The Disappearance of Chelsea Cobo

22 year-old Chelsea Cobo, pictured in late April 2016—shortly before she disappeared on May 7th, 2016.

At the time the above photograph was taken, Chelsea Cobo was going through some very difficult things. She and her 9 month-old son Christopher were living with her aunt, Rose Cobo, in Brooklyn, New York. Rose had actually raised Chelsea since she was an infant, but Chelsea had maintained a relationship with her biological mother as well. In March 2016, Chelsea’s biological mother died of kidney failure. According to Rose, Chelsea was very depressed after her mother’s passing, and had decided to check herself into a psychiatric ward for two weeks. While in the facility, Chelsea befriended her roommate, Sabrine, and a man named Justice, who was frequently at the facility visiting Sabrine. 

After her two weeks in treatment, Chelsea started going on a lot more outings with Sabrine and Justice. Since Chelsea was previously a homebody, Rose initially thought it was a good thing that her niece had made new friends. However, after one particular outing on April 26th, 2016, Chelsea returned home disoriented and bruised. When Rose tried to talk to her, Chelsea was unable to remember who she with or what had happened. Rose took her to the hospital where a rape kit and drug tests were performed. It was determined that Chelsea had been drugged with opiates, robbed, and sexually assaulted that night. Chelsea did not have a history of drug use before this incident; it is believed that her friends she met at the treatment facility introduced her to drugs.

Shortly after that incident, Chelsea told Rose she wanted to get help, and she arranged to enter treatment at a rehab facility in Yonkers. On May 6th, 2016, Rose dropped Chelsea off at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn. From there, a van was supposed to take Chelsea to St. John’s Riverside in Yonkers. Chelsea apparently did board the van, but did not ever check into the facility. Her texts and Facebook messages revealed that she had been in contact with her friends during the trip to Yonkers, asking them to come pick her up. The messages also revealed that Chelsea was still using and was seeking to buy drugs that night. Justice agreed to pick her up, and Chelsea headed back to Brooklyn with him shortly after arriving in Yonkers. Justice said that he dropped Chelsea off at 68th Street in Sunset Park. Chelsea was spotted for a final time during the early morning hours of May 7th, 2016, leaving the Floridita restaurant on Fifth Avenue. She was accompanied by a man named Antonio, who happens to be a close friend of Justice. This is the last known sighting of Chelsea.

Early on into the investigation, Rose hired private investigator Sean Crowley to help search for Chelsea. In July 2016, Crowley looked into a possible trafficking theory. He said that he spoke with people in Coney Island who had seen Chelsea—including a prostitute who worked in the area, who recognized Chelsea from a photograph he showed her. These sightings happened only a few months into Chelsea’s disappearance, and have never been confirmed. Still, sex trafficking has still not been completely ruled out in Chelsea’s case. Chelsea’s disappearance is still being actively investigated, if you have any information about her whereabouts/case, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The Disappearance of Keeslyn Roberts

Keeslyn Roberts has been missing since January 18^th, 2020. The then-20-year-old woman was last seen at a Flying J truck stop in Resaca, Georgia. When Keeslyn arrived at the Flying J that day, she told people at the truck stop that she was there to see someone. Employees at the Flying J ended up calling 911 after Keeslyn reportedly entered an employee-only kitchen area and got into an altercation.

Keeslyn fled the scene before the police arrived, however her cash, debit cards, identification, and phone charger were left behind. It is unclear how Keeslyn left the truck stop, as her vehicle was left behind as well. She has never been seen or heard from again.

Flying J in Resaca

A probation violation warrant was issued for Keeslyn the day before she vanished. It is possible that she fled from the Flying J on the day of her disappearance to avoid being apprehended by police, but this has not been verified. Some have theorized that Keeslyn left the Flying J with a trucker. There have been some reported sightings of her at multiple truck stops in various cities, however none of those sightings have been confirmed. Police have reportedly interviewed those closest to Keeslyn, including her boyfriend and the person she was planning to see at the Flying J that day—but so far nobody has been identified as a suspect or person of interest.

In early March 2020, investigators searched the Flying J. During said search, they found clothing that is believed to belong to Keeslyn in a dumpster behind the building. An anonymous witness told reporters that the clothes have been there since Keeslyn’s disappearance, however investigators did not obtain them until they conducted their search. The identity of this witness is currently unknown, but authorities stated that the witness has fully cooperated with the investigation.

There is currently a monetary reward in place for anyone with information that could lead to Keeslyn’s whereabouts. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Gordon County Sheriff’s Department at 706-629-1244.

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Sources:
Charley Project
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Local 3 News
Macon Telegraph

List Series: Murdered While Pregnant

The murder of Laci Peterson captured headlines during the early 2000s. Laci was eight months pregnant when she vanished on December 24th, 2002--and it was almost immediately suspected that her husband, Scott Peterson, had something to do with her disappearance. It was later revealed that Scott was having an affair with another woman. Laci's body and the body of her unborn child were both found in the San Francisco Bay during the spring of 2003. Scott was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with their murders. He was later convicted and currently sits on death row.

It is believed that Laci's murder was motivated not only by the fact that Scott was having an affair, but also due to the fact that Scott did not want to be a father. Unfortunately, there are several similar cases in which a woman is murdered by a boyfriend/husband while pregnant with the boyfriend/husband's child. Many of these murders are believed to be motivated by the man's lack of desire to be a father. Below is a list of seven such cases.

