The Suspicious Death of Marquis Brown

Marquis Brown was a 21 year-old student-athlete at Duquesne University when he died under suspicious circumstances on October 4th, 2018. The evening of his death began as a fairly typical evening for a college student. After having football practice that afternoon, Marquis reportedly went to get a haircut before going to a friend's off-campus apartment to play video games on PlayStation. This seemingly normal evening quickly went in another direction when Marquis returned to his dorm building. Other students in the dorm building called 911 after witnessing Marquis behaving 'erratically' in the elevator and in the hallway of this dorm room on the 16th floor. 

University security and police responded to the 911 call shortly after 10pm. Once they arrived on the scene, they found Marquis' roommate trying to calm him down. From there, the events leading up to Marquis' death remain unclear. Pittsburgh police stated that, shortly after campus police arrived on the scene, Marquis picked up a chair and threw it through the dorm window before jumping out of the window himself and falling sixteen stories to his death. Pittsburgh police arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and subsequently took over the investigation into Marquis' death.

The initial reports following this incident stated that witnesses including both students and campus police saw Marquis jump out of the window. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma--but the manner of death remained undetermined. A toxicology report concluded that Marquis had marijuana in his system at the time of his death, but no other substances are noted on the report. 

The toxicology findings led to the insinuation that marijuana is what caused Marquis to behave erratically on the night of his death. However, Marquis' family members doubt that this is the case. After this report went public, a lawyer representing Marquis' family tweeted, "It took four months for Pittsburgh police to produce a report that insinuates marijuana caused an athlete in the prime of his life to jump 16 stories to his death from his dorm room window. This feckless report creates more questions than answers."

As time continued to pass, Marquis' loved ones grew increasingly more frustrated with the lack of answers in his case. Finally, in July 2020, Marquis' mother Dannielle Brown decided to take drastic action to demand answers.

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In early July, Dannielle decided to travel from her home in Washington, DC to the Duquesne campus in Pittsburgh to demand answers about her son's death. Dannielle went on a hunger strike and began spending her days and nights on Freedom Corner in Pittsburgh's Hill District in hopes of catching the attention of Duquesne University. She told reporters that she was hoping for a new investigation into her son's death. Dannielle explained, "Bottom line is, either you watched my son go out that window or your hands were on my son when he went out that window." 

Dannielle Brown in Pittsburgh. Image source: KDKA

Not only does Dannielle want more answers about her son's death, she is also calling for change to the ways that campus police officers handle cases such as Marquis'. She has publicly made a request for three things: a new investigation into her son's death, a requirement for campus police officers to wear body cameras, and for the campus police to undergo more thorough de-escalation training. 

On July 22nd, 2020, it was finally announced that Duquesne University will honor Dannielle's requests. The university wrote an open letter to Marquis' family describing how each of the requests will be honored. The letter can be read in-full here. 

In April 2021, it was revealed that the university had reached a settlement with Dannielle Brown. The university has opted not to share the terms of the settlement with the public, but an attorney for Dannielle stated that she is satisfied with the outcome. Dannielle has since begun a foundation in her son's honor called The Marquis Jaylen Brown Foundation. The aim of the foundation is to achieve social justice.

The Suspicious Death of Lisa Cooper

 

Lisa Cooper was found deceased at the scene of a suspicious car accident on October 14th, 2020. The 46 year-old woman lived in Adair County, Kentucky at the time of her death. According to the Kentucky State Police, Lisa was driving a Toyota Camry eastbound on KY 900 shortly before 4PM when her car crossed to the other side of the road and hit a log truck. The driver of the log truck received minor injuries, while Lisa was pronounced dead on the scene.

Local media has portrayed Lisa's death as the result of a tragic accident. However, there are many aspects of the case that are quite suspicious. Lisa was married to a man named Greg Cooper, who had a history of domestic violence and other violent behaviors. According to Lisa's daughter, Greg was abusive towards not only Lisa herself, but her son with autism as well. Just a month before Lisa's death, Greg had made comments about hoping that Lisa would die. He also behaved suspiciously shortly after Lisa's wreck. After first responders notified Greg about the crash, he showed up to the scene to get Lisa's purse and then left before any other family members arrived.  Greg also proceeded to either steal or sell everything that belonged to Lisa--despite the fact that Lisa had left her house and her other assets to her daughter. According the daughter, Greg also got back together with his ex-wife the very next day.

