5 Disturbing Unsolved Cases from Our Viewers Hometowns | Too Close To Home #11

welcome to Cold Case detectives too close to home a monthly Series where we select five patrons at random and examine cases related to their home towns if you'd like to see your hometown featured you can support the channel on patreon by following the link below and now let's dive in with five cases from your hometowns the Mysteries that strike too close to home but first I'd like to thank surfsharkvpn for sponsoring today's episode the internet is an immensely important tool for us at Cold Case detective where the majority of our research takes place it provides us with access to news and information a place to share all of our documents and data and various streaming platforms to find valuable wisdom on the topics we are covering the problem is sometimes that's critical documentary isn't available in the country we're located and public Wi-Fi leaves us concerned about sharing files across easily accessible servers luckily with surfsharkvpn those concerns are completely solved 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cookie pop-up blocker and clean web initiative where millions of phishing scams and malicious websites are automatically blocked at your convenience sign up for surfsharkvpn using the link in the description below and enter promo code Cold Case for 83 off and an extra three months for free the internet is an unpredictable Place use the tools at your disposal to make it secure foreign [Music] our first case this month comes from an anonymous Patron who chose the location of Saint Albans England on Sunday December 19 1948 a local Gardener rode his bike through an allotment footpath near a ruined nunnery in Cotton Mill Lane Saint Albans what should have been an everyday event for the gardener became one of sheer horror when he discovered the body of a middle-aged man only half dressed and battered and bruised almost beyond recognition the body was identified as 52 two-year-old Stephen Valley whose wife had passed away just nine months earlier Stephen was a former stoker with the Navy or somebody who specialized in tasks concerned with the engine room and prior to his death he'd been working as a shop steward at the de halavand aircraft Works located in Hatfield the 52 year old's death had been violent he had been brutally beaten with his injuries showing that more than one person was responsible and he'd been strangled to death his face and head had taken the brunt of the damage interestingly Steven's jackets and trousers were missing from the scene his shoes had been removed but they were located not too far from the body he'd been left wearing his shirt collar tie waistcoat underwear and socks investigators believed that Stephen had been carried around 100 yards down the path before he was dumped behind a wall of the ruins out of sight his body had been covered with his blue overcoats law enforcement theorized that Stephen had been a victim of burglary gone wrong they believed multiple drunk men attacked him when he refused to hand over his valuables and estimated that several pounds he had been carrying had been taken from him before his death the 52 year old had managed to hide a purse he'd had on his person he'd hidden it not far from where he was found and it contained his wife's engagements and wedding rings investigators were able to determine Stephen's last movements leading up to his time of death which was estimated to be between 11 pm and 12 am on the 18th of December earlier that afternoon he had taken his ten-year-old daughter to a children's party at his workplace he left the event at around 7pm alone leaving his child in the care of a family friend Stephen was then spotted getting on a bus for Saint Albans at around 9pm he lived on Westfield Avenue in Watford so this was considered quite unusual he never told his friends or or anyone else at the party that he intended on going anywhere but home Stephen arrived in Saint Albans at around 10 30 that evening at this point the police are unsure of the 52 year old's movements Witnesses claimed that they saw him in the company of two men walking towards Cotton Mill Lane between 10 30 and 11 10 pm not far from where his body would later be found however authorities were never able to establish the identities of these two men they wished to know who they were and how Stephen knew them but were unable to answer both of these questions the two men were reportedly seen leaving the lane at around 11 15 PM investigators suggested that Stephen intended on returning home to Watford but had missed the last bus from Saint Albans they theorized that the two men he was seen with had offered to show him a shortcut that would take him through to Abbey station where he could catch the last train home at 11 25 PM while here on a quiet isolated footpath the men struck detectives also thought it was likely that Stephen had gone to Saint Albans to meet someone but they never found out who following the crime the police appealed for further information for from Witnesses they specifically asked an elderly woman and two girls to come forward believing that they may have had some information that could help solve the case it's unclear who any of these women were and what their connection was with the murder on January 8th 1949 less than one month after the crime blood-stained clothing was found discarded in devises another town in England authorities believed that they belonged to one of the two men who'd participated in the slaying of Stephen Valley the items included gray flannel trousers gray socks and a blue striped shirt the shirt had a laundry mark on it which read di341pi as did the socks whose Mark reads tc8138 reportedly at the time there was only one launderette in town the workers there claimed that the police never spoke with them and they never marked clothing at their establishment with letters