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What is going on true crime fans?
I'm your host, T and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going West.
Hello, everybody.
Hope you're doing well today.
Today's case was recommended by,
I think it's Cassie, it might be Casey,
I've never seen it spelled this way.
Either way, thank you so much.
Big shout out to David, JL and Jasper as well.
We've had this case on our list for way too long
and diving into it proved to be so much more maddening
than we thought.
Yeah, I mean, seriously, get ready to be pissed off
because this case is so frustrating.
And please don't forget to share this one
because there are still elements of this case
that desperately need attention and justice
and Kipland's family deserves that immensely.
And we have a lot to discuss today.
There is so much to talk about.
So without further ado, this is episode 505 of going west so let's get into it I'm just a little bit of a I'm just a little bit of a I'm just a little bit of a
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I'm just a little bit of a I'm just a little bit of a In May of 1995, a 15-year-old girl left class in a quiet Utah town and was never seen again. Vanishing without a trace between periods at school,
her sudden disappearance sent shockwaves through the community and sparked questions that would
linger for decades. This is the story of Kipling Davis.
Kipling Davis was born on July 1, 1979 to Tamara and Richard Davis with two older siblings,
a brother named Rory and a sister named Haley.
And then the three were later joined
by a younger sister named Carissa.
The Davises lived in Spanish Fork, Utah,
which is one of the many communities surrounding Utah Lake
and located just south of Provo
in the northern half of the state.
Carissa remembers her older sister Kiplin with glowing pride and affection, describing
her as quote, outgoing, very social, just a bright, bubbly personality.
I still have memories of us going on family trips.
Even now, I look up to her.
Kiplin's close friend Becca agreed with this and said quote, She was so kind to everyone, just a fun bubbly personality.
She loved to laugh, we would giggle for hours.
Kiplin grew up in the Mormon faith and loved attending social activities at her church,
but she was also very involved in extracurricular activities at her school.
Like for example, Kiplin loved theater and dance and was a fixture in her school's theater
department. Actually, at the time of her disappearance,
she was assisting with props for the department's upcoming production of The
Foreigner. Even though, curiously,
her missing persons report includes the detail that she was often self-conscious
about her appearance. I say curiously, because I don't know why that would be in there. Her classmates and teachers
alike remember that Kiplin was always very put together. She loved having her hair and makeup
done and she also had this like striking precocious sense of self for a 15 year old. Like her family
remembers that she was once asked if you could be anybody in the world, who would you be? And Kiplin apparently said,
I'd like to be me. I can't think of anybody I'd rather be than myself.
So reflecting on his daughter's response later, Kiplin's dad Richard said proudly, quote,
that's who Kiplin is. Though Kiplin was a normal and well-behaved
teenager, she did have some normal conflicts
with her parents, including a debate over whether or not she should be able to date.
Because Tamera and Richard had barred her from doing so before she was 16, which sadly
is an age that she would never even reach.
But to Kiplin's delight, even though she wasn't allowed to pursue anybody,
she had been garnering some interest from boys around school and had been asked out multiple
times in the months leading up to her disappearance. So, you know, it was really tough for Kiplin that
her parents had this strict rule because she felt ready to take that next step and date.
Yeah, I mean, she's in high school. I get it that, you know, her parents are trying to protect her.
But she's kind of at the age where she's where it feels like
kids are kind of starting to date.
So and I know they said 16, but obviously she can't help
if other boys are asking her out, you know?
Yeah. And if she wants to go out with these boys.
Well, on Tuesday, May 2nd, 1995, Kiplin woke up much earlier than usual at 4.30 a.m. so
that she could take her driver's education class.
A 15-year-old Spanish Fork High School sophomore, she would be receiving her driver's license
in just two months when she turned 16 on July 1st.
But, because it was so early, she wound up hitting the snooze button until around 5am,
when her dad finally came in to make sure she was awake.
Groggy and now running kinda behind, Kiplun pleaded with her dad to be allowed to just
miss one class, but he declined.
Richard remembers Kiplun saying that she was frustrated that she wouldn't have time to
do her makeup before this class,
but Richard maintained that she needed to follow through with her commitment so that she could get her license that summer.
