Latest / True Crime and Wine Time / S5 E25 _ Midday Missing _ Sarah Elizabeth Avon & Bethany Ruby Bower _ Missing in Illinois

Transcript

S5 E25 _ Midday Missing _ Sarah Elizabeth Avon & Bethany Ruby Bower _ Missing in Illinois · True Crime and Wine Time

• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Hello lovelies. Sorry guys, I needed to get a drink.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I am Terry True Crime and welcome to Midday Missing,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: where we highlight missing person cases that need more attention.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: We live stream every Monday and Wednesday one Eastern on
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: our YouTube channel true Crime and Mine Time, Facebook and Kick.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Excuse me now, if you haven't yet, please like this
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: video and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you
• 1:22
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• 1:27
  Speaker 1: And if you're listening on the podcast app, please download
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: and leave us a review. It really helps others find
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: our show. Now, before we get into today's case, I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: wanted to let you know that Dearest Mother's Darkest Secrets
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: has officially returned for season two, and this season we
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: are live streaming every Monday at nine pm Eastern on
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: our YouTube channel. This series takes a deeper look into
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: some of the most disturbing and heartbreaking cases involving mother's
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: family tragedy, hidden darkness, and secrets that eventually come to light.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Next Monday, I'll be covering the case of Lisa Diez
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: and it's another case that is heartbreaking and shocking. Now,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: these cases are hard, but I believe these stories need
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to be shared so that we can all learn to
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: see how red flags and that help is also available. Now,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: before we get to our cases today that are in Illinois,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: I wanted to just share with you guys that I
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: got a message over on my Instagram last night from
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: a family member for a case we just recently covered,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: saying thank you. We miss her. You know, we want
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: her to be found and did a great job. And
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you that because when I tell you guys,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: it's free and easy to share these stories, share the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: posters that we post up on our midday missing Facebook
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: page or on my other social media's, it means a
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: lot to the families. Okay, now today we are headed
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: to Illinois. Illinois is known as the Prairie State, but
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: beyond Chicago skyline in deep Dish Pizza, the state has
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: a darker and lesser known history tied to unsolved disappearances
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and true crime. Illinois is home to one of the
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: world's largest collections of prehistoric and Native American earthworks at
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: co Coohakia Mounds, Sorry if I slaughtered that, and the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: very first McDonald's restaurant open in the Plaines. Okay, now
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  Speaker 1: we probably all know this, but the state also has
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  Speaker 1: a lot long history of major criminal cases that shaped
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: conversations around true crime and missing person investigations. Guys, sorry,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: if you can hear Misssine in the background, she decided
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: it was time to bark and say hello to everybody, Hello,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: miss Pam. Now today, Illinois continues to face an ongoing
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: missing person crisis. Recent reports estimate there are roughly four
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  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty to five hundred active missing person cases statewide,
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  Speaker 1: with hundreds more reported each year. The first thing is,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: why do we not have a solid number? Four sixty
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  Speaker 1: to five hundred. That's a big gap, Okay, big gap.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators and advocacy groups have also raised concerns about how
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  Speaker 1: missing person cases disproportionately impact black women, girls, and children
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: throughout Chicago and the surrounding care communities. In response, Illinois
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  Speaker 1: has recently strengthened laws aimed at improving how missing person
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  Speaker 1: cases are investigated, including faster entry of records into national
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  Speaker 1: databases and eliminating outdated weighted periods for filing reports. Good job, okay,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: good job Illinois. Oh angie, Hello, I'm sorry you're having
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: buffering issues. Hopefully it's nothing on my end, but you
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: never know, okay. Six year old Sarah Avon was last
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  Speaker 1: seen on July twenty first, nineteen eighty one, near the
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  Speaker 1: ends of Richard Street in Juliette, Illinois. That evening, Sarah
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: had been outside with her five year old sister and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: several neighborhood children. Now after arguing with another child, Sarah
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  Speaker 1: walked away from the group and crossed the street alone.
