True Crime The Second Story

A logging road in Washington's Olympic Peninsula holds mysterious boot prints - how did a bookkeeper vanish? The fuel receipt placed a killer heading north This episode recounts the perplexing discovery of footprints on a logging spur and the subsequent investigation into the disappearance of Judith Perry. It explores the initial contradictions in the evidence and the questions they raised for law enforcement. Person: Judith Perry Date: June 13th Location: Hallet Creek, Olympic Peninsula Occupation: Bookkeeper Evidence: Danner Logger tread prints - Ronald Cox, a Clallam County road grader, discovered fourteen boot prints on FS-seven logging spur that appeared from nowhere and stopped. - Judith Perry, a 28-year-old bookkeeper, had a fixed routine of calling her mother every Tuesday at 6:15 AM, which she missed on June 11th. - Judith's job involved driving the FS-seven spur early on Tuesday mornings to log timber inventory, a schedule known to her mother and coworkers. - Larry Watson, an independent log-truck operator, received weekly dispatch logs that listed Judith's Tuesday-morning runs on FS-seven. - A fuel receipt placed Watson's rig heading north towards Hallet Creek at 4:50 AM on June 11th, contradicting his statement of an early southbound haul.

A woman's phone, still lit in the desert, points to her final moments. The mystery of its power exposes a killer's deadly routine. The phone screen that pointed the way to a killer This episode details the disappearance of Holly Underwood, a young woman whose life revolved around a strict routine. The discovery of her active phone in the desert leads investigators to uncover a pattern of behavior that reveals a calculated plan. Person: Holly Underwood Age: 23 Location: Madera Flats, Nevada Event: Disappearance Object: Active phone screen - Sharon Simmons discovered a lit phone screen on the desert floor, still showing active navigation 38 hours after Holly Underwood stopped breathing. - Holly Underwood worked the swing shift at Crestline Fuels and visited her grandmother, Evelyn Pruitt, every Tuesday night at Ridgecrest Assisted Living. - Roy Norris, a 38-year-old propane driver, made seven Tuesday deliveries to Crestline Fuels over five weeks, but only five were logged by the station. - Investigators found groove marks on the employee entrance latch at Crestline Fuels, consistent with a steel wedge tool used multiple times. - A security camera at Crestline Fuels recorded Roy Norris at the dock in street clothes on a Tuesday night, nine days before Holly died, without a delivery truck.

A licensed electrician reinstalled a hidden crawlspace panel under a lone woman's cottage; when she vanished, investigators ask how that access exposed her. The Crawlspace Panel Powell Reinstalled That Let a Killer In The Crawlspace Panel Powell Reinstalled That Let a Killer In this episode, we follow how routine permit paperwork and a concealed access panel became central to a missing-persons case. The episode traces the timeline from a morning run to a locked cottage and asks what the permit records reveal about patterns across coastal towns. Person: Monica Whitfield Date: March 4-9 (discovery March 6; investigation March 9) Location: 14 Stell Lane, Portavik Person: Michael Powell Event: Reinstalled utility access panel in November (crawlspace panel not on floor plan) - A sneaker found outside and its mate inside a latched window framed the locked-door mystery investigators faced. - Monica’s last confirmed image: 6:47 AM on March 4, walking a one-point-one-mile route past the red channel marker. - Michael Powell, a licensed marine electrician, completed electrical work and reinstalled an unrecorded crawlspace panel in November. - Detective Sergeant Diane Clark tracked the November permit and found Powell was the only documented interior access for the cottage. - Permit searches across three coastal towns revealed a repeated pattern: Powell worked in residences where lone women later went missing or filed complaints in March.

