# Cold Cases So Shocking… They Haunt Detectives | 272

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 11 Jul 2026, 1 h 10 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO8764184341.mp3

Join me for some of the most chilling cold cases imaginable. Episode 272 of the true crime podcast btw. Also don't forget to follow, rate and share if you enjoy my content. 👇 Youtube links: 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 unsolved mysteries, 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, forensic evidence, serial killers

## Transcript

[0:01] Jack Quinn's company car was found abandoned at Palm Beach
[0:04] International Airport on April 9th, 1988, and Quinn himself was
[0:10] nowhere to be found. Earlier that day, the security
[0:14] executive had calmly loaded $1.3 million in cash into that car
[0:19] and driven off, only to vanish without a trace.
[0:22] He had pulled off a bold daylight heist and then
[0:25] disappeared into thin air, leaving a mystery that has now
[0:29] endured for nearly 40 years. Jack Quinn was the vice
[0:35] President and General manager of Federal Protection Services, a
[0:39] firm providing armed security for banks and businesses.
[0:43] On the quiet Saturday morning of April 9th, 1988, he arrived at
[0:48] the office as usual and nothing seemed to miss as he went about
[0:52] his routine. Unbeknownst to everyone, he
[0:56] spent that morning moving that huge sum of cash from the vault
[1:00] into boxes without attracting any suspicion.
[1:04] After packing up the money, Quinn set his getaway in motion.
[1:09] He placed the looted funds into both his personal car and a
[1:11] company vehicle. Then he asked a Co worker, Harry
[1:15] Goldberg, to follow him to his house under the pretense of
[1:18] dropping off his personal car. Goldberg obliged and at home
[1:23] Quinn left behind his personal car with about $100,000 in its
[1:27] trunk and hastily told his wife goodbye.
[1:32] Harry then drove Quinn back to the office, not realizing he had
[1:35] just helped Quinn execute the first stage of the escape.
[1:39] From there, Quinn slipped into the company car, loaded with the
[1:43] remaining cash and headed for the airport.
[1:48] At Palm Beach International Airport, Quinn parked the
[1:51] company car at around 5:00 that evening and quietly vanished.
[1:57] Investigators later found the abandoned vehicle, but there was
[2:00] no record of Quinn boarding any flight or taking a taxi from the
[2:04] airport that night. When Quinn failed to come home,
[2:08] his wife grew anxious and called around, but no one knew where he
[2:11] was. By the next morning, she
[2:15] discovered the cash he'd left in their car, along with a letter
[2:18] from Quinn. In the note, he confessed he had
[2:21] done quote something wrong and said he couldn't face the
[2:25] consequences of his actions. His wife, realizing she had been
[2:30] abandoned and not wanting to arouse any suspicion that she
[2:34] was in on it, immediately turned everything over to the police.
[2:39] Quinn's family would soon discover a variety of extremely
[2:42] concerning things about Old Jack, and they would learn that
[2:45] he wasn't the man they thought he was.
[2:47] At home, Old Jack was living a Burt Reynolds lifestyle on a Mac
[2:51] Davis income. And yes, in case that one was a
[2:54] bit too obscure, that's my Simpsons reference for this
[2:57] video. Wait, scratch that.
[3:02] I'm not limiting myself to just one.
[3:04] There's going to be at least one more in this video, so strap
[3:07] yourself in and feel the G's. As police and federal agents
[3:13] delved into Quinn's background, a significant pattern of
[3:16] deception emerged. This wasn't the first time money
[3:19] had vanished on Quinn's watch, and the company suspected him in
[3:23] prior cash shortages, though nothing was proven.
[3:27] Somehow, despite these issues, he was able to keep his job
[3:30] regardless, which is questionable considering what he
[3:34] did. Even his home life held numerous
[3:38] red flags. For instance, his wife once
[3:41] found a hidden stash of cash in their car, which Quin
[3:44] essentially explained away by telling her it was just resting
[3:48] there until being returned. Investigators also discovered
[3:53] Quinn had been living very far beyond his means.
[3:56] Despite a modest $35,000 salary, he was renting A10 acre horse
[4:01] ranch, an extravagant expense that made little sense unless he
[4:05] had an illicit income. He was also in serious financial
[4:09] trouble, owing the IRSA large sum and facing potential jail
[4:13] time for unpaid taxes. As a result of Quinn's crime,
[4:17] his company nearly went under. Federal Protection Services was
[4:21] barely able to stay afloat after losing $1.3 million and
[4:26] eventually had to file for restructuring.
[4:30] Additionally, the $1.3 million he took was in unmarked ordinary
[4:36] bills and was essentially untraceable by authorities.
[4:40] This means that, unlike most heist situations like this, he
[4:44] essentially had no trouble using small quantities of cash at any
[4:49] given time. Investigators uncovered another
[4:54] personal angle as well. You've heard the expression
[4:57] let's get busy. Well, this is a dude who gets
[5:01] busy. Quinn was laying pipe
[5:04] consistently and thoroughly in the month before the theft.
[5:08] He often left home at 5:00 but didn't arrive at work until
[5:12] hours later, leading police to conclude he was seeing a
[5:15] girlfriend during those early hours.
[5:18] This raised the possibility that he didn't plan to run away
[5:21] alone. He might have intended to start
[5:23] a new life with his mistress. With Quinn gone and few clues to
[5:29] follow, authorities turned to the public for help.
[5:33] In December 1988, Unsolved Mysteries featured the case,
[5:38] prompting a flood of tips from viewers.
[5:41] To put it in context, in the hours after the broadcast, over
[5:45] 1000 phone calls came in about the case, but only a few
[5:50] provided leads that investigators deemed worth
[5:52] checking. Notably, it's important to
[5:55] remember that the reach of Unsolved Mysteries in the 80s
[5:58] and 90s was astronomical, pulling 10 million viewers an
[6:02] episode in America and Canada combined.
[6:08] People claim to spot Quinn all over, including a couple of
[6:11] reports of a man in Cozumel, Mexico, with a younger woman,
[6:15] but none of these sightings could be confirmed.
[6:18] Tips came from as far away as Australia, but every lead
[6:22] ultimately turned cold. Finally, in 1992, a significant
[6:27] clue surfaced when the authorities traced Quinn to
[6:30] Houston, TX, after discovering he had obtained a driver's
[6:34] license there under an alias. The thumbprint on the
[6:39] application matched Quinn, proving he had resurfaced
[6:42] briefly to establish a new identity.
[6:45] Further, he had stolen the identity of a known relative of
[6:48] Quinn, further confirming his identity.
[6:53] Yet by the time agents reached the address on the license,
[6:56] Quinn had already moved on. He had used a rented mailbox in
[7:00] Houston as a drop, then disappeared again, slipping
[7:04] through authorities fingers once more.
[7:06] After that, near Miss Jack, Quinn's trail went cold.
[7:11] He remained on the FBI's wanted list, but no confirmed sightings
[7:15] have occurred since the early 1990s.
[7:18] Investigators suspect he may have quietly resettled under
[7:21] another identity, possibly in Hawaii or Maryland, based on
[7:25] scattered hints. Notably, Jack Quinn is fluent in
[7:29] Spanish, and some believe that he made off from Mexico from
[7:33] Texas. But to this day, Jack Quinn's
[7:36] whereabouts remain unknown. Many believe Jack Quinn got
[7:42] exactly what he wanted, a clean getaway and a fresh start.
[7:46] This theory holds that he meticulously planned his escape
[7:49] and is potentially still at large somewhere.
[7:53] He had a huge head start, untraceable cash, and likely
[7:57] false identities prepared. Indeed, the evidence of the
[8:02] Texas driver's license and known aliases supports the idea that
[8:06] he successfully reinvented himself.
[8:09] If alive, Quinn could have quietly integrated into another
[8:13] community under a different name over the decades.
[8:17] He may have spent his stolen fortune over the years while
[8:19] keeping a low profile. Others theorized that Quinn's
[8:25] escape may have ended in tragedy or betrayal.
[8:28] Perhaps he fell victim to someone who wanted the stolen
[8:31] money for themselves, or he encountered danger while on the
[8:35] run that led to his demise. At one point, investigators even
[8:40] wondered if Quinn never left Florida at all, suggesting his
[8:44] wife might have been involved in a double cross.
[8:47] Under this theory, his wife eliminated him and then turned
[8:51] over a fragment of the cash to the police to try to frame
[8:54] herself as the good guy. However, this idea was
[8:58] discounted once evidence showed Quinn was alive years later in
[9:02] Houston. Still, it's quite possible that
[9:07] he met with foul play after almost being caught in Houston.
[9:11] Some have theorized that he may have paid some bad hombres to
[9:14] transfer him in the loot South of the border down Mexico Way.
[9:19] Under this theory, in the process of transporting him, the
[9:23] nature of the cargo was found out and Jack Quinn was
[9:26] eliminated and the unmarked cash disappeared.
[9:31] Of course, this theory is entirely speculative, though
[9:34] given the amount of illicit traffic between the two
[9:36] countries, it doesn't seem entirely implausible.
[9:41] Almost 40 years later, the disappearance of Jack Quinn
[9:45] remains A compelling financial unsolved mystery.
[9:52] On December 17th, 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold
[9:56] Holt dove into the surf at Cheviot Beach in Victoria and
[10:01] vanished without a trace. The disappearance of a sitting
[10:04] national leader during the tense Cold War era no less stunned the
[10:10] nation and captured the world's attention.
[10:14] In the days and years that followed, Holt's fate became one
[10:18] of Australia's most intriguing mysteries.
[10:21] It spawned official investigations as well as a
[10:24] whirlwind of conspiracy theories ranging from plausible to
[10:27] downright bizarre. Harold Holt was a strong swimmer
[10:33] and an outdoorsy, adventurous figure, so a midday swim was
[10:36] nothing out of the ordinary for him.
[10:39] On the morning of December 17th, 1967, Holt was relaxing near his
[10:44] holiday home in Port C, Victoria, after wrapping up the
[10:48] year's final cabinet meeting a few days prior.
[10:52] That day, he drove with a small group of friends to Cheviot
[10:56] Beach, a secluded spot on the Mornington Peninsula known for
[11:00] its rough surf. Among the party were Holt's
[11:04] neighbors, Marjorie Gillespie and her daughter, along with two
[11:07] family friends, Martin Simpson and Alan Stewart.
[11:12] The Prime Minister, then 59 years old, was keen to cool off
[11:17] in the ocean. As they arrived, they noticed
[11:20] the sea was particularly turbulent and witnesses later
[11:24] described the tide as the highest they had seen.
[11:28] The waves were noted to be up to 8 feet high and there was a
[11:31] powerful undertow churning the water.
[11:36] Despite these intimidating conditions, Holt reportedly
[11:40] brushed aside concern he had often swum at Cheviot Beach in
[11:44] choppy conditions, and even told his press secretary on another
[11:48] occasion, half jokingly, not to worry about his risky hobby
[11:53] specifically. He even joked that there was no
[11:56] chance he would be pulled out to sea in the undertow.
[12:01] With characteristic confidence, Holt declared he knew the beach
[12:04] like the back of his hand and headed straight into the surf
[12:07] without hesitation. Simpson and Stuart followed him
[12:11] in at first, but quickly thought better of it.
[12:14] Simpson stopped when the water reached his knees, feeling a
[12:17] strong undercurrent that made waiting further dangerous.
[12:21] Stewart tried to swim after Holt, but was caught by a strong
[12:25] undertow and turned back after realizing how powerful and
[12:29] frightening the current was. The others watched Holt boldly
[12:33] continue swimming into deeper, choppier waters.
[12:37] Marjorie Gillespie particularly kept an eye on him as he moved
[12:41] further out from shore, at one point noticing the water around
[12:46] him appeared to be boiling with turbulence.
[12:50] And you may wonder why I'm specifically highlighting
[12:52] Marjorie here, and, well, stay tuned.
[12:56] But it's basically what you're thinking.
[13:01] Then, in an instant, to the surprise of no one and everyone
[13:04] all at once, Harold Holt was gone. 1 moment he was visible in
[13:09] the surf, and the next the turbulent sea had seemingly
[13:13] swallowed the Prime Minister up. He didn't cry out or signal any
[13:18] distress as he disappeared, and according to Gillespie's
[13:21] account, there was no indication he was in trouble.
[13:26] Realizing something was terribly wrong, the group on the beach
[13:29] began to panic and get to high ground to look for any sign of
[13:32] him. The disappearance of a national
[13:37] leader triggered an immediate and intense response.
[13:40] Local police, naval divers and rescue teams were mobilized with
[13:44] astonishing speed. Within an hour of Holt's last
[13:48] sighting, helicopters were patrolling over the coastline
[13:52] and professional divers tethered to safety lines were battling
[13:55] the surf. By nightfall, nearly 200
[13:59] personnel had descended on Cheviot Beach to join the
[14:02] search. It quickly became the largest
[14:04] search and rescue operation in Australian history outside of
[14:08] times of conflict. Searchers combed the shoreline,
[14:14] waters and rocky coves for any trace of the Prime Minister,
[14:18] using boats and aircraft to survey a wide area.
[14:22] However, despite their massive mobilization, there was no sign
[14:26] of Holt whatsoever. Australia was left reeling at
[14:30] the unthinkable reality that its Prime Minister had simply
[14:33] vanished in the ocean. Over the next few days, the
[14:40] search continued with unwavering determination but dwindling
[14:43] hope. Conditions remained perilous.
[14:47] The sea was described as a washing machine, with heavy
[14:50] swells, turbid water and strong riptides hampering divers
[14:55] efforts. At one point, a small rescue
[14:58] boat even capsized in the rough seas, underlining the risks
[15:02] rescuers faced. Also, just as a quick aside,
[15:09] this really underlines how irresponsible the Prime Minister
[15:12] was being. He had to know that by engaging
[15:15] in a highly risky activity like this, he'd likely also be
[15:19] endangering future potential rescuers if something went
[15:22] wrong. In general, I prefer when world
[15:26] leaders don't engage in risky personal hobbies while serving
[15:30] in office. As the first day turned to night
[15:35] and then to the next morning, officials grew grim about the
[15:38] likelihood of finding Holt alive.
[15:41] On December 18th, amid Gale force winds and driving rain, an
[15:46] ABC radio bulletin somberly announced there was no
[15:49] meaningful chance of finding Holt alive.
[15:53] Indeed, the operation had shifted from a rescue to a
[15:56] recovery mission by that point. After about 5 days, the large
[16:01] scale search was scaled back on December 22nd due to the lack of
[16:06] results and persistent dangerous weather.
[16:10] The official search was finally called off on January 5th, 1968,
[16:15] three weeks after Holt's disappearance, with authorities
[16:18] acknowledging that the ocean had claimed his life.
[16:23] In the immediate aftermath, the Australian government and public
[16:27] had to grapple with the shock and the practical implications
[16:30] of Holt's loss. Just two days after he went
[16:33] missing on December 19th, 1967, Harold Holt was officially
[16:39] removed from office and the Deputy Prime Minister was sworn
[16:42] in as caretaker leader. A memorial was attended by
[16:46] dignitaries from around the world, including President
[16:49] Lyndon B Johnson and Britain's future King Charles the Third.
[16:56] Despite the enormous media attention and public grief, the
[17:00] government initially decided not to hold a formal public inquiry
[17:03] or coroner's inquest into the incident.
[17:06] Instead of an inquest, a joint report was prepared by the
[17:10] Commonwealth and Victoria Police and submitted in January 1968 to
[17:16] document what was known. This report, based on witness
[17:21] statements and the extensive search operation, concluded
[17:25] there was no indication of anything sinister.
