Speaker 1: 0:00

Stacey Colbert was ambitious, kind, outgoing, driven, intelligent. Stacey Colbert was a sister, a daughter, a best friend. Stacey Colbert was successful and was a light in so many people's lives and in 1998, in Columbus Ohio, she was attacked and kidnapped in her apartment, Only to be found years later a skeletal remains in a field just 30 minutes from her home. Stacey Colbert, just 23 and fresh out of college, trusted a man who was a monster in a mask and she paid the ultimate price, a wager that she would never see coming. This is an unsettling and unsolved case of the murder of Stacey Colbert, episode 10, part one of three, and we're out to stir things up and try to help solve it. Welcome, best friends. This is Jules, this is Jo, and I am a former educator with a lifelong interest in learning the why and the how behind true crime.

Speaker 2: 1:15

And I am a mental health professional that got roped in this by my best friend, Jules.

Speaker 1: 1:18

Yee-haw baby. You can find all of our sources and materials used for this episode on our website, truecrimeandheadlinescom, and if you would like to support us, you can donate on our website to our podcast fund by buying us a coffee. We would love to have a coffee from you and give you a shout out on the air. It's always awkward to ask for money. I'm just going to put that out there and be very transparent. We are in my closet right now. Y'all.

Speaker 2: 1:50

We have moved from luxurious audio steve's basement to Jules' closet. We have horse blankets nailed to the wall to help with sound. It's authentic farmhouse, and I several. Let's see One, two, three, four. There's like five different.

Speaker 1: 2:06

They don't match. I'll post a picture on our Instagram at truecrimeandheadline, so you guys can see our space, and I am allergic to horses.

Speaker 2: 2:12

So by the end of this podcast you will hear me sniffling and coughing and scratching and all the things. Get me out of here.

Speaker 1: 2:18

Buck up, cowgirl. I gave you clear tin. Buy me a coffee Not sponsored by Helmhagy. Let me upgrade. Let me upgrade. She's bougie and I'm redneck, but yeah, we would love some extra little support for it. We're down one. We need one more blanket.

Speaker 2: 2:35

No, we need to get rid of the damn blankets.

Speaker 1: 2:40

How do you really feel? Is this the most fired up you've ever been? Maybe?

Speaker 1: 2:45

Maybe, All right, friends, we're also kind of leaning into our community here to help us grow. So we are now in the top 5% of podcasts and although we're just a few months old, we have some really big ambitions and dreams. And that is because our big goal is to create a nonprofit where we have people working for us pro bono to help solve crimes for people in need. That would include hiring private investigators, mental health providers and search and rescue teams, and we are able to do this, I truly believe, as we continue to grow, and we can do this if you just share us. So if you're not able to get financially, totally fine, we get that. Neither are we. And if you could remember to go and give us a review if you're enjoying this, that not only gives us encouragement to keep going, but that tells all the databases where podcasts are hey, this is a podcast you should recommend to other people. And the more downloads we have, the more publicity we get, the more opportunities for sponsors to end up with our dream team to help victims.

Speaker 1: 4:01

This case has become dear to my heart and I message Joe about being worried about doing this case justice. So there are other podcasts about Stacey Colbert out there the stories growing slowly, growing awareness, and I really hope we can help push this even more forward. And I've been going back and forth about how ballsy to be on this podcast. This morning I was searching Joe's a little nervous.

Speaker 2: 4:28

She always makes me nervous with this stuff.

Speaker 1: 4:30

I was searching what would qualify as slander and I think we're good. I think we're good, I think, yeah, I'll update you as we go along.

Speaker 2: 4:40

You might want to buy us more coffee after this episode, Joe. What are they going to?

Speaker 1: 4:44

do Take $5 for a messing corn. Look, I won't bear the lead here, so let me just come out and say this to everyone listening, and to Joe I 100% do believe there is a man out there who was responsible for killing Stacey and he is walking free, and this man is likely hopefully living with demons over and over, and I also believe that he has a friend from 1998, during this time, who knows information, who may have helped, who is living his best life out there as well, so it sounds like we know who the killer and his friend are.

