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We all want special attention from time to time, but would you fake your own kidnapping?

Would you spin a tale that puts you as a hero for possibly saving a half-dressed toddler from the busy I-459 Birmingham traffic in the dark of the night?

Would your tale include leaving your bright red luxury car still running on the side of the road with all your belongings still inside?

Well, this is only a small part of Ms. Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell did as a cry for attention or perhaps an attempt to get help for her mental health.

This self-made "Gone Girl" had even watched "Taken" a movie about kidnapping, internet searched the questions "how much does an Amber alert cost?" and "how much is a one way bus ticket?"

Hoover Police were there within five mintues after she called 9-1-1 call and said she saw a toddler toddling toward traffic. So the journey begins!

Carlee was gone and stayed that way for two days. 

When she finally emerged, she popped up from the woods right near her home. 

Her story of what happened was even wilder than her fake report of the imagined toddler and the details are still murky of how she spent those 49 hours.   

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Carlee Russell kidnap hoax: 911’d an invisible toddler." 

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“I was addicted to speed,” 18-year-old Chase Jones told the Judge at his sentencing. He pled guilty to Four counts of vehicular homicide for the deaths of 38-year-old Andrea S. Hudson, 12-year-old Boyd "Buster" Brown, 13-year-old Matilda Wilcoxson, and 12-year-old Eloise Wilcoxson.

Jones was also charged with Two counts of vehicular assault for the injuries to Hudson’s children, Nolan and Charlotte. 

The crash happened in a community outside Seattle. Police say Jones was weaving in and out of traffic and reached speeds of up 112 mph when ran a red light and collided with Andrea Hudson's minivan, killing her and three children, and injuring two other children.

 For his crimes, a judge sentenced Chase Jones to 17 and a half years. 

The families shared the heartbreak and grief they will experience the rest of their lives, at his sentencing. Birthdays, weddings, graduations, and other moments of joy and happiness they will never have changed their lives forever.

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Teen Chase Jones Addicted to Speed Kills Four."

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Pace Pharmacy is the target of a multi-agency bust that accuses the pharmacist-in-charge of running his business like a traveling medicine show in the Wild West: Step right up and order your own customized version of a bottle of Dr. Feelgood from the head man in charge!

Pharmacist Stephen Burklow’s arrest report paints a picture of a man accused of slinging drugs just for the buck and not for your health. 

People were traveling from thirty and forty miles away to buy drugs from Burklow, and he was making cash as fast as his business was making and selling pills, according to police and interviews with past employees and confidential informants. 

Detectives say he took cash any way he could, at the pharmacy drive-thru, at the back door, hidden in the office generator, from special delivery drivers who passed cash from customers who paid from the comfort of their own home, as well as a good-old fashioned, slipping-you-the-cash handshake. 

Most people trust their local pharmacist to do the right thing and put a patient’s health first. 

In this case, investigators say he ran a highly organized pill-making and distribution operation that operated more like an auto assembly line instead of a pharmacy.

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Pace Pharmacy: Accused of compounding a pill mill.”

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As a pioneer of Robotic Surgery, brilliant and likeable Dr. Ingolf Harry Tuerk was used to things going his way. 

Tall, smart, good looking, and buff he was living his best life!  

Perhaps his great life could be even better when he decided to check out a dating app. That’s where he met the beautiful and fun, 45-year-old single mom of three, Kathleen McLean.

 After a few years of dating, a wedding at a tacky Drive Thru Chapel in Las Vegas, a prenup, a few spirited arguments over infidelity, and even some good vacays and family nights their tumultuous relationship came to a head.

Dr. Ingolf Tuerk found himself charged with Murder! 

Things got ugly and physical during a fight that went too far and good sense was blurred by alcohol and jealousy. 

The former Olympian Dr. Tuerk admits he "snapped" and made some “bad moves” 

What he does next is incredulous and savage, especially at the hands of one who promised to “First Do No Harm." 

Join us for the heartbreaking story of "Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, renowned robotics surgeon, snapped and choked his wife." 

