April Millsap ////// 901 | Forensic Files

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grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime. [music] >> [music] >> The murder of a child is an unbearable
tragedy, a nightmare for any parent. In the quiet rural village of Armada, Michigan, a community so small it felt
like a haven from big city dangers, Jennifer Milsap believed her 14-year-old daughter, April, was safe.
That belief was shattered on a July evening in 2014. This is the case of April Don Millsap
and this is True Crime Garage. >> [music] >> April Dawn Milsap [music] was a vibrant
and creative teen who had just finished the eighth grade. She loved animals, especially her border collie named
Penny. and she often walked her dog on lengthy walks along the nearby Makeome Orchard Trail. Our true crime story
kicks off in 2014. But before we get to 2014, let's go back in time and give a little bit of information here. We have
April Milsap who was born on January 2nd, 2000 to Jennifer and Bobby Milsap. The family at that time resided in Wise
County, Virginia. But sadly, this marriage will not last. Jennifer and Bobby divorce when April was still just
a small child. Afterward, Jennifer would relocate. Now, Jennifer, she struggles with a neurological disorder that
impacts her speech, and she decides to relocate with April, her only child, to the tiny rural village of Armada,
Michigan. Jennifer is deeply devoted to her daughter, and she chooses to raise April here, surrounded by family and
friends. April attends school and is described as a bright young girl, outgoing and
extremely close to her mother. The dynamic of the family of two is going to change dramatically. Again, this is when
April is just 7 years old. Her mother meets David Likenfeld, who would go on to get married to Jennifer and then
become a stepfather. And it actually David really becomes a true father figure to April and describes April as
his daughter. We need to point out here, Captain, that this location, the village
of Armada, Michigan, is a very small community. It's a quiet rural town nestled about 40 miles north of Detroit.
Feels like it's a world away from the big city of Detroit, right? Where in the big city you have crime, you have
violence of the big city. This small little village, it weighs in at just about one square mile with a population
of a little over 1,700 residents. So, it's a long ways away, far away from the big city problems that you may have. In
fact, at the time of our case in 2014, you only have two full-time police officers. You do have an additional 10
part- timerrs working for the police, but there was little need for more law enforcement representation at the time
as crime was quite rare and generally it was considered a extremely safe place to
raise a family. In fact, the village of Armada, Michigan hadn't seen a murder there since 1973.
In 2014, April, her beloved pet, Penny, we have her mother, Jennifer. She would recall
that like most teens, April like to go out with friends. She liked to go shopping, but she also was really into
quiet pursuits as well, like drawing and writing. She would craftily spin out these great short stories and beautiful
poetry with ease. Her true passion was her love of animals, particularly her border collie, Penny. While she didn't
consider herself an athlete, she did enjoy frequently walking Penny on one of the several walking paths. Among them
was the nearby Makehome Orchard Trail. This was one of her favorite nature spots. And April treated this activity
as much of a chance to connect with friends. She had a boyfriend at the time, his name is Austin, but also as a
form of exercise. This was something that her mother, Jennifer, was aware of and didn't mind
at all. April had just finished 8th grade at Armada Middle School and was looking forward to attending high school
in the fall, but that would all change in the summer of 2014. Around dinner time in the early evening
on July 24th, 2014, David Likenfeld bid goodbye to his stepdaughter, April, before leaving for his shift at work.
Around 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. that evening, April left her home to take her dog Penny on a walk along the Makeome
Orchard Trail in the area. This is a wellp populated bicycle and walking trail. At 6:28 p.m., April sent a text
to her boyfriend Austin that read, quote, "I almost got kidnapped. OMFG." End quote. But Austin didn't actually
receive it until about an hour after it was sent. There was a delay in the technology
that many may remember was all too common back in 2014. Yeah. If you text something and it wasn't hitting a cell
tower that it might not send until your phone actually connected to a different cell tower. So, omfg
for all the old heads in the garage today. That's Oh my [ __ ] god. >> And I recall, Captain
period 10, 12 years ago. >> Yeah. >> If I got near water, especially if I got near water, my phone would act up and
there would be significant delays or it would lose it would lose service completely. Well, I remember 10 years
ago when I got near a waterfall and make me want to take a leak >> that evening. So, we have Jennifer
Milsap, the mother. She's going to start calling and texting her daughter April when April didn't return from Walking
Penny. This would be in just the general expected time frame of that evening. Now, mind you, this is a walk
she that she's gone out on many, many times, but something seems off here as she's not returned
in the conceived amount of time that that she was expecting. So, she's now receiving no response to the texts and
the phone calls, and she does call her husband, David, at work, who immediately he rushes home to see what's going on.
