Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 12 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries on a sunny afternoon in Boonville Missouri Janice Owen and her eight-year-old daughter
Alyssa made their way home within an hour of one another what happened next under small community
left even the most seasoned cops shaking their heads and disbelief Tina creamer was getting a fresh start
with a new boyfriend but she was concerned because her ex-husband had allegedly been stalking
her then on the night of August 10th Tina and her boyfriend were murdered had Tina's fears been realized
could this have been a case of love gone wrong where is fifteen-year-old Trisha Autry that our Utah home she spent many
evenings at her computer then she suddenly disappeared did Trisha run away to meet someone she met over the
Internet or was she abducted against her will join me for these stories of heartbreak
an entry on unsolved mysteries [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] I'll see you tomorrow at Advent a
routine Monday at Riverdale Care Center in Boonville Missouri population eighty two hundred forty three year old nurses
a Janice Owen a widow and hard-working mother of two finished her shift at the usual time then headed for home just
half a block away a time was 2:15 p.m. [Music] about an hour later Janice's eight-year-old daughter Alyssa was on
her way home a sweet kid with a sunny disposition Alyssa got along well with everyone she
was riding alone that Monday her older brother had been dropped off earlier at the babysitters
she's a cute little smiling girl I just noticed her when she got off the bus and walked in front of my bus to get
on her property I watched her angle toward the front door of this residence and then I was on
my way later that afternoon Janice's mother stopped by to say hello Janet I tried the door and it was
unlocked no she didn't answer me so I walked on through the house and she wasn't anywhere to be found in there
Alyssa's coat was on the couch her backpack on the floor but Frances found no sign of her daughter or granddaughter
it was now 5:00 p.m. so I wrote a note that I'd been there and I thought it was funny that night
she didn't call me but there was nothing messed up or anything that would it give
me any idea anything was wrong 5:45 p.m. a neighbor returning home from work says
she saw some unusual activity outside Janice's home there was people standing outside her duplex there was cars parked
on the street that usually I mean I just never noticed before there was a woman on the porch and there was a younger guy
he was wearing the red baseball cap they were both facing the street and they both stared at me as I drove by I
kind of thought something was odd about the situation 15 minutes later Amy noticed more
strange activity outside Janice's home there was a white four-door car in front of her house but on the wrong side of
the street and I saw a different guy facing me looking down towards my end of the street my intuition was telling me
there's something wrong and I didn't know if it was domestic dispute or what it was but the thought that severe
horror would truly happen to anybody that never crossed my mind Janice Owen and her daughter ELISA had
simply disappeared and what happened between 3:15 p.m. a 6:00 p.m. that Monday afternoons they owned home would
become the topic of much speculation police department from two rural counties soon found themselves
handcuffed by a puzzling case the first of its kind in this area in 20 years even big-city detectives called to
assist in the case could make no sense of the evidence the next day Tuesday 8:45 a.m.