Speaker 2: 5:25

We don't know who the killer and his friend are. I guess all monsters have friends. Huh, all monsters have friends, gotcha Okay.

Speaker 1: 5:34

However, we have suspicions but we are not able to name anybody. I don't want to harm or hinder the investigation, but there have been names that have come up in interviews and we'll just. We're going to dive into everybody and give a fair assessment all around.

Speaker 2: 5:57

Okay.

Speaker 1: 5:58

Are you reading between my lines?

Speaker 2: 6:00

Yeah, great, sorry, I was not picking up what you're putting down.

Speaker 1: 6:04

I wasn't really putting it down very well either. I was just like dump Beep, beep, get the backhoe. My point is this someone knows something and they're choosing instead to live their life free of judicial consequences, like it never happened. But guess what? Stacey's not here. And it did happen, and life doesn't work that way. Babe, we're coming for you and we only hope that whoever has information and has been withholding isn't out living on a beach somewhere, relaxing and living like their life is amazing and just pushing out this horrible events and going on with their life. I hope we can help bring those skeletons out of their dark closet and let Stacey's friends and family finally have the answers. You know something that they've been denied for 20 plus years? Yeah, it's time. It's time. George Orwell wrote in his book 1984, quote if you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself, End quote. I love that. I love it too.

Speaker 1: 7:07

And there's so much truth to that I know, and then the teacher nerd in me wants to really dive into that. But I also know that this is not the time and place.

Speaker 2: 7:18

I know I could say so much and no, just keep going.

Speaker 1: 7:20

I have a feeling that their time of hiding is coming to an end, joe, and there is a team of fierce, bad ass women working feverishly behind the scenes to close this case. But closure may never be achieved without your help, and you know. What this team seeks isn't vengeance or retribution. What they truly seek is to finish the fight that Stacey started for her life, and even in death, stacey continues to inspire and push her loved ones forward in this quest. Believe me, I truly believe, without a single ounce of doubt, that this case is solvable.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Everybody and I also have a suspicion that the killer keeps a close eye on all of the case activity, social media and media activity. Hey bro, what's up? I cannot wait to attend your sentencing hearing one day. I won't say your name, I won't jeopardize this case in any more way or play silly little games with this monster, but I will say this Listen to this podcast everybody. Pay attention to the details, pay attention to what I say, the words I'm choosing and how I say it. We will be giving you all the information we can. I will lay it all out there for you, and it'll be up to our listeners to continue this conversation and to make conclusions, however they will. Everything I will say is slander or defamation in my humble opinion.

Speaker 2: 8:51

You're welcome to come after me and we can open a case of like $2.75 in our bank account right now, like $2.25.

Speaker 1: 8:58

Yeah don't get that decimal twisted. Before we go into the backstory and events leading up to Stacey's disappearance and subsequent death, we got to jump straight into the day of question. Jody Safina meet me in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1990s. And, Joe, this time I'm going to start by quoting the official Ohio Attorney General's Unsolved Homicide Report you ready. On March 24, 1998, a family member of Stacey's contacted the Columbus Police Department as they had not been able to contact Stacey for a couple of days and she had not reported to work. Her apartment was found to be unlocked with no evidence of a burglary or theft. Others reported to the police that on the evening of March 22, 1998, they were awakened by a female scream and loud banging. On November 27, 2004, a hunter looking for a lost dog in a wood line near the Skoyuto River on State Route 257 North in Delaware County, Ohio, discovered human remains.

Speaker 2: 10:00

So it was what six years later, the remains were identified as Stacey Colbert.

Speaker 1: 10:06

Yes, so let's unpack backtrack ready to take a trip. Yeah, you are. You do what I say. Stacey was fresh out of college. She had attended Ohio State University and was very involved with her sorority. Shout out Alpha, Delta, Pi sisters. Jody, you were in a sorority. I was a Sigma Kappa. My college, Azusa Pacific University. My undergrad did not have a sorority. It's probably for the best, because I wouldn't have stopped until I was queen. Wait.

