Tag: #coldcase

Cold Case Mystery: What Happened to Missing Teen Tracy Pickett?

Tracy Pickett vanished after a sleepover in Webb City, Missouri — and 33 years later, justice still hasn’t been served.

On the night of August 11, 1992, 14-year-old Tracy Pickett did something countless teens do — she went to a sleepover with friends. But by the next morning, Tracy had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a grieving mother and a community haunted by unanswered questions.

This unsolved disappearance remains one of Missouri’s most disturbing cold cases, with key suspects, suspicious sightings, and a chilling voicemail, but still no body — and no closure.

A Mother’s Worst Nightmare Begins

Glenda “Kay” Blaser, Tracy’s mother, never imagined she would be living every parent’s worst fear. She agreed to let her daughter spend the night with friends. But someone else showed up that night — two convicted felons. One of them, Ernest “Michael” Hensley, was dating one of the girls. He brought along a man known only as “Al.”

That “Al” was later identified as Lowell Andrew Billy, a convicted $ex offender with a dark past and a disturbing future.

The Chilling Voicemail and Tracy’s Sudden Disappearance

On August 12, 1992, Blaser received a bizarre, possibly pre-recorded voicemail:

“Tracy is on her way home to change her clothes.”

The message came twice. But Tracy never came home.

When Blaser went to the friend’s house, she found Tracy’s shoes in the closet — but no sign of her daughter. Witnesses say “Al” had given Tracy a ride home that morning in a distinctive black van with Oklahoma plates, louvers on the windows, and two sunroofs — a vehicle later tied to multiple sightings.

One witness reported hearing a girl scream, “Leave me alone!” in a nearby alley. Another saw “Al” cleaning out the van near Carthage, Missouri, around noon on the day of Tracy’s disappearance.

A Prime Suspect with a Violent History

Police eventually identified “Al” as Lowell Andrew Billy, a man with a violent record. He told investigators he dropped Tracy off in front of a pawn shop in downtown Joplin, but no witnesses or evidence support that claim.

A year later, Billy was arrested for kidnapping and $exu@l assault of another woman in Oklahoma. He served time but was later re-arrested for failing to register as a $ex offender. Despite being labeled the prime suspect in Tracy Pickett’s disappearance, insufficient evidence has kept authorities from charging him.

Renewed Investigations and Ongoing Search for Justice

In 2005, investigators drained a local mining pit, hoping to uncover evidence. In 2018, the Joplin Police Department searched several ponds linked to the other man who was at the sleepover — Ernest “Michael” Hensley, who has since passed away.

Police believe Hensley and Billy may have both been involved, but decades later, Tracy Pickett remains missing, and her case is still unsolved.

Help Bring Tracy Pickett Home

If you have any information about the disappearance of Tracy Pickett, please contact the Joplin Police Department at

(417) 623-3131.

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Shattered: Behind Every Story Is a Shattered Life

Behind every story I write is a life that’s shattered. These aren’t headlines. These are people. Those who try to twist headlines to generate more views are toying with someone’s trauma. I have raised awareness for 500 cases and helped generate leads for law enforcement. That’s my purpose and that’s what keeps me going. 

This book has the top 40 cases that I’ve highlighted on my blog throughout the years. Please enjoy the book but remember these are real people with real trauma. 

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Vanished Without a Trace: The Mysterious Disappearance of Betty Alexander in Sullivan, Missouri

On April 10th, 2019, 69-year-old Betty Alexander was last seen at her apartment in Sullivan, Missouri. A Sinks Pharmacy delivery driver had checked in with her that Wednesday. But by the next morning, Betty had vanished without a trace.

She missed both her physical therapy appointment and a scheduled visit from Meals on Wheels. For Betty—a grandmother with early-stage dementia—this behavior was entirely out of character. She didn’t drive, rarely walked alone, and was known to be cautious about her routine.

The First Signs of Trouble

On Friday, April 12th, the Meals on Wheels driver found Betty’s door unlocked, but she wasn’t home. The food was left on the table, and the driver left, assuming she would return soon. Sadly, she didn’t.

That Sunday, Betty’s daughter Tonya arrived to take her mom on a planned shopping trip. She knocked, but there was no answer. The door was now locked—a strange change from Friday. Tonya used her key to enter and discovered that Betty was gone.

Her glasses, which she never left home without—not even to the mailbox—were still inside. So were her purse and apartment keys, both found tucked away in the closet. Betty also didn’t own a cell phone. Something was very wrong.

Suspicious Details Emerge

Further inspection revealed more strange clues:

  • Betty had taken her evening medication at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
  • Her Thursday morning meds were untouched.
  • Some prescription drugs were missing, while others were not.
  • Despite no signs of forced entry or a struggle, there was concern she may have been targeted for her medications.
  • Two separate K9 units searched the area with no results.

And then there’s the timeline:

  • The door was unlocked on Friday when Meals on Wheels came.
  • But it was locked again by Sunday when Tonya arrived.

Who went into Betty’s apartment during that time?

