# 3 Chilling True Crime Mysteries: Al Kite, David Stack, Heather Sellars

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 17 Aug 2025, 31 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO9018157199.mp3

Three murders, decades apart, each marked by strange clues and unanswered questions. Join me as we delve into these three true crime unsolved mysteries. Chapters: 0:00 Al Kite 13:52 David Stack 22:26 Heather Sellars 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 Al Kite murder, David Stack case, Heather Sellars disappearance, true crime podcast, Colorado cold cases, unsolved murders, 1976 homicide, 2004 Denver murder, missing woman North Carolina, unidentified victim case, solved through DNA, hitchhiking danger cases, American cold cases, true crime mysteries, chilling unsolved murders

## Transcript

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[1:00] Albert Kite was always. Punctual so when he didn't show
[1:03] up for work on Monday, May 24th, 2004.
[1:06] His. Colleagues knew something was
[1:07] definitely wrong that afternoon. Police arrived at his quiet.
[1:12] Aurora, Co Townhouse to perform a welfare check and discovered a
[1:18] basement of horrors beyond human comprehension.
[1:22] The 53 year old lay deceased face.
[1:25] Down on the floor and all evidence indicated he had been
[1:28] subjected to unimaginable acts. For hours, this was the start of
[1:33] a. Chilling unsolved mystery that
[1:35] haunts Aurora. To this day.
[1:39] Al had been a hard working man with a comfortable life.
[1:42] He was known for his kind, helpful nature among friends and
[1:46] Co workers. By 2004, the 53 year old was
[1:51] looking forward to a new. Chapter he had recently.
[1:54] Begun A promising relationship with a woman named Linda and he
[1:58] was searching for a new roommate to rent his basement apartment.
[2:02] Nothing in his life. Foreshadowed the terror.
[2:04] That was about to be unleashed. He soon found an eager applicant
[2:08] for the vacant room on May 19th, 2004, a man calling himself
[2:14] Robert. Cooper.
[2:15] Responded to AL's newspaper ad claiming he had just moved from
[2:19] the east. Coast for a job with Wells
[2:21] Fargo. The man met Al in person.
[2:24] Paid a security deposit. And half a month's rent upfront
[2:28] and received a house. Key.
[2:30] It all seemed like a routine rental arrangement.
[2:33] During one visit, AL's girlfriend, Linda was at the.
[2:36] House. But the prospective renter
[2:38] slipped away before Linda could get a good look at him.
[2:44] She did notice he appeared middle-aged with dark hair and
[2:47] walked with a limp using a cane. Still, everything about Robert
[2:52] Cooper seemed normal enough, and Al was glad to have a new tenant
[2:56] lined up. He had no idea that he was
[2:59] letting one of the most. Depraved predators.
[3:01] Possible into his home, unbeknownst to Al.
[3:06] Robert Cooper had approached several other.
[3:08] Landlords in the area that same week, each time presenting a
[3:12] slightly different persona. One landlord recalled a man of a
[3:16] similar age, with no limp and an Eastern European accent.
[3:20] Another remembered an older man who walked with a cane and spoke
[3:23] without an accent. Neighbors of al later.
[3:26] Reported similarly strange encounters with the new tenant.
[3:30] One neighbor's greeting was ignored entirely, and another
[3:34] saw the man on a walking trail moving without any limp at all.
[3:38] It was as if. He were a chameleon, altering
[3:41] his age, accent and behavior. To deflect suspicion Saturday.
[3:48] May 22nd, 2004 began normally for Al that morning he drove
[3:54] Linda to the. Airport for a week.
[3:55] Long trip after seeing her off, he spent the day doing
[3:59] household. Chores.
[4:01] Around 3:30 PM, when Linda's flight landed, she called Al and
[4:05] found him in Good. Spirits, he said.
[4:08] He had just finished fixing a leaky pipe in his basement with
[4:11] a neighbor. 'S help.
[4:12] They wished each. Other a nice weekend.
[4:15] Anticipating that they would. Be reunited soon.
[4:19] Tragically, that brief. Phone call.
[4:20] Was the last. Time anyone is known to have
[4:22] spoken to Al. Sometime over the next two days,
[4:26] the man calling himself Robert Cooper returned to AL's home to
[4:30] carry. Out his cruel.