A young woman's body is found in a locked storage unit. Her badge logs show a critical discrepancy - who could have done this? Peggy's badge that entered the facility never left This episode explores the perplexing discovery of Peggy Zeller, found deceased in a sealed storage unit in Minnesota. The initial investigation focuses on how she could have ended up in a location with no apparent access, leading to a deep dive into facility records and personal timelines. Person: Peggy Zeller Location: Harlan's Marine and Storage, Hatchett County, Minnesota Date: January 13th Event: Discovery of Peggy Zeller's body Status: Unexplained death - Peggy Zeller, 24, was found inside Unit 7-C, a storage unit with an intact padlock and no signs of forced entry. - Her body was discovered by a man walking his dog on the newly opened Howard Holmes Trail at Calloway Lake. - Peggy's mother, Bev Zeller, became concerned when Peggy missed her regular Tuesday lunch at Lena's Diner. - Peggy's boyfriend, Nate Ostrowski, last heard from her via text on Friday night, January 10th, at 7:18 PM. - Badge logs show Peggy's badge scanned into Harlan's Marine and Storage at 7:02 PM on January 10th, but no exit scan was recorded.

Eight inches of snow cover a body on Harlow Creek Trail, but only one set of boot prints leads away. A fuel receipt's timestamp may expose a killer's alibi. A Fuel Receipt's Timestamp Exposed a Killer's Alibi This episode covers the discovery of Linda Zimmerman's body on a snowy trail and the initial investigation into the unusual boot prints found at the scene. How do these details challenge the apparent circumstances of her death? Person: Linda Zimmerman Location: Harlow Creek Trail, Dellwood, Montana Date: February 14, 2023 Investigator: Chad Coleman Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma - Linda Zimmerman discovers a body on Harlow Creek Trail with undisturbed snow around it, save for boot prints leading away. - Linda Zimmerman, 48, worked for the local sawmill and was known for her bi-weekly payroll runs on logging roads. - Investigator Chad Coleman notes that the boot prints were on top of 8.3 inches of snow that fell between 6:55 AM and 9:10 AM. - Jeffrey Whitley, 51, a logging road maintenance contractor, had his truck's GPS log place him on Ridgeback Forest Road at 6:15 AM the day before the body was found. - Whitley's fuel receipt from Dellwood Grain and Supply is timestamped 9:47 AM on the morning Linda's body was discovered.

A woman vanishes after bowling league, only to be found in a buried drainage tile. The precision of her disappearance points to a chilling local secret. The fractured drainage tile shoved out Melissa Burns' hand and exposed her body This episode details the discovery of Melissa Burns' body in an unexpected location and the subsequent investigation into her disappearance. It explores the meticulous nature of the crime and the clues left behind that challenge initial assumptions. Person: Melissa Burns Date: January 14 Location: Harwick County, Indiana Object: Drainage tile Investigator: Detective Sergeant Lisa Olson - Howard White discovered a left hand with a turquoise ring extending from a fractured concrete drainage tile in Cutler Creek. - Melissa Burns, 32, was last seen walking to her car at 9:17 PM on January 9 after a bowling league game. - The investigation focused on how her body came to be inside a buried drainage tile 200 yards from the nearest road. - Melissa's car was found back in the bowling alley parking lot the next morning, with her bowling bag and shoes still in the trunk. - Detective Sergeant Lisa Olson was struck by the detail of the bowling bag in the trunk, indicating Melissa never made it home.

A county surveyor finds a body in a desert wash kept warm by a heater-who replaced the batteries? The Replaced Batteries Exposed a Killer This episode details the discovery of Connie Lawson's body in a remote desert wash and the puzzling detail of a still-running portable heater. The investigation into who changed the heater's batteries uncovers a chilling truth. Person: Connie Lawson Location: Seco Flats Road, Nevada Date: December 11th Item: Portable space heater Observation: Batteries replaced - Lori Wells, a county surveyor, discovered Connie Lawson's body in a dry creek bed off Seco Flats Road. - Connie Lawson, a 52-year-old night-shift dispatcher, lived 4.1 miles from US-93. - A portable heater found with the body was still running, despite its D batteries having a four to six-hour lifespan. - Roger Sawyer, a 41-year-old long-haul trucker, had access to Ridgecrest Freight's dispatch records, which showed a 90-minute radio silence window every Friday at 2 AM. - Sawyer's fuel card was used at the same Pilot 9 truck stop on US-93 just 66 minutes after Connie Lawson signed the register there.

