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1:19

of the absolute best parts about

1:21

living in a four-season climate is

1:23

that first truly perfect day of

1:25

spring. It's the light

1:28

at the end of the tunnel, from

1:30

a long, cold and seemingly endless winter.

1:33

Out of nowhere, the skies are

1:35

clear and the temperature rises. The

1:38

promise of summer is just on the

1:40

horizon as the trees begin to blossom

1:42

and the birds all seem to sing

1:44

a little louder. In

1:47

2016, April 16th, was

1:49

that first perfect day of

1:52

spring in rural Muskegon County,

1:54

Michigan. By 9 that

1:56

Saturday morning, it was 62 degrees. Already

1:59

the warmest day of the season by

2:01

far, and 53-year-old Dawn

2:04

Schmidt was among those taking

2:06

advantage of these glorious conditions.

2:09

Making herself a steaming cup

2:11

of morning coffee, she carried it

2:13

outside to her back deck

2:15

and sipped away staring at the

2:18

forest, enjoying the refreshing sunshine.

2:20

But then she heard something

2:22

strange. I

2:25

heard a disruption in a man and

2:27

a woman's voice not far from my

2:29

home down the road. Turning

2:32

her ear to the noise, Dawn couldn't make

2:34

out what the man or woman were saying,

2:37

but soon realized the woman's voice

2:39

was getting closer and closer to

2:41

her home, and it sounded frantic.

2:45

I was sitting on my deck at the time and

2:47

I went through my home and looked out my front

2:49

door and I saw a young lady running down the

2:51

road towards my home. She's about 16. The

2:55

born teenager sprinting down the road

2:57

at full speed was running without

2:59

any shoes, and it

3:01

all took a single look to

3:03

realize the young woman's complete desperation.

3:07

I opened my door and I motioned for her

3:09

to come up the driveway to come to my home

3:11

and to come in the front door. She

3:13

was hysterical. She was a

3:15

wreck. She could hardly

3:17

catch her breath. She was hyperventilating. I was

3:20

trying to get her to calm

3:22

down and she was yelling he's

3:24

got a gun. He's got a gun. Acting

3:27

swiftly, Dawn brought the girl into

3:30

the interior bedroom and closed the

3:32

door before calling 911. She

3:35

had no clue what exactly had happened

3:37

to the poor girl, but whatever it

3:39

was had been enough to frighten her

3:41

half to death. So I

3:44

got her into the bedroom and she

3:46

was literally trying to crawl under the

3:48

bed. She was trying to hide from

3:50

whatever was outside. Nobody

3:52

knew it at the time, but

3:54

Madison Nygaard, the 16 year

3:57

old hiding under the bed in the home of

3:59

a complete stranger had just

4:02

escaped Western Michigan's most

4:04

twisted killer. Join

4:07

me now as we take a

4:09

disturbing look at the Muskegon County

4:11

murders, a pair of unsolved

4:14

and seemingly unconnected murders that haunted

4:16

the area for a year. You'll

4:19

hear the shocking story of an

4:21

undetected killer lurking in the shadows

4:23

of a small town and

4:26

how a failed abduction attempt became

4:28

the tipping point in the

4:30

case that had stumped law enforcement

4:32

for years. Craig

4:39

Harpster clocked out of work at precisely 11pm

4:41

on Friday, April 26, 2013. He

4:48

remembers because even just one minute

4:50

later would have meant overtime at

4:52

the factory in Norton Shores, Michigan,

4:55

and that simply wasn't allowed. When

4:58

he got into his car, the low

5:00

fuel light reminded him to stop and

5:02

get gas on his way home so

5:04

he pulled into his usual stop, the

5:07

Exxon station on East Sternberg Road, around

5:09

11.10pm. For

5:11

some odd reason, Craig couldn't get the

5:14

pump to activate so he walked inside

5:16

the convenience store to see if the

5:18

attending could help him out, but

5:20

when he went inside, he found

5:22

the place strangely abandoned. Taking

5:34

it back by the empty station, Craig

5:36

checked the bathroom, sent the walk-in caller

5:39

to see if anybody was there. Craig

5:41

Harpster proceeded behind the cash register and

5:43

there was an office there. That

5:46

door was open and nobody was in there also.

5:48

In moments like this, it's extremely

5:50

tempting to convince

5:54

that's what i did yourself,

6:00

you're overreacting, that your mind

6:02

is just jumping to silly

6:05

conclusions and there must be

6:07

a simple rational explanation. Besides,

6:10

we don't want to bother anyone

6:12

with our suspicions, but when

6:14

you just know deep down

6:16

something's wrong, it's always a

6:18

good idea to trust your

6:20

instincts, like Craig did that

6:22

day. I don't know if it's emergency,

6:25

I just got to work them at the Exxon

6:27

gas station on Sombre's Road. Okay. And

6:29

there's nobody here, wouldn't allow me

6:31

to pump gas, but I just

6:33

walked inside, there's nobody there, but

6:35

it's very suspicious why there's nobody

6:37

here. Shortly

6:42

after making the 911 call,

6:44

police arrived at the Exxon station

6:46

to take a look. Everything

6:49

appeared normal inside the store, lights were

6:51

on, there just wasn't an employee there.

