WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Dannarriah Finley 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:48.001 School of Humans. 0:00:49.241 --> 0:00:53.000 Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold case murders in 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.200 an effort to raise public awareness invite witnesses to come 0:00:56.241 --> 0:01:00.121 forward and present evidence that could potentially be further investigated 0:01:00.121 --> 0:01:03.761 by law enforcement. While we value insights from family and 0:01:03.801 --> 0:01:07.720 community members, their statements should not be considered evidence and 0:01:07.761 --> 0:01:11.520 point to the challenges of verifying facts inherent in cold cases. 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.800 We remind listeners that everyone is presumed innocent until proven 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.080 guilty in a court of law. Nothing in the podcast 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.080 is intended to state or imply that anyone who has 0:01:22.161 --> 0:01:25.601 not been convicted of a crime is guilty of any wrongdoing. 0:01:26.241 --> 0:01:27.121 Thanks for listening. 0:01:28.761 --> 0:01:31.441 In the early morning hours of July fourth, two thousand 0:01:31.481 --> 0:01:34.761 and two, four year old Danaria Finley was sleeping in 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:39.401 her bedroom at home at ten sixteen fourth Street in Orange, Texas. 0:01:40.601 --> 0:01:43.961 Orange is the easternmost city in Texas and its right 0:01:44.001 --> 0:01:48.160 across the border from Louisiana on the Sabine River. It 0:01:48.281 --> 0:01:51.521 feels like a small town. The population is only about 0:01:51.601 --> 0:01:55.881 nineteen thousand. Denaria lived with her mother, twenty six year 0:01:55.881 --> 0:01:59.641 old Jamie Arnold, and her two sisters for the July 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.041 fourth holiday. Three of their young cousins were staying over 0:02:03.081 --> 0:02:07.441 with them. Denaria's father, thirty year old Johnny Edwards, lived 0:02:07.441 --> 0:02:09.761 in Sparks, Louisiana, which was about a two and a 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.281 half hour drive away down the Iten Freeway. He had 0:02:13.321 --> 0:02:16.441 been planning to see his daughter on July fourth. They 0:02:16.481 --> 0:02:20.800 were planning to shoot all fireworks. Jamie came home from 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:22.881 work that night and put the kids to bed at 0:02:22.921 --> 0:02:26.681 around one thirty am. She told police that she checked 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.641 on the children at around three or four AM. When 0:02:30.761 --> 0:02:35.161 she checked on the children, everything seemed fine. At some point, 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.321 Jamie went to sleep and then she woke up the 0:02:38.361 --> 0:02:42.161 next morning at around ten am. Denariu's sisters and cousins 0:02:42.161 --> 0:02:49.641 were playing at home. Denaria was gone. I'm Catherine Townsend. 0:02:50.001 --> 0:02:52.961 Over the past seven years of making my true crime podcast, 0:02:53.001 --> 0:02:55.841 Helen Gone, I've learned that there is no such thing 0:02:56.001 --> 0:02:59.881 as a small town where murder never happens. I have 0:03:00.001 --> 0:03:03.481 received hundreds of messages from people all around the country 0:03:03.521 --> 0:03:06.081 asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them, 0:03:06.361 --> 0:03:10.001 their families, and their communities. If you have a case 0:03:10.041 --> 0:03:12.241 you'd like me and my team to look into, you 0:03:12.281 --> 0:03:14.401 can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder 0:03:14.401 --> 0:03:17.641 Line at six seven eight seven four four six one 0:03:17.721 --> 0:03:21.641 four five. That's six seven eight seven four four six 0:03:21.801 --> 0:03:25.081 one four five, or you can send us a message 0:03:25.081 --> 0:03:29.721 on Instagram at Helen Gone Pod this is Helen Gone 0:03:29.921 --> 0:04:05.121 Murder Line. Jamie later told law enforcement that when she 0:04:05.281 --> 0:04:08.641 saw Denaria was gone, she walked around the neighborhood to 0:04:08.681 --> 0:04:11.761 look for her. Then she called friends and relatives to 0:04:11.841 --> 0:04:14.881 check that Denaria wasn't with any of them, and she wasn't, 0:04:15.881 --> 0:04:19.520 so Jamie called the police to report Denaria missing. That afternoon, 0:04:20.521 --> 0:04:23.440 Orange Texas law enforcement came to the home to start 0:04:23.481 --> 0:04:27.121 their search. They wondered how a little girl who was 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.281 just weeks away from her fifth birthday could go missing 0:04:30.361 --> 0:04:32.640 in the middle of the night with no one noticing. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:37.001 Denaria had been sharing a bedroom with five other children, 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:40.241 and while the case is still officially active, so we 0:04:40.281 --> 0:04:43.320 have not seen the case file, police have given several 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.841 interviews to the media over the years, and from their descriptions, 0:04:47.121 --> 0:04:49.921 it doesn't sound like any of the children saw anyone 0:04:49.961 --> 0:04:54.001 they didn't recognize come into the room. Denaria just disappeared. 0:04:55.521 --> 0:04:59.440 So was Danaria kidnapped? And if so, how could someone 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.361 get into her room? There was a comment on an 0:05:03.441 --> 0:05:06.481 online forum about this case, and it talked about the 0:05:06.561 --> 0:05:10.041 fact that officers had looked for a potential point of 0:05:10.201 --> 0:05:12.841 entry for the kidnapper and saw that there was a 0:05:12.881 --> 0:05:16.281 broken window in Danaria's room. This person went on to 0:05:16.361 --> 0:05:19.241 say they had heard that the window's broken part was 0:05:19.241 --> 0:05:22.161 papered over with cardboard, so it looked like. 0:05:22.121 --> 0:05:23.801 It was taped up and had not been moved. 0:05:24.681 --> 0:05:28.041 Apparently, law enforcement did not believe that that window was 0:05:28.081 --> 0:05:31.241 the way that someone accessed the room. We're not sure 0:05:31.241 --> 0:05:34.161 if this is true. The comment claimed to have been 0:05:34.161 --> 0:05:36.681 from a news source, but we can't find the original 0:05:36.761 --> 0:05:41.041 newspaper article. But either way, at least from what's been 0:05:41.041 --> 0:05:43.841 made public, it doesn't seem as though any of the 0:05:43.801 --> 0:05:47.081 her children noticed anyone in that bedroom. There was never 0:05:47.161 --> 0:05:51.161 a description given of a suspect, but maybe the kidnapper 0:05:51.201 --> 0:05:54.681 never entered Deenaria's room and instead she woke up in 0:05:54.721 --> 0:05:58.440 the night and wandered around the house. There was also 0:05:58.721 --> 0:06:01.961 no sign of forced entry into the home, but the 0:06:02.081 --> 0:06:03.481 door was unlocked. 0:06:04.601 --> 0:06:06.361 Jamie told police she left. 0:06:06.201 --> 0:06:08.960 The door unlocked often because her mother, who lived nearby, 0:06:09.241 --> 0:06:12.761 would sometimes stop by the house without calling first. That way, 0:06:12.921 --> 0:06:16.561 her mom could just walk in. Another possibility was that 0:06:16.681 --> 0:06:19.801 Denaria might have woken up before anyone else in the 0:06:19.801 --> 0:06:22.961 home and went outside and that is where she was taken. 0:06:27.121 --> 0:06:30.561 According to her missing poster, the last time Danaria was seen, 0:06:30.681 --> 0:06:32.760 she had her hair and braids and was last seen 0:06:32.841 --> 0:06:35.361 wearing a white shirt with a flower on it and 0:06:35.441 --> 0:06:39.161 purple shorts. Jamie also said that her daughter was last 0:06:39.201 --> 0:06:43.721 seen barefoot. Denaria was four feet tall and weighed ninety pounds. 0:06:45.241 --> 0:06:48.440 Police launched a search for Denaria and the story was 0:06:48.481 --> 0:06:52.320 all over local news. The entire community became involved in 0:06:52.321 --> 0:06:55.281 this search. The Red Cross showed up and set up 0:06:55.321 --> 0:06:59.080 a command post in a local church parking lot. The 0:06:59.201 --> 0:07:03.521 search eventually spanned the three miles around Danaria's family home. 0:07:04.121 --> 0:07:07.921 They had canine units, helicopters, and around two hundred volunteers. 