Latest news with #coldcase
The Sun
8 hours ago
- The Sun
Who was sex worker Janine Downes and what do we know about her brutal murder?
A NEW Channel 4 documentary series investigates the brutal death of a 22-year-old sex worker more than 30 years ago who may have been caught up in a criminal drug ring. In the Footsteps of Killers delves into the case of Janine Downes, a mother-of-three, who was murdered in Wolverhampton on February 2, 1991. 1 Who was Janine Downes? Janine had been working in the red-light district of the city and was last seen climbing into a distinctive blue car before her naked and beaten body was discovered in a hedge on the A464 near Hatton, just outside of Shifnal. She was found wearing only a paisley patterned blouse, a bra and blue ankle socks and had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Despite a continuous and full police investigation, no one has ever been arrested or convicted of her murder. Emilia Fox, criminologist David Wilson and former senior detective Dr Graham Hill take up the cold case for Channel 4 and interview key witnesses, looking for clues in Wolverhampton's red-light district. Lines of inquiry centre around the possibility Janine was the victim of a potential serial killer and linked to a local criminal drug and sex ring. Their inquiries initially lead them to the man dubbed the Midlands Ripper, who was convicted of two other women's murders, but there is nothing that links him to Janine's brutal death due to a lack of CSI-style evidence. Instead, they suspect Janine's murder could be connected to local pimps after discovering they were involved with drug-dealing gangs in the city. Janine's murder remains under investigation by West Mercia Police. On the 30th anniversary of her death, Detective Inspector Lee Holehouse appealed for anyone with information about her death to come forward. Chilling moment cops find dismembered victims of Australia's 'worst ever serial killing' rotting in barrels At the time, DI Holehouse, from West Mercia Police's Major Investigation Unit, said: 'Now is the 30th anniversary of Janine's death. 'To date, despite a continuous and full investigation and several arrests being made, nobody has been charged with her murder and I desperately want to change that. 'We the police are still unclear as to what happened to Janine in the hours and days before her death. We are unclear as to whether it's likely that Janine was killed by a stranger or someone known to her. 'We do know that Janine was a sex worker working in the Wolverhampton area at around the time of her death and would appeal to anybody who was within this circle at the time or even now and may who have information to contact us. 'Moreover, I appeal to anybody with any information which may lead to the identity of Janine's killer to get in touch in order that we can get the justice that Janine and her family deserve. 'Somebody somewhere knows what happened. Janine's family have lived without closure for far too long. If you know what happened or have any information which may help, please help us.' To report information about Janine's death visit the Tell Us About Section of the West Mercia Police website Alternatively, information can be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via the Crimestoppers website. The Murder of Janine Downes is on Channel 4 at 10pm on July 22.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- News.com.au
Lili Greer on the trauma of not knowing where her missing mother is
The daughter of a missing woman believed to be murdered by her notorious bikie ex-boyfriend more than a decade ago is speaking out about devastating impact of losing someone who has vanished without a trace. Lili Greer was just 13 when her mother Tina, 32, went out to do the laundry and never came home. Now 27, Lili said her whole world was 'torn apart in a matter of hours', and has dedicated the years since her disappearance to giving her mum a voice. Tina Greer was last seen by her family at a Beechmont Rd home on January 18, 2012. She was intending to visit her abusive then boyfriend Les 'Grumpy' Sharman – a long-term member of the notorious Finks bikie gang. Sharman was considered a suspect in Ms Greer's disappearance and murder but was never interviewed by police, nor formally charged. He died in 2018 in a car crash. Determined to uncover the truth, Lili fought for an inquest, which found in December 2023 that her mum had likely died 'violently' at the hands of her now-dead boyfriend. 'My mum was my best friend. Our life was really complicated and was very difficult at moments but things were looking up for us — we'd gotten a new place and our life was heading into a new chapter,' Lili told 'And, unfortunately, her life was taken from her. 'She was an amazing, very resilient woman. She was so determined to have a great life.' While Lili knows what likely happened to Ms Greer, her mothers body has never been found, despite multiple searches of remote sections of the surrounding national park. 'I am one of the 'luckier' family members that has a missing loved one because I know that she's not alive,' she explained. 'But that doesn't change the fact I don't know where she is. I still live with that ambiguous loss.' Every year more than 56,000 people are reported to Australian police as missing, of those, 2700 are gone for more than 90 days and are classed as 'long-term'. Appearing on latest SBS Insight episode titled Gone Missing Lili explains the horrific impact on family members who have a loved one go missing, revealing many are forced to take on the role of advocate because they feel it's their job — something she said they shouldn't have to do. 'The hard thing about it — families with missing loved ones are still in it every day, it doesn't matter if it's a decade ago. It's the nature of ambiguous loss,' Lili said. 