Going West: True Crime - Alexis Scott // 337

Episode Date: September 6, 2023

In September of 2017, a 20-year-old woman went missing after a house party in Illinois. Just three weeks earlier, she had been a victim of human trafficking in California, but was able to escape her abductors and return home safely. So does her disappearance have anything to do with this terrifying incident? Or was someone from the party involved? This is the story of Alexis Scott. BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Alexis Camry Scott Campaign: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1965506757071921/posts/2178818002407461/ 2. GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/t4daq-private-investigator?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&utm_term=undefined 3. The Missing: https://www.facebook.com/watch/126250704901/242779586864098/ 4. WMBD: https://wmbdradio.com/2023/08/16/indictments-for-arson-assault-filed-by-peoria-county-grand-jury/ 5. Journal Star: https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/crime/2018/05/15/peoria-man-pleads-guilty-to/12227616007/ 6. Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/alexis-camry-scott 7. Central Illinois Proud: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/vanished-without-a-trace-family-still-searching-for-leads-in-case-of-missing-person-alexis-scott/ 8. Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/k1aloa/young_mother_alexis_camry_scott_survives/ 9. Journal Star: https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/crime/2019/03/07/search-for-alexis-scott-lands/5771052007/ 10. Medium: https://omofatus.medium.com/music-genius-uncle-beats-continues-to-build-his-brand-in-the-music-industry-622bb9ed1d53 11. The Register-Mail: https://www.galesburg.com/story/news/2017/11/19/8216-not-knowing-is/17008465007/ 12. Clotee's Obituary: https://www.simonsmortuary.com/obituaries/Clotee-Carpenter-Pace/#!/Obituary 13. Steve Wilkos: https://stevewilkos.com/ 14. Steve Wilkos Show appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86sevw1n1dY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Heet. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody, happy September. If you're listening when this comes out or happy whatever month it is where you are. Big thanks to Casey for recommending today's case. This case is crazy. There's so many bizarre elements to it. And I can just keep going on and on and speaking vaguely about it, trying not to give anything away. But man, this is a wild one. So thank you so much, CaseyC for introducing us to it. Yeah, and please make sure that you share this episode. That's gonna be a really big help. And also if you do wanna see photos from this case and all the other cases that we've covered thus far,

all 337 of them, head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram at Going West Podcast, Twitter at Going West Pod, and we are also on Facebook We have a discussion group and also just a regular page But if you want to talk about these cases, the best way to do that is to go to the discussion group because yeah people will be talking in the comments and with that let's not waste any more time All right guys, this is episode

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Voila, we deliver sobes, farm-boy longos, and more. Use code Voila.com.85 and save a total of $25 off your first four orders. See full promo details at Voila.ca. In September of 2017, a 20-year-old woman went missing after a house party in Illinois. Just three weeks earlier, she had been a victim of human trafficking in California, but was able to escape her abductors and return home safely. So does her disappearance have anything to do with this terrifying incident? Or was someone from the House Party involved? party involved. This is the story of Alexis Scott. Alexis' camera Scott was born on May 20, 1997 in Peoria, Illinois, which is about three

hours southwest of Chicago and it's situated along the Illinois River. She grew up around multiple brothers and sisters and her mother April remembers them as a close family and Alexis as a vibrant and happy child. April's favorite part of her daughter's childhood were the very elaborate birthday parties that she used to throw for her, and about these, April said quote, I always loved having a surprise for her every year. A surprise party. Every year I decorated the house and had a fresh cake, and every year Alexis was surprised. She just loved it.

In July of 2015, when Alexis was 18, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy that she named Tevin. While balancing a teaching career, April was very eager to help with her grandson, so Alexis and Tevin stayed at home with her. But Alexis had dreams that extended far beyond Peoria. Her mom, April, says that Alexis hoped to pursue a modeling career, but unfortunately, this meant that she came into contact with plenty of dudes that were looking to take advantage of her instead of assisting her on her journey. April recalled, quote, Alexis met at least one man or a number of men who said they could

help her start a modeling career. I know she went to at least one photo shoot. But Alexis started out as an escort for local men and hoped that she would eventually make connections that would land her in front of the camera. April raised concerns with her daughter Alexis about the lifestyle of an escort and the men that she was meeting up with, especially since she had a young son at home. April just kind of worried for her safety and then in turn for Tevans. But April claims that she noticed an uptick

in the amount of evenings that her daughter was spending out with these men in the months prior to her disappearance. They would come by and pick Alexis up and take her out to show her off for the evening. And April said of this quote, they were nice cars, really nice cars, and it was always late in the afternoon, while it was still light, like happy hour time.

No one ever came to the door, Alexis just left in them. Alexis said that she was working as an escort, that she was paid to go to parties and clubs to be eye candy for the men there. She said she was doing it to help her career. She said that she was getting paid and being exposed to the kinds of people who could help her in her career. So in late August of 2017, Alexis was asked to head to Las Vegas to work at a bachelor

party. And according to April, a well-known promoter who lived in the area hired her and paid for her flight. But after a couple of days in Las Vegas with the group that she traveled there with, Alexis disappeared. And the next time that April heard from her, she was in Sacramento, California. She had gone with a group of men that she met in Las Vegas to California, and according to Alexis, they had held her hostage and even physically abused

her. So she ran from where she was being held and was found by a local woman, quote, naked and disoriented, on a residential street. So after this, April flew her home to Peoria, but remembered that the incident had left Alexis deeply rattled, and that she feared her captors would retaliate and possibly come after her again. Which is such a terrifying piece of this story. She was essentially abducted, like you said, held hostage and abused.

And then she returns home and naturally, of course, she's afraid even though she's across the country, she has this fear of something else happening to her and then something else does. Right, and the problem here was that nobody knew who these men were, you know, the ones that took her to California in the first place. Which adds an even more terrifying element of, you know, these guys are not going to get caught for what they did to her. Exactly. So after returning to Peoria and trying to resume a normal life with her son, Trouble found Alexis once again. So on the evening of September 22, 2017, 20 year old Alexis was going through Tevyn's

nightly routine when she decided that she was going to head out for a bit to meet up with some local friends. After putting her son down for bed around 8pm, she talked to a few friends on Facebook Messenger and then told her brother that she would be home later, leaving the house just shortly before midnight. Now according to April, Alexis didn't share where she was going or who she was with, and she had either been picked up or ordered a ride share to her destination like an Uber because her car was left at home, so she definitely didn't drive anywhere.

The next morning, April was surprised when she didn't find her daughter in her room. So Alexis was considered a night owl and she would frequently stay out late, sometimes even well into the early morning hours, and sometimes she just wound up staying the night with friends when she knew that her mom April was available to care for her son Tevin. Like she would never just go off and assume that April could watch Tevin like there was always a pre-arranged thing, she wouldn't just be gone all night without a word. Right. But this night, that's exactly what happened. And this particular weekend, Alexis and her family had plans to do some different things

together, and April had not expected her to be out so late. So at first, April was just very puzzled, but assumed that her daughter was staying with a friend, and that she would be back soon. But April continued trying to get a hold of her, texting her numerous times, without hearing back. And again, even though Alexis was definitely a social butterfly, she would let her mom know where she was and when she would be back home. And that was another part of this evening is that she didn't tell anybody where she was

going or who she was going there with. April said, quote, usually if she goes to a party, she's back by sunrise. So I'm calling her and calling her all of Saturday and all of Sunday. Nothing. April called, texted, and even dropped in on some of Alexis' friends, contacting anyone she thought may know her daughter's whereabouts, but she couldn't find any trace of her. On Monday, April ran into two of Alexis' friends while filling up at a gas station, so naturally, she asked if they had seen Alexis or knew where she had been.

And one of the men had actually been with her early in the morning on the day that she disappeared, which was Saturday, September 23rd. But he claimed that they had gone their separate ways when Alexis decided that she wanted to go to this house party, and then he said that he had not seen her or heard from her since then because he did not go to this house party that she wanted to go to. Now with the beginning of a new week and no word from her daughter, April turned to Alexis's social media. Alexis hadn't posted anything since early that Saturday morning, which is something that

was incredibly rare for her. Like April remembers her daughter being very present and engaged on social media. She was active across multiple platforms and rarely missed a day or an occasion to post. According to April quote, the silence is the worst part. Alexis loves her cell phone. She lived on social media. That's what scares me the most. Facebook, Snapchat, all the rest.

Alexis was on all of it. She loved social media. There were times when we might go half a day without talking, but she would have called by now. She wouldn't just leave her son and there was no way she would just stop using social media. When Wednesday came and there were still no posts, I knew something was wrong. So on Wednesday, September 27th, April contacted the Peoria Police Department and reported

Alexis missing. And almost immediately, detect caught when that Alexis had attended a house party on the evening of Friday September 22nd One that she may not have come home from One officer with the Peoria Police reported quote We got information that she may have last been seen at this party So that's what we have been trying to verify is whether or not it was her at the party People that were at the party believe that she was at this party, so that's what we have been trying to verify. Is whether or not it was her at the party? People that were at the party believed that she was at the party. So, after questioning multiple people, police traced the address back to the Carpenter family on West Richmond Avenue in Peoria. Investigators question members of the family and anyone who was known to have been in attendance that evening.

People who were supposedly friends of Alexis. Their initial story was that Alexis arrived late, around 5 a.m. and then left on her own, likely on foot, around 5.30 a.m. Which is kinda weird because if she showed up at 5 a.m. and then she just leaves like a half hour later, I guess that's possible, but it's just kind of weird. Well, this is an interesting part of the story because did she leave or did something happen to her, and that's why nobody saw her after 5.30. Right, and I guess none of them claimed to have ever seen her again, but when surveillance

footage from nearby homes and businesses did not support these claims, multiple people claimed to have been too drunk to offer a reliable timeline or account of Alexis' whereabouts that night. So they basically just can't claim that, hey, we were too drunk, we have no idea what time she left. But that feels kind of convenient because they're like, oh yeah, we saw her at this time and then we didn't see her after this time and then police are like, well, that's not true. That doesn't match up. But then they're like, oh, well, actually, I'm not sure I was drunk, which is fair. That might be true, after all. That probably was true in the first place and maybe they were just trying to come up with

the timeline, but really didn't actually have one or maybe they're lying. Well, and as we will see, it just feels like somebody at that party had to know something. Yeah, and the really sad thing here is that police never released any security camera footage, so we can't really be sure what it showed or what it didn't show. But according to those that were questioned who were proving to be unreliable witnesses, Alexis arrived at 5am and texted the owner of the house that she was there. According to her cell phone data, her last text communication was at 5.08 a.m. and she said to have left around 5.30 a.m. so 22 minutes later.

So in addition to questioning the party attendees and the residents of the house at which she was last seen, police searched vacant lots in the vicinity and even search the banks of the Illinois River, which cuts through Peoria. Now on the weekend following her disappearance, the community organized a search as well, and April described quote, I feel like I'm in a nightmare that cannot possibly be my life. We have a search team for Alexis, and when the weather permits, we go out. We also have flyers and give them out, putting them up everywhere. We've definitely been pretty aggressive in how we're working it.

We're following up on any lead that we can get, and if we get evidence that points us in the right direction, we're going to follow it. But none of these searches turned up any trace of Alexis. So frustrated April added quote, I just want to know where my daughter is. I'm not pointing fingers. I know it's a party and I know kids do things at parties that we may not necessarily approve of.

But right now, I just want to know where my daughter is. I want to know that she's okay. I need to know that she's safe and I need some help. And that's another very frustrating aspect of this case. As we know, Alexis was 20 years old, the legal drinking agent Illinois and across the US is age 21. So if Alexis was there, we can assume that there were other people that were under the age of 21 who might have been participating in alcohol consumption as well, right?

Yeah, but not only that, I mean, there were definitely drugs in that house, and we're going to get into that whole thing regarding the drugs that were in that house. Yes. Some very, very dangerous substances. Right. So then are maybe people not coming forward as well because they're worried that they're going to get in trouble for using drugs or selling drugs or whatever they may have been doing, which is so frustrating because police are like, they're probably more willing to turn

a blind eye against the underage drinking or the drug use because their concern right now is what happened to Alexis. But we've seen this across so many different cases where people don't come forward because they're worried that they're going to get in trouble for something they did not regarding the crime in question. Yeah, very true. And I wonder how many people were actually at this party. Um, we, the public that hour, you know, yeah, the public doesn't really know.

I mean, was it 10? Was it 100? Like, who actually knows? Well, I looked up the house and it's quite small. It's under a thousand square feet. I think it was like 900 something square feet. Two bed one bath. So this is not like a party house where you can have

a hundred people, you know. This is a small family home. Right, so really, I mean, if we're taking a guess here, it's probably between, you know, like five and 20 or 30 people possibly, probably even less. Maybe even less. Yeah, but, you know, those people that are in question or that police are questioning, like, I think you're right, or they're just not coming forward because they're worried about getting in trouble for something completely different. Yes.

Yeah. And, and sorry, as we're going to talk about as well, it seems impossible knowing that there could not have been very many people at this party that somebody amongst the partygoers didn't see or hear anything with the information that is coming up. So let's dive into that now. So police chased down every lead they were given, one of which stood out among the rest. Police received a tip from someone who had apparently been to the Carpenter Residence on Richmond Street, where the party was held, later on Saturday, September 23rd during the day. And remember, Alexis was apparently seen there at about 5am.

Now according to this tip, he was either hired or asked to help the residents dispose of some home goods and furnishings. The family rented a U-Haul for the day, and when this man arrived at the house and surveyed the U-Haul, he noticed that the carpet and mattress apparently had blood on them, or what at least looked like blood, which there's not that many things that look like blood. So this man was instructed to drive the u-haul filled with items about 30 minutes outside the city and then burn the contents of the truck. I mean, the real crazy part is that he was asked to drive

30 minutes outside of town. Like, there was probably a dump closer, but they're like, make sure you drive 30 minutes outside of town, which to me, like, yeah, they're burning items. A lot of people burn trash and things like that, but the fact that they were telling him to drive outside of town to an undisclosed area and then burn those items seems very suspicious to me.

Well, also, of course, the fact that they apparently had blood on them or what looked like blood, which again, on a carpet and a mattress like tomato sauce, red wine, but these things don't actually look like blood. And they're on the mattress and the carpet, like what else would that be, right? And then like you're saying with driving outside the city but then burning the contents, if you're hiring somebody to pick up your trash, like we've done that before, we have like a huge pile of cardboard boxes or an old couch or whatever, we hire a junk removal service to come to our house and pick it up, we've done that.

Right. Are we like, oh yeah, by the way, when you get to the destination, can you burn all this stuff? No, we're like, just take it out of our house and do what you will with it. So the fact that they're specifically burn it, why would somebody say that? Right, and again, basically what I'm saying is that

the fact that he's being instructed to drive outside of town, like I'm sure that there is a dump or a trash service somewhere in the city of Peoria that the fact that they are telling him literally telling him hey I need you to drive 30 minutes outside of town that to me is just as suspicious as burning these items. Exactly and we are not the only ones who think that. So, dusting Moultrie, who has become the de facto family spokesperson for Alexis's case, explained on her Facebook group, quote,

quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote, quote after staying up all night, drinking and partying until 8 in the morning. We know that happened, there's evidence to back that. Now you convinced me who did what to Alexis. She never left one to five Richmond of her own free will, period. Now end this nightmare and speak up. This witness who has remained anonymous claimed that they opened the U-Haul truck and were shocked at what they saw. In April's words, quote, according to the witness that came forward to the Peoria Police

Department, he stated that he opened the U-Haul van door and there was more blood in the U-Haul that he had ever seen in his life. Now, based on this tip, police headed out to Canton, Illinois, which is about 30 miles or 48 kilometers southwest from Peoria, where the tips are claimed that he discarded and burned the items. And there, Illinois State Police did recover a pile of charred remains, including springs, which were presumably from a mattress. Well, not human charred remains. so just to be clear on that, there was just the remains

of the stuff that was in the U-Haul. Yes, sorry, charred of furniture remains. So the items, well, actually, I'm glad you said that, because the items were removed from the area and tested, and police have not announced if they were linked to Alexis or not, and if so, what was uncovered? But surely, if they uncovered remains, we would all know about it by now. But soon after, another local tipped police off that someone in the Carpenter family, again, at this house that Alexis was last seen at, posted a listing on Craigslist mere hours after Alexis disappeared, offering up a washing machine. Now according to this post, the washing machine was free of charge, but somebody would need to

pick it up. So this pointed to the family, maybe potentially washing Alexis's clothes or their own clothes, maybe sheets or towels, etc. that contained her blood. Why they wouldn't just get rid of the washing machine during the process of getting rid of all the other furniture, we're not sure, but it is interesting that all this stuff was kind of given up on the same day and didn't just feel like a simple, you know, moving out, throwing away junk, putting things up on Craigslist situation. So these tips, police felt, were strong indications that Alexis may have been killed on the premises that night.

And they were obviously horrifying revelations for April and all of Alexis' family and friends. But without finding concrete evidence that this did in fact take place on the afternoon of the party, there was still very little that could be done. So on March 5th, 2018, Peoria Police alongside Illinois State Police raided the Carpenter residents on Richmond Street,

serving the family multiple warrants, searching for both drugs and drug paraphernalia, as well as any evidence that could possibly be linked to Alexis' disappearance. Now the house was owned by a 66 year old woman named Clody Carpenter until her death three and a half years later in September of 2021. Clody had four sons and two daughters, and at least one of her sons still lived with her.

So during the raid of their home, 43-year-old Celdric Carpenter Sr. was arrested for selling fentanyl from their home, and this is what I meant by some very serious drugs being in that home. But he was pretty quick to correct the police and claim that he had only been selling heroin, not fentanyl, because fentanyl would result

in a heavier sentence. And it's like, okay, like you're still selling fucking heroin? Like, oh no, no, it's not fentanyl, it's heroin. Well, especially because it was fentanyl, wasn't it? Yeah, exactly, that's what I'm about to tell you guys. It was in fact fentanyl that was found when these drugs were tested. So in addition to the drugs, police recovered a handgun from the home as well. Selderick's son, Selderick Carpenter Jr., also resided in the house and also had a bit of an alarming criminal record. But his offenses far outweighed his fathers.

And actually, he has quickly come to the forefront of suspicion among Alexis's loved ones and members of the community. Though just 26 years old in 2018, Selderick Jr. had been charged with criminal damage of property in Arsene after setting someone else's car on fire. He had a protective order taken out against him by an unknown complainant and then violated that order and was arrested because of it, and he was also in a gunfight that left a man critically injured. Supporters of Alexis and her family in the community, including the family's spokesperson Dusty, are extremely vocal about their belief that the carpenters are involved in whatever

happened to Alexis, but that the family is protecting their own and possibly covering for each other's criminal activity. And of course, we're in no way trying to like, dox or defame these members of the family because we don't know them personally and it seems like there were other family members that may not have been involved in something like this, but they've all been pretty much outlined in articles as persons of interest and have been linked to Alexis' disappearance in the media innumerably, like every article that talks about Alexis' case mentions this

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With Alexis's case growing cold, her mom April started forming her own conjectures. She theorized that the men responsible for Alexis's trafficking in California from her Las Vegas job could also have been responsible for her disappearance in Illinois. In one interview with a local peoria paper, April stated, quote, I don't know how much you can print, but I know the men who live at the house on Richmond are involved with this promoter. Remember the house on Richmond are the carpenters and the promoter is the one that hired Alexis for the job that got her, you know, essentially abducted.