0:07:08.761 --> 0:07:13.681 Denaria's father, Johnny Edwards, also joined in the search. Police 0:07:13.721 --> 0:07:16.721 of course talked to him and pretty much immediately ruled 0:07:16.801 --> 0:07:20.041 him out. He seemed to be very cooperative, and when 0:07:20.041 --> 0:07:23.041 he heard a reward fund was being started, he offered 0:07:23.081 --> 0:07:26.161 to add the value of his car to that reward fund. 0:07:27.401 --> 0:07:31.641 Local newspaper, The Beaumont Enterprise interviewed Johnny Edwards. He told 0:07:31.681 --> 0:07:34.361 the reporter that Denaria going missing and the weight to 0:07:34.401 --> 0:07:39.201 get her back was agony, just pure agony. He also 0:07:39.241 --> 0:07:43.201 addressed the kidnapper directly. He said, quote, if someone is 0:07:43.241 --> 0:07:45.161 out there and they have her and they're scared to 0:07:45.161 --> 0:07:47.761 bring her back because of the amount of law enforcement involved, 0:07:48.361 --> 0:07:50.841 they could bring her to a Walmart or McDonald's. We 0:07:50.921 --> 0:07:56.001 don't care. We just want her back. The entire town 0:07:56.081 --> 0:07:58.761 came together to search for the missing child, and the 0:07:58.841 --> 0:08:02.721 circumstances struck terror into the hearts of the parents in town. 0:08:03.801 --> 0:08:07.401 According to media reports, some people helping with the search 0:08:07.721 --> 0:08:11.121 were able to hold on to hope because another young 0:08:11.161 --> 0:08:14.321 woman had gone missing shortly before in the same general area, 0:08:15.241 --> 0:08:19.081 and that missing young woman was found alive after sixteen days. 0:08:19.721 --> 0:08:22.361 The head of Texas Equisearch, who helped in the search 0:08:22.401 --> 0:08:27.521 for Deenaria, told KPLCTV. He acknowledged that the chances of 0:08:27.561 --> 0:08:31.481 getting Denaria back alive dropped significantly after forty eight hours, 0:08:32.201 --> 0:08:35.321 but he said that there were some exceptions, like the 0:08:35.401 --> 0:08:38.041 young woman who was being held and found alive, so 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:44.401 the family continued to hope. Danaria love to wear pink 0:08:44.481 --> 0:08:47.521 ribbons in her hair, so someone made pink ribbons with 0:08:47.641 --> 0:08:51.401 Denaria's initials on them. Volunteers wore them during the search. 0:08:52.521 --> 0:08:55.521 Johnny Edward's mother, Wanda, was also there. During the search. 0:08:56.201 --> 0:08:58.641 She told a reporter she had not lost hope. 0:08:58.761 --> 0:09:03.081 She believed that her granddaughter was somewhere alive out there, 0:09:05.401 --> 0:09:09.601 but the searchers found no trace of Dunaria. Then, on 0:09:09.680 --> 0:09:13.001 Monday morning, at eleven am, four days after Denaria had 0:09:13.001 --> 0:09:16.761 gone missing, law enforcement called off the search, and Denaria's 0:09:16.841 --> 0:09:21.401 friends and family feared the worst. Earlier that day, shortly 0:09:21.441 --> 0:09:24.081 after eight am, on July eighth, two thousand and two, 0:09:24.761 --> 0:09:28.001 a pipeline worker was on Pleasure Island in Port Arthur 0:09:28.521 --> 0:09:31.920 and found the remains of a little girl. Words spread 0:09:32.001 --> 0:09:35.961 that a body had been found. For several agonizing hours, 0:09:36.001 --> 0:09:38.961 Denari's family did not know whether it was her or not. 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:52.281 DNA testing later revealed a match it was Denaria. On 0:09:52.401 --> 0:09:55.801 July eighth, two thousand and two, after Danaria Finley had 0:09:55.801 --> 0:09:58.881 been missing for four days, a pipeline inspector at a 0:09:58.921 --> 0:10:02.201 work site found her body about twenty seven miles from 0:10:02.201 --> 0:10:06.601 her home in Orange. The worker told local media he 0:10:06.721 --> 0:10:09.001 was walking down a narrow path when he saw a 0:10:09.001 --> 0:10:13.761 badly decomposed body wrapped in a floral sheet. The worker 0:10:13.841 --> 0:10:16.521 said that the body was dumped in such a way 0:10:16.681 --> 0:10:20.361 that quote dredging crews would finish covering her with clay 0:10:20.401 --> 0:10:25.121 deposits end quote. The police department issued a news release 0:10:25.561 --> 0:10:28.961 in which they stated that quote, Her mostly nude and 0:10:29.041 --> 0:10:33.280 partially decomposed body was found approximately twenty seven miles away 0:10:33.721 --> 0:10:37.001 near a dredge pipeline ditch off State Highway eighty two 0:10:37.001 --> 0:10:43.800 in Port Arthur, an area known as Pleasure Island end quote. 