WANTED: Monsters of Ohio Part 2

[00:00] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 now wherever you get your podcasts. [00:30] Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And this episode is part two of our Monsters of Ohio series. So if you haven't listened to part one yet, please go back and do so. It's important to understand a Seenith Ducat story for you to know why almost a dozen other cases grabbed my attention and convinced me that there was something unusual happening in Ohio in the early 80s. One or more monsters lurking in [01:00] specific areas and preying on young girls. [01:04] Music

[01:35] This rabbit hole I got into actually started from the very first time I tried to start my research on a CNET. Now, I had heard about her case kind of in passing and just like tucked it away in the back of my brain for the next time I could start research on a new case. And by the time I got around to it, like her very unique name was escaping me. So I Googled girl murder unsolved Ohio 80s and something popped up for a young girl named Kelly Prosser. [02:05] I didn't think that that was the right name, but as I started to read the details, [02:10] I honestly started questioning myself. You see, Kelly was a third grader who on September 20th, 1982, went missing while walking home from school in Columbus, Ohio. Which for those of you who are familiar with the area, you'll know that Upper Arlington, where Sini lived, is basically a suburb of Columbus. Like in Sini's case, it was Kelly's mother who got worried when she didn't make it home. [02:40] for the young girl that same night. Well, yeah, she's like... [02:43] What, eight or nine? They have to. Well, yes. So she's actually eight, just like Sini was. But there was another reason they went so hard so fast. Just like in Sini's case, there was actually an attempted abduction or attack on another girl just a few days before. So everyone in the area was already on high alert. In this previous attempted attack, there was a guy in a red truck who tried to abduct another eight-year-old girl.

[03:13] Edwood, another person drove by. Now, the first night passed with no sign of Kelly. But the next day, the Columbus Dispatch reported that police got their first clue. Dogs were able to track Kelly's scent from the elementary school to the intersection of North High Street and Maynard Avenue. [03:32] Now, North High Street is really close to Ohio State University, and it's always super, super busy. So, in fact, when they start looking for witnesses, they even find two patrol officers who may have spotted Kelly the same day she went missing. But the thing is, they spotted someone who looked like her much, much later in the evening at like 9 o'clock at night. And the officers remember seeing a young girl that looked a lot like Kelly with an older man. [04:02] they didn't stop to question them. Wait, they know she's missing by nine. Yeah. Here's the thing. I don't know if these two guys didn't know about the search. Again, they're patrol officers. Maybe they had nothing to do with it. All I know is that they said that they see this girl. She looked like she knew the guy. So they never stopped them. The next clue that they got was actually on the same day. A local lawyer came forward and said, hey, I found something in the middle of the road and I kind of [04:32] I didn't really think anything of it until my daughter saw it. And she'd been watching the news and made the connection. What did they find? He found a blue raincoat, which matched the description put out by police of one that Kelly would have had with her when she went missing. Now, it's interesting because most news reports just say that a jacket was found and he puts it in his car and didn't give it a second thought.

[05:02] the sleeves had blood on it, which to me is strange because... [05:07] Like that's something you would remember and not something that I would just throw in the back of my seat and never think of again. Though, again, I don't know how accurate this is. It was only reported in one place. And I have no idea what police thought of that at the time. [05:20] So at this point, they have what they believe is Kelly's coat and they are going to start searching in that area. But in the meantime, police actually start making a connection to another local man who right around the same time of Kelly's disappearance had been accused of molesting an 11 year old girl in the same area close to where Kelly went missing from. But when they go to talk to this guy, he flees the area, which is never a good look. [05:50] And so police put out a notice that they're looking for this man who they believe to be in West Virginia now. [05:56] While they search for him, they keep their search going close to where her jacket was found. And it didn't take long before they actually found Kelly. She was found in a cornfield. And according to a Columbus Dispatch article from 1982, she had been strangled with some kind of ligature and she had been, quote, sexually assaulted, but not raped. [06:20] Now, here's the thing. Police think that this guy who fled looks pretty good for the crime. But once he hears that police are looking for him in relation to a murder, he actually comes back to clear his name. He said that he fled because of the molestation charges. And when they actually look into him, he was already out of the area by the time Kelly was abducted, which left police with nothing. And it didn't take long for Kelly's case to go as cold as Sini's.

