July 7, 2025

Terrifying & True | The Disappearance of Carrie Culberson – Ohio’s Infamous No-Body Murder Case

Terrifying & True | The Disappearance of Carrie Culberson – Ohio’s Infamous No-Body Murder Case
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Terrifying & True

In 1996, 22-year-old Carrie Culberson vanished from Blanchester, Ohio, after a violent encounter with her abusive ex-boyfriend. No body was ever found, yet a jury convicted him of her murder. In our 100th episode of Terrifying and True, we tackle this haunting case—submitted by our friend and listener Wolf Dan—and explore the investigation, trial, and the legacy of one of Ohio’s most disturbing disappearances.

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🎵 Music by Ray Mattis
Check out Ray’s work here!

👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Mark Shields, Bobbletopia.com

🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder

For everything else check out WeeklySpooky.com

🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week!

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📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!

🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !
👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com
WEBVTT

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For our one hundredth episode of Terrifying and True, we're

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honoring our good buddy and listener, Wolf Dan with his

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request to cover one of Ohio's most haunted unsolved crimes.

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In nineteen ninety six, twenty two year old Carrie Culberson

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vanished after a violent encounter with her ex. Her body

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was never found, but someone was still convicted of her murder.

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What you were about to take is burnt to be you?

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Based on witness accounts, testimonies, and public record. This is

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terrifying and true True Blanchester, Ohio, August twenty eighth, nineteen

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ninety six. And why at summer night, shattered by a scream,

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a young woman runs for her life beneath the glow

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of a street lamp, but she's never seen again. Twenty

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two year old Carrie Colberson vanished without a trace after

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a violent confrontation with her ex boyfriend. Her body was

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never found, her car gone, and yet a jury convicted

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her killer. What happened to Carrie? And why did local

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authorities seem to protect the suspect instead of the victim.

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For our one hundredth episode of Terrifying and True, we'll

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be telling that story After this, late August nineteen ninety six,

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blanchets to Ohio. A sticky summer night hangs over the

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sleepy small town street in the darkness just before midnight,

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A sudden scream pierces the silence. Help me. A young

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woman's voice cries out, raw with terror. On a moonlit

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front lawn, a frantic figure, twenty two year old Carrie Culberson,

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is seen desperately running her silhouette, illuminated by a flickering

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street light. Chasing her is a man she knows all

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too well, her on and off boyfriend, twenty four year

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old Vincent Dowan. He catches up to her and grabs

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a fistful of her hair. Neighbors peering from their windows

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watch in alarm. As Carrie struggles. Dowan's voice, rough with rage,

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shatters the humid air. I told you if you ever

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tried to leave me, I'd kill you, he snarls. Carrie

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is pummeled with fists as she fights to break free.

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For a moment, her pleas for help cut through the night,

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and then, with a squeal of tires on asphalt, there

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is only silence. The little red Honda CRX they had

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been seen beside is now gone. Disappearing into the darkness.

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By dawn, Carrie Coulberson had vanished without a trace. Her

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family would awaken to an empty house and a nightmare

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that was just beginning. In the coming days, this at

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Ohio village would be plunged into a real life mystery

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worthy of the darkest crime drama, a mystery of love

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and violence, of a body that refused to surface, and

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of justice sought in the haunting absence of a victim.

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The story of Carrie's disappearance and the search for answers

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unfolds like a cinematic thriller. A beautiful young woman gone missing,

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a violent lover as the prime suspect, a town divided

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by secrets, and a determined family fighting for the truth

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in the face of unimaginable loss. Blanchester, Ohio is the

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kind of tight knit Midwestern town where everyone's seemingly knows everyone.

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In nineteen ninety six, its population hovered around four thousand,

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two hundred. A one stop like village amid the cornfields,

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about thirty five miles outside of Cincinnati, It's the sort

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of place that seemed safe, even idyllic, the kind of

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small town where parents felt comfortable letting their children ride

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bikes down sleepy streets, and where neighbors greet each other

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at the grocery store. Nothing bad ever happens here, people

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used to think, But Blanchester would soon learn that even

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in quiet towns, darkness can lurk behind closed doors. In

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this unassuming community, Carrie Coulberson was a loved figure with

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a warm smile and vibrant personality. Carrie was often described

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as truly someone special by those who knew her. She

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had big brown eyes, a cheerleader's energy, and homecoming queen looks,

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as one account later put it, In high school, Carrie

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had been everywhere. She served as a class officer and

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appeared on the homecoming court all four years, balanced by

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nine years as a cheerleader. She sang in the choir,

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played sports from soccer to volleyball, and even played the

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bells in the school band. After graduating in nineteen ninety two,

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Carrie explored college. She enrolled at the University of Cincinnati

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as a pre law student, but ultimately found her her

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passion closer to home, becoming a licensed nail technician. Ever ambitious,

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she hadn't given up on furthering her education In fact,

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the day before she disappeared, Carrie took a nursing school

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pre admission test at a local community college, hoping to

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launch a career in healthcare. By her early twenties, Carrie

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seemed to have the world at her feet. Friends and

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family remember her as bubbly, genuine and fun loving, the

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kind of young woman who could light up a room.

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She doated on her family, her mother, Deborah Culberson, her

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father Roger, and her younger sister Christina, often trying out

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new low fat recipes on her mom and little sister

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and joking about future domestic bliss. Quote. Well, the world

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needs little white picket fences, she would say with a laugh,

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dreaming of having her own happy family some day. Raised

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with confidence and strong willed by nature, Carrie wasn't someone

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anyone thought would fall into the trappings of an abusive relationship.

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That's why it was so shocking to those close to

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her when they began to see the signs of trouble

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with the man she was dating. Carrie met Vincent Dowan

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in the mid nineteen nineties, and at first their relationship

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seemed like a typical young romance, but it quickly spiraled

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into something dangerous. Vince was a local guy with a

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troubled reputation quote, violent, controlling, and prone to explosive jealousy,

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as friends would later describe him. Less than a year

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after they began dating, the abuse started and escalated very quickly.

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In one early incident, Doan smashed the windows of Carrie's

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car while she was sitting inside, glass, flying a terrifying

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outburst that foreshadowed worse to come soon. He was hitting

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her on at least one occasion so brutally that he

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bruised her kidneys. He would throw her across rooms in

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fits of rage. Friends saw Carrie turn up with black

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eyes and bruises trying to cover for Vince's violence. Her

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boss at the salon recalled how Carrie once came to

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work with finger shaped marks on her neck and a

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bruised temple, signs of strangulation and blows to the head.

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Dowan's violence peaked in the summer of nineteen ninety six,

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just weeks before Carrie went missing. In late July, during

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a dispute, Vince grabbed a heavy space heater and smashed

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it into the back of Carrie's head, splitting her scalp.

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She survived the assault, but needed five surgical staples in

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order to close the gash. This time, Carrie did something courageous.

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She filed a criminal complaint against Dowan for misdemeanor assault.

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It was not the first time she had gone to

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the police for help. At least three times prior she

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had reported Vince's abuse. Each time the response was tepid.

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Dowan somehow evaded arrest or serious investigation until Carrie herself

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pressed charges for the space heater attack. Finally, a court

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date was set. Vince Dowan was due in court on

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those assault charges the week after August twenty eighth, nineteen

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ninety six. For once, it seemed Carrie was standing up

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and the law would intervene, but Vince Dowan had other plans.

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Those close to Carrie later realized that leaving Vince was

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the most dangerous time for her. Quote every time she

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attempted to leave was when he would beat her and

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tell her if I can't have you, no one can.

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Her family recalled, threatened not just Carrie but also her

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loved ones, warning he'd hurt her mother or sister if

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Carrie ever broke up with him. He stalked her, controlled

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who she saw and even held her at gunpoint. In fact, chillingly,

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just a few days before Carrie disappeared, Dowan abducted her

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and held her captive for five hours at gunpoint. She

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eventually got away from that encounter with her life, but

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it was a sign that Vince's obsession was reaching a

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fever pitch. As one prosecutor would later theorize, Dowan was

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desperate to stop Carrie from testifying against him on the

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assault charges or from escaping his grasp once and for all.

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The stage was set for a tragedy. Carrie's friends and

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family were urging her to leave him for good, terrified

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by the abuse they'd witnessed. Carrie herself was afraid, but

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she seemed to be gathering the resolve to break free.

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In late August nineteen ninety six, despite her fear, she

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was planning to end the relationship for good. Vince apparently

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sensed it coming. He was not about to let Carrie go.

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In his mind, she was his, and if he couldn't

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control her, he'd make good on his threats. The darkness

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that had been building in their two year relationship was

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about to engulf them both When August twenty eighth, nineteen

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ninety six began as a normal day, brimming with late

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summer activity. That evening, Carrie joined her friends for a

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weekly ritual. She played in a co ed volleyball league

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in a town nearby called Morrow. Carrie loved sports, and

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the friendly game followed by a trip to a local bar,

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was something she always looked forward to. But that night,

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an uninvited visitor showed up at the sand courts, Vincent Dowan.

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He was angry, angry that Carrie hadn't come to see him,

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angry perhaps that she was spending time with others when

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he was facing legal trouble. According to Carrie's friend Jessica Williams,

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who was with her at the game, Dowan tried to

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to get Carrie to leave with him mid game, insisting

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she go with him, but she refused. On the surface,

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Carrie stayed calm, shaking her head no as Vince glowered

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at her from the sidelines. She had promised to drive

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her teammates home that night. She wasn't about to abandon

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them for him. Frustrated, Dowan peeled out of the parking

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lot tires, squealing and frustration. Jessica later recalled that after

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the game at Carrie's request, they drove by Doan's house

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in Blanchester a couple of times, perhaps to see if

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he was home or still fuming, before Jessica dropped Carrie

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off back at her house on West Main Street around

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eleven thirty pm. Blanchester's streets were and quiet at that hour.

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A neighbor, Kimberly Lanyard, was sitting on her porch enjoying

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the late summer night, and she saw Jessica's car pull up.

