted. The investigators speculated that her killer might have been a patron at the bar where she worked, who followed her after she left her job.

The case remained unsolved for 35 years until it was reopened by a cold case unit in 2017. Initially, the investigators considered the possibility that the murderer was serial killer Anthony Shore, also known as The Tourniquet Killer. However, DNA analysis revealed that he wasn't a match.

The breakthrough in the case came when the FBI submitted the DNA to a genealogy website, which led them to Arthur Davis. Despite this discovery, Davis could not be brought to justice as he had died in a one-vehicle car crash in January 1984, just four months after Susan's murder. The crash occurred less than a mile from where Susan was killed.

Michael Lloyd Self was a local gas station attendant in Galveston, Texas. He was charged with the murders of Rhonda Johnson and Sharon Shaw in 1972 and was convicted of Shaw's murder in 19751. The two teenage girls had disappeared in Harris County, Texas, on the afternoon of August 4, 1971, and their skeletal remains were discovered in early 1972 in and around Clear Lake near Galveston Bay.

Self's conviction was controversial, and it had every reason to be. In 1998, convicted killer Edward Harold Bell confessed to both murders.

Bell's confession, coupled with statements from law enforcement and prosecutors suggesting that Self's confession had been coerced into a false confession, led many to believe that Self had been wrongfully convicted. Despite these doubts, Self remained in prison until he died in 2000.

Even after Self's imprisonment, the murders continued, which led to speculation about whether the crimes were the work of multiple serial killers.

Mark Roland Stallings worked as a ranch hand. He had a life marked by crime. In 1991, he was convicted of burglary and theft, leading to an 18-year prison sentence. He obtained parole due to good behavior, but he couldn't stay away from criminal activities. He was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a felon in 1996.

He was convicted of all charges in 1997, resulting in a 50-year prison sentence.

In 1998, while serving this sentence, Stallings attempted to break out of jail. He had a fellow prisoner smuggle in a firearm, which he used to threaten three police officers and take one of them hostage. However, he surrendered after about an hour and a half and was taken into custody. This led to him being charged with a single count of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, resulting in two life sentences and two 75-year sentences in 1999.

In 2016, while behind bars, Stallings learned about the recovery of four bodies from the Calder field between 1984 and 1991. He confessed to being involved in the murder of the fourth victim, who was still unidentified at the time. He claimed he kidnapped the victim and asphyxiated her with a seat belt. However, with no evidence to tie Stallings to the crime, authorities didn't take the confession seriously, and he was never charged with murder. Regarding the other three victims, Stallings refutes any involvement in their murders.

The body was later identified as that of Donna Prudhomme in 2019 through genetic genealogy and DNA phenotyping. Despite his confession, Stallings has never been charged with her murder. He remains behind bars at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas.

Robert Abel is a former NASA aerospace engineer who moved from Houston into a middle-class neighborhood in League City in June 1983.

In 1989, he married Cindy Jacobs, an accounting firm secretary. However, the marriage was short-lived, ending after just 41 days.

A year later, in 1990, upon his retirement from NASA, he married Paula Kay Myers, a pretty NASA secretary whom he had dated three years prior. Not long after their marriage, he acquired an eleven-acre plot of land adjacent to the oil field. He began laying the groundwork for Stardust Trailrides, a small horseback-riding business just beyond the outskirts of League City.

Some investigators suspected his involvement in the oil field murders concerning the four bodies uncovered between 1986 and 1991. Owning the land where the crimes occurred and his proximity to the crime scene led to the suspicion. During the summer of 1993, the investigators had a breakthrough when they received a call from Paula, Abel's wife, mentioning how their marriage had ended the previous year due to him verbally threatening her in a fight and described Abel as having periodic fits of rage, asserting that while he never laid a hand on her, she had witnessed him hitting horses with pipes and chains until they obeyed his orders and that he also left dead horses to rot in his field, such an act might indicate a fascination with death and corpses, this domineering demeanor and harsh treatment of animals only heightened the existing suspicions, but Abel further denied those claims, blaming his ex-wives for their rage.

No physical evidence has ever been found linking him to the murders.

According to Texas Monthly, he had a fascination with helping solve the murders, collecting an assortment of news articles regarding the investigation and a narrative from the Houston Chronicle about the serial killer. After the fourth body was discovered, he was eager to aid the police, helping them clear the brush in the area and allowing the use of his backhoe and fourteen horses at no cost.

Although there was circumstantial evidence linking Abel to the murders, it is crucial to consider that, as intelligent as Abel should be, he would incriminate himself by discarding his victims in his backyard. But not to dismiss the possibility that it might have been a part of his plan, reversing the accusation by exploiting an excuse.

He was never formally accused or incarcerated for these crimes. The absence of concrete proof didn't prevent his life from being devastated by the attention drawn from the accusations made against him.

Abel eventually left League City due to his infamy and relocated to another part of the state to live with a relative. In 2005, Abel reportedly committed suicide by steering his golf cart into an approaching train.

Henry Lee Lucas, also known as the Confession Killer, was a notorious serial killer who confessed to hundreds of murders across the country, including some in the Texas Killing Fields, but later retracted most of his confessions.

He was found guilty of taking his mother's life in 1960 and two more lives in 1983. His notoriety grew while serving time for these offenses, as he made false admissions to Texas Rangers and other law enforcement authorities, claiming responsibility for around six hundred additional homicides.

He was convicted of 11 murders and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment due to doubts about his guilt. He died of natural causes in prison in 2001. He was never charged with the Calder Road murders, and his DNA did not match the evidence found at the scene. His false confessions led to numerous unsolved cases being closed, which forced a re-evaluation of investigation procedures and awareness of the possibility that serial killers claim more victims when the walls close on them to gain more infamy.

Kevin Edison Smith was an itinerant refinery welder arrested in 2012 for the 1996 murder of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker, whose body was found in 1996. He was identified by DNA when a Chambers County sheriff's officer took Krystal's dress from a dusty evidence envelope and resubmitted it for analysis. The evidence matched him to a minor drug offense he committed in 2010.

Smith was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Smith was an impulsive, disorganized killer who acted impulsively, left evidence behind, and had poor social skills. Smith was described as a loner who had a history of drug abuse and had a history of assault. His motive for the killing was likely sexual gratification. He may have also been driven by anger and frustration.

