Criminology - Shawn Baur and Scott Fosnaught

Episode Date: July 13, 2019

Shawn Baur and Scott Fosnaught were great friends who were killed on a rural road in July 2002 after attending a party. Shawn and Scott were about ready to turn sixteen. This week marks the 17-year anniversary of their deaths and the mystery has not lessened during that time. Join Mike and Morf as they walk through this mysterious case that some have called a hit-and-run while others have deemed it much more sinister. The clues at the scene and the conditions of the bodies of both Shawn and Scott have fueled the controversy from the very start. But, it's the families that have suffered greatly over this time, not knowing exactly what happened to their children in the early morning hours of July 17, 2002. Scott's mother joined us for an interview for this episode so you'll get to hear her thoughts. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 69 of the Criminology Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Morph, how are you today? I'm doing good. I had a rough patch this past week.

My father all passed away. So my family is dealing with that. But we're trying to get through it. hopefully talking about some true crime will get my mind off it. Yeah, always tough when you told me I felt so bad and definitely, you know, thoughts and prayers went out to you and your wife and that's just a really hard time. Yeah, I appreciate it. It's toughest on the kids to see them go through that.

But, you know, unfortunately, it's a part of life and we're trying to get through it the best we can. So I spent the last week in Gatlinburg. My daughter had her national dance competition. which she has once a year. And that was a good time. You know, I hadn't been to Gatlinburg or stayed in like downtown Gatlinburg in quite a while. And it's changed a lot since the fires for sure. Yeah, you told me you went to Pige and Forge too, right? Yeah, I don't know if you spent much time down there a little closer to me than it is to you. But yeah, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, they're

kind of separated by four or five miles. So, yeah, it's funny that the day you were there, I told you don't get attacked by a bearer because when I, I was there in Pigeon Forge. A little boy got attacked by a bear. Well, there was a bear. So we stayed in Gallenburg. There was a bear that ran through the parking lot of our hotel. I didn't see it, but one of the other dads caught it on video.

And it's so strange. Like this bear is just galloping through the parking lot. I think what's funny is they tell you, if you see a bear to try and make yourself look big and don't run and just to stand there and not be afraid. But I don't know how you're, how you're, how you're, You're not afraid in that situation. Well, so they say that, but then you walk downtown and every t-shirt shop has a t-shirt that says something along the lines of, I don't have to be fast.

I just have to be faster than you or, you know, or to outrun a bear. You know, there's some slogan that talks about. You just have to be faster than the next person. You just don't want to be the slowest person. Exactly. All right. So we have some new Patreon shoutouts. We had Caitlin Tucker, Michelle.

Danielle Daniels, Marcella Kinsella, Brad Dare, Popanov, Jackie Holland, Elizabeth Bowson, Cerk, and Jamie Holmes. So a lot of new support and more if we really appreciate that. Yeah, that goes a long way and it's something that really helps us show out and helps us keep going. So it's something we're very thankful for. And if anyone out there would like to help support the show, you can do so by visiting patreon.com. slash criminology. All right. Well, let's jump right into this episode.

We're talking about the mysterious deaths of two teenagers, Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott. It's been almost 17 years that the parents of teenagers, Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott, have searched for answers in their children's deaths. So this episode drops July 13. It was in the early morning hours of July 17th, 2002, that Sean and Scott were killed after attending a party in the country

near their homes in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Police believe that this was a hit and run, but Sean's injuries were not consistent with someone that was hit by a vehicle. So really what you have is something that the police are calling a hit and run that has really left more questions than answers. You know, was this simply some type of accident or was it something much more disturbing, more deliberate? What happened to Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott and who's responsible? That's a question that the police and families of these two teenage boys have been asking for 17 years. Scott's mother, Alvi Rausch, joined us for this episode in order to help shed some light on the case and to share with our listeners just how heartbreaking the last 17 years has been for her family.

And you'll hear from her throughout this episode. We should also point out that we invited Sean's mother, Patty Bauer, to come on, but she did not respond to our invite. We also invited the Pennsylvania State Police to talk with us. And although they couldn't participate in this episode, they did answer some questions about the case for us. And we'll go over those answers later. Butler County is located in western Pennsylvania, just 25 miles north of Pittsburgh. The county seat is Butler with a population of about 13,000 residents. Located in the southwestern part of Butler County is Forward Township.