[06:50] And everyone in the area wondered if the same person or persons got away with murder for a second time. [06:58] Or maybe even more than a second time. Because just like the research for Sini's case led me to Kelly, research on Kelly led me to seven more girls who led me to more girls. In 1982, the Akron Beacon Journal published an article titled Nine Abducted in Two Years Within 150 Miles. [07:28] list of girls in the timeline of when they all went missing or were murdered. Sini was the first, but just 10 days after she was murdered, another eight-year-old girl from Maple Heights, Ohio, went missing. Her name was Tiffany Papish, and on Friday the 13th of 1980, her family was preparing for a camping trip, and Tiffany's mom asked her to run to the store to grab some buns before they left. According to the Charlie Project, Tiffany did in fact make it to the store, which was just [07:58] away from her house. She made her purchase and she was seen leaving around 2.45. But after she walked out of the store, she was never seen again. Tiffany is actually the only girl on my list of a dozen that has never been found, which makes her case incredibly hard to solve, though there was a man who everyone thought did it for a while. A guy named Brandon Lee Flagner.

[08:26] He first came onto police's radar because of how much he inserted himself into the investigation. He wanted to help with searches, wanted to make T-shirts to sell with Tiffany's missing person info on it. And his constant pestering of the family became so much that they eventually called police and had him arrested. He was arrested. [08:45] Now, it's worth noting Brandon was not a good dude. He had a history of grooming and molesting young girls. And shortly after Tiffany's disappearance, he actually went to jail on charges unrelated to Tiffany, but related to another young girl. Naturally, they looked into him in the early days of the investigation, but they just couldn't get the timing to fit. [09:15] where she disappeared. And although he technically got off work before she vanished, it was, I mean, literally like minutes before she vanished and would have been physically impossible for him to get to where she was and abduct her at the time that she was abducted. So it seemed his alibi was enough to write him off until a couple of years later when he starts confessing to anyone and everyone who will listen that he murdered Tiffany. And the thing is, his multiple confessions [09:45] predict themselves. But there was some things that just stuck out. Like, according to court documents, in the early days when Tiffany was considered a missing person, Brandon had taken someone with him to, like,

[09:57] quote, go out and search for Tiffany's body. And again, well before anyone considered her to be deceased. So a little bit fishy. That's something that like people latched on to. Right. And apparently he also asked his family to destroy some content in a metal box that was in his car. Like once he became a suspect and he specifically told them that this box had some kind of evidence regarding Tiffany's murder. Right. [10:24] Eventually, I think the case got cold enough and Brandon confessed enough that police must have thought he did it because they actually end up charging him with her murder. But what about his alibi? Well, that's still the big question. The prosecution suggested that maybe he just had a friend like punch the time clock for him. But no one has ever come forward and reported doing so. But I think they wanted to just close this case and it worked. [10:54] guilty at trial and it was considered a win for the prosecution. But many people think he didn't do it. And those people include Tiffany's father and the lead investigator. Brandon is still in prison and he's fighting for his release, saying that there might not even be a crime. And I mean, he likes to go so far as to say maybe she's still alive, which to me is a real stretch. But there are definitely questions about whether or not he should be in prison for this. [11:24] I guess my question is, like, why would he confess so many times if he wasn't actually involved?

[11:31] Well, in court documents, he suggests that at the time he confessed, he was just about to get out of prison for his other crimes and he wanted to stay there where he had a place to live, three meals a day. But I mean, who knows if that's real? We've seen a lot of false confessions and I can never make sense of most of them. But Brandon still sits in prison. [12:01] continued to suffer a similar fate. [12:05] . [12:07] I recently learned that after working out, performance and recovery come down to what's happening in your blood. Now, I pay a lot more attention to what's happening inside my body. And here's what most people overlook. Training gives your body the stimulus, but your internal environment determines what happens next. Thankfully, function can help you see exactly what's going on under the hood. Things like your glucose, whether your body is burning clean or running on fumes. Your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, which one is winning the inflammation battle. Your DHEAS, one of the building blocks your body uses to make testosterone. [12:37] one of the first things to quietly decline. When these markers are off, you can do everything right and still feel like you're fighting against yourself. Check in on your health. Function provides over 160 labs for $1 per day and member pricing on MRI and CT scans. Join at functionhealth.com slash crimejunkie or use gift code crimejunkie25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. [12:58] When summer heat ramps up, did you know that patio surfaces can hit 150 degrees? That's hot enough to make your backyard feel like a punishment. If you have bare windows, the indoor temps can even go up by 20 degrees. But with Blinds.com, you can beat the heat with custom solar shades for your den and patio. Whether you're going DIY or leaving it to the pros, Blinds.com keeps you in control. Choose the level of support that works best for you, with flexibility every step of the way, even picking the right style. They offer free consultation with their award-winning design experts.