Where Is Betty Alexander?

It’s been years, and no trace of Betty Alexander has ever been found. Despite the tireless work of law enforcement and her devastated family, the trail has gone cold.

Can You Help?

If you know anything about the disappearance of Betty Alexander—even something that seems insignificant—please contact the Sullivan Police Department: (573) 468-8001

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Shattered: Behind Every Story Is A Shattered Life

Synova has written about close to 500 cases over the years. This book includes 40 of those case files. Remember behind every story is a family that’s broken and desperately looking for answers. Every book you buy helps me raise awareness about the long-forgotten cases. Thank you in advance

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The I-70 Serial Killer Cold Case

I-70sketches

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Is there such a thing as the perfect crime? The Golden State Killer got away with murder but was still caught 44 years later. But what happens when there isn’t any DNA to link the killer to the icy cold case?

This is what happened in the 33-year-old cold case of the I-70 serial killer. Many people confuse this case with the I-70 Strangler, but that guy was caught. His name was Herb Baumeister, and he targeted gay men.

 This case is strange in the fact that the killer walked into a store, shot his weapon, and walked right back out, leaving behind shell casings and the body of a petite brunette. That’s all. There weren’t any sexual assaults to leave DNA. He didn’t torture his victims. He simply wanted to kill.


April 8, 1992:


A 26-yr-old brunette woman opened the Payless Shoe Source shoe store in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her name was Robin Fuldauer. Register receipts show that sometime between 1:30 pm and 2 pm, a man walked into the store and shot Robin in the back of the head with a .22. A customer walks in around 2 pm and finds the place empty and calls the police. She hadn’t noticed Robin’s body face down in the back room. Strangely only a few dollars was stolen from the cash register. Police wonder if this was a botched robbery attempt. That theory would be dropped quickly when the Phantom Assassin found his next target.

April 11, 1992:

 Three days later & 700 miles east along I-70, the killer strikes again. This time there were two victims. Both women are petite with shoulder-length brown hair. They were busy closing the bridal shop and were waiting for a late customer to arrive.


Pat Majors and Patricia Smith had already shut off the lights and locked the door when a man knocked on the front glass. Patricia Smith unlocked the door with the customer’s order in hand. He had already paid, so she expected to hand it out the door. Instead, she was pushed inside and ordered to the back by the Phantom Assassin. The two women were quickly shot in the head, but before the killer could leave the customer showed up


The gunman tried to force the man into the back room, but instead, the witness entered a dialog with the killer. Somehow he was able to persuade the killer to let him go. The witness fled the scene and called the police. They arrived on site, not knowing what to expect. The two women were quickly found in the back room. One was declared dead at the scene, and the other died later in the hospital. The only clues left behind were the shell casings and the witness description. Surely that would be enough to catch the guy. Right? Wrong.

April 27, 1992:

 Sixteen days later, in Terre Haute, Indiana, the killer strikes yet another petite brunette working alone in Sylvia’s Ceramics. This time the killer gets sloppy. His victim was actually a man named Michael McCowan. The store was named after his mother, Sylvia. He wore his brown hair in a long ponytail and wore earrings. Perhaps the deranged psychopath thought Michael was a female in his haste to appease his inner demons. Who knows? Whatever the case, it was clear that a petite brunette wasn’t safe working alone in a storefront building along I-70.

May 3, 1992:

 One week later, the killer would find his next target. This time it was Nancy Kitzmiller. She was working in a western wear store in St. Charles, Missouri.

May 7, 1992:

 Four days later, the killer shoots Sarah Blessing in Raytown, Missouri. This time there were two witnesses. The suspect walked down the sidewalk looking in the windows and caught the gaze of a young man in an electronics store. The witness noticed the man was wearing a large, heavy coat and thought it was odd in the warm weather. A few moments later, the witness heard a loud pop next door. When he peered out the door, he saw the stranger calmly walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. The man ran next door to find Sarah had been shot. She died on the scene.

 A grocery store employee was out gathering shopping carts from the parking lot and noticed the suspect climbing the slight embankment towards I-70. Both witnesses gave the same descriptions that the police had heard before. He was a white man in his late 20’s – mid 30’s. He was small around 5’9” – 5’10” with sandy blondish hair. Some recall his hair having a dull red tint.

Suddenly the killings seemed to stop leaving the investigators wondering what happened. Maybe the killer had been arrested on an unrelated charge. Police poured over all the surrounding area’s arrest records. One by one, they were all ruled out, and the case was faltering on the brink of becoming a cold case.

September 25, 1993:

 Sixteen months after Sarah Blessing’s murder, a killer surfaces in Texas off I-35. His MO is eerily similar to the I-70 killer, and investigators wonder if they could be the work of one man. Mary Glasscock, another petite brunette, was murdered by a single gunshot to the back of the head with a .22. She had been working alone at the Emporium Antiques store in Fort Worth, Texas.

November 1, 1993:

 Amy Vess was working alone in a dancewear shop when the killer shot her, stole some cash from the register, and left behind a shell casing from a .22.