Continuing with the quote. That was the last place Alexis was seen. Honestly, I don't know if the Las Vegas trip has anything at all to do with why she is missing now. I just don't know. The not knowing is so hard. So we don't know what she means by the Carpenters or at least some people in the Carpenter family are involved with the promoter. We don't know how, but the promoter is local to the Peoria, Illinois area. So at least we know that. So she is kind of wondering if there's a connection there. Well, he does mention on the Steve Wilcoe show that you're about to talk about that, that

he hadn't seen the carpenters or he basically says, I haven't seen those people in like two years. So it's kind of, it's kind of clear that he does or did know them at one point, but may not be close with them or something. Or how he knows them, we don't know what their relationship is, the the manner of their relationship, etc. And actually, so he's just said the show that he just mentioned, we're going to go into that now. And it's available on YouTube if anybody wants to watch it and kind of see how the conversations play out because we're just gonna kind of summarize it a little bit.

But in 2019, April agreed to appear on the Steve Will Coast show, which, if you don't know, is a talk show and it's a spin-off of Jerry Springer. So they often cover true crime topics and attempt to bring resolution to unsolved cases, including issuing DNA and lie detector tests. In May of 2019, April went on the Steve Wilcoe show to defend her daughter and speak face-to-face with the man that she believes is responsible for her daughter's disappearance and likely

demise. That would be Leland Jones, known professionally as Uncle Beats. Leland, who was the promoter who hired Alexis to go on the trip to Las Vegas during which she was trafficked, claimed that it was actually Alexis who initially reached out to him. Not that that really matters, but that's what he said. During the appearance on the show with April, which was moderated by host Steve, Leland claimed that the Paramet on Facebook when Alexis reached out to him to introduce herself. According to Leland, she was working as a sex worker at the time, which we know, and was

pulling in up to $3,000 a day. Leland explained to Steve that he had brought Alexis out to Las Vegas to work as an exotic dancer for a bachelor party that he had brought Alexis out to Las Vegas to work as an exotic dancer for a bachelor party that he was hosting. It was the weekend of a historic boxing match between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Conor McGregor, so the city was packed and Leeland had a house for all of his friends and the dancers to stay in together. So Alexis apparently asked Leeland if she could bring a friend and Leeland obliged, but

only if this friend would pay for her own airline ticket. The girls argued that they didn't have a card to pay for the ticket with as they primarily used cash, so Leeland said that he would book the ticket himself and ask that Alexis and her friend reimburse him, but when they arrived in Las Vegas, they didn't have the money to do so, which kind of arrived in Las Vegas, they didn't have the money to do so, which kind of frustrated Lealand, I guess. So he put the girls up in a house that he either rented for the weekend or owns while he stayed in a condo closer to the strip.

On the second day of the trip, one of the men also staying in the house for the weekend complained to Lealand that he was missing $500 in cash, and then blamed it on Alexis and her friend. So as things took a turn for the worse, Leland purchased flights for Alexis and her friends to get back to Illinois the following day. But according to Leland, around the time they were supposed to be departing Las Vegas to head back to Peoria, Alexis texted her friend that she was in Sacramento, California, which is over 8 hours away from Las Vegas by car.

