Buried Bylines

We're back with a very special guest! This week our friend and former colleague, Angela Brauer joins us to talk about the 2019 disappearance of 8-month-old Amiah Robertson in Indianapolis. This was a case the three of us continuously covered during our time in the newsroom. Despite having evidence, a timeline, and eyewitness accounts, investigators have yet to locate the baby girl's body. Meanwhile, Amiah's mother and her ex-boyfriend are awaiting trial in her presumed death.

SOURCES:

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/mother-of-missing-baby-amiah-robertson-arrested-for-neglect-dependent/531-1d412182-25f7-4ecd-ba8a-8e1450efd9b9

https://www.facebook.com/justiceforamiah/

https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/bail-reduced-for-mother-of-baby-amiah-robertson

https://www.the-sun.com/news/6223606/8-month-old-vanished-three-years-ago-update/

https://people.com/crime/amiah-robertson-case-mother-arrested-ex-boyfriend-co-defendant/

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2022/09/12/indianapolis-mother-boyfriend-indicted-in-death-of-8-month-old-baby-amiah-robertson/69486501007/

Fresh off her first college spring break in 1992, Amanda Davies was excited to develop photos from her trip. As soon as she returned to her Michigan home, she headed right back out the door to show off her pictures to some friends, but this time she never came home. Two weeks later, Amanda’s body was found brutally murdered and dumped under a highway overpass. In the year that followed, her family, friends and community endured a chilling murder investigation and trial that left an unforgettable mark on the case which is still unsolved to this day.

SOURCES:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204113295/?match=1&terms=amanda%20davies

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204051164/?match=1&terms=amanda%20davies 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/366414747/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204057080/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204057100/?terms=amanda%20davies

https://www.newspapers.com/image/99606836/?terms=amanda%20davies 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204086323/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204086326/?terms=amanda%20davies

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204086604/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/205058329/?terms=amanda%20davies 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204952436/?match=1&terms=amanda%20davies

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204940874/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204948168/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204857975/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204844783/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204848347/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204857672/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204847790/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204864611/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204867157/?terms=amanda%20davies

https://www.newspapers.com/image/205355484/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204846468/?terms=amanda%20davies&match=1 

https://bitterendingspod.libsyn.com/episode-34-the-murder-of-amanda-davies

For 45 years, two murder victims in rural South Carolina were left unidentified. Police and the public were only able to refer to them as Jock and Jane Doe, making it nearly impossible to solve their crime. In 2021, thanks to advancements in DNA testing, the duo were finally given their names back. However, the 1976 murders of Pamela Buckley and James Freund are still unsolved today. No one even knows how the duo knew each other and ended up hundreds of miles away from their respective hometowns.

SOURCES:

https://www.theitem.com/stories/names-of-sumter-countys-1976-john-jane-doe-murder-mystery-released,357953

https://amp.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article248671040.html

https://torontosun.com/news/world/south-carolina-cops-solve-mystery-of-unidentified-jock-and-jane-doe/wcm/f81c5fce-512c-456d-ae22-8baf1a0e60e7/amp/

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Sumter_County_Does

https://wpde.com/amp/news/local/the-lives-of-pamela-buckley-and-james-freund-sumter-countys-1976-jane-and-john-doe

https://medium.com/@csvoll/after-more-than-40-years-the-sumter-county-duo-get-their-identities-5584f9da0359

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Pamela_Buckley_and_James_Freund

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/198umsc.html

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/189ufsc.html

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/deputies-identify-gunshot-victims-in-1976-south-carolina-cold-case/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9174351/Bodies-shot-death-SC-identified-44-years.html

Imagine being in middle school and finding out that someone in your neighborhood was found dead in their car. Not only that, but they were DECAPITATED. It would probably give you nightmares for the rest of your childhood, right? Well, it actually happened to Mallory, and it may be the very catalyst for her true crime obsession. This week, we're unraveling the 2005 cold case murder of Phuong Tran in Holt, Michigan.