on the outskirts at Fayette Missouri just 12 miles north of Boonville three employees from a local sawmill spotted
something on the side of the road at first glance he thought it was a mannequin it turned out to be the
lifeless body of a young child minutes later the Howard County Sheriff arrived on the scene there was no signs
of any trauma or anything so what we call the coroner and he arrived and and could determine that she probably did
you know at least dead six to eight hours a lot of Sheriff Paulson Howard County Sheriff's Department with no
reports of any missing children locally sheriff Polson contacted Boonville police a neighboring Cooper County yeah
I'll check it out and I'll call you back as soon as I know anything okay detective Bob one of her made calls to
several schools and soon had an answer little Alyssa Owen had been absent that days it turned out to be her body found
on the side of the road [Music] Tuesday 12:15 p.m. detective Oliver drove over to see
Alyssa's mother and deliver the terrible news no answer suspicious he went inside hello anybody
home mrs. Owen no sign of Janice Owen I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would give me any suspicions that
there was a struggle no signs of any blood no signs of any kind of any trauma or anything we did not see anything out
of the ordinary at the house onesy detective Oliver got a call from the corner the autopsy revealed Alyssa had
died of suffocation her mother was not only missing she had become the prime suspect in a murder case but what
possible motive could she have friends say Janice adored her daughter as the investigation continued more perplexing
questions surfaced about the events of Monday afternoon was a woman named e podium song of course Janice Owen Amy
wasn't sure she really didn't know her very well and who were the two men one wearing a red baseball cap the other
standing by the white car she didn't know them at all but amy was sure of the time 5:45 p.m. some 45 minutes after
Janice's mother told detectives she stopped by the house and found it empty lieutenant Welliver Police Department
detectives began canvassing the area for more clues another neighbor reported seeing an older model dark-colored
pickup truck parked near Janice's home Monday afternoon then an employee with a local waste
disposal company came forward he described seeing a similar pickup truck Tuesday morning on the same Road
Alisa was found just minutes before the sawmill workers discovered her body and his what body's going slow and I looked
at him he's looking at me so I waved and he didn't turn his head away away for nothing just stared and just kept right
on going and the guy who's wearing her red ball cap Jeff Stacy never got a look into the bed
of the pickup truck but he thinks he knows what was there a body of Alyssa Owen Jeff was certain as she was not lying on
the side of the road when he drove by minutes earlier fare down to there had to have done it after 8:30 because I see
they're not you know there's no way why she was lying at I was saying I miss seeing her
was the man behind the wheel the same one reportedly seen at Janice's home on Monday and was a dark green pickup truck
parked near her home that afternoon the same one spotted near the crime scene Tuesday morning detectives searched for
answers but came up empty over the next month they chased hundreds of other leads dead ends at every turn and still
no sign of Janice Owen then on March 27 2002 six weeks after Alyssa's death tragedy struck again Janice's body was
discovered in a creek bed some 12 miles from where her daughter had been found [Music]
she'd been in the water quite a while but there were no really serious signs of trauma that we could tell everything
she had on from work were still there her rings and necklaces and earrings and even her eyeglasses were still on her
head the corner later determined that mother and daughter had died within hours of one another and in the same
manner Janice Owen and Melissa Owen had both been suffocated to death more questions why was Alyssa's body
left in plain sight on a well-traveled Road but her mother's body was apparently dumped in a remote creek bed
some 12 miles away and who could negotiate the maze of back roads at crisscross Howard County police have
plenty of theories but still no suspects it's possible to get from either location to their location if you know
the route it probably has to be somebody local I just don't believe a stranger could find those two locations
separately and just leave what worries me now is they're still out there who knows that they won't try it to somebody
else and I don't want that happening to anybody I would love to say I have it or
that I have any clue I am a law enforcement officer I am a detective my job is to leave the options open until I
can prove the facts and I quite frankly I don't know update shortly after we completed the story there was a major
development in the case police have arrested 25 year-old Angela M mice and her 18 year old husband Eric
demise each is charged with two counts of first degree murder the couple live in the Boonville area
the detectives believe they were the man and woman seen lurking outside the home
of Janice Owen the day she and Alisa disappeared [Music] [Music] Tina creamer and Robert Miller met on
the job at a Lawton Oklahoma Hospital where they both worked they had only recently begun dating the couple plan to
spend a relaxing evening at Roberts apartment while he prepared dinner Tina took a hot shower to unwind after a long
day at work they were not aware they were being watched Roberts habit of leaving his front door
unlocked would prove tragic robbed twenty-five year old Tina creamer and 26 year old Robert Miller never had a
chance just five days before her murder Tina Kramer's divorce had become final Tina and David Kemp had been married for
five years according to Tina David began stalking her shortly after they were separated could there apparently
turbulent relationship have anything to do with a double murder investigators turn to those who knew the victims for
answers Tina loved the nursing field she loved helping people anybody she could help
she did so much volunteer work for people that we didn't even know about till after the fact according to some
Tina's life with David Kemp was apparently not very fulfilling I don't believe they had a marriage I
don't believe they had a relationship I know he had hit her I know that he was mentally abusive she had no self-esteem
left till after she left him Tina's new boyfriend Robert Miller was apparently providing a refreshing change from her
controlling ex-husband Rob was very affectionate very loving he brought a lot of love and laughter into her life
she had a lot of confidence her self-esteem had just exploded after she had left David she was a very beautiful
woman this lady was really really good for him you're very supportive you know made him
happy if this would have never happened they would have been perfect for each other
[Music] the bodies of Tina creamer and Robert Miller were discovered when they failed
to show up for work at the hospital Rob's best friend police officer Troy Morris responded to the scene I made
entry and I saw Rob's body lying there on the floor I was too emotional to continue on still wanting to preserve
the crime scene for our detectives I backed out other residents and chose not to go any further after
exiting the residents I did what police officers aren't supposed to do that broke down I can't describe that feeling
I can't describe it you know it was it was about 11:30 last night Dena's family learned what happened from a news report
my husband and I which is her brother was watching TV TV didn't say any names but it showed the apartment and we just
knew that it was them investigators processed the crime scene and news of the murders began to spread many and
Tina creamers circle had their suspicions who may have been responsible for the cold-blooded murders and that
suspect would soon come to the attention of the police the first thing that led investigators to seeking the whereabouts
of David Kemp was the fact that he had motive he had made threats to kill himself and to kill Christina when they
split up Robert said on several occasions that David Kim would come up to Comanche County Memorial Hospital and
leave notes on Tina's car stating if I can't have you that nobody can she stated to me a few days before the
murders that it was a calm before the storm because of threats and letters Rob knew that Tina feared David and we would
stay to him y'all be careful you know watch out for him lock your doors when detectives attempted to locate
david kemp for questioning they discovered he had suddenly left town the day after the murders without telling
anyone where he was headed david kemp was not considered a possible suspect they speculated that when he
received the divorce decree officially dissolving his marriage to Tina it may have upset him but would it have been
enough to trigger the murders although police had no physical evidence to connect David Lee Kemp to the killings
they located a man who claims he sold camp a 45 caliber handgun this person still had in his possession some of the
shell casings that he had fired previously through that gun he provided the shell casings to us and we were
submitted them for forensic examination those shell casings that were known to be fired through that gun matched
identically to the shell casings that we found in the crime scene conclusive proof the David Kemp's gun
was the murder weapon an all-out manhunt was launched to track down David Lee Kemp but where was he
investigators had exhausted all leads then almost two weeks after the murders a lucky break arrived from California we
were notified by California Highway Patrol that they had spotted David Kim's vehicle on a highway just outside of
Bishop California one chilly one requesting wants on Oklahoma license temps 1998 Dodge Ram
pickup truck had broken down the police indicated that there was no one around the vehicle we faxed them a photograph
of David Kim and advised them of what he was wanted for then a man fitting Kemp's
description was spotted walking along the same highway within a few minutes they called us back and stated that they
had tried to approach mr. Kemp but that he had fled on foot California authorities corner David Kemp
in an auto wrecking yard the suspected killer was trapped he began to wave the gun about and indicated that he wanted
to kill himself he made a few demands but the one demand that he did make was that he talked to his mother on the
telephone the request was accommodated then as Kemp said his goodbyes he was momentarily distracted police
sharpshooters armed with non-lethal projectiles saw their opportunity David Lee Kemp was taken into custody
the standoff was safely over when David Kemp was taken into custody in Bishop California he did have a 45 caliber
pistol with him subsequent examination indicated that that was indeed the same gun that was used in the homicide
once extradited back to Oklahoma David Kemp was assigned to the Comanche County Jail Oreo to wait trial for the
murders of Tina creamer and Robert Miller when David was caught and brought back to the jail we were very happy we
rested at night easier we were glad he was back so that justice could be served six months later nine inmates of the
Comanche County Jail including David Kemp overpowered a guard and forced their way to freedom eight of the
escapees were quickly recaptured the ninth David Lee Kemp was last seen heading toward Texas when David escaped we were
angry very angry empty feelings of it being so unfair it was like hearing my brother getting
murdered for the first time I went to the jail and I stood there and waiting I even went into the search parties I
wanted to make sure that I was going to do everything I could for Rob to make sure this man David Lee Kamp was caught
personally I don't know how David can live from one day to the next he's a coward for what he's done three months
after the escape authorities missed an opportunity to take David Kemp back into custody the night manager of a Las Vegas
motel checked to see why a guest hadn't paid his rent hello manager sir hello the manager found the guest sitting in
the bathtub covered with blood holding a knife to his own stomach in what appeared to be a bizarre suicide attempt
that had failed the man was taken to a psychiatric hospital where his wounds were determined to be nothing more than
superficial cuts the troubled man received treatment and checked himself out hospital authorities had no idea
that the man was wanted for double murder the mystery man was David Lee Kemp Kemp was last seen at a service
station on the outskirts of Las Vegas he was getting into the passenger seat of a
black Firebird it's just a never-ending nightmare I want satisfaction for my brother Rob
and that'll be the only way he can rest in peace without that he's gonna be troubled a troubled soul our wounds have
not even gotten to heal because they're David's never been tried and our wounds won't heal til til David faces the
consequences of what he's done until justice is served [Music] [Music] June 24 2010
jo-ann Autry awakens at dawn her daughter Tricia usually a late sleeper is not in her bedroom Trish
a search of the entire house fails to turn up any sign of the teenager as Joanne's concern becomes outright panic
she frantically calls her daughter's friends Trish's sisters tower the neighborhood when none of us found her
then I became really frightened all of a sudden there was this deep fear deep not
of fear in my stomach because it wasn't like Trisha to do this and I knew that there was something gravely wrong the
sudden and mysterious disappearance of fifteen-year-old Trisha Autry left her family devastated in the police
struggling for clues in many ways Trisha is a typical teenage girl energetic insecure and eager to be liked it was a
/ desire that may have led Trish on a dangerous search for romance a journey that possibly landed her in the clutches
of an Internet predator like many teenagers seeking acceptance Trisha found out a lesson sub painful
experience she was a kid that was ostracized in school the children made fun of her she didn't have what she
really wanted net wasn't a really close friend someone that she could confide all of her adolescent dreams in and be
able to share those things with so she was a pretty sad child from that standpoint is that she just needed that
one special friend so mrs. ultry has there been any fighting no there hasn't been police
immediately zeroed in on Trish's state of mind as an explanation for her disappearance we thought it was a
typical runaway juvenile case that we usually get from teenagers about that age that just take off they've got
problems at home with friends depression type of things and they just leave for a
couple of days did you make the bed no I found it like that this morning there was only one problem with a runaway
scenario Trisha left behind virtually everything she might need on away from home there literally was nothing taken
except the clothes on her back and so we became convinced that she went simply to
meet someone for a few minutes with the idea that she'd be coming back Trisha often hid from her unhappiness by
creating elaborate stories sometimes attaining secret liaisons with much bolder men two weeks before her
disappearance the teenager told her family she had started a new story every night she typed furiously often staying
up until the early morning hours on the night she vanished Trisha was again at the computer
her sister Brianne went to bed at 2:00 a.m. no one and Trish's family ever saw her again for Trisha to disappear was
totally out of character for her and what I was hoping was to find in the story that she was writing some clue as
to what she was thinking of where her frame of mind was and that's why I went immediately there to begin looking
when Joanne turned on the computer there was no story only a few pages of scattered thoughts what then had Trisha
Autry been doing on the computer for all those countless hours computer expert John W Georgie examined a system and
made several disturbing discoveries unbeknownst to her mother Trisha had three separate email accounts and spent
an enormous amount of time in chat rooms even more alarming was what occurred at
3:00 a.m. on the night Trisha Autry disappeared everything that possibly can be found and who she talked to what she
been doing on the computer in the recent frame of time was deleted I figured Trish was taught how to delete these
files because she did not from what I was told by her mother have the experience to know where these files
were stored and I took this as a very bad sign that you know Sid obviously somebody's trying to cover their tracks
but who could this mystery person have been Trisha gave no hints to her friends or family that she had met somebody
online neighbors however notice suspicious activity near the Autry home on several
occasions about two weeks before she disappeared one of our neighbors had seen her get out of a red car on the
corner and what he thought was some suspicious behavior is the way she was walking back to the house from the
corner as if she didn't want to be seen so that was our first report of a red car according to another neighbor the
red car appeared again at 4:00 a.m. in the morning Tricia disappeared the headlights from a car coming up the
street kind of struck the bedroom window got my interest so I was looking out the
window and I saw kind of economy type red car young man got out the car and oh he was
nervous first thing that popped in my mind Oh somebody's sneaking out of the house and after a few minutes a lady was
coming down the street and they walked to the car together and went on their merry way I believe that she could be
seduced into thinking she found someone who needed her and could love her I think that she was bait good bait for a
predator two hours after Trisha was seen getting into the red car glenda trip a local convenience store
employee witnessed a strange incident are you all right honey yeah I'm okay thing she seemed really apprehensive and
nervous and she never acted like she was wanting to buy anything but she kept kind of stretching her little head and
looking out the window like she was looking for someone or watching for someone I've seen her in in and about
the neighborhood so I knew Trisha I have no doubt in my mind that it was Trisha after spending 20 minutes in the
store and making no purchases Trisha vanished over the next two months the police and the Autry's posted missing
posters in the surrounding communities a man in Bountiful Utah saw one of the Flyers and immediately contacted the
authorities what Jerry start up witnessed would cast an entirely new and unsettling light on the case I had gone
into the supermarket to do some shopping I saw coming through the door this young
lady followed by another lady and a gentleman lagging behind a little bit to the right of them the man matched the
description of the individual who was seen picking up Trisha from her home both he and the woman never let the girl
out of their sight and constantly berated her in hushed tones and I looked a little bit closer and saw that her her
eyes were partially closed and her face was a little puffy not my goodness this young lady's Pratt's been beaten or
abused I thought she was drugged she had the appearance of being drugged was it Trisha yes how confident am i
that that was her 100% I knew I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that was her that was her my feeling right now is
she's probably being kept from coming back either by force or by somebody keeping her sedated on drugs or
something that wants to keep her I think this is an abduction type of situation I
don't think it's a typical runaway for me as a mother the greatest thing is this is a tiny person that I I loved and
nurtured and worried about and I can no longer protect her I don't know where she is when I drive through town and I
see things that we would have been sharing together or activities come up that we commonly did together as a
family and she's not there and there's no I mean it's sometimes that just the the
grief just washes over you and it takes your breath away [Music] since we filmed the story of Trisha
Autry's disappearance investigators from the Sheriff's Department and Logan Utah
have made a tragic discovery Trish's case is no longer classified as out of a missing person sadly it is now a
homicide and a suspect is in custody six months after Trisha's disappearance cash County sheriff's deputies became
suspicious about the activities of Kody Lynn Nielsen a maintenance man working for a Wildlife Research Facility in
Millville Utah miles from the home of Trisha Autry near the time of Trisha's disappearance Nielsen had been observed
using a backhoe on facility property to dig deep trenches and refill them for no
apparent reason we contacted a cadaver dog team out of Duchene County here in Utah and we
brought the dogs up to this site and they they were real interested and they they hit what they called hit on this
one area right here that we knew that our suspect had been digging and the dogs hit on this several times about
seven different dogs hit on this Sheriff's Department investigators began to dig with her own backhoe at the
location suggested by the dogs when we got to about ten feet we found a human jawbone which later was determined to be
Trisha Autry's it was just nothing short of a miracle that we found that piece of
evidence in that big of a hole in other trenches sheriff's deputies found more of Trish's remains and clothing some of
which had been burned Patricia's mother the news of the discovery brought great pain but also a
sense of relief primarily because of our faith we know where she is now where before we wondered we would lie awake
together at night and worry about whether she was in the cold or whether someone was hurting her it's probably
been very agony zhing but also very validating because we knew that she did not run away
[Music] [Music] [Applause] Griese Hospital Richmond Virginia on february 9th 1965 a shadowy figure
holding a tiny infant slips silently down the hall the child had been diagnosed with congenital glaucoma rare
