Crime Junkie - MURDERED: Thomas Bearson & Geetha Angara

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

We have two stories for you today. Two separate cases that both need one thing – people to talk. Thomas and Geetha’s cases are both in desperate need for more information, and we’re certain someone out there holds key details that could solve these cases. We’re hoping by sharing each of their stories, someone out there will do the right thing and speak up.If you know anything about:The death of Thomas Bearson in North Dakota in 2014, or the location of his phone, please call the Moorhead Police Tip Line at 218-299-5120.The death of Geetha Angara in New Jersey in 2005, please call the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-877-370-PCPO (7276) or email them at [e-mail]. Check out Barbara Butcher is CJAF Part 1 and Part 2 on our YouTube channel!You can also view and purchase Barbara Butcher’s book, What The Dead Know, here or anywhere you purchase books.  Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-thomas-bearson-and-geetha-angaraDid you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies. Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuckTikTok: @crimejunkiepodcastFacebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllc Crime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawatTwitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawatTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And today, I actually have two stories for you. Two separate cases that both need one thing. People to talk. Both cases are gonna leave you with more questions than answers, but we're hoping by covering each of these stories, someone out there will do the right thing and speak up.

So the first story I have for you today is of Greg Beerson are feeling anxious, but mostly in a good way. Their son Tom is supposed to be arriving home any minute, one of his first trips home after starting college at North Dakota State University that fall. The campus is about two and a half, maybe three hours away, and they know that he had planned to catch a ride with a friend around noon, But the clock ticks past 2 30, and then 3, and then 3 30, and there's no sign of him. Which fine, maybe they got held up or left later than they planned. College kids aren't exactly known for their punctuality, except he's not answering their texts. And he's not even answering

their calls. They just keep getting his voicemail. And that's not like Tom. By now, Greg has a bad feeling about all of this. And I think Debbie is right there with him. That kind of weight that just sits on your chest and tells you that something isn't right, even while your brain tries to convince you otherwise. So they start making phone calls. They call some of his friends. They call his roommate Wyatt. And was Wyatt his ride home that day? No. Well, or at least that's not what's reported in any of the coverage. To be honest, I'm not sure that they know even who was supposed to be his ride home.

It doesn't sound like it was him. But anyways, they call Wyatt and it's this call that really throws them for a loop because he says that he hasn't even seen Tom since around 10 o'clock the night before when Tom left to hang out at a friend's house about a half-mile away. And that's when Debbie and Greg decide it is time to panic. Because Tom has kind of given them extra reason to worry. Because just over a week ago, he had gotten busted on a DUI charge. He blew like a.18. Which could be the reason he planned on getting that ride.

Yeah, totally. But either way, I mean, this is what's in the back of their minds as all of this is unfolding. So I'm sure they're wondering, like, did he do it again? Is he sitting in a jail cell somewhere? Or worse, did he get in an accident? Maybe he's at a hospital. So that night they hit the road, heading straight for Fargo where his college is.

I mean, there's no way they can just sit around and wait by the phone, hoping that it rings without it actually ringing. Now by the time they make it to Fargo, it's the middle of the night. They check into their hotel, but I mean mean let's be honest, neither of them are getting any rest. Instead they just wait. Wait and pace the room. Wait and pace till daybreak when they can start looking for Tom. And there's this moment

that Jordan Brown describes in reporting for the St. Cloud Times that it gave me full-body chills because she writes quote, Greg recalls pulling back the blinds of the hotel room that next morning and seeing bright, sunny skies, hoping it was a good sign. About five minutes later, he watched dark clouds roll in over it. It felt very ominous to Greg. Now I'm assuming they go to Tom's dorm that morning

to see what they can figure out because I know they try and find the location of his phone, like, using his computer, but they don't have any luck. And then Greg even sets out on foot to look for Tom. Like, I mean, this poor dad, he's checking ditches on the side of the road, not just, like, places he would go. Right. But eventually, they know that they can't do it on their own anymore,

so they finally make contact with authorities to report Tom missing. And this is when word starts getting out on campus. It almost seems like the entire student body takes to Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag Find Tom Suddenly Trending. And it's actually a tweet that gives investigators their first real lead. Because it is a tweet from Tom's account. And this tweet is directed at the account of another NDSU student, this guy named Cody. And it's weird, it's cryptic even, and it's not like it just popped up, like it's from

1.30 in the morning Saturday. And it says, quote, dude, it's Jake. Come pick us up. We are so lost and we're going to die. Just get somebody. Who's Jake? Well, so Jake is another NDSU student, but Tom also knows him from home. They're like from the same town. It turns out that he shares a house with this guy, Cody, like the guy that he's tweeting

at. And is Jake missing too? Well, I mean, according to this tweet, he's claiming to be lost. But if he's actually, like, missing missing, the same way Tom is, nobody's reported that. And where is Cody? Well, they're about to find that out. And they obviously want to talk to Cody and Jake more than ever, because remember how Tom's roommate Wyatt said that the last time he saw Tom was when he left for a friend's house Friday night? That friend was Cody, wasn't it?

