Redditors Who Helped Solve Crimes

Hi, the four-today's episode of Crimes of Reddit. We want to tell you about Mother Knowsmarter, a new crime house original hosted by Nisi Nash and her daughter, Dia. For Nisi, true crime is personal. When she was 15, she witnessed her mother become the victim of a violent shooting. Her mom survived, and today, Nisi and Dia bond over true crime together. Now, they're inviting you in, with comedic relief that lightens things up even when these cases get dark. Follow Mother Knowsmarter with Nisi and Dia Nash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube at Crimes Studios. This is Crimes House. Just under the bridge, the water starts to get heavier, and the trees are a bit thicker. And it was then. He noticed that a red-lose cart was like among the trees. And the two of them pull it out from the trees and start wheeling it back up the hill. But then suddenly Bill stops. He sees something on the cart. He's like, "Hey, what is that rusty-looking stuff?" Whoa. Bill says, "Hank, stop. Look at the fucking cart. Is that blood?" If you're loving crimes of Reddit, please follow, rate, and review us wherever you listen. It helps us build this community, and we love hearing from you. To get early access and not-free listening, subscribe to the Crimes House Plus community on Apple Podcasts. You can also catch us on YouTube, where we include visuals that bring every case to life. And as a reminder, before we get into the stories, if you ever have a story, your own personal experience or a case that you have found on Reddit in the past that you want us to cover in a future episode, please share it with us on our subreddit, which is Crimes of Pod. And maybe we'll feature it in an upcoming episode. That's right. Hey, hi. Another day, another matching outfit, another week of Crimes of Reddit. Yes, we're back. Got some crazy ones today. This is one of my favorite things about Reddit actually. And I feel like when we were first talking about what this show is and what it looks like, we kept going back to the conversation of how Reddit has been such an incredible platform in the true crime community and space in terms of helping solve crimes. Yeah. And that is the theme today. Our stories where editors actually did help solve cases. And I've even read things where investigators and detectives and police officials have said that they go to Reddit. And yes, some of the ideas and theories are super outlandish. But there are some good ideas that they like to read from there. And it's like, oh, maybe they didn't think about this. And they go down those paths. And sometimes it leads to an answer. Yeah. And people tend to dish anonymously on there. Like when there's something unfolding in the public zeitgeist, people hop on there and say, you know, I used to work with this person and have tea. Yeah. So I wouldn't, I'm not surprised to hear that. Right. And stuff. Hop on there just for some extra context. Yeah. And I also, it just makes me feel like the era of don't fuck with cats, like the web sleuths. Yeah. And there's just, there's some truly incredible people in the world who use their free time to help solve cases and they post things on Reddit. So those are, those are the stories we're going with today. Yeah. And there's some good ones, really good ones. I can't wait. As always, I don't know the stories Alexis has picked out. And Alexis has another story that I have picked out. So we're both going to be reacting with you in real time. Shall we do it? Yeah. Okay. Now, before we get into the first story, we do want to give a content warning. There are mentions of murder graphic descriptions of a crime scene and human remains stabbing and gun violence. So please watch and listen with care. Are we ready for the first one? Yeah. As I'll ever be. Okay. So this one is titled My Dad Accidentally Solved a Murder. Oh, this was on the Let's Not Meet Subreddit. Now, the OP starts by saying this is a throwaway account for anonymity reasons. This is a true story, folks. As much as I'd like to be a writer, I'm not one. I've scrolled this sub a hundred times, thinking to myself, has anything happened to me that I could post like I'm sure we all have. It wasn't until last week I started thinking about posting my dad's story here. So spring of 2014 is a slow season for my father's business. The weather is nice and the roads are clear, which means slow shifts at an auto shop. It was mid-April around 4 p.m. My dad, Bill, was walking along the side of his shop. It happened to overlook a small stream and running trail, which he enjoyed gazing at near the end of his shift. The side of his building ran along the top of a steep hill, which turned into the path. About halfway down the hill, he saw a big blue tarp. Oh, no, yes. He started to climb down the hill, so he could grab the tarp because he took pride in the area around his business, which was about 15 feet away, and his plan was to grab it and throw it away. Then he saw a car pull into the parking lot, so he turned around and went back in to help his customer. When 5 p.m. rolled around, he forgot about it. He closed up and went home, and the tarp left his mind. As it would, yes. As it would, he'll deal with it tomorrow. So the next afternoon, Bill was sitting in his office when three policemen came inside. They asked my father and co-workers a bunch of questions about any suspicious behavior they might have seen. Side note, my dad is extremely charismatic and friendly. He often talks people into sharing information with him. They really shouldn't. He looks like someone you can trust, and you can. And he seemed to always have the insider details about things like this. He used his humor to make people feel comfortable, which helped getting strangers to open up to him. Anyway, Bill and his co-worker Hank are talking with a female police officer when she lets it slip that a body had been discovered just down the hill. Bill says, "Oh, shit. I was just down there yesterday cleaning. I didn't see anybody, though." Bill said, "Around what time? And did you happen to see a large blue and white tarp while you were cleaning the area?" The police woman asked intensely. Bill says, "Uh, yeah, actually I almost grabbed it yesterday, but I ended up getting distracted." She asked him more questions about what time, what he saw, etc. Then he asked her if the body was found in the tarp, and she says, "Yes, it was. A woman jogging found it this morning around 10.30 a.m." I always