Speaker 2: 10:37

Yes, there's no greater truth than that. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Is there a queen, a sorority queen, or was it president Pres? I would have changed the name to queen.

Speaker 2: 10:46

Oh my gosh, you guys, you just that. Okay, we can wrap up now and call this a day because you understand Julie and her entire area.

Speaker 1: 10:54

So Stacey stayed in Columbus, ohio area and she was hired on at a company called American Electric Power and from now on I'll just call it AEP and this is in Columbus and she's in the marketing division. She's super well loved by all her colleagues. She's outgoing and bubbly and she has an amazing personality that's just magnetic. You know those type of people and, like me, you are the first one that comes to mind when I think super friendly, loving, oh, julie, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

Speaker 2: 11:27

Yup, yup, the nicest thing I've ever forced you to say about me.

Speaker 1: 11:32

I interviewed one of Stacey's colleagues from AEP over the phone Molly and Molly's so sweet. She has spent years doing what she could to try to help find Stacey and provide information and she so graciously talked with me on the phone and she tells me that on the night in question March 21st 1998, that she and Stacey had to a local hotspot this was the Arlington like sports bar and it was where everybody kind of came after the sports, so in Buckeye Go sports, all right. According to Stacey's co-worker, stacey got a ride home from a man at the bar that evening, so the others. There was a gal that was Stacey's co-worker that lived in Stacey's apartment complex as well. She did not drive Stacey home for whatever reason unknown between her and Stacey. She decided to leave Stacey there, went back to the apartment complex and Stacey stayed behind and was reportedly last seen talking with a male.

Speaker 2: 12:41

Was it like an ex-boyfriend, like someone she knew, just a random guy she met.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Details are shaky and I'm walking a line of what I can say and what I can't say per reports and per what people have confided in me off the record, and I don't want to misuse that trust. So what I will say is that Molly did tell me on record that it was another co-worker that she was talking with and he was an older gentleman, because Molly was like 20 years older than Stacey was and he has nothing to do with the case. She told me. So she did not want to give me his name, okay, and he was a very kind man. He was older. However, we always say trust but verify.

Speaker 2: 13:30

Trust. No one is what I say. Yes.

Speaker 1: 13:34

And I did find out who this was by backtracking. Of course you did, because that's what you do, and I did give the name to the detective, okay, and I did ask if they ever interviewed this person, and I am not sure of the answer. However, we know Stacey made it back home. So, aside from questions about who she was talking to, there are different reports that she was talking with this coworker and that there was also somebody else at the bar she was talking to. So it's a little shady and recall. It's been 20 plus years since all of these events.

Speaker 2: 14:10

Yeah, I imagine these details kind of get forgotten.

Speaker 1: 14:14

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I wanted to know if he had been cleared or not. And here's what I've learned a little bit along the way with our podcast journey. It's frustrating and I can understand to an extent, because I've not been in the position that these people are in, so I can have sympathy. It's hard for me to fully empathize where they're coming from in their fear, but people are very timid to say someone's name if they're not absolutely sure of something and to an extent, yeah, okay, I can get behind that. But I want to encourage people who are in the inner circle of an unsolved homicide case to perhaps like try to step back and realize it's an unsolved homicide case and you don't know what you may know.

Speaker 1: 14:57

I've asked questions about men who were seen chatting with Stacey on March 21st at that sports bar and I've been met with roadblock after roadblock because I've been told they're a good person or they would never be involved and where I want to believe it. It's not helpful to remove someone from suspicion until they've actually been cleared. Protecting someone from interrogation by police is hindering the police from doing their jobs. I mean, oftentimes we need to interview people that have a known connection to the victim just to rule them out, and stop wasting time and resources searching for them if they are indeed innocent and you don't know what this person might know If they were seen there at the last time with her. Who else was she talking to? What did she say? What transpired? What could you tell us? Okay, it was told to me that this man was cleared, but it speculated that she did get home fairly early, and we know this because she orders breadsticks delivery breadsticks.