[17:28] Holtz's last day had followed a normal routine, his demeanour
[17:32] was unremarkable and he had knowingly gone swimming in
[17:36] hazardous conditions. The report surmised that the
[17:40] turbulent surf and RIP currents at Cheviot Beach simply
[17:43] overwhelmed him. To explain why a body never
[17:47] washed up, investigators noted several possibilities.
[17:51] Holtz's remains could have been carried far out to sea by
[17:54] powerful tides, consumed by notoriously unfriendly
[17:57] Australian marine life, or lodged in underwater crevices
[18:01] along the shoreline. In short, the official view was
[18:06] that Holt's death was a misadventure of the sea, not a
[18:09] matter of foul play. The Australian government,
[18:13] accepting this conclusion, deemed no further inquiry
[18:16] necessary at the time. Even as officials settled on a
[18:21] straightforward explanation, many people found it hard to
[18:25] accept that a Prime Minister could simply vanish in broad
[18:28] daylight due to an accident. The extraordinary nature of
[18:32] Holt's disappearance, occurring in an era rife with espionage
[18:36] and communist paranoia, meant that conspiracy theories
[18:40] flourished in its wake. In the absence of a body or
[18:43] definitive proof, speculation filled the void.
[18:48] Over the years, a colorful array of theories and rumors have
[18:51] emerged attempting to explain what really happened to Harold
[18:55] Holt. These range from sober
[18:58] conjectures to wildly imaginative fantasies, and I'm
[19:02] going to start off with the most absurd mainstream theory and
[19:06] work to what may be the actual sad reality.
[19:11] Perhaps the most infamous theory is that Holt didn't drown at
[19:14] all, but was abducted or picked up by a Chinese submarine.
[19:19] In this narrative, Holt was allegedly a spy for Red China
[19:23] who needed to be extracted suddenly.
[19:26] According to this tale, on the day of his disappearance, Holt
[19:30] rendezvoused with a Chinese Midget submarine lurking off
[19:34] Chevy at beach. No evidence of foreign
[19:37] submarines was ever found, though this theory remains a
[19:41] staple of the folklore that sprung up around Holt.
[19:44] Under this theory, Holt lived out the remainder of his life in
[19:48] China, never again returning to his homeland.
[19:52] Notably, some conspiracists have pointed out that this theory may
[19:56] have intentionally been made to look silly to distract from what
[20:00] really happened to the Australian Prime Minister.
[20:05] Another conflict flavored theory speculates that the Central
[20:08] Intelligence Agency was somehow involved in Holt's demise.
[20:12] Proponents of this theory suggest that Holt might have
[20:15] been wavering in his support for the Vietnam War and was perhaps
[20:19] on the verge of pulling Australia out of the conflict.
[20:22] The conspiracy claims that the CIA arranged to remove Holt
[20:26] before he could change course on Vietnam.
[20:29] That said, there's no solid evidence whatsoever that Holt
[20:32] planned to reverse policy, nor any evidence of CIA involvement.
[20:39] Some have theorized that Harold Holt staged his own
[20:42] disappearance to start a new life, perhaps driven by personal
[20:45] or romantic reasons. This line of speculation gained
[20:49] traction from the fact that Holt was revealed to have had
[20:52] extramarital affairs. In particular, it was widely
[20:56] rumored and later confirmed that Holt had a long time intimate
[21:00] relationship with Marjorie Gillespie, the friend from the
[21:04] beach that day. This fueled gossip that Holt
[21:07] might have faked the whole thing to run off with a lover.
[21:11] One version even suggests he arranged for a boat or submarine
[21:14] to pick him up after he disappeared under the waves so
[21:18] that he could secretly escape overseas with his mistress.
[21:22] It's a dramatic story, but there is no evidence to support any
[21:26] aspect of it. And Marjorie Gillespie never
[21:28] appeared with a new German boyfriend named Helmut
[21:31] Holzheimer. A more somber hypothesis that
[21:36] arose in some circles was that Holt's passing was actually
[21:39] something much sadder. Australia in 1967 was facing
[21:44] mounting protests over its involvement in the Vietnam War,
[21:48] and Holt personally was under pressure as his government's
[21:50] popularity waned. Some wondered if the Prime
[21:54] Minister, feeling politically embattled, chose to go out on
[21:58] his own terms by just swimming until he couldn't swim anymore.
[22:02] Notably, he absolutely loved the water and swimming was his
[22:05] favorite activity. Further, some have suggested
[22:09] that it seemed like he was in unnaturally good spirits given
[22:13] how choppy the water was and the danger he faced.
[22:18] Nearly 6 decades later, the disappearance of Harold Holt
[22:22] continues to fascinate. In Holt's case, the most logical
[22:26] explanation is also the simplest.
[22:29] He overestimated his ability to conquer a very dangerous ocean
[22:33] spot and paid with his life. All available evidence and
[22:37] official investigations support the conclusion that Holt drowned
[22:41] due to natural causes. That said, personally, the
[22:45] theory that he went for one last swim, going out in a blaze of
[22:49] glory at his favorite spot, seems like it could potentially
[22:53] be accurate. On a chilly evening in March
[22:58] 1974, a quiet Pittsburgh suburb was shaken by a terrible
[23:03] discovery. Police found the lifeless body
[23:06] of 23 year old Annette Tokarz lying in a shallow Creek in
[23:10] Hopewell Township. The young woman had been
[23:13] forcefully drowned, a brutal end that sent shock waves through
[23:17] the community. For Tokarz's family, it was the
[23:21] beginning of a nightmare that police now officially claim has
[23:25] been solved. And as you may have guessed from
[23:28] my phrasing, I'm not entirely convinced.
[23:32] But we'll get to that. The tragedy unfolded on March
[23:37] 6th, 1974. That night, Annette crossed
[23:42] paths with fate in the most devastating way.
[23:45] She had been out that evening, and according to one
[23:48] acquaintance, she was last seen leaving a local bar with an
[23:52] unidentified man. When she didn't return home,
[23:56] concern grew quickly. The next morning, police
[24:00] officers made a grim discovery in Hopewell Community Park.
[24:05] They found Annette's body face down in a shallow Creek within
[24:08] the park grounds. Investigators determined that
[24:13] she had been forcibly held underwater until she drowned.
[24:17] The serene park, normally a spot for picnics and neighborhood
[24:21] gatherings, was now a chilling crime scene cordoned off by
[24:25] yellow tape. Unfortunately, Annette's family
[24:30] learned of her death in the most heartbreaking and impersonal way
[24:34] from a television news report. Her mother was watching the
[24:38] nightly news when the announcer spoke of an unidentified young
[24:41] woman found dead in Hopewell Township.
[24:45] Realizing with horror that it might be her missing daughter,
[24:49] Annette's mother was soon confronted with the unthinkable
[24:52] confirmation. The family's worst fears were
[24:55] realized at the morgue when they identified the Jane Doe as
[24:59] Annette. In the immediate aftermath of
[25:03] the slaying, local law enforcement sprang into action,
[25:07] determined to find whoever was responsible.
[25:11] Detectives interviewed friends, acquaintances, and witnesses who
[25:15] had seen Annette in her final hours.
[25:18] Early on, one name caught their attention, Cornelius McCoy.
[25:25] McCoy was a man who knew Annette and had reportedly seen her on
[25:28] the night of March 5th, 1974, just hours before her body was
[25:33] found. He told police that he last saw
[25:36] Annette leaving a bar with another man, which immediately
[25:40] made McCoy both a key witness and a potential suspect.
[25:44] In fact, for a time, investigators focused on McCoy
[25:48] as the prime suspect. Despite their suspicions, police
[25:54] in 1974 struggled to build a case against McCoy or anyone
[25:58] else. The forensic science of the era
[26:01] was primitive by today's standards.
[26:04] Investigators had to rely on old fashioned detective work,
[26:08] interviews, alibis and circumstantial clues.