feel so sad for people who stumble upon and happen to find, I just feel like that's such a traumatic experience in itself. Yeah, I think about that all the time when I'm in remote areas. Okay, what happens? So, Opie says, "My dad was floored. He was just there yesterday. After a few more questions, the police all had to the crime scene to finish the initial investigation. No one was allowed on the scene, and the police were asking that passerby not take any pictures. Luckily for you guys, meaning redditors, my dad took a picture from his office window. Now Sabrina, if you want to look at the first photo." Oh wow, okay. Great photo. Yeah. Great aerial photo, but you can see just how close this was to Opie's father's business. Right. He really has a front row seat into this crime scene. Geez. So, Opie continues to say, "You can see near the top of the picture, the running trail, just in front of that is part of the creek that's dried up. There are the officers in such searching for whatever they were searching for." Evidence? Yes. You can also see just left of the officer in the black, a teeny shade of blue. That would be the tarp. Flash forward a few days, the police went back to my father's shop. They noticed the security cameras set up around the building, and they were hoping that they might catch something on tape. While transferring the data over, my dad started asking more questions about the murder. And he learned that the victim was a middle-aged man that had been stabbed to death. Oh geez. Really scary. Yeah. Literally like in your own backyard, because it's the backyard of his business, right? Yeah. And he also learned that it was not too much to go on. And he then said this, "Hey, you know, there are a couple shady people that live in this shack behind our shop. It's connected to that bar." Her dad, Bill, started talking about his own predictions for the whole who'd done it, scenarios of this case, and he continued, "Yeah, we have a lot of problems with that, meaning the shady people. They steal scrap metal from the back. They let their dogs run wild. One even threatened to shoot me once when I was out spraying their dogs with water to quit the barking. You should check them out." Now, I will say, "Spring dogs will not stop them from barking." I'm pretty sure that would agitate the situation. Yeah, and people love their dogs, so wouldn't recommend that if you're trying to de-escalate a situation. But either way bill is relying this like hey go look at these shady people who live behind the shop That would be my first lead right the officer nodded at bill Gathered the rest of his things and left Now bill turns to co-worker Hank and says hey Hank let's go down there see if we can find anything cool Now this is after the anything cool now see this is after the crime scene had been cleared sure Presumably I understand the the curiosity I would yeah If they said the scene was cleared and they'd collected everything right intended to collect yeah now Hank says Um, I guess it wouldn't do any harm. Let's go look and agrees and bill and they go They go walk the scene so they started down the hill where the trench was found The grass was flat and the tarp was now gone They walked around for 15 or so minutes when bill headed up the stream a little ways So the trail runs under a main road and then leads to a man-made lake just under the bridge The water starts to get heavier and the trees are a bit thicker And it was then he noticed that a red lows cart was like among the trees Mm-hmm. They're looking at this so like hey, we could use that For our shop. Yeah, sure. So that's what they say. Let's go get this cart. We'll use it for the shop now Bill goes to get the cart then he calls Hank for help Help me with this carthank right as you would and the two of them pull it out from the trees and start wheeling it back up the hill Mm-hmm, but then suddenly bill stops He sees something on the cart. He's like, hey, what is that rusty looking stuff? Whoa, Bill says Hank stop look at the fucking cart is that blood? Oh Is this what was used to move the body? Someone give this girl a badge Detective Sabrina on duty. That's right. So the two men that looked closer and sure enough It was what they thought was blood all over the cart Bill could see that there was blood on the handle on the wheels and on the side But it wasn't just blood that they started to notice He spotted Human hair. Oh, this is so sad now if you have access to these photos There are pictures of the cart as well. Yeah, I see in this with the emoji over the face is opi's dad That's Bill that's Bill and according to OP They're posing pretending to be her ratio from CSI Miami. Okay, I could see it Yeah, I'm like maybe opi's dad has red hair like her ratio. I love that character. Mm-hmm Anyway, they're finding this the realizing this is blood and they are utterly stunned now Bill then calls that police woman back Who he was talking to earlier and explained what they had found? Yeah for whatever reason the police were kind of skeptical that this could be Connected that this could be evidence maybe and I'm just predicting it's because they had missed it or I don't I don't know There's something about if I were a detective I'd be like hmm. How convenient that Bill keeps finding these things having ideas Yeah, yeah, who can be involved Bill? I Don't believe that Bill did it, but I think my I'd be curious. I'd be interesting I'd ask some questions. That's right. Yeah, it sounds like Bill has cameras all around his shop Sure, which is where which yes exonerate him right anyways. They didn't believe Bill at first now when he told them It made no sense for him to make this up. They're like he's right. So they sent out a car Mm-hmm. They sent out two police officers and a CSI Now the CSI asked my dad why he thought this was blood and he says well, it looks like blood, sir And then the CSI said well, how do you know that's human hair and Bill says because sir, it looks like human hair And also given the fact that Bill knows a crime just occurred here his brains are ready thinking crime scene murder and And it doesn't hurt to just check it out correct just make sure Bill's just got a detective. Yeah, the police then in the CSI used a chemical test right then and there and sure enough It determined that this was in fact human blood Which would be crazy if this was going on up This would be crazy if you were Bill. Yeah Then they took the cart as evidence and thanked Bill