Eventually, the concerned mother is going to call the local police department to report her daughter
missing. Jennifer's next call was to April's boyfriend, Austin, who then tells her about the weird text that he
had received from April. >> Right. He says that at first he kind of brushed it off as an exaggeration,
almost like a joking kind of text a 14-year-old girl might send saying uh she spotted a creepy looking guy along
the trail. And maybe that's what she meant by, "Oh my god, I almost got kidnapped."
>> Yeah, but that joke turns into seriousness real quick because the mom hasn't been able to reach her. I'm sure
as the mother is making this phone call, her stomach's dropping and the boyfriend's stomach is now dropping with
with fear of what might have happened to April. Yeah, cuz you have two parties separately. Both concern have some level
of concern, but now you're going to double down on that once information is shared between the two. She's not come
home. Mom's nervous and worried. And now the boyfriend goes, "Oh, that text was something could be something serious. It
wasn't so serious before." Everybody, the alarm is sounded. Everybody is concerned. We're going to have Austin
and he's going to bring his friend Alex with him to meet Jennifer. And the three
of them are going to go out looking for April along that orchard trail. They're searching for any kinds of clues as to
April's whereabouts. Now, around 8:30 900 p.m. that night, Jennifer Milsap spotted police who are now out on the
trail as well. >> And good for police for taking this serious. >> They speak with the mother and confirm
getting a good description of what April was wearing that evening. Upon obtaining
this description of the clothing, Jennifer was then asked and sent to the police station. She would remain there
overnight. She's there for, I believe it was 10 hours. And of course, she's terrified and heart sick at this time.
She's wondering, why are they keeping me here for so long? >> Now, doesn't somebody come across
April's dog? That's the thing of it here, Captain, is mom's at the police station unaware that they have a crime
scene that they're working. Let's go through this. April's last seen around 6:25 p.m.
July 24th, 2014. What we're going to have in this case is several eyewitnesses. Because while this area is
small in population, as we pointed out, a lot of people walked this trail. A lot of people would
bike this trail. So the trail itself was a well populated area. A woman comes forward, her name is Mary Stein. She
says that, "Hey, while I was out on the trail, I spotted a girl. She's walking her dog on the trail, but this girl
seemingly was rushing away from someone. She said that based off of the description,
this was probably April. And she said that April had flashed her what she referred to as a tense smile as she said
hello. And but she's passing by quickly. And then she says Mary says that she noticed an angry looking man on a
motorcycle behind the girl. I find that description a little strange, but that was her description. An angry looking
man on a motorcycle behind the girl. >> Yeah. And you don't want to blame this eyewitness, but if [clears throat] I'm
seeing that situation, I'm not leaving, right? I'm >> I'm going to go up to them. Even if it's
just a walk past them to kind of see what's going on because it could be nothing. It could be her father. It
could be whoever, but I'm not leaving that girl's side. >> Uh, the writer wasn't wearing a helmet.
And Mary says that she tried to say hello to him as he's going by. He does not respond to her greeting. Instead, he
doesn't even really look at her at all. >> Right. This this encounter would have
happened just minutes before April sent what we now know to be that frantic text to her
boyfriend Austin. I think I almost got kidnapped. OMFG. Right. So, if I'm following this story correctly, April's
walking her dog. She's in this park essentially bike path, walking path. She >> trail
>> she comes across or this guy comes across her path. This guy on a motorcycle with a helmet. This
eyewitness sees both of them and this might have been a deterrent enough for him to leave. So April feels like,
"Okay, well I was run into by a crepo. So now I can text my boyfriend. I think I was almost I think I almost got
kidnapped. OMFG." Yeah. She must have felt there must have been a window of time
there that she felt that the guy was gone. >> Yeah. Like a sense of relief. >> Yeah. And then think about it from the
witness's perspective. Mary Stein, she's going to see both of these people just rushing along past her and then she
doesn't see them again. >> Yeah. I should probably apologize to the eyewitness because she might have saw
the guy on the motorcycle leave and then thought, "Hey, the girl's and no harm now, so I can walk away."
