Author: synovacantrell

ward-Winning True Crime Writer, Coach & Victim’s Advocate Synova is an award-winning crime writer with over 300 cases under her belt. (Or pen, whatever!) One of her books was even endorsed by a retired FBI Agent! To top it all off, a flag was flown over the Capitol in Washington D.C. to honor her cold case work!!! She is Southwest Missouri's #1 True Crime Writer/Blogger. She is the author of 15 published books and has been featured on the Discovery Channel and other documentaries. Now, after a 3-year hiatus from the world of true crime, a famous cold case Synova worked on for years is back in the news. Synova picked up her old fedora and is back on the case.

The Strange Death of Codie Novack: Domestic Violence or Accident?

Photo courtesy of the Justice For Codie Facebook Page

“Your daughter is on an autopsy table”

The phrase rings in the poor mother’s ears to this day. April had been calling around conducting her own missing persons investigation trying to find her daughter Codie Novack. There had been issues of domestic violence in her relationship and now Codie had missed two appointments on the morning of January 5th, 2023. She hadn’t come home, and she wouldn’t answer the phone. Where was Codie?

“Your daughter is on an autopsy table”

Strangely the GPS on her phone said she was at the sheriff station but when this desperate mother called she was repeatedly told that Codie was not there. Finally, she gets a hold of the boyfriend and he utters the phrase that would change her life forever. 

 Cody

Codie Novack, 27, was staying in a shared house in Ocala Florida at the time of her death. It was a three-bedroom house that was rented out by the room. She had her own space but shared the living quarters with other people. They weren’t necessarily her friends, but this was her living arrangement at the moment.

Several “narratives” emerged at the beginning of this brutal saga, but none of them made sense to anyone who knew Codie. 

The boyfriend was the one who actually called 911 around midnight. At 12:17 a.m. the EMTs declared her officially dead. His narrative was that she fell hit her head and neck and then decided to go to sleep. He checked on her a couple of hours later and found her cold.

The EMTs found her covered in bruises, but the report also states that rigor mortis had set in and she had a lot of visible lividity. These two things don’t happen instantly upon death. Rigor mortis takes up to 2 hours to begin its processes. This means that Cody

Codie died closer to 10:00 pm on January 4th. Of course, all of this is unofficially my opinion. When April tried to ask law enforcement about the time of death she was told that those were TV answers, insinuating that the science wasn’t legitimate. If you study how rigor mortis works you will realize that this has been a go-to method for finding times of death for decades. So what science is illegitimate here?

Codie was covered in bruises and there were some lacerations on her face. Strangely there were lacerations on both sides of her face as if she had stood herself up and had fallen again. The strange bruising patterns around the neck and collarbone are what concerned me. Yet none of these bruises seemed to change the narrative of the story. She has bruises around her elbows as if someone has grabbed her, and bruises on her legs all the way around her kneecaps. Strangely she doesn’t have any bruising on the palms of her hands as if she fell and caught herself. Instead, she has bruises on the knuckles, backs of her hands, and her wrists as if she were covering her head in a defensive maneuver.

 I cannot go into detail on all of the strange bruises that were found on this poor woman’s body, but none of them add up to an accidental death in my book.

After fighting for 19 months, April still doesn’t have any definitive answers to any of the questions about her daughter’s case. The only definite answer is she is gone, yet the case was closed within thirty days. Check out my interview with April using the link below.

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“I killed the wrong Sharon Jones” – A Murderer’s Phone call

Image courtesy of Who Murdered Sharon Beatrice Jones? Facebook Page

On the day of the funeral, a grieving sister received the worst of phone calls.

“I’m sorry. I killed the wrong Sharon Jones,” the caller hung up before she could get more information. What happened to the ECSU student in dorm room #125 on March 4, 1984? How did she end up strangled with a belt and tied to her own bedpost? Forty years and still no one knows why.

