Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killer 'Stalked' Nursing Student Like Prey at UGA

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

Laken Riley spent four years running cross-country track for her high school, River Ridge in Woodstock Georgia. Her love of running continues during her studies at the University of Georgia. After earning her undergraduate degree, Riley begins her studies to be a nurse.    Riley sets out on a morning run. She grabs her phone, telling her roommate she’ll return after a half run at the UGA Campus intramural fields.  When Riley doesn't return for hours, her roommate calls campus police 911 at 12:07 p.m. Less than 45 minutes later,  Officers found the Riley's body behind Lake Herrick. She was unconscious, not breathing, and had visible injuries.  Police arrest Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, charging him with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.  Ibarra is from Venezuela and came to the US illegally. He arrived in El Paso, Texas, with his wife and her 5-year-old son.  Due to overcrowding at the center, the family is sent by bus to New York City, a week after crossing the border. They are given food and lodging, and Ibarra begins posting pictures on social media about living the high life in New York City.  Ibarra is working Door Dash and Uber Eats, when he gets arrested for carrying his wife's 5-year-old son, without a helmet or protection of any kind on his scooter. Ibarra and his wife split up, and Jose Ibarra lives in Athens, Georgia with his brother Diego. Her apartment is a 5-minute walk from where the body of Laken Riley was found. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Phil Vetrano - Father of Murdered Jogger, Karina Vetrano Dale Carson – Criminal Defense Attorney (Jacksonville), Former FBI Agent, Former Police Officer, Author: “Arrest-Proof Yourself;” X: @DaleCarsonLaw Joe Scott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, “Blood Beneath My Feet,” and Host: “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;” Twitter/X: @JoScottForensic Sheryl McCollum  – Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder; Host of Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone7 Jason Dennis - Anchor: WTVM News leader 9 and WXTX; Facebook: Jason Dennis WTVM, Instagram: @jdennistv X: @JasonDennisWTVM   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. An absolutely beautiful young nursing student has been murdered. Why am I hearing about why did she go jogging? Why did she go jogging alone? On and on and on. Can we talk about the illegal immigrant that murdered her, that watched her as she jogged at UGA, University Georgia, and waited for the right moment to pounce? Can we talk about that? Look, I hate politics. I hate the Republicans, and I hate the Democrats, and I hate the independents.

They all lie. But I want answers. I hate the Democrats and I hate the independents. They all lie. But I want answers. I want the truth. Why was this guy here? Why was he not already behind bars? Why was he not already deported? And can anybody tell me why this happened to Lakin. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. This beautiful nursing student had a horrible, horrible death. Look at Lakin. She's absolutely stunning.

Her family has supported her, helped her move forward in life, and all she wanted to do was help other people. Why is this girl dead? Why was her body found on a jogging path near a lake in Athens? What are we doing to protect our own citizens, the most vulnerable women, children, minorities? Are we doing anything? Because it feels like we're not. Let's start with what we know. Take a listen to Chief Jeff Clark, a University of Georgia PD. On February 22nd, 2024, at approximately 12.07 p.m., the University of Georgia Police Department received a call from an individual concerned for a friend who had gone jogging at the intermurial fields. Our officers responded to that area

and immediately began a search of the area to attempt to locate the individual. Officers located the individuals in the area behind Lake Herrick at approximately 1238. The individual was unconscious and not breathing and had visible injuries. Officers immediately began rendering medical aid. Emergency medical responders determined that the individual was deceased upon their arrival. This poor little girl, there's nothing they could do to save her. When I first heard she was unresponsive, I thought maybe she was just passed out cold. Maybe she was in a coma, but no, she was left there dead.

