Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Missing Iowa Man's Body Recovered After Three Years on Killer's Admission | Crime Alert 05.26.26

Episode Date: May 26, 2026

After three years of searching, Iowa authorities recover Jesse George's body at the rest stop where his killer works. 85-year-old takes down would-be kidnapper in Oregon. California burglar gets caught between a wall and a hard place. Sydney Silvagni reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. An agonizing three-year missing persons mystery in Iowa has transformed into a grim homicide investigation after law enforcement unearthed a clandestined grave. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, alongside the Missouri Valley Police Department and the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, announced a major breakthrough in the disappearance of 35-year-old Jesse George, who first went missing on June 29, 2023. According to an official news release from the Iowa DCI, investigators acting on critical intelligence excavated a remote property located four miles northwest of Missouri Valley on April 15th. There, they uncovered human remains that the Iowa State Medical Examiner positively identified as Jesse George, ruling the official cause of death, a homicide.

On Monday, state agents officially arrested 52-year-old Joseph Langford of Missouri Valley, charging him with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. He is currently held in the Harrison County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. Court filings unveil a gruesome and calculated timeline surrounding the murder. George was last seen alive with Langford near a camper on 4th Street in Missouri Valley on the morning of June 29, 2023. Documents show Langford later admitted to others that the two men had engaged in a violent argument inside that camper.

At approximately 4.30 a.m. that same morning, Langford urgently requested a friend's assistance to move a vehicle parked directly in front of the camper. Crucially, court filings note that Langford was armed with a rifle and aggressively blocked his friend from entering the trailer, ominously stating, somebody's gone, they're not coming back, and I'm going to prison. The cover-up intensified later that day. Court records indicate that Langford and his sister drove the camper to an interstate 29 rest area where they were both employed using their access to thoroughly scrub and clean the interior. However, a report was made to local law enforcement, regarding the suspicious trailer. When law enforcement arrived to inspect the camper,

they observed visible bullet holes puncturing the exterior sighting and discovered traces of blood inside. Forensic testing later matched that blood directly to Jesse George. Despite the forensic hit, the body remained hidden for years until Langford's own admission sealed his fate. Court filings revealed that about a year after the crime, Langford admitted to a friend that he had killed George and later confessed to a co-worker that he had shot the victim multiple times inside the camper before burying his body behind the very rest area where he worked. An autopsy has since confirmed that George was shot multiple times. Langford is scheduled for his first court appearance on May 27th. More crime and justice news after this. In rural Medford, Oregon, authorities are praising the sheer

bravery of an 85-year-old resident who took down an armed attacker. According to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, 42-year-old Matthew Aranda, a transient from the area, was indicted by a grand jury on 10 heavy charges following a terrifying ambush. Investigators say Aranda allegedly posed as a utility worker and laid in wait for several hours, targeting a 25-year-old woman working as a caregiver at a local mobile home park. When the victim arrived, Aranda attacked her with a taser and physically assaulted her. That's when an 85-year-old neighbor heard the woman's frantic screams. Instead of staying inside, this elderly good Samaritan rushed out and directly confronted the armed suspect.

His interference gave the young woman just enough time to break free and sprint to her car. But Aranda didn't back down. He turned the taser on the 85-year-old hero before chasing the woman with a large hunting knife. She managed to lock herself inside her vehicle, but as she tried to drive away, Aronda allegedly leaped onto the hood of her moving car. He fell off during her escape, breaking his leg in the process. Deputies deployed canine units and tracked Aranda to a nearby bush where he was hiding in agony. We have the actual police body cam audio from that intense arrest. Take a listen. Hands out. You're going to get bit by a canine. Crawl out here now. Crawl out here now.

Crawl out here now. Crawl out. Don't move. Hey, don't get it by taking it? Don't move. Ready? His leg is broken. His leg is broken. Following that dramatic capture, Arronda was booked on 10 charges, including attempted kidnapping, assault, stocking, and the... unlawful use of a GPS tracking device. He remains in custody as the sheriff's office continues

its investigation. Now to Salinas, California, for a story that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase getting caught red-handed. It started as a typical morning for Selena's police officers who are finishing up a grueling overnight shift. They decided to stop by a Brugie Coffee Company for a quick morning caffeine fix, but while waiting inside the shop, they noticed something bizarre, faint, muffled calls for help. It turns out those cries were coming from 29-year-old Isaac Valencia. According to police, Valencia had allegedly fallen at least 22 feet from the roof of an adjacent movie theater the night before, landing right into the narrow gap inside the wall separating the theater from the coffee shop. He had been wedged there, completely immobilized, for roughly 10 hours. Locating him was a massive

challenge. When fire crews arrived, they first tried to breach the coffee shop wall, only to hit solid cinderblowers. and cement. They had to shift tactics, cutting a massive hole through the adjoining exterior wall to finally pull Valencia out. The entire rescue operation lasted two and a half hours. Valencia was checked by medics on the scene and promptly booked into the Monterey County Jail on burglary charges, with bail set at $10,000. Salinas police later praised the officer's sharp ears, noting that most people probably would have just ignored the noise, chalking it up to an old building settling. For the latest crime and justice breaking news, be sure to tune in tomorrow on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Silvani. This is an I-Heart podcast.

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