So as we said earlier, the details on how this scenario came to be are extremely murky, and it's unknown how the girls got separated and with whom Alexis was taken to California. So, Fed up, Leland explained that he told the girls to figure it out themselves, that the tickets couldn't be changed, and that he was now unwilling to help them any further. The next time he heard about Alexis was a month or so later, when the police called him, hoping to talk to him about her disappearance. Leland says that they even stopped by the rainstorm car wash, which was across the street from where Alexis disappeared, catching Lealand while he was washing his car there. Lealand did admit that he did know the carpenters, but as I mentioned earlier, he said that he had nothing to do with her initial trafficking and abduction, or her subsequent disappearance and possible murder.

It is just so weird though that he knew the carpenters and even admitted to knowing them, even though he claims that he didn't see them in a while, which is fair if that's true. But then the fact that this all happened across the span of a little over a month that Alexis was abducted and allegedly trafficked. And then I just say that because no one was ever charged, there was never any kind of- We don't know the full details. Exactly.

And then the fact that she goes missing and her body is to this day never found no trace of her has ever found. We know about the situation with the U-Haul, with the Carpenders. It feels a little farfetched to me to say, oh, Lealand obviously reached out to the Carpenders and they threw a party and they invited Alexis

all for this ruse to kill her. Like, it feels a little complicated, especially if Lealand is claiming that he's not close with the carpenters and hasn't seen them in years. Right. But it's weird. Still, it's just all feels really close. Yeah, it feels like there's some sort of like strange connection there and maybe it was

more freeform than that and maybe we're just speculating too much. Maybe Leeland actually has nothing to do with it at all. But it does feel weird that there's all these kind of like, you know, similarities and connections. Agreed. Well, when Steve questioned Leeland about his criminal history while on air, Leeland claimed that his only charges of anything were drug-related. But April accused him of involvement and reminded him that he was a father himself, saying, quote, what kind of man does that make you? Leeland fired back that he had tried to help solve for daughter's case and that he had

even offered to pay for a private investigator for Alexis' family, saying, quote, I want to help, but I can't help if I'm getting accused. But April claimed that this was a lie and that he never offered to do such a thing. The Steve Wilcoe show did issue a lie detector test to Lee Lind to asking questions about whether or not he had anything to do with either of the time's Alexis disappeared, or if he knows anybody who does. He responded no, and all of his answers were found to be truthful.

Now we've said it before and we'll say it again. These kind of tests are neither conclusive nor foolproof, but it does seem more likely in this case, at least to me, that the people at the House Party are involved and may be not Lee Lent. After the show, April said, quote, it was hard and very stressful as I have spent almost two years attempting to find out where she is and who's responsible. Rehashing it all is heart-wrenching. The person involved in today's test is evil

and has an uncaring form, has no idea what it is to hurt someone else's child or put them in danger. April and her family have received immense support from the community, but sadly, her appearance on the show, at least up until now, did not bring them any closer to the truth. The family spokesperson Dusty said, quote, �There is kind of a huge range of emotions you go through. Excited to get her finally on national television, but the down part is that we're facing someone we felt was involved. It was tough, especially for April. I will say she was amazing.

That's one tough lady. Now, because Alexis is a young black woman, a young mother, and an escort, she's often been labeled as, you know, a young mother, and an escort, she's often been labeled as, you know, a high-risk individual, and sadly, her case has been neglected from national headlines. The two most pervasive theories continue to be that she was either abducted again by the men who trafficked her in California, or that the people in the house where the party

took place had something to do with it. Again, I mean, I think the angle with the California traffickers is interesting, especially because there is a personal connection, a two of the Carpenters at least, but again, just the biggest part of this to me is just the furniture removal and the burning and the blood. It's just undeniable to me. And another really sad thing about this case is that it seems as if Alexis chose not to report

this terrifying trafficking incident that happened shortly before her disappearance, likely because she was so terrified of retaliation. And as we said, very little insider information is known about this incident, including who was involved. But April maintains that Leland Jones was either a part of the initial abduction, or he knew who was. So if the men who took her to California from Vegas were afraid of Alexis reporting