[4:31] Plan On Monday morning, May 24th, AL's absence at work set
[4:39] off alarms. Concerned Co workers contacted.
[4:42] His sister and Aurora police were dispatched to.
[4:45] Check on him. Officers arrived to find no
[4:48] answer at the door after entering the house.
[4:52] They discovered AL's lifeless. Body on the basement floor.
[4:56] I don't generally get into the gruesome.
[4:58] Details for cases like this, but let's just say.
[5:02] The level of violence. Visited upon Al.
[5:04] Might make a medieval inquisitor nauseous.
[5:09] The perpetrator had gone to great.
[5:11] Lengths to cover his tracks several.
[5:14] Of AL's own kitchen knives, a glass, and even the key.
[5:18] That this so-called Robert. Cooper had been given were found
[5:21] soaking in a bleach filled sink. As if to destroy.
[5:25] Fingerprints and DNA. The house had been wiped down.
[5:29] With bleach and bleach had been dumped down all the drains in an
[5:32] effort to wash away any trace evidence before fleeing the
[5:37] perpetrator. Stole AL's wallet.
[5:39] Cell phone and pickup truck early on Sunday.
[5:43] The suspect was caught. On an ATM camera wearing a ski
[5:47] mask. And gloves.
[5:48] Withdrawing about 1000 bucks using AL's debit card, he then
[5:53] abandoned AL's. Truck a few blocks.
[5:55] Away and discarded the stolen cell phone in a pay phone booth.
[5:59] In a final act of caution, the perpetrator even took.
[6:03] Out AL's trash. Presumably just in case any.
[6:06] Trace elements of his. Existence from the previous
[6:09] visits were found within with the crime scene.
[6:14] Secured detectives focused. On the mysterious renter as the
[6:18] prime suspect. Tracking him down, however,
[6:21] proved nearly impossible. The rental application, Robert.
[6:25] Cooper had filled out. Was completely fraudulent.
[6:28] The name was an. Alias The listed address was a.
[6:31] Building at a local campus, not a residence.
[6:36] The Social Security number belonged to an elderly woman in
[6:39] another state and the reference phone number was for a
[6:42] retirement home. Everything was bogus information
[6:46] and unfortunately al being a trusting and honest.
[6:49] Guy clearly just. Went with his gut feeling.
[6:55] Investigators also discovered that the phone Cooper used to
[6:58] contact Al was a prepaid burner phone bought 2 months earlier
[7:02] and. Activated about 30 days after
[7:04] purchase. By waiting a month to.
[7:07] Activate it the suspect. Ensured the store's surveillance
[7:10] footage of the phone purchase had been deleted, leaving police
[7:14] no video of him buying it. This level of pre.
[7:17] Planning astonished detectives at every turn the perpetrator
[7:21] had anticipated. How to obscure his trail despite
[7:26] the. Perpetrators Precautions Police
[7:28] did obtain a sample of his DNA from that drop.
[7:31] Of blood. On the stairs, frustratingly,
[7:35] when they ran the profile through National.
[7:37] Databases it matched. No known offender, the case had
[7:42] turned into a baffling whodunit, a shape shifting suspect who
[7:47] vanished. Without a trace.
[7:49] Leaving only an alias and an unknown DNA profile behind,
[7:55] piercing together, witness accounts gave investigators.
[7:58] A hazy picture of who Robert Cooper was.
[8:01] At least in terms of physical appearance.
[8:04] Notably, the descriptions of the man were quite generic, for lack
[8:08] of a better term. By most descriptions, he was a
[8:11] white male of average height with a medium build and medium
[8:14] brown to dark brown hair. Witnesses placed him somewhere
[8:18] between his late 30s and. 50s and noted.
[8:22] That his appearance and behavior could change.
[8:26] Some recalled A slight Eastern European accent and that he
[8:29] walked with a limp aided by a cane, while others remembered no
[8:34] accent and no limp at. All clearly the suspect was
[8:38] adept. At deception, altering his.
[8:40] Persona to avoid. Leaving any consistent
[8:42] impression, investigators even consulted experts for insights
[8:47] and the knots used to bind. Al were so precise.