Sharon B. Jones, 21 returned to the ECSU campus early from spring break to prepare for her student teaching job. She arrived around 9:30 pm and spoke to the Assistant Housing Director, Herbert Williams to gain entry into the Mitchell Lewis Dorm on the S.E. side of the campus. Williams and his cousin Adrian Douglas escorted the woman to her room.

Image courtesy of Who Murdered Sharon Beatrice Jones? Facebook Page

Monday morning Sharon’s body was discovered in the room. She was naked and lying face down. She had been strangled with a white belt tied to a bedpost. There was evidence of blunt force trauma above the right eye and bruising above the left ear. Strangely the window was broken from the inside of the room leaving glass outside on the ground. A small amount of blood was found on the windowsill. Detectives found a bloody dumbbell under one of the beds when searching the room.

It seemed like the case was doomed from the beginning. Williams and Douglas told investigators that Jones was nervous walking to her room alone when she noticed a light above her dorm room when no one was supposed to be there. Investigators researched the light and found there was one other woman who had stayed on campus during spring break. Her name was Angela Jones. (No Relation)

Angela was dating a 31-yr-old man by the name of Delantry Terrial Tafton. Tafton was somewhat of a campus troublemaker and had recently received a 14-week suspension. Although he wasn’t supposed to be on campus, he had spent the night with Angela and left around 7 am the next morning. Both Angela and “Tee” claimed a stranger had knocked on their door around 11 pm asking for their names.

The police chief stated within days that the motive must have been malice or jealousy since they couldn’t find evidence of a robbery and the sexual assault tests were inconclusive. They dialed in on Tafton and refused to look elsewhere. This hasty rush to a motive effectively eliminated other possible suspects and is most likely the reason why this case is still cold 40 years later.

During the chaos that engulfed the campus after the brutal murder, the funeral arrangements were made for Sharon Beatrice Jones. On the day of the funeral, Sharon’s sister Lisa gets a phone call from a stranger. The man sounded young. Before she could say anything, the man pleaded his case.

“I’m sorry. I killed the wrong Sharon Jones.”

Before the confused woman could respond the line went dead. Lisa didn’t know what to think and now three decades later no one knows why Sharon died or who killed her. I realize Tafton shouldn’t have been on campus, but I’m wondering why no one thought it was suspicious for two men to escort one girl to her dorm room all because of a light. Did anyone investigate Williams and his cousin? Why was his cousin there anyways? Did he work there?

If you have any information on this case, please contact the Elizabeth City Police Department at (252) 335-4321

This blog post is an excerpt from Synova’s book: Shattered

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Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)

Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer

This book has recently been updated and now has 40 cases for you to read!

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Youtube has started restricting my videos because of their true crime content. This hinders my channel’s monetization, sure, but more importantly it makes it hard to get these stories the publicity they need. Please consider following me on Rumble to help avoid these issues and to raise awareness about these unsolved cases.

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Did You Miss the LIVE True Crime Tuesday Show About this Case? Here’s the Replay!

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A Serial Killer’s Little Black Book – The Tiffany Sessions Murder Mystery

This blog post is an excerpt from Synova’s book: Shattered

The daughter of a powerful real estate mogul was snatched on her evening powerwalk just a short distance from her apartment. Thirty-five years later cold case investigators find a clue in a serial killer’s tattered black address book. Eleven years have passed since the discovery, and still, Tiffany Sessions’ body hasn’t been found. What happened to this college student?

________________________________________

Tiffany Louise Sessions, 20 was a finance/economics major at the University of Florida in 1989. Her roommate said she returned from the holiday break on a fitness craze trying to lose a goal of 14lbs. She had a trip planned and like many other coeds wanted to look great for the summer. This had prompted the young blond to start power walking in the evenings near her apartment complex. On the night of February 9, 1989, she set off promising the roommate she would return within the hour. She left behind her keys, wallet, and jewelry, but not her favorite golden watch given to her by her father. She never took that thing off.

When Tiffany didn’t show up within the hour, the concerned roommate jumped in her car and drove along Tiffany’s usual route. Perhaps she had fallen and needed medical attention. Tiffany was nowhere in sight, and the police were called in. That phone call would set off a thirty-five year investigation that is still unsolved today.