7. Jennifer Rothwell

Jennifer Rothwell (28) was approximately six weeks pregnant when she was reported missing by her husband Beau Rothwell on November 12th, 2019. Beau told authorities that his wife never returned to their St. Louis, Missouri home after she had reportedly gone to work that day. However, once authorities arrived at their home, they noticed that the bed of Beau's truck smelled strongly of bleach. Additionally. authorities found traces of hair and blood in the basement of the home. 

It was almost immediately believed that Beau had murdered Jennifer and then attempted to stage her disappearance. This belief was further solidified once authorities found Jennifer's car abandoned with her cell phone inside. The phone contained evidence that indicated that Beau was unhappy about Jennifer pregnancy. In fact, shortly before she vanished, Jennifer searched on her phone's browser, "what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant." 

A few days after Jennifer was reported missing, the blood found in the basement of their home was confirmed to belong to her. Once police had that confirmation, they arrested and charged Beau with Jennifer's murder. A few days later, he led the authorities to her remains. It is believed Beau murdered Jennifer because he did not want to be a father. He currently remains behind bars as his case is pending. [read more]

6. Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (19) had recently learned she was pregnant when she vanished on June 28th, 2014. At the time of her disappearance, Erin was married to Jonathan Corwin, her high school sweetheart and a member of the US Marines. The couple lived on a military base Twentynine Palms, California. Shortly after moving there, Erin and Jonathan grew close to another military couple, Christopher (pictured above on the right) and Nichole Lee. Erin would frequently babysit Christopher and Nichole's daughter. Over time, Erin grew especially close with Christopher...and eventually the two began having a romantic affair. In June 2014, Erin learned she was pregnant, and she was positive Christopher was the father. Erin was excited about being a mother, and she had hopes for a future with Christopher as well. 

However, Christopher had other plans. On the morning of her disappearance, Erin told her husband Jonathan that she was going to Joshua Tree to scope out hiking areas in preparation for an upcoming visit from her mother. This was only a half-truth--she was going to Joshua Tree that day, however she had been invited there by Christopher--and he said he had a surprise for her. At some point during Christopher and Erin's trip, Christopher strangled Erin to death with a garrote before throwing her body down a nearby mineshaft. When Erin did not return home as planned that evening, she was reported missing by her husband.

Police learned about Erin's pregnancy and affair with Christopher early into the investigation. Christopher was inevitably questioned, but he denied involvement in Erin's disappearance. A few days later, Christopher left the Marines and moved to Alaska with his wife and daughter. Over the following weeks, investigators continued to gather evidence...all of which had a link to Christopher Lee. Investigators searched the Joshua Tree National Park on August 16th, 2014 and eventually stumbled upon a mineshaft. Once they had the tools to search the 100 ft. deep mine, investigators found Erin's body. Shortly thereafter, Christopher was arrested and extradited back to California to face first-degree murder charges in Erin's case.

In 2016, Christopher was convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors believe Christopher killed Erin after learning she was pregnant in attempt to hide their affair from his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison. [read more]

5. Ally Kostial

Ally Kostial was a 21 year-old rising senior at Ole Miss when she was brutally murdered on July 20th, 2019. A fellow student and Ally's on-again, off-again boyfriend Brandon Theesfeld (22) has been arrested and charged with Ally's murder. Ally's body was found just hours after she was killed, at Buford's Ridge in Harmontown, Mississippi. She had been shot 8 times in the stomach.

It did not take investigators long to identify Brandon as a suspect. He was known to frequent Buford's Ridge with friends, as it was approximately 30 miles away from the Ole Miss campus in Oxford. Ally's friends were quick to implicate Brandon as well. Ally was reportedly pregnant with Brandon's child at the time she was murdered, and according to Ally's friends, Brandon was furious that she did not want to have an abortion. It is believed that Ally told Brandon about the pregnancy on the day of her murder. Ally's friends have stated that they witnessed Brandon "in a fit of rage" just hours before Ally met up with him on the night of her murder. 

Brandon was arrested on July 22nd, 2019. His murder charges are currently pending. [read more]

4. Morgan Martin

(patch.com)

Morgan Martin (17) was four months pregnant when she vanished from her family's St. Petersburg, Florida home on July 25th, 2012. Jacobee Flowers is believed to be the father of Morgan's unborn child. Jacobee was 24 years old at the time the two were reportedly engaged in a sexual relationship. Jacobee was immediately seen as a person of interest in Morgan's disappearance--especially due to the fact that he was the last person known to have seen her before she vanished. However, Jacobee denied being involved in Morgan's disappearance. He also denied fathering her child and sleeping with her at all. At the time, police were unable to find enough evidence to charge him with anything related to Morgan's case.

This changed in 2015, when a cold case unit took over Morgan's case. These investigators were able to subpoena Jacobee's Facebook and text messages which revealed that Jacobee had lied to authorities about his relationship with Morgan. In fact, Jacobee sent several text messages acknowledging his sexual relationship with her. He allegedly begged Morgan not to go through the pregnancy, as he was already supporting three children and did not want to support another one. Facebook messages between between the two reveal that Morgan told Jacobee that if he did not pay child support, she would report him for having sex with a minor. This evidence provided investigators with a motive for Jacobee to kill Morgan: not only did he not want to support another child, he also did not want to get charged with statutory rape.