[8:50] That one expert. Theorized the perpetrator.
[8:53] Might have had military or nautical training.
[8:57] Notably, the perpetrator also conducted a form of foot
[9:01] whipping, which is popular in the Old World but almost
[9:04] entirely unknown in the. States this.
[9:07] Technique can leave someone with a permanent pronounced.
[9:09] Limp further. It's a.
[9:12] Technique which is still commonly used in Russian
[9:14] prisons, combined with the Eastern European accent and the
[9:19] occasional. Limp.
[9:20] I have to. Speculate whether Robert Cooper
[9:22] may have experienced a similar technique used on him or perhaps
[9:28] given the extreme lengths he. Took to cover his tracks.
[9:31] He knew how to feign the symptoms of undergoing foot
[9:34] whipping. Anyway, let's get back to the
[9:37] investigation for the moment, but I'll have more to say about
[9:40] my own personal theories on this disturbing case shortly.
[9:46] Perhaps unsurprisingly, detectives also struggled to
[9:50] identify anything approaching a motive in this case.
[9:53] The brutality suggested deep. Anger or a personal vendetta.
[9:57] Yet they found no one in AL's. Life who had a.
[9:59] Reason to hurt him. While the perpetrator.
[10:02] Did take some money. The ferocity of the attack far
[10:06] exceeded a typical. Robbery investigators came to
[10:10] believe that the true motive was the.
[10:11] Thrill of the ACT. Itself, According to
[10:14] investigators, this was likely an opportunistic predator.
[10:18] Who selected? Al simply to satisfy a craving
[10:21] for violence. They believed that he would have
[10:24] done. This to any person who had
[10:25] agreed to rent A room to him and handed.
[10:28] Over the keys. Al just happened to be the
[10:31] unlucky person who went through with the deal.
[10:35] Over the years, various theories have emerged about who Robert
[10:40] Cooper really. Was some suspect he was a.
[10:43] Professional hitman or ex military operative given his
[10:47] discipline and meticulous planning others theorize an
[10:52] international connection, noting the unusual foot whipping method
[10:56] and hints of an Eastern European background another.
[11:00] View is that he. Was an uncaught serial.
[11:02] Predator, who had. Honed his skills on other
[11:05] victims in favor of this the way he canvassed multiple rental
[11:10] homes. Suggests a predator.
[11:12] Searching for the perfect target even though the.
[11:16] Trail is cold. The case remains open.
[11:20] Investigators have also. Turned to new technology in
[11:24] hopes of finally unmasking the perpetrator in 2017.
[11:30] Aurora police released. Adna based composite image of
[11:33] the suspect showing what he might have.
[11:36] Looked like at various. Stages in life.
[11:39] Notably, he presented himself as various ages to the people he
[11:43] met. So his exact.
[11:44] Age is unknown. The DNA.
[11:47] Analysis suggested the suspect had fair.
[11:49] Skin and European ancestry consistent with witness
[11:53] impressions, unfortunately. The specifics of his.
[11:56] European ancestry haven't been publicly.
[11:59] Released, though I suspect that this is because this is an
[12:03] active. And ongoing investigation.
[12:07] The authorities have. Retained A genetic genealogy
[12:10] company in relation to this crime and may currently be
[12:13] working on building out his family tree.
[12:17] One theory I've considered. Is that the drop?
[12:19] Of blood found at the crime scene wasn't accidental at all,
[12:22] but intentionally. Placed there by the perp as a
[12:25] red. Herring Given the extremely
[12:27] meticulous nature of the crime, leaving behind a single drop of
[12:30] blood feels strangely inconsistent.
[12:35] It's. Plausible Robert Cooper.
[12:37] Planted this blood knowing authorities would latch onto it
[12:41] as a definitive clue by introducing DNA from someone
[12:45] entirely unrelated. He could have effectively.
[12:48] Diverted the investigation down a false path.
[12:52] Authorities have been relying heavily on this DNA sample to
[12:55] identify their suspect, confident it's the key to
[12:58] solving the case. It's unsettling to consider, but
[13:03] entirely possible. That this small drop of blood.
[13:07] Was yet another trick. Played by this.