Tiffany’s parents divorced when she was three months old, but both parents vowed to find their daughter whatever it took. Tiffany was Hillary Sessions’s only child. She set out trying to find every way possible to distribute flyers and posters. Patrick Sessions was the President of a major real estate corporation, and that’s how he handled the case. Instantly, he took charge and began pouring resources and manpower into the search. While there is much animosity between the two parents, and it’s easy to start blaming each other, both of them are doing everything in their power to find Tiffany.

A thousand volunteers joined to search for the missing coed, but her body was never located. Police plowed through false leads, false confessions, and pranksters preying on the victim’s families. Twenty-five years passed without answers. In 2014, the authorities finally found an obscure connection that pointed to an incarcerated serial killer.

Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.com

Paul Rowles was convicted in a case that had a ton of eerie similarities. The astute detective began to research Rowles movements at the time of Tiffany’s disappearance and found everything lined up. Rowles not only lived in the area, but he also worked delivering scaffolding to a construction site along Tiffany’s jogging route. Rowles had missed work on the very day of Tiffany’s abduction and moved from the area a short time afterward.

Investigators visited the prison to interrogate Rowles but found he was dying of cancer in the prison hospital. The convicted serial killer was in a coma. Time had run out. After the monster’s death, investigators raided his cell for any clues. There they found a tattered black address book. In this book, he had documented many illicit things including the date of Tiffany’s disappearance. Beside the fateful date was written, “#2.”

Photo courtesy of Alachua County Sheriff’s Office

According to the timeline of murders, Tiffany Sessions would have been his second killing. Although the investigators and the family agree that Paul Rowles killed Tiffany, there hasn’t been enough evidence to prove it without a doubt, and Tiffany’s body has never been recovered. The eerie clue was found eleven years ago, and investigators are still running down leads.

Do you have any information that would help solve this mystery? If so, please contact the Alachua County Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit at (352) 367-4161.

Check Out Synova’s Chasing Justice Video On this Case:

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This blog post is an excerpt from Synova’s book: Shattered

Buy Book

Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)

Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer

This book has recently been updated and now has 40 cases for you to read!

Follow me on Rumble:

Youtube has started restricting my videos because of their true crime content. This hinders my channel’s monetization, sure, but more importantly it makes it hard to get these stories the publicity they need. Please consider following me on Rumble to help avoid these issues and to raise awareness about these unsolved cases.

Follow Me

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Weekly True Crime Newsletter. You will receive exclusive content directly in your inbox. As a gift for joining you will also receive the Grim Justice e-book free.

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Unmasking the Horrors of Serial Killer, Robert A. Berdella Jr.

This is a guest blog by Gary Jenkins. Synova recently recorded a series of videos with the retired Kansas City Detective about this strange case. See video links below for the four part video series. Don’t forget to check out Gary’s podcast called “Gangland Wire.”

Bob’s Bazaar Bizarre: The Start of a Dark Venture

In 1982, Robert Berdella took a significant step in his business pursuits by renting a booth at the Westport Flea Market in Kansas City. This store, aptly named Bob’s Bazaar Bizarre, specialized in primitive art, jewelry, and antiques. While the business sometimes yielded a decent profit, it often needed to cover Berdella’s expenses. Berdella resorted to stealing or scavenging items to sell at his booth to bridge the financial gap. Additionally, he took in lodgers at his home to generate extra income. 

At the flea market, Berdella met Paul Howell, a fellow merchant with a booth adjacent to his own. This connection eventually led Berdella to meet Paul Howell’s younger son, Jerry. Initially, Jerry and his friends mocked Berdella for his overt homosexuality. However, Berdella later claimed that Jerry confided in him, revealing that he and his friends occasionally earned money as male prostitutes.

This relationship with the Howell family would prove to be a pivotal chapter in Berdella’s dark history, marking the beginning of his descent into the horrific crimes that would shock Kansas City and the nation.

