Gould explains that her goal was to create a complete account of the crime and its consequences. They put him behind bars for car theft. Katherine Baker Case Report Number: 90-053018 Legally declared dead by Ouachita County in 1969, Crawfords death was found to be the result of foul play perpetrated by person or persons unknown.. The bodies of Richard Griffin, 29, and Polly Ann Moore, 17, were discovered the following morning. Her husband, Clyde, returned to their house to find her car still in the driveway, the TV on, and money in her purse. The state medical examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak, said they had been under the influence of marijuana and ruled the deaths accidental. Stephen Smith, 19, July 2015 Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old nursing student at the time, was found dead in the middle of the road on July 8, 2015,. Or, sign up for Kroger Rewards and a portion of your purchases at Kroger will be donated to the CALS Foundation. The FBI was brought in, as well as the Texas Rangers. 72201. Their families have conducted their own investigations and are still hoping that the case can be solved. Missing Persons - Arkansas Attorney General The reported green tarp was never seen again. Unsolved Murders: True Crime Cases Uncovered - Goodreads It was on his porch and presumably seeking revenge. Hot Cases - St. Francis County Sheriff AR However, he repeatedly received resistance from authorities, who seemed unwilling to cooperate or change their opinions about the case. Yall carry your weapons. Unfortunately, the law barred Peggy from testifying against her husband, and the detectives lacked evidence strong enough to convict Swinney for murder. MISSING PERSON CASE --- 1. No answers 29 years after murder of Arkansas teen Dana Stidham - NBC News FAQs Facebook Hot Cases Inmate Roster. They thought maybe that was evidence of a possible ransom or extortion, but the money in his bank accounts hasnt been touched. All the victims and wrongfully convicted people are listed by their last name. Others countered that he was in good spirits before he vanished. Judge orders North Little Rock mental health facility to pay $2.5M in teen rape case. However, Matrisciana successfully appealed the verdict, which was overturned in 1999. On August 23, 1987, the bodies of 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives were hit by a freight train in Alexander, Arkansas, United States, as they were laying on the tracks. Then things got weirder. They believe that Kevin and Don walked up on something that they were not supposed to see; they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. The young lovers survived the attack, but had differing reports of who had carried it out. In late December 1988, the grand jury investigating the case released their final report, stating that the deaths were the result of foul play; however, no indictments were issued regarding the deaths. A few months later, Abernathy was formally charged with her murder. It was alleged that they were the officers seen beating the two boys in a store parking lot. Arkansas Unsolved Murder--Luther Gerald (Jerry) Parks, Jr. After 25 years, though, it appears as if the case will forever remain unsolved. Mike Allen recently flipped through his latest project that dives into a childhood memory that . A small community just north of Little Rock, Guy wasnt accustomed to drawing national attention. The sleepy town of Texarkana was shaken by a series of vicious slayings in the spring of 1946. Police ruled their deaths accidental, with the state medical examiner declaring that they were under the influence of marijuana and had passed out on the tracks. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, U.S. General Services Administrations Missing Child Notice Program. Police who searched the scene later denied that Stephen had told them about the tarp. Virgil, 37, was killed, but Katie made it to the safety of a neighbor's house despite being hit in the face with two bullets. Lying parallel to both of them was Dons .22 rifle. SUBSCRIBE TO FOX NEWS FIRST -- YOUR BRIEFING ON ALL THE STORIES TO START THE DAY. 7. They were lying motionless on the tracks, in a position nearly identical to Kevin and Dons. Ben Flajnik, who has worked on CrimeDoor, an app that allows users to enter true crime scenes, in his home office on March 3, 2021. After fighting to get the case reopened, they finally succeed in early 1988 when a new prosecutor was assigned to the case. To cover their tracks, they laid them on the railroad tracks and covered them up with a tarp. Melissa Witt was abducted from a bowling alley parking lot in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1994. who was "fortunate enough to escape his grasp," according to Ryals. There are no reports of an active serial killer, and the misinformation started when the FBI and the National Park Service announcedan investigation at Hot Springs National Park after a body was discovered in the woods. Neither had they ever seen Kevin spaced out nor any signs that he was into drugs. He referenced a YouTube and Facebook video. The BridgeWay mental-health hospital, admitting it had wronged a 14-year-old patient who . Its never been confirmed that the person reversing his black SUV was