# 5 True Crime Cases That Baffle Scientists

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 1 Jan 2026, 39 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO5331266792.mp3

Don't forget to follow and turn on all notifications. Also don't forget to drop a rating as well. Join me for 5 baffling true crime cases. 👇 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 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡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 true crime, cold cases, unsolved mysteries, missing persons, murder investigation, forensic evidence, serial killers, crime scene analysis, dark history, criminal psychology, real life horror, police investigations, DNA breakthroughs, forensic genealogy, crime documentaries, criminal profiling, mysterious disappearances, solved cases, justice system, law enforcement stories, cold case files, creepy mysteries, true crime storytelling, crime reconstruction, chilling cases, investigative reporting, modern forensics, victim advocacy, unidentified remains, crime scene forensics, disturbing cases, true crime analysis, hidden clues, infamous crimes, real crime stories

## Transcript

[0:00] Hey friends, it's Jimmy here with a reminder to hit the like
[0:03] and subscribe buttons and the notification bell before we get
[0:06] into these unsolved mysteries. Also, don't forget to leave a
[0:10] comment saying where you're watching from, or just drop a
[0:13] quick I'm doing my part down below.
[0:17] It was supposed to be a journey of adventure and purpose, a
[0:20] voyage into the Caribbean sun that instead sailed straight
[0:24] into the unknown. In December 1988, a rusty 82
[0:29] foot freighter named the Frieden departed Miami with nine people
[0:34] on board, never to be seen again.
[0:38] In mid-december 19, 8823, year old Lisa Lynn Bishop eagerly
[0:43] joined the crew of the freighter Frieden for what was supposed to
[0:46] be a meaningful trip to Haiti. Lisa was a college journalism
[0:51] student from Atlanta, GA, known for her adventurous spirit and
[0:55] passion for writing. She had met the Frieden's
[0:58] captain, 28 year old Florian Meyer Borsch, a German national,
[1:03] at an Atlanta nightclub owned by her boyfriend, Paul Cornwell.
[1:08] Described by Lisa's mother as a drifter, Florian had sailed the
[1:11] Caribbean before and sometimes went by the alias David.
[1:16] When Florian invited Lisa to come along on the Frieden's
[1:19] voyage to document the journey, Lisa was thrilled by the
[1:23] opportunity. Bizarrely, she hoped to write an
[1:26] article highlighting the stark economic contrasts between the
[1:29] wealth of America and the poverty of Haiti.
[1:33] I'll be dissecting this supposed reason for going along on the
[1:36] trip later, but for now, I'll just say this is a highly
[1:41] unusual reason for boarding a dilapidated vessel and sailing
[1:44] to Haiti. Lisa's loved ones, however, had
[1:49] misgivings from the start. Her parents, Bill and Linda
[1:53] Bishop, and her long time boyfriend Paul, all urged her
[1:57] not to go. Sensing something was off
[2:00] despite these warnings, on December 17th, 1988, Lisa and
[2:05] Florian left Atlanta for Miami to embark on the journey.
[2:09] That afternoon, around 2:30 PM, tugboats guided the Frieden down
[2:14] the Miami River and out to sea, bound for the port of Gnavs on
[2:18] Haiti's northwest coast. The ship allegedly carried
[2:22] humanitarian supplies for Haiti and a crew of seven Haitian men
[2:26] in addition to Florian and Lisa. The Frieden never arrived in
[2:32] Haiti. By all accounts, weather
[2:34] conditions had been calm and no distress calls were ever
[2:38] received from the freighter. Yet somewhere along the 600 mile
[2:42] route past Cuba, the ship simply vanished.
[2:47] When Christmas Day 1988 came and went with no phone call from
[2:51] Lisa, who had promised to call her family upon arrival, her
[2:55] parents knew something was very wrong.
[2:58] The bishops were not alone. Relatives of the Haitian crew
[3:01] members were also growing frantic when none of the nine
[3:05] people on board checked in for the holidays.
[3:08] Within days, worried families contacted the Coast Guard to
[3:12] report the freedom overdue and missing.
[3:15] The Coast Guard launched search flights along the Frieden's
[3:18] intended path through the old Bahama Channel, the well
[3:21] traveled passage between Florida and Haiti.
[3:25] For several days in early January 1989, U.S.
[3:29] Coast Guard jets Criss crossed the Caribbean waters looking for
[3:33] any sign of wreckage or survivors.
[3:36] They found nothing. No debris, no oil slick, no
[3:40] radio signals. Lisa's distraught parents flew
[3:45] to Miami to conduct their own inquiries.
