The Mystery of the Boy in the Barrel: How a Sister Tracked Down Her Brother’s Killer | The Case of Alicia Villegas | UNSEEN

This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom. For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story. The stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview. The first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old. The tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe. These are the moments that make Nordstrom, Nordstrom. Big or small, we're here for all of it. Celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead. Discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. This barrel hides a disturbing secret. It was found floating off the coast of California in 2017. A man in a hazmat suit carefully opens the sealed drum. Inside, he discovers decomposing human remains. But there is no way of identifying the body. Two weeks earlier, just five miles away from where the barrel was found, a woman named Alicia calls the police after her little brother, Omar, goes missing. When the police arrive at the brother's residence, his landlord shows them around the property. But strangely, all of Omar's stuff is gone. And the place looks as if no one has ever lived there. Alicia is told that there isn't enough evidence to open a case into Omar's disappearance. And even the landlord tells her that he hasn't seen her little brother in weeks. The problem is, the landlord is lying. The circumstances surrounding Omar Medina's disappearance would have remained a mystery if it wasn't for Alicia, who would stop at nothing to find her little brother and uncover the terrifying truth, hiding in plain sight. The year is 2017. Off the coast of California, in the San Diego Bay, there's a marine worker out on the water, going through his usual routine. On this particular day, everything appears normal, until something catches his eye. Floating in the distance is a large, gray object. As he moves closer, he realizes it's a metal barrel. Steel cables have been drilled into the base, with cinder blocks attached, clearly meant to weigh it down. But instead of sinking, it's floating near the surface. Seeing it as a potential hazard for other boats, the worker calls the San Diego Harbor Police Department to report it. At that moment, he has no idea what's inside. Five miles away from where the barrel is found, a woman named Alicia Villegas is desperately searching for her younger brother. For over two weeks, she's been calling the police. Reaching out to friends, knocking on doors, asking anyone if they've seen him. But there's been no sign of him anywhere. Her little brother Omar means everything in the world to Alicia. We grew up in a single-family home. And me being the oldest, I have a middle brother, and then he was a baby. She's been like my second mother. She's been there through thick and thin. She's awesome. Alicia and Omar are not alone. Omar are not only brother and sister, they are the best of friends. When Alicia started a family of her own, Omar became involved and a loving uncle to Alicia's children. They are a close, connected family. Omar and I would talk consistently, like multiple times a day. So we knew pretty much where Omar was at all the time. If not, we would check in with each other. But on September 30th, 2017, everything changes. After a day out with friends, Alicia heads home, expecting to find Omar at their mother's house as they had plans to see each other later that evening. But when she walks in, her little brother is nowhere to be found. I'm like, "Okay, where's he at?" So I sent him a message, and I saw that in Messenger that he received it. So I'm like, "Okay, his phone's on. He received my message. He'll answer me later." October 12th, 2017. I'm like, "Okay. I'll call you back." October 12th, 2017. Five miles from where Alicia and Omar live, the harbor police respond to the report about the floating barrel in San Diego Bay. When they arrive, they pull the barrel from the water. They notice that, strangely, several cinder blocks have been affixed to the base. Clearly, whoever disposed of this barrel did not want it to resurface. An officer in a hazmat suit carefully begins opening it. As he removes the lid, he is visibly taken aback. Inside is a partially decomposed body. And the story behind the body in the barrel is even more disturbing than they could have ever imagined. It's the evening of September 30th, 2017. These are the moments you've been missing. Moments that make Nordstrom Nordstrom. Alicia, back at her own house, tries to contact her brother. But as the hours go by, Omar still hasn't answered any texts or calls. That's when I started getting a little bit worried. But then I'm like, okay, he went out with some friends or I don't know. Alicia goes to bed that night, concerned, trying not to overthink the situation. It could just have easily been that Omar forgot to charge his phone or that he lost cell service. The next morning, though, my mom calls me and she tells me, "Have you spoken with Omar?" And that's when I started to get a little bit worried. The next person Alicia contacts is Omar's landlord, a man named Timothy Cook. Omar had been subletting a room from him in a house not far away from Alicia. Hoping he might have some answers, Alicia calls him. Cook tells her he has no idea where Omar is. He mentions that, the night before, Omar had been drinking and didn't seem to be in a good headspace. And that was the last he'd seen of him. Hearing this doesn't make sense to Alicia. She decides to contact the police for help. I told them that my brother was missing and just some things were not adding up. We needed help to locate him. But Alicia doesn't get the help she needs. When she reports her little brother missing, she is told there