Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 08.21.24 | Three 47-Year-Old California Cold Cases Solved

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

Long-haul truck driver DNA match to three California cold cases. Guess Buc-ee's is good for more than just snacks! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. California cops desperate for a lead when Kimberly Fritz, Velvet Sanchez, and Lorraine Rodriguez all found strangle after each one disappears from an L.A. shopping center. The murders remain unsolved 47 years. Across the country, Mississippi long-haul truck driver Warren Alexander arrested for strangling Nona Cobb in North Carolina. Alexander's DNA uploaded to CODIS, and California cops finally have their suspect. Investigators believe Alexander has more victims across his truck routes. Nancy, Nona Cobb's body was found dumped on I-77 in 1992. Cobb's case was solved with investigative genetic genealogy, a process that compares

unidentified DNA to family members of the suspect to identify the suspect. At Alexander's arrest, his DNA was uploaded to CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, where it matched the unsolved California cases. Investigators are concerned that Alexander has many more victims spread across the continental U.S. Warren Alexander, 73, now charged with four counts of murder. I predict there'll be more. A Texas driver stops at Buc-ee's for more than snacks. A Fayette County deputy notices the odor of marijuana during a truck stop and searches Lujim Davis Jr.'s car. In the truck, he finds three Buc-ee's beaver-stuffed animals and noticed several seams are hand-stitched. I don't think they come that way at Buc-ee's.

The deputy rips open the toys and finds packages containing more than two pounds of pot and ecstasy. Davis, 47, now facing multiple drug charges. Sorry, Buc-ee's. More Crime and Justice news after this. Now with the latest Crime and Justice breaking news. Crime Online's John Lemley. We begin in Wisconsin as the final suspect in the death of Devontae Mitchell has been apprehended more than five weeks after the fatal incident at a Milwaukee hotel.

For the latest, we turn to Sydney Sumner of Crime Online. Herbert Williamson, a bellhop at the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency, was taken into custody just three days after he and three others were formally charged with felony murder. The charges stem from an incident on June 30th when Mitchell, a 31-year-old black man, was forcibly removed from the hotel lobby by Williamson and his co-defendants. Prosecutors allege that hotel security guard Todd Erickson, front desk worker Devin Johnson Carson, and another security guard, Brandon Turner,

joined Williamson in restraining Mitchell. Surveillance footage reportedly shows the men piling on top of Mitchell as they attempted to remove him from the premises. Mitchell died shortly thereafter. According to the criminal complaint, Mitchell had entered the hotel and sought refuge in a women's restroom. It was there that he was confronted by hotel staff. The situation escalated as employees dragged him outside, ultimately restraining him on the ground for eight to nine minutes. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office later determined that Mitchell died from restraint asphyxia, indicating that he struggled to breathe while being held down. The autopsy also revealed that Mitchell had ingested cocaine and methamphetamine prior to

the incident and noted that his obesity was a contributing factor. However, the examiner concluded that Mitchell might have survived had the staff allowed him to reposition himself. Ambridge Hospitality, the management company overseeing the hotel, has since terminated several employees involved in the incident. If convicted, Williamson and his co-defendants face up to 15 years and nine months in prison. Thanks, John. Tensions high between Chantel Hudson and her mom after they moved from Bishop, California to Dayton, Nevada, just after Chantel starts her junior year of high school. Chantel's mom thinks her teen girl has fallen in with the wrong crowd at her

new school. 7.30 Monday morning, Chantel leaves home on foot after an argument. Her mom reports Chantel missing when she's marked absent from school. Searches of Chantel's route to school turn up nothing. Several reported sightings turn out to be misidentifications. Chantel's social security number, no activity, and extensive driver's license searches don't provide any leads. Chantel Hudson now missing 36 years. Chantel, Native American, 5'5", brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, has a scar on her left ring finger, a birthmark on her lower back. If you have info on Chantel Hudson, call Lyon County Nevada Sheriffs 775-577-5023. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

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