# 3 Unsolved True Crime Mysteries

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 8 Dec 2025, 25 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4578999713.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:00] Hey friends, it's Jimmy with my usual reminder to hit the like
[0:03] button and ring the notification bell and turn on all
[0:05] notifications. Also, don't forget to drop a
[0:08] quick comment saying where you're watching from or what
[0:11] you're doing right now. Personally, I'm hoping it's not
[0:15] too icy out to take my dog for a long walk after finishing this
[0:19] upload. If you were online around 2013,
[0:24] you couldn't miss a YouTube channel called FPS Russia.
[0:28] It was a digital fireworks display of massive firepower
[0:32] showcasing a charismatic host known as Dmitry Podopov, who was
[0:37] known as the Professional Russian.
[0:40] He casually blasted away everyday objects with highly
[0:43] regulated automatic weapons and even occasionally showcased
[0:47] heavy artillery and tanks. By 2013, the channel had amassed
[0:53] over 5 million subscribers and was built on an arsenal of
[0:57] extremely high value, highly regulated weaponry.
[1:01] Then, at the height of this booming, chaotic success, the
[1:06] entire operation went silent. Not because of a technical
[1:10] glitch or a regulatory issue, but because the man who supplied
[1:14] and managed the entire arsenal was found dead in an office shot
[1:19] in the head with a single bullet.
[1:23] The face of the channel belonged to Kyle Myers who played the
[1:26] Potipov character, but the engine that fueled the multi
[1:30] $1,000,000 enterprise was Keith Ratliff.
[1:33] Ratliff was a 32 year old father of three residing in
[1:37] Karnesville, Georgia. He was responsible for the
[1:40] logistical and regulatory tightrope walk required to stage
[1:44] the channels elaborate videos. He served as the manager and
[1:49] co-owner of the company tasked with the development, production
[1:53] and acquisition of the specialized weaponry featured in
[1:57] the online content. Through Ratliff, the channel was
[2:01] able to legally obtain rare and highly restricted automatic
[2:04] weaponry to showcase on the channel.
[2:07] His expertise lay in navigating the complex legal framework
[2:11] surrounding these weapons, making him an indispensable
[2:14] figure in the operation. His was a dual responsibility,
[2:19] managing a high risk inventory while simultaneously running a
[2:23] production business. This reality forced him to live
[2:27] and work at his business location on Hayes Rd. in
[2:30] Karnesville. Due to the regulatory framework
[2:33] around the weapons, this would in turn be the location where
[2:37] the tragedy would unfold. Keith Ratliff's life ended
[2:43] abruptly on January 3rd, 2013. He was found deceased at his
[2:48] business by an employee. During the early evening hours
[2:51] of that day, the body was discovered in an office area.
[2:56] Initial reports confirmed the brutal finality of the ACT.
[3:00] Ratliff died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
[3:05] The cops characterized the event as an execution style targeted
[3:08] killing potentially carried out by a professional.
[3:12] For reasons I'll explain in a moment, the severity and
[3:15] complexity of the crime scene immediately drew massive law
[3:19] enforcement resources. The Franklin County Sheriff's
[3:23] Office, having been notified of the discovery, quickly requested
[3:27] assistance from the Athens Regional Office of the Georgia
[3:30] Bureau of Investigation. The GBI brought in crime scene
[3:35] specialists and investigative support, quickly escalating the
[3:39] investigation to include numerous state and federal
[3:41] partners. Investigators from all levels of
[3:45] government spent more than 24 hours meticulously processing
[3:50] the scene for evidence. The physical evidence gathered
[3:55] at the scene provided crucial details about the killer's
[3:58] identity and intent. Investigators observed that
[4:02] there were no signs of forced entry at Ratliff's business.
[4:06] Furthermore, Ratliff's lack of struggle suggested he died while
[4:10] he was working, having been taken by surprise, or having
[4:14] willingly allowed the perpetrator into his presence.
[4:18] These facts led the GBI to a central conclusion.
[4:22] Ratliff was likely eliminated by an individual or individuals he
[4:26] knew and trusted. He may not have been aware of
[4:29] who the individual was directly, though Ratliff may have thought
[4:32] he was an associate of someone he could trust or had dealings
[4:36] with previously. The perpetrator exhibited a
[4:40] calculating level of selectivity at the scene.