>> Mhm. >> I'm very judgmental these days. [snorts] >> Well, and the thing too is the girl who
we believe is April says hello to Mary Stein. So that's almost like, you know, she might have gave her that tense smile
as she describes it, but also >> she didn't ask for help. at this time now. So, let's fast forward
to just a an hour and a half, two hours later. So, this is between 8 and 8:30 p.m. Okay. We have a a couple out there
who are enjoying the late July twilight on the Makeome Orchard Trail bike path. >> Well, they say the couple that jogs
together stays together. >> Well, they were riding bikes, so they probably no are no longer together. But
but in so many reports they call them two joggers. >> They come across this dog. The dog will
lead them unfortunately to a body. Okay. So this dog leads them to the lifeless body of a teenager,
teenage girl in a ditch near Fulton and Depot streets. The victim is lying there, not moving, lying there about 15
to 20 feet off of the nature trail. Of course, the police and 911 are called right away,
>> right? >> Armada Police Department officer Phil Newmire was the first to arrive on the
scene and he noted that the dead girl was naked from the waist down. Her blouse and bra appear to have been torn
off of her. >> Yeah, it seems like the blouse was wrapped around her wrist. >> Yeah, there like torn off and then
pushed to to her wa waist area and her shorts and underwear were pulled down around her ankles.
Her feet were bare. Both shoes lying nearby. In the victim's left hand, she had clutched some sort of leafy debris.
And there were pattern markings. So there shoe print markings on this poor victim on her chest, neck, and face
areas. The teenager's face and hair were bloody, and there was a red stain that also appeared to be blood on a nearby
tree. >> Yeah. So they're saying she dies of blunt force trauma to the head and esphyxiation caused by neck
compressions, but like you said, there's there's some kind of shoe or boot mark on her body. So think about how violent
of an attack that has to be to leave a shoe print marking on the victim. >> Multiples as well. So,
>> right >> now, let's go back to April's mother, Jennifer. She sent home and then that
the following day in the morning, a an FBI agent knocked on her door with a picture of April in his hand. Then
there's that sad confirmation of yes, in fact, and indeed, this is her daughter.
Jennifer learned the shattering news that April had been murdered, as the captain had said. An autopsy was
performed the next day that would reveal that April had sustained 48 separate injuries, mostly on the head, neck, and
upper chest area before ultimately expiring from blunt force head trauma and asphixxia due to neck compression.
Whoever killed her, the monster that attacked this 14-year-old girl had bashed in her skull and then stood on
her neck, constricting the life out of the teenager. [music] [music] This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.
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Switch now at mintmobile.com/tcg. [music] [music] All right, we are back. Back from a
quick beer break. Cheers to you and cheers to you, Colonel. >> Cheers to all of you out there
listening. Cheers to you, Captain, as well. >> Oh, thank you. Back at the crime scene,
we have no DNA that would be found at the scene. The shoe print or prints on her body would later be used, of course,
in hopes of identifying her attacker and killer. But as we've seen in so many recent cases, the cell
phone, a cell phone and the information on that cell phone can be some of the best evidence or create some kind of
trail to the offender. And that certainly is going to be the case here as well. As we had talked about, this is
a small community, a unified community. And of course, they were shocked and horrified by the brutal
murder of one of their most innocent residents, a 14-year-old girl, April Milsap.
