Cold and Missing: Katelin Akens

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,780 The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. 2 00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:18,400 All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,160 Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages. 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,560 Listener discretion is advised. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,280 I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,680 And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski. 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:34,600 And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases. 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,160 Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing. 9 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:38,600 I'm your host, Ali. 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,620 It's just me coming to you this week. 11 00:00:40,620 --> 00:00:45,620 My darling husband, Eli, as you may remember if you've listened to some of our past episodes, 12 00:00:45,620 --> 00:00:50,180 his mother passed away recently and he just needed to take a little time this week for 13 00:00:50,180 --> 00:00:51,420 his mental health. 14 00:00:51,420 --> 00:00:54,960 So of course he is supported in doing that. 15 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,840 And I love him very much and miss him very much. 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,520 He's still here in the house, but I just miss him when he's not with me. 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,680 However, I still wanted to bring you a new episode. 18 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,000 This week we are covering a missing person. 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,560 So let's just get into it. 20 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,040 This week we are covering the story of Katelin Aikens. 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,320 And this takes place in December of 2015 in Spotslovania, Virginia. 22 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,440 But first, a little bit about Katelin. 23 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,080 Katelin is 19 years old in 2015. 24 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,600 She would be 27 years old today. 25 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:36,360 Katelin at this time is living in Lake Havasu City, Arizona with her fiance Amber. 26 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,940 Amber and Katelin had been friends for years, having grown up on the same street together. 27 00:01:40,940 --> 00:01:45,080 When Amber was 10, her family moved to Arizona, but her and Katelin remained close throughout 28 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,280 the years, their friendship growing into a relationship. 29 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,680 Katelin’s family was supportive when she came out. 30 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,600 Her mother only wanted her daughter to be happy more than anything. 31 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,160 Katelin graduated high school at the age of 16. 32 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,400 She was very smart and very academic. 33 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,320 Just 10 days after her 18th birthday, she moved to Arizona to be with Amber. 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,760 In the weeks before her disappearance, Katelin was in the process of enrolling in cosmetology 35 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:13,280 school in Arizona. 36 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,960 But she talked with her family in Virginia several times a day, either through text or 37 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,240 phone calls, often both. 38 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,240 Her sister was pregnant with her first nephew and Katelin was going to become an aunt for 39 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,060 the first time and was so excited. 40 00:02:27,060 --> 00:02:29,760 So now a timeline of events. 41 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:36,080 On Tuesday, December 1st, 2015, Katelin flies back to her hometown to celebrate the birth 42 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:37,440 of her nephew. 43 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,200 She grew up in Caroline County, Virginia. 44 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,560 It was going to be a quick trip, just four days since she was slated to start cosmetology 45 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,100 school on Monday. 46 00:02:46,100 --> 00:02:49,860 She just had to finish up her enrollment, which meant bringing her high school diploma 47 00:02:49,860 --> 00:02:52,120 back to Arizona with her. 48 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,920 On Thursday, December 3rd, Katelin meets up with old friends and parties at their place. 49 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:01,980 They stay up late playing drinking games and Katelin ends up spending the night there. 50 00:03:01,980 --> 00:03:06,320 She comes home later the next day on Friday so she can pack up her stuff and get ready 51 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,360 for her flight the next day. 52 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,900 Saturday, December 5th, 2015. 53 00:03:11,900 --> 00:03:15,600 Before she leaves for the airport, she makes sure to grab her high school diploma. 54 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:20,080 Her mother, Lisa, had to work that day so another family member had promised to take 55 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:21,320 her to the airport. 56 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,320 However, this other family member ended up getting called into work at the last minute. 57 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:31,100 In a bind, Katelin reached out to her ex-stepdad, James Branton, to see if he would be able 58 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:32,520 to give her a ride. 59 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,920 James was really the only father figure that Katelin had ever had in her life since her 60 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,240 biological dad was not in the picture. 