It was early on a Saturday morning in 2007 when assistant manager Pam Branka, 46, and manager Paul "P.J." Jones, 50, were murdered as they opened the Burger King in Momence, IL. No cash was taken from the registers, but blood was found near the safe, so it was assumed that the workers were victims of a botched robbery. But was it?

Robbers usually use guns, not knives. According to stats from the U.S. Department of Justice, knives or other sharp objects were only used in about 13% of robberies. I hope police also looked into the possibility that because of the multiple stab wounds to each victim, this may have been personal.

Someone holds the piece of the puzzle police need to bring the killer to justice. For the rest of us, we’re going to talk about one simple thing anyone can do to help safeguard people working in jobs that may expose them to danger. You can make a difference in the true crime world.

If you have any information, please call the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department at (815) 802-7100.

abcnews.go.com article

Daily Journal of Kankakee, Illinois article

Daily Journal of Kankakee, Illinois article #2

Visit my website and join my email list

“Prison is a dark, often evil place. But light still shines there.” So says Louis Dooley, author of the book Prison Saved My Life: I Recommend it for Everyone. It’s easy to dismiss prison conversions as being somehow less real or genuine than those among people on the outside. But in most incarceration settings, announcing that you are now a Christian puts a target on your back because you are seen as being weak. You’re seen as someone whose beliefs won’t let you fight back.

Today’s guest, Brett Narzinski, has spent chunks of time being in and out of jail due to what he admits is the consequence of his own pride combined with bad decisions. He’s also experienced homelessness, as a lot of repeat offenders do. Like Louis Dooley, Brett is using what he’s been through to help others. He’s the President and Treasurer of Complete Christian Evangelism, a non-profit organization that ministers to the homeless in St Louis by distributing emergency care packages and more. They get up close and personal with those who need them the most because they are ignored by or are out of reach from most of society. They go where nobody enjoys going - the types of places Jesus went.

Check out Brett's ministry

Visit my website and join my email list

Help The Unlovely Truth grow by leaving a 5 star review!

Sometimes criminals have ordinary lives. They have a home in a nice part of town. They have a steady job. They raise a family. Sometimes criminals look a lot like you and me. Our book this week is “A Murder in Searcy” and our guests are its authors Deana Nall and Mike Allen. They investigated and wrote a book about the murder of Fern Rodgers in sleepy Searcy Arkansas in 1974 and the trial of Fern’s husband Dr. Porter Rodgers the following year. Decades later there are still some folks who don’t want to talk about it, or at least they don’t want their name mentioned if they do talk.

The unlovely truth is that with a few bad decisions and the wrong people around us, each one of us is capable of acts we would never dream we might commit. That’s why King David asked God in Psalm 141 to help him stay away from evil acts and those who commit them. If only Dr. Porter Rodgers, Sr, had prayed that same prayer.

Buy your copy of "A Murder in Searcy"

Arkansasonline.com article

kark.com article

Visit my website and join my email list

Love is supposed to be patient, kind, and rejoicing in the truth. It doesn’t dishonor others or delight in evil. And Love doesn’t ask you to kill for it. Our book this week is “Cold Kill” by best-selling author Jack Olsen. A female PI busted this case wide open, so I’m going to give you my take as a female PI on what she did to expose two cold blooded killers.

I hope you’ll read and meditate on Psalm 139:1-12 yourself, but I’m going to summarize and share some thoughts about how these verses relate to this episode. God knows everything. Everything! That means he knows my thoughts and my intentions. He’s not surprised by a single thing I do. There is nowhere I can hide myself or my motives from God. That’s a bit scary, but also good news because God knows the darkest parts of me and STILL LOVES ME! I’m so thankful that if we tell God we are sorry and truly turn away from the bad things that we do, He forgives us. If you’re struggling with something you’ve done that you think is standing between you and God, I hope this will help you remember that He already knows and if you will repent of your actions and go a different direction, He’s ready and eager to forgive.