[13:27] personal favorite part is how there are no pushy salespeople, no awkward at-home visits, just real advice, instant quotes, and absolutely zero pressure. Samples ship fast and free and everything's backed by Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. Because at Blinds.com, the only thing they treat better than Windows is you. Right now, our listeners get an exclusive $50 off when you spend $500 or more. Go to Blinds.com and use code CrimeJunkie at checkout for $50 off. Limited time offer, [13:57] See blinds.com for details. [14:00] Four months after Tiffany Papish went missing, 14-year-old Tammy Seals went out to deliver newspapers in her hometown of Cleveland and then vanished. Her body was found four months after that in an abandoned house that was just a block from her own. Did she die in a similar way to like Sini and Kelly, like strangulation and beatings? [14:30] any kind of pattern if one was forming. But eight months after Tammy went missing, another 14-year-old girl named Joanne Hebert goes missing from Dublin, Ohio. Joanne had ridden her bike to a local grocery store and she's seen by people in a phone booth out in front making a call. And later, someone spotted her bike still there, but Tiffany was just gone. And here's the thing,

[15:00] hearing too. It would take two months before her remains were found three miles from her home. And like in Sini's case, she actually had been beaten and we know she's been molested. [15:12] Now, early on, police were only looking at some of these cases as possibly being connected because of the locations. Like Sini's case and this one were considered as possible links because they were very, very close. Like both Upper Arlington and Dublin are right around Columbus, while Tiffany and Tammy's case were more like northeast Ohio near Cleveland. [15:36] And then... [15:37] even more cases start popping up in Northeast Ohio. [15:41] In October of 81, three months after Joanne went missing and then just one month after she was found, a nine-year-old named Demita Sullivan disappeared while walking down the street near her home in Akron, Ohio. Of all of these cases, hers was one of the least reported on and one of the very few cases I found where she was initially listed as a runaway. At nine years old, when all these other disappearances and murders are happening in the same areas? [16:11] And this was super upsetting to see because when you look at why her case was possibly treated differently, to me, only one thing stands out. Demita was black and all of the other girls were white. And it took a long time for her case to be taken seriously. And it took five months before her body was actually found in a shallow grave. Oh, that's the first girl that's been found where someone actually attempted to hide or bury the body, right?

[16:41] notably different than the other cases we have. And I can't say if there were any other similarities as to how the other girls were killed, because by the time they did find her, no cause of death could be determined. Right. [16:53] Again, because of the lack of reporting, I don't know what was done to try and track down the killer in her case. But without clarity, I'm left to wonder if they had tried harder, if more had been done, could it have stopped the next couple of murders? Because just 17 days after D'Amito went missing, 12-year-old Tina Harmon vanished under mysterious circumstances. [17:16] Tina was 12, going on 20. According to James Renner's book, The Serial Killer's Apprentice, Tina liked to steal cigarettes from her mom's purse, and she would hitchhike from her home in Creston to a truck stop game room to hang out with her friends. On October 29th, Tina was hitching rides to make her way to that game room, but on her way, she stopped at a convenience store to pick up a fudgesicle. When she never made it back up with her friends or arrived back home, she was reported missing. [17:45] When police start looking into her disappearance, witnesses described seeing her talking to and being followed by a young guy in his 20s. Just as police were feeling like maybe they were making headway and getting some tangible leads, Tina's body was found by hunters 40 miles away. Like many of the cases before hers, she had been raped, strangled, reclothed, and then left out in the open to be found.