again Opie says my dad tried to give his opinion on who the mystery killer might be He suggested again that they talk with the crazy shady neighbors who lived behind his auto shop in that shack But still no information was taken down and they left with what they had Mm-hmm. So two more days passed after this and Bill is leaving the shop and apparently there's a small dirt alley that leads to the main road just behind the auto shop and in the past It had been blocked by one of the shady people's cars says Bill and he notices Basically, it's open. There's no car there at this time, right? Something about this moment feels off to Bill and he decides to check it out Then he saw the car that was familiar to him that had blocked this alley in the past and The door was wide open and there was someone sitting on their knees with their upper body inside the car doing some movements Cleaning something up. Yes, so Bill got in his own car and crept up just a little so he could see I'm worried about Bill's safety. Bill's not worried. Bill's being a detective. Okay, what happens? So he recognized the person whose body was in the car the top of her body Knees on the ground. So I'm picturing someone leaning in the car kneeling on the ground outside the car, right? Mm-hmm. So it was a skinny red-headed woman And she was the female who lived in this shack And she lives there with her boyfriend. Okay, this is the shady couple that he knew and that he'd been suggesting the police go speak with Yep, so she was the one who was on her hands and knees and she was surrounded by bottles of chemicals leech comment oxyclean and much more and if you use oxyclean, you know how effective it is So Bill knew right then and there that there was a connection here. I mean he knew From the get go correct and his thought process was why would someone be scrubbing their car with just straight chemicals There was no water. There was no rinsing none of that plus it was the middle of the day on a hot afternoon Second they happened to be just two blocks away from a local car wash So in bills had he's like if they really wanted to wash their car they'd go do it there, right? Mm-hmm again Bill had this feeling that all of this was feeling off and he knew he had a trust his instincts So he pulled out his phone and he started recording her Smart bell call Now he's known this woman and her boyfriend who's lived there for a few years because they have had some conflict sounds like it Yeah, like they complained about if if bills like I think they killed someone There's reason for him to believe that right. So the couple living in the shack would complain about bills workers for one Reason or another he complained about their dogs roaming free harmless sort of like neighborly Bickering sure nothing crazy, right? But Opie says my dad always trying to be the funny guy yells out his window once he's done recording in drives past and says covering up a murder Bill Got a love I love Bill, but like if you believe these people just killed someone I don't know I would not Tempt them or taunt them You're not bill. I'm not bill. I'm definitely not bill now. Opie's dad bill laughs as he drives away hearing her say fuck you as he drives off Them this time when he called the police they took it very seriously He explained that she the red-haired woman was cleaning the car aggressively and that it seemed like she was trying to bleach Something out of the car the next day the police went by to talk with the residents of the shack the day after that they made an arrest After searching the shack they found a large blood stain soaked into the plywood floor once the blood was seen The woman the red-haired woman Crumbled and told the police everything It was her her husband in the victim the victim was named rich. He'd gone over to their little shack to get high In party with them Someone ended up accusing rich the victim of putting some dope aside for himself things got heated Basically an argument over drugs ensued Eventually the red-haired woman's husband started to physically fight with rich Then he stabbed him and rich blood out on the floor and died. Oh, it's so devastating. So senseless So senseless. Yeah, you know the couple who lived in that shack didn't know what to do So they stole the loaves cart to move rich loaded him into the car wrapped him in a tarp and pushed his body down the hill They ditched the cart thinking the river would wash it down far enough that it wouldn't be found So OP says my dad and Hank sat in their car while they watched the police arrest the suspected murderer whose name was Don And Bill took a video of that as well And OP says you can hear my dad very inappropriately yelling out his window. Ha ha killer in the video Bill brazen bill now OP described her dad as charismatic. That's not what I that's not the picture That I'm getting painted. I look I commend Bill for solving the murder. Sure charismatic is not what I'm getting Yeah, I'm getting like Funny guy. Yeah, brazen brazen and funny guy. This isn't like like a delicate touch. - No. - But he can be a multifaceted man. He can be both 100%. These videos, Bill, doesn't have anymore 'cause he switched phones and lost them, unfortunately, because obviously OP has been sharing photos that her dad took along the way. - I will say, I feel like I understand what OP's saying about charismatic. I bet Bill is the type of person who's regaling this story to any person who will listen, holiday dinner tables, bars. - Yeah. - I bet you OP's heard this story 500 times. - Right, and it's probably like, you know those people who are really good storytellers, but they're like of the mentality, like don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, that each time you hear the story, there's a little detail that's exaggerated. It's still like a great story, and he did do an amazing thing, but I could see that being the type of person. - Well, OP, I feel like got this from their dad, yeah. - Yeah, because she's a good storyteller. - Yeah. - So, yeah. Anyways, OP says, my dad says that he's going to start a PI business because he's self-denverter all on his own. Thanks for reading. - Wow. - There wasn't edit that came later, because I don't think the OP was expecting such a massive response at the post-god. - Yeah. - So this actually made the news, and we love to put some official capacity to some of these stories, which we have a couple of those in this episode, yeah. - Right, and the headline is Colorado