Going West: True Crime - Brianna and Caitlin Denison // 287

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

In January of 2008, a 19-year-old woman went missing from Reno, Nevada. When her body was discovered weeks later in a field, evidence brought police to her killer. But 10 years later, in January of 2018, her 19-year-old cousin boarded a plane to Texas from Nevada, and was never seen by her family again. When home security camera footage captured a woman who resembled her, the mystery deepened. This the murder of Brianna Denison, and the disappearance of Caitlin Denison.  BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Brianna's Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/164600482/brianna-zunino-denison/photo 2. CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brianna-denisons-killer-james-biela-gets-death-mom-says-he-messed-with-the-wrong-family/ 3. Caitlin's Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-find-caitlin-denison?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&utm_term=undefined 4. Jeff's obituary: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17972727/reno-gazette-journal/ 5. Brianna's obituary: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2018/01/26/february-2008-obituary-brianna-denison/1067437001/ 6. Casemine: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5975bc9eadd7b04349680535 7. Reno Gazette Journal: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2018/01/26/being-brighton-brianna-denisons-brother-talks-his-life-10-years-ago-everything-changed-brighton-deni/1046693001/ 8. Fox: https://www.foxnews.com/story/person-of-interest-in-hunt-for-brianna-denison 9. ZGR.net: https://www.zgr.net/en/wiki/who-is-james-biela-girlfriend-everything-to-know-about-brianna-denison-murderer/ 10. Bridgette Denison's testimony: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/77th2013/ExhibitDocument/OpenExhibitDocument?exhibitId=6849&fileDownloadName=h0509sb243d_ErsC.pdf 11. 2 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltf_n9xCsZQ 12. News West 9: https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/new-detective-caitlin-denison-case/513-b9ee386e-ce69-4708-a107-34cd544af40b 13. Find Caitlin Denison: https://www.facebook.com/findcaitlindenison/ 14. Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/RBI/comments/ko7q2k/caitlin_m_denison_missing_person_case/ 15. The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/caitlin-marie-denison 16. ABC 13: https://abc13.com/montgomery-county-mystery-woman-officers-law-enforcement/4089880/ 17. Dateline: https://www.nbc.com/dateline-secrets-uncovered/video/brianna-denison-goes-missing/793029722 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody big thank you to everybody who suggested these cases today. We have Lauren, Gabrielle, Katie, Julie, Megan, and Jordan. Thank you guys so much for suggesting these. We decided to group them together because while there mean, two young women, the same age, this appeared almost exactly 10 years apart and they happened to be cousins. Yes, and because one of these cases is solved and the other is not, it's very important for you guys to share this episode, so please make sure you do that.

Absolutely, and of course, as always, we post photos of both of them on there, so you can post one of them missing posters and share that if you guys would like as well That would really, really help. So thank you guys so much for tuning in today We also want to let you know that Apple subscriptions are live. That means we have 85 full length ad free bonus Episodes that are not going west episodes, but are our separate series, we call it real crime. It sounds exactly like going west. So if you are an Apple user, it's the same as Patreon, you just go into the app, go to our page, hit subscribe, and all of the episodes will show up in the catalog. What do you call it? Yes, the catalog. It's in our list of episodes. And again,

sorry, because I know that we said that that was going to be launched like two weeks ago, but it took so long to get those episodes uploaded. But also remember, if you're looking for the bonus episodes, they are not marked by numbers, so that's how you can tell that they are a bonus episode. Yes, and their tag that says Apple subscription, so it is obvious. So thank you guys so much for your patience. Go subscribe if you want, and thank you guys so much for your patience. Go subscribe if you want. And thank you so much again for tuning into this episode.

All right guys, this is episode 287 of Going West. So let's get into it. ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ � In January of 2008, a 19-year-old woman went missing from Reno, Nevada after a concert. When her body was discovered weeks later in a field, evidence brought police to her killer. But 10 years later, in January of 2018, her 19-year-old cousin boarded a plane to Texas from Nevada and was never seen by her family again. When home security camera footage captured a woman who resembled her, the mystery deepened. This is the murder of Breonna Denison and the disappearance of Caitlin Denison was born on March 29, 1988 in Reno, Nevada to Bridget and Jeff Denison. And then five years later, they were joined by Brianna's little brother, Brighton.

Their mom Bridget said that she and her husband Jeff viewed Brianna and Brighton as their greatest gifts. Breonna was raised in the tradition of honoring children as our most precious possessions. But just over a year after Brighton was born, tragedy struck the family when Jeff passed away suddenly on April 27th, 1994, leaving Bridget with two young children. And this happened when Brianna was just six years old, and while Brighton was still an infant.

