Transcript
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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.
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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.
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Listener discretion is advised.
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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.
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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing.
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I'm Ali.
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And I am Eli.
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This is episode 82.
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I know we were just talking the other night while you were doing research, but closing
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in on it being, you know, a hundred episodes is kind of wild to think about.
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I remember the early days of you talking very nervously about this being an idea.
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And to what it is now, I'm just marvel at you, honey.
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Thanks, baby.
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So to move into it, this week is a cold case.
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Do you want to just get into it?
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Yeah, let's do it.
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So today we are going to be talking about a cold case.
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And today we are going to be talking about the cold case of Najah Farrell.
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And this takes place in Avon, Indiana in March of 2019.
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But first, a little bit about Najah.
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Najah's family describe her as the anchor of the family.
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She had been with her partner for several years and the two of them had even been engaged
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for a time.
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But Najah called the engagement off about three months before her murder.
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She was a dedicated and devoted mother to her two children.
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Her nieces and nephews also got to enjoy her to the point that if you saw Najah, you would
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probably see a gaggle of kids around her too.
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She never went anywhere without some in tow.
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No one was surprised at all when Najah decided to become a foster parent and took in an additional
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three children in her home and life.
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She told family and friends that she wanted to quote, give back, end quote, and be there
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for kids who didn't have anyone else.
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Najah had been a stay at home mom all while her children were young.
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But now that they were older and in school, she wanted to pick up a part time job.
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She looked for something that could fit with her kids schedule so she could still be there
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for them when they got home from school and in the evening.
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After searching, she quickly got hired at a Panera Bread in Indianapolis.
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And now a timeline of events.
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So on Thursday, March 14th, 2019, Najah talks to her mother before bed.
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Everything seems normal.
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Najah says good night to her mother and says that she's going to get the kids ready for
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bed and then get herself ready for bed since she had to be at work at 5am the next morning.
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On Friday, March 15th, that next day, Najah was due for her third day of orientation at
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Panera Bread.
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Her alarm is set for 3am to get ready for work.
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Like I mentioned, her start time was at 5am and her home in Avon, Indiana was about, at
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most and in the worst traffic conditions, would be a half hour away.
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Najah never arrives that morning for her shift at Panera.
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But no one raises any flags at her job.
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She hadn't worked there long enough for them to know if this was typical of her character
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or not.
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But to those who knew Najah, they knew that she wouldn't just blow off work.
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When Najah failed to pick up her three foster kids from school that evening, that's when
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everyone noticed her missing and immediately started to panic about her.
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The new routine, since she had started working, was that after work and after school, Najah's
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children would take the bus home and let themselves inside, which would give Najah enough time
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to drive to the school where her foster children attended to pick them up.
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Najah would never be late or miss picking up any of her children.
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Her mother Paula says, quote, I knew something was wrong because it was not Najah, end quote.
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Najah had always been dependable and reliable.
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The school reaches out to Najah's mother, Paula, who immediately starts trying to contact
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her daughter.
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In fact, all of Najah's family tried to get a hold of her.
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Her sister thinks she called her phone at least 100 times trying to get her to pick
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up, but Najah never answers or calls back.
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That's when the family get in contact with Panera Bread and discover that Najah never
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arrived at work that morning.
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Everyone is panicked.
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The family decides to call the Indianapolis police to report her missing.
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The Indy police begin investigating immediately and almost as quickly, they stop.
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The Indy police are able to determine that the last place that Najah was seen was at
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her home in Avon during the early morning hours.
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Since Avon was in a different county, the Indy police transfer the case to the Avon
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police department.
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Since Avon had a smaller police department, the case wasn't assigned a detective until
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Monday morning as the case came in late Friday night.
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Over the weekend, Najah's family and friends waste no time looking for the missing mother.
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When family look through the home, they notice some strange items were left behind that Najah
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would have likely taken with her to work.
