20/20 - Meet The Other Me

Episode Date: November 23, 2024

Officers race to find a kidnapped woman, not knowing that saving her would lead to the capture of a serial killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Your teen requested a ride, but this time not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account. It's an Uber account that allows your teen to request a ride under your supervision with live trip tracking and highly rated drivers. Add your teen to your Uber account today. Tonight, the relationship some people say sounds like a real life silence of the lambs. Missing women, a terrifying suspect, and the detective who risks her life to solve the case.
Starting point is 00:00:30 An all new 2020 starts right now. It was a baffling case. It was baffling. To have missing women in this town of Ashland is a big deal. A huge deal. Unusual. Very, very unusual. Elizabeth was very naive.
Starting point is 00:00:48 She would trust anybody and everybody. She was like, why am I her drummer and I can't find her? The last known images of Elizabeth Griffith were recorded while she was shopping inside this Walmart. It seemed like a very short timeframe that people started to look for Elizabeth, that now Stacey is gone. Just love the dance and just have fun with the kids.
Starting point is 00:01:12 Just a bundle of joy. She's like, some nice guy I saw to help him. You told her, let him go. Tell him to leave. You've got help coming. Yeah. And, uh... She wouldn't? But now, a phone call that would change everything.
Starting point is 00:01:24 A third woman taken. There was a female in that she had been held captive. Sounds like something out of a movie. Absolutely. A horror movie. You can hear her desperation for help. It's a chilling call. Oh, come on.
Starting point is 00:01:44 Just set the phone down. Did you know anything about what you were about to face? No. call. Did you know anything about what you were about to face? No. And I saw her hand. I saw her outstretched hand through the window. And then the line goes silent. Yep. 911 what is the address to your emergency? 4th street, Margaret Manning. What's the problem?
Starting point is 00:02:21 I can't accept it. It's 6 48 a.m. in September 2016. Emergency dispatchers receive a 911 call from a terrified woman. She's whispering that she's being held at a house near the laundromat and that her captor is asleep at her side. Officer Kurt Dorsey rushes to the scene leaving his siren off so that it does not alert the abductor. So what were you doing when the call came in? We responded from the police station. We were trying to be stealthy. We were told that the suspect was sleeping so we wanted to approach and not make a bunch
Starting point is 00:03:24 of noise. You weren't even sure the call was real, right? I didn't believe it was real at first, just because of the town that we live in. Just not a typical call that we would get in Ashland. Ashland, Ohio. It's a small city between Columbus and Cleveland, home to more than 50 churches and a large Amish community. Ashland is a quiet, rural community. There's about 20,000 people who live there. It has a university, a lot of farm fields. So this is Ashland.
Starting point is 00:04:05 What can you tell me about the town? Well as you can see it's rolling hills, scenic. A lot of community stuff going on. Football games. football games, the county fair, a lot of farm animals, a lot of competitions and shows for kids to get involved with. Typical small town where everyone knows everyone, right? Yes, exactly. Kim Major has had 23 years of service as a detective in Ashland.
Starting point is 00:04:47 I handled violent crime and I handled sex offenses and child abuse. I'm over a thousand of those cases. Thousand? Yeah. At the time of that terrifying 911 call, the community is already on edge. Just a week before, police discovered that a woman in town had simply vanished. Well, there was a missing person named Elizabeth Griffith. Yes.
Starting point is 00:05:16 Elizabeth was known in our town. I had had contact with her. I think we all had. A lot of the officers would have an eye on her. She was kind of a vulnerable person, and we helped her quite a bit as a police division. She used to call them quite frequently. She would call them about anything and everything.
Starting point is 00:05:38 Just like, I heard it's going to snow today. Is there any chance that the roads will be closed? She was definitely a character. Facing mental health challenges, 29-year-old Elizabeth Griffith attended meetings at a peer support center called LifeWorks. Elizabeth was very bubbly and energetic. The first time I met Elizabeth was at LifeWorks, and she was coming down the hallway,
Starting point is 00:06:06 and I was coming opposite of her. And she was like, hey, you're new here. And I was like, yeah? And she was like, you want to be my friend? And I was like, sure, let's be friends. She was embraced not just by LifeWorks, but also by her church family.
Starting point is 00:06:25 Elizabeth was a really sweet girl, a simple person. She liked to make people laugh, she liked to sing. She loved to worship. She would raise her hand the highest during worship. Even though she was tone deaf, she'd sing louder than anyone else. She was very much with the heart of a child. It was a little harder for her to grasp some things sometimes. She was a very loving person and a very loyal person.
Starting point is 00:06:55 Certainly financial challenges, certainly medical challenges, mental health challenges. She lived on her own in her own apartment. She did have a case manager that kind of helped her with daily life struggles. She was always introducing herself to everybody, very outgoing. The community knew Elizabeth and she was one of ours
Starting point is 00:07:22 and she was taken care of. But then Elizabeth's support team realizes no one has seen her in weeks. We were at LifeWorks and the phone rang and it was Elizabeth's case manager and she had asked if we had seen Elizabeth lately. She was like, I can't find her. So I called her cell phone and it just went straight to voicemail. Which was highly unlikely for Elizabeth. I was like, something's not right.
Starting point is 00:07:57 I was concerned because where would she have gone? What could have happened? She wasn't the type of person that would go missing, so we sort of knew something was wrong there. This is an area where I would often see Elizabeth Griffith walking, and just days before her disappearance, I stopped and chatted with her right up here.
Starting point is 00:08:22 It was a baffling case. It was baffling. We didn't know if she had taken off off or did she meet somebody online and leave. We didn't know if it was suicide. We didn't know where she was. Everybody was taking to social media, posting pictures of her. Everyone was looking for her. Everybody was praying for her.
Starting point is 00:08:42 Police began to investigate, speaking to Elizabeth's neighbors and friends and tracing her last known steps. I began talking with some of the public transit drivers because she would often use public transportation. Before she disappeared, records showed that Elizabeth had taken the bus to go shopping. The last known images of Elizabeth Griffith were recorded while she was shopping inside this Walmart. There's video of her going through the aisles and then waiting for the bus. She disappeared shortly thereafter and she
Starting point is 00:09:19 wouldn't be the only one. It turns out there's another missing woman in Ashland. I said, all right, Mom, I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. And that was the last we wouldn't be the only one. It turns out there's another missing woman in Ashland. I said, all right, mom, I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. And that was the last we ever heard from her. Police in Ashland, Ohio are searching for missing woman Elizabeth Griffith. And then they discover there's a second woman in town who also has mysteriously disappeared. 43-year-old Stacey Stanley, a divorced mom, devoted to her sons Curtis and Cory. One of my mom's favorite songs is Leonard Skinner's Freebird. It's a pretty good song.