On June 23rd, 2016, Jacobee was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Morgan Martin. He is currently awaiting trial. Morgan's body has never been found. [read more]

3. Charli Scott

Carly 'Charli' Scott (27) was five months pregnant when she disappeared in Haiku, Hawaii on February 9th, 2014. She was last seen by her ex-boyfriend/father of her unborn child, Steven Capobianco (24). Steven claimed that he called Charli on the evening of the 9th and asked her for assistance after his car went into a ditch on Hana Hwy. Charli, who was still deeply in love with Steven despite their breakup, dutifully went to help him. She unfortunately never returned home.

Suspicions fell on Steven early on into the investigation. Those closest to Charli stated that there were numerous red flags in their relationship. While they were living together, Steven would reportedly deny being Charli's boyfriend--opting instead to tell people they were just roommates. After the couple broke up, he would repeatedly pursue Charli for sexual encounters, even though he had no intentions of reconciling the relationship. When Steven learned that Charli was pregnant, he was not happy. He did not want children and he begged Charli to get an abortion, but she wanted to keep the child and was excited about being a mother.

Just days after she vanished, Charli's car was found abandoned and burned out. Additionally, while her family members searched for her, Charli's sister found her blood stained clothes in a wooded area near Nua'ailua Bay. This prompted a massive search by detectives, during which Charli's jawbone was found. It had been broken in half. Steven was arrested and charged with Charli's murder in July 2014. At his trial, prosecutors stated that Charli's pregnancy was the main motive for her murder. Not only did Steven not want to be a father at 24, he also did not want to be forever tied to Charli as the father of her child.

In December 2016, a jury found Steven guilty of Charli's murder. He is currently serving a life sentence. [read more]

2. Kelsie Schelling

(kktv.com)

21 year-old Kelsie Schelling had just recently learned she was pregnant when she disappeared from Pueblo, Colorado on February 5th, 2013. On the previous day, Kelsie went to a doctor’s appointment near her home in Denver where she got her first ultrasound. After the appointment, she sent a picture of the ultrasound to her boyfriend/father of her child, Donthe Lucas. Donthe urged Kelsie to go visit him in Pueblo, which is two hours from where Kelsie was living. Kelsie left around 8:30pm that night to make the drive to see Donthe and arrived at a Wal-Mart that they agreed to meet at around 11pm. Kelsie never returned home and has never been seen or heard from again.

Surveillance cameras from various places around Pueblo captured Donthe driving Kelsie's car to several different locations between the dates of February 5th and February 7th. He was also captured using Kelsie's ATM card. Donthe would later tell investigators that he was accompanied by Kelsie and had permission to use her ATM card, however the surveillance footage does not show Kelsie in the car with him at any location. Despite this evidence, it took years for investigators to bring charges against Donthe, and he continued to deny involvement. 

In November 2017, while Donthe was already behind bars on robbery charges, he was charged with Kelsie's murder in the first degree. Prosecutors have theorized that Donthe planned to kill Kelsie after learning about her pregnancy. He was found guilty of murder in 2021. Kelsie's body has never been found. [read more]

1. Breana Rouhselang

17 year-old Breana Rouhselang was murdered by 16 year-old Aaron Trejo on December 9th, 2018. The two teens are from Mishawaka, Indiana–where Aaron played football at the local high school, and Breana competed as a cheerleader. Breana and Aaron first met when they were in elementary school, but they reportedly only began to have a romantic relationship during 2018.

At some point during their relationship, Breana learned that she was pregnant. She reportedly waited until she was about 20 weeks along to tell Aaron that he had fathered her child. By then, it was too late to get an abortion. This infuriated Aaron, and he spent a week formulating a plan to solve his problem. On the evening of December 8th, Aaron asked Breana to meet up and discuss the pregnancy. Around 11pm, they met up in an alley behind her family’s home. Unbeknownst to Breana, Aaron had a knife and a garbage bag in his possession when they met. He allegedly confronted Breana over the fact that she told him about her pregnancy after it was too late to get an abortion. An argument ensued, and Aaron ended up strangling Breana with her scarf before stabbing her to death. He then placed the garbage bag over her head and then placed her body in a restaurant dumpster located a block away.

Aaron pleaded guilty to homicide and feticide charges in October 2019. In January 2020, he was sentenced to 65 years in prison. [read more]

List Series: Cases Involving a Miscarriage of Justice

People rely on police and other investigative professionals for many things. Police are expected to protect citizens from danger to the best of their ability, while detectives are expected to help solve cases such as murders, missing persons, etc. However, there are cases in which these professionals end up causing more harm than help throughout the investigation. Some cases are jeopardized by lack of action by police and/or investigative professionals, while other cases are jeopardized when police do not follow legal protocol while investigating. The following list contains 8 cases containing a miscarriage of justice. Some of these cases are solved, some remain unsolved, but all were impacted by the actions (or lack thereof) by investigative professionals.

8. The Disappearance and Murder of Ebby Steppach

18 year-old Ebby Jane Steppach vanished on October 24th, 2015 in her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. Her disappearance followed a series of unfortunate and odd events, which made her case all the more suspicious--but many still accused the police of not taking the investigation seriously. The day before she vanished, Ebby told her stepfather that she had been sexually assaulted and that she planned to file a police report. Before she could do that, Ebby vanished. A few days later, her car was found abandoned at Chalamont Park. The car was running, but Ebby was nowhere to be found. Her belongings, including her cellular phone and contact lenses, were found inside the car. 

Despite these suspicious circumstances, police initially treated Ebby's case as a runaway. However, Ebby's family members and friends never believed that she ran away. In fact, Ebby's close friend Kailey Foley was incredibly worried, as she knew it was uncharacteristic for Ebby to be out-of-touch--even if just for a day. Just days into the investigation, Kailey and her mother Margie Foley decided to go to Chalamont Park themselves to see if they could find any clues.