61 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,600 James agrees to take her to the airport, but since he had to work later that day, around 62 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,200 3pm, he'll have to drop Katelin off four hours before her flight so he can make the 63 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,400 trip back to get to work in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 64 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:57,080 Katelin was flying out of the Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, DC at 5.40pm. 65 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,640 Katelin got a ride from her mother to James' house and then Lisa headed to work. 66 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,520 According to her mother, everything seemed normal when she dropped Katelin off. 67 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,160 Lisa told Katelin to call her when she got to the airport and when she boarded the plane. 68 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:11,480 Katelin said she would. 69 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:16,160 Lisa needed to get to work by 10am so she left Katelin and her ex-husband who were chatting 70 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,520 about Katelin’s plans to enroll in cosmetology school. 71 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:25,300 A few hours later, around 1.52pm, Lisa gets a text message from her ex-husband saying 72 00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:27,040 that he dropped Katelin off. 73 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,720 Lisa texts back, quote, okay, thank you. 74 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:31,960 I was traffic, end quote. 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,440 To which he responds, not bad. 76 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:40,120 Eight minutes later, at 2pm, Lisa gets a text message from Katelin’s phone saying, quote, 77 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:45,240 I'm at the airport, battery dying so won't be able to text for a bit, end quote. 78 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,360 Lisa shoots back a text, okay, let me know when you get on the plane. 79 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,920 A few minutes after this, another series of text messages are sent to Lisa from Amber, 80 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,280 Katelin’s fiancée. 81 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,560 Amber says that Katelin isn't getting on the plane. 82 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,980 When Lisa asks her what she means, she says that something happened and Katelin is waiting 83 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:05,200 for a new flight. 84 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,840 However, Lisa knows that there aren't any other flights that Katelin can get on that 85 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:09,840 night. 86 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:11,440 This was her only flight. 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:12,960 Lisa starts to worry. 88 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,780 She's still at work so in between customers she calls other family members to recruit 89 00:05:16,780 --> 00:05:19,880 them into helping find out what's happening with Katelin. 90 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,920 Her sister begins to text her, but she doesn't respond and the calls go straight to voicemail. 91 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,920 As Lisa leaves work that night, she texts James to ask him where he dropped her off 92 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:29,920 at. 93 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,600 He said that he dropped her off at the Springfield Mall in Virginia. 94 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,800 This was news to Lisa and when she asked why, he said that Katelin wanted to be dropped 95 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:38,960 off there. 96 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,680 He said that instead of waiting at the airport terminal for four hours, she was going to 97 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:48,000 walk around the mall and then take the metro train from the mall to the airport. 98 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,120 James tells Lisa he had even given her $20 for the metro. 99 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,840 According to Katelin’s family, this doesn't sound like her. 100 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:59,560 Katelin hadn't taken the metro since she was around six years old and didn't really 101 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,060 know her way around it and she had never been to that mall before. 102 00:06:04,060 --> 00:06:08,140 She would have either needed to take a bus and then walk to the train in order to get 103 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:12,560 to the airport or walk about 16 minutes with her luggage straight to the train from the 104 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:13,560 mall. 105 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:19,180 Katelin’s mom and sister are convinced that she wouldn't have done this. 106 00:06:19,180 --> 00:06:23,780 At around 7 and 15, Lisa gets two text messages from Katelin’s phone. 107 00:06:23,780 --> 00:06:28,280 The first one read, quote, staying with a friend, end quote. 108 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:33,480 And the second one said, quote, I need some time alone, end quote. 109 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,540 This was strange to Lisa since Katelin should have been in the air at this time and unable 110 00:06:37,540 --> 00:06:39,320 to send a text. 111 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,980 Lisa was driving home from work when she got the text messages, so she pulled into a gas 112 00:06:42,980 --> 00:06:47,440 station and attempted to call Kateline, but the calls went straight to voicemail. 113 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:52,920 Lisa texted her daughter saying, call me, and then says, I'm very worried about you. 114 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:58,240 Shortly after, Amber gets a Facebook message from Katelin that said, quote, I can't come 115 00:06:58,240 --> 00:06:59,240 back. 116 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,400 I cheated on you, end quote. 117 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,320 Amber and Lisa talk and Amber has no idea what is happening. 118 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,440 Amber and Katelin had not gotten into any fights recently, and there's no reason she 119 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,240 can think of on why she wouldn't want to come home. 120 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,760 Lisa decides to call the airport and she finds out that Katelin never even boarded her flight. 121 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:22,520 This sends Lisa into a panic and she calls police to report her daughter missing. 122 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,800 But since Katelin is over the age of 18, police tell her that she hasn't been missing long 123 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,700 enough yet for them to do anything. 124 00:07:29,700 --> 00:07:34,780 On Monday, December 7, after agonizing over what's happening with Katelin and trying 125 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:39,960 to get a hold of her with no response, Lisa goes to the Spotslovania County Sheriff's 126 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,880 Department to report Katelin missing since this was the last place that she had seen 127 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,920 her when she dropped her off at James's house. 128 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:51,320 When Lisa tells police everything, police believe that Katelin just needed a few days 129 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,560 to herself and that she would turn up, that maybe she was getting cold feet and didn't 130 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,640 want to return back to Arizona. 131 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,200 Lisa still insists on filing a police report with them. 132 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:06,440 While Lisa is in the middle of filling out the form, Katelin’s luggage is found. 133 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,680 A road crew found her suitcase in a drainage ditch off of River Road near where it intersects 134 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,680 with Fall Hill Road in Spotslovania County, 50 miles from the airport. 135 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,800 Police pull Lisa into a room to tell her of the discovery. 136 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:22,840 Her luggage was found unzipped. 137 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:29,560 Her plane ticket, wallet with her ID and all of her bank cards, toothbrush, and phone charger 138 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,680 were all in the suitcase, but everything else was missing. 139 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:37,440 Her clothes, her cell phone, and her high school diploma. 140 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,600 The suitcase had a broken wheel and according to Lisa, it looked like it was just tossed 141 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,200 out of a window. 142 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,800 Police begin investigating Katelin’s disappearance. 143 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:50,680 They find the circumstances suspicious and interview her family at length. 144 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:55,800 Katelin’s case is assigned to Detective Rob Marshall, who speaks with James, her former 145 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:01,000 stepfather, and his statement remains the same, that around 1pm he dropped her off at 146 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,440 the mall near the JCPenney entrance. 147 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,360 James told police he didn't think that it was odd at all that she wanted to take the 148 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,440 Metro into the airport. 149 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,960 Police reach out to the mall, the Metro, and the airport for surveillance footage on the 150 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,000 day that Katelin went missing. 151 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,960 Later review of the videos will show that Katelin was not caught on any of the security 152 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,920 cameras at the mall, metro, or airport. 153 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,760 On Thursday, December 10th, Katelin has been missing for five days. 154 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,920 Police search the area near where her suitcase was found. 155 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,040 There is a river near this area and investigators search the shoreline. 156 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:41,760 They do aerial searches as well, but nothing additional is found in regards to Katelin, 157 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,920 so none of her clothing was found, her cell phone wasn't found, her diploma wasn't 158 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,520 found, and she was not found. 159 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,800 Police continue to dig into Katelin’s life. 160 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,840 They find a Facebook message from the early hours of the day she disappeared, when it 161 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,040 was known that Katelin still was in possession of her phone. 162 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:03,480 It said that she didn't want to be here or there, which investigators took to mean 163 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,520 she didn't want to be in Virginia or Arizona. 164 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,680 Investigators also talked to the friends that she had spent the night with while she was 165 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:12,200 in town visiting. 166 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,320 The house Katelin crashed at belonged to a couple, and they said that when Katelin was 167 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,800 over, they were playing drinking games and one thing led to another and they all became 168 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,240 intimate. 169 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:27,360 This does give investigators hope that maybe Katelin is just laying low for a couple days 170 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,720 and helps support the Facebook message that was sent to her fiance saying that she had 171 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,080 cheated. 