Springs Man convicted in death of roommate. So apparently Rich probably lived there on and off with Don and his red haired girlfriend. A man accused of stabbing his roommate to death was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder in tampering with physical evidence. Donald Becker, 45, was arrested in April of 2014 after his roommate, Richard Card, 47, was found dead. His body had been wrapped in bloodied blankets and hidden under a tarp by the west side of Monument Creek near Garden of the God's Road. What a great name for a road. - Yeah. - Would you interfere in something like this if you sense that like a crime was happening with a neighbor? - Not to the extent that Bill was, like I wouldn't be, ha ha, he, he, I don't know why I keep saying that. I wouldn't be laughing at someone that I think is responsible for a murder. I just, I, maybe it's because I'm a female and I feel like that's just very unsafe. I also feel like Bill wasn't interfering. He was being helpful. And then after the crime scene was cleared, he then went to go like look in the area, which I wouldn't say is interfering. If it was a close-off crime scene and he wasn't supposed to be going down there, then that's interfering. The only thing that sketched me out was yelling, are you covering up a murder to the woman cleaning the car? - I would never do that. Especially not somebody within your proximity, like in an ongoing way. - They know where you are, they know where you work, yeah, I wouldn't. Because it's almost like Bill was assuming that the police would spring in action right away on this. And that's a very dicey assumption, yeah. Because obviously there are a million reasons why arrests of suspects can be delayed. So I just would never want there to be any downtime where the suspect knows I know and knows I'm cooperating with the police. - Completely agree. - Yeah. And you don't know the circumstance of which or why they might have killed this guy. And you don't know what they're capable of. I don't know, I just, that feels so unsafe for me. - Yeah. - 100%. - Yeah. - But good for Bill. Bill helped. This is one of the situations that it turned out and worked out well. - Yeah. - Wow. - I know. - This is his lore. - That is his Vietnam. - So that's, that's the story I would tell everyone. - Yeah. - Yeah. - That's a good story to share. - Yeah. - With the good ending. 100%. - We could talk about a couple of the comments. One says, like covering up a murder, it seems like your dad gives no fucks. That's hilarious. Another says, "Haha killer, 1010 would want him to solve a crime again." And then one reader said, "Am I the only one who actually read this? Bill and Hank clearly committed the murder and then pinned the deed on their near-to-well neighbors, one of whom-- - The moment in the, in the story when you're reading it, I was like, yeah, and it's like-- - Well, I'm sure the cops thought about that. - Yeah. - But then there was no evidence. - Topson dumb. - Yeah. And there's some joking comments about like congrats on your dad for framing the neighbor for murder. He obviously committed himself. - Good old Reddit. You know, someone's had to say it. - But also, there's probably cases where someone who gets super involved. Or actually, there are. We know super common that there are some killers who get super excited or get like a fix from helping the police and kind of-- - Yeah, but go to the victim. - They go to the victim as they participate in the searches and they like comfort family members. It's so dark. Okay, are you ready for the next one? - Yes. (upbeat music) - I'm really excited for this because it's such an incredible story, but it's also, as we'll go, we'll watch someone on Reddit help kind of solve a cold case. - I love that. - It was very much like don't fuck with cats and it's like a tag team effort. - Okay. - Okay. - So 10 years ago, there was a post on unresolved mysteries and it's titled "Betterter Helps ID Jane Doe from 1975 Cold Case." So they give a little summary and then post the original post, which I will read. - Right. - And these are the two OPs together that kind of become a tag team. - Can we? - Okay. On February 5th, 1975, three boys exploring the woods found a skeleton lying on a sand bar along the Rocky River in Strongesville, Ohio. The skeleton, which was nude and missing its mandible, was found to belong to an 18 to 25 year old woman who had been shot in the head some four to five months prior to the discovery. Detectives checked her against dozens of missing women at the time, including one Ted Bundy victim and even Patty Hearst, but were never able to identify her. The Strongesville Jane Doe was never listed in any public databases like name NAMES or the Doe network and was virtually forgotten. Until this user on Reddit called, their name is Call Me Ice, but her real name and because this is like a public, there are real articles after the fact. I'm gonna share her name. Her name is Christina Skates, but on Reddit, her username was Call Me Ice, came across her cemetery listing and got curious. After doing some digging, she posted a thread here on Reddit in February of 2015. And because of Call Me Ice, slash Christina Skates's incredible research and almost forcing people to look at something that no one was really willing to look at again, people were able to identify the remains of this Jane Doe. So I'm going to read that thread and as context, Christina breaks down like the process, starting with background on the case, so I will kind of read it through that way. So her original post was posted 12 years ago on unresolved mysteries and it was titled Unidentified Gunshot Victim, not listed in databases. She wrote, "While researching another Cleveland mystery, I stumbled upon a cemetery index listing for unidentified female bones." I called the cemetery and was able to confirm that no action had been taken since her internment. So I conducted further research at a local library of newspapers on a microfiche, which turned up a handful of articles. OP, Christina, then contacted the city's detective, searched databases and nothing turned up that they could connect with this woman. And through reading the news articles and archives, OP learned that there was all this very sadly and tragically, there was just a lot of confusion as to who was handling the case. And because of that, the Jane Doe fell through the cracks. The following information is information OP found along with Jane Doe's cemetery index