>> Well, there's a couple things, though, as far as the investigation goes. You start by looking into the mom because
she's home alone. So, does she have any reason to have any conflict with her daughter? And then we have this physical
evidence, not DNA evidence, but we have this physical evidence. So, I'm assuming
that her foot doesn't match this size of bootprint. We have a eyewitness that sees a male. So, we can start excluding
the possibility of the mom. And then you got to look into the stepdad, but he has
an alibi. He's at work. And also, does he have a mo motorcycle? Does he match this description of this individual that
the eyewitness saw? But we also have then the boyfriend because just because we have eyewitness that sees this guy on
a motorcycle doesn't mean that he's essentially the killer. [clears throat] So, when we look into the the boyfriend,
we got to figure out where he was at the time of the murder. >> Yes. And with this with the community
here, they're going to rally around Jennifer Milsap and David Likenfeld. What we end up having here, Captain, is
we're going to get a bunch of eyewitnesses, a bunch of witnesses come forward from the community offering a
description of a man on a motorcycle that had been seen chasing the teen, going after the teen, talking with the
teen. This will lead to a composite sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the man. And this is released to the
public. And we also get the community that is putting pink ribbons on every surface in this small community because
pink was the little girl's favorite color. And this was to show support for the slain teen and her family. So they
began displaying her favorite color everywhere that they could. Several vigils and memorials would be held by
the community and April's beloved border collie Penny was present at these vigils. In fact, they dyed the fur her
fur pink in tribute to April's memory as well. And then a fundraiser, an online fundraiser, collected over $16,000 for
April's family as the close-knit community exhibited their love and support for the family, attempting to
process this this loss here, this great great loss. The description that might be the most powerful here, Captain,
seems to not be of the man that police believe is our suspect, but the man's motorcycle. About a month after April is
killed, police would name James Donald Vancalis as a person of interest in the murder. So, he's 32 years old from
Goodell's, Michigan. He is living with his father and his long-term on and off again girlfriend. So his father is a
registered sex offender. His name is James Bernard Vancalis. The two of them are arrested in July of
2014 on unrelated drug charges. So, this is tied to a mutual participation that they have in a
marijuana grow operation that they have. They're running it out of their home. So, the younger of the two, James Donald
Vancales, he has no violent convictions, only like petty criminal history stuff,
theft related crimes, some drug offenses, failure to pay child support, that kind of thing. the registered sex
offender father, he has a much lengthier criminal history and a more scary one as
well. So, the elder fan had been convicted in 1995 of secondderee criminal sexual conduct
with a person under 13 and a fourthderee criminal sexual conduct with a person between 13 and 16. But nevertheless,
investigators [snorts] would ultimately zero in on the son as the person of interest in their
murder investigation. Because when investigators canvas the area and they continue to gather evidence, including
witness accounts, part of those witness accounts, Captain, are of a small black,
white, and blue motorcycle that the suspect was riding and spotted near the crime scene. And early in the
investigation, an officer notices a motorcycle in a driveway that appears to match these multiple descriptions,
>> right? >> And the vehicle, the bike also matches a bike seen on security camera footage
from a neighbor's home. Okay? So, when they're out collecting this evidence, they they're looking for digital
evidence. Part of that will be surveillance footage, doorbell camera footage, things of that nature. They're
also, they did have to do some work to locate April's cell phone. So, her phone wasn't found with her, but it's
eventually located using that cell phone. They look into a fitness app that she has on her cell phone. And that
fitness app was tracking her movements at the time that she is walking her dog along the nature trail.
>> Yeah. It's also tracking her heart rate as well. So based on her heart rate, we
can almost pinpoint the exact time that she was attacked. >> Yeah. And on that fitness app, what
they're going to see is her movements. She's zigzagging, right? her it shows her phone moving
back and forth, back and forth, almost zigzagging for several minutes. And one thing that it's going to show
too is that at some point her her phone is traveling at 3.8 mph, but then it increases dramatically to 22 miles
hour that the phone is traveling. So, based off of that information, what would you think of that? That's
that's telling us she's walking the dog at a normal pace. And oh, we didn't find
her cell phone with her because whoever did this probably took the phone and then tossed it at some point. They left
the area in a motor vehicle or or she got into a motor vehicle. But we don't have anything at the scene suggesting
that she was in a motorized vehicle at any time. >> Right? Cuz we we have found her body.
It's in a drainage ditch. So you have this eyewitness with this motorcycle. You have [clears throat] this eyewitness
that sees a man on a motorcycle. Then you go, "Okay, is it possible that the individual that attacked her, the
individual that killed her, did he take her cell phone?" Mhm. >> And then obviously he takes the cell
phone and he and he dumps it somewhere. >> This motorcycle is going to be a huge
lead because the description of it, it's a unique almost one-ofa-kind motorcycle,
right? We have the it's small black, white, and blue motorcycle with two different size tires.