[4:43] While numerous high value firearms were present at the
[4:46] location, only some firearms, along with the surveillance
[4:51] equipment had been taken. The deliberate removal of the
[4:55] video surveillance system strongly indicates
[4:58] premeditation, confirming the attacker knew the building's
[5:01] layout and security protocols. The search for a definitive
[5:07] motive quickly proved to be the greatest hurdle for the
[5:10] investigative team. Ratliff had some minor problems
[5:14] in his personal life, though there was nothing to suggest he
[5:18] had any serious problems or conflicts.
[5:21] Though robbery was considered a possible primary motive,
[5:25] especially given the high value restricted weapons on site, this
[5:29] has never been confirmed. Some have theorized that he was
[5:33] involved in an arms deal gone wrong and that the person or
[5:37] people on the other end responded by eliminating
[5:39] Ratliff. Investigators have withheld
[5:42] substantial details in the case, including virtually all
[5:46] specifics around the night in question other than the actual
[5:50] elements of the crime I've already discussed.
[5:53] This tactic is often employed in high profile cases to filter out
[5:57] misleading information or evidence.
[6:01] Ratliff's slaying caused an immediate and cascading failure
[6:06] throughout the FPS Russia Enterprise.
[6:09] Production of the highly popular YouTube channel was put on an
[6:12] immediate hiatus. Crucially, with Ratliff, the
[6:17] expert logistics manager and regulatory handler, removed from
[6:21] the equation, the vast inventory of weapons suddenly lost its
[6:26] competent oversight. The ongoing multi agency
[6:30] investigation destabilized the business, eventually leading
[6:34] state and federal authorities to pivot their attention toward
[6:37] Ratliff's partner, Kyle Myers. And to be clear, all evidence
[6:43] indicates that these investigations against him were
[6:46] solely for regulatory offenses and nothing related to this
[6:50] crime. Myers residence became the
[6:54] subject of subsequent GBI and ATF investigations in the years
[6:59] following the tragedy. Beginning in 2013 and again in
[7:03] 2017, the regulatory net tightened and during the 2017
[7:10] investigation, Myers was arrested on several charges,
[7:14] including for having a relatively small amount of
[7:16] drugs. He ended up pleading guilty to
[7:19] these substance offenses and was hit with two years of probation
[7:23] and approximately 2 months in the federal pen.
[7:27] The inability to legally access firearms, coupled with probation
[7:32] conditions prohibiting the possession of any such items,
[7:35] proved fatal to the channel's operations at present.
[7:39] The last episode uploaded to the channel came in 2016, and given
[7:44] Meyer's conviction, this will likely remain this way.
[7:49] Despite thousands of hours spent by state and federal agents, the
[7:52] death of Keith Ratliff remains an active, open and unsolved
[7:56] case years after the fact. No arrests have ever been made
[8:00] in connection with the crime, and the case appears to be no
[8:04] closer to being solved today than it was in 2013.
[8:09] That said, given the silence from investigators on this case,
[8:13] investigators may be closer to a break than we know.
[8:17] Strikingly, the GBI emphasized that potential witnesses who
[8:21] held information about the killer were at a, quote,
[8:24] continued risk of harm. To me, this strongly suggests
[8:29] that investigators have an idea of the individual or entity that
[8:33] committed this act, but that they're keeping it under wraps.
[8:38] Necessarily, this has led to a ton of conspiracy theories,
[8:42] especially since the public has largely been kept in the dark.
[8:50] Miyuki Ishikawa, the midwife who ran the Kotobuki Sannin
[8:54] maternity home in Tokyo, wasn't a monster who operated in the
[8:58] shadows. She was a serial predator who
[9:01] operated in the open, exploiting the institutional wreckage of a
[9:06] nation. This is the story of the
[9:08] Kotobuki Sannen Incident, which spanned from April 1946 to
[9:14] January 1948 during the American occupation of Japan.
[9:20] While Ishikawa was only ever convicted for the inadvertent
[9:23] death of three infants, some have suggested she may have been
[9:26] responsible for the killings of up to 500.