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It was about eleven forty five pm when Carrie stepped

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out in front of her home, said good night to

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her friend, and went inside. But within minutes Lanyard noticed

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something was strange. Carrie's red Honda CRX, a distinctive little

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two door car, backing out of the Culberson driveway. The

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car's headlights were off, which struck Lanyard as odd. She

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watched the dark car roll halfway down the block before

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its headlights flicked on and it drove off into the night.

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Carrie had just gotten home. Why was she leaving again

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so soon and in such a stealthy manner. Lanyard would

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later report this peculiar sight, not realizing at the time

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that Carrie herself might not have been behind the wheel.

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Around the same time, another neighbor across town was about

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to witness the chaos described in our opening scene. Billy

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Joe Brown lived across the street from Vincent Dowan's house.

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Sometime near twelve thirty am, as she was getting ready

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for bed, Brown was startled by the sounds of a

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commotion outside. She peeked out to see under the glow

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of a street land there was that same little red

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car parked near Dowan's home, and a man and woman

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in a heated struggle. Brown recognized Vince Doan. He was

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a familiar face she often saw across the way, and

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she recognized the woman with him as the young lady

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who visited him frequently, Carrie Coulberson. What Brown saw next

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was horrifying. Carrie was screaming for help and trying to flee,

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but Vince was on her, yelling furiously. Brown distinctly heard

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Carrie cry out help me, while Dowan was shouting something

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like I told you next time, I'd kill you. Brown

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watched as Vince dragged Carrie and struck her repeatedly, then

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a sudden silence, perhaps Carrie was forced into the car

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moments later, Brown heard the squeal of tires. By the

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time she looked out again, the street was empty, The

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red car and Carrie were gone. What happened in those

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fraught moments would become the subject of testimony and speculation,

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but one thing is certain. Carrie Culberson was never seen

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again after that night. Some time after midnight, she vanished,

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as if into thin air. When the sun rose on

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August twenty ninth, nineteen ninety six, Debbie Culberson since something

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was wrong. She noticed that Carrie's Honda was not in

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the driveway where it should be. Carrie always came home

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at night, and if she ever stayed elsewhere, she would call.

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Debbie's worry quickly turned to panic when she couldn't find

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Carrie anywhere. She began driving around town, retracing routes Carrie

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might have taken. Her first instinct was to drive straight

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to Vincent Dowan's house or to his father's place, somewhere

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where she might find her daughter. At Lawrence Baker's house,

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Vincent's father, Debbie found Vince and demanded to know if

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he had seen Carrie. Vince's answers that day would later

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raise every possible alarm bell. According to Debbie, the first

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time she asked, Vince claimed he hadn't seen Carrie in

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three days. That made no sense. He had shown up

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at her volleyball game just the evening prior, after all.

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When Debbie pressed him again later, Vince abruptly changed his story.

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Now he said Carrie had driven by his house around

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twelve thirty a m honking her horn, but he refused

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to come out. He claimed she was drunk. Carrie's friends

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would later insist she'd had at most one beer all

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night and she was far from intoxicated. This version still

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didn't square with Debbi. She confronted Vince a third time

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as the day wore on, and again he shifted his tail.

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This time, he admitted he did see Carrie around twelve thirty.

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He said she'd even come into his house wrapped in

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a towel from a shower he'd been taking, and that

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they had had an argument. Supposedly, he told her he

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didn't love her any more. He claimed. Carrie then sped

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off angrily in her car, never to return. Three stories

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in one day, each different. Debby's blood ran cold. She

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knew something was terribly wrong. As Thursday turned into Friday,

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with still no sign of Carrie or her car, the

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missing person's case took on increasing urgency. Carrie's family reported

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00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.799
her missing to the Blanchester Police within hours of her vanishing.

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The investigation into Carrie's disappearance had now begun, but it

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00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:07.039
would soon become apparent that the search for truth would

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00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:14.000
be frustrated at nearly every turn. When a loved one disappears,

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00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:20.440
every minute counts, But in Carrie Culberson's case, the initial

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00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:30.000
police response was shockingly lackluster, even possibly compromised. Blanchester Police

250
00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:34.759
Chief Richard Peyton, the town's top lawman, happened to be

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00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:40.119
a personal friend of the Dowan family. In those crucial

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00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:45.920
early hours after Carrie went missing, Instead of immediately treating

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00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:51.279
Vincent Dowan as a suspect and locking down potential crime scenes,

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00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:58.200
Chief Peyton alerted the Dowan family. He privately warned Vincent's father,

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Lawrence Baker, that Vincent would inevitably be a suspect in

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00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:08.680
Carrie's disappearance. It was a heads up that gave the

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00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:16.960
Dowans time to prepare, or perhaps to hide evidence. Carrie's

258
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:22.839
family and friends, meanwhile, were not sitting idle. They fanned

259
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:29.400
out across town, posting flyers and pleading for information. The

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00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.519
whole community was on alert for the missing red Honda

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00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:40.400
CRX or any sign of Carrie. Have you seen this girl?

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00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:45.200
Posters with Carrie's smiling face went up in shop windows.

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Tips and rumors began to trickle in, some plausible, some

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00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:59.039
utterly outlandish. One ghastly local rumor even suggested that Carrie

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00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:04.680
had been fed to a lion that supposedly guarded the

266
00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:11.680
Dowan's junkyard, a horrifying notion that underscored the desperation and

267
00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:18.599
dark imagination swirling around the case. Amid the swirl of theories,

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00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:24.799
one thing was clear. All roads of suspicion led to

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00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:37.160
Vincent Dowan and his family's properties. Within five days of

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00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:45.279
Carry's disappearance, investigators, under pressure from Carry's family and county authorities,

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finally honed in on the Dowan homestead on Hunt Road,

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00:25:51.400 --> 00:25:57.160
a rural property owned by Vincent's father. There, behind a

273
00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:02.839
cluster of trees lay a murcury pond. Acting on a tip,

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00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:07.920
and perhaps guided by the sickening intuition that a body

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00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:13.319
might be hidden under the water, authorities brought in search dogs.

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00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:17.480
The dogs hit on a scent at the edge of

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00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:23.440
the pond, strongly indicating Carrie's body could be in or

278
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:30.799
around that water. On September third, nineteen ninety six, the

279
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:35.160
decision was made to drain the pond to see what

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00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:41.680
secrets it might hold. What happened next would become one

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00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:47.400
of the most contentious aspects of the case. After the

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00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:52.519
cadaver dogs reacted, Chief Peyton abruptly called off the search

283
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:58.880
for the night, citing darkness or safety, no one's quite

284
00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:06.319
sure why. Shockingly, he also left the sight unguarded overnight.

285
00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:11.880
In other words, the one place on Earth that might

286
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:19.160
contain Carrie Culberson's remains was left open and unwatched, even

287
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:24.480
after a strong indication of human scent had been found.

288
00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:30.319
By the time law enforcement returned and drained the pond

289
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:36.359
the next day, it was perhaps too late. They found

290
00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:40.559
only a set of footprints sunk into the pond's muddy

291
00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:46.279
bottom and no body. It looked for all the world,

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00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:50.160
as if some one had waded into the muck to

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00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:58.519
retrieve and remove something or some one during the unguarded night.

294
00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:06.319
Investigators were horrified. The prime opportunity to recover Carrie or

295
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.000
evidence of her fate from that pond had slipped right

296
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:16.720
through their fingers, and it appeared to Carrie's family at

297
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:23.119
least that the police chief's negligence or collusion had enabled

298
00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:30.000
the perpetrators to cover their tracks. As days turned to weeks,

299
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:35.240
the case intensified. The Clinton County Sheriff's office and state

300
00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:40.519
investigators took on a larger role given the conflicts of

301
00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:46.200
interest in the tiny Blanchester police department. Evidence against Vincent

302
00:28:46.279 --> 00:28:52.000
Dowan continued to mount even without a body. Neighbors like

303
00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.240
Lanyard and Brown gave statements about what they saw that night,

304
00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:01.279
the car leaving without lights, the assault in the yard.

305
00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:07.240
Friends recounted Vince's history of abuse and how Carrie feared

306
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:13.119
for her life. Carrie's own mother, Debbie, told police about

307
00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:22.039
Vincent's shifting stories on August twenty ninth, which looked highly suspicious.

308
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:28.240
It became painfully clear to investigators that Carrie had likely

309
00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:33.279
been murdered that night, and that Vincent, possibly with help

310
00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:38.279
from his half brother Tracy, and others, had disposed of

311
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:45.160
her body and her car in some unknown location. By

312
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:50.359
early September nineteen ninety six, the focus of the investigation

313
00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:55.720
had fully turned toward Vincent Dowan. He was officially named

314
00:29:55.720 --> 00:30:00.480
a suspect and a grand jury convened to hear evidence.

315
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:06.319
Facing mounting pressure, the local authorities could no longer shield

316
00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:11.920
their friend's son. In November nineteen ninety six, a grand

317
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.759
jury in Clinton County indicted Vincent Dowan, initially on a

318
00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:21.319
charge of kidnapping. Since no body had been found to

319
00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:27.759
prove a murder, even without Carrie's body, prosecutors were determined

320
00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:34.480
to pursue justice. As one reporter later noted, Carrie's disappearance

321
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:39.000
was eventually ruled a homicide, even though her body was

322
00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:44.160
never found. The case was building momentum, and soon it

323
00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:48.519
would head to a dramatic trial, one that would test

324
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.720
the limits of prosecuting a murder without a body. In

325
00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:58.799
July nineteen ninety seven, the eyes of the region and

326
00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:06.240
soon the nation, turned to the Clinton County Courthouse in Wilmington, Ohio,

327
00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:12.440
where Vincent Dowan's murder trial began. It had been nearly

328
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:18.920
a year since Carrie vanished. The prosecution faced a daunting

329
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:24.319
task convince a jury that Carrie was dead and that

330
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:30.440
Doan killed her, all without a body, without a murder weapon,

331
00:31:31.240 --> 00:31:37.680
and without forensic certainty. It was a circumstantial case, but

332
00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:43.440
it was also a compelling one. Over weeks of testimony,

333
00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:49.960
prosecutors presented a mosaic of evidence that peace by Peace

334
00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:55.519
painted a chilling portrait of what likely happened on that

335
00:31:55.640 --> 00:32:01.960
August night. They argued of two possible motive, either of

336
00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:08.440
which or both could explain the crime. One theory was

337
00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:14.000
that Vincent Dowan, obsessively jealous and enraged that he could

338
00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:19.400
no longer control Carrie, murdered her in a final act

339
00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:24.880
of domination. The other theory was that he killed her

340
00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:29.359
to stop her from testifying against him on the assault

341
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:35.720
charge scheduled in court the following week. In either scenario,

342
00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:39.640
the threat to his control was Carrie's intent to leave

343
00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:46.079
him for good, and Vincent acted on his oft repeated ultimatum.