[3:48] In the weeks after the disappearance, they spoke to
[3:51] Florian Meyer, Borsch's acquaintances and anyone who
[3:55] might have information, but turned up few clues.
[4:00] Desperate and grief stricken, Linda and Bill Bishop could do
[4:03] little but hope and pray. With each passing week, the
[4:08] likelihood of the Frieden meeting a deadly fate seemed to
[4:11] grow. Many assumed the ship must have
[4:14] sunk without a trace, a tragedy of the sea that left nine
[4:18] families in limbo. Yet the ocean was keeping its
[4:21] secrets, and an eerie silence hung over the fate of the
[4:25] Frieden. Then a shocking lead emerged
[4:28] that would raise even more questions.
[4:33] Four months after the Frieden disappeared, an astonishing tip
[4:37] gave the families a glimmer of hope.
[4:39] In April 1989, a professional underwater salvager named Bob
[4:44] Nyberg happened to read a newspaper article about the
[4:47] missing freighter. The name Frieden jumped off the
[4:51] page at him, since he had done a double take when he saw the
[4:54] ship, assuming it was supposed to be named Freedom.
[4:58] He even made a snarky remark about the spelling to a friend
[5:01] right after he saw the ship, providing some degree of
[5:04] corroboration. Though the friend didn't see the
[5:06] ship, Bob realized he had seen that very ship in the Georgetown
[5:11] harbor of Grand Cayman Island, roughly 500 miles West of Haiti.
[5:17] Disturbingly, this sighting was in early January 1989, a time
[5:22] when the Frieden should already have been missing at sea.
[5:27] This stunning eyewitness account electrified Lisa's family and
[5:31] friends. If Bob Nyberg truly saw the ship
[5:34] in the Cayman Islands after it disappeared, that meant the ship
[5:37] hadn't sunk immediately. Lisa's parents began to believe
[5:42] that she was likely alive, but being held against her will
[5:45] since she hadn't contacted anyone.
[5:48] Clinging to this hopeful possibility, Lisa's boyfriend,
[5:52] Paul Cornwell, teamed up with Bob Nyberg to investigate
[5:55] further. In May 1989, the two travelled
[6:00] to Grand Cayman to retrace Nyberg's steps.
[6:03] They went around the docks asking questions and remarkably,
[6:06] turned up multiple witnesses who claimed to have seen the German
[6:10] on the island around that same time.
[6:13] Florian was reportedly not alone either, and locals recalled he
[6:17] was accompanied by a short man with dark hair.
[6:22] Back in Atlanta, Paul sought out a woman who had been holding
[6:25] some of Florian's personal belongings while he was away.
[6:28] Among Florian's effects, Paul discovered a photograph of
[6:32] Florian standing with an unknown man who fit the description of
[6:36] the Cayman companion. The woman identified the mystery
[6:40] man and dropped a bombshell. This individual, Felipe, wasn't
[6:45] only Florian's friend. He was the one who had actually
[6:49] chartered the freedom for its I'll fated voyage to Haiti.
[6:53] In other words, he had organized or funded the trip.
[6:57] The woman further claimed that this mysterious figure mentioned
[7:00] being involved in a large scale smuggling ring.
[7:04] This ominous hint suggested that the Frieden's quote UN quote
[7:07] humanitarian voyage may have been a cover for criminal
[7:10] activity. It also suggested that Lisa, the
[7:14] lone woman on board, might have stumbled into danger
[7:17] unknowingly. Despite authorities in multiple
[7:22] countries taking interest in the case, progress was frustratingly
[7:26] slow. Florian Meyer Borsch, who was
[7:30] wanted for questioning by both US and international agencies,
[7:34] never resurfaced to explain what happened.
[7:37] Philippe's full identity remained uncertain, and as
[7:40] months turned into years, the trail for the missing ship and
[7:44] crew grew cold. The brief hope sparked by the
[7:47] Grand Cayman sighting faded, and no further verified sightings of
[7:51] the vessel or crew materialized. Notably, none of the Haitian
[7:56] crewmen aboard ever contacted their families again after
[8:00] December 1988. Even Florian's own parents in
[8:04] Germany told investigators they hadn't heard from their son
[8:07] since the ship's disappearance. Every indication was that
[8:11] whatever befell the Frieden had likely been deadly.
[8:15] Yet without any physical evidence, the case remained a
[8:18] nightmare of ambiguity. What really happened to Lisa
[8:23] Bishop and the crew of the Frieden has been subjected to
[8:26] significant speculation over the years.