I hope you never have to worry about hiring a PI to investigate a member of your own circle of family or friends. But it didn’t have to take a PI to notice and act on some of the red flags we saw in both Cindy and David’s behavior. I think as Christians and especially those of us who are also women, we like to give people the benefit of the doubt. We don’t want to intrude on other people’s personal issues. Right here and right now I’m giving us ALL permission to start butting in when we see red flags, because the people who might be in danger are often the people least able to see them for what they are - danger signals. If someone is willing to verbally threaten to kill someone, let’s quit saying, “Oh they are just dramatic,” or “they had a bit too much wine”, or whatever excuse we use. Jesus said in Luke 6:45 that our mouths speak what our hearts are full of. So our practical action step for this week is that if you see or hear something, say something! Your willingness to speak up could literally be the difference between life or death for someone.

Buy "Cold Kill"

Visit my website and join my email list

Find The Unlovely Truth on FaceBook

And Instagram!

Mom of three, Tiffany Foster, hasn’t been seen since March first of 2021. She left the home where she lived with her fiancee Reginald Robertson in Newnan, Georgia, and seemingly vanished. Tiffany’s daughter received a text from her mother asking if she needed anything from the grocery store, and since then, no one who loved her has heard a word from Tiffany.

I’ll bet that most of you listening right now want an easy action step that you can take to help families like Tiffany’s. And that’s why I love my listeners!!!

I’ve got something for you that will take you less than 5 minutes to get started with. Just google missing persons in your county. See if any of them have FaceBook pages dedicated to finding that person. Join the group and ask if they need help printing and posting flyers, or with an organized search, maybe even a fundraiser to meet the needs of that missing person’s children. Then I want to hear how YOU decided to get out of the audience and into the action!

Visit my website and join my email list

11alive.com article #1

11alive.com article #2

11alive.com article #3

times-herald.com article

cbs46.com article

wsbtv.com article

Searching for Tiffany Foster FaceBook page

fox5atlanta.com article

dailymail.co.uk article

wehelpthemissing.org

It’s definitely an unlovely truth that any one of us can become a victim of a stalker, and the crime is much more widespread than you might think. An estimated 6 to 7.5 MILLION people are stalked each year in the U.S. and my guess is that due to the nature of the crime it’s likely very underreported, so those numbers are probably quite a bit higher.

Prosecutor Rhonda B. Saunders has prosecuted criminals who stalked celebrities, as well as people like you and me, who, for reasons only known to the stalker, chose them as the object of their evil intentions. Her book, “Whisper of Fear: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks the Stalkers,” shares stories of how she developed the legal weapons to fight stalking. She even gives her thoughts on what’s going on in the minds of stalkers, and in my favorite section, she gives lots of resources on how you can protect yourself and those you love against these people who invade their lives.

The hosts of the podcast “Strictly Stalking,” Jake Deptula and Jaimie Beebe, join us this week to share what they’ve learned as they went from being entertainers who also advocate to being advocates who are also very entertaining.

Listen to "Strictly Stalking"

Find "Strictly Stalking" on FaceBook

Buy "Whisper of Fear: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks the Stalkers"

Information from womenslaw.org

U.S. Department of Justice information on stalking

Stalking awareness fact sheet

Visit my website and join my email list

Being stalked was turning Dave Kroupa’s life upside down. The one person who was always there for him was Liz. He could never have dreamed that she was also the person who was tearing his life apart.

Our book this week is “A Tangled Web” by Leslie Rule, the daughter of the queen of true crime Ann Rule and a talented writer in her own right. Brandon Hall, 911 operator and host of the awesome podcast “Music City 911” joins us again this week. This case is so complicated, such a tangled web as the title of the book says, that it’s taken us two episodes to cover it. If you haven’t heard last week's episode yet, you need to go back and check it out.

As an attorney I used to work with often said, “You can’t make this stuff up.” Don”t miss the crazy twists and turns that this story takes.

Listen to last week’s episode

Link to buy "A Tangled Web"

Information from womenslaw.org

Listen to "Music City 911"

Follow Brandon on FaceBook

Article from Pew Research Center's Trust Magazine

Stalking awareness fact sheet

Jesus drives out the money changers

Visit my website and join my email list

Help The Unlovely Truth grow by leaving a 5 star review!