6:54

The employee who wasn't there

6:56

was 25 year old Jessica

6:58

Herringa. She'd been working a

7:00

solo shift and was scheduled to close

7:02

the store that night around 11, which

7:04

by the looks of things in the

7:06

store, she'd been in the middle of

7:09

doing. There was a trash

7:11

can by the back door, I

7:13

believe a broom with a dust pan, the

7:16

till was open, the money was in the

7:19

back room on top of the safe. So it appeared

7:21

as though that employee could have been

7:24

shutting down the store for the night. Inside

7:26

the store, there was absolutely no

7:28

signs of a struggle or robbery.

7:31

Hundreds of dollars from the till

7:34

were sitting in plain sight. And

7:36

police even found Jessica's purse in

7:38

the back room with $400 inside.

7:41

To make her absence even more

7:43

alarming, Jessica's vehicle was still parked

7:45

up front of the store. It

7:48

was as if she'd simply vanished. That

7:51

was until officers found several

7:53

disturbing clues on the ground

7:55

outside the building's back door.

7:58

The first thing they noticed Last was

8:01

a fresh blood stain about the size

8:03

of a hockey puck on the concrete

8:06

and only a few feet away a plastic

8:08

battery cover but not just

8:10

any battery cover. This

8:13

one came from a Walther handgun laser

8:15

sight. The laser's battery is also found

8:17

on the ground nearby. Now

8:20

that blood and guns were involved

8:22

foul play seemed like an absolute

8:24

certainty. DNA tests

8:26

on the blood would later confirm

8:29

the blood was indeed Jessica's. Obviously,

8:33

the very first thing police decided

8:36

to check was the gas station's

8:38

surveillance system. Surely there

8:40

had to be at least some indication

8:42

of what had happened to Jessica coming

8:45

on camera. But they were

8:47

in for a very unexpected surprise.

8:50

This Exxon station didn't have

8:52

a surveillance system. Not a

8:54

single camera. Not on

8:56

the pumps. Not in the store.

8:58

And definitely not out back where

9:01

officers had discovered blood on the

9:03

ground. Fortunately for police

9:05

they were able to uncover a

9:07

few clues the old-fashioned way. First

9:10

they discovered Jessica's last transaction on the

9:12

till had been around 1052 pm which

9:14

means she

9:17

was still at the store at the time. After

9:20

tracking down the customer who'd made the

9:22

transaction, the woman reported Jessica had been

9:24

cleaning the floors at the time and

9:27

seemed in a very good mood. Nothing

9:29

seemed out of the ordinary. Another

9:32

witness reported seeing a silver minivan,

9:34

possibly a Chrysler Town and Country,

9:36

pulling to the Exxon station that

9:39

night at 11 o'clock. But

9:41

instead of pulling up to the pumps, it

9:44

had turned off its headlights and

9:46

driven around back to the exact

9:48

spot police would find blood in

9:50

broken gun parts. Although

9:52

the witness couldn't remember the license

9:54

plate number, she was able to

9:56

give police a detailed description of

9:58

the driver. a middle-aged,

10:00

heavyset man wearing an orange

10:02

shirt. A police sketch

10:05

was then created and broadcasted widely

10:07

in the media. Police

10:09

were also able to pull security

10:11

footage from other nearby businesses, confirming

10:13

that a silver minivan had indeed

10:16

driven away from the area at

10:18

the exact time the witness reported,

10:20

but they couldn't make out the

10:22

license plate either. Could

10:24

this be the vehicle that had driven

10:26

away with Jessica? Police

10:28

also naturally turned their focus

10:31

toward another line of inquiry,

10:33

Jessica's personal life. I

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12:32

At the time, Jessica was living

12:34

just minutes away from the gas

12:36

station with her on again off

12:38

again boyfriend, Dakota, racing their three

12:41

year old son, basically living paycheck

12:43

to paycheck. But after thoroughly

12:45

looking into Dakota with a few

12:47

red flags to investigate, police

12:50

eventually became convinced he had nothing

12:52

to do with Jessica's vanishing. Jessica's

12:55

disappearance soon became the biggest

12:57

news story in Western Michigan

12:59

with the law enforcement responding

13:02

by devoting massive amounts of

13:04

resources to the case. At

13:07

least 15 different federal, state

13:09

and local agencies dedicated 75

13:12

full time investigators to tackle the case.

13:14

And a tidal wave of tips from

13:16

the public began to pour in a

13:20

grand total of 1400 potential leads were

13:23

investigated, most of them involving a

13:25

silver minivan, which was a bit

13:27

of a problem for police because

13:30

silver minivans are some of the

13:32

most popular and most generic looking

13:34

vehicles on the road. Without

13:37

seeing the logo on the front,

13:39

do you think you'd know the

13:41

difference between say a Chrysler Town

13:43

and Country, a Dodge Caravan, a

13:45

Honda Odyssey or Kia Sedona? It's

13:48

not quite the same thing as identifying

13:50

a red Ferrari. Dozens

13:52

upon dozens of Muskegon County residents

13:55

were reported simply because of the

13:57

color of their minivans. Ultimately,

14:00

the case went completely cold

14:02

and no one saw Jessica

14:05

Herringa again. Police

14:07

were left stranded at square one. On

14:10

the one year anniversary of Jessica's

14:12

disappearance, several news outlets

14:15

ran stories, highlighting the details

14:17

of the still unsolved case.

14:20

With no fresh leads, it

14:22

seemed it might stay that

14:24

way forever, with Jessica's case

14:27

eventually being overshadowed by another

14:29

shocking tragedy in Muskegon County.