him, but when his office called his wife later that day asking where he was, she knew something was terribly wrong. According to Texas Monthly, however, local journalist James Presley's book The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town in Terror presented a compelling case for Swinney's guilt in 2014. USA TODAY was unable to reach the Facebook users for comment. That led police to suspect that they had ended up arresting the Phantom Killer. Friends said he was anxious over it. A reporter from the local paper thought enough of the incident to file a story, earning the attention of low-budget filmmakers, who turned the encounter into a clumsy horror movie that propelled the creature to national stardom. Pierce made a movie loosely based off of the events, titled The Town That Dreaded Sundown. This time, he was leaving town, heading down a road less than 200 yards from the spot where the bodies were run over. Brynn Rainey, 27, vanished in July 1977. The Creepy Truth About The Texarkana Murder Mystery, The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town in Terror. Others reported seeing a man in military fatigues loitering near the section of tracks where the boys bodies were discovered. Feb 25, 2019 - Explore AY Magazine's board "Arkansas Murder Mysteries", followed by 987 people on Pinterest. Thats the last time anyone ever saw him. NEW YORK WOMAN, WHO VANISHED ON BUS TRIP TO FIND TWIN SISTER, STILL BEING SOUGHT 8 YEARS LATER. Cold Case: Police Look for Killer in '95 Halloween Night Murder The first to volunteer in 2004 was retired NLRPD sergeant James "Butch" Swain. The initial investigation was swift. They appeared as a series of 10 circles as large as 9 meters (30 ft) in diameter. By then, it was almost 1AM. He also drove a mustard yellow, long-wheel base Ford pickup, a small gray car, and a Ford LTD. Edward Keith Renegar was convicted of kidnapping a "young, small frame lady" in n Cleburne County, Ark. 2 unsolved Ozarks murders back in the spotlight | KTLO The term "serial killer" hadn't been coined yet (according to Refinery29, it entered the lexicon via a 1981 article in The New York Times), but authorities in Texarkana strongly believed that a single killer had been behind all of the attacks. Pam Felkins, 32, was kidnapped on Feb. 2, 1990 from a video rental store where she worked in Greenbrier, Ark. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. 29 Unsolved Murders That Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine - The Lineup Garrett believes that Kevin and Don were murdered. A traveling salesman, he would swing by each month to sell stationery to homes and local businesses. Local gun shops enjoyed a flurry of business, as people flocked to buy up firearms to defend themselves against a possible attack. He also drove a mustard yellow, long-wheel base Ford pickup, a small gray car, and a Ford LTD. (Faulkner County Sheriff's Office). The investigators would then work on each case when time would allow. Kevin waited on the porch while Don went inside to talk to his father, Curtis. Those brave enough to wander into the woods risk running into the nefarious Fouke Monster. They embalmed him and put his corpse on display outside of the local funeral home. P.O. Curtis recalls that Don came into his bedroom at around 12:15am. The Creepy Truth About The Texarkana Murder Mystery - Grunge.com He then caught up with Larey as she tried to escape. On December 30, 2000, a gruesome murder occurred in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The most notorious unsolved crime in every state - Insider It was featured in a two-part episode of "The Trail Went Cold" podcast. The states had a handful of them before, but none have reached the magnitude of those in Guy. PICKENS, Clay King Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies continue to work on the cases, which date from the last week of 2020 through . Relatively little new information ever surfaced in subsequent years. He believes the assailant(s) incapacitated one of them, and then, felt like they had to do something to the other one. Shortly after 7 a.m., Phillip's little body was found. When a fight broke out between the two, he allegedly killed her. Rose Harsent, victim of the Peasenhall murder. The claim that there is an active serial killer in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is FALSE, based on our research. AR 72336. The film alleged that Kevin and Don were killed after they accidentally witnessed a clandestine drug deal that involved top state officials. When Linda Edwards got a job as dispatcher for the Garland County Sheriffs Office, she considered it a godsendbut just six months after joining the force, she vanished. Despite an intense statewide investigation, no tangible evidence has ever surfaced linking Abernathy to Edwards murder, and the case remains unsolved. who was "fortunate enough to escape his grasp" in 1994, the sheriff's office said. Her body was never recovered. He wanted to make some money to buy Christmas presents. The parents did see some justice from all these developments. He beat her as well, and sexually assaulted her with the barrel of the gun he had threatened them with. Free Child ID kits are availabe to Arkansas families to keep a record of physical, medical and dental information. 