January 15, 1994:

 Vicki Webb was shot by an unknown killer while she worked alone in a Houston gift shop. A spinal abnormality caused the bullet to ricochet off the vertebrae and lodge in her head. The bullet paralyzed her but didn’t kill her. At that moment, she made a decision that would save her life. She chose to play dead. Webb could hear him rummaging through the cash register, and then he returned to her. He rolled her over and looked at her for a moment. Then he pressed the barrel to her forehead and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. Almost as an afterthought, he pulled her pants down to her ankles and walked out of the store. Was he not buying her act? Was he planning to assault her sexually and was scared off by something? In later interviews, Webb said she really didn’t think he was aroused by pulling off her pants. It was almost as a last-minute idea. Maybe he was trying to throw off the cops, or maybe his MO was changing. Was he becoming a sexual predator?

 Vicki Webb lived, and after many surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy, she was able to walk again. She lived in fear that he would return to finish the job, and for decades, she kept her face out of the newspapers. It wasn’t until an episode of Dark Minds that she allowed an interview. She claims she wants to see her attacker in court to show him that she won. I hope she gets the chance.

Some investigators have a hard time linking the I-70 slayings and the I-35 killings. Here are the facts as I have uncovered them. I believe they are the same man, but I will let you decide.

Location:

 – All the hits were within easy access to a major interstate highway providing an easy escape

 – All the targets were working alone in a small storefront type store

Victims:

 – All the victims were shot execution-style in the back of the head

 – No torture

 – No sexual assault

 – No major reconnaissance beforehand

Weapon: Here is where some investigators question the connection.

 – The I-70 killer used a different .22 than the I-35 killer used

My explanations:

 During the 16-month hiatus, there was a big media blitz. My theory is that he saw something on the news that scared him. So he changed weapons and location.

Below is a wanted poster to show the killer’s gun. If you have any information on this case, please contact the St. Charles P.D. 1-800-800-3510 or contact your local police department.

wanted pic

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ALL INFORMATION USED TO CREATE THIS CONTENT IS A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD AND CAN BE EASILY FOUND ONLINE OR CAN BE VERIFIED BY THE GUEST BLOGGER. ANY PARTICIPATION OR ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT OF ANY PARTY MENTIONED WITHIN THIS SITE IS PURELY SPECULATION. AS THE LAW STATES, AN INDIVIDUAL IS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. I DO NOT OWN THE PHOTOS USED IN THIS POST. ALL PHOTOS ARE USED UNDER THE FAIR USE ACT. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. ANY AND ALL OPINIONS ARE THAT OF THE GUEST BLOGGER AND DON’T NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF SYNOVA INK©2017-2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Shattered: Behind Every Story is A Shattered Life

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, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, 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, and so many more,

This book has recently been updated with all the new information available on these cases. More cases were added. Now this book covers forty cases that Synova has written about on her blog.

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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.

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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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Dixie Mafia Exposed – Justice for The Sherry Murders

Screenshot 2019-08-15 at 9.11.14 AM.png
Photo courtesy of the Clarion-Ledger May 22, 1991

The battle raged for ten long years, but two warriors refused to abandon the case. Lynn Sherry Sposito and FBI agent Keith Bell kept fighting until justice was served for the murders of Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret.

How did this criminal enterprise finally crumble? Although it would take a decade to find justice for the Sherry murders, the foundations began to erode when investigators learned of the Dixie Mafia’s involvement. The first clue came in rather quickly after a neighbor spoke to Lynn Sposito about a strange car in the area on the night of her parent’s murder.

The Greenwood Commonwealth reported on the abandoned car believed to be the getaway car. It was found on September 22, 1987, within a couple of miles from the Sherry house. This 1981 Ford Fairmont would lead straight back to the Dixie Mafia and would get the case rolling.

Screenshot 2019-08-15 at 9.23.07 AM Photo courtesy of the Greenwood Commonwealth September 24, 1987

Not only was this vehicle found close to the murder scene, but it also matched the description given by the neighbor. Strangely, the dome light had been purposely dismantled and the bulb removed. Whoever was driving this car did not want to be seen when he opened the car door.

The car had been stolen off a lot shortly before the murder. Some reports say it was stolen the day before, but in the book Mississippi Mud, it says the car was stolen on the same day. This is not the only discrepancy reported in the book and newspapers. You must remember that both the newspapers and the book were written as the story broke, so they could only write what was known at the time. It is easier to write a story decades afterward in my opinion.

The license plates on this stolen car were registered to another abandoned vehicle from three years earlier. This stolen Firebird had been abandoned in front of an apartment complex. A known Dixie Mafia member named Lenny Sweatman had stripped the car for parts before it was towed away. That tangled web is what led the investigators to the doorstep of the Dixie Mafia. Sweatman would lead to the club owner, Mike Gillich. Gillich would lead back to Kirksey Nix and his Lonely Hearts scam.