[13:09] Chameleon Predator. While I clearly find this theory
[13:14] compelling. It does have its.
[13:16] Weaknesses Transporting someone else's blood without
[13:20] contaminating it with your own DNA is a risk.
[13:24] The smallest mistake could result.
[13:26] In a mixed sample, which would raise immediate red flags for
[13:29] investigators, sourcing the blood is another major hurdle.
[13:34] Unless the perpetrator had access to medical waste.
[13:37] Vulnerable individuals or illicit sources obtaining A
[13:40] viable and uncontaminated sample would be logistically complex
[13:45] and risky. I feel I'm also.
[13:48] Obliged to mention Occam's Razor here.
[13:50] The simplest and most likely explanation.
[13:53] Is that the perpetrator? Was injured during the attack
[13:56] and unknowingly left a. Trace behind that said.
[14:01] I'm not sure to what degree Occam's Razor can be.
[14:03] Applied to this case due to the fact.
[14:06] That we know Robert Cooper engaged in multiple.
[14:09] Layers of deception. In a quote UN quote.
[14:12] Normal case. Mentioning that the unknown DNA
[14:16] profile found at the scene could be from someone else would
[14:19] basically. Be absurd, but the.
[14:22] Slaying of Alkyte by this unknown sinister figure is no
[14:25] normal. Case not even close.
[14:31] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here just shouting out all my
[14:35] subscribers, members and patrons.
[14:37] Also got to. Take a moment to.
[14:38] Plug lazy chill. True.
[14:40] Crime, which is available on YouTube itself or in audio form
[14:44] as a podcast. Just search up lazy chill true.
[14:48] Crime on YouTube or wherever you get your.
[14:50] Podcasts. In June 19, 7618, year old
[14:57] David. Stack set out to.
[14:58] Hitchhike from Broomfield, Co, to California.
[15:02] He was a recent. High School graduate with a.
[15:04] Free spirited, adventurous personality and a knack for
[15:08] making friends wherever he went. David came from a large family
[15:13] and hoped. To visit his.
[15:14] Siblings in Northern California, including a brother who worked
[15:17] as a Carpenter there. With little money on hand, he
[15:21] chose. To hitch rides across the West.
[15:24] A common practice in the 1970s, when many people saw hitchhiking
[15:29] as a. Relatively Safeway to travel.
[15:32] Of course, as we know now, this once common.
[15:34] Practice ended up being exploited by predators on.
[15:40] June 1st, 19. 76 David. Departed with a backpack,
[15:44] optimistic about the road. Ahead as the weeks passed.
[15:48] With no word from David, his family grew deeply concerned.
[15:53] His relatives in California confirmed that he never arrived,
[15:57] and at first, his parents and siblings tried to remain
[16:00] hopeful. They wondered if David might
[16:02] have changed plans, gone on a side adventure, or simply taken
[16:07] longer than expected. But by Midsummer, it was.
[16:10] Very clear. That something was very wrong.
[16:15] Unbeknownst to his loved ones, David's journey had come to a
[16:19] tragic end in Utah on June 10th, 19. 76 a worker.
[16:25] At a landfill near Wendover on the border with Nevada,
[16:28] discovered the body of a young man.
[16:31] Authorities in Toole County responded and began
[16:34] investigating. The Death, the.
[16:36] Victim was a white male around 17 to 20 years old, with
[16:40] shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes.
[16:43] He wore a tan shirt, patched blue jeans and a black belt, but
[16:48] he had no identification on him. The medical examiner noted the
[16:54] young man's build and features, including a small scar on his
[16:58] forehead and a slight deformity in one toe for.
[17:02] Investigators at the time. However, none of these clues
[17:05] were enough to reveal the young man's name.
[17:08] In hindsight, those details would later line up with David
[17:11] Stack's description. The autopsy revealed.
[17:14] He met a violent end with two bullet holes noted in the John
[17:18] Doe's skull. Investigators kept the specific
[17:22] detail of the wounds secret from the public, a strategy often
[17:26] used. To filter out false leads, they
[17:29] announced. Only that a John Doe had been
[17:31] found slain near Wendover. Police canvassed the area and
[17:36] learned that a hitchhiker resembling the victim was
[17:39] reportedly seen in town on June 9th.