And that is what will lead police to this James Vancalas. He's already in custody because they we
have the the drug charges, >> right? >> When he's questioned, Van Callus does admit
that he was passing through Armada on the day of the murder. He says he was on his way to visit his brother
between 5 and 6 PM and he said that he returned home about two hours later. So he's saying, "Yeah, you might have seen
me. Somebody might have seen me in that area because I was passing through on my
way to see my brother and then would have passed through again at some point to return." He says
he was wearing a black motorcycle helmet, a carhe heart hoodie, camouflage pants, and KSwiss tennis shoes. Part of
the problem with his story is when they reveal surveillance footage from a gas station in the area,
this shows James at the gas station and on his motorcycle before April's murder.
and his [snorts] phone records once they get onto him, they show him near the trail
around the time that April was killed. Well, it's one thing cuz he confirms it through law enforcement to say, "Well,
yeah, I was in that area, but we really don't need his confirmation because we do have surveillance and then we also
have the eyewitnesses, but him confirming that that is just building the case against him." Well, the case
will continue to build against him because after eyewitness accounts seemingly link Vanales's motorcycle to
the crime scene and then we have some digital forensics supporting these reports. Vanalas is very quickly going
to graduate from a person of interest to a suspect in the eyes of law enforcement. And it was on October 8th
that the county prosecutor announces that the suspect, James Donald Vancales, is charged with firstdegree murder,
felony murder, and kidnapping and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration in the slaying death of
14year-old April Milsap. Vanalas is arraigned the following day, denied bail, and remanded
to the St. Clair County Jail. That same month, both of the Van Callus men will plead guilty to their manufacturing
marijuana operation. The attorney, so they have a shared attorney for those charges. captain. He is then saying
like, I I'll continue to represent the two of you for this marijuana situation, but I'm
not representing you, you know, once Vanales is officially charged with murder. That defense attorney says, "I'm
not representing you in in the murder case." >> But even though that law enforcement is
building the case against him, it doesn't seem like they have this mountain of evidence. And we also live
in this CSI world where we feel like we need DNA evidence to slam dunk every every case that goes to
trial. >> Yeah. We're not going to have DNA evidence here. And that in part will be
a large portion of the defense for Vanalis here. What we end up having is a considerable amount of delays
in getting the trial started. Some of that does come from the prosecution side of the equation. But after several
delays, Vancus's trial gets underway. This is in January, January 20th of 2016. During opening statements, the
prosecutor tells the court that April had died of blunt force head trauma and asphixxia due to neck compression. The
state intended to call 34 witnesses to the stand, including the then living girlfriend of the defendant. her
testimony will be maybe even more damning than than most so far because she says that on the night in question,
she woke up and when she wakes up, she finds her boyfriend cleaning his shoes and his motorcycle helmet with hand
sanitizer. >> Yeah. And we have to remember that when they're doing the autopsy, the weapons
that essentially murdered this girl that murdered April, they believe is a motorcycle helmet and obviously the
stomping of the victim. So, the shoes then become very important. >> Yes. Some of the other witnesses called
would be April's mother, Jennifer Milsap. Uh, Jennifer tells the jury about texting April repeatedly, calling
her repeatedly, going out to search for her daughter when April didn't return home from walking her dog. She was
composed yet, of course, very emotional and paints the picture perfectly of of how frantic the situation was, how
desperate she was when searching for her daughter. We get an FBI investigator who's going to recreate April's final
steps. This using data from April's cell phone fitness tracker app. The phone had
been recovered the day after the murder and contained a wealth of digital evidence linking the suspect to the
crime. Digital analysis expert agent Matthew Zens testified to extracting information
from April Sports Tracker app and combining it with location information obtained from Google Earth. So he
displays an animation that he created showing the path that the teen took while walking her dog Penny alongside
the Makehome Orchard Trail on the day that she was killed. Zens then shows the jury how he had dropped pins on this
route to indicate when calls and text messages were sent, including the one where April sent at 6:28 p.m. to her
boyfriend that read, "I think I almost got kidnapped. OMFG." He describes a 15minute period of the
phone moving in a zigzag pattern. Presumably, this was April attempting to avoid Vancus's
