Nearly three decades after the investigation hit a dead end, Texarkanas Charles B. Scott Johnson and Norman Ladner are two other cases involving youths who might have been murdered after observing drug drops. Naturally, a state this friendly to mobsters was bound to have a fair amount of shady business deals. It's been over 20 years and people are still looking for answers in the murder of Arkansas teenager, Melissa Witt. At the time of her disappearance, she was even assisting Sen. John McClellan with a congressional investigation into supposed mob ties with organized labor. (Faulkner County Sheriff's Office). A well-known public figure in Camden and a pioneer for women in Arkansas, Crawford worked as a court stenographer before she decided to take the bar exam. HOT SPRINGS, Ark. Harsent was six months pregnant at the time of her death. . Unsolved Cases . Local gun shops enjoyed a flurry of business, as people flocked to buy up firearms to defend themselves against a possible attack. 3.75. In Hogden, Oklahoma, just 200 miles west of Little Rock, two young men, Billy Hainline and Dennis Decker, lying together on the railroad tracks had been run over by a locomotive in 1984. These sessions will be offered via Zoom from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.Tuesday, March 2REGISTERThursday, May 13REGISTERTuesday, September 14REGISTERThursday, December 2REGISTER. All four of the people on the train who were able to observe the scene prior to the accident stated that the bodies were partially covered by the green tarp. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. . Nicknames: Kevin (Larry); Don (Donald) On April 16th, 2004 Chester Roberson was found murdered inside AA Auto Sales on Highway 161 where he was employed. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. On April 16th, 2004 Chester Roberson was found murdered inside AA Auto Sales on Highway 161 where he was employed. Congestion was also found in their lungs which indicated that they had been hurt before being hit by the train. This examination of the murder of Ella Barham and the trial of her alleged killer explores the meaning of community and due process during a time when politicians and judges sought to professionalize justice. Theres a serial killer running loose between Hot Springs and LR. It seemed difficult to believe that they would lay on the tracks without moving a muscle, while a huge freight train was hurtling towards them blaring its horn. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. Officials recently used the DNA recovered from Felkins to run a genealogy test and family-tree building technique to identify Renegar as the primary suspect. The two victims were identified as 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives, best friends and popular seniors at Bryant High School. The third victim was identified as 27-year-old James Barker. Mike Allen recently flipped through his latest project that dives into a childhood memory that . Her body was found a month later in a shallow grave in South Lake Tahoe, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office. Suspects: The man wearing military fatigues witnessed by police and others remains a possible suspect, but police have never been able to locate or positively identify him. On June 3, 2021, Linda passed away at the age of seventy-one. Linda wondered, if they were that stoned, how were they able to lie down in identical positions? Two unsolved murders of young women from the 1970s have now been linked to one suspect through DNA and genetic genealogy, according to Northern California prosecutors. Updated: Feb 28, 2023 / 08:40 PM CST. Lying parallel to both of them was Dons .22 rifle. His behavior had aroused suspicion. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Fact check: Man charged with murder in North Carolina is not George Floyd's brother. Just as mysteriously as the killings started, however, they subsided. At 5:30 am on 7 January, 1977, a young boy, Phillip Watts, aged 11, left his house to deliver newspapers around his home in St. Laurent, Montreal. He also found evidence to indicate that one of them was already dead and one unconscious when the train hit them. Crime Tip Hotline. Now, decades later, that story is the subject of a new book digging deeper into the crime. That was her immediate reaction to the ruling. 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 In the last 5 years Hot Springs has seen . MISSING PERSON CASE --- 1. They embalmed him and put his corpse on display outside of the local funeral home. Stephen noted that although three seconds does not seem like a long amount of time, it felt like an eternity for him. "ATTENTION Be on high alert in HOT SPRINGS, AR, and surrounding areas," reads a widely shared Facebook imageposted April 12. The officers later returned to the scene without the boys. This time, he was leaving town, heading down a road less than 200 yards from the spot where the bodies were run over. Meanwhile, the Crossett Light also originated from a fatal railroad incident, this time with the unlucky worker being beheaded by the train. Location: Alexander, Arkansas So far, the run had been clear sailing, as engineer Stephen Shroyer approached the small town of Bryant, Arkansas. NeverForgotten.ar.gov is also made possible by the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Arkansas Sheriffs Association, Arkansas State Crime Lab, Arkansas State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation Little Rock Division, Morgan Nick Foundation