Bill and Peggy Stephenson were two halves of a loving elderly couple known in Florence, Kentucky, for their church work and generosity. Bill had founded the Trucker’s Chapel Ministry, a spot where traveling transporters could gather and pray. Peggy played organ at Union Baptist Church.
They led quiet but impactful lives, according to their loved ones – which made the disturbing crime scene police discovered in May 2011 all the more unfathomable.
On May 29, 2011, the Stephensons were slain in brutal fashion – bludgeoned and stabbed – and then, whoever killed them staged a bizarre scene. Detective Coy Cox, who’s headed the Boone County Sheriff’s investigation since Day 1, told me he’s been “guarded and careful” about the details he’s released from the start. What he will say is that the bodies had been posed. Items inside the house had been moved around. “There wasn’t one room in that house that wasn’t staged,” Cox said recently on a podcast called Just the Tip-sters, in which host Melissa Morgan features unsolved cases.
Investigators have long believed that whoever killed the Stephensons knew them. This is based on a few things: There was no sign of forced entry at their condo, and the couple would have had to buzz in any visitors. Neighbors were situated quite close, yet reported nothing out of the ordinary. The killer(s) also seemed comfortable in the environment, staying hours after the couple was killed to inflict a postmortem injury on one of them and stage the scene.
There also was a message left by the killer(s), Cox said, though he wouldn’t share the details.
Detectives state this case is an old case not a cold case. They have continued to work hard and follow up on any and all leads.
Backstory: Detective vows brutal slayings of Florence couple won't go unsolved
https://lemmy.world/c/unsolvedmysteries
A community dedicated to unsolved crimes, disappearances, and other unexplained phenomena. Post a writeup of the mystery, or a link to a blog article with a writeup on the mystery in question
Brandon Swanson was born to Brian and Annette Swanson o January 30, 1989. He was born and raised in Marshall, Michigan. Brandon had recently graduated from Marshall Senior High School in 2007. He was enrolled in a one-year program in Wind turbines at Minnesota West Community and Technical College located in Canby, Minnesota. The day Brandon went missing. Leading up to Brandon’s disappearance, he was celebrating the end of his program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. His friends threw him two parties on May 13, 2008. The first party Brandon went to was located in Lynd, Minnesota which is 7 miles away from his home. Around midnight, Brandon left the first party and drove approximately 40 minutes to Canby, Minnesota to attend the second party. Friends who went to both parties, recall that Brandon had consumed alcohol but he was not intoxicated.
By 1:45 a.m. Brandon crashed his Chevy Lumina in a small ditch. Thankfully, Brandon is not injured, but he does call his parents to help get out of the ditch. At this point, he was in between Lynd and Marshall. His parents set out to find Brandon, they recall that they thought they knew exactly where Brandon was. However, when they arrived there was no car or sign of Brandon. Brain called his son again to see if he could see headlights or hear the car horn, but Brandon could not see or hear anything. His parents were aware that Brandon had the wrong directions. Brandon was confident that he was giving his parents the correct directions, which led to frustration but nevertheless, he stayed on the phone with his mother.
Brandon told his mother he would stay on the phone but would leave his car and attempt to walk toward the lights he could see in the distance. Brandon had assumed that it was towards the town of Lynd, he did this all while on the phone with his parents. He remained on the phone with his parents for 47 minutes. Around 2:30 a.m on May 14, 2008, Brandon screamed “Oh Shit” before the call ended. His father tried to call him back several times but Brandon never picked up.
His parents reached out to Brandon’s friends for help and they searched all night, driving through farmland and dirt roads, but unfortunately, there was no sign of Brandon. By 6:30 a.m. Annette reported her son missing to Lynd Police Department, and it wasn’t long before officers joined the search for Brandon. There was still no sign of Brandon. According to a CNN article, the search response was delayed because it was not unusual for a 19-year-old to stay out all night after finishing school. One officer also told Annette Swanson that her son “had the right to go missing”. Police were able to locate Brandon’s car roughly 25 miles from Lynd and were unclear as to which direction he was headed while on foot.