The scam was on the police radar for a while and investigators wondered if the murder was connected, but they had no proof. It would take a couple of snitches, a little legal wrangling, and a lot of patience to bring down the killers.

Bobby Joe Fabian was serving a life sentence in Angola prison when he decided to work with investigators in hopes of shortening his sentence. Fabian was the informant who would officially link the scam to the murders. He told of Kirksey Nix’s involvement and implicated Pete Halat. He also told authorities that known hitman, John Ransom was the triggerman. This would later be proved false, but it was enough to get the ball rolling.

Bill Rhodes, an associate of Ransom turned states evidence and claimed he had been hired to drive the getaway car. He claims to have met with Mike Gillich and Pete Halat several months before the murder. Rhodes was to drive and Ransom was to kill the Sherry’s, but this plan fell through when John Ransom was arrested five months before the death of the Sherrys.

As it turns out, Ransom provided the weapon used to kill the judge and his wife, but was not the triggerman as first alleged. Eventually, investigators persuaded Mike Gillich to turn informant. When he finally told his side of the story he spoke in great detail even telling how the hitman put superglue on his fingers so he wouldn’t leave prints behind in the house. He also gives the name of the actual triggerman. Thomas Leslie Holcomb was offered $20,000 to kill the Sherrys.

Nix and the crew were indicted in May 1991, but Pete Halat somehow escaped the noose. It was difficult for investigators seeing the Mayor’s smiling face on the news knowing he was involved in murder, but knowing they didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. Finally, their day came when Gillich spilled the beans and Pete Halat was convicted in 1997.

Halat was working with Nix’s former girlfriend Sheri La Sharpe. Together they would stash the money in a safety deposit box, but Halat got greedy and moved the money to a different safety deposit box that only he had access to. Conveniently there was one other name on the box. Judge Vincent Sherry. Sherry had been Halat’s law partner before he left to become a judge. This would give Halat an “out” when Nix eventually noticed the money was missing. Now Halat could blame the innocent judge for the theft and Halat could get off scot-free.

Screenshot 2019-08-07 at 1.27.38 PM
Photo courtesy of the Enterprise-Journal Sept 23, 1997
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THIS LIST OF LINKS IS NOT AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING SOURCE CITING. ALL OF THE INFORMATION USED IN THIS ARTICLE CAN BE EASILY FOUND ONLINE. LINKS BELOW WERE USED AS SOURCES AND ARE RECOMMENDED READING FOR SYNOVA’S READERS.

Further Reading:

Sun Herald Article

WLOX

Caselaw

Djournal.com

newspapers.com

This week’s Recommended Reading:

Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia

All information used to create this content is a matter of public record and can be easily found online. Any participation or alleged involvement of any party mentioned within this site is purely speculation. As the law states, an individual is innocent until PROVEN guilty. I do not own the photos used in this post. All photos are used under the fair use act. No copyright infringement intended.©2017-2024. All rights reserved.

Dawn of the Dixie Mafia: The Lethal Criminal Empire No One Believes Exists 

“The most deadly enemy you will face in the entirety of your career is the Dixie Mafia based out of Phenix City, Alabama.” – Major Cullen O’Conner to General Haggerty


From their birthplace in Phenix City, Alabama to the corruption of today, the Dixie Mafia’s tentacles stretch from coast to coast throughout the south. While most of the world denies their existence, this network of freelance criminals have flown under the radar for the most part since the 1950s. Their structure is completely different than that of La Cosa Nostra so people discount them as rogue bands of individual criminals. In reality it’s one massive web of corruption, lies, and murder.

Check out Synova’s latest book called Dawn of the Dixie Mafia to find out how all of these random crimes fit together.

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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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Missouri Missing: Angie Yarnell Case

“Seek, and you shall find”