condition present at birth that leads to complete blindness and my surgery is performed within the first few months of
life the woman who said her name was Mary Carson gave the child's name is Kim her age two and a half months their
supervisor Billy Updike held the little girl while Mary completed admission papers however Billy was stunned by what
she heard next we talked for a minute and then she said I've got to go now I'll be back tomorrow Mary told Billy
she had two older children at home that couldn't be left alone she said you would return first thing in the morning
she seemed very calm she didn't display an in motion at all and I would have been crying heartbroken if I didn't
leave my baby perhaps it affected Mary far more than she let on but Billy would never know
when she returned to work the next day she was shocked to learn that Mary had failed to show up for her baby's
operation I'll notify administration without her doctors could not perform the surgery
desperate hospital administrator Douglas pace attempted to track Mary down himself I went out to the address
looking for the mother and I found a vacant lot all the houses had been demolished and
the block was completely vacant and I was stunned and shocked and made me feel kind of sad that I realized then we had
a baby on our hands without a parent but time running out Douglas pace convinced
the judge to issue a court order allowing doctors to perform the surgery the operation was considered a success
but Kim's eyesight would never be normal an article in the February 11th 1965 edition of the Richmond Times generated
an outpouring of sympathy donations and adoption enquiries but the coverage failed to turn up one solid clue as to
who would abandon baby Kim a police investigation also led Nova 18 months numerous operations as several foster
homes later another report in The Times caught the eye of local residents Richard and Sandra Butler Sandra's
husband Richard was especially taken by the heart-wrenching story this is gonna be my baby this is what he said end of
discussion he thinks we gonna do this I'll go along with him we made a man up from start we wanted on
we got him Sandra and Richard opened their home in their hearts to the toddler they named
Kimberly dawn Kim was treated exactly like the butler's two biological children but her poor eyesight made life
a constant struggle I do remember being very angry being very frustrated about not being able to go and do a lot of
things that other children could do which was hard because on one hand they wanted me to grow up very normal but yet
I couldn't do all the normal things despite her disability Kim graduated from high school attended
college and went to work as a teacher in 1989 she married Michael Smith the deputy sheriff over the years Kim showed
little interest in learning about her birth parents until she became a parent herself
once I became a mom and had two children and could tell you to this day every moment about the day they were born the
time how much they weighed their birthdates I started thinking I don't know any of those things about me but it
was more than curiosity that had Kim to search for her identity as a baby her son Tyler had suffered from repeated
bouts of respiratory infections doctors feared that cause was genetic that was kind of like the straw that broke the
camel's back after going to several doctors and being able to tell anything they needed to know about Mike side of
the family that was kind of what made me decide that it was time for me to start
a search if I could just find those answers to all those questions I have and most importantly find the medical
history for my children and I that that's what I'm in search of that's what I hope to gain Kim is understandably
concerned for the health of her children yet she harbors no anger against her birth mother we always were led to
believe that she left me because maybe she couldn't afford the medical treatment I would I would need having
congenital glaucoma I can't be angry at her about that she could have not taken me to the hospital she could have not
registered me for the surgery therefore I might not have any sight today [Music]
Kimberly Smith was dropped off at a Richmond Virginia Hospital on February 9th 1965
[Music] with every mystery a single critical clue may be the key to a saloon perhaps you pull that key join us next
edition of unsolved mysteries [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode covers the disappearances and murders of Janice and Alyssa Owen, Tina Creamer and Robert Miller, and Trisha Autry's case.

Key points

The Disappearance of Janice and Alyssa Owen. A mother and daughter vanish without a trace, leaving the community in shock.
Tragic Discovery. The bodies of Janice and Alyssa are found, raising more questions than answers.
David Kemp's Capture. After a manhunt, David Kemp is arrested for the murders, but the story doesn't end there.
Trisha Autry's Disappearance. Trisha vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving her family desperate for answers.
Discovery of Remains. Months later, investigators find Trisha's remains, shifting the case from missing to homicide.
A Mother's Pain. Trisha's mother expresses her grief and relief after the discovery of her daughter's remains.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Could this have been a case of love gone wrong?

Speculation about the motives behind the murders.

0:40WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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