The two did not walk very far into the park before Margie said she was “hit with the smell of decomposition coming from a nearby drain.” Margie immediately called the detective who was working Ebby's case, but he did not answer. Margie then called 911 and asked somebody to come investigate. She ended up calling 3 times before Little Rock Police finally showed up on the scene. However, once they were there, they dismissed Margie’s claims. When she expressed concern that the smell might be related to the case, an officer told her, “This park was gone through with dogs and they would have picked up on that. It must be an animal or something.”

As it turns out, Kailey’s mother was correct all along. Ebby’s remains were found in the same drainage pipe almost three years later, in May 2018. It’s likely that Ebby was there the whole time. If the police had investigated when they were first asked, Ebby could have been found years earlier. Police have declined to make any acknowledgements or comments about the case.

Today, Ebby's case is being investigated as a murder and it remains unsolved. [read more]

7. The Disappearance of Keiosha Felix

Keiosha Felix was only 15 years-old when she vanished on April 30th, 2012. The teen was last seen leaving her aunt Patricia Andrus' home in Duson, Louisiana. Police were quick to label Keiosha as a runaway, however as the investigation continued, she was reclassified as an endangered missing person. While investigating, detectives learned that Keiosha had told her aunt Patricia that Patricia's boyfriend Leon Wilkerson Jr. had sexually assaulted her. This raised many suspicions against both Leon and Patricia, especially because Patricia never reported the alleged assault, nor did she tell investigators about it after Keiosha went missing.  In July 2012, Leon was arrested and charged with rape and second-degree kidnapping in connection with Keiosha’s disappearance. Patricia was arrested and charged with improper supervision of a minor and accessory to rape. Keiosha’s cousin Portia Felix, who told investigators that she heard from Keiosha after her disappearance, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. A month later, Leon’s brother Ronald Wilkerson was also arrested and charged with kidnapping in connection with Keiosha’s case.

It seemed as if investigators were getting closer to finding answers in Keiosha's case...but then, the investigation took an unexpected turn. In September 2012, Duson PD’s Assistant Chief of Police, Lt. Gerald Credeur, was removed from the investigation and suspended from duty. Lt. Credeur had been left in charge of handling Keiosha’s case, but in September 2012 the Chief of Police Frank Andrew told the Duson Board of Aldermen that Credeur had improperly handled the case. Chief Andrew explained that Credeur had illegally arrested two people for kidnapping, given false testimony and made an illegal search and seizure during the investigation. The Board of Alderman determined that Credeur did, in fact, make the searches and the arrests without probable cause and he was fired the following month. The charges against Leon and Ronald Wilkerson were dropped. The following year, the charges against Patricia and Portia were dropped as well.

Many still believe that Leon and Patricia are involved in Keiosha's disappearance and that they are free only because the police botched the investigation. Investigators have acknowledged this, however they have stated that they are currently focusing on finding Keiosha rather than filing criminal charges against anyone in her disappearance. Keiosha remains missing today. [read more]

6. The Disappearance & Murder of Jill Behrman

Indiana University student Jill Behrman vanished at the age of 19 on May 31st, 2000. The young woman left her Bloomington, Indiana home on her bicycle that day and never returned home. Two days later, her bicycle was found abandoned in a field north of town. 

The police were mislead in Jill's case from the beginning. In 2001, a a woman named Wendy Owings came forward and stated she was in the car with another woman named Alisha Sowders and a man named Uriah Clouse when they hit Jill while driving around under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Wendy told authorities that Jill was not dead after she was hit, but they believed she significantly injured so the women decided to kill her. Wendy claimed they dumped Jill's body in a creek and then abandoned her bicycle on the other side of town. However, in March 2003, Jill's remains were found in a remote area of Morgan County. She was not found in the creek where Wendy claimed she had been dumped. An autopsy also revealed that Jill's injuries were not consistent with being struck by a vehicle. In fact, Jill had died of a gunshot wound to the back of her head. At that point, Wendy changed her story and denied her involvement in Jill's death. 

Eventually, investigators focused on another suspect: John Robert Myers II. In March 2006, a grand jury began an investigation into Jill's disappearance and death. About a month later, on April 9th, 2006, Myers was arrested and charged with Jill's murder. Little information was revealed about any direct evidence that linked Myers to the crime, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges. In October 2006, Myers went to trial and was ultimately found guilty of Jill's murder. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison.Years later, in September 2019, a District Court judge in Indianapolis took another look at the case and ultimately decided to vacate the murder conviction against Myers. The decision came after it was deemed that Myers received "ineffective assistance of counsel" during his trial, which is a violation of Sixth Amendment rights. It was also determined that Myers' attorneys made inaccurate statements to the jury during opening statements. 

After years of thinking justice had been served, Jill Behrman's family is back at square one. Jill's mother still believes Myers is responsible and hopes that the State will decide to retrial him. [read more]

5. The Murder of Stacy Dillon

Stacy Dillon was only 22 years-old when he was found murdered inside his mother's Cleveland, Tennessee home on March 17th, 1991. Stacy was alone at the home the previous night and for most of the day on March 17th. When his mother returned that evening, a horrific discovery was made: Stacy was dead on the hallway floor. He had suffered a single bullet wound to the cheek. The family's landline phone was found just inches away from Stacy's body. Police were immediately called, and it did not take long for Stacy's death to be ruled a homicide. Despite this ruling, there were still many unanswered questions. A murder weapon was never found, and the medical examiner never conducted an autopsy on Stacy's body. It is unclear why an autopsy was never conducted, and to this day it is still seen as an obvious oversight in the case.