Marianne Asher-Chapman depends on that. She has been searching for her daughter Angie Yarnell for nearly 15 years. She carries a shovel in the trunk of her car, so she is ready to dig at a moment’s notice. Why would this poor mother still be searching after a man has confessed to killing Angie Yarnell? Why is the killer out of jail? How could our justice system fail so miserably? This is the story of a mother’s quest to find her daughter and help others who are suffering through a tragedy.
Michelle Angela “Angie” Yarnell was last seen on October 25, 2003, in the 3900 block of Ozark View Rd in Ivy Bend, Missouri. Her mother, Marianne Asher-Chapman lived an hour and a half away in Holts Summit, MO. Although they were separated by a 90 min drive the two women were more than family; they were best friends. Marianne heard from her daughter regularly and was expecting to see her beautiful baby girl that day for a birthday party. Angie’s niece was having a party at grandma Marianne’s house. The party was scheduled for 1 pm, but it was after 5 o’clock and Marianne was getting upset. This wasn’t like Angie. Something was wrong. Marianne hadn’t gotten Angie to answer her calls for a few days. She had assumed Angie was out job hunting and would call later, but now after missing a birthday party, Marianne was worried. She called her daughter’s number again, but this time she left a message that would start a bizarre chain of events. “If you don’t call back, I’m going to drive down and check on you,” was the message the worried mother left on Angie’s voicemail. She would receive a response two hours later, but it wasn’t the one she hoped for. Around 7 pm, Angie’s car pulled up in the driveway and out stepped Michael Yarnell. When Marianne asked about her daughter, he simply replied, “she’s gone.” The man walked in and sat down without saying much of anything. Finally, he told Marianne that he thought Angie had run off with another man. No one believed his story, but no one challenged him either. Marianne couldn’t believe her daughter would leave without telling her something about this new man, and to make matters even worse, Marianne was battling throat cancer at the time. Angie was helping her mother through this journey. Why would a beloved daughter leave her mother in such a state? Angie wouldn’t. That was the conclusion her family came up with. Something was terribly wrong. Marianne went the next day and filed a missing persons report expecting to find compassion and assistance but found very little. Initially, the investigators believed that the 28-yr-old was frustrated with her verbally abusive marriage and took off. No one seemed to understand the bond between mother and daughter in this case. Angie had spoken to her mother about the problems with her short marriage to Yarnell. She had been wrongly accused of infidelity by Michael when in fact Michael was having an extra-marital affair. The relationship had broken down to the point that Angie confessed to her mother that Michael was going to leave her. Marianne had this conversation with her daughter several days before Michael’s strange visit. A week after the missing person’s report was filed, Marianne received a postcard from her daughter. It was posted from Arkansas. Strangely it said Angie was traveling with some guy named Gary and when they got settled in Texas she would call. Investigators immediately took the postcard at face value and stopped looking into the case, but Marianne still had her doubts. Why didn’t her daughter call? Marianne eagerly awaits the Thanksgiving holiday. Surely her daughter would come by, but Angie didn’t show. After this, Marianne knew Angie wasn’t coming home. She wouldn’t miss the holidays with family. It was a long-standing tradition. Marianne began to examine the postcard and noticed some strange discrepancies in the handwriting. In 2008, a forensic handwriting specialist would confirm that not only did Angie not write the note but that Michael Yarnell was the author of the postcard. They sent these findings to the detectives in hopes of getting the ball rolling on Angie’s case. A few months later Michael Yarnell was arrested in Biloxi, Mississippi and extradited back to the Show-Me state. He surprised everyone by confessing to killing Angie at their home in 2003. He told investigators that they were having a fight and he accidentally pushed her, and she fell off the deck hitting her head. He said that he sat with her for a while trying to figure out what to do, then he picked her up into a canoe and drove down the road to the boat ramp. He rowed out onto the Lake of the Ozarks and found a small island. He said he planned to bury her on the island. In the process of removing her body from the boat, she slipped and fell beneath the waves. He left her there, rowed back to the boat ramp, and went home. Yarnell also admitted to forging the postcard and claimed he did it just to give Marianne some peace. In the end, he was given a plea deal that no one could believe. If he would show investigators where the body was dropped in the water, then he could plead to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Even though the investigators couldn’t find Angie’s remains, they still gave her killer the plea deal. Michael Shane Yarnell pled guilty of manslaughter and was given a paltry seven years. He served only four and was released in July of 2013. To say the family was devastated doesn’t begin to describe the disbelief and the pain caused by such a sentence. It’s a slap in the face to the victim’s family for the killer to walk free. Still, no one knows where to find Angie. Marianne believes Michael is lying about her daughter’s cause of death and that’s the reason why he refuses to disclose the true location of Angie’s remains. Due to Double Jeopardy laws, Michael Yarnell won’t face another trial even if those remains are found. At this point, Marianne just wants to give her daughter a proper burial. As always, if you have any information about this case, please contact the police. This mother needs to lay her daughter to rest. In the wake of this painful journey, Marianne has co-founded Missouri Missing. Missouri Missing is a non-profit organization to help support victim’s families and to raise awareness about Missouri’s missing people. Check out their website for more information. Like and share their missing person’s flyers on Facebook and donate if you can.

If you have any information on this case, please contact Missouri Missing.

All information used to create this content is a matter of public record and can be easily found online. Any participation, or alleged involvement of any party mentioned within this site is purely speculation. As the law states an individual is Innocent until PROVEN guilty. ©2017-2024. All rights reserved.
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Dawn of the Dixie Mafia: The Lethal Criminal Empire No One Believes Exists

“The most deadly enemy you will face in the entirety of your career is the Dixie Mafia based out of Phenix City, Alabama.” – Major Cullen O’Conner to General Haggerty From their birthplace in Phenix City, Alabama to the corruption of today, the Dixie Mafia’s tentacles stretch from coast to coast throughout the south. While most of the world denies their existence, this network of freelance criminals have flown under the radar for the most part since the 1950s. Their structure is completely different than that of La Cosa Nostra so people discount them as rogue bands of individual criminals. In reality it’s one massive web of corruption, lies, and murder.