By 1984, Berdella’s sadistic tendencies had fully manifested, leading to the capture, torture, and murder of several young men. His actions shocked the nation, revealing a deeply disturbed individual who meticulously planned and executed his darkest fantasies. 

April 10, 1985: The Arrival of Robert Sheldon

On a fateful day in April 1985, Robert Sheldon, a former lodger, found himself at Robert Berdella’s doorstep. At just 20 years old, Sheldon asked if he could stay temporarily. Despite paying his rent responsibly, Berdella found Sheldon to be an inconvenience. Unattracted to Sheldon, Berdella nonetheless drugged and held him captive on April 12 after finding him intoxicated at his home. Berdella claimed he had no malice toward Sheldon but saw him as an outlet for his anger and frustration.

Sheldon endured a harrowing three days of captivity in a second-floor bedroom. The tortures included having drain cleaner swabbed in his left eye, needles inserted beneath his fingertips, wrists bound with piano wire to damage his hand nerves permanently, and his ears filled with caulking to impair his hearing. When a workman arrived to perform roof repairs on April 15, Berdella fatally suffocated Sheldon by placing a sack over his head and tightening it with rope. He then dissected Sheldon’s body in the third-floor bathroom.

June 1985: The Tragic Fate of Mark Wallace

A month later, Berdella found Mark Wallace, a casual acquaintance who had previously helped with yard work, seeking shelter in his tool shed during a thunderstorm. Inviting Wallace inside, Berdella offered to inject him with chlorpromazine to calm his tense and depressed state. Wallace accepted, and soon after, Berdella rendered him captive and subjected him to nearly a day of torture, including electrical shocks administered with alligator clips attached to his nipples. According to Berdella, Wallace died from a combination of drugs, gagging, and lack of oxygen on June 23, 1985.

September 1985: The Brutalization of James Ferris

In late September 1985, Berdella received a call from James Ferris, an acquaintance, asking to stay at his home. Berdella agreed, with the intention of kidnapping Ferris. After meeting at a bar, Berdella brought Ferris home, drugged him with tranquilizers hidden in a meal, and tied him to his bed. Over the next 27 hours, Ferris endured relentless torture, including electrical shocks and hypodermic needle acupuncture to his neck and genitals. Ferris eventually succumbed to the brutal assaults, and Berdella noted his death with the slang term “86,” a phrase from his career as a chef meaning to throw something out or stop a project.

June 1986: The Prolonged Agony of Todd Stoops

Todd Stoops, a 23-year-old drug addict and occasional prostitute, had twice lived with Berdella in 1984. After a chance encounter in June 1986, Berdella invited Stoops to his house with an offer of lunch and sex for money. Berdella was physically attracted to Stoops and held him captive for two weeks. During this time, Stoops endured severe torture, including electrical shocks to his eyes and drain cleaner injections to his larynx. On July 1, 1986, Stoops died from septic shock caused by a ruptured anal wall.

Spring 1987: The Captivity of Larry Wayne Pearson

In the spring of 1987, Berdella befriended 20-year-old Larry Wayne Pearson, who shared an interest in witchcraft and wizardry. After bailing Pearson out of jail, Berdella decided to capture him. On June 23, after getting Pearson intoxicated, Berdella moved him to the basement and began torturing him with electrical shocks and breaking his hand bones. Berdella took Pearson to the second floor as a “reward” for his cooperation but remained subjected to ongoing abuse. After six weeks, Pearson bit Berdella’s penis and was subsequently killed and dismembered. He stored Pearson’s head in his freezer before being buried in the backyard.

March 29, 1988: The Final Victim, Christopher Bryson

Christopher Bryson, a 22-year-old male prostitute, was abducted by Berdella on March 29, 1988. Bryson was knocked unconscious, bound, and subjected to repeated abuse, including having ammonia swabbed in his eyes. Over the next few days, Berdella explained that he trusted Bryson and discussed some aspects of his abuse but warned that any mistakes would be fatal.