In addition to Greg's questionable behavior, there are many suspicious circumstances surrounding the crash itself. The truck driver who survived the wreck stated that Lisa's head was down before their vehicles collided--which suggests that Lisa was already dead before the crash. There was also apparently no blood inside Lisa's car following the crash, nor were there any signs that she had suffered a stroke or heart attack. Lisa did have a history of drug addiction, but had gotten sober before her death. It appears that investigators still do not have a clear picture of what, exactly, led up to the crash. Despite the local media's portrayal of the wreck being an accident, the case is actually still open. Still, no suspects or persons of interest have been named.

Lisa's daughter firmly believes that Greg was involved in Lisa's death, and she is hoping to someday receive answers about what truly happened. Greg reportedly refused to move out of the house following Lisa's death, despite the fact that it legally belonged to her daughter at that point. Her daughter eventually had to go to court to have him evicted. Greg is currently incarcerated on charges of having firearms as a convicted felon. 

Lisa's death remains unsolved. If you have any information that could help solve her case, please call 1-800-222-5555 to submit a tip. 

The Suspicious Death of Jill Wells

Jill Wells was 36 years-old when she died under suspicious circumstances on March 28th, 2001. The mother of two spent that day doing target practice with her husband Mike Wells and their six-year-old son, Tanner Wells.  The three were shooting on a remote ranch outside of Punkin Center, Colorado. 

At 1:48 PM, Lincoln County dispatch received a 911 call from Mike. He told the dispatcher that his wife had accidentally been shot and killed. The dispatcher then passed the call to Lincoln County Undersheriff Adam Yowell. Yowell asked Mike what happened, to which he replied, "My wife and my son and I were out target shooting. And he turned the gun and it went off and shot her. I don’t even know where he hit her. But get somebody down here, please." 

First responders rushed to the scene, but due to the remote area of the ranch, it took around 20 minutes for anyone to show up. When they arrived, they found Jill on her stomach on an old foam mattress with a rifle in her right hand. She had a single bullet wound just above her ear. It was clear that she was deceased. 

Mike was once again asked what happened, and he explained that Tanner had been shooting with a child's rifle but asked if he could fire one shot out of the "big gun". Mike obliged Tanner's request and allowed him to fire a single shot out of his .22 caliber rifle. Mike then said that he turned his back to pick up Tanner's rifle, and when he turned back around, he saw Tanner trying to cock the rifle before it accidentally went off. That was the bullet that reportedly hit Jill, killing her. 

Both the prosecutor and the coroner who were sent to the scene honored Mike's story. The coroner took Jill's body straight to a mortuary after deeming that an autopsy was unnecessary. It seemed as if Jill's death was quickly labeled as a tragic accident. 

However, Jill's family members and friends always felt there was more to the story--and their feelings were not unfounded. In addition to an autopsy not being performed, there were many other things that were seemingly overlooked as well. Investigators did not attempt to identify any fingerprints on the rifle that killed Jill, nor did they did do any ballistics testing. They also did not conduct any in-depth interviews with anyone involved in the case. 

As the years passed after her death, Jill's loved ones could not shake the feeling that Jill's case was closed too quickly. A closer look into the details of Jill's relationship with her husband Mike revealed a possibility that perhaps her death was not an accident after all.

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A death amongst marital issues.

From the outside looking in, the Wells' seemed like a family that had it all. Jill worked as a nurse, while Mike owned his own construction business. The couple had two healthy sons. They seemed to be a happy family. 

However, those closest to Jill said that the family was troubled financially. Mike had children from a previous marriage, and most of Jill's paycheck went towards Mike's child support payments. Jill reportedly told her mother and her friends that she wanted to quit her job so she could stay at home with her sons, but she was unable to due to their financial issues. 

Jill also told her mother and friends that Mike was not present emotionally. She suspected that Mike might have been having an affair with a woman who both Jill and Mike were friends with during college. Jill confronted both Mike and the woman about it, and they denied having an affair.