[26:13] McCoy claimed he was innocent, and indeed, he had told police
[26:17] that Annette left with another man, hinting that someone else
[26:20] might be responsible. Detectives followed other leads,
[26:26] too. They took note of Annette's on
[26:28] and off boyfriend, a man named Wilkie Sims, who was interviewed
[26:33] at the time. Sims told police he hadn't seen
[26:36] Annette in two months and that he had been out of town in West
[26:40] Virginia when she was slain. Notably, it appears that this
[26:44] alibi wasn't meaningfully checked out at the time, which
[26:47] you're going to want to keep in mind for later.
[26:52] With no physical evidence to tie anyone to the crime and
[26:55] conflicting accounts of Annette's last movements, the
[26:58] case hit a wall. The police lacked the proof
[27:02] needed to charge McCoy, Sims or anyone else, and as the months
[27:06] went by, the trail grew colder. As 1974 turned into 1975 and
[27:14] then into the late 1970s, Annette Tokarz's case languished
[27:19] without resolution. The community of Hopewell
[27:22] Township was unnerved that the perpetrator hadn't been brought
[27:25] to justice, but Leeds were virtually non existent.
[27:30] Annette's family continued to grieve and wonder, keeping her
[27:34] memory alive even as the investigation stalled and the
[27:37] case officially went cold. The cops continued to believe
[27:43] that Cornelius was likely, though not certainly
[27:46] responsible, given that he was the last person who had seen
[27:49] her. Cornelius passed away around
[27:52] 2007, taking any secrets he had with him to the grave.
[27:58] With McCoy dead and no new information, it seemed the truth
[28:02] of what happened that night in 1974 might never be known.
[28:07] But Annette's case was never completely forgotten.
[28:11] Her sisters and other loved ones carried the hope that someday
[28:14] they might get answers. They held on to the idea that
[28:18] Annette's life mattered and that someone out there knew what
[28:22] happened. Little did they know it would
[28:25] take over 5 decades and a new generation of detective work
[28:30] before that hope was apparently realized.
[28:33] The stage was set for what has been claimed to be an
[28:36] extraordinary breakthrough. However, it would require
[28:40] advancements in science and the sheer persistence of a detective
[28:44] who refused to let the case stay cold.
[28:49] In 2017, a seasoned investigator named Patrick Young came across
[28:54] Annette Tokarz's case file while working at the Beaver County
[28:57] Detective Bureau. Young, who had been in law
[29:01] enforcement since the mid 1990s, had a passion for cold cases and
[29:06] a knack for uncovering long buried clues.
[29:09] When he learned about Annette's unsolved slaying, he was
[29:12] intrigued and moved. Here was a 23 year old woman
[29:16] whose life had been brutally cut short and for over 40 years no
[29:21] one had answered for the crime. Young made a decision that would
[29:25] change everything. He would dedicate himself to
[29:28] finding out who ended the life of Annette.
[29:33] Chief Detective Young carefully reviewed the old case notes,
[29:36] photographs and reports. He noted the names of the people
[29:40] involved, including Cornelius McCoy and Walton Sims, and the
[29:45] dead ends that earlier detectives had faced.
[29:48] One thing in the file stood out to him, a leopard print coat
[29:52] that Annette had been wearing on the night of her death.
[29:56] That coat had been collected as evidence back in 1974.
[30:00] Thanks to careful preservation, it remained intact in the police
[30:04] archives. Young wondered if modern
[30:07] forensic technology could reveal something that 1970s science
[30:11] could not. The original investigators had
[30:14] no way to test the coat for DNA. But now, decades later, that was
[30:19] about to change. Detective Young sent Annette's
[30:25] clothing and other preserved evidence for advanced forensic
[30:28] testing. In the lining of that leopard
[30:30] print coat, analysts discovered a stain that yielded a small
[30:34] quantity of DNA. It was a stunning find, and if
[30:40] the Authority's theory is accepted as correct, it's
[30:43] essentially A genetic fingerprint left behind by the
[30:46] perpetrator. Given the nature of the stain,
[30:51] investigators believed it likely came from the perpetrator during
[30:54] a violent encounter. This was the first major piece
[30:58] of physical evidence in the case.
[31:01] However, there was a catch. When the forensic team tried to
[31:05] analyze the DNA for identification, they ran into
[31:08] limitations. They couldn't extract a full DNA
[31:11] profile and thus weren't able to use the CODIS database to search
[31:15] for matches. Instead of being discouraged,
[31:20] Young took a more manual approach.
[31:23] His first thought was to re examine the prime suspect from
[31:25] decades earlier. By 2017, McCoy was deceased, but
[31:31] Detective Young located some of Mccoy's surviving relatives and
[31:35] asked for DNA cheek swabs. If McCoy had been the perp, his
[31:40] family members would share some genetic markers with the DNA
[31:43] from the crime scene. Mccoy's family members were
[31:46] eager to prove his innocence, and the results were conclusive.
[31:51] There was no match whatsoever. The unknown DNA didn't appear to
[31:55] come from McCoy, effectively ruling out the man who had once
[31:59] been the prime suspect. By the early twenty 20s,
[32:05] investigative genetic genealogy had emerged as a powerful tool
[32:09] for solving cold cases. Detective Young decided it was
[32:13] time to try what was then still an unconventional approach on
[32:16] Annette's case. This genealogical research LED
[32:20] Detective Young to several individuals who turned out to be
[32:24] relatives of the person who left DNA on Annette's coat.
[32:29] Using those genetic leads, Young built out family trees and
[32:33] zeroed in on a particular family name that kept appearing Sims.
[32:38] This was a familiar name from the original case file.
[32:42] In fact, Wilkie Sims, Annette's ex-boyfriend, had been mentioned
[32:46] in the 1974 investigation notes. Detective Young now had a strong
[32:53] circumstantial case pointing to Sims.
[32:56] However, solid proof was needed to conclusively tie the DNA to
[33:00] him. There was an immediate
[33:03] complication. Sims couldn't be interrogated or
[33:06] asked for ADNA sample because he had died in 2015, but even death
[33:11] wouldn't let him escape scrutiny.
[33:13] Young found that Sims had children, and one of them could
[33:17] potentially provide the key to confirm his guilt.
[33:21] In 2023, armed with a court order, the detective obtained
[33:25] adna sample from one of Walton Sims's sons.
[33:29] Young sent the two samples, one from the crime scene and one
[33:32] from the relative, to a laboratory for analysis.
[33:37] The waiting period was tense, but the results were definitive.
[33:41] Wilkie Sims had left the genetic material there.
[33:45] Beaver County authorities publicly named Walton Sims, the
[33:49] former boyfriend who had long been in the case files shadows,
[33:52] as the perpetrator. OK, so if you're a regular
[33:58] viewer of any of my channels, I suspect you may already have
[34:01] guessed that I was going to add some additional commentary at
[34:03] the end of this segment. Personally, I have a lot of
[34:07] problems accepting that Wilkie Sims did it, and I suspect this
[34:11] wouldn't have been said officially if the man was still
[34:14] alive at the time. Although investigators link the
[34:19] coat DNA to The Sims family, Wilkie Sims was a documented
[34:23] ex-boyfriend of Annette's and everyone accepts this to be
[34:27] fact. This offers a straightforward
[34:30] and potentially innocent explanation for his genetic
[34:32] material to appear on her clothing.
[34:36] Normal, consensual contact could easily explain how this sort of
[34:40] biological material ended up on the coat.
[34:45] Further, there's no evidence to indicate that this biological
[34:49] material actually came from the night of the attack.
[34:52] Wilkie Sims claimed that he was in West Virginia at the time,
[34:56] and if the biological evidence was found fresh with evidence of
[35:00] an indecent assault, this would be entirely different.
[35:05] In that case, I think the evidence would be sufficient to
[35:08] say that he was likely the responsible party, but that's
[35:12] not the evidence as it's presented to us.
[35:17] Crucially, there's nothing whatsoever in the way of
[35:19] independent corroboration to make this theory work.
[35:23] For example, there's no reliable eyewitness placing Sims with
[35:27] Annette that night. Further, yet, there are no other
[35:30] forensic links tying him to the scene whatsoever.