they added quote we know nothing of the bloodstained shirt it seems that Stephen vale's murder went cold following this discovery authorities inquired second-hand shops looking for his missing trousers and jackets but never recovered the garments the crime has never been solved Teresa Martin this case is brought To Us by Jean-Michel Julian who chose Montreal Canada on September 13 1969 at around 3 30 a.m a man returning to his apartment on Henry barasa Boulevard in Montreal noticed something peculiar sitting on the ground and leaning up against a wall was a young girl she was completely still didn't say a word and had bare feet concern for her safety the man slowly approached calling out but she didn't respond when he reached her he understood why the young girl was dead police were promptly called to the scene and authorities brought an ambulance with them the young girl was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead there was nothing that could have been done for her meanwhile a family a few blocks away wondered where their missing loved one was fourteen-year-old Teresa Martin had headed out to see a film at the galleries Don Ju Cinema with two of her friends the night before and never returned home her friends confirmed that they'd seen her get on the bus to go home the number 41 at around 11 p.m that evening the bus driver stated that she had exited the vehicle at the corner of Gwen and Roland which was just two blocks from her family's apartment this was the last time that anybody saw the 14 year old alive it wasn't long before authorities made the connection Teresa's father was brought in to identify the body a shy girl and a clever hard-working pupil Teresa had been due to finish her classical course at school around the time of her death her parents a school teacher and a private investigator had recently moved the 14 year old and her siblings into a new home they called Teresa a quiet introverted teenager with few friends she enjoyed horseback riding the medical examiner concluded that Teresa had died from asphyxiation and noted it was the result of quote probable obstruction to her external Airways the teenager had not been sexually assaulted and there were no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system eerily the culprit had engraved the words F dot v-dot Frenchy I love you into her stomach detectives have never been able to determine what this meant or if it was a red herring designed to throw off the investigation altogether notably the path that Teresa would have taken to get home from the bus stop was a rather unpleasant one in 1969 the area had no houses and little in the way of lighting and she would be walking past vast empty Fields it wasn't the safest place for anyone to be walking late at night let alone a vulnerable teen age go in the weeks following her demise 30 people were interviewed in connection with the case however progress was slow it wasn't until a year later that investigators uncovered an interesting Theory when they spoke with another 14 year old girl named Joanne during the 1960s Montreal had a massive issue with local biker gangs who would harass and threaten citizens and essentially go to war with one another the resulting complaints from both of these things overwhelmed the police force to the point that one officer decided something needed to be done and so with the help of the government he started the United motorcyclists of Quebec with the goal of making bikers more acceptable to society and uniting the different gangs following the creation of the organization the government struck a deal with the oil company BP to let bikers use a vacant lot they owned on Henry barasa Boulevard the umq claimed they had tight control over the bikers and that all they did was meet up and ride around together however they continued to harass young women and girls and would threaten violence against any who rejected them Joanne told investigators that members of the umq Biker Group hung out with students at parties and restaurants she noted that they behaved like bullies and frequently threatened the young girls with violence Joanne explained that they would force themselves onto the girls and threaten to hurt or kill them if they didn't comply and that They Carried knives around with them frequently and would use them to write on the girl's skin she admitted that she had been a victim of sexual assault by the bikers and as a result had stopped hanging around with them Joanne finished her discussion with the police by revealing that she had heard rumors that Teresa had been murdered by a member of the umq but that she had not heard any details about why or how and that she didn't know the name of the person who carried out the crime she was also unable to tell investigators who had started the rumor because should heard it from numerous different people Teresa's family for their parts are baffled by the biker Theory they noted that the 14 year old was a homeboy and not overly social and couldn't imagine her hanging around with bikers however it may be that Teresa was a random victim attacked by a biker who noticed her walking alone she may not have been known to the perpetrator at all in the last few decades Teresa's case has remained cold her family have stated their belief that the police have a lack of interest in the crime and that progress in her case is incredibly slow as a result investigators appear to be waiting for the right person with the right information to call rather than actively seeking answers if you have any information about Teresa's case you can call the Quebec criminal investigation Center on 1-800-659-4264 [Music] Kristen Ray Dunlap the following case is brought To Us by our Patron B who chose the location of Boise Idaho described as a fiercely loyal girl with a spunky attitude Kristen Ray Dunlap was born on January 24th of 1977. a middle child Kristen is said to