0:10:43.921 --> 0:10:47.801 At the autopsy, the medical examiners were unable to identify 0:10:47.841 --> 0:10:51.321 an exact cause of death because of the decomposition. The 0:10:51.401 --> 0:10:54.721 body had been outside for four days in Texas summer heat, 0:10:54.841 --> 0:10:57.920 in an area where there was also wildlife like alligators. 0:10:59.001 --> 0:11:03.481 Newspaper reports stated that Denaria's remains had been ravaged by wildlife, 0:11:03.761 --> 0:11:07.121 though they didn't give specifics. They did mention the fact 0:11:07.161 --> 0:11:09.961 that an alligator was euthanized, though it's not clear if 0:11:09.961 --> 0:11:12.841 the alligator had anything to do with the remains or 0:11:13.081 --> 0:11:16.881 just happened to be nearby. But forensic testing did reveal 0:11:17.161 --> 0:11:20.801 that Danaria had been strangled and that she had been 0:11:20.841 --> 0:11:27.200 sexually assaulted. The police in Orange, Texas, and the community 0:11:27.241 --> 0:11:29.881 were left with a lot of questions. Why would the 0:11:29.961 --> 0:11:33.361 killer take Danaria there to that spot? Is it possible 0:11:33.401 --> 0:11:36.081 that the killer or killers knew the area and knew 0:11:36.121 --> 0:11:38.921 that crews were going to cover that ground? Could the 0:11:39.001 --> 0:11:42.321 location of the body dump provide any clues as to 0:11:42.361 --> 0:11:45.761 the possible identity of Naria's killer? And one of the 0:11:45.761 --> 0:11:48.961 biggest and to my mind, most obvious questions of the case. 0:11:49.921 --> 0:11:52.561 Was Denaria taken by a random stranger who saw an 0:11:52.561 --> 0:11:56.601 opportunity or was it someone who knew her and planned this. 0:11:57.801 --> 0:11:58.961 Many of the media. 0:11:58.681 --> 0:12:01.641 Reports quote police sources who say that they believe the 0:12:01.721 --> 0:12:05.521 kidnapper was someone known to Dnaria. In an Associated Press article, 0:12:05.721 --> 0:12:08.681 Major Steve Jones of the Orange Police Department says that 0:12:08.721 --> 0:12:11.961 Denaria's case quote did not appear to be a stranger 0:12:12.001 --> 0:12:18.800 abduction end quote. I wanted to take a step back 0:12:18.921 --> 0:12:23.601 to talk about some statistics around kidnapping, because child abduction 0:12:23.801 --> 0:12:27.841 is shockingly common in the United States. In fact, according 0:12:27.881 --> 0:12:30.841 to the Child Crime Prevention and Safety Center, a child 0:12:30.881 --> 0:12:35.681 goes missing or is abducted about every forty seconds. According 0:12:35.681 --> 0:12:39.721 to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, approximately eight hundred 0:12:39.761 --> 0:12:42.881 and forty thousand people are reported missing each year, and 0:12:42.921 --> 0:12:45.961 the FBIS tomates that between eighty five and ninety percent 0:12:46.001 --> 0:12:49.201 of these are children. About half of all of these 0:12:49.241 --> 0:12:53.280 abductions involved family kidnapping, parental kidnapping, or parents involved in 0:12:53.321 --> 0:12:58.001 custody disputes, and in family kidnappings, a much higher percentage 0:12:58.041 --> 0:13:01.921 of those are committed by females, and most of these 0:13:02.001 --> 0:13:03.721 children are found within. 0:13:03.561 --> 0:13:04.280 A few hours. 0:13:05.361 --> 0:13:07.961 Obviously, though, any time that a child goes missing under 0:13:08.001 --> 0:13:12.001 suspicious circumstances, everyone in the household has to be evaluated 0:13:12.041 --> 0:13:15.881 thoroughly by law enforcement. As I said, the police did 0:13:15.961 --> 0:13:20.160 look into Danaria's father, Johnny Edwards. Again, her parents were 0:13:20.201 --> 0:13:23.121 not together, but it seems as though just reading through 0:13:23.201 --> 0:13:27.040 all this information that they did have an amicable relationship. 