Jill apparently chose to believe them, but the suspicions still remained. Additionally, in early 2001 - just months before her death - Jill told a co-worker that Mike had asked Jill to buy more life insurance. The day after Jill's death, Mike called the insurance company to collect on her life insurance.

Mike's troubles continue.

Jill's mother, sisters, and friends were left with more questions than answers after Jill's death. They wanted to talk to Mike about what happened, but he would often dodge the conversation. It also became apparent to many people that Mike was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Mike eventually remarried, but by 2006, their marriage was falling part. During 2007, his third wife moved out of their home and sought a restraining order. She documented that there was an instance of physical abuse in 2006 while Mike was under the influence of drugs. She also stated that Mike had made threats to leave her without any money. 

Jill's case is revisited.

By 2008, Jill's sister Julie Evenson finally decided to demand more answers. During June of that year, Julie went to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and asked for Jill's case to be reopened. She spoke to Deputy Alan Leach that afternoon, who asked her to write down a statement regarding her concerns about Jill's case. Julie wrote about several things, including the rumor that Mike had raised Jill's life insurance policy before her death. She also wrote about a story she had heard that Jill's son Tanner had told one of his friends that he did not actually shoot his mother. 

After hearing Julie's story and reading her statement, Deputy Leach decided to share the information with the county's new sheriff and undersheriff. The three officers then took a look at Jill's case file, and they noticed all the things that were not done in the case - there was no autopsy, no interview reports, no ballistics testing. The Sheriff's Office subsequently decided to reopen Jill's case.

Unfortunately, investigators were unable to get very far into their investigation. In August 2008, Mike Wells was found dead inside his home. He died of a methadone overdose. It appeared that his death was an accident, however investigators were unable to rule out suicide - so the manner of death remains undetermined to this day.

Information from a witness.

Although Mike had passed, the Sheriff's Office kept the investigation into Jill's death opened. Investigators then noticed that, in addition to the case lacking important information such as an autopsy, it also appeared that there was inaccurate information in the initial report on Jill's death. 

This was seemingly confirmed by a man named Patrick Leonard, who was one of the EMT first responders on the day of Jill's death. When the case was reopened, Leonard finally got to see the original report on Jill's case. The report stated that Jill was clutching a rifle in her left hand after she was shot.

However, Leonard adamantly denies this. He told investigators that he is certain that Jill was holding the rifle with her right hand. Mike also reportedly told investigators that Jill was shooting with her left hand when she died. This report obviously contradicts Leonard's recollection of events - which leads to suspicion that the crime scene might have been staged.

An open case; differing accounts. 

The new sheriff believes that Jill's case could have possibly been classified as a murder if it had been investigated more thoroughly in 2001. In fact, he stated that he does not believe that Tanner was the one to shoot and kill his mother. 

Tanner, who is now an adult, continues to say that it was him who shot Jill - not his father. Many are still unsure of Tanner's account, and Jill's case remains opened today.

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Sources:
9 News
Colorado Springs Gazette
Knight Lab
PDF

The Suspicious Death of Annie McCann

Annie McCann was only 16 years-old when she was found deceased under suspicious circumstances on November 2nd, 2008. The teen lived in Fairfax, Virginia at the time, and she was last seen by her family on either the evening of October 30th, 2008, or on the morning of October 31st, 2008. 

The 31st was a Friday, and according to Annie's father Daniel McCann, it began as a typical day. Before he left for work that morning, he peeked into Annie's room and saw what he thought was the shape of her body under the covers. Thinking that Annie would wake up shortly thereafter and get herself to school, Annie's father left for work. 

Annie's mother Mary Jane McCann was out of town that day, however she still expected a phone call from Annie once Annie returned home from school. When that phone call never came, she called her husband to ask if he had heard from their daughter. Daniel immediately left work to see if Annie had made it home from school. When he arrived, he learned that Annie had never gone to school at all that day - as her school had left a voicemail notifying her family of her absence. 