[17:41] The day before the. Body was found.
[17:45] It appeared that. David made it that.
[17:46] Far West likely. Catching rides along Interstate
[17:50] 80, but somewhere near the Utah Nevada border, he met a deadly.
[17:55] Fate. Initial efforts to identify the
[17:58] slain teenager were unsuccessful.
[18:01] In the 1970s, there were no national.
[18:04] Databases linking. Missing persons with
[18:06] unidentified remains despite being in the next.
[18:10] State over the. Description of the John Doe in
[18:13] Utah never made its way to authorities in Colorado at the
[18:17] time, so nobody connected the dots.
[18:20] With no name and no suspects, the investigation stalled.
[18:25] The unknown young man was buried in a pauper's grave in Toole
[18:28] County and the case went cold. For decades, David.
[18:35] Stack's family endured the pain of not knowing what happened to
[18:38] him. His parents and siblings never
[18:40] stopped wondering if he might be alive somewhere year after year.
[18:45] They held out hope. And David's mother passed away
[18:48] in 2011, still believing her son could return one day.
[18:53] The family's search was made harder by the fact that.
[18:55] David's case. Had no leads whatsoever.
[18:58] He was simply last. Seen heading West.
[19:01] And then he vanished. The Colorado Bureau of
[19:04] Investigation kept his case on file, and the family continued
[19:08] to. Publicize his story in hopes of
[19:10] a lead. But nothing.
[19:12] Surfaced over the years. Information about David's
[19:16] disappearance slowly made its way into.
[19:19] Various police files. And missing persons networks.
[19:23] Likewise, the unidentified Toole County John Doe.
[19:26] Case. Remained on file in Utah though,
[19:30] without anyone to advocate for him in that.
[19:32] Capacity this case received. Little attention.
[19:38] In 2010, the unidentified victims details were entered
[19:42] into the Name US Database, a centralized repository designed
[19:47] to match missing people with unknown remains across the
[19:50] country. This was and remains a game
[19:52] changer that can connect. Cases with just a.
[19:55] Few keystrokes, something that had been virtually unimaginable
[19:59] in the 1970s. It would prove crucial, but the
[20:03] pieces. Didn't fall into place
[20:04] immediately in 2014. 2 cold case detectives.
[20:11] In. Utah revisited the old.
[20:13] John Doe file and used name us to search for potential matches.
[20:19] David Stack's profile surfaced. He was the right age.
[20:22] Had vanished in 1976 while hitchhiking, and his physical
[20:27] description was similar to the unknown victim.
[20:30] Investigators compared dental records from the John Doe with
[20:33] David's dental records that were on file.
[20:37] The similarities were striking enough that in May 2015, the
[20:41] authorities exhumed the unknown body from its grave to obtain
[20:45] DNA samples. David's siblings provided their
[20:48] DNA for comparison as well. After a few weeks of analysis,
[20:53] the results. Confirmed what detectives had
[20:56] strongly suspected. In August 2015, authorities
[21:01] publicly announced that the John Doe found in Utah back in 1976
[21:07] was indeed David. Stack.
[21:10] Nearly 39 years. After his death, David.
[21:13] Finally got his name back and these two previously unconnected
[21:17] cases fully intersected. The news brought a mix of
[21:22] heartbreak and closure to his family.
[21:25] They were devastated to. Finally have confirmation of the
[21:27] painful fate they had long. Feared still, they were grateful
[21:32] to at. Least know the truth and to be
[21:35] able to reclaim David's remains for a proper burial.
[21:39] His body was. Returned to his family and he
[21:42] was finally laid to rest under his own name.
[21:47] With David's identity established, the case was
[21:50] officially. Reopened in 2015, investigators
[21:54] now had new avenues to explore, and they could attempt to.
[21:57] Retrace David's path. They could connect the two files
[22:01] and try to find witnesses who might remember seeing him or
[22:04] recall any suspicious individuals on the.
[22:07] Road that summer, the. Challenge, however, was enormous
[22:11] given the passage of time, and as of now, it appears that no
[22:16] further meaningful leads have ever been found in this matter.
[22:20] No perpetrator. Has ever been publicly
[22:22] identified and the motive? For this brutal.