'It's a cycle of grief that's never ending. Just because time has past, it doesn't necessarily change the mental anguish that it causes.' The lasting impact on Lili has seen her forge a career out of helping other families of missing people, as she now works as a family liaison officer for the The Missed Foundation. The organisation was started by Loren O'Keeffe, the sister of long term missing person Daniel O'Keeffe, who went missing in 2011, prompting a nationwide search that ended in March 2016 with the devastating discovery of his suicide. The Missed Foundation was founded 18 months after Mr O'Keeffe went missing to highlight the gaps in support and help loved ones navigate the traumatic ordeal that is ambiguous loss. Lili said the issue is getting worse, estimating there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of missing people in Australia since 2019. 'The numbers are continuing to rise and we have no commitment from the government, and the impact is lifelong if the loved one isn't found,' she told 'If they are found, it's never the outcome you hope for. 'I think we need to see significant investment in this space, because the impact on people's health — physically and mentally — and the communities.' She said, at a minimum, for every missing person at least 12 people are impacted by their disappearance, adding that the issue is so far reaching and so often overlooked. While there is support available, organisations such as The Missed Foundation need funding in order to keep helping people. This is where the government should step in, Lili said. She added that because going missing isn't a crime, it often means that families can't access support such as victims services — which provides psychological and financial assistance. Lili said she sat in this category until the coroner's report more than a decade after her mum's disappearance. 'Even just the time it takes — the administrative burden. People will quit their job in search for their missing loved one,' she said. 'It's so different for every person, but it's so difficult and it doesn't need to be this hard. For instance, if there is no death certificate you can't access their bank account. You're still getting their mail to your house. What do you do with their things? 'It's all these forgotten about traumas loved ones have to face. You can imagine how difficult it is when you're getting your loved one's mail to your house still, and you can't stop it and you have to go through an uphill battle to stop it.' She said when she used to seek professional help, many medical professionals aren't equipped to deal with it. Lili said the biggest takeaway from sharing her story on SBS Insight was learning that that 'missing' can mean different things. 'For instance, there is lost contact — which is when the person hasn't been reported as missing to police but the family has lost contact,' she said. 'But the experience of those who have a long term missing loved one is vastly different to the other categories that are discussed in the show.' For those wanting to help those struggling after a loved-one goes missing, she urged well-wishers to take caution, stating it's easy to cause damage during such a difficult time. 'I would encourage everyone to take a great deal of care and consideration when it comes to someone who has a missing loved one,' she said. For instance, Lili said she's regularly asked what she thinks happened to her mum, something that already keeps her up at night. She added speculation doesn't help.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Remains identified after being found in 2019 by TDOT mowers in Loudon County
LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — Human remains found in Loudon County in 2019 have been identified, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Monday. The body was identified as John Arthur Troutman, born January 1, 1952, originally from Herndon, Pennsylvania. The TBI asked for the public's help in determining why he was in Loudon County and what he was doing before his death. Georgia man charged with reckless homicide after Maryville woman shot A Tennessee Department of Transportation crew discovered human remains in August 2019 while mowing alongside I-75 in Philadelphia. Loudon County Sheriff's Office deputies began investigating along with the Knox County Regional Forensic Center. Forensic pathologists determined that the remains belonged to a man likely between 45 and 55. His cause of death was undetermined, and they could not identify him. In February, the forensic center asked for the TBI's help identifying the man. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Cold Case and Unidentified Human Remains Initiative submitted a sample of the remains to Othram, a private lab in Texas, for DNA testing. TWRA to give new details on partnership with Appalachian Bear Rescue In July, Othram scientists told the TBI that they had identified possible relatives for the body. A TBI intelligence analyst tracked down the family in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to ask them about the remains. They said they had not seen their older brother since the 1980s, and they provided a DNA sample, which Ortham compared to the remains. This allowed Othram to identify the remains as Troutman. A Pennsylvania Tourism and Transportation map from 2010 was found near the body. LCSO had previously said that indications suggested he was homeless and camping in the area. The TBI asked for the public's help in discovering what Troutman was doing in Loudon County leading up to his death. Anyone with information should call the Loudon County Sheriff's Office at 865-986-4823 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Lonely Bones: Stories of the Forgotten Dead The TBI said that Congressman Tim Burchett's Community Project Funding request made the testing possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
ABC News
13 hours ago
- ABC News
Man accused of 1979 kidnap and murder of Etan Patz in New York has conviction overturned