14:35

Hi, Norman, where is your emergency? The

14:38

corner of Riley

14:40

Thompson and Automobile. It's on Automobile

14:43

Road. We come up to

14:45

this lady, she's laying in the road. I think she was

14:47

hit by a car. She's got a head injury. Mike

14:50

and Michelle Clint were driving along a real

14:52

stretch of highway on June 29, 2014, when

14:57

they spotted something on the road ahead of them. At

15:00

first they assumed it must be a

15:02

deer that had been hit by a

15:04

vehicle, but as they got closer, realized

15:06

to their horror, it was a

15:08

person. Did you see what happened

15:10

to her? She has a pole. I

15:13

just came, we just came up on her. Is she unconscious?

15:15

Yes, she is. Okay, you stay on the phone with me.

15:18

Is she breathing? She is breathing, she

15:20

has a pulse. Okay, did you see who hit her?

15:22

Does she have obvious injuries? She has

15:24

a head injury. Okay. She's got

15:26

a really bad head injury. Is that okay? She's

15:28

bleeding from her head? Yes, she's breathing, bleeding

15:31

quite a bit from her head. Since

15:34

she's got blood coming from her ear, it

15:36

would be her right ear. Judging

15:41

by her clothing, it appeared the

15:43

unconscious woman, laying face down on

15:45

the road, had been out jogging.

15:48

Her sunglasses, headphones, and neoprene

15:50

cell phone armband were also

15:52

lying on the pavement. Mark

15:55

and Michelle assumed the woman must have been

15:57

the victim of a hidden run. While

16:00

Mark spoke to the operator, Michelle,

16:02

who was a nurse, took charge

16:05

of assessing the situation and providing

16:07

emergency care. But as

16:09

the seconds and minutes ticked

16:11

away, waiting for the ambulance

16:13

to arrive, the woman's condition

16:15

deteriorated rapidly. Okay, no,

16:17

Michelle, just leave her. If she's got a pulse,

16:20

she's fine. Okay, I'd

16:22

need to know if she's breathing normally. If she's

16:24

here. If she's breathing normally, Michelle. She

16:26

is not breathing normally. Okay. Let's

16:28

start CPR then. Just

16:30

before the sirens of first

16:32

responders could be heard in

16:34

the distance, Michelle realized as

16:36

she attempted CPR, the woman

16:38

had completely stopped breathing. And

16:41

by the time the ambulance arrived, within

16:44

eight minutes of the call, the woman

16:46

had already passed away. As

16:48

responders took control of the scene,

16:50

they identified the woman, asked 36-year-old

16:52

mother and

16:54

occupational therapist, Rebecca Blatch.

16:58

It turned out Michelle and Mark

17:00

actually knew Rebecca quite well. In

17:03

fact, she was their neighbor and

17:05

their daughter's middle school basketball coach.

17:08

But because of her injuries, as

17:10

well as the frantic and heroin

17:13

situation, they hadn't recognized her until

17:15

the paramedics said her name. Paramedics

17:19

had also been able to determine that

17:21

the severe head injuries Mark and Michelle

17:23

had noted on their 911 call were

17:25

not the result of a collision or

17:27

a fall. They were bullet

17:30

wounds. This was definitely

17:32

not a hit and run. It

17:35

was cold-blooded murder. The

17:38

deceitment had very long, thick hair.

17:44

And this can make

17:46

finding wounds in the scalp sometimes difficult.

17:50

And the hair was also wet and

17:52

bloody. So going through to

17:55

find the wounds, my assistant and

17:57

I had to move a lot of hair out of the

17:59

way. Through the course

18:01

of the examination, four

18:04

different gunshot wounds

18:06

were found on the head

18:08

in the hairline of the scout. Police

18:12

investigating the crime scene soon

18:14

found several spent .22 caliber

18:16

shell casings in the area where Rebecca

18:18

was found, one on the road and

18:20

two in the grass, and

18:23

she'd been shot less than a mile

18:25

away from her own home. After

18:28

that night, while investigators were still

18:30

on the scene, Rebecca's husband, Kevin

18:32

Blatch, was driving home from their

18:34

family cabin in Luther, Michigan, about

18:37

an hour and a half away.

18:40

He'd spent the day enjoying the cabin

18:42

and the great outdoors with his 11-year-old

18:44

daughter, but as he approached

18:46

his home that evening, he noticed flashing

18:49

blue and red lights of emergency vehicles

18:51

off in the distance. The

18:53

next thing he knew, his phone was

18:55

ringing. It was the police

18:58

notifying him of his wife's death.

19:05

Then suing investigation into

19:07

Rebecca's murder, left detectives

19:10

completely stumped. There

19:12

were no eyewitnesses, virtually zero

19:14

clues, and nothing to suggest

19:16

anyone having a motive to

19:18

murder her. In fact,

19:20

it was just the opposite. According

19:23

to friends, family, coworkers, and

19:26

even casual acquaintances, Rebecca was

19:28

the kind of person everyone

19:30

enjoyed being around. She

19:33

didn't rub people the wrong way. She

19:35

didn't have any enemies. She

19:37

coached middle school basketball, an

19:39

all-around good person. Of

19:42

course, detectives did do their due

19:44

diligence by investigating those closest to

19:47

Rebecca, including her husband,

19:49

Kevin. But after a few

19:51

days, police were able to confirm

19:53

his rock-solid alibi and publicly stated

19:56

he wasn't a suspect in the

19:58

case. Heaven

20:00

was cleared, police didn't have another

20:02

single working theory of what could

20:04

have possibly happened to Rebecca. Had

20:07

this just been a completely random act,

20:10

it was a possibility that only

20:12

made things all the more terrifying

20:15

for the community, especially women joggers.

