A Cold Case Solved: The Case Of Bethany Anne Decker

before we begin today's video we just wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for helping us reach 500 000 subscribers to all of our viewers old and you those of you that have been here since the start and those who are just joining us we can't thank you enough for being a part of this community and supporting us along the way it really does mean everything thank you [Music] almost three years ago when we first started our Channel we looked into several unsolved cases as part of a compilation episode as you know we really try to keep on top of all the cases we cover provide updates and see them through to the end if they're ongoing one case we looked at all that time ago has had significant updates and progression it has gone from being an unsolved disappearance to a solved case as a nod to where we started all that time ago we wanted to take another look at it expand on it and cover it in a much more in-depth way this is the case of Bethany Ann Decker today's episode takes us to Ashburn in Virginia home to 21 year old Bethany Ann Decker Bethany's mother Kim said her daughter was just simply a joy to be around always upbeat and had been smiling since the day she was born she had two younger siblings who said she was the leader of the pack confident encouraging and supportive after years of excelling in school she was accepted into George Mason University hoping to gain a degree in global and economic change one of her roommates said she could put off an essay until the night before write it in an hour and come out with an a star she was very intelligent she recalled it was in her freshman year that Bethany met a meal Decker a Cadet in the reserve officer's training Corps who was set to join the Army National Guard Emil was a hopeless romantic and Bethany's family said she could mention the smallest most seemingly insignificant thing just once and he would remember it and try and act on it Bethany's family adored him and he fit right in as if they'd been together their whole lives after a couple of years of dating Emil proposed no sooner had they got engaged Bethany found out she was pregnant the young couple was so excited to start their family and life together and although the baby had come sooner than maybe planned the pregnancy was a welcome surprise they called their baby boy Kai [Music] although family and friends said the stress of a newborn baby on top of having little money to support them soon set in while a meal started training with the Army National Guard units Bethany who was still studying at George Mason took up a part-time job in a restaurant to get some more money the stress only mounted further when a meal started prepping to be deployed to Afghanistan between both their families helping out the pair were just about coping but knowing a meal would soon be away for long periods of time was hard for Bethany to deal with she said she felt like the pair were drifting apart and they were living in two completely separate worlds she told Emil she worried they had rushed into things and should have taken more time to plan some sources say at this point they decided to try a separation and take a break Emil was upset but wanted to give Bethany what she needed as he left the country Bethany moved into a new apartment so she could be closer to her job and pick up as many shifts as possible one day at the restaurant things would take a massive shift which changed the course of everything Bethany met 31 year old Ronald Roldan who was originally from Bolivia before long the power involved in a romantic relationship Bethany told friends she was lonely and isolated with a meal being overseas for such long periods of time and despite her friend's reservations Ronald soon moved into Bethany's apartment her best friend Sarah said she was shocked and warned her against it but she ultimately wanted to see Bethany happy and Bethany was going to do what she wanted to anyway she and Emil was still separated and communication was dwindling but he could sense something was going on the relationship with Ronald was bad from the get-go he was controlling jealous and violent and everyone saw it in him Kim said she was frightened hearing horror stories about what was going on inside the apartment she even suspected that Ronald had heard Kai as Kai not only seemed scared of him but he had a black eye on one occasion the story they were told was that a friend was watching him and he fell backwards off of a chair but Bethany's family were not so sure they also found out that Ronald had phoned Kai's daycare and pretended to be a meal fortunately the daycare could tell something was wrong and nothing happened but this resulted in them setting up a code to use over the phone so they knew not to answer to Ronald if he called again Ronald would text and call constantly asking to see proof of where she was and who she was with he would even follow her to houses she said she was going to just to make sure she actually was and then he would sit and wait for her outside until she left Bethany was now in a very bad situation and decided to come clean and tell Emil everything saying she knew she had made a mistake Emil still wanted to make things work saying his family was his priority he said he could tell that something had been wrong for many months as she was now working about six days a week and barely talking to him and when she did communicate she was distant and not present Bethany and Emil decided to go on holiday when he was home on leave to try and patch things up their marriage was hanging by a thread at this point and the situation was messy to say the least she was telling her mother and friends that the situation with Ronald was now so bad she needed to either get him out somehow or leave the apartment herself in secret she and Kim started working on a plan to make this happen as 2010 came to an end a meal