Stacy's case quickly went cold. However in 2011, two decades after the crime occurred, the case was reopened with a new team of investigators. This new team of detectives has focused on a theory that Stacy was secretly in a relationship with a man that might have had something to do with the murder. Investigators have labeled this man as a person of interest in the case, but he has never been publicly identified. Additionally, when the case was reopened in 2011, investigators noted that there was mention of a confidential informant named 'Becky' in the previous files on Stacy's murder. 'Becky' reportedly saw one of the suspects on the night of the murder. At this time, the new investigators are unaware of Becky's true identity, but they are hoping to identify her and speak with her. 

It is clear that a lot of evidence was either overlooked or never followed up on during the early stages of the investigation. This makes it difficult for the new team of investigators to follow leads, especially since they were assigned the case over two decades later. Stacy's murder remains unsolved today. [read more]

4. The Murder of Tiana Notice

Tiana Notice was only 25 years old when she was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend James Carter II on February 14th, 2009. Tiana had broken up with James months earlier, but James continued to harass her after their relationship ended. Tiana would frequently spot him sitting in his car outside of her apartment building and following her while she took shopping trips. When Tiana finally confronted James about it, he grew so irate that he actually took a restraining order against her--claiming that he had been assaulted by her. Still, the harassment continued. Even though James took the restraining order out on Tiana, he continued to send her emails that contained threats for her life. Tiana went to police after receiving these emails to report James for violating the restraining order. The police did not take her seriously, and she was told that the emails that James sent were non-threatening. James continued to harass Tiana via phone and email, and she repeatedly went to the police for help. According to Tiana’s mother, she went to the police 33 times in a 6-week period, but no action against James was ever taken--even after he vandalized her car.

In the days leading up to her murder, Tiana found a handwritten note on her apartment door that she was sure was from James. Tiana once again turned the note over the police, claiming that James had yet again violated the restraining order. At this point, police finally decided to take action, and they called James and asked him to provide a handwriting sample. Unfortunately, the police got involved too late. James grew enraged once he realized that Tiana had called the police on him. On February 14th, 2009, James lurked around Tiana’s apartment complex waiting for her to come home. Once she arrived, James ambushed Tiana and stabbed her 20 times before fleeing the scene.

James was eventually arrested and charged with Tiana's murder. He is currently serving a 60 year sentence. Although Tiana did receive justice in her case, many have criticized the police for not taking her initial reports about James seriously. If police had intervened in her case earlier, there's a chance that Tiana might still be alive today. [read more]

3. The Murders of Amber DuBois & Chelsea King

Amber DuBois (14) and Chelsea King (17) were both murdered by a registered sex offender named John Albert Gardner II in Escondido, California. Amber vanished while walking to school on February 13th, 2009. The following year, in March 2010, Chelsea vanished while going for a run around Lake Hodges--located just 10 miles away from where Amber disappeared. Parts of Chelsea's clothing were found scattered around the lake's trails shortly after her disappearance. Investigators found DNA that matched Gardner--who had already been in the CODIS system--on Chelsea's sock. Gardner was taken into custody and Chelsea's remains were found near the lake just days later. Three days after that, Gardner admitted to being involved in Amber's disappearance as well--and her remains were found in a remoted, rugged area north of San Diego. 

Gardner was already a known sex offender at the time the murders occurred. When he was 21 years old, he was convicted for molesting a 13 year-old neighbor. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but he only spent five years behind bars and was released in 2005. Gardner completed his parole in 2008, but it was later revealed that he had violated it several times. If Gardner had been apprehended for his numerous parole violations, there's a chance he would have been behind bars during 2009 & 2010--and Amber and Chelsea might still be alive today. 

During the spring of 2010, Gardner received life in prison for both murders, plus an additional 25 years for an unrelated sexual assault case. [read more]

2. The Case of Emilie Morris & Jim Wilder

Emilie Morris was a high school student and star athlete at Lindbergh High in St. Louis, Missouri when she met Jim Wilder. The year was 1995--Emilie was only 15, and Wilder coached her on the cross-country team. At some point, their relationship turned inappropriate....and according to locals, it was not a secret. A former classmate of Emilie's stated that their relationship was something of an "open secret" that many people knew about but very few people spoke about. Still, in 1996, the principal at the school was tipped off about their relationship. Both Emilie and Wilder denied having anything other than a coach-athlete relationship, and a “complete investigation” was conducted that apparently concluded that nothing inappropriate happened between the two. As time went on, many noticed that Emilie grew depressed and suffered from low-self esteem. She struggled with an eating disorder that developed while she was in college--which many attributed to Wilder's harsh criticism of Emilie's body while she was in high school. 

Emilie's troubles followed her into her adult life. For Wilder, on the other hand, things did not appear to change at all. He continued to teach and coach at Lindbergh High, and in December 2008, he was arrested based on a report that he had sexual contact with a current female student. Emilie knew the allegations were likely true, but she did not want to get involved and have to relive her own painful memories all over again...so as a result, she stayed quiet when she heard about Wilder's arrest. The charges against Wilder were unfortunately dropped a few months later, and he returned to his job at Lindbergh High. Emilie's troubles continued in the years that followed. She began struggling with alcoholism, and by the year 2012, her husband divorced her and gained full custody of their two children. Determined to turn her life around, Emilie finally decided to confide in her family members about what had transpired between her and Wilder all those years earlier. With encouragement from her loved ones, Emilie decided to turn Wilder in to the police. As part of the police investigation, Emilie was asked to have a conversation with Wilder while wearing a microphone to see if he would admit to their inappropriate relationship. The plan worked seamlessly, and Wilder was eventually arrested and charged with six counts of statutory sodomy. 