Later, Annie's parents found a note from Annie that she had left behind--it stated that she was depressed and had been contemplating suicide, but instead she decided to just run away and start fresh. After finding the note, Annie's parents realized that Annie took $1000 in cash, clothing, some snacks, and their family's white Volvo that she usually drove to school. Upon this discovery, Annie's parents immediately reported her missing.

Just days later, on November 2nd, 2008, police in Baltimore, Maryland were notified about a body that was found behind a dumpster near the Perkins Homes Housing Project. It did not take authorities very long to identify the body as that of Annie McCann. Her backpack was found near her body, which contained her driver's license and school identification. The white Volvo she was driving was found abandoned at a nearby gas station. 

The car was checked for fingerprints, and a print matching a local Baltimore teen named Darnell Kinlaw was found.

 

Darnell Kinlaw (source)

Police questioned Darnell, who told them that he and a group of friends happened to come across Annie's unlocked car in Baltimore. Darnell stated that they noticed Annie in the backseat - presumably dead - so they dumped her body behind the dumpster near the Perkins Home before taking the car for a "joyride." 

While this story seemed suspicious, police did not charge Darnell or his friends with anything related to Annie's case. In fact, authorities were quick to announce that they did not believe foul play was involved in Annie's death. An autopsy determined that Annie had a significant amount of lidocaine in her system at the time of her death. A bottle of Bactine was found in the backseat of Annie's car, and her DNA was found at the lip of the bottle. A medical examiner determined that Annie died of lidocaine poisoning. The cause of death was a ruled a suicide. 

Annie's parents were not satisfied with the investigation's findings. They did not believe that Annie took her own life, nor did they believe she voluntarily ingested Bactine. The McCanns decided to launch an investigation of their own, during which evidence was discovered that suggested Annie's death might have not been a suicide after all.

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Revisiting autopsy photographs.

After looking at autopsy photographs, Annie's parents noticed that Annie had a large bruise on her forehead that the police officers seemingly dismissed. Additionally, they believe they saw a cigarette burn on Annie's face and signs of sexual assault on her body. 

All in all, the McCanns stated that there were over 20 wounds to Annie's body that were not documented on the actual autopsy report. A 2018 letter written to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan states that Annie also suffered blunt force trauma and cervical spine wounds. 

Questions about Lidocaine poisoning. 

Annie's parents also questioned the company that makes the Bactine found in Annie's car--and they were told that the amount of lidocaine found in that product is not enough to be lethal. 

A well-known medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden backed this finding as well. According to a 2016 report, Dr. Baden and the Bactine company both stated that "drinking one bottle [of Bactine] would never be fatal."

A potential sighting. 

The McCanns eventually hired a private investigator, who was able to track down a woman who claimed to have seen Annie in Baltimore prior to her death. The woman was an employee at a coffee shop, and she said that she saw Annie at the shop with an "older, disheveled looking" woman. 

Police have never been able to locate said woman. 

Continued suspicions about Darnell Kinlaw.

It is unclear if the McCanns believe the coffee shop sighting of Annie to be credible, as they have always had their suspicions about Darnell Kinlaw. Those suspicions only intensified three years after Annie's death, when Darnell was arrested for shooting his girlfriend to death and stealing her car. 

There were obvious similarities between this case and Annie's case, however police still insisted that Darnell was not involved in Annie's death.

Where the case stands.

Despite all of these findings, Baltimore police have still maintained that Annie's death was a suicide. Some reports state that the case is close, while others claim it's still pending. Public opinion appears to be somewhat divided on what people believe happened to Annie. Many believe Annie was, in fact, a victim of both foul play and inadequate investigating by the Baltimore police. Others seem to believe she did, in fact, take her own life. 

The McCanns are still adamantly working to prove that foul play was involved in their daughter's death. 

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Sources:
ABC News
Baltimore Sun
CBS News
HuffPost
Justice for Annie
Washington Post, 2

The Tragic Death of Bobbi Kristina Brown

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon (2014)

Bobbi Kristina passed away in hospice care on July 26th, 2015--just a few years after her late mother Whitney Houston passed away on February 11th, 2012. The mother and daughter met eerily similar fates—as many people know, Whitney was found floating facedown in the bathtub of her Los Angeles hotel room on that fateful February night. It was later revealed that the iconic singer died of heart failure linked to drowning and cocaine use. Almost 3 years later, Bobbi Kristina was also found facedown in the bathtub at the Atlanta home she shared with Nick Gordon on January 31st, 2015. She was rushed to the hospital where she was reportedly stabilized and breathing. Bobbi Kristina was then placed into a medically induced coma.