sent a sweet message to his young family hi I'm specialist Decker and I'm stationed at Morales Frazier and I just want to give a lovely shout out to my wife who lives in Fredericksburg Virginia and to my son Kai I loved you and I miss you very much have a Merry Christmas in mid-January 2011 he was granted leave and the pair decided they would still go on holiday together as Bethany met him at the airport it was clear there was another issue to contend with Bethany was pregnant again and Ronald was the father Emil said he wasn't angry and still wanted the holiday in Hawaii to go ahead he said I've been overseas and it was a completely different world coming back to the United States I was just happy to be home to be alive to be with my family that anything else in the whole entire world really did not matter to me at all it was definitely a make or break trip and by all accounts they did have a lovely time in Hawaii it was the most they'd seen each other laugh together and just talked in ages it felt like things could start to get back on track when Emil and Bethany got back on the 28th of January Bethany visited her grandma they had a nice afternoon making pizza and talking about the trip but her grandma said she could tell there were more stories than Bethany was sharing she was so young with so much going on and everything was clearly getting on top of her Bethany later confided that she was drowning in stress guilt and sadness and it was the lowest she had felt in her whole life later that night Emile joined them for dinner where the crisis talks continued without warning Bethany's phone started to go off she grabbed her things and rushed out saying they didn't understand what was going to happen to her if she didn't go home Emil was due back in just a few days and although the break had been good for them it still wasn't clear how things would be once he left Bethany drove back to her apartment as Emil packed up ready to fly out on the 2nd of February the plan was she would meet him at the airport to see him off telling him I will always be there no matter what [Music] on February 2nd Emil arrived at the airport hoping to see Bethany there but she didn't turn up he called her restaurant and they said she hadn't been into work for the last few days before he boarded he called around Bethany's family to give them the heads up that something seemed wrong regardless of any issues the pair ever had Bethany was always at the airport to see him go over the next few days friends and family tried to make contact with Bethany but she didn't answer her phone once Bethany's mother Kim then received a few strange phone calls which remain undisclosed and Bethany's friend Sarah got some Facebook messages that stood out immediately she logged in and saw that Bethany was online having not heard from her in a while she started up a chat in messenger she said she knew right away it was not Bethany sending the messages back the English was broken words were misspelled and basic things she would have been able to answer she couldn't Sarah called Kim and told her her suspicions Emil also got an email from Bethany's account and he too said he didn't believe his wife had typed it by this point Kim had received messages from four different people all saying they thought Bethany's Facebook account had been hacked into Bethany's grandparents lived closer to Bethany than Kim so they decided to drive over to her complex they found Bethany's car parked outside it was at an odd angle with a flat tire this was even more odd because no one had seen her car there before this point it seemed to have appeared out of nowhere they knocked on the door but the silence was deafening they called 9-1-1 on February 19th and reported her missing Bethany's family said it was not unusual for her to go several days without talking to anyone or replying and before they all knew it it was three weeks later given the fact she hadn't seen or spoken to anyone during this time as well as being pregnant authorities did not miss a beat and moved quickly concerned they had already lost a lot of time a quick search of her phone credit and debit cards showed they had not been accessed since January 29th she hadn't shown up to any of her classes she hadn't checked herself into any of the nearby hospitals she hadn't gone into work and given the fact her passport was at home she hadn't left the country either when police went to her apartment they determined there were no signs of any forced entry or a struggle and nothing appeared to be glaringly out of place her belongings were all still there indicating she hadn't packed up to go anywhere either there was nothing inside her car that indicated Foul Play or pointed to where she might have gone it was now the first week of March and detectives decided to hold a press conference divers were searching the waters K-9 units were around the fields and the FBI were brought in too police were getting leads but they were going nowhere none of these tips came to anything it seemed that the last person to have seen Bethany given the timeline they knew was a meal he was granted permission to fly home and help with the investigation he voluntarily took a polygraph test and underwent hours of interrogation answering everything twice over and was completely supportive of everything the police needed he said he had absolutely nothing to do with Bethany being missing and even despite all their issues his mind was racing and he was deeply concerned he said he understood why he was being looked at so closely he happened to leave the country around the same time she went missing and had just found out she was pregnant with another man's child but he said he let the police ask everything they needed to no matter how painful the questions were so they could rule him out and he could start helping all of his movements in between the 28th of January and the 2nd of February were all accounted for