In this horrible time, they really leaned on the love and support of Bridget's large extended family in Nevada and in California, including Jeff Siblings and their children, which also included Brianna's 13 cousins, one of whom was Kaitlin. Bridget said later, quote, together with my parents, my brother and his daughter, I raised the children the best I could. Consequently, Brianna and I were very close. Despite this huge loss,

Bridget says that Brianna was a particularly happy child and went out of her way to help others. Her mom even called Brianna breezy because she says she was, quote, a breath of fresh air on a cool summer day. Open-minded and adventurous, she loved exploring new cultures and traveled all over the United States and Europe, as well as Japan, Egypt, Jamaica, and Mexico, and she even studied abroad in Rome for a year. According to her obituary, Brianna's quote, ability to connect with people from all walks of life became part of her radiant personality. She was known at school for being responsible, hardworking, and a good student.

Bridget remembers that her daughter always followed the rules and did the right thing. She attended Reno High School graduating in 2006, and afterwards, she went on to settle in her mom's neighboring state of California, attending Santa Barbara City College. And Brianna just really flourished there. I to Reno, Nevada for her extended winter break, excited to just spend the holidays with her mom and her 15-year-old brother, Brighton, and also to catch up with some of her high school classmates.

On the evening of Saturday, January 19, 2008, Brianna and a friend met up for a concert. Now Bridget remembers her daughter Brianna doing laundry before telling her that she loved her and that she would see her tomorrow. She said goodnight to her mom around 9pm and then headed out for the evening. Brianna met up with a high school girlfriend named Katie Hunter at the Sands Regency Casino Hotel in Reno, catching a bus from the hotel to the rap concert. Katie remembered their final night together pretty fondly, the two sang along and danced together right in front of

the stage for hours and met up with another friend named Jessica Deal. The three left the concert together taking the shuttle bus back to the Sands Regency, but Jessica was ready to leave before the other girls, so she said goodnight and that she would meet them back at KT's house. KT lived close by on Mackie Court only 1.2 miles or 1.9 kilometers from the Sands Regency. Jessica said later that she typically would have just walked, but it was hovering around 26 degrees Fahrenheit that night or around negative three degrees Celsius that evening. So Jessica flagged down an SUV

who was also leaving for the night in the parking lot of the hotel, and she just asked for a ride. And Jessica later admitted that this was kind of a risky move, but in the days before Uber and Lyft, this was her most convenient option. The driver took her four minutes to KT's house and dropped her off without incident. Meanwhile, back at the casino, Brianna and KT stopped for a late-night snack at Mel's

diner that was located inside the hotel. And this was the last time that Brianna was captured on security camera footage. After finishing the night with mozzarella sticks and milkshakes, they got a ride from a friend back to KT's house and they were dropped off around 3.30 a.m. So KT's neighborhood was flushed with college students since it was located just three minutes from the University of Nevada Reno campus. KT shared the house with three other people, but not everyone was home that evening. She offered to let Brianna crash in her room with her, but Brianna just wanted to chat with her boyfriend before she went to sleep, so not wanting to disturb KT. She said that she would

just crash on the couch. KT later explained, quote, the place she was sleeping was a very common area and I have three roommates and we all live our separate lives. So usually we sometimes lock it but that area since it is a common area and people are always going in and out, we keep it unlocked and just lock our own personal doors. So the door was probably left unlocked. Katie gave Brianna a pillow and a blanket for the couch, which was just inside the front door, the one that was likely unlocked, and told Brianna to let her know if she needed anything.

The girls remember Brianna bickering with her boyfriend on the phone that evening, and that she wanted to clear the air before she went to bed. They said goodnight around 4am, and Katie and her dog retired to her room. According to Brianna's cell phone records, she texted her boyfriend who was actually an Oregon at the time at 4.23am. And that was the last confirmed contact that anyone had with 19-year-old Brianna Denison. Around 9 a.m. the next morning, which was a Sunday, January 20, 2008, Jessica and Katie awoke for the day and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. But the couch on which Brianna had been sleeping on the night before that was adjacent to the kitchen was empty. So assuming that she had just gone upstairs to crash in one of Katie's roommates empty

bedrooms, the girls just let her sleep. But about 45 minutes later, around 9.45 a.m., when they still hadn't heard from her, Katie went upstairs to try and find her and wake her up, pounding on one of the doors. But when she finally went inside the room, it was empty, just like the couch had been. Brianna was nowhere to be found. But strangely, her clothes from the night before, the shoes that she had been wearing, her purse, cell phone, and everything she had brought with her to Katie's house, was left in the house, and she had gone to bed in a tank top and sweatpants. Her car was in the shop at the time, so she couldn't have just driven herself anywhere,

and there was no way that she had ventured into the frigid winter morning and just what she had ventured into the frigid winter morning in just what she had on to wear to bed. With their fear rising, Katie called Bridget around 10am to let her know that they were concerned for Brianna. Bridget was similarly concerned, saying, quote, her cell phone was there and she had no car, and I knew she was not walking around with no shoes on, so I said I'll be right there. As the girls continued to scour the house for any clue as to where Brianna had taken off to, they came across a startling detail. There was a blood on Brianna's pillow.