I'm going to find out all the facts about how she was left. You know, I want to point out that normally I get a bad taste in my mouth. My teeth go on edge when I hear campus police are handling a case. Think back to Kristen Smart. Remember that? How badly they ruined the murder investigation. But in this case, I've got to say, it seems to me that the UGAPD did everything right,

God willing, but it sounds like they did. You were just hearing Chief Jeff Clark as he addresses the discovery of this young girl's body. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. Before I go to Jason Dennis, main anchor WTVM on the case from the beginning. I want to go to a longtime friend and colleague who I immediately thought of when I heard about Lake and Riley, the nursing student, is Phil Vetrano. We all lived through on the outside looking in when Karina Vetrano, his beautiful young daughter, was out jogging. He always jogged with her like my dad did. That one day he had a back ailment that he just couldn't go. And when she didn't call him

and he didn't hear from her, he knew something was wrong. He knew it was just a sixth sense. Phil Vetrano, thank you for being with us. You know, Phil Vetrano, by the way, was hauled out of his daughter's funeral as they were about to have the funeral to get his DNA taken. Did he complain? No. Did he endure abuse online in the media speculation? Yes. He withstood it all until Karina's killer was convicted. Phil, when you see another story, when you heard about Lakin Riley, do you feel like nothing is being done? Nancy, when I first heard the story, to quote Yogi Berra, it was like deja vu all over again. I mean, we had Vanessa Marcotte, and then we had Molly Tibbetts, and now we have Blanken. And the situation, the circumstances are so similar.

I mean, the perpetrator was a non-US citizen, had no care about human life, just dumped the bodies. And, yeah, I mean, when I first heard this, I felt I went right back to seven years ago, which was not a good place. Not a good place at all. Guys, Phil Vetrano is weighing in. Phil, please jump in whenever a thought occurs to you because you have lived through this same exact scenario. Let me go straight out to Jason Dennis now for the very latest in what we know happened. I'm very curious. First of all, Jason Dennis, take a listen to Rachel Bonilla, Crime Online. Riley sets out on a morning run. She grabs her phone, telling her roommate that she'll be

back after a half run at the UGA campus intramural fields. When Riley doesn't return for hours, her roommate calls campus police 911 at 12.07 p.m. Jason Dennis, again, thank you for being with us. I want to talk about not so much leading up to the discovery of her body. I want to talk about the evidence. I want to talk about how she was found, who found her, the condition of her body. Hit it. She was found right next to a lake, next to the intramural fields. My son is a sophomore at the University of Georgia. He actually parks there to the intramural fields. And my son is a sophomore at the University of

Georgia. He actually parks there at the intramural fields. And so around this lake is a pretty, it's a pretty normal place for students, for people in the community of Athens, Georgia to run around. And this was on a Thursday morning, right in the middle of the week, nice weather there at Lake Herrick. And as the UGA police chief was talking about, and he says, he called this a crime of opportunity. So she went there running, we assume by herself. And he apparently, Mr. Ibarra, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect here, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. He lives in an apartment complex. It's literally right next to this lake. That area where she was killed, where she was found, is right behind his apartment complex. So essentially a five-minute walk for him to that

area. So as UGA police call it, a crime of opportunity. He's still behind bars, no bond, long list of charges like malice, murder, felony murder, kidnapping. And she was found there, like you said, like we heard before, unresponsive and dead on the scene. So she was left dead there. Blunt force trauma is the cause of death we know so far. So we're not sure if there was any kind of sexual assault or rape involved. That's not one of the charges right now. But we do know that he's accused of killing her in a brutal way and leaving her there dead to be found around lunchtime last Thursday. And students have not been, they canceled classes on Friday at

the University of Georgia, one of the top schools in the entire nation. And the students just returning to class today on this Monday. So as my son and others have said, it's very somber, very sad vibe on campus. This is the first murder actually on UGA's campus in 30 years, according to the staff there at the school. Yeah, Jason Dennis, that campus PD, they're on you like a cheap suit. We have a family friend whose son attended UJ, graduated with honors, a musician, the works, then got a job connected to Homeland Security. He was a musician walking down Music Row there in Athens and somebody threw an ID over a fence at a bar. He picked up the ID, he walked to the

front of the entrance and went, this just came over the fence and the cops got him for using a fake ID. He went, I'm not using the fake ID. It just came. Long story short, they're watching you like crazy. And I firmly believe this is very well the first homicide in at least 30 years. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me right now, Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research Institute and star of Zone 7 hit podcast. Cheryl, I've been to UGA. I've seen the running path. A lot of young ladies run that path all the time. And I can't believe, Cheryl, that everybody's screaming about why was she jogging by herself?