20:18

Soon rewards were being offered for any

20:20

tips or information, and Rebecca's family did

20:22

their best to keep her story in

20:25

the news. Despite considerable

20:27

efforts by her family, law

20:29

enforcement and the community as

20:32

a whole, the investigation went

20:34

absolutely nowhere. And

20:36

just like the Jessica Haringa case,

20:38

news outlets once again were

20:41

airing one year anniversary segments

20:43

on the mysterious unsolved murder

20:45

of Rebecca Blatch. For

20:47

everyone in Muskegon County, both of

20:50

these cases were complete and utter

20:52

mystery, and that's exactly

20:54

how they would remain for another

20:57

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was out for the week and like

22:11

many of her friends, 16-year-old Madison decided

22:13

to kick off the weekend with a

22:15

party. As she moved from

22:17

one party to another, she ended

22:19

up at a more rural spot in the

22:22

county, a place she wasn't too familiar with.

22:25

Madison figured it shouldn't be a problem though

22:27

because one of her friends had promised to

22:29

give her a ride home. But

22:32

when morning came, on Saturday, April 16,

22:35

and it was time for Madison to leave, she

22:37

realized she didn't have a ride home

22:40

like she'd expected. Typical

22:42

teenage stuff, really. Her

22:44

friend's friend had gotten drunk and passed

22:46

out inside the car. The

22:49

only problem was, he'd locked all the

22:51

doors and the car keys were still

22:53

inside. Madison

22:55

was completely stranded and with no

22:58

other options, decided to start walking,

23:01

hoping she'd find her way home. As

23:04

Madison began walking along the road, a

23:06

passing cyclist stopped and asked if she

23:08

needed help. Although he

23:10

handed her his phone to call

23:12

her mom, in a terrible turn

23:14

of fate, at that very instant,

23:17

the phone's battery died and the

23:19

man cycled away. So

23:21

Madison kept on walking. Fortunately,

23:23

that Saturday morning happened to be

23:26

one of the nicest days of

23:28

the year so far, that truly

23:30

perfect day of spring. And

23:32

as Madison continued walking, the

23:35

temperature kept rising, the birds

23:37

singing just a little bit

23:39

louder. Eventually

23:44

Madison heard the sound of a vehicle

23:47

approaching, slowing down before coming

23:49

to a complete stop next to her.

23:52

The man driving the silver minivan rolled

23:54

down his passenger side window and asked

23:56

if she needed a ride. But

23:59

instead of expecting a ride, Madison was Accepting the offer Madison

24:01

asked if she could just use his phone

24:04

instead Which he agreed but

24:06

asked her to get inside the van telling

24:08

her he didn't want to hold up traffic

24:12

Reluctantly Madison hopped in

24:14

and immediately regretted her

24:16

decision When

24:18

I got in he rolled up the

24:20

window and locked the door and I asked

24:23

him to roll the window back down I didn't mean to

24:25

be rude. I asked if I could use his phone And

24:28

he said no and

24:30

then just stared at me and I asked to get out of the

24:32

car Without

24:34

even looking at his phone the

24:37

driver told Madison its batteries were

24:39

dead Strange considering that

24:41

was supposed to have been the

24:43

entire reason for her getting in

24:45

the van Sensing

24:47

something was wrong Madison asked to be

24:50

let out of the vehicle Instead

24:52

the driver reached under a seat

24:55

grabbed a handgun and pointed it

24:57

at the 16 year old girl

25:00

Now if you've ever had a

25:02

handgun pointed at you, which I hope you

25:04

haven't it might be hard to

25:06

relate to this experience But this

25:08

is what happens Your body

25:11

instantly goes into survival mode your

25:14

heart races your breathing quickens

25:16

and your muscles tense up

25:19

It's like a primal and evolutionary

25:21

switch that flips inside you Preparing

25:23

a person to either confront the

25:26

danger fight run away as fast

25:28

as possible Flight

25:30

or become virtually paralyzed

25:34

at that moment. It's not about

25:36

thinking It's about reacting fight

25:38

flight or freeze and

25:41

in that instant with a gun

25:43

pointed directly at her Madison

25:45

chose flight She

25:47

unlocked the door opened it

25:49

and jumped out of the moving minivan

25:52

hitting the ground hard Madison's

25:54

body flipped and tumbled along the side

25:56

of the road her shoes flying off

25:58

in different directions directions. Her

26:01

shoulder and hip took the brunt

26:04

of the impact, giving her a

26:06

terrible case of road rash, abrasions

26:08

that began bleeding profusely. Through her

26:11

adrenaline, Madison stood up and began

26:13

running away barefoot as fast as

26:15

she could. Looking back,

26:18

she could see the van had stopped and

26:20

the man getting out of the van, standing

26:23

at the rear of the van.

