What are you watching, listening, or reading this week? What case are you obsessing over?
This is a place to chat about anything crime related that you have been consuming. A great place for recommendations.
Please note this does not have to be related to True Crime Garage!
Grab a chair and let's talk some true crime! (Beer optional)
DNA Fraud /// OFF THE RECORD
Nic and the Captain discuss: The charges against Former Colorado Analyst Missy Woods and could this bring new test in the JonBenet Ramsey case.
Tall cans in the air and thank you so much for your support.
Imagine coming home from school at just nine years old expecting another ordinary afternoon. Instead you notice the front screen door is slightly open. You think your mom must have gotten home from work early so you walk inside without thinking much of it.. Within seconds something feels wrong. Your bedroom window has been smashed. Glass is scattered across the floor. You rush to call your mom only to discover that the phone line has been cut.
Then someone knocks on the door.
Standing outside is a man you've never seen before. He begins asking questions while constantly peeking into the house. Every instinct tells you something isn't right so you slowly begin closing the door. Before you can shut it he forces it open grabs you and drags you back into the house.
That was the beginning of one of the remarkable kidnapping cases I've ever read.
On July 8 2003 nine-year-old Jeannette Tamayo was abducted from her home in San Jose, California. As her kidnapper prepared to leave through the garage fate briefly intervened. Her fifteen-year-old brother, Paul and her mother, Rosalia arrived home unexpectedly. Without hesitation Paul confronted the attacker despite knowing he was outmatched. Rosalia immediately joined the fight desperately trying to save her daughter Jeannette Tamayo. Both were violently beaten during the struggle and from inside the kidnappers car Jeannette Tamayo watched helplessly. When she saw blood on the attackers face she became convinced her family had been killed.
As the car sped away she looked back one time and caught sight of her injured mother Rosalia and brother Paul still alive desperately calling for help. It was the glimpse she had of them before disappearing without a trace.
Back at the house detectives quickly realized they were dealing with a planned kidnapping. The attacker had broken into the home before Jeannette Tamayo arrived smashed a bedroom window cut the telephone lines and waited for her to come home from school. A nearby security camera had actually recorded much of what happened including the suspects vehicle. Unfortunately the footage was too blurry to identify the license plate. Because investigators couldn't determine the suspects identity or vehicle information Californias Amber Alert requirements at the time couldn't be met. One blurry video may have cost investigators their chance of finding Jeannette Tamayo quickly.
While police searched desperately across San Jose Jeannette Tamayo was being held inside a locked room in a white house somewhere she had never been before. Most people would expect a frightened nine-year-old to panic. Instead she did something
She started investigating Jeannette Tamayos situation.
Every turn the kidnapper made while driving became something to memorize. Every phone number he spoke every address, every room in the house every object she saw—she committed it all to memory. She realized that if she survived every tiny detail might matter. If she didn't survive she wanted to leave behind evidence for police to catch the man responsible.
Knowing she couldn't overpower him she chose another strategy: earn his trust.
She spoke calmly asked questions and slowly convinced him she wasn't going to fight back. Eventually he relaxed enough to leave her alone for periods. During one of those moments she noticed something the handcuffs locking her wrists didn't require a key. After feeling the mechanism with her fingers she figured out how to unlock them herself.
Most people would expect her to run.
She didn't.
She knew escaping from a house without knowing where she was would probably end in failure. Instead she used those minutes to gather evidence. She secretly took the kidnappers watch collected items from the room and kept clothing she believed investigators might later need. Everything she collected became another piece of the puzzle.
Then came the moment that changed everything.
A days into her captivity the kidnapper handed her a phone and told her to order pizza. As she spoke with the Little Caesars employee she carefully repeated the address and phone number the kidnapper gave her committing both to memory. When the pizza arrived, something on top of the box immediately caught her attention.
It was a missing-person flyer.
Her own face stared back at her.
The kidnapper looked at the flyer smiled and calmly told her "I have to get rid of you tonight."
Jeannette Tamayo immediately understood what that meant.
Believing she might not survive the night she hid every piece of evidence she had collected inside the pizza box and pushed it underneath the bed hoping someone would eventually find it.
That evening the kidnapper drove her away from the house. After a drive he stopped outside a liquor store threatened to kill her and her family Jeannette Tamayo if she ever spoke about him and unexpectedly let her go.
The second she realized he was gone she sprinted inside the store.
The cashier looked at her for a moment before recognizing the face he'd seen all over the news.
"You're the girl from TV."
He immediately called 911.
After everything she had endured Jeannette Tamayo wasn't finished helping investigators. While sitting with detectives she pulled the evidence from her pockets wrote down the phone numbers she had memorized drew a map of the house where she'd been held described the route in detail and even guided officers turn by turn back to the exact neighborhood. At the time detectives contacted local pizza restaurants and confirmed the address from the pizza order perfectly matching everything Jeannette Tamayo had remembered.