Severely panicked at this point, they finally called the police. So based on the circumstances here, police immediately suspected an abduction because the couch wasn't just inside the unlocked front door, but there were also two large front-facing windows that allowed anyone from the street to peer into the living room, which just made Brianna Lang their very vulnerable situation. Yeah, basically much more of a target. which just made Brianna Lang their very vulnerable situation. Yeah, basically much more of a target. Well, strangely, neither the girls nor Katie's dog had been disturbed by anyone entering or exiting the home.

And there didn't appear to be any signs of forced entry or even a struggle. So obviously, we can assume that the forced entry or the lack of forced entry would further aid to the belief that that door was in fact unlocked. Right. So KT said later of her dog in an interview, she said quote, she barks at me at all my roommates and everything. Either she didn't bark that night or I didn't hear her bark. I usually wake up to her barking, so whoever did it, I'm under the belief was extremely quiet." After being asked if Brianna may have taken off by choice, Katie said, quote, no. Brianna was not like that by any manner. She was very close to her family and very close to all

her friends. She would never just pick up and leave. And she went to bed in a light tank top and all of her shoes, all of my shoes, are accounted for. Our jackets are accounted for. There was no way that she would just pick up and leave in 30 degree weather in a tank top and sweats. When a detailed search of the house revealed touch DNA on the rear door knob that was not a match for anyone in the house, police suspected that an onlooker from outside had come through the front door while Brianna lay their sleeping and had whisked her away through the back door.

And Brianna's pillow corroborated this theory and it was taken in as evidence. And when it was examined, investigators found Booth, Mascarra, and bite marks on it, you know, suggesting that someone had used it to smother her. And the blood spatter on the pillow was confirmed to match Brianna's. So the area had already been reeling from a suspected serial rapist, with two attacks on campus in the last few months alone. So students and families nearby were petrified when another violent crime took place. Bridget and Brighton, who was only 15 at the time, called upon the community to help in whatever way they could.

Brighton said to the public, quote, whoever has her, I want her back. We love her. She's ours and we want her back. Bridget echoed this sentiment saying, quote, we are the biggest little city in the world and we are the ones to find her. Her friends and family set up camp at a local casino, using that as their search parties home base. Brianna's favorite color was blue. So blue ribbons and balloons were quickly plastered all around the city of about 200,000 people, and missing posters with her picture adorned dozens of businesses, casinos, and hotels. And soon after this, the first person of interest emerged in the form of the man who gave Jessica a ride home.

Which is a great first place to look or one of the first places to look. Right. Considering this was a stranger, he knew that at least one young woman would be in that house he could have come back. Yeah, absolutely. Right, and even Jessica admitted

that this was kind of a sketchy idea for her to do Yeah, and and somebody gave her the right so who knows who this person is right? Right exactly so police kind of wondered if this guy had maybe hung around after he dropped her off and Possibly use the unlocked door as an opportunity to break in make sense So police released a photo of his SUV urging him or anyone who knew him to come forward. Shortly after they did so, the driver actually did come forward and offered his DNA to compare with what was left on the back door of KT's house. But it was not a match, so he was cleared of any suspicion.

And I have to say, really cool of him to actually come forward and try to help knowing internally that he did not do it. Instead of police wasting more resources to try to find him or time. Right. And then that wouldn't have made him look good. Anyway, so really awesome that he came forward and they could clear him and move forward. So regarding the motive, police of course kind of just suspected that it was sexual assault, just surmising that there weren't many other reasons

to have ducked someone, and then also comparing it to the sexual assaults that had happened in the area as of recent. Right, which we're about to talk about. Right, so investigators at this point just really began zeroing in on local sex offenders and the culprits of other sexually motivated crimes in the area. And regarding the two violent assaults on women that had already gripped the area with fear.

So the first one was in December of 2007. So about a month before Brianna went missing. And what happened was a young exchange student at the University of Nevada Reno, which is a very short distance from the house that Brianna was abducted from, was attacked in a university parking garage. It was in the early morning, and the attacker had approached from behind

as the victim walked to her car. The 22 year old student was smothered unconscious with her attacker's hand, and she awoke in the back of his car a short while later. He took her to a secluded location, assaulted her, and then dropped her back at home. And during the assault, he instructed her to not look at him. And when he drove her to her residence,

he told her not to watch as he drove away Which is really weird because I feel like we don't usually hear about that happening like you literally dropped her off at home That's so bizarre, you know most people I would say maybe not most people but most cases we cover They will just kill that poor innocent person so that they don't get caught Right and sometimes it's like a graduating system for people like this. You know, they start out by abducting someone, they sexually assault them, they get away with it, and then they just keep pushing the boundaries. So true.