5 dead bodies so far is what theyre saying.". He also drove a mustard yellow, long-wheelbase Ford pickup, a small gray car, and a Ford LTD. Edward Keith Renegar drove a red 1984 B2200 Mazda Pickup with a white camper shell, according to police. He believes that Kevin and Don stumbled on either drug traffickers or a drug lab that manufactured methamphetamine and that they were killed as a result. Phantom Killer: The Unsolved Mystery of the Texarkana Murders Arkansas State Parks kicks off centennial celebration 16 hours ago. The bodies of Richard Griffin, 29, and Polly Ann Moore, 17, were discovered the following morning. They had also been shot to death. According to the articles, Odis A. Henley, the officer originally assigned to the case, reported to his superiors that all the evidence he uncovered implicated Berg as her killer. Remembering Ella is available at bookstores including the Central Arkansas Library Systems Bookstore and Galleries at Library Square. Garrett then focused on the green tarp. The Mysterious Case of the Arkansas Train Deaths Additional counties and states will be added to this database as time and funding permit. Former Saline County prosecuting attorney Dan Harmon investigated the case and presented evidence to the grand jury. Four days later, the police had found her dead body in a box buried in the woods. Some said that it was a result of his strained relationship with Dillards, the parent company of CDI, as he was being audited at the time. Two more appeared in the following yearsone in 2004 in Peach Orchard and another in Delaplaine three years later, two towns less than five miles apart. The secret starts in the wooded terrain of Jack Mountain in Hot Spring County, where hunters found the remains of Linda Edwards back in 1977. The most serious crime committed in the state by the Barrow Gang was the murder of Marshal Henry D. Humphrey of Alma . Cold Case investigators may be reachedat 501-812-2591. Very interesting article from AY Magazine. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. At the time of that incident, Renegar was armed with a knife and bound his victim. Featuring both well-known and more obscure cases spanning across the 20th and 21st century, Unsolved Murders combines page-turning text . Since then, three more retired officers, Al "Big Al" Schultz from NLRPD, Bob Scott from Jacksonville PD, and Del Geiber from the VA Police, joined the team. He took Curtis spotlight and took his own .22 rifle. FORT SMITH, Ark. Murder Capitals Of Arkansas For 2021 - RoadSnacks He believes that others were involved or have knowledge of who was involved. North Arkansas Murder Remains Unsolved, Billboard Now Offers $25K Reward For Information IZARD COUNTY, Ark. He said that he and Kevin were going to go out hunting. Nearly half of US murders going unsolved, data show | KARK Five months after the deaths, Kevin and Dons parents held a press conference. The locomotive engineer engaged the brakes while blowing the horn, but the train could not stop in time and rolled over the bodies. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Authors dig deeper into decades-old Searcy murder that rocked - KARK Controversy erupted over Davidsons guilt or innocence, and whether he had acted alone. The second attack came about a month after Hollis and Larey were assaulted. This Side of Seven: Arkansas' First School Shooter by Jason Pederson | Dec 23, 2021 Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Authorities charged a neighbor, Odus Davidson, with the crime, as mob violence loomed. In the early morning hours of August 23, 1987, the mangled bodies of Henry and Ives were discovered on a set of railroad tracks in Bryant, a suburb just south of Little Rock. Besides being a frequent visitor to the video rental storethe 32-year-old was abducted from, Renegar lived near the dump site in Greenbrier and also had a history of sexual assault and abuse of women, according to the sheriff's office. Legal Statement. Nicknames: Kevin (Larry); Don (Donald) Witnesses came forward with testimony that theyd seen police officers beating the boys senseless before tossing them in the back of a truck and speeding off. The case took a strange turn in 2012, when Jonathan Brawner, a convicted felon and prison barber at the Faulkner County jail, made local headlines after claiming that he and a few accomplices had buried Glasgow four years prior. These 11 Arkansas Murder Cases Made Headlines - OnlyInYourState What the media quickly dubbed the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, carried out by a shadowy figure the local paper called the "Phantom Killer," sent the small southern city into a panic. But their tryst was interrupted by a man wearing a white sack with eye and mouth holes cut into it, shining a flashlight into their car. Suddenly, while going through the town of Alexander, he saw something in his path; he could not tell what it was. In September of 2004, the North Little Rock Police Department started a pilot program designed to reduce the number of open investigations by using retired law enforcement officers to supplement the existing group of investigators. CrimeDoor opens the 'AR' door to unsolved murders. An unidentified assailant often known as the Texarkana Phantom Killer committed a