Check out Synova’s latest book called Dawn of the Dixie Mafia to find out how all of these random crimes fit together.
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The Brooke Farthing Disappearance

On June 22, 2013, Brooke went to a bonfire party with her sister and some friends. It was the end of the school year bash that promised a fun-filled summer. Unfortunately, Brooke would never make it home. We know where she was last seen and who she was with but somehow after all of these years, we still do not know what happened to Brooke Farthing.

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EACH WEEK SYNOVA HIGHLIGHTS OBSCURE COLD CASES ON HER BLOG AS A VICTIMS’ ADVOCATE WITH MISSOURI MISSING ORGANIZATION. SHE NEVER CHARGES FOR HER SERVICES. IF YOU’D LIKE TO SUPPORT HER IN THIS WORTHY CAUSE, PLEASE CHECK OUT THE AFFILIATE LINKS ON THIS PAGE. 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.

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Suicide or Dixie Mafia Hit? – Death of Norman Ladner

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Photo courtesy of Unsolved Mysteries

A seventeen-year-old boy spends his days exploring his family’s 122-acre property. Even at a tender age, Norman Ladner was an experienced outdoorsman. He loved hunting, fishing, and exploring the nature around him. Why then was he shot in the head and left in the woods to die? Did he witness one of the Dixie Mafia’s narcotics planes? Was the radio device found hanging in a nearby tree used to signal a drop? Thirty years later, these questions are still unanswered.

On August 21, 1989, Norman Ladner spent the day exploring his family land like he had done almost every day. Ladner was the oldest child and was very responsible. Everyone that remembers him tells of his dependability and his kindness. The Ladner family also owned the local country store. When Norman finished his day of exploring the outdoors, he would usually show up at the store to help his parents close up shop and prepare for the next day. You could set your watch by him. Norman always strolled in around 7 pm. On occasion, he would be closer to 7:30, but never later. On this night, his father began to worry when his son never showed up at the store. Norman Ladner Sr. hurried home to see if his son was in his woodworking shop in the barn. The teenager was nowhere to be found.
Worried, but not frightened, the father gathered a few friends and together they formed a search party. Everyone thought the boy had gotten lost, or maybe injured. No one expected what they would find in those woods on that fateful night. Sr. stumbled upon his son laying beneath a tree. When he reached down and touched his boy, the chill of death shot through him. The distraught father sat with his son in the dark woods until his search party to could return to the house to call the police.
Pearl County Sheriff Lorance Lumpkin arrived on the scene around 10 pm. There he found Norman laying on his back with his legs curled up underneath him. He was rolled partially to the side a gunshot wound in his temple. From the outset, the authorities began speculating the death was a horrible accident. Perhaps the teenager had jumped down from the tree and fell. Maybe the impact caused his rifle to go off.
A few days later, the coroner came into the family store with two deputies to speak to the family about his results. He told the family that he was 90% sure it was a terrible accident. Strangely, when the official ruling came out a few days later, it was classed as suicide. The family was shocked. They couldn’t believe it. Nothing about it made sense. Norman was a happy child. If it were suicide, why did he have a large gash on the top of his head?
The family went to the sheriff and tried to speak about the case, but the sheriff flat out said they were wrong. It was a suicide, and they were just grieving parents who refused to see the truth.
Evidence Against The Suicide Theory:

  • Why did the boy have a gash on TOP of his head, and how does that relate to suicide? I wasn’t doing a handstand while trying to hold a rifle and shoot himself in the temple.
  • I was unable to verify this, but it was once reported that the head wound had live maggots while the temple wound held larva. This would lead one to believe that the head wound came first, and the temple wound was secondary.
  • The police never processed the scene as a crime scene. They didn’t find a bullet. The father would find one on his own later.
  • Norman’s gun was never tested or fingerprinted.
  • No one determined what type of weapon that killed him. They never checked because they believed it was his own gun from the beginning.
  • Norman’s wallet with $140 was missing. I’m sure he just stole his own money, threw away his wallet, and marched into the woods to shoot himself, right? I don’t think so!


