Trace Evidence

June, 2002 - At the tail end of a month long trip to visit family in Louisiana, forty-four year old Teresa Marie Gilcrease went missing. She had driven a friend of her daughter's home that night, but never made it back to her parents home in the town of Boyce. The next morning, as her family began trying to track down their missing daughter, sister and mother, investigators with the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office announced they had found the body of a woman along a rural stretch of road on the outskirts of nearby Alexandria.

By mid-day, the family contacted the Sheriff's office who, at that time, confirmed their belief that the murder victim they'd discovered was Teresa. She had been killed in a grisly fashion with her assailant stabbing her multiple times. He then proceeded to drive his vehicle over her body multiple times before disappearing into the early morning darkness.

At first, investigators believed there had to be some personal connection between Teresa and her killer. However, at the case developed, they began considering the possibility that the crime itself had been random and may have been committed by someone passing through Alexandria. This however opened the door to a dark consideration: was it possible that the yet unidentified serial killer plaguing the streets of Baton Rouge may have decided to take a two hour drive north in search of his next victim?

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/teresa-gilcrease

On Monday, October 14th, 1996, forty-two year old Ylva Hagner was working late at her Belmont, California office. Waving goodbye to her boss at 9:30 this would be the last time anyone saw the Swedish National alive. Before sunrise the next day, she would mysteriously vanish.

Thirty-six hours later, Ylva was reported missing. Two days after that, police found her abandoned car less than a mile south of her office. There was no trace of Ylva, no sign of a struggle, nothing to suggest a crime had even been committed. Faced with a stunning lack of evidence, investigators almost immediately began hitting dead ends.

Ylva's friends rallied, building websites and organizing a memorial dedication to keep her name alive. While detectives initially believed Ylva had to have been the victim of a random crime of opportunity, close friends began wondering if perhaps someone who claimed to want to find Ylva may in fact have been responsible for her disappearance in the first place.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/ylva-hagner

While children from coast to coast donned masks of ghosts and monsters for a night of trick or treating, a real life monster was walking the streets of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Arriving at the home of sixty-nine year old Marvin Brandland, the man pulled a pillow case over his head and tucked a gun into his waistband.

Believing the man was a friend pranking them for the holiday, Marvin and his wife Ethel didn't take him seriously. The hooded man demanded to be led into the basement where the Brandland's kept a secret safe. Marvin fought back, reaching for the gun when a shot rang out and the man burst through the front door moments later, disappearing into the night.

While investigators believed the crime was likely random, a robbery gone wrong, members of Marvin's family began to think that they knew who the killer was and he was not a stranger.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/marvin-brandland

While most people were celebrating Valentine's day with the one they love, forty-one year old Maureen Fields was scared for her life. Throughout her day at work, she told multiple co-workers and customers that she was afraid something bad would happen, and if it did, her husband, Paul, would be responsible. Less than twenty-four hours later Maureen mysteriously vanished.

Her car was found abandoned in the desert near Death Valley. A series of confusing pieces of evidence left investigators to wonder if perhaps her husband had made true on her words of warning. Focusing in on Paul, the investigation struggled to accumulate enough to file charges.

Then, after six long years, detectives got a hit on DNA found inside Maureen's car. To their surprise, it did not belong to her husband but to a convicted sex offender who made frequent trips to Maureen's town. Was this truly a random crime with no involvement from her husband or was there a connection between Paul Fields and Keith Wayne Holmes?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/maureen-fields

In a short break, this week we examine updates surrounding four episodes previously covered on Trace Evidence. First we'll examine how a woman seeking more information about her family revealed a connection to one of the United States' most infamous and brutal killers. Then, we'll examine how a new investigation might shed light a forty year old abduction where neither the victim nor her abductor have ever been found.

Looking back at one of the early cases covered, we'll go into Canada to examine the status of an investigation where officials are finally beginning to reveal some of the vital details they've kept under wraps for a decade. Finally, we'll take a look at the disappearance of a missing mother to be and how, nearly thirty years later, a new tip may provide answers which have been illusive for twenty-seven years.