172 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,520 Police begin to stake out areas that Katelin was known to visit, hoping that maybe some 173 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:42,360 family or friends were just helping her lie low for a few days while she figured out her 174 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:43,360 life. 175 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,360 On December 19th, two weeks since Katelin disappeared, police had found no sign of her 176 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,600 and it did not appear that anybody was helping hide Katelin. 177 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,600 Police say they're no closer to finding her than the day she vanished. 178 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,880 Katelin’s family believe that there is no way she would stay out of touch with them 179 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:01,460 for this long. 180 00:11:01,460 --> 00:11:06,200 She would have contacted them by now if she had just needed a few days to herself. 181 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:10,880 It's unclear exactly when, but eventually Katelin’s phone records arrived to police 182 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,720 to review. 183 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,600 Police find out through the phone records that when Katelin sent the text to her mother 184 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,680 saying that she was at the airport, that that text message pinged to a tower near Fredericksburg, 185 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:27,520 Virginia, about five miles from where her suitcase was found, but far away from the 186 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,740 airport. 187 00:11:29,740 --> 00:11:36,440 On December 29th, 2015, James is scheduled to come in that day and take a polygraph test. 188 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:41,380 He has been very cooperative with police during their investigation and police really view 189 00:11:41,380 --> 00:11:43,640 him as a concerned father. 190 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,980 They scheduled the polygraph as a way to rule him out and move past him since he was the 191 00:11:47,980 --> 00:11:50,720 last person to see Katelin. 192 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:55,200 James calls police to tell him that he spoke with his attorney who advised him not to take 193 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,280 the polygraph test since he was being looked at as a suspect. 194 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:03,360 Police try to assure James that he's not a suspect, but just the last person to see 195 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,960 Katelin alive, that they need to rule him out before they can start looking at other 196 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:08,960 people. 197 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:14,240 Still, James refuses to take the polygraph test and really stops being cooperative with 198 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,400 police after this point. 199 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:22,120 In January of 2016, Katelin has been missing for nearly a month at this point. 200 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,960 Detective Rob Marshall decides to get a search warrant for James' house and the swamp area 201 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:28,760 behind his house. 202 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:33,440 During the search, investigators seize computers and cell phones and spend hours searching 203 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,520 his house, property, and vehicles, but they don't find any trace that anything bad happened 204 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,280 to Katelin in his home or the vehicles. 205 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:47,120 Police do, however, obtain James' cell phone records, and they notice that all of the calls 206 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:52,320 he made that day and all of the text messages he sent on the day that Katelin disappeared 207 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:58,120 pinged off of the tower near his home in Partlow, Virginia, not near the mall or airport or 208 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,440 even near his job in Fredericksburg. 209 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:05,200 His phone records will also show that James never tried to call Katelin once after she 210 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:06,980 disappeared. 211 00:13:06,980 --> 00:13:12,040 Investigators will also come to find out that James called off work that Saturday that Katelin 212 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:13,040 disappeared. 213 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:14,800 He never went in. 214 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:20,400 In June of 2016, it's been over six months since Katelin went missing. 215 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,840 Katelin’s family is desperate to find her, and they start a GoFundMe in order to hire 216 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:26,640 a private investigator. 217 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:32,160 They also have started a Facebook group to try to raise awareness for Katelin’s case. 218 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:37,040 The Spotslovenia Sheriff's Department says, quote, the case is still open and we have 219 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,600 a detective who is actively working on it. 220 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:45,160 We've looked everywhere we know to look, but at this time we have no new leads or information, 221 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:46,320 end quote. 222 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,000 In May of 2017, Katelin has been missing for about a year and a half now. 223 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,480 The FBI has joined the search, but investigators are still at a standstill. 224 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,720 The family is deep in their own investigation into what happened. 225 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,520 Katelin’s sister Pamela says, quote, we analyze everything all the time, different 226 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,280 things that could have happened every day, end quote. 