[18:15] case to something like Sini's case is that in Tina's case, semen was actually found on items of her clothing. But in 1982, there wasn't much they could do with it. However, there was some other physical evidence that they found that they could use back then. All over her clothing were small orange fibers and dog hair. They couldn't tell where they came from at the time, but they [18:45] to compare to. [18:47] Police tried hard to find that suspect, looking at people in her family, old boyfriends, but they kept hitting wall after wall. Either the person had an alibi or they were ruled out in some other way. But according to the Suzuki's Thoughts blog, after a few weeks, they got pointed in the direction of a couple of suspects that looked pretty good for it in their mind. [19:17] young girl struggling with two men in a van. This lady said it felt so wrong that she started like honking her horn and that distracted the drivers and the men long enough to let this girl run away. But she said that the van made a U-turn and went back after the girl. And apparently this lady just kept driving. I was just going to say she didn't stop or do anything else. No. I mean, she didn't even go straight to police. She's telling them this story after Tina's been found. And I literally

[19:47] explain the story any more than that. Like, it seems bonkers to me. But there they were with an eyewitness all too late and only a very fuzzy description of the two men in their vehicles. So in true early 80s fashion, the police asked the witness to be hypnotized to get more of a description, though it doesn't end up being super useful at all. [20:10] However, that actually ends up being unimportant because somehow, some way, a pair of friends comes on their radar. A guy named Ray Rucker and Ernest Holbrook. Now, both guys have alibis for the time Tina was taken, but they aren't anything police can't like excuse away. And they're willing to excuse them away because they also find a witness who's willing to testify that these guys confessed to her. [20:40] witness after she gives them incorrect information. Wait, what do you mean? Well, according to that same blog, she tells police that they confessed to her and said they beat Tina to death. But the problem is like police already know at this point that's not how she died. Right. But that still doesn't stop police. They just end up finding another witness who can corroborate other parts [21:10] Nothing else. They charged both men with murder, and Ray is put on trial first and found guilty.

[21:19] Okay... [21:20] So... [21:21] Could they have been responsible for any of the murders before this? Well, I don't even know if the public had the chance to make the connection to any previous cases. Because here's the thing. Just a month after Ray is put away for life, another very similar murder was committed. And this murder, to those who supported Ray and Ernest, was proof that the guys who were charged were innocent. [21:49] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [22:08] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts. [22:19] On July 17, 1982, 11-year-old Krista Harrison was just across the street from her home collecting cans in a baseball field with a buddy her age named Roy. [22:30] According to James Renner's book, Roy said that around 5 o'clock, he sees this van pull up and a guy gets out and starts walking towards Krista. Now, he's too far away to be able to hear what words are exchanged, but he can tell that the man's saying something to Krista. And then she goes to the bleachers and sits down. The guy sits next to her and tries to touch her inappropriately and she starts crying.

[23:00] and he sees Krista crying. The man whispers something in her ear and then makes her get up and follow him to his van. She's put in the front seat on the floor in between his two passenger seat and driver's seat. And this guy drives away. And as he's driving away, he yells out the window, bye, Roy. Roy ran to Krista's parents' house, told the family what happened, and they immediately call police. All Roy could tell them was that this guy seemed younger, [23:30] maybe in his 20s and he had like shoulder length brown hair that kind of curled at the ends. [23:36] In less than a week, Krista's body was found. She'd been sexually assaulted and strangled and then left in the open, fully clothed. But this time, the victim was wrapped in plastic. Now, you might be thinking like, okay, so far a lot of these cases seem similar, but it doesn't mean that it has to be connected to Tina. [24:06] that were on Tina, in Krista's hair, meaning... She had to have been in the same place as Tina. Right. But how would that be possible if Tina's killers were being held by authorities when Krista was abducted and killed? [24:20] Now, the prosecution didn't want to say that they got the wrong guys, even though it was becoming clear to investigators that they were likely dealing with the same perpetrator. So initially, Krista's case had to be worked independently. And at first, it seemed solvable. There was an abundance of evidence found near her body. And there was even a second crime scene with items that linked back to her. I mean, they had men's clothing, gloves, hairs and even a cardboard box covered in her blood.

[24:50] But they ran down lead after lead and kept coming up empty. They tried to link the clothes to someone, but no luck. They tried to link the cardboard box to a buyer of the product that it packaged. And though they got a long list of names, none of them actually popped out as being a potential killer. So dead end after dead end after dead end, family and friends watched the case get colder and colder. [25:20] I mean, is it possible that Ernest did kill Krista, either for the same sick reason as Tina was killed or even just to try to make police think a killer was still out there after his friend was in jail? No. So from my understanding, he was actually awaiting his trial in jail and couldn't have killed Krista. Now, you would think that maybe the prosecution would rethink the charges, maybe not push forward with the trial, at least until they had a little more info on Krista's case. [25:50] Yeah. You'd be even more inclined to think that when you learn that one of their two witnesses who said that the guys confessed to murder, you know, legit, the only reason they have these guys in prison to begin with. Right. Well, one of these witnesses backs out and says that he was basically forced into testifying as a result of threats that police made against him. So they've got one witness instead of two. Another murder committed with the same forensic evidence on the victim. [26:16] The case should be dropped, right? Yeah, definitely. Oh, no. The prosecution still moved forward in August of 82. And somehow they got another guilty verdict.

