Cold Case Files - REOPENED: Lil Mis

Episode Date: January 30, 2024

'Lil Miss' Lisa Marie Kimmel was 18 years old in 1988. She was working at a restaurant and driving around in her new, shiny black Honda CRX. One weekend, she was on her way to visit her family in Casper, Wyoming, but she never made it home. What happened to Lil Miss Lisa Marie?Sponsors:SKIMS: SKIMS Bras are now available at SKIMS.com , Plus, get free shipping on orders over seventy five dollars! If you haven't yet, be sure to let them know we sent you! After you place your order, select 'podcast' in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows. And if you are looking for a gift for your Valentine or for yourself - SKIMS just launched their best Valentine’s Shop ever - also available at SKIMS.comZocDoc: Go to Zocdoc.com/CCF and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book a top-rated doctor today. 

This episode discusses stories of intense violence, which may be disturbing to some listeners. Please, listen with caution. Lisa Marie Kimmel was raised in Billings, Montana, the oldest of four children. Her grandmother affectionately called her Little Miss Lisa Marie, and it just kind of stuck. The nickname was used by her entire family, and it was eventually shortened to just Little Miss Lisa Marie, and it just kind of stuck. The nickname was used by her entire family, and it was eventually shortened to just Little Miss. In 1988, the year Lisa turned 18, she became the manager of a restaurant. To reward herself, she purchased a brand new shiny black Honda CRX with custom license plates. They of course were imprinted with the

words Little Miss. During this particular weekend, March 25th, Lisa had decided to return to Billings to see her family. On the way, she'd planned to stop and pick up her boyfriend Ed in Cody, Wyoming. She called him before she left home, guessing she would arrive around midnight. But Lisa never made it to her boyfriend's house. In fact, the last person to see Lisa was a police officer. She'd been pulled over for speeding while passing through Douglas, Wyoming.

From A&E, this is Cold Case Files. Ed became frantic as midnight passed and morning came and he still hadn't heard from or seen any sign of Lisa. He left a number of messages on Lisa's parents' answering machine, hoping they had heard from her. Lisa's parents noticed the flashing light on the answering machine at about 2 in the afternoon. This is Sheila Kimmel, Lisa's mother. We received a number of phone calls letting us know that Ed was trying to reach us and that she had not made it to his place that evening. And that's when we realized that something was desperately wrong.

Lisa's friends and family all joined in the search. This is Sheila Kimmel again, describing the methods they used. After the first day of searching, road searches and airplane searches, retracing her intended route, did not produce a car maybe off on the side of the road or down an embankment. We were very, very concerned and we'd set up basically a command post at home. Lisa's father filed a missing persons report the next morning, and Detective George Jensen was assigned the case. Detective Jensen wasn't very optimistic about what might have happened to Lisa. This is Detective Jensen. Lisa was a very responsible

young lady. She generally called, let her family know where she was going, when she was leaving, when she got there. So there was some concern that either she got into an accident or something went wrong. Detective Jensen alerted the authorities in Wyoming and Denver, and the case of Lisa Marie was broadcast on the news and printed in the newspaper. The police started receiving calls right away. Lisa's disappearance news and printed in the newspaper. The police started receiving calls right away. Lisa's disappearance was the talk of the town, but none of the leads turned out to be credible or even helpful. This is Detective Jensen again. We were getting calls right away saying they had just seen the vehicle, you know, minutes before. And so we were running around trying to find the vehicle,

talking to people, seeing if she was with anyone, checking those leads out. Sheila Kimmel, knowing her daughter's attachment not only to her family but also to her brand-new car, suspected something might be terribly wrong. At one point, we knew that that car wasn't there, that something else had to be wrong. Unfortunately, Sheila was right, because a week after Lisa's disappearance, a woman's body was discovered in the North Platte River by two fishermen.

Investigator Dan Tholson and Jim Braz are called to the scene as the partially clothed woman is removed from the water. This is Investigator Tholson. Typically, if you find a female that's been murdered alongside the road or in a river or something like that, there's been a sexual assault. So we were thinking that, but really didn't know for sure. The investigator suspected that the woman had been thrown in the river from a bridge about a mile away from where her body was discovered. After a thorough investigation of the bridge, it appeared their theory was correct.