What was she wearing? Was she wearing shorts? Was she wearing a jogging bra? Why was she alone? Why did she pick that time of the day? It's obscene. Why aren't we talking about this guy who came into the country illegally? Number one, he was detained at, I believe it was El Paso,

coming across the border. They let him go. Then he was arrested in New York. They let him go. And here he comes to UGA to collide with Lakin. Before I get on that, tell me what you observed about the scene. I want to see if I agree with you. Okay. When you get right there at Lake Herrick, there's a multi-level parking deck. So this is a well-used area. You've got intramural fields where the band practices. You've got multiple tennis courts. When we were there Friday and Saturday, there were tons of students playing tennis and pickleball.

There were elderly people walking the path. There were people with their dogs. There were people kayaking. This is not a place that is not well-traveled by folks. Okay, stop right there. Stop right there. Stop right there. Guys, we're showing you pictures

that Cheryl actually took for us. She has been on the ground for the last two days, combing the area to report back everything she could find. I agree with you completely. Right now, we're showing you where we believe Lakin's body was found. Does anybody on the panel know whether Lakin was clothed or unclothed or partially clothed? Jump in. She was discovered, you know, with extreme facial injuries from what I was able to determine in my conversations. And, of course, the problem here, Nancy, is something that we all need to be aware of. As an instructor for the Bureau, I taught death investigations. And one of the important points here is that individuals, when they are in areas that are

protected, like this area is supposed to be, that area is supposed to be watched, it's supposed to be well traveled, but apparently it wasn't at the time. And we know these serial offenders or these offenders, like the individual who's charged here, frequently target areas of people. And my largest question is, how in the world do they come from New York?

How are they living when they're not working in this apartment that's only five minutes away from this school? And you know, they were in that area. They've seen, he has seen that individual, if not that individual, other young ladies jogging by themselves. And they're certainly encouraged to do that. It's a health issue. It's a mental issue with running. And so it's unfortunate that we can't protect women wherever they are. But we know this. Women have a right to be frightened of certain men. And that's exactly what's happened here. You're hearing Dale Carson joining us, high profile lawyer out of Jacksonville. He also and more importantly former fbi agent and former beat cop in miami-dade never a lack

of business there dale you're absolutely right cheryl mccollum i want to get back to the location i like that you pointed out how well used this area is in other words populated uh cheryl i'm a runner and there have been many times and you know I've talked about it, but I will be running no earbuds in. Phil Vetrano taught us that because Karina had in earbuds, didn't hear what was sneaking up behind her, but no earbuds. But when you're running, you're in a groove and you're not necessarily looking around you. But every once in a while, I get a feeling like, hey, I've gone too far. I need to turn around and get back. I don't even know where I am right now. And that's what happens. But this girl, Lakin, had a route. She had a

particular route. And we're hearing that the defendant, may he rot in hell, only lived a few minutes away. He knew this trail. He watched it like a predator, like a hyena at the water watching the gazelles approach. And he waited for just the right one at the right time. And he pounced. And I guarantee you, technical legal term, that he did or tried to sex assault this young girl. He didn't just jump on her for what, to steal her tennis shoes? No. This guy, I guarantee you, attacked her. And he needs to go straight to the Georgia death penalty as a pit stop to hell. She did everything right, Cheryl. They had band practice there, pickleball, tennis.

It's a very well-used jogging path. Cheryl, what else did you see? The most important thing to me is the route is very clear. Where you start at the parking deck, you run this whole route, you come right back to it. She was a cross-country runner in high school. She was not unfamiliar with this terrain. So down by where Lake Parrot is, is where it's very populated, a whole bunch of folks. Once you get to the top of the route, coming back down, that's the part through the woods.

That's where he was waking on her. So again, instead of asking why was she there, why was he there? Why was he allowed to stalk and attack and murder and then walk back home? And Nancy, from the back of his apartment complex, so if you go to Millageville Avenue, it backs right up to this path that leads you to railroad tracks right over that is the path that he took to grab her assault her and murder her and as the crow's not fenced off is it no sorry there's no fence it's wide open and there's multiple apartment complexes that can lead down to this lovely area. And I am telling you, I saw people in their 80s walking. I saw people from the community there. I saw students there. It is a beautiful place. But again, from his back door as the crow flies,

it wasn't five minutes. Is there any visual connection? Yes, he can see from his apartment into the area. He's just a few moments where he lives, I believe, with his brother, who is now behind bars on other charges, has had at least three arrests that we know. I mean, these two enter our country illegally. They live off the taxpayers. They have an arrest. The brother, multiple arrests.. They have an arrest. The brother, multiple arrests.