listing. The date of Jane Doe's death was February 5th, 1974. Date of internment was May 15th, 1975. Name unknown, white female bones, address Strong'sville, Ohio, age about 20, cause of death, gunshot wound of head. And then this is the story that OP was able to piece together from articles found in library archives. On February 12th, 1975, the Strong'sville Star published a very short one sentence regarding the case. February 5th, 831 PM, Metropolitan Park Rangers report Human Body Found near Eastland, in park. That's it. Seven days later, on February 19th, 1975, the Strong'sville Star wrote the following. Identification of skeleton still unknown. Efforts to establish the identity of skeletal remains of a young woman found along the Rocky River in Strong'sville recently have thus far proved fruitless. According to a spokesman at the Kayahoga County Coroner's office, we're still trying the spokesman said, but we've gone about as far as possible with what we have now. Only six teeth had been found with the body, which was badly decomposed, after apparently lying along the West Bank of the river near the Baltimore and Ohio railroad tracks for several months. Until someone comes in with a query on a missing person or with dental records, we can match with what we have, there's nothing else we can do. Two teenage boys found the remains two weeks ago, which have been tentatively identified of those of a white woman in her late teens or early 20s. So it's really sad, it's like clear, there's just no answer. answers at this point in time. Then February 27th, 1975, the Strongest Film News son's front page headline. So finally, it's getting front page news. But the headline is, who will bury skeleton? And it's a really like wordy article, but the point of it being that it's like, it truly is every sentence is a different department in this area, basically being like, it's not our problem, it's not our problem, it's only $100 to bury it, but we're not going to spend the money. They're going to do it. And then they're like, well, that's not our business. It's just a bummer. You see how sad it is. And it's like, they start talking. It is a human being who, as far as the remains are saying, they're only like four months ago. And not only are they not focusing on who this woman is, finding out who did it, they're literally arguing about who's going to bury the body. Yeah, it's awful. So after posting all of these articles and the information that they found on the case, OP, Christina Skates, comes back to add an update. She wrote, "Since this post, I have contacted the Strongesville PD Detective Sergeant, the Kaya Hoga County Medical Examiner's Records Department and Administrator, the cemetery again, and I left a voicemail for the Metro Park Rangers Records Department, which also like snaps to Christina. Badass, taking the initiative." I received an uncertified copy of the autopsy report, which details trauma and things like that. The medical examiner verified this woman is still unidentified. My next steps will be to hear back from the Rangers. And I should get a call back from the medical examiner admin in regards to entering Jane Doe into NamUs. As she called, Barara PD, they received the first call, the Western Reserve Medical Center, which was given the skull to examine and the County Sheriff's Office. I will also need to find out about the case manager. So OP's taking so many steps. - Yeah. - And then, so the person who I said in the very beginning, who it was like a tag team situation, saw Christina Skates post on Reddit. And basically asked for permission, like, "Hey, can I post everything you have found on another forum called web sleuth unidentified forum?" And Christina is like, "Yes, absolutely. "Anything we can do to get this information out there." And like, just get attention to it because clearly, yeah, Christina is calling all these people, but waiting on responses. So the more people that know, the better. So that's what this user does. They post all the information that Christina had gathered on Reddit and posted onto web sleuths unidentified forum. And after making some phone calls, they were able to obtain the original autopsy report and case files, including a photo of Jane Doe's skull, which that prompted this man named Carl Kay, who is a forensic artist and web sleuth moderator. So a moderator on that website, to use this photo of Jane Doe's cranium to create a facial reconstruction, which we have the photo of the facial reconstruction on the YouTube video. Can you see the photo? - Yep. - Then, isn't this amazing? - How did you do it from a skull? - How? - There was one year where I was at CrimeCon and I think it was the one that was in Nashville a couple of years back. And they, there was someone set up with a skull and they spent the weekend of CrimeCon modeling the face. And by the end of the weekend, it was a full face. And I was like, this is such incredible. The talent it takes to do it, but then, how many cases it helps solve is unbelievable. - Just crazy to me because every skull looks the same to me. I'm like, I've never seen a discerning skull. - We just don't know. - So there are and educated in that. - I know, but like, you know, it's like, what's interesting about the nose, for example, it's the absence of it. Like, it's a hole. - Right. - You know, it's like, how do you know what a nose looks like when it's not there? Like, it's so interesting to me. I know, it's such a talent. Okay. So then, Karl K creates the facial reconstruction. Then in December of 2016, Karl noticed a new listing on Namus who looked so much like the face he had recreated. It was 17 year old Linda Pagano who had disappeared from nearby Akron, Ohio under mysterious circumstances on September 1st, 1974. Just five months before the remains were found in Strongesville, Ohio. And we have a side by side of these photos, the reconstruction and Linda Pagano. - Wow. - Yeah. That's crazy. - Isn't that unbelievable? Yep. And it's just like, all of these people from all different walks of life come in together on the internet to put these pieces together when no one, no one else was. Yeah, the people whose jobs it was. - Yeah. So then, people start looking up Linda Pagano's story and this is what had happened. Linda had gotten into an argument with her stepfather in the early morning hours after coming home late from a rock concert. She supposedly left home on foot to go to her mother's, there were different reports. One