and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Adding to the creepiness of the case, some self-proclaimed web-sleuths have tenuously linked the Phantom with San Franciscos notorious Zodiac Killer. The murder clearance rate hit an all-time low in 2020, and data analyzed by a nonprofit shows that trend continued last year. Links: Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. After 25 years, though, it appears as if the case will forever remain unsolved. While traveling through this part time or even full time jobs in Arkansas have come to call home. It was on his porch and presumably seeking revenge. Their supposed guard dog wasnt even fazed. Friends who were with them that night confirmed this amount. . The bodies of Richard Griffin, 29, and Polly Ann Moore, 17, were discovered the following morning. Neither of them was moving. They had also been shot to death. The police failed to find any blood from a supposed wound inflicted by Ford, but they did find a strange set of tracks out in the woods, as well as scratches on Fords door. To further muddy the legend, independent researchers have argued that the tracks found by Ford and others were forgeries. Fact check: Ballot positions are done by a random draw in each county in Arkansas. The Cold Case investigators primarily focus their efforts on unsolved homicides and rapes. Don and Kevin's parents, however, could . It started as a normal Saturday night on August 22, 1987 in Bryant, Arkansas. Medical examiners reported that she died from blunt-force trauma to her skull. When Stephen laid down on the diesel horn, he got no reaction from them. Thank you very much in advance. However, on the night of Saturday, August 22, 1987, Kevin and Don met a group of friends on the outskirts of Little Rock at a favorite gathering place for the local teenagers. The Gurdon Light was first spotted in the early 1930s, following the murder of a railroad foreman. 7. Inside the vehicle they recovered his phone, two credit cards, and his laptop. 2023 Central Arkansas Library System. Crawford was looking into a potentially illegal transfer of assets between Berg and some of his family members. A Growing Whisper. Medical examiners reported that both boys had suffered injuries prior to the train accident. In July 1994, he was convicted of kidnapping a "young, small frame lady" in Cleburne County, Ark. It seemed especially unlikely that it would happen to two people at the same time. Who had covered them with it and why? He was only active for a three-week period between April and May, but in that span, he attacked eight people, killing five. His murder remains unsolved. At the time, Edwards had been missing for months. The other most investigated type of crime is rape, as the statute of limitations on this type of crime is 6 years. While there was one major suspect, he was never convicted of these crimes. Crawfords last known whereabouts place her at home. A federal judge is to review an unsolved 1987 murder case of 2 young boys from Arkansas who were believed to have been killed by Clinton operatives. The sheriff's office said that investigators collected DNA from Renegars biological daughter, which also confirmed a 99.99% match with the DNA found on Felkins. It was unusual for husband not to keep in touch. The kit includes a fingerprint strip and place for fingerprints, as well as a photograph. In 1971, Bobby Ford told police that he was attacked by a man-like creature standing over 2 meters (7 ft) tall with red eyes. "So we continued on from there to do actual genealogy work. Posted: Feb 28, 2023 / 08:40 PM CST. It was alleged that they were the officers seen beating the two boys in a store parking lot. Inmate Roster Map Message from the Sheriff. In July 1988, a grand jury reversed Dr. Malaks original finding of accidental death and officially ruled their deaths "probable homicides." Hope, AR 71801. In the meantime, Captain Mask began contacting retired North Little Rock Police officers to seek out interested individuals who would be willing to volunteer their expertise and help solve some of these cold cases. Hempstead County SHERIFF. One day, residents found Mike lying motionless under a tree. A composite photo of a potential suspect was released in hopes of generating local leads, but it did not generate any. They were also told some incriminating stories by his wife Peggy, 21, whom they had arrested a few weeks earlier for the same thing. When police officer Danny Allen stopped to question him, the man opened fire. NeverForgotten.ar.govincludes all missing persons from Arkansas and will be updated regularly. who was the head of the Investigations Division at the time. It ranks as one of the most remembered cases in the entire series. The History Channel even got in on the action, sending its MonsterQuest team to investigate in 2009. Police who searched the scene later denied that Stephen had told them about the tarp. Gould makes her debut in this thoroughly researched exploration of the gruesome 1912 murder of one of the authors own relatives in Boone County, Arkansas. Arkansas cold case from 1990 finally solved, Faulkner County Sheriff's Office revealed. Nona Young went missing sometime around June or July, 1973. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. With the trembling becoming more noticeable, residents began to wonder if the quakes were a result of hydraulic fracturing techniques being used to drill for oil and gas in the area. The 2019 crime rate in Hot Springs, AR is 620 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 2.3 times higher than the U.S. average. Read our Privacy Policy. 