as well authorities had to consider the possibility that given all of her stresses she had just wanted a total break and had dipped off the radar but going this long without talking to her mother and grandmother and without seeing Kai was definitely not the Bethany they knew the police were still treating her disappearance as a missing person's case and not anything more sinister they didn't identify anyone as a suspect calling it premature and saying they wanted to encourage the public to keep looking for her without putting anything into their heads there was however one more person they needed to talk to Ronald Roldan he was no longer living in the apartment and they had found him at his parents house he told them he had moved out recently as the relationship had come to an end his story actually informed the detectives that he was the last person to see her whereas Emil had last seen her on the 28th of January Ronald said he saw her on the afternoon of January the 29th he said she was in the apartment and she seemed her usual self this was partly corroborated by the manager who said that she had called in just after 2PM on January 29th to get her next shifts for the week she also confirmed her shift for that night but she never showed up to work it Ronald said he hadn't reported her disappearance as now the relationship was over he naturally just hadn't had any communication with her to even realize she was missing ATM records showed that he left Bethany's apartment the afternoon she was last seen and made a withdrawal from his bank at 4 26 pm he then returned to the apartment after getting a text from his ex-girlfriend Danielle with whom he shared two children Ronald sent two messages to Bethany one at 401 pm and one at 4 31 pm to tell her he would be staying with his children at their apartment but it was confirmed that after Bethany contacted work at 208 PM her phone had no activity whether these messages were received is still unknown but it appeared he had been trying to get hold of her Danielle said she did drop the children with him at about 4 30 p.m and Ronald told her he wasn't sure if Bethany would be coming back as the couple had had a fight and she'd taken off when Daniel returned a few days later Ronald told her he hadn't seen or heard from Bethany since that day a search warrant was now issued for his apartment but this turned up nothing his computer phone and hard drives were all seized but they drew a blank here as well a quick background check on Ronald found he did have history with the police but at this point there was absolutely nothing to link him to Bethany's disappearance given the fact that detectives now knew he was the last person to see her he was considered a person of interest but not a suspect Bethany's Story was now national news made even more intriguing for journalists when it got out that she had been married to a man that they had interviewed and was having a baby with another man who was now a potential Person of Interest Brown criminal profiler and author of the profiler Pat as always great to see you Pat something's not right here I mean theoretically she could have run off and then you know decided to slowly reappear but uh you know I don't know if that's why they can't say yet that whether she's missing or she's dead be an investigator I don't blame law enforcement for not giving giving up too much information because there are so many so many questions yet to be asked foreign [Music] would be the month Bethany was due to give birth and detectives issued another press release contacting hospitals to see if she had checked in anywhere again they were met with silence the months would soon turn into years and time was slipping by police were still no further forwards than when they had started but in May 2012 a new detective was assigned to the case and the family said they were hopefully fresh eyes that could help them on this particular year what would have been Bethany's 23rd birthday coincided with Mother's Day and family and friends gathered to spread awareness and share stories Emil and Kai were also in attendance Kim even connected with the Harrington family who lost their daughter Morgan in 2009 a case we actually covered on the channel a while ago they cut a big cake for Bethany made in her favorite color orange [Music] in late 2012 investigation discovery aired an episode of their show disappeared dedicated to Bethany's case which gave it more attention but still no answers As Time continued to pass the tips and leads became few and far between and focuses on other investigations how to take priority Emil eventually filed for divorce from Bethany and was given sole custody of their senkai everything remained pretty quiet until November 2014 but a completely separate 9-1-1 call would shine a whole new light on the case [Music] on the 12th of November 2014 police in North Carolina responded to a shocking call it was almost 2 am and it appeared to be a very serious domestic incident a woman called Vicky said she had shot her boyfriend twice in self-defense when he had attacked her out of nowhere he had walked up behind her grabbed her by her hair and snapped her neck breaking it in two places he then started punching and biting her despite being in what must have been immense pain Vicky managed to grab her gun and shoot him twice he then snatched the gun off her and shot her three times once in the head she still managed to crawl out of the house all the way to a neighbor's home her neighbor locked the doors grabbed his gun and called 9-1-1 Vicky's boyfriend was none other than Ronald Roldan he was arrested and charged with attempted murder although much to Vicki's anger the attempted murder charge was dropped as he entered a plea deal [Music] he was sentenced to a minimum of six years and after completing his sentence he was scheduled to be transferred into the custody of U.S immigrations and Customs Enforcement who