John Robert King and Gerald Peter Zwarst were convicted of aggravated kidnapping in 1998 for the abduction and murder of 19-year-old Shelley Sikes in 1986.

On Memorial Day in 1986, 19-year-old Shelley finished her midnight shift as an island waitress. And on her way along Interstate 45 towards her boyfriend's home, King and Swartz had been tailing her in a Ford pickup truck, and once she neared the causeway leading to the mainland. They forced her car off the road. The two men abandoned their truck advancing towards her car. King shattered the driver's side window with his bare hand. He then reached into the car, flung open the door, and dragged the young woman out of her vehicle.

Several eyewitnesses watched it unfold as the woman was dragged by her hair and forced into the truck. A passerby, concerned by the unfolding scene, stopped to offer assistance, only to be confronted with the claim that it was a family dispute and none of his concern. This witness noticed a second man at the scene but couldn't identify him due to the poor lighting and distance.

Additional witnesses observed the young woman's desperate struggle to escape and heard her cries for help. However, none of them immediately reported the incident to the police.

The abducted woman was later identified as Shelley Sikes. After thirteen months of investigation, King tried to commit suicide, and upon questioning him, he told the El Paso authorities some of the facts surrounding the abduction of Sikes. Confessing to the kidnap and assault.

Shelley was beaten to death with a shovel, but her body was never found. They were sentenced to life in prison.

King and Zwartz died in 2015 and 2021, respectively.

Derrick Todd Lee, also known as The Baton Rouge Serial Killer, was convicted of the brutal slayings of seven women in Louisiana between 1998 and 2003. He was also suspected of killing four more women in Texas, including two whose bodies were found in the Texas Killing Fields. He was identified by DNA evidence that matched the cases of Carrie Yoder and Pamela Goss. He was sentenced to death in Louisiana, but he died of heart disease in prison in 2016.

Lee was a married man. He settled with his wife after graduation, working blue-collar jobs. On the outside, Lee seemed like an average, friendly person. But he had a dark side which he could not contain. A habit of stalking and peeping through houses. Lee was organized and calculating. He left the scene without visible signs of forced entry and knew how to not get caught. The act of voyeurism fed his sadistic fantasy, and it probably thrilled him that he could be discovered at any moment.

Anthony Allen Shore, also known as "the Tourniquet Killer," was a serial killer and sex offender from South Dakota convicted of killing four women and girls in Texas between 1986 and 1995. He was also suspected of killing two more women, whose bodies were found in the Texas Killing Fields.

He was identified by DNA evidence that matched the cases of Maria Del Carmen Estrada and Dana Sanchez and charged with four counts of capital murder in the deaths of 15-year-old Laurie Lee Tremblay, 21-year-old Maria Del Carmen Estrada, 9-year-old Diana Rebollar, and 16-year-old Dana Sanchez. He confessed to the crimes and led the authorities to the locations of the bodies.

Shore was a person of interest behind the deaths of Heidi Villareal Fye, Laura Miller, and two unidentified women whose bodies were found in the so-called "Calder Road Killing Fields."

Shore exhibited antisocial behavior from a young age. He was born into a military family who were abusive, and he moved frequently, which made it difficult for him to make friends. He claimed that his mother sexually abused him and that his father frequently would beat him regularly. Which contributed to him constantly harassing his classmates. He was also reportedly cruel towards animals, killing a neighbor's cat at a young age, a common trait among many serial killers.

Shore married in 1997 but abused his wife, and she divorced him. His daughter testified that their father had drugged and assaulted his children.

Shore's criminal modus operandi was strangulation, which indicates how personally motivated those attacks were. He used a ligature with either a stick to tighten or loosen the ligature. His victims were usually young females, and he would often sexually assault them before killing them. Shore was a demented, manipulative, and ruthless monster. He was sentenced to death in Texas and was finally executed by lethal injection on January 18th, 2018.

If you have information regarding any case presented and would like to submit a tip, please consider contacting your Local Crime Stoppers Organization or call the Tip Line at 1-800-252-TIPS.

Please consider donating to Texas EquuSearch.

Texas EquuSearch Search And Recovery Non-Profit

Texas EquuSearch is a non-profit organization that provides search and recovery services to families of missing persons and law enforcement.

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Home | NamUs (ojp.gov)

Heide Fye Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her? (thecinemaholic.com)

Laura Smither Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her? (thecinemaholic.com)

Kelli Ann Cox Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her? (thecinemaholic.com)

The Killing Fields — FBI

Why were there so many serial killers in the 1980s? - BBC News

It is her birthday today. Colette would... - Forgotten Angels | Facebook

Confessions of a cold-blooded killer (chron.com)

Colette Anise Wilson (1957-1971) - Find a Grave Memorial

The Texas Killing Fields Victims: A Complete Timeline (seventeen.com)

April 11th, 2013- South Belt-Ellington Leader (southbeltleader.com)

Attorney General Paxton's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit Locates Woman Who Has Been Missing for Over 40 Years, Shortly After Creating the Unit | Office of the Attorney General (texasattorneygeneral.gov)

'Texas Killing Fields': What Happened to Laura Miller and Was Her Killer Found? (newsweek.com)

Ellen Beason Murder: Where Is Clyde Hedrick Now? (thecinemaholic.com)

Family of Killing Fields victim still hopes for closure 30 years later | Local News | The Daily News (galvnews.com)

Audrey Cook | Unidentified Wiki | Fandom

Murder, She Told: Maine and New England True Crime Podcast (murdershetold.com)

'Texas Killing Fields': Who Is Clyde Hedrick and Where Is He Now? (newsweek.com)

Pamela Huebner – The Charley Project

Murderer who vowed revenge now free and looking for police - UPI Archives

Where is Killer Mark Stallings Today? Update (thecinemaholic.com)

Is Robert Abel Getting Away With Murder? – Texas Monthly

Texas Killing Fields: What Happened To Suspect Robert Abel?

(screenrant.com)Zwarst v. State, 782 S.W.2d 906 | Casetext Search + Citator

The Missing Piece Episode 7: Sherri Ann Jarvis (Walker County Jane Doe) (youtube.com)

In a world roaming with strange anomalies and contradictions we were born to write a story we are not aware of. What is life to us? And how can one value such a bizarre gift and feel worthy of leaving a print?

So many questions can rip a wandering mind apart in a life where chance can be everything leading to contentment or destruction of what's to come.

Curiosity can lead to existential crises, and, worst of all, can lead to isolation.

When I first created TheDailytattle.com, I was intrigued by the idea of the website. To speak for the voiceless and help others through their journey to finding their loved missing ones. How noble and honorable it is to speak for those who need a voice when no one can hear them. I wish I could spend my whole life dedicated to such a cause.

So many sad cases overwhelm you with a feeling of helplessness, that you can't do enough to make a difference, and the heavy burden of prioritizing cases can cause a writer’s desperation and block.

Those who seek meaning in helping others with their words can be content. Although you find success in fulfilling some goals, other life problems come into play, and hence, you get distracted and drained. I find myself thinking a lot about all the cases around the world that I could have covered and how I could have put more effort regardless of my state.

I sit here alone by myself thinking about problems bigger than me, and it is my story, one of sorrow, madness, and being lost in a world of imagination, and the person who believed in me is gone.

I know what grief is. I am sorry for what you have been through. I relate to your pain.

I inscribed my strange reflections through words to leave as a legacy. And that is the story behind Draíochta.

Draíochta: On the Eve of Death - Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Draíochta: On the Eve of Death - Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Draíochta: On the Eve of Death.

Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.Rustin H. S.

Draíochta: On the Eve of Death is a self-published absurd novel that seeks to baffle you with a strange unrealistic perception and questions that come to your mind without grasp. It includes thirty-six illustrated surreal artworks traditionally drawn by me, further adding to the narrative.

The story revolves around a pessimist at the lowest point in his life, grieving to find himself descending into his insane imagination of all the nightmares and realms embodying negative emotions and atrocities that his eyes perceived.

Accompanied by the Pianist in black, who guided him to the realm of red and black through her artistic curse of music, a nameless character who defines his apotheosis, yet they can relate to their guilt in every way.

But her intentions are very different than what he ponders, a sacrifice to eliminate her guilt.

When time leaves a man isolated to his thoughts and reflections, life becomes agonizing. Questioning reality and morality became an obsession for me, learning about countless cases over the years, including those of the most disturbing ones. Through my writing, I explore the depths of mentality and the revolting darkness that can lurk within it.

If you would like to support this project, I would love it if you read my novel Draíochta.

Draíochta: On the Eve of Death - Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Draíochta: On the Eve of Death - Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Draíochta: On the Eve of Death.

Kindle edition by S., Rustin. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.Rustin H. S.

If there is anyone you know of who could need any help in sharing the message of their disappearance, please send me the case via social media. Thank you again for reading.

The author's journey has been dark most of his life. Still, through those experiences, you witness what resonates within his art and writing, channeling emotions into something thought-provoking and meaningful.

Thank you for supporting the author's work.

Two young daughters need their father back, every day wishing for his return, it is indeed a harsh truth for everyone to take, but to them, it is a matter of counting days, sad sleepless nights, and inevitable longing.

A family that is enduring immense pain, exacerbated by the dreaded uncertainty of endless questions, searching for weeks without answers.

And a Mother's Day spent; without a son.

When someone goes missing, people show great sympathy toward their devastated families. But unfortunately, as days go by, it is instinctive for people to be distracted so easily by life course and its struggles. But time is of the essence.

It is admirable to see friends and strangers showing kindness by bringing themselves together for such a noble cause to help raise funds to increase the reward.

But still, the step of implementing vast shareability to help with quickly manageable search parties is crucial.

Joshua Louis Wayne Amos was born on July 28th, 1990. He grew up in Caseyville, Illinois, the fifth among seven siblings.

And after he went through a separation, he moved out to live with his roommates in Granite City, about twenty minutes away from Caseyville, Illinois.

He loves spending time with his two daughters and values meaningful moments with them outdoors, taking them on swimming trips.

According to his family, Joshua is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been going through a difficult time the last few years after the passing of his father.

He recently got a new job at Precoat Metals, which he was very excited about and doing well at it, working for long hours.

Some may not know this, but we lost our dad in 2020. It was unexpected and incredibly painful.

Our dad was Josh's best friend. His "old man."

Now we're once again faced with an unexpected and painful loss.

Our world was barely recovering from the loss of Dad. And now, we're missing our brother. We need answers. We need help. We need our family to be whole again... At least as whole as possible.

We can't get our dad back, but we're trying to hold hope we can have our brother back again.

On Saturday, March 18th, Joshua was hanging out with three friends visiting a club called Scarlett's Cabaret on Bunkum Road; in Washington Park.

He left his phone at his home in Granite City for an unknown reason, where he and his friends had met up before going out.

Around 4:58 a.m. On Sunday, March 19th, Joshua was captured on camera; leaving the club; by himself and walking into the parking lot.

A friend of Josh's went out to look for him, but he couldn't find him anywhere.

Shortly after, Joshua was spotted at Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center station in East St. Louis by a bus driver who helped and drove him to Emerson Park Station. The bus driver described him as being cold and disoriented.

At The Emerson Park Station, Joshua was seen on camera waiting for a train around 6:45 a.m. But never got on it, leaving the platform on foot as he walked to a nearby parking lot near Ee-Jay Motor Transports on Lincoln Avenue, a trucking company in East St Louis. And 7:28 a.m. It was, unfortunately, the last confirmed sighting of Joshua on surveillance.

No other person or car was captured in the footage.

Foot searches, door-to-door, and canine searches were conducted along 23rd Street in East St. Louis to Kingshighway near the Washington Park surrounding areas and woods in an attempt to find him, unfortunately, to no avail. Some of the abandoned buildings nearby have also been searched.

The family also contacted his bank and credit card companies; but found no activity detected since his disappearance.

There are words speculated of a man getting assaulted near the club where Joshua was last spotted around 5:30 a.m. The same day, but it hasn't been verified yet.

On social media, Joshua's loved ones have been raising awareness about his case and appealing to anyone who might have witnessed him or has any clue about his location to contact the police or the family. They are giving a $10,000 reward for information that leads to his finding.