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. Updated: 9:18 AM CST March 4, 2021 FORT SMITH, Ark. That night, they chose their usual hunting ground, along the railroad tracks that ran behind Dons house. The trail went cold from there. jerrysgirl67. 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. At the time of that incident, Renegar was armed with a knife and bound his victim. Felkins, 32, was kidnapped Feb. 2, 1990 from a video rental store in Greenbrier, Ark., located about 40 miles northwest of Little Rock. Kevin and Don had avoided being caught. The Faulkner County Sheriff's Office revealed DNA evidence has identified Edward Keith Renegar as the primary suspect in the 1990 slaying. She was found dead on August 22 in a barn in Kennebunk with a rope around her neck. plans and enthusiasm Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Market data provided by Factset. The parents did see some justice from all these developments. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. For nearly three decades the homicide case of Fort Smith teen Melissa Witt has gone unsolved, but a former detective refuses to give up hope.. By then, it was almost 1AM. 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,. According to the New York Daily News, the terror began on February 22, when a date that was going pretty well ended in tragedy. A traveling salesman, he would swing by each month to sell stationery to homes and local businesses. The first two victims' remains, those of an adult woman and young . Ives, meanwhile, had blunt force trauma to his skull. It was featured in a two-part episode of "The Trail Went Cold" podcast. The train was over a mile long and was traveling at a speed of fifty-two miles per hour. The state medical examiner, Dr. Malak, concluded they had smoked the equivalent of twenty marijuana cigarettes. One of Richard Garretts first directives was to have the bodies exhumed for further examination. Details: In the pre-dawn hours of August 23, 1987, a seventy-five car, 6,000 ton Union Pacific cargo train made its regular night run to the UP freight yard in North Little Rock, Arkansas. . Your help is needed in solving this murder so if you have any information please call Detective Sergeant D. Dallas at 501-771-7152. 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. "You may not know a thing, you may know something you don't realize you know, so we would love to be able to speak to anyone who had a relationship with Mr. Renegar," the sheriff said. The entire story has never been told, so I wanted to pull it all together and allow readers to develop their own fully informed opinions. Melissa Witt was abducted from a bowling alley parking lot in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1994. Additional counties and states will be added to this database as time and funding permit. Simply go tokrogercommunityrewards.com, click Create an Account to sign in, and selectCALS Foundationas your organization to support. His findings did little to sway the rest of the force, Henry recounted, and he was reportedly told by his superiors that theres too much money involved before being reassigned. Phone: 870-633-2611 (24 hours) Email. These are the three cases that remain unsolved. He felt that was like questioning the existence of the bodies on the tracks. Prior to working on this case, Garrett never carried a gun. Cold case is finally cracked and the killer is identified. In 1996, Linda and film producer Patrick Matrisciana released the documentary, Obstruction of Justice: The Mena Connection, which detailed the botched investigation into the murders. Linda at first trusted Harmon, but later came to believe he was involved. To him, it looked like they had been laid out by someone. The weight of the heavy cargo train carried it for a full half mile. Get App. 1. Sports reporter by day, internet sleuth at night, keep up with Brandon at On Campus Sports, Highlands Today, or on Twitter. The Natural State has more than enough of its dark secrets and skeletons in the closet to ruin the serenity. See more ideas about murder mysteries, murder, mystery. Freeguidesto include checklists to follow when a loved one goes missing and resources are available. Submit Via Email. The news release and an April 13 statement from the FBI on the investigation make no mention of any additional bodiesdiscovered in the area. Spreading your gift out through monthly contributions is a great solution for your budget and ours. In October 1988, shortly after the broadcast, the results were released. In 1946, the town of Texarkana, which straddles the state line between Texas and Arkansas, was rocked by a series of brutal attacks that ultimately left five people dead and three gravely injured. My great grandmother, Angeline Patrick, remains a mystery as far as who she was and who her parents and siblings were. They talked for about fifteen minutes before he left. Just a few months later, on August 24, Kevin's sister, Alicia, passed away at the age of fifty-three. 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. Three hours later, Stephen Shroyers locomotive came speeding down Bryant Hill. They were partially covered by a light green tarp. The two left around midnight to go back to Dons house. . Central Arkansas Library System All victims have been submitted by law enforcement or the victims' families. 