In November 2014, the case was still pending. Unfortunately, November 4th, 2014, Emilie was found dead; face down on her bedroom floor with a large trash can pulled over her head. She died from asphyxiation from the plastic bag lining the trash can, but her manner of death was left undetermined by the county medical examiner. After Emilie’s death, the charges against Wilder were dropped. The prosecutor ultimately stated that they needed Emilie’s testimony in order to win the case, and they could no longer obtain that since she had passed away. Wilder remains free today.

The miscarriage of justice in this case began decades earlier, even before Wilder and Emilie met. Emilie was reportedly not Wilder's first inappropriate relationship with a student, and if the 2008 allegations are true, she was not his last either. If proper intervention had taken place when the rumors of Wilder's inappropriate relationships first began, there's a chance Emilie and Wilder might have never met. [read more]

1. The Murder of Lauren McCluskey

University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey (21) was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Melvin Rowland (37) on October 22nd, 2018. The two had only dated for about a month, during which Lauren found out that Melvin had lied to her about a plethora of things--including his name, age, and criminal history. Once Lauren learned that Melvin had been convicted of forcible attempted sexual assault and enticing a minor, she decided to end her relationship with him. 

In the days that followed, Lauren began to receive harassing and threatening messages. She contacted police on October 12th to report that she was receiving text messages that stated Melvin was dead, and that it was her fault. She explained that she was able to verify via social media that the messages were untrue; but she still felt that Melvin's friends were trying to lure her out of her dorm. The following day, Lauren contacted campus police again, and told them that she was receiving text messages from someone threatening to post explicit pictures of her and Melvin together unless she paid them $1000. She ended up wiring the money before she went to Public Safety building to file an official complaint. 

Six days later, on October 19th, a police detective called Lauren to follow up on the extortion case. By that point, she had received more threatening messages, and she told the detective that she was sure Melvin was the one trying to extort her. The detective told her it would take "some time" for Melvin to be arrested because the subpoenas needed to be filed. Lauren began to fear for her safety, and she contacted the police later that evening to express concern that things were not moving fast enough in her case. Unfortunately, Lauren was correct. On the evening of October 22nd, 2018, Lauren was on the phone with her mother as she walked to a night class when she was confronted by Melvin in the parking lot. He grabbed her, causing Lauren to drop all of her personal belongings, and dragged her to a nearby car. Once Melvin forced Lauren inside the car, he drove away and then he shot her multiple times in the head, killing her. 

Once Lauren was found deceased, police rushed to locate Melvin. He was spotted shortly before 1am that morning. During a foot pursuit, Melvin ran into a nearby church and shot himself in the head.Police were unfortunately never able to charge Melvin for Lauren's murder. Many people feel that the police failed to protect Lauren. In a written statement, her parents said, “There were numerous opportunities to protect her during the almost two weeks between the time when our daughter began expressing repeated, elevating, and persistent concerns about her situation and the time of her murder.” [read more]

The Murder of Shannon Stafford

29-year-old Shannon Stafford was a loving mother in the midst of a difficult custody battle when she was shot and killed by her estranged father-in-law, 54-year-old Larry Mitchell, on April 21st, 2012. That morning, Shannon drove to a Wal-Mart located in Morgantown, West Virginia around 9:45 AM. Larry, who was already in the parking lot when Shannon arrived, approached her car with a 9mm handgun and began to shoot at her. 

Shannon exited the car to try and escape, but Larry continued to fire shots at her until she collapsed. A large group of witnesses to the brutal event surrounded and held Larry until the authorities arrived on the scene. When they finally arrived, Larry was arrested, and Shannon was pronounced dead.

The scene shortly after Shannon was shot. (source: WPXI)

On the day Shannon was killed, she was supposed to have her first unsupervised visit with her daughter Faith. Investigators have cited this as the main motive for Shannon’s murder: The Mitchell’s had declared Shannon as an unfit mother and did not want her to have access to Faith. Shannon’s estranged husband, Nathan Mitchell, had primary custody of Faith and was living with her at his parent’s home. 

Before Shannon filed for divorce, she lived in the Mitchell’s home as well. In fact, Shannon moved into their home early into her relationship with Nathan. Shannon was incredibly happy with this arrangement at first; Nathan treated her well and the Mitchell’s warmly welcomed her into their home. 

According to family and friends, Shannon had always longed for a “normal and stable” family after growing up in the foster system. When she met Nathan, Shannon felt she had finally found the family she always wanted with him and his parents. The couple got engaged shortly after she moved in.

Unfortunately, the happiness did not last for Shannon. Overtime, Shannon grew frustrated with Nathan’s mother, Sandra Mitchell. Sandra apparently made Shannon do all of their housework and would belittle her when it was not completed to her satisfaction. Rather than defend his fiancé, Nathan would agree his mother and belittle Shannon as well. 

Additionally, Sandra and Larry monitored Shannon’s every move and isolated her from her siblings and foster parents. They didn’t even allow Shannon to invite them to her wedding—they said they wanted their son to have a small wedding and asked her not to invite any guests. Although this upset Shannon, she complied because she did not want to jeopardize her relationship with her in-laws. 