Well, with this incident, she followed his instructions, but then of course, she immediately called 911 when she was sure that his car had left the area. Unfortunately, the only physical characteristics that she was able to glean from the attack were that he was a white man with very thick hands and that he spoke English. But from the small description that she was able to give, a behavioral analyst was tapped to build out a profile of who the police should be looking for. The analyst said that he would likely be of lower intelligence, socially adept and a bit of a loner, and that he probably worked in a physical trade using his hands. Now remember, remember these characteristics. Yeah, hence why she had basically said that his hands seemed to be thick.

Yeah, thick. Right. But while the description of her attacker was very limited, the victim was able to get a good look at the car. So police determined the make and model with fair certainty. They were looking for a 2005 or 2006 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with four-wheel drive and an extended cab. So while she was trapped in the back of his truck,

the victim also remembered seeing a baby shoe on the floor of the car and recalled that the perpetrator had kept her underwear as a souvenir. Now, none of this alone meant that this young woman's attack was also linked to Brianna's abduction, but when the DNA taken from the rape kit of the exchange student matched that of the DNA taken from the home that Brianna was kidnapped from, police officially had themselves a suspect, and a bigger issue knowing that the same person is terrorizing the area and abducting and assaulting young women.

Yeah, they've got a huge problem on their hands because this guy is on the loose and it doesn't appear that he's going to quit anytime soon. So four days after Brianna disappeared, Reno police released a description of the man who would attack the University of Nevada student. He was believed to be a white male between the ages of 28 and 40, between 5'6 and 6' tall and thought to drive a pickup or SUV. Now the updated profile of the person of interest did not bring forth a suspect, but it did, however, bring forward yet another victim. Another young student at the University of Nevada, Reno, had been a victim of a parking lot

attack, but in her case she had yet to report it. Afraid of backlash or disbelief, she kept the attack to herself, but when word of the foreign exchange students' assault was made public, the eerie similarities encouraged her to come forward. The first student in the series of assault had been attacked in October, so two months before the second attack and three months before Brianna's abduction, and the circumstances were incredibly similar to that of the rape in December. This student had also been approaching her car

in a campus parking garage, and it had been caught by surprise from behind. The man had approached her, knocked her to the ground, and holding a gun to her head, told her not to scream. Because a few months had already passed, there was unfortunately no DNA from this victim, but there was one other thing that she could offer, a description of the perpetrator's face.

So this victim, now known as the probable first victim of this serial rapist, at least in the area during this time, or, you, or to their knowledge, since this victim had originally come forward, worked with a police sketch artist to draw up a composite of the culprit. And alongside the reports of what his car looked like and the profile of who he was, investigators were able to release a picture of what he looked like. And the connection that solidified the linking

of the three crimes. This woman's attacker had also forced her to give him her underwear. So with this man still on the loose, fear reigned on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. I mean, some parents of students were so petrified for their daughter's safety that they pulled them out of school altogether.

Three thousand samples of DNA from local criminals were tested against the sample that was left behind at the scene of Brianna's abduction. And police also combed the database of local sexual predators of which there were hundreds. Residents were so spooked by the crimes that some men who felt that they matched the description of the rapist came to police to offer their DNA simply to be removed from suspicion. Yeah, I've actually never seen that happen before in a case like this.

I mean, this is just like how big of a deal it was in the area. Right. And, you know, this is a town of 200,000 people, so... Not too terribly big. Right. The biggest little city in the world, though. So then, on February 15th, 2008, nearly a month after Brianna disappeared. A grisly discovery came along.

So nine miles or 14 kilometers from Katie's house. A man on the way back to his office from his lunch break spotted something brightly colored, sticking out of some brush and sticks in a ditch. A local man named Albert Hamines was headed back to his office in a nearby office park, adjacent to an open field. After picking up a subway sandwich for lunch, named Albert Haminez was headed back to his office and a nearby office park adjacent to an open field.

After picking up a subway sandwich for lunch, he was walking back to work alongside the field when he noticed the bright orange color. Getting closer to investigate, he realized that what he saw was socks on a pair of feet. Now Albert later remembered thinking that the socked feet were attached to a mannequin, but as he approached, he could see a naked woman's body. He explained, quote, I could see that there were two bright pieces of fabric, but I couldn't make out what they were. As I got closer, I realized those pieces of fabric were in fact socks.