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Her usual work shoes were left at the home, and the coat that she wore around this time
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of year was also left behind.
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On Monday, March 18th, a detective is finally assigned to the case and an official search
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is started.
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It's been two days since Najah vanished.
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Police put alerts on all of her bank cards so if they're used, they'll know within
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minutes.
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However, they'll never get any alerts as her bank cards are never used once she disappears.
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Police begin canvassing the neighborhood where Najah lived.
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Earlier that week on March 21st, it's been about five days now that Najah's been missing,
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police are able to obtain video surveillance footage from the apartment complex where Najah
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lived.
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Najah's car is seen leaving the complex at 3 15 a.m., the Friday that she went missing.
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The car isn't driving erratically or fast, but the timing of it is strange.
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Her shift doesn't start until 5 a.m. and the Panera Bread is, as I mentioned, at worse,
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only a half hour away.
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But at this hour in the morning, it would have likely taken only 15 to 20 minutes to
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get there.
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Police are very interested to talk to Najah's longtime partner and recent ex-fiance.
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They do believe that he was the last person to see her alive.
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Police interview him multiple times over the course of the next few weeks again and again
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and they eventually rule him out.
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About a week after she went missing on March 26th, 2019, Najah's black Nissan Altima
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was found abandoned by police in the parking lot of a movie theater and grill in Indianapolis.
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The parking lot where the car was found was only about two and a half miles from the Panera
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Bread where she was working.
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The family is hopeful that her car will yield some clues as to her whereabouts, but a forensic
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review of the car will later reveal that there was nothing out of the ordinary.
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Police are able to obtain grainy footage from the parking lot surveillance cameras.
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They see Najah's car being driven in around 5.05 a.m. on the day she disappeared, just
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five minutes after her shift should have started two and a half miles away.
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The driver exits the vehicle, he appears to be male, and is picked up by another car and
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driven out of the parking lot.
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However, the footage is too grainy to make out details of the two people or the license
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plate of the vehicle that picked up the driver.
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Later that day on March 26th or around this time, a road construction crew found some
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of Najah's personal items discarded on the side of the road.
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Police will never officially say what these items are, but they will say that her purse
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and cell phone are still missing.
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On March 28th, Najah has been missing for almost two weeks.
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The Avon Police hold a press conference that's broadcast on Facebook Live.
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The police say in the conference, quote, as a department, our investigators have been
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working around the clock since this has taken place.
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To date, we've served more than 30 search warrants, end quote.
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The search warrants included details from Najah's phone and bank.
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Police say also at this point that they have conducted a total of 40 interviews looking
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for the missing mother.
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Police are trying to use every available resource, including the Indiana aviation team and sent
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dogs to try to track her scent.
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On April 8th, just shy of a month that Najah has been missing, in Crown Point, Indiana,
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which is about two hours away from Avon, two fishermen are casting lines in a retention
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pond near I-65.
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In their fishing lines, a human severed foot was found.
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The two men call police who begin trying to ID who this person is.
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They do have one big clue, however.
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On the foot is a tattoo of the name Najah.
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After looking through missing persons report for the state of Indiana, police in Crown
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Point contact the Avon police to let them know that they think they have a match.
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Tentatively, police do ID the foot as belonging to Najah, but DNA tests will have to be run
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in order to confirm this.
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Over the next several days, police will search the pond and surrounding area for any other
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remains and clues left behind.
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But nothing outside of Najah's foot is found.
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Police sent divers into the pond and ponds nearby, and sent drones overhead to do aerial
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searches.
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The coroner remained on the scene over the next few days in case any more remains were
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found.
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Upon the discovery, Avon's Deputy Chief of Investigation, Bryant Nugent, says, quote,
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the family does have ties to the northwest Indiana area, so this area wouldn't be new
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to our investigations.
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We weren't expecting anything to turn up where it did.
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End quote.