Cody and Jake's house, right. It seems like there was some kind of gathering there that night, so that's where investigators start. And they determine pretty quickly that Jake is alive and well, fully accounted for, but But what does he say about the tweet? I mean, was it him? Was it like This is what's so weird about the reporting on this case. How absent Jake is. It really

isn't explained ever. Like, he's talked about and I know Cody is interviewed, but Jake is almost like this ghost in this story. Like, he's there, but I've never seen anything from him. But he's not like quoted or or anything like direct from him. Weird. Yeah, it's really strange. But I do know that separate reports in the Grand Forks Herald, one by Grace Leiden and another by Kim Hyatt, confirm that the message or the tweet or whatever was sent by Jake. Okay, but where were they?

I wish I knew. Dennis Dalman reports for the news leaders that, quote, at first police and others were puzzled by that seemingly sinister message. But later, Cody told them Tom and Jake showed up at his residence after that 132 message was sent, end quote. And just like in FYI, like I quoted that Cody, Tom and Jake, they're in the actual quote referred to by their last names, but I just changed it to their first names.

Anyways, Grace Lydon reports for the St. Cloud Times that Cody said in an interview that around the time of Tom's disappearance, that the other two, quote, unquote, found a ride back to his place. So I can only assume Jake is saying the same thing, but like, who gave them this ride? Where were they coming from? I have no idea. Again, we don't really hear from Jake himself. And it doesn't seem like Cody went to pick them up, but like, that is- They found a ride, he wouldn't have said in an interview that they got a ride. He would have said, I went and picked them up.

But that's about as much as we know. And it seems like investigators think Cody is telling the truth about them making it back to his house safe and sound, especially once they talk to Tom's best friend, Patrick, who tells them that he and Tom had actually been video chatting on Snapchat after that tweet was sent, and Tom seemed fine. Now Patrick isn't at the university, he's not a student there, but he had headed for Fargo as soon as he heard that Tom was missing. He got together with other friends of Tom's

and just started driving the streets of Fargo looking for him. So anyways, Cody says that Tom stayed and hung out at the house till like 3.30, 4 o'clock in the morning, and then he left. Like on his own or with a group? Was everyone like closing out? No, I think he's solo, but I'm not, again, not even super clear on that either. Some of the reporting suggests that maybe Jake left with him, but like most of the reports I've seen indicate that maybe Jake left with him, but like most of the reports I've seen indicate that Tom left on his own, which would make more sense since

Jake lived at the house that they were all at. Right. Right. Why would Jake leave? Right. And did Tom like catch another ride? Did he leave on foot? Like he walked. He's only like, so Cody and Jake's house is only like six blocks away from his dorm, like a half mile or so. So definitely a walkable distance, especially in September before the winter cold hits. And again, with his DUI the weekend before, I don't know if he's doing much driving at the time. But this is where investigators get stuck, because it seems

that after Tom walked out their door in the early morning hours of Saturday, that was the last anyone saw of him. The next morning, which is Monday, investigators launch a ground search in the area between Tom's dorm and Cody and Jake's house. They've got scent tracking dogs and everything, but there is just no sign of Tom. It is truly like he vanished into thin air. Grace Lydon reports for the St. Cloud Times that by Monday afternoon, they've even got firefighters searching the Red River, which is just to the east of campus, and they're doing this by boat.

But not for any real reason, other than they're just looking there because they don't know where else to look. But all that is about to change. Because by Tuesday morning, Tom's parents are meeting with an investigator in their hotel room when the investigator's phone suddenly starts ringing. This guy excuses himself to take the call and Greg says that even before he comes back in and tells them what the call was about, they know. They'd found Tom and it wasn't good news.

Greg is actually quoted in the reporting that I mentioned earlier by Jordan Brown saying, All I remember is walking over and sitting on the other end of the bed, and I was shaking violently, almost in shock. I had never felt so empty or confused in my life. My soul was in the process of changing forever.'" Oh, where did they find Tom? Well, this is the really strange part. His body was found away from campus,

past the river, and at this RV lot in Moorhead, Minnesota. So a completely different state. Where's Moorhead in all this? Well, it's like, I mean, the river they were searching is like right on the border, so it's not terribly far. It's like five or six miles away, but just like across the river. But it doesn't seem like he ended up there accidentally, or just by like wandering off

because his left shoe is missing and his cell phone is missing. Can they tell how he died? Well, not there at the park, but by that Thursday, which would have been September 25th, the Emmy rules his death as a homicide, concluding that it was the result of asphyxiation. Though they don't really tell the public that yet.

They're like keeping that information close to the vest at first, and it'll be a while before they get his toxicology results back. Okay. Did the tox results even matter though? I mean, if he was killed by asphyxiation? I mean, maybe, um, some overdose deaths are a result of suppressed breathing. Right? So like technically speaking, those deaths sometimes involve asphyxiation.

But the fact that they've already ruled it a homicide without the tox result, and what they're saying publicly is that was homicidal violence, it makes me think that that's not what they're looking for. I mean, it seems like he was intentionally killed by another person, but they've just got to do their due diligence. Though what they're using to determine that he was killed by another person is a little TBD, because at the time, they're not really sharing a lot of information with the public. I mean, again, they're not even telling the public asphyxiation.

Like basically all they'll say is homicidal violence, and know what else they're not telling anyone? How they decide to search the RV lot in the first place. Now, what we know now, all these years later, is that it was a specific tip that led them there. Fargo PD Lieutenant Vettel says as much, but to this very day, we have no idea what the tip was, who the tip came from, or how it was even passed along to police in the first place. So basically, all we know is that it wasn't random that they went to this RV place. Yeah, or it wasn't like somebody who just stumbled upon him and then like called in or something.