It was established in 1854 and named after the Honorable Walter Ford. who was a judge in Allegheny County. He was also a member of the 17th U.S. Congress and also the U.S. Secretary to the Treasury from 1841 to 1843. It was here where two teenage boys lost their lives in a split second. 15-year-old best friends, Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott, both lived on Water Station Road in Forward Township. The boys enjoyed riding dirt bikes, drinking Kool-Aid,

and hanging out with their friends. These were typical teenage boys doing typical teenage stuff. Neither boy had ever really gotten into what you would call real trouble. Not only were they best friends who lived on the same road, but their birthdays were very close to one another's. Sean was born on July 22nd, 1986, and Scott was born on July 25th, 1986. They were a great apart at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, and both were about set to turn 16 years old.

Sean Bauer was outgoing and very strong. He loved the fish and hang out with his friends. He was known as the mayor of East Brady, a town about a half hour away from where the boys lived. The family had a campground there. Sean's family hoped that one day he would take over his father's construction business. unlike Sean Bauer, Scott Fosznot didn't think that far ahead about what he wanted to do in the future. He was outgoing, funny, friendly, and non-confrontational, according to his mother Alvey. Scott was a really good boy. I mean, typical teenager. I mean, he did his share of, you know, like smoking pot or whatever.

But, I mean, he was a good boy. He would never, ever, ever, ever hurt anybody. He respected adults. He would never fight with anybody. He loved fishing. He loved dirt. riding. He was a good kid. As any teenager on the verge of driving, the boys were excited about getting their driver's licenses. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. On Tuesday, July 16th, 2002, Sean and Scott left the Bauer residence at around 7 p.m. with another friend to go to dinner at a restaurant in nearby Cranberry. They returned later that evening. before heading out to a party at a local hangout spot.

This was a pond off the beaten path near Water Station Road where a lot of kids in the area like to hang out. Three or four other friends joined Sean and Scott there. According to David and Lucy Mocker, whose son Brian was with them at the pond. Brian was good friends with Sean and Scott. The group spent time at the pond drinking. This is what a lot of the kids did out there. Sean and Scott specifically wanted to celebrate turning 16 in the upcoming days.

Again, we're talking about teenage boys. So this behavior shouldn't be too surprising for anyone. I know more if, I mean, if I go back to that point in my life, and you and I were obviously at one time both that age. It was a long time ago, but I think we can both look back and admit that like Sean and Scott, we did our fair amount of partying as teenagers. Yeah, I lived in a town probably similar to where they lived, and we'd always sneak out to the woods and to the local spot and hang out and talk and do what teenage boys do.

Well, I don't know if I've ever said this before, but we owned a drive-thru growing up. So it was party time for me. You know, Friday night, I would just drive-through and get a case of beer and some cigarettes. And I was off to whatever party. That's just what we did. But unlike a lot of people, I didn't have, I didn't have trouble getting alcohol because my family owned a drive-thru. You're getting them in trouble after the fact.

Yeah, they didn't know about it. They didn't know about it. They weren't party to it. Yeah. At some point, the party broke up, and the boys went to visit the home of a teenager named Danny Rice. He lived nearby on Cash Dollar Road, a dark, infrequently used two-lane road. They left Rice's home at approximately 1 a.m. to make the one-and-a-half-mile walk to their homes on Water Station Road.

And they had walked this route many times before. But unfortunately, the walk this night would be different. Just before 2 a.m., a 26-year-old woman named Linnea Bailey was driving to her home on water station road when she spotted two teenage boys lying in the middle of Cash Dollar Road. These two boys were Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott. Linnea Bailey called 911 on her cell phone pleading for help. The next day she would discuss finding the boys with a local news station saying, quote, The worst thing you usually worry about on that road is dear. I realized right away what I was looking at.

This was the creepest thing I have ever seen. I came up on them and neither one flinched. I was almost too terrified to stop. My heart was pounding and I was shaking so bad. I could barely hold the phone to my ear. And I'll tell you what, Morp, this is something that for me is hard to imagine. You know, coming up on a scene where, you know, you think maybe it's a dead animal, especially in rural areas.