A white van registered to Watson Marine passed Kelly Sawyer’s house the night she vanished-how did that van expose them? The Cargo Van Registered to Watson Marine Turned Southbound and Broke the Alibi In this episode, we follow the sequence of small details that drove a murder probe in a North Shore harbor town: a locked harbormaster’s office, a pair of reading glasses found inside it, and a traffic record that placed a business van near the victim’s house the night she disappeared. How did a piece of hardware nobody had checked in two years change the direction of the investigation? Person: Kelly Sawyer Date: November 3, 2024 Location: Cutter's Neck tidal flat; Harbormaster's Office; Tidal Market Person: Tom Breck Event: Toll reader logged a white cargo van registered to Watson Marine at 6:15 PM traveling southbound - A pair of Kelly Sawyer’s reading glasses were seen on a store camera at 5:45 PM and then found folded on the interior windowsill of a Harbormaster’s Office sealed since October 31. - The Harbormaster’s Office had two keys controlled by Tom Breck and the Department of Public Works; Kelly’s name never appears in the handwritten access ledger. - Kelly’s body was recovered on a tidal flat 1.1 miles from her house with blunt force trauma and ligature; the glasses were not found with the body. - Detective Clifford Ford spent three weeks interviewing harbor people, reviewing Kelly’s employment records, emails, and contacts while the access ledger ruled out informal entry. - A toll reader on Route 127 recorded a white cargo van registered to Watson Marine traveling southbound at 6:15 PM, 0.4 miles from Kelly’s front door on the night she vanished.

A woman sits inside a boathouse padlocked from outside - how did a three-and-a-half-inch gap and an interior latch enable it? the three-and-a-half-inch gap that let him latch the boathouse from the outside In this episode, we lay out the scene that begins with Rhonda Russo found seated in a boathouse padlocked from the outside and trace the physical details and timelines that make the discovery impossible at first glance. What sequence of small choices, hidden hardware and phone records set up a door that could be locked from the outside while someone sat inside? Person: Rhonda Russo Location: Calvert Lake boathouse Date (found): September 4, 2022 Contractor: Gary Nelson Initial reporter: Ralph Sheridan - Inspectors noted the padlock was original, seated, with no tool marks on the hasp or lock body. - A three-and-a-half-inch untreated gap in the door jamb dated to work done in June 2019 during a re-shingling job. - The door contained a hidden secondary interior latch mounted behind a wall bracket that would be invisible unless you knew where to look. - Phone and invoice records place the contractor’s phone near the lake at 23:14 the night Rhonda was last documented, despite an invoice listing a job 40 miles away the next morning. - Witness Ralph Sheridan saw the door ajar at 6:10 a.m.; Detective Paul Anderson arrived at 6:48 a.m. and found the door closed and the padlock intact.

A suitcase on a desert highway leads investigators to a missing freight coordinator. Does the Alderton Rail Depot hold the key to the disappearance? The depot van log that counted the missing miles This episode explores the disappearance of Norman Bell, a freight coordinator trainee in Alderton, New Mexico, after a poker night. The discovery of his suitcase and a peculiar van log entry raise questions about what truly happened. Person: Norman Bell Location: Alderton, New Mexico Date: August sixth Object: Suitcase Vehicle: Depot cargo van - Kent Moore discovers a suitcase on Route Nine, four-point-one miles east of Alderton, containing work clothes, boots, poker chips, and a weekly pill organizer. - Norman Bell, a 23-year-old freight coordinator trainee, lived in Alderton for 14 months and had a heart-rhythm condition requiring daily medication. - Norman's truck broke down at the depot, and his supervisor, Diane Weber, offered him a ride, stating she had a late freight run. - Diane Weber logged the depot cargo van out at 10:58 PM, 22 minutes before Norman's truck breakdown was officially reported. - Carla Odum, the depot stationmaster, found the van log entry and later, fuel receipts showed 31 miles driven, with 23 unaccounted for by freight manifests.