50 of these have been sexual assualt cases, 15 of which had evidence suitable for modern DNA testing. Over a month after she went missing, her body was found in the Ozark National Forest. The reason why you find the wrongfully convicted in my database is simple: when the exonerated is taken out of the . Such is the case of two young men who went missing in 1987 in the U.S. state of Arkansas and would next be seen dead under perplexing circumstances. Kevin and Dons parents are determined to continue working on and investigating the case until it is solved. 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. 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.. ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) There are at least four unsolved missing person cases in North Central Arkansas since 1991, and all are women. A federal judge later dismissed many of the agencies listed, but ordered three of them to turn over the pertinent documents to him. Gould, who was from Mountain View, was found dead . Eventually, Glasgow and his company were cleared of anything illegal by the audit. Jay Campbell and Kirk Lane vs. Citizens for an Honest Government, Inc. Featured Cases. A grand jury reversed its original verdict of probable homicide to definite homicide and Arkansans havent forgotten the boys on the tracks. They believe that he found out about their investigation and named them as suspects in order to taint their credibility and hinder their investigation into him. The attacks served partially as the basis for a motion picture, The . When police found a 21-year-old female brutally murdered in her hotel room, the mystery was just beginning. Knowing that most of the evidence against him was hearsay, Abernathy decided to appeal his case. Cold Case investigators may be reachedat 501-812-2591. In 1995, the investigation into Kevin and Don's murders was officially closed without their killer(s) captured or identified. New Hampshire's most notorious crime is an unsolved serial murder case involving four female victims killed between 1977 and 1985. Suddenly, while going through the town of Alexander, he saw something in his path; he could not tell what it was. The billboard advertises a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the 15-year-old case. Other medical experts and researchers stated that it was highly unlikely, if not impossible, for a person to pass out from smoking marijuana. Map Message from the Sheriff Most Wanted Press Releases. He determined that they had been in a deep sleep induced by the "psychedelic" effects of the drug and had never heard the oncoming train. To this date, the unit has investigated over 85 cold cases. Goulds book draws on reliable sources to recreate the last day of Ella Barhams life, her disappearance, the discovery of her remains, and a heated courtroom trial with over 35 witnesses and a seething mob outside the courthouse. Harmon dropped all charges against Abernathy, who had recently been promoted to lieutenant. (Faulkner County Sheriff's Office). Date: August 23, 1987. Morgan Nick Missing. He had apparently passed away the night before. After living in Faulkner County from the late 1980s to early 1990s, he attended welding school in 1995 at Spartan College of Aeronautics Aviation and Technology in Tulsa, Okla. after his release, Edward Keith Renegar was convicted of kidnapping a "young, small frame lady" in n Cleburne County, Ark. 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All rights reserved. Kevin and Dons families hired a private investigator to try and figure out what happened to them. Relatively little new information ever surfaced in subsequent years. Arguably the state's most notorious cold case, the mysterious deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives still haunt Central Arkansas. Cold case is finally cracked and the killer is identified. While the 70s saw interest in the Fouke Monster peaka local radio station even put out a bounty for its capturethe late 90s was the last time the mysterious beast ever saw a resurgence in popularity. Five people were killed, and three were wounded. Their families have conducted their own investigations and are still hoping that the case can be solved. Arkansas On Sunday, August 23, 1987, at around 4:00 a.m., the bodies of teens Kevin Ives and Don Henry were spotted by the crew of a Union Pacific locomotive near Crooked Creek trestle in. One week before Kevin and Don were killed, a man wearing military fatigues had been spotted in the vicinity. The expert pathologist, Joe Burton, found an apparent stab wound in Don's back and a wound to Kevin's cheek. Mother of boy found dead on tracks in 1987 suing United States of America, Judge to look at files in 1987 deaths of 2 boys found on central Arkansas railroad tracks, Former wrestler claims he witnessed murders of Don Henry and Kevin Ives, Mom of cold case victim dies; Linda Ives sought answers in the deaths of 2 teens for decades, Linda Ives, mother who sought answers in 'Boys on the Tracks' case, dies at 71, SitcomsOnline Discussion of Don Henry and Kevin Ives, This case originally aired on the October 12, 1988 episode of. Harmon was later arrested on charges for running a drug ring, selling primarily cocaine, from his office. 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. The idea was born in late 2003 by Captain Charles Mask (ret.) Extra Notes: Results: Unresolved. The states had a handful of them before, but none have reached the magnitude of those in Guy. In April, Paul Martin, 16, and Betty Jo Booker, 15, were found murdered after a high school dance. He was usually present when Kevin returned home from school and his mother, Linda, was always home at nights. Friends said he was anxious over it.