Bright orange almost neon-like socks. They seemed to be attached to a pair of feet. So shocked, he obviously ran back to his office and reported what he found. And I just want to mention really quick, this is probably making some of you think of the true crime case and victim known as orange socks, but that is a different case. So that case is actually the murder of Deborah Jackson in Texas who died via strangulation

by a guy named Henry Lee Lucas. But Brianna was also wearing orange socks, and as we'll mention here in a minute, strangely, she was also strangled. But totally different case. Yes, it is. So Albert himself had heard of Brianna's disappearance and he'd also seen missing posters and billboards all around town, and even told police upon arrival that he thought that it was Brianna's body. Investigators flocked to the scene, and by the following day,

an autopsy confirmed the remains belonged to 19-year-old Brianna Denison. Her body partially covered by a leafless tree and sagebrush was visible only by her feet. As police approached, her left arm appeared to be propped above her head while her right arm was folded and sported an opened wound. She was found naked except for her socks. As police suspected, her murder was confirmed to be a sexually motivated crime, and her cause of death was strangulation. A rock sat on her waist, and beneath her were two pairs of women's underwear. A lacy pink pair with hearts, and a black pair with a cartoon depiction of the pink panther,

neither of which belonged to Brianna. One contained unidentified female DNA, and the other contained DNA from Brianna as well as the man whom they believed abducted, raped, and killed her. Strangely, that pair was proven to be KT's, meaning that the murderer had stolen them from her home while abducting Brianna. And the ligger marks on Brianna's neck were Bridget Denison, while obviously devastated at the discovery, couldn't stop thinking about the threat that this posed to other young women in the area. She said, quote, I went from being fearful for Brianna's life to being fearful for whoever he was going

to go to next. Police actually released the information about the underwear and their descriptions, just hoping for a break in the case, but no such break came. Until November of 2008, so nearly 10 months after Brianna's abduction. While sifting through the hundreds of tips that they received in Brianna's case, police came across one submitted anonymously that referenced the underwear that the rapist and murderer apparently liked to keep as trophies.

This woman explained that she had found a pair of women's underwear that did not belong to her in the back of her boyfriend's car. She gave her boyfriend's name as simply J. Bila. And a search of registered drivers in the state produced the profile of a local man named James Bila. And a search of registered drivers in the state produced the profile of a local man named James Bila. And not only did James's driver's license photo match the police sketch, but James had a prior felony conviction from 2001, so about seven years earlier, for threatening someone with a knife during an altercation. And I just got to say amazing that this woman came forward and we're gonna talk about her in a sec as well,

but just amazing that she came forward. And even though she didn't want to outright say her boyfriend's name to police, she gave them at least enough to go on to investigate this. And I totally get it. Maybe she was, you know, fearful of her boyfriend and didn't want to just like put it right out there. Which she was, as we'll get into, like you said.

But yeah, I mean, it's so amazing that she did this, especially because she's afraid of him anyway, but she's still willing to put this out there to try to help. And also that this wasn't just thought of, like, oh, maybe he's cheating on me, but thinking of how, how well she knows this guy, how she knows he's violent, he could be behind this. And he matches the sketch, so good on her. Exactly. So a detective stopped by James' home to question him, but no one was home, so the officer just left his business card.

officer just left his business card. Just 45 minutes later, the detective received a call from James, and the two met up in a parking lot the very next day. So bringing James into his squad car, the detective noted that James seemed pretty nervous, so he kept things pretty light at first, just chatting about baseball and where they both were from. When asked what kind of car he drove, James explained that he had recently sold his pickup truck, but it had been a Toyota 4x4 extended cab pickup, which is the exact type that the second rate victim had described. The officer then broached the subject of Brianna, asking James to submit a DNA swab to clear him of any suspicion.

Given that both he and his vehicle matched the description of the suspect. Seems fair. Yeah, seems pretty fair, but James declined to do so. He also refused to give any reason why he declined to do so. He did, however, say that he lived with his girlfriend and that she would act as his alibi. Well, when they questioned his girlfriend, remember the one who submitted the tip, Carlene, she confirmed that she had been fearful of her boyfriend's involvement. So she found

the underwear in the backseat of James' truck, and like I said, initially actually did suspect him of cheating, but also found it very concerning given the crimes that were plaguing the area at the time. So she decided to submit a tip just in case. Along with the underwear, as we said, the second assault victim had seen a baby shoe in the backseat of the car. So police asked Carlene if she had a child and she confirmed that she did.

She had a four-year-old son with whom she shared with James Bela. She and James had been together for a while and they even applied for a marriage license about four years earlier in 2004 when their son was born, but they never went through with the marriage and Carleen described their relationship as tumultuous. Though James continued to deny both his involvement and the contribution of a DNA sample, detectives now had access to someone who shared his DNA, his son. Because Carleen graciously offered to give them a sample of her son's DNA, which could still prove James's involvement in the murder of Breonna Denison if it matched.

Meanwhile, police monitored James' activity and location while they awaited DNA results from the lab. But his background fit that of the description from the behavioral analyst. Remember, like I said, to pay attention to that because it really does come into play here. It was super accurate. Kind of hit the nail on the head. Absolutely. I mean, he had a high school level education, but he was a poor student. And he worked as a pipe fitter at construction sites.