isn't enough evidence to prove that Omar didn't disappear willingly. And until there is more to go on, cops won't open an investigation. If somebody is over the age of 18, and unless they have a medical condition, they will not go look for them. That's what I was told. When you're an adult, you can go missing. People do go missing of their own volition. Alicia knows her brother would never just leave without telling her first. She needs answers. But without support from the police, finding Omar will be an uphill battle. When somebody is missing, it's like the worst feeling you could possibly feel. Are they in danger? Do they need help? The desperation of somebody missing is just horrible. I don't know if I'm the only one in this situation, like this time is of the essence. Alicia begins calling any place she can think of to help her find out what happened to Omar. She calls hospitals, local jails, friends, and family. But no one has any lead on where Omar might be. She requests access to his phone records in an attempt to track his location and see who he was in contact with before he vanished. But Omar hasn't used his phone since September 30th, the last day Alicia spoke to him. She says he's been missing for a few weeks since Omar's disappearance. And at this point, Alicia feels like she's no closer to figuring out where he is. Undeterred, Alicia shifts her focus, this time trying to find some sort of physical clue that might indicate his whereabouts. Something that might pick up the trail from where his phone records left off. She gathers friends and organizes a search, wanting as many eyes on the case as possible. Together they begin combing through the neighborhood, looking for anything, no matter how small, that could lead them to Omar. October 7th, 8 days since Omar's disappearance, finally, a break in the case. Alicia's search party has finally found their first piece of real evidence. I get a call, "Hey, we found your brother's car. You need to come down here like right now." It was only like two, three blocks away from where Omar lived. I'm looking at it, all his stuff is in the car. I had a lot of emotions going on because we finally found something. It had been a week. Omar's car had been left behind in an unusual spot, and the fact that it's there at all doesn't make any sense. If Omar had chosen to leave, why abandon his car like this? It's sitting alone just a few blocks from his apartment, and through the windows, Alicia can see it is packed full of his belongings. Alicia then calls 911. She finally has proof. Omar didn't leave under normal circumstances. She hopes the cops will finally believe her and take the situation seriously. His car was parked several blocks away from where he actually lived. It was unlocked. There was stacked with a bunch of property inside of it. There's actually things, computers, there's guitars, there's really nice clothing. Considering the neighborhood that it was parked in, that's not very normal to leave your vehicle unlocked with all that property. It's not like you're just going to leave your car, and you're going to have to leave your car, and you're just going to have to leave your car, and you're going to have to leave your car. to this. This is something more suspicious. It's more than just a missing person who just hasn't contacted their family in a few days. It's been a week since Omar went missing, and police finally start listening to Alicia and agree that something ominous must have happened to her little brother. Alicia pleads with officers to check Omar's place. It's only four blocks from where the car was seemingly abandoned. She believes that there has to be a clue somewhere in the house. I asked the officer if she could please go to the house and see if they could find any indication of what could have happened. Officers from the Chula Vista County Police Department walk up to the front door. Omar's landlord, Tim Cook, answers the door. I asked if he had seen Omar. Tim told me he had not seen Omar for six or seven days. The officers ask Cook if they could enter the residence and take a look at Omar's room. He is cooperative and friendly, inviting them inside. And I wondered where Omar's room was, and he said it was out back. And when he said out back, I didn't realize it was a house, actually, in the backyard. As they approach the small unit, something immediately feels off. The small house in the backyard where Omar had been living has been stripped down to the studs, drywall removed, flooring, torn, etc. It looks like the carpet has been recently pulled up, and there's what looks like water pooled in an area on the ground. Alicia and the police are left with more questions than answers. There's nothing left in his room. No trace that Omar had even been living there at all. The situation feels unsettling. At first glance, it seems possible that Omar packed up and left on his own, putting all his belongings in his car and driving off. But then where did he go after that? With no warrant to allow them to investigate further, the police are forced to leave the property, without getting any closer to the truth. But Alicia won't give up hope. She begins going through everything found in Omar's car, trying to find another clue. And that's when she finds something. Something that might just lead her to her little brother. She finds several receipts. One of them is from a nearby pharmacy, and another from a fast food restaurant. Both are dated September 30th, the night he disappeared. I took the receipts to the police station, and I told the detective, these are the last places that my brother was at. You could go and get the surveillance footage. Thanks to Alicia, investigators pull surveillance footage from the places Omar visited. Piece by piece, Omar's last known