This is Investigator Tholson again. There was an area on the bridge, probably 12 inches by 18 inches, where there was a large puddle of blood. And then you could see where blood spatters were on the concrete abutment that came up from the surface of the bridge. Evidence is gathered from the bridge, including the blood. The young woman's body is taken to a local funeral home so an official autopsy could be carried out. Dr. James Thorpen is the coroner in charge of the autopsy and also of identifying the victim. In order to make an identification, Dr. Thorpen compares dental x-rays

of missing women with those of his unidentified victim. In a cruel twist of fate, the first comparison was an exact match. The body of the woman pulled from the river was Lisa Kimmel. During his examination, Dr. Thorpen counted six stab wounds in Lisa's chest and abdomen. They appeared to be inflicted deliberately to cause the woman's death. This is the coroner again. It became apparent that whoever killed her had avoided the ribs, almost as if he were feeling with a hand the five points of the fingers,

the intercostal spaces in between. All of the wounds, with the exception maybe of one, were intended to be lethal, and they were. The bruising was along the medial inner surface of the base of the thumb. We found a series of binding marks, equal distance, two rows of those. So she was bound. Dr. Thorpen performs a rape kit on Lisa. The test comes back positive. Lisa was likely raped before she was murdered. Dr. Thorpen shares his results with the investigators, who are now tasked with breaking the news to Lisa's family.

Around 7.30 p.m., a police car arrives at the Kimbles' home. Sheila hoped that their visit might bring a clue to help them find their daughter. Sheila's hopes were shattered. This is her. They introduced themselves, and they immediately asked us if we would like to call a friend or a member of the clergy or a family member to be with us. Then we asked them if they could tell us. Then what happened to her?

Car wreck? No, she had been murdered. I'm certain that our screams could have been heard for miles around. Mr. Kimmel was also understandably upset. They knew our feelings that we thought possibly foul play was involved. But when someone sits down and tells you that they found or they probably found the body of your child, it's pretty hard to take.

The Kimmel family began to plan a funeral for their 18-year-old daughter. The grief felt by parents who outlived their children is devastating, but the lack of closure in this case is particularly heartbreaking. Are you that one friend in the group who loves to treat yourself? It's okay. Honestly, we all do it. You know you refuse to make coffee at home because that fancy coffee shop is right downstairs. Well, if you treat yourself to the top options with everything in life, why settle when finding a doctor?

It is your health after all. Enter ZocDoc. ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare highly rated in-network doctors near you and instantly book appointments with them online. We're talking about booking appointments with tens of thousands of top-rated, patient-reviewed, credible doctors and specialists. You can filter specifically for ones who take your insurance, are located near you, and treat basically any condition. And the typical wait time to see a doctor booked on ZocDoc is between just 24 and 72 hours.

That's it. You can even score same-day appointments. Go to ZocDoc.com slash CCF and download the ZocDoc app for free. Then find and book a top-rated doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash CCF. ZocDoc dot com slash C-C-F. I've been wearing Skims underwear and loungewear all winter long, and I just recently tried their bras. I haven't found an underwear bra that I actually love to wear in years, until now.

And the wireless bras are so comfortable. Skims bras are made with innovative technology to give you the best shape and support. Plus every bra is designed with the comfiest and softest materials. So you'll feel like you're wearing nothing at all. Skims offers a complete system of bra solutions for every need and every style. And they're available in up to 62 sizes from 30A all the way to 46H. So believe the hype. Skims has over 100,000 five-star reviews for a reason. Skims bras are now available at Skims.com, and you can get free shipping on orders over $75. If you haven't yet, be sure to let them know that we sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select our show from the drop-down menu that follows.

And if you're looking for a gift for your Valentine or for yourself, Skims just launched their best Valentine shop ever, also available at Skims.com. The detectives in Atrona County step up their investigation. They discover that Lisa had been pulled over for speeding. Not only that, there was an audio recording of the encounter. I'll let investigator Braz explain. As standard operating practice for the highway patrol here, they recorded the conversation when she was sitting inside his car. So that is the only recording that I've ever heard of Lisa Kimmel. She was very calm, very low-toned, you know, like an 18-year-old girl. Here's the audio from that conversation.

You're in Montana, aren't you? Yeah. 88 model? Mm-hmm. What color? Black. Lisa, I told you I had you at 88 right there as you were reading. Are you in Montana, are you?

Yeah. 88 model? Mm-hmm. And what color? Black. This is the only time Investigator Braz will hear Lisa's voice. It wasn't much help in identifying the killer, but it did prove that Lisa seemed calm just before her disappearance. If there was foul play, nothing had happened yet.

The patrolman who stopped Lisa reported that she didn't appear to be in any danger. He was also investigated, but the homicide detectives find nothing suspicious. The officer is cleared as a suspect. But investigators do believe that they found the place where Lisa was attacked before being thrown from the bridge. This is Investigator Brosgan. At the time, we had Lisa, but we didn't have a murder weapon. We didn't have her car.

She was found partially clad, so most of her clothes are missing. And this car is a link. This car is very important to get back. The investigators put out an attempt to locate, also known as an ATL, on Lisa's Honda. They also involved the local news. The response was overwhelming to the two-man investigative team. This is Investigator Braz again. We started getting sightings of this vehicle everywhere. We had sightings in Canada, Idaho, Utah, Colorado,

and it looked like someone had this vehicle and making a big loop. Investigator Tholson also shared his frustration. It was like chasing a mirage of some kind. We kept hoping to see a pattern, I think, and thinking, you know, at times we were an hour behind it and we'll get it really soon. And we were just really frustrated with all of the sightings and kind of decided then that we were chasing a ghost

that wasn't really out there. All of the tips needed to be investigated. But as the number of tips and investigations increased, so did the amount of panic. The involvement of the media in the story only added to the frenzy. This is Vicki Daniels, a local reporter. So as you can imagine, speculation starts running wild. And in the press, we heard all kinds of stories, things like a satanic cult was operating in Casper

and had kidnapped her and murdered her and dumped her in the river, to all kinds of things. The community was frightened. False leads were reported every day. So the investigators were under a tremendous amount of pressure to solve this case. This is Investigator Braz. It was frustrating because Mrs. Kimmel would call me at home at night at the beginning of this case wanting answers and needing information,

wanting to know where we were with the case on a day-by-day basis, which she had every right to know. A parent who's lost a child will never lose their need for answers. Here's Sheila Kimmel, Lisa's mom. What has happened to Lisa can't be reversed. But maybe if we can catch the perpetrators of this particular crime, we can prevent it happening to someone else's lovely young daughter. Despite leads, tips, forensic evidence, and determination,

six months after Lisa Marie Kimmel disappeared, her case went cold. It was a cold case. We weren't actively working it anymore. I left, and it was hard. You know, I was always thinking about Lisa Kimmel, so was Dan, and thinking, you know, will we get this thing solved someday? You know, we'll let what right lead come up. And I remember when I left, I said, Dan, before I die, you know, call me

and let me know you found him. That was Investigator Braz. The case of Lisa Marie Kimmel remained cold until a new lead surfaced on March 29, 1989, one year and four days after she disappeared. It was a note taped to Lisa's headstone. This is Detective Jensen. Well, the note is kind of hard to read. It was dated 11-13-88, and it basically says, there aren't words to say how much you're missed. Your death is my painful loss, but heaven's sweet gain,

love always, Stringfellow Hawk. Initially, detectives thought the note could be a break in the case. They were able to link the name Stringfellow Hawk to a 1980s TV show. But beyond that, the clue ultimately came to nothing. Lisa's case went cold again, this time for more than a decade. 14 years later, cold case detectives still have very little evidence. A mysterious note left on Lisa's grave, sightings of her missing car, and a box full of dead-end leads.

Natrona County Sheriff Investigator Lynn Cohey won't be deterred, though. She knows it's a long shot, but she decides the Kimmel file is worth a final look. This is Investigator Cohey. Lisa's case was one of those that was never forgotten by the people in Casper and even in Montana and other states. For some reason, they always remembered this certain case. In the box full of dead-end leads from 1988, Cohe finds the biological samples recovered from the rape kit.

A genetic profile is extracted and downloaded into the state's DNA database. There, it's compared against more than 2,000 felony offenders from Wyoming. A few months later, Lynn Cohey gets a call that the crime lab has a hit. This is investigator Cohey again. Of course, the first question out of my mouth, who is it? And Sandy Mays and Tilton Davis said, the guy's name is Dale Wayne Eaton, and he was in our penitentiary back in 98. So after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I started doing any and all research that I could find on Dale Eaton. Dale Eaton was in the middle of a five-year sentence on a federal firearms charge,

which was the reason his DNA was in the database. Detective Thulson and Investigator Cohey decided to pay Dale Wayne Eaton a visit. According to the investigators, Eaton wasn't very cooperative. He said that he'd heard about the case on TV, said he never knew Lisa, but he did say, well, wasn't that the girl that was on her way to Montana? On that particular time, she was not on her way to Montana, she was on her way to Cody, Wyoming. He denied ever knowing her, ever having any kind of contact, so he couldn't use that defense later that, you know, he had sex with her and turned her loose and somebody else killed her.

But as far as specifically admitting anything, he wouldn't. And he eventually got so dry mouthed he couldn't talk anymore. Eaton's mouth must have felt like sand when the investigators told him that his DNA was found inside the victim. He had denied knowing her, denied having sex with her. But the DNA proved it, and his denial made him a liar. The investigators didn't want to rely on DNA alone as proof. This is Detective Tholson again. We wanted to be able to prove the case without the DNA, which,

you know, theoretically you couldn't do that because you got his name from the DNA, but we wanted to be able to do it without having to rely on the DNA. The detectives talked to people who knew Eaton. They were particularly interested in what his neighbor Doris Buczda had to say. He was a good neighbor, but he was, in my opinion, what I call weird. One memory stood out as particularly weird. My husband asked him, he said, what are you digging, Dale? And he said, I'm digging a well.

And he said, well, man, you're crazy. You can't dig a well out here. We have to go down almost 300 foot to get water. He was so weird anyway that I thought, well, he probably thinks he can dig a well. Doris kept a journal, and she'd noted that Eaton had started digging just a few days after Lisa Marie had disappeared. The timing and the size of the hole gave the detectives the impression that rather than digging a well, perhaps Eaton was digging a grave for a black Honda CRX. The next day, the investigators returned with a warrant. The front yard had several holes, mostly filled with garbage. This is investigator

Cohey again. There was all sorts of garbage and debris on top of the hole, and there was probably a sinkhole probably five feet deep with a great big rusty pipe sticking out. So we started digging that hole. They did find some random car parts, but nothing that they could definitely tie to Lisa's Honda. Near the end of the day, the investigators uncovered an item that renewed their hope. We uncovered a wheel cover with the letter H. And of course we knew right then that we knew H stood for Honda.

And I think that's when we finally thought, yeah, we had some real car parts that we could tie to that car. Early the next morning, the crew returned to start another dig. So we started digging what we call the septic tank, which, you know, had a sinkhole of about three feet with a white piece of plastic sticking out of it. Using a backhoe, they dug about eight feet down. Then they hit something. It was a chunk of metal in the dirt, which turned out to be the top of a car door. Here's Lynn Cohey again. It's really hard to describe. You know, there's the car.

There's the car we've been looking for for 14 years. It was very quiet out there. Everybody that was out there helping us, there was hardly a word spoke. Everybody, I'm sure, had their own thoughts like, oh my gosh, here it is. Dr. James Thorpin, who conducted the autopsy of Lisa Kimmel, had never forgotten the case. He was even present at the dig. This is Dr. Thorpen. Bang. Here is her car.

And the investigator, Dan Tolson, leaped down on the thing and said, here's the VIN number. We brought the car back into town, and we're cleaning out the car, and here on the rearview mirror is her rosary. And that was disturbing. The VIN number is a match.

Dale Wayne Eaton is charged with the murder of Lisa Kimmel on April 21, 2003. True to his word, Dan Tholson calls Jim Braz, who worked the case in 1988. This is Braus. I was recovering from a heart attack and he asked how I was doing and said, we have somebody in custody. And I said, Dan, you know, when I left the sheriff's office, I said, you know, before I die, find out who did it. But I said, you cut it kind of close. I said, that was a little too close,

but good work. On March 17th, 2004, Eaton is found guilty by a jury. Three days later, on March 20th, the same jury sentences Eaton to death. As a result of the civil suit, the Kimmel family is awarded $5 million in the Eaton property, which they chose to death. As a result of the civil suit, the Kimmel family is awarded $5 million in the Eaton property, which they chose to burn. Eaton is set to be executed just a month later, on June 25th, but his execution is stayed pending an appeal based on inadequate defense counsel. Six months later, he loses that appeal. On October 13, 2008, Eaton's execution is scheduled for December 19, but Wyoming Supreme Court stays the execution due to a technical issue with scheduling. On December 5, 2009, Eaton's execution is scheduled for February 15,

but his execution is stayed once again on appeal. On November 20th, 2014, Eaton's death sentence is vacated. Over the last five years, the Wyoming legal system has grappled with bills to ban the death penalty. To date, none have passed. Prosecutors continue to seek the death penalty for Dale Wayne Eaton. If they succeed, he would be the only person on Wyoming's death row. I don't know how the Kimmel family feels about the death penalty, but I imagine that all the complications with Eaton's sentencing must be frustrating. The emotional distress that this has caused for them seems unimaginable.

But Sheila still somehow manages to find hope in it all. I think it's only fair to let her have the last word. All I know is I could hear the charge read, guilty. The charge read, guilty. The charge read, guilty. The charge read, guilty. I will be forever grateful for all of the investigators that didn't give up when sometimes we felt hopeless and at a loss. There are even parents that haven't even

found their children. And maybe with advances in technology and the forensic sciences, maybe they will one day get their answer too. Cold Case Files is hosted by Brooke Giddings, produced by McKamey Lynn, Scott Brody, and Steve Delamater. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Music by Blake Maples. We're distributed by Podcast One.

The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and hosted by the one and only Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold Case Files at aetv.com.