0:13:27.681 --> 0:13:30.401 Johnny was cooperative and had an alibi. He was in 0:13:30.481 --> 0:13:35.081 his hometown of Stark's, Louisiana when Danaria was taken. When 0:13:35.081 --> 0:13:38.761 it comes to kidnapping statistics, there's another category called non 0:13:38.801 --> 0:13:43.641 family abductions. This category includes kidnappings committed by a quaint 0:13:44.161 --> 0:13:48.121 and strangers. Acquaintance abductions make up twenty seven percent of 0:13:48.161 --> 0:13:52.921 all child abductions. The kidnappers are often juveniles end quote. 0:13:52.961 --> 0:13:55.761 This type of abduction has the highest number of female 0:13:55.801 --> 0:13:59.161 and teenage victims and is often associated with other crimes 0:13:59.241 --> 0:14:03.361 such as sexual and physical assault end quote. Then they 0:14:03.361 --> 0:14:06.641 are the straight stranger abductions, where the kidnapper is completely 0:14:06.721 --> 0:14:09.641 unknown to the victim. These are the ones that get 0:14:09.681 --> 0:14:13.241 the most media attention, but actually they're the rarest kind. 0:14:14.161 --> 0:14:17.961 According to Reuter's from an article in twenty nineteen, there 0:14:17.961 --> 0:14:20.161 had only been about three hundred to three hundred and 0:14:20.161 --> 0:14:24.121 fifty stranger abductions per year between twenty ten and twenty seventeen. 0:14:24.601 --> 0:14:28.601 That equals much less than one percent of abductions. But 0:14:29.001 --> 0:14:33.001 stranger abductions are also some of the most dangerous. Experts 0:14:33.001 --> 0:14:36.201 say that stranger kidnappings very often result in the victim's 0:14:36.281 --> 0:14:40.441 death within a short period of time. Three other interesting 0:14:40.481 --> 0:14:44.361 things that I didn't know about stranger kidnappings. They are 0:14:44.441 --> 0:14:48.521 much more likely to occur in the outdoors. Two when 0:14:48.561 --> 0:14:52.201 strangers kidnap, they use firearms more often than in other kidnappings. 0:14:52.801 --> 0:14:56.361 And three these type of kidnappings often result in robbing 0:14:56.561 --> 0:15:01.681 male victims and sexual assault in female victims. We don't 0:15:01.721 --> 0:15:05.561 know for sure that Danaria was taken from inside her house. Yes, 0:15:05.801 --> 0:15:08.241 the door was unlocked and Danaria's mom and the other 0:15:08.321 --> 0:15:11.881 kids were asleep, But maybe she could have wandered outside 0:15:11.881 --> 0:15:14.561 on her own and a stranger kidnapped her from her yard. 0:15:15.721 --> 0:15:19.361 People do get kidnapped from random strangers, and it only 0:15:19.401 --> 0:15:25.321 takes a second. On November thirtieth, twenty twenty two, seven 0:15:25.401 --> 0:15:28.881 year old Athena Strand disappeared from her family driveway near 0:15:28.921 --> 0:15:32.721 Fort Worth, Texas, in a town called Paradise, in broad daylight. 0:15:33.681 --> 0:15:36.801 Police caught the killer three days later. He was a 0:15:36.801 --> 0:15:40.481 FedEx driver named Tanner Horner who had been delivering Christmas presents. 0:15:41.081 --> 0:15:43.841 He claimed that he accidentally hit Athena with his deliver 0:15:43.721 --> 0:15:46.641 truck and then pulled her into the vehicle and kidnapped 0:15:46.681 --> 0:15:49.361 her and later strangled her because he was afraid that 0:15:49.441 --> 0:15:53.481 she would tell her parents about the accident. Athena's body 0:15:53.561 --> 0:15:57.601 was found three days after she disappeared in the Trinity River, about. 0:15:57.361 --> 0:15:58.521 Nine miles from her home. 0:15:59.761 --> 0:16:03.281 Police stated they believed that Athena was taken just two 0:16:03.361 --> 0:16:06.561 hundred yards from her front door and was killed within 0:16:06.601 --> 0:16:09.961 an hour from the time she was put into her kidnappers' vehicle. 0:16:11.281 --> 0:16:14.441 This is very sadly the pattern with these types of cases. 0:16:15.041 --> 0:16:18.161 Very often the child who is abducted by a stranger 0:16:18.401 --> 0:16:23.481 is killed within hours of their abduction. Tanner Lynn Horner 0:16:23.561 --> 0:16:26.961 was charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. He is 0:16:27.081 --> 0:16:29.801 currently awaiting trial, which as of now is set for 0:16:29.841 --> 0:16:32.401 twenty twenty six, and is pleaded not guilty. 0:16:33.041 --> 0:16:35.401 If convicted, he faces the death penalty. 