Police surrounded the house. Launched a tactical raid. Hidden inside the attic was the kidnapper, David Montiel Cruz. Investigators also discovered the pizza box beneath the bed where Jeannette Tamayo had hidden it containing the evidence she had secretly gathered while being held captive. He was arrested, convicted on felony charges and sentenced to life in prison.
What amazes me most about this case isn't just that Jeannette Tamayo survived. It's that at nine years old she understood that remembering details could be the difference between justice and another child becoming the next victim. While most adults would struggle to stay calm under those circumstances she observed, collected evidence and ultimately helped lead police directly to the man who kidnapped Jeannette Tamayo.
It's difficult to think of true-crime cases where the victim played such a direct role in solving their own kidnapping. Jeannette Tamayo didn't just survive—she became one of the investigators, in her own case.
“A newly-graduated teenager who vanished from a four-day party had a fractured skull, broken ribs and his teeth were scattered around him when he was found naked and dead on the side of a rural highway in Oklahoma.
Mystery surrounds the final moments of Noah Presgrove, 19, who told friends he was leaving the party to go for a walk. His body was found about a mile away on the side of US 81 in Jefferson County, Oklahoma on Labor Day, 2023.”
I don’t know why no one is talking about this case but they should be.
On April 18, 2016, 45-year-old fitness instructor Missy Bevers arrived at Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas, where she was scheduled to teach an early morning fitness class. What should have been a normal workday turned into one of the most baffling unsolved murder cases in recent history. When members of her class began arriving shortly before 5:00 a.m., they discovered Missy dead inside the church. Authorities quickly determined that her death was a homicide, but nearly a decade later, no one has been arrested and the identity of the killer remains unknown.
What makes this case especially disturbing is that security cameras inside the church recorded footage of a mysterious individual before the murder occurred. The person was seen wandering through the building wearing police-style tactical gear, including a helmet, protective vest, and clothing resembling law-enforcement equipment. The individual appeared to move calmly through hallways and rooms, opening doors and examining parts of the church while carrying various tools. The footage was recorded only hours before Missy was killed, leading investigators to believe the person may have been directly connected to the crime.
Despite the existence of surveillance footage, investigators have never publicly identified the individual. One of the most discussed aspects of the video is the person's distinctive walk. Some observers believe the unusual gait may indicate an injury, a medical condition, or the effect of wearing heavy equipment. Others have suggested the movement could have been intentionally altered to disguise the person's identity. To this day, no definitive explanation has been provided.
Investigators established that severe weather, including rain and thunderstorms, affected the area during the early morning hours. Missy arrived at the church while it was still dark outside, and evidence suggests she encountered her killer inside the building. Although authorities have followed numerous leads and conducted extensive interviews, the case remains unsolved. No clear motive has ever been publicly established, and many questions surrounding the murder remain unanswered.
The surveillance footage remains one of the most significant pieces of evidence in the investigation. The person recorded inside the church has never been conclusively identified, and authorities continue to seek information that could help explain what happened during the hours leading up to Missy Bevers' death. Nearly ten years later, the case remains open, and the circumstances surrounding the murder continue to puzzle investigators and the public alike.
Sources & Evidence
Official FBI Website
Wikipedia Case Overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Missy_Bevers
Missy Bevers Surveillance Footage (News Coverage)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Missy+Bevers+surveillance+footage
Case Information and Timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Missy_Bevers
News Coverage and Investigation Updates
https://www.cbsnews.com/search/?q=Missy+Bevers
https://www.nbcnews.com/search/?q=Missy+Bevers
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What are your thoughts after reviewing the footage and timeline? Is there anything in the evidence that stands out or appears to have been overlooked?
What are you watching, listening, or reading this week? What case are you obsessing over?
This is a place to chat about anything crime related that you have been consuming. A great place for recommendations.
Please note this does not have to be related to True Crime Garage!
Grab a chair and let's talk some true crime! (Beer optional)
I know practically everything has been discussed here about the girls but there’s two major things that I think are extremely important . I’m just rewatching the Springfield 3 on People magazine investigates.
When Janelle and Mike arrived the following morning there was an “obscene “ phone call. What are the chances that there was an obscene phone call just as two friends are in the home looking for their kidnapped friends. Janelle said the caller was “teen ish “ . This suggests to me the caller can see the home. Id love to know exactly what he said. Did he refer to the missing girls at anytime. LE has seemingly dismissed the caller but I can’t. Coincidences happen but that’s a big one for me.
The clothes . Stacy’s mom entered the bedroom the following day and Stacy’s clothes were folded perfectly with her shoes. They were the clothes Stacy’s mom said she was wearing the previous night.
With this can we rule out that the perpetrator/s were all ready in the home when Suzie and Stacy came home at approximately 2am ? I think so . She also said all three handbags belonging to the girls were in the same bedroom. This suggests to me the perp/s got all 3 girls together for controlling purposes.