[26:29] The next month. [26:31] is when Kelly Prosser was murdered. [26:33] And then, just eight days after Kelly was killed, [26:36] Seven-year-old Dawn Marie Hendershot went missing from Massillon, Ohio, while walking home from her elementary school. [26:45] According to legal documents, like within the first week or so, police focused in on one of her neighbors, a guy named Donald L. Maurer. After police confronted him, he actually confessed to Don's murder, telling them that he went to school to pick up his own stepchildren and then other kids from the neighborhood who he was supposed to drive home. [27:15] Thank you. [27:15] He first tried to strangle her and then he ended up shooting her in the back. And listen, there's little doubt of his guilt or innocence since he actually led police to where her remains were in the woods. Yeah. [27:29] But even Donald's arrest didn't stop the killings. On June 25th, 1983, a 10-year-old named Debbie Smith went missing from the same town as Dawn. According to ClevelandScene.com, she was with her brother David, and they went up to this concession stand at this little, like, fair thing to buy a drink, and he turns his back for a second. And when he looks back, she's just gone. [27:54] Now, in her case, there is something new. After she went missing, she made a distraught phone call to her mother, though I couldn't find an exact report of what she said. But I don't know that it matters because her body was found near a riverbank in August and an autopsy showed she had been severely beaten, stabbed and raped.

[28:24] her body. And according to the Serial Killers Apprentice book, candles were also found nearby. [28:31] Now, during this time, both Ernest and Ray kept appealing their convictions, continually pointing to not just the lack of evidence in their cases, but also the fact that there were still girls going missing and being murdered regularly since their incarceration. And here's the thing. Even though they were both charged with the same crime under the same set of circumstances, when they both tried to appeal their convictions, well. [28:59] One is granted a new trial. [29:02] And the other is not. How? I... [29:05] Honestly, don't know. Like there are certain things within the legal system that I will never be able to understand. Like to me, this is so painfully clear. You guys, you were on trial for the same crime under the same circumstances. [29:21] Some judge finds that, oh, yeah, you should get a new trial. How do different judges find looking at the same exact stuff that this other guy shouldn't? Yeah, it's incredibly frustrating and I cannot comprehend it. I mean, we've seen so many things like this happen where it seems so painfully obvious from the outside. And it's almost like weird, like red tape is what's getting in the way. [29:44] when the rest of us are like, yeah, no, this is it shouldn't be this hard. And [29:49] This is just, I think, one of those situations. And I don't know how to solve it. I don't know if it'll ever be solved. It's clearly like a broken system. Now, Ray ended up getting a new trial. And in that new trial, he was found not guilty. While Ernest got appeal after appeal rejected and had to remain in prison. This went on into 1983 until a shocking 911 call comes in.

[30:19] October, a 911 call comes in from a local resident who has this crazy story. They say that a naked woman with a shaved head and handcuffs dangling from one arm just appeared at their door and told them that their neighbor had abducted and raped her. So this neighbor calls police, police come by and they're waiting for said neighbor. A 40 something year old man named Robert Buell, who [30:49] police's radar. He was a city employee with no real criminal record. But that's not to say police had never heard of him because you know where else his name came up? Where? On the list of people who made a purchase that would have come in a box just like the one that was found covered in Krista's blood. And when they search Robert Buell's place, they find carpet fibers that match the fibers [31:19] just like the ones on Tina. And then they find candles that match the kind found at Debbie's crime scene. [31:27] Here's where things get even crazier to me. So they decide, okay, he must have killed Krista. [31:35] So they charge him with only Krista's murder. Hold up. I thought everyone said that Tina and Krista were... [31:43] definitely connected. Like, [31:46] When I say definitely, I mean forensically. Yeah. I mean, they had the same fibers and the same hairs. But to be clear, we still have someone in prison for Tina's murder. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do they happen to let him out once they arrest Buell? Actually, they do not. Here's how it played out. So Robert Buell is charged for Krista's murder in November of 83. Ernest then appeals his conviction again.