[8:29] Early on, many assumed the simplest explanation.
[8:33] Perhaps the Frieden sank in a sudden catastrophe, such as a
[8:36] Rogue Wave or structural failure drowning everyone aboard.
[8:41] Indeed, the complete absence of wreckage or calls for help
[8:45] suggests a swift, all consuming disaster at sea.
[8:49] However, this theory clashes with the credible testimony that
[8:52] the ship was seen safely harbored weeks after leaving
[8:55] Miami. If the Frieden had sunk, there
[8:59] obviously couldn't have been such credible sightings of the
[9:01] ship or Florian and the mysterious figure.
[9:06] The timing of Nyberg sighting effectively ruled out an
[9:09] immediate accidental sinking. Another grim scenario points to
[9:15] piracy or a criminal ambush on the high seas.
[9:18] In the late 1980s, Caribbean waters weren't entirely safe
[9:22] from modern pirates or smugglers.
[9:25] Some suggest the freedom might have been targeted by
[9:27] traffickers or other criminal elements who seized the ship for
[9:31] its cargo or for nefarious purposes.
[9:34] Under this theory, those on board could have been slain or
[9:37] set adrift. The fact that Felipe, the man
[9:41] who chartered the Frieden, was linked to smuggling operations
[9:45] bolsters the idea that illegal business was afoot.
[9:49] It's conceivable that a deal went bad.
[9:52] Perhaps the Frieden was transporting contraband and an
[9:56] organized crime group intercepted it, eliminating
[9:59] witnesses. However, if this was accurate,
[10:02] this begs the question of why Florian was spared if he wasn't
[10:06] in on the operation in some way. Perhaps the most disturbing
[10:11] theory is the possibility that Lisa met a fate worse than
[10:15] death. Some have speculated that Lisa
[10:18] Bishop was kept alive and trafficked after the Frieden's
[10:21] disappearance. In this scenario, Florian and
[10:24] any Co conspirators might have intentionally lured Lisa on the
[10:28] trip to hand her over to criminals involved in
[10:31] trafficking. Some have hypothesized that the
[10:34] crew could have been eliminated and Lisa trafficked by Florian
[10:37] himself. This would explain why Florian
[10:41] was seen weeks later with the man who chartered the vessel.
[10:45] An even darker twist on this suggests that the Haitian crew,
[10:48] members of whom little is known, could have been subjected to an
[10:52] illicit organ harvesting operation on the high seas.
[10:57] Yet another angle considers geopolitics.
[11:00] Given that the Frieden's route skirted near Cuban waters, one
[11:04] theory claims that perhaps the ship strayed off course and was
[11:08] intercepted by Cuban authorities.
[11:10] During the Cold War era, there were incidents of Cuban forces
[11:14] detaining vessels and crews. Some have questioned if Cuba
[11:19] secretly captured the Frieden, perhaps eliminating those on
[11:22] board and never admitting it. However, there's no
[11:25] corroboration for this scenario, and it seems less likely than
[11:29] piracy or smuggling. Still others believe that Lisa
[11:34] may never have made it to Miami at all, since there's never been
[11:37] any independent verification that she boarded the ship.
[11:41] That said, the authorities have worked under the assumption that
[11:44] she was on the ship, and it's possible that they know
[11:47] something that they haven't disclosed to the general public.
[11:53] In truth, Florian Meyer Borsch himself remains the biggest
[11:56] enigma and the prime suspect in the eyes of authorities.
[12:00] Investigators believe Florian knows or knew exactly what
[12:05] happened on that voyage. He may have orchestrated A
[12:09] scheme with the mysterious man, whether it was running drugs,
[12:13] weapons, or something else, and the plan went horribly wrong.
[12:19] It's also possible Florian was an unwitting pawn who got in
[12:22] over his head. The fact that Florian never
[12:26] resurfaced, not even to contact his own worried parents,
[12:30] suggests he was deeply entangled in whatever dark fate befell the
[12:34] Frieden. If he's alive, he has been in
[12:37] hiding for over 35 years. Law enforcement still wants to
[12:42] question Florian Meyer Borsch, but he has effectively become a
[12:46] ghost. Felipe, whose last name and full
[12:50] identity were never confirmed publicly, is similarly elusive.
[12:54] Without them, the full truth of the Freedom may never surface.
[13:00] The more I think of Lisa Bishop's decision to board the
[13:02] Freedom, the less it holds together.