26:25

He aimed his handgun in Madison's

26:27

direction. I was

26:29

running down the road and screaming for him, please

26:31

not to kill me. And then

26:34

after I was far from him, he told me it

26:36

was just a joke and he was just kidding. And

26:39

then I ran to a stranger. Running

26:43

for life, Madison approached the

26:45

driveway of Dawn Schmidt, screaming at

26:47

the top of her lungs. Looking

26:50

up, she saw Dawn standing inside

26:52

the threshold of her front door,

26:54

who then waved for Madison to

26:57

come inside. Once police

26:59

were called and officers were on their

27:01

way, Madison knew

27:03

she'd survived an incredibly dangerous

27:05

situation. But in the

27:07

weeks that followed, she'd learn the

27:10

true depths of the horrors she'd

27:12

escaped. With

27:16

Madison as a direct eyewitness to her

27:18

attempted abduction, police had a lot to

27:21

work with. A lot

27:23

more than they'd had with Jessica

27:25

Herringes disappearance or Rebecca Bletch's murder

27:27

anyway. At the crime

27:29

scene, investigators found two unfired

27:31

.22 caliber rounds of

27:33

ammunition lying on the ground. Either

27:36

the abductor's gun had jammed, or perhaps

27:38

the bullets had fallen out of the

27:40

van when the door was opened. Either

27:43

way, they knew they were looking for a .22.

27:47

Madison described her abductor as

27:49

a heavyset metal-aged white male

27:51

driving a silver minivan. Using

27:54

this information, detectives scoured the surrounding

27:56

areas, looking for security cameras that

27:58

may have been found. they have captured

28:00

the van. Eventually, they found

28:03

footage of the van on a

28:05

security camera from a blueberry farm.

28:08

Although the footage was too grainy to

28:10

make it the license plate number, they

28:12

were able to identify the make, model

28:14

and year of the car, a 2006

28:16

Dodge Caravan. They

28:19

were also able to make out

28:21

a few other distinguishing features, like

28:23

luggage racks and an aftermarket antenna.

28:26

Narrowing down their search, detectives

28:29

identified 10 potential minivans

28:31

matching this description within

28:33

Muskegon County. And

28:35

when they showed Madison a photo

28:37

lineup of potential suspects, she was

28:39

able to confidently identify the man

28:42

who tried to kidnap her. His

28:45

name was Jeffrey Willis. Although

28:47

the 46-year-old didn't have a criminal

28:50

record, he was a person local

28:52

law enforcement had recently become familiar

28:54

with. Not

28:59

long before Madison's attempted abduction, police

29:01

had actually conducted surveillance on Jeffrey.

29:03

After receiving a complaint, he'd been

29:05

stalking local women in the parking

29:08

lot of an area store. But

29:11

police didn't witness him doing anything illegal

29:13

and nothing ever came of it. Jeffrey

29:16

was a lifelong local who'd worked

29:18

at a furniture factory for the

29:20

past 18 years. He

29:22

seemed like an average family man with a wife

29:24

and kid at home. The kind

29:27

of guy who'd just blended in,

29:29

unnoticed by the world around him,

29:31

kinda like the generic silver minivan.

29:34

The only black mark on his resume was

29:36

from way back in 1999 when he'd been

29:39

fired from his job as an

29:41

elementary school janitor for using the

29:44

school computers to look at pornography.

29:46

Because of Madison's positive ID, police had

29:49

enough to secure Jeffrey's arrest and took

29:51

him into custody on March 17, 2016.

29:53

Of course, Jeffrey staunchly denied The

30:00

do with her abduction, the what

30:02

he didn't know was that police

30:04

had already conduct searches of a

30:07

solemn an the silver many. By.

30:09

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30:11

police realized they'd uncovered something

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the many investigators discovered a

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small off box for me

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to try first. It's.

31:29

A small metal lock box at a

31:31

combination lock in the corner of it

31:33

was slightly ajar see could still see

31:36

into it you know was locked. When.

31:38

Police open the lock box. They

31:41

found a number of disturbing items.

31:44

Semiautomatic pistol, a pair of

31:46

black gloves or said handcuffs.

31:49

Few different syringes, a vial

31:51

of insulin. And couple

31:53

of cans of keys. Notably.

31:56

The him to and police discovered was

31:59

a twenty two. How are Walther

32:01

the same caliber as the bullets

32:03

found on the ground at medicines

32:05

abduction? Same. They'd. Also, find

32:07

a box of bullets in the van

32:09

matching the exact same manufacturer. But.

32:12

What investigators found next was

32:14

even more disturbing. One

32:16

of the features that makes a

32:18

minivan like to dodge Caravan so

32:20

useful as the ability to for

32:22

dallas rear seats and to hidden

32:24

compartments in the for the feature

32:27

called stolen go. When the

32:29

seats are up in their normal position,

32:31

the compartment is usually empty and hidden

32:33

by for cover. But. When investigators

32:35

looked into Jeffrey stolen go, they

32:37

found a large black to a

32:40

box. Inside the toolbox

32:42

was what anyone in law enforcement

32:44

would refer to as a rape

32:46

sat. There. Is sexy

32:48

of rope. Ah section a change. Another

32:51

section of chain was hands us attached.

32:53

There. Are two video cameras ah,

32:56

another set of black leather

32:58

gloves to more syringes awesome

33:00

lubricant he and another settle

33:02

other hand cuffs. There's a

33:04

ball gag to I would

33:06

call it in a couple

33:08

sexual toys. Finding.