While Bobbi Kristina remained in the coma over the following months, her family grew increasingly suspicious of Gordon. It was believed that Gordon had been physically abusive to Bobbi Kristina in the past, and many also believed that Gordon was responsible for her being found unconscious in that bathtub. Much like Whitney’s death, there were many rumors that drugs were involved. On June 24th, 2015, Bobbi Kristina’s court-appointed conservator, Bedelia Hargrove, filed a lawsuit accusing Nick Gordon of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and transferring money from Bobbi Kristina’s account into his own without authorization. That same day, Bobbi Kristina was moved to a hospice care facility. A little over a month later, she passed away.

In August 2015, Hargrove filed a wrongful death civil suit against Gordon. In September 2016, Gordon was found liable for the wrongful death of Bobbi Kristina Brown. The lawsuit alleged that Gordon gave Bobbi Kristina a “toxic cocktail, rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage.” A judge ordered Gordon to pay $36 million to Bobbi Kristina’s estate. No criminal charges were ever filed against Gordon in Bobbi Kristina’s case.

However, beliefs about Gordon’s violent tendencies were confirmed once again in July 2017 when he was arrested for allegedly beating his new girlfriend, Laura Leal. Leal told police that Gordon refused to let her leave when she tried to during an argument, and that he punched her and grabbed her each time she tried. Leal later refused to cooperate with the police, and those charges were dropped. Months later, Gordon was arrested for assault and battery on March 10th, 2018; for yet again beating Leal. The charges were later dropped, as Leal told the judge that she was to blame for the entire ordeal due to her mental illness.

On January 1st, 2020, Nick Gordon was found dead in a hotel room in Maitland, Florida. His death was ruled an accidental heroin overdose.

List Series: Accident vs. Foul Play

Five cases of deaths that have been labeled as accidental or undetermined despite contradictory beliefs that foul play was involved.

Danniella Vian

Danniella Vian vanished during a night out with friends on July 17th, 2018. The 25 year-old mother-of-one began her night at a restaurant in Mobile, Alabama where her friend worked as a bartender. Danniella met up with two other acquaintances at said restaurant and the three of them took their respective cars to a second bar. They later decided to go to another location, however part way through the drive to the third bar, Danniella reportedly noticed her phone was missing. She decided to go back to the second bar to retrieve it--however the friend she was with stated that Danniella never showed up and was never seen or heard from again.

Months after Danniella's disappearance, in early May 2019, a search team of divers found Danniella's car in Bayou Sara. Human remains were inside the vehicle, but investigators were not immediately able to identify the body as Danniella. However, after the body was found, police began to investigate the case as a homicide. Eventually, though, the remains were identified as that of Danniella Vian, and at that time, police announced that they believe Danniella's death was an accident, and that she was alive when were vehicle entered the water. The investigation is still ongoing.  [read more]

Todd Geib

Todd Geib (22) went missing from a party in Casnovia, Michigan on June 12th, 2005. On this particular night, about 100 people were at this party in a rural, marshy area. Shortly before 1am, Todd called a friend and told him that he ‘had enough’ of the party and was ready to leave. He made a few more phone calls to his sister after that, but neither of them were able to make out what the other was saying. Todd was never seen alive again after that.