[13:05] Not emotionally, not practically, not logically.
[13:09] She wasn't a seasoned journalist embedded with a legitimate aid
[13:13] organization. She was a 23 year old college
[13:16] student, invited at the last minute by a drifting nightclub
[13:19] acquaintance to tag along on a decaying freighter crewed by
[13:23] strangers. The premise sold to her, that
[13:27] she'd somehow document Haitian poverty from the deck of a rusty
[13:30] cargo ship, was paper thin. There was no publication lined
[13:35] up, no editor waiting, no clear plan beyond vague ideals and
[13:39] romanticized risk. Even the logistics don't make
[13:43] sense. Serious reporting requires
[13:46] access, safety, and structure. Lisa had none of that.
[13:51] She wasn't fluent in the language, wasn't affiliated with
[13:54] a relief group, and wasn't traveling with fixers.
[13:58] She was essentially being asked to wander into one of the
[14:01] poorest countries in the hemisphere aboard a ship
[14:04] captained by a man who raised red flags for everyone except
[14:07] her. My guess is that Florian used a
[14:11] classic romance scheme to lure her and then turned around and
[14:14] sold her. Personally, I have some doubts
[14:18] she even got on the ship. Hey everyone, just a quick
[14:25] reminder to click the share button and send this video to
[14:27] your friends and family. Also, don't forget to check out
[14:30] the YouTube membership in the Patreon.
[14:33] You can join up for as little as a dollar.
[14:39] On December 12th, 2024, a set of human remains was found beneath
[14:45] railroad tracks along Alameda St. in Compton, CA.
[14:49] The body was so badly decomposed that only skeletal remains were
[14:53] left, indicating the man had been dead for a considerable
[14:57] time. One or both of his hands were
[15:00] missing, likely lost to scavengers or the environment
[15:03] before discovery. Forensic examination determined
[15:07] he was a white or Hispanic male, probably over 45 years old,
[15:13] standing roughly between 5 feet 3 inches and five feet 10 inches
[15:17] tall. His hair was brown with Gray
[15:20] strands, but due to the advanced decomposition, other features
[15:25] like eye color could not be discerned.
[15:28] No obvious cause of death could be identified at the scene.
[15:32] This discovery in an industrial area of Compton launched a full
[15:36] investigation. Despite the skeletal state of
[15:41] the body, investigators recovered a few personal items
[15:44] that offered clues to this man's identity.
[15:47] He was found fully dressed, a green Lee brand T-shirt size,
[15:52] extra large black pants, and Gray and red Nike sneakers.
[15:58] These clothes were fairly ordinary and provided no obvious
[16:01] insight into who he was. The most intriguing find was his
[16:06] wallet. It was a simple black wallet
[16:09] that held two $2.00 bills, an unusual denomination to carry,
[16:14] and most importantly 2 small photographs.
[16:19] These wallet sized photos were folded up and badly weathered as
[16:23] if they had been carried around for a long time.
[16:27] The damage from age and exposure made their content hard to see
[16:31] at first, but it was immediately clear they were cherished
[16:34] keepsakes. It seems significant that a man
[16:38] with no form of identification on him would still have these
[16:41] pictures tucked away. Investigators and amateur
[16:45] sleuths alike quickly realized that those mysterious photos
[16:49] might be the key to unlocking the John Doe's past.
[16:54] If you're one of those people who just listen, I'd recommend
[16:57] taking a look right now if you can.
[17:00] One of the wallet photographs is a heavily damaged snapshot of
[17:04] two people standing together in front of a brick wall.
[17:08] In this faded image, a dark haired woman in a Plaid shirt
[17:12] stands in the foreground, while another person with long dark
[17:16] hair stands just behind her with an arm draped over her shoulder.
[17:21] The woman appears like she may be pregnant, though this isn't
[17:24] entirely clear. The person behind the woman
[17:27] appears to almost certainly be a man, though I suppose it's
[17:31] theoretically possible that this could be an androgynous woman
[17:34] with short hair. The people depicted appear to be
[17:37] Hispanic, which given the demography of the area, makes a
[17:41] lot of sense. The photo has a reddish tint and
[17:44] many scratches from where which give it an old weathered
[17:48] appearance. The pair appears close,
[17:51] suggesting A familial or intimate connection.
[17:55] It's clear this picture captured an important moment to our John
[17:58] Doe, important enough for him to safeguard it in his wallet.
[18:04] The second photograph offers a more modern scene.