You know, like I live in a fairly rural area. You know, you've got some roads that at night, you, you have to be super careful on because there is a very good chance a deer could run out right in front of you. So it's something that you see quite a bit, right? Deer on the side of the road. This woman finds out that, you know, these are two boys. So number one, she's obviously shaken. But number two, does that ever leave you?

I mean, does, you know, finding these two boys dead in the middle of the road stay with you for the rest of your life? And I think we've all probably driven down that kind of road at some point where it's no lighting and you're worried about animals running out and to see two dead bodies there and realize what happened and to see that they're young boys, like you mentioned, that's got to. to be devastating and something that would be hard to get out of your mind. The other thing that I was thinking about was, I mean, to me, it's kind of interesting that this woman stopped at all. Very rural area, 2 o'clock in the morning, a 26-year-old woman by herself. You know, my 18-year-old daughter, we talk about it all the time. And I hate to say this, but I tell her, don't stop, you know, because I've read too many

stories, morph about people setting a trap, you know, faking that they're hurt or something like that. And again, I hate to say that because you want to stop and help people. But I don't want my 18-year-old stopping in a situation where she could get hurt. Yeah, that makes sense. Just simply call 911 and move on because as much as we think we'd like to be the person that stops. and help. You just don't want to get yourself in a situation where you're a victim of some sort. So this woman called 911. She had her cell phone with her. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene shortly after that and pronounced Scott dead at the scene. But Sean was still alive. A medical

helicopter flew him to Allegheny General Hospital, Northside, where he died 90 minutes later. Sean was pronounced dead at 3.30 a.m. They had left Danny Rice's house at 1.30 in the morning, and then they were found at Kempins to 2 bypassing motorist. I was at work in the morning, and I think the police came in around 8 or 9. I can't remember what time it is and took me in the office and was asked me, you know, the description of Scotty, and I just knew in my heart that something happened to him. And then once they were giving me a description, I gave them a description,

then they had told me. and then I had to go up to Butler and identify his body. An autopsy showed Scott died as a result of upper body injuries, which were so severe, the medical examiner believed that he died instantly from the trauma he suffered. These injuries were brutal and included a torn aorta and split kidney. Based on Scott's injuries, the medical examiner determined he had been struck by a vehicle at around 1.30 a.m.

The initial impact was supposedly from the car that severed his A order and he was gone instantly. But yet he was supposedly drug under the vehicle for, I don't know, 20 to 40 feet, but he had no head wounds. So if he was dead instantly and drug, his head would have been smacking off the road. And there would have been some kind of head injury on him or his face, I would think. So as you said, Morph, Scott's injuries were. fairly easy to explain. And I don't think it was that hard for the medical examiner to make a conclusion about his cause of death. But that wouldn't be the case with Sean Bauer. Officials had a very hard time explaining Sean Bauer's injuries. An autopsy showed he died of head injuries,

but he had two mysterious head wounds. And they really didn't correspond to the type of of injuries expected to be suffered by someone that was struck by a motor vehicle. Police labeled Sean's death equivocal, meaning that they had no idea what caused it. Authorities theorized that Sean could have been hit with a vehicle's mirror. But what's very strange about this case is that no parts of a vehicle were found at the scene. Additionally, there were no. skid marks at the scene indicating that a driver slammed on their brakes and not a single piece of broken glass. And I think this is what is very strange about this case and makes the deaths

extremely mysterious. There's not enough evidence at the crime scene to support exactly how these two teenagers died. Now, the one thing we know, Morph, is that there had to have been somebody else involved. I think you have to classify this as a homicide, but that doesn't mean it was murder. It could have been an accident. But there's no way that Sean Bauer and Scott Fosznot died accidentally without some other person being involved, meaning either driving a car or something. Their injuries were of a nature that there's no way they died by themselves accidentally. Does that make sense? Yeah, you would think if this was a car accident or a car striking them, whether it was on

purpose or accidentally one way or another, there'd be something left behind, some kind of debris. you mentioned there's no glass, there's no skid marks, there's no pieces of the car to indicate for sure that a car struck them, but we know that they just didn't lay down on the ground and die accidentally or of natural causes. Somebody was involved in this, but there's just no evidence of who or how or why. Sean's father, Barry Bauer, was quoted as saying, my son didn't have a mark on him. They can't find nothing up there. They can't find a piece of nothing on the road.

Well, first they were saying that was a hit and run, drunk driver, hit my son and Sean. Toxicology reports later showed no drugs in the boys' systems at the time of their deaths. Police also said that while both boys were drinking that night, they were not drunk. Blood was found about 200 feet from the bodies. But police said it was possible that Scott was hit and then dragged by a vehicle.

However, his mother never saw any road rash on his body. And his injuries didn't seem consistent with being dragged. Greece found on the bodies was sent to police lab technicians. But authorities said it would not be strong enough to identify the suspect's vehicle. P.A. State Trooper Cheryl McCalsky said to the press, quote, we're working with the lab on the grease and oil and things like that. Even if you would take the grease off of the body and tried to match it a week later, it would be different a week later. So, when I see this, when I see this written where they're talking about trying to analyze car grease, my first thought is, man, they don't. have anything. They are really grasping at straws to try to solve this case because how are you

going to match grease to a specific car? I'm not saying it's impossible, but that does not sound like something that is easily done. Yeah, I think to their credit, they were working with whatever they had, but as we mentioned, there's just nothing there. So for them to make the effort to try and match this grease. It just says they're really, really digging to find something. In a weird twist of fate, Patty Bauer, Sean's mother, was on her way to work about three hours after the accident. She saw the lights from the police cars, but had no idea the emergency personnel were trying to save her son. Police thought the person responsible for Sean and Scott's deaths was most likely a local. The area of the accident would be hard for outsiders to find.

Only a person from the area would be familiar with Cash Dollar Road. Alvey shared with us what she thinks in her mind might have happened after the boys left Danny Rice's home. In my mind, when they left Danny Rice's house, they had to pass an auto garage. And they did not do all these people at all. And this one guy that lived there was mean. And he was a drunk. And he just got back from a bar that night. And I think there was an argument between the boys and this person.

and that's what happened. I actually don't even believe that a vehicle killed my son, which the police say, well, all evidence are pointing to where he was struck by a vehicle. But I don't believe that. I believe after the fact he was ran over to make it look like a hit and run. On Wednesday, July 17, state troopers stopped vehicles in the area

and they asked drivers if they had any information about the case. investigators spread out. They knocked on doors in forward, but that really led them nowhere. Police had no suspect. They didn't even have a description of the type of vehicle that was involved in this incident. Like we said, they really had very little to go on. Two days after the boys were found dead, the Pennsylvania State Police held a press conference to announce two rewards were being our.

offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the teen's deaths. A Bauer family friend, Richard Zoell, approached individuals and a few businesses to donate money for a reward. He was able to raise $10,000. On top of that, the Pennsylvania crime stoppers offered an additional $2,000 reward. Within days of the boys' funerals, wanted posters seeking information on their desks, were plastered on storefronts all over Evans City, which is one of the bigger cities in Butler County. Citizens Bank of Evans City opened an account for a reward fund, and donations began pouring in from individuals and local businesses. However, no one came forward with information. A few months

went by without any breaks in the case. Then in September 2002, 21-year-old Riley Schneider of Cranberry was arrested for providing the boys and their friends with alcohol on the evening of July 16, 2002. According to the charges, Schneider brought the teenagers both rum and vodka. But Schneider was not suspected of killing the boys. It's unclear why or how police ruled him out. At the time of Riley's arrest, police indicated that more arrests were likely to come. That same month at a news conference, the mothers of Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott, Patty Bauer, and Alvi Roush, asked for the people responsible for their son's deaths to come forward to end their agony. No one did.

And I think we've talked about it before. Morph, this is an agony that unless someone has lived through it, which neither you and I have, you just can't really know the depth of it. I can imagine that it would be all consuming. It would be complete darkness. Obviously, something that I never want to have to go through, something I wish that so many parents didn't have to go through at all. Yeah, I agree with you.