He also lived near the University of Nevada Reno campus, where the rapes were committed and minutes from the house that Brianna was kidnapped from. And Carlene worked in the building that was adjacent to the field in which Brianna was found. On the day that her body was discovered, Carlene had even called James to tell him what was happening. I mean, she was watching out the window from her office as this crime scene was secured and searched.

But strangely, that same day, the day that they found Brianna's body, James told his job that he was quitting, and then he came home and told Carlyne that he had been laid off. And the following day, he left town for a while, selling his truck to someone in the neighboring state of Idaho. So obviously, this is not really looking good for James and he looks like a huge suspect here. It's stacking up so high.

Yeah. And get this, the DNA from Carlene and James' son was a match for the touch DNA were covered from Katie's house. So the very next day on November 25th, 2008, police apprehended James Bila while at his son's daycare. As they arrested James, they brought Carlenene in as well, hoping her presence would encourage a confession. In a tearful confrontation, Carlyne implored him through sobs. Did you do this? Oh my god, did you? Did you? His answer was, now is not the time. What do you mean?

Sounds like a piece of shit thing to say. He apologized to Carlene for ruining her and pending birthday and the holiday season with Thanksgiving just two days away and Christmas exactly one month away, but would not admit to her that he had raped the two young women and raped and killed Brianna Denison. When she asked again if he was guilty of what he was being accused of, he responded, it doesn't matter. Carlean responded, well, it matters to me. And James fired back saying quote, and if I told you I did it, you'd still love me, be with me.

Are you still gonna be with me? And Carlean responded, of course, I can't be with you. Love Carlean. Yes, incredible woman. Yeah, fuck that guy. So James later told a detective during an interrogation that he was, quote, evil, and that he hoped his son, quote, didn't grow up to be fucked up like he was. James Belis' trial began on May 10, 2010, nearly two and a half years after Brianna's

murder. His defense, you know, basically painted the portrait of a tortured man explaining that he and his mom had both suffered from abuse at the hands of his father when he was growing up. But ultimately, the jury decided that this was just not enough to justify his heinous actions. Addressing James in court, Bridget Denison said quote, When James Michael Biela messed with my little girl, he messed with the wrong families, the wrong women, and the wrong city and state.

The courtroom was so shocked by the appalling crimes at the hands of James Biela that they opted to sentence him to the death penalty. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, he told his mom Kathy that he loved her and not to cry. While nothing could bring Brianna back, Bridget led a valiant crusade to change the policies that allowed James to keep offending in the first place.

So Bridget argued that if James had been forced to give a DNA sample after his first felony conviction in 2001, he would have been apprehended after his sexual assault. And Brianna's life would have been spared. Because if you think about it on this university student, if they could have matched that DNA when it happened, I mean, they happened really close together. Her assault and Brianna's murder, but there's still a chance that they could have spared,

or Brianna could have been spared if he was caught. Right, I mean, sadly, the assault would have still taken place. Of course, yeah. But they would have definitely had his DNA and they could have caught him a lot sooner. Absolutely. In 2013, Nevada Governor Brian Sandevol signed Brianna's Law into effect, which required a cheek swab every time someone is arrested for a felony offense.

Her mom Bridget gave a heartbreaking testimony about the effect that Brianna's loss had on her. She said, quote, The impact that this has had on my family, her friends, and me is everything you could imagine and worse. I think we've all experienced it, the imagining. Your child, friend or spouse is missing for a couple hours, and your mind begins to wander to horrible thoughts. What if, what if, what if? Then they come back, they had just forgotten theirself on at home, they're fine.

You feel a tremendous sense of relief when you realize they're safe. That release never came for me. For a month, the month that she was missing, I was filled with that worry, that panic, and those questions. Was she hurt, was she cold, was she hungry, and of course was she alive?

Then we found out the truth that I lost my baby girl forever and that she died afraid and suffering. My son Brighton not only lost his sister, he lost his only sibling and the family unit that the three of us had created together. Others will talk more about the specifics of this bill, how codis works, the safeguards, and all that. I'm simply here to say that it's time to come into the 21st century and join the other 25 states that have already passed this law.

I believe that if we don't adopt this law, the fingerprint of the 21st century, we will see repeats of the same horrible crimes that could have been prevented and leave more wrongfully convicted citizens in jail. I hope you never have to hear from another mother like me, another mother with a hole in her life that could have been prevented by this law. Amazing that she, that she, like, you know, she went ahead and pushed for this law, just knowing that it could potentially help other people in the future.