And obviously, since this was the beginning of May, Kipline and her peers were so ready for summer that was, you know, mere weeks away,
so waking up early probably felt like it was kind of getting harder and harder as the days went on
But following her dad's orders Kipling got ready quickly and when her mom drove her to school
She noticed that she was crying
But just kind of assumed that she was tired and frustrated by the disagreement with her dad Richard
though she reportedly did not ask about this and
Devastatingly this would be the last
time that she would ever see her daughter. Because Kiplin attended her
driver's ed class, and then she headed to school afterward as usual. But when
Richard arrived home for the day hours later at 3 30 p.m., he was confused to
hear a voicemail from Kiplin's, informing them that she hadn't shown up for her fourth period class,
or any of her classes after lunch.
Richard's concern set in immediately,
just knowing that Kiplen was not the type of person that would skip out on school,
especially considering that she had already been there and she had attended her morning classes.
So, where had she gone after lunch and why?
And what made matters more concerning
is that Hipplyn wasn't home
and she hadn't called home to leave a message
letting her parents know where she was.
And she really had no reason not to
because the Davis family had cell phones, like even in 1995.
So if she had gotten into trouble somehow or needed a ride,
she could have easily contacted her parents. But like you're saying,
there was no phone calls and nobody had heard from her.
So really all Tamara and Richard could do was wait with this
increasing sense of panic for Kipling to get home,
or at least finally call them to let them know where she was.
But around 5 PM, when she hadn't done
either of these things, they started to call around to her friends just in hopes
of, you know, gleaning what had happened at lunch, if anybody had seen her, if she
was at a friend's house hanging out. But strangely, no one had any information to
offer the Davises. So her parents headed to Spanish Fork High to
look for themselves and here's what they found. All of Kiplen's belongings
including her makeup which we know she loved were left behind in her locker at
school which was another surefire sign that something wasn't right like it's as
if she dropped all of her things there and then vanished, but why would she, if she
was going somewhere, why wouldn't she take her stuff?
So also, somehow, no one at school had seen Kipling and neither had anybody at her church.
The really interesting thing here is that if she did leave all those things behind in
her locker, it kind of feels clear to me that she was going somewhere during lunchtime
and that she was going to come back to school.
She had planned on going back to school and finishing up her day.
Yeah, it would make sense to leave all that stuff in her locker.
If she's like, oh, I'm going to go off campus for lunch and I don't want to lug
all my stuff, right.
But then she just didn't come back.
And I do want to add that Spanish Fork High School right now in 2025 has about
1,500 students, so roughly 400-ish per grade.
But it couldn't find the population back in 1995.
But that year, the city itself of Spanish Fork had only 15,000 residents,
and now it has 45,000.
So the population has increased a ton, meaning that the school's population
was most certainly not as high as 1,500 back then.
But it doesn't seem like it was necessarily so small
that Kiplin couldn't have gone by unnoticed.
You know, I mean, this was a little bit bigger
than the town you grew up in, Heath.
And did you feel like there was a lot of kids
at your school?
No, not really.
I feel like there was a lot of kids at your school? No, not really. I feel like there was probably maybe 80 per grade or maybe 90 per grade.
Oh my god, I think I had like 600 per grade.
Yeah, so there was not a ton.
Well, either way, she clearly had gone unnoticed whether there was enough kids or not, so I don't
even know why I brought that up. But I just still found it so strange that not even her friends knew what
happened to her or said, oh yeah, she said for lunch,
she was going to go do this or we headed out to this spot.
Like it was literally nobody knew where she was. But anyway,
so after looking around the school and questioning various people,
around 7 PM,
her parents called the police to report their 15 year old daughter missing.
But as police often do when it comes to teenagers,
disappointingly the Spanish Fork Police Department downplayed her disappearance,
telling the Davis family that she was likely a runaway.
Still police did issue a be on the lookout or a BOLA, which I mean, I can't even imagine how much that would have frustrated them because they tried so many avenues before even going to the police.
Right, but the police basically just kind of assured her parents that like, hey, you know, I know you guys are freaking out right now, but she's probably going to be home soon.
Which is like no comfort at all. They're like, okay, well, she's been missing all day and we don't know where she is, so we're not just gonna like, carry on as normal.
Yeah, that's never any comfort.
So they really just refused to stop there.
Her family just took matters into their own hands again that very night, printing out
hundreds of flyers and posting them around the city of Spanish Fork, just hoping to spread
awareness with her information and picture,
not wasting any time, which I really commend them for,
because I feel like maybe other people would say,
oh, I mean, I'm not gonna do that.
That feels so dramatic to put up missing posters on day one,
but this is how weird it was that she was MIA.
