Hunters of the Night

Warm Peach Pie, Cold Trail: How a Dish Towel Broke a Fugitive Warm pie cooling on a gas meter turned a routine meter reading into the first lead in a fourteen-month manhunt - steam rising from a peach lattice the morning after an empty house had been vacant for at least six days. How did a federal fugitive who erased every digital trace end up baking competition pies in an abandoned house, and why did a patrol officer take a folded dish towel into evidence? In this episode, we follow the sequence of ordinary actions that became extraordinary: a meter reader's route, a patrol officer's instinct, and the missing baker whose life split between pastry competitions and hidden theft. Can a dish towel and a still-warm pie point investigators to a woman who vanished without a signal? Person: Sandra Tillman Event: Peach lattice-top pie found on gas meter cover Date: Fourth Thursday of March 2019 Case: $231,000 redirected from vendor payments over 14 months Person: Deputy U.S. Marshal Jeffrey Watson - A gas meter reader, Larry Whitley, found a lattice-top peach pie steam-rising on a meter cover after noting the house had been empty for at least six days. - Patrol officer Dennis Fogle photographed the pie and collected a neatly folded dish towel from inside the back door, later placing it into an evidence bag. - Sandra Tillman redirected $231,000 from her employer Boyd Crenshaw’s vendor payments into two cashier's checks over a fourteen-month period. - Tillman had competed in the Tri-County Harvest Fair in 2016 and 2017, placing second both years with a peach lattice-top pie featuring crystallized ginger. - Tillman left three ATM withdrawals at the daily maximum from three different machines in the 48 hours before disappearing, abandoned her car at a park-and-ride, and left no digital trace thereafter.

The Weekly Call That Trapped a Fugitive: The Cadence of Hensley A steady Wednesday-night phone call became the loudest clue in an eleven‑month manhunt: forty-one confirmed calls, each within twelve minutes of 9:15 p.m., led a Deputy U.S. Marshal to a copy center pay phone where a fugitive sat down for twelve minutes and made the same weekly call. How did a habit so small - timed, regular, and made to a mother with mild dementia - map the path that ended a 365‑day chase? In this episode, we follow the timeline from a kidnapping and a ransom payment, to a suspect who vanished with coffee cooling on his counter, to the marshal who tracked him by listening to the calls he never broke. What did the cadence of those calls reveal about where he would show up next? Person: Dale Hensley Date: manhunt duration 365 days Location: Alderton, Pennsylvania (capture) and Caulfield, Tennessee (home) Event: kidnapping of Amber Voss and subsequent disappearance Person: Deputy U.S. Marshal Kelly West - Hensley made forty-one confirmed weekly calls within twelve minutes of 9:15 p.m, to his mother. - The capture occurred at 8:52 a.m. on a Thursday in February at a copy center pay phone where he paid for twelve minutes in cash. - Amber Voss was held for nine days in a converted storage room and was released after a partial ransom payment by her father. - Hensley had a 2007 fraud conviction with an eighteen‑month sentence served and four years in equipment leasing employment. - Deputy Marshal Kelly West held twenty-two closed warrants in eleven years before leading the eleven‑month search.

The Sharpie Clue That Ended a Federal Manhunt Fear closes in when a single handwritten name breaks a federal fugitive's cover: a black Sharpie scrawl on a missing-person flyer revealed the suspect's own identity and became the thread that ended a manhunt. How did a weathered flyer nailed to a trailhead, dated two days before a missed bond check, point agents to a woman who had vanished from supervision? In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from the first sharp, cold morning on Ridgeback Path to the federal warrant and the discovery that connected two separate investigations. You will hear how an ordinary citizen photo, a dog named Biscuit, and one handwritten name forced investigators to ask whether the fugitive had already begun to vanish while still appearing compliant. Person: Sarah Reynolds Date: January 3, 2023 Location: Ridgeback Path, Millhaven, Ohio Event: Federal warrant issued for missed bond check-in on January 5, 2023 Case: Missing-person flyer bore Reynolds's name instead of Kelli Marsh's - A flyer at the Ridgeback Path kiosk was dated January 3, 2023 and stayed there for sixteen days. - Forty-one families in the Millhaven metro invested in Reynolds's managed acquisition fund that collapsed, with $2.3 million missing. - Reynolds had operated the real estate investment scheme for eighteen months before the collapse. - Reynolds missed her bond check-in on January 5, 2023, prompting a federal warrant on January 7, 2023. - On January 19, 2023, Lori Duncan photographed the flyer after her dog Biscuit nosed at frozen mud near the trailhead.