would start the process of deporting him back to Bolivia Vicki told authorities that Ronald had said he could make people disappear a friend had even called Vicky and said that she had seen a Nancy Grace episode about Bethany's case which named Ronald as a person of interest Vicki confronted him and said his reaction terrified her she knew something was wrong but he now knew that she knew about Bethany and she said the violence had escalated since that point Vicki said if he was ever let out of prison he would either come back to kill her or kill someone else he was clearly a very dangerous and violent individual and given everything Vicky had told them he needed to be looked at once again in relation to Bethany's case a dramatic twist in a local Cold Case tonight that's right this development could finally give local investigators the evidence that they need to bring charges against a person of interest in The Disappearance of a young mother Decker's then boyfriend was arrested in November for attempted murder of his new girlfriend that woman tells the dailymail.com Ronald Roldan told her things which could implicate him in Decker's disappearance investigators comb the area near Bethany Decker's Ashburn apartment four years ago they never found the 21 year old the young mother and wife of a soldier in Afghanistan was five months pregnant when she vanished it's so hard not knowing anything and not being able to reach her Decker and her husband had problems and while he was overseas she became involved with Ronald Roldan after Decker disappeared there was no activity on her credit cards or bank accounts Roldan now waiter at the time became a person of interest but never charged he moved to North Carolina where last November at the home of his new girlfriend Roldan allegedly went into a rage and viciously beat the woman Loudoun County Sheriff's detectives have interviewed Roldan in North Carolina where he is behind bars awaiting trial at this point despite the revelations from roldan's alleged victim he remains a person of interest in the Bethany Decker disappearance I've seen the look in his face when he came back at me to told me and I he was smiling so I do believe that he cannot control it it's what he does he kills things he violently beat me he broke my neck in two play Ed he left the bite marks all over my back he choked me out twice he was suffocating me and then the gunfight started he just told me that he can make people disappear and that I'd better be quiet and I better not go to the police that's what he told me standing in my living room leaning up against the sliding glass doors I think he was just making himself clear Vicki went on to tell her story on Dr Phil she had lost an eye because of him her neck had been broken in two places and she was facing Financial ruin due to the cost of the medical bills but she was determined to keep telling her story and helped the police build their case she contacted Kim personally to tell her everything she knew and offer her support the pair would strike up a close friendship meeting for the first time on an episode of True Crime daily you are so amazing so strong investigators also found out that before he was seeing Vicky Ronald was dating a waitress called April she oppressed charges against him too when he pushed her down a flight of stairs spat on her and threw all her belongings outside he agreed to pay her 2 500 and the charges were eventually dropped detectives working on Bethany's case made the journey over to his new prison to interview him again but he was verbally abusive shouting and swearing at them refusing to talk this only spurred them on more through his lawyer Ronald maintained he had nothing to do with Bethany's disappearance he said he was hopeful that Bethany would come home and was praying for her safe return mystery tonight now in Loudoun County a young woman gone missing four years ago without a trace the newest twist a bone-chilling letter from the woman arriving five years after she wrote it it's just one of many shocking terms in a case that continues to baffle detectives Bethany Decker penned a letter to her future self when she was 19 years old when she wrote December 3rd of 2008. all of her plans were right there in black and white get married have a child start a career go to Europe she signed it see you in five years me she had lots of dreams of what her future would look like and it was nothing like this but she's really dropped off the face of the Earth loud and County detectives immediately visited Rodan in jail he didn't really want to talk to me so I just talked to him while detectives fear the worst Bethany's mother hopes she's in hiding I pray that she's out there somewhere that she got to a safe place the lawyer for Ronald Rodan Decker's boyfriend and he wouldn't return our phone calls as for the husband Emil Decker's attorney tells us he's willing to talk to detectives only if council is present I'm Jennifer Donald ABC 7 News foreign 2019 investigators said there had now been positive movement in Bethany's case they didn't specify the developments but they did say it came after a search warrant of Bethany's Facebook account was finally issued and analyzed the search warrant had been signed by detective Michael Boone a man who was actually instrumental in solving the murders of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington Morgan Harrington's family had become close to Kim offering her a support system over the next year and into 2020 things again went quiet and the police didn't share anything with the media keeping all their cards close to their chests they were on the cusp of a huge break November 2020 the news everyone had been waiting for for almost a decade finally broke Bethany Decker missing since January 2011. now after more than nine years it appears police are about to close this controversial case in the works the Loudoun County Sheriff has planned