But also her dad just had this sinking suspicion, actually,
as of that day, that Kiplin was dead
and he couldn't stop crying.
He couldn't really explain why he was feeling this way.
Maybe he was just so afraid that his mind was coming up with the worst possible scenario,
but that's part of why they were looking because they both just felt like something was very,
very wrong.
So as her family continued to spread the word that evening,
they finally spoke to someone who had some information of note to offer them.
This is really like the first big tip that led them down one particular rabbit
hole. Her mom,
Tamara spoke with Kiplen's friend Eli who claimed that he had last seen her at
lunch that day,
where she had been practicing a dance with a fellow member of the theater department,
a teen named Chris Jepson.
Now according to Eli, it seemed like Kiplin was enamored with him as they danced together,
like maybe she had a little bit of a crush on Chris.
So desperate for more leads, Tamara and Richard poured over Kipline's journals and noticed Chris's name mentioned
multiple times and
Eli actually said that he last saw Kipline leaving school with Chris Jepson though. He couldn't be sure where the pair was going
Now Chris was on the stage crew for the upcoming play and was working the lights, and Kipline
was working backstage as well, so they spent a whole lot of time together.
In one journal entry, she mentioned that she had hugged and even kissed Chris, despite
her family's wishes that she hold off on starting to date until she was, you know, 16.
But teens obviously will be teens, and like Daphne said, she felt like she was ready and
she was so close to turning 16. So with this information, Kiplen's parents went to Chris's
home in hopes of getting more information from him, since at this point it seems like he was the
very last person to see Kiplen. Which is why it's also a little bit odd that in this town of 15,000 people, he hadn't
already reported to them, like assuming he already knew that she was missing.
Word was very much spreading, and he's the last person to see her.
At least he did spend time with her.
He left campus with her.
This is huge.
Yeah, I mean, if you want to clear your name, just come forward and tell people what you
know.
Well, Chris's sister, when the Davises actually went to his house, she answered the door and
claimed that she was the only one home at the time, and that Chris wasn't there.
But she was also able to explain that Chris had attended a full day of school as usual,
and then stayed late after school to run the lights for the rehearsal, which was where he could be found, even so late that night.
So, Richard returned to the school between 10 and 10.30 PM,
but as you can imagine, the school was desolate,
and Richard didn't believe that many people, if anybody at all, were still inside.
So, Kipland's parents continued to circle Spanish Fork late into the evening,
just hoping for any answers. Around 1am, with still no signs of Chris either, they decided
to cruise past Chris' house yet again, wondering if maybe they would see him. And they didn't,
but they did notice the light on in what they presumed was his bedroom.
There was also a truck parked out front that hadn't been there hours before, and this truck
belonged to 18-year-old David Rucker-Leafson, who went by his middle name Rucker, and he
was a classmate and friend of Chris'.
So Richard found this exceedingly suspicious that the boys seemed to be hanging out and
they were awake so late into the night, again, it's 1am, on a school night.
But not wanting to disturb Chris' parents and siblings, who are likely asleep at this
point, Richard decided to wait until the morning and try to talk to him again then.
In an interview years later, Richard explained, quote,
It's one of those values that you hold, that you don't disturb people after 10 o'clock
at night.
That's their private time.
They could be in bed.
And I thought, I better not knock.
And he later defended this decision by saying, quote,
We were the ones doing the investigation.
The police weren't.
And we're amateurs.
We don't know what we're doing.
We've never had a daughter missing before,
so we don't know the procedures that you go through.
Yeah, I hope he didn't get any flack for that,
because again, like he's saying,
he was the one doing this just with his wife and his family.
I don't think anybody's coming down on Richard.
I mean, to be honest with you, he did the right thing.
Well, also, he had no idea what the hell happened. All he knew was that Chris was at lunch with her,
but he's not assuming that Chris did something necessarily.
Yeah, and his daughter's fucking missing. So, you know, if anybody judges him for that,
cut him some slack.
Well, let's talk a little bit more about this circle of boys.
Rucker's reputation at the high school was pretty mixed. Like according to some of his peers, he could be a bit of a bully and enjoyed parking his
oversized pickup truck in the student parking lot and showing it off or like intimidating
the other students.
But on the other hand, Rucker was a theater devotee with many friends in the program,
including Kiplin and Chris.
Rucker's family and the Davis family actually used to go to the same church
and Richard, who owns and operated a construction company, did some remodeling
for Rucker's family stairs and remembers Kiplin and Rucker getting along very
well while he was working on the home. So the families did know each other. He
wasn't some random kid like we've said many times throughout this episode, this is a pretty small city.
So they were, the Davises, were familiar with Rucker's family.
Now, the morning after Kiplin disappeared, Wednesday, May 3rd, 1995,
Kiplin's parents continued to push for assistance from the police,
and they managed to enlist the help of the police department
school resource officer Morgan Warner.
So this guy is just kind of like a liaison school officer.
Which is just like, this is so messed up.
This is the next day and the actual police are still not helping.
So they do have a little bit of help.
But remember, this is not the actual police. But I will say Morgan
had been left a voicemail by Kiplen's parents begging him for assistance. So finally that
next day Morgan addressed Kiplen's disappearance with every single class in Spanish Fork High.
And according to Morgan, he was suspicious of Chris from the jump. Chris was this apathetic student with frequent absences who didn't seem to care about his presence there.
So again, Morgan is very suspicious of him.
He pulls Chris out of his social studies class that day to speak with him further.
And he admitted just like Eli said that he had been dancing with Kipling during their lunch break the day prior.
So he's not hiding that that was true. He's saying, yeah, we were dancing,
we were practicing. I did see her at lunch. But here's the thing. Chris maintained that he
did return to class after lunch to finish out his afternoon like usual, and that he stayed after
school for rehearsal and had not seen Kiplin since. And he explained that he had been in the auditorium until around 11 o'clock that night, which
means that he would have been there when the Davises went back to the school at 10pm.
He said he had help from Rucker, whom Richard later spotted at his house, as well as another
fellow student named Timmy Olson.
And because Richard had just visited the school and had not actually gone inside the auditorium,
there was no way to be sure that there had been no one left inside.
And specifically inside this auditorium.
So we don't know if he was telling the truth or not.
Well Rucker and Timmy claimed that they arrived back at school between 7 and 8 PM to meet
up with Chris, where the three boys then threw the football around the auditorium and then left school around 11 p.m.
And because they all seemed to be in cahoots and all together throughout that afternoon and evening,
the police department's school resource officer, again Morgan, actually suspected the boys'
involvement in Kipland's disappearance and presumed that Chris, if not all three of them,
were lying.
But he was unable to prove it, so he was forced to drop it for the time being.
Cause also, there was another teen boy who fellow students pointed to.
Brandon Myers, who reportedly had a crush on Kiplin, and had even asked her out shortly
before she went missing.
Kiplin apparently reciprocated the feelings because she had said yes to this date.
Brandon had asked her if she was free that coming Friday, remember, she vanished on Tuesday,
and they agreed that they would have their first date then, despite her being two months shy of
her 16th birthday. But it did turn out that this was kind of a moot point, because Brandon rescinded his
offer that Monday, just the day before her disappearance, saying that he had already
been seeing somebody, and that things were kind of getting a bit more serious.
So it kind of seems like maybe this other girl found out about him seeing someone else,
and made him cancel his date with Kiplin.
Well according to Brandon, he remained at school for the rest of the day after she went
missing.
None the wiser that something was amiss with her, but when investigators double-checked
his school records, it turned out that he too had missed the rest of his classes after
fourth period just like Kiplin.
And he even suspiciously asked the other girl
that he'd been seeing if she could gain access
to the attendance office and change his record for him,
but she told him that she couldn't.
So Brandon told investigators that he felt guilty
about canceling their date and said that he stopped in
on his fourth period class very briefly
and then left to go find Kipling in order to apologize to her which is kind
of weird to me because he canceled the date the day prior so why he during
fourth period was suddenly like the next day was suddenly like oh man I feel bad
about Kipling I'm gonna go find her even though she's what should have been in
class right now too it just doesn't really make sense.
Yeah, it really feels like convenient timing, you know? Like also just the fact that he
was like, hey, can you make sure that like the school doesn't know that I miss my classes?
Can you change those records? Like, I don't know, a little bit suspicious.
I do get why he would want her to do it because of course he doesn't want that to be on his
school record, you know, maybe separate from Kiplen's disappearance, but it definitely
feels like a weird day to do that.
So basically on top of this, Brandon said that when he couldn't find her that he decided
to blow off the rest of classes for the day, which is just also kind of weird that he was like,
okay, now I'm just, well, I'm already at a class,
I better just screw off the rest of the day.
And then he said that he got a flat tire on his way home
and that he had to call his friend to come out and help him.