[35:34] Given those gaps, a jury could reasonably accept innocent
[35:38] explanations for the DNA and conclude the evidence doesn't
[35:42] eliminate reasonable doubt. However, here, of course, there
[35:46] never will be a jury and the evidence will never be subjected
[35:49] to the rigors of a trial based on the evidence alone.
[35:54] I just simply don't see that there's enough here to stop
[35:57] investigating this case. It's very possible that the true
[36:02] monster that attacked Annette that night can now rest easily
[36:05] knowing the case is fully closed.
[36:09] Anyway, this isn't the first time I've seen this sort of weak
[36:13] logic applied to cold cases where the supposed perpetrator
[36:16] is already deceased. It offers a convenient excuse to
[36:20] close out a cold case while placing the blame on someone who
[36:23] can no longer say anything to counteract what the authorities
[36:26] say. It may give some comfort to the
[36:29] families involved, but upon closer examination, in a case
[36:34] like this, it shouldn't, since there would have never been
[36:37] enough evidence to convict Sims. On a frigid February night in
[36:44] 1984, high on Alaska's Mount Denali, also known as Mount
[36:49] McKinley, one of the world's greatest adventurers of the 20th
[36:52] century vanished without a trace.
[36:56] Naomi Omura had just achieved an astonishing feat, completing the
[37:00] first solo winter ascent of Denali, but he would never
[37:04] return to tell the tale. The day after his historic
[37:08] summit, amid howling winds and -50° temperatures, Omura
[37:13] disappeared into the mountains icy expanse.
[37:17] His mysterious fate has captivated the world for
[37:19] decades, sparking both awe at his accomplishment and sorrow at
[37:24] the tragedy that followed. Naomi Omura was no ordinary
[37:30] climber and he had racked up solo exploits that had already
[37:34] made him a legend. He was the first person to reach
[37:37] the North Pole alone, the first to raft the Amazon River solo,
[37:42] and in 1970, the first to summit Denali solo in summer.
[37:47] In fact, by age 29 he had climbed 5 of the 7 summits, a
[37:51] record that highlighted his prodigious endurance and skill.
[37:55] This soft spoken, unassuming man carried an iron will and a taste
[38:00] for adventures once deemed impossible.
[38:03] By 1984, Bomura had set his sights on a new milestone, a
[38:08] solo winter ascent of Denali. At just over 20,000 feet, Denali
[38:16] is North America's highest peak, infamous for brutal weather and
[38:20] extreme cold. Climbing it in summer is
[38:23] challenging enough, but in winter it's downright perilous,
[38:28] and it wasn't summited in this season until 1967.
[38:33] And just to put things in perspective further, no climber
[38:36] had ever attempted Denali solo in the winter until Omura came
[38:40] along. Omura prepared meticulously for
[38:44] the brutal conditions. He knew glacier crevices, often
[38:48] hidden under snow, posed A persistent threat.
[38:52] To guard against a fall into one of these glacial nightmares, he
[38:56] devised a heart stopping self rescue system.
[38:58] That sounds absolutely insane. He had bamboo poles strapped
[39:03] across his shoulders that could catch on the edges and help pull
[39:06] him out. After he fell into these wintery
[39:08] pits, embracing a fast and light approach to mountaineering, he
[39:14] carried only about 40 lbs of gear plus a sled.
[39:18] In an effort to keep his gear to a minimum, he didn't even pack a
[39:21] tent. He planned to sleep in snow
[39:24] caves instead and brought very limited fuel for cooking,
[39:28] accepting that most of his meals would be ice cold to save
[39:31] weight. Every oz saved made him faster,
[39:35] which was crucial when racing against short winter daylight
[39:38] and frequent storms. On February 1st, 1984, Naomi
[39:44] Omura set out from the Cahillna Glacier base camp alone.
[39:49] Over the next 10 days, Bush pilots occasionally flew by to
[39:53] monitor his progress from afar. They watched as he steadily
[39:57] ascended Denali's West Buttress route, but were ultimately
[40:01] powerless to do anything if they noticed trouble.
[40:05] The climb was grueling, with waist deep snow and parts and
[40:08] steep ice slopes, and with temperatures so low that exposed
[40:12] skin could freeze in seconds. Despite periodic storms blasting
[40:17] the higher elevations, Omura methodically worked his way
[40:21] upward, cashing some supplies along the route to lighten his
[40:25] load. He passed the 14,000 foot mark
[40:28] and climbed into the mountains, thin aired upper reaches inching
[40:32] closer to his goal with each step.
[40:36] February 12th, 1984 brought a brief window of clearer weather,
[40:42] and it happened to be Omura's 43rd birthday.
[40:45] That afternoon a pilot spotted him only a few 100 feet below
[40:49] the summit. Omura radioed that he expected
[40:53] to reach the top by 4 that afternoon, but progress was slow
[40:57] at that altitude. When the plane crew looked again
[41:00] at four, he was still climbing and had not yet arrived at the
[41:03] summit. Darkness fell soon after, and
[41:07] observers lost sight of him as the mountain was engulfed in
[41:10] night and cloud. Incredibly, Omura did reach
[41:16] Denali's summit that evening, planting the Japanese flag on
[41:20] the top of this great mountain, all while he was alone in the
[41:23] dark. In a brief radio call the next
[41:26] morning, he reported that he had stood on the top of Denali the
[41:30] night before, achieving his seemingly impossible goal.
[41:35] During this call, he mentioned that he then descended for a few
[41:38] hours to a camp, though he didn't specify where it was.
[41:43] He sounded exhausted, but said he was OK and told his support
[41:47] crew to expect him back at base camp by February 15th.
[41:52] Unfortunately, that would be the last time anyone ever heard his
[41:55] voice after that morning radio contact.
[42:01] Omura continued his descent, but the weather took a sharp turn.
[42:05] A fierce storm swept over Denali on February 13th, bringing
[42:10] howling winds and bitter cold. The mountain was soon fully
[42:13] shrouded in whiteout Blizzard conditions.
[42:16] Planes attempted to fly over on the 13th and 14th, but saw
[42:20] nothing through the clouds and blowing snow.
[42:24] By February 15th, the day Omura was due out, concern was
[42:28] growing. A veteran pilot, Doug Geeting,
[42:32] flew to the base camp to pick up Omura, only to find the camp
[42:36] empty. Geeting searched the mountain
[42:38] from the air but saw no sign of the climber on the route.
[42:43] Turbulent winds still battered the upper ridges, so Geeting
[42:47] suspected Omura was hunkered down in a snow cave high up,
[42:50] waiting for the storm to blow over.
[42:55] On the morning of February 16th, Geeting made another aerial
[42:59] search with a fellow pilot. This time he glimpsed what
[43:02] looked like a person popping out of a snow cave and waving, and
[43:06] he was convinced it was Omura. They had agreed before the climb
[43:11] that if Omura needed rescue, he would make frantic signals, so
[43:15] the calm wave meant he wasn't in critical distress.
[43:19] Relieved by the sighting, officials decided to hold off on
[43:22] a risky rescue attempt. The winds were still far too
[43:28] dangerous for a helicopter to get anywhere near that altitude,
[43:31] and they didn't want to insult Omura's self reliant ethos by
[43:35] sending a team up prematurely. After all, if they sent a
[43:38] helicopter up to rescue him, his first solo winter summiting
[43:42] would forever be marked with an asterisk.
[43:45] All they could do was wait for the weather to improve, trusting
[43:48] in the climbers extraordinary resilience and ability.
[43:53] Bad weather persisted until February 19th, keeping search
[43:57] aircraft largely grounded. During a brief fly by, pilot
[44:02] spotted Omura's abandoned snowshoes at around 14,000 feet.
[44:06] This is where he had left them on the way up, intending to take
[44:10] them back for his journey down. This find bolstered hope that he
[44:14] was still sheltering somewhere above, enduring on his meager
[44:18] supplies until he could safely continue.