movements are revealed. He's seen browsing the aisles, making a few purchases, and eventually stopping to get food. That final stop is just around the corner from his home. Omar doesn't appear to be in distress. He isn't being followed. He seems calm, going about his day like normal. There's no sign of anything unusual that same night. After returning home, Omar's phone goes offline and never comes back on. And his cell phone appears to be the only thing missing from his car. According to his landlord, September 30th was the day Omar loaded all of his belongings into his car and left, but Alicia and the cops know that his car was found only a few blocks away. With no trace of Omar. After September 30th, there are no further bank transactions, no phone activity, no purchases. Alicia knows something doesn't add up, and the question remains, where did he go? And where is he now? Back off the coast of California, in San Diego Bay, an investigative team and forensic specialists begin examining what's inside the barrel. The harbor patrol opened up the lid. And they can see a brown blanket and what was a human hand sticking out from the blanket. So then in fact, we knew that we had a human body and it was a homicide investigation began at that point. After collecting evidence at the scene, the body is transported to the medical examiner's office where an autopsy is performed. The ocean water has sped up the decomposition of the body and washed away much of the evidence. Because of this, there's no immediate way out. But what is clear to see are the victim's injuries. There are approximately 66 stab wounds across his face, neck and back. This man, whoever he was, has been brutally murdered. Given the way that the victim was disposed of, it was someone who really would go to any lengths to make sure that this victim was never found again. Clearly, the killer was counting on the cops either never finding the body or being unable to identify it. But that's when investigators notice one detail that will change everything. On the body, there is a small tattoo, located on the victim's ankle. As investigators review missing person reports, they begin reaching out to families in the area, asking a specific question. Then Alicia gets a phone call, one she had hoped to never receive. Alicia confirms with the officers that, in fact, Omar did have the exact same tattoo. Omar's case is officially ruled a homicide. Alicia's little brother has been murdered. I don't know if you've ever heard the cry of a mother when her son has been taken. It is the worst cry you will ever hear. I mean, it breaks your soul. He wanted to have a wife and he wanted to have kids and, you know, and I would tell him, I can't wait, you know, to be an aunt to your kids and love on them and have that experience. Now that has been taken away from me because I'm never going to get to experience it or see him that way. As strong as I try to be in front of my mom, in my times alone, I would break down and just cry and just sob. Desperation that I'm never going to see him. Like, if I think about it a little bit too hard, I'll go crazy. Omar Medina's family and friends are left grieving the loss of a young man whose life was taken far too soon. The entire community is shaken, struggling to understand how this could have happened. But whoever killed Omar is still out there, free to attack again. Alicia and her family need the police to find Omar's killer before it's too late. We really had to work backwards. And figure out what happened to Omar. Investigators start with what they do know: the location of the barrel and Omar's body. First, they need to find out exactly how it ended up in the bay. A logical starting point was video surveillance from the marina and the bay area. That area of the marina is controlled by the Port of San Diego Harbor Authority and there's cameras that cover different parts of the bay. They scan through hours of video. From the days leading up to October 12th, the day the barrel was found, on the footage dated from November 11th, they suddenly see something strange from a camera overlooking the jetty of the Chula Vista Marina. You can see what looked like a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Attached to it was smaller boat, sort of looked like something you would take out on a lake. Those are freshwater boats, they're designed for freshwater fishing and here it is going in the saltwater Pacific Ocean. That boat didn't belong in that kind of water. The security camera captures the truck backing up to the water. As the footage continues, the boat is launched and heads out past the jetty, moving into the bay. From a distance, it's hard to make out clearly, but it's seen heading out into the harbor before disappearing from view. But strangely, the boat returns in less than one hour, not long enough for a typical fishing trip. And as the police look at the boat more closely, they notice that it doesn't look the same as it did in the earlier footage. In fact, when comparing the before and after, it's clear that when the boat returns, it's sitting significantly higher up in the water. It became quite apparent that there had been something very heavy in the boat when it first went out that was no longer there when it returned. The footage shows two people, one on the boat and another standing by the green pickup truck. Water quality isn't good enough. Investigators can't make out any identifying features on either the boat, the truck, or either individual. Still, it's clear that whoever these individuals are, they have quickly become the investigation's prime suspects. With the date and time frame established, detectives then begin collecting surveillance footage from the surrounding buildings, hoping to spot the vehicle and boat as it leaves the