Nearly 3 weeks later, Todd's body was founding standing upright in Ovidhall Lake. The initial autopsy concluded that Todd died of accidental drowning, however his family and friends do not believe this to be true. About four years later, Todd's case was re-examined--and it was concluded that Todd had only been dead for 2-5 days at the time he was found, despite the fact that he had been missing for 3 weeks. Additionally, it was concluded that Todd did not have any water in his lungs at the time of his death, which rules out drowning as a cause of death. Despite these findings, though, police have still not re-opened Todd's case. [read more]

Lauren Agee

Lauren Agee (21) died while attending WakeFest in Smithville, Tennessee. She was with Christopher Stout, Hannah Palmer, and Hannah’s new boyfriend Aaron Lilly. The group was camping at the festival, which began on July 25th, 2015. Their campsite was located cliff-side, overlooking Center Hill Lake. One night during the three day festival, Lauren and Christopher slept together in an ENO hammock hanging near the cliff. The following afternoon, Lauren’s body was found floating in the lake by two fisherman. An autopsy report suggested that Lauren, who had been drinking heavily, slipped off the cliff located near her campsite. The report mentioned blunt trauma that was consistent with the fall and possible drowning. Authorities ruled that there was no foul play involved in her death.

Lauren’s mother, Sherry Smith, has doubted that her daughter’s death was an accident from the get-go. She wasn’t the only one with doubts about the autopsy ruling. In fact, the officers who responded to the scene when Lauren’s body was found felt that a lot of evidence was ignored by investigators. Sherry eventually hired private investigator Sheila Wysocki to investigate Lauren’s death. Wysocki also does not believe that Lauren’s death was an accident. After looking at the autopsy photos, Wysocki said there appeared to be a strange bite mark on one of Agee’s breasts, and she believes Agee’s body showed signs of strangulation. Other forensic professionals have disputed this evidence and Lauren's case is still considered closed. However, wrongful death suits against Christopher Stout and Aaron Lilly are ongoing. [read more]

Janina Vasquez

Janina Vasquez disappeared on February 12th, 2015. The 27 year-old lived at her parent's home in Kansas City, Missouri at the time of her disappearance. The evening she was last seen, Janina told her mother that she was going to the Isle of Capri casino with two of her friends. At 7:40pm, Janina was seen exiting the casino by herself. Surveillance footage captured her leaving the building and getting into an unidentified red vehicle. Janina never returned home that evening and her family reported her missing the following day.

Just seven days later, a city worker found Janina’s body at the bottom of a well in Overland Park. Investigators determined that Janina had died from blunt force trauma. Despite this, authorities ruled Janina’s death as accidental. However, there are many factors in this case that lead Janina’s mother and many others to believe that Janina was murdered. The well that her body was found in is surrounded by a gate with a barbed wire. Janina suffered from chronic pains and seizures, and her mother does not believe she would have been able to climb over that gate by herself. Additionally, over a year after Janina was found dead, authorities told her mother that Janina apparently made a 911 call from the bottom of the well during on the night of February 12th. Apparently the officers who responded to the 911 call searched the park, but not the well, before leaving. It is unknown what Janina said on the 911 call, but her mother believes that somebody had thrown her into the well. The person who picked up Janina from the casino also remains unknown. Janina's close has been closed, however many believe it deserves a second look. [read more] [also on the 'Unsolved Mysteries with Surveillance Footage' list]

Emilie Morris

Emilie Morris died at the age of 35 on November 4th, 2014. The young woman was found face down on the bedroom floor of her St. Louis, Missouri apartment 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. Emilie’s death is being called “suspicious” by investigators, as one of her apartment doors was unlocked at the time and it is unclear how she got into the position she was found in. Emilie had struggled with alcoholism in the years before her death, so her parents were initially worried that she had been drinking at the time of her demise. However, the autopsy revealed that she had an alcohol level of 0.05%, and the legal limit for driving in Missouri is 0.08%.

Emilie died shortly before she was expected to testify against Jim Wilder, who had been charged with six counts of statutory sodomy after Emilie revealed to police that Wilder had pursued an inappropriate relationship with her during her high school years. Wilder was Emilie's cross country coach, and he had a history of pursuing relationships with underaged girls. Emilie worked with police to charge Wilder years after the fact, when she recorded him confessing to having a sexual relationship with her when she was still a minor.  Many have theorized that Wilder is involved in Emilie's death, as he knew she had incriminating evidence that would put him behind bars. However, he has never been charged with anything related to Emilie's case. Her manner of death is still undetermined. [read more]

The Suspicious Death of Lauren Agee

One of the final photographs of 21 year old Lauren Agee (left), taken in July of 2015 at WakeFest in Smithville, Tennessee.