[9:31] To understand how Miyuki Ishikawa became one of Japan's
[9:34] most prolific serial killers, we must first grasp the absolute
[9:39] devastation of post war Tokyo. After Japan's surrender in 1945,
[9:45] the Allied occupation, led by General Douglas MacArthur's
[9:49] Supreme Command of Allied Powers, initiated widespread
[9:53] reforms. However, the early phase of the
[9:57] occupation, roughly through 1947, left the economy severely
[10:03] depressed and unstable. The occupation forces were
[10:07] focused on fundamental societal changes before even attempting
[10:11] to revive the economy. This was a society reeling from
[10:16] defeat, its infrastructure shattered and its economic
[10:20] stability evaporated. In this environment, the birth
[10:24] of an unwanted child often triggered an immediate crisis
[10:28] for the parents. Single mothers particularly face
[10:32] tough living conditions, struggling simultaneously with
[10:36] raising children and securing basic employment in the deeply
[10:40] depressed economy. For many families, and
[10:44] especially those where the father had died in combat, the
[10:48] economic strain was simply too immense to bear.
[10:52] Critical services like maternity benefits or supplemental income
[10:56] for new mothers were essentially absent, leaving the most
[10:59] vulnerable infants unprotected by the state.
[11:02] The immense pressure created by this economic desperation
[11:07] allowed a darker historical coping mechanism to resurface.
[11:13] The state's failure to provide welfare meant that poverty
[11:16] effectively transformed an unwanted birth into a deadly
[11:18] crisis. Miyuki Ishikawa didn't invent
[11:22] this desperation, but she provided A disturbing,
[11:25] systematic, monetized solution to a massive systemic failure.
[11:32] Miyuki Ishikawa was an established, experienced
[11:35] professional midwife managing a recognized facility called the
[11:39] Kotobuki Sannen. Born on February 5th, 1897 in
[11:45] Hangzhou, she leveraged her expertise to attain positions of
[11:49] influence within multiple midwives associations.
[11:53] This professional standing provided her with crucial
[11:56] institutional legitimacy, allowing her to operate her
[12:00] clinic as a seemingly legitimate maternity home.
[12:04] The personal life of Ishikawa added a veneer of respectability
[12:08] and complexity to her public persona.
[12:11] She had no biological children, but she and her husband Takeshi
[12:15] raised 4 adopted children, one from Takeshi's previous marriage
[12:20] and three others they adopted later.
[12:25] Her husband was a crucial accomplice.
[12:27] He was a former officer in the secret police force of Imperial
[12:30] Japan. Notably, the secret police were
[12:34] responsible for all sorts of atrocities throughout the
[12:36] darkest days of Imperial Japan. Though we have no records of his
[12:41] specific actions, it's likely that he was involved in chilling
[12:45] activities long before playing second fiddle to his wife's
[12:48] homicidal operation. After the occupation, the
[12:53] American forces dismantled this police force, leaving Takeshi
[12:57] unemployed and free to, quote UN quote, help out his wife.
[13:02] Takeshi's background likely provided them with an
[13:05] understanding of police procedures and an ability to
[13:08] conceal their activities. The methodology employed by
[13:14] Miyuki Ishikawa was as cold and calculating as it was scalable.
[13:19] The Kotobuki sannen essentially served as a clearing house for
[13:23] newborns whose desperate parents couldn't or wouldn't raise them.
[13:28] Ishikawa, capitalizing on the extreme poverty and social
[13:32] distress of the quote UN quote parents, established a deadly
[13:36] transaction. She and her husband solicited
[13:40] substantial fees from the parents, money that effectively
[13:43] bought their silence and insured the baby's subsequent fate.
[13:48] Unlike the traditional method of simply leaving a baby out to
[13:51] perish from exposure, leaving them with Ishikawa ensured that
[13:55] the parents bore no legal responsibility for what
[13:59] happened. And I have to mention here that
[14:03] these parents were supposedly so destitute that they couldn't
[14:06] take care of their babies, yet could come up with substantial
[14:09] sums to eliminate them. Ishikawa argued to the mothers
[14:14] that since the children were unwanted, neglecting them was
[14:17] the most merciful and practical option, preventing them from
[14:21] enduring a life of destitution. The fee paid was the cost of
[14:26] this macabre service payment for the subsequent omission of care.
[14:32] This means the deaths weren't attributed to an active violent
[14:35] act, but something that was perhaps even more sinister.
[14:40] She engaged in the deliberate and systematic failure to
[14:43] provide the necessary care, such as food, warmth and medical
[14:48] attention to these babies. Ishikawa provided the lethal
[14:53] mechanism, but the parents provided the initial consent and
[14:57] the continuous stream of victims in exchange for cash.