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Alexa Bartell was simply driving home from work late one Wednesday night. Something almost everybody does every day. 

She was especially happy that evening on April 19, 2023. The 20-year-old woman loved her family, she loved her job at a flooring company where she worked with her mom, and she loved her new girlfriend who she was going to see that night. 

Life was going great – until three teenagers in another car hurled a heavy rock at her windshield that hit with the force of a cannon.

We’ve all had a piece of gravel ding our windshield, but a 9-pound landscaping rock, thrown at 104 mph into oncoming traffic hit Alexa with enough force to cause her skull to explode. 

All because these young men were bored and wanted to entertain themselves. They were so excited when her car ran off the road they drove back and took a selfie with the vehicle, never once checking on the woman inside they had killed. 

Afterall, this was the latest car in a series of rock throwing incidents, as many as 19, they are suspected to have caused and hurt several other people.

While everyone agreed the teens were to blame, there were different stories about who threw the rock that killed Alexa, until two of the young men, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik, agreed in a plea deal that it was Joseph Koenig.

The left-handed driver had shot-put the rock straight at Alexa’s windshield as they drove past, killing her instantly.

Find out what the jury thought about these adrenaline junkies in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Rock throwing Joseph Koenig and gang punished for high-speed murder of Alexa Bartell.”

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An All-American young man was enjoying the best time of his life in college when he was arrested for the murder of Kent Heitholt, a popular sports editor in their hometown of Columbia, Missouri. 

The tall and strapping Heitholt was found beaten and strangled in the newspaper parking lot after getting off late from work on Halloween night 2001. 

The case went cold quickly, and police had no leads until Charles ‘Chuck’ Erickson said he had a dream after reading an article revisiting the unsolved murder. 

Chuck said he dreamed that he and his friend Ryan Ferguson may have killed the reporter after partying that night in the same area where Heitholt was killed. 

Chuck said he was so high on drugs the night of the murder, including cocaine, Adderall, and alcohol, he wasn’t sure they killed Heithold, but in his drug-addled mind he speculated that he and Ferguson could have been the two shadowy figures witnesses saw at the scene. 

The hazy, disjointed, and incomplete account didn’t stop Chuck from confessing or dragging Ryan into the investigation. 

And it didn’t stop police and the prosecution from building a case on a string of mistakes, lies, and manipulation that ended up sending both young men to prison. 

Chuck Erickson cut a deal for 25 years in prison and he testified that Ryan was the main killer, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison. 

But Ryan Ferguson and his dad never gave up hope that he would be freed and eventually his father’s relentless pursuit of the truth paid off and his son was exonerated. 

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Chuck Erickson’s dream becomes Ryan Ferguson’s nightmare!”

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Is your mouth a murder weapon? Can a bully cry self-defense? And what's up with Kanye West and Nitrous Oxide?

We're talking about three cases in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential.

The first is Penelope McGee. If someone is arguing with you, is it your responsibility to make sure they don't die?

Socialite Penelope McGee was arguing with her ex-husband, Andrew Savitz, when he died of a heart attack. 

The prosecution claimed she was the aggressor who knew his heart was weak. She said she was defending herself from him.

When a couple is having a heated argument, it's more common for people to end up in jail than the morgue. Weigh in on this he said/she said case...

And, at a Tampa dog park, a former U.S. Marine and martial arts expert wanted his bark to be as big as his bite, but he needed a gun to do it.

Gerald Radford was charged with second degree murder with an enhancement for hate crime for shooting and killing Walt Lay, a gay man.

The two often ran into each other because they regularly brought their pets to the same Tampa dog park. 

Witnesses say Radford often picked on Walt about being gay and one day Radford brought a gun to what should have been a fist fight and the unarmed Walt was killed.

In this Florida man story, Radford claimed he shot in self-defense and argued he was standing his ground when he killed him. More on his trial!

And, it's nothing new for celebrity Kanye West to make headlines, but lately it has taken a strange turn that is no laughing matter.