Joshua's family and friends are not giving up hope that he will be found safe and sound. They are asking for your prayers and help in finding their loved one.

Joshua is 5' 10" tall and weighs around 180 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen in a light grey long-sleeve crew neck and blue jeans.

He also has several tattoos of his daughters' names, starting with B and M on the chest, a Cross on the left bicep, a Chinese symbol on the right bicep, and several other tattoos on his lower arms.

Josh's daughters wanted to help in any way to find their daddy, so they wrote thank-you letters to the people who ordered from our fundraiser.

I'm running out of words to say to describe the pain. The desperation. The void. It's not supposed to be this way. This is not supposed to be happening to us. How does someone just disappear into thin air? It doesn't happen. This can't be happening. Please help us find my brother... We need more than these memories - we need answers. I'll be forever grateful.—Brittany Nichole

Time is of the essence, and your help is very much appreciated.

Please, contact the Illinois State Police at (618) 346-3990 or the Washington Park Police Department at (618) 874-0115 if you know anything about Joshua Amos's disappearance.

You can also follow the Facebook page "Help Find Josh Amos" for updates and ways to support his family.

Please share this article and keep Joshua's face prevalent on social media. No matter where you live, consider keeping an eye out for him. He could be outside of the IL/MO state lines.

BringJoshHome - Missing Person | Facebook

Missing Person / NamUs #MP102025 | NamUs (ojp.gov)

Mother pushing for answers in March 2023 disappearance of missing Illinois man Joshua Amos (nbcnews.com)

On the night of March 2nd, 2023, a young woman named Sara Gail Ebersole finished her work as a dancer around 07:00 p.m. She reached out via text to her sister Michelle asking her for a ride if possible, but unfortunately, her sister; was unable to pick her up at the time.

Fifty minutes later, Sara texted her sister again to talk with her child to check and say Hi. And at 10:11 p.m., she sent her sister another text message informing her that two random individuals, whom Sara referred to as cowboys with a pickup truck, would most likely give her a ride wherever she wanted to go. And so she took the chance.

The following day, Michelle tried calling Sara, but the call went straight to voice mail; she almost immediately knew something wasn't right.

And the situation only got more tense as Sara's roommate messaged Michelle asking if she had heard from Sara. And this to Michelle would raise a red flag and worry her more than enough, as for her, she knows her sister would most likely always responds to her phone.

According to Michelle, the roommate tried to report Sara as missing on the same day, but the police said she had to wait for a week to see if Sara would come back. But unfortunately, she didn't.

Sara Ebersole was seen on surveillance camera, leaving a Circle K gas station; located at 17980 N Highway 441 in Reddick, Florida.

According to Marion County Sheriff's Office, Sara willingly left the gas station in a black pickup truck accompanied by two unknown males.

Tracing her phone's last ping indicated that it was last located in the Orange Grove area in Polk County.

And there hasn't been any activity on her social media or contact with anybody since.

However, soon enough, the two men who picked up Sara were identified and had already been cleared by Law Enforcement.

According to Dateline, Officer Zach Moore, the Public Information Officer of the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the investigators believe Sara was last seen in the early hours of March 3rd, entering a blue sedan. However, no further updates have been shared publicly as of now. Officer Moore also said that; there hasn't been evidence indicating foul play yet.

Michelle Tullis, Sara's sister, has devoted most of her time; dedicated to the battle for her niece. She pointed out various times through social media that; the relationship that Sara had been through with the ex-boyfriend 'the father of their child' was allegedly of a long abuse history. Further stating, that his past actions were allegedly troubling, according to public information.

In an article by Kyani Reid for Dateline, Michelle Tullis stated that she would never stop looking for answers and that she would track down whoever hurt her sister.

Michelle is willing to do anything for her niece, who just turned five. She has filed a custodianship for her against the ex-boyfriend.

As of May 26th, Michelle has been trying to raise money for the case with DCF to obtain an attorney.

Please share the message.
If you would like help in any way, do your diligence in researching the case, you can find more information on this case by visiting the Facebook page here:

Help Find Sara Ebersole

Help Find Sara Ebersole. နှစ်သက်သူ ၁၆၁ ဦး · ၁၆၉ ဦး ဒီအကြောင်းပြောနေသည်. Information and awareness regarding missing mother Sara Ebersole

Facebook

Sara Ebersole is 26 years old, Caucasian, five-foot-one, 120 pounds, and has blue eyes and brown hair. She also has a tattoo on her lower right hip of the fertility deity, Kokopelli, last seen wearing a white tank top and a black skirt.

I want to add a personal viewpoint. Upon researching this case, I visited Sara's Facebook page, and I couldn't help but notice how almost every picture she had was of her so joyous with her daughter. And it really, at least to me, showed how much pure love she had for her. And it is very saddening as a case.

An open investigation is still ongoing.

Wish for her safe return.

No child should ever have to spend a Birthday without their mother.

If anyone has any information about Sara Ebersole's disappearance, please, contact the Marion County Sheriff's Office at (352) 368-3508.

Sister dedicated to finding answers in the March disappearance of Florida woman, Sara Ebersole (nbcnews.com)

Marion County Sheriff's Office Facebook

Beyond the Veil of the Unknown

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It's been over a year since Grace Allison Smith disappeared from Mason County, West Virginia. 35-year-old Gracie is a mother of two who vanished unexpectedly, leaving her family sleepless with many questions but to no avail.

Her family has never stopped searching for her as they marked another painful anniversary of their loss, hoping to find any clue of her whereabouts. One can only imagine the deep sorrow and anguish the family and friends are going through, longing to see her again.

By sharing a message of support to the family and solidarity that the community is still looking for her, you contribute to the cause of finding her. There is nothing more her family needs than closure and peace.

Let us revisit some details about the case, the investigation, and the impact of her disappearance on the community.

Grace Allison Smith was born on September 17th, 1987. She grew up in Point Pleasant, WV, with her two older sisters, Jodi and Jill. Grace attended Chesapeake High School across the Ohio River and Point Pleasant High School in West Virginia. She also studied at the University of Phoenix in Arizona. But moved back to her hometown of Point Pleasant, sometime around 2020 according to her Facebook profile. At the time of her disappearance, Grace lived out of her car in Gallipolis Ferry, 6 miles from Point Pleasant in southern Mason County.