Conclusion - I now feel the abductor/s followed Suzie and Stacy home or saw them entering home. They possibly waited 15 mins / an hour entered the home and then everything escalated. Sherill woke up and I believe she knew one or both the perps so she had to be taken as well.
The phone calls might be a coincidence but just as easily Suzie could have been stalked for weeks/ months and this was the time his compulsions got the better of him. I also think there were multiple abductors.
Apologies for the novel . Ty.
I've recently been researching the Setagaya Family Murders, and it's honestly one of the most unbelievable unsolved cases I've ever come across. Unlike many cold cases where investigators have very little evidence to work with, this one is the complete opposite. The killer left behind DNA, fingerprints, blood, clothing, shoe prints, personal belongings, and even remained inside the victims' home for hours after the murders. Despite all of this, more than two decades have passed, and no one has ever been identified or arrested.
The case took place on the night of December 30, 2000, in the quiet Setagaya district of Tokyo, Japan. The victims were the Miyazawa family: Mikio Miyazawa (44), Yasuko Miyazawa (41), their daughter Niina (8), and their son Rei (6). They lived in a detached home and were preparing to celebrate the New Year. By all accounts, they were an ordinary family with no known enemies.
Investigators believe the killer entered the house by climbing a tree beside the property and removing the screen from a second-floor bathroom window. According to police, the first victim was likely six-year-old Rei, who was asleep upstairs. When Mikio confronted the intruder, a violent struggle followed. The attacker initially used a sashimi knife, but it broke during the fight. The killer then took a knife from the family's own kitchen and continued the attack. Yasuko and Niina were also murdered inside the home.
The following morning, Yasuko's mother became concerned after she couldn't contact the family. When she entered the house, she discovered all four victims dead. Police were called immediately, beginning what would become one of Japan's largest and most perplexing murder investigations.
What makes this case so extraordinary is what happened after the murders. Instead of fleeing, the killer stayed inside the house for several hours. Investigators believe the person used the family's computer, ate ice cream from the refrigerator, drank tea, treated an injury using the family's first-aid supplies, changed clothes, and even used the toilet without flushing. Every minute spent inside the house resulted in more evidence being left behind.
Police recovered DNA believed to belong to the killer, along with fingerprints, bloodstains, and shoe prints. The blood indicated that the attacker had been injured during the struggle with Mikio. Investigators also found clothing, a hip bag, shoes, a scarf, gloves, and other personal belongings that had apparently been left behind by the offender. The shoe prints were traced to a specific model of Slazenger athletic shoes, approximately 27.5 cm in size, which had only been sold in limited quantities in Japan.
Another unusual discovery was sand found inside the suspect's hip bag. Investigators traced it to material associated with the Mojave Desert region of California through manufacturing or distribution, although this did not prove the killer had personally traveled there. Police have also publicly stated that DNA analysis suggested the suspect may have had mixed ancestry, possibly including East Asian and European heritage. However, investigators have emphasized that this estimate is not conclusive and does not identify a specific individual.
Over the years, Japanese investigators have compared the DNA and fingerprints against millions of records, followed thousands of leads, and re-examined the evidence using advances in forensic technology. Despite the remarkable amount of physical evidence available, the investigation has never produced a confirmed suspect. Every year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police continue to appeal to the public for information, and the case officially remains open.
One of the reasons this case continues to fascinate people around the world is because it seems almost impossible that someone could leave behind so much evidence and still remain unidentified. Unlike many unsolved murders where there are no witnesses, no DNA, or no physical clues, this investigation contains an extraordinary amount of forensic material. Yet, after more than twenty years, the identity of the killer remains one of Japan's greatest mysteries.
For anyone interested in examining the official evidence, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police have made a considerable amount of information publicly available, including photographs of items left behind by the killer, shoe prints, maps, floor plans, and details from the investigation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setagaya_family_murder
https://www.bbc.com/search?q=Setagaya+family+murder
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/search/?q=Setagaya+family+murder
After reading through the evidence, I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts. Is there anything in the publicly available information that stands out? Is there a detail that seems overlooked, or a piece of evidence that deserves more attention? Please keep the discussion focused on verified facts and avoid accusing private individuals without evidence.
The murder of Karina Holmer is one of the most brutal and haunting unsolved cases in Boston’s history. Karina was only 20 years old when she was killed. Her severed upper torso was discovered in a dumpster on the afternoon of June 23rd, 1996. This case has remained unsolved now for 30 years. The case remains active and investigators are continuously seeking any information that could lead to a breakthrough. To submit a tip, you can contact the Boston Police Department Unsolved Homicide Unit at (617) 343-4470 OR to remain anonymous contact CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS
Beer of the Week - Cloud Machine
Garage Grade - 4 and a half bottle caps out of 5
Gather round, grab a chair, grab a beer....
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