[44:24] At last, on February 20th, the storm finally broke and his team
[44:29] decided it was time to take drastic action.
[44:32] Search planes immediately scoured the mountain in the
[44:35] clear morning light. They traced the entire route
[44:38] from base camp to summit multiple times but found no
[44:42] movement, no fresh tracks, no trace of Omura.
[44:47] In such good weather, he should have been visible if he were on
[44:50] the move. The fact that he was absolutely
[44:54] nowhere to be seen was a grim sign.
[44:59] That day, the National Park Service launched a ground search
[45:03] and a helicopter ferried 2 Mountaineers to the 14,000 foot
[45:07] level to look for Omura. They climbed up to about 16,000
[45:12] feet and discovered a snow cave that Omura had used on his
[45:15] ascent. They even spotted the Japanese
[45:19] flag Omura had planted on the summit in the distance,
[45:22] confirming his historic climb. But of the man himself, there
[45:26] was still no sign. Soon after, another heavy storm
[45:32] swept over Denali, frustrating the search once more.
[45:35] Days passed with no further clues, and on February 26th,
[45:40] authorities reluctantly called off the search.
[45:44] Naomi Omura was officially declared missing, presumed
[45:47] deceased, and the mountain had claimed one of history's most
[45:50] daring explorers. The exact circumstances of
[45:55] Omura's demise remain uncertain, but climbers and experts have
[45:59] pieced together likely scenarios.
[46:02] One leading theory is that he fell during his descent one
[46:06] stretch on the West Buttress. A steep wall of ice and snow is
[46:11] extremely treacherous, especially in winter.
[46:15] A single misstep or a sudden gust could have sent Omura
[46:19] plunging into a glacial pit or over an edge, his body quickly
[46:23] buried by drifting snow. If that happened, it's no
[46:28] surprise the search teams found no trace of him, since there'd
[46:31] be no meaningful way to locate him, let alone recover his body.
[46:38] Another possibility is that Omura succumbed to exposure high
[46:42] on the mountain. He had summited very late and
[46:44] was already exhausted when last heard.
[46:47] It's conceivable he was overtaken by the ferocious cold
[46:51] and wind near Denali Pass or even closer to the summit before
[46:55] he could get to lower elevation. If he couldn't find or reach a
[46:59] shelter in the whiteout, hypothermia could have set in
[47:03] rapidly. Notably, some have questioned
[47:07] whether the February 16th sighting was real or if the
[47:10] pilot had fallen for a visual trick.
[47:15] Notably, searchers later found some of Omura's gear around
[47:19] 17,000 feet near one of his high camps.
[47:23] This suggests he had cashed or abandoned equipment to lighten
[47:25] his summit push. In the chaos of descending
[47:29] during the storm, Omura might have missed the cache with his
[47:33] warmer gear and unintentionally passed it.
[47:36] This would have left him with subpar shelter and resources
[47:39] when he needed the most. In that weakened state, even a
[47:44] small incident could have claimed his life.
[47:49] Ultimately, whether by a fall or by extreme weather, Naomi Omura
[47:53] met his end on the icy slopes of Denali.
[47:56] His disappearance shook the climbing community and his
[47:59] nation. In Japan, where he was already a
[48:03] national hero. Omura was posthumously awarded
[48:06] the People's Honor Award for his achievements.
[48:09] To this day, over 4 decades on, Omura's body has never been
[48:14] found. In the early hours of August
[48:20] 26th, 2006, an eerie scene awaited at a remote fire lookout
[48:26] cabin in the forests of Alberta in Canada.
[48:30] A pot of water was left boiling on the stove, its owner nowhere
[48:34] to be found. Outside on the wooden steps,
[48:37] investigators noted what appeared to be a smear of blood,
[48:41] a silent testament that something had gone terribly
[48:43] wrong. This was the home of 70 year old
[48:47] Stephanie Stewart, a veteran wildfire spotter stationed alone
[48:51] atop the Athabasca lookout tower near Hinton.
[48:55] That morning, Stephanie had vanished without a trace,
[48:59] leaving behind only unsettling clues and a mystery that has
[49:03] endured for nearly two decades. Stephanie Stewart wasn't a
[49:09] typical 70 year old by any means, and she appears to have
[49:13] been more active than most people in their 20s or 30s.
[49:16] Friends described her as amazingly fit for her age.
[49:20] She had cycled solo across Canada and summited Mount
[49:23] Kilimanjaro in her late 60s. A mother of one and an avid
[49:28] reader and crafter, Stephanie split her year between winter
[49:31] months in Canmore, a city in Alberta, and summers in the
[49:36] wilderness. For 18 seasons she worked as a
[49:41] wildfire spotter for Alberta's Forestry Service, and for the
[49:45] last 13 of those years she returned each spring to the same
[49:48] lookout. This was the Athabasca Tower in
[49:52] William Switzer Provincial Park. There, perched on a high Ridge,
[49:57] she lived in a small cabin at the base of a 40 foot
[50:00] observation tower. Every day she climbed the tower
[50:03] ladder to scan the rolling foothills and boreal forest for
[50:07] smoke. It was solitary work, and
[50:10] Stephanie was the only human for miles, but she relished it.
[50:17] On the night of August 25th, 2006, Stephanie spoke with
[50:20] family by phone around 9:00 and everything seemed normal.
[50:25] By the following morning, however, alarm bells were
[50:27] ringing. Stephanie failed to make her
[50:29] scheduled radio check in a mandatory safety call she
[50:33] reliably made each morning at 8:30 to confirm all was well.
[50:38] When repeated calls to her cabin went unanswered, her supervisor
[50:42] grew concerned. The supervisor tried phoning the
[50:45] lookout several times. Strangely, someone did answer,
[50:50] but each time the receiver was picked up, the person on the
[50:53] other end immediately hung up without a word.
[50:56] After a few such attempts, the line went dead entirely, as if
[51:00] the phone had been unplugged mid ring.
[51:03] This bizarre phone behavior greatly alarmed Stephanie's
[51:06] supervisor, who knew she was always dutiful with
[51:09] communications. Fearing the worst, he drove out
[51:13] to the Athabasca Tower site that morning.
[51:18] Arriving by roughly 9:00 AM, the supervisor found an ominous,
[51:22] perplexing scene. Stephanie's pickup truck was
[51:25] still parked outside the cabin, ruling out the possibility that
[51:29] she had driven off. Inside the small dwelling.
[51:33] A pot of water was boiling away on the stove, untended, as if
[51:37] Stephanie had stepped out briefly and intended to return
[51:40] at any moment. A quick search of the area found
[51:44] no sign of the woman, and a complete sense of dread overcame
[51:48] the supervisor. Noticing some out of place
[51:51] details, the supervisor contacted the Royal Canadian
[51:54] Mounted Police immediately, and Stephanie was formally reported
[51:58] missing. Investigators processing the
[52:02] cabin soon discovered that a few personal items were missing from
[52:06] Stephanie's quarters, notably her bedding. 2 pillows with blue
[52:11] pillowcases, A burgundy bed sheet, and a Navajo pattern
[52:15] duvet were gone, as was Stephanie's gold wristwatch.
[52:20] These items were absent, despite no sign of a struggle inside.
[52:25] Outside the cabin, however, a troubling clue turned up.
[52:29] There were traces of blood on the steps of the cabin, and they
[52:32] appeared to be quite fresh. Authorities have never released
[52:36] full details about the blood evidence, but its presence
[52:40] strongly indicated that some violence had occurred at the
[52:43] site. All signs appeared to point to 1
[52:46] overwhelming conclusion. Stephanie Stewart was abducted
[52:50] by an unknown person or persons that morning.
[52:55] News of Stephanie's disappearance spread fast and an
[52:59] enormous search operation was launched in the rugged foothills
[53:02] around the Athabasca Lookout. Search and rescue teams and Park
[53:06] Rangers, alongside hundreds of volunteers combed through dense
[53:10] forest looking for any trace of the missing fire spotter.