At least that's what it seems like he says it was a tip Now the news of Tom's death hits both his hometown of Sartell and NDSU hard His old high school brings in grief counselors for the students because I mean again Tom's only a freshman a lot of the current students at the high school probably knew him especially because he was kind of a hometown Star on the school's basketball team. The news leaders reports that a moment of silence was held for Tom that Friday night at the football game, and some students even start a memorial fund in his honor. Meanwhile, students at the university hold a candlelight vigil the night that Tom is

found, and the hashtag find Tom quickly turns into hashtag RIP Tom. And even students who never met him seem to take his death pretty personally. So at this point, the Fargo PD hands the investigation off to the Moorhead Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Fargo and NDSU PD will still be involved in some way, but like in a more supporting role. They're not gonna be lead on the case.

And over the next few weeks, investigators make pleas to the public to keep an eye out for Tom's missing shoe, for his cell phone, believing that those items could be crucial pieces of evidence that might lead them to whoever killed Tom. But it turns out what they should have focused on was the RV park for that, because it's possible that Tom's killer returned. You see, in mid-October, a call comes in from an employee of the RV lot reporting that someone was loitering on the premises.

And I don't think this was called in, like, in a way, like, I can't get this guy to leave kind of thing. I think the employee was like, hey, this person is hanging around where someone was killed and left, like, they might be returning to the scene kind of thing. More of like a, I'm suspicious of this person thing. Exactly. Exactly. So police respond to the lot, but by the time they get there, the guy is gone.

And the employee says that he'd actually confronted the guy and the guy had claimed that he was just looking around. But looking around for what? At what? Like an RFI? Missing evidence? A phone? A shoe? I don't know. I mean, that's the question, right? But whoever this guy is, they can't find him. Now, they do put out a description

hoping that someone will recognize it and be able to give him a name. According to an October 15th report by WCCO CBS Minnesota, he was, quote, about 20 years old with a thin build. He was wearing a black baseball style cap with green writing, a gray t-shirt and blue jeans. Which is like a description, but also just kind of sounds like a general college student. Is that description from The Witness or are there security cameras they were able to pull from? I'm not sure. They don't mention security footage in this specific part but they do talk about security footage later. So I can't

say for sure but what I know is that... And it could also be like a composite of those two things to be honest if they aren't gonna like list it out right? Right. But it doesn't matter because nobody comes forward to identify whoever this guy is. And then not much else happens in the way of investigative breakthroughs the rest of the month, or November, or the months to follow. In early February of 2015, investigators get the final autopsy results, which confirm that Tom didn't die from any kind of intoxication or overdose. Which we didn't know, but we also didn't not know. Right, I think they were just wanting to triple confirm.

And they also make this announcement kind of at the same time that was like, in reading about it feels a little out of left field, but you'll come to understand. But they say that Tom wasn't working as a confidential informant for local police and they make the statement though because there was this rumor that had been gaining some traction ever since his death and I think that's because There was another disappearance of another North Dakota College student just a few months before Tom's death

The other student that died was a kid by the name of Andrew Sattick. Now he died in May of 2014. And like I said, this is just a few months before Tom. So it was kind of at the forefront of everyone's mind. And Andrew was attending the North Dakota State College of Science at their campus in Wapiton, which is about an hour away from NDSU in Fargo. And when he got busted for selling small amounts of pot

about six months before his death, police had basically pressured him into acting as a confidential informant for them. Now he ended up going missing May 1st of 2014, and then his body was found in the Red River with a gunshot wound to the head and weighed down by a backpack full of rocks about two months later. And what is wild is that at the time authorities insisted that he had died by suicide.

No. You don't load up your backpack with rocks, shoot yourself in the head, and then somehow mosey on down and find yourself in the river. I'm sorry, no. His family and the public believe that he was killed when someone in the drug scene figured out that he was a CI. So you have this looming in the background and knowing that Tom just had a DUI arrest like a week before his death, you can see how a lot of people might feel like this is deja vu all over again. Well, and it would kind of make sense back when the search like originally started,

why they would search the river when they didn't have any reason to point to it, right? That's a good thought. Yeah, I don't know if that's what they were looking for, but I mean, maybe even they were making the connection or maybe they were just hearing the rumors or whatever. Though again, police say that Tom was not a CI. So they're saying that while these rumors are going around,

like they're not connected at all, and Tom wasn't, again, in any kind of the same stuff. Now around this time, they do confirm that they have their hands on some security footage from the RV lot. So this is the first time this pops up, like I was saying earlier. And they say that this footage shows an unidentified car near where Tom was found. But what's frustrating is that there's no explanation of what area the cameras covered.

Like in theory, shouldn't they have footage of Tom and or his killer killers, like coming there, getting there, getting out of the car? Like, or did the camera- How near are we talking? Why was it like slightly out of range for like where he was actually found? Yeah, does it only cover a small space? Is it like, whatever the answer is,

investigators are not telling us. And when was this suspicious car sighting happening? Also don't know, they won't say, I assume. It was maybe the night of his death or maybe was around the time that that mystery man was spotted in the lot. But I don't know. But whenever it was, they find this car suspicious enough that they asked for the public's help identifying it and the driver. And can they tell what the driver looks like? Does he look anything like the description of the mystery man who is poking around there? You know what I'm gonna say. They do not tell us. But honestly, it doesn't really matter though, because just within a few days, they get the information

that they need to determine that the car and whoever was driving it had nothing to do with Tom's death. And then after that, the investigation kinda loses steam. The following summer, Tom's girlfriend, Erica, puts Cody and Jake on blast on Facebook. Grace Leiden reports in the Grand Forks Herald that she writes, quote, It is fact that the last individuals known to have seen Tom Beerson alive are unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement and unwilling to take a polygraph test.

