Twenty-two year old Jenna Nielsen had picked up a job delivering newspapers in the early morning hours. The mother of two wanted to help support the family she'd started with her husband, Tim. Eight months pregnant with their third child, a boy to be named Ethen, Jenna would soon be taking time off to be with her new baby.

Tragically, what should have been a time of celebration would become a period of mourning and grief which has never ended. In the early morning hours of June 14th, 2007, Jenna and her unborn son were brutally murdered.

For the past thirteen years investigators, and her family, have struggled to discover her killer's identity and see justice served. Still, to this day, the question lingers: was Jenna the victim of a random crime or is it possible she could have been killed by someone she knew?

***Episode includes an update regarding an arrest made in the 2010 Disappearance of Unique Harris, covered in Episode 30.***

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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/nielsen

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Thirty-eight year old Sandra Sollie was finally going to become a mother. In the Spring of 1994 she was seven months pregnant and eagerly anticipating the arrival of her son, whom she'd named Brandon Michael.

While her family was planning for the excitement of a baby shower they instead would face the pain of loss and unknowing. On May 23rd, Sandra mysteriously vanished leaving behind few clues. Sandra wasn't reported missing until June 5th so investigators were already two weeks behind.

At the same time, a massive search was underway for a missing four year old, Kali Poulton, who had vanished on the same day. The difference between the investigations was startling and Sandra's family felt she did not receive the attention she deserved.

What happened to Sandra Sollie? Was this a random crime or, perhaps, one perpetrated by someone she knew and trusted?

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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/sandra-sollie

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Over the course of one week in New York City in 1985, a violent and brutal killer wielding an axe took the lives of two women: 85 year old Janet Scott and 58 year old Ruth Potdevin. Both women were killed in hotels within days of each other, less than a half mile apart.

While the crimes themselves were grisly enough, the killer went further by leaving a gruesome puzzle behind at each scene. While the NYPD believed they would capture the assailant, his wrath disappeared just as mysteriously as it had originally materialized.

Did he finish what he aimed to do or did he simply move on to kill again, evading police once more?

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

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Eighty-six year old Patrick Carnes was making the two thousand mile drive from Toledo, Ohio to Reno, Nevada. Joined by his beloved dog, Lucky, he was set to return home by Thursday, April 14th, 2011. Unfortunately, while he was making good time, Patrick would never get home.

After being stopped by a trooper at 9pm on the 13th, Patrick mysteriously vanished. He had planned to stop off in Elko that night, a town just fifty miles away. Whether or not he ever made it to Elko is unknown, but just nine hours later his car was found abandoned more than one hundred and fifty miles away.

Initially it was believed Patrick may have gotten lost and wandered into the darkness of the desert but when investigators realized his car had been found in the same location as that of a woman who went missing five years earlier foul play quickly came into view.

Was Patrick Carnes the victim of a random crime or could his disappearance be linked to another unsolved case?

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/patrick-carnes

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In late January, 2002, twenty-three year old Bobby Zajac, twenty-six year old Erin Golla and twenty-nine year old James Springer Jr were preparing to leave the AMF Broadway Bowling Lanes in Littleton, Colorado, when they were seized upon by an armed individual.

After robbing the safe, the thief turned into a cold blooded killer, executing all three with a handgun. Moments later he casually walked out of the building, smirking to a witness waiting to pick up Erin before driving off into obscurity.

For nearly twenty years police and the families have sought justice, though it has remained elusive. Was this a random robbery gone wrong? A planned attack? Was one of the victims an intended target or could this horrible crime be linked to another series of murders that happened just two months later?

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

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Eighteen year old Anita Knutson had just completed her freshman semester at Minot State University in North Dakota. Living in an apartment with a roommate, Anita was working two jobs and excited about summer break.

However, over the first weekend in June of 2007, Anita's family couldn't get in touch with her which was extremely out of character. After several attempts, Anita's father Gordon made the one hour drive to check on her. There he would make a horrifying discovery.

Anita had been murdered, that much was clear, but who could have been responsible was a far more complex question involving a sordid cast of characters from a guy with an unrequited crush, a contentious roommate, the maintenance man, a group of construction workers and others.
Despite being in possession of both DNA and fingerprints, police have yet to name an official suspect and while the case grows cold, a grieving family and frustrated community have begun to wonder if justice will ever be served.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/anita-knutson

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Twenty-seven year old Susan Taraskiewicz had been working for Northwest Airlines out of Logan Airport, in Boston, for five years. After suffering through a harsh assortment of sexual harassment and threats of physical violence she managed to do something no woman had before her; she was promoted to the position of Equipment Service Crew Chief. Unfortunately while she was excited by her new position she also began to receive more aggressive harassment and threats.

On the weekend of September 12th and 13th, 1992, Su was working overnight. At approximately 1am on the 13th, she volunteered to go out and pick up lunch for her crew however she would never return. Rather than report her absence, her co-workers clocked her back in and later claimed to be covering for her. Su failed to show up for work for her next shift and on the very morning her parents went to file a missing person's report her body was discovered.

Su had been brutally beaten and stabbed before being stuffed in the trunk of her own car. While police initially considered the crime to be random, a massive investigation targeting a credit card theft ring at the airport soon aroused suspicions that Su could have been killed by someone she worked with who believed she had blown the whistle.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/susan-teraskiewicz

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In October of 1984, nine year old Christine Jessop vanished from the streets of Queensville, Ontario, Canada. Months later, her remains were recovered more than fifty kilometers from her home. Police searched for her killer and eventually narrowed their suspects down to one man.

However, that man, was later cleared of any involvement through the use of DNA despite having been taken to court twice, and convicted once. In the years since, no suspect has ever been named but now, thanks to DNA and genealogy research, Christine's killer has finally been identified.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/christine-jessop

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Forty-one year old Leah Rowlands was starting a new life. She moved to the small town of Cozad, Nebraska where her boyfriend lived. She had been married previously, from which she had two sons, but had fled from what she described as a very abusive relationship.

Now in Cozad, she was putting the pieces back together. She had just been promoted to manager at the Amoco station where she worked. However, while her first day under her new position should have been a good one, Leah would be brutally murdered in a bizarre robbery.

While police theorized that the crime may have been random, Leah's brother argued that it may have been an organized hit, funded by Leah's own ex-husband.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/leah-rowlands

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Fifty-five year old Donald Smith was set to embark on a cross-country road trip. Along the way he planned to visit several family members, but just a day into the trip he was joined by a mysterious companion.

Don showed up in Springfield, Idaho, tracking down his daughter, Brenda. When Don arrived, he was drunk and behaving erratically. Frustrated, Brenda told her father to sober up and contact her the next day. Just twenty-four hours later, Don was murdered.

Three days later, his vehicle was involved in an accident in Denver. The driver fled from the scene, never to be seen again. When police arrived they found a blood soaked car jack handle and the hunt for a killer began.

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/donald-smith

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