The Blue Marker, the Dead Catfish, and the CFO Who Vanished Danger hides in small betrayals: a blue dry-erase marker taped to a dead catfish pulled from Pelham Sound led a U.S. Marshal to a woman who had been missing for 63 days. How did a methodical CFO who stole $2,340,000 end up sitting on a bench at a diesel cooperative with Walmart reading glasses bought 43 miles away - and why did no one call when the fish turned up? In this episode, we walk through the timeline from a December 11 morning catch to the bench in Bayou Verret, tracing purchases, aliases, and ledger corrections to ask whether disappearance was escape, miscalculation, or something stranger. Person: Pamela Armstrong Date: December 11 (marker found); missing for 63 days Location: Bayou Verret, Louisiana bench where she was found Event: $2,340,000 moved through Nevada shell company Tallow Bridge Consulting Item: blue dry-erase marker taped to a dead catfish - The dead catfish with a blue dry-erase marker was pulled from Pelham Sound by Patricia Peterson at 5:40 AM on December 11. - Pamela Armstrong pleaded guilty in April 2019 to moving $2,340,000 through Tallow Bridge Consulting and was due to be sentenced on October 21. - An ankle monitor was found in a storm drain near Armstrong’s apartment along with a Walmart receipt from Demopolis for reading glasses purchased 43 miles from her home. - A fake Mississippi driver’s license in the name Susan Hale was purchased for $4,000 from former paralegal Greg Toomey. - Two weeks after the marker was used to rewrite a cost-proration formula, a U.S. Marshal found a woman in her fifties on a bench outside a diesel fuel cooperative in Bayou Verret with a legal pad and Walmart reading glasses.

Survey Photo, Running Engine: How a Truck Ended a Fugitive's Run A single survey photograph captured a running 2009 Ford Ranger with its driver's door open and a green duffel on the ground-no person in sight-and eleven minutes later the truck still sat alone; can a camera and one prescription bottle really end a thirty-one-day federal manhunt? This episode leads with that concrete image and asks how routine habits and a small medical need betrayed a fugitive who thought he had disappeared. In this episode, we follow the timeline from a courthouse lunch recess on October 8 to a discovery on November 9, tracing motel receipts, a fraudulent passport, and the quiet access to a storage unit that left a truck waiting like a trap; how did those threads combine to point Deputy Marshal Lauren Berry to Ronald James Taylor? Person: Ronald James Taylor Date: October 8 to November 9 Location: New Mexico scrubland; Tucumcari storage unit Case: Seven-year investment fraud totaling $2.3 million from 19 victims Investigator: Deputy Marshal Lauren Berry - Photograph taken at 9:45 a.m. on November 9 showing a 2009 Ford Ranger with driver's door open and green duffel on the ground. - Taylor had been missing for 31 days after leaving the courthouse on October 8 during a lunch recess. - The fraud scheme ran seven years and moved $2.3 million from 19 mostly retired victims. - Approximately 14 months before arrest, Taylor submitted a fraudulent passport application with his own photo under a false name. - Taylor used nine motel rooms across four states, paid in cash, and took Lisinopril 10 mg daily, a medication that left a medical trace within 72 hours.

The Yellow Boot That Betrayed Her: How a Fugitive Was Traced A single yellow rain boot filled with dry lentils, left on a back step, became the tiny breadcrumb that led federal marshals to a woman who had been missing for fourteen months - but how did a child's boot and a shredded paper bin point to a reading rug in a children's section? Which small, repeatable choices unspooled a careful life into a four-week manhunt? In this episode, we follow the timeline from a routine vendor dispute to a vanished bookkeeper and the techniques that tied money, memberships, and a volunteer habit to a single identity; how did a ledger, a fingerprint on rubber, and a donated boot converge to reveal where she was hiding? Person: Jennifer Morgan Age: 29 Date last seen: August 2021 (disappearance discovered by investigators) Date located: October 18, 2022 at 1:58 p.m. Charge: Alleged skimming of approximately $63,000 over 26 months - The thefts occurred over 26 months and totaled roughly $63,000 by forensic estimate. - Discrepancies in vendor payments ranged from $3 to $11 per transaction. - A routine billing dispute over $31 triggered a criminal complaint in spring 2021. - Jennifer volunteered weekly for about 2.5 years at Garfield Falls Regional Hospital’s pediatric therapy clinic. - Marshals located her on October 18, 2022 at 1:58 p.m. sitting on a children’s chair at Morrow Station Public Library.

The Throw That Tripped a Fugitive: How Monica's Habit Ended Eight Years A single accidental photograph captured a federal fugitive standing alone throwing a baseball eight years after she vanished; the image was taken at 2:17 p.m. on September 6, 2023, and the woman was later identified as Monica Owens. How did a routine, compulsive habit - twenty minutes of throwing at a backstop before games - become the one thing that unraveled an eight-year disappearance? In this episode, we trace the timeline from a Columbus securities trial to a levee in Dillon Reservoir and follow the investigative threads that bridged them, revealing the small, repeated behaviors that expose fugitives. What happened between Monica's courtroom exit and the photo that ended the manhunt? Person: Monica Owens Date: September 6, 2023 Location: Dillon Reservoir, Parcel, Colorado Case: Columbus fraud trial that led to flight in 2015 Losses: $41,000,000 total to 360 investors - The photograph was taken at 2:17 p.m, on September 6, 2023, by wildlife photographer Janet Lewis. - Monica Owens had been a compliance officer at Harland Capital for 22 years before the fraud case. - Three hundred sixty investors suffered total losses of forty-one million dollars. - Monica walked out of the courthouse on day four of her trial in March 2015; her Subaru, purse, phone, coat, and reading glasses were left behind. - For over a decade Monica threw alone for twenty minutes before recreational softball games in Westerville, Ohio, a habit noted by coaches and later by investigator Amanda Simpson.