[15:01] This economic exchange ensured the systematic nature of the
[15:05] crime and its longevity, turning the lack of welfare into a
[15:09] personal profit engine. Disturbingly, further
[15:14] investigation revealed that by the end of 1948, the practices
[15:19] at Kotobuki Sanan we're not unique.
[15:22] At least 11 other maternity homes across Tokyo had been
[15:25] found committing similar crimes. However, unlike the others,
[15:30] Ishikawa was the only one who had figured out a way to
[15:33] monetize this act of evil. While other maternity homes
[15:37] claimed that they simply didn't have the resources to provide
[15:40] for the influx of infants, Ishikawa wanted to get rich
[15:44] doing it. The cops were able to eventually
[15:49] pin 84 bodies to the Ishikawa operation.
[15:53] Notably, later historians investigating the case believe
[15:56] that 84 is a significant understatement of the true tally
[16:00] of the victims. It's believed that due to poor
[16:03] record keeping, many of the victims simply went completely
[16:07] unrecorded. When Miyuki Ishikawa was finally
[16:11] apprehended on January 15th, 1948, and the scope of her
[16:16] crimes began to emerge, many expected severe punishment.
[16:20] The public demanded that this woman and her husband, who was
[16:24] supposed to care for infants, meet the same fate as the babies
[16:27] they had in their quote UN quote care.
[16:31] Initially, in October 1948, the Tokyo District Court found both
[16:37] Ishikawa and her husband Takeshi guilty of five charges,
[16:41] sentencing Miyuki to 8 years and Takeshi to four years.
[16:46] This was considered a travesty, but then things would go from
[16:50] bad to worse. The final outcome of the case
[16:53] was deeply controversial and sparked intense public outrage,
[16:57] particularly given the suspected number of victims.
[17:01] Following appeals by both the defense and the prosecution, the
[17:05] Tokyo High Court drastically reduced the sentences in April
[17:08] 1952. Miyuki Ishikawa's final
[17:12] punishment, confirmed by the Supreme Court in September 1953,
[17:17] was a mere four years in prison, with Takeshi receiving only two
[17:21] years. According to the court's
[17:23] rationale, the Japanese state, to the extent it even existed
[17:28] during this period, was partly culpable for not providing any
[17:32] form of social welfare. Further, the court found that
[17:35] the parents of the infants were also culpable.
[17:39] While I think both of these factors are definitely true,
[17:42] this still of course doesn't change the fact that these two
[17:45] monsters were profiting off the sick acts they committed.
[17:49] But things were still going to somehow get worse because
[17:53] Miyuki, for all her chilling crimes, ended up getting the
[17:57] ending she wanted. She wanted to be rich, and she
[18:01] got it. After Miyuki Ishikawa was
[18:06] released, she continued to claim that she was innocent despite
[18:10] overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
[18:13] And perhaps the most disturbing twist?
[18:16] She ended up becoming a real estate agent and developer and
[18:19] accumulated a vast fortune, living until 1987.
[18:24] She even gave interviews where she appears to have bragged
[18:27] about the extent of her wealth, talking about how she was able
[18:30] to even build herself a fancy crypt.
[18:34] As for her husband Takeshi, he died sometime between his
[18:38] release in the 1950s and before 1969.
[18:45] Hey everyone, Jimmy here with a quick reminder to check out the
[18:48] Patreon or the YouTube membership.
[18:51] Also, one of the biggest ways you can help my channel out is
[18:55] hitting that share button and sending this video to your
[18:59] friends and family. Chris Fowler had walked over
[19:05] 2200 miles, crossing desert scrub and High Sierra passes.
[19:11] He had transformed himself from a seasoned outdoorsman into a
[19:14] hardened Pacific Crest Trail hiker, known affectionately as
[19:19] Sherpa. He had overcome the heat, the
[19:22] isolation, and the sheer physical exhaustion of
[19:25] traversing California and Oregon.
[19:28] By October 12th, 2016, the 34 year old was standing near White
[19:33] Pass, Washington. At approximately mile 2294, with
[19:39] the Canadian border tantalizingly close, only about
[19:43] 350 miles of the trail remained. But in the unforgiving high
[19:48] altitude wilderness of the North Cascades, the last miles are
[19:52] often the most deceptive. The end of September is
[19:55] traditionally the hard deadline for traversing this northern
[19:58] segment. By mid-october, the journey was
[20:02] a high stakes race against immediate violent winter
[20:05] conditions. To push N at that moment was
[20:08] ambitious. But Chris was a man of singular
[20:11] vision and he wasn't going to stop until he hit his goal.