Lauren Agee attended the 2015 WakeFest with Christopher Stout (pictured above on the right), Hannah Palmer, and Hannah’s new boyfriend Aaron Lilly (pictured together below). The group was camping at the festival, which began on July 25th, 2015. Their campsite was located cliff-side, overlooking Center Hill Lake.

One night during the three day festival, Lauren and Christopher slept together in an ENO hammock hanging near the cliff. The following afternoon, Lauren’s body was found floating in the lake by two fisherman. An autopsy report suggested that Lauren, who had been drinking heavily, slipped off the cliff located near her campsite. The report mentioned blunt trauma that was consistent with the fall and possible drowning. Authorities ruled that there was no foul play involved in her death.

Lauren’s mother, Sherry Smith, has doubted that her daughter’s death was an accident from the get-go. She wasn’t the only one with doubts about the autopsy ruling. In fact, the officers who responded to the scene when Lauren’s body was found felt that a lot of evidence was ignored by investigators.

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When one of the officers, Ryan Melanson, questioned Christopher, Hannah, and Aaron about what happened, they said that when they woke up that morning, Lauren was gone. Christopher said he “didn’t feel Lauren get out of the hammock,” but when he woke up alone that morning, he simply thought she was already at the WakeFest events. Hannah, a childhood friend of Lauren’s, said that she was “really worried” when she woke up and realized that Lauren was gone because Lauren left her shoes, wallet, and phone behind, which was out of character of her. However, Hannah said that the boys reassured her that Lauren had gotten a head start on the day’s festivities that they would see her later. While questioning the three, Officer Melanson noted that Christopher and Aaron in particular seemed nervous, but ultimately “unsympathetic for the death of their so-called friend.”

Sherry eventually hired private investigator Sheila Wysocki to investigate Lauren’s death. Wysocki also does not believe that Lauren’s death was an accident. After looking at the autopsy photos, Wysocki said there appeared to be a strange bite mark on one of Agee’s breasts, and she believes Agee’s body showed signs of strangulation. Wysocki was also able to interview Hannah, who told her the same thing she told police—that she didn’t call Lauren’s parents or the authorities the morning Lauren had disappeared because she thought her friend had just wandered off. However, midway through the interview, Wysocki said that Hannah received a phone call from Aaron. Wysocki believes that she was able to hear Aaron saying to Hannah, “stick to the story.” 

Equipped the information provided by Wysocki, Sherry filed a wrongful death civil suit against the three friends. When the three were eventually required to give depositions, they all replied by using their Fifth Amendments rights to not incriminate themselves. Forensic pathologists also disagreed with Wysocki’s findings that there was evidence of strangulation or bite marks on Lauren’s body. On March 24th, 2017, a judge ruled that there was not enough evidence for a wrongful death case against Hannah Palmer. The cases against Christopher and Aaron are still pending.

Since the ruling, an additional witness named Chris Brown has come forward with possibly more information on the case. Brown testified that on the night/morning of Lauren’s death, he and his family had traveled to Pate’s Ford Boat Dock on Center Hill Lake with some friends. He said that he was standing on the dock around midnight when he observed a white male swimming towards the dock and eventually climbing on to it. Brown said that the “young man appeared extremely distraught and worn out.” He apparently spit out water for several minutes before telling Brown and his family that he had almost drowned while swimming and searching for his friends. Brown said that he did not think much of the incident until he had learned about Lauren’s death later that day—he simply had a gut feeling that the young man he saw might’ve been involved. Months later, Brown said he was discussing Lauren’s death with his hairdresser when he was shown pictures of the group of friends Lauren was with that weekend. Brown recognized one of the young men in the pictures as the man he encountered that night. That young man turned out to be Aaron Lilly.

There is still a lot of debate about whether or not Lauren’s death was an accident. Other than the pending civil cases against Christopher and Aaron, Lauren’s case is considered closed.

[Accident vs. Foul Play]

The Suspicious Death of Emilie Morris

Emilie Morris

Emilie Morris was a 35 year-old woman who was found deceased under suspicious circumstances on November 4th, 2014. She died while in the midst of a court battle against a high school cross-country coach who had sexually abused her years in the past. The coach's name was Jim Wilder.