Why? Just take the test and prove you had nothing to do with Tom's death and prove yourself innocent of any wrongdoing and then move on with your life." End quote. And Tom's family agrees because the next day they put out their own statement which is also published in the same paper. They write quote, In light of the events yesterday on social media, the Beerson family encourages those people who were last seen with our beloved son Tom to cooperate with law enforcement and take the polygraph test. It is hard for us to imagine how anyone claiming to be our son's friend would not be willing

to do everything necessary to exonerate themselves from any involvement in his death by answering some simple questions and allow law enforcement to move forward and focus on other information. It is time for everyone to cooperate with law enforcement to the fullest and help bring justice to our son, the community of Sartell, and the Beerson family." End quote. By September of 2016, WCCO CBS Minnesota reports that Morehead police still consider Tom's case

their quote unquote highest priority. And Tom's parents continue to have faith that they'll be able to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, they founded the Tom Beerson Foundation, which has already raised $80,000 for a local school gym and given out scholarships to basketball players. And they also work to raise awareness among students about college safety.

But year after year passes by with no new developments. The Beersons have done their best to keep Tom's name front and center. And Greg regularly makes public pleas for people to come forward and clear their consciences. In August of 2023, they announced that they were gonna be closing the Tom Beerson Foundation for good. But that's not to say that they've moved on

or abandoned their commitment to finding out what happened to their son. I think Greg put it especially well in something he said in 2018. He said, quote, we haven't forgotten that he died. We just want to remember that he lived. Jordan Schraer and Reed Gregory report for Valley News Live that in September of 2023, investigators say they are still actively pursuing the case. But that's about it. I still have so many questions. Like, did they ever test for DNA, maybe under Tom's fingernails or something?

And whatever happened with his phone? I mean, if they did test for DNA, none of that's been reported. If it was collected, if it was found, if it was compared. I do know they never found his phone or his left shoe for that matter. Okay, but with the phone, I mean, I'm sure they have records, right? Like text calls, the pings from those texts and calls. I mean, this is 2014.

I know, I mean, but it's stuff they're being super tight lipped about. Because I know they got some of that because there was, Grace Lydon had reported for Grand Forks Herald, let me pull it up, she says, quote, cell phone tracking tips and proximity to his last known location drew the search to the largely industrial area of South Moorhead, end quote. Which like make of that what you will.

I mean, that's the area where the RV lot is. So I mean, they had enough to lead them there in the first place. What I mean, and I go back lead them there in the first place. I mean, and I go back to like, did they actually get a tip there? Was it the phone there? I don't know. But what else that data told them, if anything, is never really expanded on. I do know that they tried to get some stuff from Snapchat, knowing that he had been communicating with Patrick that way that night. But Emily Welker reports for Inforum that the Fargo PD subpoenaed Snapchat on October 13th of 2014 for Tom's account info. Also like messages and location history, all that good stuff.

And Snapchat responded the next day confirming Tom's account basics. But they said they only released the quote-unquote contents of an account upon receipt of a search warrant. The Fargo PD didn't seek a search warrant until mid-February of 2015, and Snapchat only retains unread messages for 30 days before they'd be deleted. Karen Junkies put a pin in that,

in case you ever need that for Snapchat info. Oh my goodness, that's not- The pin and search warrant, very different thing. I was gonna say, those are, and that's not a lot of time. 30 days is a blink of an eye in some of these investigations. But listen, some of that might be gone, but the mystery of what happened to Tom can be solved. If people start talking,

and that's where you come in crime junkies. If you know anything about the death of Tom Beerson, or the location of his phone for that matter, you can call theorhead Police tip line at 218-299-5120. Now don't forget, there is one more story that we have for you today that needs your attention. One that like Tom's could be solved if the right people speak up.

That's the story of Geetha Angara. That's coming up next. For workers at the Passaic Valley Water Commission plant, February 8th, 2005 started like any other Tuesday. I mean, it's easy to get lost in the grind. You clock in, you have meetings, you do your job, you take calls, you see your co-worker buddies.

But in an instant, that normal day can become abnormal. And you don't even know that it's happening until it's too late. The moment that slipped by that day in Totowa, New Jersey, happened at around 11 a.m. Someone was looking for 43-year-old Geetha Angara, one of the senior chemists there at the plant, but she was MIA. And people had seen her earlier. She'd shown up for work that day for her 8-4 shift, just like usual, and she'd been spotted around that morning, even as recently as like 10, 10.30. So her absence at 11 didn't seem to bring any concern. Maybe she's in a meeting. Maybe I just keep missing her. Whatever.