When Shannon got pregnant, Sandra grew irate and claimed that it was too early into the marriage. She blamed Shannon, calling her irresponsible, and kicked her out of the house. Shannon moved back in with her foster family who welcomed her with open arms.

Shortly thereafter, though, Nathan begged for Shannon to come home. He promised they would find their own place and eventually move out of his parents’ home. Shannon moved back in under that condition: that they would find their own place before the baby was born.

Things did not improve for Shannon in the Mitchell household. Despite Nathan’s promises, he eventually told Shannon that he had no intentions of moving out of his parent’s home. Shannon ended up giving birth to her daughter Faith three months early. The Mitchell’s blamed Shannon for the baby’s premature status and heavily controlled Shannon’s interactions with her own daughter. 

When Shannon decided to visit her foster family for a weekend, she was forced to leave Faith behind. During that time, the Mitchell’s decided to not let Shannon back into their home when she returned. After that, Shannon filed for divorce and custody. 

The Mitchell’s accused Shannon of being an unfit mother to Faith and it was decided that Shannon would get supervised visitations with her daughter while an investigation ensued. As the family court officials in Harrison County did not see any reason why Shannon would be an unfit mother, she was granted unsupervised overnight visitations with Faith. Reeling from this news, Larry conducted a plan to get rid of Shannon for good.

In December 2012, Larry plead guilty to first degree murder in Shannon’s case. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. That same year, Shannon's foster brother Barry Adkins filed a civil suit against the Mitchell's. The suit alleged that "Sandra Mitchell and Nathan Mitchell 'encouraged, assisted, aided, abetted, provoked and incited' Larry Mitchell in the shooting and killing of Stafford by 'providing him with information which they knew or reasonably should have known would incite him to take action to seriously injure or kill' her."

Barry won the suit, and in 2018, a judge ordered that $32,614,860 be provided to Adkins.
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Sources:
Baybold Reports
CBS News
WBOY

The Disappearance & Murder of Elizabeth Salgado

26-year-old Elizabeth Salgado had been living in the United States for just three weeks when she vanished on April 16th, 2015. Elizabeth was born and raised in Mexico, but had recently decided to move to Provo, Utah after serving a mission for the Mormon church. Elizabeth was still learning proficiency in the English language, but she wanted to study among other Mormons and had received a scholarship to the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo. On the day of her disappearance, Elizabeth was last seen after leaving the language center around 2pm. She planned to walk 18 blocks back to her apartment, however she never made it home and was never seen again.

Elizabeth’s uncle Rudemberth Salgado was supposed to go to Wal-Mart with Elizabeth that afternoon. Rudemberth said that Elizabeth texted him for the last time at 2:39pm, and he was unable to get ahold of her after that. Later that evening, Elizabeth’s mother called Rudemberth worried because she had not heard from her. Rudemberth then went to Elizabeth’s apartment, where she lived with 3 roommates, and nobody answered the door. 

The following day, Rudemberth’s brother/Elizabeth’s other uncle Rosemberg Salgado, who lives in California, reported Elizabeth’s disappearance to Provo police. He then temporarily relocated to Provo to help search for her. From there, Rosemberg took on the role as spokesperson for the Salgado family as they pushed to get Elizabeth’s face in the media.

Certain people grew suspicious of Rudemberth and Rosemberg early on in the search for Elizabeth. In fact, a man named Alex Villalobos organized and led four separate searches for Elizabeth before quitting due to his suspicions of the uncles. Alex said that he believed the two “cared more about raising money than finding her.”

Others said that they found the uncles’ attitudes to be “off-putting”, some even accused them of selling Elizabeth into a trafficking ring. The uncles vehemently denied any involvement in the case, and as months passed without any trace of Elizabeth, those suspicions seemed to die down amongst locals. However, these suspicions remained prevalent on the Internet. According to police, though, both men fully cooperated with the investigation.

Years passed without any trace of Elizabeth. Then, in 2018, human remains were found in some bushes near Hobble Creek Canyon, 13 miles away from where Elizabeth was last seen. On May 24th, 2018, those remains were positively identified as that of Elizabeth Salgado. 

Very little information about Elizabeth's death has been revealed, but authorities state that Elizabeth was murdered. The investigation is ongoing, but so far, no arrests have been made. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Provo police at (801) 852-6210.

The Disappearance and Presumed Murder of April Pease

 30 year-old April Pease

April Pease was last seen on March 17th, 2009. The 30 year-old had recently moved to Bloomington, Minnesota to receive treatment for her drug addiction and to get away from her abusive boyfriend, Cedric Marks (pictured below). According to her mother, April had finally gotten clean and seemed to be making progress in her treatment. 

Cedric Marks

Moving away from Cedric seemed to have a positive impact on April as well. Unfortunately, though, April could not completely eliminate Cedric from her life. The two had a young child together and they were in a very bitter custody dispute prior to her disappearance. They had a court appearance relating to custody scheduled for March 20th, 2009–but April never showed up. Cedric announced in court that he felt that April had relapsed. As a result, he got full custody of their son and was not considered a person of interest in April’s disappearance. 

