1 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: People are laying in a freezer for decades. They've been 2 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: sitting in the walking cooler at the medical examiner's office, 3 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: and it's just up and down, up and down of 4 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: bodies and bankers boxes. And I just think that we 5 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: as society, we should send those people home. You know, 6 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: ultimately this effort, especially in unidentified human remains, is about 7 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: people and human dignity. I mean, bodies need to be 8 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: a returned to their families. 9 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 2: There's a silent epidemic in this country. Every year, thousands 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 2: of people die and we have no idea who they are. 11 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 2: There's no identification found with a body, no family claim them. 12 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 2: The remains are often reduced to a box of bones 13 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 2: and stored in a medical examiner's office. And the longer 14 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 2: the human remains sit on the shelf, the less likely 15 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 2: it is that will ever know who they are. This 16 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 2: is America's crime Lab. I'm Alan Lance Lesser. Our producer 17 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 2: Catherine Fenalosa is here. So Catherine, what case do you 18 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 2: have for me today? 19 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 3: So, Aylen, I want to talk about a case from 20 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety two. It's springtime April and firefighters are called 21 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 3: to a fire in a field in Ogden, Utah, which 22 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 3: is about forty miles north of Salt Lake City. 23 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 2: So this is Mormon country and it's I'm guessing one 24 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 2: of the most beautiful places in the world where mountains 25 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 2: in the background and just expansive land and red rocks. 26 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 3: It's beautiful. There are snow capped mountains sort of surrounding 27 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 3: this very historic old town, which if you picture like 28 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 3: old westerns, right, and the area was actually known during 29 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 3: the Prohibition for having these speakeasies. So there's a very 30 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 3: like wild West vibe of this town. 31 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, and like you kind of feel like you're in 32 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 2: the middle of nowhere, but also things are happening here exactly. 33 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 3: And so the area where the firefighters are called to 34 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 3: is actually a field which is next to one of 35 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 3: the main highways and it's behind a gas station and 36 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 3: truck stop. Firefighters get there and they realize it's actually 37 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 3: kind of a large fire at this point, and there's 38 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 3: a boat in the middle of the field that is 39 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 3: also fully engulfed in flames. 40 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 4: A boat. 41 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 3: A boat, so it's not like we're near a body 42 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 3: of water as far as first responders can tell. Maybe 43 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 3: this boat has been in this field abandoned for quite 44 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 3: some time. 45 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 4: So I was. 46 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 3: Curious to hear about the original crime scene, so I 47 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 3: called Detective Tye Hebden. He's with the Weber County Sheriff's office. 48 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 5: So initially it was just a grass fire or a 49 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 5: field fire. That then as they got there and saw 50 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 5: that it was a boat, and then that's when they 51 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 5: notice that there's actually a burned body within the fire itself. 52 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 3: There's somebody on the boat. Oh my god, Suddenly this 53 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 3: has gone from a somewhat routine fire call to a 54 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 3: possible homae side investigation. 55 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 2: WHOA. 56 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 3: So detectives collect whatever evidence they can find. Now, since 57 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 3: this was a pretty large fire, there's really not that 58 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 3: much that they can find. There are some beer cans 59 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 3: that are scattered in the field. 60 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 5: They brought in some canines to kind of comb through 61 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 5: the weeds and the trees seeing if there was any 62 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 5: other persons or people in the area. But no other 63 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 5: person was located and most everything was burned up pretty 64 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 5: good from the fire. That not a whole lot was 65 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 5: salvageable or recognizable. 66 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 3: They don't find any id nothing that tells them, you know, 67 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 3: who this person might be. They go to the gas 68 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 3: station and the truck stop nobody saw anything suspicious. The 69 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 3: body was burned beyond recognition, so they're completely confused, right, 70 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 3: They now are looking at a potential homicide. They have 71 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 3: an unidentified victim, and they have zero leads. 