Speaker 1: 16:00

So she's home my kind of girl? Yeah, I know she really is. Yes, friend. 6 pm the breadsticks arrive at her house and they're delivered by a young man and this man has officially been cleared by police and he is the last known contact with Stacey ever. This was around 6 pm. Stacey obviously wasn't out late at the bar, she wasn't partying all night. She's home by six. She had a new cat named Boots, a little kitten which she was actually smitten over. And Stacey's colleagues recalled how Stacey would often go home before going back out to meet friends because she wanted to go home and check on her cat and make sure her cat was okay from being home alone All day. And that'll come into play a little bit later. And that's what we know. That's all we know. And here's what we don't know.

Speaker 1: 16:55

Who came to Stacey's apartment at Governor Square apartments, just 15 minutes northwest of the college campus, in the early morning of the 22nd this would officially be a Saturday. According to a lantern publication, the upstairs neighbor in apartment C relayed to police that around 4 am they heard horrendous screaming coming from the apartment below them in apartment A. Why did nobody call the police? Stacey's apartment was apartment A and I wish I could tell you why the neighbors didn't call the police, joe, because we all have that question and I can't. Because they didn't call the police. They chose not to, and for whatever reason between them and God we don't know. But it wasn't until two days later, on the 24th, when Stacey doesn't show up to work for the second day in a row, that this information is given to the police, and that's after they've been approached by the police. If the screams were severe enough and loud enough to wake you up and you describe them as loud and horrible why would you not call?

Speaker 2: 18:06

the police. That's one of the things that I hear over and over in this case or not in this case, but in the cases that we do, it's like they see something suspicious or they hear something and they don't make a call. They're like you're on the side of caution Call, Let them investigate.

Speaker 1: 18:23

The worst that could happen is it's fine, but the best case scenario is you could help someone. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:30

Living in an apartment as a young single woman. That was security to me because I literally had the thought of if I scream, somebody will hear me. But I guess you have to know that they're going to do something about it too.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Exactly. There are so many documented tragedies of people dying in plain sight because others are too afraid to get involved or they're doubting that what they're hearing or seeing is actually happening, or doubting their power Can I even have a power to do this? And there's also there's a big mistrust of police and you don't know who mistrust police, their backgrounds, we don't know. It could be something as insignificant as they had a warrant or an unpaid parking ticket, or it could just be that they didn't think this was their business and we're not going to get involved. However, it wasn't just screams. He also heard loud banging and noises. I'm sorry, I just cannot excuse this. So, although he doesn't call police at 4 am, when he hears this happen, he goes downstairs to Stacey's apartment under him at 2 o'clock on Sunday and knocks on her door and it's noticed that her cat boots is out of the apartment walking around. Her cat's never out of the apartment walking around. She was so cautious about this cat Love this new kitty, it would not be out walking around. Knocks on the door, nobody answers and then he just goes about his day. To recap has he been cleared? To recap you hear loud banging and noises and screams at 4am. At 2 o'clock the next day, this woman's animal is out of her apartment. She's not answering on the door. But then again, has he been investigated? Yes, so again the neighbor doesn't call police.

Speaker 1: 20:26

Now the pizza guy did tell police that as he was delivering Stacy's breadsticks to her and according to a reporting by Jasmine Hilton from the lantern, he had quote felt very strongly that she was not alone in her apartment and sent somebody else was present. End quote. Why, why, why Was it the way she was acting? Did she not open the door all the way? Was she fearful? Why did you think, yeah, I needed to know more about that. We need to know more it? Was it just not a good vibe for you? Or did you say that because, looking back, you knew that she was then missing when by the time you were interviewed and this young man was officially cleared by police as well? So you see why I can't stop circling back to how Stacy got home from the bar hotspot that night and who officially drove her home in that story, because she gets dropped off at six pm. Just before six pm she orders breadsticks.