[22:24] Attack remains entirely unknown. There are several theories
[22:30] about. What might have happened?
[22:32] The most likely scenario. Is that David accepted?
[22:34] A ride from someone who then turned violent.
[22:38] It could have been a robbery or something much darker that ended
[22:42] in a slaying unfortunately. These sorts of predators.
[22:46] Like to target young hitchhikers during this time.
[22:49] Period. Some even.
[22:51] Speculate that he might have fallen victim to a serial
[22:53] predator who preyed on hitchhikers in that era.
[22:59] Perhaps. Just as disturbingly, it may
[23:01] well have been a solitary act of violence by a stranger passing
[23:04] through the area. Unfortunately, the final.
[23:07] Pieces of the puzzle for justice in David Stack's.
[23:10] Story remain out of reach given the lack of additional forensic
[23:15] evidence. It now appears that the best.
[23:17] Opportunity to truly. Resolve this case would be if
[23:21] someone remembers something they saw.
[23:23] In 1976. Heather Sellers was a. 20 year
[23:30] old woman living with family in Spartanburg, SC she had some
[23:35] previous troubles with addiction, but according to her
[23:38] family she had gotten her life together in the previous.
[23:42] Year. On September 24th, 2002,
[23:47] Heather's grandmother dropped her off for an evening shift.
[23:49] At the Waffle. House near Hwy. 9.
[23:52] And Interstate 80. 5 Heather carried an overnight bag,
[23:56] planning to stay at. Her aunt's house after.
[23:58] Work. Tragically she never made it
[24:02] home that night. After finishing work, Heather
[24:06] met up with her ex fiance, 22 year old Jonathan Vick.
[24:11] They had broken off their engagement just two weeks.
[24:14] Earlier, but we're still. Seeing each.
[24:16] Other despite the breakup. That evening.
[24:19] The two visited 2 local bars, a place called the.
[24:23] Rainbow Lounge and another called Cocktails and Dreams.
[24:27] Those outings were the last. Confirmed sightings of Heather
[24:31] She never returned to her aunts, and she never showed up to.
[24:34] Collect her last paycheck at the Waffle House.
[24:40] Heather's family realized immediately that something was
[24:42] wrong when she failed to come home or call.
[24:45] Disappearing without a word was completely out of.
[24:48] Character for her. Heather was in regular touch
[24:51] with her relatives and wouldn't drop out of contact.
[24:53] Like that? Alarmed, her family reported her
[24:57] missing to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office and
[25:00] quickly mobilized. To search.
[25:03] They contacted friends, drove along Heather's.
[25:06] Usual routes. And put up missing person Flyers
[25:09] around town. Despite these efforts, the early
[25:12] searches. Turned up nothing.
[25:14] No clues to what happened at all.
[25:19] From the start, Jonathan Vick became the primary focus of the
[25:22] investigation. He was the last.
[25:25] Person known to have seen Heather alive as witnesses had
[25:29] spotted them together on the night.
[25:30] She disappeared. Heather and Vick's relationship
[25:34] had been tumultuous and she had confided to family that.
[25:38] Victoria was abusive. During their time together.
[25:41] Further their breakup 2 weeks before.
[25:43] Had been extremely tense and she advised her family.
[25:47] That she was scared. Naturally, detectives questioned
[25:53] Victoria right away and he denied any involvement and
[25:56] claimed he didn't know where Heather went that night.
[26:00] With no physical evidence in the early.
[26:01] Stages and no body. Police couldn't charge him, but
[26:06] their suspicion remained, investigators also considered.
[26:11] Other possibilities? For a time.
[26:14] They looked at a. Potential connection to another
[26:16] missing woman in the area, one of Heather's.
[26:19] Co workers at the Waffle House. 32 year old Michelle Whitaker
[26:24] had vanished in August 2002, just a month before Heather this
[26:29] coincidence raised. Fears of a serial.
[26:32] Predator and even speculation that Victoria might somehow be
[26:35] involved in both. Cases, however.
[26:39] In 2008, Whitaker was found alive and well.
[26:43] She. Had left the state.
[26:44] Voluntarily and was apparently unaware that people back home
[26:47] thought she was missing in October 2005.