72 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 2: Gosh, I mean, that's such a nightmare. When you can't 73 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 2: even identify the victim, where you possibly begin. And there's 74 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 2: something so tragic to me about someone who has passed 75 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: away and nobody knows their family, their friends, everybody has 76 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 2: no idea what happened. That that's one of the worst 77 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 2: kinds of stories to start out with. 78 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 3: They're trying to figure out was this an accident, was 79 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 3: it intentional? Did this victim actually die on the boat? 80 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 3: Did they die somewhere else in the body was placed 81 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 3: on the boat and then the boat was set on fire. 82 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 3: I mean, there's so many questions and there's so few 83 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 3: answers at this point point. The one thing that they 84 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 3: can do is they send it for an autopsy, and 85 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 3: the autopsy determines that the victim is a male approximately 86 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 3: six feet tall, and they estimate he was between the 87 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 3: ages of thirty and forty five when he died. 88 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 5: They were able to determine that he did have some 89 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 5: smoke inhalation. They were able to see that in his 90 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 5: lungs to show that he would have been alive at 91 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 5: the time of the fire based on the fact that 92 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 5: he was breathing in smoke. 93 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 3: Oh so now this is definitely suspicious death. In the autopsy, 94 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 3: they do collect a few things. Now remember this is 95 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety two, so there is some very basic DNA 96 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 3: testing happening. They're able to collect his teeth. They match 97 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 3: the dental records with missing person's databases, and there are 98 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 3: no links made, so that doesn't lead them anywhere. 99 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 5: They did put him into the national Missing Person's database, 100 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 5: and nothing ever came back as a match. 101 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 3: The police reach out to news stations to publicize the case. 102 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 3: You know, they're hoping that someone will come forward and say, 103 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 3: oh my god, yes, I happen to be getting gas 104 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 3: in that gas station and now I'm realizing I did 105 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 3: see something or my uncle went missing. 106 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 5: There wasn't really anything to do except, you know, hope 107 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 5: that maybe someone would come forward or something, you know, 108 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 5: as soon as we could identify and then that would 109 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 5: give us, hopefully some people to go talk to. But 110 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 5: outside of that, without without anything else, there was there 111 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 5: was kind of nothing to do. There's a possibility that 112 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 5: it is a homicide, that someone did this, there's a 113 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 5: possibility that it could have been self initiate, or there's 114 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 5: also the possibility that it could have been an accident. 115 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 3: So with no leads about the victim or the circumstances 116 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 3: of his death, the case goes cold. 117 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 5: I definitely definitely always kept homicide there on my mind 118 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 5: as a strong possibility. 119 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 3: Now, in twenty twenty four, the Weaber County Sheriff's Office 120 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 3: in Ogden, Utah, creates a cold case unit for the 121 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 3: very first time, and Detective Hebden is looking through the 122 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 3: twenty cold cases they have and this one, the body 123 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 3: on the boat, catches his eye. 124 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 2: Oh wow. 125 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 3: What intrigued him was you could really be solving essentially 126 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 3: two big mysteries at once identifying the victim. Yeah, so 127 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 3: solving an unidentified human remains cases and also solving a 128 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 3: potential homicide. 129 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, double whammy. 130 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:55,439 Speaker 1: Double. 131 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 3: So he starts to look into the evidence that was collected. 132 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 3: Luck is kind of on his side here. 133 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 5: They laid out kind of everything that they had, and 134 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 5: so we were seeing all of these kind of burned 135 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 5: and charred things that were collected. Some of the burned 136 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 5: and charred ashes and stuff or collected were sealed in 137 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 5: paint cans. 138 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 3: When the autopsy was done because the body was so 139 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 3: badly burned, there was no tissue to test or take 140 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 3: samples of. 141 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 5: But then we actually had the vials of his blood 142 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 5: that were collected by the Medical Examiner's office. We still 143 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 5: had them as well as you know, a bag with 144 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 5: the pubic hair. 145 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,440 Speaker 3: And Detective Hebden is thinking, I have some usable DNA 146 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 3: from the victim, and if we can figure out who 147 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 3: he is, maybe we can also solve the mystery of 148 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 3: his death. 149 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 4: Yeah. 150 00:09:54,800 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 2: Was it an accident or was it a homicide? So 151 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 2: now detective had de noos he has in blood and 152 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:14,839 Speaker 2: hair he can test. 153 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 3: Yeah, So he reaches out to agent Steve Okam, who's 154 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 3: an investigator with the Utah State Bureau of Investigations. Steve 155 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 3: Ocam has a history in investigating sex crimes. Now he's 156 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 3: helping smaller police departments with their cold cases. 