344
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If he couldn't have her, nobody could. One by one,

345
00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:03.079
witnesses took the band to recount the events surrounding the

346
00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:10.079
disappearance and Dowan's prior acts of violence. Jessica Williams described

347
00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:14.359
the volleyball game on August twenty eighth, explaining how Dowan

348
00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:21.000
showed up unannounced, angry and demanding, and how Carrie stood

349
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:27.200
her ground, refusing to leave with him. Neighbor Kimberly Lanyard

350
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:32.119
testified about seeing Carrie's car leave her house around midnight

351
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:40.039
without its lights on, an eerie detail suggesting stealth or duress.

352
00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:44.799
Then Billy Joe Brown riveted the courtroom with her eyewitness

353
00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:49.799
account of the fight in her front yard, how she

354
00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:55.720
saw Carrie running and screaming help me, and her Dowan bellow.

355
00:33:56.519 --> 00:33:58.880
I told you if you ever tried to leave me,

356
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:04.720
I'd kill you, you bitch, as he beat her. Brown

357
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.280
admitted she had no phone to call the police that night,

358
00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:13.519
and that her own husband initially dismissed the commotion as

359
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:19.199
simply a drunken squabble. By the time she realized something

360
00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:26.800
truly heinous was happening, Carrie and Dowan were gone. The

361
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:32.000
prosecution didn't stop at the disappearance. They traced what they

362
00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:38.440
believed happened in the hours after. Vicky Watson and Laurie Baker,

363
00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:44.719
relatives by marriage to Don's half brother Tracy, provided key testimony.

364
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:49.639
Watson said she was sleeping over at Tracy Baker's house,

365
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:55.119
Vincent's half brother, that night at three fifteen a m.

366
00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:00.440
She was awakened by a knock peeking through the blonde.

367
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:07.280
She saw Vincent Dowan on the back deck, shirtless, looking disheveled,

368
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:12.199
with his right hand clutching his left arm as if injured.

369
00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:18.000
He was talking to Tracy outside, but Watson couldn't hear

370
00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:24.400
the words. She did notice something peculiar. Dowan's hair was

371
00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:30.000
messy and he appeared agitated, but she saw no visible

372
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:37.039
blood on him at that moment. Watson didn't intervene. Shortly after,

373
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:42.559
Tracy's wife, Laurie Baker, drove Watson to work very early

374
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:50.320
around four am, leaving the two men alone. Laurie Baker

375
00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:57.039
herself testified next, filling in crucial gaps. She confirmed that

376
00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:04.000
Vincent arrived around three point fifteen wearing only jeans, shirtless

377
00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:10.360
and smeared with blood across his chest. He was holding

378
00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:14.679
his arm as if hurt. Laurie recounted that Vincent and

379
00:36:14.719 --> 00:36:20.920
her husband, Tracy spoke in low urgent tones. Then Tracy

380
00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:26.159
came inside to grab trash bags. Vincent took a shower

381
00:36:26.199 --> 00:36:32.119
in her bathroom, washing off something one can only imagine what,

382
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:36.079
and the two men left the house around three point

383
00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:42.000
thirty or three forty five am, carrying garbage bags and

384
00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:48.559
a gun. When they returned before dawn, roughly five am.

385
00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:54.239
Both men had blood on their clothes and boots. Laurie

386
00:36:54.280 --> 00:36:58.559
testified that she handed Tracy bleach and a scrub brush

387
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:03.719
and watch as he delivered them to Vincent, who immediately

388
00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:10.039
went to shower. Yet again, she even saw Tracy wiping

389
00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:14.360
off blood from his boots with a rag. It was

390
00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:19.960
a grim clean up scene, bleach, water and blood swirling

391
00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:28.199
away as dawn broke. Investigators later recovered some of Tracy's boots, towels,

392
00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:33.480
and his truck. Testing found blood on them, but it

393
00:37:33.559 --> 00:37:38.800
was too degraded to identify a definitive match. To carry

394
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:45.760
through these witnesses, the prosecutors effectively walked the jury through

395
00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:51.559
a timeline of murder and cover up. The confrontation around

396
00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:56.079
twelve thirty am, the likely killing and hiding of Carrie's

397
00:37:56.119 --> 00:38:00.840
body somewhere soon after, and the convening of Vincent and

398
00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:05.440
Tracy in the pre dawn hours to dispose of evidence,

399
00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:11.360
presumably moving Carrie's body, perhaps initially hidden in that pond

400
00:38:11.960 --> 00:38:18.679
or elsewhere, to a more permanent location, and disposing of

401
00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:24.599
her car. The red Honda CRX has never been found.

402
00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:31.199
Prosecutors implied it may have been dismantled or crushed, perhaps

403
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:36.320
hinting at the involvement of the Dowan family junkyard, the

404
00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:44.239
same place that spawned the macabre rumors. Beyond the immediate crime,

405
00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:49.360
the state presented evidence of Dowan's pattern of brutality to

406
00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:56.199
establish intent and motive. Carrie's friends and coworkers recounted her

407
00:38:56.280 --> 00:39:01.960
black eyes and bruises, establishing that day Owen had consistently

408
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:08.679
beaten and terrorized her. One particularly chilling piece of testimony

409
00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:14.079
came from Mitchell Epperson, a cellmate who was housed with

410
00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:18.280
Vincent in a county jail in late nineteen ninety six

411
00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:25.800
on an unrelated charge. Epperson recalled casual conversations he had

412
00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:30.519
had with Vincent about women. Vincent bragged in jail that

413
00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:35.519
quote you can't let them walk, You gotta make them pay,

414
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:43.559
referring to disobedient girlfriends. Even more damning, Dowan allegedly admitted

415
00:39:43.639 --> 00:39:47.920
he would quote lie awake at night and think of

416
00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:54.199
a hundred different ways to kill Carrie before I did. This.

417
00:39:54.440 --> 00:39:59.800
Jaw dropping confession from Doan's own mouth, if true, painted

418
00:39:59.840 --> 00:40:03.760
him as a man who not only could have killed Carrie,

419
00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:10.639
but fantasized about it in advance. It went directly to

420
00:40:10.760 --> 00:40:19.280
the issue of premeditation and intent. Finally, Deborah Culberson, Carrie's mother,

421
00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:25.119
took the stand, providing a poignant bookend to the case.

422
00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:30.519
She confirmed the various stories Vincent had told her on

423
00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:36.239
August twenty nine when she searched for Carrie, highlighting how

424
00:40:36.280 --> 00:40:48.000
his lies had evolved over a single mourning Deborah also

425
00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:53.840
recounted a disturbing conversation she had had with Vincent before

426
00:40:54.159 --> 00:41:01.719
Carrie vanished, wherein he tried to downplay his abuse. Quote,

427
00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:05.360
I've always slapped her around. I never hit her with

428
00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:10.519
my fist. I just slapped her, he told Deborah, as

429
00:41:10.559 --> 00:41:16.320
if this somehow made it acceptable. The court room felt

430
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:20.360
the weight of Deborah's testimony, the anguish of a mother

431
00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:25.480
who practically knew from day one that Vincent had harmed

432
00:41:25.480 --> 00:41:29.880
her daughter, but who still did not know where her

433
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:37.039
child's body lay. Vincent Dowan's defense team, for their part,

434
00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:42.599
faced an uphill battle, with so many witnesses painting him

435
00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:47.599
as violent and with no solid alibi. His own accounts

436
00:41:47.639 --> 00:41:52.679
of the night were self contradictory. Their strategy was to

437
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:58.960
so doubt about whether a murder had even occurred without

438
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:04.119
a body. Defense argued, who could say Carrie wasn't still

439
00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:10.599
alive somewhere. They floated the idea that perhaps Carrie ran off,

440
00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.679
that maybe she'd gotten so fed up with life in

441
00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:20.639
Blanchester and with Vince, that she decided to disappear on

442
00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:24.960
her own. They pointed out that not a single drop

443
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:30.480
of Carrie's blood had been found, nor any finger prints

444
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:37.760
or DNA tying Vincent conclusively to a killing. They even

445
00:42:37.960 --> 00:42:42.639
produced a few witnesses, some locals who claimed to have

446
00:42:42.719 --> 00:42:47.199
seen a woman resembling Carrie in the days or weeks

447
00:42:47.719 --> 00:42:52.320
after August twenty eighth, though none of these sightings could

448
00:42:52.360 --> 00:42:57.840
be substantiated and were likely cases of mistaken identity or

449
00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:04.280
false hope. The defense also highlighted that no murder weapon

450
00:43:04.599 --> 00:43:09.079
had been recovered, and that some charges like abuse of

451
00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:15.159
a corpse against Tracy Baker had been dropped precisely because

452
00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:20.199
there was no corpse. Could it be? They urged the

453
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:26.679
jury that Carrie was out there somewhere alive, but the

454
00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:33.320
prosecution had effectively preempted this argument. They had introduced Carrie's

455
00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:39.119
close friends, who testified that Carrie had not packed any belongings,

456
00:43:39.679 --> 00:43:46.000
taken any money, or contacted anyone, not the behavior of

457
00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:52.639
a voluntary runaway. She also had upcoming plans, a new

458
00:43:52.679 --> 00:43:57.679
career path, and ap pending court case, and had given

459
00:43:57.800 --> 00:44:04.360
every indication to stay in her community, not to flee.