This guy, one arrest. They're still here and he murders our Lakin, our girl, a Dean's List student. Look at her. Look at her. There she is, all dressed up to be a nurse, wearing the little white jacket. She can't wait to take care of other people. That's over. She was brutally beaten. Joe Scott Morgan, what can you tell me about her mode of death? Guys, Joseph Scott Morgan is with us, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. And I've got to tell you, I've done several recreations there myself. It's an

incredible program. He's the author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and a star of a hit podcast, Body Bags with Joe Scott Morgan. Joe Scott, tell me about this little girl's mode of death. She's 22 years old, Dean's List, her family devastated, and then I've got this sack of crap behind bars who came in our country illegally and murdered this girl. How did he kill her? According to police. Yeah, according to the police, what they're saying is that she sustained multiple blunt force trauma. And that can mean any number of things. We think about someone picking up a blunt object like a bat or, you know, any rock or that sort of thing and attacking someone.

However, the deeper you dive into this, you begin to think about, remember, you talked about a case of opportunity, and there's several ways to kind of skin that cat, if you will. So a case of opportunity, if he is there, he doesn't have a weapon. Potentially, he has beaten her to death with his hands or he could have stepped on her. So that's going to be very important from a physical evidence standpoint. Wait, wait, wait. He didn't just step on her. If his feet were the murder weapons, he had to kick her brutally. You know, when we heard the chief of police at UGA say it was a crime of opportunity, that tells me he came down just waiting, like I said, a hyena, a predator, without a weapon.

Opportunity. That tells me he used, like Bundy used a club, a piece of wood, a rock, his fists, his feet. And I believe, Joe Scott, she fought like hell and therefore he murdered her. Yeah. And one other thing, Nancy, it's very important. We have to examine this word opportunity. I wonder from a physical evidence standpoint, this is kind of fascinating, something to explore. Did he have a hide set up? That is an observable point where he could see people coming and going. He had picked out the location. And is there physical tiebacks to that location?

Let's think about fingerprints, rather. Let's think about also cigarette butts. Anything that is left behind that ties back specifically to him that shows him in some kind of perch there waiting where he's kind of receded back into the woods. And look, you jog, you know that you can't see everybody to your left and your right, but he can see them. He has an advantage. Who expects to be attacked as they're jogging? I totally believe. Is this Jason? Jump in. Go ahead. It's Phil Vitron. Oh, it's Phil. Go ahead. I totally believe he staked out the area, as in with Karina. And with Karina, she was found at a bottom of a U. So he could see people coming from the left and he could see people coming from the right. And I believe with Lincoln's murder, he had been following her or watching her.

And he planned this out. And he just waited for her to come by. And he was most likely hiding somewhere in the wooded area. And I believe, this is what I believe, that he They have the idea of sexually molesting her because what are the reason we would have just to kill her, just to kill her, like you said, for her sneakers? No. So we don't know if she was molested or not, but we will find out. Phil Vetrano joining me is the father of Karina Vetrano. Phil got a question. When Karina was murdered, did the perp use an object or his fists? He first hit her with an available object, a rock. He hit her in the back of the head with a rock.

And then he used his hands. And, you know, Phil, I don't like talking about the details of Karina's murder. But if it can help in any way shed light on this, I'll do it. And I want to thank you again for being with us and putting it out there what Karina lived through and what you lived through. Karina was beaten so badly, her teeth were knocked out of her mouth. She was brutally beaten. And in this case, when I look at Lakin and I think about her jogging and her worried about classes and making all of her A pluses and her family just so proud of her getting into nursing school and her whole future laid out. I want to put my hands around this guy's neck and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. And when you

mentioned those girls, Phil Vetrano, you said Vanessa Marcotte, you said Molly Tibbetts, and now Lakin Riley, and of course, Corinna Vetrano. I mean, to you, Jason Dennis from WTVM, who's been on the story from the beginning, when I think of my little girl, Lucy, and the possibility, she's just not even just a couple of years younger than Lakin. Who wants their daughter in this list? Nobody. When we say Corinna Vetrano, Vanessa Mercotte, Molly Tibbetts, now Lakin. What more can you tell us?