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  Speaker 1: She was reported missing by her family around nine pm
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  Speaker 1: that night, and despite decades of investigation, she has never
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: been found. Hey, guys, back in the seventies and eighties,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: it was common for six year old and five year
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: olds to play outside. It was a thing at the
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  Speaker 1: time of her disappearance. Sarah was described as a white
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  Speaker 1: female with black hair and brown eyes. She was four
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  Speaker 1: feet tall, weighed approximates five pounds, and was wearing a
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  Speaker 1: Juliette District soccer T shirt, blue jogging pants with red
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: and white stripes, and blue sneakers with a white stripe.
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  Speaker 1: Over the years, investigators have followed multiple leads in Sarah's case.
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  Speaker 1: One of the most discussed involved Ernest Wilson Senior, who
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: was a former neighbor of the Avon Avon Avon family. Sorry, guys,
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  Speaker 1: words are hard. My mouth's very dry from all of
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  Speaker 1: the anaistamines. After Wilson's death in nineteen ninety three, his nephew,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Robert Todji, told police that Wilson had made what he
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: described as a deathbed revelation connected to Sarah's disappearance. According
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: to Robert, Wilson could no longer speak, but drew a
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: triangle with the circle inside it, which some family members
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: believe represented a triangle shaped property owned in Juliette in
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one. I don't know how you get that
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: information from that, Okay, I'm going to just say that now.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Robert later claimed Wilson's teenage son had implicated himself and
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: another boy in Sarah's death. He also stated the teen
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  Speaker 1: admitted to sexually molesting Sarah and being inside the home
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  Speaker 1: when she was murdered. Robert believed Wilson buried Sari Sarah's
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: body on his property in order to protect his son. Okay.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: A witness later came forward and said that during the
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: summer of nineteen eighty one, he saw Wilson outside at
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: night digging a chest deep hole in his yard. When
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: asked what he was doing, Wilson reportedly stated he planned
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: to transplant sunflower plants. Okay, first off, guys, you wouldn't
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: want a waste deep hole to put sunflower plants in,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: just saying okay now. The same witness also recalled seeing
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Wilson operating a bulldozer near Hickory Creek in Spring Creek,
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  Speaker 1: pushing dirt and knocking down trees. Later, the Wilson family
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: reportedly moved an above ground swimming pool near the area
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: where the dirt had been piled. Okay, that's a lot
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: of different stuff. I don't know. Uh. Oh, so it
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: looks like Angie is still buffering. Hope you get that
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  Speaker 1: fixed now. Police did eventually search the Miller Avenue property
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: connected to Wilson, but no evidence was discovered. One official
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: involved later believed the excavation area may have been too
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: small to rule the property out completely. The witness who
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: reported seeing the chest deep poll also believed investigators did
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: not dig deep enough during the search. Now, guys, I
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: don't know exactly when they did this search, but I
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: would hope that they would use cadaver dogs in poke
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: holes in the ground because that scent can still come up. Okay.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Another man connected to the investigation was David R. Collins,
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  Speaker 1: who a convicted offender with a lengthy criminal has history.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty five, investigators believed one of several photographs
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: recovered from Collin's apartment may have shown Sarah. The girl
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: in the photograph was later identified as someone else, and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Place said they do not believe Collins was involved with
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Sarah's disappearance at all. I mean, I appreciate them looking
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: into every tip that comes in, because something we find
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: out with missing person cases, it's not always the case, okay.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Authorities have also publicly identified William R. Billy Redden as
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: a person of interest in Sarah's case. Redden was a
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: cousin of Sarah's father, knew Sarah personally and regularly visit
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: the family's home. Years before Sarah disappeared. Had been convicted
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: of aggravated aggravated battery against a toddler. Guys. He got
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: three years in prison for beating up a toddler, I
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: mean aggravated battery, more than three years just saying, and
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: he lived only a short walk from Sarah's home at
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the time she vanished. In twenty nineteen, investigators excavated the
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: crawl space beneath Redden's former home, but they didn't find anything.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Later that same year, the will County Sheriff's Office, along
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: experts using ground penetrating radar technology, search property previously owned