On February 23rd, 2022, Grace drove to her Mother's home around 5:00 p.m. on Three Mile Road in Charleston, West Virginia. She took a shower, did some laundry, and had a serious conversation with her father; about seeking treatment for her addiction as soon as possible. She agreed, and they were all so proud and excited.

Jodi mentioned in an article by Kyani Reid of Dateline NBC that Grace had become addicted about a decade ago during her marriage. She also said that due to prior years, her problem had escalated, especially when she and her husband separated.

Grace agreed with her father to attend a rehab appointment at a treatment facility the following day.

She drove off from her Mother's house at about 8:30 p.m. after being offered some gas money to drive to Gallipolis Ferry.

But when her father tried to reach her by calling early afternoon, her cell phone went straight to voicemail. And unfortunately, no one has heard from her again ever since.

According to Dateline NBC, the family believed Grace was blowing off treatment at first. But when a couple of days passed without Grace ever reaching out to them, they realized something wasn't right.

Two days later, on a Friday, Grace's car was discovered by her estranged husband and mother-in-law in a parking lot near McClintic's public hunting area before being driven to a nearby house where they lived.

They contacted the Smiths, informing them about the vehicle and telling them that it wasn't uncommon for Grace to park her car in that location. Grace's vehicle, a 2007 gold-colored Pontiac, was found abandoned near two large ponds in the Mcclintic Wildlife Management Area, an area locally known as the TNT area, located north of Point Pleasant. Following the discovery, Grace's Mother filed a missing person's report with the Sheriff's Department.

Most of Grace's belongings were left inside her car, the keys were on the hood, but her cell phone was missing. Even a bag of groceries that seemed expired was also found.

Despite the efforts of the Mason County Sheriff's Office and the West Virginia State Police, who used a helicopter to search the TNT area and other places in southern Mason County, they could not find any clues or leads to Grace Smith's whereabouts. The reward for any information that could help locate Grace was raised from $6,000 to $7,500 on June 7th, 2022. The police still don't know what happened to Grace Smith or why she disappeared. Her case to this day is still open and active.

The Clifton F. McClintic Wildlife Management Area, also known as the TNT area, is situated on 3,655 acres of former wartime industrial land, occupied by farmland, woodlands, and wetlands encompassing 31 ponds.

Based on my understanding, the Wildlife Management Area is accessible by the Ohio River Road (highway WV-62) and Fairground Road (CR-12). A Biologist from the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife, Kem Shaw, stated in a WSAZ3 article that the campground shut down several years ago after an ammo storage unit, otherwise known as an "Igloo" exploded and never reopened.

The area is now used for hunting, fishing, hiking, or wildlife sitting, but camping is prohibited.

Sheriff Corey Miller told Dateline that they have been treating Grace's disappearance like they would with a murder investigation, they searched the area where the car was found extensively, but unfortunately, there was no sign of her.

Grace is 5'4'' and weighs 90 lbs. She has blue eyes and short gray hair. She was last seen wearing a blue knee-length coat with a yellow sweater/hoodie underneath, black Ugg boots, and blue jeans. She also has a tattoo of a fairy on her lower back.

The case of Grace Allison Smith is one of many cases that didn't receive much media attention, or at least not for long enough. The surrounding community should help the family through their search; don't let them feel hopeless and frustrated by the lack of support.

"I can't even begin to explain the unbearable pain that will never go away. It's my responsibility to take care of my little sister, I am trying, but I can't unless I know where she is," Jodi recently said.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Grace Allison Smith, please contact the Mason County Sheriff's Department at (304) 675-3838 or (304) 675-9911.

Sister looking for answers in February disappearance of West Virginia woman Grace Allison Smith (nbcnews.com)

Grace Allison Smith – The Charley Project

Please Help Find Grace Allison Smith | Facebook

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Update: The date is July 27th, 2023, After four years of disappearance, 18-year-old Alicia Navarro showed up at a police station in Montana.

Jessica Nuñez pleads for people to 'move on.'

Sleepless nights and endless questions are realities that resemble what a family goes through when their child goes missing; a pain that never goes away, an emptiness that never fills up, and grief that never heals.

Imagine waking up one day and finding out your child is gone without a trace. Unfortunately, it is a reality that Jessica Nuñez, Alicia Navarro's mother, went through. And, still to this day, facing it and searching for answers.

On September 15th, 2019, Jessica woke up around 7 a.m. and prepared breakfast for her spouse Ivan, and two youngest children.

Fourteen-year-old Alicia, the eldest daughter, was still not up yet, but it was not very unusual as she would sometimes stay up late playing games online and chatting with her friends.

Alicia struggled with social situations; diagnosed with a neurodiverse condition on the autism spectrum. Jessica truly believed that her daughter's active online life was a source of happiness for her and a fair way of social interaction. She eventually quit her job to support Alicia at home and spend more time with her.

Online communication can reduce some of the challenges of face-to-face interaction, such as eye contact, body language, etc. Children can easily find others who share similar experiences or interests, but of course, the power of anonymity poses a great danger. People can hide their identities or pretend to be someone they're not. And it presents a real threat to children and teens who are online.

But Jessica noticed something different; it caught her attention that the house's back door was ajar. Upon checking the backyard, she found chairs stacked against a wall and cinder blocks. Her thoughts raced, fearing that Alicia had used them to jump over the back fence wall. She hurried to Alicia's bedroom, but her fear, unfortunately, became a reality; Alicia wasn't there. Worriedly, she called 911 and every person that could lead her to an answer.
Nothing made any sense to her. Alicia, around that time, seemed happier than normally she would.

She last saw her earlier that morning at 1 a.m. As Jessica waited for her husband to arrive, Alicia went downstairs for a glass of water. She seemed fine, they had a small talk, and then Alicia said goodnight and climbed back to her room. But one question during their conversation stood out to Jessica; Alicia asked her when she would be going to sleep, and it was a question that seemed out of place.

Investigative reports concluded that evidence from the scene showed that Alicia went out through the back door and climbed over chairs and cinder blocks next to a wall at the edge of their backyard, leaving her home near 45th Avenue and Rose Lane in Glendale.