said like mother's house, one said friend's house, according to the stepfather. But never arrived and was never seen again. Her car vanished as well, despite the reports of her leaving on foot. Her car was later found crushed in a junkyard in Salem, Ohio, before it could be analyzed. When Carl Kay, the one who did the facial recognition called the Kaya Hoga Medical Examiner's office, he was told that they had also spotted the match recently and were working on getting Linda's dental records. Then on Saturday, there was an update from Linda's sister. The strongest-filled Jane Doe was a match to Linda Pagano. - Wow. - Years, I think it was 40 years later. If it was not for Christina's amazing detective work and really getting that story out on the internet, which led to the Jane Doe being entered into Namus, Linda never would have been idied. - That's crazy. - For some 40 years, after Linda Pagano disappeared from Akrona, Ohio, her remains were finally identified. And there was this news article that I found. And the most beautiful, but also devastating thing, this Linda's brother, Michael, was quoted saying, he thought he would die, never knowing what happened to his sister. - God, it's sad. - Wait, was there any suspicion about who did it? So technically, this is still an open and unsolved homicide. Linda's stepfather, the one she argued with that night, who is the one who saw her last. On the night of September 1st, 1974, was considered a person of interest, but no charges were ever filed and he passed away in 1990. So the internet seems to suspect him that the stepfather did it, but unfortunately, it's still an open case. But in January of 2019, Linda's family and friends held a memorial service in Akron and laid Linda's remains to rest next to her mothers. - Wow, isn't that crazy? - I just think it's such a beautiful result of people on the internet working together. - Yeah, to do good, to do something really, really amazing. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Wow, impressive. All around, all around. Snaps for everyone involved, 100%. And I did think some of the comments and questions were really interesting because one person was like, what inspired you to look into this case so heavily? An OP or Christina said, doing genealogy, I have a morbid interest in this type of stuff and I just happened to come across her listing and became highly interested because she was so close to my hometown and doing a Google search returned nothing. And then Christina was like, and I was unemployed. So why not sift through the microfiche at a library? Which I love. Good use of your time. - Yeah, like good karma. - Seriously, so amazing. - And I also believe there's no such thing as coincidence. The fact that Christina happened to come across this specific, 'cause the cemetery where Linda's body was first interred, was a place where like, it was considered like a pop or a cemetery where people who were unclaimed or unnamed were buried. So of all the different graves, she could have happened upon. It's this one. - Yeah. - It spoke to her, it did. - I love that, I know. - I love happy ending, happy-ish. - As happy as you can get under these circumstances. At least her family finally got some answers. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Wow. - Yeah. - Well, for next story, Pendulum is gonna swing any other direction. - Oh no. Well, it's more just the types of crimes we're gonna be talking about. Now in this particular context, we're talking about crimes. A crime you had to solve yourself because the police wouldn't help. Which similar to the last story, 'cause police weren't really, this one is the stakes are not as high. - Okay. - But I love the tenacity of the O.P. - Okay. - Ready? - Yeah. The O.P. says, "My wallet got stolen while I was paying at the Dollar Tree. I didn't realize the wallet was gone until I went to pay for lunch next door Burger King. Then I remembered that I took out my wallet to pay for my purchase. set it on the ledge where you write a check and then put the change in my pocket leaving the wallet behind. We've all been there. Yeah. Now, my four-year-old son and I drove back to the Dollar Tree and I told the cashier who had helped me that I left my wallet on this counter. He denied it. I told him it had to be there as I just used it to pay for my purchase. But he insisted I'd left nothing behind. Okay, so suspect number one. Yeah, I feel like I'm already suspicious. Suspect number one. Now, OP continues after a frantic search in the grocery sacks in the trunk of my car. I was positive. I had left it behind inside the store itself. The clerk's insistence that I did not leave my wallet when I was fairly certain I had almost made me wonder if he had something to do with the wallet's disappearance. Theme. Inductive reasoning. Yes. I talked to the manager and asked to see the security tape. She said she couldn't review it for at least 24 hours. Why? The plot thickens. They're all involved. A conspiracy. I knew that by then, whoever had stolen my wallet would have had a grand old time with my cash and bank card. So I called the police. They're not taking no for an answer. They told me it would be a while before someone could respond and that I should go home and wait for their call. An officer came out, talked to the manager at the Dollar Tree, and then called me back. He said that he was going to review the security tape the next day after the 24-hour period was up. Frustrated. And not accepting that. And went back to the Dollar Tree and confronted the manager again. I asked again to see the tape, mentioning that if I had to wait until the next day, and if it did turn out to be the Dollar Tree employee who swiped it, I would sue the company itself. The manager apparently knew a thing or two about corporate liability and decided to pull up the tape. I commend the OB because if you've been involved in a lawsuit, it's not quite that easy. Right. So maybe the manager was just doing you a solid. Yeah. But they pulled up the tape. So OP says, as I watched the tape, the faces were fuzzy, but it was easy to see exactly what had happened. I took out the wallet, handed the cash to the clerk, then I set the wallet in front of me on the check-writing ledge just as I remembered. At that point, I was distracted. For about five seconds by my son, who tried to show me something else that he wanted to buy. At that very moment, I knew the sun was involved. I'm just kidding. At that very moment, the