number of murders and assaults in Texarkana (Miller County, Arkansas, and Bowie County, Texas) through the spring of 1946. In April, Paul Martin, 16, and Betty Jo Booker, 15, were found murdered after a high school dance. Arkansas murderers list | Murderpedia The murder clearance rate hit an all-time low in 2020, and data analyzed by a nonprofit shows that trend continued last year. NeverForgotten.ar.gov, launched in 2016 and hosted by Arkansas Crime Information Center, enables the public to access information on missing persons cases with an easy-to-use searchable database. Last updated February 23, 2023. . Despite his death, investigators are working to collect evidence in the case and the sheriff is asking for anyone who knew Reneger to come forward. Simply go tokrogercommunityrewards.com, click Create an Account to sign in, and selectCALS Foundationas your organization to support. "Five bodies have been discovered since March, each dismembered and left in secluded areas in local Arkansas. The murder remains unsolved. The legends telling varies, though, with one version claiming that the light is the ghost of the decapitated rail worker looking for his head. They had also been shot to death. National Park Service spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet directed USA TODAY to an April 13news release that says special agents of the NPS Investigative Service Branch soughttips related to the homicide of Paige Autumn White, 32. Others insisted that they saw a Bryant officialthat Dan Harmon fellow we mentioned earlier, to be exactpartaking in a drug deal, and the boys were simply victims of being potential witnesses that could jeopardize a political career. In August 2016, Linda sued the United States over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Murder Mystery: Scandalous Arkansas Trials By Janie Jones Detective Al Dawson escorts Orsini to jail.Photographs courtesy of Central Arkansas Library System Archives On the morning of Sept. 26, 1974, a housekeeper discovered the body of 67-year-old Fern Rodgers, wife They denied any involvement in the case and sued Matrisciana and his film company for defamation, and the judge awarded them $USD598,750. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, He had apparently passed away the night before. It's been over 20 years and people are still looking for answers in the murder of Arkansas teenager, Melissa Witt. In January 2018, former wrestler Billy Jack Haynes came forward, claiming that he had witnessed Kevin and Don's murders and knew who was responsible. But as they drove him to the station, the young man asked a strange question for someone accused of car theft: "Will they give me the chair?" Linda wondered, if they were that stoned, how were they able to lie down in identical positions? The Arkansas Geological Survey was called out to investigate, and while the group noted that there is some evidence that fracking can cause minor earthquakes, they found no link between the drilling and these particular swarms. Before this website was created, the public had limited access to information on missing persons. Neither Kevin nor Don owned such a tarp. While the missing persons case dragged on for close to a year, things took a frightening turn when a hunter stumbled upon Edwards partially buried remains in the woods. Central Arkansas Library System The only evidence that could possibly ID her killer was semen found onFelkins' body, according to the sheriff's office. As a result, the families were not able to move forward with their investigation. Murder of Arkansas woman still unsolved nearly 30 years later - KTHV Terrifying unsolved crimes that time forgot - including 'deep freeze Arkansans who have missing loved ones should share as much information as possible, especially the most recent available photographs with their local law enforcement agency. All rights reserved. Ryals said over the years, DNA tests were performed on "numerous persons of interests" with negative results. Don and Kevin's parents, however, could . The brutal murder of a young girl in the Arkansas Ozarks triggered shock and the threat of mob violence, followed by decades of mystery. Results: Unresolved. A grand jury reversed its original verdict of probable homicide to definite homicide and Arkansans havent forgotten the boys on the tracks. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Above the railroad tracks near Gurdon, a mysterious floating light has been spotted. SMITH, Kirt Douglas Fort Smith murder unsolved after 42 years, family still has hope Cold Case Investigations - Police - North Little Rock, Arkansas Alma, ARJune 9, 1995; A six-year-old vanishes while at a little league game. Arkansas Studies Catalog & Digital Collections, NIFI Dialogue Series / NIFI Serie de Dilogos, Mystery of Notorious Arkansas Murder Explored in New Book, CALS and Arkansas Symphony Call for Spoken Word Submissions, Business and Technology Center Opens at Williams Library. All rights reserved. The plan worked. He told police that they were laying motionless on the tracks, parallel to one another with their arms straight down at their sides, their bodies partially covered by a green tarp. jerrysgirl67. Amber Hunt, Emily G. Thompson. Both bodies were found in 1989 in different months in different.