[20:17] Christopher Fowler was born in Norfolk, VA, in 1982.
[20:22] While his father was stationed there in the Navy, but he grew
[20:25] up primarily in the Dayton, OH area.
[20:28] He graduated from Wright State University and maintained a
[20:32] close connection with his extended family, including his
[20:35] stepmother, Sally Fowler. She played a significant role in
[20:40] his life after his mother passed away when he was 12, and she
[20:44] would play a major role in making sure his disappearance
[20:47] wasn't forgotten. Before the trail called, Chris
[20:52] decided he had very few bills, some money saved, and no
[20:55] permanent job obligations. Some have speculated that he
[20:59] believed that this may be his last chance to go on a truly
[21:03] epic journey, explaining why he was so focused on completing the
[21:07] task at hand. This made 2016 the opportune
[21:11] moment to pursue a monumental adventure, and he had initially
[21:15] planned on going with his friend.
[21:18] When this didn't work out, he began his northbound journey
[21:21] from the Mexican border in May 2016.
[21:25] He embraced the trail environment and earned the trail
[21:27] name Sherpa, suggesting he was seen by his peers as a strong,
[21:31] reliable hiker capable of handling the demands of the
[21:35] trek. Having successfully completed
[21:37] the vast majority of the 2650 mile trail, Chris demonstrated
[21:43] not only physical aptitude but also the necessary mental
[21:47] resilience for this trail. Chris Fowler's known movement
[21:52] ceased on October 12th, 2016. He was completing his final push
[21:57] N through Washington that day. He was dropped off near the
[22:01] White Pass trailhead situated on US Hwy. 12.
[22:06] His presence in this specific area near mile 2294 was
[22:12] confirmed by the fact that his cell phone registered a final
[22:15] ping around 5:00 PM that evening.
[22:19] The timing was acutely dangerous.
[22:21] The forecast for the subsequent days was grim, predicting severe
[22:26] weather including snow and rain. The onset of severe cold, heavy
[22:31] precipitation, and gusting winds presents the ideal conditions
[22:36] for an environmental accident, particularly hypothermia.
[22:41] Severe hypothermia impairs judgment and motor skills
[22:44] quickly, often preventing the victim from utilizing basic
[22:48] survival tools. The lack of any distress signal
[22:52] points toward an event that happened suddenly, perhaps as a
[22:55] result of the blistering cold. That said, there's unconfirmed
[23:01] sightings of Chris on the 13th and 14th of October, which
[23:05] suggests that he may have continued hiking onwards without
[23:08] his phone. The last unconfirmed report
[23:11] suggests that he was alive as of October 22nd, when he was
[23:15] potentially seen by hunters near Mile Point 2364.
[23:20] That said, this sighting, like those on the 13th and the 14th,
[23:25] is unconfirmed. The initial belief articulated
[23:30] by his family was that Chris perished when a major stormfront
[23:34] arrived, trapping hikers and creating hazardous conditions.
[23:39] Official search and rescue operations led by the Yakima
[23:43] County Sheriff's Office were initiated across a large area
[23:46] between White Pass and the Canadian border.
[23:51] However, these official searches were suspended relatively
[23:54] quickly within about two weeks due to the inclement weather
[23:58] that made conditions too treacherous for rescue
[24:01] personnel. Despite the suspension, family,
[24:05] friends and volunteers, including hunters and other
[24:08] hikers familiar with the terrain, continued to comb the
[24:12] immense search area for years. They found absolutely no
[24:16] evidence of what happened to him, confirming the difficulties
[24:19] inherent in locating a person in this rugged, high altitude area.
[24:25] Personally, I have to question any of the sightings past
[24:28] October 12th, as all evidence indicates that Chris was a
[24:31] seasoned and safety conscious hiker.
[24:34] He knew that hiking in October was risky, and doing so without
[24:38] his phone would have amplified this risk substantially.
[24:42] That said, on the other hand, he does appear to have had a single
[24:46] minded desire to complete this journey in one season.
[24:50] Everyone who is ambitious and has a goal in mind is at risk of
[24:54] getting lost in the sauce and putting the goal before
[24:58] literally everything else, which may have been what happened
[25:01] here. At any rate, his family has
[25:05] valiantly continued the search for his body for almost a decade
[25:08] now, and I can only hope they get the closure they so
[25:11] desperately need in the coming years.

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