Bryson’s Escape

By the third day, Bryson convinced Berdella to tie his hands in front rather than above his head and leave a television on. Using matches left within his reach, Bryson burned through his restraints and escaped by jumping from a second-floor window, breaking his foot. He ran towards a meter reader, who led him to safety, and a neighbor called the police immediately.

The horror endured by these victims at the hands of Robert Berdella serves as a chilling reminder of the depths of human depravity. The escape of Christopher Bryson ultimately led to Berdella’s capture, ending his reign of terror.

Conclusion

Robert Berdella’s life and crimes serve as a chilling reminder of the depths of human depravity. His story, marked by early isolation, a turbulent adolescence, and a descent into sadistic violence, underscores the importance of understanding and addressing the factors that can lead to such horrific outcomes. Berdella’s legacy is pain and terror, leaving an indelible mark on Kansas City’s history.

Gary & Synova’s Youtube Video Series:

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Jennifer Casper-Ross: The Tragic Story of a Ballerina’s Mysterious Disappearance

Jennifer Rayleen Casper was born on April 30, 1975, and grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. She learned to love the art of dance as a child and thrived in the industry. While many little girls take dance lessons when they are young, very few are talented and dedicated enough to make a career out of it. At a young age, Jennifer achieved every little girl’s dream and became a professional ballerina.

At 19, she would be the youngest woman to ever audition for the Greg Thompson Productions. She would go on to be the youngest hired by the production company. Her career in show business had finally taken off, but sadly, eleven years later, she would disappear without a trace. What happened to this beautiful dancer? The disappearance of her starlet was devastating for Jennifer’s mother, Carla. The beautiful young woman seemed to have the world at her fingertips.

After graduating from Highland High School, Jennifer moved to Las Vegas and danced in the American Superstars show. Her dreams were coming true. Jennifer was featured on show posters, giant billboards, and commercials. Everyone loved the tall, slender brunette, and she was living her dream.

In 1995, Jennifer moved from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada, and got a job dancing for Harrah’s Hotel & Casino. The studious young woman immediately enrolled in college and began working on a major in Veterinary Medicine. Like many college students, she would eventually change her major. She had big dreams for her future and decided she wanted to find a cure for autism and cancer.

While working at Harrah’s, she meets and falls in love with a crewman named Sean Ross. They married and had a son four years later. Sadly, her career was cut short by an injury, so she began giving ballet lessons to help make a living. Life was good until then, but she continued pressing forward, battling her demons and trying to make a good life for her son. The showgirl glitz was pretty from the outside, but Jennifer was struggling with mental health issues and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, her marriage was also beginning to crumble.

Most people have heard the term bipolar, but few understand what it really is. Bipolar disorder is a mental health issue that can range from mild to severe. This condition can cause extreme mood swings with bouts of severe depression. Coupled with losing her dancing career, motherhood, and marital woes, this would have been quite an overwhelming load.

Jennifer was a showgirl from childhood. She was smart, talented, and beautiful. She knew this, but her identity was on the stage, and she found it hard to find herself now that her life of glitz and glamour had vanished. She always had the adoration of those around her, but now she felt hopelessly inadequate.
How do I know this, you might ask? Because I’ve been there. Mental health issues are hard to deal with, especially for a driven, successful person. Now, everything she had worked so hard for was going up in smoke. What could she do now?

In a fit of despair and drowning in debt, the beautiful ballerina took a job as an exotic dancer at the Wild Orchid Gentleman’s Club. She wasn’t happy about it but couldn’t find another option with her current mental state.

Like many women, Jennifer also suffered from postpartum depression, or so her husband claimed, and her life spiraled down from there. That’s when her drug and alcohol use began again, according to her husband. Her family vehemently disputes this, and there isn’t any official record of Jennifer having postpartum depression.

In 2005, Jennifer sought professional help with her anxieties and mental health issues. She was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and postpartum depression. It is unclear if the postpartum depression was just something Sean mentioned or if she was diagnosed with it as well. Whatever the case, Jennifer was given a high-powered concoction of medications and treatment to help her get her life back in order.