So for hours, no one knew that things had changed. Their world had shifted, but they were completely unaware. Until, that is, later that evening. Sometime after four, when Geetha's shift would have ended. That's when someone saw her purse at her workstation, which made them a little worried. Even more so when they saw her car in the parking lot. So according to Tina Kelly's article for the New York Times, people started looking around

for her. They even called her home and spoke to her husband, Jaya, but of course he says she's not there, so they asked for her cell phone number to try and get a hold of her that way. But eventually they found her phone there with her purse. Which is not comforting at all. Not at all. So they keep searching the area, high and low, looking everywhere they can think of. And at some point they hear from some employees that Gita had gone down to the water tanks in the basement to recalibrate some machines. So this is where they decide to focus their search. And just setting the scene here is a little challenging

because as far as I can tell, there aren't any pictures or videos of the plant that kind of walk through this portion of it. But from what I can put together from the source material is they head down to this deep narrow hallway that is above these massive underground water tanks. And in this part of the plant, the water is only accessible through these heavy four foot square metal grates in the floor

that are over the tanks themselves. And it's by one of these grates that one employee reported finding broken glass, which is a red flag because there's no reason for there to be broken glass just laying around down there. But the position of the grate itself is also really concerning because it's not secured like it should be on top of the water tank. Some sources claim that it was positioned diagonally over the hole. Others say it was just like completely off altogether. So it's about this point that the plant manager calls

police. Now, if you look this case up, you might see early articles mentioned that the coworkers called police around 7.30 p.m. But that's wrong. That time comes from an interview that the county prosecutor did, and it later gets cleared up. There was no 7.30 call. He just got it wrong.

According to a New York Post article by Jean McIntosh, the call actually came in at 1122 PM. Which means no one's had eyes on Geetha for 12 hours. Even more than that. Which is why police don't mess around when they get this call. They head down to the plant, then down to the tanks to take a look at this grate. And they find that part of the grate is pulled back,

exposing the water underneath, and it looks like the opening is big enough for someone to have fallen through. But they're not sure if that's how it was found by employees or if the employees had removed it during their own search. And this position of the grate actually becomes important later on, so just keep it in mind. Now, just before midnight, the responding officer's calling

backup from other local jurisdictions, and they have divers in the tanks searching for geetha. And when I say tanks, I don't know what you're picturing, but these things are big. They're like 40 feet by 100 feet. They're 35 feet deep. And the one under this particular grate holds 1 million gallons of water. Wow. I mean, the plant itself is reported to process anywhere from like 75 to 83 millions of gallons of water per day to purify for public use.

So again, just massive. But when you might have a person in them, you can't have water going out to the public. So at around 2 a.m. plant officials shut operations down. They divert water from other plants to go out to the public. And with the water supply to the public shut off, they begin working to drain these massive tanks. And this takes a long time, I mean hours and hours, but sometime between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., that next night, they see their first sign that they're on the right track.

A sneaker in the tank, then a clipboard, then a radio, and then 100 feet from where anybody last saw Geetha, they find her body. And with this discovery, any idea that this may have been an accident, vanishes because when they pull her out of the tank, they see deep bruising on her neck that tells a completely different story. This was a homicide. There is no doubt in investigators' minds. But no one else at the plant had seen Geetha in the tank.

No one would know that she was strangled, except, of course, her killer. So police make the choice to hide that fact initially, see if they can draw this person out. Maybe even make them feel at ease, like get them to put their guard down, because early reporting quotes the chief of police stating that her body didn't show any signs of trauma. Now meanwhile, Geetha's body is taken to the medical examiner's office for autopsy, and this is where things get tricky. The medical examiner finds that despite the evidence

of strangulation and additional bruising around her wrist and one of her elbows, her cause of death was drowning. Okay, what about the manner of death? They rule it a homicide, but the question now is by who? I mean, it should be a short list, right? Like it's basically her coworkers. Right, and that's who Geetha's family becomes immediately suspicious of once they're notified of her death.

Because, you see, they explain that there had definitely been some tension between Geetha and some of her coworkers. Like she'd worked at the plant for over a decade, she'd been super successful, even played a big role in switching the plant to an ozone-based purification system. So according to an article from The Record by Douglas Krauss, there were some people who held a lot of resentment and jealousy toward her, which didn't quell the previous year when she got promoted over some other people who in turn might have felt like they were passed up.

And there had also been an incident the week before Geetha was killed where there'd been this pink discoloration in the water and the employees who fixed it did so incorrectly so Geetha had to like retrain them and it sounds like little stuff when I bundle it all together like that but for a woman in her field over 13 years the tension was absolutely felt. And one of her colleagues suggests that there may have been a racial element, too. I mean, 98% of the plant employees were white, and some people may not have liked seeing an Indian woman in a position of power over them. And listen, even all motive aside, what her family can't get past is the fact that

no one found her sooner, or even realized she was gone sooner. Especially because the plant has relatively high security compared to any other normal office. However, a spokesperson for the Water Commission says that Geetha's job wasn't a stationary one. So she wasn't just working at a desk in the same place all day with the same people. She was kind of walking around and working with different people at different times. So we're basically saying like it would be easier for people to not notice she was gone because she's not like just sitting at a desk, you know what

I mean? Yeah, but I guess my thing is like, this is a water plant. It's got to be pretty secure, right? Is she like going into locked rooms? Is there anybody tracking any of that? I don't know. So that's the other thing. I don't know how high tech the security was. Again, maybe more than a regular office. But I know that there are no surveillance cameras down where she died, down in that water tank area. And they didn't use any key cards or anything to get from room to room or building to building.

So there's no record of who went where and when. So maybe you can write those things off. But there is this other thing that her husband tells police that is a little odd in my mind. Geetha's husband says that he first got that call about someone wanting her cell phone number at around 9 p.m. But that wasn't the only call he got that night. He says that the plant officials called him at least two more times and told him not to

call police and report her missing until after they had a chance to check the whole plant. So I think that again now in hindsight, knowing what happened, it's like why wouldn't you want her husband to be concerned sooner or act sooner? Right. And isn't checking the whole plant also like stopping it draining everything? Wouldn't you need authorities help with that? Yeah. And I don't know that they were planning on like doing any of that themselves. Again, without seeing this plant, I don't know if they're like, hey, let us at least

like check the basement before you call. But again, he gets that call by the cell phone at nine and they do another two and a half hours basically of searching before they call police. It is just a long time. Now, on February 14th, Geetha's death is publicly called a homicide, and the hunt for her killer is in full swing. There are about 85 people who work at the plant,

50 of whom were there that day that Geetha died, and investigators plan on interviewing all of them. But they hit a wall pretty quickly. Not everyone at work are besties, but it doesn't seem like anyone at work would have wanted her dead. I mean, she didn't have any hiring or firing privileges, so even though some of her coworkers

definitely weren't like her biggest fans, it doesn't seem like they would have motive to kill her. I mean, that seems pretty strong. Now keep in mind, interviewing 50 people, 85 people, whatever, it doesn't happen in a day. And in that mind, interviewing 50 people, 85 people, whatever, it doesn't happen in a day. And in that time, employees at the plant are still coming into work and still doing their thing every single day. I mean, the water plant isn't just something you can shut down even during a murder investigation. Right. So people are coming in every day knowing that one of their

coworkers might be a murderer. Spot on. And you can imagine, like, that creates this, like, constant sense of unease. So for the time being, plant officials actually implement this buddy system where everyone has to work in pairs so that no one can be in a remote area of the plant alone. Not to poke holes in their system, but doesn't that mean one person is getting paired up with a killer and they don't know it?

Yes, basically. I mean, it is a stressful time for everyone involved, especially because by February 18th, they're only about halfway done with the interviews. But there is something that is standing out during all of their interviewing. One guy, one of Geetha's subordinates. Apparently he was the one who told Geetha that a few of the machines down there in the basement needed recalibrating, which they did, he didn't lie.

But it just so happens that he was also the same one who found the glass on the floor when they went looking for her. Now, could it be a coincidence? Maybe. I mean, again, if you're the one that sends her down there, maybe you're the one that goes to look down there. Right, you know where she's going, so you would know exactly where to look.

Yeah. I mean, it's not a smoking gun by any means. They're hoping that a smoking gun will come from the physical evidence. So according to more of Douglas Krause's reporting, around this time, they start asking for DNA samples from about 50 employees, all of whom give oral swabs willingly. What are they testing these samples against? That I don't know. I know that they didn't get anything from her body because chlorine is a corrosive agent that can destroy DNA,

and apparently the water that she was in had a high enough chlorine content to destroy any DNA that might have been on her body. And I know the glass on the floor didn't have any fingerprints or anything, so that was practically useless, and neither did the grate that was supposed to cover the water tank. And as far as I can see, there's nothing found in her car or on her desk that could have pointed to her killer either. So I don't know if they have something else or if they were hoping that they might have something down the line or they're just like collecting just in case or if it's like a test see who gives it up willingly see who gets nervous. But if anyone declines or if they get any hunches from this they do not tell the press

ergo I don't know about it. Now by March 12th all of the interviews are finally completed. And after putting together everything they learned from the employees at the plant, plus what they learned from Geetha's family, they're able to put together a sort of pseudo profile of their killer. They're confident that whoever killed Geetha probably acted alone.

And while this person definitely didn't like her and maybe even held a grudge, they don't think the murder was planned. Rather, they think that Gita and this other person had some sort of confrontation, altercation in the tunnels, and that ended up turning violent, and this person just panicked and dropped her into the water tanks. Now, they think this person definitely worked there at the plant, duh, and, by the way, like you were saying, still works there. So that takes their list of 50 people working that day to a group of about eight male coworkers. What makes these eight stand out?

So for these eight, either their stories weren't convincing or there were some gaps in their timelines that they couldn't account for. And what those stories are or the gaps or whatever, that's never been released to the public. And as far as I can tell, neither have their names. But I do know that one of them is the same person who tells her to recalibrate the machines, the same person who tells...

Who finds the glass. Exactly. Okay. And as time continues to pass, the more restless both Githa's family and the employees at the plant become. I mean, more than their own personal safety, no one likes the idea of a murderer having access to millions of gallons of water that's provided to 800,000 people. Not that they've come out and said that they think this person is going to do anything to the water, but it's like, not unheard

of. I mean, according to that same article I read in the record by Douglas Krause, so back in 1993, there were some pretty serious allegations of sabotage against an unknown person who had been doing things like upping the chlorine in the water. So it was like 15 times higher than normal. They were... What? Yeah, tampering with chemical settings, releasing propane and bleach into the water. Well, that's terrifying. Yeah, and in that incident,

one of the grates over the water tanks was moved, leaving the water open, just like in Geetha's case. Now, it's not connected. Like, the perpetrator from 1993 was never caught. And basically what happened is the tampering stopped because officials released a statement stating that the person would be arrested if they were ever found and it like scared him off.

And I know Geeta had been working there for a while. Was she at the plant at the time? Like could she have known who it was? Yeah, so she had been working there, but I don't I mean I don't think she would have known who was doing it. And listen again, I can't we can't say that they're not connected a thousand percent because we don't know who was doing it. And listen, again, I can't we can't say that they're not connected 1000% because we don't know who was doing it. You know, the great was removed. Like, did she catch someone doing there's like a zillion theories you could have. But ultimately, the officials say that they don't think that the two incidents are connected. It's just a weird coincidence. But still, this is like in the back of everyone's minds. Like, you

know, we've already got a killer here. Like, what else could they do? This is a very sensitive job to have. Mm-hmm. So the sooner the killer is identified and removed from such an important position, the better. And all of the high tensions result in the plant upping its security and placing things like fences and key card entries around the plant freaking finely.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I'm surprised they didn't do that back in like 93 when the tampering was happening. Yeah, I was gonna say, I'm surprised they didn't do that back in like 93 when the tampering was happening. You would think, right? It seemed like they'd want to keep a closer eye on things locked down, especially where people can get into the water that's going out to the public. 800,000 people? I know.

And if they had done that back in 93, maybe Giva's case would have gone differently, maybe it would have never happened at all. But they didn't. So in 2005, weeks turn into months with no movement. Her family cremates her body in a traditional Hindu ceremony, and by August, investigators are sort of at a dead end. As the one-year anniversary of Geetha's death comes up,

her family is becoming increasingly frustrated. Tina Kelly reported for the New York Times that they believe her killer had helped, that this is the work of more than one person. Geetha's husband, Jaya, also publicly questions plant officials on why sensors in the water tank didn't detect when Geetha was thrown in, because there are sensors that are supposed to detect disturbances in the water, so, I

mean, if it was working properly, it should have gone off. But the county's chief assistant prosecutor claims that the sensors weren't tampered with, they just weren't sensitive enough. What? A body was thrown in there? Like what are they supposed to be sensing? An elephant? Like… I know! It definitely should have sensed that a whole human goes in so maybe get some better sensors

And yeah listen while it probably wouldn't have saved Geetha's life They might have found her sooner or it actually might have saved her life because they found that she died of drowning you know what I mean, so if something went off immediately could they have gotten her probably and even if they didn't could they have found her, probably. And even if they didn't, could they have found her killer or more evidence or anything, probably. Now around this time, her family starts asking for state or federal investigators

to help with the case. And local police aren't opposed. They're like, yeah, we'd love the help. The only difference is like, while the family believes more than one person is involved, the local authorities believe that whoever her killer was acted alone. But they say, listen, we're open to other agencies coming in, helping with the investigation. We're frustrated too.

Plus, in a year that has passed, like, they have other crimes that are taking up their attention, other homicides that need to be solved. So more help, more resources, that's all the better for them. But it doesn't seem like the state police jump in at least at that point yet. Though detectives do open a new probe into the case around the one year anniversary of Geetha's death. Now, by this point, they've narrowed down that list they had of eight men to just three, citing that none of them have very solid alibis, and they all could have had access to where Geetha's body was found.

And of course, that employee who told her to recalibrate the machines is still on that list too. And do these three all still work there? As far as I can tell, yes. I can't find anything about any of them quitting. I don't know if that would have gotten reported or not. Also, like, I feel like quitting makes you more suspicious. Look bad. But also, if, like, everyone's calling you a murderer, like, I might quit.

So again, you could go either way. And I know all three of them know that they're kind of on the chopping block because they all lawyer up and they're all also asked to take lie detector tests, which two agree to. One passes. One's results are inconclusive. Okay, I have a guess as to which one. I've same guesses, but like police A won't say who's inconclusive and they won't say

who refused to take one at all. So just guess it's cool. But get ready for a curve ball because around this time, a few of the investigators start to believe that Geetha actually wasn't murdered, that her death was maybe just an accident. Now, there are a few things that these detectives point to to make this new case. The biggest is actually the bruising on Geetha's neck.

So they say that it's not a sign of strangulation at all. Instead, they say that they've contacted a forensic expert on drowning, and apparently these strangulation-like injuries can also be found in accidental cold water drownings. And the water temperature that day that Geetha died in was about 36 degrees Fahrenheit. So, I mean, it was definitely a cold water drowning. And basically what they say is that the tissue injuries to the throat can look the same in strangulation and in this cold water drowning. — I've literally never heard of that. — Neither had I. So actually, I had our team reach out to Barbara Butcher, who, if you haven't listened to my last two episodes

of Crime Junkie AF, her episodes are amazing. I, like, stumbled into her. She's an amazing, beautiful genius. Basically, she's an expert in medical legal death investigation and a consultant in forensic investigations. Trust me, this woman knows her stuff. I highly recommend, yes, go listen to the episodes go read her book What the dead know I'll link out to all of it in the show notes

But anyways, I asked her her thoughts on this cold water drowning theory like have you seen this have you heard of this and Ultimately, you know, she hasn't seen any pictures anything. She can't like rule on this case specifically But she says as far as her thoughts on this theory, it's just that, a theory. She says she tends to agree with the forensic pathologist who noted the strangulation bruising during the actual autopsy. And that's mostly because the forensic expert who started this other theory about the drowning never even saw Geetha's body and had nothing to do with the case. So in her mind, she's like, how could he possibly have a say in this? Like, never even saw Geetha's body and had nothing to do with the case.