Speaker 1: 21:28

4 am is when bars are closed. People are done partying, but if you've been out drinking all night and you're up to no good. That time frame lines up perfectly to go to someone's apartment in Cosmaham. The neighbor heard it at 4 am. Does nothing on the. So that's officially the 22nd. The 22nd becomes the 23rd Monday Still no sign of Stacy. And on the 23rd that night Stacy's older sister, danielle, lives just about two miles away from Stacy. They're very close and Danielle wants to recap the 70th annual Academy Awards ceremony. The sisters had just seen Titanic in theaters for Stacy's birthday and Danielle was excited to discuss the movie's win.

Speaker 1: 22:16

That evening, although Danielle kept trying to reach her sister, she was met with voicemail. Greeting after voicemail greeting, stacy's colleague told me that Stacy was actually scheduled to be out of town with her boss soon to give a really big presentation in New York. So when Stacy doesn't show up to work on Monday, they assumed it was because she was out of town. And remember this is her first career paid job post college. Joan, she's only been at AEP for about six months and she was the type of person that was so ambitious and creative. She absolutely wanted to present the best work possible that she could have and she was super proud of her work.

Speaker 1: 22:56

Nobody knew about the screams and bangs coming from her apartment at this point, so there was nothing to worry about on the work front. But that was wrong because sadly Stacy's boss was not in New York with Stacy. Stacy's boss was actually out on vacation with her own family and was nowhere near Stacy. So when AEP realized this, they called Danielle per Stacy's emergency contact information the next day, on Tuesday the 24th, and they informed Danielle that Stacy had not been into work in two days and they were unable to get a hold of her. Danielle immediately knew something was amiss. Stacy was incredibly reliable and she cared way too much about her career to be irresponsible. So Danielle arrived to Stacy's apartment and she immediately notes that Stacy's car is still there. As she approaches the apartment she notices that Stacy's cat boots is outside and the door to the apartment is unlocked. She enters the apartment and looks around and she sees clothes thrown about. A pair of handprint marks are on the floor of the apartment Perfect, yeah. And the large boot print is on the inside of the door.

Speaker 2: 24:14

Why do all monsters wear boots?

Speaker 1: 24:17

That is a really great album title why do all monsters, why do all monsters wear boots? Well, this one did, which was clearly not Stacy's, and full disclosure. I have spoken with Danielle and I know how hard reliving this horrific events is for her to do over and over and over again. She is full of grit and determination and Danielle is one of the strongest women I have had the pleasure of meeting, and she is so strong for her sister, stacy. And so to go in and see this scene. Okay, so you?

Speaker 2: 24:50

said clothes thrown about. Is that typical for Stacy? Not that I recall. Okay, and then you've got the boot mark on the door like someone kicked it, correct. And you've got a handprint on the floor.

Speaker 1: 25:02

Small handprints and Stacy was a you know she was a her small girl. That's what is.

Speaker 2: 25:08

That's what led to believe. Okay, anything else she found? No.

Speaker 1: 25:12

So we don't know everything that Danielle saw at the apartment. Some of this information is held close so that just the police and the killer and the person Danielle was able to see at the apartment is between them and respectfully so I won't go into speculation on that. To help nail this monster, they immediately mobilized and began searching everywhere for Stacy. You know search parties. They combed areas, flyers were posted and handed out. Her sorority sisters mobilized just a small search and rescue army to try to get Stacy home. Aep even put out a $10,000 reward for information leading to the location of Stacy. Ohio State University had a candlelight vigil and you better believe police were there that night, because we sadly know how common it is for a killer to show up at vigils of their victims.

Speaker 2: 26:07

Yeah, I can't imagine that.

Speaker 1: 26:09

But let's not forget, this is a kidnapping case so far, not a homicide. So the question on everyone's mind is still where is Stacy? Her keys, her wallet with her cards, her valuables are all left in the apartment. The only thing that was taken was Stacey. Now, it didn't appear that Stacey's door was kicked in from the outside or broken into. There were no noted signs of forced entry. The handprints and the boot print on the inside of the door suggests that there was a fight. The boot print is especially haunting because it almost tells us that Stacey was able to get to the door, but the perpetrator kicked it closed and kept her inside her apartment before she could get in.