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: by Reddin and his family in unincorporated Elwood. That search
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: also failed to uncover Sarah's remains. In twenty twenty, the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: will County Sheriff's Office publicly confirmed that after reviewing the
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: case from the beginning, conducting new interviews, reassessing scenes, auditing evidence,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and reviewing modern forensic methods, that they're still working on
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: it and they do still consider William R. Readen to
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: be a person of interest in Sarah's disappearance. However, Redden
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: died in twenty ten and was never charged. More than
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: four decades later, Sarah Avon's disappearance remains unsolved, her body remains,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: nothing has been found, her family is still searching for answers,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and investigators continue to ask the public for information that
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: could bring closure to this case and most importantly to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: the family. Anyone with information about Sarah Avon's disappearance or
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: any information related to William R. Redden is asked to
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  Speaker 1: contact the Will County Sheriff's Office at eight one five
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  Speaker 1: seven two seven eight five seven four. Guys, this sweet
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  Speaker 1: little girl, who's not a little girl anymore, deserves to
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: be found and her family deserves answers. So please remember
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: after this, please go to either a Midday Missing Facebook
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: page or one of my very true crime social media pages.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: There you will find Sarah's missing person poster. Please share
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: it all over your social media. Okay, and guys, remember,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: if you know of a missing person, or you have
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: a loved one who's missing and you're interested in having
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: their story featured on an upcoming episode or maybe joining
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: me for a live interview, contact us by emailing me
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: at Harry at tcwtmedia dot com, or you can send
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: me a DM on any of our social media accounts,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: even on our true Crime and Wine Time social media accounts.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Somebody will get back to you. Thirty eight year old
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Bethany Beller was last seen in Newton, Illinois, on July
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: twenty fourth, twenty twenty one. According to the Charlie Project,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Bethany left her residence that day with all of her
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: belongings and then seemingly vanished without a trace. She has
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: never been heard from again. Two days later, on July
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  Speaker 1: twenty sixth, Bethany's dog and a purse containing her credit
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: cards were found on the front porch of the residence. However,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: none of the news article mentioned the fact that the
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: dog was seen leaving with her, only that her belongings
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: were left behind. And I share that with you guys
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: because it kind of gives you a hint of what
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: me and the team go through when investigating these cases.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: And we aren't able to talk with the families. The
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: information is different depending on the source, and we can
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: find it in multiple places with different information. So can't
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: confirm one hundred percent that she took her dog with
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: her now. She was reported officially missing on July thirty first.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: At the time of her disappearance, that Bethany had been
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: living with her sister while they cared for a relative
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: who lived at another address. The night Bethany disappeared, her
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: sister was staying with that relative. Investigators say Bethany left
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: behind important items, including her phone, money, and transportation, which
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: led loved ones to believe she may be in danger.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: Bethany is described as a white female with brown hair
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: and hazel eyes. She is approximately five foot eight inches tall,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: weighed about one hundred and sixty to one hundred and
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: seventy pounds at the time she disappeared. She has noticeable
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: burn scars on her right shoulder and neck, and she
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: has freckles and wears a full set of dingures. Family
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: members also noted that her hair was shorter at the
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: time due to injuries from a house fire in twenty twenty. Guys,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: the young lady she was injured on a house fire.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: She had burn marks. That's a lot of trauma to
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: go through. Investigators have said they do not believe that
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Bethany intended to stay gone, as she left behind those
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: important items along with her dog. Her sister told a
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: reporter that Bethany would sometimes go on trips for a
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: few days, but not without alerting her sister to where
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: she was going and for how long. So, guys, this
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: isn't somebody who was known for just disappearing, Okay, makes
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: it even more scary. Over the last several years, investigators