16 year-old Emilie Morris and her high school cross-country coach, 29 year-old Jim Wilder at a track meet in 1995.

Jim Wilder had been sexually abusing Emilie since she was 15 years old, after she began competing on the cross-country team at Lindbergh High in St. Louis, Missouri. Their “relationship” was an “open secret” amongst students and even parents in the community. According to a classmate of Emilie’s, Wilder was a highly regarded person at the school and often received recognition for his performance in coaching. That same classmate said that nobody thought anything was wrong with Emilie’s relationship with him; as Wilder “always did this, and nobody ever said anything about it before.” In 1996, the principal at Lindbergh High was tipped off about the inappropriate 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.

After the investigation, Emilie’s mother said that she started to notice a change in her daughter. The once happy-go-lucky girl began to suffer from low-self esteem and depression that only seemed to get worsen throughout the remainder of her high school years. Things continued to decline for Emilie as she entered college as well, as she began to develop bulimia and increasingly worse depression. Emilie would later trace her eating issues back to Wilder’s criticism of her body back in high school.

By 2007, Emilie’s life seemed to be going in a positive direction. At this point, she was married with two children. According to her family, Emilie was stable for the first time in a long time. This is why she decided to stay quiet the following year when it was revealed that Wilder had yet another inappropriate relationship with a student. In December 2008, Wilder 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. Unfortunately, those charges against Wilder were eventually dropped. By February 2009, St. Louis County prosecutor’s office announced it had no “credible evidence that any sexual contact had taken place” between Wilder and the anonymous minor. He was able to return to his job at Lindbergh High.

In the years that followed, Emilie’s depression returned. She began struggling with alcoholism and eventually divorced her husband in 2012. He was granted full custody of their two children. During this time, Emilie finally confided in her parents about her relationship with Wilder. It sickened Emilie that Wilder was still able to coach young children, especially since Emilie’s friend had a daughter who was playing on a soccer team that Wilder trained. Finally, in summer 2013, with encouragement from her parents, friends, and therapist, Emilie decided to go to the police. 

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As part of the investigation, police asked Emilie to have a conversation with Wilder while secretly wearing a microphone to see if he would confess to their inappropriate relationship. Emilie agreed, and approached Wilder by telling him that her new therapist had encouraged her to revisit their past. She wanted to have the conversation via phone, but Wilder insisted that they meet up in person as he was worried about the government tracking his phone calls. During their conversation, Wilder admitted to having a relationship with Emilie while she was a minor, however he did not believe he did anything wrong. At one point, Wilder is heard saying “In 90% of the world, 15’s legal. So if I go over and boff a 15-year-old in Spain, I can do it all day in the streets — whatever — and nothing would happen.” He also stated that he felt Emilie was the “persuasive one” in their relationship and he felt that their relationship was a “choice that they both made together.” At the end of their conversation, Wilder told Emilie: “I always want you to know that I was there to protect you, not harm you.”

Despite the fact that Wilder still obviously did not understand that his actions were wrong, he still confessed to breaking the law by engaging in a sexual relationship with a minor—and Emilie caught his confession on tape. She turned the tape over to investigators, and Wilder was subsequently arrested and charged with six counts of statutory sodomy.

By November 2014, the case was still pending and Wilder was out on bail. Emilie was ready to put the whole ordeal behind her, but she unfortunately never got the chance. On November 4th, 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. Emilie’s death is being called “suspicious” by investigators, as one of her apartment doors was unlocked at the time and it is unclear how she got into the position she was found in. Her parents were initially worried that she had been drinking at the time of her death, but the autopsy revealed that she had an alcohol level of 0.05%, and the legal limit for driving in Missouri is 0.08%.

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.

Emilie’s case is yet another example of sexual violence inflicted upon a female by a male in a position of power. Additionally, Emilie was just a young child when the abuse occurred, and she was not the first nor the last girl that Wilder abused. These types of situations are unfortunately still common, however there are now many resources available to help young women in these situations. If you are somebody you know is struggling from sexual violence, please visit this website for assistance.

Lists including this case:

[Accident vs. Foul Play]
[Cases Involving a Miscarriage of Justice]