Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Florida Man kills 2 kids after sexually assaulting 1, sets mobile home on fire | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 11.15

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Florida Man kills 2 kids after sexually assaulting 1, sets mobile home on fire | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 11.15 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alard hourly update, breaking crime.
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  Speaker 2: News Now I'm holding Zapple. A Florida man is facing
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  Speaker 2: several charges after allegedly murdering two children is setting fire
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  Speaker 2: to a trailer with the children inside. First Responders on
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  Speaker 2: the scene battle flames at a trailer before going inside
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  Speaker 2: to discover the bodies of two children, ages seven and nine,
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  Speaker 2: and a dog after a mobile home fire in Pensacola.
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  Speaker 2: The home was fully engulfed in flames when a Scambia
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  Speaker 2: County fire rescue arrived on the scene just before one
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  Speaker 2: am last Friday. John Henry Walston Junior, twenty seven, faces
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  Speaker 2: a list of charges, including first three murder, arson, sexual assault,
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  Speaker 2: and torturing an animal. A Scambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons
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  Speaker 2: says investigators were able to determine both children were killed
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  Speaker 2: before the fire was set, and one of them had
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  Speaker 2: been sexually assaulted. Deputies said Walston escaped the fire and
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  Speaker 2: was later located at a hospital receiving treatment. Witnesses say
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  Speaker 2: the children's mother ran into the trailer when she saw
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  Speaker 2: the flames to try to save her children. She was
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  Speaker 2: taken to the hospital and treated for her injuries. Sheriff
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  Speaker 2: Simmons says in an update Saturday, investigators determined Walston initially
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  Speaker 2: set fire to the home after sexually assaulting one of
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  Speaker 2: the children, than killing both. Walston ran to safety after
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  Speaker 2: setting the fire. According to Simmons, Walston is in Escambia
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  Speaker 2: County Jail without bond. His first court data is set
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  Speaker 2: for November twenty sixth. More crime and justice news After this.
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  Speaker 1: I'm nicole pardoned. The investigation into the death of a
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  Speaker 1: Florida teen on a carnival cruise ship continues and details
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  Speaker 1: remain scarce. Anna Kepner, eighteen, of Titusville, died while on
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  Speaker 1: a cruise on the Carnival Horizon. The ship returned to
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  Speaker 1: Port Miami on November eighth after a trip to the Caribbean.
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  Speaker 1: For more, here's crime story Sidney Sumner.
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  Speaker 3: A relaxing Caribbean cruise turns nightmare when crew members discover
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  Speaker 3: a passenger dead just hours before the Carnival Horizon returns
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  Speaker 3: to Miami. The FBI now investigating eighteen year old Anna
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  Speaker 3: Kepner's mysterious death, not commenting on whether foul play is suspected. Titusville, Florida,
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  Speaker 3: grieving the loss of the high school senior with a
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  Speaker 3: bright future and looking for answers.
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  Speaker 1: Anna Kopner, affectionately known as Anna Banana by her family,
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  Speaker 1: was a senior at Temple Christian, a private K through
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  Speaker 1: twelfth school in Titusville. She was an a student and
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  Speaker 1: a cheerleader, with plans to join the military after graduation
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  Speaker 1: in May. She was the best child you could ever meet,
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  Speaker 1: said family members. We always remember her for that, and
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  Speaker 1: she was looking forward to this cruise to celebrate her graduation.
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  Speaker 1: Crime Stories Holden Zapple tells us about the planned cruise.
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  Speaker 2: Anna's grandparents gift her a spring cruise has an eighteenth
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  Speaker 2: birthday gift. Anna enjoys the experience so much she books
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  Speaker 2: a six day trip with stops in Oto Rios, Jamaica,
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  Speaker 2: the Grand Caymans, and Cosimmel, Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: Anna, posting her excitement about her upcoming cruise on social media,
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  Speaker 1: left out of Titusville and headed to the port, expecting
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  Speaker 1: the vacation of a Lifetimesigative reporter Dave.
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  Speaker 4: Mack Anna drives to Miami Sunday morning to catch the
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  Speaker 4: Carnival Horizon. Ship leaves support that afternoon and guests spend
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  Speaker 4: a day on the open ocean before arriving in Jamaica.
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  Speaker 4: Its smooth sailing from Ojo Rios to the Grand Caymans
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  Speaker 4: and Cosmeo. The Horizon is on its way back to
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  Speaker 4: Miami when tragedy strikes.
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  Speaker 1: While information has been limited, some tourist on the cruise
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  Speaker 1: ships said once they returned to the port, they were
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  Speaker 1: hurried off at the deportation routes and they watched in
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  Speaker 1: distress as corners removed Anna's body from.
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  Speaker 5: I'm Drew Nelson, Wisconsin. Out of Gamey County investigators say
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  Speaker 5: they have uncovered one of the worst child neglect cases
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  Speaker 5: the state has ever seen. A fourteen year old girl
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  Speaker 5: rescued from a trailer park home in the town of Oneida,
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  Speaker 5: weighing just thirty five pounds, a condition doctors described as
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  Speaker 5: life threatening when she was airlifted to Children's Wisconsin in Wawatosa.
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  Speaker 5: Prosecutors say the teen had been kept isolated inside a
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  Speaker 5: small room the bear mattress on the floor, denied food,
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  Speaker 5: denied medical care, and forced to ask permission to use
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  Speaker 5: the bathroom. In court, outi Gamey County Court Commissioner Brian
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  Speaker 5: Figge said the abuse defied comprehension and it's alleged that
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  Speaker 5: the minor child was quite frankly living in a house
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  Speaker 5: of borders, but for the grace of God, she did
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  Speaker 5: not die. Four adults are now charged with five felony
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  Speaker 5: counts of chronic child neglects. The girl's father, forty seven
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  Speaker 5: year old Walter Goodman, his wife Melissa Goodman, Melissa's daughter
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  Speaker 5: Savannah Lea Fever, and Lefever's romantic partner, Caylas Stemler. Prosecutors
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  Speaker 5: said all four adults participated in or enabled the prolonged mistreatment.