a long distance arrest of Bethany's ex-boyfriend according to the prosecutor the charge in the case will be abduction now upon his release from jail tomorrow in North Carolina Loudoun County Sheriff's plan to pick up roll Dan and bring him back to Virginia to be officially charged in the Bethany Decker case the information that have pushed this forward showed the Bethany and Ronald's individual Facebook accounts were both accessed many times from the same IP address in the days around her disappearance Ronald Roldan was finally arraigned on abduction charges and just one month later the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder in the case of Bethany and Decker prosecutors said the circumstantial evidence was very strong and it was a solid case Ronald's lawyers asked for bail but the judge said there was no way he pleaded not guilty and his trial was scheduled to start in August 2021 but this was pushed back to February 2022 the trial was then set back a final time when the County Sheriff's Office released a further 60 000 files against Ronald and his defense team needed more time to go through everything the new trial would be January 30th 2023 and this date would Mark just a day after the 12-year anniversary of Bethany's disappearance everyone now just had to sit wait and continue to be patient just a little bit longer however no trial would commence it has been more than 10 years since Bethany Decker disappeared from her Ashburn home her body has never been found and her former boyfriend pled guilty to her murder roll down was convicted and sent to prison in North Carolina in 2016 buying the Loudoun Sheriff's Office more time for its investigation and when he was released in November of 2020 he was charged with Bethany Decker's murder on Thursday he pleaded guilty the details of that agreement under seal until his sentencing willoughby's reaction to the plea a feeling of relief and thankfulness it helps me to realize that maybe God used me in this crazy way to make sure that Bethany got her her piece Roldan faces up to 40 years in prison when he sentenced it in November 2022 41 year old Ronald Roldan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of his plea agreement he was asked to say what had happened that day Ronald claimed they got into an argument in the apartment and he pushed her she fell and hit her head on the windowsill and died instantly too scared to call 9-1-1 he put her body into a large bag and dumped her into the trash compactor at the complex he still denied using her Facebook account and maintained his story of it being accidental and he panicked given his history of abuse and violence police and experts doubt his claims of it being unintentional in a total accident and his denial of accessing her accounts had also long been proven to be false in February 2023 Ronald was given 12 and a half years he was actually sentenced to 40 years which was the maximum however all but 12 and a half were suspended due to his plea deal he could still serve more time if he commits another crime or violates the conditions of his release 12 years in a month of them waking up every day and not knowing is Bethany coming back hundreds of individuals have worked tirelessly in search of any evidence or information that would bring Bethany's killer to Justice and today justice has been achieved rule Dan only pled guilty in November but it wasn't until two weeks ago when he confessed to detectives how she died as part of his plea agreement and it was quite tragic for us to go from missing to murdered in just a sentence I can't tell you how hard it was knowing that when we had our last Christmas that that would be the last one or the night before Bethany was murdered she called me and she said Mom I love you is the last thing she told me Bethany was an inspiration to me from when she was born with her Smiles with her encouragement with her Love Tonight roll dad will have to serve more than 12 years in prison but family says it still does not bring closure but a painful reminder of how a loved one is still gone she was not and will never be forgotten may she rest in peace once he is released he must be under supervision for five years and is instructed not to contact any of Decker's family members through all the hearings Kim and Vicky sat together and watched as he was sentenced Bethany's family said they were angry that he will only be in prison a few months longer than they had spent searching for her but they said they were grateful they finally had some sort of closure so many lives have been affected by this case and it was a long and painful Wait For answers to this day Bethany's remains have never been found and police feel it is unlikely they ever will be Kim said all she can do is keep Bethany's memory alive and encourage people to be vocal and tell loved ones you care about them because you just never know what will happen she continues to work with help save the next girl a national non-profit organization founded by Morgan Harrington's parents in her honor it's a way of educating and spreading awareness by talking about safety and violence prevention she said the night before Bethany was murdered she called me and said Mom I love you that was the last thing she said so I just want to encourage each and every one of you to not take for granted tomorrow and to really make sure that you are talking to your loved ones that you're letting people know how much you care and not wait for the tomorrow which may never be [Music] thank you all for tuning in and we hope you found this video interesting if you would like to support our Channel and help us to continue to make our content we have a patreon with many perks including exclusive episodes behind the scenes An ad-free Early Access [Music]

Channel: Truly Criminal

Views: 951,549

Keywords:

Id: nOlPcPWk_20

Length: 33min 38sec (2018 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 01 2023