33:11

The syringes, an insulin. amongst the

33:13

sexual bondage items now began to

33:16

paint a very dark and disturbing

33:18

actor. For. People with

33:20

diabetes: insulin is unnecessary and

33:22

lifesaving. Terrific. But. If

33:24

it's injected into a non

33:26

diabetic person, it causes severe

33:29

blood sugar crash and to

33:31

completely incapacitate reading kill a

33:33

person with them minutes depending

33:35

on the dose. On. A

33:37

piece of paper taped inside the

33:39

little the toolbox wasn't anatomical diagram

33:42

of a woman. The. Diagram

33:44

shows specific injection sites for

33:46

insulin with each say labeled

33:49

slow medium for fast speed.

33:52

At this point Tech is believed

33:54

to be understood the gravity of

33:56

what Madison I guard and narrowly

33:58

escaped. the When they searched

34:01

Jeffrey's residence, they found evidence she

34:03

hadn't been the only victim. Inside

34:10

Jeffrey's home, police seized three computers

34:12

and two external hard drives. One

34:15

of these drives had been extremely well

34:17

hidden, secretly velcroed to the

34:19

inside of an air duct. Clearly,

34:22

this had been something Jeffrey didn't want

34:24

anyone to find, and when

34:26

they began looking through those files, they

34:29

were stunned by what they saw. There

34:32

were a lot of disturbing files

34:34

that were located. There were videos

34:36

that were found depicting this

34:40

activity and that could feel like being defined having sexual

34:42

relations with a deceased individual. There's

34:46

videos that are found depicting individuals

34:48

pulling up alongside a female

34:50

on the side of the road. When they approached

34:53

her, that female took off

34:55

running into a field. Once

34:57

into the field, they chased

34:59

after her, attacked her, sexually assaulted

35:01

her, where at the end of

35:03

them, they murder. They show this

35:05

in an acting way, and we

35:08

also found videos that show this

35:11

that are not active in real life. Despite

35:14

the disturbing nature of the content, these

35:16

videos appeared to have been downloaded from

35:19

the internet and not made by Jeffrey

35:21

himself. But then police

35:23

discovered a folder titled, Homemade.

35:27

There was thousands, approximately 15,000 videos

35:30

that were of swim meets

35:33

and water polo events at

35:35

schools, high schools from Muskegon

35:38

County, Kent County, Ottawa

35:40

County. They were taken

35:42

with a special filter, a night

35:44

vision type filter, even though they

35:46

were taken inside a

35:49

school building, they were taken with

35:51

a special filter that made it look

35:54

like you were looking through

35:56

the girls' swimsuits.

35:59

The focus Those videos were all on

36:01

their bras and their buttocks. Their

36:04

groin area. You'll. See any

36:06

of these girls that are videotaped. in

36:09

the of that themselves on the swimming pool.

36:12

They are. All taken.

36:15

Outside the swimming pool. In

36:17

there is over fifteen thousand of those. Forensic.

36:21

Investigators were able to determine these

36:23

videos have been taken by one

36:25

of the cameras found inside Jeffries

36:28

minivan to box. But the

36:30

biggest bombshell was yet to come.

36:33

Among the thousands and thousands

36:35

of extremely well organized folders

36:37

of photos and videos, investigators

36:40

found a folder simply titled

36:42

Risks, which they soon realized

36:44

was shorthand for victims. Inside

36:47

this folder was two subs

36:49

holsters one li ge Lh

36:52

and the other labels rs

36:54

be the initials for Just

36:56

Got and Rebecca's Blatche. But.

36:59

Perhaps even. Was

37:01

how each folder contains a secret code

37:03

in parentheses next to the file name.

37:07

What? We did. Was we just exchange?

37:09

The. Letters or numbers. A

37:12

be in will be the

37:14

into Cbn three. Have to

37:16

the letter Z and the also

37:18

that was his twenty six and

37:20

we replaced the letters with numbers.

37:23

To. Decode that. Next

37:25

to repack his initials where

37:27

the characters f C plus

37:29

see fourteen. The. Effort

37:32

equal sex. The see what he

37:34

called twenty Six and then the

37:36

letter. See what? the three. So.

37:39

It would show. Six. Play.

37:41

Six by stream, Of

37:43

fourteen. So. The decode of

37:46

that would be six. Twenty

37:48

Nine. Or. Forty That was a

37:50

day she was murdered. Next.

37:53

To Jessica's initials with the

37:55

characters D C Thirteen which

37:58

again using the scene. Have

38:01

you been attacked Us The date:

38:03

April Twenty Sixth? Two Thousand and

38:05

Thirteen The same day Jessica disappeared.

38:08

Each. Respective folder Shooting photos of

38:10

the women taken from the internet.

38:13

Jessica's. Falter also included images

38:15

of her missing pastor and

38:17

news articles about her disappearance.

38:20

Detectives now believed it

38:22

was possible they found

38:24

responsible for miss getting

38:26

counties to most notorious

38:29

unsolved cases. But. They still

38:31

need it's hard evidence to connect them all.

38:36

The Twenty two caliber Walter Him

38:38

gun discovered in Jeffrey Sven would

38:40

prove it be the key to

38:42

unraveling is all police saw. The

38:44

Jeffrey had filed down the weapon

38:46

serial number which is a felony

38:49

itself. But. It turned out

38:51

she hadn't done a good enough

38:53

job. Using sophisticated enhancement techniques, police

38:55

were able to restore the serial

38:58

number increased to back to it's

39:00

owner of female coworker of Jeffries.