[18:07] It shows a younger woman seated in what looks like a school
[18:10] classroom. She has long dark hair and wears
[18:13] dark framed glasses with the lower half of her face covered
[18:17] by a black bandana or cloth mask.
[18:20] She appears to be Hispanic, but could also be Asian or a Pacific
[18:25] Islander or Native American. The fact that she's wearing that
[18:31] distinctive mask strongly suggests that the photograph was
[18:35] taken around 2020 or into 2021. The woman is wearing a light
[18:40] colored Thrasher hoodie, A skateboarding apparel brand
[18:44] which was very popular during this period.
[18:47] Unlike the first photo, this image is relatively clear aside
[18:51] from a bit of motion blur, and has more true to life color.
[18:55] It's a candid snapshot of a student in class, an everyday
[18:59] moment that somehow ended up in this John Doe's wallet.
[19:04] These two pictures, found side by side in the John Doe's
[19:08] wallet, represent very different moments in time. 1 looks older
[19:13] and more worn, possibly taken decades ago, while the other is
[19:17] clearly from the 20 twenties. They raise many questions about
[19:21] the John Doe's life. Perhaps the man in Compton kept
[19:25] a precious old photo of a loved one along with a newer image of
[19:29] a child or relative. It's even possible that the man
[19:33] in the back of the first photograph may be the John Doe
[19:36] himself, and that the young woman depicted could be his
[19:41] daughter. As of now, the Los Angeles
[19:45] County Medical Examiner's Office has pursued a variety of
[19:48] traditional forensic methods. DNA was extracted from the
[19:52] remains and is being processed for any matches in national
[19:56] databases. Dental characteristics have been
[20:00] logged as well, providing another identifier to compare
[20:04] against missing persons reports. At present, it appears that
[20:09] these traditional methods haven't yielded any results, and
[20:12] it's not clear if the cops are planning to turn to genetic
[20:15] genealogy. What gets me about the Compton
[20:20] John Doe isn't just how he was found.
[20:23] It's what he kept. No ID, no paperwork, nothing
[20:27] practical. But two photographs he clearly
[20:30] didn't want to lose. That tells you something right
[20:33] away. This wasn't a man drifting
[20:36] through life without attachments.
[20:38] Someone mattered to him enough that even as everything else
[20:42] disappeared, those pictures stayed folded in his wallet.
[20:47] The contrast between them really sticks with me too. 1 feels old,
[20:53] worn down by time and handling, like it had already lived a long
[20:57] story. The other feels recent,
[21:00] ordinary, almost mundane, a snapshot of everyday life in the
[21:05] twenty 20s. That gap makes you wonder what
[21:09] happened in between. Anyway, I'm hoping the
[21:12] authorities are able to restore his name and hopefully give his
[21:15] family some closure on what happened to him.
[21:21] In February 1988, a horseback rider on a dirt road near
[21:26] Parker, WA, stumbled upon the skeletal remains of a young
[21:30] woman in the brush. Bones were strewn about, partly
[21:34] hidden by the sagebrush in winter mud, and the rider
[21:37] quickly called the Yakima County Sheriff's Office to the scene.
[21:42] The grim scene marked the beginning of a mystery that
[21:45] would span nearly 4 decades without answers.
[21:49] The site was on Yakima tribal land by the Yakima River, and
[21:53] the body had been left just out of sight of passing drivers.
[21:57] Sheriff's investigators could tell the remains had been
[22:00] exposed for many months. An autopsy later suggested the
[22:04] woman had been dead for roughly 4 to 10 months before discovery.
[22:10] No obvious signs of trauma were found due to decomposition, so
[22:14] the medical examiner couldn't determine an exact cause of
[22:17] death. However, the circumstances
[22:21] strongly hinted at foul play. As it would turn out, Rosa
[22:27] Everts was the woman behind this Jane Doe mystery.
[22:30] She was 31 and living in Toppenish, WA at the time of her
[22:34] disappearance. Though originally from
[22:37] California, Rosa was last seen in early December 1986 by her
[22:42] roommate. Then she seemingly vanished.
[22:46] The roommate assumed Rosa had gone back to California as
[22:49] planned, but by August 1987, Rosa's family reported that she
[22:54] never arrived home. Realizing something was wrong,
[22:58] the roommate filed a missing person report with Toppenish
[23:01] Police on August 6th, 1987. For nearly 37 years after the
[23:08] body's discovery, Rosa's name remained unknown.
[23:12] Investigators tried to find her name using the tools available
[23:16] at the time. They preserved her skull for
[23:18] facial reconstruction images and circulated composite sketches,
[23:23] but no match was found. The victim was a small framed
[23:27] woman with dark hair which was bleached in the front.
