Trace Evidence

In a short break, this week we examine updates surrounding four episodes previously covered on Trace Evidence. First we'll examine how a woman seeking more information about her family revealed a connection to one of the United States' most infamous and brutal killers. Then, we'll examine how a new investigation might shed light a forty year old abduction where neither the victim nor her abductor have ever been found.

Looking back at one of the early cases covered, we'll go into Canada to examine the status of an investigation where officials are finally beginning to reveal some of the vital details they've kept under wraps for a decade. Finally, we'll take a look at the disappearance of a missing mother to be and how, nearly thirty years later, a new tip may provide answers which have been illusive for twenty-seven years.


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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Twenty-five year old single mother Darla Harper mysteriously vanished from her apartment one winter night. After months of searching and years of investigation, police were no closer to locating the missing woman.

Then, during a court hearing regarding custody of the couple's daughter, accusations about Darla having been killed by her estranged husband were raised. Confronted about claims that Darla was buried on his property, Barry Harper challenged investigators to look for themselves.

Police were now faced with the possibility that Darla's disappearance might not have been a random crime executed by a trio of unknown suspects, but perhaps, a plot executed by her ex-husband, a man with over a hundred thousand reasons to want her gone.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/darla-harper

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One month before her divorce was set to be finalized, twenty-five year old Darla Harper mysteriously vanished. After leaving her husband, Darla had moved into a nearby apartment with the couples' two year old daughter. On a quiet, Tuesday night, Darla said goodbye to a friend and was never seen again.

The next morning police found a smear of blood on her apartment door and inside was her daughter, having been left alone for hours. A neighbor reported hearing strange noises the night before but no one had seen what happened to the twenty-five year old.

Investigators launched a massive search trying to locate the missing woman. When they located her car they discovered the vehicle was caked with mud and there was blood inside and out. The question quickly became: had Darla been the victim of a stranger abduction or had someone specifically targeted her, believing they had something to gain from her absence?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/darla-harper

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Coe Paisley had been putting things together. After opening her own law practice she'd finally purchased a home; her first home all for herself. Over the course of several weeks the twenty-nine year old had construction crews in and out making repairs to the seventy year old structure. Now, all that was left, was painting.

Coe took the challenge upon herself, spending free time between work and family, tucked into her new house dragging the brush along the walls. Then, one quiet Wednesday afternoon, she pulled into her driveway, walked inside and found herself face to face with a killer.

Coe's sister discovered her beaten body, she was barely clinging to life. Air lifting her to a nearby hospital, doctors word hard to save the woman's life but it was to no avail. Just twenty-four hours later, Coe lost her battle and investigators began hunting a killer.

Unfortunately, there was little to work with. No solid clues, no witnesses, no evidence of forensic value. The assault had been vicious and brutal, but there was no indication of who might have done it. Had Coe interrupted a robbery in progress when things turned violent or was murder always the plan?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/coe-paisley

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Charles and Catherine Romer had spent their winter in Florida, but were preparing to head home to New York. For the next few days they planned to cover 1,400 miles in four days. It was a trip they'd made dozens of times before but this time would be different. Just one day in and they would mysteriously vanish.

After checking into a hotel room in Brunswick, Georgia, the couple seemingly disappeared along with their car, a customized 1979 Lincoln Continental. By the time anyone realized something was wrong no one had seen or heard from the Romers for four days. Investigators were starting with a major disadvantage, and it was going to get worse.

Despite launching the largest search in the history of southern Georgia not a single trace of the couple could be found. They had vanished along with their car and thousands of dollars in fine jewelry. Detectives and the family theorized they'd been the victims of a robbery gone wrong, a random crime or perhaps one executed by someone they knew. For others, however, the answers may lie somewhere beneath any number of bodies of water between Florida and New York.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/romers

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On a chilly, fall afternoon in 1969 a red armored car moved quickly through the busy streets of Brooklyn. Pulling over for an impromptu lunch break, three guards began their rotation. One after the next they'd go to a nearby deli, grab a sandwich and head back to the truck. Then, as the last guard approached, three armed men appeared and forced him inside.

Cuffing the guards together and disarming them, the thieves drove the truck a few blocks over to where they had a getaway car waiting. In less than five minutes the three assailants drove off with more than one million dollars making it the second largest cash heist in American history, to that point.. By the time police arrived on the scene the robbers were long gone.

Investigators struggled with a series of unanswered questions; how did the thieves know the armored car would stop there that day? Was this an inside job, and if so, who was the guilty party? Was it somehow higher level, perhaps involving the mafia or was it connected to a series of robberies allegedly conducted by a ring of corrupt cops?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/aqueduct

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Five year old Justin Turner vanished on a Friday morning in March of 1989. Two days of searches organized and led by the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department turned up no trace of the missing child. Investigators began to theorize that the boy had been abducted while making his way to the bus stop until, early on the third day, his body was discovered in a location that was supposed to have already been searched.

While the focus of the investigation turned to Justin's stepmother, disputes between investigators and the coroner's office as well as the solicitor's office were sighted as hindering the case. Laws protecting spouses from testifying against one another were changed and a very public battle about the circumstantial nature of the evidence drew criticism from all sides.

Now, thirty-two years later, the case is in the hands of cold case investigators who hope new forensic technology can finally unlock the truth and identify Justin's killer.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/justin-turner

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Five year old Justin Turner said goodbye to his stepmother and headed off for the bus stop. It wouldn't be until hours later that she discovered the little boy never made it to the bus that day. As investigators arrived to begin searching for the child, it seemed like he'd been abducted sometime after leaving the house.

However, on the third day of searching, a grisly discovery was made. Justin's body was found not in a far away location, not in the woods or in a field, but in a trailer camper in his own backyard. What really confused police was; how did Justin end up in a location that had already been searched?

As the investigation progressed, focus began closing in around Justin's family. Had the little boy been the victim of a random, violent attacker, or was it more likely that someone in his own house knew more than they were telling?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/justin-turner

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Seventy-nine year old Iva Tice was worried about her husband after he suffered a stroke. Staying alone in their Allentown home, Iva made sure to visit the hospital every afternoon to be with him. Then, one afternoon, she never showed up. When no one could reach Iva, the Allentown police performed a welfare check and made a grisly discovery.

Iva had been killed in the bedroom of her home sometime during the night. The killer had used both an iron fireplace poker and a large carving knife to commit the horrifying crime. At the time investigators theorized that Iva had come upon an intruder in the process of a robbery but as additional evidence was collected it soon became a question of whether the crime was random or if Iva had been targeted by a killer, perhaps even someone she may have known.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/iva-tice

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Two days after Christmas a family, vacationing in St. Petersburg, FL, made the grisly discovery of a human leg washed up on the shore. Investigators conducted searches of the bay as well as the coastline but never located any other remains or evidence. For more than three months, that leg would remain unidentified until investigators began making ties across county lines.

Thirty-eight year old Kelly Moriarty and her girlfriend, sixty-one year old Doris "Pat" Carter hadn't been seen in more than a month by the time they were reported. Quickly investigators from St. Petersburg, Manatee County, Hillsborough County and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found themselves involved in a desperate search for the two women while the assailant had well over a months head start.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/kelly-doris

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