The man convicted of one of America's most infamous and tragic cold cases will face a fresh trial, a federal appeals court has ordered, 45 years after the presumed killing of New York schoolboy Etan Patz. Patz's disappearance on his way to a school bus stop in Manhattan rattled the city, and was unsolved for decades before Pedro Hernandez was convicted of the killing in 2017. But that conviction has now been overturned and Hernandez will face a new trial, where his confession to the crime will be under scrutiny. Here's what to know about the young boy's disappearance and why Hernandez's conviction has been overturned. Patz was a first grader who always wanted "to do everything that adults did", his mother, Julie Patz, told jurors in 2017. So on the morning of May 25, 1979, she agreed her son could walk by himself to the school bus stop, two blocks away. It was the first time he was allowed to go alone, and the last time she saw her son. When Patz did not come home from school that day, his parents reported him missing and the police searched for him for weeks. For decades, his parents kept the same apartment and even phone number in case he might try to reach them. Patz's body has never been found, and a civil court declared him dead in 2001. Hernandez was a teenager working at a convenience store in the neighbourhood when Patz vanished. Police met him while canvassing the area but didn't suspect him until 2012, when they got a tip from a relative. He had made remarks during a prayer group years earlier about having killed a child in New York. While there was no physical evidence against Hernandez, police said he confessed during a seven-hour interrogation to luring Patz into the store's basement by offering him a soft drink. Hernandez said he choked the young boy because "something just took over me". Hernandez said he put Patz, still alive, in a "garbage bag" before stuffing him into a box and leaving it outside with a pile of rubbish. In one of the recorded confessions, he added that he'd wanted to tell someone, "but I didn't know how to do it. I felt so sorry". Hernandez, however, later recanted and pleaded not guilty to murder. His lawyers said the admissions were the false imaginings of a man with mental illness, low intelligence and a propensity towards vivid hallucinations. But in 2017, Hernandez was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. This was his second trial; the first in 2015 ended in a hung jury after 18 days of deliberations. "After all these years we finally know what dark secret you had locked in your heart," Etan's father, Stanley Patz, said at the sentencing. Hernandez's lawyers have long argued that their client's mental illness and the circumstances of his confession undermined the fairness of the 2017 trial. In a ruling on Monday, local time, a federal appeals court said the trial judge gave a "clearly wrong" and "manifestly prejudicial" response to a jury note during the trial. The note addressed how the jury should interpret recordings of the police interrogation in which Hernandez confessed. Police said he initially confessed before they read him his Miranda rights — a constitutionally mandated warning about self-incrimination. Immediately after, he was given a legally required warning that his statements could be used against him in court, and was asked to repeat his confession on tape. Several hours later, he did so again for a federal prosecutor. At the trial, jurors sent repeated queries about the multiple confessions. The last inquiry asked whether they had to disregard the two recorded confessions, if they concluded that the first one — given before the Miranda warning — was invalid. The judge said "no". The appeals court ruled that the jury should have received a more thorough explanation of its options, which could have included disregarding all of the confessions as improperly obtained. The court ordered Hernandez's release unless the 64-year-old gets a new trial within a "reasonable period". The Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case, said it was reviewing the decision. Patz's missing persons campaign attracted national attention and became a cautionary tale during the 80s. The six-year-old was one of the first children whose disappearance was publicised in what became a high-profile way: on billboards and milk cartons. His case also ushered in an age of parental anxiety around child safety. Parents became more protective of kids who were once allowed to roam and play unsupervised in their neighbourhoods. The Patzs' advocacy also helped establish a national missing-children hotline. US president Ronald Reagan marked the anniversary of the boy's disappearance in 1983, proclaiming it National Missing Children's Day.
CBS News
15 hours ago
- CBS News
5 arrested in connection with 2007 cold case murder and robbery in Riverside County
Five people have been arrested in connection with a murder and robbery in Riverside County back in 2007, a case that had gone cold until early this year. The original incident happened back on June 13, 2007 a little before midnight, at which point Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputies were dispatched to a home in the 19000 block of Mariposa Avenue in Mead Valley, close to Perris, according to a press release from the department. Upon arrival, deputies found 51-year-old Andres Valdes suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was declared dead at the scene. Several other victims were also found with minor injuries after they were assaulted, deputies said. "Deputies learned that several masked suspects entered the property with the intent of committing a robbery," said RSO's release. "Valdes became involved in a physical altercation with the suspects when one of the suspects shot and killed him." Since then, all leads were exhausted and no details were able to warrant enough information for arrests in the case, deputies said. In February 2025, Central Homicide Unit investigators began to review the case, which was reopened. Several suspects were identified as being involved in the murder and robbery, which led to the five arrests in recent months. Two Riverside men, 37-year-old Kenneth Tucker and 36-year-old Deshawn Hill, were arrested in early-July, both of whom were booked for murder. On July 14, authorities arrested 37-year-old Dennis Haynes in Phoenix, Arizona and 37-year-old Kenneth Haynes in Beaumont, Texas, both on murder warrants. One week later, 37-year-old Kenneth Crutchfield was arrested on a murder warrant in Belton Texas. All three will be extradited to Riverside County, deputies said. The investigation remains ongoing and no further information was provided. Anyone who knows more is asked to contact RSO's Central Homicide Unit at (951) 955-2777.