227 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,360 Katelin’s mom checks Facebook first thing in the morning to see if there's any new 228 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:17,800 posts about Katelin or Googles her daughter's name to see if anything new pops up. 229 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,160 Lisa used to talk to detectives every day, but it got depressing. 230 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:26,000 Nothing ever changed in the investigation and there was never any new information. 231 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,560 Lisa has reached out to national TV shows and famous psychics to see if any of them would 232 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,480 be able to help get Katelin’s story out there. 233 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:39,200 The show Disappear does do an episode on Katelin and that helps raise awareness about Katelin’s 234 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:40,640 case nationally. 235 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,760 When Lisa thinks back to the day her daughter disappeared, she thinks of the text messages 236 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,880 that Katelin sent and Lisa does not believe that they were sent by Katelin. 237 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,980 She told a local paper that Katelin never double texted unless she had misspelled something. 238 00:14:53,980 --> 00:14:57,920 And when she texted her mother that she needed time alone and was at a friend's house, it 239 00:14:57,920 --> 00:14:59,880 was sent as a double text. 240 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:03,680 Police Captain Liz Scott told local media that investigators now believe that Katelin 241 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,960 never left the area. 242 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,120 Lisa holds out hope that her daughter will be found. 243 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,600 She says, quote, We don't know if she's lying in a ditch somewhere or if she's going to 244 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,080 be fine. 245 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,720 We don't know if she's living it up, partying around. 246 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,800 If she is out there, is she going to be the same Katelin we know? 247 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:24,280 I don't know. 248 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:25,480 End quote. 249 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:32,280 When Katelin went missing in 2015, she was five foot four and about 145 pounds. 250 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,560 She had short blonde hair and blue eyes. 251 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:40,540 She has a tattoo of three stars on her foot and five butterflies on her arm that are outlined 252 00:15:40,540 --> 00:15:41,540 in blue. 253 00:15:41,540 --> 00:15:46,360 Her nose, lip and belly button are pierced and she has gauges in her ears. 254 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:53,520 So if you know anything about the disappearance of Katelin Akins in December of 2015 or her 255 00:15:53,520 --> 00:16:01,440 whereabouts today, please call Crime Solvers at 1-800-928-5822 or you can submit a tip 256 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,440 on the FBI website. 257 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,640 And the sources for the timeline today come from Cole Pepper's star exponent, Richard 258 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:15,360 Times Dispatch, the Facebook page, help find Katelin Akins, the FBI and Virginia cold case 259 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:16,980 database. 260 00:16:16,980 --> 00:16:20,680 So that is the case of Katelin Akins. 261 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:26,640 This is a case that I was not familiar with, but in a comment section of one of our YouTube 262 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,240 pages, someone suggested that I should look into the case. 263 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:35,840 And as soon as I did, I really wanted more information. 264 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:41,840 There just seems to be a lot of questions for me, a lot of lot of questions. 265 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,880 And some of the more obvious ones that I'm sure you all had too is what happened to her 266 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:47,880 clothes? 267 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:53,920 You know, they find her suitcase, and there's some of her stuff in there, some really important 268 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,760 stuff, her plane ticket, her wallet, her IDs, her bank cards, her phone charger, but none 269 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:00,780 of her clothes are there. 270 00:17:00,780 --> 00:17:03,520 So what happened to all of them? 271 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:09,420 It does seem strange that none of them have turned up, but it does make me hopeful because 272 00:17:09,420 --> 00:17:15,480 it's like those are a lot of pieces of evidence that could be found somewhere, some way. 273 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:24,240 I do share Katelin’s family's thoughts that if she was able to, she would have contacted 274 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,840 the family by now. 275 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:31,640 Her mom was talking about how she would be at work and Katelin would regularly call two 276 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,880 or three times and text her while she was at work. 277 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:39,880 So it wasn't as if she had a very strange relationship with her family, like, you know, 278 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:44,380 a lot of LGBTQ people sometimes have. 279 00:17:44,380 --> 00:17:47,040 She seemed very close with her family, very close with her sister. 280 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,520 She flew back to meet her nephew. 281 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:55,280 So all of that to me just makes it seem like even if she decided to take a couple days 282 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,320 because she was rethinking her relationship, maybe going through some stuff, you know, 283 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:06,480 just growing pains of being 19 and figuring out your life and what you want from it, she 284 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,040 would have contacted her family. 