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On Wednesday, April 10, after two days of searching the area where Najah's foot was
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found, police come up empty and recovering the rest of her body.
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DNA tests will ultimately confirm that the foot did belong to Najah, and further testing
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will tell police that the foot was severed from the body after death.
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Avon police announced that their investigation has switched from a missing person case to
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a death case, but stopped short of calling it a homicide since they don't know how
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Najah died.
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But police do believe that foul play is involved.
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Police still have no idea why or how Najah's foot ended up in the area.
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Police investigate the ties that she has to this part of Indiana, but police say, quote,
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we don't have a target, if you will, a location or a house or an individual.
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Historically, there's ties there to the family, but nothing specific that we're willing to
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talk about.
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End quote.
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Avon police at this point don't believe that Najah was abducted, nor do police think that
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anyone else is at risk in the community.
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Quote, we don't know 100%, but in the absence of having that information, I think it'd
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be irresponsible to cast that perspective.
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End quote.
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When asked if police think that further dismemberment is possible, they say, quote, at this point,
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we don't have any information to suggest that or to deny that.
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When you only find what we found, certainly that becomes a theory.
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But in the absence of other information to lead you one way or another, that has to remain
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an unknown, just as the cause and manner of death remains undetermined.
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End quote.
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Since police do believe that Najah was targeted by someone that she knew, they begin to focus
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on who she had contact with in the last days and weeks leading up to her disappearance
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and murder.
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The Avon police department pleads with the public to come forward with information.
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Quote, somebody knows something about this case.
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We are simply trying to appeal to what we know is the majority of the state, which is
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good hearted people who want to do the right thing.
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End quote.
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The Avon police do say that they're working with other agencies, including the FBI, Brownsburg
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police, state conservation officers, and the Indiana State Police, as well as the Crown
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Point police.
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The Crown Point police will continue to search ponds and wooded areas, hoping that additional
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clues would turn up surrounding Najah, but nothing does.
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It takes about a month, but at the beginning of May of 2019, DNA results come back that
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confirm what police, friends, and family already knew, that the foot did belong to Najah.
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Once the searches begin to die down, so does coverage of Najah in the media.
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However, the community doesn't forget her, and they often write the local paper to ask
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about updates.
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Eventually, a Facebook group is created to keep each other updated on any tiny scrap
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of information.
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Police will continue to search ponds in the Indianapolis area as well, and still they
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fail to find anything.
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On the one year anniversary of her being missing, and ultimately her death in 2020, police still
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have not named a person of interest or a suspect in Najah's murder.
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Najah's family has felt every minute of the past year without her and without answers.
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Family believe that whoever murdered Najah knew her, since it seems like her schedule
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was so intimately known.
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Her work schedule, her car, her routine.
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In March of 2024, so it's been five years now since Najah's murder, and there are still
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no new leads in this case.
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However, her mother Paula does say now that Najah's ex-fiance had texted her, Paula,
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saying that Najah had texted him the morning that she vanished.
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That's about the only new clue that we get in the case though.
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The foster children Najah was raising are placed back into the system, and Najah's
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mother takes over raising her two young boys.
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Her family continues to fight for answers.
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For Najah, for themselves, and for her sons.
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The Avon Police stay committed to solving the case, but leads have dried up.
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But since at least two people were involved that morning, police know that somebody does
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know something.
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So with that, if you know anything about the disappearance and murder of Najah Farrell in
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March of 2019, please call the Avon Police Department at 317-839-8700.
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And the sources for the timeline today come from The Times, The Indianapolis Star, WTHR,
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and WRTV.
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So that is the case of Najah Farrell.
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First of all, I think for the most part people who choose to parent in their lives via foster
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ring are just angels on earth.
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I am not adopted myself, but I just come from a long line of adoption within my family and
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I am not a stranger to the system.
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So to be someone who advocates for the children in that system and helps get them out and
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into loving and caring homes is a really beautiful thing.