Starting point is 00:10:03 Freebird. It's a pretty good song. Cory likes simple pleasures. Playing music, riding his motorcycle on the highways of Ohio, raising his baby daughter. For him, family is everything and his bond with his mother Stacey has always been particularly tight. Good boy, you kiss your brother. I would do this guy. Very loving and caring and do anything for anybody, you know, give the shirt off her back if she needed to. Always there for her kids, calling you consistently.
Starting point is 00:10:42 You know, if you didn't pick up She'd call you like a thousand times. My sister was a very outgoing person. It's a perfect time to make this wish. Happy birthday. Love grandma and grandpa's family. Growing up, we were so close in age and we shared the same room and stuff growing up. Karaoke?
Starting point is 00:11:06 She would sing some songs. She loved punk rock music and the look too. Guns N' Roses, Sweet Child of Mine. I actually had a video of her singing it. When we were kids I was videotaping her singing it. So she was not afraid to get on stage and perform? No. No.
Starting point is 00:11:26 No. Even as adults you were pretty close. Yeah, I'd come home from work and she'd have big bunches of food made up and I was like, oh wow. I hear she was a great cook. Yeah, I mean we didn't get looked like this over nothing, you know. She fed you well, huh? Yes, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:11:47 And Stacey was a new grandmother to Curtis's three-year-old daughter. She was a great grandmother. She was spoiled the hell out of her for sure. Just love to dance and just have fun with the kids. Just a bundle of joy. Stacey lived in Greenwich, Ohio, 30 minutes from Ashland. Stacy was not from our county. She was from a county that butts up to our county.
Starting point is 00:12:16 And she had visited Ashland. It was September 8, 2016, when she takes a fateful drive to Ashland to run some errands. She went to Walmart to get some gardening supplies because she loved doing her gardening and she also went to get her nails done. And then after that she was getting some gas and to come back home. It's around 8.30 at night when Stacey calls her son Corey from this gas station. She's stranded here with a flat tire and needs help.
Starting point is 00:12:51 She was like freaking out and I said, we'll just calm down, we'll find somebody to help you. Were you worried? Oh, not necessarily off the rip. It's just a flat tire you're thinking. It's a flat tire, yeah. They're able to find a family friend to meet Stacy at the gas station. But it turns out a stranger has also shown up to help. She's like, some nice guy stopped to help.
Starting point is 00:13:13 I then told her to tell him to kick rocks. We've got somebody coming to help you. And- She wouldn't? Well, she's like, oh, he's a nice guy, just stopped to help. And so my mom, you know the person she was, she was friendly and talked to people. This guy takes over and he changes the tire. She offers him a ride home. And I said, all right, Mom.
Starting point is 00:13:32 Well, I said, call me in the morning. She said, OK, I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I said, all right, love you too, Mom. But the next day, Corey and Curtis don't receive the usual flurry of calls from their mom. And then I talked to my aunt and I'm like, hey, mom's not picking up. I don't know what's going on. We ran up breaking into her house to get in and she had two little dogs. She loved them little dogs, little chihuahuas. Her dogs were still in
Starting point is 00:14:00 their kennel so we knew something was going on. The Huron County sheriffs had put out a Bolo beyond the lookout for her vehicle. We went driving the roads looking for her. In case she had an accident, was down in a ravine or a ditch or anything, we went looking, driving the routes from Ashland back to Greenwich. Within hours, Stacey's family spreads out across the streets of Ashland trying to find any trace of her. We went down to the gas station the BP where she was last seen. I had printed off like almost two or three thousand flyers. They're just passing them out and putting them up everywhere. There's probably a good 70 of us at least out there handing flyers out.
Starting point is 00:14:52 Detective Brian Evans is on patrol in Ashland when he spots the family. As I was driving around the city of Ashland I met up with different groups of her family who was actively searching for Stacey at the time. They were in different groups knocking on doors, they were going down to some abandoned buildings. Well, I came across the radio that they had somebody had reported her car on East 9th Street in Ashland. We beat the cops over to the car. And I opened the door, I looked, I was like, the seat was all the way back. My mom was short, so it didn't make sense why the seat was back.
Starting point is 00:15:32 I had grabbed her cigarette container, she put her cigarette butts in, and I happened to see a Campbell filtered cigarettes in there. And I was like, these aren't my mom's, my mom don't smoke these. At this point, you know, it's alarming because somebody else was in this car. So now it's not just Elizabeth Griffith who is missing in Ashland. Seemed like a very short time frame
Starting point is 00:15:58 that people started to look for Elizabeth, that now Stacey is gone. The odds of two women missing at the same time just did not make sense whatsoever. To have two missing women in this town of Ashland is a big deal. It's a huge deal. Unusual. Very, very unusual for a county this size to have anyone missing, much less two women missing.
Starting point is 00:16:23 The community had concern. The word was starting to spread around. We were like, what's really going on? It's Ashland. Like, stuff like that doesn't happen in Ashland. Then a heart-stopping clue in a window at the back of the house. Sounds like something out of a movie.
Starting point is 00:16:42 Absolutely. A horror movie. I'm a 911 dispatcher, fashion police department. I've been a dispatcher for 26 years. What is your typical day like? Good work, sign in to all the computers. We usually have six to eight screens, depending on what center you're at. Answer calls.
Starting point is 00:17:13 You never know when the call will come in or what kind of call it's gonna be. Your most memorable call? Probably this one. Hi, 11, what is the address to your emergency? September 13, 2016. 648 a.m.? Yep, end of my shift. By September 13, 2016, Elizabeth Griffith had not been seen for a month.
Starting point is 00:17:43 Stacey Stanley for five days. You're working the dispatch and you get that call. At first I couldn't hear her. It was real quiet. She was whispering. No problem. I'm gonna help you. She says, I've been abducted. Yes.
Starting point is 00:18:01 Your reaction? My reaction was to find out where she was at first, to get her out of there. The dispatcher had told us that there was a female and that she had been held captive somewhere near a logger mat. So we immediately and start to drive towards the area of the call. Are she up now? Are she sleeping yet?
Starting point is 00:18:26 In the bedroom? I ask her more questions, trying to get as much as I could before he woke up. You have to be calm, but there's an urgency. Yes. The woman says she's calling from her abductor's phone. He had fallen asleep at some point, and she was able to secure this phone. You couldn't trace the call back then? Couldn't trace the call. This was a flip phone. It was not coming back to a location.
Starting point is 00:18:52 Do you need an ambulance? Are you bleeding from anywhere? I don't need more. How were you bleeding from? You don't have to talk if you don't need to, okay? Why couldn't she get out on her own? Well, he had taken the doorknobs off, apparently. As Officer Dorsey heads to the scene, there's a problem. How to find her?
Starting point is 00:19:16 The caller does not know her exact address, but she tells 911 she's being held captive in a house next to this laundromat. The problem for police is that there are two very similar houses in this area. There were two houses right here? Yes. Two identical houses. And you didn't know which one?
Starting point is 00:19:38 No, they were nearly identical, both the same color, same shape, two-story. We had no idea which one. They can't just gang bust into a house. What if Heda woke up with a weapon and hurt her? So they had to find her quietly. So they were outside looking for her. So how do you approach the house knowing that the captor is asleep? So we first started to just look in windows to see if we could see anything. Just check different doors to see if we can pinpoint which house she's in.
Starting point is 00:20:15 As police conduct the search, there's a heart-stopping moment when the caller says she has awakened her abductor. You can hear the sheer terror in her voice when he wakes up. Yep. And then the line goes silent. It must have seemed like that. Yes, forever. What's going through your mind? I'm just praying they find her.
Starting point is 00:20:59 Five agonizing minutes later, she's back. Yep. Are you still there? I'm not sure. Do you hear any officers outside? Okay, they're in the area. What was it like to hear her voice again? It was good. Glad she was still there and not her.
Starting point is 00:21:18 And he was still sleeping. So that's good. You can hear her desperation for help. It's a chilling call. It's chilling. I remember as I was checking the doors panic starts to set in. I wanted to find her so bad. We're going back and forth between the two houses. The dispatcher had told us at some point that she heard a door. I can hear him.
Starting point is 00:21:50 Can you hear him? I remembered that I had pulled on a door hard and it made a noise that I didn't intend. So I ran around the house that we were currently at and looked towards the direction of the other house. They told me to come back. She said, time hurry. And I saw her hand. I saw her outstretched hand through the window and I knew at that point she was in there.
Starting point is 00:22:23 I would have gone through the wall to get to her. A hand right on the window, that's pretty eerie. Sounds like something out of a movie. Absolutely. A horror movie. We went to the door, it was locked and I asked the dispatcher to relay to her that she needed to unlock the door. She's able to unlock it and we're able to open it. It took 19 long minutes to get her out. What was it like when you finally hear Detective Dorsey? It was the best sound ever. I was glad because the officers were safe. She was safe. You smiled a little.
Starting point is 00:23:22 Because you're proud of her? Yeah, proud of her. What a relief. What was it like when you came face to face with the victim? I'll never forget the way that she looked at us. She looked shocked like she had seen a ghost. She was fully nude. I don't think I've ever felt so much relief to find her.
Starting point is 00:24:03 Divine intervention and a good dispatcher led us to that house and ultimately that door. So now, police need to find out what happened in this house. Some things require a lot of work to grow, like plants, hair, babies, or your savings. But when you run a business, you already have enough on your plate. Scotiabank's Right Size Savings for Business account can help you grow your savings with ease. For a limited time, open a new account and earn up to 4.65% interest for the first six months. Before you know it, your savings will grow without you even noticing.
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Starting point is 00:25:02 58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one specially developed helmet, thousands of high intensity focused ultrasound waves, zero incisions, and that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. with a terrified 911 caller safely in their custody, police turned their attention to her abductor, a 40-year-old man identified as Sean Great. The dramatic moment when he's apprehended is heard on that open line from the 911 call. Once we got Mr. Great into custody, he was handcuffed. He ended up in my car. So I began interviewing Mr. Great. And how do you know her again?
Starting point is 00:26:09 We spend a lot of time way late together. We go eat lunch every day. The victim, a 36-year-old woman police identify as Jane Doe to protect her privacy. It's transported to the Ashland Police Department. to protect her privacy. It's transported to the Ashland Police Department. Police are desperate for information. No easy task as the woman was traumatized
Starting point is 00:26:32 and still in shock. But Ashland Police have a secret weapon. Enter Detective Kim Major. Kim is the best interviewer that I've ever seen. She's able to speak with anyone, whether that be small kids or a violent criminal. I was the only female detective for the majority of my career. Is that good? Is that good? Major balanced the demands of detective work with the responsibilities of being a mother to three.
Starting point is 00:27:09 That morning, Detective Kim Major is in the shower getting ready for work and she misses two phone calls from her captain at the Ashland Police Department. And I called him back and he said, well, he gruffed at me and said two calls and a text. And he said, there's been a kidnapping, we've rescued the woman, and I need you to come in and interview her. You come to the station and what happens? The victim was taken into my office at the end of this hallway, and that's where I spoke with her.
Starting point is 00:27:42 She had been tortured emotionally and physically. Yeah, she had. So I bring her into my office. The effects of the woman's harrowing ordeal were immediately apparent. The first thing I noticed is her appearance, of course. I could see that she had been victimized. The second thing I noticed was that I could smell the scent of her perpetrator. It's testosterone. You could smell him?
Starting point is 00:28:08 I could. What did you learn about Jane? I learned that she had met Sean Great. She eats her noon meal at what we call the Croc Center. They provide free meals at noon. Jane Doe would eat there sometimes, and that's where she met Sean Great. Jane Doe would eat there sometimes, and that's where she met Sean Great. He was tall like my brother, my older brother, and he was kind of goofy, but he struck me as kind. When I would run into him at lunch, and if neither one of us was doing anything, we'd just walk around Ashland.
Starting point is 00:28:40 This is a woman so strong in her Christian faith that no man's phone number is in her phone. Not one. No man crosses the threshold of her door. He let me know that he would be interested in more, but I told him that I wasn't interested in, you know, beyond friends. Kim was speaking with Jane Doe and our captain at the time, Captain Lay, was speaking with Sean Great in the interview room. David Lay, you are Sean Great. At the same time Jane Doe and Grave were being interviewed at the station. Detective Brian Evans was part of a team sent back to search the house where Jane had been
Starting point is 00:29:32 held captive. We went upstairs. The mattress in the bedroom looked like a dirty used mattress that was just found somewhere and used as a mattress. And then there were some restraints, as in tied clothing, tied to different areas of the mattress to where it looked like that's where Jane Doe was possibly tied up.
Starting point is 00:29:57 So just how did Jane Doe end up a prisoner in this house of horrors? The pair had been out for one of their regular walks and ended up at the house where Shawn Great had been staying. He told her that he had some clothes for her. She also had bagged up some food for him. And she said it was against her better judgment to walk through the door because it's unlike her.
Starting point is 00:30:24 But she did. He just started showing me the clothes and I remember him asking if I had an extra Bible because he didn't have one so I got him one. So she sat down to read the Bible and as she's reading he began to pace and then he charged towards her, grabbed the Bible from her hands, ripped it from her hands. Jane Doe tells detective major that at that point Sean Great attacked her. I tried to push him away and get up. I was just doing everything trying to kick punch but everything did, he just did it so much harder.
Starting point is 00:31:06 And then what did he do to her? Sexually assaulted her. Her words were every way imaginable. He would always bind my wrists, my legs, my times. The details were horrifying. But the interview takes a sudden turn when Jane Doe mentions the name of Elizabeth Griffith, one of two missing women police had been searching for. She lived in the building next to me. Sweet, but like a child.
Starting point is 00:31:36 Sean and I were playing badminton in the front yard and Elizabeth saw us and came out. I think she just started talking with us and I don't know if I introduced her or if she introduced herself. Police discover there's a vital link between Jane Doe, Sean Great and Elizabeth Griffith. All three of them would frequent this community center where they'd get free meals. That connection sets off alarm bells. Was it possible that this man, unknown to law enforcement in Ashland, Shawn Great, was also involved in the disappearance of Elizabeth Griffith?
Starting point is 00:32:19 When I stepped out of my office, my captain said, listen, I need you to go in and talk to him about what Jane Doe told you. Can you go in and see if you can nail down the facts regarding that, see if it parallels what he's saying happened. Hey Sean, I'm Kim Major, nice to meet you. The last thing he said before I walked in was, and while you're in there, see if he knows anything about the missing girls. Did you know anything about what you were about to face? What did you do? Well, I walked down this hallway. I was told to go ahead and interview him.
Starting point is 00:32:59 And this is where the interview room is. And when I came in, he was seated right here. Wow. He was right here. Yeah. Hey, Sean. I'm the commander. Nice to meet you.
Starting point is 00:33:11 Before you came in here, did you have any idea what you were in for? No. I had no idea. You had your own recorder? Yes. And what did you do? I took the recorder and just dropped it down my top. Because you wanted a record of this?
Starting point is 00:33:26 Yes, just a backup in case something happened. And in this case, it proved valuable. Valuable indeed, because the video system stopped recording shortly after Detective Major began interviewing Great. That means her backup was the only recording of the interview while the system was down. He decided to take off his handcuffs. Yeah. Why? I need to drop all of those things that would inhibit somebody's ability to relax or feel comfortable.
Starting point is 00:33:59 But out of his handcuffs he could attack you. He could. You weren't thinking about that? At that time, no. In a city where law enforcement routinely interacts with the community, Sean Great was not known to police. I had never heard his name. I had never had any tips about him. We didn't know him.
Starting point is 00:34:21 Sean Great had grown up in Marion, Ohio. That's about an hour from Ashland. He was a good looking kid, charming. With Sean Great, people talk about his eyes. They're piercing blue eyes. And women will talk about that. That's how they recall him, are his eyes. He just had one of these very likeable personalities,
Starting point is 00:34:44 very soft, laid back, very unassuming type of personality. are his eyes. He just had one of these very likable personalities, very soft, laid back, very unassuming type of personality. And it was just one of those things that you just almost couldn't hardly not like. Sean never told me much at all about his background. I knew he had either a sister and a brother. I had never met his dad. He told me his mom abandoned him.
Starting point is 00:35:06 He absolutely hated his mother. Christina Hildreth dated Sean Great for five years. I think before we moved in together, he had worked at, it was a motel, Super 8 or something in Marion, and he might have worked there a couple of weeks. That was about it. Other than that, I've never known him to have a job. While unknown to police in Ashland, Sean Gray had become a familiar face at the Croc Center. He would just come to our hot meal and just kind of integrated himself into the community meal and the community that attended and started making friends. I'd see him around town walking and talking with people and he just really kind of absorbed what we had.
Starting point is 00:36:01 What did he say about Jane? At first, he tried to present it as if she wanted him. Like they were in a relationship, that she wanted the sexual piece of this. I was wondering why she said she wanted to marry me because she was horny that day. Eventually, as we peeled that away, he realized she didn't want this. Just as empathy had helped in speaking to Jane Doe,
Starting point is 00:36:28 Major was using a similar approach, hoping to gain greats' trust. And slowly, he begins to open up, sharing details about his childhood. childhood. Does he admit that something happened with Jane Doe? Eventually he begins to talk about what happened and admits in layers. He admits that he had held her there captive, admits that he had tied her up. I mean, looking at this whole thing, you forced her to have sex. She didn't want to. I abducted her and I raped her. And there it was.
Starting point is 00:37:31 Detective Major had the confession, but the confession itself only raised more questions. As he spoke about what he did to Jane Doe and would use the words kill that he strangled her, you begin to realize this may be way more than Jane Doe. And earlier in my career, I probably would have stopped right at Jane Doe. Now, I realize it's a partial confession. Detective Major brings the conversation back to Elizabeth Griffith, that missing woman who Jane Doe said also knew Sean Great. We can't find Elizabeth. We'll find her, but we can't right now. Hey, look at me. Look at me. I need your help. I don't know if I can help you.
Starting point is 00:38:25 That goes on for just so long, long enough that he's acting like he has no idea what I'm talking about. And then suddenly, Sean Gray makes a shocking revelation. I might not be able to take you to her, or maybe someone else. How many are there? I don't know, I don't think you can say many. Now, detectives knew Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley were missing, but now Sean Gray seems to be talking about even more women.
Starting point is 00:39:00 I guess I'm ready to go ahead and get my lethal injection, but I'll tell you first. Then things take a bizarre and frightening turn. I'm thinking this is not good. At what point do you realize I might be dealing with a serial killer? You're in this very room alone with a serial killer. The magnitude is becoming clearer to me. Whatever he did, I'm going to get it. Police are now investigating whether they have a serial killer on their hands. Are there any other girls in the house, sweetie?
Starting point is 00:39:46 He had cut a slit into the back of the couch, and he was crawling in and out of the couch, and he would come out at night. He says, meet the other me. I just froze. The first thing that hit my mind is a monster. You don't normally have a killer show you how he did it. He said, I'll just do it on you, kind of grinned. I'd get up behind him like this. He locks this end.
Starting point is 00:40:13 He locks this arm end. He locks this head here. And then he just pushes down and squeezes. Wow. Wow. At one point, he told me it was probably a good thing I had him in custody, because there would be more. We knew that she was relatively young.
Starting point is 00:40:26 She had perfect teeth. We had somebody that had confessed to her murder. A fellow inmate tells you that Sean great that he wants to kill you. The the Sean great has confessed to his assault on Jane Doe but what about those two missing women in Ashland it's an urgent race to find out is he behind their disappearance and can they be saved
Starting point is 00:41:03 as you continue interrogating Sean Gray, time is of the essence. Time is always of the essence. I feel like I'm against the clock to get him to say something before I say the wrong thing and cause them to stop talking at all. And you're thinking he might have these two missing women and they could still be alive.
Starting point is 00:41:19 Absolutely. I start pressing him on where Elizabeth Griffith is. Can you take me to where she is? I can't. Why? Sean, look at me. If I take you in my little detective truck, can you take me out? I don't know what you're talking about.
Starting point is 00:41:46 I'm looking for Elizabeth's body. Can you take me to it? Sweet, she's dead? But suddenly, Sean Gray reveals shocking information that maybe he can bring Detective Major to somebody else. I might not be able to take you to her, maybe someone else. How many are there? I don't know, I don't know how many. What?
Starting point is 00:42:16 I don't know, there might not be none. He says he might not be able to take me to her, meaning Elizabeth, but might take me to someone else, and that there might be so many or there might be none. So he's playing with you? Possibly he's wanting to tell me something. Will you take me there?
Starting point is 00:42:37 I'll take you to a place in Mansfield. Where she is? Where you're going to take me to? Mansfield. to the place that the man's been. Where she is? Where you're gonna find the man's been. Where there's another girl? Where there's a girl. But another. What happened?
Starting point is 00:43:05 Is she gone? She's been gone. Is she in a house? What is she in? Clues. Alright, what's her name? Cand that woman is Candace Cunningham. Yes. Did you know who she was? I did not know Candace.
Starting point is 00:43:42 Candace hadn't been reported missing. As our colleagues watching in the other room start looking for information on Candace Cunningham, Detective Major continues to question Sean for more information. After all, the two missing women in Ashland are still unaccounted for. As I watched the interview, I could see that Sean was warming up to Kim. He was telling her more. Her methods were working. What was it about you that he connected with, felt comfortable with?
Starting point is 00:44:18 He told me that I had empathy, that he could see it. Who else? The house where I came from. Yeah. Is somebody in there? Yeah. Who is it?
Starting point is 00:44:41 Is it Elizabeth? Where is she in there? In the closet. So then Sean admits to you that Elizabeth's body is in the closet in that same house where he was holding Jane Doe. Right in the same house. When he said that I didn't know if she was alive or not. As Kim's interviewing, I called Detective Brian Evans to tell him that Elizabeth was upstairs in a closet. He had been working on a search warrant at the house. I was surprised by the information
Starting point is 00:45:17 because officers had cleared the house. We headed upstairs to see if we could locate Elizabeth. This is an abandoned house that has old wooden steps. You could see their footprints going upstairs. One of the guys on scene said there is no closet upstairs. That detective went directly to a particular room and looked up and realized there was a concealed closet. There was a bunch of clothing just all over this closet. There were stuffed animals piled down below. As we started to pull away the clothes,
Starting point is 00:45:54 you could see the fly activity, and there was electrical tape that was taped up around the sides of the door to help from the smell to come from the door. And once the door to like help from the smell to come from the door. And once the door is open, there's another large pile of clothing. You could see the fly activity again all over the clothing. Elizabeth's body was underneath all this.
Starting point is 00:46:21 Yes, it was. What goes through your mind at that point? Well that it was a tragedy and once the clothes were removed her body she was actually kind of like face down and hogtied back. Chilling? Yes it was very sad. Sean tells detective major that the night of Elizabeth's murder all began when he says she called him late at night because she couldn't sleep. She came over about 11 o'clock when she brought on the housey, the paint housey.
Starting point is 00:47:00 It just happened that I took to her, just reached her, just took to her. It just happened that a truck turned his reach down. Just a truck turned. We just didn't think it was possible. It couldn't have been Elizabeth. I mean, it just couldn't have been. And then we found out it was. And we just sobbed.
Starting point is 00:47:18 And sobbed because it had come to a conclusion that we were not going to see our friend again. to a conclusion that we were not gonna see our friend again. You're in this very room alone with a serial killer. Yes, as it progressed, the magnitude was becoming clearer to me. I guess I'm ready to go ahead and get my lethal injection, but I'll tell you everything first. He's bought into me. He's going to talk to me. Whatever he did, I'm going to get it.
Starting point is 00:47:54 Sean Great has confessed to the kidnapping and rape of Jane Doe, the murder of Elizabeth Griffith, and knowledge of the disappearance of Candace Cunningham. But Stacey Stanley is still missing and Detective Major has a hunch he knows more about her as well. As the hours tick by in this very same room, you got more and more out of him. That's right. He just kept coming out in layers a little bit more and a little bit more. Are there any other girls in the house right now? Yeah? Down in the basement? What's her name?
Starting point is 00:48:40 Stacy. He tells me that Stacy Stanley was in the basement of the home under a pile of trash. Now remember, Stacy was that missing woman whose family had been searching for her after she was seen with a stranger changing her tire at that BP gas station. higher at that BP gas station. Sean says he was that stranger, and he tells Detective Major his version of what happened that night. She came home with me. We kind of did it off pretty good. And then we didn't.
Starting point is 00:49:14 It was kind of sour, fast. I just went and had a ton of rum. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink.
Starting point is 00:49:22 I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I'm going to go home and have a drink. I was like, I fast. I just went and talked to her. The mood at the police division was shock. It was just chaotic and pretty unreal. Then you get another disturbing call. There's another body in the basement. Yes, if you go down the basement, there's space behind the stairwell. There was multiple bags of trash stacked up and underneath the trash is where Stacey was. There was actually a picture of just her hand kind of sticking out of the trash.
Starting point is 00:50:03 Like eerily saying, I'm here. Have you ever seen anything like this in all your years of police work? No, I've been on other homicides and other tragic cases, but not to this magnitude, no. A lot of our local community was coming to the area and you could tell the feeling in the air was that the people knew that we found bodies in the house. What started as a rescue ended with a gruesome discovery that only got worse.
Starting point is 00:50:37 Now families wait to find out if those women are their loved ones. I got a phone call saying I need to get to Ashland ASAP. I don't want it to be my mom. I mean, nobody wants it to be their mom. I don't get to watch a girl, my daughter don't get to, she don't get to watch my daughter grow up. Honestly, I think that my sister's in that house
Starting point is 00:50:55 and they're not gonna know anything for a couple hours. They pulled out a couple pictures. They're like, cause that, do you guys recognize that? He says, yeah, that's my mom's picture. It was very traumatic, you know. I happened to see that and that was my mom laying there. It's bad enough what he did, but for some reason,
Starting point is 00:51:22 thinking that he put her under trash For some reason, thinking that he put her under trash... makes it worse. It still touches you. It does. For me, the day that cases don't impact me would be the day that I need to pack it in. You want it to touch you? Do you want to feel it? I want it to touch me. I mean, I don't impact me would be the day that I need to pack it in you wanted to touch you Do you want to I want it to touch me? I mean, I don't want to be in an interview and lose control but
Starting point is 00:51:54 These ladies mannered But detective major had to put aside her emotions Sean great had confessed to a third woman named Candace Cunningham. Candace was a little tiny vibrant woman, lived in the next county over, Richland County. Candace had not been reported missing and Candace had dated Shawn Great. On her Facebook page, Candace posts about Shawn Great, including this picture, and later writing, I am back with Shawn and love him. It was just one month before her murder. In the interrogation room, Shawn describes strangling her in an abandoned house after
Starting point is 00:52:39 an alleged altercation. 3 o'clock in the morning I hit my face with the bag in the back of understand? After I was done interviewing him, which went all day, I had asked him if he would take me to where Candice's body was. What's going through your mind? I was hoping that he wouldn't shut down from just having the emotions of going back to that place.
Starting point is 00:53:07 So this is the scene where the home was where Candace Cunningham was living with Sean Great. So there was a home here. He burned it down after he murdered her in the home. Investigators took video of Sean that day as he led them to where he left Candace's body. He's agreed to come out, show us where he put the body. He killed her in a house that was here and then dragged her body toward the ravine. Prior to burning that down, he carried her body wrapped up in a blanket. He her body toward the ravine. Prior to burning that down, he carried her body
Starting point is 00:53:45 wrapped up in a blanket. He carried her to the ravine. Yeah, I remember these rocks. How far down? Carried her across the creek and up straight up the hill about between 10 to 15 feet. There's a big shrub. While you were here, Sean got emotional.
Starting point is 00:54:07 He did. When we rolled up, I actually had to ask him, are you okay? You okay? Uh... Alright. And he said it was hard. It was hard. What was it like to finally find this woman and give it some closure? Like I wanted to go down to the ravine and rescue her, but she's gone.
Starting point is 00:54:36 Frustrating that she hadn't been reported missing, that no one even knew at all. at all. As the investigation continues, Sean performs another show and tell. I just lost it. And then I just turned her around. Revealing more deadly secrets. During the interrogation you asked Sean to show you his strangulation technique. He said, I'll just do it on you. Kind of grinned.
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Starting point is 00:55:35 From our families to your table, Everybody Milk. Visit milk.org to learn more. As a Fizz member, you can look forward to free data, big savings on plans, and having and more. Next to that desperate call for help from a woman being held captive, police are now investigating whether they have a serial killer on their hands. Sean Michael Great is being held for kidnapping tonight, and the sheriff's department says he should be charged with murder. Lord, I told that undertaker, undertaker, please drive slow. The community response was one of just complete shock.
Starting point is 00:56:29 People had no idea that something like this could happen here. Even though I don't know him, we are thinking about him and praying for them. All I could say was, oh my God. And it was just like, this is unreal. No, we're not talking about the same guy. I was just like, this is unreal. No, we're not talking about the same guy. I was just like, how? I knew he had this anger, but when I first found out,
Starting point is 00:56:53 I couldn't comprehend that this was something he had actually done. Those closest to Great were surprised to learn of his killing spree, despite them having their own chilling experiences with him. His former girlfriend, Christina Hildreth, says, great once spied on her from inside her sofa. He says, I've been living in the couch. He said, when you came in, you were sitting on me. I seen everything you did. He had cut a slit into the back of the couch and he was crawling in and out of the couch and he would come out at night.
Starting point is 00:57:32 That was terrifying. And his friend Tim Dennis claims he had a text exchange with Shawn that made his blood run cold. He had just out of the clear blue asked me if he could borrow $20 and text exchange with Sean that made his blood run cold. He had just out of the clear blue asked me if he could borrow $20. And I told him no. All of a sudden, here's this whole slew of scathing messages. And he told me bed bugs are coming to your house, roaches are coming. And then he makes this statement.
Starting point is 00:58:03 He says, meet the other me. Honestly, I just froze. The first thing that hit my mind is a monster. Two days after his arrest, you go interview him again now with Detective Evans. Yes, I did. I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to get off his chest. He tells me that he had killed a woman in Marion County. Ten years earlier. Ten years earlier.
Starting point is 00:58:49 Dana. He didn't know her name for sure. Who was she? She had come to his mother's house to sell magazines. Sean says he got upset because the woman didn't deliver the magazines that Sean's mother had ordered. He said he was in town and just happened to see her. So he said he made up a story that he had money back at his house. So that's when I fronted her. So you're gonna rip me off like you did my mom?
Starting point is 00:59:18 Dad. Just want to chuck her out right here. He said he placed her out by some railroad tracks. Her body had been found years and years ago. She just hadn't been identified. Detective Major knows authorities will need to figure out who this Dana is, but they press on, probing Sean about key details of his other murders.
Starting point is 00:59:44 about key details of his other murders. Detective Evans and I decided we might try to have him show us how he strangled the victims. So Brian Evans says, would you, would you, it's on a doll. And what did he say? He said, I'll just do it on you. And kind of grinned, I was like, okay. And then we got up. So I roll the camera. Okay, it says Detective Major. We have Detective Evans in the room, Sean Greene in the room.
Starting point is 01:00:15 Then he kind of just gets behind Brian and does a hold on him. Brian, just like grab her. I look at Brian's eyes and I'm thinking, this is not good. So I'm you, and you're Sean. So what did he do? So he just came up behind. He said, I'd get up behind him like this.
Starting point is 01:00:36 And then he comes back. He locks this in. He locks this arm in. He locks this head here. And then he just pushes down and squeezes. Wow. Wow. And at that point, I kind of mouthed over to Detective Major that I'm not f***ing doing
Starting point is 01:00:50 that again. You could have lost consciousness in seconds. He could have killed you. I didn't put a whole lot of thought into that. It just went to getting the evidence and I feel I have some training that I don't believe he would have killed me. Police don't normally get this kind of demonstrative evidence.
Starting point is 01:01:07 You don't normally have a killer not only confess to a crime, but then actually show you how he did it. How do you know he's dead? I wish you knew like this. This morning, suspect Sean Great held on a $1 million bond and facing double murder and kidnapping charges.
Starting point is 01:01:27 Do you understand the nature of the three offenses charged and the complaint, Mr. Great? Yes, Your Honor. He seemed kind of unalarming. I could understand why maybe women were trusting of him or went with him willingly because he didn't look like a monster Law enforcement is on the hunt to figure out just who is this unidentified woman
Starting point is 01:01:56 Sean great has confessed to killing ten years prior in neighboring Marion County Nobody knew who she was. It was a great mystery. Investigators reached out to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. My name is Samantha Molnar. My position at Ohio BCI is a forensic artist. I can do a clay facial reconstruction
Starting point is 01:02:20 from the skeletal remains. We can actually 3D print an exact replica of the skull. I basically start doing the clay reconstruction from there, building the muscle structure on the face, placing the average tissue depth markers, and then kind of finishing the sculpture. We did receive some tips, but none of those tips led to an identity.
Starting point is 01:02:43 Detective Kim Major isn't just trying to crack the Shawn Gray case. She also has to juggle the full-time job of being a mom to three active kids. I'm always worried about her no matter where she is. I would stay up at night, me and my little brother would, and just wait until she gets home. I try to say that I am not overprotective of my kids, but I'm sure I am. But could this case put Kim or her family in grave danger? When the case was going on, our fare kicked off. I get a phone call and it's a man and he said I have your daughter. On Friday night my husband coaches football. I actually took my younger kids to the football game and I sat there, which was also surreal, seeing all the things around me and the lights.
Starting point is 01:03:54 People are happy. They're happy, they're cracking the helmets. The band, watching my husband, hearing the whistles. Friday Night Lights. Let's go, let's husband, hearing the whistles. Friday Night Lights. Let's go, let's go! It's Friday Night Lights. That's small town America. I brought my kids home, put them to bed.
Starting point is 01:04:16 That's when Detective Major's oldest son, Corbin, who's preparing to enter the police academy, comes into the room. He's like, what's going on, Mom? I said, Sean Gray builds forts all over the place. He's like MacGyver. He stays in these things. But there's one in particular he keeps talking about. He had a fort in the woods, and she explained to me
Starting point is 01:04:37 where it was. And I remember there was a body recovery within a quarter to a half mile that deemed a drug overdose right on a gas line. I said, what are you talking about? He said, yeah, there was a woman that died of an overdose and they dumped her body there. We also just learned a body was found in Ashland County. Police say gas company worker found the body behind a tree on County Road 1908, just south
Starting point is 01:05:04 of Route 30. And he said, hold on a second. I kind of marked out where she thought his fort exactly was. I kind of marked the distance. It was on the same County Road. I was like, there's no way this is just a coincidence. This has to be from him. There's no way it's not. I said, honey, it's an overdose and a dumping and he said that's because of her lifestyle and people assume it's
Starting point is 01:05:32 that. He said he did it you have to go talk to him. You have to do something. The next morning went in to the jail, pulled Sean Grayed out. There's a case from out in the county, meaning that we found a girl. And we're trying to see if you'll be honest if that's something you have something to do with. Rebecca Lacey. Yes, sir. I had problems with her once. 31 year old Rebecca Lacey's
Starting point is 01:06:07 death had been ruled a drug overdose by the Ashland County coroner but now Sean Great shares what he says happened to her. We played a game of pool. I went to the bathroom right. I had some money in my wallet. The first thing I did was just check my wallet. He said she had stolen a few dollars from him and he said he had strangled her. He talks about borrowing a car and taking her body out and dumping her in my county. This is where Rebecca Lacey's body was found. Yes, right against this tree right here. When was she found here?
Starting point is 01:07:02 March of 2015, her body was found and she had been here for a couple months. Hard to believe that such a heinous crime could have happened here. Should be a place of solitude, but instead it's a place where a woman's body was discarded like she didn't matter. A woman's body was discarded like she didn't matter.
Starting point is 01:07:30 But Rebecca Lacey's case was public knowledge, and Detective Major needed proof that Sean was actually involved in her death. So she asked him about details from the crime scene. What did Sean tell you about the placement of that memorial? During the interview, when I had asked him to tell me some things that nobody would know, he said... I can tell you the truth because where I found the cross and stuff right now, she wasn't found there. She was found over by a tree. He said you put the memorial in the wrong place. Yes. He was right. Nobody would have known that.
Starting point is 01:08:05 With this new information, authorities reopened the Rebecca Lacey case, ruled her death a homicide, and later charged Shawn Great with her murder. Detective Major had formed a unique bond with Shawn Great. You spent 33 hours with Sean Gray. Yeah, eight interviews, 33 hours over the course of over a month. So much so that they've been compared to Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs. Starling.
Starting point is 01:08:41 Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming? What kind of toll does it take on you? It may have made me a little more hypersensitive. When the case was going on, our fear kicked off. I get a phone call and it's a man. And he said, I have your daughter. I said, who is this? And he won't answer me.
Starting point is 01:09:10 And then he hangs up. They contact a guy who made the phone call. It was just a coincidence. The case probably changed how I handled something like that. That was a rough one for me that night. A month after he's arrested, there's another chilling development. A fellow inmate tells you that Sean Gray is targeting you, that he wants to kill you. He said that Sean Gray told him he was trying to find my gun on my body, but he thought
Starting point is 01:09:42 it would be the ultimate to kill me. This information did not lead to any additional charges against Grave, but future meetings between Detective Major and Sean Grave took place at the jail where no weapons are allowed. All along do you think he was plotting to kill you? I didn't know that initially. I went into a later interview with him. I said, are you still having that hunger that you talk about? Can I ask you something? Will you be honest?
Starting point is 01:10:14 Do you still have thoughts? About that desire? Yeah. The dream desire probably grew when there wasn't no desire at first, but it might have gotten worse. Now it's feeling like something that I just had to do. I'm feeling it now. He told you he still had that hunger to kill.
Starting point is 01:10:40 Yes. Sean Great says he had a hunger to kill, but Jane Doe and the victims' families had a hunger for justice, and now in court they come face to face with a man they say is a monster. This episode is brought to you by Melissa and Doug. Wooden puzzles and building toys for problem solving and arts and crafts for creative thinking, Melissa and Doug makes toys that help kids take on the world. Because the way they play today shapes who they become tomorrow. Melissa and Doug, the play is pretend, the skills are real.
Starting point is 01:11:20 Look for Melissa and Doug wherever you shop for toys. Visa and OpenTable are dishing up something new. Get access to primetime dining reservations by adding your Visa Infinite Privilege Card to your OpenTable account. From there, you'll unlock first-come, first-serve spots at select top restaurants when booking through OpenTable. Learn more at OpenTable.ca forward slash Visa Dining. It's April 2018 and Sean Gray goes on trial at this courthouse for crimes against three of his victims, Jane Doe, Elizabeth Griffith, and Stacey Stanley.
Starting point is 01:12:07 It was the trial that everybody was waiting for. They wanted to know if this community, if these families were going to get justice. This is not a whodunit case. This is a he-did-it case. The defendant subsequently, over the course of multiple interviews, confessed to every element of every crime with which he is charged. I ask that you consider that Sean freely and voluntarily gave information
Starting point is 01:12:39 during several interviews which implicated himself at several serious offenses. Jane Doe comes face to face with her abductor, bravely taking the stand against Sean Great, detailing her horrifying ordeal. It was probably the most crucial testimony in the case. How was he choked? With both hands around my neck. Did he let go of your neck?
Starting point is 01:13:11 I think when I stopped struggling and fighting, he asked me if I had enough. And I just, I think I just remained motionless, and so he released his hands. She testified about the terror that she went through during the time that she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. At the trial they played the audio of your interview with Sean. Yes. I entered the interview room to interview Sean Gray.
Starting point is 01:13:46 You can hear my heart beating at key times during the interview. Who was that that you were talking to on the phone? It made me realize that maybe it affects me physically more than I recognize. Prosecutors reveal gruesome details about the deaths of two of his alleged victims. People don't understand when you were in that trial what you see and what you hear. You can't unsee or unhear ever.
Starting point is 01:14:13 And those thoughts are always in your mind. You can't forget it. It was too gruesome. It hurt you that much. Yeah. Even talking about it today. Why? Just what she went through.
Starting point is 01:14:27 It wasn't fair. Yeah, sorry. We the jury being duly impenetrable find the defendant Sean M. Great guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense of aggravated murder. Sean Great guilty on two offense of aggravated murder. Sean Great, guilty on two counts of aggravated murder, as well as rape and kidnapping. But justice is bittersweet. He devastated so many people. He changed our lives.
Starting point is 01:14:57 And he took away not only Elizabeth's innocence, but the innocence of all of us that believed we were safe. The day of his sentencing, Sean Great addressed the court. I ask you to forgive me. Find your heart someday. I know not today, but someday. This mess, I'm sorry for all human beings. To have to listen. You hear this? Okay? I'm sorry. I can't change nothing.
Starting point is 01:15:29 Believe me, I would. Not for me, but for you guys. He asked us in court to forgive him, not for him, but for us. And obviously, I haven't forgave him for what he did. not for him, but for us. And obviously I haven't forgave him for what he did. Real justice would be for you to come with me for about five minutes, burn in hell. The victim impact statements were extremely emotional
Starting point is 01:15:59 and very powerful. We heard from Stacey Stanley's son and two of her brothers. It doesn't affect just one person when you kill them, it affects everybody. You ever bury your mother? I didn't pick a casket out. I didn't expect that this young. The offender was found guilty. Any sentence of death by lethal injection shall be imposed on Mr. Grape. At the trial you had justice for Stacey Balloons and Stanley Strong and you released him when he got the death penalty.
Starting point is 01:16:43 Yes, we had, there was quite a few people that showed up out there to show the support for the family and that we were glad that he got convicted and received the death penalty. I mean, that was what we were hoping for. In March, 2019, Sean Gray pleads guilty to the murders of Rebecca Lacey and Candace Cunningham in Richland County. But his first victim remained unidentified.
Starting point is 01:17:14 You are what you eat. So the different things you're exposed to in your environment all show up in your bones. We learned that she likely was from a southern state somewhere between Texas and Florida. Then finally, a match. Now this woman, a victim of serial killer Shawn Gray, has a face and a name. In June of 2018, the community of Ashland, Ohio gathered at the site of Jane Doe's frantic 911 call. Today that house was finally demolished, bringing closure for residents and relatives of the victims.
Starting point is 01:18:02 Many people felt like they needed to be here today. Yay! Yes! After we found out that Elizabeth was one of the people in the house, I would have nightmares about it. And I would see her in the window asking for help. I wanted them to tear it down so bad, and I was so happy the day that they did. You were there when you saw the house on Covert Court destroyed, demolished.
Starting point is 01:18:29 I was. What did that feel like? It was a tangible piece that was destroyed, but the weight of the situation is still here. One year later, another step forward, A new development in the search for the identity of Great's first known victim. The preliminary results indicated that the victim was very likely Dana Nicole Lowry of Mendon, Louisiana. So genetic genealogy was able to provide us a family and a potential identity of this person. And what we did next was go down and swab the daughter of Dana.
Starting point is 01:19:11 We were able to directly compare the DNA from the daughter to the DNA from the remains to be able to confirm that was Dana Lowry. Sean Gray pleaded guilty to Dana Lowry's murder. So now there are six known victims and only one of them survived, Jane Doe. What would you say to that woman if you were able to talk to her today? How brave she was. She saved so many people.
Starting point is 01:19:44 If she hadn't been brave and did what she did, we wouldn't have caught him. And how many more women would have suffered. Kim Major has retired from the Ashland Police Department and she now works as the Safety Services Director at Ashland University. And she's written a book about the Sean Grade case. I don't want to forget this case. I don't want anyone to forget it. These women could have been anyone. You titled the book a hunger to kill. Those are his words. He has a hunger to kill. Do you think there are other victims out there? I don't think
Starting point is 01:20:21 this is a closed book situation. I think more information may come out. We never get to say our goodbyes. As for the Stanley family, they're still dealing with the tremendous pain of losing Stacey. You miss her still? Oh yeah. It's been eight years I haven't even opened a box of anything of hers. I just kind of put it behind like it doesn't exist to an extent. What keeps you going? I know she would want us to go on. And the boys.
Starting point is 01:21:02 It just breaks my heart to see what they go through every day. Are you ready girlfriend? And you know, like he just had a new baby. Grandmas? We'll see grandmas. And he took her out and sat her on his mom's bench at the cemetery. Hello there. Is it Grandma? I talked to myself into going out there.
Starting point is 01:21:34 Oh, that was so cute. She was smiling so big. It's beautiful. And that's hard for me to sit and see my daughter never gonna be my mom. Oh. She was a great grandmother to her first granddaughter and I'm sure she would have loved mine just as much. My mom did not deserve that. Any of the women didn't deserve that.
Starting point is 01:22:09 And even though Sean Great's execution was originally scheduled for 2025, it is currently on hold until Ohio picks an alternative to lethal injection. His appeals have been denied. He also denied 2020's request for an interview. Meantime, Kim Major's new book about the case, A Hunger to Kill, is available now. That's our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching.
Starting point is 01:22:31 I'm Deborah Roberts. And I'm David Muir. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night. 50 years ago, a young woman named Karen Silkwood got into her car alone. She was reportedly on her way to deliver sensitive documents to a New York Times reporter. Bluntly stated she was spying on her employer, gathering evidence her union wanted to document
Starting point is 01:22:55 charges of safety violations at the Kermagee Corporation's nuclear plant. Karen never made it to that meeting with the reporter. Do you think somebody killed her? There's no question in my mind. Someone killed her that night. I think they were trying to stop her in order to get the documents. And those documents she'd agreed to deliver were never found.
Starting point is 01:23:14 Fifty years later, we tracked down fragments of Silkwood's story, including a trove of never-before-heard investigative tapes. Mike, you found it. Holy cow, I got goose bumps. And we learned the accident investigators saved something from the crash, something he believed was a smoking gun.
Starting point is 01:23:35 He told his daughter on his deathbed to hang on to it. We have the bumper. Something's not right with this story. I think it needs to be looked into further. or something's not right with this story. I think it needs to be looked into further. A new investigation into the life and death of America's first nuclear whistleblower. Listen to Radioactive, the Karen Silkwood mystery from ABC audio.
Starting point is 01:23:58 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

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