[23:31] She was found wearing distinctive clothing, a long
[23:34] sleeved lavender blouse with a Spanish language label, matching
[23:38] lavender pants and brown bowling shoes.
[23:42] Interestingly, detectives even checked local bowling alleys to
[23:46] trace those shoes, but that went nowhere and no one recognized
[23:50] them or the woman. Early in the investigation,
[23:54] authorities noted the woman's high cheekbones and facial
[23:57] structure and suspected she might be of Native American or
[24:01] Hispanic heritage. However, no missing person
[24:05] report from the Yakima Nation or surrounding communities seem to
[24:09] fit her case. In 2018, Yakima authorities
[24:14] announced they would exhume the unknown woman's remains to
[24:18] obtain DNA for further testing due to funding delays.
[24:22] The exhumation took place in October 2021, after which DNA
[24:27] was successfully extracted and entered into national databases.
[24:32] In 2025, the Yakima County Sheriff's Office partnered with
[24:36] a private forensic lab to perform advanced DNA sequencing
[24:40] and genetic genealogy on the case.
[24:44] Using this approach, scientists built a comprehensive profile of
[24:48] the victim and began searching databases for relatives.
[24:52] But as you're about to see, this wouldn't end up being a case
[24:56] solved by genetic genealogy, but rather by more standard genetic
[25:00] investigative work. Around the same time, a
[25:05] Toppenish police detective Scott Pottle re examined Rosa
[25:09] Everett's long dormant missing person file.
[25:13] In August 2024, Detective Pottle tracked down Rose's mother and
[25:18] sister who were living in Utah. These relatives provided
[25:23] reference samples, which were then directly compared to the
[25:26] genetic evidence from the unidentified remains.
[25:30] Finally, on October 22nd, 2025, investigators received
[25:36] confirmation of a match. The DNA from Rose's mother
[25:40] matched the victim, proving she was Rosa.
[25:45] In December 2025, the Yakima County Sheriff's Office
[25:49] announced that the 1988 Jane Doe had been positively identified
[25:53] as Rosa Everts. For Rose's family, the news
[25:57] brought bittersweet relief. After nearly 38 years of not
[26:01] knowing her fate, they finally had an answer and could reclaim
[26:05] her remains to lay her to rest with dignity.
[26:11] However, identifying Rosa is only the beginning of a new
[26:14] chapter. Her death remains an unsolved
[26:17] crime, and investigators have reopened the case in hopes of
[26:21] delivering justice. The Yakima County Sheriff's
[26:24] Office have urged anyone with information about Rosa or who
[26:29] knew Rosa in the 80s to come forward.
[26:32] Detectives are piercing together Rose's last known activities in
[26:35] late 1986 and exploring whether her killer could have been among
[26:39] the serial predators active in the area at that time.
[26:43] The mysterious Jane Doe that was found on that lonely Rd. in 1988
[26:48] now has a name and investigators are determined to write its
[26:52] final chapter by bringing her killer to justice.
[26:56] On June 21st 2004, Jim Donnelly arrived at New Zealand's
[27:01] Glenbrook Steel Mill and signed in for work as usual, but he
[27:05] never signed out. By that evening, the 43 year old
[27:10] engineer and father of two had vanished, leaving his car in the
[27:14] parking lot and even his uneaten lunch still on his desk.
[27:18] A search of the massive mill complex and surrounding area
[27:22] found no trace of Jim that day. It was as if he had walked into
[27:27] thin air at his workplace, baffling his family and
[27:30] investigators alike. Jim was a veteran employee with
[27:36] nearly 20 years of exemplary employment at the steel mill.
[27:40] That Monday morning seemed ordinary.
[27:43] He chatted with his wife, Tracy, before heading out and followed
[27:46] his routine at work, changing into his safety gear and
[27:50] starting the day. He was seen by a few colleagues
[27:54] around the Mills locker room in his office, but he failed to
[27:57] show up for a 9:00 AM meeting, the first sign something was
[28:01] wrong. When Co workers checked, Jim was
[28:05] nowhere to be found, yet his car remained on sight and his
[28:10] computer hadn't even been turned on.