[32:16] Mm-hmm. [32:24] I shouldn't be in jail for killing Tina. It seems like a logical chain of thinking. It seems like they should let him out. [32:30] Except they don't. Oh, you're kidding me. The community had the same frustrated reaction. In fact, the backlash was so severe that the prosecution actually had to reconsider. Though it didn't mean that Ernest Wood is going to get out right away. Robert Buell went to trial, was found guilty and actually sentenced to death. Then in May of 1984, he was. [32:56] Ernest finally got his conviction overturned. So did they conclusively link... [33:02] Buell to Tina and Debbie as well. [33:05] Well, unofficially, [33:07] Yes. [33:08] But like everything in this case, it's just a little bit more complicated. [33:16] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. Thank you. [33:35] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [33:42] wherever you get your podcasts.

[33:46] According to a 1983 article from the Akron Beacon Journal, Buell's name also started getting brought up in other cases like Demita and Tiffany. And it was basically just kind of told to the families like, look, we got the guy. He's on death row. There's really no point going through more trials since he's going to die. This is just good enough. I mean, but is it? No. I mean, it left a lot of questions open for the family. [34:16] You think they're connected. [34:18] But again, the biggest question here is what if they are not? Then we need to be looking for more or different killers. [34:27] Throughout his entire imprisonment and through all of his appeals, Buell maintained his innocence. And he even got people to buy in, like lawyers and priests who just thought he was incapable of doing what he was charged of. In his final words before his execution in 2002, Robert said, Jerry and Shirley, I didn't kill your daughter. The prosecution knows that. And they left the real killer out there on the streets to kill again and again. [34:57] words left a lot of people to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he was telling the truth. Was there someone else? And for a long time, the author James Renner kind of believed that there was. [35:12] Like he said, listen, this dude is definitely a bad guy. But Renner pointed out in his book that at the time of the murders, Robert's nephew actually lived with him. And to Renner, it made way more sense that the nephew could have been responsible.

[35:27] Why? So there are really a whole host of reasons. For one, in Krista's murder, remember her friend Roy said that he saw a younger guy, like in his 20s, and Buell was much older in his 40s. Also, when Robert Buell got caught, it was for kidnapping and raping that woman who got free and ran to her neighbors. [35:57] weird coincidences. And I would encourage everyone to go get Renner's book if you really want to dive into this. But the biggest thing of all was the fact that the murders of young girls in Ohio still didn't stop after Buell was in prison, though there seemed to be a long lapse in time before the next case, which was in 1989, when Amy Mihaljevic went missing after school and was later [36:27] by numerous documentaries and books. We actually covered her case in depth in the most recent fan club episode. But it's worth noting that like Debbie, Amy also called home after she went missing, but before her family actually realized she was missing. And this might have been able to give the kidnapper more time. Like it's such a weird coincidence that we see in these two cases that we don't see in any of the others.

[36:57] was found in an open field and she had been undressed and then redressed by her killer. [37:04] Amy's case goes cold, and really, there's nothing like it again until December of 1995, when 13-year-old Barbara Barnes goes missing while walking to school. Okay, you have me like mom paranoid right now. My kids are never walking anywhere, like from the house to the car, nowhere, ever. I'm even carrying like my 12-year-old on my back. They're definitely not walking to school, though. [37:34] Again, not in all of the cases, but in so many of these, it seems these abductions happen either on the way to or from school. And I don't know, like statistically. [37:45] if that is a very like, [37:47] high time of crime when kids get abducted? Like how dangerous is it to be walking to school? I mean, for me, I look at it at a determined time. Like a kid goes to school at the same time and gets home from school at the same time, like almost every single day. It'd be super easy to establish a pattern of when they are or not going to be there. And even if someone's going to be home when they get home. That's true. I mean, you're thinking about a predator who, who probably is watching, who is like figuring it out. I mean, that, [38:15] That makes a lot of sense. Now, Barbara was found months later buried in a shallow grave near her uncle's property. And even though he failed a polygraph, Prinney Field reported that police could never link her uncle to the crime. And so it remained unsolved. After 1995, the rash of killings seemed to stop or at least slow. But most of the cases remain open and unsolved.