clerk accidentally dropped one of the bills I had given him on the floor. He and I were both distracted for the same five seconds. And in that instant, the man in line behind me snatched the wallet from the ledge and put it in the pocket of his hoodie. How could he, just like this one? I was, that's a turn. I was not expecting. I was sure it was a cashier. Yeah, me too. I think the manager apologized to the clerk for suspecting him. As you should. Yeah. Yeah. And called the police officer back. He said he would go watch the tape and call me back. This has got to be a small town, because if this happened here in LA, I don't think the cops wouldn't even call you back. No, I had a coworker whose MacBook got stolen. And it literally, like you can find the location on find my, like find my phone, whatever. He literally had the location of the person's apartment where his computer was and the police were like, we can't go in there and get it. And then he was too scared. He's like, I don't know who these people are. I don't want to knock on someone's door and be like, I know you have my laptop. Yeah, I don't. I mean, yeah. And that's like, you know where the location is. Exactly where. Have you seen the stories on Reddit where someone has like their phone stolen and they track it like to China. They track it to the Middle East. They track it then to Europe. And they see like, they have a whole map of the journey their phone or laptop has been on. Went on a, like a world adventure. Yeah. It's so funny. It ends up in Australia, like. Damn. At that point, it's like so frustrating. So frustrating. Wipe the phone before you send it across the world. I think you do, but I think it's sort of like, you're so upset that you just have to laugh. And you're like, where is this going? Where is this going to end up, right? Yeah. So OP's not done yet. Of course not. They're going to find their wallet. So the police said, I'm going to go watch a tape and I'll call you back. When the police called back, he said the faces in the video were too fuzzy to give him anything to go on. There. OP says, I asked if he wanted a physical description of the man whom I remembered quite a bit more clearly after seeing this video. But the police man said it really wasn't going to be too helpful. He said, honestly, I should just forget about getting it back because there was a 99% chance that they would never find the guy. I'm also so curious how much money was in the wallet. Because at what point would you just be like, I cut my losses? I would have cut my losses immediately. Yeah. Not OP. I also know like some people are in different places in their lives and how, you know, however much money is that was in their wallet is a really big deal. I think you have to assume the cash is gone no matter what. Like immediately cash is gone. Yeah. It's the principle. It's the principle. I was just going to say this person OP strikes me as one of those. Yeah. So 99% chance your wallet's gone. But OP says, no, no. The physical detail I remembered the most was that the thief had a visible neck tattoo. Something to go on. It was the name Sarah just under his right ear. I also remembered that he had a boy with him who looked to be about 9 or 10. That always bumped me out. That makes me so sad. To like steal in front of your kids and just give them those lessons. Big bummer. Yeah. It had struck me odd that the boy was at the Dollar Tree in the middle of a school day. Wasn't her son with her? Her son's four. Oh, okay. So on a whim, I decided to start calling the elementary schools around the Dollar Tree. Damn. Damn is right. That's using some critical thinking too. But also, what school is going to tell you that this kid was not in school? Well, let's see. Okay. So at the first school, I asked the principal if he had any students in fourth or fifth grade who were absent on that day, who had a father with a Sarah tattoo on his neck. Could you imagine being like an employee at the school receiving this call? I would relish in this. I would be so in. I'd be like, why are you asking these specific questions? Well, no, it'd be like, is this a security? Like, yeah. But like, once I'd realized this is just someone who's being a gumshoe detective, I'd be like, okay, let's play this game. I'm in. Totally. So at the second school, when I asked, the principal got really weirded out. She asked why I wanted to know and I explained the situation. It's as if I was on the other line. If I was that principal, this is how it would go. Her response was careful. But she said, if she did know such a person, confidentiality laws would prevent her from giving me that information, but she could give that information to law enforcement hypothetically. So I gave her the officer's name and number. And she promised to call if she knew anything. 10 minutes later, the officer called me back. "I love this." It's giving the sort of like Larry David intensity he gets about every inconvenience. He's like, I'm going balls to the wall all in on anything that bothers me. So the police officer wanted to know what I had done. And I explained, sure enough, the principal had given him the man's name and address. After speaking with me, the officer went out to the address, knocked on the door and was greeted by a man with the tattoo from the surveillance video. Damn. I know. He admitted stealing the wallet and gave it. He admitted it? He admitted it. I mean, I guess if the proof is on video. Yeah. He admitted it. And the police knocked on your door and gave it along with all of its contents to the officer. All the cash intact. She said all the contents shortly after the officer knocked on my door and handed me the wallet. He said that was brilliant. And he never would have thought of calling the school. Another person who should start a PI business. Maybe this person should team up with OP's dad Bill from Story One. Yeah. I would call them. Yeah. That's a duo. It's thinking outside the box. Yeah. And having like balls, like I'm just too, I would never call. I just, I just would give up. Yeah. There's such a long list of to-dos on my, although I also am one of those people who would busy myself with something that should not, I shouldn't prioritize. Like, I'd be like, oh, I have a million really important things to do. But this small thing, I'm not doing that. I'm going to do this crazy unnecessary thing instead. Yeah. Because that's more. Yeah. That's a great way to procrastinate all the other things I have to