marina. If they can track where it heads to next, they might be able to identify the owner after reviewing hours of footage. With the footage from businesses within a five-mile radius of the marina, and following every possible route that could have been taken, they finally spot the truck and boat again. The pickup had gotten on the highway, moving away from the harbor. Further along the route, a gas station security camera captures the same green truck towing the boat and, this time, the vehicle's details are more clearly visible. - When do you start? The driver of the truck walks in and we can see he's wearing shorts, a maroon-colored shirt, and a green hat. And he walks up to the cash register and purchases some items. That's when investigators notice something. As they zoom in on the footage, they see a tattoo on the back of the man's leg. It stands out because they've seen it before. Two weeks earlier, they had visited Omar's home, and the landlord, Timothy Cook, answered the door. Body cam from officers at the scene shows Cook walking through the house with his leg tattoo visible. Same placement, same design. It's clear that he is the same man as the one seen in the gas station footage. At that moment, Omar's landlord becomes the primary suspect. Whatever his involvement, he is directly linked to his disappearance. Investigators begin round-the-clock surveillance on Timothy. Monitoring his home and his movements, searching for anything that can tie him to Omar's murder. They saw Tim Cook out in front of the residence, packing up a lot of stuff in trash bags, loading these trash bags into his vehicle that was parked in the driveway. As Cook leaves his residence, police tail his vehicle. Moments later, officers move in and initiate a traffic stop, beginning a thorough search of his car. Inside the bags, there was various wet rags. Random clothing, and there was a distinct smell of bleach. Police seize the contents of his vehicle, collecting as much evidence as possible. Cops also locate the green pickup truck from the marina and bring it in for forensic testing. As investigators dig deeper, they search Cook's computer, discovering he had access to Omar's full banking details, social security number, and other personal information. Now, a motive begins to emerge: money. Even more disturbingly, investigators learn Cook had previously served 17 years in state prison for attempted murder and only recently got out. That's when detectives begin piecing everything together, and Alicia finally learns what really happened to her brother on the night of September 30th. That night, Omar had returned to the house. Once inside, the ex-convict confronted his tenant with a knife and attacked Omar, stabbing him over 60 times. The only way for Cook to fully recover is to kill him. The only way to fully cover up Omar's violent murder was to strip the place down and scrub everything with bleach. That way, there would be no evidence or DNA left behind. And this plan nearly worked if Alicia hadn't intervened, fighting to uncover the truth. Cook then enlisted the help of a friend with a boat, the other man seen in the footage. The next morning, the pair placed Omar's body inside a barrel, loaded it onto the boat, and took it out into the bay, where they dumped it into the water. Later that evening, bank records also show Tim Cook made a suspicious deposit into his own account from a nearby ATM. The evidence is overwhelming. Cops know they have the right man. I remember getting a call that they had made an arrest that morning and that it was Tim, and I just remember sobbing. I was just sobbing, like, uncontrollably. It was a special moment. At the sentencing, Alicia finally had the chance to confront the man who took her brother from her. Standing at the podium, she speaks, not just as a witness, but as a sister, giving the court a glimpse into the depth of her love for Omar. Giving the news to my kids was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. And as hard as that was, it was nothing compared to what I had to see my mom go through. I thought that all of this was going to be overwhelming, too overwhelming for me, and that I was going to lose all hope in humanity. I thought that I would be filled with hatred and anger and bitterness. My brother would encourage me to not give up and to strive for better. He would say, don't give up, Alice. We're going to be okay. I miss him telling me that, because no matter how. how upset I was, that always gave me hope and something to look forward to. Not all is lost. Fight for what is right and keep fighting for a better tomorrow. Cook is convicted of second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 56 years to life in state prison. At last, the person responsible is being held accountable. And throughout it all, Alicia's determination is what made the difference. Her persistence played a crucial. a crucial role in getting justice for her brother. Alicia was really involved, and she really got the initial part of the investigation going. Her support and her fight for her brother, her dedication to her family and her brother, was vital. Omar's life may have been cut short, but his legacy lives on through his family. Alicia's story proves that with the courage and determination to do what is right in the face of adversity, this can be achieved. Even when no one believed her, she never stopped fighting for the truth. And for her brother. Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices. 30 pounds of pasta, 3 cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork, and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, Coach. Home of the Save. Join for just $20. $20 at BJ's dot com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer. New members only. BJ's. Home of the Save.