Brandon Victor Swanson stands at 5’6” and weighs 125 pounds. He has brown hair, and blue eyes and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a white or black hat twisted to the side, and a white short-sleeve shirt.
Brandon’s case remains unsolved. On July 1, 2009, Brandon’s Law went into effect in Minnesota. The law requires that authorities conduct a preliminary investigation once a missing person report is received. If anyone has information about Brandon Swanson please call the Lincoln County sheriff at (507) 694-1664.
Source 1: https://uncovered.com/cases/brandon-victor-swanson-marshall-mn Source 2: http://immelman.net/brandon-swanson Source 3: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/18/grace.coldcase.swanson/index.html
In 1995, the ABC sitcom Full House was cancelled, with the network citing increased production costs and the contracts of several main actors expiring as the reasons for cancellation. However, despite cancellation, there were ongoing negotiations to keep the show going on the new network The WB, though these plans never panned out, and Season 8 was the final season of the show.
However, there were allegedly several scenes for a planned Season 9 filmed during Season 8's production that were to be shown to WB executives as a test to see if they would want to pick up the show. But, several main cast members (Stamos, Cameron) wanted to move on and would either be merely recurring/guest characters or not appear at all, and The WB was only willing to hire one Olsen Twin to portray Michelle, so the plans fell through. The cancellation was pretty abrupt, as the "finale" (Michelle Rides Again) was not actually written to be one, so they had to add a few new scenes to give it some sense of finality, and some of the younger actors allegedly didn't even know the show was done until the final taping (which was NOT the final episode, but another episode in Season 8).
There were allegedly some set photos in an entertainment magazine of Season 9 in 1995, but beyond that, evidence of any footage seems to be lost. It very well may never have existed, but I've seen enough Reddit posts and YouTube videos talking about it to think that there might legitimately be something out there.
In 2013, A college sophomore returns to school after spending the entire summer with his parents and within two weeks he disappears without a trace. According to his roommate and his girlfriend, his behavior had significantly changed and they were both worried about him. Bryce had been mixing alcohol with an ADHD medicine (that was not prescribed to him.) After giving some of his possessions to his roommate and breaking up with his girlfriend, he was driving home to CA to where his parents live. Pretty soon his parents get a phone call from their insurance company stating that the car that Bryce is driving has just requested road side assistance. His parents check their credit card records and find that the card was used in a small town 3 hours away from them called Buttonwillow. His mom gets a hold of the company that serviced the car and they stated that the car had run out of gas and they had filled it up enough so the driver could get to a station. Bryces mom had asked about the state of the driver and they said he seemed coherent and fine. They even volunteered to go back to where the car was located to see if it was still there. Karen, Bryces mom, asked if they could do that that would be great. Carlos, the service man, arrives and calls Karen and says that the car is still there and Bryce is still in it. She asks if she could speak with him since Bryce had been refusing her calls. Bryce gets on the phone and tells his mom he is fine he just ran out of gas is all. She tells him to go fill up and drive home. He agrees and everyone goes on their way. Bryce was only 3 hours away from home and his parents were expecting him around 3:00 PM. 3:00 PM comes and goes. 5:30 PM. Nothing. He is still not answering his phone.