Speaker 2: 26:59

It's only that neighbor called 911.

Speaker 1: 27:03

Yes, yes, I will include a photo of the boot print on our website, and it looks like a work boot bottom or some kind of workwear boot, and it definitely looks like a man's boot. It is obviously not Stacey's shoe size either, as far as evidence taken from the apartment. Here's what we know. The police confirmed to me that there was a section of carpet removed from Stacey's apartment and it had DNA on it, and they still have this carpet, and it's likely the DNA is still viable and can still be tested again. According to Stacey's friends who helped move Stacey's things out of the apartment, the section of carpet which was taken by forensics was extremely large, and this isn't actually that surprising to me, though, because even if there are a few drops of fluid, it's best forensic practice to take the surrounding areas as well. Think of it as removing a skin cancer spot. You want to make sure you get all of the possible signs in there.

Speaker 2: 28:06

Are they thinking like she was sexually assaulted? I'm not sure what they're thinking. Are we looking for like hair follicle?

Speaker 1: 28:13

liquid. I think what they saw was fluid that looked like blood, oh something spilled on the carpet and so just take it all the evidence.

Speaker 1: 28:23

And while the campus community, friends, family, sorority and work all desperately trying to find Stacey, one sorority sister is tasked with the worst responsibility yet. Per the police's request, julie, a sorority sister of Stacey's who had already graduated, she was a few years older and she was now working at a news station, was under no circumstances to share what the police told her at the news station that there was no chance that Stacey was coming home. Julie had to carry this traumatic revelation around while she navigated her own community searching and pleading for anyone and everyone to find Stacey and bring her home. I don't understand what was that about. Julie was working at a news station and there was a police officer in the station who knew that Julie was friends with Stacey Colbert, who was circulating around the community on the news, and he told her your friend is not coming home. She is not missing anymore. Please do not share the information. We need everyone to keep looking for her. Julie has carried this with her for months. They told her quote. We want everyone to think she's still missing. Why we don't know.

Speaker 1: 29:50

I talked with Julie on the phone. She's this amazing, intelligent, tenacious woman and we asked each other that same thing why and that's a question that's been going over and over in her head yeah, to task somebody with that talk about how do you navigate ethics as a friend and as a reporter. And ultimately, I know she did what she felt was right. Ultimately, for Stacey's investigation, you know, I wonder if we'll ever know why they wanted to keep it a secret. I think there's a lot of cards being played that we just we can't see up their sleeve. And, to Julie's credit, this is her career and she had an ethical responsibility to work with the police and I know that she wanted to do that right thing. But, moving forward, I just really wanted to reiterate that that's, I believe, a very traumatic event for Julie. Yeah, I would agree. And because then you're going to these vigils, you're going to these search and rescues and you're carrying this knowledge that the police are telling you she's not coming home and you still have to stand beside your friends and do this Talk about an unfair load to carry, and she gave me permission to share that, by the way.

Speaker 1: 31:18

So what was their? What was their angle? I mean, I guess I can think of a few. Did they suspect someone and wanted to follow them. Were they tracking someone? Was someone on their radar? Were they suspecting a serial killer? What did they know that they're keeping to themselves? Who did they suspect? I know who we suspect. Next time we're going to dive deep into this case and the specifics surrounding finishing Stacey's fight, the specific surrounding finding Stacey's skeletal remains, and then we're going to take a bold look at all the people who were in her life at that time. And there's a reason police always look at a husband first. Nprorg tells us. Quote Worldwide, the World Health Organization says a partner or spouse is the killer in 38% of women's homicides. Previous research in the United States suggested that intimate partners carried out more than 40% of homicides of women and about 7% of homicides of men. End quote. It would be negligent to not look into the inner circles first. Right.

Speaker 2: 32:28

Joe, absolutely, she was not married. Correct, correct, did you have a boyfriend?