39:02

What then covered was at the

39:04

can Happen stolen from his coworkers

39:07

house just months before. Just Or

39:09

Hearing is a patch. Further,

39:12

Evidence that Jeffrey had broken into

39:14

her own was corroborated by the

39:16

fact that Jeffrey it also stolen

39:19

two pairs of her underwear and

39:21

kept them hidden in this spot

39:23

in his garden. Tools had ballistics

39:25

testing on the water twenty two

39:27

caliber pistol to prove conclusively that

39:30

it was indeed the same weapon

39:32

that in murdered Rebecca Pledge on

39:34

the side of the road. We're

39:36

back! His Dna was also found

39:38

on several items inside the many

39:41

bands toolbox including. Jeffrey scoffs.

39:43

At. There was one worth at least

39:46

learned about the gun itself. according

39:48

to Jeffries coworker, the original owner

39:50

of the gun. before Jeffrey stole

39:52

it, it had been equipped with

39:55

a special laser sight melted on

39:57

the barrel. Been notably, the laser

39:59

sight. was now missing. Detectives

40:02

thought back to the crime scene of

40:04

Jessica Herringa, next to the pool of

40:06

Jessica's blood in the concrete, where they'd

40:08

found a broken battery cover from a

40:11

Walther laser sight. And

40:13

to make the connection even stronger,

40:15

detectives discovered a pile of receipts

40:17

inside Jeffrey's house from the St.

40:20

Exxon station, dating all the way

40:22

back to Jessica's disappearance. One

40:25

even listed Jessica as the cashier. In

40:28

fact, it turned out Jeffrey had

40:30

even been interviewed by police during

40:33

Jessica's original investigation after an anonymous

40:35

tip mentioned his name in connection

40:37

with the silver minivan. And

40:40

although Jeffrey's alibi had been shaky,

40:42

and they could see the minivan

40:44

had been recently cleaned, for whatever

40:47

reason, they never dug any deeper.

40:50

The toolbox police found inside

40:52

the secret compartment, but also

40:54

took on an additional layer

40:56

of horror. When detectives found

40:58

another item inside Jeffrey's tool

41:00

shed, a printed off list

41:02

of infamous American serial killers.

41:05

The only handwriting on the page was

41:07

a special mark Jeffrey had made beside

41:09

two names, Lawrence Bittaker

41:11

and Roy Lewis Norris. You

41:14

might know them better by their

41:17

infamous nickname, the Toolbox Killers, perhaps

41:19

the most twisted pair of serial

41:21

killers in American history. Their

41:24

MO was to kidnap teenage

41:26

girls in their band before

41:29

recording themselves, raping, torturing, and

41:31

murdering their victims. It

41:33

was now looking like Jeffrey Willis

41:36

had been trying to copycat the

41:38

duo himself. But an

41:41

unexpected twist would lead detectives

41:43

to question whether or not he

41:45

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42:22

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42:25

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About a month after Jeffrey's arrest,

42:49

police were in for a shock

42:51

when a surprise witness came forward

42:53

claiming to have information. A

42:56

47-year-old prison guard named Kevin

42:59

Bloom, Jeffrey's first cousin. Kevin

43:02

told police he knew what had

43:04

happened to Jessica Herringa. The

43:07

reason he knew? Because he said

43:09

he was involved. According

43:11

to Kevin, Jeffrey actually owned

43:13

a second home, an old

43:15

decrepit house he'd inherited after

43:17

his grandfather passed away a

43:19

few years earlier. Police

43:22

were able to verify this much was

43:24

true. The day after

43:26

Jessica's disappearance, Kevin claimed Jeffrey invited

43:28

him over to his grandfather's house

43:31

to party with him, telling him

43:33

there'd be a woman there. But

43:36

when Kevin arrived, he found Jeffrey

43:38

with a dead woman down in

43:40

the basement. He identified

43:42

the woman as Jessica and said she

43:44

was laying face down with her hands

43:46

tied together. After

43:48

making a crude sexual joke implying

43:50

he'd raped her, Jeffrey asked Kevin

43:53

to help dispose of the body,

43:55

which he'd dead. Together,

43:57

the men wrapped Jessica's body in

43:59

blankets. and placed her

44:01

in the back of the minivan, then

44:03

drove out to a remote location near

44:06

some railroad tracks. They

44:08

found an empty grave that Jeffrey

44:10

had dug beforehand where they buried

44:12

her. Kevin was

44:14

willingly admitting to being an accessory

44:16

after the fact. Using

44:19

cell phone records, police were

44:21

able to verify that Jeffrey's

44:23

phone had been at his

44:25

grandfather's house during the hours

44:27

immediately following Jessica's disappearance. And

44:30

remember how he told you he'd been

44:32

interviewed way back as a potential suspect?

44:35

His alibi back in 2013 was

44:37

that he'd been at home with

44:39

his wife the entire time. But

44:42

these cell phone records now proved

44:44

Jeffrey had lied to police. In

44:47

a subsequent search of his grandfather's

44:49

house, police were able to locate

44:51

an unusually large number of bleach

44:54

bottles stored in the basement, which

44:56

they believed Jeffrey had used to

44:58

clean up the crime scene. According

45:01

to Kevin, Jeffrey had also called him

45:03

one day to confess to murdering word

45:05

Begga bleach. With this

45:07

direct eyewitness testimony, the case against

45:10

Jeffrey started to look like a

45:12

slam goon. But here's where

45:14

things got a bit murky. Kevin

45:18

took detectives out to the place he

45:20

claimed they'd buried Jessica's body, but the

45:23

body wasn't there. And

45:25

even though police scoured the area and

45:27

used cadaver dogs, they found zero evidence

45:29

that a body had even been there.