285 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,440 I really do believe that, as does her family. 286 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:16,440 So it makes me anxious to think about what could have happened to her. 287 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:22,020 I also have a lot of questions for her former stepfather. 288 00:18:22,020 --> 00:18:30,420 He claims that he dropped her off at Springfield Mall in Springfield, Virginia, but no security 289 00:18:30,420 --> 00:18:35,040 cameras caught him or his car, you know, in the parking lot. 290 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:40,360 They didn't catch her walking into the entrance and there were cameras, you know, at that 291 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:43,660 entrance, the JCPenney entrance that she was walking into. 292 00:18:43,660 --> 00:18:49,520 So it just doesn't seem likely that in 2015, especially when, you know, there's a lot of 293 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:57,080 camera footage that she would go missed in a mall with security cameras that nobody would 294 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:58,280 see her. 295 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:04,120 Or I would hope that police went and, you know, kind of canvassed the mall as well, 296 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:08,880 like maybe some of the JCPenney workers who were working that day or whatever the stores 297 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,640 just beyond that are. 298 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:12,920 I would hope that would be done. 299 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,400 Because I think people might remember, you know, a young woman walking in with a suitcase 300 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:20,240 kind of dragging it around. 301 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,000 You don't always see that at a shopping mall, so that might have stuck out to some people. 302 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,200 So I hope that was done. 303 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,840 But ultimately, I don't think she was ever at the mall. 304 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,960 It doesn't sound like she ever made it there. 305 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:39,400 And I did notice as well that between the statement that her stepfather gives to police, 306 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:45,800 which is that around one, he drops her off, Lisa doesn't get a text from him until 1 52. 307 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,080 So that's a 52 minute gap. 308 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:53,240 And you know, maybe it's as innocent as, oh, like, I dropped her off, I immediately turned 309 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:58,680 around because I needed to get to work, which we later find out he called off that day. 310 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,700 But maybe it is as innocent as I turned around and was in traffic. 311 00:20:02,700 --> 00:20:05,680 And I just didn't think about it until 52 minutes later. 312 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,280 And I texted her. 313 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,420 And maybe him not going to work is as innocent as I got caught in traffic. 314 00:20:12,420 --> 00:20:13,560 I knew I wasn't going to make it. 315 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,780 So I had to call off the rest of the day. 316 00:20:15,780 --> 00:20:17,640 But that doesn't seem to be his story. 317 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,100 Like that's not included in his statements to police, at least that police have revealed. 318 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:29,500 So for me, in order to kind of rule him out as a person of interest, or even like the 319 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:34,500 police said, just as the last person who saw her, you kind of have to start there and then 320 00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:36,040 go beyond. 321 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:37,760 I can't rule him out yet. 322 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:44,440 Like, you know, no evidence was found that a crime had taken place in his car or in his 323 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:45,440 home. 324 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,900 So I would take that to mean there. 325 00:20:48,900 --> 00:20:50,640 They didn't find any blood. 326 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,640 No signs of struggle. 327 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,000 No recent dig marks on his property. 328 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,880 You know, there wasn't anything that stood out to them as something bad had happened 329 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:00,880 there. 330 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:07,240 But I do wonder if they found any evidence of her at all, just because she was in his 331 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:08,240 car. 332 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,200 So you know, did they find a hair? 333 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,400 Did they find her DNA? 334 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,280 You know, on the armrest or anything? 335 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,680 Was her DNA found at all? 336 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,980 Because it should be there. 337 00:21:18,980 --> 00:21:23,360 If what he says is true, he drove her, you know, an hour to this mall that she wanted 338 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:25,300 to be dropped off there. 339 00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:32,360 So that way she could kill time at the mall and then head over via the metro in DC. 340 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:36,940 I do think that if Katelin was dropped off at the mall, she would have been able to figure 341 00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:40,280 out the metro system to get to the airport. 342 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,520 A lot of her family kind of made the comment that she wouldn't have done that because she 343 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,560 doesn't know how to. 344 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,840 But you know, Katelin was also very smart. 