What connected this sack of crap to the murder? First of all, Nancy, I can tell you that as my son, as I mentioned, he's 19 years old. He's a student at UGA, one of about 35,000 students. So this is a large school. You know it well. And in this area right there, I saw an interview with a former roommate of Lake and Riley. She was infuriated that how could something like this happen? She says, there's no excuses for like, okay, she was running or was she by herself? What was she wearing? She said that this area is run often by all kinds of people, all kinds of parts of the day.

My son is a runner as well. And he literally parks at the intramural fields right next to that area. It's very heavily traveled, especially on a weekday morning. So, you know, he was allegedly lying in wait. And, you know, along with being arrested by ICE through El Paso back in 2022, and then he was arrested five months ago for what they called acting in a manner to injure a child under the age of 17. That was in New York City five months ago. And he was released because they couldn't have a detainer on him. So released because essentially they did not have room for him or couldn't keep him behind bars. And you mentioned earlier, his brother, Diego Ibarra, he was also arrested in Georgia. He had actually accused of using a fake green card to get a temporary job

with food services at the University of Georgia, did not provide further documentation. So he was fired from that job, never officially paid by the University of Georgia. did not provide further documentation. So he was fired from that job, never officially paid by the University of Georgia. So you have these two brothers that are living there in Athens in that area, and both allegedly illegal immigrants. And there's nobody looking out for what they're doing, why they're doing it. And as Cheryl mentioned earlier, and she maybe can speak to this, but according to reports, there's no visible security cameras

or really good lighting in that area around the lake. But the University of Georgia did release a statement recently and in a letter to parents actually about this disturbing incident that they said just last Wednesday or Thursday, like right before this murder happened, they approved some enhanced lighting improvements. I'm not sure if it's for this specific area, but for around campus.

And this brings to light, you know, the need for those kind of things. Can I just point out that the entire UGA campus is 41,539 acres. Repeat, 41,539 acres spread out over multiple counties. Yes, I wish they had surveillance video there, but this guy is the killer, and I want to know, Cheryl McCollum, what do we know that's going to connect him? Do you know, Dale? Jump in. Here's what I think. There's a broader problem that we're all missing here. When people come into this country illegally, the ability of us to vet them out and find out what their personal history is with Venezuela is non-existent. These individuals could be serial predators in Venezuela and coming here for the rest of the herd, as you've mentioned with an excellent description of the hyenas and the gazelles.

I mean, we can't let people just wander into the country. When we used to do background investigations, we had the authority of the FBI to look at the other country's criminal records. We don't have that with Venezuela. Speaking of him having left Venezuela, how do I know he wasn't leaving crime allegations there? I do know this. He is married with a five-year-old child, Cheryl McCollum. Cheryl, I'm trying to figure out what is connecting him. Obviously, he's not that smart. So did he

have bloody clothing? Does somebody place him there? What do you know? There's two heroes in this thing, Nancy. First, the roommate. That cut his time down from able to hide and cover up and get away with this thing. So the roommate is the first person that alerted us so quickly so that they could get on his trail. The second thing is I absolutely believe he discarded something in a dumpster. From the back of his apartment complex, how you access the path is where their dumpsters are. I believe a second person notified law enforcement that they saw him discard something. If you look at the photographs that have been released, you see GBI agents searching certain dumpsters. We were able to talk to some business owners there that confirmed,

without a doubt, they were searching for clothing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Walk through this with me, Joe Scott and Cheryl McCollum. Searching for clothing. Her clothing, which means she was sex attacked, which means we may be able to get DNA from him, or his clothing, which is likely if he used a rock, which is what we're guessing, or if he bludgeoned her with fists,

he will have blood on him. So looking for clothing. Go ahead. I believe it was his clothing. He was trying to get rid of something that he wore. So then DNA. Go ahead, Joe Scott. Jump in.

Yeah, one point here. In addition to that, if he's getting rid of his clothing, there's something he cannot get rid of. They caught him pretty quickly, Nancy. And because this is such a frenetic event, and I can almost guarantee you she fought back. All right. He's going to have evidence on him in the form of trauma that could have been sustained from her defending herself, scratches, that sort of thing. But also one other thing. On his knuckles and on the surfaces, the both aspects of his hands, he might have bruises and abrasions there where he is attacking her. And you can't get past that.