Nearly 10 years passed without any trace of April, or any clues pertaining to her case. During this time, Cedric got married, but also dated numerous other women while married. One particular girlfriend was 28 year-old Jenna Scott. Cedric was allegedly abusive towards Jenna, and she ended up getting a restraining order against him during July 2018. In early January 2019, Jenna and her friend Michael Swearingin vanished after being seen together in Michael’s car near his Temple, Texas home. Cedric was immediately looked into as a person of interest, but police eventually ended up arresting him on an unrelated charge–for burglarizing Jenna’s home back in August 2018. Then, just a few days later, Jenna and Michael’s bodies were found in a rural area of Oklahoma. Cedric has been charged for their murders, and his girlfriend and wife have also been arrested for aiding him in his crimes. A more detailed write-up on the case of Jenna and Michael can be found here.

Unfortunately, April Pease still remains missing today. However, the deaths of both Jenna and Michael have prompted authorities in Minnesota to re-investigate her case and take a second look at Cedric. This investigation is currently ongoing. If you have any information on April’s whereabouts, please contact the Bloomington Police Department at 952-888-4401.

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UPDATE (March 2020): Cedric Marks and a woman named Kellee Kristine Sorensen have been arrested and charged with the second-degree murder of April Pease. The woman reportedly told authorities that back in March 2009, she and Cedric tracked April down at a women's shelter in Bloomington. The two then took April to an area on Interstate 35, where Cedric reportedly murdered her. According to Sorensen, she stayed in the car while Cedric committed the murder.

April's body has still not been found. Cedric reportedly told Sorensen that he removed April's hands and teeth so she would "never be identified." Cedric's wife, Maya Maxwell, stated that Cedric told her he buried April in one of the Dakotas.

Cedric and Sorensen remain behind bars as their cases are pending.

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[List Series: Criminals Charged and/or Suspected in Multiple Cases]

The Disappearance of Bianca Green

Bianca Green has been missing since March 25th, 2011. The 24-year-old woman was last seen near her workplace on the 4100 block of Harriet Street in Inkster, Michigan. Bianca sent a text message to her mother two days later. Since then, her family has never heard from her again.

Bianca left behind a young son and was pregnant with another child at the time of her disappearance. Her family members do not believe that she would voluntarily abandon her son or stay out-of-touch with her loved ones. Bianca also left behind all her personal belongings and has not used her credit cards since her disappearance.

There was a possible sighting of Bianca in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after her disappearance. However, this sighting has never been confirmed. There have not been any other reported sightings of her since then. 

Bianca’s family members believe that foul play is responsible for her disappearance. In fact, there has been suspicion about Bianca's former boyfriend/father of her son, Jamere Miller Sr. These suspicions grew stronger in May 2023, when Miller was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murdering his new girlfriend, 29-year-old Patrice Wilson. 

source:audacy.com

The charges against Miller are currently pending. After his arrest, it was reported that the detectives handling Bianca's missing persons case have been in contact with the detectives handling Miller's current charges. At this time, though, no charges have been filed in Bianca's case. 

Bianca remains missing today. A monetary reward is being offered to anyone with information that could lead to her whereabouts. If you have any information that could help the case, please contact authorities at 734-941-8400.

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Sources:
Charley Project
Click on Detroit
Detroit News
Fox 2 Detroit
TV Show Stars

The Disappearance of Calandra Stallworth

Calandra Stallworth was last seen by her family members on March 27th, 2017. That morning, 29-year-old Calandra dropped her two daughters off at her grandmother’s home in Crestview, Florida so she could go to her housekeeping job at Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort. This was something Calandra did often, as her grandmother lived next door to her.

When she finished work that evening, Calandra called her grandmother to let her know she was on her way home. Unfortunately, she never showed up. This was quite out of character for Calandra, so her concerned family members reported her missing that same night.

Just two days later, Calandra went to the Crestview Police Department and asked them to cancel her missing person's report. She told investigators she had been in Alabama with her boyfriend, and she hadn’t been in touch with her family because her phone did not have a signal. Police respected Calandra’s wishes and notified her family about the cancelled report. 

This is the last known trace of Calandra. She has not been seen or heard from since leaving the police station that day. Calandra’s family members remained worried about her, as it was very unusual for her to be out of touch with her daughters and her grandmother.

On April 2nd, 2017, police in Destin, Florida spotted Calandra’s car pulling out of a Motel 6 on Harbor Boulevard. The police officers pulled the car over and found Calandra’s boyfriend Antwon Montrex Smith (34) in the driver’s seat. Another woman, Taleah Durm (18) was next to him in the passenger’s seat. Oddly, Taleah had also been reported missing a few days earlier. It is unclear what her connection is to Antwon, but her missing person's report was cancelled when she was located with him. 

Police officers also found Calandra’s purse and phone inside the car, but Calandra herself was still nowhere to be found. Antwon had been driving her car around while in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Police arrested him on the drug charges and additionally charged him for a probation violation and for driving without a license.

After his arrest, Antwon was inevitably asked about Calandra’s disappearance. He told investigators that he dropped Calandra off at another man’s residence on March 29th and never heard from her again. He has never been charged with anything related to Calandra’s disappearance.

Antwon was ultimately sentenced to 15 months for the other charges. He was arrested again in 2020, this time "on suspicion of killing two men from Seattle after a drug deal in Alabama went bad." He faces life in prison for these charges.

Calandra’s family members have said that Antwon was controlling and abusive, and they believe he had something to do with her disappearance. Despite this, Crestview police stated that they are currently treating her case as a missing persons investigation rather than a crime investigation. 

Calandra’s family is still desperately hoping for answers. If you have any information that could lead to Calandra’s location, please contact 1-888-FL-MISSING.

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Sources:
Charley Project
My Panhandle
NWF Daily News, (2)
Tampa Free Press