Hell and Gone: Murder Line

In the early morning hours of n July 30 1977, Charles Boatwright was hanging out with his cousin Ronnie Lewis at the home of another cousin of theirs Loy Harriman in Wesley, Arkansas. 

According to police statements, the three cousins stayed up all night, and early in the morning, they decided to go fishing in an area called War Eagle. 

At around 5 AM they piled into Charles’ truck and started driving. But they needed some food, so en route, they decided to stop at the store to buy some hot dogs to roast during their fishing trip. 

The Frederick's Grocery and Service Station located at the intersection of Highway 68 and 23 in the northwest portion of Huntsville, Arkansas. In a small town, it’s a popular destination to get early morning gas or late night snacks, and back in 1977,  it was open 24 hours a day. 

As Charles, Loy and Ronnie pulled up to the store, two women pulled up right behind them. All five of them entered the store. At first, they didn't see anyone inside. 

But then, Loy said “it looks like someone is hurt up there." At that point, Charles said that he walked up to the left side of the register and saw a man’s feet sticking out. 

The man was 20-year-old University of Arkansas Student Rex Terrell, who worked the overnight shift at Frederick’s. He was lying in a pool of blood and gasping for breath. It looked like he had been shot multiple times.  

One of the women tried to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation, but it was too late. He died there, on the floor of the gas station, in a pool of his own blood. Nothing from the store had been taken. 

The whole community wanted to know, who would want to shoot a likable, kind and hard-working young man with seemingly no enemies, and leave him there to die in a pool of his own blood? 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was around 7 pm on August 13, 1981, and 36-year-old Carol Morgan was working the till at her corner shop in a town called Leighton Buzzard in the county of Bedfordshire, England. 

This was a close knit community. Carol owned and ran the shop with her husband, Allen Morgan. Everyone in town knew and loved Carol, who was described by friends and family as warm, caring, genuine and friendly. Carol loved the shop, and the other lights of her life were her two children from a previous marriage.

On that night, Carol was working at the shop alone, getting ready for closing, which was at 6pm.  Her husband was at the movie theater in Luton with his two stepchildren. But at some point, someone surprised Carol. 

Allen and the children got home at around 10:10 pm. 

Shortly after arriving at the house, Allen raced to a neighbor’s house and asked him to come to the shop. The neighbor followed Allen into the storeroom and saw Carol in a pool of blood. 

Forensic testing revealed that Carol had been brutally beaten and stabbed with a weapon, something like an axe or a machete, something heavy but very sharp. She had been hit so hard that pieces of her skull and brain matter were on the floor. 

The police investigation would last 43 years and would take a lot of strange twists and turns to find out: Who came into that store and hacked Carole to death?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday, December 11, 2023 22-year-old Lauren Johansen and her boyfriend, Bricen Rivers, were on vacation in Nashville and out at a bar. 

Bricen and Lauren had known each other for years. They had dated on and off since high school and on the surface, seemed happy. But behind the scenes, the relationship was violent. Lauren’s father later told police that Bricen was physically abusive to his daughter, and that he had stalked Lauren for years.  

On December 11, things took a horrific turn. Lauren and Bricen were hanging out at a bar when Bricen flew into a jealous rage and accused Lauren of having sex with a bartender. The fight continued after they left the bar. Hours later, police came to the scene and found Lauren screaming in a parking lot. She had been hit dozens of times, brutally beaten. The inside of the car was covered in blood. 

They arrested Bricen and he was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated stalking, and coercion of a witness. He was taken to jail, and a judge set his bail at $250,000. It seemed like Lauren and Bricen’s violent relationship was finally at an end. But tragically, that was not the case. 

Bricen’s lawyer asked for a reduced bond, and in March, the judge agreed to lower it. So on June 24, 2024 Bricen was released from Davidson County Jail. Eight days later, Lauren Johansen was found dead in the trunk of her car.

If you have a case you’d like me and my team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. That’s 678-744-6145.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On June 27, 2000, Magi Bish drove her 16-year-old daughter, Molly Bish, to her summer lifeguarding job at Comins Pond in Warren, Massachusetts. Molly, the youngest in a close-knit family with her parents Magi and John, sister Heather, and brother John Jr., had started her new job eight days prior. 

A bright, athletic, and social teen, Molly had just been to her first prom, was on the honor roll, and played multiple sports. Her parents had relocated to Warren from Detroit, believing it was a safe place to raise a family.

The day before Molly vanished, Magi noticed a mustached man in a white sedan staring at Molly in the pond's parking lot. Though he didn’t act overtly threatening, Magi felt uneasy enough to wait until he left. On June 27, she didn’t see him and felt reassured. As Molly got out of the car, she said to he mom, “I love you, Mom.” And that was the last time Magi ever saw her daughter alive.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early morning hours of July 4, 2002, 4-year-old Dannarriah Finley was sleeping in her bedroom in her home in Orange, Texas. 

Orange is the easternmost city in Texas, and it’s right across the border from Louisiana on the Sabine River. It feels like a small town. The population was only about 19,000. 

Dannarriah lived with her mother, 26-year-old Jaime Arnold, and her two sisters. For the July 4th celebrations, three of their young cousins were staying over with them. 

Jaime came home from work that night and put the kids to bed at around 1:30 am. She told police that she checked on the kids at around 3 or 4 am. 