And it feels pretty simple, like swapping their cheek. That's not like, that's not a big deal. Right. It can only help, you know, so why not do it? So James Bila has attempted to appeal his conviction twice, but has yet to be successful, and he is still on death row in a Nevada prison today. With Brianna's killer finally behind bars, the Denison family basically thought that their

nightmare was over. But almost exactly ten years after Brianna disappeared, so did her cousin, Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn Marie Denison was born on August 7, 1998, following an older sister named Rachel and later joined by a younger brother named Nimbus. Only about a year apart, the sisters were Irish twins, and they were the best of friends. I mean, they relied on each other heavily

for emotional support throughout their childhoods as their mother basically struggled with alcoholism and their dad worked very long hours. Rachel describes her sister as happy, vibrant, artistic, and sensitive, but most of all, kind. Kaitlyn never met a stranger and would go out of her way to help others and make everyone feel comfortable. In 2017, while 19 year old Caitlin was living in Reno, she met and started seeing a new man, unbeknownst to most of her family and her friends.

She didn't share many of any details about her new boyfriend, but Rachel remembers that shortly before she disappeared, Caitlin found out she was pregnant. In January of 2018, Caitlin texted her sister Rachel around 2am that she was going to a mutual friend's house to pick up some belongings. Rachel was staying the night at her boyfriend's house so the two hadn't seen each other. Then, Caitlin notified Rachel that she was heading to Texas with this mysterious man.

So now she was gonna go to somebody's house to get some belongings, and now her and her boyfriend who nobody knows are going to the state of Texas together from the state of Nevada. Randomly. So Rachel asked that Caitlin share her location on her phone, which she did. Then, Caitlin said that she would call Rachel at 2pm the next day, and insisted that she

pick up and also ask that Rachel keep her trip to Texas a secret. Rachel was extremely alarmed by this, and she knew that she needed to talk to Caitlin to get to the bottom of her sister's sudden departure. And yeah, I mean, it's so suspicious and bizarre that Caitlyn is saying, I'm gonna call you tomorrow at two, please make sure that you pick up. And she's not explaining why she's going there, and she has to answer at this particular time. Like, that must have been really scary for Rachel to hear and just not have any of the

answer she needs. Yeah, a lot of sketchiness going on here. Yeah, so Rachel had worked the next day when Caitlin was supposed to be calling. So what she did was she texted Caitlin on her lunch break to see if she was available earlier, but Caitlin never responded. The following day, Caitlin finally texted Rachel back, confirming that she did in fact fly to Texas with this mystery man. So Caitlin briefly left him alone and called Rachel from a Walmart on Briarwood Drive in

Midland, Texas. She wouldn't tell her sister Rachel where she was going or what she was doing and would only say that she was going or what she was doing and would only say that she was afraid. In Rachel's words, Caitlyn had said, quote, he's mad that I won't let him lay a hand on me. This guy makes me scared for my life. She also called him a whack job, saying that he was being forceful, touching her inappropriately, and that she even had to pull a knife on him

at one point just to get him to stay away from her. Which is so interesting, the fact that she willingly, as far as we know, willingly went to Texas with this guy, but she's calling her sister saying, I had to hold a knife to this guy's throat because he's trying to assault me. Well, with that, I think we can probably assume that it was at least in a big way against her will to go, because even though she did go, who knows what this guy said or did to get her to come with him? And we also don't know that she did in fact fly.

It's possible that she could have been abducted and they drove. Yeah, and that, you know, she's saying what she can. Obviously, she's not even saying this man's name. So clearly, she is unable to give all the details that she wants to give anyway. So this is like a totally fishy and scary situation. So Caitlin then cut the call short

because apparently she saw the man approaching her. The following day, Rachel wasn't hearing back from Caitlin, so she went to the police. Caitlin was last seen with this man who was a truck driver in Midland, Texas on January 10, 2018, which is just 10 days shy of exactly 10 years since her cousin Brianna was murdered. Witnesses placed Caitlin at a strip club called Rick's Cabaret in Odessa, Texas as well as the

Walmart that she called Rachel from. After Rachel reported her sister missing, police were able to apprehend the truck driver and his mother in Texas. Now according to Rachel, he was in the Midland Odessa area for work and had been living in a trailer within an RV campground or a trailer park. The police said the truck driver claimed that Caitlin had flown to Texas looking for work as an exotic dancer, but had been having trouble because she had some self-harm scarring on her arms and legs. And according to the truck driver as well, Kaylen had been staying with him and his mom in Midland, but one night while he was asleep, she left without a word.

And he claimed that he hasn't seen her since. A few months later, a woman reported having seen Caitlin and had apparently given her a ride to her boyfriend's work. When police attempted to track the truck driver down to question him again, he was nowhere to be found. And police have refused to divulge this man's name to the public or to Caitlin's family. In mid-August of 2018, a strange development in the case came when a young woman showed up on a family's front porch frantically ringing the doorbell in the middle of the night.

