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College Art Student Vanishes, Sparking 'Massive Search' Before Case Takes a Deadly Turn · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, so we're diving into this case and it's uh, well,
• 0:04
  it's heartbreaking, to say the least. The disappearance and death
• 0:07
  of Caitlyn Markham.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a tough one, and from these dateline excerpts seems
• 0:13
  like a real puzzle even after all these years.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, what was it that? Really? I don't know what's
• 0:18
  stuck with you as we were looking at all this.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: You know, it's got to be the setting for me. Fairfield, Ohio,
• 0:24
  back in twenty eleven. Think about it, small town, right exactly,
• 0:28
  a place where this kind of thing just doesn't happen.
• 0:31
  You know. Caitlyn just vanishes from her own home one night,
• 0:35
  sent shockwaves through the whole community, and you can just
• 0:37
  feel it even in these articles, you.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Know, oh totally, you can really sense that loss of normalcy,
• 0:42
  especially for her family. Imagine being Ali, her younger sister
• 0:46
  just starting high.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: School, can't even fathom and then this life changes in
• 0:50
  an instant and the way it seems Ali's not alone, right,
• 0:53
  Caitlyn's father, Dave, he becomes like central to everything that follows.
• 0:57
  That dedication never giving up hope. It's a powerful stuff.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: It's one thing to say never give up, but to
• 1:03
  actually live it out year after year while investigators are
• 1:07
  hitting dead ends.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: And let's be real, at the beginning, it was a
• 1:10
  total mystery, no force entry at her place, no signs
• 1:14
  of a struggle, nothing, her fiance back then, John Carter,
• 1:18
  making those public pleas the kind of disappearance that just
• 1:21
  leaves you wondering where do you even start.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: But worse, way worse.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: And then, just when you think it can't get more unsettling,
• 1:32
  we learn about a second young woman found dead nearby.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Chilling is an understatement. And here's what really gets me,
• 1:38
  the similarities in these cases. They don't go into detail
• 1:40
  in the article, but it's clear investigators saw a link.
• 1:43
  This wasn't just tragic anymore. It pointed towards something a
• 1:45
  lot more deliberate.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: And the fact that Fairfield's not exactly is sprawling metropolis exactly.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: The idea that whoever did this could be living among them.
• 1:54
  Even Daylines correspondent Andrea Canning and the assistant prosecutor Brad
• 1:58
  Burris were stunned by this, as.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: They should be imagine from an investigator's standpoint. Suddenly you're
• 2:05
  dealing with double the everything, theories, timelines, maybe even years
• 2:09
  between the cases.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Evidence could be long gone, witnesses can't remember clearly.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Talk about a nightmare. But here's the thing, even with
• 2:16
  all those hurdles, the article mentions a big break in
• 2:19
  the case. What could that even look like after all
• 2:23
  this time?
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Honestly, it could be the tiniest detail, a new witness,
• 2:28
  maybe someone watching this very episode, and something clicks, or
• 2:32
  advancements in DNA finally giving answers from old evidence. Sometimes
• 2:37
  it's literally just a fresh set of eyes on the
• 2:39
  case files noticing a connection nobody else did.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: It's incredible to think such a massive shift from something
• 2:46
  so small.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: That's cold cases for you, Which makes me.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Think the article calls the cases and controversial. Why do
• 2:52
  you think that is what would cause debate in a
• 2:54
  situation like this.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Well, let's be real. With cold cases, you're often relying
• 2:58
  on circumstantial stuff fingerprints, maybe a hair, or people's memories, which,
• 3:02
  let's be honest, aren't that reliable after years.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: And years, especially with something this dramatic.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Right, So maybe the perpetrator totally unexpected, someone cleared early
• 3:11
  on or never even on the radar. Or maybe it's
• 3:15
  the sentencing itself that rubs people the wrong way, too
• 3:18
  lenient considering what happened. We're in speculation territory here, but
• 3:22
  controversy usually means there are unanswered questions, you know, a
• 3:25
  lack of closure.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Wow, lots to think about, for sure. This whole thing
• 3:30
  is equal parts fascinating and incredibly sad.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: It really highlights how important persistence is, especially for folks
• 3:37
  seeking justice in cases like this years down the line,
• 3:40
  Every single detail matters, so to everyone listening.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Before you watch the Dayline episode, think about this. What
• 3:46
  if you hold a piece of this puzzle without even
• 3:49
  knowing it it happens. Pay attention any name, any place
• 3:52
  that seems familiar, however small. It might be nothing, or
• 3:56
  it might be the key to unlocking the truth.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Never hurts to double check exactly