advances or get away from him before the phone starts traveling at that much higher rate of speed and away from the
crime scene. Now, here's this part is odd. Just very strange. The cell phone data showed three attempted calls to a I
have the number here, but I'm not going to give out the number because it's probably somebody's number today. It's
at a 810 area code. Okay. So, three attempted calls to the same 810 area code phone number. First at 6:31, then
again at 6:32, and then at 6:33 before the phone leaves the general area at 6:44 p.m. That number, that telephone
number was linked to the Vancalis family. And as said, we have the phone traveling at 3.8 8 mph suddenly
increasing up to 22 m per hour. >> Yeah. So, you have this killer's girlfriend also saying he's not at home
the time of the murders. He has a motorcycle similar to that. And also, weirdly, he was doing something I've
never seen him do in the middle of the night, and that was to clean his helmet and his shoes. and these shoes because
he tells the police, "Hey, I was wearing KSwiss shoes." Well, no, you probably weren't cuz th this pair of
shoes. I believe it was like a size 12 Jordan flight the power shoes. >> Yep. >> And these were the shoes. Again, the
girlfriend said, "These are the shoes I saw him cleaning." And when they go to find these shoes, they're nowhere to be
found. Well, part of her testimony, too. Okay, so she describes waking up on the
night of January 24th, 2014. Boyfriend's cleaning the shoes just like the captain
said. These are black and white Jordan shoes. She says he's acting strangely. He says to her, according to her
testimony, that he had messed up and that she needed to stick by him and stay with him and she needed to, if
questioned, tell police that he was wearing different shoes that day. He says, "Tell them I was wearing my KSwiss
tennis shoes." Which, remember, that's what he tells police he was wearing on the night that he supposedly went to go
see his brother. Now, we said that that telephone number was connected to the Vancalis family. I wonder if that's him
calling his brother saying, "Hey, I was with you tonight." If if anybody asked, "I I went out to your place tonight."
Well, at some point, James asked his brother to delete text messages be between them, which I believe the
brother claims he responded absolutely not. So, at this trial, not only do we have this ex-girlfriend testifying for
the prosecution, but they also have his brother testifying for the the prosecution as well. And again, the
girlfriend says part of her statement is after while he's cleaning his shoes and
helmet, he asked her to wash his clothing. And she says when she when she goes to wash the clothing, she searched
the pockets of this Carheart hoodie that he was wearing. And she tells the jury that she
found what she thought was human hair and grass clippings in that pocket. And she also says that she noticed an
injury to her boyfriend which she described as a deep long scratch on his right leg. Of course, his defense team
is going to attempt damage control here by attacking this woman's credibility, claiming that
her statements to police were inconsistent and sometimes conflicting. Well, she doesn't back down from this.
She counters that by saying, "Look, I was scared to death of losing my children.
So any contradictory statements that I made were due to nervousness." The we get three weeks of testimony by
prosecution witnesses. As we said, they they called a lot of uh witnesses and experts and members of law enforcement.
Of course, standard procedure. The defense is going to request that the judge dismissed the case, citing a lack
of evidence. The county circuit judge denies this motion. The defendant, he doesn't take
the stand to testify on his own behalf, and in fact, the defense calls no witnesses. At closing arguments on
February 5th, the defense attorney maintains that prosecutors presented no evidence tying his client to the crime.
And what we mean by that is he's citing no physical evidence. The defense fears the possibility of a sympathetic vote
due to the emotional impact of the murder of this teenage girl. Right? like the we know we've seen these types of
cases where >> a community is so affected they may lose sight of what is of the way that the
justice system is supposed to work. They want their pound of flesh and that's what the defense team was worried about
and they're saying look we hate it too. It it it breaks our hearts that this girl was killed but here sits my client
and there's no DNA evidence. There's no fingerprints. There's no hair. There's no semen. There's no fibers that are
implicating my client. >> Yeah. But he has no alibi. And we can also have eyewitnesses that place him at
the scene. And we have video surveillance putting him in that location. And it's 20ome miles away from
his house. And then his father is a pedo. So is it possible that he's a pedo as well? And then we have these
statements from the brother. Why would you need text to be deleted by somebody if you did nothing wrong? And then
you're cleaning possibly murder weapons in the middle of the night and then when
somebody goes, "Hey, what the heck's going on?" You go, "Hey, by the way, you're I need you to have my back here.