It's terrible when we cover these kinds of cases where these parents are searching for answers. And a lot of times we're talking about missing. person's cases when the parents just want to know what happened to their children where they're at. Here, the parents have the bodies of their children, but they still have no idea what happened to them. And that's got to be just as frustrating, I would think. Yeah, this is a very different case, right? We have not done a lot of cases that I think are similar to this. You said equally frustrating. And I would agree with that. The frustration of... of not knowing where your child is, that's one thing.

And that comes in, you know, in the disappearances that we talk about, knowing that your child is dead. But having no idea how it happened, really, or who was involved, that's a different type of frustration. But I think it would eat at you in somewhat of the same manner. The next month, Rodney and Sue Nice erected a billboard in their yard on Mars. City Road. The purpose of the billboard was to remind people of the reward money. They had hoped someone would come forward with information. The billboard featured two two foot by 20 foot

banners containing the boys' pictures. The reward amount which had grown the $17,000 and police telephone numbers for tips. By mid-January 2003, police were still puzzled on exactly how the boys died. And you had this $17,000 reward out there, but not a single person came forward with any usable information. State police trooper Mark Ponzenby told the Altoona mirror, quote, we're as frustrated as the parents. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not doing something related to this case. And Patty Bauer also spoke out about that time and said, How can someone do this and not come forward? It makes me believe this can't be a hit and run.

And I think more if it's one of the big questions, right? Or it is the question in this case. Is Patty Bauer right? Did someone purposefully, callously run down Scott Fosnot with a vehicle and then murder Sean to eliminate a witness? And we talked about it, right? Their injuries appeared different. Scott's very much like someone hit him with a car. And I really go back to the no skid marks. I think if you're traveling down a road late at night and see something, you might not have time to stop, but you're going to at least hit the brakes. That keeps going through my mind. You might still hit and animal or a person if they were in the middle of the road. But I can't imagine even at the last second, you're not going to hit the brakes. Yeah, I think it's like a human instinct.

When you're driving, you see that flash of something come out in front of you and without even thinking about it. Your foot's on the brake. So you think they would have had some kind of skid marks like you mentioned. And that opens up the possibility with someone deliberately trying to run him down and never attempted to hit the brakes. Yeah, I think I think the flip side or the argument that somebody else would make is somebody's driving down the road. They're looking at their phone.

They drop something. They reach down to pick it up. They're not looking, right? And all of a sudden they strike something. They don't have time to hit the brakes because they never saw whatever was in the road in the first place. That would be the argument on the other side. But if you're going to make that argument that that's what really happened, then what are you saying? someone was so scared that they accidentally hit someone that they chose to just drive off and never come forward.

It's possible. We do hear cases where people frequently, there's news reports of hit and runs. And the question is why, if it's really an accident, you're likely not going to face any kind of charges. So that opens up the possibility maybe they were drinking and driving and they didn't want to get in trouble for that. Or, again, the scarier option is possibly because they were doing this on purpose. Yeah, with the accident, then I think you have to answer the question. Well, then what happened to Sean? At the end of April, 2003, another arrest came in this case.

Like in the previous September arrest of Riley Schneider, another adult was charged in relation to supplying alcohol to the boys. 36-year-old Linda Anne Rice of Cash Dollar Road was charged with furnishing alcohol to minors and corruption of minors for allegedly supplying vodka to Sean Bauer in July 2002. Linda is the mother of Danny Rice who the boys visited before they died.

Authority said that about a week after Sean and Scott died, Linda Rice apologized to her son for supplying the alcohol and believed that their deaths were her fault. According to court documents, Linda Rice received money from Sean Bauer to buy vodka. Rice drove Sean and three other underage kids to buy the alcohol. She then drove the kids back to the local hangout, the local party spot because they wanted

to hide the vodka there for later. Sean and some friends drank the vodka on the night of July 16th, 2002. This is all according to police. Scott Fosznot was not mentioned in the affidavit. At a hearing in August 2003, Rice pleaded guilty to the charges. She was then scheduled for a December 11th sentencing. But when that time came, she was a no-show. So a bench warrant was issued for her arrest by common pleas judge George Hanser. Rice turned herself in on December 16, 2003. Her sentencing was then scheduled for March 2nd,

2004, and it was at that hearing, Judge Hancher sentenced Rice to two years probation. In July 2004, marking the two-year anniversary of the boys' deaths, a new billboard was erected at the intersection of Mars and Evans City Road in Forward Township and contained color photographs of the two boys and asked the public for help in solving the case. The billboard read, someone knows, could it be you? The appeal for information was reinforced with other signs and flyers carrying the same pictures and the message, please help these parents, $20,000 reward. It also listed the number of the Pennsylvania State Police at Butler. Scott Fosnott's mother said at the time, we don't want to look at these signs the rest of our lives.