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and volunteers have continued searching for answers. Authorities have conducted
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: numerous searches throughout the area, including searches with cadaver dogs.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Drone flyovers and searches along the embarrassed river. Community members
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: also participated in a large organized search effort in the
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: fall of twenty twenty one. Investigators say one of the
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: most frustrating parts of the case is the belief that
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: someone likely knows what happened to Bethany that night. Despite
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: years passing, law enforcement maintains this case is still active
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: and continues to follow up on leads. Bethany's loved ones
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: have public loically praise both the community and investigators for
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: continuing to work the case. Guys, that is something rare. Normally,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: we don't hear family members praising law enforcement, so that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: leads me to believe that this law enforcement group is
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: doing a good job. Her family says local residents have
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: helped by sharing missing person posters, participating in searches, and
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: providing tips over the years. Guys, years later, Bethany Bower
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: remains missing and our family is still searching for answers
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: about what happened to her. Guys, like I said, she
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: didn't just leave. She was helping her sister take care
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: of enough family member. She didn't sound like the person
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: who would just drop all of her responsibilities. A new
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: dog and helping take care of someone. Okay, Anyone with
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: information about Bethany Bauer's disappearance is asked to contact the
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Newton Police Department at six one eight seven three three
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: eight four seven eight or the Jasper County Sheriff's Office
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: at six one eight seven eight three three h five seven. Guys,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: all of these cases are heartbreaking and they all deserve
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: to have the stories told. And like I said, please
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: go to our Midday Missing Facebook group. That's where we
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: share all of our missing person posters along with other
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: cases that need attention. We also have people tag us
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: in cases. We verify all posters before we share them.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: And like I said, because not everybody's on Facebook, I
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: will share all of these on my Tierry true Crime
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: social media pages. Okay. Now, if you follow us on
• 19:59
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• 20:03
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• 20:06
  Speaker 1: and you'll learn what we're doing in this crazy life
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: of ours. Okay. And in case you're new here, True
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Crime and Mind Time airs every Thursday at eight pm Eastern,
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  Speaker 1: and every week we deep dive into a shocking true
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: crime case and we pair perfectly with wine or a
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: cocktail sometimes water. This week we are covering part two
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: of the Parachute Mystery, which is the Stephen Hilder story,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: and if you didn't catch part one last Thursday, go
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: watch it before you join us tomorrow night, because we
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: didn't give any answers and there's a lot of questions
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: about this one, Okay, there is a lot. There is
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: rumors that it was an accident, maybe sabotage, maybe suicide.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Lots of questions, Okay, lots of questions. Definitely come join us,
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  Speaker 1: coloring book is amazing. I will say it was weirdest
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: crap coloring a picture of myself and it kind of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: did a little thing on my brain. So I went
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: back to covering creepy stuff. And I will tell you
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: the team got so tired of my crazy Crown clowns.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: They set up a coloring channel on our discord. So
• 22:33
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• 22:38
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• 22:41
  Speaker 1: all into Marvel, they watch shows, they stream Rural Housewives.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: They got a lot going on. Okay, but guys, mostly
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I want to say thank you for joining me today
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: and thank you for sharing these left one stories. It's free.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And like I told you at the top of the
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: episode about a family member who reached out, it means
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: a lot to them. Okay. Imagine if you had to
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: go to bed every night not knowing. Think about that. Okay,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: and you can do something. It's free. You can share
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: this video if you're listening on the podcast app, Share it,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: go to social media, share the posters. Okay, now, guys,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: until next time, please remember to stay safe, stay aware.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Most importantly, if you see something, say something, and if
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: you know something, tell Your silence is protecting the perpetrator, which,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: in my opinion makes you just as guilty. Okay, So
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: let's do that and let's help these loved ones bring
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: their loved ones home. Bye, guys, look forward to seeing
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: you soon. The to the to the to the trem