Speaker 1: 32:32

She had previously been dating in recent occurrences. Okay, previously, recently broken up. Oh, we will zoom in. We will interview, assess, clear or interrogate, verify, alibi, clear people or add them to the suspect list. That's what happens when you zoom in. But then you zoom out and you start with the person with the most connection. It's police 101 to look at lovers, start with the immediate, the most current history and go farther back. And they did just that. But to what extent and why do I think we need to dive deep into Stacey's romantic past? Because of this, and this alone gives us all the justification we need Stacey let that monster into her apartment. She knew him. I guarantee she knew him. That tells us she trusted him, she was familiar with him, and I don't know what degree trust but trusted him not to kill her.

Speaker 2: 33:40

And you say she let him in because there was no signs of breaking or entering Exactly.

Speaker 1: 33:45

I think what transpired escalated inside the apartment per the evidence of the boot prints, per Stacey's hand prints on the floor. Do you think?

Speaker 2: 33:57

that. I mean it's possible that she went to bed and didn't lock her doors when he let himself in. That is possible. Do you think just kind of from what you have learned so far? Do you think that he was there when the breadstick guy came?

Speaker 1: 34:10

No, okay, I don't think so, and 4 am is when the sounds were heard, and this is a perfect time for parties to have ended in the early morning hours and for the perpetrator to arrive to Stacey's apartment. Nothing was taken. This was not a robbery. There was a struggle and Stacey fought hard. I feel confident that Stacey knew her monster, but just didn't know what he was capable of. It smells to me like rejection, like substance was likely involved, and it smells foul of heat, of passion, slash, loss of control. Of course that's just speculation. Is there DNA evidence from the scene? You know, I wanna know was the bathroom swabbed? The toilet, the handles, the rim on the toilet? Were there dishes in the sink? How many? How many glasses Were they swabbed?

Speaker 2: 35:01

Did he get any breadsticks?

Speaker 1: 35:02

I wanna know that as well. Were the breadsticks tested? I would also like to know what size the footprint was on the door and I would like to know if the print itself was swabbed and tested For dirt, grease et cetera. That could help narrow down a location and hear this. It was days from 4 am early Saturday the 22nd to Tuesday the 24th when the police arrived to Stacey's apartment and the apartment reeked of bleach.

Speaker 2: 35:39

What does that tell us? Are there cameras outside the apartment building seeing who came and went? No, ma'am, I guess it was. I'm saying that standard, but I guess that was 1998, so perhaps not.

Speaker 1: 35:51

If the police were called at 4 am when all this noise and ruckus was going on, maybe they would have been able to collect evidence immediately. Maybe they would have interrupted a cleanup If the police were so sure she wasn't coming back. Why, what did they see in that apartment? And I think it comes down to what they didn't see. They didn't see Stacey, that's it. She was gone and everything of monetary value was left behind and there were signs of a struggle. Whoever valued Stacey so much to take her had to have known her well enough to care and had to have known where she lived.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Next week, in part two, I'll push the boundaries and ask them big questions, such as alibis, analyze police reports and statements and question the neighbor's statements and one who remained a suspect in the beginning and claimed to have heard nothing, despite sharing a thin wall with Stacey's apartment. And I hope you'll join me because this case can be solved. But I am begging you, please, please, help us. A GoFundMe is set up to help pay for a private investigator to put up billboards and flyers. Please, please, please. Even $1 will help. We've donated and if you're able to, please join us in donating. And if you're not able to. Can you share the GoFundMe link, which will be on our social medias at True Crime and Headlines? And you can also follow me, jules, on Instagram at yourhostjules. I will have those links as well.

Speaker 1: 37:25

This case is facing many challenges, but the biggest one is time passing, and the longer this case stays cold, the less likely it will be closed. That's where you come in. Help Stacey's team working tirelessly for the last 25 years to finish her fight. You are loved, you matter and you deserve to be found. This has been True Crime and Headlines, episode 10, part one of three. I'm Jules and I'm Jo, and we're your True Crime Besties. We'll see you later.

Speaker 2: 37:57

And later I'll see you. Later I'll see you. My mama is a podcaster. Bye too.