[26:54] Three years after Heather vanished.
[26:56] A dramatic turn of events cast new suspicion on Vic.
[27:00] That fall. Jonathan Victoria was arrested
[27:03] and charged with an unrelated crime, the 1995 slaying of a
[27:08] local woman named Dana. Satterfield.
[27:11] Satterfield, A20. 7 year old hairdresser had been slain in
[27:15] her Roebuck, South Carolina beauty salon.
[27:18] In 2006. Victoria was convicted of that
[27:22] slaying and sentenced to life in prison.
[27:26] For Heather's loved ones and the authorities, this revelation was
[27:30] chilling. It confirmed that the man they
[27:33] suspected in her disappearance was undeniably capable of truly
[27:37] evil and heinous acts. Following Victoria's conviction,
[27:43] Spartanburg authorities. Revisited Heather's cold case.
[27:48] In 2006, they discovered an abandoned car that had been
[27:52] registered. To Vic.
[27:54] And inside it, they found blood stains and a few strands of long
[27:58] blonde hair. Investigators indicated that
[28:02] this evidence was believed to belong to Heather, though it's
[28:05] unclear from the sources what forensic testing was done at
[28:08] that time. That said.
[28:10] It was the most significant clue yet, potentially suggesting that
[28:14] Heather met. With foul play.
[28:16] At the hands of Jonathan Vic. Even so, the evidence alone
[28:22] wasn't enough to bring charges. By way of reminder, the
[28:26] prosecution only gets one shot to.
[28:28] Prove their. Case beyond a reasonable.
[28:30] Doubt the. Defense, on the other hand, has
[28:33] to prove absolutely nothing whatsoever.
[28:36] It may be. Helpful for their case.
[28:38] To attempt to push back. The evidence of the.
[28:40] Prosecution but there are no reverse onuses placed upon the
[28:44] defendant in our legal system the inherent problem with the
[28:51] blood stains in a hair strand being found in.
[28:53] Victoria's vehicle. Is that she had been his
[28:55] girlfriend. It doesn't take a brilliant
[28:58] defense attorney to. See how a plausible.
[29:00] Innocent explanation for the presence of these materials.
[29:03] Could exist to complicate. Matters even further.
[29:07] Strictly speaking, the only evidence that Heather is
[29:10] deceased is circumstantial. Notably, the authorities thought
[29:17] the same and emphasized that they couldn't move forward
[29:21] without more definitive proof. Today, Jonathan Vick remains the
[29:26] prime suspect in Heather Sellers disappearance.
[29:29] Nearly all signs point to him from Heather's troubled.
[29:33] History with Victoria to the fact he was last with her.
[29:37] And the apparent traces of her blood in his vehicle.
[29:42] Alternative theories have been explored, but they seem less.
[29:46] Likely both to the authorities. And to.
[29:49] Casual observers such as myself, some have.
[29:52] Wondered if Heather might have simply left town due to her fear
[29:56] of Victoria and simply didn't let anyone know so as to
[30:01] minimize any chance that she'd be tracked down.
[30:05] Theoretically, it's possible. That she did this for the.
[30:08] Protection of the people around her as well.
[30:11] As Victoria was capable of. Extreme violence and had
[30:15] threatened her she may have been worried that giving anyone her
[30:19] location could make those people targets for.
[30:21] Reprisals as well. However, this of course is just.
[30:25] Speculation, and there's no evidence to indicate that.
[30:28] This was the case. This narrative is also
[30:32] challenged. By the fact that she could have
[30:33] come forward after Victoria was convicted, though.
[30:36] Perhaps she had established. A new and separate identity by
[30:39] that point. Another theory revolves around
[30:45] Heather's history of substance use.
[30:47] While she was reported to be clean at the time of.
[30:50] Her disappearance witnesses. Reported believing that she was
[30:54] under the influence on the night in question.
[30:57] This has LED some to believe. That she may have suffered from
[30:59] an. Accidental overdose as of. 2025
[31:05] The disappearance of Heather Sellers is still unsolved.
[31:09] If she's alive, Heather would be 42.
[31:11] Years old today, though sadly, the consensus is that she almost
[31:15] certainly isn't.

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