460
00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:09.519
And then there were those powerful witnesses to violence that night.

461
00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:15.320
If Carrie had survived the beating, Brown witnessed, why had

462
00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:21.360
she not surfaced? Everything pointed not to a willing disappearance,

463
00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:28.639
but to a violent end. After two weeks of testimony,

464
00:44:29.239 --> 00:44:33.679
the case went to the jury. The nation waited. The

465
00:44:33.760 --> 00:44:38.199
media had taken keen interest, since trials without a body

466
00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:45.519
were at the time relatively rare and risky for prosecutors. Indeed,

467
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:49.360
the Culberson case would go on to be featured on

468
00:44:49.599 --> 00:44:54.519
national true crime shows like American Justice and date Line,

469
00:44:55.159 --> 00:45:01.320
precisely because of the no body aspect. The story had

470
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:06.159
all the elements of a made for TV mystery, except

471
00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:12.800
this was painfully real for those involved. As one local

472
00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:18.639
reporter later noted, the trial drew national attention because Dowan

473
00:45:18.880 --> 00:45:25.000
was convicted despite the absence of a body, something many

474
00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:33.000
jurors find difficult to do. In the deliberation room, twelve jurors,

475
00:45:33.559 --> 00:45:38.880
six men and six women agonized over the evidence for

476
00:45:39.079 --> 00:45:46.159
four days. On August seventh, nineteen ninety seven, they returned

477
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:54.000
with a verdict. They found Vincent Dowan guilty of aggravated murder,

478
00:45:55.159 --> 00:46:00.639
specifically the court alleging that he killed Carrie in the

479
00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:05.119
commission of kidnapping her, and guilty of three counts of

480
00:46:05.239 --> 00:46:10.480
kidnapping related to the various times he'd abducted or restrained her.

481
00:46:11.880 --> 00:46:15.480
He was actually acquitted on a second murder count, which

482
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:22.280
had alleged prior calculation and design, essentially premeditation, and on

483
00:46:22.280 --> 00:46:27.400
one additional kidnapping count. The jury seemed to conclude that

484
00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:31.800
while he may not have planned out the murder in advance,

485
00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:40.079
he did intentionally kill her during an abduction. With those convictions,

486
00:46:40.599 --> 00:46:46.519
the maximum sentence was on the table. Dowan faced the

487
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:53.079
death penalty. A separate sentencing phase followed. In November of

488
00:46:53.199 --> 00:46:59.639
nineteen ninety seven. After hearing further arguments, the jury spared

489
00:46:59.760 --> 00:47:04.559
Vince Saint Owan's life by recommending a sentence of life

490
00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:11.360
in prison without the possibility of parole, rather than execution.

491
00:47:12.559 --> 00:47:17.719
The judge imposed that life sentence. Vincent Dowan, at twenty

492
00:47:17.880 --> 00:47:23.719
five years old, was led away in shackles destined to

493
00:47:23.800 --> 00:47:29.559
spend the rest of his days behind bars. As he

494
00:47:29.719 --> 00:47:35.519
was sentenced, he remained defiant, continuing to proclaim his innocence,

495
00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:41.800
a claim he maintains to this day. But the evidence

496
00:47:41.880 --> 00:47:46.599
and verdict spoke otherwise. In the eyes of the law,

497
00:47:47.199 --> 00:47:52.159
Vincent Dowan had murdered Carrie Culberson, even if he had

498
00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:57.719
gone to extreme lengths to ensure that her body would

499
00:47:57.719 --> 00:48:04.239
never be found. For Carrie's family and friends, the verdict

500
00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:09.639
was a moment of bitter sweet justice in that courtroom,

501
00:48:10.159 --> 00:48:16.119
justice was served, a dangerous man was held accountable, yet

502
00:48:16.280 --> 00:48:21.119
there was no reunion with Carrie, no body to lay

503
00:48:21.159 --> 00:48:26.719
to rest. Debbie Culberson and her family walked out, knowing

504
00:48:27.159 --> 00:48:33.239
Dowan would never hurt anyone again, but also knowing that

505
00:48:33.320 --> 00:48:38.159
their own agonizing quest to find Carrie was not over.

506
00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:49.679
Debbie said later quote, we felt relief that he was

507
00:48:49.719 --> 00:48:57.119
put away, but complete peace. That'll never happen as long

508
00:48:57.159 --> 00:49:03.519
as Carrie remained missing. The case was far from closed.

509
00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:11.079
The aftermath of the trial sent shockwaves through Blanchester and beyond.

510
00:49:12.039 --> 00:49:16.719
In the close knit town, people took sides during the ordeal.

511
00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:22.280
Some couldn't believe a local boy like Vincent could commit

512
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:28.119
such an atrocity. While others rallied behind the Culberson family

513
00:49:28.320 --> 00:49:36.719
search for truth, longtime friendships frayed, the community became bitterly divided.

514
00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:42.840
Quote the wounds of Carrie's disappearance divided the town at

515
00:49:42.840 --> 00:49:49.039
the time and still run deep today. One resident observed

516
00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:54.000
eight years later, the village was split over those who

517
00:49:54.079 --> 00:49:59.719
supported the Culbersons and those who supported Dowan. She said,

518
00:50:00.840 --> 00:50:05.559
this town hasn't given Carrie's family much respect. They have

519
00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:11.480
been treated unfairly. It will always be that way. Everybody

520
00:50:11.559 --> 00:50:17.079
knows everybody's business. It divided the town and I don't

521
00:50:17.119 --> 00:50:23.000
think it will be fixed. Even after the conviction, rumors

522
00:50:23.079 --> 00:50:29.360
and suspicions lingered in Blanchester's gossip mills. A few stubborn

523
00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:34.079
holdouts whispered that carry might have run off, or that

524
00:50:34.239 --> 00:50:39.960
Vincent was framed, But as the years went on, most

525
00:50:40.119 --> 00:50:45.559
came to accept the obvious. A horrific crime had occurred

526
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:50.840
in their midst, and it had been badly mishandled by

527
00:50:50.920 --> 00:50:57.239
those sworn to protect the community. Indeed, one of the

528
00:50:57.239 --> 00:51:02.480
most consequential fallouts from Carrie case was the harsh light

529
00:51:02.599 --> 00:51:07.039
it shone on law enforcement's failure to protect a domestic

530
00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:13.800
violence victim. Debbie Culberson, Roger Coulberson, and their surviving daughter,

531
00:51:13.920 --> 00:51:19.679
Christina were not content to let Blanchester's officials off the hook.

532
00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:25.559
In nineteen ninety seven, while the criminal case preceded, the

533
00:51:25.679 --> 00:51:31.239
Culbersons took the extraordinary step of filing a civil lawsuit

534
00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:37.679
against the Village of Blanchester, its police department, police Chief

535
00:51:37.800 --> 00:51:43.679
Richard Payton, and members of the Dowan family. They alleged

536
00:51:43.719 --> 00:51:50.920
a wrongful death and a conspiracy. Essentially that Carrie died

537
00:51:51.159 --> 00:51:56.559
not only because of Vincent's actions, but also because the

538
00:51:56.639 --> 00:52:02.960
authorities willfully failed to protect her and then aided in

539
00:52:03.079 --> 00:52:08.039
covering up the crime. It was a bold and emotionally

540
00:52:08.239 --> 00:52:13.360
charged move born out of the family's frustration with how

541
00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:20.239
events had unfolded. Their claims were striking. The lawsuit contended

542
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:24.400
that Chief Peyton knew Carrie was in danger, he was

543
00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:29.639
aware of Vince's prior violence. In fact, as later came

544
00:52:29.639 --> 00:52:34.079
out in court, Peyton had been explicitly told about multiple

545
00:52:34.119 --> 00:52:41.159
domestic violence incidents involving Carrie, and yet did nothing meaningful

546
00:52:41.679 --> 00:52:49.639
to intervene. Worse, after her disappearance, he behaved like en accessory.

547
00:52:49.760 --> 00:52:54.239
After the fact, as one federal judge put it, by

548
00:52:54.280 --> 00:52:58.639
tipping off the suspect's family and failure to secure the

549
00:52:58.719 --> 00:53:04.280
crime scene. In one blistering court order, U. S. District

550
00:53:04.360 --> 00:53:10.239
Judge s Arthur Spiegel wrote that Peyton had violated his

551
00:53:10.480 --> 00:53:14.960
duty as the chief law enforcement officer and may have

552
00:53:15.039 --> 00:53:20.480
been quote explicitly or implicitly involved in the cover up

553
00:53:20.840 --> 00:53:27.280
of Carrie's murder and disposal of her body. The family's attorney,

554
00:53:27.400 --> 00:53:33.360
Jennifer Branch, argued that Blanchester's officials had learned nothing from

555
00:53:33.400 --> 00:53:38.639
the tragedy. Quote from the citizen's point of view, the

556
00:53:38.679 --> 00:53:43.920
police allowed their neighbor to be murdered, they failed to

557
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:48.639
protect her. Branch said, what the village learned from this

558
00:53:48.840 --> 00:53:53.880
incident was how to protect their police chief, not how

559
00:53:53.920 --> 00:53:58.519
to protect their citizens. The village did not enforce its

560
00:53:58.559 --> 00:54:06.159
domestic violence law, and unfortunately that has not changed. It

561
00:54:06.239 --> 00:54:10.840
was a stark indictment of the entire system that had

562
00:54:10.920 --> 00:54:17.119
let carry down. The civil case dragged on for years

563
00:54:17.840 --> 00:54:23.480
through legal twists and turns. At one point, Blanchester tried

564
00:54:23.519 --> 00:54:27.119
to get it thrown out, but parts of the lawsuit

565
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:32.679
were allowed to proceed. The culbersins were determined not just

566
00:54:32.800 --> 00:54:38.480
to recover damages for their pain, but to force changes

567
00:54:38.960 --> 00:54:43.000
so that no other family in their town would endure

568
00:54:43.639 --> 00:54:49.079
what they did. By two thousand and one, five years

569
00:54:49.119 --> 00:54:54.320
after Carrie's death, the village decided to settle and avoid

570
00:54:54.360 --> 00:54:59.440
a federal trial that would air all of its dirty laundry.