SOURCES:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537056/posts

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545311/posts

https://www.newspapers.com/image/210487691/?terms=Phuong%20Thanh%20Tran&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/205067461/?terms=Phuong%20Thanh%20Tran&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/211127603/?terms=Phuong%20Thanh%20Tran&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/210488100/?terms=Phuong%20Thanh%20Tran&match=1

https://www.scribd.com/doc/129605210/Phuong-Thanh-Tran-homicide-vicitm-incident-report

It's our first cult case, but we promise it won't be our last! This week Megan takes a terrifying deep dive into a Canadian doomsday cult. Its members were forced to do things like break their own legs with hammers, all because they believed they would be saved from the end of the world. This stuff is bananas, even for the '70s, and it went on for more than a decade. How in the world did this sinister cult case not blow up?!

SOURCES:

https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/murder/roch-theriault-the-horrifying-savagery-home-surgery-of-canadas-most-violent-cult-leader

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/chilling-insight-doomsday-cult-members-13995059

https://www.toronto.com/news/crime/behind-the-crimes-murder-mutilation-abuse-part-of-life-at-ant-hill-kids-commune/article_70440d6e-a838-5b34-856d-b696402a10c9.html?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8431246/doomsday-cult-members-forced-break-legs-sledgehammers-sexually-abused-kids/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roch_Th%C3%A9riault

Book Scene: How do cults form? Who joins and why?

Guys, we have a guest!! For our fifth episode we are joined by Pat Enright, who spent more than two decades in the news industry working in the Dayton, Ohio market. We asked Pat to pick the case that stood out to him the most over his 23-year career. After researching the murder of Samantha Ritchie, we can understand why it made such an impact. The 4-year-old girl was initially reported missing in the summer of 1995. Following days of dedicated search parties, the young girl was found brutally beaten to death and buried in a shallow grave filled with water. It didn't take long for police to pin the horrifying crime on Samantha's mother. Mallory walks us through the case, trial and disturbing motive as Pat weighs in on covering the case from a newsroom perspective.

SOURCES:

http://michaeljesse.net/projects/Dayton/factfiles/backgrounders/samantha/samantha.html?fbclid=IwAR09pXQN7CKa0IP42nfyd7ZAOVuuK_cFUNLIzr_5P_1zFmW6YBm8pKtiQUg

https://apnews.com/article/6fd365508c3c696f5708b325025fb612

https://www.whio.com/news/breaking-news/convicted-child-killer-for-parole/XKYxPO34Tv8ezjYPEjXLhL/

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/breaking-news/convicted-child-killer-for-parole/XKYxPO34Tv8ezjYPEjXLhL/

https://appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch/Search/Details/W038096

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-had-happened-was-a-podcast-for-dayton/id1341048301?i=1000424002143 

https://murderpedia.org/female.R/r/ritchie-therressa.htm

https://youtu.be/QwuLf9d-wes

Episode four is a hometown case for Megan with a unique personal tie. The Speedway bombings were a series of eight random bombings that occurred over the span on six days in September of 1978. The bombs were placed in trash bins, parking lots and even under a police car. 27-year-old Brett Kimberlin was arrested and convicted for the bombings, but the investigation into the political activist only led to further speculation for police. After hearing this story, you'll wonder how this case was not all over national news. As we explain there were two separate crime stories that stole the spotlight in the fall of 1978.

SOURCES:

https://www.wrtv.com/lifestyle/history/40-years-ago-bombings-rock-town-of-speedway-indiana

https://wibc.com/73711/the-speedway-bombings-fear-forty-years-ago/

Stoner, Andrew (2011). Wicked Indianapolis. The History Press. ISBN 1-60949-205-6.

"StarFiles: The Speedway Bombings, Part 2". IndyStar. October 6, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2012.