345 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:49,080 She was very book smart. 346 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,840 I think she could have figured it out, especially if she had a smartphone with her that could 347 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,220 kind of, you know, give her the step by step directions. 348 00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:02,520 But I always come back to the fact that she was never seen on any of the cameras at the 349 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:03,520 mall. 350 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:09,120 So I don't think she was ever there to figure out how to get to the airport from there. 351 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:13,760 And you know, all her cell phone, all the texts that were sent from her cell phone pinged 352 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:20,480 50 miles away in Spotslovania County where her stepfather lived or her former stepfather 353 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:27,300 lived near where her suitcase was eventually found with her plane ticket in it. 354 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:33,200 So that just leaves me with a lot of questions that I would love to have answered as I'm 355 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:38,680 sure her family and police would love to have answered as far as her former stepfather James 356 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:39,680 goes. 357 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,900 I do hope that this case will get solved. 358 00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:49,380 You know, this is from 2015, even though, you know, we are in the year of 2024 as I'm 359 00:22:49,380 --> 00:22:50,380 recording this. 360 00:22:50,380 --> 00:22:55,880 So you know, this December will be nine years. 361 00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:00,120 That's a long time to not have somebody and for somebody to be missing. 362 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:07,040 But I feel like since it did happen within the last 10 years that there is a lot of information 363 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,860 that police still have. 364 00:23:08,860 --> 00:23:15,000 There's a lot of technology that the police have that I think could provide more answers, 365 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:20,240 especially if they're able to take newer technology, like maybe there are texts that need to be 366 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,400 recovered or, you know, things that were kind of hidden on the phone that can be brought 367 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,960 to light, you know, using new technology. 368 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:32,600 I hope that that is done for Katelin and that we're able to get some answers and know what 369 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:37,840 happened to her and hopefully bring her home so that way her family can know where she 370 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,040 is one way or the other. 371 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:42,880 And she disappeared during the day. 372 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:51,920 So you know, if anybody saw anything from December 5th, 2015, again, you are encouraged 373 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:57,300 to call Crime Solvers at 1-800-928-5822. 374 00:23:57,300 --> 00:24:02,320 You can submit a tip directly to the FBI if you go on their website, especially if you 375 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:03,920 search her name. 376 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,880 So please, if you know anything, if you saw anything in that area, please submit a tip. 377 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:14,560 Let's get some answers for Katelin and get this thing solved, get this thing closed. 378 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,660 We'll be posting pictures of Katelin on our Instagram. 379 00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:22,640 If you're not following us there, I definitely suggest you check us out. 380 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:28,280 We put any updates with the podcast on there as well as post in our stories about cases 381 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,460 happening here and now. 382 00:24:30,460 --> 00:24:35,660 We'll of course be posting pictures of Katelin on our Instagram at Cold and Missing. 383 00:24:35,660 --> 00:24:37,320 You can find us there. 384 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,680 If you have a second before you move on to the next part of your day, if you could please 385 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,880 leave us review, especially if you're an Apple podcast, leaving us a written review helps 386 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:53,000 others find us and helps bring these cases to more people and get people interested in 387 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,360 these cold cases, in these unresolved missing person cases. 388 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:00,000 So if you've already done that, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. 389 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,720 If you haven't, I strongly encourage you to do it. 390 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,760 It's such a free way to support this podcast. 391 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:10,920 You can always visit us on our website www.coldandmissing.com. 392 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:12,640 You can review us there as well. 393 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:19,060 If you're not a part of Apple podcasts, you can also donate to us if you wish to support 394 00:25:19,060 --> 00:25:20,480 us that way. 395 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,640 And also if you or someone you love is hard of hearing, we have transcripts on the website 396 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,600 so that way you can follow along with us there. 397 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,040 Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing. 398 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,920 I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Zilkowski. 399 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:59,920 Have a great week and stay safe, y'all.