So in her mind, she's like, how could he possibly have a say in this? Like as Barbara put it, quote, the body seldom lies. So given that she would believe that, again, like an expert looked at it, an expert like physically examined her body and ruled homicidal strangulation and drowning. And so she said, again,

without her doing her own examination, that's what she would lean towards. And the prosecutor in this case, and pretty much all the other investigators in this case, agree. They're still as convinced as ever that this was a homicide. More of Jean McIntosh's reporting for the New York Post states that by this point, apparently five medical examiners have taken a look at Geetha's case, and all five of them had ruled it homicide by drowning, stating that she was likely strangled to unconsciousness and then thrown into the tank.

But the former lead investigator, Lieutenant Wood, is still driving the accident narrative. He claims that employees at the plant mentioned that the grates would sometimes be left off the water tanks, and so if you're not looking where you're going, like you're, you know, holding your clipboard, which we found in the water, like your beaker, whatever, like you could just fall in. So in his version of events, Geetha went down there to do some testing, to recalibrate the machines. Maybe she just wasn't watching where she was going.

She fell into the water, breaking the beaker that she was carrying on the floor, and then she couldn't get out because there are no ladders in the tank. And then since these tanks are in such a remote area of the plant, no one heard or saw her fall in. The water's super cold, so she quickly succumbed and drowned. Now, her family isn't thrilled with the idea of this formerly investigator claiming that her death was accidental. It doesn't seem to sway anyone or hinder the investigation all that much, but to them it's still frustrating to hear, especially

when there are no other leads. So another year passes and in 2007 the state police finally agreed to come in and review the investigation or the case. According to Mark Mueller's reporting for NJ.com, state investigators are going to take a lead role in the probe once they finish up working on another high profile murder case, that of a woman named Melanie McGuire. She was accused of killing and dismembering her husband

a few years prior, and her case at the time was getting a lot of press, which, by the way, doozy of a story. I'll have to get into that one day, but like, can attest, it was one that was sucking up all the resources. So after that's done, basically, the state investigators will have the bandwidth to finally investigate Githa's case. But even when that time comes, the state investigators come in, they review the case,

and then nothing happens. There is only so much frustration that Geitha's family can handle before trying to take some form of action into their own hands. So in February of 2007, her family files a lawsuit against the Water Commission. They claim that the working environment

at the plant was dangerous, yet officials did nothing about it. And to give you kind of a brief rundown, they're claiming several things. One, before Gita disappeared, they'd had a buddy system for when employees went into remote parts of the plant, like the area where the tanks were located. But just shortly before she was killed,

they had discontinued that, which in their opinion should not have been done. They say that the lack of surveillance and monitoring was dangerous. Like they should have put in additional surveillance cameras, especially after that 1993 sabotage incident. They say that the two-way radios employees carried were unreliable.

Those motion sensors that her husband talked about that weren't working, like what the heck was happening there? The metal grate over the floor was loose. The screws that were supposed to hold it in place were either damaged or completely missing. And the working conditions overall just weren't safe. They actually cited a 2001 investigation that found 55 violations at the plant.

And plant officials claim that they fixed all of them, but it's included in the lawsuit as evidence that the plant had this history of being unsafe. And then finally, and surprisingly, one of the things that they cite is a law and order SVU episode that was filmed there at the plant in 2003 that they say may have played a part in Geetha's death. Whoa, I was not expecting Detective Benson to make an appearance here. I know. What? Yeah, basically, like, I think they put it in there,

the episode itself involves a person being pushed into a tank of chlorinated water. I actually looked it up. The episode is called Brotherhood. It aired in January of 2004. Now, Geetha's story isn't exactly like this episode because it focuses on hazing. but it aired in January of 2004. Now, Geetha's story isn't exactly like this episode because it focuses on hazing. However, in the episode, they insinuate how the chlorinated water

would destroy DNA evidence. So the killer who likely works at the plant where Geetha was killed, where this episode was shot, may have been inspired by the episode. I mean, maybe. Details about what exactly happened with that lawsuit are sparse, but from what I can tell, it seems like it got settled out of court.

And truthfully, that's kind of the last thing I can really find on Gida's case. I know that near the 10th anniversary of her death, her family was calling for the case to be re-examined. And by that point, they'd actually gotten in touch with the state senator Joe Kyrillos, who went to bat for them and said that he was going to ask the attorney general's office to take another look at the case. But if anything happened, there's been no public mention of it.

Today, Geetha's case is still unsolved. Her family is still waiting for answers. Answers that might come if her case is given a fresh look with today's technology. But who knows when that could happen, if it's going to happen. What could really solve this case sooner is if someone will speak up. There are potentially workers at the plant who might know more, and Geetha's family deserves for them to come forward if they do know more. So if you have any information about the murder of Geetha's family deserves for them to come forward if they do know more. So if you have any information

about the murder of Geetha Angara, you can call the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office at 1-877-370-PCPO, or you can email them, and we'll have that email address in the show notes. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com. And you can follow us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. So, what do you think, Chuck?

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