WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Dana Stidham Part 2 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:20.125 School of Humans. On Tuesday, July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty nine, 0:00:20.485 --> 0:00:23.405 eighteen year old Dana Stidham went home to do some laundry. 0:00:24.245 --> 0:00:26.765 She drove from where she was living in Centerton to 0:00:26.805 --> 0:00:30.605 where her parents, Lawrence and Georgia, lived in Highwassee, Arkansas. 0:00:31.605 --> 0:00:34.005 After she put her clothes in the wash cycle, she 0:00:34.085 --> 0:00:36.445 headed out to run an errand for her dad. His 0:00:36.485 --> 0:00:40.405 stomach was upset and he needed some medicine. She went 0:00:40.445 --> 0:00:43.085 to the Phillips food store, which, by the way, is 0:00:43.125 --> 0:00:46.205 now a Harp's grocery store, the one in Bella Vista. 0:00:46.885 --> 0:00:50.685 She checked out at three seventeen PM. We know this 0:00:50.805 --> 0:00:53.725 because the receipt was later found in her car, and 0:00:53.885 --> 0:00:56.325 because the cashier and a lot of other people working 0:00:56.325 --> 0:00:58.965 in the store confirmed that Dana was there that day. 0:01:00.605 --> 0:01:03.525 Dana knew everyone because she had worked there for three 0:01:03.605 --> 0:01:07.925 years in high school. We're going to talk about Dana's case, 0:01:08.525 --> 0:01:11.245 a lot of the contradictory clues that have been explored 0:01:11.285 --> 0:01:13.565 over the years, and we're also going to talk about 0:01:13.565 --> 0:01:18.125 other unsolved murders in the Ozarks. I'm noticing as I 0:01:18.165 --> 0:01:21.765 compile these cases that there are a lot of unsolved 0:01:21.845 --> 0:01:26.525 murders that happened along Arkansas Highway seventy one. We're also 0:01:26.605 --> 0:01:29.085 going to explore all the theories that have come up 0:01:29.085 --> 0:01:32.845 over the years and try to answer the question, was 0:01:32.885 --> 0:01:36.445 this someone Dana knew or a stranger? Could it have 0:01:36.565 --> 0:01:41.045 been a serial killer? I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past 0:01:41.085 --> 0:01:44.045 five years of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, 0:01:44.445 --> 0:01:46.845 I have learned that there is no such thing as 0:01:46.885 --> 0:01:50.645 a small town where murder never happens. I have received 0:01:50.765 --> 0:01:54.525 hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking 0:01:54.565 --> 0:01:58.005 for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, 0:01:58.085 --> 0:02:01.245 and their communities. If you have a case you'd like 0:02:01.325 --> 0:02:03.605 me and my team to look into, you can reach 0:02:03.605 --> 0:02:05.885 out to us at our Helen Gone Murder Line at 0:02:05.925 --> 0:02:09.325 six seven eight seven four four six one four five 0:02:09.885 --> 0:02:13.845 At six seven eight seven four four six one four five. 0:02:14.685 --> 0:03:03.725 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. So let's go back 0:03:03.765 --> 0:03:06.525 to what we know. Back to the timeline. According to 0:03:06.565 --> 0:03:08.805 the police report, which we got a copy of from 0:03:08.845 --> 0:03:12.165 the Benton County Sheriff's Office, Dana left home at around 0:03:12.205 --> 0:03:15.085 two forty five pm. She went to the Phillips food 0:03:15.085 --> 0:03:18.085 store in Bella Vista. This would have taken her about 0:03:18.125 --> 0:03:21.445 fifteen minutes. When she left her parents' house that day, 0:03:21.525 --> 0:03:24.565 she was wearing white shorts, a white top with red lettering, 0:03:24.805 --> 0:03:28.525 and red sox with white tennis shoes. Dana got out 0:03:28.525 --> 0:03:31.645 at the Phillips store and did her shopping. Now remember 0:03:31.845 --> 0:03:34.245 this store was where she had had a high school job, 0:03:34.365 --> 0:03:38.245 so people knew her there. Several people remembered talking to 0:03:38.285 --> 0:03:42.245 her that day. She bought her dad's medicine, Alka Seltzer, 0:03:42.805 --> 0:03:46.285 as well as some dishwashing soap and sugar. She checked 0:03:46.285 --> 0:03:49.845 out at three seventeen PM, according to the timestamped receipt. 0:03:50.645 --> 0:03:53.525 After that she walked out into the parking lot. She 0:03:53.685 --> 0:03:56.125 talked to an older guy, who, by the way, has 0:03:56.205 --> 0:04:00.805 not been identified publicly. Then a landscaper reportedly saw Dana 0:04:00.885 --> 0:04:04.325 drive out of the parking lot, but told police they 0:04:04.365 --> 0:04:07.885 did not know which way she turned. Dana never came 0:04:07.925 --> 0:04:10.925 home that afternoon. Her brother Larry called the police at 0:04:11.005 --> 0:04:14.565 nine to fifteen pm to report her missing. A bolow 0:04:14.645 --> 0:04:18.965 was put out right afterward. The next morning, July twenty sixth, 0:04:18.965 --> 0:04:21.965 at around six thirty am, a sergeant from the Benton 0:04:22.005 --> 0:04:24.445 County Sheriff's Office saw a parked car on the side 0:04:24.485 --> 0:04:27.445 of US Highway seventy one. We talked about this last week. 0:04:27.925 --> 0:04:30.965 It turned out this was Dana's nineteen eighty four gray 0:04:31.005 --> 0:04:35.125 Dodge Omney. The car was found near Wellington Road. The 0:04:35.205 --> 0:04:37.965 keys were stealing the ignition. The driver's side window was 0:04:37.965 --> 0:04:42.085 halfway down and the left rear tire was flat. Now 0:04:42.125 --> 0:04:44.325 a lot of people have pointed to that half down 0:04:44.445 --> 0:04:49.645 window as potential evidence that Dana could have pulled over 0:04:49.845 --> 0:04:52.925 and rolled down her window to talk to somebody, But 0:04:53.685 --> 0:04:56.965 the tire was not totally flat, and Dana was only 0:04:57.005 --> 0:05:00.325 four miles from home, which is why I find it 0:05:00.525 --> 0:05:02.885 less likely that she would have pulled over for someone 0:05:02.925 --> 0:05:05.205 she didn't know or caught a ride with a stranger, 0:05:05.485 --> 0:05:07.845 because she could have driven on a half flat tire. 0:05:08.085 --> 0:05:10.645 Or she could have turned around and gone back to 0:05:10.645 --> 0:05:13.245 the Phillips parking lot. She knew a ton of people there. 0:05:13.245 --> 0:05:15.405 She could have gotten a lot of people's help changing 0:05:15.405 --> 0:05:20.005 that tire. There was no obvious sign of a struggle 0:05:20.045 --> 0:05:23.685 inside the car, but the driver's seat was pushed back. 0:05:24.365 --> 0:05:28.005 Dana was petitue only five foot two, but the seat 0:05:28.045 --> 0:05:31.885 was adjusted for a much taller person. Dana's Denham purse 0:05:32.005 --> 0:05:35.165 was missing. As we said before, there was a receipt 0:05:35.205 --> 0:05:38.605 found inside the car for her groceries, but the groceries 0:05:38.645 --> 0:05:43.565 themselves were gone. Days later, some of her clothing was 0:05:43.605 --> 0:05:48.045 found scattered near the road. Then, on August fifth, searchers 0:05:48.085 --> 0:05:51.165 discovered more of Dana's items, including her bank checks, her 0:05:51.245 --> 0:05:54.485 driver's license, and several other items, a few miles north 0:05:54.485 --> 0:05:58.525 of where the car was found. Then someone's pet dog 0:05:58.645 --> 0:06:03.685 came home with Dana's wallet between its teeth. So the 0:06:03.765 --> 0:06:07.365 first obvious question is where was the actual crime scene? 0:06:07.685 --> 0:06:10.605 Because you have several potential areas where it could have been. 0:06:10.645 --> 0:06:12.845 You have the area where the car was parked on 0:06:12.925 --> 0:06:15.965 the southbound side of US highly seventy one. You have 0:06:16.165 --> 0:06:19.085 the place where the bank checks and license were found, 0:06:19.445 --> 0:06:22.685 and where the clothes were scattered. Was Dana abducted from 0:06:22.685 --> 0:06:25.245 where her car was parked, or was the real crime 0:06:25.285 --> 0:06:28.045 scene somewhere else. We're going to look at both of 0:06:28.045 --> 0:06:36.325 these possibilities. Let's consider the possibility that she could have 0:06:36.365 --> 0:06:38.925 been abducted. I did some digging and I found out 0:06:38.965 --> 0:06:42.365 a couple more details about Dana's autopsy and her remains. 0:06:43.045 --> 0:06:45.685 We mentioned that her remains were found in a creek bed. 0:06:46.165 --> 0:06:49.125 There were some bones missing. The skeleton was only about 0:06:49.205 --> 0:06:52.925 ninety percent complete, and the missing bones included a very 0:06:52.965 --> 0:06:57.365 important bone, Dana's sternum. That sternum was never found, and 0:06:57.405 --> 0:07:01.005 without that bone, according to the medical examiner's report, authorities 0:07:01.005 --> 0:07:03.525 could not figure out whether the nick that was on 0:07:03.565 --> 0:07:08.485 her left shoulder blade was the fatal wound. The theory 0:07:08.565 --> 0:07:10.845 that detectives had was that Dana had been stabbed in 0:07:10.885 --> 0:07:13.405 the neck, but without the sternum, they said they could 0:07:13.445 --> 0:07:17.645 not be sure. There was an article in the Springfield 0:07:17.725 --> 0:07:22.285 Newsleader from February eighteenth to nineteen ninety one. The Springfield 0:07:22.325 --> 0:07:26.445 Newsleader did a lot of research into unsolved killings in 0:07:26.485 --> 0:07:28.525 the Ozarks, and they asked if some of these killings 0:07:28.525 --> 0:07:31.805 could have been linked. The paper pointed out that if 0:07:31.845 --> 0:07:35.165 there were links between some of these killings, especially back then, 0:07:35.765 --> 0:07:39.645 these police departments might not have figured that out because, 0:07:39.845 --> 0:07:42.365 as you may know from listening to this podcast and others, 0:07:42.845 --> 0:07:46.805 agencies often don't share information. Even though the killings were 0:07:46.805 --> 0:07:51.765 happening in the Ozarks region, different agencies had jurisdiction. Bodies 0:07:51.805 --> 0:07:55.005 were found in different counties, some in Missouri, some in Arkansas, 0:07:55.565 --> 0:07:58.845 so the newspaper did its own investigation into these unsolved deaths. 0:07:59.365 --> 0:08:04.005 It found similarities in four cases. Side note this still 0:08:04.085 --> 0:08:07.605 happens even today, with all the technology we have, you 0:08:07.685 --> 0:08:10.605 still see so many cases where a body is found 0:08:10.645 --> 0:08:13.645 in one county, but the person has gone missing in 0:08:13.645 --> 0:08:16.205 another one, and there is such a lack of communication 0:08:16.605 --> 0:08:22.285 even today. Back to Dana, the Springfield Leader mentions the 0:08:22.285 --> 0:08:25.005 April nineteen eighty seven disappearance of a thirty one year 0:08:25.045 --> 0:08:28.565 old woman named Deborah c Lewis. Deborah went missing from 0:08:28.605 --> 0:08:32.525 her car near Springfield. Her body was found eight months 0:08:32.605 --> 0:08:37.605 later in Newton County. Then in June of nineteen eighty nine, 0:08:37.685 --> 0:08:40.485 there was another abduction a twenty four year old woman 0:08:40.525 --> 0:08:44.245 named Kelly Anne Workman. She disappeared from a church parking 0:08:44.245 --> 0:08:46.565 lot in Douglas County where she had been mowing the lawn. 0:08:47.845 --> 0:08:50.645 Then in nineteen ninety there was a killing of a 0:08:50.685 --> 0:08:53.965 woman who was known for many years as Jane Doe. 0:08:54.005 --> 0:08:56.405 Her body was found in December of nineteen ninety one 0:08:56.485 --> 0:09:01.445 in McDonald County. The fourth victim the newspaper mentioned was 0:09:01.525 --> 0:09:05.885 Dana Stidham. The paper pointed out that all of the 0:09:05.965 --> 0:09:09.485 victims had at least on the surface some similar injuries. 0:09:10.085 --> 0:09:14.085 Detectives suspected that all these women had been strangled or 0:09:14.165 --> 0:09:17.845 their throats had been cut. Police found evidence that some 0:09:17.885 --> 0:09:20.365 of the victims were tied with some sort of twine. 0:09:20.805 --> 0:09:24.165 Three of them were found near US Highway seventy one. Again, 0:09:24.245 --> 0:09:26.565 there could have been a serial killer working US Highway 0:09:26.605 --> 0:09:29.845 seventy one, and authorities might not have linked the cases 0:09:29.885 --> 0:09:34.885 back then. The Springfield Leader pointed out that even though 0:09:35.165 --> 0:09:39.725 Danis Didham's case and Debbie Lewis's case were only forty 0:09:39.725 --> 0:09:43.765 five miles apart, the agencies who investigated may not have 0:09:43.765 --> 0:09:47.965 compared notes because they were in different states. Now there 0:09:48.045 --> 0:09:50.925 have been some suspects and leads in some of these cases. 0:09:51.565 --> 0:09:54.685 I wanted to take a closer look at them. Debbie 0:09:54.765 --> 0:09:57.845 Sue Lewis vanished on April twenty seventh, nineteen eighty seven. 0:09:58.525 --> 0:10:01.485 Debbie had two jobs. She worked as a nurse for 0:10:01.525 --> 0:10:05.005 the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. She also had 0:10:05.045 --> 0:10:08.645 a second job at the Ozark Mountain Concessions. Debbie was 0:10:08.685 --> 0:10:11.645 working the night she went missing at Ozark Concessions. She 0:10:11.805 --> 0:10:15.965 clocked out at eleven oh five pm. Her yellow Volkswagen 0:10:15.965 --> 0:10:18.925 convertible was found a few miles north of the Springfield 0:10:18.965 --> 0:10:22.685 Branson National Airport. The lights were on, the motor was running, 0:10:22.725 --> 0:10:25.205 and all of her stuff was inside the car, including 0:10:25.285 --> 0:10:29.205 her money in her keys, but she was gone, and 0:10:29.245 --> 0:10:32.245 the way the car was left it looked like someone 0:10:32.285 --> 0:10:36.525 had just grabbed her. But again detectives had no real leads. 0:10:37.085 --> 0:10:40.005 Eight months later, a family looking for a Christmas tree 0:10:40.045 --> 0:10:43.285 was out in rural Newton County when they found Debbie's body. 0:10:46.045 --> 0:10:50.445 There were some clues. Like in Dana's case, there was 0:10:50.605 --> 0:10:54.205 very little soft tissue and investigators had trouble determining the 0:10:54.205 --> 0:10:58.805 cause of death. Also, you may remember from last week 0:10:58.805 --> 0:11:02.725 that in Dana's case, investigators found some twine near the 0:11:02.765 --> 0:11:05.445 body with some knots in it. It was the same store. 0:11:05.885 --> 0:11:10.205 In Debbie's case, investigators found a knotted cord near the 0:11:10.245 --> 0:11:14.085 bones of her hands. So the Springfield Newsleader the newspaper, 0:11:14.125 --> 0:11:18.525 did another story in twenty fifteen. They interviewed the former prosecutor, 0:11:19.085 --> 0:11:22.605 and the prosecutor stated they believed Debbie had been kidnapped, 0:11:22.725 --> 0:11:25.165 bound and murdered. That was the exact phrase they use. 0:11:26.325 --> 0:11:30.685 But again, like deja vus with Dana's case, because of 0:11:30.685 --> 0:11:33.045 the lack of tissue found with the body, they could 0:11:33.125 --> 0:11:36.445 not figure out how she died. Both cause and manner 0:11:36.485 --> 0:11:41.165 of death were undetermined, but they did have a potential 0:11:41.165 --> 0:11:45.325 person of interest in Debbie's case, a guy named Gerald 0:11:45.365 --> 0:11:49.085 Carnahan who apparently dated her at one point. Now, Gerald 0:11:49.085 --> 0:11:52.205 Carnahan was from a wealthy family. He was a local businessman, 0:11:52.765 --> 0:11:57.125 but he had a history of disturbing behavior. Police suspected him, 0:11:57.125 --> 0:11:59.765 but they didn't have enough evidence to prosecute, so the 0:11:59.765 --> 0:12:04.205 case went cold. Both of Debbie's parents passed away, never 0:12:04.325 --> 0:12:08.765 knowing what really happened to her. Then, in twenty ten, 0:12:08.965 --> 0:12:12.845 the name Gerald Carnahan came up again. He was convicted 0:12:12.885 --> 0:12:15.405 of another rape and murder that happened two years before 0:12:15.485 --> 0:12:19.285 Debbie disappeared. Jackie John's, a twenty year old former beauty 0:12:19.325 --> 0:12:22.765 queen from Nixa, Arkansas, who worked in a local cafe, 0:12:23.245 --> 0:12:26.485 went to seven eleven one night and then disappeared without 0:12:26.525 --> 0:12:31.085 a trace on June eighteenth, nineteen eighty five, in Nixa, Arkansas, 0:12:31.285 --> 0:12:34.325 about sixty five miles from where Danis Sidham's body was found, 0:12:34.925 --> 0:12:38.445 also by the way along US Highway seventy one, Jackie 0:12:38.565 --> 0:12:41.445 left work she stopped at a local seven eleven at 0:12:41.485 --> 0:12:46.725 approximately eleven PM. After that, she disappeared. The next day, 0:12:46.845 --> 0:12:50.325 a delivery driver saw her vehicle. It was very distinctive. 0:12:50.645 --> 0:12:53.525 It was a black Camaro with personalized license plates that 0:12:53.565 --> 0:12:56.845 had Jackie's name on them. They found the car on 0:12:56.965 --> 0:12:59.285 the side of the road off of US one sixty. 0:13:00.045 --> 0:13:02.685 The car looked like it had been abandoned. Similar to 0:13:02.765 --> 0:13:06.125 Dana's case and to Debbie's, the door or was open. 0:13:06.725 --> 0:13:09.445 Her purse and her clothes and her things were all there. 0:13:10.045 --> 0:13:12.845 But there was one difference because this time there was 0:13:12.925 --> 0:13:15.205 a sign of a struggle. There was blood in that car, 0:13:16.005 --> 0:13:20.925 and unlike in Debbian Dana's cases, Jackie's remains were found quickly. 0:13:21.765 --> 0:13:25.325 Her body was dumped in Lake Springfield. Two local fishermen 0:13:25.365 --> 0:13:29.005 found the body four days after Jackie disappeared. So because 0:13:29.005 --> 0:13:32.285 of that, investigators were able to find more information about 0:13:32.285 --> 0:13:37.205 what might have killed Jackie. Forensic testing showed she had 0:13:37.245 --> 0:13:40.365 blunt forest trauma. She had been hitting the head multiple times. 0:13:41.925 --> 0:13:45.365 This time there was proof Jackie had been sexually assaulted. 0:13:46.005 --> 0:13:51.685 Investigators found traces of seamen and they had a good lead. 0:13:52.205 --> 0:13:55.685 Someone had spotted another very distinctive car near the seven 0:13:55.725 --> 0:13:58.805 eleven at around the time Jackie was there a nineteen 0:13:58.885 --> 0:14:02.205 sixties white and blue Chevrolet truck. Now this was a 0:14:02.205 --> 0:14:05.485 small town, so everyone knew that vehicle. The guy who 0:14:05.485 --> 0:14:09.285 who owned it was Gerald Carnahan. Gerald Carnahan said he 0:14:09.325 --> 0:14:12.205 had an alibi, but law enforcement very quickly found some 0:14:12.285 --> 0:14:14.645 holes in it. Gerald said he had dinner with his 0:14:14.685 --> 0:14:17.765 stepdaughter and got home at around ten forty five PM, 0:14:18.125 --> 0:14:21.725 but Jackie was killed later than that, so the alibi 0:14:21.845 --> 0:14:25.365 was always a little bit shaky. Police continued to be 0:14:25.525 --> 0:14:28.925 very suspicious of Gerald Carnahan. There was an Oxygen show 0:14:28.965 --> 0:14:31.845 called in Ice Cold Blood about this case. According to 0:14:31.885 --> 0:14:35.805 that program, police figured out early on there were connections 0:14:35.805 --> 0:14:38.525 between Gerald and Jackie. She had done some work for 0:14:38.605 --> 0:14:40.845 Gerald in the past and told a friend that he 0:14:40.965 --> 0:14:44.405 made her uncomfortable. She thought he was a creep. Law 0:14:44.485 --> 0:14:47.045 enforcement had their suspicions, but they couldn't make a case, 0:14:47.085 --> 0:14:51.205 so nothing happened. Also, it did not help that Gerald's 0:14:51.205 --> 0:14:53.765 family had money, so he was able to hire good lawyers, 0:14:54.165 --> 0:14:57.325 so he wasn't arrested. He went out of town. He 0:14:57.365 --> 0:15:02.565 lived his life and apparently kept assaulting women. In nineteen 0:15:02.685 --> 0:15:06.405 ninety three, Gerald Carnahan struck again. He tried to kidnap 0:15:06.445 --> 0:15:09.965 a woman from a road in Springfield. She escaped and 0:15:10.005 --> 0:15:13.165 he was arrested. This time he got caught pretty much 0:15:13.245 --> 0:15:17.365 red handed, but he only got two years in prison 0:15:17.485 --> 0:15:20.965 for that attempt at kidnapping. Side note, he burned down 0:15:21.045 --> 0:15:23.965 a building, so he ended up getting convicted of arson 0:15:24.165 --> 0:15:28.005 also in nineteen ninety three, and for the arson charge 0:15:28.285 --> 0:15:32.125 he got four years, but for the attempted kidnapping he 0:15:32.205 --> 0:15:38.125 got two years. That absolutely blows my mind. In two 0:15:38.205 --> 0:15:41.685 thousand and six, investigators took another look at Jackie's case. 0:15:43.085 --> 0:15:45.805 They looked at the seamen sample because by now there 0:15:45.845 --> 0:15:48.645 was some new technology that didn't exist when she was murdered. 0:15:49.205 --> 0:15:52.285 They were able to determine that the seaman was a 0:15:52.325 --> 0:15:58.045 match to Gerald Carnahan. An undercover state trooper followed him 0:15:58.445 --> 0:16:01.165 and apparently got his DNA off a cup of coffee 0:16:01.165 --> 0:16:03.325 that Gerald threw into the trash while he was visiting 0:16:03.325 --> 0:16:08.205 an auto dealership. Arrested and convicted in twenty ten, he 0:16:08.245 --> 0:16:13.765 was sentenced to life in prison without parole. So could 0:16:13.885 --> 0:16:18.285 Gerald have been around when Dana disappeared. It's possible that 0:16:18.405 --> 0:16:22.205 Dana Stidham was abducted from her car that day. But 0:16:22.245 --> 0:16:25.085 I want to back up, what if she wasn't abducted. 0:16:25.565 --> 0:16:27.925 I want to take a look at some other scenarios 0:16:27.965 --> 0:16:31.565 because so far, a lot of the theories have focused 0:16:31.565 --> 0:16:34.365 on someone following her out, someone forcing her to pull 0:16:34.365 --> 0:16:37.965 off the road, or somehow disabling her tire. So I 0:16:37.965 --> 0:16:41.965 would like to look at some alternative scenarios, because if 0:16:42.005 --> 0:16:46.245 we're looking at comparable cases, this assumes Dana's abandoned car 0:16:46.645 --> 0:16:50.125 was the primary crime scene. We're assuming she pulled over 0:16:50.165 --> 0:16:52.725 there to park, whether because she felt that her tire 0:16:52.805 --> 0:16:55.365 was low, or because someone maybe signaled her or pulled 0:16:55.365 --> 0:16:58.885 her over as a ruse. Let's come back to what 0:16:58.965 --> 0:17:02.165 we know about the car. Remember, Dana was only five 0:17:02.205 --> 0:17:06.005 foot two, very petite, around one hundred pounds. When instigators 0:17:06.045 --> 0:17:09.125 got to the car, they found no signs of foul play. 0:17:09.285 --> 0:17:12.005 But and this is the clue that really throws me off, 0:17:12.605 --> 0:17:15.645 they were able to push the seat back really far back, 0:17:15.725 --> 0:17:19.405 like a much taller person was driving. So if that's 0:17:19.445 --> 0:17:22.685 the case, that leads me to believe someone else drove 0:17:22.725 --> 0:17:24.805 the car there and parked it and chose to park 0:17:24.845 --> 0:17:28.365 it in that spot, which means the crime scene was staged. 0:17:28.525 --> 0:17:32.285 That's not the real crime scene. The more I look 0:17:32.325 --> 0:17:34.165 at this case, the more I think that's a distinct 0:17:34.165 --> 0:17:38.125 possibility because again, I know there was an abandoned car, 0:17:38.845 --> 0:17:42.405 but all of these other cases that involved abandoned cars, kidnapping, 0:17:42.445 --> 0:17:45.605 and abductions, they all happened at night. Dana's was in 0:17:45.605 --> 0:17:48.325 the middle of the day. It's of course possible that 0:17:48.365 --> 0:17:50.205 she was kidnapped, but in my mind this makes it 0:17:50.285 --> 0:17:54.125 much more unlikely. So if Dana didn't park there, if 0:17:54.165 --> 0:17:56.925 her killer parked the car there, we have to figure 0:17:56.965 --> 0:18:07.485 out where the real crime scene was. The one thing 0:18:07.565 --> 0:18:10.165 that we have is the exact time when she went 0:18:10.165 --> 0:18:12.525 to the Phillips food store. That's why keep bringing it 0:18:12.605 --> 0:18:15.805 up over and over. She talked to people there. I 0:18:15.885 --> 0:18:19.445 also found out more about what Dana's plans were after 0:18:19.485 --> 0:18:23.285 she did her laundry. It turns out after buying the 0:18:23.325 --> 0:18:26.805 medicine for her father, Dana Stidham had a date that night. 0:18:28.645 --> 0:18:30.845 Police spoke to the guy she was supposed to go 0:18:30.885 --> 0:18:34.045 out with. He and his family both said she never 0:18:34.085 --> 0:18:37.725 showed up that night. He was very cooperative with investigators, 0:18:38.445 --> 0:18:42.645 so to me, even though we have seen some reports 0:18:42.685 --> 0:18:45.285 that Dana was spotted out at a local party spot 0:18:45.285 --> 0:18:49.205 that night. I find those hard to believe. It's reasonable 0:18:49.205 --> 0:18:51.365 to assume she would have wanted to get home, give 0:18:51.405 --> 0:18:54.205 her dad his medicine which he needed, get her laundry, 0:18:54.245 --> 0:18:57.965 and get ready for her date. But what if she 0:18:58.125 --> 0:19:00.485 drove somewhere else after she left that parking lot. What 0:19:00.565 --> 0:19:03.205 if she made another stop? What if she went to 0:19:03.285 --> 0:19:06.765 visit someone who no one knows about. Which brings me 0:19:06.845 --> 0:19:10.045 back to people's alibis not to say that any of 0:19:10.085 --> 0:19:12.925 these people did anything wrong, but as an investigator with 0:19:12.965 --> 0:19:15.405 an unsolved case, we always have to go back to 0:19:15.445 --> 0:19:18.045 the timeline. One of the biggest things we do is 0:19:18.085 --> 0:19:21.125 look at everyone's alibi and try to find any potential 0:19:21.205 --> 0:19:25.405 areas where we can explore further where was everyone on 0:19:25.525 --> 0:19:27.645 the day and at the time when Danny went missing. 0:19:28.845 --> 0:19:32.285 Police interviewed Danny Daney's ex boyfriend, who lived in Bentonville. 0:19:32.805 --> 0:19:35.725 According to the police report, he had a job, but 0:19:35.885 --> 0:19:38.965 on that day he called in sick. Then he drove 0:19:39.045 --> 0:19:41.725 to his girlfriend's house in Bella Vista and stayed there 0:19:41.845 --> 0:19:45.205 until round five pm. He had a brother who also 0:19:45.245 --> 0:19:48.285 lived in Bella Vista. He told police that he drove 0:19:48.325 --> 0:19:52.205 to his brother's house next, but Danny's brother apparently wasn't home, 0:19:52.645 --> 0:19:54.645 So at that point, Danny said he drove to another 0:19:54.645 --> 0:19:58.005 friend's house, but that friend was also not home. Then 0:19:58.165 --> 0:20:01.445 Danny said he drove back to his own house in Bentonville. 0:20:01.885 --> 0:20:04.685 A friend of Danny's, according to the police report, visited 0:20:04.765 --> 0:20:08.325 him in Bentonville at around ten pm that night. So 0:20:08.525 --> 0:20:11.245 what that means, if that's all true, is that from 0:20:11.245 --> 0:20:14.685 around five pm to ten pm, there could potentially be 0:20:14.765 --> 0:20:18.485 some missing time. We talked about another man, someone Dana 0:20:18.565 --> 0:20:22.845 knew from high school, Mike McMillan. We know that, according 0:20:22.885 --> 0:20:26.045 to Dana's family, Mike had a crush on Dana, but 0:20:26.525 --> 0:20:30.205 his feelings for Dana were apparently not reciprocated. We know 0:20:30.285 --> 0:20:33.245 that Dana was supposedly avoiding him. His parents owned a 0:20:33.285 --> 0:20:37.325 convenience store in Haiwassee that was closer to Dana's house 0:20:37.365 --> 0:20:39.485 than the ones she shopped at the day she disappeared, 0:20:40.045 --> 0:20:42.365 but her parents told police that because Dana wanted to 0:20:42.405 --> 0:20:44.925 avoid Mike, she drove a few extra miles to the 0:20:44.925 --> 0:20:49.165 Phillip store. Police were definitely suspicious of Mike. There was 0:20:49.205 --> 0:20:51.645 an article in two thousand and seven talking about the case. 0:20:52.245 --> 0:20:56.805 The newspaper interviewed Detective Sidareac, one of the lead detectives 0:20:56.805 --> 0:21:00.485 on the case. He said police basically knew who did it. 0:21:01.725 --> 0:21:05.205 The paper described a spurned suitor who Dana declined today 0:21:05.805 --> 0:21:10.165 clearly they were talking about Mike, and it seems as 0:21:10.165 --> 0:21:13.205 though reading between the lines, police were suspicious of Mike, 0:21:13.605 --> 0:21:17.365 largely because of Mike's weird behavior, the fact that Mike 0:21:17.485 --> 0:21:20.645 joined the Navy after he supposedly delayed for months right 0:21:20.685 --> 0:21:25.005 after Dana died. Then he came back. He missed her funeral, 0:21:25.045 --> 0:21:27.245 and then he came back to town, and according to 0:21:27.285 --> 0:21:29.405 a girlfriend he had at the time, would go to 0:21:29.485 --> 0:21:32.805 Dana's grave and talk to her late at night. He 0:21:32.965 --> 0:21:35.685 was also seen driving around Bella Vista in the early 0:21:35.725 --> 0:21:39.685 morning hours on the day of Dana's disappearance. Police believe 0:21:39.885 --> 0:21:42.045 that Dana's car was moved in the middle of the night, 0:21:42.605 --> 0:21:45.165 So again we have a person who doesn't have a 0:21:45.285 --> 0:21:50.165 rock solid alibi. Investigators followed other leads. They got all 0:21:50.245 --> 0:21:52.885 kinds of tips. A lot of people were talking about 0:21:52.885 --> 0:21:55.565 Newborn Lane near Highways three forty ninety, where a lot 0:21:55.605 --> 0:21:58.725 of people would get together to party, but again. Dana 0:21:58.805 --> 0:22:01.725 was getting medicine for her dad. Her family said she 0:22:01.845 --> 0:22:05.045 planned to go right back home, so her showing up 0:22:05.085 --> 0:22:07.565 at a park without dropping off her dad's Alga Seltzer 0:22:07.565 --> 0:22:10.645 really doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Police 0:22:10.645 --> 0:22:15.445 remained focused on Mike McMillan. Apparently, Mike told investigators he 0:22:15.525 --> 0:22:17.765 was with a girl at the time when Dana went missing, 0:22:18.245 --> 0:22:20.565 but then detectives talked to the woman. She said she 0:22:20.645 --> 0:22:24.045 hadn't seen him that day, so reportedly he gave them 0:22:24.085 --> 0:22:27.125 another name. Then that woman said she was with him, 0:22:27.725 --> 0:22:32.005 but then later apparently told detectives she wasn't actually with him. 0:22:32.405 --> 0:22:35.245 Police questioned the guys whom Mike had served with in 0:22:35.285 --> 0:22:37.765 the Navy. They talked to his family, they talked his friends, 0:22:38.365 --> 0:22:41.365 but they didn't come up with anything. Mainly, they seemed 0:22:41.405 --> 0:22:46.205 suspicious because of circumstantial reasons. Mike had this fixation on Dana. 0:22:46.645 --> 0:22:49.405 Then he left town, then came back and stole her 0:22:49.405 --> 0:22:53.565 gravestone marker. Detectives were unable to prove Dana had been 0:22:53.605 --> 0:22:57.605 sexually assaulted, so it's very unlikely there's any usable DNA 0:22:57.725 --> 0:22:59.525 in her case that could help lead to her killer. 0:23:01.565 --> 0:23:04.605 In nineteen ninety eight, there was another newspaper article, another 0:23:04.645 --> 0:23:08.565 interview of detective Mike Sedoriak, another interview where he talked 0:23:08.605 --> 0:23:11.165 about the case. He said he had a rock that 0:23:11.205 --> 0:23:14.045 he had taken from Danis Didam's grave. He had it 0:23:14.085 --> 0:23:17.005 on his desk. It was very clear he still felt 0:23:17.005 --> 0:23:20.365 super strongly about solving the case. He seemed very frustrated 0:23:20.405 --> 0:23:23.645 with the lack of progress. In that same article, the 0:23:23.685 --> 0:23:27.205 paper talked about more unsolved murders in the area. Sometimes 0:23:27.245 --> 0:23:30.205 when police hit a wall, they do look at other 0:23:30.285 --> 0:23:32.325 murders in the area to see if they fall with pattern. 0:23:33.365 --> 0:23:36.165 A lot of people have wondered could Dana have been 0:23:36.165 --> 0:23:39.805 the victim of a serial killer? The paper pointed out 0:23:39.885 --> 0:23:42.325 there were seven murders that were unsolved in that area, 0:23:42.765 --> 0:23:46.645 including one from February of nineteen ninety seven, nicknamed the 0:23:46.685 --> 0:23:50.645 Suitcase murder. Authorities found the body of a woman named 0:23:50.645 --> 0:23:57.045 Sakoro Moran in a suitcase near p Ridge. Sometimes after 0:23:57.165 --> 0:24:00.205 so much time has passed, it can seem hopeless. It 0:24:00.205 --> 0:24:04.165 seems like detectives and everyone out there in the true 0:24:04.165 --> 0:24:07.325 crime world are kind of just beating their heads against 0:24:07.325 --> 0:24:10.085 a wall. But I just want to remind everyone that 0:24:10.205 --> 0:24:13.765 cases are solved all the time by tips that one 0:24:13.845 --> 0:24:17.285 person out there who knows something and hears something that 0:24:17.365 --> 0:24:21.165 makes them come forward. Remember when I talked about the 0:24:21.285 --> 0:24:24.125 murder of Kelly Ann Workman, the twenty four year old 0:24:24.165 --> 0:24:27.205 woman who was reported missing on June thirtieth, nineteen eighty nine. 0:24:27.525 --> 0:24:30.125 She was mowing the lawn at Dogwood Cemetery in the 0:24:30.165 --> 0:24:33.485 back of Pleasant Southern Baptist Church in Douglas County. In 0:24:33.565 --> 0:24:39.525 February of twenty twenty four, police solved that case. Kelly 0:24:39.805 --> 0:24:42.845 normally mowed the grass at night. When they found her 0:24:42.885 --> 0:24:46.245 car at six fifteen PM, a lot of grass was 0:24:46.245 --> 0:24:50.085