571
00:55:00.519 --> 00:55:04.559
In a settlement reached in January of two thousand one,

572
00:55:04.679 --> 00:55:08.559
the village of Blanchester agreed to pay the Culberson family

573
00:55:09.320 --> 00:55:14.920
two million dollars. More importantly to the family, the village

574
00:55:14.960 --> 00:55:20.119
also pledged to institute reforms. They promised to establish a

575
00:55:20.199 --> 00:55:25.440
memorial to domestic violence victims in Carrie's name, and to

576
00:55:25.639 --> 00:55:31.199
ensure that all law enforcement officers receive further training in

577
00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:39.360
handling domestic violence cases. In effect, Blanchester's authorities tacitly acknowledged

578
00:55:39.920 --> 00:55:45.800
that they had failed carry and that change was indeed needed.

579
00:55:47.199 --> 00:55:52.519
As part of the settlement's non monetary terms, Blanchester unveiled

580
00:55:52.559 --> 00:55:57.159
plans for a permanent memorial to carry at the municipal building,

581
00:55:57.760 --> 00:56:01.320
a place where the community could re remember her and

582
00:56:01.360 --> 00:56:05.039
where her mother could find a small measure of peace.

583
00:56:12.639 --> 00:56:16.199
On a rainy day in April of two thousand four,

584
00:56:16.920 --> 00:56:22.760
townspeople gathered in drizzle. To dedicate that memorial at the

585
00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:26.440
front lawn of the village hall, they placed a large

586
00:56:26.519 --> 00:56:31.800
stone engraved with an image of angels and the words

587
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:37.960
dedicated to the life of Clarissa Anne Carrie Culberson. Next

588
00:56:37.960 --> 00:56:42.280
to it, a five foot tall bronze statue was installed,

589
00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:47.800
depicting a young woman in a flowing dress. At the

590
00:56:47.840 --> 00:56:53.920
statue's base, the word hope is inscribed in bold letters,

591
00:56:55.440 --> 00:56:59.920
a message as much for the future as for the past.

592
00:57:01.119 --> 00:57:13.519
Surrounding it are large rocks, each carved with values like faith, awareness, courage, justice, respect,

593
00:57:13.920 --> 00:57:21.519
love and support. It is, in essence, a monument not

594
00:57:21.639 --> 00:57:26.880
only to carry but to all victims of domestic violence,

595
00:57:27.760 --> 00:57:33.719
a physical reminder that such tragedies must not be allowed

596
00:57:34.519 --> 00:57:42.519
to happen again. For Debbie Culberson, the memorial was deeply meaningful,

597
00:57:42.519 --> 00:57:48.800
but also bitter sweet. Quote she doesn't have any closure,

598
00:57:49.519 --> 00:57:53.760
a friend of Debbie's said at the dedication, she doesn't

599
00:57:53.760 --> 00:57:58.480
have anywhere to go. We go to the cemetery. Where

600
00:57:58.519 --> 00:58:04.679
does she go? The memorial became that place, a surrogate

601
00:58:04.760 --> 00:58:08.400
grave where a mother could go to grieve the daughter

602
00:58:09.320 --> 00:58:13.519
that she couldn't bury. On the eve of the dedication,

603
00:58:14.440 --> 00:58:19.400
Mayor Tom White observed Debbi at the sight, tenderly arranging

604
00:58:19.480 --> 00:58:25.400
those engraved stones around the statue. Quote, I would like

605
00:58:25.480 --> 00:58:29.960
to see something found that can give Debbi closure. The

606
00:58:30.039 --> 00:58:33.920
mayor admitted, it would be closure for the town too.

607
00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:38.519
There are a few people out there that maybe don't

608
00:58:38.519 --> 00:58:43.119
believe she's dead. They never found a body. It would

609
00:58:43.199 --> 00:58:49.719
be closure for everyone. The memorial therefore stood as a

610
00:58:49.800 --> 00:58:57.400
symbol for both remembrance and the unresolved nature of the loss. Meanwhile,

611
00:58:57.880 --> 00:59:04.480
Chief Peyton faced his own reckoning, albeit a mild one.

612
00:59:04.559 --> 00:59:09.880
He was charged in state court with multiple felonies, including

613
00:59:09.960 --> 00:59:16.880
obstruction of justice, for his actions during the investigation. In

614
00:59:16.960 --> 00:59:22.360
a controversial plea deal, those were reduced to misdemeanor dereliction

615
00:59:22.519 --> 00:59:28.159
of duty charges, to which Peyton pleaded no contest. He

616
00:59:28.320 --> 00:59:32.239
was convicted and given a slap on the wrist, a

617
00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:39.920
short suspended jail sentence, a fine, and probation. Outraged residents

618
00:59:40.159 --> 00:59:45.159
watched as Peyton was allowed to quietly retire from the

619
00:59:45.199 --> 00:59:51.920
police force. In fact, as Deborah Culberson later testified to Congress,

620
00:59:51.920 --> 00:59:55.960
Peyton was even granted a year's back pay and his

621
00:59:56.079 --> 01:00:01.920
accumulated sick leave roughly eighty six thousand dollars to pad

622
01:00:02.000 --> 01:00:07.880
his pension, essentially rewarding him as he exited in disgrace

623
01:00:09.079 --> 01:00:13.280
to Carrie's family, This was an insult added to injury

624
01:00:13.880 --> 01:00:17.199
that the man they believed helped cover up her murder

625
01:00:17.800 --> 01:00:22.760
got to ride off into the sunset with benefits. But

626
01:00:22.880 --> 01:00:28.400
at least he was no longer wearing a badge. If

627
01:00:28.480 --> 01:00:32.199
any good could come out of such a nightmare, it

628
01:00:32.400 --> 01:00:38.840
was that Carrie's case sparked change. Debbie Culberson transformed her

629
01:00:38.920 --> 01:00:43.960
grief into activism. She became a leading voice on the

630
01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:48.840
Clinton County Domestic Violence Task Force, which was formed around

631
01:00:48.880 --> 01:00:53.960
the time of Carrie's disappearance. Debbie worked with social workers

632
01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:58.920
and law enforcement on developing better protocols and training for

633
01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:04.360
handling domestic violence calls. Quote Debi helped to draw up

634
01:01:04.400 --> 01:01:09.000
the protocol and police training, said one task force member,

635
01:01:09.800 --> 01:01:13.519
underscoring how the woman who had lost her daughter was

636
01:01:13.599 --> 01:01:18.440
determined to save others. This was part of a broader

637
01:01:18.599 --> 01:01:22.559
trend in the late nineteen nineties and early two thousands,

638
01:01:23.280 --> 01:01:28.679
communities across America were pushing police and courts to take

639
01:01:28.760 --> 01:01:35.039
domestic violence more seriously. In Ohio and many other states,

640
01:01:35.679 --> 01:01:42.079
laws and policies were strengthened. For example, many jurisdictions adopted

641
01:01:42.199 --> 01:01:48.280
mandatory arrest policies for domestic violence calls and better enforcement

642
01:01:48.760 --> 01:01:54.840
of restraining orders. Nationally, experts noted huge changes in criminal

643
01:01:55.000 --> 01:02:01.119
justice procedures for domestic violence during that era, though Carrie's

644
01:02:01.199 --> 01:02:07.440
case showed how those changes hadn't permeated everywhere. The lawsuit

645
01:02:07.519 --> 01:02:13.320
the Culbersons brought was one of several groundbreaking cases seeking

646
01:02:13.360 --> 01:02:18.760
to hold law enforcement accountable for failing victims of abuse.

647
01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:26.199
The message was clear, ignoring domestic violence has consequences and

648
01:02:26.360 --> 01:02:32.480
police have a duty to protect the vulnerable, not to

649
01:02:32.559 --> 01:02:37.559
look the other way. The legal precedent set by Carrie's

650
01:02:37.679 --> 01:02:43.280
case also had a profound implication in criminal law. It

651
01:02:43.440 --> 01:02:49.360
proved that a no body homicide case could succeed. Historically,

652
01:02:49.880 --> 01:02:54.679
prosecutors were wary of bringing murder charges without a corpse,

653
01:02:55.400 --> 01:03:01.079
subscribing to the old adage no body, no murder. But

654
01:03:01.920 --> 01:03:06.920
Kerrey's trial became a textbook example that if the circumstantial

655
01:03:07.000 --> 01:03:12.079
evidence is strong enough, a jury can be convinced beyond

656
01:03:12.159 --> 01:03:18.800
a reasonable doubt of murder even without physical remains. The

657
01:03:18.840 --> 01:03:23.559
conviction of Vincent Dowan in nineteen ninety seven, joined a

658
01:03:23.639 --> 01:03:31.119
growing list of cases that emboldened prosecutors nationwide. It demonstrated

659
01:03:31.280 --> 01:03:37.320
that advances in forensic science, eyewitness testimony, and defendant behavior

660
01:03:37.400 --> 01:03:43.639
analysis could together establish the corpus delicti, or proof of

661
01:03:43.679 --> 01:03:49.800
a crime without the victim's body. This case has since

662
01:03:49.920 --> 01:03:54.679
been cited in law enforcement trainings and by other prosecutors

663
01:03:55.159 --> 01:04:01.280
to justify pursuing charges in similar heartbreaking scenario where a

664
01:04:01.320 --> 01:04:06.320
body is missing but evidence of foul play is overwhelming.