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  Speaker 5: The investigation began in August when Goodman called nine to one
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  Speaker 5: one to report his daughter was vomiting, lethargic and quote
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  Speaker 5: not eating much. First responders immediately realized the severity of
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  Speaker 5: her condition. The girl appeared to be the size of
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  Speaker 5: a six to eight year old, unable to stand and
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  Speaker 5: called to the touch. Inside the home, investigators found condition
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  Speaker 5: that pointed to years of neglect, no medical visits since
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  Speaker 5: twenty twenty, no schooling since the pandemic, and a pattern
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  Speaker 5: of emotional and physical deprivation. Messages recovered from the adult's
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  Speaker 5: phone showed them calling the child dummy and stupid, discussing
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  Speaker 5: when they would allow her to eat and complaining about
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  Speaker 5: her asking for food. Two of the women, Melissa Goodman
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  Speaker 5: and Savannah Lea Fever, were described in the complaint as
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  Speaker 5: so obese that they were quote nearly bedbound. Prosecutors say
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  Speaker 5: this case stands apart in its severity without a Gamy
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  Speaker 5: County's Assistant District Attorney Julia du Quaine, calling it unprecedented
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  Speaker 5: in her time handling child abuse cases.
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  Speaker 1: This is the most egregious case of child neglect I
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  Speaker 1: think I have ever personally seen in my nearly twenty
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  Speaker 1: five year career.
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  Speaker 5: Doctors at Children's Wisconsin diagnosed the girl with severe malnutrition,
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  Speaker 5: organ dysfunction, and hypothermia. Within days of receiving regular food
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  Speaker 5: and sleep, medical staff said she improved. According to the complaint,
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  Speaker 5: the girl's quote eyes lit up when she was told
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  Speaker 5: she would receive three meals a day. Staff noted she
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  Speaker 5: could eat normally and function quote largely within expected parameters
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  Speaker 5: for her age, contradicting her family's claims that she refused
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  Speaker 5: food because she was autistic. As the criminal cases move forward,
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  Speaker 5: officials say that scene is recovering with proper care and support,
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  Speaker 5: but the shock of the discovery still reverberates. Through the community.
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  Speaker 5: The four defendants faced decades in prison if convicted. More
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  Speaker 5: Crime and Justice news. After this, six people vanished from
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  Speaker 5: a rental home in Missouri and no one has seen
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  Speaker 5: them since August of twenty twenty three. Mikayla Denise Wickerson,
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  Speaker 5: her three year old daughter, Maliah, Mikayla Thompson, Jerry L.
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  Speaker 5: Jerman German's three year old son, Ashton Mitchell, and Niman
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  Speaker 5: Williams were all last seen on August sixth at the
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  Speaker 5: Quality Inn on Dunroad in floress And, Missouri. All four
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  Speaker 5: adults had been living with the children inside Wickerson's rented
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  Speaker 5: home in Berkeley, near Saint Louis Lambert International Airport. They
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  Speaker 5: are unrelated adults who moved in together months before they vanished.
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  Speaker 5: Berkeley police found the home empty on August twelfth during
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  Speaker 5: a welfare check. There was no sign of forced entry.
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  Speaker 5: Officers saw science that the group left in a rush,
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  Speaker 5: Their IDs left behind. The FBI and Berkeley Police say
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  Speaker 5: the group was last known to be together at the hotel.
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  Speaker 5: They were later confirmed on surveillance cameras inside the building.
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  Speaker 5: No one has seen or heard from them since that day.
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  Speaker 5: Family members say the trouble began months earlier. Wickerson's mother,
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  Speaker 5: Cartesia Morgan, said her daughter cut off contact in March
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  Speaker 5: of twenty three. She said Wickerson suddenly quit her job,
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  Speaker 5: maxed out her credit cards, and stopped speaking with her family.
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  Speaker 5: Morgan said she tried to report concerns to child services
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  Speaker 5: and asked police for welfare checks. Wickerson spoke to officers
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  Speaker 5: at that time and told them she was fine. Investigators
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  Speaker 5: say the group had fallen online teachings from Rashad Jamal White,
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  Speaker 5: who calls his work the University of Cosmic Intelligence. Police
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  Speaker 5: described the online movement as a spiritual cult. Jamal has
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  Speaker 5: tens of thousands of followers on the Internet and is
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  Speaker 5: now serving an eighteen year sentence in Georgia for child molestation.
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  Speaker 5: Three of the missing adults had adopted new names linked
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  Speaker 5: with that group. Neighbors told police the adults often acted
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  Speaker 5: in strange ways before they vanished. Police saw them outside
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  Speaker 5: quote worshiping the sun. Some described them running naked in
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  Speaker 5: the yard during rainstorms. Others saw them digging holes in
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  Speaker 5: their yard. Police say this group believed in polygamy, rejected
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  Speaker 5: the government, and tried to live off the grid. No
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  Speaker 5: one has answered calls or messages. Social media activity has stopped,
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  Speaker 5: and their bank card use ceased. Berkeley Police say there
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  Speaker 5: is no direct sign of violence. The FBI Saint Louis
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  Speaker 5: Field Office is involved with both agencies, saying they need
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  Speaker 5: the public's help. Anyone with information is asked to contact
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  Speaker 5: eight hundred, call FBI Tips, Do FBI dot gov for
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  Speaker 5: the latest crime injustice news. Follow crime alerts hourly update
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  Speaker 5: on your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm
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  Speaker 5: Drew Nelson.