0:16:37.081 --> 0:16:40.681 Athena's mother, Maitland Gandy, has advocated for a new bill 0:16:40.761 --> 0:16:44.441 named after Athena that attempts to change Texas law so 0:16:44.521 --> 0:16:47.721 that amber alerts do not have any delay from the 0:16:47.761 --> 0:16:50.721 time that the child disappears to the time in which 0:16:50.761 --> 0:16:54.761 the alert can be issued locally. This might help in 0:16:54.801 --> 0:16:58.881 cases like Denarius. Having a tool that could instantly notify 0:16:58.961 --> 0:17:02.601 the local community could be a massive help in these 0:17:02.601 --> 0:17:06.561 types of cases, but Denari's case did not get much 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:10.521 media attention. There were a few local reports about Danaria's murder, 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.440 but there were no national headlines. Some people have stated 0:17:14.521 --> 0:17:17.600 over the years that they believed that because she was black, 0:17:17.961 --> 0:17:20.801 her case did not receive as much attention as cases 0:17:20.801 --> 0:17:27.281 of missing children who are white. Denaria's funeral took place 0:17:27.321 --> 0:17:30.880 at the Mountain Zion Baptist Church. The pastor told local 0:17:30.921 --> 0:17:33.840 press the funeral was so crowded they had to bring 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.640 in a closed circuit TV. She was buried near her 0:17:37.721 --> 0:17:42.801 home in the Magnolia Memorial Garden in Orange. Years later, 0:17:42.921 --> 0:17:46.201 the minister of that church, C. W. Crawford, was interviewed 0:17:46.241 --> 0:17:49.201 by reporter. He said that Denaria's death had left the 0:17:49.281 --> 0:17:52.521 lasting impression on the community. He said everybody in that 0:17:52.601 --> 0:17:54.081 community still thought about her. 0:17:54.241 --> 0:17:56.921 Every Fourth of July, he said, quote. 0:17:57.001 --> 0:18:00.041 People who didn't really know Danaria were crying and shedding tears. 0:18:00.441 --> 0:18:02.400 She was one four year old kid that brought this 0:18:02.441 --> 0:18:11.321 whole community together. Detectives canvassed the area. They questioned a 0:18:11.321 --> 0:18:15.081 lot of people, including a sex offender who lived nearby. 0:18:15.921 --> 0:18:19.321 They reportedly searched his home and his truck, but they 0:18:19.321 --> 0:18:20.881 found no obvious suspects. 0:18:21.321 --> 0:18:23.921 It was also reported that law enforcement did. 0:18:23.761 --> 0:18:26.600 Do standard checks and made their way through questioning all 0:18:26.721 --> 0:18:29.681 the known sex offenders in the area, but again came 0:18:29.761 --> 0:18:33.840 up with nothing. In the early stages of the investigation, 0:18:34.321 --> 0:18:36.640 a lot of people focused on what was going on 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.801 inside the home and on Danaria's mother, Jamie Arnold, because 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:42.961 there was a lot that was not known, or if 0:18:42.961 --> 0:18:45.640 it was known, it was made public, like who was 0:18:45.681 --> 0:18:48.321 watching Denari and the other children that night while her 0:18:48.321 --> 0:18:51.801 mom worked, what other family lived in the area, who 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.921 the neighbors were. On August twenty third, two thousand and two, 0:18:56.241 --> 0:18:59.761 The Orange Leader reported that the FBI showed up at 0:18:59.761 --> 0:19:02.401 Denaria's family home and took some items from the house, 0:19:02.481 --> 0:19:06.441 including a Teddy Bear. Police questioned Jamie, and it was 0:19:06.441 --> 0:19:09.521 reported at the time there was an open CPS investigation 0:19:09.601 --> 0:19:12.001 against her before Denaria disappeared. 0:19:13.161 --> 0:19:15.080 We looked through court records. 0:19:14.721 --> 0:19:18.401 And found online references to those cases cases in which 0:19:18.481 --> 0:19:23.201 Jamie was being investigated for neglectful supervision. A local newspaper 0:19:23.281 --> 0:19:26.600 spoke to someone from CPS who confirmed that there was 0:19:26.641 --> 0:19:30.081 an active investigation into Jamie at the time of Denaria's death, 0:19:30.241 --> 0:19:33.801 and that another case was opened after her death. However, 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.641 one case was dismissed in December of two thousand and four, 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.640 and it appears the rest were also dismissed. 