Karen calls the police and they end up finding Bryce sitting in his car only 8 miles away from where the car was serviced. The police tell Bryce to call his mom and he is very reluctant to do so but eventually he does. His mom asks him what he’s doing and he doesn’t have any sort of real answer for her. That he is just blowing off steam. She tells him he needs to come home asap. After speaking with the cop, who did a field sobriety and searched his car, they inform Karen that Bryce seems totally fine. He is answering all of their questions, he’s alert, coherent. Nothing out of the ordinary. So the cop leaves. Carlos, the service man, after his shift returns a missed call from Karen. She tells him how the cops found Bryce only 8 miles away when he should’ve been on the highway heading home. Carlos offered to go check on the new location and see if he was still there. He was. Bryce has now been in the town of Buttonwillow for nearly 13 hours just sitting in his car. Eventually Bryce is convinced to start driving home and Carlos follows him for up to 30 mins until he sees Bryce get on the freeway. After that Carlos calls Karen to say Bryce is on the freeway heading home. While he’s driving on the freeway he is in contact with his parents a few times and eventually he tells them he is going to pull over because he is too tired to drive, mind you it is now 2:30 AM. They agree and he pulls over on the next exit.
Bryce pulls over near a cell tower where there looks to be a large body of water right in front of him. It’s deceiving though because once you go forward there is some brush and then a 25ft drop to a street below before you get to the water. Bryce drives forward towards the water and drives off the cliff. From the car tracks in the brush, he had accelerated his car. There was no sign of him braking so he intentionally is driving, fast, towards this body of water. Eventually his car crashed to the road below first landing on the front bumper and falling on its side. The back passenger window was broken out from the inside and all of the belongings were left in the car. His laptop, his phone, wallet, clothes. Everything. Two spots of blood were located in the car that were Bryces blood but that’s it.
Two bloodhounds tracked his scent on a route that was away from street view to a truck stop and there is where his scent ends. And that’s it. Bryce has vanished.
I should mention that when Bryce broke up with his girlfriend, Kim, Kim had called Karen to say that she took Bryces keys away from him because he didn’t seem like himself and knew he had drugs and alcohol in him and didn’t trust him to drive. Karen spoke to Bryce and offered to fly to him so she can be with him and help him get home. He told her to not book a flight, he was okay, and that he had a lot to talk to her about. Karen told Kim that Bryce seemed okay and to give him his keys.
People now wonder what Bryce had to tell his mom. He had only been back at school for 2 weeks (actually in class for 4 days) and what could have happened in those two weeks. Was he stalling in Buttonville so he didn’t have to confront whatever he had to tell her? Did he have so much alcohol and the ADHD drug in him that he had a psychotic episode and drove off the cliff with intentions on killing himself? Did the car accident give him a concussion to the point where he doesn’t remember who he is?
What happened to Bryce Laspisa?
On Christmas day, December 25th of 2006 Leonard, who sometimes spelled his name Lennid, rented a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire convertible at the Tampa International Airport.
In most of what I could compile via a few outlets Mr. Leonard Taku was a teacher at Marlow Academy in Ramsgate England. He had flown to the United States, Florida in particular to possible meet someone he'd met online. Leonard was openly gay and used dating websites to meet people.
He also planned to visit Statesville North Carolina during this vacation to meet friends that he'd taught with there from 2003-2006 but he never arrived. It is believed the last person to report physically seeing him was the rental car agent at the Tampa Airport. He was due to fly back to the UK on January 3rd 2007.
Leonard was originally from New Zealand where some of his siblings still reside. He was initially reported missing by his friends in the UK when he did not return from his vacation to Florida.
On December 26th, the day after he rented the car his credit card made a purchase at the Gap clothing store in Altamonte Springs Florida. His family does believe he himself made this 46 dollar purchase as he reportedly really liked Gap clothing. Then around December 28th someone checked his email.
Then in mid January of 2007 well after he was supposed to have flown back to the UK his credit card was used again to purchase a hotel room at what was described as a "luxury hotel" in Orlando. His family does not believe he made this room purchase as he was more likely to be more frugal at where he chose to stay. (Something cheaper quite frankly.)
On February 9th 2007 The Department Of Agricultural was preforming a controlled burn near Lake George Wilderness in the Ocala National Forrest. Here they discovered Leonard's rental car. It was not completely destroyed by the fire but reports state this burn possibly burned up a crime scene and further evidence as to what happened to the driver, Mr Taku.They found no evidence of him on scene.