I need you to to to go along with this story if anybody asks." And then the police start coming around and guess
what? They start asking. So, this is a lot of circumstantial evidence. And it's also like, well, we got we got some
physical evidence cuz we have these shoe prints. Did he have shoes that would possibly match this? Yes. But also, I
mean, the simple question is, does he have a size 12 shoe like the prints on our victim? Yes. This puts him into the
realm of possibility that he's a possible suspect for for the crime. I think if you're the prosecution here,
you've got to be worried about reasonable doubt. And the reasonable doubt to me would be the senior Van
Callas, right? The one the known registered sex offender. They live together. But what you you so you have to really
hone in on the son being that you have the right guy. And part of that is his own admissions of, "Yeah, I would I
would have been seen in the area cuz I was riding my motorcycle and I was traveling to and from my my brother's
house." When you just have the bike, that's what led you to the suspect. Well, they live together. The senior Van
Callus has access to that bike, to that motorcycle helmet, to even his son's cell phone. But then you
have his own words of saying, "Yeah, you would have seen. I would have been seen
in this area." Well, they're going to double down on all this at trial and really point the finger at the son with
some hardcore evidence. And it might not be the physical kind, but it's the good
kind. So they're they review his internet history, his searches on his internet history related to attracting
young girls that contain phrases like how to make a girl fall in love with you, >> what girls really want.
>> And we're not talking about women. We're not talking about women his own age.
We're talking about >> No, he's 32. Yeah. >> Yeah. He he wants to know what girls,
what teens he can get to fall for him. >> The defense, one of their arguments, too, is like, "Hey, these shoes that
keep being mentioned, you didn't recover those from my client's house, from among
his belongings." So, a lot of back and forth here, but you have the two phones, April's phone, the victim's phone,
confirmed to be on the Orchard Trail. You also have your suspect's phone on the orchard trail. This this is the
thing that's going to be the the best evidence, >> right? That puts them in contact with
each other. >> So, the best evidence that you have here is from security footage of a house that
is very nearby the murder scene, the crime scene. And remember, the killer was dumb enough to take April's phone
with him for a period of time. That security footage from that house, shows a white male on a motorcycle, the
motorcycle, by the way, matching the exact description of Van Callus's motorcycle passing that surveillance
camera at that home. Okay, so they have video of Vancalas on his bike passing that home and oh, what does that video
line up with on the timestamp? The same time that he's passing that camera, it was determined that April Milsap's cell
phone was passing that camera at the exact same time. >> Right. And if he's innocent of this
crime, there would be no reason that he would have her cell phone. But also a damning piece of evidence is when you
have your girlfriend saying, you know, I I wake up and he's clean he's cleaning his prized Nike tenn tennis shoes with
hand sanitizer. >> Mhm. >> And then this weird stuff. Hey, I'm going to need you to to go along with my
story. But she says, "Look, we weren't able to find the shoes, but we also weren't able to find a hoodie in which
she found a clump of human hair and grass in the pocket." So, you have, like you said, solid evidence that there was
a connection, which he never said that he was talking to her and hanging out with her. And then we have we know the
phone was taken from the crime scene and we have evidence that puts him in contact with that phone after the crime
took place. And again, you have your [laughter] your your girlfriend, ex-girlfriend now, but you
have your ex-girlfriend and your brother testifying against you. I mean, this is
pretty no-brainer. The authorities theorized that James Vancalis had approached April as she was walking her
dog Penny along the Makehome Orchard Trail, making sexual advances towards the 14-year-old
when April rebuffed his attentions. He grows angrier and angrier, persistingly following her on his
motorcycle as she attempted to evade him and eventually reaching a boiling point when he finally caught up to her.
He attempts to rape the teen, but this was likely thwarted by the sight of multiple people out on the walking trail
that evening. and he must have dragged her off of the trail, striking her multiple times in the head and face with
his motorcycle helmet. In his anger, unchecked and beyond control, he tramples the teen, violently stomping
her face and chest, think of the sheer brutality of this final act. He's 6'1, 175 lb predator who, and there's no nice
way of saying this, he stood on the on the teen's neck, leaving her to die at the scene, taking her cell phone with
him before he fled the scene, eventually discarding it at a nearby location. The
trial would end on a a Friday and so this would start the deliberations process and
these deliberations resumed on the following Monday which was February 8th. They, the jury,
ultimately deliberated for about 7 hours in total before reaching a verdict. And
in front of a packed courtroom in which you could hear a pin drop, a jury of 12 men and women found the then 34year-old
James Donald Vancalis guilty of firstdegree murder of April Don Milsap. So he's convicted on all counts
including the kidnapping and sexual assault charge. >> It's kidnapping and assault with the
intent to commit sexual penetration. And this is, as said, a crowded courtroom. And it when they're reading off the
verdict. Uh, and you upon hearing the word guilty, April supporters wearing their signature pink, they erupted in
applause, tears, and cries of gratitude. Meanwhile, Vanalas displayed very little
emotion, if any at all, as the verdict was read. and he's now facing a potential life in prison without the
possibility of parole sentence. And the sentencing hearing was set for March 30th, 2016.