We want them down. Patty Bauer, Sean's mother, added, hopefully someone will have a conscience and come forward so we can get hold of our lives. But like many times before, no one came forward. And the police came out and said, there's always someone who knows something. They may be assuming we already know it. There's someone out there who has information we can use and we want to hear from them. Police ask the public to think back to the time of the boys' desks, think back, to anyone who may have acted out of the ordinary,

anyone that had some type of vehicle repairs done, someone that left town, or someone that once owned a vehicle that all of a sudden disappeared around July 2002. The possible reason why the person responsible has not come forward could be for fear of the penalty of the fatal hit run accident. According to Pennsylvania law, a driver of any type of motor vehicle involved in an accident that causes injury or death must stop and stay at the scene of the accident until medical help arrives.

The driver is required to give their name and address, present their registration and license, and call police. Under the law, drivers caught and convicted of causing a fatal hit and run accident will face anywhere from one to ten years in prison. The crime is a second-degree felony and carries fines of up the 25. 500 hours, not including damages to the family of the victim. Despite the fact that no one has come forward, the boys' families have vowed to never give up until the person responsible is arrested. Barry Bauer, Sean's father, has said, I want the people responsible to know we're not going to stop. We're going to continue keeping it in the public eye. We knew all along it was just going to take time.

They told us that from the beginning. I feel certain they're going to get them. On the third anniversary of the boys' deaths, family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil on Cash Dollar Road at the spot where Linnea Bailey found their bodies. By this point, police still believe the boys died as a result from a hit and run and that your deaths were less likely the result of a premeditated attack. So we fast forward to July 2012. This is 10 years after the death of Sean and Scott, not really much has happened with the case. Police are still perplexed by the lack of physical evidence.

And Alvi Rausch was becoming desperate. She wanted answer so badly to what happened to her son and his friend that she would do anything. And it was around this point in time that she turned to psychic. for help. Specifically, sisters, Suzanne, and Jean Vincent. The sisters are from Butler County and claimed to be psychic mediums, psychic profilers, and even ghost hunters. For over 25 years, the Vincent's sisters have worked on a number of cases, including the case of Kaylee Anthony. They also worked on the missing person's case of Alicia Markovic, whose case, who's case we discussed in episode 53, the sisters have been on ID show 6 degrees of murder.

So they were contacted by Alvi Rausch after she had a vision herself of what happened to the boys. In 2017, Alvi opened up about her vision and dealing with the Vincent sisters to a local newspaper. She was quoted as saying, this is going to sound weird, but everything just came rushing into my head. I saw everything that happened that night. It really scared me.

There was no stopping it. I saw my son hit by a vehicle, and Sean was hit on the head with an object. The person Alvi saw in her vision, causing Scott's injuries, lives on a road close to the area where the boys were found. Alvey says she knows this person. Here's what the Vincent sisters said about their involvement in this case.

During the psychic reading, we were able to pick up some impressions and some clues as to what happened to Scott and Sean. And as we were picking up these clues, we kept feeling a sensation that the person who did this had owned a pickup truck and also that the person had brown hair and that the person was a little bit chubby at the time of the boy's desk. And the sister said that they kept getting this feeling of a W. A W is connected to the person that had run over the boys. This is what the sisters said.