have had a rather troubled childhood that consisted of divorce a blended family and the death of her beloved father she fought frequently with her family but they all loved her very much she was especially close to her younger brother Daniel who was seven years her Junior her big sister Crystal recalled how often Kristen would laugh stating she loved to laugh she made people around her happy at the time of her Disappearance in the mid-1990s Kristen was a larger than life teenager Who Loved rock music late night adventures and videotaping both herself and her friends and family on October 14 1994 Kristen left her family resident in Boise leaving them with nothing but a note that stated she had to leave for a little while and should be back in a year her friend believed that the 17 year old planned to go to Oregon to escape her boyfriend for a while this wasn't the first time that Kristen had run away from home in fact it was something she had done regularly throughout her life however she had never left for more than a week without checking in with her friends and family at first the 17 year old didn't completely vanish off the radar investigators later found that she had initially gone to McCall Indiana where she'd acquired a job at a hotel but only turned up for one shift acquaintances and Friends reported hearing from her up until mid-December that year after that she vanished she also stopped collecting the Social Security benefits she had been receiving since her father's demise at the time of her Disappearance in October of 1994 Kristen had been seeing a man named Charles Castro who was 10 years her senior they had reportedly met two years earlier making Kristen just 15 at the time her friends and family strongly disliked Castro noting that he was far too old for her already married and physically abusive Kristen's mother Kim had attempted to intervene and pushed to have statutory rape charges laid against Castro as she had evidence that the two were in a sexual relationship but reportedly both the police and prosecutors in Boise declined to press charges Castro allegedly threatened the 17 year old to stop her from reporting him to the police and repeatedly told her he was seeking a divorce from his wife he had previously spent time in prison for theft and was on Parole at the time of Kristen's disappearance he claimed he'd cut off communication with her around this time because his parole officer told him he had to four years later in 1998 Castro was charged with sexual assaults after he interfered with his new girlfriend's young daughter as a result he was placed on the sex offenders register and spent 10 years in prison he was questioned about Kristen's Disappearance in 2011 where he claimed he was innocent and took a polygraph test which he passed he denied knowing that she'd ever been in macaw when he had been there at the same time and also said that they rarely fought according to one reports Kristen went to a friend's on the day of her disappearance where Castro found her and the two allegedly left together in January of 2022 Castro was killed by police officers in Murphy Idaho they were reportedly called to his home to serve him with a civil protection order which would require him to move out of the home he lived in with his wife however according to the officers he quickly became agitated and charged at them while holding a weapon he refused to drop the weapon and so he was shot Kristen is still missing and her case is mostly cold at this point she was initially labeled as a runaway until 1998 when her case status was changed to endangered missing Foul Play is suspected in her case and her family strongly believe that Castro was responsible for her death they also believed that the Boise PD didn't take the case seriously at first because Kristen had a history of running away her mother Kim has spent her life pressuring the police to keep the case alive and has also hired private investigators to look for her missing daughter no suspect has ever been named by law enforcement and no search warrants have ever been served seventeen-year-old Kristen Ray Dunlap was last seen leaving her home in Boise Idaho on October 14 1994. at the time Kristen was 140 pounds and stood at five foot four she is described as a white woman with blonde hair and green eyes she wears glasses and has a one-inch scar on her buttocks she uses the name Christy and may use the last name Bose or Dunlap Bose she also has ADHD if Kristen is still alive she will be 45 years old if you have any information about her disappearance you can call the Boise Police Department on 208 377-6790 William John Davis the following case is brought To Us by our Patron Abe Morrison bald who chose the location of Saint Ives England at around 4pm on March 14 1907 Mrs Davis the wife of a fisherman named William Davis and the mother of four children including four-month-old William John Davis placed her baby in a cradle in the kitchen with a pacifier she had some errands to run but wouldn't be gone long and felt it would be easier for her to go now while her youngest son slept Mr and Mrs Davis lived in what was described as a thickly populated slum District in Saint Ives England the housing was cheek to jowl the main road was frequently covered in water and the neighborhood was largely occupied by local boatmen and fishermen and their families the couple lived in a small home located over a stable where the Grim smells of animal feces permeated the walls they'd been married for for around 25 years and together had around 19 children although only four survived three had been stillborn the others perishing from natural causes infant mortality rates in the area were reportedly extremely high even for the time as William slept Mrs Davis did some washing and then left for the local bakery she also planned to pick up her daughter and as she headed for home she noticed 14 year old Thomas