Dark Deeds

In May of 2021, a police officer's (Bruno Portillo) wife (Reyna Gonzalez-Amador) set out to go on a shopping trip in Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico with an elderly man (Andres Mendoza) who had become a friend of the family. He was also somewhat of a charity case for the couple and their children, as he seemed dirty, poor, and down on his luck. They often invited him to their home for meals, and so he was not so lonely. Since he seemed as though he meant them no harm, Reyna wanted his help shopping for supplies for her cell phone business on May 14, 2021. When she had not returned that night, Bruno knew exactly where to turn his attention, Andres. Bruno reported his wife missing, but with barely any help from police at first due to their lack of funding, etc., he took it upon himself to obtain the police street surveillance footage of the street where Andres lived. Reyna was seen entering Andres house, but never exiting with him to go shopping. This is when Bruno knew he had to take officers there to do a search for his wife. After Reyna had been missing for four days, a search was finally able to be conducted, and what Bruno found was horrifying. What was found after this discovery was also never expected and launched and investigation into one of Mexico's most prolific serial killers whose reign of terror has lasted decades. 

Sources:

Infobae (2022, March). 

NewsWeek (2022, March).

AP News (2021, June).

The Sun News (2021, June). 

Washington Post (2021, June). 

Atlanta Journal Constitution (2021, June). 

Cynthia "Cindy" Louise Vanderbeek and her husband, Stephen Alfred Vanderbeek were travelling vendors that travelled to boat shows during the 1990s, selling boat cleaning supplies and other items. Cindy gave up her whole life to be with a man she thought was absolutely perfect. In March of 1995, Cindy was to attend the christening of her newborn nephew as she was the godmother, but when she doesn't show up, and Stephen shows up on her family's doorstep alone, they begin to worry. Stephen tells them a story about how she was offered a quick job in Wisconsin and she would be late arriving to Maryland. He then changes his story, saying she will meet him in Florida, withdraws all of their savings from the bank, asks Cindy's mother, Camille, for the money she had been saving for them, and makes his way back home. Her family struggles to report her missing as no department will take her case when finally, the police department in Montgomery county, Maryland takes it on. Detective Robert Nichols doesn't give up or lose hope and investigates this case for ten years before finally solving the mystery of what happened to Cindy Vanderbeek.

Sources:

Snyder, David. (2005, June 21). Montgomery Detective Solves 1995 Disappearance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2005/06/21/montgomery-detective-solves-1995-disappearance/23acabe6-fcdf-4048-8b7c-bd226c147762/

Soundings Editors. (2005, September 26). Husband charged in Vanderbeek murder. https://www.soundingsonline.com/news/husband-charged-in-vanderbeek-murder

Belisle, Richard. (2005, June 21). Man charged with murder in strangling death of wife. Doe Network media. http://www.doenetwork.org/media/news81.html

Porchlight International for the Missing and Unidentified. (2006, June 19.) Vanderbeek Sentenced for Killing Wife. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/usedtobedoe/vanderbeek-sentenced-for-killing-wife-t1926.html

Anatomy of Murder. Sail Away Part 1. https://anatomyofmurder.com/sail-away-part-one/

Anatomy of Murder. Sail Away Part 2. https://anatomyofmurder.com/sail-away-part-2/

Media in this episode:

NPR News. (2008, January 28). FBI Unravels the Stories Skulls Tell. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/18481926

This case had relatively widespread social media coverage by those believing it was a sad suicide story, but the truth has come out.

First responders responded to the 9-1-1 call about 11 minutes later, to find that Lisa claimed she had only briefly tried to get Brinley down from the lead but became sweaty due to her anxiety. The children passed away 3 days later on September 26, 2019. A large police investigation ensued, as this case was shady from the beginning, and on December 2, 2019, Lisa Snyder was finally arrested. She remains in prison while awaiting sentencing to see if she will receive the death penalty. There was no evidence suggesting Conner had ever been bullied.

Sources:

Egan, Leigh. (2019, December 3). Full affidavit of mother accused of hanging her children in basement, having sex with family dog. https://www.crimeonline.com/2019/12/03/read-full-affidavit-of-mother-accused-of-hanging-her-children-in-basement-having-sex-with-family-dog/

Audio:

CrimeOnline-9-1-1 Dispatch: https://soundcloud.com/user-815495581/berks-county-children-911-call

Press Conference 6ABC Philadelphia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btWRIY4hKfg

On August 10, 2019, Scott Whitman returned to his Crawford County, Pennsylvania home sometime after 10 P.M. from his shift as a CNA at a local retirement home to see his wife and son. When he arrived, he noticed the home was dark and his wife's silver Lincoln MKS was missing from the driveway. Where would his wife and their 10-year-old son go at such a late hour, he thought. Upon entering the home, expecting to find a note from Shannon telling him where they had gone, as Darrin was borrowing his phone to view YouTube videos, he instead found the bodies of his wife and son on the sun room floor, both had been shot in the head. The murderer had been the one to steal the Lincoln, as well. Scott's son, Jack Elijah Turner became the main suspect, especially since he was on the run and had been seen with his deceased step-mother's stolen Lincoln on video surveillance as he robbed a Kwik Fill gas station in Mill Creek. A four day manhunt ensued until Jack missed a Greyhound bus in Charleston, West Virginia that was to take him back to Erie, Pennsylvania.

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08usf_3ghJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgx1b7Vip8Q

On December 14, 1995, 17-year-old Krystal Beslanowitch set off on foot to go to a convenience store in Salt Lake City, Utah at 8:45 PM, but never returned to the motel her and her boyfriend, Chris were living in. Chris walked to the convenience store to search for Krystal, but the employees say they never saw her there. Two days later, the nude, battered body of a teenage female was found on the bank of the Provo River. She had been beaten to death with granite rocks. Her boyfriend phoned the police after seeing drawings of the Jane Doe's tattoos on the news to tell them he believes the body was that of his girlfriend, Tracy Beslanowitch. It was later determined that Krystal had been using the identity of her step-sister, Tracy, and that the Jane Doe was in fact Krystal.

18 years later, the murder was solved using new technology known as the M-Vac when police were able to take DNA from the rocks at the crime scene used to kill Krystal.

Sources:

Savage, Laiken. (2020, February 1). Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://laikansavage.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/solved-sundayss-krystal-beslanowitch/

Fretwell, Courtney J. (2020, February 9). The Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://forensictales.com/the-murder-of-krystal-beslanowitch/

Miller, Jessica. (2016, September 30). Utah jury sentences man to life without parole for killing teen in 1995. Retrieved from: https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4416500&itype=CMSID. Salt Lake Tribune.

Kennedy, Gene. (2019, September 19). DNA match leads to arrest in cold case homicide from 1995. Retrieved from: https://fox13now.com/2013/09/19/arrest-made-in-cold-case-homicide-from-1995/ Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

Curry-Reyes, Traciy. (2019, April 20). Krystal Beslanowitch, Joseph Michael Simpson: Watch ‘Murder Decoded Murder On The Rocks’, Profiling Utah Cold Case. Retrieved from: https://tvcrimesky.com/2019/04/20/krystal-beslanowitch-joseph-simpson-murder-decoded-murder-on-the-rocks-of-teen-investigation-discovery-teen-tracry-beslanowitch/1535

Audio:

M-Vac Systems. (2016, December 18). M-Vac System Case Study-Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch Cold Case Homicide. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXJFBHcMzE