There's someone back. >> I made the joke and then it was a hook. >> Oh, that's not good at all. >> Hey, there's a dog in here. GET OUT OF the truck. GET OUT OF THE TRUCK [screaming] NOW. THERE'S A BODY IN HERE. START EMS. >> IT started as a routine call. The kind officers respond to every day. But within moments of arriving, something felt very wrong. What they discovered next would completely change the tone of the scene. When good cops go pale after a horrifying discovery. Here we have one more deceased in this bed. Appears to be a gunshot to the face. Check in this room back here. want to stay there. >> On January 4th, 2023, officers were dispatched to a residence to conduct a welfare check after receiving a call from a woman who was concerned for the safety of her friend Tasha Height. According to reports, Tasha was going through a messy divorce with her husband, Michael, and had failed to attend an online appointment. >> [applause] >> The officers tried knocking on the door several times, but no one responded. While they continued to survey the area, the officers received a call from dispatch informing them that Michael had also missed several appointments and hadn't turned up to work. Furthermore, their children had failed to show up at school. Sorry, they were just asking kids. En City Police Department. En City Police Department. Yeah, [snorts] there's going to be other kids. >> Cedar 63 pri prioritize this channel. I have two deceased on the bed. [snorts] Going to clear the home. Cedar 6 or go ahead. >> Phoenix City Police Department. Anybody in the home? Make yourself known. I'm going to clear this room. Nobody. Phoenix City Police Department. Anybody else? Uh, we got another one to see right here. Where have you gone? >> Uh, we need to clear the house. Clear here. We have one more deceased in this bed. Appears to be a gunshot to the face. Check in this room back here. >> One deceased here. Clear. Make good. Uh, I'm checking here. No, you're good. Wait. Yeah. One more back to the head. >> The officers had stumbled onto the scene of a family brutally murdered. They were visibly shaken by the discovery, but still had a job to do. >> Police, get down here. Make yourself known. >> Two, four, six. >> Hold. Hold right there, chief. >> City police department. Uh, one more up top. Blood on bed. >> Bathroom here. >> Uh, yeah. Mess. >> One more down here. square. [snorts] >> Check in this room. Another gunshot or sorry, I don't know that but appears to be. Nope. One more. Gunshot back ahead. What heals? >> Just a vacuum that's going to fall. Although they had suspicions that one or both parents were responsible for the horrific act, they needed to proceed with caution. Go >> sauna that way, left opening safes. Got keys and two safes down here. Assuming this is outside >> got another dead body. This is Michael here. Beside Michael's lifeless body lay a note that read, "This is nonsense, and I can't handle it for one more day. We will not be a burden on society. I would rather rot in hell than put up with another day of this manipulation and control over me." Um, >> let's talk. >> I'm just letting dispatch know the house is >> Hold on. Don't come in. Nobody go upstairs and don't let anybody in. All right. Stay out. Oh, >> we need crime scene tape. Start fencing off everything. >> You got some in your car? >> No. >> I can't. >> Call Gary. >> Okay, I'll call. >> See 60 66. Can you notify the county attorney? >> Um, hey. Yeah, >> I got Travis calling Gary. >> Um, so we can get things. >> Yeah. And I was just with Gary, so >> Do you have any crimson tape in your truck? I >> think I do. >> Um, let's uh keep everything as pristine as we can. >> Officers had located eight family members deceased from gunshot wounds. They were identified as Michael and Tasha, her mother, Gail Earl, and their five children aged [music] 4 to 17. In the years leading up to the shooting, Michael had been subjected to an investigation by the Child Protective Services due to allegations made against him by his oldest daughter. However, no charges were ever brought forward because of insufficient evidence. Michael Height died of a self-inflicted wound after fatally shooting his family members. On December 2nd, 2022, a group of hunters was busy tracking a deer in Liberty County, Georgia, when they made a grizzly discovery. They stumbled upon something they initially thought was a dead hog on the side of the road. But upon closer inspection, they discovered it was actually the body of a of a woman. >> I'm pretty sure they'll want to come and talk to you, dude. All right, but we'll let y'all know the final result. >> All right. Thank y'all so much. Y'all be careful. Yes, sir. >> Hey, Martin. >> If I was you, I would bring it this way. I wouldn't I wouldn't carry it straight across. Bring it to here. So, kind of at an angle and then you ain't got to go down that ditch and all either. >> Yeah. I was trying to cross. >> Yeah. Uh just tie it off to that one. And then we'll take it from there down to my patrol car. One of the trees. Oh, one of the trees will be fine just in case. >> You taking care of our boys, >> man. Listen, Martin said he do not want to come back over there to y'all. >> Oh, tied up here, Martin. >> Yeah. >> Whatever. >> Yeah, >> it was an intense scene. The woman's body had been found with her missing and body strewn about, but the officers weren't going to let that distract them from doing their job properly. While securing the crime scene, a detective arrived to take photographs. >> Martin, we're going to get you some putting up crime scene tape. uh classes. >> We're going to get you some classes. Don't worry. >> See, he did a wonderful job. How did these guys find this thing? >> Uh so they was back here hunting. They had just a deer that was over here. >> Mhm. >> And uh when Well, I guess >> they got the deer. >> Yeah, they got the deer. Uh while they was out here, you know, getting the deer, obviously, they just happened to look over there and saw it. >> Let me get a bunch of pictures before I lose my light. Okay. >> All right. >> This is going to be This is going to sound crazy, but I know they film down there a lot. >> Mhm. Think it's fake. >> Well, it looks like there's been animal stuff around it. >> I didn't know if it was fake or or dummy, but I see hair body hair. Yeah. >> No, [music] sir. >> Yeah. When I saw that body hair on the I don't know, but it looked like a female. Almost. >> It does. It does look like a female >> just cuz the way the are caught. It may have looked fake at first, but unfortunately the body was very real. The officers quickly realized they were in over their heads and needed to call in reinforcements. While they waited for backup to arrive, they spoke with the hunters who had made the gruesome discovery. >> Hey, y'all know more about this stuff than we do. >> How old's been there? >> That's going to be up to the detectives and stuff. >> I just quen down here every week for >> the gates lock. Listen. So, this is what he wants done from y'all. All right. Uh, it's pretty much a voluntary statement saying, "Hey, this is where I was and this is what I saw." That's all you need to do. Your name, date, time go on the top of it, and that's it. Y'all can be gone. >> I was hunting on that stand of deer. I was walking down ready to get it. And that's when I thought I saw a dead hog. >> Yep. >> Then I saw it. >> And then it's one page. >> I ain't got my glasses. Oh, >> except for >> I'd like to see her. Who is [laughter] >> Can't tell. I ain't got no head. >> The head's gone. >> Gone with a shark. Something something. >> Well, if it's been a week, ain't nobody I know. >> Or are y'all missing? That's what I can't I can't even think anybody's been having this. >> It was beginning to get dark and the deputies knew they had only a small window to collect any evidence that might have been left behind. And not far from the trail's entrance, they noticed something on the ground. >> Right down here by us by the gate, there's a a knife right stand with >> if you need to. You can push it out, father. Are you still down near the entrance here? >> Oh, sorry. [music] >> Yeah, >> it's right down here at the entrance. >> If you need to push that crime scene tape out, you can push it out. Go ahead and do it. One second. >> Not anyone. >> No, not yet. >> The officers found a large knife near the trail's entrance. At that point, they didn't know for certain yet if the knife was the murder weapon. >> Thanksgiving. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it's real. >> Mhm. Very real. >> Yeah, >> it appears the legs and stuff. >> 636. >> Go ahead. >> Did y'all push the tape out past that object? >> What about the Uh they were waiting on me to get here, but that's fine. I mean, it's not The only thing The only thing we're losing is The only thing we're losing [music] is like But around the legs right here. Yeah. >> The skin looks like it's cut >> and and like a clean pretty much clean up and cut. All right. Well, I got the hunters here that found it. They shot a deer and it was in the ditch right next to on the other side of the road from it and they were loading up that and somebody looked over there and said, "Oh Jesus, >> go ahead and contact corner." >> Yeah. >> The officers turned their attention to identifying the body. From the looks of things, they estimated that the body had been in the woods for 5 or 6 days. Next, they began forming a theory of what had happened. >> We got a good mark on that knife down there. Just don't want to touch it. I just want to make sure >> I haven't been down there just besides me telling them to push the tape back. >> That's fine. To encompass that, >> huh? >> To enclose the >> Yeah, correct. To enclose the knife on. >> If she was, my theory would be if she was [music] um cut, they could have done it at the Lacant place and dumped the body. There's big ditches over there. There's like that little water area, water foul area. Mhm. >> And honestly, if they did this five or seven days ago, that ditch probably would have been full. >> As of now, it appears to be a uh white female. Um uh now I can give him a little more details since it's Chief. >> Oh, absolutely. >> Okay. [laughter] Okay. Just make sure I had to ask Ross, but Chief, the the uh the head is missing on it and the is missing on it as well. Um, >> there is animal activity, but it does not appear. >> There's animal activity, but it don't appear that that's what you know with the head and the and stuff. >> It looks like the skin's cut clean. >> Look like the skin is cut clean. He said you got a fingerprint machine, don't you? >> Uh, they can. So, if the corner don't Well, this is the thing. So, if the corner doesn't have it, I know we've got a >> I want to say Richmond Hills got the fingerprint machine, too. >> They got live scan. But what I what you have to do is like have to roll the fingers. >> Yeah, we've got the uh postmortem kit >> to be able to do that. It's just basically it's just a stiff metal backing to hold the finger while you roll it to skin slippage and stuff. >> Yeah. >> Um but you know, this is going to be something where once the body's pulled out, you're going to want to look for trace and stuff and and [music] luckily it's not raining or anything, but >> yeah. >> And you got a lot of animal activity around it. But it's something that, you know, you can't go back and collect what you didn't collect now. >> Collect now. That's right. That's right. >> As it got darker and darker, deputies finished gathering formal statements from the hunters who discovered the body. An officer read back one of the hunters accounts, confirming the gruesome discovery in his own words. >> Okay. Two club members said they had found a body. >> We decided to check it out and we check out the scene. >> Mhm. at about 5:00 and we did and found a >> new body. >> New body female. >> I'm just going to kind of >> He said two club members said that they had found a body. We decided to check out the scene at about 5:00. We did and found a nude body female. The FBI later identified the remains as those of Mindy Casadis. The next day, Nicholas Casadus, her husband, was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with a long list of felonies, including murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole. On March 2nd, 2026, a man was walking his dog in a park in Cleveland when he came across a partially buried suitcase containing what appeared to be a child's. >> How you doing, sir? >> Check it up right now. >> Understood. >> If you go, you can see you can see the case from back here. It's all the way straight to the back. >> It's close to that sign. >> Yeah. See the little black >> straight ahead in front? Okay. Straight. >> It's a suitcase. >> It's a suitcase. I've been walking past it for about a week now cuz I take my dog. I stay right here. >> I take my dog. I usually walk her through there and then come around here. >> Okay. >> And for the last week, she's been st like a mound of dirt. She been stopped and sniffing like a little too long. >> Okay. >> And today I was like, well, I'm going to take I hope it's not what I'm >> Right. >> And I It was halfway buried. It's about this thick. It's about halfway buried. I pulled it up, unzipped it. I couldn't really see. And I open it up and >> buried under the dirt. It was >> halfway. You can see a little part of it sticking out. >> And you said you noticed it for about a week already. >> Yeah, it's been sitting over there like somebody buried it or tried to bury it. >> And like I said, I walk my dog over there and she keeps stopping and she sniff sniff a little too long. You know, she sniffed up >> and I'm like, I don't know what that is. I'm not going with it. >> The park was located next to a school in the middle of a residential neighborhood which made the discovery all the more shocking. The officer made his way over to the suitcase and waited for backup to arrive. >> Hey, are you uh still inside the district? >> Okay. I was going to have you grab my flashlight, but that's all right. Um when you get up here, if you go down 162, um like I went upstairs 162, you just pull in this parking lot for this Gin Academy and uh you'll see me back here. So, I haven't even I haven't opened it yet. Um, the dude I talked to the caller, he said that >> there was this um suitcase partially like buried in the ground that he said he's been noticing for like a week and his dog keeps trying to uh you know get to it. >> So, he said that he pulled it out today and uh to see what was in there cuz it was kind of heavy and he noticed like a head in her you know he just left it and called the police. Watching the officer look at the suitcase made you think about how many people had unknowingly walked past it, completely oblivious to the horror inside. Eventually, more officers arrived on the scene, so it was time to look inside. >> We're going to have to look and see. I mean, it's like partially partially buried. He said it was sticking out for like a week. He finally decided to uh open it up. I just want to see you flash your light on. I just want to see if there's any blood or anything on it. No. >> Yeah. You on? You uh bring it closer. I can't see. >> Yeah. No. Oh yeah, [music] it is cute. >> Yeah, >> I can't. >> It's attached. It's just like fold in the fetal position. >> They found a young girl's body desecrated, [music] but it was only the beginning of this twisted case. Just 25 ft away, officers discovered another suitcase partially buried containing another young girl. A DNA test confirmed that the girls are related with investigators believing they are halfsisters. Just hours after the gruesome discovery, officers obtained a search warrant for the home of 28-year-old Aaliyah Henderson, a woman who lives just across the street from the park. This evening, our homicide unit uh conducted a search warrant here in this area of Visa 162nd in Midland. Uh as part of that ongoing investigation, a search warrant, uh the investigators were able to uh identify and detain a person of interest. Um at this point, uh the investigation obviously is ongoing. This person is uh going to be uh interviewed and we're going to hope to uh continue his investigation and gather more leads. Uh this is not an arrest at the moment. It's just a person of interest that we're uh looking to to talk to and gain some more information. Uh as you can imagine, uh all our resources, uh every possible lead that we have been receiving, uh every possible agency that we're able to work with, we're working to uh arrest those responsible person or persons that are responsible for this crime. Uh so right now the only thing we could say there's no clear indicators. So there's nothing that's visible enough to determine what the cause of death was. [music] >> We had heard chief that perhaps these children were malnourished. Is that something that you heard as well? >> Um I don't have a comment on that. That would I would defer to the medical examiner once their results come out. >> Were the individuals clothed? >> I will also defer to the medical examiner on that >> at this [music] time. Are there missing persons, missing children that match this the two girls that were found? >> Uh, so it's a good question. We have checked our, you know, locally we have no reports of any missing children that match these identifications. Uh, we are checking statewide as well. Uh, we also have the assistance of from our federal, state, and local partners. Um, this is a priority. This is a traumat traumatic event for our officers, for the community, and you know, this is just such a tragic incident. [music] Um, but we are trying to develop any leads we can. That's why we're also asking for the community's help. >> Aaliyah Henderson was arrested and charged with murder and child endangerment. The court proceedings are still ongoing. On October 27th, 2022, officers responded to a hit and run in Mcome County. According to reports, a blue Ford Ranger slammed into a semitr after running a red light. To make matters worse, the driver of the pickup fled the scene on foot. >> Were you involved in this? >> This guy. >> Were you involved? >> No. >> Hold on. Did you get in an accident? >> Yes. >> Okay. I need you to pull that further forward so it's on the curb. So it's not blocking the road. Okay. The perfect the officer was just as confused as everyone who saw the accident happen. He needed to get to the bottom of things, but since he couldn't question the pickup driver for obvious reasons, he turned to witnesses for help. What the uh person look like? Can you give me a description? Female? Male or female? I can't say it's reflection. Male or female? Female. [snorts] White or white or black? >> I'm not going to be able to see it with it on. [snorts] >> Okay. What does she look like? Just look at the picture and just describe her for me. >> Oh, we see her nose and mouth. >> Wait, is she a white or a black female? >> White female [snorts] hair color. >> Can't see it. Bright brighten it cuz we can't [snorts] see the picture. >> Luckily for the semitruck driver, the suspect's vehicle only collided with the trailer's wheels, leaving his truck scratch-free. The officer connected with his colleagues to put together a plan to track down the driver of the pickup. >> The driver of that took off. >> Well, I see an old very old tag on the plate, so I guess we got >> Yeah. Well, whoever's driving it is a white female, reddish hair, shoulder length. Took off. >> Yeah. Gabzilla. >> Probably Gabzilla. >> It says on me. >> Yeah. >> You don't want me to do the imp? >> It don't matter. As much damage is on that thing. It hit the tire on the trailer. >> Really? >> And it it did it like caused no damage to the tractor trailer. >> Uh anybody else there? >> Yeah. Truck. They were turning and this car came flying up and hit the back end, hit the trailer of this truck and then this person took off running. >> The truck driver described the suspect as possibly female, but he couldn't be certain. The officers needed to radio in for a tow truck to haul the suspect's damaged [music] vehicle away. But first, they had to conduct an inventory search. And that's when they discovered something they definitely weren't expecting. >> [snorts] [snorts] >> Well, please just not be a dead body or something. I was kidding. Hey, come here. >> I was just kidding. >> What? >> There's someone dead in back. >> I made the joke and then I wasn't There goes the explanation. >> There goes the explanation. Indeed. The suspect had been driving around with a deceased unclothed body in the back of his truck. What had started as an accident inquiry quickly transformed into a homicide investigation. >> That might be the only down an [snorts] age. >> I'm not going to touch anything else. >> Okay, he's letting it grow. >> You're going to want to um you're going to leave this for right now. >> There's there's someone dead in back. >> Okay. Yeah, I'm calling my dispatch right now. >> I got to shut this road down. >> Yeah. >> Shut the whole thing down probably. >> You know what? >> Hey, it's Lee. Uh this accident [snorts] uh supposedly a truck made a turn on the common road uh hit the car. They said it was a white female that took off. Uh we just found a body in the bed of the truck. >> To Callahan command. We've got a couple cars heading that way. Just let us know where it was. >> Okay. I'm gonna try to send this. >> I'm trying to view. We got to brighten this up. We gota >> She was last seen here. I got to talk to this lady up over here. She said she saw her, too. But there's a video. >> Last scene. >> Yeah. See if you can get me a last scene. >> Said she run up that way. >> She run north. >> Any idea which way she took off? >> Yeah, it sounds like north on Haze. >> Give me >> Can you give me So she got out of the car and took off running. >> I don't know if it was a girl. She had a hood up. >> Okay. It's not going to hurt if they got anybody available. >> Friend who was on with me in the car behind me said she booked it down haze. >> That way, >> not that way. >> Chris, stay down there with your car. >> Yeah. Find out for sure. >> The officers were getting conflicting reports from the witnesses. Some said it was a woman who ran one way. Others said it was a man who ran the other way. But over time, the truth began to come to light when a witness showed the officers a Facebook live recording of the crash. >> Yeah, but you should know how to do this stuff. Go to what's going on here. >> If you go to Yeah, you should be able to do that and you should be able to email >> save your videos later. >> Holy [ __ ] Holy [ __ ] This just happened. I don't know what's going on, but [laughter] Whoa. Inside the truck, officers located a duffel bag containing identification belonging to 19-year-old Steven Lee Freeman. 2 days later, he was found hiding in a car in Waterford Township and was taken into custody. >> What is the news saying about me? >> Huh? >> What is the news saying? >> There's a lot being said right now. Tell me something, dude. I don't even know. >> Okay, so then I need you to tell me what was going on. >> After court, dude. >> Well, you know, that's what I'm saying. Like, but there it's a lot being said. Like, um, they're saying that you were living with her. Uh, like that the media turns you into a monster. So, I was the one that was defending you in the comments and everything. >> Huh? >> It's There's like no audio right now. >> Huh? Okay, there it goes. >> I woke up with her hands around my neck. >> What did Okay. Hey, did you told that to detectives when I got you? >> No, bro. I'm waiting to see >> No, bro. I'm waiting to see a lawyer. I still haven't talked to my lawyer. I went to court today and still don't have a lawyer. >> Hours before the crash, surveillance footage showed Freeman approaching the victim's apartment at 1:41 a.m. The truck was seen leaving the area with his headlights off. Inside the apartment, officers discovered evidence of forced entry, signs that someone had attempted to clean the scene, and bedding consistent with what the victim had been wrapped in. Authorities determined that Freeman had entered the victim's home through a window while she was away. When she returned from work, the evidence indicated that Freeman sexually assaulted her and strangled her with a shoelace. He then dragged her body to his vehicle. Freeman was convicted of first-degree murder, firstdegree home invasion, secondderee criminal sexual conduct, concealing the death of an individual, and receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle. He was sentenced to life in prison. On September 24th, 2023, police officers with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office in Maryland responded to a welfare check outside a Costco distribution center. The caller reported that the driver of a semitr appeared to be intoxicated and that he had shattered his [music] own window. >> What's going on, big man? How you doing? We're not coming in there. You all right? I'm ahold. How are you today? Hey, you're having a bad day. It's all good. We all have them. So, listen to me. Here's what we need to do. They got to run their business, right? We don't want to lock you up. We just want to make sure you're okay. We're not taking you to jail and all that stuff. So, do me a favor. Could you just let us know for our safety that you don't have anything in that other hand over there? Can you show me just so we feel safe, please? Is there somebody in there with you? Huh? >> You don't have any guns, right? >> Okay. So, so could you just let me see your in that hand, please? Do you have a knife? >> For whatever reason, the man didn't want to show the officers his other hand, which raised their suspicions. They asked him if he was having a medical emergency and required an ambulance, but he said he didn't. >> I'm not arresting you. I promise. But can you cut your truck off? Cuz I don't want it to roll anywhere. I don't want it to hurt anybody. If you pass out, calm down. Come on. Please don't do that. Okay. Let the truck off. Let the truck. We got back. I don't want you to run. >> I know you don't want to hurt anybody, but we don't want you to hurt yourself, bud. The officers weren't taking any chances with the suspect, so they laid spike strips in front and behind his tires. While they were doing so, he continued to rev his engine menacingly. Whatever his problem was, it was clear that he didn't want to cooperate. >> We're just putting stuff down. >> Hey, don't do that. >> Just shut the truck off. Well, now you got a whole bunch of flat tires. >> Okay. Well, don't do that. We don't want you to do that. You're just making this a completely dangerous situation. We're We're telling you to cut the truck off. >> Yeah. >> I want to talk about why you just drove over and flattened all the tires on your truck. Where he was planning on going with tires full of holes was anyone's guess. But the more concerning question was why anyone would take off like that while surrounded by multiple officers. >> Let me get in there. >> All his tires are pretty much hit with them. So it's just a matter of time till he runs out. >> There ain't nowhere for him to go. No. >> Unless he goes across the media. He thinks it's >> on PCP. >> Mhm. PCP. His sigs in there laying everywhere. >> Bad or meth? It's one of the ones. One or the other. >> Tired. Can I talk to you for a second? LOOK, THERE'S A LOT OF INNOCENT people around here. We don't want anyone to get hurt. Especially not you. Just talk to me for a second. Okay. You're not We're not doing nothing. Please don't move. We're not Please, Terry. >> What do we even do with this? I mean, honestly, at the at the end of the day, somebody's going to have to make a decision and put an end to it. >> So, the plan is this thing, try to break out. >> Nobody's trying to. >> Hey, that'll get you locked up, bud. We're not trying to do that. All you have to do is cut the truck off. I will get I will feed you. I will get cleaned up clothes. Whatever you need. Stop. >> Cut your tear off. Stop. >> It doesn't matter. You're tearing. Look at this tearing up. We're going to have to arrest if you don't stop. Cut the truck off. IT'S GET OUT of the truck. It's over. Hey, >> get out of THE TRUCK NOW. YOU EITHER CUT THE truck off or you're born to death. The officers were done being nice and they meant business. They weren't going to continue to let the driver rip around, putting officers lives at risk. He needed to step out or the officers would have to use force to remove him. >> They're going to put a smoke bomb in there, telling you they're going to they're going to spray you and it's going to burn. I get out of there. Walking over. Get out of the truck. Cut it off. I'm telling you, it's about to be a bad day. Cut it off, please. I told you bad stuff's about to happen if you don't cut the truck off. Cut it off. Mr. Please shut it off. >> Watch out. >> I've got the window. Windows open. Windows open. Side window. He's going to run out of room back here. But my plan is when he stops, we're going to spray him or gas him. OC, STOP THE TRUCK NOW. STOP THE TRUCK AND CUT IT OFF. >> Cut it off. >> The officer unloaded almost the entire can of OC spray into the cab. Still, somehow the driver managed to take off, but he didn't get far. After surrounding his vehicle, the officers were eventually able to open the passenger side door. >> Get out of the truck. >> TASER. TASER. TASER. >> GET OUT of the truck. >> Stop it. CUT THE TRUCK OFF. >> GET OUT. >> HEY, get out. >> CUT THE TRUCK. STOP THE TRUCK. STOP. HEY, there's a body IN HERE. GET OUT OF THE TRUCK. GET OUT OF THE [screaming] TRUCK NOW. THERE'S A BODY IN HERE. START EMS. WHAT'S UP THERE? >> THERE'S A BODY IN HERE. STARTING A MESS. >> MA'AM, are you okay? >> Ma'am. Ma'am. >> Ma'am, are you okay? Let's get her out. >> Ma'am. >> Ma'am. >> She's stuck. >> She's P4, buddy. P4. >> She's dead. >> She's dead. >> It was an intense scene. The officers finally discovered why the driver, later identified as Matthew Sydney Watley, was willing to go to extreme lengths to avoid getting out of his vehicle. >> Sit down the curb. >> Sit down now. >> Sit down. >> SIT DOWN. >> SIT DOWN. >> SIT DOWN. >> Don't move. >> You good? >> Yeah. >> You need sanitizer? >> Yeah. You got any? >> Yeah. >> I just got cuts on my hands, but I'm good. >> What hurts on you? They're going to hurt a little bit. >> Hey, do you have a rag real quick before that? Put that on there like >> There you go. >> Is the EMS over there? Do they have a rag? >> They're confirming this one first. >> Okay. Thanks, bro. >> Yeah, just keep >> all right, >> sir. You have the right to remain silent. >> Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford attorney, one will be pointed to you by the state of Maryland. >> The lifeless body was that of Matthew's partner, 46-year-old Candace Thompson. Matthew was indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of secondderee murder. He later pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. On November 6th, 2024, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer was dispatched to a residence to conduct a welfare check on the residence of 68-year-old Monnique Gilbertson. The officers knocked on the door, but when no one answered, a locksmith was called to the scene. >> Boyfriend's mother. Boyfriend's milk. Boyfriend's mother burrito. God damn. >> Jesus. >> I'm so sorry. Um I was like I just got a shower. Um, >> yeah. I'm to on I'm I I rent this place and What's your name? >> My name is Jasine. I I you know >> Where's Mon'nique at? >> Mon'nique is She like I'm I'm housesitting right now. She left town for a while. >> Where is she? No. No, she didn't. Where is she? >> No, she really did. I swear. >> Yeah. Where is she? >> Her car's here. >> I know her car's here. She has me housesitting. I have like, you know, I got my rent to be here. Come outside. >> Come outside. >> She doesn't have anyone here. >> No, I have I have rent receipts right here, actually. >> Okay. From outside. >> Well, I'm not talking outside right now. I have like I have I have I have paperwork [laughter] that I'm supposed to be here like you know what I mean and like you need to come outside [snorts] and show us our paperwork. >> The suspect Jasine Roush was visibly nervous, stuttering over his words and shaking like a leaf. The officers told him they were there to conduct a welfare check and that he needed to step aside and let them in. >> First off, Monique's not not here right now. I have the paperwork right here for her. >> How do you contact Mon'nique? I I call her usually on her cell phone, but she called me yesterday from her um from her like friend cell phone because she said her cell phone got lost, so she had put a pause on her cell phone. You know what I mean? But yeah, I usually call she usually call on my cell phone. I talked to her in a couple days. I'm watching the dogs right now and watching the birds. >> Yeah. So, from the front office, she doesn't go anywhere without her dogs. >> Yeah, I know. I've been saying that's what she had. She had like she had an emergency. She had to go to her brother in the East Coast. So, you know what I mean? Like she she's not here right now. What do you want to do about it? >> Okay. Do you have a phone number we can contact her on? >> I mean like I usually call her on her on her 505. >> Okay. But what what number did you get a phone call for? >> Uh um uh I'd have to look at like look at my um >> you call that number that you call her on. >> Okay. Well, I mean I I don't call her. She calls me generally every couple days. But like I've been I mean I've been here since September. >> Okay. That's great. Come outside. >> You mean huh? >> Come outside. >> The problem is that is that you're super suspicious being here and we have no idea where Monnique is. That's the problem. >> Yeah. But I've known But they've known I've been here. Yeah. No one knows that though. The front office doesn't know that. Nobody knows that. >> I I mean, yeah, she she told several like people that like she talks to this one guy regularly. She told him that I I was here. >> All the security people here, the front office, the HOA, none of them has any record of you being here. All they know is >> I'm 55. >> Okay, listen. All they know is Mo'Nique is always here, always in contact with our front office, contacts them like three times a day. They said they haven't heard from her since the 22nd. >> Jasine kept giving off excuses. According to him, Mo'Nique had gone away, leaving him to look after her place. Jasine's wife was inside and the officers wanted to speak to her. >> Tell your wife. Call your wife. Be like, "Hey, come out. Come out right now. You guys step outside and then I'm going to have a couple officers come inside to clear it." Okay. Call her from right there. >> What happened? We have to stay outside. >> Call her out. >> Call her out from right there. >> Okay. Well, give me one second. >> Call her out. >> Okay. Give me a second, please. >> Hey, babe. Yeah, >> she was in the shower last time I checked. Can I go check on her real quick? >> Call her out. >> I just tried to call her. She >> No, you didn't. You barely You barely said anything. >> Okay. Hey, what's up? Um, hey, want to come check a welfare check? Like, what's the what's the whole thing like? I'm going to let you guys in. [music] >> Like, you know, cuz I need to call my lawyer. I can have >> No, no, we're once again all we care about is this is the safety and wellbeing of Mon'nique. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, I'm going to have you guys step out and have you guys wait out front while we clear the residence to make sure no one >> stay inside the res. We rent here. >> Huh? >> We rent here. So, we want to make sure we can like stay inside the residence. I mean, >> we're not going to lock you out. Don't that that's not our goal here. Once again, our only goal is to make sure Monique Mon'nique's okay. >> That's fine. Can I can come with me or do a walk through? >> Huh? No, I'm not going to have you walk with me. >> You know, I don't have to walk with you. You're welcome to I don't want to leave the residence cuz your your one officer made me nervous. >> Okay. That's that that's not our intention here. Okay. Our intention is to conduct an investigation to find Mon'nique. So, if you and your girlfriend could step out front, maybe provide my partner with the information. >> I don't know if I can for sure reach her right now cuz I wasn't able to reach her yesterday. >> Okay. But at least provide us with a phone number to reach her on. So, so we can at least talk to a family member down there or something that to to confirm her whereabouts. >> The officers were getting highly suspicious. An innocent person would want to do everything they could to help. Instead, Jasine did everything in his power to hinder the officers from entering. Finally, after putting their pets away, they agreed to let the officers in. >> Okay. Are you Does that go through the kitchen side? >> No. No. >> Uh, it's blocked off. >> Okay. >> [screaming] >> All right. I got like peeing everywhere. Watch out. This room right here. Okay, [sighs] [laughter] [snorts] >> this place is just gross. Oh, dude. [snorts] >> Yeah, I'm concerned for where uh you come back up and hold on this. >> Where is it? >> This like big pile is cuz [clears throat] you can't see back there. Looks like they try to cover this up. >> Inside the closet was a mountain of clothing that looked like it was concealing something, but upon closer inspection, nothing was under it. It was just a messy closet to go along with a messy house. Jeez, I don't smell anything. They shouldn't be here. >> Yeah. >> Why do they Why do they have all these like small like phone things? You know what I mean? >> Yeah. I I I really wonder what happened to the I don't understand that. >> Is that blood? >> No, I think that's what this >> a freezer. >> After a long search, one of the officers noticed something they had missed earlier. a freezer covered in clothing and junk. But there was still one last hurdle to jump before the officers could open it. Where's it locked at? It's right here, I think. >> Yeah. What's key? Is it a Allen thing? It's like an Allen key, >> dude. >> Yeah, there's a body in here, dude. >> I swear to God. >> Is this thing even on? >> Yeah, it's on. It's running. >> The officer's words were like a premonition. They hoped there was nothing inside, but they couldn't shake their gut feeling that something gruesome awaited them. Once again, they turned to the man who helped them gain entry to the home in the first place. >> Yeah, you covered it back. >> I swear to God, >> I can smell >> I know the smell. >> What's that? >> I can tell something bad. >> Oh. Oh, >> I got a whiff. There's something in there. In the freezer, the officers uncovered the body of Mo'Nique Gilbertson. The primary suspect, Daniel Jasyn Roush, faced multiple charges, including seconddegree [music] murder. Prosecutors alleged that Roush administered a lethal dose of the Gilbertson before hiding her body. On November 21st, 2022, police officers in Los Cusus's, New Mexico, conducted a welfare check at the home of 69-year-old Cynthia Baronen after her family and friends hadn't heard from her in several days. When officers arrived on the scene, a family friend provided them with the spare key to gain entry into the home. Police department. >> Police department. Anybody inside? Can you come out with your hands up and ask you, please? >> Hold here. Sounds like they did say that inside the [snorts] >> police department. Why is it so creepy? Bro, the door's locked, bro. [snorts] I got one over here. It's all empty. >> Pantry's empty. >> The whole place seemed pretty empty. And for whatever reason, many of the doors were locked. Still, the officers continued their search. >> [snorts] >> Miss apartment. [snorts] >> What the? Yeah. >> Yeah. That's what we did. >> [snorts] >> Seems like somebody I got. >> Huh? I got it open. The officers could immediately sense that something was off. And unfortunately, they could smell something that no police officer wants to smell, the smell of death. But to find out where it was coming from, there was one more door to go through. [snorts] >> Public anonymous. And I asked the question to Ray in the committee once again to get an answer. I said, "Are you purchasing legs of Americans that are anonymous and then using technology to penetrate the It's not good at all. Oh, what the Well, that's cooked 24. >> Yes, it is. >> Uh, all right. Let's hold this and 936 833. >> Uh, we got a 107. >> In the shower, officers discover the body of 69year-old Cynthia Brenson. Police also discovered that Cynthia's bank accounts have been drained. Detectives learned that Cynthia had recently filed a restraining order against her son Dylan following a series of violent assaults. Five months later, investigators finally caught up with Dylan after he had been arrested on unrelated federal charges. >> I think you'll be fine, right? >> So, I'm Detective. This is Detective. >> What's up, guys? junk. >> At what point? Um, when was the last time you lived with your mom? >> Uh, I'd say I last talked to her probably about like October, Septemberish. >> It was the last time you talked to her. >> Yeah. Okay. >> I I stayed with her for like a week or so. That's about it. >> Okay. >> October, September. And how did that go? I know you guys had >> Yeah, we we >> emotionless past and >> yeah, it was kind of always a conundrum with us. We tried this and that. I haven't actually gone to talk to her at all. I tried to call her, but I don't know like and then being on the streets, I I don't know, just like it just got out of hand. I don't know how to say. >> He told the officer that he and his mother had a tumultuous relationship. According to him, they didn't see eye to eye and would constantly argue with one another. Essentially, he was pretending that he knew nothing of her death, forcing the officer to inform him of her passing. >> Your mom's deceased? >> Yeah. >> What do you mean? >> Your mom's deceased? >> Your So, >> how could she be deceased? >> Your mom was found November 21st of last year at her house. Deceased. >> How the hell am I just hearing about this now? I don't know if you're just hearing about it now. That's what we're here to talk to you about. You've been gone in the wind for the last eight months, okay? So, the reason why we're asking you questions and we come here and we ask you specific things is because we're trying to lay out a timeline, okay? And find out what's going on. >> So, just one night I was I was just sitting on the couch cuz she was like just screaming in pain. She was just so pain. She was crying. You know, she's yelling at me. Not yelling at me, but she's just yelling out, "What am I going to do? How do I get this money back because she got screwed over so hard by this guy and like these scammers and she was like just freaking out so bad and I'm like, "What? How can I help? There's nothing I could do." So, just I don't even know the date. I don't even know the date. I just went in the room. I looked at her. I gave her a big old hug and [sighs] I I That's basically it. >> The officer didn't believe anything. Dylan said he had evidence suggesting Dylan had drained her bank account of nearly $100,000. >> I'm probably going to be doing now that I've confessed to this probably like what 20 years or something. I'd rather at least be in federal doing something good like getting degrees and because I love to read and all that. So now that I've confessed and everything, I just would like a little help like that because I'm willing to do the time. I just don't want to do state. >> I don't want to do state time. I want to do federal. >> If that's if you guys can somehow help me out, >> we can mention that. We can mention any charge that we come up with is going to be a state charge. >> Yeah. [clears throat] But we can a lot of times they'll work stuff out, >> do concurrent or whatot. >> Dylan confessed that while his mother lay in bed, he held a plastic bag over her and used his arms to squeeze her until she stopped moving. He then fled the state using her vehicle and debit cards, draining her bank accounts in the process. He traveled with a friend to California, abandoned his mother's SUV and four dogs at the US Mexico border, and eventually crossed into Tijana. All righty. Any questions for us? >> Um, >> how did you guys hear like how did like how did you guys even get over there? Like what happened? >> Car concerned neighbors you were seen there. >> Yeah. >> So, >> wow. That wasn't too long even you said the 21st. >> Yeah. And I think >> it was the 21st there. >> And I think I left on I think it was like was it the 8th? >> I know it was November. I No, that was just that was like just a week later on the 21st. That was just like a week later. >> Yeah, it wasn't there wasn't a huge gap of time. It might have been less than a week from the time you left the child in there. >> That's crazy. >> In December 2024, Dylan was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 3 years for tampering with evidence. What could start as a simple welfare check could quickly turn into the kind of scene officers never forget. And is exactly the kind of moment that defines when good cops go pale after a horrifying discovery.