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And I'm sad that her time here on this earth was cut violently short because it's clear
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that she was someone who moved and navigated the world through love and care and was just
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like living her life.
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I completely agree.
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I feel like the state of Indiana and the entire world lost just such a good person with the
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murder of Najah.
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Completely unfair.
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And yeah, what just like an incredible human.
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I had to keep reminding myself as I was listening to you that this was 2019 because I just don't
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understand.
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I mean, one, the crime itself, I don't understand, but I just don't understand how if there's
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surveillance and there's a pretty tight timeline.
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Granted I have a limited understanding of different jurisdictions with like crimes operating across
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county lines, state lines, city lines, you know, all of that.
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It just seems really unfortunate that there were eyes on this within a couple of hours
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of it happening.
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I think there was a police response, but then it, but then there was a stop.
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And that to me, it just sucks.
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It just sucks when that happens.
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Because as we all know, if you engage with true, true crime, the first 48 hours are very
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vital to finding someone, not just period, but potentially alive.
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Yeah.
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The delay in the Avon Police Department getting started on her case is really unfortunate.
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And to be fair to the Avon Police, it's something that they acknowledge as well, that they were
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already 48 hours behind whenever they started on the case.
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You know, who knows how much was lost in them not immediately jumping on it or what could
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have been recovered evidence wise or even nausea.
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So it's really unfortunate that that gap happened at such a critical time in the timeline because
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otherwise the Avon Police response was pretty substantial, I thought.
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Yeah.
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I mean, I think in layman's terms, they were doing their job.
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They were doing what you're supposed to do in a case like this.
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I also just want not the focus on really what was found of her, but this particular type
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of violence and once again, violence against women is absolutely abhorrent and just horrifying.
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I just didn't want to pass over the fact that this was a full human being who was, at least
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to me, very likely fucking dismembered.
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And that is just particularly awful.
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I was just shocked by that fact and I just didn't want to skip over the fact that this
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person was taken from her life and then taken apart and we don't know who did it.
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You know, that person is still fucking out there.
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That terrifies me.
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I was kind of surprised to hear that law enforcement said, you know, you don't need to be alarmed.
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But we found a body part of a community member.
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To me, that's cause to be worried.
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To be worried if you're living in a community where a crime like that was just committed.
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Totally.
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And thank you for just speaking on the brutality of everything in this case.
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But I always try to like kind of read in between the lines of what law enforcement is saying.
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So whenever I heard that, to me, what I kind of took away from it is that they might have
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some piece of information that they haven't made public, but that would suggest that this
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was a very targeted attack.
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Obviously, having a person like this in the community is always a danger because if they're
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willing to murder somebody and be this brutal about it, then who knows what else they are
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capable of.
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So I completely agree with you there.
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But I just kind of took it as the police might have some information that this was very targeted
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and not random, that somebody in Najah's life set out to do that this day.
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And I think that's where a lot of the questions, for me at least, like that's where a lot of
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them come from, is that day she went missing.
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Her car is seen leaving around 315, which is way too early to be leaving for work.
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So you know, was it her actually driving her car?
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We're unable to see that from the surveillance footage.
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It's not the car isn't close enough and the camera isn't good enough to capture that kind
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of image.
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I'm curious as to if it was her leaving because as far as I know, there doesn't seem to have
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been any struggle at her home where her children were.
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So if there had been some noises, there was a lot of ears that could have heard it potentially.
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But as far as we know, nothing happened at the home that at least caused the kids to
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wake up.
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I thought about that as well, that the kids being there.
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But I also thought about the the information about, you know, her work shoes being left
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behind.
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And again, as you know, too, and anyone listening, like if you are on your feet all day, you
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don't leave your house without your work shoes, you know.
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So I think what I filled in there is yes, even if kids are in the home, if someone you
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know enters your space, like you let them in, but then they order you out and are threatening
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you, they can order you out silently with the threat of the children if you aren't quiet.