The family repeatedly tried to get the sheriff to reopen the case, but he flat out refused. The father, desperate for answers went out into the woods to begin his own investigation. There in the dirt under where his son’s head would have been, they found a bullet with human blood and hair. It seemed to the father that his son was slumped on the ground rolled to the side and someone standing above him shot the boy through the temple. The bullet then traveled through the hair and skull and buried into the dirt. It makes sense. If the boy had somehow pulled the trigger on his own rifle, then the gun would have flown through the air and landed at another location.
I should also mention that in some reports the boy was carrying a shotgun and other stories call it a rifle, so I cannot say what type of gun the boy had. I can tell you that it was most likely a shotgun. Either way, it isn’t easy to shoot oneself in the temple with a shotgun or a rifle.
Still desperate for answers, the poor father took the bullet to the sheriff and was immediately dismissed. The police claimed that since they didn’t find the bullet, then they couldn’t prove it was the one who killed Norman. The father argued that they didn’t look for a bullet, but it was no use. Since he was getting nowhere with the local sheriff, Norman Sr. took the bullet to the state ballistics lab. He explained how the bullet was too long to fit in his son’s gun and asked the examiner to look over the bullet. The results came back inconclusive siting the same lines as the sheriff almost verbatim. To make matters worse, when the bullet was returned to the family, it was a different one than the bullet they had sent in.
During their frequent trips to the coroner’s office, Norman’s mother was approached by a stranger. He asked if he could discuss her son’s case with her, so of course, the mother agreed to step away and speak with him. When the pair were out of earshot of her husband, the stranger turned and uttered a chilling threat to the poor mother. He told her that she had other children and she should just drop this investigation and raise them because they’d never find Norman’s killer. Frightened, she hurried back to Norman Sr. and told him about the threat. The man was gone before anyone could find him.
Determined to find the truth, the now somewhat paranoid father makes another trip into the woods to find clues. Three hundred yards from his son’s position, he saw a strange object hanging in a tree. It was a homemade radio device of sorts covered in tape and wires with a small antenna protruding from the top. Of course, the father took it to the sheriff and was dismissed. Norman then turned to a neighbor and told him about the device. The neighbor put him in contact with a retired DEA agent who lived in the area.
The DEA agent knew what the strange object was immediately and explained these devices transmit signals. The narcotics plans would fly over an area, and when the signal was picked up on their devices, then they would drop their load of drugs. Was this the answer the family had been looking for? Did their poor boy run up on a drug trafficker and a narcotics drop?
To make matters worse, the sheriff would later be charged with dogfighting and other illegal activities. Although some believe he had ties to the local group of Dixie Mafia drug cartel, nothing has been proven. Norman Ladner, Sr. died in 2003, and the sheriff died in 2007. Thirty years have passed, and most of the witnesses are long gone. What evidence the family found is no longer available. Still, questions remain. What happened to Norman Ladner? Was it suicide or murder?

THIS LIST OF LINKS IS NOT AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING SOURCE CITING. ALL OF THE INFORMATION USED IN THIS ARTICLE CAN BE EASILY FOUND ONLINE. LINKS BELOW WERE USED AS SOURCES AND ARE RECOMMENDED READING FOR SYNOVA’S READERS. SYNOVA STRIVES TO CITE ALL THE SOURCES USED DURING HER CASE STUDY, BUT OCCASIONALLY A SOURCE MAY BE MISSED BY MISTAKE. IT IS NOT INTENTIONAL, AND NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

Further Reading:

Unsolved

Only In Your State

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by inUnresolvedMysteries

Trace Evidence Podcast Video

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This week’s Recommended Reading:

The Boys on the Tracks

The Life and Times of Frank Balistrieri: The Last, Most Powerful Godfather of Milwaukee

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5

84-yr-old Murder Mystery in Room 1046 – Part 1

murder in room 1046
Kansas City. Mo Archives

A mysterious stranger walked into the Hotel President on January 2, 1935, and specifically requested an interior room several floors above the ground level. He was a tall man with a large scar on the left side of his head leading down to a cauliflower ear. A torture filled night lay ahead. Just after midnight on January 5th he would be dead. Eighty-four years later Roland T. Owens would be one of Kansas City’s most infamous unsolved cases. This case will take a few weeks to cover all the details, conspiracies, and theories.

Roland T. Owens sauntered into the hotel President on January 2nd around 1:30 pm. He signed his name to the register, claimed he was from Los Angeles, and paid one night’s fee. The hotel staff immediately took notice of the tall, large-built man wearing a black overcoat. Although he tried to comb his hair to hide it, a large scar was visible above his left ear leaving a bald spot. His ear was misshapen in what wrestlers call “cauliflower ear.” Most people would assume Mr. Owen was a professional wrestler or boxer.

A bellboy named Randolph Probst led the strange visitor up to room 1046 and gave the gentleman a passkey. Owen walked in and surveyed the room. Walking into the bathroom, he took out a brush, a comb, and a tube of toothpaste out of his coat pocket and put them in the cabinet. Strangely, these items were the man’s only luggage. A short time later the cleaning staff arrived to clean the room and was startled to find it already occupied. Owens told Ms. Mary Soptic to go ahead and clean because he was getting ready to leave. He specifically asked her to leave the door unlocked because a friend was supposed to stop by in a few minutes. Owens promptly pulled on his overcoat and left the maid to clean. She quickly cleaned up and left the room unlocked when she finished.

The next day, Thursday, Soptic returned to room 1046 to clean. The door was locked from the outside. (I’m not sure how it locked from the outside, but it is stated this way in every police report.) She tapped on the door and received no response, so she let herself into the room with the hotel passkey. Expecting the place to be empty, Soptic was startled to find Owens sitting up in the chair in the dark. The only dim light came from a table lamp that barely illuminated the shadows. She wasn’t what surprised her more, the fact that he was sitting in the dark staring at nothing in particular or the fact that the door somehow was locked from the outside. Luckily, the phone rang freeing the poor woman from the moment of awkward silence.

“No Don, I don’t want to eat. I am not hungry. I just had breakfast.” Owen paused for a moment before repeating, “I am not hungry.”