157 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: He's like, Hey, we've got this old case from nineteen 158 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: ninety two. Do you think we could maybe solve the case. 159 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: And I'm like, Eh, tell me about what happened. So 160 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: I got a copy of the death report, and man, 161 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:51,319 Speaker 1: this guy burned alive in this boat. I was like, man, 162 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: that is heinous, right, Like there was no ifans or butts. 163 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,959 Speaker 1: He burned up alive, whether it was an accident or 164 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: a homicide. So that we got to solve this case 165 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: for these guys. So leyeah, let's collaborate and see what 166 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:05,679 Speaker 1: we can do. 167 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 3: Detective Heptin fills them in on what evidence is available, 168 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 3: namely the vials of blood and the bag of pubic hair, 169 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 3: and now Steve o'cam is even more invested in solving 170 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 3: this case. 171 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,839 Speaker 1: One of the most unique factors of this case was 172 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: the forward thinking of the Medical Examiner's office. In nineteen 173 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: ninety two, they drew some fluids. The victim was burnt 174 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: so severely that there maybe wasn't any viable tissue right 175 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: to DNA test, so they just thought, buying the day, 176 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: let's draw some of these fluids anything we can from 177 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: inside that was protected from the fire, and they have 178 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: that evidence still on file. 179 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 2: It kind of reminds me of the Carla Walker case, 180 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 2: where they were really good at preserving so much of 181 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 2: the evidence that clothes she was wearing, and they were 182 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 2: able to get DNA off of those clothes because of 183 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 2: how they were stored. It shows how valuable that foresight 184 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 2: and correct storage can be. 185 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 3: And to your point that agent o'cam said, just the 186 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 3: fact that they still had the adence, He's like, you know, 187 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 3: we all think that evidence is perfectly collected, stored, preserved, labeled, 188 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 3: kept track of. You know, there are so many things 189 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 3: that happen. Yeah, like there's a flood, there's a fire, 190 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 3: a police department or medical examiner's office, moves, things get 191 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 3: lost in moves, and. 192 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 2: The reality is that also affects whether you can convict someone. 193 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 2: And I mean I even think about the OJ case 194 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 2: and how they were able to poke holes in just 195 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 2: chain of custody. Did someone plant the glove, did someone 196 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 2: plant the blood? I mean yeah, the reality of humans 197 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:09,439 Speaker 2: interacting with evidence inevitably questions arise that have real world implications. 198 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 3: And there's another thing to think about. Steve o'cam said, 199 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 3: it used to be fairly routine that if a body 200 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 3: went unidentified for a while, it was donated to a 201 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:21,439 Speaker 3: medical school to be used as a cadaver. 202 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: They could literally donate it to do tests on, like 203 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: to have their medical school learn how to work with bodies, 204 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: and then they for a while they buried them all 205 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: in unmarked graves, right, and then there was a while 206 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: where they just cremated them all and they don't exist. 207 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: So the challenges with these uhrs is to really see 208 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: where is the body? Do we need the bones to 209 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: be analyzed? Do we need to consider exhuming someone if 210 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: they were a victim of a homicide. 211 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,239 Speaker 2: So if unidentified human remains were donated to science or cremated, 212 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 2: there's no chance we'll ever know who they are. 213 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 3: No, Thankfully those practices are much less common now. 214 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 2: So I have a question. I know early on detectives 215 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 2: did check the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, which 216 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 2: is also called NamUs, and there were no hits. But 217 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 2: what about CODIS, So. 218 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 3: I asked eve O Kim about that. He said it 219 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 3: has its limitations with missing persons or unidentified remains. In 220 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 3: Utah right now, there are roughly one hundred and fifty 221 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 3: missing persons in their database, and. 222 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: I don't think a third of them have any DNA 223 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: in CODIS, Like no one the missing person, they're family 224 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: members anything, So there's a sixty seven percent chance right 225 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: out of the gate someone's not going to hit to anything. 226 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: And I would argue it's even higher than that because 227 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: tons of missing people aren't even listed in names. So 228 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: if our in our state at any given time, you've 229 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: got runaways, you've got adults who just you know, have 230 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: got mental health or some type of substance issues, and 231 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: they're in, they're out, they're in there out in terms 232 00:14:58,200 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: of missing people. 