Gelarden, R Joseph (October 18, 1981). "Kimberlin Case a Maze of Murder, Deceit" (PDF). Indianopolis Star. pp. 1, 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2012.

https://www.politico.com/story/2012/06/conservative-bloggers-targets-of-swat-ing-077292

In our third episode Mallory covers the disappearance of Najah Ferrell, a mother of five who vanished on her way to work. A month after she went missing, fisherman found Najah’s severed foot in a pond more than 100 miles away. Despite a huge break in the investigation, there has never been an arrest or even a person of interest in Najah’s case. Where is she? What happened to her? And how did her case not blow up?

SOURCES:

https://people.com/crime/najah-ferrell-giving-indiana-mom-missing-more-than-2-weeks/

https://www.wishtv.com/news/avon-woman-still-missing-investigators-urge-anyone-with-information-to-come-forward/

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/case-of-murdered-avon-mother-to-be-featured-on-still-a-mystery-show/531-b5fd49f8-6a27-4389-855a-f729032c17de

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2019/03/28/indianapolis-crime-avon-mother-missing-since-march-15/3301164002/

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/missing-in-america/indiana-mother-najah-ferrell-still-missing-after-disappearing-first-day-n987236

https://fox59.com/news/podcast-brings-attention-to-najah-ferrell-case/

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2019/04/10/crown-point-remains-what-we-know-missing-avon-mom-najah-ferrell/3421272002/

https://fox59.com/news/police-confirm-remains-found-in-northwestern-indiana-pond-belonged-to-missing-avon-mother-najah-ferrell/

https://fox59.com/news/remains-found-in-northwestern-indiana-pond-preliminarily-identified-as-missing-avon-woman-najah-ferrell/ 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/indiana-mom-najah-ferrell-vanished-weeks-ago-police/story?id=62072886

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/foot-found-in-lake-linked-to-missing-indiana-mom-najah-ferrell

https://abc7chicago.com/missing-woman-indianapolis-crown-point-foot-found/5281159/

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2019/05/21/najah-ferrell-search-continues-indianapolis-pond/3750768002/

https://cbs4indy.com/news/indycrime/missing-avon-womans-family-still-pushing-for-answers-3-years-later/

https://www.areavibes.com/indianapolis-in/crime/

For our second episode we decided to trade-off on the story telling of cases. Megan examines a disappearance that took over timelines in the summer of 2021. Gabby Petito's case is something we covered extensively in our own newsroom. Why did Gabby's disappearance go global? Together, Megan and Mallory discuss the viral murder investigation while diving into TikTok theories. At the same time, Megan walks through the disappearance and murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, an indigenous woman from North Dakota whose case only seemed to gain traction after her lifeless body was found in the Red River.

SOURCES:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/09/23/gabby-petito-media-coverage-missing-white-black/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/us/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-letter-burn-after-reading/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/article/gabrielle-gabby-petito-missing-timeline.html

https://www.wfla.com/what-happened-to-gabby-petito/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/gabby-petito-timeline-brian-laundrie-b1942190.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/01/savanna-act-native-women-missing-murdered

⁠Gabby Petito: The Untold Story | Full Episode⁠

⁠https://gabbypetitofoundation.org/⁠

In the first episode of "Buried Bylines," Mallory and Megan are breaking down two of the biggest cases they covered while working in Indianapolis as local news producers. Mallory walks us through the complex timeline and evidence in the murders of two teenaged girls in Delphi, Indiana. Megan then takes a deep dive into the Flora arson case, a tragic house fire ending the lives of four young girls just three months before the Delphi murders. Each of these tragic incidents happened in the same county and were handled by the same police force. One of the cases continues to dominate headlines, while the other has seemingly been buried. Together, Mallory and Megan examine the disparities in these cases and consequently the news coverage that followed.

CORRECTION: The trial against Richard M. Allen will still be held in Carroll County. However, the jury will be brought in from Allen County, Indiana.

SOURCES: