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Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news now Nancy.

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Speaker 2: In a shocking turn of events, Christopher Wolfenberger was acquitted

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Speaker 2: of the murder of his wife, Melissa after jursen Fulton County,

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Speaker 2: Georgia reached their verdict in just two hours. Count one

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Speaker 2: we the jury find to the defendant not guilty this.

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Speaker 3: Twenty second day of August twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 2: Wolfenbarger had been charged with her murder last year, following

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Speaker 2: the efforts of a task force that believed they had

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Speaker 2: sufficient evidence to secure conviction. The victim's family last communicated

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Speaker 2: with her on Thanksgiving in nineteen ninety eight, but concerns

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Speaker 2: heightened when she failed to contact her mother on her

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Speaker 2: birthday a few months later. In April nineteen ninety nine,

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Speaker 2: investigators discovered a severed head in a black trash bag

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Speaker 2: at mister Wolfenbarger's workplace in Atlanta, and additional remains were

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Speaker 2: found a month later. Unfortunately, these remains were initially misidentified

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Speaker 2: as belonging to to another missing person and were not

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Speaker 2: confirmed to be Melissa's until two thousand and three, following

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Speaker 2: the arrest of her father, Carl Patten, for a series

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Speaker 2: of murders known as the Flint River murders from the

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventies. Mister Patten has since died in prison. Authorities

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Speaker 2: believed that the murder occurred sometime between December tenth, nineteen

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Speaker 2: ninety eight, and April twenty nine, nineteen ninety nine. When interrogated,

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Speaker 2: Christopher Wolfenberger maintained he was innocent, saying he believed his

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Speaker 2: wife had relocated to California to start over. In an

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Speaker 2: interview in twenty twenty one with Dateline, he said, yes,

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Speaker 2: I have a criminal history, but I'm not a murderer. Prosecutors, however,

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Speaker 2: contended that he had killed her due to their tumultuous relationship.

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Speaker 2: A family member revealed that during the summer before Melissa's disappearance,

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Speaker 2: Christopher allegedly assaulted her and dragged her down a sidewalk

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Speaker 2: by her hair. With this not guilty verdict, Wolfenbarger avoided

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Speaker 2: a potential life life in prison sentence.

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Speaker 1: Nicole, thank you more Crimate Justice news.

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Speaker 2: After this, a mother and stepfather of an eleven year

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Speaker 2: old girl in Oklahoma faced felony child neglect charges after

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Speaker 2: their daughter gave birth at home. Local news reports from

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Speaker 2: KOTV indicate that thirty four year old Dustin Walker and

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Speaker 2: thirty three year old Sherry Walker are accused of neglecting

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Speaker 2: to provide necessary supervision and medical care for the girl

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Speaker 2: following the birth of a full term baby on August

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Speaker 2: sixteen in Muscogee. Muscogee County Assistant District Attorney Janet Hudson

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Speaker 2: said that the couple claimed they were unaware of their

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Speaker 2: daughter's pregnancy until she gave birth, despite court documents suggesting

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Speaker 2: she was thirty six weeks long. Investigators revealed in the

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Speaker 2: court documents that the girl had not seen a doctor

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Speaker 2: in over a year and had received no prenatal care.

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Speaker 2: Hudson reported to HEJRH that the authorities became aware of

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Speaker 2: the situation when the girl was admitted to the hospital

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Speaker 2: post delivery.

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Speaker 3: I was horror strict to find out that it's an

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Speaker 3: eleven year old little girl who's given birth and that

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Speaker 3: she had no medical care and she had no one

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Speaker 3: to be with her. To our understanding, the child had

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Speaker 3: not seen a doctor in over one year.

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Speaker 2: The district attorney mentioned that further charges against the parents

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Speaker 2: are likely and they are currently awaiting paternity results to

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Speaker 2: identify the baby's father. This child has been through a

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Speaker 2: traumatic experience. Hudson expressed, not only has she been pregnant,

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Speaker 2: but she also gave birth at home without medical existence.

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Speaker 2: The situation will impact her the rest of her life.

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Speaker 2: Hudson added that the girl and possibly other children in

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Speaker 2: the household might have been homeschooled. Currently, both guardians are

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Speaker 2: being held at the Muscogee County Jail, each with a

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Speaker 2: bond set at one hundred thousand dollars. Hudson indicated that

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Speaker 2: she would likely be filing additional charges soon. The eleven

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Speaker 2: year old's grandmother, identified by khrh as Michelle, defended the couple, saying,

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Speaker 2: I want people to understand they were not aware of

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Speaker 2: what was happening. None of us knew she was pregnant.

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Speaker 2: They've turned my daughter and son in law into monsters,

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Speaker 2: but they are not, she asserted, emphasizing their love for

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Speaker 2: their children and expressing hope to reunite with her grandchildren.

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Speaker 2: The couple is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday,

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Speaker 2: September three. Hudson urged the public to be aware of

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Speaker 2: the resources available for reporting suspected child neglect. If you

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Speaker 2: notice anything that might indicate abuse or neglect, please reach

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Speaker 2: out to law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: She advised. Ayvonne Mullikin lives in Prescott Valley, Arizona, with

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Speaker 1: her two dogs. She often talks on the phone with

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Speaker 1: her daughter, who lives out of state. After two days

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Speaker 1: of Yvonne not answering calls, the daughter asks for a

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Speaker 1: welfare check. Prescott Valley PD finds no one home and

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Speaker 1: Devon's car missing. Three weeks later, her car cars found

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Speaker 1: abandoned in a remote area fifty miles away. She left

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Speaker 1: a note on the car that she had called for

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Speaker 1: roadside assistance and listed a repair shop to which should

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Speaker 1: like to have the car towed. Not far from the car,

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Speaker 1: police find two dog leashes belonging to Vonn no sign

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Speaker 1: of the dogs. Yvonne Mullikan sixty six five five, one

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Speaker 1: hundred and seventy pounds, shoulder length, brown hair, green eyes.

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Speaker 1: If you have info on Yvonne Mullikan, now missing several weeks,

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Speaker 1: please call Prescott Valley, Arizona PD nine two eight seven

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Speaker 1: seven two nine two sixty seven. For the latest crime

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Speaker 1: injustice news, go to crimeonline dot com and please join

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Speaker 1: us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do

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Speaker 1: our best to find missing people, especially children, and help

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Speaker 1: solve unsolved homicides with this crime alert. I'm Nancy Grace