Kanye's ex chief of staff says the musician's dentist fed his addiction for Nitrous Oxide and even tried to get the star to support his own brand of Whippets, the slang term for using the gas for non-medical use. 

Kanye's staff said he had been acting "weird," but how would one know? 

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Three-Fer: Penelope McGee, Gerald Radford, and Kanye West.”

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Dr. David Diffine made himself famous on Instagram as “Naked Dr. Dave.” Now many more agencies are on to him since he sauntered naked through his Arkansas doctor’s office. 

He did don a ball cap, but that’s all he had on when he walked into the reception area and exposed himself to several women who worked with him, including one who was also a patient. 

Office surveillance video of Dr. Diffine casually strolling through his office and performing a sex act in front of and onto staff was sent to the Arkansas Board of Medicine, last summer, along with a complaint that he used pay raises and his position as a doctor to groom patients and employees into sexual acts.

Perhaps new signs are being printed right now that say no shirt, no shoes, no PANTS, no service.  

Diffine denies the accusations and says he is a Naturist, but the Arkansas Board of Medicine issued an emergency suspension of his license, and he is facing civil litigation.

Watch with care and maybe some anti-nausea medication when you join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Arkansas Dr. David Diffine: The Naked Truth…and we really mean Naked!”

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Lawd hammercy, if you like drama, trauma, and incredulous cases, don’t look any further than Florida!

From one end of the Gulf Coast to another, we’re swimming in sass, sorrow, and the worst kind of decision making.  

In Wauchula, Tracy Nix learned she would be spending years in prison for forgetting her 9-month-old granddaughter and leaving her to die in a hot car. 

Tracy took the stand for the first time in her emotional sentencing hearing, but her daughter was perhaps the most heartbreaking, demanding justice from her own mother for the deaths of two of her children, less than a year apart. Rest in Peace Ezra and Uriel. 

Over in Punta Gordon, a young fisherman was minding his own business on his boat under a bridge, when Brock Horner, the self-proclaimed “best charter captain you will ever meet in your ‘m-f’ing’ life,” decided to showboat for his buddies and pick a fight with 22-year-old Gage Towles who was by himself.

Towles recorded Horner’s angry, curse-filled tirade as Horner falsely accused him of a near collision and boarded the young man’s boat, grabbing his shirt and demanding an apology. 

Now, Horner is the person apologizing as his career and character are getting picked apart on social media.    

Even though every picture on Towles’ social media is a picture of him holding a fish, he is reportedly taking a break from his favorite pastime. 

Throughout the entire encounter, the level-headed Towles proves to be the most mature and maybe we could all learn a little something from him that cooler heads prevail.  

If the excessive use of “bro” or words that begin with “F” or “M F” offend, you listen with care.

The lives of the families in both of these cases will never be the same. Just us for an update on them in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast!

Everybody’s got an opinion and we’d love to hear yours! Leave us a question or a comment!

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Tracy Nix was enjoying her retirement years…until two of her young grandchildren died on her watch. 

Up until the back-to-the-back tragedies she had no time clock, no boss, no worries and the freedom to pursue her hobbies and passions, like playing the piano. 

In fact, she was practicing piano for several hours when she forgot that her 7-month-old granddaughter was strapped into a car seat in the back of her 2019 red Lexus on a 90-degree day in Florida. 

Sadly, Baby Uriel died and horrifically this was the first time that a child under 18 months died in her care.

Less than a year earlier, 16-month-old Ezra, Uriel’s brother, drowned in a duck pond while he was staying with his Tracy and his granddad.  

A time of your life that should normally be joyful, delightful, and fun with family and friends has turned into the very worst years of Tracy and her entire family’s lives and they’ll never be the same. 

No charges were pressed against Tracy for Ezra’s death, but she was charged with aggravated manslaughter for Uriel’s death. 

Was she forgetful, medicated, or just plain evil? 

Join us for more on the heartbreaking trial in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Forgetful Grandma Tracy Nix: Hot car baby death,” and be sure to watch or listen until the end where there’s another, unexpected plot twist.   

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