Jessica discovered that Alicia had taken a small black backpack with metallic cat ears, makeup, a comic book, her cellular phone, and an Apple MacBook, but she didn't take the chargers.

Jessica asked around the neighborhood, looking for answers about her daughter's whereabouts, but to her dismay, it didn't help. And the situation intensified when she discovered a note left by Alicia that read, "I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I'm sorry."

Five days later, the first sighting of Alicia occurred when a person who had personally known her told Jessica and the investigators shortly after her disappearance that they had seen Alicia at La Pradera Park the previous day. The park was about 1.5 miles away from Alicia's home. Jessica rushed to the park and spoke to witnesses who confirmed seeing a girl resembling Alicia, saying she was walking "with an African-American man with tattoos on his hands, neck, and face."

Jessica persisted and fought for a Silver Alert to be issued.
It is a public notification system that is only activated when an elderly, developmentally, or cognitively impaired person has gone missing and is determined to be at risk, broadcasting information about them throughout the United States. On July 1st, 2020, a Silver Alert was issued. They also displayed Alicia's face on billboards.

Jessica never stopped searching for her daughter, it has taken a toll on her mental health, and it still does; she felt devastated and shocked to see the reality surrounding many teens living in the 21st century. Many were involved in drug dealing and prostitution.

She fears how someone might coerce her daughter to be part of these groups, as she knows Alicia blindly trusted those whom she connected with. She is also concerned that someone might have influenced her and caused her to flee. She never stopped searching for her daughter.

"I just feel like she's in danger. She would have never been gone this long - not without getting in touch with me," Jessica said.

The FBI, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the nonprofit investigative agency Anti-Predator Project are all taking part in the search and trying hard to locate Alicia.

Jessica is doing her best to spread the word. She uses various online platforms to inform and teach parents about the risks children encounter online. She hopes her online presence will help her locate her daughter.

"It's my entire life now. My goal is for this case not to go dead," Jessica said.

As of now, Alicia is 18 years old. The following is an age-progressed image provided by the NCMEC.

If you have any information on Alicia Navarro's whereabouts, call Glendale Police at 623-930-3000, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1–800-THE-LOST, or the Anti-Predator Project at 305–796–4859.

Finding Alicia | Facebook

Missing: Alicia Navarro | Glendale, AZ | Uncovered

Mother of missing teenager with autism Alicia Navarro fears she was lured away from Glendale, Arizona home by an online predator (nbcnews.com)

No leads as Glendale teen Alicia Navarro has been missing for a year (azcentral.com)

Arizona's Missing Teenager Tells Us Why We Need to Be Concerned of the Internet | Shenba | NewsBreak Original

Finding Alicia | Facebook

On January 4th, 2023, a search for Ana Ljubičić, a 39-year-old Serbian-American mother from Cohasset, commenced for days after her co-workers at Tishman Speyer called the police to report her missing.

Ana is a mother of three sons. Working as a real-estate executive, she divided her time between Cohasset, Massachusetts, where she lived with her husband Brian, and Washington, DC, where she operated her work.

Born in 1983 in Belgrade, the capital of the former Yugoslavia. Ana studied French language and literature at the University of Belgrade, and in 2005 she emigrated to the United States to start a new life.

Ana was last seen on New Year's day, having had dinner with her husband Brian and a friend of his; According to him, his wife departed for her job in Washington at 6:30 in the morning. His defense attorney argued that he called her workplace to ask if anyone knew her whereabouts before the company reported her missing.

She planned to use a ride-hailing service to go to Logan International Airport and fly to Washington, D.C., where she often worked. But authorities said they found no proof that she entered a vehicle or boarded a plane.

Her husband Brian, already confined at home for a different crime of wire fraud, unlawful monetary transaction, and two other charges, had a history of deceitful behavior and a skill of attempting to coerce others, having been arrested in 2018 for selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay and according to a police report, he allegedly threatened to kill Anna and a friend of her back in 2014. He also misled investigators searching for his missing wife and lied about his whereabouts.

Upon combing the area, investigators discovered ten trash bags filled with suspicious items such as tape, gloves, cleaning agents, Ana's vaccination card, a hacksaw, and a hatchet.

"Search activity conducted north of Boston yesterday resulted in a number of items being collected, which will now be subject to processing and testing to determine if they are of evidentiary value to this investigation," the Norfolk DA's Office stated.

A week after being arraigned on charges of misleading investigators, Brian faced an arrest warrant for the alleged murder of his wife. On Thursday, March 30th, 2023, A Norfolk County grand jury indicted Brian Walshe for first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and other charges.

Prosecutors allege that Walshe had assaulted and beat his wife to death because he wanted to end their marriage. They also revealed that Walshe used his son's iPad, allegedly minutes before he last saw her, searching for answers to a disturbing set of questions about decomposition, embalming, dismemberment, identification, odor eliminators, and disposal.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said, "He basically lays out the questions for his plan in the Google searches, as prosecutors allege."

Some of Brian Walshe's incriminating and chilling search history was disclosed by prosecutors Wednesday as he was arraigned on charges of murder. To quote a few, he asked;

Jan 1st, 4:55 a.m. | “How long before a body starts to smell?”

Jan 1st, 4:58 a.m. | “How to stop a body from decomposing”

Jan 1st, 5:20 a.m. | “How to bound a body”

Jan 1st, 5:47 a.m. | “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to”

Jan 1st, 6:25 a.m. | “How long for somebody to be missing to inherit?”

Jan 1st, 6:34 a.m. | “Can you throw away body parts?”

Jan 1st, 9:29 a.m. | “What does formaldehyde do?”

Jan 1st, 9:34 a.m. | “How long does DNA last?”

Jan 1st, 9:59 a.m. | “Can identification be made on partial remains?”

Jan 1st, 11:34 a.m. | “Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body”

Jan 1st, 11:44 a.m. | “How to clean blood from a wooden floor”

Jan 1st, 11:56 a.m. | “Luminol to detect blood”

Jan 1st, 1:08 p.m. | “What happens when you put body parts in ammonia?”

Jan 1st, 1:21 p.m. | “Is it better to throw crime scene clothes away or wash them?”

Jan 2nd, 12:45 p.m. | “Hacksaw best tool to dismember”

Jan 2nd, 1:10 p.m. | “Can you be charged with murder without a body?”