233 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 3: And because of that, Steve said, they're probably closer to 234 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 3: four hundred and fifty missing persons in Utah at any 235 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 3: given time. 236 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: And if you only have a third of the people 237 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: have DNA in there who are in the database, I 238 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: mean your chance as mathematic is going down down. And 239 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: I think our experience and our results and our success 240 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: with the testing we've done so far absolutely reinforces that 241 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: you're not going to get a code of set, so 242 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: you have to do your due diligence and follow the steps. 243 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: So once tied Doug through the evidence room and found 244 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: the actual vials of the fluid that had been extracted 245 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: back in the day, and we were right to roll. 246 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 3: So what happens now, well, Steve helps to find funding 247 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 3: for cold cases when there are deaths under suspicious circumstances, 248 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 3: and this is also a passion project for him. 249 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: In the last probably eighteen months, we've really been hitting them. 250 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: The unidentified remains hard. In Utah, people are laying in 251 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: a freezer for decades just because no one knows how 252 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: they died. Literally in bankers boxes, because once all of 253 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: the flesh and everything's gone from our bodies, most of 254 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: us will fit in a banker's box. So you walk 255 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: into the medical z owner, there's a wall in the 256 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: one walking cooler and it's just up and down, up 257 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: and down of bodies and bankers boxes. It's almost unconscionable. 258 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: If you just asked the people of any state, hey, 259 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: is you know there's like hundreds of people laying in 260 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: the cooler that no one's working the case, they would 261 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: be like, what what ultimately happens and happened in Utah 262 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: is no one tested them, No one did anything with them. 263 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: They literally tried to identify a body and if they 264 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: didn't figure it out, they just went in the cooler 265 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: and case closed like nothing's been done. And some of 266 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: the agencies, like Weaver County, thought, you know, let's give 267 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: this a shot now. 268 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 3: Steve Okham's office has a relationship with authorm of the 269 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 3: labs that works with the state of Utah to test 270 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 3: crime scene evidence and human remains. And remember the burned 271 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 3: body on the boat of course, well, Detective Hebden has 272 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,239 Speaker 3: bials of his blood and some pubic hair from the 273 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 3: autopsy thirty two years ago. 274 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 5: We sent them the blood because that was what we 275 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,920 Speaker 5: found to be probably the highest or strongest DNA standard. 276 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 3: And about six weeks later he hears back from authorm 277 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 3: with the name Kevin Capps. 278 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 5: So they sent me a document with all of the 279 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 5: genetic makeup of the individual, and they gave me like 280 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 5: family relatives, people that were still alive. Was a pretty 281 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 5: cool report that they give just of tracing down that 282 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 5: family tree of this relative and this relative, and he's 283 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 5: got all of this genetic makeup that brings it back 284 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 5: to a pretty solid match that it was him. 285 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 2: The fact that they can identify a solid match like that, 286 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 2: like it's out of nowhere, it's really shocking. I mean, 287 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 2: this body was a person and that person can actually 288 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 2: be found. 289 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 5: He still has family here in Utah, even not even 290 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 5: an hour drive from me. What hit me hard was 291 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 5: realizing that he also had a daughter. They told me 292 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 5: that he had a daughter that would have only been 293 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 5: four years old at the time of his death, and 294 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 5: so that's when I immediately just kind of started thinking, like, man, 295 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 5: does she even know does she know where her dad's 296 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 5: been this whole time? 297 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 2: So after thirty two years, there's a lead on who 298 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 2: this victim is, and I'm guessing this is where the 299 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 2: investigation shifts back into the hand of the detectives because 300 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 2: they have a name. But how did he end up 301 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 2: burning in the middle of a field. 302 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 3: Well, first, Detective Hebden's got to find family members of 303 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 3: Kevin Capps. 304 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,880 Speaker 5: Yeah, as I'm starting to kind of imagine this guy 305 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,919 Speaker 5: and his life and the people that were in it 306 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 5: and the questions that they've had for the last thirty 307 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 5: plus years. 