[38:45] closed or solved are still by many people considered not actually closed. And maybe even the wrong person is in prison. In 2008, Tina Harmon's family was kind of tired of hearing that good enough. Again, they had Beulah in prison. He was sentenced to death for Krista's murder. And the prosecution was like, yeah, you know, it's fine. You got justice. He doesn't need to be [39:15] Again, if it's not him, there was things to test now. She was one of the only victims that had actual DNA on her. If we can be 100 percent sure, why wouldn't be? So they demand to know once and for all if he was the one who killed anyone. [39:30] So DNA testing was completed. And by 2010, Indy Online confirmed that police had made a match between Robert Buell and Tina forensically. So his nephew didn't do it. [39:45] Well, his nephew's DNA was not on Tina. And it's a little bit difficult. And this is one of the things that Renner points out to in his book a lot is nothing from the nephew was ever tested, which seems kind of bizarre to me knowing that he wasn't. [40:00] lived with Robert during this time. None of his prints were tested, none of his DNA, nothing that belonged to him, like his car, his vehicles, whatever. So yes, the semen they compared from Tina's crime scene was definitely linked to Buell, but that doesn't tell us definitively that he didn't have an accomplice, that he didn't have help. I mean, I really...

[40:22] I have no idea. You know what I mean? We he was definitely a bad guy. He deserved to be in prison. If there was something else that could explain. [40:30] What happened after, you know, he went to prison and the killings kept going. [40:34] I don't know. Here's what I do know. There are 12 young girls who were killed in Ohio between 1980 and 1995. Ten of them were within just a three year time span and in very close proximity. And I actually made a map, Britt, to kind of give you a visual. Barbara is the only geographical outlier. [41:04] are the only two that happen much later than the others. But it's weird. I mean, when you look at it, [41:10] It's bizarre, right? Yeah, I mean, it's already... [41:13] kind of unbelievable that all this is happening in the same state in, like you said, a fairly concentrated amount of time. But the fact that you can narrow it down to these two distinct locations is kind of bizarre. And there's something else that I kept coming across that, again, I know they're not all linked, but maybe like group all of these together and ask these bigger questions because three of the cases took place in the month of June. [41:42] Two cases took place in July, two in September, four in October, and then just one in December. And that December one is Barbara's case, who also is an outlier in date and location. So if you take hers out, we have 11. Statistically, this is kind of bananas that 11 cases are happening in two tiny areas, and they only happen during four months of the year.

[42:10] What? [42:11] was happening in Ohio. Why those conversations? [42:15] months. Now, [42:17] Tina Harmon's case is the only one to date that has been confirmed by police to be closed using DNA evidence. And Dawn's case was closed through a confession where someone actually led them to her body so they know he's the guy. But the rest were really kind of left to wonder about. Did Buell or Maurer have more victims? Did Buell have an accomplice who helped him or carried out his work or continued? [42:47] men from Essenes' case continue their deviance beyond Upper Arlington. Maybe it's someone we haven't even talked about. [42:54] Again, I know all of these cases aren't connected, but I don't think it's crazy to think that some of them might be. And I don't think it's out of line to ask the question, what was happening in Ohio in the early 80s that allowed multiple monsters to prey on these girls and get away with murder? [43:13] I know there's at least one police department looking to answer that. I spoke with the Columbus police about Kelly Prosser's case, and they actually confirmed for me that they are actively working her case and exploring how new technology could potentially solve it. And for you podcast buffs, they're actually documenting their reinvestigation in podcast form. So if you want an even more in-depth dive into Kelly's case, go check out their podcast called The Fifth Floor.

[43:43] get answers to Kelly's case. And maybe that could lead us to answers in some of these other cases. Because each girl that we talked about, a senith, [43:52] Tiffany, Tammy, Joanne, Damita, Tina, Krista, Kelly, Dawn, Debbie, Barbara, and Amy, they all deserve true justice. [44:04] Again, if you want to hear more on Kelly's case, go check out the Fifth Floor podcast. And if you want to learn more about Amy's case, you can get a full bonus episode in our fan club. And if you just want to know more about this tangled web of missing and murdered young girls, [44:34] list of articles and books that we used including james renner's serial killer apprentice links for all of that will be on our website crimejunkiepodcast.com and be sure to follow us on instagram at crimejunkiepodcast we'll be back next week with a brand new episode [44:50] Music. [44:57] you [44:58] you [45:00] you [45:03] you [45:05] Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?

[45:13] Okay, Crime Junkies, you know, I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [45:32] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [45:36] I think you'll love it too. [45:37] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.