Now, what is strange is that that letter also matches one of the names of the person in Alvi's vision. The psychics really were no good, but I figured, you know, anything is worth a try. But they didn't give me any information at all. And more if I think, you know, we've had cases before where people have turned to psychics. I got the sense with Alvi that she would have done anything at this point, right? So many years had gone by. The police hadn't been able to give her the information she's looking for. So she's looking for alternate avenues. And we've mentioned before when we talk about psychics to take what they say with a grain of salt. But at the same time, I think if I or many other

parents were in the same position, we'd pull out all the stops and try and do whatever we could including reaching out to psychics if we thought they could help. In October 2018, Alvey Roush publicly stated she feels as if she had hit a dead end. Alvey discussed what keeps her going and what she's tried to do to keep pressure on officials to try and solve this case. She pleaded to the Attorney General Josh Shapiro for help. She was quoted as saying, I would beg him to come help me. just come help me find the person who killed my boy. I have contacted. The police told me they were short-staffed,

so I reached out to the Attorney General, who has their own cold case unit. But the police have to invite the Attorney General in, and they won't do it. I've had meetings with the lieutenant, the investigator, the DA, trying to get more help up there and trying to get them to go back to the person I thought was responsible for doing this. and they won't go back. They said that they want to take new avenues.

And I said, you can take your new avenues. Just don't forget this one. Just go down this one one one more time. I think at this point from what they've said in newspaper articles and to the press, the families believe their best bet is a deathbed confession. Alvey has also said that she believes the person responsible was someone that police questioned in 2002. and this is the same person that she claims to have seen in her vision. Now, she's never publicly mentioned this person's name.

Barry and Patty Bauer have always stated that they believe the person who killed their son is someone they know. As we mentioned, July 17th, just a few days after this episode will air, marked 17 years since the deaths of Sean Bauer and Scott Fosnott. Not much has happened with the case over the last couple of years. years, but the boys' parents still hold candlelight vigils and hope that one day the person responsible will do the right thing and come forward. We asked Alvi if the approach of July every year is especially tough on her. Yes, it is. I mean, it's 17 years already, but it feels like it just happened yesterday. At this point, so many years later, Scott's family just wants

answers. They're more concerned about getting answers than they are about justice. But just because they want answers doesn't mean they don't still suspect certain people. Alvey told us more about the person she suspects may have played a role in her son's death. This person and his family did not get along with the boys. In the May before the boys were killed, kids from that house tried running the boys down on their quads. it was just a mean family and they had to walk right by that garage when they left danny rice's house that morning when they questioned this person he was working on a vehicle and he took his good old time getting out front of the vehicle to talk to the investigator and then i guess they talked for a little bit and he lowered up and refused the polygraph and that was pretty much the end of talking to him it's very frustrating because then a few years later uh this guy got thrown in jail because he was at a, in Mercer County, he had a race car speed track thing. And he had gotten, he was drinking, got drunk, and the 16-year-old kid was standing around the fire because at a bonfire,

and he got mad for some reason. And he threw a can of gas at that kid in the fire and almost killed that kid. So he did, I think, seven or eight years in prison for that. As we mentioned early on, we really wanted to have the Pennsylvania State Police come on to help dive into this case with us, but they couldn't participate. But Trooper Max DeLuca was kind enough to answer some questions for us to help us clear some things up. So Morph will read Trooper DeLuca's response, which was pretty much one answer that encompassed all of our questions. I answered your questions the best way I could without revealing facts that could affect the integrity of the investigation. Sean and Scott's deaths were, and still are, investigated as death investigations.

We investigate all death investigations the same. way, regardless if they are homicides, accidents, suicides, or equivocal deaths. The same amount of resources are used to follow tips, leads, physical evidence, etc. I can't comment on evidence recovered from the scene without affecting the integrity of the investigation. This is information we need to keep internal. This information is essential when interviewing possible suspects or people who claim to have knowledge of this case. well over 100 different persons have been interviewed throughout this investigation, and numerous tips have been followed up on. Some people we have been able to rule out, and others we have not.

Any persons who have not been ruled out as suspects will continue to be looked at. Whoever committed this crime should be carrying a huge burden on their conscience and living with a lot of guilt. Hopefully the person responsible has told someone over the years, since this person is unwilling to come forward themselves. we need any person with knowledge of this incident to come forward and produce facts that can be followed up on and lead to an arrest. I believe this case will be solved and we just need that one person that has intimate knowledge to come forward and cooperate with police. So first of all, it was really cool that Trooper DeLuca responded, right?