To add to the unsettling feeling building in Mary Soptic, Owen turned to her and began to ask her details about her job duties. She answered politely and left the room as fast as possible. Unfortunately, around 4 pm Soptic would have to return to the room to deliver the fresh towels. At that time she heard two male voices through the door. She tapped quietly, and a gruff unfamiliar voice answered.

“Who is it?”

Soptic replied saying she had fresh towels only to receive the loud response, “We don’t need any.”

Seven o’clock the next morning the switchboard operator noticed the phone in room 1046 had been off the hook for quite a while. She sent up the bellboy up to room 1046. Probst knocked on the door and heard a deep voice tell him to come in. Probst tried the handle, and it was locked. He knocked again, and this time the voice said to turn on the lights. Probst knocked again and yelled through the door.

“The door is locked. Put the phone back on the hook.” With that Probst returned to the service desk. He told the operator that the man was probably drunk and no one thought anything else about it until a short time later the phone was off the hook again. It is now 8:30 am. This time another bellboy by the name of Harold Pike is sent up to room 1046. The door was still locked, but this time Pike had a key. He opened the door to the darkened room and noticed Owen was laying face down on his bed naked and a large dark shadowy stain was on the sheets around him. The nightstand was knocked over, and the phone lay strewn across the floor. Pike picked up the table and replaced the phone. He locked the door back and returned downstairs claiming Owens must be passed out drunk and spilled his alcohol on his sheets.

At 11 am the phone was again off the hook. This time Probst took the passkey and marched up to room 1046. This had been the third time of the morning. He banged on the door and then opened it. This time he switched on the lights and was horrified by the scene before him. Two foot from the door was the beaten and bloodied man. He was bound on his hands and knees with his bloody head between his hands. Blood was on all the walls and ceilings. Bleeding profusely from three knife wounds to the chest, Roland T. Owen was miraculously alive when police arrived. Police asked him who did this.

“Nobody,” was his feeble reply. Owen slipped into a coma on the way to the hospital. Reports state that due to the coagulation of the blood Owen’s torture had begun at least six hours before he was found.

There’s so much more to this story that will be covered next week including a prostitute, strange anonymous donors paying for Owen’s burial, 13 red roses annonymously sent to the funeral, oh and…his name isn’t Roland T. Owen!

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All information used to create this content is a matter of public record and can be easily found online. Any participation, or alleged involvement of any party mentioned within this site is purely speculation. As the law states an individual is Innocent until PROVEN guilty. ©2017-2019. All rights reserved.

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Black Gold Runs Blood Red in Texas: Finale

Last week we left wondering who in the world owns Janice Willhelm’s 7-acre farm just outside of Centerville, Texas. Her husband, Gerald Willhelm, had died mysteriously less than a week after he gave an interview to the media. While there is no one left to contest his sudden heart attack and cremation, Janice’s family still fights for justice in this greedy land grab.

Although, the lawsuits were still pending Gerald’s will was quickly probated and pushed through the system. He left his wife’s farm to a blond banker from town and one of the witnesses that signed off on Janice’s forged will. While the banker’s mother swears her daughter just had a “Father/Daughter” type relationship with Gerald Wilhelm, Janice’s family refuse to believe such a thing. It will be proven in court one way or another, but in the meantime, Janice’s children are still fighting.

Janice Willhelm’s will was a blatant forgery, and this has been verified by two different handwriting experts. The will was pushed through without the children’s knowledge. This is one battle for the Robeson family, but sadly, there is more.

Morris and his wife Mable raised their grandson as their own child and treated him accordingly. Unfortunately, this seems to have driven a wedge between their eldest son and their unofficially adopted one. Before Morris’ murder, the uncle began to wage war on the grandson, and it continues to this day. After the death, Mable sold her grandson a part of the property on the contingency that she could live out her days in the home. Of course, he agreed. This, unfortunately, drove the wedge deeper causing the uncle to file lawsuit after lawsuit trying to pry the property from his nephew’s hands. The vindictive man even used his own mother’s name to file a lawsuit. When contacted, however, Mable was shocked by it and demanded that it be dropped. If I went into every detail of this family feud, this blog series would last for another year. After reviewing all the evidence, I am left with one question that I will relate to you.

Was this uncle so greedy that he would cause, or allow the murders of his own father and his sister?

When his daughter was caught talking, she was suddenly found dead in her home from an overdose. Yes, she was an addict, but it seems strange nonetheless. Everyone that crosses the uncle seems to end up in endless litigation or six feet under the Texas dirt.

This case continues and continues to fight for justice. This case has been appealed all the way up to the Texas Rangers only to hit a brick wall there as well. The only hope at this point may be the FBI and the media. If you have been a victim of corruption in Leon County, Texas, you can visit http://texaspubliccorruption.com/ and submit your story anonymously.

Don’t let the saying “Texas Justice” stand for bullying by corrupt officials. Let Texas Justice stand for truth and the good ole’ American way. 

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