665
01:04:14.440 --> 01:04:21.800
Ohio in particular, took note the successful prosecution signaled to

666
01:04:21.880 --> 01:04:25.719
would be killers that they cannot count on a missing

667
01:04:25.800 --> 01:04:32.159
body to escape justice. As one legal commentator put it, quote,

668
01:04:32.880 --> 01:04:37.519
the body and the questions surrounding Carrie's murder have yet

669
01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:42.840
to be laid to rest. But even so, the courts

670
01:04:42.920 --> 01:04:48.880
delivered justice to Carrie's killer. Ohio thus joined the ranks

671
01:04:48.920 --> 01:04:57.519
of jurisdictions proving that no body is no barrier to conviction. Yet,

672
01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:02.480
for all these legal and so social impacts, the personal

673
01:05:02.599 --> 01:05:08.440
fallout for Carrie's loved ones was immeasurable. They had won

674
01:05:08.639 --> 01:05:16.039
some justice, yes, but the emptiness of loss remained. Carrie's father, Roger,

675
01:05:16.559 --> 01:05:22.360
and sister Christina had to somehow continue living, carrying the

676
01:05:22.400 --> 01:05:26.840
memory of a daughter and sister who never got to

677
01:05:26.920 --> 01:05:34.320
fulfill her dreams. Debbie Culberson, in addition to championing domestic

678
01:05:34.440 --> 01:05:39.960
violence reform, carried the torch for keeping Carrie's memory alive.

679
01:05:41.199 --> 01:05:47.960
In every interview, every vigil, every birthday that passed, she

680
01:05:48.159 --> 01:05:52.880
reminded the world that her daughter was more than just

681
01:05:52.920 --> 01:05:57.559
a crime victim. She was a beloved young woman who

682
01:05:57.599 --> 01:06:03.039
deserved to be found and laid to rest. Debbie would

683
01:06:03.079 --> 01:06:07.559
attend support groups for families of the missing and speak

684
01:06:07.599 --> 01:06:13.440
out for legislation to aid in searching for unidentified remains.

685
01:06:14.599 --> 01:06:19.840
The Culberson families fight became not only about how Carrie died,

686
01:06:20.639 --> 01:06:28.559
but also where she was. Where is Carrie Culberson? That

687
01:06:28.719 --> 01:06:35.360
question has haunted everyone involved in this case since day one.

688
01:06:35.480 --> 01:06:40.039
Carrie's body has never been found, and neither has her

689
01:06:40.119 --> 01:06:45.679
Red Honda CRX. The search for both became one of

690
01:06:45.760 --> 01:06:52.679
the most extensive and frustrating quests in Ohio history, full

691
01:06:52.719 --> 01:06:58.320
of false leads, fruitless digs, and whispered rumors that only

692
01:06:58.440 --> 01:07:04.840
compounded the family's anguish. In the immediate aftermath of Vincent

693
01:07:04.960 --> 01:07:10.360
Dowan's conviction. Authorities hoped that one of the co conspirators,

694
01:07:10.960 --> 01:07:16.920
perhaps Tracy Baker, might reveal the body's location in exchange

695
01:07:17.000 --> 01:07:24.039
for leniency, but no such luck. Tracy, convicted of helping

696
01:07:24.159 --> 01:07:29.960
dispose of evidence, kept his silence, serving his prison term

697
01:07:30.159 --> 01:07:33.840
without ever giving up the secret of what they did

698
01:07:33.920 --> 01:07:40.760
with Carrie after that bloody night. Vincent Dowan, for his part,

699
01:07:41.199 --> 01:07:45.360
invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during the trial on any

700
01:07:45.519 --> 01:07:51.320
questions about the whereabouts of Carrie's remains, and he has

701
01:07:51.400 --> 01:07:57.440
steadfastly refused to confess or cooperate in any recovery effort

702
01:07:58.079 --> 01:08:04.880
in all the years since. Without the perpetrator's cooperation, the

703
01:08:04.960 --> 01:08:10.000
task fell to law enforcement and Carrie's family to scour

704
01:08:10.119 --> 01:08:15.000
the region for any trace of her. The initial focal

705
01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:20.199
point was, of course, the Dowan family pond, which had

706
01:08:20.279 --> 01:08:25.960
yielded only footprints. Divers and search teams combed it again

707
01:08:26.760 --> 01:08:33.399
to no avail. Investigators also searched the surrounding property. They

708
01:08:33.439 --> 01:08:38.680
looked in wells, ditches, woodlands, and junked cars on the

709
01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:44.000
Doan and Baker properties. There was a nagging fear that

710
01:08:44.079 --> 01:08:48.199
perhaps Carrie's body had been put through a car crusher

711
01:08:48.840 --> 01:08:54.960
or burned in a secret makeshift grave, eliminating obvious evidence.

712
01:08:56.960 --> 01:09:01.159
The lack of blood traces in Vincent's house, it was

713
01:09:01.560 --> 01:09:07.680
surprisingly clean when police first searched it days later, suggested

714
01:09:07.800 --> 01:09:12.720
the crime might have occurred outside, lending credence to the

715
01:09:12.720 --> 01:09:17.680
theory of the pond or elsewhere as the primary scene.

716
01:09:18.520 --> 01:09:23.560
But it also meant there were no forensic breadcrumbs to follow.

717
01:09:25.239 --> 01:09:31.399
As weeks turned to months, leeds grew scarce. Carrie's disappearance

718
01:09:31.520 --> 01:09:38.000
took on an almost urban legend quality. In Blanchester. Children

719
01:09:38.079 --> 01:09:42.000
on school buses would pass by the junkyard and whisper

720
01:09:42.119 --> 01:09:47.279
about that lion rumor, an outrageous tale that Carrie's body

721
01:09:47.680 --> 01:09:51.920
had been thrown to an exotic pet lion supposedly kept

722
01:09:51.960 --> 01:09:56.960
on the property. Investigators never found any evidence of such

723
01:09:57.000 --> 01:10:00.880
a creature. It seemed to be the stuff of small

724
01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:06.960
town myth, a manifestation of the community's darkest fears. Other

725
01:10:07.119 --> 01:10:11.479
rumors suggested her car had been compacted, or that she

726
01:10:11.600 --> 01:10:16.800
was buried under a concrete slab somewhere. Each new tip

727
01:10:17.119 --> 01:10:21.159
that came in was like a tantalizing spark of hope

728
01:10:21.800 --> 01:10:27.319
for Debbie and her search volunteers, but so many led

729
01:10:28.000 --> 01:10:34.760
to dead ends. Nonetheless, Debbie Culberson never stopped searching. She

730
01:10:35.000 --> 01:10:42.760
organized highly publicized searches periodically, sometimes enlisting volunteers by the dozens.

731
01:10:43.920 --> 01:10:49.439
They trudged through fields and forests, turning over tire dumps,

732
01:10:49.479 --> 01:10:54.239
and peering into old wells. With each search that ended

733
01:10:54.279 --> 01:11:01.279
in frustration, Debbie's resolve only grew. Quote, we have been

734
01:11:01.399 --> 01:11:05.840
cheated out of a proper grave, a proper funeral, all

735
01:11:05.920 --> 01:11:11.079
the things people need to grieve, she said, articulating the

736
01:11:11.159 --> 01:11:17.039
cruel limbo in which her family was stuck. Indeed, not

737
01:11:17.279 --> 01:11:21.399
knowing where your loved one's body lies is its own

738
01:11:21.560 --> 01:11:27.960
special kind of torment. It means no closure, no final

739
01:11:28.039 --> 01:11:32.760
good bye. One of the most dramatic search efforts came

740
01:11:32.880 --> 01:11:37.000
in spring of two thousand and four, nearly eight years

741
01:11:37.079 --> 01:11:43.239
after Carrie vanished. Investigators got a tip pointing to a

742
01:11:43.319 --> 01:11:48.119
remote barn on a farm property in Brown County, a

743
01:11:48.239 --> 01:11:53.840
county adjacent to Clinton. A man named Jared Messer, who

744
01:11:53.880 --> 01:11:57.520
had once lived at that property and had ties to

745
01:11:58.199 --> 01:12:05.000
criminal elements, was mentioned. Acting on this lead, authorities deployed

746
01:12:05.119 --> 01:12:10.760
cadaver dogs to the barn, and one dog signaled positively

747
01:12:11.479 --> 01:12:25.880
on the concrete floor, Excitement and dread spiked. Could this

748
01:12:26.640 --> 01:12:32.840
finally be it? The Clinton, Brown and Claremont County Sheriff's offices,

749
01:12:33.399 --> 01:12:38.399
along with the FBI and Ohio state authorities, swarmed the

750
01:12:38.520 --> 01:12:44.600
site with backos and forensic experts. On April thirtieth, two

751
01:12:44.640 --> 01:12:50.039
thousand and four, crews began the arduous task of breaking

752
01:12:50.119 --> 01:12:56.600
up the barn's concrete slab and digging beneath it. Debbie

753
01:12:56.680 --> 01:13:00.399
Culberson got a phone call that day while she was

754
01:13:00.479 --> 01:13:06.840
literally preparing the memorial dedication ceremony for Carrie. She dropped

755
01:13:06.880 --> 01:13:12.680
everything and raced to the scene. For the next thirteen

756
01:13:12.880 --> 01:13:18.720
days through Mother's Day, Debbie and Christina Culberson camped out

757
01:13:18.760 --> 01:13:23.960
at the sight, standing vigil from morning till night. As

758
01:13:24.039 --> 01:13:31.159
investigators excavated the barn inch by inch, hope hung in

759
01:13:31.239 --> 01:13:36.520
the air. The media reported on the dig constantly. Quote,

760
01:13:37.159 --> 01:13:42.039
I'm just doing what I do best, just waiting, Debbie

761
01:13:42.079 --> 01:13:46.600
said as she stood in the rain watching heavy machinery

762
01:13:47.159 --> 01:13:51.399
claw at the earth. If it turns out to be Carrie,

763
01:13:52.039 --> 01:13:56.399
then that's what we want. But if it isn't, we'll

764
01:13:56.439 --> 01:14:03.760
wait some more. Those words appearized Debbie's endurance, an endless

765
01:14:04.359 --> 01:14:10.199
patient weight for the truth. When the Brown County Barn

766
01:14:10.399 --> 01:14:18.520
dig finally concluded, the result was another heartbreaking disappointment. They

767
01:14:18.600 --> 01:14:24.640
found nothing related to carry, no remains, no scraps of clothing,

768
01:14:25.479 --> 01:14:31.159
no car parts. The tip had been well intentioned, but

769
01:14:31.319 --> 01:14:37.199
ultimately false, or worse, perhaps even a cruel prank or

770
01:14:37.960 --> 01:14:44.079
a jailhouse rumor with no basis. The investigators packed up

771
01:14:44.079 --> 01:14:50.000
their gear and Debbie went home with empty hands yet again.