45:32

At first, Kevin insisted Jeffrey must have

45:34

moved it later on. But

45:36

not long after making these

45:39

confessions, Kevin officially recanted his

45:41

entire story, saying he'd

45:43

simply made it all up. Kevin's

45:46

bizarre statements and reactions naturally

45:48

caused detectives to investigate him

45:50

as a potential suspect in

45:52

the murders as well. But

45:55

when it came to Rebecca's murder, Kevin

45:57

had a rock solid alibi. At

46:00

the time of her murder, he

46:02

was in a completely different county

46:04

attending his daughter's soccer game with

46:06

photos from the game clearly showing

46:08

Kevin watching from the sidelines. In

46:11

the end, police were never able

46:14

to find any proof Kevin had

46:16

been involved in Jessica's abduction or

46:18

murder, only his confession to

46:20

having helped dispose of her body. Ultimately,

46:23

Kevin was charged with perjury as

46:25

well as being an accessory to

46:27

murder, which he pled no contest

46:29

to and spent 487 days in

46:31

jail. In

46:37

2017, Jeffrey Willis was found guilty

46:39

of the murder of Rebecca Blatch

46:41

and in 2018, despite

46:45

police never locating her body,

46:47

Jeffrey was found guilty of

46:49

murdering Jessica Haringa as well.

46:51

Jeffrey is now serving a life

46:53

sentence without the possibility of parole.

46:56

At each trial, the star witness

46:59

for the prosecution was Madison Nygaard,

47:01

the victim who got away. And

47:04

because she was able to identify

47:07

her abductor, there was zero doubt

47:09

in anyone's mind that her heroic

47:11

actions almost certainly saved other women's

47:14

lives from a violent and disturbing

47:16

predator. For Rebecca's

47:18

family, the guilty verdict was

47:21

a welcome relief after years

47:23

of waiting. But when

47:25

it came time for them to give their

47:27

impact statements before the court, in 2017, Jeffrey

47:32

Willis walked out of the courtroom,

47:34

refusing to hear the family's words.

47:37

And on his way out,

47:39

he did something completely unforgivable.

47:42

He stared at Rebecca's family and

47:45

blew them a kiss. Nevertheless,

47:47

Rebecca's mother and sisters stood

47:50

up and addressed the court.

47:53

It's been very difficult to say

47:56

everything I wanted to say, but this

47:58

coward should have been here

48:01

to listen to us. We

48:03

deserve a right to tell him

48:05

exactly how we feel and

48:07

for him to walk out on us was

48:10

just horrible. He doesn't deserve

48:12

anything. It

48:14

is important for this courtroom to know who Becky was.

48:17

Becky was one of the special ones. She

48:20

had the most vibrant personality. She

48:23

was fierce and loyal. She

48:25

was passionate about life. She lived

48:27

to help others enjoy their life like

48:29

she enjoyed hers. She left

48:31

sharing stories about her work. There

48:33

will be many people that may have been put

48:36

patient that will never know the

48:38

commitment and love she would have brought to their lives.

48:41

She loved to laugh and make those around her

48:43

laugh as well. She was easy to

48:45

love and people wanted to be around her.

48:47

To the monster of

48:50

Muskegon, I leave you with this. Look

48:52

around this courtroom. Everyone

48:54

here is here for Becky, not you. I

48:58

doubt one single person in this room gives a crap

49:00

about you. I'm willing to bet

49:02

we all feel the exact same way. That and

49:04

how. I believe your days are

49:06

numbered just for you. While

49:09

Rebecca's family had received justice in the

49:11

verdict, they felt robbed of their ability

49:13

to speak to the man who'd taken

49:16

the life of their loved one. But

49:19

there was still one small sliver

49:21

of poetic justice to come. Two

49:24

days later, when Jeffrey was

49:26

being transferred from jail to prison,

49:28

the officers driving the transport

49:30

vehicle popped in a CD and

49:33

turned the volume up. It

49:35

was a 25 minute recording

49:37

of Rebecca's family's impact statement.

49:40

The drive took long enough

49:42

that Jeffrey was forced to

49:44

hear every single word five

49:46

times over. Just

49:49

a few months later, the state

49:51

of Michigan passed a new law

49:53

requiring defendants to remain in the

49:55

courtroom during the impact statements known

49:58

as the Bletch Law. For

50:03

the family of Jessica Haringa, closure

50:05

still remains out of reach. Despite

50:08

numerous searches to locate her remains,

50:11

police have never been able to

50:13

locate her body. Even

50:15

though Jeffrey Willis was found guilty

50:17

of a murder, he still adamantly

50:19

denies having anything to do with

50:21

it. But surprisingly,

50:24

some members of Jessica's family

50:26

believe him. Instead, they

50:29

are holding out hope that she's

50:31

out there somewhere. Still

50:33

alive, and maybe one day,

50:35

on that first truly perfect

50:37

day of spring, she'll

50:40

come back home. To

50:57

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50:59

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show. We've got all the links in our

51:24

episode notes, so until next week,

51:26

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51:53

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