what happened to her, they may have come back to Peoria to retrieve her and ensure that she never talked. It's possible that she was even lured by the carpenter family, who were in cahoots with the person or people who had trafficked her to California, but that may be a little far-fetched and we're not sure. So in this scenario, it's possible that Leeland did have knowledge about her abduction

and subsequent disappearance, as he is a clear common link between the two. However, he maintains his innocence and has stayed away from the case since appearing on the Steve Wilco show. It's just as possible that Alexis was simply a victim of circumstance while stopping by the party that early Saturday morning. For example, based on what we know about the drug activity that was in this house, Alexis may have been caught in the crossfire of a drug deal gone wrong. And maybe the residents of the house chose to simply cover it up to protect themselves.

Or maybe the party-ours were using drugs, and that Alexis possibly overdosed or was hurt or killed purely by accident, and that her so-called friends just covered it up. But it's more likely that she was met with violence, given how briefly she was supposedly there. And then of course there's the supposed blood that was on the mattress and the removal of all of that furniture. Either way, it seems impossible that no one attending the party that night knows anything about what happened to Alexis. The community appears to have made up their minds that this household was involved in Alexis' disappearance, but without any direct evidence implicating them and with

Alexis still missing sadly to this day, there really isn't much that the Peoria Police Department can do. Dusty explained that leads of all but ceased, saying quote, unfortunately there hasn't been a lot. I guess you can really call her a cold case. We don't get tips like we used to at all, really. If you know anything, if maybe your mind is clearer now, or maybe then it wasn't. Even if you heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody, there is nothing too small.

April claims her daughter's disappearance continues to get harder with each passing day, saying quote, it doesn't get any easier, it actually gets harder or not knowing, especially at winter time, especially during the holidays. When it's cold out, I'm wondering, does she have a coat, does she have shoes? I really in my heart want to believe that she's still here. Share what you've heard. Maybe we can put this puzzle together and figure out what happened. The family is currently raising funds through GoFundMe to hire a private investigator, and if you'd like to donate alongside us, the link is in the bio or the description of this

episode. Tevin, now 8 years old, is described by April as playful and inquisitive, and she says that he reminds April so much of Alexis. Alexis Scott was last seen wearing a black zip up hoodie with a pink bi-victoria secret logo paired with a light-colored blue jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and at the time of her disappearance,

she was about 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed about 140 pounds. She had long brown hair and brown eyes. Her ears are pierced and she had braces on her lower teeth. She also had a number of tattoos, including the word royalty on the inside of her left arm, paw prints on her shoulder, her son's name, Tevin Jr. on her right shoulder, the name Lily on her left shoulder, and the name Trayvon on her right wrist. If you have any information about the disappearance of Alexis Scott, please call the Peoria Police Department at 309-673-4521 or call Crime Stoppers at 309-673-9000. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an

all-new case for you guys to dive into. God, this is just such a complicated story again with the fact that she was trafficked and went missing a month before she went missing again and hasn't been seen since and it's so clear that something happened to her and I just can't get over the whole you-haul thing and all the the charred remains that were found in the dump like it's just so disturbing that all of these clues are laid out and there's still no concrete answers as to what exactly happened to Alexis all these years later. Yeah, I mean my opinion is that something happened at the Carpenter's house, and really

that's, I think that's the most prevailing theory right now, is that the people or somebody in that house was involved in her disappearance. I completely agree, and we are about to hit the five-year anniversary this month, actually. So not that much time has passed, I guess, on the grand scale. Of course, every day is so hard for her family, but there is still a chance that evidence can be found and that people can come forward because, you know, it's not too late. So please make sure that you share this episode. Again, like Keith said in the intro, if you want to hear, not here, if you want to look

at photos from this case and all the other cases we cover head on over to our socials, we're on Instagram at going West Podcast, Twitter at going West Pod, and we're also on Facebook. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. music Thank you. you