772
01:14:51.399 --> 01:14:55.039
Quote the feelings are just as strong as they were

773
01:14:55.079 --> 01:15:02.039
eight years ago, she reflected, emotional exhaustion in her voice.

774
01:15:02.079 --> 01:15:08.039
Over the years, authorities have chased down other leads. At times,

775
01:15:08.560 --> 01:15:13.680
divers have searched nearby lakes and rivers, and the FBI

776
01:15:14.079 --> 01:15:18.600
reportedly checked out auto salvage yards for any sign of

777
01:15:18.760 --> 01:15:23.880
Carrie's Honda. Psychics reached out to the family with visions,

778
01:15:24.800 --> 01:15:30.479
none that led anywhere. Verifiable cadaver dogs have been taken

779
01:15:30.520 --> 01:15:35.760
out to various points of interest multiple times, a testament

780
01:15:35.840 --> 01:15:42.800
to law enforcements continued efforts. Anonymous letters or deathbed confessions

781
01:15:43.199 --> 01:15:49.399
have surfaced, occasionally hinting at secret burial sites, but none

782
01:15:49.600 --> 01:15:55.039
have panned out. Even two decades on. Police said they

783
01:15:55.119 --> 01:16:00.600
still receive the occasional tip quote tips still will come in.

784
01:16:01.279 --> 01:16:05.560
We still hope to find her, a sheriff's investigator said

785
01:16:06.079 --> 01:16:11.720
in twoenty and sixteen, reaffirming that the case, while cold,

786
01:16:12.600 --> 01:16:17.159
is not closed. The absence of a body has also

787
01:16:17.399 --> 01:16:23.239
had many legal reverberations. For instance, one charge that Tracy

788
01:16:23.279 --> 01:16:28.920
Baker initially faced was gross abuse of a corpse. He

789
01:16:29.039 --> 01:16:33.680
was acquitted on that count, not necessarily because he didn't

790
01:16:33.680 --> 01:16:38.399
do it, but because prosecutors had no corpse to prove it.

791
01:16:38.439 --> 01:16:45.439
With that strange quirk underscored a broader issue. Without a body,

792
01:16:46.119 --> 01:16:52.600
certain truths remain legally unprovable. It also meant that Carrie

793
01:16:52.920 --> 01:16:58.159
could not be declared legally dead for some time. In

794
01:16:58.279 --> 01:17:03.560
nineteen ninety eight, about two years after she disappeared, a

795
01:17:03.680 --> 01:17:11.439
court declared Carrie Anne Culberson legally deceased, allowing her family

796
01:17:11.560 --> 01:17:16.000
to obtain a death certificate. But for Debbie and her

797
01:17:16.000 --> 01:17:21.359
loved ones, a piece of paper could never substitute for

798
01:17:21.439 --> 01:17:27.279
physical closure. The community tried to help the Culberson's cope

799
01:17:27.840 --> 01:17:31.319
with that lack of closure in any way they could.

800
01:17:32.479 --> 01:17:35.359
We've seen how the memorial gives them a place to

801
01:17:35.479 --> 01:17:40.880
focus their grief on milestones. Such as Carrie's birthday January

802
01:17:40.920 --> 01:17:46.840
thirty first, or the anniversary of her disappearance. Friends still

803
01:17:46.960 --> 01:17:52.199
gather sometimes at the memorial rock or at the Culberson

804
01:17:52.319 --> 01:17:58.760
home to pray and remember carry. They share stories about

805
01:17:58.760 --> 01:18:03.640
her laughter, her athletic exploits, and her sense of humor.

806
01:18:04.640 --> 01:18:08.640
They imagine what she would be like if she were here,

807
01:18:09.199 --> 01:18:14.000
approaching the age of fifty quote. I wonder how many

808
01:18:14.079 --> 01:18:18.560
kids she might have, where she might be in her life,

809
01:18:18.600 --> 01:18:23.399
what she might look like now, mused her close friend Jamie,

810
01:18:24.239 --> 01:18:29.159
aching with the knowledge that those possibilities were stolen away

811
01:18:30.760 --> 01:18:34.439
for the people who loved her. Carrie is frozen in

812
01:18:34.560 --> 01:18:41.520
time at twenty two, forever young, forever out of reach.

813
01:18:43.479 --> 01:18:48.239
One particularly poignant symbol of hope that endures in Blanchester

814
01:18:48.760 --> 01:18:52.600
is found in the lobby of the police station. There,

815
01:18:53.199 --> 01:18:58.039
a plaque with Carrie's picture hangs on the wall, with

816
01:18:58.119 --> 01:19:04.359
a promise implicit in its presence it will remain until

817
01:19:04.479 --> 01:19:10.680
Carrie is found. Her youthful face smiles out at the

818
01:19:10.720 --> 01:19:17.800
officers each day, silently urging them not to forget. It's

819
01:19:17.840 --> 01:19:22.760
as if Carrie herself is waiting there, asking for the

820
01:19:22.880 --> 01:19:30.279
truth to finally be uncovered. The plaque's very existence acknowledges

821
01:19:30.920 --> 01:19:36.319
a harsh reality that her body and the full story

822
01:19:36.359 --> 01:19:42.000
of her death are still missing, while also serving as

823
01:19:42.039 --> 01:19:47.199
a constant goad to those in power do not give

824
01:19:47.319 --> 01:19:52.680
up until she is home. The lack of a body

825
01:19:52.840 --> 01:19:57.279
has in some ways kept the mystery alive in the

826
01:19:57.319 --> 01:20:02.199
public imagination. Over the year years, Carrie's story has been

827
01:20:02.239 --> 01:20:07.560
featured on numerous true crime television programs and podcasts like this,

828
01:20:08.520 --> 01:20:13.720
often under titles like Where Is Carrie or no Body,

829
01:20:14.239 --> 01:20:21.560
No Justice. But unlike some other unsolved mysteries, in Carrie's case,

830
01:20:22.359 --> 01:20:28.479
justice was partially achieved, her killer sits in prison, Yet

831
01:20:28.760 --> 01:20:34.439
the mystery persists. A case that is at once resolved

832
01:20:34.800 --> 01:20:40.720
and unresolved. Solved in the courtroom, but unsolved in the

833
01:20:41.399 --> 01:20:48.079
physical sense. This duality is haunting. There is no grave

834
01:20:48.199 --> 01:20:51.960
for family and friends to visit, no way to ensure

835
01:20:52.119 --> 01:20:57.479
Carrie's remains are treated with dignity and respect. Debbie once

836
01:20:57.720 --> 01:21:03.720
candidly expressed her anguish quote, I have no place to

837
01:21:03.760 --> 01:21:07.039
go to talk to Carrie. I don't know if she's

838
01:21:07.119 --> 01:21:11.000
laying in a field or under concrete or in water.

839
01:21:12.479 --> 01:21:16.119
I just want to bring her home and lay her

840
01:21:16.159 --> 01:21:22.760
to rest. In those words lies the simple, heart breaking

841
01:21:22.920 --> 01:21:29.560
wish that has fueled the Culbersins for decades to find

842
01:21:29.720 --> 01:21:43.920
Carrie and to finally say goodbye. As of today, nearly

843
01:21:44.039 --> 01:21:48.680
twenty nine years have passed since that fateful August night.

844
01:21:49.560 --> 01:21:52.920
It is now a given that Vincent Dowan will spend

845
01:21:53.000 --> 01:21:58.079
the rest of his life in prison. Barring some unforeseen

846
01:21:58.319 --> 01:22:04.560
legal reversal. He is incarcerated at an Ohio State penitentiary,

847
01:22:05.520 --> 01:22:11.399
serving a life sentence with no chance of parole. Over

848
01:22:11.439 --> 01:22:17.720
the years, Dowan exhausted his appeals, State courts upheld his conviction,

849
01:22:18.439 --> 01:22:24.800
and federal courts denied his petitions. Outside of a miraculous

850
01:22:24.840 --> 01:22:31.000
confession or new evidence surfacing, Dowan's case is closed in

851
01:22:31.079 --> 01:22:36.159
the criminal justice system. In prison, he has few headlines

852
01:22:37.159 --> 01:22:41.239
one bizarre footnote. In two thousand and fifteen, Dowan was

853
01:22:41.319 --> 01:22:45.279
bitten by a police dog during a disturbance at the prison,

854
01:22:46.000 --> 01:22:49.439
and later won a seven thousand, five hundred dollars settlement

855
01:22:49.760 --> 01:22:54.720
for his injuries, a grimly ironic epilogue, as some noted,

856
01:22:55.359 --> 01:22:59.760
for a man who caused so much injury to others.

857
01:23:01.399 --> 01:23:06.319
Through it all, Vincent Dowan insists he is innocent. He

858
01:23:06.359 --> 01:23:12.600
has never wavered from that stance. For many, his protestations

859
01:23:12.760 --> 01:23:18.159
ring hollow against the massive evidence of his guilt. To

860
01:23:18.239 --> 01:23:22.880
this day, he has offered no apology, no admission, and

861
01:23:22.960 --> 01:23:30.319
no information to help locate Carrie. Tracy Baker, Vincent's half brother,

862
01:23:30.479 --> 01:23:34.199
who helped him that night, served his sentence for obstruction

863
01:23:34.920 --> 01:23:39.199
and was released in two thousand and five. He returned

864
01:23:39.239 --> 01:23:44.199
to society and by most accounts, has kept a low profile.