>> Well, the rumor had it that he was very disappointed he had to throw away his
Nike tennis shoes. Well, and this is going to be where we have the courtroom filled with victim's family members, and
they're going to have an opportunity here to read their impact statements. Before I get into Jennifer Milsap, the
mother's statement, what we have here from Vanalis is he is proclaiming his innocence.
>> Of course, he is >> denying that he's guilty. He's he's questioning the evidence. Says there is
no evidence, but the judge quickly steps in and says, "Look, this is her exact words." And I I like this quote. The
reality is we're here to sentence you today, not retry the case. Jennifer Milsap, part of her victim impact
statement is as follows. She says, quote, "You, James, are a damn thief. You stole my beautiful daughter's life
and you stole the rest of mine. My life has totally changed since April was killed. My life will never be the same.
I will always miss April and will continue to hold her in my heart. I never thought this could happen to my
daughter or me. I know that the Bible tells us that we are supposed to forgive those who wronged you, but what you took
from us is unforgivable. You have a lot of people to apologize to. Don't expect anyone to accept it because you don't
have the ability to turn back time and take this back. >> And old James Clean shoes,
he will get the maximum sentencing. >> Yes. So, he's sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole. Additionally, the judge granted a restitution to April's mother in the amount of $7,500.
Upon hearing the sentence, Vancus's mother, Brenda, vowed that her son would be vindicated,
telling reporters that he had been framed. The community of our mata Michigan actively supported the
investigation by providing tips and surveillance footage. A year after the murder, this
is on July 13th, 2015, residents dedicated a memorial garden for April near the Makeome Orchard Trail. The
garden, funded by over $7,000 in community donations, was created as a place of reflection and healing,
featuring April's favorite flowers and a bench with her name on it. [music] [music]
We told [music] you to tune in this February as we have several special announcements and today we have our
first one for you and this is very exciting stuff. True Crime Garage will be part of Crimewave 2.0.
Crimewave at Sea 2.0 is the ultimate true crime festival in international waters. This is the Oasis of the Seas
cruise ship that sets sail from Fort Lauderdale. The cruise dates are February 8th through the 12th, 2027.
The 2027 lineup is featuring last podcast on the left, Case File, Scared to Death, Unexplained, and now True
Crime Garage, plus many more great true crime and mystery podcast. These tickets
go on sale Friday, February 13, 2026. Again, tickets go on sale Friday, February 13th, 2026
to get $100 off of your stateateroom and a private meet and greet with Nick and the captain. Go to crimewavec.com/g
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greet with Nick and the captain by going to crimewavec.com/g. Once again, that is crimewavec.com/g.
Want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage each and every week. Thanks for telling your mother, thanks
for telling your brother. Until next week, be good, be [music] kind, and don't litter.
Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. How do you make chicken nuggets like [music] 7,000% better? Short answer, you
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April Millsap ////// 901

Part 1 of 1

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The murder of a child is an unbearable tragedy, a nightmare for any parent. In the quiet, rural village of Armada, Michigan—a community so small it felt like a haven from big-city dangers—Jennifer Millsap believed her fourteen-year-old daughter, April, was safe. That belief was shattered on a July evening in 2014.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the murder of 14-year-old April Milsap and the conviction of James Vancalis for her death.

Key points

The Case of April Milsap. A vibrant teen's life is tragically cut short in a small town.
A Community in Shock. Armada, Michigan, a town with no recent crime, faces a horrific murder.
A Frantic Text. April sends a chilling message to her boyfriend just before disappearing.
Community Rallies for April Milsap. The community shows support for April Milsap with vigils and pink ribbons in her memory.
Eyewitness Accounts Lead to Suspect. Eyewitnesses describe a man on a motorcycle seen chasing April, leading to a composite sketch.
Trial Begins for James Vancalas. James Vancalas is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of April Milsap.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The murder of a child is an unbearable tragedy.

Introduction to the case of April Milsap.

3:48WatchFeb 4, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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