308 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 3: Allen, this is where Detective Hebden said he had to 309 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,399 Speaker 3: adjust his investigative process because if someone goes missing today, 310 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 3: I mean, you could just check their online social media. 311 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, Facebook, Instagram, things like that to see if there 312 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 2: are any photos or messages. You can probably find clues 313 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 2: on what they were up to before they went missing. 314 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 3: But since this victim went missing in nineteen ninety two, 315 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,440 Speaker 3: you have to look for newspaper articles, police reports, marriage certificates, 316 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 3: you know, stuff like that, And he does find some 317 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 3: previous police reports involving the victim from before ninety two, 318 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 3: nothing after, so that supports the information he got from 319 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 3: Authrom this guy is actually Kevin Kapps, and Detective Hebden 320 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 3: decides to reach out to the daughter. That's a big call, 321 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 3: it is, and with these kinds of cases, the calls 322 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 3: are always a little tricky because they need to get 323 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 3: fresh DNA swabs from living relatives to fully confirm that 324 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 3: the body in the boat is actually Kevin Capps. But 325 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 3: then there's also the fact that they may be revealing 326 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 3: not only that somebody's died, but that that person may 327 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 3: have been murdered. 328 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 5: And then also just because we always have to kind 329 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 5: of question and keep on the mind of, you know, 330 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 5: if this is a homicide or if there is any 331 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 5: other persons involvement. The four year old daughter is the 332 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 5: least likely suspect, you know, if there is any sort 333 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 5: of family involvement in that regard, I imagine she'd probably 334 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 5: be the one kind of question the most of what happened. 335 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 4: I get a knock at the door, and it's kind 336 00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,679 Speaker 4: of funny because I didn't want to answer it the 337 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 4: door because I thought it was the Mormon missionaries. But 338 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 4: it wasn't the Mormon missionaries, it was the Weeber detectives 339 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 4: from Ogden, Utah. 340 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 2: Wait, is that his daughter? 341 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 3: Yeah? Her name is Chelsea Laroux and she's thirty seven now, 342 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 3: but the last time she saw her dad she was 343 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 3: only four. 344 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 4: And they're like, we need to talk to about a 345 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:32,879 Speaker 4: family member. And I said a family member? Like what 346 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 4: a family member? And he's like, we need to talk 347 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 4: to you about your dad. I looked at him and 348 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 4: I was almost drew a blank. I said, are you serious. 349 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 6: They're like yes. 350 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 4: I said, okay, you can come in, and so I 351 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 4: yelled to my mom and I'm like, mom, guess what 352 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 4: you know? 353 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 2: They have information about my dad. 354 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 4: And we were just blown away, absolutely blown away. 355 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 2: Hang on. I mean, you get a knock on the door, 356 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 2: thinking maybe someone selling something, and this is what you 357 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,680 Speaker 2: hear after all these years, that would be jarring. 358 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 4: I was a little taken back by that, because this 359 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 4: whole time I thought that my dad was alive and 360 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 4: he was no longer with us, which brought peace. The 361 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 4: not knowing of where Keaven was my whole life. To 362 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 4: know that he had been in heaven this whole time. 363 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 2: What did she know about her dad. 364 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 3: Well, Chelsea grew up with her mom as an only child, 365 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 3: and she'd seen pictures of her dad. She was actually 366 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 3: really close to his parents, but since she was so 367 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 3: young when he disappeared, most of what she knew were 368 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,719 Speaker 3: stories that her family had told her that he was funny, 369 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,719 Speaker 3: he liked to play soccer. She still has a purple 370 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 3: teddy bear he had given her. She did know that 371 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 3: he'd had some brushes with the police and he'd spent 372 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 3: time in jail. 373 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 2: But as far as she knew, he just disappeared. 374 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 3: Yeah, Chelsea says her grandmother, Kevin Capp's mother is the 375 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 3: last person in their family who saw him alive. 376 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 4: So my dad was getting into trouble and my grandma 377 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 4: just couldn't really handle him anymore, and so she dropped 378 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 4: him off down the street from their house with one 379 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 4: hundred dollars and just told him to go live his life. 380 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 4: And unfortunately, he never came back. 381 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 3: Chelsea thinks that was April of nineteen ninety two, the 382 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,919 Speaker 3: same month his body was found on the boat, and 383 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 3: over the years, Chelsea's family was always searching for Kevin. 384 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 3: Detective Hebden says Evan's sister would drive around. She was 385 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 3: just constantly on the lookout for him. 386 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 5: You know, kind of every time she saw a homeless 387 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 5: guy on the street corner, she would be kind of 388 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 5: jumping out and being like, hey, are you Kevin? Are 389 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 5: you Kevin, Like just wondering, you know, is he here. 390 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,879 Speaker 3: At one point, Kevin's sister saw a photo of a 391 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 3: man named Kevin Capps. I think it may have been 392 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 3: in the newspaper or a police report, who was living 393 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 3: on the streets in New Mexico. And she becomes convinced 394 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 3: that this is her brother. So she tries to track 395 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 3: him down and she can't find him, but she carries 396 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 3: that photo around with her for years. And Chelsea says 397 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 3: the hardest part was wondering where her dad was and 398 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 3: why he wasn't with her. 399 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 4: I did always wonder what it would be like to 400 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 4: have a dad in my life. The daddy daughter dances 401 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 4: that he missed my soccer games. I mean, he missed 402 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 4: my whole life. So for me, it was really hard 403 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 4: not having him around. It's relieving to know he didn't 404 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 4: abandon me, to know that, you know, he really did 405 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 4: love me. You know, growing up you think there's something 406 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 4: wrong with you, you know, like, gosh, am I not 407 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 4: good enough? You know, struggled with you know, daddy issues forever, 408 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 4: you know, being more attached to men than women. So 409 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 4: it's relieving. It's a big weight off my shoulders. It 410 00:25:51,119 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 4: is such a blessing. It is a close of a 411 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 4: chapter that needed to be closed a long time ago. 412 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 2: Wow, and how did authorm even find Chelsea? 413 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 3: Yeah? I was curious about that too. 414 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 4: In twenty twenty, something just came to me that I 415 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 4: needed to take my ancestry. And so my Mom's like, ky, 416 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 4: ch else, what would you like for Christmas? I was like, 417 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 4: you know, I would love to do my ancestry, thinking 418 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 4: that I was going to maybe find a brother, sister, 419 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 4: extended family, you know, and lo and behold, I got 420 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 4: a different treat. My treat was that I got to 421 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 4: find out what happened to Kevin's. 422 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 2: So Detective Hebden and the investigator Steve Ocam solved one 423 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 2: big part of this mystery who the person found burned on. 424 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 4: The boat was. 425 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 2: But there's also this question of how he ended up there. 426 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 2: Was it an accident or was he murdered? 427 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 3: So it is still an open investigation. And detective Hebden says, 428 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 3: there were actually a lot of other mysteries too. 429 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 5: One of the things with dealing with a body that's 430 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 5: burned up to that extent is it makes it very 431 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 5: difficult for us to be able to determine if there 432 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,159 Speaker 5: were other injuries, right, if he had some sort of 433 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 5: blunt force trauma, or we still had the bones that 434 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 5: we could look at. Was there a knife wound or 435 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 5: this or that or something that we just weren't able 436 00:27:55,480 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 5: to really say for certain, if there was other injuries 437 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 5: that contributed to his death. 438 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 3: He says his office has new information, but they're not 439 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 3: ready to release it to the public yet. But after 440 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 3: thirty two years, Chelsea finally knows what happened to her father, 441 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 3: and you know, knowing who he is, heats the case 442 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 3: up even more. 443 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 2: Next time on America's Crime Lab. 444 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 5: He takes a rock and bashes in her head and 445 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:32,880 Speaker 5: leser to die. 446 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 6: This person has left DNA at a crime scene that's 447 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 6: unsolved and has committed another crime, and now their DNA 448 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 6: has been collected directly from them. 449 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: There's a little blood spot on the jacket. 450 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 4: Whose DNA do you think that was? 451 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: It was the victim's DNA. 452 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 2: America's Crime Lab is produced by Rococo Punch for Kaleidoscope. 453 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 2: Erica Lance is our story editor and sound design is 454 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 2: by David Woji. Producing team is Katherine Fenalosa and Jessica Albert. 455 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 2: Our executive producers are Kate Osborne, Mangesh Hadi Kadour and 456 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 2: David and Kristen Middleman, and from iHeart Katrina Norville and 457 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 2: Ali Perry. Special thanks to Connell Byrne, Will Pearson, Carrie Lieberman, 458 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 2: Nikki Etoor, Nathan Etowski, John Burbank, and the entire team 459 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 2: at Outhrum. I'm Alan Lance Lesser. Thanks for listening.