He can't explain that away. With that, you can have transfer. If he's broken his skin in any way, you can have transfer of his DNA to her remains there at the scene. And that's going to be important. I'm trying to take in what you're saying, but you got me drinking from a fire hydrant. Could you say that again? And regular people talk. Okay. Dummy down for me. What? Yeah. So if he has injuries to his hand, Nancy, just think about any kind of abrasion or bruise, laceration. If he is bleeding from that area, he can transfer that to her remains.

They would have had to have gone over her remains, unfortunately, very, very carefully at the ME's office to examine her for any foreign DNA. They would have done swabs on her specifically looking for that. Any kind of hair transfer as well that came off of him transferred on to her. I don't think he would have had sufficient amount of time to prepare her body and to eradicate any other DNA from her. When you say prepare a body, you mean like Nicole Lovell's body? The little girl was thrown on the side of the road and someone had stripped her naked and wiped her down with alcoholic wet wipes. That's what you mean by prepared the body?

Yeah, that's not happening here. He didn't have time. You're right. I want you to hear more of what we know about this POC. Jose Ibarra from Venezuela. Take a listen to Dave Mack from Crime Stories. Listen. Jose Ibarra is from Venezuela and came to the U.S. illegally, arriving in El Paso, Texas, with his wife and her five-year-old son. Due to overcrowding at the center in Texas, Ibarra, his wife, Lailin Franco, and her five-year-old son are all sent by bus to New York City a week after crossing the border. They are given food and lodging, and Ibarra begins posting pictures on social media about living the high life in New York City.

Ibarra is working DoorDash and Uber Eats when he gets arrested for carrying his wife's five-year-old son without a helmet or protection of any kind on his scooter. Ibarra is let out of jail. He and his wife split up and Jose Ibarra ends up living in Athens, Georgia with his brother Diego. Their apartment is a five-minute walk from where the body of Lakin Riley is found. Well, that's the best day's work that his wife ever did, leaving him. I mean, you'd want to tell me there weren't red flags before this. Cheryl McComb, you were speaking before I went to Dave Mack. Go ahead, jump in. Tell me everything you know.

I just want to really brag on law enforcement, University of Georgia Police, Clark County Police, the GBI, the FBI. Nancy, there are photographs they've already released where you can see their command center on the 23rd is set up right in front of his front door, basically. Now, if that's not an oh, crap moment for this guy, then they take him in for questioning. And then hours later, they make an arrest. So you're talking about from the 22nd to the 23rd. That is how fast they moved on this thing. And that's how unbelievably seamless all of those agencies work together. You know, Dale Carson, I want to follow up on what Cheryl McCollum just said.

Dale Carson, he may lie, but you know what doesn't lie? DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid and under the law you can choose not to speak under your fifth amendment right to remain silent but you can't fight a legal search warrant and search warrants apply to taking your blood taking your fingerprint getting your dna saliva the works they can uh police I've done it, can get a DNA for you to walk, for you to give a voice analysis. So while you don't have to testify against yourself, they can absolutely get his DNA. Don't you know, they're going to go through his apartment. He shared with his jailbird brother with a fine-tooth comb to find everything they can.

But they can get all that evidence pursuant to a valid search warrant. Yes, no, Dale Carson. Yes, absolutely. And that's what they've done. now, which is they take the suspect and put him outside while they do the search so there's no cross-contamination of anything they might find during the course of the investigation, looking for the very DNA that could be hers or his. And I find it fascinating that they've moved that technique ahead so that they're certain that what they find is connected to the crime and there's no cross contamination as we see sometimes.

You know, another issue to you, Cheryl McCollum, where her body is found. It's across a busy road and it's across from a large dorm and a dining hall. It could be we may very well get video surveillance from there. I don't know what, but something. If he lived in this apartment complex, Cheryl McCollum, we may have him leaving and returning to the apartment complex at exactly the time the medical examiner, that will be you, Joe Scott, could place the time of death. I mean, we are tightening the noose by the minute, Cheryl. No question. And Nancy, when we were there Friday and Saturday, lots of folks were out washing cars, playing with children on their deck of the apartment. So

again, the idea that he was not seen is almost zeal to me. It's not going to happen. But I want to talk about that apartment for a minute with his brother having, you know, counterfeit documents. I know what it took to get both of my children an apartment at an SEC school town, one in Athens and one in Tuscaloosa. And, you know, you've got to have proof of all kind of stuff. You've got to have a credit history. You've got to have proof of all kind of stuff. You've got to have a credit history. You've got to have a criminal history. Sometimes you've got to have somebody that's going to guarantee if you, you know, run out on the bill, you've got to have a driver's license or a state ID or a passport or Social Security card. I don't know how these folks are in this apartment. That's something else that it's got to be looked at uh cheryl because they lied because they lied does that have a ring of truth to it back to you jason dennis uh anchor wtvm news jason what more can you tell me because i expect there are going to be additional charges such as rape,

such as some sort of sex attack, which is, of course, an aggravating circumstance under which the local prosecutor can and must seek the death penalty. Yeah, it's a long list of charges already. And I think that if they are able to, I think they will seek the death penalty to send a message. And whether it be sending a message about we're going to protect our students on this campus, whether it's sending a message about her, just snuffed out in an instant because, you know, this suspect, Ybarra, did not know her at all. He was not a student at UGA. He came, like you said, to Athens, Georgia, from New York City after splitting with his wife and his family there. And just to kind of simply put, the UGA police chief said that he woke up with bad intentions that day. And it's so sad that, you know, how can you prevent something like that? You have to kind of vet that ahead of time. And the UGA president, you know, like Cheryl was saying, very relieved that they made a quick arrest. I mean, it wasn't 24 hours or so when they made this arrest of this man.

Can I talk about the evidence really quickly? Evidence I can deduce from the charges. Malice murder, that means intent. That means he staked her out. He had a perch like Joe Scott was talking about, much like Brian Koberger, who could go up behind the four victims in the Moscow, Idaho slays and watch them. You can see directly into their apartment in that home. Malice murder, he planned. Felony murder means a death occurred during the commission of another

felony. That being what? Is it going to be rape? Is it going to be a sex assault? We have an aggravated battery, which means not only do you hurt the person, you deprive them of a limb or a body part, like an eye, like they're hearing, like they lose their leg. What part of her body did she lose? How was she attacked? Aggravated assault, which means you put someone in serious fear of immediate bodily harm. False imprisonment and kidnap. That means he moved her. Even six inches, one inch will qualify under Georgia law as exportation, which means movement for a kidnap.

So I'm learning all this just from the charges. Hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another? Did he cover her up with leaves or drag her body off the trail? How did he conceal the death of another? And what does this mean, Cheryl McCollum? Hindering a 911 call, did he throw her phone in the lake? What do we know? What does that mean? I'm deducing.

That means she was actively trying to make a call when he stopped it. He grabbed it, I believe, and possibly threw it away from her. But interference of the 911 call means that call was being placed. And I believe she knew she was in danger. And I also believe she fought like hell. You know, to feel the Toronto, it reminds me so much. You brought up the name Molly Tibbetts. Remember, Molly was jogging and she had her phone and she realized this guy, the killer was going back and forth beside her.

And she held up her phone and said, I'm going to1-1 and then she never got to call 9-1-1 i wonder if that's what happened here well we don't we don't know where the phone is just like uh karina's phone karina's phone was found 180 feet from her body so he just discarded the phone It might be in the lake. Who knows? I mean, are you sure that she had a phone with her? I know most kids do jog with phones today instead of an iPod, but are you assuming that? Well, I do know that he is charged, Phil, with hindering a 911 call. So who would that victim be? Guys, if you know anything or think you know anything, did you see her jogging? Did you see him? Look at him. According to police, he is a predator. How do I know that this is his first victim? I don't know that. You think this is his first time and he commits a murder his first time at the rodeo? I don't know that I believe that,

but I do know I want justice. Her family is suffering. The only thing we can do now is seek justice. So if you think you know anything, please dial 706-542-2200. Repeat, 706-542-2200. I am not resting till this guy gets the max. Goodbye, friend. This is an I Heart Podcast.