[53:15] Helicopters buzzed overhead and tracking dogs sniffed for clues
[53:19] on the ground. Searchers scoured a radius of
[53:22] several kilometers around the tower, but nothing definitive
[53:25] was found. It became one of the largest
[53:28] search efforts in Alberta's history, yet it turned up
[53:32] painfully little. Notably, investigators treated
[53:36] the site as a potential crime scene from the start due to the
[53:40] suspicious circumstances surrounding Stephanie's
[53:43] disappearance. They noted the totality of
[53:46] evidence was inconsistent with any voluntary departure.
[53:49] The fact that Stephanie left behind her truck, her keys, and
[53:53] even her morning coffee heating on the stove suggested she had
[53:57] fully intended to remain there for her day's work.
[54:01] Further, the missing bedding suggested that it may have been
[54:04] used to move Stephanie out of the cabin.
[54:07] Unfortunately, despite thorough forensic work, no definitive DNA
[54:12] or fingerprints leading to a suspect were publicly reported.
[54:17] Authorities did state that evidence at the scene convinced
[54:20] them Stephanie had been the victim of a slaying, even though
[54:24] her body was not found. With the case unsolved, various
[54:30] theories have emerged over the years about what might have
[54:33] happened to Stephanie Stewart. Some are grounded in
[54:37] investigative leads, while others are the product of
[54:40] armchair detectives puzzling over the scant evidence.
[54:46] The most widely accepted theory is that an unknown person
[54:49] approached Stephanie's cabin, likely in the early morning, and
[54:53] harmed her in the course of a robbery or assault.
[54:56] Perhaps someone driving along the highway took a detour up to
[54:59] the lookout, either hoping to find valuables or seeking
[55:02] shelter, and encountered Stephanie.
[55:06] The boiling water on the stove hints that she might have
[55:08] invited a visitor inside for tea or coffee, as she often did with
[55:12] guests not realizing the danger. In this scenario, something
[55:18] turned violent and the perpetrator hurriedly removed
[55:21] Stephanie before fleeing. The fact that the phone line was
[55:25] abruptly disconnected during the supervisors calls suggests the
[55:29] intruder was present at 8:30 that morning and panicked when
[55:33] the phone rang. Another variant of this theory
[55:38] suggests that Stephanie actually fell victim to someone she knew.
[55:42] This theory explains why she would have opened her door for
[55:45] this unknown individual. For instance, if a park Ranger
[55:49] had knocked on her door, she likely would have had no reason
[55:53] whatsoever not to welcome him in, not knowing what his intent
[55:57] was. That said, this Ave. has been
[56:01] pursued and as far as we are aware, based on information made
[56:06] public, no one in the Park Service is a suspect.
[56:12] Over time, speculation has focused on a few possible
[56:15] suspects, including one particularly notorious name,
[56:19] Travis Vader. Vader is a central figure in a
[56:23] high profile Alberta criminal case.
[56:25] In 2010, he slew an elderly couple during a robbery, then
[56:30] burned their RV and hid their bodies in the wilderness.
[56:33] Given that Vader targeted senior citizens and was known to be
[56:37] involved in theft and violence, some have wondered if he could
[56:41] have crossed paths with Stephanie.
[56:42] In 2006, investigators noted that Vader was apparently in the
[56:47] vicinity of Hinton around the time Stephanie disappeared,
[56:51] fueling theories of his involvement.
[56:53] However, it's crucial to stress that Vader has never been
[56:57] charged or officially linked to the Stewart case.
[57:02] The Vader theory remains speculative, possibly a case of
[57:05] criminal coincidence, but it highlights the kind of human
[57:09] predator who could have been responsible.
[57:13] Notably, because Stephanie was in the wilderness, some
[57:16] initially wondered if a bear or other large animal could have
[57:20] attacked and dragged her away. This idea was thoroughly
[57:23] investigated and dismissed, as the authorities found zero signs
[57:27] of an animal encounter. Further, a bear, for instance,
[57:31] wouldn't carefully unplug a phone or remove bedding to cover
[57:34] its tracks. That's just not what bears do,
[57:38] since they aren't worried about covering up their transgressions
[57:41] or whether a jury will convict them for a crime.
[57:46] In the months and years following 2006, as the case
[57:50] remained unsolved, Alberta's Forestry department took
[57:54] concrete steps to improve safety and security at all fire lookout
[57:58] towers. Where once lookout sites were
[58:01] relatively open, they're now secured with locked gates and
[58:04] perimeter fences to keep intruders out.
[58:07] Notably, the signs directing tourists to these lookouts were
[58:11] removed, making them harder to find.
[58:15] The occupants of these fire lookouts have also been advised
[58:18] not to let in any guests and to essentially treat any visitor as
[58:22] potentially hostile. To this end, the cabins
[58:26] themselves were retrofitted with stronger steel doors,
[58:30] shatterproof glass windows, and improved locks.
[58:34] Notably, brush and trees around each site were cleared to
[58:38] eliminate hiding spots and give workers a clear line of sight
[58:42] when someone approaches. At present, no trace of
[58:48] Stephanie Stewart has ever turned up, and her case remains
[58:51] a chilling National Park mystery.
[58:57] On a cold December night in 1975, a young Texas woman named
[59:02] Pepper Reed said her goodbyes to family after the Christmas
[59:06] holiday. She was 23 years old and visibly
[59:09] pregnant. Excitedly talking about the baby
[59:12] she would soon welcome, Pepper told her family she planned to
[59:16] move to California with her boyfriend, a decision that at
[59:20] the time seemed like the start of a new adventure.
[59:24] But that winter farewell would tragically be the last time
[59:27] anyone in her family ever saw her.
[59:31] In the decades that followed, Pepper Reed's disappearance
[59:34] became a haunting mystery. For nearly 50 years, there were
[59:39] no answers until an astonishing forensic breakthrough tied
[59:43] Pepper's fate to one of America's most notorious cold
[59:46] cases. Born in 1952, Pepper was raised
[59:52] in the Houston area and had family who cared deeply about
[59:55] her. In late 1975, Pepper introduced
[59:59] her family to a new boyfriend, a man named Terry Rasmussen, and
[1:00:04] revealed she was expecting a baby with him.
[1:00:08] During the Christmas of 1975, Pepper spent time with her
[1:00:12] relatives in Texas, appearing happy and hopeful about moving W
[1:00:17] for a fresh start. Shortly after the holiday,
[1:00:21] Pepper left Texas with Rasmussen to begin their new life in
[1:00:25] California. Unbeknownst to her loved ones,
[1:00:29] this move marked the beginning of a dark journey from which she
[1:00:33] would never return. Pepper's family never met the
[1:00:38] baby she was carrying, nor did they hear from Pepper again
[1:00:41] after she departed Texas. At first, they may have hoped
[1:00:44] that Pepper was simply busy settling into life in
[1:00:47] California, or that she had chosen to break ties and start
[1:00:51] over. As months turned to years with
[1:00:54] no contact, however, the family's concern grew into
[1:00:58] dread. That said, Pepper was an adult
[1:01:02] and there was nothing to indicate that anything had
[1:01:05] actually happened to her, so the authorities weren't too
[1:01:08] concerned. What Pepper's family and the
[1:01:12] authorities couldn't have known in 1975 was that the man she
[1:01:17] left with, Terry Rasmussen, would go on to be an infamous
[1:01:21] serial predator. Rasmussen was an Air Force
[1:01:24] veteran turned nomadic electrician who had a knack for
[1:01:28] adopting new identities and slipping away from trouble
[1:01:33] wherever he went. People in his orbit,
[1:01:35] particularly women and children, seem to vanish under mysterious
[1:01:39] circumstances. Rasmussen cycled through aliases
[1:01:43] like Bob Evans, Curtis Kimball and others to cover his tracks,
[1:01:48] leaving a trail of shattered lives across multiple states.
[1:01:53] Notably, when he met Pepper, Rasmussen had recently walked
[1:01:56] out on his wife and children in Arizona, though it's highly
[1:02:00] unlikely that Pepper knew this fact.