865
01:23:45.239 --> 01:23:49.359
Lawrence Baker, Vincent's father, lived out the remainder of his

866
01:23:49.479 --> 01:23:54.680
life under a cloud of suspicion by some, though he

867
01:23:54.920 --> 01:24:00.520
was acquitted in court. Chief Richard Peyton fad from the

868
01:24:00.520 --> 01:24:06.000
public eye after his retirement, his name now synonymous, at

869
01:24:06.079 --> 01:24:11.039
least in Blanchester with a cautionary tale of how not

870
01:24:11.680 --> 01:24:18.239
to handle a missing person's case in Blanchester. Carrie's absence

871
01:24:18.359 --> 01:24:22.319
is still felt. She would be forty nine years old now,

872
01:24:23.079 --> 01:24:27.640
a fact that astonishes her childhood friends, who still picture

873
01:24:27.720 --> 01:24:32.359
the vivacious twenty two year old with big quote nineties

874
01:24:32.439 --> 01:24:38.159
hair and a radiant smile. Each year, on January thirty first,

875
01:24:38.600 --> 01:24:44.800
Debbie Culberson quietly marks Carrie's birthday. Public reaction to Carrie's

876
01:24:44.840 --> 01:24:49.520
story remains strong, in the area. The case is taught

877
01:24:49.560 --> 01:24:53.840
in some police academies as part of domestic violence response

878
01:24:53.920 --> 01:25:00.319
training and investigative procedure. Memorial motorcycle rides and fire ik

879
01:25:00.520 --> 01:25:05.159
runs have been organized by domestic violence awareness groups in

880
01:25:05.239 --> 01:25:10.760
her honor. On social media, the Fine Carrie Culberson Facebook

881
01:25:10.800 --> 01:25:17.319
page continues to share memories and updates, ensuring new generations

882
01:25:17.760 --> 01:25:23.680
here her story. Strangers occasionally leave comments of support, and

883
01:25:23.800 --> 01:25:29.119
locals post photos of the memorial statue decorated for the holidays,

884
01:25:30.239 --> 01:25:35.119
purple ribbons for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, or flowers on

885
01:25:35.199 --> 01:25:41.039
the anniversary of her disappearance. Crucially, law enforcement has not

886
01:25:41.199 --> 01:25:47.000
forgotten Carrie either. The Clinton County Sheriff's Office retains open

887
01:25:47.119 --> 01:25:53.159
case files on her disappearance. Investigators periodically review the evidence

888
01:25:53.640 --> 01:25:59.039
with fresh eyes, hoping new forensic technology or a changed

889
01:25:59.159 --> 01:26:05.199
conscience might crack open the location of her remains. There

890
01:26:05.239 --> 01:26:10.199
have been recent leads, even decades later. In twenty nineteen,

891
01:26:10.680 --> 01:26:14.600
Deborah Culberson mentioned that letters had been discovered in prisons

892
01:26:15.079 --> 01:26:20.279
that potentially related to Carrie's case. Those letters were being

893
01:26:20.359 --> 01:26:25.600
followed up by law enforcement. Debbie didn't divulge details publicly,

894
01:26:26.279 --> 01:26:30.600
but she said quote The reason I have hope is

895
01:26:30.680 --> 01:26:34.159
because there are so many law enforcement officials who have

896
01:26:34.319 --> 01:26:38.680
so much invested in Carrie's case that they won't give

897
01:26:38.800 --> 01:26:43.840
up even now. Officers who were just rookies back in

898
01:26:43.960 --> 01:26:48.880
nineteen ninety six have since risen to senior positions and

899
01:26:49.000 --> 01:26:54.920
carry forward the determination to bring Carrie home as long

900
01:26:54.960 --> 01:26:59.600
as somebody is willing to dig, search, or listen to

901
01:26:59.680 --> 01:27:06.640
a tip. Hope remains the case's broader legacy in Ohio's

902
01:27:06.680 --> 01:27:12.880
domestic violence law reforms is also notable today. The tragedy

903
01:27:12.920 --> 01:27:18.399
of Carrie Culberson became a rallying point for advocates. In

904
01:27:18.439 --> 01:27:23.600
the late nineties, Ohio implemented more robust protective order enforcement

905
01:27:24.159 --> 01:27:28.960
and improved how victims can get help. By the two thousands,

906
01:27:29.439 --> 01:27:33.319
thanks in part to awareness raised by cases like Carrie's,

907
01:27:34.039 --> 01:27:39.000
domestic violence training for police became more standardized across the state.

908
01:27:40.359 --> 01:27:45.199
Ohio also saw the creation of programs to confiscate firearms

909
01:27:45.199 --> 01:27:50.720
from convicted abusers and better cross agency communication when someone

910
01:27:50.800 --> 01:27:55.960
with a known violent history like Dowan is involved. While

911
01:27:56.079 --> 01:28:01.479
no legislation features Carrie's name, her case is frequently cited

912
01:28:01.520 --> 01:28:06.000
in Ohio Domestic Violence Task Force reports as an example

913
01:28:06.119 --> 01:28:13.600
of why early intervention and zero tolerance policies are so critical. Essentially,

914
01:28:14.119 --> 01:28:19.319
Carrie Culberson did not die in Vain. Her story spurred

915
01:28:19.479 --> 01:28:24.600
changes that have likely saved other lives, as every officer

916
01:28:24.640 --> 01:28:29.159
in that region now knows to take domestic violence calls

917
01:28:29.199 --> 01:28:35.039
seriously and to secure potential crime scenes diligently, no matter

918
01:28:35.119 --> 01:28:41.279
who the suspect may be. In the community of Blanchester,

919
01:28:41.880 --> 01:28:45.800
time has a way of moving forward, but reminders of

920
01:28:45.880 --> 01:28:51.479
Carrie's life and loss are ever present. On a corner

921
01:28:51.520 --> 01:28:56.039
of the Culberson family's property, a tree that Carrie planted

922
01:28:56.399 --> 01:29:01.840
as a little girl stands tall. The police station lobby

923
01:29:01.920 --> 01:29:06.680
still bears that plaque of Carrie, a silent exhortation to

924
01:29:06.800 --> 01:29:11.439
never stop looking. And of course, the memorial sculpture in

925
01:29:11.520 --> 01:29:15.800
front of the municipal building stands as a permanent testament.

926
01:29:16.840 --> 01:29:21.000
Town residents drive by it on their daily commutes, some

927
01:29:21.319 --> 01:29:26.840
perhaps now too young to recall nineteen ninety six, but

928
01:29:26.960 --> 01:29:31.119
their parents will tell them of the beautiful cheerleader who

929
01:29:31.159 --> 01:29:35.920
once graced these streets and the tragedy that befell her.

930
01:29:37.159 --> 01:29:42.920
Carrie's memory is woven into Blanchester's identity, a caution and

931
01:29:43.000 --> 01:29:54.640
a call for compassion. If you visit the memorial to day,

932
01:29:55.319 --> 01:29:58.399
you might see fresh flowers laid at the base of

933
01:29:58.439 --> 01:30:03.520
the statue. Perhaps they were left by Debbie, who often

934
01:30:03.560 --> 01:30:09.520
stops by, perhaps by a friend or even a compassionate

935
01:30:09.560 --> 01:30:16.319
stranger moved by Carrie's story. The bronze woman gazes out

936
01:30:16.359 --> 01:30:22.199
with a patient, hopeful expression at her feet. The stone,

937
01:30:22.239 --> 01:30:26.760
carved with the word hope catches the morning light. It's

938
01:30:26.800 --> 01:30:32.680
a hope that has been tested but not extinguished, hope

939
01:30:32.840 --> 01:30:38.000
that someday someone will come forward, or some clue will

940
01:30:38.039 --> 01:30:44.840
surface and carry can finally be found. Until that day,

941
01:30:45.800 --> 01:30:51.600
Carrie Culberson's case remains open in the only way that

942
01:30:51.800 --> 01:30:57.439
truly matters, open in the hearts of those who seek

943
01:30:57.680 --> 01:31:04.640
justice and closure for her. They will not rest until

944
01:31:04.720 --> 01:31:10.880
they bring Carrie home. Terrifying and True is narrated by

945
01:31:10.960 --> 01:31:14.680
Enrique Kuto. It's executive produced by Rob Fields and bobble

946
01:31:14.720 --> 01:31:18.640
Toopia dot com and produced by Dan Wilder, with original

947
01:31:18.680 --> 01:31:21.560
theme music by Ray Mattis. If you have a story

948
01:31:21.640 --> 01:31:24.479
you think we should cover on Terrifying and True, send

949
01:31:24.560 --> 01:31:28.159
us an email at Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com,

950
01:31:28.199 --> 01:31:29.680
and if you want to support us for as little

951
01:31:29.720 --> 01:31:32.439
as one dollar a month. Go to Weeklyspooky dot com

952
01:31:32.479 --> 01:31:35.279
slash join. Your support for as little as one dollar

953
01:31:35.279 --> 01:31:37.840
a month keeps the show going. And speaking of I

954
01:31:37.840 --> 01:31:39.600
want to say an extra special thank you to our

955
01:31:39.640 --> 01:31:42.800
Patreon podcast boosters, folks who pay a little bit more

956
01:31:42.960 --> 01:31:44.319
to hear their name at the end of the show.

957
01:31:44.479 --> 01:31:48.000
And they are Kate and Lulu, Jessica Fuller, Johnny Nix,

958
01:31:48.079 --> 01:31:52.119
Jenny Green, Amber Hansford, Brent McCullough, Karen we Met, Jack Kerr,

959
01:31:52.319 --> 01:31:54.720
and Craig Cohen. Thank you all so much and thank

960
01:31:54.760 --> 01:31:57.520
you for listening. We'll see you all right here next

961
01:31:57.560 --> 01:32:01.000
time on Terrifying and True No No