[28:13] Concern grew throughout the day as it became clear that Jim
[28:16] wasn't coming back. By 6:00 that evening, with no
[28:20] word from him, Jim was officially reported missing and
[28:24] police were called in. In the days before he
[28:29] disappeared, Jim exhibited uncharacteristic anxiety and
[28:33] secrecy. The weekend prior, he acted
[28:36] oddly, and on Saturday, June 19th, he abruptly backed out of
[28:40] a planned night out with Tracy, claiming he had an urgent
[28:44] meeting he wouldn't explain. He even rented a suit for this
[28:47] mysterious Saturday night errand.
[28:50] When he returned later that evening, Jim still refused to
[28:54] tell his wife what had happened. The next day, Sunday, he was
[28:58] visibly agitated and spoke vaguely about needing to avert a
[29:01] crisis at work. He paced around, ate little and
[29:06] went off on his own for stretches of time, leaving Tracy
[29:10] deeply worried. Jim assured her that his family
[29:13] was most important and she shouldn't worry, but he kept his
[29:16] troubles to himself. It later emerged that Jim had
[29:21] even turned up at the mill on that Sunday when he wasn't
[29:24] working and been escorted off by security.
[29:28] All of these signs suggested Jim was under some intense pressure
[29:31] in the lead up to his disappearance.
[29:36] Police and search teams launched an extensive search of the steel
[29:39] mill and its surroundings as soon as Jim was reported
[29:41] missing. They scoured the buildings,
[29:44] catwalks, pits and storage vats on site and then expanded into
[29:49] the surrounding fields, beaches and bushland, but initially
[29:54] found nothing. At first, officers considered
[29:57] the possibility of a workplace accident or that Jim had
[30:00] wandered off in a confused state given his strange behavior.
[30:04] There were even unconfirmed reports of a man seen running
[30:07] away from searchers in the area as if in hiding.
[30:11] Yet no solid evidence turned up in those first days.
[30:17] The biggest clue surfaced 5 days later.
[30:19] Workers discovered Jim's hard hat lying near a VAT of acid in
[30:23] a restricted part of the mill. This was an area that had
[30:27] supposedly been thoroughly checked already.
[30:30] Investigators drained the acid tank and found several of Jim's
[30:34] personal items inside. They found his work ID card,
[30:38] safety glasses, Palm Pilot cash, a credit card and a single work
[30:43] key. Curiously, his key ring with his
[30:46] house and car keys was missing and never recovered.
[30:51] Also, in case anyone is wondering what a Palm Pilot is,
[30:55] it was a pre smartphone device that could access a calendar and
[30:59] emails but was unable to make calls.
[31:02] I had to look that up, but apparently these things were all
[31:05] the rage in the 90s and everyone who worked in the corporate
[31:08] world was hooked on them. No human remains were in the
[31:14] VAT, and the acid was too weak to have destroyed a body anyway.
[31:19] To police, it seemed likely someone had placed those
[31:22] belongings in the acid VAT deliberately to mislead the
[31:24] search. Another incident raised
[31:27] suspicions. On the night Jim disappeared, an
[31:32] unknown vehicle drove into the Mills parking lot and headed
[31:35] toward Jim's car. It then abruptly turned and fled
[31:39] when the driver saw police on sight.
[31:42] Investigators believe that person intended to move Jim's
[31:45] vehicle to make it appear he left the mill, but the quick
[31:48] police response stopped that plan.
[31:52] These eerie clues, the staged placement of items and the
[31:56] mysterious car pointed away from a simple accident or voluntary
[32:01] departure. However, with no sign of Jim
[32:04] himself, investigators were left with more questions than
[32:08] answers. Investigators examined 4 main
[32:14] scenarios for Jim Donnelly's fate.
[32:17] Perhaps Jim suffered A fatal mishap at the mill and his body
[32:20] was missed. Yet, despite exhaustive
[32:22] searches, including draining other tanks, no trace of his
[32:26] actual body was ever found. The idea of a voluntary
[32:32] disappearance has also been investigated, but this theory
[32:36] has little support. Jim left behind his wallet,
[32:40] vehicle and all personal effects, and his bank accounts
[32:43] showed no secret withdrawals. He had no financial or personal
[32:47] problems that would drive him to flee, and reports suggest he was
[32:51] living a very comfortable middle class lifestyle.
[32:55] Simply put, it's hard to imagine him abandoning his family and
[32:59] his entire life without a word. Many, including Tracy, Jim's
[33:05] wife, suspect he met with foul play.
[33:09] Perhaps he saw or learned something at work that made him
[33:11] a target. His odd behavior suggests he was
[33:15] worried about a serious issue, and the staged clues and missing
[33:18] keys hint that someone else was involved.