And then I think secondly, you know, what he says makes a lot of sense. you and I think I've talked about this before. I mean, the police can never fully divulge everything. Right. They can't tell you everything they have or everything they know because like the trooper said, they need to hold some of that stuff back because that information is very important when you're interviewing possible suspects or when somebody just walks in and says, hey, I have information. That helps the police know whether the person's telling the truth or not. Yeah, I thought even though he couldn't come on the show directly, just to answer some questions and touch on points that listeners might be interested in was very helpful. Yeah. Yeah. So we appreciate that very much. We asked Alvi what she thought an appropriate punishment would be for the person that killed her son if they are identified. I think life in prison would be appropriate. My son's gone forever. They're bringing him back. And they're still living their lives. They have their children. They have their grandchildren, possibly, and they have no remorse,

obviously. 17 years later, the death of Scott Fasinot continues to be hard for his family. I think that's obvious. Alvey talked a little about the effect this case had on Scott's siblings. Oh, very hard. Harder on my daughter, because she was only 12 when this happened. I'm sorry she was 10. She was 10 when it happened. And it's still, I mean, she has depression. She has anxiety. And this is something she also can't get past. One thing we wanted to know was that since Albi lived in that community four years after her son's death, were there times that she thought she may have interacted with her son's killer? I worked at Viola was in Evan City. And everybody who came in, I looked at them because everybody in my mind was a suspect.

They could have done it. Finally, we wanted to know what keeps Alvi going after so many years, and how does she find it in herself to keep searching for the truth? What does she want to say to the person or persons who killed her son? Well, I'm his mom, and I have to be his voice, and I have to find the person that did this to him in order to get justice for him, and so he can rest in peace, so that keeps me going. that I have to find out who killed him.

I would want to say to them that you can't hide, and I feel like we're getting really, really close to get you, and we are going to get you real soon. Another year is not going to pass without finding you. This is going to be it. I plan on getting justice for him, because I feel like he can't rest in peace with his murderer still walking around. So, more of it, I think this is a very mysterious case,

and one of those, there's not a lot of, of information out there, right? This is not a highly publicized case. It's not something that, you know, you're going to find copious amounts of information on, but nonetheless, a very intriguing, fascinating, mysterious true crime case. And I go back to the information that we talked about, you know, around the scene of where Sean and Scott were found, to me, that's the key. I don't know exactly what it means, but I think the key is in there somewhere. You know, I just, I just don't think there's any doubt that, you know, at least one of these individuals was hit by a vehicle, which means there is another person out there that knows

what happened that night. And it's either that they haven't told a soul or they have and whoever they told has just been unwilling to come forward. And I think it's also important to remember that for 17 years, these families have gone through a lot of pain and suffering, not having the truth, not knowing the truth in what happened to their sons. And one way or another, whether it was an accident or done on purpose, somebody out there killed their sons and chose not to come forward over all these years.

And even if it was something as simple as an accident, you know, you mentioned earlier, they looked down and for that split second, they somehow struck the boys just to leave them on the side of the road and drive off. It's still a crime, whether it was intentional or not. Yeah, I go back and forth more, you know, accident, not an accident.

If it really was an accident, how horrible is that to leave the scene make the conscious decision that, number one, you're not going to help. You're not going to call the authorities. And then number two, you're not going to give the parents any information. Like you said, 17 years. They've just been trying to find out what happened to their sons. I just think it's horrible either way.

But there is still a monetary reward for information leading to an arrest through Pennsylvania crime stoppers, tips can be reported to the PA crime stoppers or phoned into the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks and Butler by calling 724-284-8100. Special thanks goes out to Alvi Roush for joining us in this episode and to Pennsylvania State Trooper Max DeLuca for taking time to respond to our questions. Thanks also goes out to Debbie Buck at truecrimediva.com for writing and research assistance in this episode. If you haven't already, please take a moment, go out, give us a five-star rating. We appreciate that.

It goes a long way towards helping other listeners find the show. And if you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology Pod. We're also on Facebook. You can find us by searching for a Criminology Podcast or by joining the Facebook discussion group, Criminology Podcast, Discussion and Fans. All right, Morf, that is it for another episode of, criminology, but we'll be back next Saturday night with an all new episode. So until then, this is Mike and more. And we'll talk to you next week. Take care of everyone.