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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Twenty-five year old single mother Darla Harper mysteriously vanished from her apartment one winter night. After months of searching and years of investigation, police were no closer to locating the missing woman.

Then, during a court hearing regarding custody of the couple's daughter, accusations about Darla having been killed by her estranged husband were raised. Confronted about claims that Darla was buried on his property, Barry Harper challenged investigators to look for themselves.

Police were now faced with the possibility that Darla's disappearance might not have been a random crime executed by a trio of unknown suspects, but perhaps, a plot executed by her ex-husband, a man with over a hundred thousand reasons to want her gone.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/darla-harper

One month before her divorce was set to be finalized, twenty-five year old Darla Harper mysteriously vanished. After leaving her husband, Darla had moved into a nearby apartment with the couples' two year old daughter. On a quiet, Tuesday night, Darla said goodbye to a friend and was never seen again.

The next morning police found a smear of blood on her apartment door and inside was her daughter, having been left alone for hours. A neighbor reported hearing strange noises the night before but no one had seen what happened to the twenty-five year old.

Investigators launched a massive search trying to locate the missing woman. When they located her car they discovered the vehicle was caked with mud and there was blood inside and out. The question quickly became: had Darla been the victim of a stranger abduction or had someone specifically targeted her, believing they had something to gain from her absence?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/darla-harper

Coe Paisley had been putting things together. After opening her own law practice she'd finally purchased a home; her first home all for herself. Over the course of several weeks the twenty-nine year old had construction crews in and out making repairs to the seventy year old structure. Now, all that was left, was painting.

Coe took the challenge upon herself, spending free time between work and family, tucked into her new house dragging the brush along the walls. Then, one quiet Wednesday afternoon, she pulled into her driveway, walked inside and found herself face to face with a killer.

Coe's sister discovered her beaten body, she was barely clinging to life. Air lifting her to a nearby hospital, doctors word hard to save the woman's life but it was to no avail. Just twenty-four hours later, Coe lost her battle and investigators began hunting a killer.

Unfortunately, there was little to work with. No solid clues, no witnesses, no evidence of forensic value. The assault had been vicious and brutal, but there was no indication of who might have done it. Had Coe interrupted a robbery in progress when things turned violent or was murder always the plan?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/coe-paisley

Charles and Catherine Romer had spent their winter in Florida, but were preparing to head home to New York. For the next few days they planned to cover 1,400 miles in four days. It was a trip they'd made dozens of times before but this time would be different. Just one day in and they would mysteriously vanish.

After checking into a hotel room in Brunswick, Georgia, the couple seemingly disappeared along with their car, a customized 1979 Lincoln Continental. By the time anyone realized something was wrong no one had seen or heard from the Romers for four days. Investigators were starting with a major disadvantage, and it was going to get worse.

Despite launching the largest search in the history of southern Georgia not a single trace of the couple could be found. They had vanished along with their car and thousands of dollars in fine jewelry. Detectives and the family theorized they'd been the victims of a robbery gone wrong, a random crime or perhaps one executed by someone they knew. For others, however, the answers may lie somewhere beneath any number of bodies of water between Florida and New York.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/romers

On a chilly, fall afternoon in 1969 a red armored car moved quickly through the busy streets of Brooklyn. Pulling over for an impromptu lunch break, three guards began their rotation. One after the next they'd go to a nearby deli, grab a sandwich and head back to the truck. Then, as the last guard approached, three armed men appeared and forced him inside.

Cuffing the guards together and disarming them, the thieves drove the truck a few blocks over to where they had a getaway car waiting. In less than five minutes the three assailants drove off with more than one million dollars making it the second largest cash heist in American history, to that point.. By the time police arrived on the scene the robbers were long gone.

Investigators struggled with a series of unanswered questions; how did the thieves know the armored car would stop there that day? Was this an inside job, and if so, who was the guilty party? Was it somehow higher level, perhaps involving the mafia or was it connected to a series of robberies allegedly conducted by a ring of corrupt cops?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/aqueduct