Kristen said she spent weekends driving to nearby states with her mother and her aunt, Georgia, to see if anyone had seen Dana. It just destroyed us.. Catching a killer: Shootings stir up memories of '81 murders 2020 Homicides in Little Rock and North Little Rock The 2019 Fort Smith crime rate rose by 17% compared to 2018. Larry Swearingen was looked at as a person of interest in this case. The car shows signs of a struggle. The body was discovered by a Conco employee. On July 25, 1989, Dana went over to her parents house to do some laundry, Georgia said. Western Arkansas was also on the circuit of back roads Clyde Barrow used to evade lawmen from other states. Missy kept very busy with classes and her part-time job at a local dental clinic where she worked as a dental assistant. Above the railroad tracks near Gurdon, a mysterious floating light has been spotted. They were attributed to an alleged unidentified serial killer known as the Phantom of Texarkana or simply the Phantom Killer or Phantom Slayer. Sloane McCaster, a member of Websleuths, an Internet forum of armchair detectives who look into unsolved crimes, met Mercedes at a club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. On July 25, 1989, 18-year-old Dana Stidham left her parents' home to pick up her father's . When Georgia received the call from police that evening that Danas body had been found, she said her only reaction was, It just couldn't be. He was convicted of the murder of Melissa Trotter who was killed in a very similar manner as Missy. 1. Ten months after Blades vanished, Sheriff Lamb told the publiche doubted there was a crime. Melissa Witt was abducted from a bowling alley parking lot in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1994. You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website. Eldorado Jane Doe: An Enduring Arkansas Mystery Begs To Be Solved On Christmas Day, 1970 a year and 10 days after Blades disappeared her body was found in Stone County, 12 miles away. She had accidentally left something on, and the battery was dead. The burlap sack also reminds us of the Scarecrow character in the Batman stories, a chilling psychopath who drugged and murdered townspeople while wearing a burlap sack over his head. Texarkana Moonlight Murders - Wikipedia Some of the biggest unsolved murders in Arkansas include the 1994 murder of Melissa "Missy" Witt, the 1995 murder of Marlo Taylor, and the 1987 double murder of Don Henry and Kevin Ives, among countless others which receive much less media attention. Some of that gas, but not all,could be accounted for by a trip Blades made to Kmart in Springfield to buypresents. A Van Buren man already facing multiple years in prison on various cRiminal convictions saw an additional 15 years tagged on to his prison sentence after a plea deal to wrap up the court proceedings from a July 2021 murder in Fort Smith. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. A homicide can also be cleared if the victim of the crime hinders the prosecution by refusing to testify. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Branford Antoine Lewis, who was given an additional 18 and 1/2 years on an existing sentence in early February, returned to Sebastian County Circuit Court on . The only clues left at the scene were a gold hoop earring, a crushed hair clip, her car keys, and pools of blood. Though the fourth boy, Nils Wilhelm Gustafsson, survived the attack and lead a relatively normal life, he became a suspect in 2004. A friend of the family found the keys to the Chevy Impala in the field the man ran across. Melissa and Tara have biology class together on Friday, and then had plans to hang out that evening. Immediately making identification information available to the public has proven effective in helping to locate missing children as well as missing adults. These are the places in Arkansas where people were killed most often, according to the latest FBI numbers. A CLOSER LOOK: violent crimes increase in Fayetteville - KNWA FOX24 Arrested and charged with four counts each of murder were Charles Anthony Diaz, 47, of Vallejo, and Gerald Michael Lester, 47, of Fort Smith, Ark. Records in the Missing Person File are retained indefinitely or until the individual is located or the record is canceled by the entering agency. Her car was found in the parking lot, but she was nowhere to be seen. It had been abandoned on the shoulder of northbound Highway 160. On September 16, 1989, almost two months after Dana was last seen, a hunter in Benton County, Arkansas came upon a shallow grave in a heavily wooded area. She always called. In July of 1979, Lois Ensey was abducted while working at J's Night Owl Grocery off Highway 271 in Fort Smith. When her shift ended, her car wouldnt start. If they can come forward anonymously, they could contact Sebastian County Sheriffs Office, Rush said. I wanted a better life for him than I had. ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) There are at least four unsolved missing person cases in North Central Arkansas since 1991, and all are women. Here are a fewother unsolved murders in the Ozarks: In his first year as Douglas County SheriffRoldan Turner had two separate murders to solve Ronnie Johnson and Kelle Ann Workman. Making it tougher for investigators to gather evidence. Details About The Murder Of Arkansas Teen Dana Stidham - Yahoo Some, however, have since theorized she was the victim of local serial killer Charles Ray Vine, also known as "The River Valley Killer.". Connect with Never Forgotten All charges were dropped in 2005. She was a 1967 graduate of Nixa High and her maiden name was Horton. The victim is identified as 35-year-old . Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve. Law enforcement agencies should be contacted without delay. Murderpedia . A 1995 News-Leader story mentioned by name two suspects brothers who lived near the cemetery. For nearly three decades the homicide case of Fort Smith teen Melissa Witt has gone unsolved, but a former detective refuses to give up hope. Smith was also questioned in the 1983 unsolved murder of a 14-year-old girl in Idaho. Officers found a receipt from Phillips Foods in the back of the car, time-stamped 3:17 p.m. on the 25th, according to Sgt. Danas parents lived in Hiwasse, Arkansas, a 10-minute drive from Centerton, and she visited them often, Georgia said. Feeling bad, her mother left her a note asking her to join her for a burger later at Bowling World. She was just the kind of daughter people wish they had. For many years there has been one person of interest that has been interviewed and questioned; he is in prison in Illinois," Cole said, referring to Smith. If you're looking at the places in Arkansas with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. William Scott Smith Unemployed cook, Salem, Ore. . No one noticed the blood splatter on her keys at the time. Missy's body was nude and placed near a headstone-shaped rock. Start browsing the folder's contents at the beginning of the file. So we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data in order to identify the places with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita in Arkansas. We were very young. He was active in the area at that time, and he had attacked another teenager in Arkansas. Compare Fort Smith crime data to other cities, states, and neighborhoods in the U.S. on NeighborhoodScout. This can be a post about an unsolved homicide, a missing person, an unidentified person, a wrongful conviction, or forensics. It is our seventh time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Arkansas and is updated for 2021. The Bizarre History of a Long-Unsolved Murder - Blogger Vine's disturbing and vicious rape and killing spree is further explored in theOxygenspecial "Snapped Notorious: The River Valley Killer." His father, Alex Murdaugh, a local attorney and the son of Randolph Murdaugh III, owns the boat.. The coat was corduroy and possibly fleece-lined. Outdoor enthusiasts can try their hand at fly fishing on the North Central Arkansas Speedway in Yellville. That left us with 26 cities to rank.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'roadsnacks_net-mobile-leaderboard-2','ezslot_13',706,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-roadsnacks_net-mobile-leaderboard-2-0');Most Dangerous Cities In AmericaFinally, we averaged the two scores into an index:The raw number of murders in each cityThe murders per personWe felt as if a small place with 2,500 people and two murders makes it a lot more dangerous than a city of 25,000 people with three murders. Anyone with information that can help solve this case is asked to call the Cold Case Squad at 816-234-5136. Would you dare investigate what clawed monster lives in the deep? It's been over 20 years and people are still looking for answers in the murder of Arkansas teenager, Melissa Witt. We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. Both cases remain unsolved. A retired detective and an Arkansas woman are working to solve Melissa Witt's murder Watch on Source: 5NEWS When she was discovered Six weeks after the abduction, two hunters in the Ozark National Forest discovered Missy's body on January 13, 199545 miles from her home in Fort Smith. Fort Smith Crime Rates and Statistics - NeighborhoodScout Contact. Both tried to interview witnesses, but they could only speak with certain people. Pruett would soon confess to prosecutors and the media his guilt . Lois Ensey left behind a husband and two daughters ages two and four. Heultimately raped and murdered two elderly women in the River Valley, Arkansas area: Juanita Wofford in 1993, and Ruth Henderson in 1995. His sentence in Illinois was lengthened in1977; hewas given another 18 years for trying to escape. Once inside, the responders found the brutalized bodies of four teenage girls-Amy Ayers, Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison and Eliza Thomas. He weighed anestimated150 to 160 pounds. That caused him to jerk the coat down. Murder of Arkansas woman still unsolved nearly 30 years later - KTHV Crime News in Fort Smith, AR | Southwest Times Record The three people at the time thought nothing of seeing theman dash across the field until they learned Blades was missing and her car was the one they had seenabandoned along Highway 160. if(window.innerWidth<700){ezoicSiteSpeed(jQuery(document),String(/documentReady/).substring(1).slice(0,-1),String(/jQuery-document-dot-ready/).substring(1).slice(0,-1),function($){$("#skip_expand").html("(Expand+)");$("#toc ul").css("display","none");$("#skip_expand").on("click",function(){$("#toc ul").toggle()});$("#toc h3").on("click",function(){$("#toc ul").toggle()});});}. The Victims: Forty Unsolved Murders Since 1984 Over a month after she went missing, her body was found in the Ozark National Forest. KHBS CNN Three people are dead and a police officer is recovering from being. Arkansas isnt always peaceful forests and serene waterfalls. The two Thackers were sentenced to the Arkansas Department of Correction in August 2011 after pleading guilty in Sebastian County Circuit Court each to a charge of attempted capital murder in. Drugs is a possibility. Sort All Cases By: Company Area | Male | Female | County | Year | Last Name Results: 13 Record (s) Found. Double murder of Hot Springs mom, 5-year-old son remains unsolved Little Rock police urging people to be cautious of phone scam Police make arrest in fatal hit-and-run of Benton 13-year-old Generally, cases are solved when the offender has been arrested and turned over to the court for prosecution. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's last year of reporting. Your anonymous call could lead to a $1,000 reward. But as she got ready to go to campus for class, she had a small disagreement with her Mom after asking her if she could borrow money.