0:19:39.681 --> 0:19:43.521 At some point. It was reported that Jamie had admitted. 0:19:43.161 --> 0:19:45.681 To CPS she had used some drugs at some point 0:19:45.721 --> 0:19:48.761 in the past, but she claimed that at the time 0:19:48.801 --> 0:19:52.840 when Danaria disappeared, she was not using drugs, and obviously 0:19:53.241 --> 0:19:56.641 neither drug use nor CPS allegations, even if they are 0:19:56.681 --> 0:19:59.160 found to be valid, which these were not, do not 0:19:59.361 --> 0:20:02.840 indicate that this mother had any role in her daughter's disappearance. 0:20:03.921 --> 0:20:06.880 In late July two thousand and three, Jamie spoke to 0:20:06.921 --> 0:20:10.160 a local news station KPLC about the rumors that she 0:20:10.241 --> 0:20:12.840 said were going around the community, rumors. 0:20:12.441 --> 0:20:15.521 That she said had hurt her. She said that she. 0:20:15.481 --> 0:20:19.400 Had been hearing criticisms of her parenting since Denaria's murder. 0:20:20.481 --> 0:20:23.881 A year after denarius murder, Jamie said that her two 0:20:23.961 --> 0:20:26.721 other daughters, who were seven and nine years old at 0:20:26.721 --> 0:20:30.321 that time, had been taken into foster care. She told 0:20:30.321 --> 0:20:33.481 a reporter that because of what she called the terrible 0:20:33.521 --> 0:20:36.840 things people had told officials after denarius murder, she was 0:20:37.001 --> 0:20:40.120 terrified that she might lose custody of her other two children, 0:20:40.481 --> 0:20:44.001 and in that interview, she said people were suspicions of 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:48.400 her because of that three hours between Denaria going missing 0:20:48.521 --> 0:20:52.001 and her reporting it to the police. She reiterated the 0:20:52.041 --> 0:20:55.081 delay was because she was looking around the neighborhood for Denaria, 0:20:55.201 --> 0:20:59.521 thinking Denaria might be with a friend or relative. Jamie 0:20:59.561 --> 0:21:02.761 said that she believes people would be suspicious of her 0:21:02.921 --> 0:21:07.081 unless and until either the murder was solved or police 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.441 officially cleared her as a suspect, which she said had 0:21:10.481 --> 0:21:15.761 not happened. Detectives collected evidence, including DNA from Danaria's clothes, 0:21:16.281 --> 0:21:20.161 and reportedly they took DNA and hair samples from potential 0:21:20.201 --> 0:21:24.441 people of interest, but since this is still an open investigation, 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:27.961 they've made references over the years to DNA, but they 0:21:27.961 --> 0:21:31.241 haven't specified exactly what they were testing or what the 0:21:31.321 --> 0:21:36.961 results were. In February of two thousand and four, there 0:21:37.001 --> 0:21:39.081 appeared to be a break in the case when Orange 0:21:39.121 --> 0:21:42.321 Police Chief Sam Cattrell stated at a press conference, quote, 0:21:43.041 --> 0:21:57.521 we believe we know who did it. In February of 0:21:57.561 --> 0:22:00.841 two thousand and four, the Orange Police Chief Sam Catroll, 0:22:01.201 --> 0:22:04.361 indicated that the police department had figured out who killed 0:22:04.401 --> 0:22:08.761 Denaria Fenley. At the time, local media reported that quote. 0:22:09.041 --> 0:22:12.321 Police sources stated that evidence and herefogical charts from the 0:22:12.361 --> 0:22:16.680 police department indicate a possible suspect lived or had been 0:22:16.721 --> 0:22:20.041 staying within a few miles from denarius Fourth Street home 0:22:20.121 --> 0:22:21.120 at the time of the crime. 0:22:21.401 --> 0:22:21.961 End quote. 