pullmore sitting on his parents doorstep she asked him if he'd seen her daughter and Thomas replied that she was down at the beach Mrs Davis then went on her way but found that her child wasn't where he'd said she was she doubled back the way she came and noticed Thomas was now gone she continued on her way and a short time later found her daughter at her grandmother's all in all Mrs Davis was away from home for around 40 minutes upon her return with her daughter she ran into Mrs Palmore the trio entered the house together and and inside discovered one of cornwall's most gruesome crimes baby William had been slashed in the neck before he was decapitated his body lying on the floor his head in the fireplace Fender the coroner later deduced that the baby had four superficial wounds on his face his head had been scorched from the burning fire which had been set a while before his mother had left the home and that he may have been decapitated in the water or his body was placed in the water afterwards this conclusion was reached due to the fact that William's clothing was soaking wet he and His Garment smelled strongly of paraffin a lamp had been knocked over on the kitchen table blood stains were found on the wash tray which had been half filled when Mrs Davis left the killer Left Behind virtually no trace of themselves at the scene there had been no sound nor any commotion reported by neighbors several knives were located in the kitchen but none showed any evidence they had been tampered with or used in the crime there was no sign of blood on any of them Additionally the wash tray had been upturned backing up the suggestion that William had at some point been placed in the water Mrs Davis recalled that she'd left a sharp bread knife out on the kitchen table which was missing from the scene as was a box of matches there was no obvious motive that the police could find according to Mrs Davis's testimony at the inquest Thomas was known to frequent her house he would sneak in and steal items and for that reason she had barred him from entering her home for two weeks when she and his mother discovered William's body Mrs Davis had exclaimed that Thomas must have been in the house however when Mrs Palmer noted the baby's body and pointed it out to her she said William must have been attacked by a dog Thomas was described as being a boy of weak intellect following the discovery of William's body investigators went out to see the teenager who was with his grandmother upon seeing the policeman he said quote baby's head cut off his Grand mother then shook him and told him to be quiet shortly after this interaction Thomas was taken into custody and accused of the crime at the inquest the County coroner Edward Bose went over the events of the day and summarized William's murder before stating it was obvious that a criminal event had occurred in the case a laborer who spoke at the inquest claimed he saw Thomas playing on the steps of the Davis's house after Mrs Davis left but he was unable to confirm whether or not the teenager had entered the property another witness Thomas's nine-year-old brother said he hadn't seen him enter or exit the house all day between 2 and 4 pm Mr Palmore claimed that his son was with him notably after hearing about the murder Mr Palmore went looking for Thomas and told the inquest that he didn't want anybody to see his son near the house furthermore his nine-year-old son testified that he had burned Thomas's boots following the crime but Mr Palmore denied ever doing this the coroner noted that the mortality rate of Mr and Mrs Davis's children was very high and found it odd that Mrs Davis had cleaned up after finding her child dead however she claimed it was because she didn't want the authorities who entered her home thinking she was a dirty woman in the end there simply wasn't enough evidence against Thomas to convict the murder of William John Davis is still unsolved Jacob Kavanaugh our final case for this month comes from Traverse City in Michigan our Patron Laura originally chose the village of Beulah in this same state however we were unable to find anything from around this area and so we widened our search and discovered an odd missing person's case from 2010 in Traverse City Jacob Kavanaugh was an ordinary 31 year old man living an unassuming life when he uncharacteristically went missing in the spring of 2010 a divorced father of two Jacob was described as an attentive father and somebody who worked hard he had a job he loved at Dave's Garage and had invested in twenty thousand dollars worth of tools over the years furthermore he was a member of the National Guard and was a technical science student at Northwestern Michigan College by all accounts Jake enjoyed life and would always keep himself busy his sister noted that he didn't use drugs wasn't an alcoholic and made a point of staying out of trouble at around 7 30 on the evening of March 31 2010 Jake dropped off his friend a man named Gary whittick near the volleyball courts at open space in Traverse City a Beachside Park after the pair played frisbee golf together whitig asked Jake if he wanted to do some bar hopping with him but the 31 year old declined stating that he had to go home and study for class however after Jake left whittick he never returned home at 1am on the morning of April 1st Jake made his monthly phone call to the National Guard's automated phone system where he reported that he was still a student at Northwestern Michigan College an hour later Jake used his bank card to buy gas at a speedway off Interstate 94 in Matawan Michigan about three hours from his home CCTV footage from the scene was examined by his family who confirmed that it was indeed the 31 year old on tape just after midnight on April 2nd a police police officer in Hollister Missouri ran his license plates it was run again by a Washington County Sheriff's Department Deputy in Arkansas