She seemed to respond well to the treatment in the following weeks. There was one problem. However, Jennifer was still unable to cope with drinking and experimenting with drugs along with her medications.
No one knows what happened between husband and wife, but the fighting came to a breaking point in the early morning hours of May 5, 2005, and Jennifer stormed out of the house. Sean says she left with a red bag full of clothes, but no one could verify this story, and no other reports mention the bag.

Jennifer walked to the Peppermill Resort, Spa & Casino, which was only a mile from her home. There, she shared a few drinks with a friend, and some witnesses recall marks on her wrists and arms. Were they from abuse, or were they self-inflicted? No one knows for sure.

Around 5 a.m., she used her friend’s cell phone to call her father in Las Vegas. She told him she wanted to come to visit. Then, around 5:30 a.m., she took a cab to the Reno Sparks Cab Company. There, she hoped to see her mother, who usually worked the graveyard shift.

Unfortunately, her mother was off that night. Witnesses say she was seen climbing a fence and walking off. No one has seen her since. Here, the story begins to get a little strange. A beautiful woman is clearly upset and out on the town alone. She has a few drinks, paid for by an unknown gentleman, and then leaves the Peppermill to go to her mother’s job.

While interviewing family members, I was made aware of one gentleman who was particularly infatuated with the tall, gracious dancer. It was never brought out in the police reports, but it would seem a man at the cab company (I won’t name him) was always asking her mother if she had ditched Sean. He wanted to marry her and probably would have if it were an option. Here’s my question. Was this man ever questioned? Did his infatuation with the dark-eyed ballerina drive him to some nefarious scheme? We may never know.

Sean Ross called in a missing persons report when Jennifer didn’t return home the following day. Those closest to Jennifer found this odd because, according to Sean’s statements, Jennifer had run off before and would be gone for a few days. These reports could never be verified, but he would choose to call in a missing persons report right away if this were true. Wouldn’t waiting and seeing if she came home first make more sense?

Initial police reports say the investigators found two blood-stained notes in the home. After testing, they confirmed that the missing woman had written them and it was her blood. Were they written under duress? Was the medication and alcohol mix causing her to lose control? Maybe, but there’s more.

The young woman with a 3.9 GPA at the University of Nevada is on the opposite side of this dark spectrum. In 2001, she was inducted into the Dean’s List and remained there every year thereafter. She majored in veterinary medicine but switched to biomedical engineering and was awarded the NASA national space-grant college and fellowship program in 2000. She was smart, passionate, and independent. Was she pulling away from Sean? Was it more than he could handle?

Some people want to insinuate that Jennifer committed suicide, but would that really be like her? No one knows for sure. Yes, she was desperate, but she only had one year left before she received the degree she had worked so hard for. Surely, things would get better then.

Was her world really crashing down, or did an unknown monster bring it down? Investigators follow the night’s events and try to piece together a timeline of Jennifer’s last known hours. They talk to the employees at the cab company and hear a bizarre tale. The intoxicated woman had shown up that morning looking for her mother. When she was told her mother had the night off, Jennifer panicked and ran off into the night. She turned so quickly that the heel of her shoe broke. She ditched her high heels and ran off barefoot, jumping a small fence and heading toward her house.

Tracking dogs were brought in to help with the investigation. They found Jennifer’s scent behind the cab company and followed her trail until she reached the road. There, the trail was lost. Did someone stop and pick up the heavily intoxicated woman? The couple’s marriage problems and financial woes were a well-known fact. Did those issues cause Jennifer to want to abandon her life and start over somewhere else? Her family doesn’t think so. She adored her son, and no one believed she would run away. So, what happened to Jennifer?

Sean Ross is given a lie detector test shortly after his wife’s disappearance and fails. A second test is scheduled because everyone knows the tests aren’t 100% reliable. Sean agrees to the second test but never shows up. As if that weren’t suspicious enough, Sean told his mother-in-law that he thought Jennifer might be in the river before Jennifer was even officially declared missing. Investigators noticed his lack of emotion during the process.