0:22:23.441 --> 0:22:26.921 But then there was no other public announcement. No suspect 0:22:27.001 --> 0:22:29.880 was identified no one was arrested or charged. It was 0:22:29.921 --> 0:22:32.241 reported that the case was sent to the Orange County 0:22:32.241 --> 0:22:37.721 District Attorney's office, but then nothing happened. One newspaper article 0:22:37.801 --> 0:22:40.401 quoted a police source who said that the killer was 0:22:40.481 --> 0:22:43.441 unsophisticated and made a lot of mistakes, but that he 0:22:43.481 --> 0:22:46.400 had a lot of help from the environment. I believe 0:22:46.441 --> 0:22:49.281 he was referring to the fact that the decomposition made 0:22:49.281 --> 0:22:53.201 the forensic testing challenging. Little evidence could be recovered from 0:22:53.241 --> 0:23:00.481 her body. Months and then years went by. In twenty fourteen, 0:23:00.601 --> 0:23:04.041 according to media reports, the police in Orange resubmitted some 0:23:04.161 --> 0:23:08.801 DNA to the FBI, but they received no matches. Mark 0:23:08.881 --> 0:23:11.521 Blynton was the assistant chief of the Orange Police Department 0:23:11.561 --> 0:23:14.241 at the time. He talked to a local newspaper on 0:23:14.281 --> 0:23:17.001 the twentieth anniversary of the case in twenty twenty two. 0:23:18.161 --> 0:23:20.840 At that time, he said he still believed that the 0:23:20.881 --> 0:23:25.001 case was solvable. Another detective from the Orange Police Department, 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:29.041 Nick Medeena, was also quoted. He said that police were 0:23:29.321 --> 0:23:33.080 quote waiting on new technology or new investigative measures that 0:23:33.121 --> 0:23:37.721 may assist in the investigation, which in my opinion. 0:23:37.401 --> 0:23:40.561 Is pretty vague. So what did the police have. 0:23:40.681 --> 0:23:43.561 In evidence and is there anything that can be done 0:23:43.561 --> 0:23:48.641 to to retest evidence including Denario's clothing. Police have said 0:23:48.681 --> 0:23:51.920 they do have some evidence, including some DNA and some 0:23:52.041 --> 0:23:55.600 fiber samples. There is also the sheet, the one that 0:23:55.681 --> 0:23:59.001 Denario was found wrapped in. It was made by Spring 0:23:59.041 --> 0:24:01.721 Made and presumably did not come out of her home. 0:24:02.401 --> 0:24:05.001 The sheet is a flower pattern that is pink, yellow, 0:24:05.041 --> 0:24:05.521 and white. 0:24:05.961 --> 0:24:08.041 It looks like a million other sheets out there. 0:24:09.481 --> 0:24:11.561 Police followed up leads on that sheet to see if 0:24:11.561 --> 0:24:13.961 they could narrow down who might have purchased it, but 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:17.360 unfortunately the pattern had been made by Spring Maids several 0:24:17.441 --> 0:24:20.401 years earlier. There were a lot of those sheets sold, 0:24:20.761 --> 0:24:23.321 so there was no way to track it down. The 0:24:23.361 --> 0:24:27.041 sheet was also decayed when it was found. Police released 0:24:27.080 --> 0:24:30.761 details publicly on the sheet, including a photo. We're going 0:24:30.801 --> 0:24:33.600 to be posting photos of that sheet and of Denaria's 0:24:33.601 --> 0:24:39.721 clothing on Instagram at helen gonpod. Over the years, police 0:24:39.761 --> 0:24:43.561 have released some other information publicly. They have confirmed to 0:24:43.761 --> 0:24:47.601 Daria was sexually assaulted by male abductor. They've compared hair 0:24:47.681 --> 0:24:50.561 follicles and DNA on area sex offenders to their evidence, 0:24:50.921 --> 0:24:54.840 but they've gotten no matches. Police have hinted at having 0:24:54.881 --> 0:24:58.241 other DNA evidence, but they haven't specifically said what that 0:24:58.281 --> 0:25:01.361 evidence might be. We do know they took a look 0:25:01.361 --> 0:25:03.441 at a garbage can in the home and removed the 0:25:03.601 --> 0:25:06.601 entire can, and other than that, there have. 0:25:06.681 --> 0:25:08.281 Not been many public details. 0:25:09.521 --> 0:25:12.561 We have not received responses to our foyer request yet, 0:25:13.121 --> 0:25:16.120 but honestly, I'm expecting it to be denied because this 0:25:16.321 --> 0:25:21.521 is still technically an open investigation. A local news station 0:25:21.681 --> 0:25:25.561 quoted Captain Robert Enman from the Orange Police Department. He 0:25:25.761 --> 0:25:29.041 was the patrol captain on duty when Denaria's missing person's 0:25:29.080 --> 0:25:33.361 call came in. He said, quote, this investigation has never 0:25:33.401 --> 0:25:37.600 been closed end quote. He made a couple of comments 0:25:37.641 --> 0:25:40.161 about DNA too. He said over the years, police had 0:25:40.161 --> 0:25:43.881 sent out DNA from Dannaria's crime scene to private lab 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:45.841 as well as presumably. 0:25:45.361 --> 0:25:46.321 The FBI labs. 0:25:47.721 --> 0:25:50.600