a few hours later at around 3 AM the officer reportedly witnessed Jake in his vehicle sleeping while he parked at the Brentwood rest area of us-71 in West Fork it is unknown at this time if he was alone but the lead detective working on the case in 2020 requested both the body cam footage and the audio recording of the officer's interaction with Jake that night later on that same day his card was used to buy gas again at skinny 7-Eleven in Sweetwater Texas an image of the man paying was once more captured on CCTV but his family could not positively identify him as Jake the 31 year old's only known connection to Texas is that his brother is stationed in Fort Hood Jake's card has not been used since Sweetwater and there has been no trace of him since the gas purchase on April 2nd his car has never been located he reportedly had insufficient funds in his bank account to pay for his gas but was able to do so thanks to an overdraft Jake did not have his phone charger with him when he went missing and his phone has not been used since he vanished online sleuths have pointed out that there are around 1 600 miles between two of the gas stations Jake's card was used at leading to many questions about who paid for the gas in between these times and where he stopped to refill it has been suggested that there was someone else traveling with him according to friends and family Jake's friend Gary whittick whom he supposedly dropped off on the day of his disappearance after they played frisbee golf left the city around the time of the 31 year old's disappearance he reportedly failed to account for his whereabouts when he was questioned by Jake's loved ones on October 5th 2012 over two years after Jake went missing a polygraph test was issued as part of the ongoing investigation however it has not been made public who was given the test reportedly the name has been redacted in the case File a year later Jake's ex-wife Rachel contacted the lead detective at the time Paul Gomez to say that 1 500 had mysteriously appeared in her bank accounts she called them and told them it was from the Army National Guard Thrift Savings Plan of which her ex-husband was a member Rachel theorized that if the money had been deposited into her accounts it would have been done so by Jake and he must be alive however Gomez discovered that Friend of the Court had made the transfer but had refused to give Rachel this information then in 2014 Gomez discovered that someone had filed a 2013 Michigan tax return in Jake's name he sent a search warrant to the state's Treasury Department which revealed that the return had been filed by a Kent Shea with a Houston Texas address further investigation by the FBI showed it had been fraudulently filed very series of shell real estate companies Jake's case is still open and active in 2020 Jason Polzin the Grand Traverse County detective who is still running the investigation sought information on Jake's missing vehicle and requested help from the National Insurance crime Bureau policing discovered that there was a hit on the 31 year olds vehicle in Mexico likely from an impound lot a report on the case States quote the current status of the vehicle is unknown It is believed that the car was crushed or destroyed as previously mentioned polzine also requested the body cam footage and audio from an officer who interacted with Jake in the early hours of April 2nd 2010. in 2015 Jake was declared legally dead he is still listed as endangered missing on his Charlie project page and initially law enforcement believed that the 31 year old had left of his own accord his family and friends disagree however noting that he wouldn't leave without telling anyone and he would not walk out on his children due to the nature of the case there have been numerous theories proposed over the years that Jake left of his own accord but met with Foul Play or became involved in an accident that he left of his own accord to take his own life or that he left due to mental illness some have even suggested that he needed money and agreed to participate in a drug run to Mexico in recent years with the sketchy behavior of Gary whittick who refuses to comment on the case many have proposed the theory that he was involved with whatever happened to Jake Jacob was last seen on March 31 2010 in Traverse City Michigan his debit card was used to purchase gas in Matawan Michigan and in Sweetwater Texas while his vehicle was seen in between those two stops at Brentwood rest area off us-71 in West Fork on April 2nd his card has not been used since Sweetwater and his phone has not been used since he went missing J Jake is described as a Native American man of Ottawa and Chippewa Indian descent with brown hair and brown eyes he is between five foot ten and six foot two and weighs between 160 to 175 pounds when he was last seen he was wearing his work uniform which consisted of gray trousers a white or orange T-shirt and a gray jacket with Dave's Garage printed on it he also wore brown work boots he uses the nickname Jake Jake's vehicle is described as being a 2002 silver Chevrolet Malibu with Michigan license plate bkq4107 it has minor damage to the front passenger and side panel and has not been concretely located as of yet if Jake is still alive he will be 43 years old if you have any information about his disappearance you can contact the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office on 231-995-5002 or you can email info GT sheriff.org and there you have the facts please leave a comment down below with your own thoughts and speculations and remember to like this video And subscribe to support the channel thank you for watching stay alert stay safe and I'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: Cold Case Detective

Views: 125,705

Keywords: cold case detective

Id: 9x-SAkS_3K8

Length: 33min 16sec (1996 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 27 2022