Leonard has had no contact with his family and loved ones since December of 2006 when he flew to the US to an unknown fate.
His family strongly believes that foul play is involved in his disappearance and are still seeking information to the whereabouts of their loved one. If you have any information that can assist in this case please contact the Altamonte Springs Police Department at 407-571-8276
https://charleyproject.org/case/leonard-taku
https://www.pridenz.com/gaynz/4303.html
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/no-leads-yet-on-nz-man-missing-in-florida/VBAMFHDW55JA7TYUMZF5HZP7SI/
Black the Ripper is an rumoured blaxploitation horror film that may have been released around 1974 or 1976(no one is sure of the release date) movie was a re imagining of infamous Jack the Ripper and his blood soaked story.
It is thought that Frank Saletri (the writer of another blaxploitation horror film Blackenstein) might have been the director. It is also possible though not confirmed that Antonio Fargas (previously best known as informant Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch a cop show from back in the day) played a character named Sideback.
Due to the highly obscure nature of the film even genre specialist and film historians are uncertain, If Black the Ripper was finished then an extremely limited theatrical release or was finished and never released or is completely lost.
Here are a few know confirmed details Black the Ripper was first mentioned in a brief note in the May 8th, 1974 issue of Variety magazine that named Saletri and a cast of unknown actors, and indicated the film was two months into it's production.
Later that December, an advertisement touting a future release was included in an issue of Monsters of the Movies magazine. On February 25th 1976 another issue of Variety claimed that the film was planned to hit theaters that Memorial Day
A two still frames have been rumored to of cropped up.
This frame apparently may be a scene where a group of characters are hanging out together.
This frame supposedly shows a character labelled Mike in black jacket interrogating the character Sideback who is wearing an orange outfit Supposed still frame from Black the Ripper.
The film would be forgotten a victim of time that us until 2013, when an unknown user of a unnamed website for obscure films claimed to have Black the Ripped it once while browsing some torrent files. Another user of the same website released what are supposedly the only known screenshots. Viewers who claim to have seen it say that the film seems rushed seemingly throw together. With several apparently missing scenes. There is a reported opening credit sequence over a song credited to singer Mara Farmer, But no ending credits. In the opening credits, alongside Saletri as director, Michael Finn is listed as writer. While not confirmed, it is possible that this is the same Michael Finn who directed the 1974 genre film The Black Connection - especially given that movie was filmed in Las Vegas, where Saletri was known to have lived.
From an interview in 2017:
Björk has opened up about a lost collaboration with the Wu-Tang Clan. In a new interview with FACT Magazine, she discussed wanting to have RZA contribute beats to her 1997 album Homogenic. After that didn’t pan out, Björk flew to New York to meet the group. “We wrote a couple of songs together,” she said. “Sometimes when you do things and you don’t plan them it’s magic. And I really think what we made was magic. But I think because it wasn’t part of the whole Homogenic thing and it wasn’t part of what Wu-Tang were doing at the time, it was better as an idea, if that makes any sense?”
Björk added that she later connected with the group at an event at Tower Records. “I was signing books for an hour, and they sent some of their team, standing there with me,” she explained. “That was one of my all-time favourite moments: I had been on my own, so when they turned up I felt very protected. It was magic.” She continued, “In my eyes, they’re punk. We are definitely [similar]—we do things in, like, a ritual way.” Read the full interview here.
https://pitchfork.com/news/bjork-talks-lost-wu-tang-collaboration-what-we-made-was-magic/
Has anyone heard of this / found anything? Not sure if related, but found this RZA remix of Bachelorette (from Homogenic), as a bonus track. Maybe it's related? :
Terry Brisk was a 41-year old, Married father of 4. He was killed while deer hunting, alone, on his parent's property on November 7, 2016. The murder occurred between the hours of 2:30 and 4:30 pm on property located at Belle Prairie Township, northwest of the intersection of Hawthorne Road and Jewel Road, northeast of Little Falls Minnesota
Terry had taken the day off work, unknown to his wife, but not shockingly, as the Minnesota Firearms Deer season had just started 2 days prior to his death. Terry's family had done fairly well hunting over the weekend, but he still wanted to get a deer on his license - and the weather that day was perfect, unseasonably warm, clear skies and little to no wind.