Jan 2nd, 1:14 p.m. | “Can you identify the body with broken teeth?”

Jan 3rd, 1:02 p.m. | “What happens to hair on a dead body?”

Jan 3rd, 1:13 p.m. | “What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag, compared to on a surface in the woods?”

Jan 3rd, 1:20 p.m. | “Can baking soda make a body smell good?”

Source: www.bostonherald.com

"An indictment contains only allegations. It is not evidence. It will be up to the prosecution to prove those allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, which is significantly more difficult than obtaining an indictment in a grand jury proceeding where the defense does not have the right to participate or even be present. That is why defendants are presumed to be innocent under our constitution," Walshe's attorney Tracy Miner said in a statement.

According to NBC Boston, Brian Walshe is being held without bail while their three young children are still in state custody.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org, or texting LOVEIS to 22522.

Husband of missing Massachusetts woman Ana Walshe indicted on murder charges (nbcnews.com)

Brian Walshe is 'calculated guy' who 'lacks empathy,' art scam victim says | Fox News

Everything We Know About Ana Walshe’s Disappearance (thecut.com)

San Francisco, California. A two-and-a-half-year-old girl named Arianna Fitts; was reported missing on April 5th, 2016. She was last seen by relatives in Oakland in mid-February, having been staying with babysitters in a nearby city.

Her mother. Nicole had been dealing with financial problems for quite a few years. Nicole was a single mother who lost custody of one of her two daughters.
She often spent her time moving from homeless shelters.

She needed to sustain a job and find a place for her daughter to stay, but she struggled to do so; matters were much worse as she did not have identification on her at the time, which made it more difficult for her to find rent anywhere, especially on minimum wage.

Nicole's only goal was to find refuge for her daughter Arianna to stay where she could support her.

Meanwhile, she worked hard to get her daughter Cindy back into custody, attending courts in Los Angelos.

Nicole worked hard on herself and tried to do right by her daughter, getting an ID and working hard to provide.

She met and worked with a self-proclaimed pastor called Lemasani, who, according to Contessa Fitts, Nicole's niece, had mistreated her. Nevertheless, Nicole and Arianna lived with her for a while.

But as time progressed, Lemasani started charging her high on child care, but Nicole had to take up on her offer for housing Arianna, as it was a better solution being a stable place for her daughter to stay. She found work at a local Best Buy store, while, crashing with friends from one time to another.

According to the podcast The vanished, Lemasani demonstrated possessive and controlling behavior towards Nicole and Arianna, which Nicole didn't like but had to deal with. They never got along, and their situation escalated in the fall of 2015.

Nicole and Arianna left for Santa Cruz, but the tense commuting to her work was arduous, and she couldn't find any place to live in San Fransisco. And left without any options for child care, Nicole had decided to stay in Santa Cruz and allow Lemasani's relatives to look after Arianna; she still brought her home to Santa Cruz as much as she could.

Her sister Contessa states how cheerful and pleasant she was to be around, always giving to people; however, she says, sometimes naive.

She became a super hard worker, having trouble balancing the workload, transportation, and keeping up with her daughter, so she had to leave Arianna for nights with the babysitters.

Nicole found help from her new roommate Goyette, a coworker of Nicole who observed how hard it was for her to come to work every day and suggested that she and Arianna move to live with her. Nicole felt blissful.

She managed to save enough money for a new bed for Arianna and informed the babysitter that she was on her way to getting her daughter. But the babysitter resisted, saying they had taken Arianna to Disneyland out of town and she would have to wait for another day. Nicole was upset. Not only because she wanted to get her daughter back but also because they never informed her about taking Arianna out of town.

According to Goyette Williams, who shared a room with Nicole, the plan was for Nicole to pick up her daughter on April 3rd, 2016. But on the night of April 1st, 2016, Nicole went out to run errands, withdrew an amount of $600 money from her bank account, and mentioned that she would meet up with the babysitter and that she should be back soon after.

Goyette received a message from Nicole saying that she was with a friend named Sam and that they were going to Fresno, but who Sam remains a mystery to all her friends and family.

At 1:13 AM, Nicole posted on Facebook the following post.

The spelling errors mistakes made it hard for those who knew her to believe that Nicole was the one who posted it.

On April 5th, 2016, After no one had heard from Nicole in 4 days, they were reported missing by their family.

Three days later, a gardener in John McLaren Park discovered Nicole's body in a shallow grave behind a clump of ivy-covered bushes. She had been placed in the fetal position with a piece of plywood over her, and painted on it was a silver character/symbol, strongly believed to have a meaning behind it.

And unfortunately, Arianna remains missing to this day.

Authorities have put up a $250,000 reward for information regarding Arianna Fitts, who should be nine years old now, and the (NCMEC) released the following age-progressed picture of what Arianna would look like now

Let us hope Arianna is somewhere safe, and I hope she finds her way back to her family. Please share the message. Who knows, maybe someone somewhere knows something!

Arianna Fitts: $250K reward declared for info on a girl who went missing months after mom was found dead | MEAWW

Arianna Fitts by The Vanished Podcast | Podchaser

Police Offer $250K Reward to Find Girl Missing Since 2016 | Inside Edition

ARIANNA FITTS — FBI

Loading (namus.gov)

You can find more information on the case here:

Missing: Arianna Fitts | San Francisco, CA | Uncovered

If you have any information regarding Arianna's disappearance or Nicole's murder, please, contact the San Francisco Police Department's tip line at (415) 575-4444 or the Federal Bureau of Investigation San Francisco Division at (415) 553-7400.

Nothing is ever more inconsolable than losing someone without answers, not knowing where they are and how they feel, stuck in a limbo of mourning, and hoping for a closure you think may never come. I can only imagine the pain this family has been going through ever since that fateful morning of April 15th, 2013.

It has been almost a decade since the Masker family lost their beloved daughter. But despite the pain and uncertainty, they have never given up hope on finding her alive or bringing her justice. They have also kept her memory alive in their hearts and minds. The story of Jessica Masker is a very sad one. It is the story of a 24-year-old single mother of two young children who disappeared suddenly, leaving devastation in the hearts of many who cared.