[1:02:05] By the late 1970s, Rasmussen was living in different places
[1:02:09] around the country, often working blue collar jobs.
[1:02:13] He spent time in Phoenix and Houston, and eventually
[1:02:15] California, moving frequently to stay ahead of suspicion.
[1:02:22] Over the years, investigators would link Terry Rasmussen to a
[1:02:25] string of gruesome crimes. He was the prime suspect in the
[1:02:30] disappearance of at least two women he'd been romantically
[1:02:32] involved with, including Pepper, and he was confirmed to have
[1:02:36] slain others. His known victims include a
[1:02:39] California chemist named Yun Soon June and a New Hampshire
[1:02:44] woman named Morales Honey Church, along with her two young
[1:02:48] daughters. By the time law enforcement
[1:02:51] finally identified Rasmussen's deadly trail, he had already
[1:02:54] perished in prison in 2010, taking many secrets with him.
[1:03:01] While Pepper's family agonized over her unexplained absence, an
[1:03:06] apparently unrelated mystery was brewing nearly 2000 miles away
[1:03:10] in the quiet woods of New Hampshire.
[1:03:14] In November 1985, a hunter exploring Bear Brook State Park
[1:03:19] stumbled upon a large 55 gallon metal drum hidden among the
[1:03:24] trees. Inside, wrapped in plastic, were
[1:03:28] the badly decomposed bodies of a young girl and a woman.
[1:03:32] The case went cold for years, and then 15 years later, in May
[1:03:37] 2000, a shocking second discovery was made.
[1:03:43] Not far from the first sight, another rusted barrel was found
[1:03:47] containing the skeletal remains of two more girls, estimated to
[1:03:51] have been toddlers. Investigators now realize they
[1:03:55] were dealing with four victims in total, an adult female and
[1:03:59] three young children, all hidden in the woods near Bear Brook
[1:04:03] State Park. For decades, the identities of
[1:04:07] the Bear Brook 4 remained unknown.
[1:04:10] In the early 2000s, forensic testing determined that the
[1:04:14] adult woman and two of the girls were maternally related, while
[1:04:18] the third little girl wasn't. In 2017, a breakthrough in DNA
[1:04:23] analysis revealed a clue the mysterious third child was the
[1:04:28] biological daughter of Terry Rasmussen himself.
[1:04:32] This was the first indication that the Bear Brook slayings
[1:04:35] were connected to Rasmussen, and by extension, it hinted that
[1:04:39] Pepper Reed's long lost child might be among the victims.
[1:04:44] Still, the little girl's name and her mother's identity were
[1:04:47] unknown, leaving Pepper's fate unknown as well.
[1:04:53] Meanwhile, the other 3 victims in the barrels were eventually
[1:04:56] identified through genetic genealogy in 2019.
[1:05:01] They were Morales Honey Church and her two daughters, Marie
[1:05:04] Vaughn, age 7, and Sarah Mcwaters, age 11 months.
[1:05:10] Honey Church had been Rasmussen's girlfriend after
[1:05:13] Pepper, and she was last seen alive in late 1978, introducing
[1:05:18] Rasmussen to her family in California.
[1:05:21] Shortly after this introduction, all three of them vanished
[1:05:25] without a trace. By 2023, nearly 40 years had
[1:05:30] passed since Pepper Reed disappeared and one of the Bear
[1:05:34] Brook children was still unidentified.
[1:05:37] The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, working with non profit
[1:05:40] DNA sleuths, again turned to genetic genealogy to crack the
[1:05:45] case. Advanced DNA testing had already
[1:05:48] confirmed the little girl's paternity, so genealogists
[1:05:52] needed to find her mother. Using samples from the child's
[1:05:56] remains, they combed through distant cousin matches and built
[1:06:00] a massive family tree of about 25,000 people stretching back
[1:06:05] centuries. It was an investigative needle
[1:06:08] in a haystack. But finally, the persistence
[1:06:11] paid off. Researchers hit upon an old
[1:06:14] obituary from 2005 that mentioned a surviving daughter
[1:06:17] named Pepper Reed. This was the Eureka moment that
[1:06:21] the investigators had been hoping for.
[1:06:24] The family line in the obituary matched the genetic profile of
[1:06:28] the unknown child, and the team realized that Pepper Reed had to
[1:06:32] be the missing mother they were looking for.
[1:06:37] With Pepper identified as the mother, detectives rapidly
[1:06:40] searched birth records in California during the mid 70s.
[1:06:44] Sure enough, there was only one baby girl born at the right time
[1:06:48] with a mother named Reed and a father named Rasmussen.
[1:06:53] In Orange County, California, a birth certificate from 1976
[1:06:58] revealed a baby named Raya Rasmussen, daughter of Terry
[1:07:02] Rasmussen and Pepper Reed. Rhea had been born in early
[1:07:06] 1976, which fits the timeline of Pepper's pregnancy when she left
[1:07:11] Texas. Sadly, Rhea only lived a short
[1:07:15] life, and the authorities believe her father ended her
[1:07:18] life sometime in the late 70s. With all the other victims of
[1:07:24] the Bear Brook slayings identified, Pepper Reed's
[1:07:27] whereabouts remain the final troubling question.
[1:07:31] Authorities now believe Pepper likely met the same fate as her
[1:07:34] daughter, but they have yet to find her body or definitive
[1:07:38] proof. Pepper was last seen alive in
[1:07:41] California in the late 1970s after moving there with
[1:07:45] Rasmussen. It's presumed that she was slain
[1:07:49] sometime after her daughter's birth in 1976 and before
[1:07:53] Rasmussen resurfaced with new victims in 1978.
[1:07:59] One prevailing theory is that Rasmussen quickly eliminated
[1:08:02] Pepper to gain full control of baby Rhea and took the toddler
[1:08:06] with him when he entered a relationship with Honey Church.
[1:08:09] Under this theory, it's thought that he manipulated at least one
[1:08:13] woman by tricking her into thinking he was a widower single
[1:08:17] dad who was raising his daughter on his own.
[1:08:21] If this theory is correct, Pepper's slaying likely occurred
[1:08:25] in California, and her remains could be anywhere between Texas
[1:08:30] and the Golden State, given his travels.
[1:08:33] Despite extensive searches, no unidentified remains have yet
[1:08:36] been linked to Pepper. Another theory based on
[1:08:42] Rasmussen's pattern is that Pepper's disappearance was part
[1:08:45] of a broader series of crimes that spanned multiple states.
[1:08:50] Investigators note that between 1974 and 1985, Rasmussen popped
[1:08:56] up in various other states, including New Hampshire,
[1:08:59] Arizona, Oregon and Virginia, often under fake names.
[1:09:05] For example, in 1981, another girlfriend of his, Denise Boden
[1:09:10] of New Hampshire, went missing and was never found.
[1:09:15] Rasmussen then fled that state with Denise's infant daughter in
[1:09:18] tow before abandoning the child in California.
[1:09:23] This idea supports the speculation that he was tricking
[1:09:26] women into believing he was a widowed single dad.
[1:09:32] Notably, some are hanging upon the extremely faint hope that
[1:09:35] Pepper herself may be alive. It's theoretically possible that
[1:09:39] Rasmussen threatened her and then stole Rhea, perhaps telling
[1:09:44] her that he would eliminate the child if she went to the
[1:09:47] authorities. Personally, though, I don't buy
[1:09:50] this theory for a moment, since Rasmussen's modus operandi
[1:09:54] indicates that he wouldn't leave anyone alive who he considered a
[1:09:58] loose end. Today, Pepper Reed's case is
[1:10:03] officially an open investigation.
[1:10:07] Ultimately, my personal belief is that Pepper is likely one of
[1:10:11] the nation's innumerable Jane Doe cases At present, we'll
[1:10:16] probably have to wait until a breakthrough in one of these
[1:10:18] cases connects Pepper to that still unknown Jane Doe.

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