Dave Kroupa liked women, but didn’t want to be tied down to just one. In 2012, he met a woman online named Shanna Elizabeth Golyar who went by "Liz". Against his better judgment, they formed a close bond when a woman Dave had briefly dated seemed to be stalking them both. But how can you be a stalker if you aren’t even still alive?

Our book this week is “A Tangled Web” by Leslie Rule. Yes, she’s the daughter of the queen of true crime Ann Rule, but she’s a talented writer in her own right. I have a fascinating guest today - Brandon Hall, 911 operator and host of the awesome podcast “Music City 911”. This case is so complicated, such a tangled web as the title of the book says, that we’re covering it in two episodes, this week and next - so don’t miss either one!

If you’ve ever wondered why stalking is a crime, this story and its aftermath will explain it better than any I’ve ever heard. And if you’ve ever asked yourself if being a 911 dispatcher is stressful, we’ve got the answer to that for you too.

Link to buy "A Tangled Web"

Information from womenslaw.org

Listen to "Music City 911"

Follow Brandon on FaceBook

U.S. Department of Justice information on stalking

Stalking awareness fact sheet

Visit my website and join my email list

Help The Unlovely Truth grow by leaving a 5 star review!

We all love to play armchair detective while watching our favorite true crime show. But how would you feel if you had to do REAL detective work so you could catch your own stalker? Skylar Galloway feels sure that if she hadn’t done just that, she wouldn’t still be alive.

On this episode of The Unlovely Truth, I interview Skylar Galloway. Skylar is an expert on the topic of stalking because she’s lived through it. One key takeaway that I learned from the episode was that victims of stalking live with much more fear than I realized. They need us to reach out with compassion and practical help, and we’ll talk about what that might look like.

Please share this episode on social media or with a friend. You might be surprised to find out that someone you know is dealing with a stalking situation and feels like no one could possibly understand what they are going through. According to stalkingawareness.org, an estimated 6-7.5 million people are stalked in a one-year period in the U.S., so it’s very likely that you know someone who needs to hear the story of hope that Skylar has to share.

Buy Skylar's book, "Thrillsought"

Connect with Skylar on Instagram

Stalking Awareness website

Stalking Awareness fact sheet

U.S. Department of Justice website page on stalking

Visit my website and join my email list

Follow the podcast on Instagram

And FaceBook

Where are Bryan Dos Santos-Gomes, Jocelyn Turcios, and Branson Perry? That’s exactly what their desperate families want to know.

If you are listening from Florida, Tennessee, or Missouri I hope you’ll pay special attention to today’s episode. Bryan, Jocelyn, and Branson have all been missing for over 15 years now, and their families are facing another Christmas without knowing what happened to them. So hug your own family tight, and share this episode to help these families who long to do the same.

Let’s finish up our series that I called the Twelve Cases of Christmas. We are shining a light on the cases of two missing children and a young man whose case has a twist that ties it to a previous episode. Follow the links below for that episode and more information about Bryan Dos Santos-Gomes, Jocelyn Turcios, and Branson Perry.

Visit my website and join my email list

Season 1, Episode 26 "In Broad Daylight"

Information on Bryan Dos Santos-Gomes:

winknews.com article

charleyproject website

nbc-2.com article

fox4now.com article

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children poster

If you have any information about the disappearance of Bryan Dos Santos-Gomes, please contact the Fort Myers Police Department at 877-667-1296. You can also call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS, or the NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.

Information on Jocelyn Turcios:

wkrn.com article

Franklin Tennessee city website

wkrn.com article

Pinterest board

wate.com article

Call Franklin Police if you have any information: (615) 794-2513, or 1-800-THE-LOST.

Information on Branson Perry:

Wikipedia article

newspressnow.com article

kmbc.com article

bringbransonhome.wordpress.com

If you know anything about Branson’s disappearance, please call the Community United Effort Center 24-hour tip line at 910-232-1687, Nodaway County Sheriff Randy Strong at 660-582-7451 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 800-877-3452.