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Yeah, the shoes being left there is very interesting.
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And her jacket being left behind.
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March is still pretty cold in Indiana.
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So you can have like an occasional warm day, but typically it's pretty cold.
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So leaving without your jacket, especially that early in the morning before the sun is
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up is kind of strange.
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But maybe if you're running to a car that is idling, like, I could see that happening
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where you would leave it behind.
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But the shoes is hard to imagine why, you know, being on your feet all day, why you
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would want to leave your work shoes behind, especially working in a restaurant, you usually
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have your work shoes because sometimes they get messy and like you need them to be non
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slip and you know, there's just all these criteria.
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So the shoes being left behind and then you know, kind of the threat of the children like
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if you don't go quietly, like I think that is also very true and could have been used
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as a tactic.
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Her car being dropped off about two and a half miles away from where she worked right
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about at the time that she should have started for work.
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There's two people involved this we know for sure the person who was driving her car, and
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then the person who picked that person up in a different car.
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So somebody knows something.
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It's not just one person who can take a secret to the grave.
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It's got to be at least two people who can do that.
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So somebody knows something.
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I would be curious.
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I know the forensic analysis of the car didn't show any additional or shed any additional
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light on what happened to nausea.
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But I just would be curious.
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Was the seat moved back from the position she would normally have it was anything adjusted
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that you know the mirrors, the steering wheel, anything adjusted outside of how she would
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normally have it that could give a clue to at least some of the physical descriptions
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of this person, taller, shorter, you know, that kind of thing.
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I wonder about that.
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Yeah, I also wonder, especially in this case, just to the depths of my soul, like what was
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the motive here that I can't, I can't come up with at all.
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I just I don't understand.
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And in relation to the particular violence surrounding this is like what what was happening
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there.
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I hope that with law enforcement, like you said, you know, with you reading in between
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the lines, I hope that holding information close to their chest is because they maybe
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have a maybe they're slowly building a case and it's a case that they'll be able to,
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you know, prosecute someone on.
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Yeah, I think the hope is always that police have a lot more than what they're letting
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us know about and that they are building that case behind the scenes.
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I really hope that Najah's family and her sons get the answers that they're looking
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for.
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And from the interviews I was listening to with the family, it seems very important to
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them that they're able to bring the rest of Najah home.
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So I hope that the family is able to get that down the line as well, that they're able to
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bring her home and put her to rest, because like you said, this case is from 2019.
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There's like a lot of stuff already here.
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Surveillance footage, her stuff is found on the side of the road and then these northwest
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Indiana, her foot being found.
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Like, there's a lot of stuff happening in this case.
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So hopefully there's a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes that is getting Najah's
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family closer to those answers that they're looking for and wanting.
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Before we, you know, kind of wrap things up here, I and Ali as well extend our deepest
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condolences to Najah's family.
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It is unimaginable to receive that information that a part of your loved one is discovered
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in that way and I'm so sorry to her children who have to live with that information.
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Again, if you know anything about the disappearance and murder of Najah Farrell in March of 2019,
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please call the Avon Police Department at 317-839-8700.
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We will of course be posting photos of Najah on our Instagram if you don't follow us there
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yet at Cold and Missing will pop right up and it's a great way to just keep up with
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the podcast and any updates we have.
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If you have a moment, if you could rate and review us in whatever podcast platform you're
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listening to.
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Thank you so much if you did it this past week.
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I really appreciate it.
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Really cool to see those reviews grow and really kind to hear all your nice things.
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So thank you so much.
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If you or someone you love is hard of hearing, we have transcripts of all our podcast episodes
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over on our website www.coldandmissing.com where you can find all of our old episodes
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or they're right there in your podcast player wherever you're listening.
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Thank you again so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
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I'm your host Ali and I'm your co-host Eli.
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Have a good week and stay safe y'all.
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Stay safe y'all.