Terry was found dead in the woods that afternoon by his oldest son, who had came out to join him in the hunt after school.
Terry was found dead, from a single gunshot wound inflicted by his own rifle. Police have ruled out suicide as the rifle was found hidden some distance from his body, and the particular model of rifle he hunted with has safety features which make it difficult if not impossible to commit suicide. Also the angle and impact suggest someone who was close to him, but not himself as the shooter.
Speculation has ranged from a trespasser on the property looking for Agates (rocks) or possibly another hunter - again on the property illegally. Terry's family have repeatedly said that he would never have threatened or shot at anyone first and strongly suspect that he encountered someone unexpectedly.
Law enforcement have recently (2022) indicated that they are looking for a Blue Van or Mini Van that was possibly in the area on that day.
There is a $30,000 reward being offered for any information that results in an arrest or conviction in the case.
On April 15, 2005, Ray would tell his girlfriend, Patty, that he was taking the day off of work and going for a drive- maybe even do some shopping. This was not too out of the ordinary for Ray, so Patty didn't think too much about it.
Patty would speak to Ray around 11:30am that morning as he told her he was heading to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to do some shopping.
Patty would not hear - nor see- Ray again.
Patty reported Ray missing at 11:30pm that evening when she failed to reach him.
Ray was 59 years old, and months away from retiring. He was the district attorney for Centre County, PA, and during his 20-years in that position had put his fair share of criminals behind bars.
As 'one of them', the police jumped on the case and began searching for Ray immediately. The next day they would locate his red Mini Cooper in the parking lot of an antique mall in Lewisburg. Ray loved antique shopping, so that seemed understandable he would've went there. However, there was no sign of Ray, his car was locked, and interestingly they found cigarette ashes on the floor of the passenger side of the vehicle. The car also smelled of cigarettes and they found discarded cigarette buts on the ground outside of the passenger door. Ray was not a smoker- in fact- he loathed everything about it, especially the smell.
DNA proved no useful results from the cigarette butts.
Some witness thought they recalled Ray in the antique mall with a tall, brunette, woman.
Ironically, in May 1996, Ray's brother Roy was reported missing. His body was found a week later in the Miami River in Ohio, near where they found his car. Roy's death was ruled a suicide.
Some people noted the similarities between Ray and Roy's case, as his car was found near the Susquehanna river.
Months would go by with no sign of Ray. Until, some fisherman discovered his laptop under a bridge in the Susquehanna river. The laptop was in poor condition and the hard drive was missing. This was Ray's county issued laptop. When the FBI searched Ray & Patty's home computer, the found searches for 'How to erase a hard drive'. They also found software in his office for erasing a hard drive. Patty said this was because he was going to be retiring soon, and planned to make sure all his personal information was off of his county issued laptop.
Shortly after, a woman walking her dog found the hard drive in a different part of the river. It was destroyed and no useable data could be recovered.
Was this a suicide? Ray had no signs of depressions, in fact everyone said he was happily looking forward to retirement.
Did Ray go off to start a new life? There have been a few 'sightings' of him through the years, but none were confirmed.
Recently, an inmate told a cell mate that he knew what happened to Ray. He said they were contracted to kill him, and dispose of a body. He had two accomplices, a man and a woman. Is this a possibility, considering he likely had some enemies as a D.A.?
What do you think happened to Ray Gricar?
Sources:
https://wherearetheypodcast.medium.com/the-unsolved-disappearance-of-ray-gricar-20a299e6a13a
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