Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Postal Worker's Killing on Rural Route Leaves Her Children Orphaned | Crime Alert 07.01.26

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Postal Worker's Killing on Rural Route Leaves Her Children Orphaned | Crime Alert 07.01.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news Now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sidney, Sylvanni. A rural North Carolina community is mourning
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  Speaker 2: after a dedicated postal worker was murdered on her route,
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  Speaker 2: leaving her two young daughters orphaned just months after losing
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  Speaker 2: their father. Thirty five year old United States Postal Service
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  Speaker 2: employee Brandy Reynolds was working her route in Hayes, about
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty miles west of Raleigh on Friday,
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  Speaker 2: when she was allegedly kidnapped and shot dead. The Wilkes
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  Speaker 2: County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene around four sixteen
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  Speaker 2: pm after a witness saw an armed man in a
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  Speaker 2: gray niece on Ultima threatening Reynolds, followed immediately by multiple gunshots.
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  Speaker 2: Reynolds was found dead when deputies arrived. Fifty six year
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  Speaker 2: old William Craig Durham was taken into custody and faces
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  Speaker 2: charges of first degree murder and first degree kidnapping. Warrens
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  Speaker 2: revealed Durham is accused of restraining Reynolds and removing her
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  Speaker 2: from one place to another without her consent. In court
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  Speaker 2: on Monday, a family member revealed a terrifying history alleging
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  Speaker 2: Durham previously threatened Raynolds and broke into her home, leading
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  Speaker 2: the judge to deny bond. This loss follows another recent tragedy.
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  Speaker 2: Rynolds's husband, Brent, died in a single vehicle crash two
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  Speaker 2: days before Christmas when his truck struck a tree. Left
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  Speaker 2: alone to raise her girls, Rynolds had shared online that
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  Speaker 2: her daughters made life worth living. Regular customers along her
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  Speaker 2: route are completely reeling. As reported by ABC forty five.
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  Speaker 2: Here's resident Julie Smith describing the heartbreaking reality.
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  Speaker 1: I just keept saying no, that's not her, that's not
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  Speaker 1: my brandy, not my mail carrier. My heart broke for
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  Speaker 1: her family and for her children.
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  Speaker 2: Smith notes that the neighborhood will deeply miss her bright presence.
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  Speaker 1: I always look forward to seeing her vehicle come up
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  Speaker 1: around the driveway, and now I know that's not.
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  Speaker 2: Gonna Haptal slaying is currently being investigated by the United
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  Speaker 2: States Postal Inspection Service, the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office, and
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  Speaker 2: the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. More crime and
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  Speaker 2: justice news after this next returned to Northern California, where
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  Speaker 2: a massive fraud and animal cruelty probe is unfolding the
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  Speaker 2: Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has uncovered a horrific scene at
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  Speaker 2: Miranda's Rescue animal sanctuary in Fortuna, about two hundred and
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  Speaker 2: eighty eight miles north of San Francisco. Authorities excavating open
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  Speaker 2: fields discovered the decomposing remains of one hundred and seventeen
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  Speaker 2: dogs buried in mass graves, alongside twenty one dog skulls,
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  Speaker 2: hundreds of bones, and six hundred dog collars. Forensic X
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  Speaker 2: rays revealed seventy canine bodies contained bullet fragments, confirmingly died
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  Speaker 2: from gunshot wounds. Deputies also located a barn where they
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  Speaker 2: believed the dogs were actively killed. This probe began in
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  Speaker 2: April after two hips from watchful neighbors. As Humboldt County
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  Speaker 2: Sheriff William Hansell explained, two.
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  Speaker 3: Concerned citizens report an allegation of felony, animal abuse and
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  Speaker 3: potential fraud involving Animals Rescue or Miranda's Rescue. Those citizens
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  Speaker 3: have been moderate activity at Miranda's Rescue and observed what
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  Speaker 3: they believed to be dogs being buried in an open
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  Speaker 3: field behind the rescue. Those citizens later entered the property
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  Speaker 3: recovered eight deceased dogs from the burial sites. Those animals
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  Speaker 3: were turned over to the Humble County Shriff's office and
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  Speaker 3: a criminal investigation was launched.
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  Speaker 2: The scale of the suspected fraud is staggering. Records show
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  Speaker 2: the sanctuary accepted nine hundred animals since the start of
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five, yet recorded only one hundred and sixteen adoptions,
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  Speaker 2: leaving over seven hundred animals completely unaccounted for. Sheriff Hansel
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  Speaker 2: outlined the financial deception.
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  Speaker 3: Branda's Rescue advertises itself as an animal sanctuary, and internet
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  Speaker 3: agreements with animal shelters and rescue organizations are by in
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  Speaker 3: place where animals could either be adopted out live out
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  Speaker 3: their lives in the sex's word the allegations In this case,
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  Speaker 3: Amanda's Rescue received money for animal placements, but later euthanized
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  Speaker 3: and were not adopted out or allowed to live out
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  Speaker 3: their lives in their sanctuary as represented.
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  Speaker 2: Facility owner Shannon Miranda released online statements defending his operation,
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  Speaker 2: claiming media reports present an inaccurate picture and that euthanasia
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  Speaker 2: was only used in rare terminal cases. No criminal charges
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  Speaker 2: have been filed yet. As analysts processed the microchip data Finally,
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  Speaker 2: a New York mother faces manslaughter charges after her toddler
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  Speaker 2: choked to death while she allegedly downed an entire bottle
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  Speaker 2: of vodka. Thirty six year old Olivia Bihorn wept in
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  Speaker 2: a Nassau County courtroom following the tragic death of her
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  Speaker 2: eighteen month old son, Luke Russell Junior. Prosecutors alleged Bitthorn
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  Speaker 2: left her young children unattended with a bag of unpopped
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  Speaker 2: popcorn kernels while she locked herself in the bathroom to
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  Speaker 2: drink vodka. The toddler swallowed the hard kernels and choked.
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  Speaker 2: Her three year old daughter eventually alerted her, but officials
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  Speaker 2: estimate the boy was dead for over an hour before
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  Speaker 2: nine one one was called. Nassau County District Attorney Anne
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  Speaker 2: Donnelly told reporters that leaving children with known choking hazards
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  Speaker 2: while intoxicated crosses into criminal negligence. Records reveal a dark
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  Speaker 2: history of chronic alcoholism, including multiple car crashes and a
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  Speaker 2: previous incident where one of her children went missing. Bitthorn
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  Speaker 2: pleaded not guilty and is held on a two hundred
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  Speaker 2: and fifty thousand dollars bail and faces up to fifteen
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  Speaker 2: years in prison if convicted. For more crime and justice news,
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  Speaker 2: be sure to join us for crime stories with Nancy
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  Speaker 2: Grace on fox Ie, YouTube, Serious XM, and now streaming
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  Speaker 2: on tub With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Silvanni