The woman clad only in a t-shirt and with what looked like restraints hanging from her wrists, had been running through the sunrise ranch neighborhood of Houston, Texas, in the dead of the night, ringing doorbells until somebody answered. When rumors swirled that the woman had been held captive, Caitlin's name arose as a potential identification, but police quickly confirmed that this was not true. Houston police would not release her name as

they believe that she was a victim of domestic violence. On the night that she ran out to get help, her boyfriend took his own life with a gun. Right, so you can imagine she's somehow then able to escape and try to get help from people in the area. And we will post screen grabs from the video so you can kind of see why people thought it was Caitlyn. I mean, I don't think they look very similar, but the footage is in black and white and, you know, it's hard to tell right away for sure.

So I get why people are thinking of Caitlyn and, you know, it's always good for her name to come up anyway. Definitely agree. So Rachel feels that Caitlyn's case has suffered some setbacks as far as visibility goes due to the fact that she was an exotic dancer because she had piercings and also because she had suffered from mental health issues in the past. Which should not mean anything in a case like this. No, not at all.

In one post about her sister, Rachel even wrote a disclaimer that said quote, as you can see, she has nose and lip piercings. Do not judge her by her looks. She is a beautiful loving person. Be kind and sensitive. Please spread her pictures and her story. You never know what could help. Rachel says that her sister's case

wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been and that police have been quick to withhold information from her family and friends back in Nevada. It's now been five years since her sister, Caitlin, disappeared. But thankfully, a new officer was recently assigned to the case, and she has every hope that it will reach a conclusion. According to Officer Jenny Alonzo, she says, quote, we're kind of running down the electronic side of things to see if we can find a digital

footprint of what happened to Caitlin. The case came back to light in November of 2021 because a YouTuber had put her case online, and so it came back to our knowledge that she was still missing. I took on the case and believe that there were other avenues of approach that we hadn't done back in 2018 that we can do follow-ups on. So basically what she's talking about is in November of 2021, True Crime, YouTuber and podcaster Kendall Ray, who were sure many of you follow, posted a rundown of the case featuring interviews with Rachel herself and one of their best friends,

Emily Watson, who is also aiding in the search. And this video is credited with getting the case taken more seriously, which is so awesome. Yeah, we love to see that happen. And by the way, if you do want to consume some of Kendall Rae's content, she also has a podcast called Myel Hires to go check that out She does now Rachel was thrilled at this development saying quote

I am just really thankful that we are finally able to communicate with someone who wants to listen to us and Keep us in the loop and do everything they can and are still willing to retrace steps that we thought were missed and are still willing to retray steps that we thought were missed. For now, Rachel and Emily are fielding most of the efforts to find their beloved Kaitlyn. According to Rachel, their mother is no longer in their lives, and their father is also aiding in the investigation, but he prefers to stay behind the scenes. Rachel runs a Facebook group called Find Kaitlyn Denison for updates and more information. There's also a go fund me raising money to hire a private investigator for Rachel to travel to Texas to meet with investigators

and for advertising for a bigger media presence to get the word out about Caitlin's case. When she disappeared, Caitlin is believed to have been wearing a black shirt, black leggings with braids down the side, under a fur vest and furry boots. She has multiple tattoos including the letter M and a small alien on the ring finger of her right hand, as well as a Libra scale on her wrist and an eye of Horace. She has multiple piercings including her nose, lip, tongue, and ears. Kaitlyn is 5'4", tall, weighs about 120 lbs and she has blonde hair and blue eyes. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Kaitlyn Denison, please call offers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS.

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. Thank you again to everybody who recommended both Brianna and Caitlyn's cases. Make sure that you share this episode or at least go to our pages and look at the missing posters and photos of Caitlyn and share those because her case deserves to be solved. I mean, this family has gone through so many traumatic events, and the fact that Caitlin is still out there, still missing, somebody absolutely knows something,

and that's why it's so important for you guys to share it. So please, please share this episode. Yes, and again, thank you for tuning in, and if you're looking for more episodes and you're an Apple user, if you're not, you can go to our Patreon, like we plug all the time. Yeah, that's p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com slash going west podcast.

But we are now on Apple subscription. So if you go to our page on Apple Podcast, you will see where it says you'll get two bonus episodes a month. And you have access to all 85 episodes that we've already released. Yeah, in the backlog. Yeah, you can also, when you go to our page,

you can see a photo of Heath and I for those who don't know what we look like. Somebody, one of my friends and told me the other day that I already told you Heath, but that they thought you were like a nerdy blonde Clark Kent because you come off is really nice and respectful, but he's like, he's the opposite of that.

He is a lot of tattoos. He's like, no, it doesn't look like a huge door. But yeah, go check it out and check out the Apple subscriptions. Thank you guys for doing so in advance and we'll see you in a few days. All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you