do. See, I just don't carry cash. So I would cut my losses and cancel my cards. Have them overnighted. Same. And I have an extra ID. Yeah. Because I lost a wallet. You have an extra ID? Because I lost my wallet in a goodwill store. When I was shopping. So for my wedding, I did like all like mixed-matched like tea party type plates with flowers. So I collected them from like goodwills everywhere. Because I need like 200 of them. Yeah. And I did the same thing. I lost my wallet on the thing. And I went back. I was like, do you know where my wallet is? And I was like, oh, my wallet's gone. Yeah. I cut my losses. Like a week later, I got a knock on my door. I live in a condo building with like secured access. Right. I thought it was a guy being like, is this you? And holding up my ID. like a weird guy. - And it has your address on it, right? - Yes. - But I'm like, how do you get in? You need like a door code to get into my building. - It's waiting for someone to open the door. And he's like, is this you? I was like, yeah. And he had my wallet, no credit cards, wallet, an ID, no cash. At that point, just mail it to you. - No. - He wanted you to know that he stole all your stuff. - Yeah. I mean, my husband's like, he saw your ID picture and he wanted to return it to you. - And he wanted to see you. - Yeah. And I'm like, okay, but now I have two IDs because I replaced it. - Yeah. - And this exact thing with a wallet happened to me, but I just let it go. I was like, whatever. - Yeah. - Because it's LA. It's a big city. No one's gonna, have you ever found someone's wallet and tried to return it to them? - Yes. - You have? - I have. - And I found them on Instagram. And I messaged them and I think it went to their other photo, their other thing. - Yeah. - And like, I just have it. You still have it. Not anymore. But this was like, either I found them on either Facebook or something, but there wasn't money in it. It was like someone had stolen the wallet, taken the cash out and thrown the ID. - Yeah. - So, but this was ages ago. My license does not have my correct address. So if I lost it, it would go somewhere I lived maybe 10 years ago. - Okay, well, maybe you should update that. - I do need to update mine. You can do it online. You don't need to go in. I moved to a different state I need to do. - Yes, okay, I see what's going on here. - Anyway, the long list of things that I need to do that I've been putting off. - Anyways, so, officer thinks OP is brilliant. She gets hired to be a police officer. - She's deputing now. - So the thief got charged with some misting meaner and I was told that I could file personal charges against him as well, but he told the police officer that it was a crime of opportunity that he saw a split second chance to make a buck and took it. I figured that at least I got my wallet back. I didn't ever press charges myself. TLDR, if you have a neck tattoo, it's gonna make it way easier for someone to track you down. If you steal their wallet, I technically have a neck tattoo. - But it's on the back of my nose. - Oh, yeah. - And also you cannot read. I got it when I was 18. You cannot read what it says anymore. So, try to find me now. - Nobody knows, I didn't even know about it. So, it's not like it's up. It's very present in your face, no. - Yeah, no. - What a story, huh? - That's amazing. - I know. - I love that. - I love that and yeah, props, props to OP. - OP takes no shit, no. And also very cool, like we're talking about how it's sad that the man who stole the wallet, that their child saw that. But how cool for OP's child to see how bad ask their parent is. - 100%. Setting a great example. - Don't mess with mom. - I feel like that's such a good story to end on. Like what an uplifting. I feel I'm smiling. - I know. - I'm happy. - But what I really liked about this episode in general, is like every story is a different iteration of like a crime solving. Like the actual murder of solving in the first story. Then identifying a doe in the second. And now just like a personal win for the OP in the third story, I just love that a roller coaster. - I do too. - So, if you've ever helped solve a crime, we wanna hear about it. Or if you have any story that falls in like the true crime category, whether it happened to you or someone you know, we would love to hear them. Please share them with us on our subreddit, which is crimes of pod. We read everything that you post on there. And you guys have been really, I love seeing, you know what's really fun is, I don't know if you have had this experience, but I've been podcasting for how long now. This is the first show that people in my life are actually listening to. Like my close friends. - I mean, me too. - I'm getting texts from my really close friends being like, oh my god, I said the exact same thing and the second you said it. And I'm like, what are you talking about? They're like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm listening to crimes of reddit. - Yep, this is the first, I mean, I've been doing first degree since 2018. And then my mom only listens to crimes of reddit. 'Cause it's on YouTube. And she's a YouTube consumer. - Okay, remember in episode one, I like kind of teased or like hinted at my dad. - Yes. - My dad, last time I saw him, kept me like, oh, I really need to listen to your new show. And I go, ooh, you don't need to. - Maybe a few months. - You don't need to. (laughing) - No, I'm just like a character. - Yeah, he's something else. But yeah, so we're really glad that you're all listening. We're so glad that you're here. It's been so much fun so far. And we can't wait to keep doing it. We love it. And we love all of you so much. Thank you for joining us here for crimes of reddit, a crime house original. - And here at crime house, we wanna thank each and every one of you for your support. And if you like what you've heard today, reach out to us on all social media at crime house. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. And follow crimes of reddit wherever you get your podcasts and your feedback absolutely makes a difference. - We'll be back next Tuesday to pull it more, reddit threads. So we will see you then. - Yeah, we love you. - Bye. - Bye. - Looking for your next podcast? Check out Mother knows murder. A new crime house original hosted by Emmy award-winning actress Misi Nash and her daughter, Dia. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple podcasts. Spotify or on YouTube at crime house studios.