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<v Speaker 1>On a winter night in a small community near Denver, Colorado,

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Matthews arrived home late. He expected to find his

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<v Speaker 1>twelve year old daughter, who had been dropped off after

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<v Speaker 1>a Christmas concert, but when he called out, hey, John Ell,

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<v Speaker 1>the house was eerily quiet. His daughter's shoes were on

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<v Speaker 1>the floor, but she was gone, and it would be

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<v Speaker 1>thirty five years before she would be found dead. After

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<v Speaker 1>the discovery of John L. Matthew's body in two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and nineteen, the police turned their attention to a man

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<v Speaker 1>who had told law enforcement years ago that he knew something,

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<v Speaker 1>but they dismissed him. The man did seem obsessed with

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<v Speaker 1>the case, but is that all He was? A true

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<v Speaker 1>crime fanatic or a killer wondery. In Campside Media's shocking

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<v Speaker 1>true crime podcast, Suspect is back for a second season

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<v Speaker 1>with a story that attempts to separate fact from fiction,

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<v Speaker 1>compulsion from guilt, and one man's true crime obsession from

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<v Speaker 1>a motive for murder. I'm about to play a clip

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<v Speaker 1>from Suspect Vanished in the Snow while you're listening. Follow

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<v Speaker 1>Suspect on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

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<v Speaker 1>You can start listening to suspect vanished in the snow

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<v Speaker 1>early and add free by subscribing to Wondery Plus in

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app.

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<v Speaker 2>Well County is a desert feels relatively warm outside for

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<v Speaker 2>Colorado in December, and the sky is just this Caribbean blue.

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<v Speaker 2>It's winter, but it's hot out, dry and dusty. The

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<v Speaker 2>snow capped rocky mountains are all behind us. Ahead, it's flat.

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<v Speaker 2>The horizon goes on forever. I feel like we're in

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<v Speaker 2>the Wikipedia of Tumbleweeds.

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<v Speaker 3>Don't you feel rich? And Tom Bridge, it's help.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Oh shit, people tear ass down this road. A

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<v Speaker 2>few of the trucks passing us are souped up, brand

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<v Speaker 2>new tires, jacked high oil and gas workers apparently unbothered

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<v Speaker 2>by speed limits. If there is a speed limit out here,

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<v Speaker 2>we're relieved to turn into a dirt driveway of a

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<v Speaker 2>lone rambling house.

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<v Speaker 3>Hi guys, Hello, nice to meet you.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Jody Vance and Jody Gillilin lives so far from

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<v Speaker 2>most of their neighbors that it's easier to drive to

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<v Speaker 2>see them. Across from their house is a field that

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<v Speaker 2>stretches about a thousand acres. It's full of brush and weeds,

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<v Speaker 2>the kind of place where people often well abandon things,

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<v Speaker 2>old mattresses, washers and dryers, even boats.

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<v Speaker 3>It's like, wow, almost tended to hook that up and

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<v Speaker 3>take it home and see what I can do. But no,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, people still still do dump things out here,

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<v Speaker 3>but it's usually quick and rout and quick and run.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean what they can show up the back with

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<v Speaker 3>truck in two seconds.

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<v Speaker 2>In the summer of twenty nineteen, Vance and Jody were

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<v Speaker 2>in their kitchen when they saw blue and red lights

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<v Speaker 2>flashing across the perimeter of their property. All of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 2>there was cop cars going by, and I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>uh oh.

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<v Speaker 3>Up until it was dark. Actually they were out there, and.

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<v Speaker 1>They were out there forever.

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<v Speaker 2>Vance and Jody soon learned those oil and gas workers

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<v Speaker 2>and their fancy pickups. They'd unearthed a small human skull

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<v Speaker 2>with a single bullet hole in it, and authorities knew

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<v Speaker 2>exactly who the remains belonged to. It is a cold

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<v Speaker 2>case that has baffled the Greeley community for nearly thirty

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<v Speaker 2>five years, but denied. Police may be closer to figuring

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<v Speaker 2>out what happened to Janelle Matthews. The twelve year old

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<v Speaker 2>disappeared from her home in late nineteen eighty four. Her

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<v Speaker 2>remains were discovered this week by a construction curR in

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<v Speaker 2>rural Weld County. Gone for thirty five years, today, human

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<v Speaker 2>remains founded an oil and gas fighting Greeley give investigators

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<v Speaker 2>new leads on a decade's old cold case. Like a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of Colorado residents who had been following Janelle's case

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<v Speaker 2>since the nineteen eighties, Vance and Jody watched the news

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<v Speaker 2>reports with fascination. They waited to hear what would happen next,

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<v Speaker 2>hoping that the remains in the field would finally lead

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<v Speaker 2>investigators to the killer. As it turned out, it wouldn't

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<v Speaker 2>be nearly so simple. This is a story about obsession

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<v Speaker 2>my own. Sure, So I am working on a podcast

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<v Speaker 2>about the Janelle Matthews case. I know you know about

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<v Speaker 2>that case, right, I assume you're probably well versed. I

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<v Speaker 2>thought i'd try you one last time. But also the

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<v Speaker 2>obsession of a community that pushing to find Janelle, to

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<v Speaker 2>get her name into the national spotlight and all the

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<v Speaker 2>way to the White House.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, I learned about Janelle Matthews of Greeley, Colorado,

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<v Speaker 1>who would have celebrated a happy thirteenth birthday with her

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<v Speaker 1>family just last month.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's about the obsessions of a self described true

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<v Speaker 2>crime junkie, a man who had started talking about the

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<v Speaker 2>Janelle Matthews case just a few days after police responded

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<v Speaker 2>to a distress call from her home, and over the

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<v Speaker 2>next thirty five years he kept talking and talking.

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<v Speaker 3>It was just me trying to be a big man

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<v Speaker 3>in the case.

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<v Speaker 2>He's a busybody.

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<v Speaker 3>He gets himself in the middle of murder cases, but

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<v Speaker 3>that doesn't necessarily mean he actually was involved in them.

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<v Speaker 3>People are like, Oh, he's just crazy and he's just

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<v Speaker 3>he's just a being bad or whatever else, and he's harmless.

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<v Speaker 2>He wouldn't hurt anybody.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a good liar that he can convince the juror

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<v Speaker 3>that he wasn't involved, so you know he's a liar.

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<v Speaker 3>He is.

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<v Speaker 2>He is a good one. I turned around and I said,

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<v Speaker 2>you're going to be arrested for obstructing if you don't

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<v Speaker 2>get back in your car, and he says, don't fuck

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<v Speaker 2>with me. Officer Edgerton. I've buried more people than you'll know.

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<v Speaker 2>When you shut Janelle Matthews in the forehead.

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<v Speaker 3>Was she begging for her life never happened.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen to Suspect Vanished in the Snow early and ad

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<v Speaker 1>free by subscribing to Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or

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<v Speaker 1>the Wondery app.