When I decided to create this website, there was this one reason that went through my mind; this reason was to create a legacy to be remembered by. Find a purpose to give me meaning. But upon researching for a case to start with. I realized there is nothing more noble and meaningful than to try to speak for those who can't and that it was never about me. Those who deserve a legacy are those who suffered the most, the victims, their families, and the children who might have never had a chance to create those memories that they own the right to. They deserve at least closure and something to remember their loved ones with. They deserve our support by any means.

Call it a strange coincidence, if you will. But, yesterday turned out to be Jessica's birthday, March 18th, 1989, making her 34-year-old at the time of writing this. According to uncovered.com, Jessica's sister Christina described her sister in a podcast called 'catch my killer' as a loud, outgoing person everyone knew and loved. Her family would often call her by her nickname Jessie.

As a young girl, Jessica was the life of the party, and everyone loved to be around her. She struggled throughout her early life due to partial deafness in one of her ears. And, alas, throughout her later life, breaking up from a relationship and struggling to maintain any job. An Indy single mother pursuing her GED with the hopes of turning her life around for her two sons and making them proud, her second son was just two months old on the day of her disappearance.

But before this new chapter of her life, there loomed an influence of severe depression caused by the urge to redefine her life and the sense that she was the sibling who was always in trouble and not in luck with success.

Being so vulnerable at the time and introduced to drugs made it difficult for her to control her life the way she would and matters only got worse as Jessica became involved in a relationship with a man twice her age, who was very controlling and abusive. Causing many disputes over the last period before her disappearance.

Unfortunately, her use of drugs affected every aspect of her life; her sister mentioned on the 'catch my killer' podcast that one time Jessica called her freaking out in a gas station, in a state of panic. Taken to a hospital for detoxing, she argued that she was drugged and that a Hispanic man was after her.

She also mentions how after this incident and her release from the hospital, unfortunately, within that same day, she was abused by her ruthless boyfriend, who locked her in a room and beat her with a belt. Dropped at her mother's house, she pleaded for painkillers, and when her mother refused, she revealed her body covered in bruises.

On April 14th, 2013, the day before her disappearance, she had been involuntarily committed to a hospital after possibly overdosing on prescription drugs. And we also know that just days before this incident, Jessica was taken to the hospital when her abusive boyfriend violently assaulted her; he was arrested for battery then and released soon after. Her sister Christina stated that the Maskers believed foul play was involved, but due to Jessica's drug habit, the investigators had chosen not to believe so. But what happened that morning on April 15th, 2013?

Jessica's aunt drops her off at her cousin's home, where she plans to spend most of the day. At 3 a.m., Jessica decided to leave and head down to a nearby gas station by the end of East Washington Street after an argument between her and her cousin.

Jessica called her brother and told him that some people 'came at her wrong' and that she wanted him to come and pick her up, but he couldn't at the time and suggested she ask the mother; however, she never did, and instead called her boyfriend at the time asking him for a ride back home, but according to the boyfriend, Jessica said that she was going to walk down east Washington street and meet him there.

And unfortunately, no one ever heard from her again.

Jessica Lynne Masker is never forgotten as long as many of us; who do care about her case. And although it never had the coverage it deserved.

I am confident that her family's determination will keep her story and memories out there, inspiring many others who suffered from such unfortunate events.

People like her who never had the chance to spend time with their loved ones deserve to be remembered by everyone as heroes, as do their children who missed a lot of their love.

And no matter how it ends, she will always be honored by your remembering of the good memories she left behind.

Everyone acknowledges your pain.

People of Indianapolis, please share this message, bring awareness to the case, and support her family by any means possible. Communities can make a difference!

Below is a link to a Facebook event to help hang flyers for Jessica, please consider joining!

Your help is really appreciated!

Walk to hang flyers for Jessica Masker

Facebook အဖွဲ့များ

Missing Person Case (namus.gov)

Reward! Where is My Sister Jessica Masker | Facebook

Episode 91: Jessica Masker by Catch my Killer | Podchaser

You can find more information on the case here:

Missing: Jessica Masker | Indianapolis, IN | Uncovered

You can also help the family by supporting the case at:

REWARD- Missing Person Jessica Masker, organized by Christina Masker

We are starting this go fund me to help with a reward to help solve my sister … Christina Masker needs your support for REWARD- Missing Person Jessica Masker

gofundme.comChristina Masker is organizing this fundraiser.

And of course, if anyone has any information about Jessica Lynne Masker's disappearance, please contact Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 317-327-6160 or missingpersons@indy.gov, or they can contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).

Jessica Masker’s family holds a balloon release on her birthday, 10 years after her disappearance

Masker disappeared April 15, 2013, just weeks after giving birth to a son. Police say she walked out of her cousin’s Indianapolis home and her family hasn’t seem her since.

WRTV IndianapolisBy: Ashlyn Wright

Happy Birthday, Jessie!

Welcome to the Daily Tattle, where I share my passion for uncovering cases that matter.

I have always been intrigued by the concept of helping those who need their voices to be shared. Unfortunately, many can't. Sometimes their stories are shared behind headlines as content purposed for entertainment. I find it distasteful.

I have done extensive research learning about the dark side of human psychology. However, I believe that these stories should only be shared to help serve the victims justice and share awareness regarding these tragedies in the hope of connecting the dots.  

Together we will explore Unsolved cases and I invite you to share the effort to make the difference you can. Whoever you are, I hope you find something here that will educate, captivate and challenge you.

The heading statement must be honored and followed thoroughly by utilizing in-depth means of research and having a genuine willingness to expand the knowledge without speculations.

The victims as not subjects, they have/had a life, and stories they shared with their loved ones. We all share the same goal of finding out the truth. Using ethical standards in research, let us pursue knowledge and meaning and write for those who seek answers and respect the power of thinking.

We are all searching for something. And in that search, we find ourselves. And we discover what we are capable of, our true beliefs, and what truly matters to us. It is a journey that never ends and one we all must undertake; if we are to live a meaningful life.

Join Author Rustin H S, also known as Wynter Northfield of HubPages, as I try to uncover the truth behind the darkness.

I hope to make a positive impact, even on just a single individual. That will be enough for me, at least to give me purpose.

You can find my old articles here: Rust H. S. on HubPages