[33:22] Tracy was also frustrated that police interviews with Mill
[33:25] staff were limited and that the company refused to let a private
[33:28] investigator on site. Unfortunately, without any
[33:33] concrete evidence or a body, this theory remains unproven.
[33:39] In 2007, a coroner concluded that Jim was presumed dead, but
[33:44] that the cause of his disappearance remained
[33:47] unexplained. For Tracy and their children,
[33:50] the lack of closure has been devastating.
[33:53] The case remains open, and investigators periodically
[33:56] revisit it with fresh eyes and new technology.
[34:00] However, despite their efforts so far, there's been no breaks
[34:04] in the case and the disappearance of Jim Donnelly
[34:07] remains A haunting unsolved mystery.
[34:14] On a tranquil summer day in 1991, beneath the elegant arches
[34:18] of England's Osay Valley Viaduct, a chilling discovery
[34:22] shattered the peace. A young man's body was found
[34:25] hanging from a tree on a railway embankment just South of the
[34:28] viaduct near the village of Balcombe in West Sussex.
[34:33] Over 3 decades later, this man remains unidentified, known only
[34:38] as the Balcombe John Doe. The John Doe was a young white
[34:45] male, estimated between 20 and 25 years old, about 5 feet 10
[34:50] inches tall, with dark brown curly hair and brown eyes.
[34:54] There were no signs of foul play, and the cops later noted
[34:57] that nothing suspicious was evident in his death.
[35:01] Yet the absence of identification and the mystery
[35:03] of his presence in that location turned this into an enduring
[35:07] investigation rather than a closed case.
[35:11] The young man carried no ID, no letters and no obvious clues to
[35:16] his name or origin. He was ultimately laid to rest
[35:20] in a local churchyard, buried at Saint Peter's Church in
[35:23] Ardingly, West Sussex, not far from where he perished.
[35:28] A simple grave holds his remains, but even today it bears
[35:32] no true name. Although his identity was a
[35:36] mystery, the Balcombe John Doe was not without personal items.
[35:41] In fact, the belongings found with him painted a poignant, if
[35:45] incomplete, picture of his life and possible journey.
[35:49] He was dressed in a blue denim jacket and jeans, a sweater over
[35:53] a Gray shirt and blue T-shirt, white socks and brown suede
[35:58] walking shoes. These were all topped off by a
[36:01] red and blue waterproof jacket, practical clothing for a young
[36:05] traveller. Among his possessions,
[36:10] investigators found a brown leather wallet with a bit of
[36:13] cash, a cassette Player 2 Beverly Craven music cassettes
[36:18] and a Woolwich Building Society pen.
[36:21] Perhaps most striking was his choice of luggage, a small blue
[36:26] backpack decorated with a Mickey and Minnie Mouse motif, the kind
[36:30] a younger student might carry on a trip.
[36:33] He also carried a tourist map of London, suggesting he had been
[36:37] visiting the capital as a sightseer.
[36:41] Even his eyeglasses were notable, described as John
[36:45] Lennon style round glasses with tinted lenses in a French made
[36:48] Morel frame, hinting at an international connection without
[36:56] a concrete identity. Theories have flourished.
[36:59] One compelling theory is that he may have been French or from a
[37:02] French speaking country. This is supported by two
[37:05] intriguing clues. First, forensic examiners noted
[37:10] the style of his dental work appeared French or Continental,
[37:14] differing from typical British dentistry.
[37:18] Second, a witness from around that time recalled that the
[37:21] young man spoke fluent French. In conversation, he had the look
[37:26] of a traveller and the items he carried, especially the tourist
[37:30] map, suggest he might have been visiting from abroad.
[37:34] Perhaps he was a student or backpacker, touring England,
[37:37] passing through London and making his way South.
[37:41] Notably, Balcombe isn't far from London's Gatwick Airport, a
[37:45] likely entry point for foreign visitors, which lends weight to
[37:49] the idea that he wasn't local. Others have speculated that he
[37:55] could have been from elsewhere in Europe or even Canada.
[37:58] Essentially any background that would explain fluent French and
[38:01] no UK records. Unfortunately, the story of the
[38:05] Balcombe John Doe hasn't received much attention at all,
[38:08] which may be why his case hasn't been solved.
[38:11] The story of his disappearance may be very well known, and it
[38:15] may simply be that no one has yet put two and two together.
[38:19] For now, however, we only know 1/2 of his story, with the other
[38:23] portion of his story likely out there somewhere on the Internet
[38:27] or in a police file just waiting to be linked up.

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