Of course, everyone grieves differently, but that wouldn’t be the end of Sean Ross’ odd behavior. Three months after his wife’s disappearance, Ross divorces Jennifer and files for sole custody of their son. Who does that? Did he think she was out there somewhere refusing to come home, or did he know more? The strange behavior continues when Sean sells the home and moves to California with their son.

According to the divorce decree, Jennifer was supposed to receive half the proceeds from the house sale. Where is that? Is it still in the courthouse?

When this case was first reported, several news outlets claimed Sean had been cleared as a suspect, but that is not the case. Dateline did a write-up about this case recently, and the investigator claims Sean and one other unnamed individual are still persons of interest. I wonder who the unidentified person is. Could it be the guy at the cab company? I have no idea. I will leave that up to you to decide. The investigator also makes sure to mention the supposed suicide notes. He said they do not believe they were definite proof of suicide because they cannot prove that Jennifer wasn’t coerced into writing them. Sadly, Jennifer’s son is now coming of age and asking questions about his mother.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Reno Police Department at (775)334-2155.

Watch Synova’s Video on this Case:

Watch Video

Follow me on Rumble:

Youtube has started restricting my videos because of their true crime content. This hinders my channel’s monetization, sure, but more importantly it makes it hard to get these stories the publicity they need. Please consider following me on Rumble to help avoid these issues and to raise awareness about these unsolved cases.

Follow Me

If you enjoy this content don’t forget to sign up for Synova’s Weekly True Crime Newsletter. You will receive exclusive content directly in your inbox. As a gift for joining you will also receive the Grim Justice e-book free.

SIGN UP HERE
Buy Book

Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)

Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer

Each week Synova highlights obscure cold cases on her blog as a victim’s advocate. She never charges for her services. If you’d like to help support Synova in this worthy cause please check out the affiliate links below. By purchasing one of her books or using these links, you will be supporting Synova’s work on cold cases and will ensure her ability to continue to give a voice to the victim’s family. Thank you.

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Missing in Wisconsin: The Carmen Owens Disappearance

A quiet, somewhat reclusive woman buys a bus ticket to Green Bay and vanishes. Her medicine is still at home, and she carries nothing but a purse. Did she even get on the bus? Did she get off the bus? No one knows, and now, almost twenty-six years later, her existence is nearly erased from memory. What happened to Carmen Owens?

These cases are the hardest for me to write about, and not because of the lack of information. The thought that someone can disappear and be forgotten is devastating. Carmen Owens was a quiet woman who lived a somewhat reclusive life. She had a few friends in Shawano but only seemed close to her mother, Verona Owens. Carmen walked to the local grocery stores and coffee shops and frequently visited the library where her mother worked. She was an avid reader, but there are no records of what she was reading.

As of 1998, the library hadn’t installed a computer system. Perhaps Carmen was checking out a book on starting a new life. We will never know. The lack of information about this 41-year-old woman is frustrating for the police and armchair detectives like me. Verona Owens died in 2009, hoping her daughter would walk through her door one day, but that still hasn’t happened. Greyhound employees cannot say if Carmen reached Green Bay or if she ever boarded the bus in Shawano.

We know that Carmen frequently traveled to a shopping mall in Green Bay, WI, with her mother. Perhaps this is why the woman left without her luggage or her required medications. Maybe she was going on a shopping trip and planned to return.

There’s a strange twist to this case that makes people wonder. When police searched her home, they found some names written on an envelope. Were these names the scribblings of a mentally unstable woman on medication? Or were these names aliases she planned to use when she ran away?

The police also found a notebook with names of apartments for rent in the Green Bay area, and they found a map of Minnesota. What did all of this mean? Did she run away? Why haven’t they found her if she rented an apartment under an alias? Why didn’t she take any of her belongings? Why did she leave behind the medication for her mental health issues?

