Forensic Tales

#335 - When 53-year-old Oakey Kite, who went by Al, failed to show up for work on May 24th, 2004, his coworkers immediately knew something was wrong. Concerned, they went to his townhouse in Aurora to check on him where they discovered a crime scene so brutal, investigators would never forget it.

Al had been restrained, tortured for hours, and ultimately murdered inside his own home by a man posing as a prospective tenant.

The killer meticulously cleaned the scene, erased much of the evidence, and vanished without a trace leaving behind only fragments of forensic evidence and a fake identity that would send investigators across multiple countries.

More than two decades later, the murder of Al Kite remains one of Colorado’s most disturbing unsolved cases.

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Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week. Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

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#334 - In April 1991, 20-year-old Angela Hammond stood alone outside a grocery store in Clinton, Missouri, talking to her fiancé on a payphone late at night. She mentioned seeing a strange truck circling the parking lot, but they both shrugged it off. 

Moments later, Angela’s fiancé heard her scream, and the line went dead.

The payphone was only a few blocks away, so he jumped in his car and sped toward the woman he planned to marry. But he was too late. Angela was never seen alive again. 

Over 30 years later, her story remains one of the mysterious disappearances in Missouri history. And despite a vehicle description and a timeline, the case was haunted by one major problem: there was almost no forensic evidence left behind.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon. Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content. You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week. Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

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#333 - In February 2000, 18-year-old college student Michelle O’Keefe was on her way home from appearing in a Kid Rock music video when she was gunned down inside her car. A security guard named Raymond Jennings was eventually arrested and charged with Michelle’s murder, and after three separate trials, he was sentenced to life in prison. On paper, it seemed like an open-and-shut case. But the deeper you look, the forensic evidence seems to tell a very different story. 

So what really happened to Michelle in that parking lot?

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.
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#332 - In April 1996, a motorist traveling along a rural road in Bastrop County, Texas, made a disturbing discovery. Lying in a grassy ditch along the roadside was the body of a young woman. Her clothing was partially removed, and a belt had been tightened around her neck. She would soon be identified as 19-year-old Stacey Stites.

Just hours earlier, Stacey had been reported missing after she failed to show up for her early morning shift at the local grocery store. 

DNA evidence collected at the scene pointed to a man named Rodney Reed. But nearly three decades later, the question still remains: Did investigators convict the right man?

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.
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#331 - On the early morning of June 3, 2011, 20-year-old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer disappeared after a night out with friends in downtown Bloomington, Indiana.

Investigators were able to reconstruct much of Lauren’s final hours using surveillance footage, witness statements, and digital timelines. But despite knowing many of the places she went and the people she was with that night, Lauren seemingly vanished just blocks from her own apartment.

More than a decade later, her disappearance remains unsolved.

In this episode of Forensic Tales, we examine the timeline of Lauren Spierer’s final night, the key investigative clues, and the unanswered questions that still haunt this case.

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio Production. The show is written & produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

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