The Glove, the Tattoo, and the Woman Who Disappeared A single latex glove with a child's crayon drawing and the words "we're sorry" turned up on a welcome mat - a deliberate message that preceded the disappearance of an entire household. How did a tattoo on a forearm and a payroll number eleven dollars off become the quiet clues that toppled carefully constructed aliases? In this episode, we follow the paper trail from a paper route discovery to the U.S. Marshals' fugitive unit, tracking the sequence of aliases, motel registrations, and routine reconciliations that led investigators closer to the missing woman. What small, ordinary attentions finally answered where she had gone? Person: Marcia Bauer Date: March 2010 (robbery), August 2011 (glove found), September 2010 (case opened), October 2010 (motel & staffing), November 2010 (Donna alerted) Location: Kellner Drive; Kellerton, eastern Indiana; Columbus; Zanesville Status: Fugitive case handled by Deputy U.S. Marshal Donna Osborne - A 15-year-old girl, Jennifer Larsen, found the glove at 7:14 AM on a Tuesday in August 2011. - The robbery involved $4,060 taken by 25-year-old Colin Saber in March 2010; he was arrested 72 hours later. - Marcia Bauer was 22 when she withdrew $800 from an ATM and boarded a Greyhound to Columbus after the robbery. - Motel registration in Zanesville used the alias Dana Krell and was noted because the room was unusually clean by clerk Abe Sutter. - A payroll reconciliation in October flagged an $11 discrepancy that led Sheila Vance to trigger a chain of calls reaching Donna in November.

The Rabbit, The Payphone, and the Molar That Caught Her A cracked lower-left second molar, a rabbit that chirped, and seven handwritten notes tucked inside a mint tin-small traces that ended a decade of running. How did a tooth and a payphone lead federal marshals to a woman who had disappeared through a courthouse bathroom window? In this episode, we follow the sequence of records, calls, surveillance and patient detail that connected an alias to a real name and led to an arrest; you’ll hear how laundry industry W-2 filings, a payphone tin, and dental records combined to answer the question: what finally stopped Carol Ramsey? Person: Carol Ramsey Date: July 23, 2013 Location: Columbus, Ohio Case: disappearance after courthouse escape in 2003 Investigator: Deputy U.S. Marshal Melissa Boyd - Carol paid $240 in cash for a tooth extraction at 9:51 AM on July 23, 2013. - A federal marshal spoke her real name aloud twelve feet from the dentist’s office door. - Carol had climbed through a courthouse bathroom window on the fourth day of her trial in 2003 and drove away in Frank Pulver’s parked car. - Deputy Marshal Melissa Boyd linked a 2003 dental image (cracked lower-left second molar) to a 2013 photograph of a woman leaving Sunrise Wash carrying a canvas tote. - Seven handwritten notes were found six months after the arrest, the last dated the day of arrest and mentioning feeding the rabbit on time.

She Set Down Her Tools - Federal Marshal Finds Fugitive at Dawn Fear that a careful contractor could be a killer: a retired schoolteacher dies in a house fire caused by bypassed arc-fault breakers, and nine months later a federal marshal finds a fugitive walking out with a bag of tools at 5:50 a.m.; how did Frances Mason vanish into plain sight and what finally made her stop? In this episode, we follow the timeline from a routine contractor hire to a fatal fire and the marshals' pursuit, tracing every rental, alias, and repair that built the case - could small details like month-to-month leases and cash payments be the clues that solved it? Person: Frances Mason Date: Friday in June at 5:50 a.m. Location: Dillard Street rental unit Victim: Barbara Finch, age 61 Investigator: Deputy Marshal Laura Porter, age 43 - Fire investigator found two arc-fault circuit breakers removed and bypasses installed with no safety rating. - Crestline Property Services had operated in Claiborne County for eleven years and visited the Finch property three times over four months. - Frances Mason rented the Dillard Street room in early February 2019 under the name Patricia Cobb, paying three months' rent upfront in money orders. - Lou Bassett paid $400 in cash for a garage electrical repair in Trinway where the worker gave the name Patricia Cobb and left no phone number. - Deputy Marshal Porter began the federal fugitive file in September 2018 and noted in October: "not someone who can stay still."