The Shawano Police Department hasn’t given up on the case, and they hope to find her one day. Owens’ information was entered into several national databases in hopes of locating the missing woman. They collected and stored her DNA from items they found in her home. The police also plan to place her picture on the back of playing cards to distribute to prison inmates. So far, none of these tactics have yielded any results.

I implore you to share this woman’s story and her picture everywhere possible. Please don’t let this woman be forgotten. She needs to be found, and you can help make a difference. If you have any information about this case, please contact the Shawano Police Department at (715) 524-4545.

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Unorganized Crime Interview #2: Sidney Heard’s Extensive FBI File

Check out another one of my true crime archives videos…

In this video I interview Sidney Heard, the ex-gangster from my first true crime book titled, “Unorganized Crime.” We discuss his extensive FBI file in this video.

Get the book here:

https://tinyurl.com/synovasunorganizedcrimebook

Watch the Interview Here:

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Unorganized Crime: Interview with Sidney Heard – The Amarillo Arsonist

Check out another one of my true crime archives videos… In this video I interview Sidney Heard, the ex-gangster from my first true crime book titled, “Unorganized Crime.” Today we are talking about some of the scams he started and how his life has changed now.

Watch Video Here: https://youtu.be/7bSzpoGEK5g

Buy Book Here: https://tinyurl.com/synovasunorganizedcrimebook

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“Shocking Crime in Ottumwa: John Hill Brutally Murdered in Local Laundromat”

It’s been almost 49 years since John Hill was slaughtered in his own laundromat in Ottumwa, Iowa.

On the wee hours of November 22nd, 1976, John was viciously attacked in his own business. Police found his body at 5:06 a.m. lying face down in a small room of the laundromat. He had been stabbed repeatedly and shot. He had fought hard and the scene was quite a bloodbath.

A .25 caliber pistol was near his right hand and five rounds had been fired from it. They found five bullet holes near the front door, but only four shell casings. Did he hit one of his attackers?

Two words were written in blood, the word “older”, and either “black” or “lack.” Was this written as a clue from the victim? Was it written as a taunt to the police? We may never know.

Early reports said his pockets had been turned out and they think he had been robbed of several hundred dollars. Was all of this a robbery, or was it staged by the perpetrators to throw off the police?

Two suspects appeared early on, but all the police had was circumstantial evidence and without any hard evidence arrests could not be made.

If you have any information, please contact:

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation – (515) 725-6010 – Email: dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us

Or the Ottumwa Police Department – (641) 684-5555

Synova’s Video on this Case:

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Each week Synova highlights obscure cold cases on her blog as a victim’s advocate. She never charges for her services. If you’d like to help support Synova in this worthy cause please check out the affiliate links below. By purchasing one of her books or using these links, you will be supporting Synova’s work on cold cases and will ensure her ability to continue to give a voice to the victim’s family. Thank you.

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Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life (Synova’s Case Files Series)

Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer

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TCA Snatched Art Crime Video – Stolen de Kooning Painting Recovered after 37 years

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Check out another video from my true crime archives. On Nov. 29, 1985, a couple walked into The University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona and ripped a priceless painting from the walls. 37 years later that painting is found in an antique store. A quiet couple had hidden the painting behind their bedroom door for more than three decades and it was only found after their estate was sold after they passed away.

Check out this story and others in my casefiles book titled, Snatched: The FBI’s Top 10 Art Crimes & More

Sit back and relax as Synova regales you with tales of master art thieves, bumbling criminals, and multi-million-dollar art heists from around the world. There will be stories of mafia-commissioned heists, of Daredevil art thieves, and of the brave men and women of the FBI Art team who are trying to stop this multi-billion-dollar industry of art crime. Enjoy. This book is the first in Synova’s Case Files series. Every year Synova takes the top cases previously highlighted on her blog and compiles them into a case files book. 2017 Synova was researching the FBI’s Top Ten Art Crimes and following the cases of the FBI Art Crime Team. 

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