Everything seemed fine, so she went to sleep. She woke up the next morning at around 10 am. Dannarriah’s sisters and cousins were playing at home, but Dannarriah….was gone.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Friday, December 12, 1980 at approximately 6:45 in the morning, the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Department got a call about a female body lying on the side of Highway 181, just south of Highway 158. The woman was dressed in a striped red colored dress and velveteen jacket and was five foot five. She weighed around 115 pounds. 

It wasn’t hard to figure out the cause of death. Barbara had massive holes blown into her body by a shotgun. The shots were so violent that pieces of her hair and skull were found 20 feet away. 

And...there were suspicions that a police officer may have been involved.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 18, 1987 29-year-old Russell Dardeen, who went by his middle name Keith, did not show up to his 7 a.m. shift at a local water plant.  

This was very unlike Keith, who lived in a mobile home in the tiny town of Ina, Illinois. The area back then had a population of just 460. He lived with his family: his wife 30-year-old Ruby Elaine, who also went by her middle name, and their 3-year-old son, Peter. 

Elaine was seven months pregnant. They were excited about the new baby, due January 11, and already had potential names picked out: If the baby was a girl they were going to name her Casey, if it was a boy, he would be Ian. 

Keith’s shift supervisor went to the mobile home and knocked on the door, but no one answered. So then he called Keith’s parents, Russell and Joanne Dardeen. Neither of them had heard from Keith or anyone else in the family. 

Both Russell and Joanne spoke with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office, and they agreed to do a welfare check.

An officer knocked on the front door. No answer. So they went around to the back. The door was unlocked. When police entered the trailer, they found three dead bodies in the main bedroom in the same bed. 

There was blood everywhere.The victims had been beaten to death. It was Elaine and her son Peter, and police later said that during the prolonged attack the killer beat Elaine so severely that she went into labor and gave birth to her daughter, and then the killer, or killers, beat the baby to death. 

Then they neatly wrapped Elaine, her baby and Peter in the bedding and tucked them into their waterbed. And Keith was nowhere to be found. 

Even now, 38 years later, people in Ina, Illinois and law enforcement who worked this case describe it as the most horrific murder that anyone has ever seen.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 17, 2013, 20-year-old Heather Elvis headed out on a first date in Carolina Forest, South Carolina, west of Myrtle Beach in Horry County. 

Heather grew up in this area, which is known for its beautiful beaches. Her parents and her younger sister described her as a kind fun-loving young woman who had dreams of working in cosmetology.

After graduating from high school in 2011, Heather was making her dreams happen. She was working two jobs. She was a hostess at the Tilted Kilt in Myrtle Beach and at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach. She was  also studying cosmetology. She had moved into an apartment in Carolina Forest with a friend of hers named Brianna. Even though the population was just over 23,000, their apartment was located in a huge, busy subdivision. 

But Heather's life had taken a pretty dark turn over the past few months. She had gotten into a relationship with a man much older than her, and it had been dramatic.

She was starting to date again, and her friends and family said that she seemed more like herself. It seemed like life was finally getting back to normal. 

But something happened after Heather got home that night. She got a call, and then, she changed into her favorite outfit, and she went out, driving her green Dodge Intrepid. After that, she vanished.  

Where did she go that dark that night? And what happened to Heather Elvis?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 7, 1995, 43-year-old Connie Townsend’s home burned to the ground in Brockwell, Arkansas in front of over 20 witnesses. 

Connie was moving out of her house that day. She had separated from her estranged husband, David Townsend years earlier. David had been staying with his parents, Dale and Ramona, and also with his girlfriend of three years, JoAnn Ellis. 

But according to Connie’s daughters, Stacy and Amber, David was angry that day and had threatened Connie. They also said that David had threatened to burn the house down in the past. 

Connie’s body was found in a utility room; she was lying face down with a pair of sewing scissors underneath her body. 

Investigators said that Connie had died of smoke and soot inhalation, and according to the autopsy report there was no tissue left. 

And it seemed like after investigators went through the charred remains of her trailer, they had a lot more questions. Was Connie’s death due to an accidental fire, or murder and arson? 

We had heard from Connie’s daughters that Connie’s  body was found in a junk room, a bedroom that they kind of used as a utility room.  If there was a fire, why would Connie shut herself into a closet in the back of the utility room, a place where there was no escape?  Or could someone have put her in that closet?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 7, 1995, at around 12:50 pm, two women, Monica Jones and her girlfriend Cheryl Edwards were driving down Highway 56 near Brockwell, Arkansas when Cheryl saw smoke coming from a trailer at the residence of 43-year-old Connie Townsend. 

The two women pulled over and ran up to the trailer to try to help. At around that same time, another woman, Billy Browning arrived. Monica and Cheryl both desperately tried to get inside the trailer, but the heat was too intense. 

The trailer was already engulfed in flames. 

By the time the first officer from the Izard County Sheriff's Office and the Calico Rock fire department arrived on the scene, it was chaos. 

According to the police report, the officer noted that there were about 20 to 25 people standing in the yard. 

Connie Townsend burned to death while it seemed like half the town stood outside, and multiple people told police about threats that she had allegedly received, some of them earlier that day. And yet, 30 years later no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with her death. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.