But when police tracked down this friend,
he was really confused because he said
that Brandon's account was not true,
that he didn't help him that day with his flat tire.
So obviously this is super fishy, but without any other indications that Brandon was involved
in whatever happened to Kiplin, they weren't getting any valuable information from him.
So even though it was weird that he also missed half of his classes that day,
that he says he specifically went looking for Kiplin during the first class of
the day that she missed, he lied about the flat tire.
He continued to maintain his innocence despite being caught in a bold lie.
But interestingly,
Morgan Warner claimed that he actually did not suspect Brandon's involvement
because despite confusing some details, which could possibly have been an honest mistake,
his story hadn't changed.
And obviously it was pretty clear that something really did happen to Kiplin as the months
passed with no sign or word from her.
By August, so three months later, the FBI teamed up with the local police force to aid
in the investigation into Kiplin's disappearance.
But frustratingly, with no information from the three teenage boys believed to have been
the last people to see her, the case stalled indefinitely.
And then, about a year after she went missing, Chris Jepson randomly stopped by the Davises
house to speak with Richard.
And it was really weird, because without claiming responsibility or just offering up any new
information, Chris simply said that he was sorry that Kipland disappeared, and wanted
to reassure her parents that he had nothing to do with it.
But this check-in had the opposite of what was likely Chris's desired effect, because
why the hell would he do this?
Tamera and Richard felt that his unprompted visit reeked of guilt, and couldn't figure
out the purpose of why he was there.
Chris, who was also Mormon, was headed out on his mission soon, and they kind of felt
like maybe he wanted to alleviate his guilt before he left.
Strangely though, he also admitted to and apologized for once being mean to Kiplin,
telling her parents that he had handcuffed her to a staircase at school with a pair of
prop handcuffs from the theater department.
In a subsequent interview with the FBI, he said reluctantly, quote,
I was an ass in high school.
I felt guilty for the way that I had talked to Kiplin.
It affected me so bad.
Which maybe is true, maybe knowing she's missing and that likely something horrible happened
to her, he was reflecting on his behavior in general, but this just feels so weird.
It is really weird.
And also, you know, it could be that they were playing around and he was pulling a prank
on Kipline at school because they were both in the theater department.
But it is very strange to do that.
And that he's just showing up on their doorstep a year later, almost like he's ready to confess,
but he's not confessing anything other than, oh yeah, I was a jerk in the past, like, okay?
Yeah, what do you want me to tell you?
Well, Richard rejected this supposed thoughtful drop-in,
and even told Chris that he still suspected that he was involved.
I love that he did that.
Yeah, he's like, I don't fucking believe you.
And when the Davises told police about this, they found it odd as well.
So, they again grilled the boys, suspecting that they knew more than they were telling.
But Chris, Rucker, and Timmy were so adamant that they weren't involved
that they actually offered to undergo polygraph tests.
Detectives spoke with Chris first, and to their surprise, he actually passed.
with Chris first, and to their surprise, he actually passed. And for reasons unknown to the police, Timmy began to offer up more information, unprovoked
by detectives.
Like during the written portion of the polygraph, he admitted to seeing Kiplin outside of school
on the day that she disappeared.
Then, in a stunning admission,
he explained that he and Rucker had taken Kiplin
to Spanish Fort Canyon in Rucker's truck
during what was supposed to be their fourth period,
which neither he nor Rucker
had ever told police before this.
Which is huge.
That's insane.
Like, finally you drop this bombshell a year later
and you're like, yeah, we took her to this canyon
Why didn't you say that before? Well, here's what Timmy explained
He said that he watched as Kiplin and Rucker
walked away from the truck and over the ridge of the canyon and out of sight and guess what?
Rucker apparently returned to the truck without Kiplin.
And when Timmy asked what had happened, Rucker just told him not to worry about it.
And then the boys left without her.
So as you can imagine, investigators were just astounded that Timmy had willingly offered
up this information.
But it's also really weird because he's saying, yes, we did see her after what we had originally said,
and we took her to this spot, and then we left her there.
So he's still not placing direct blame on them.
He's saying, oh yeah, we saw her, we took her here,
and then we left, and if something bad happened,
it still wasn't our fault.
But that doesn't even feel true.
It feels like there has to be even more to the story.
Well, here's the thing. When he was asked for more information,
he just panicked and crinkled up the paper that he had written his statement on,
demanding a lawyer, before excusing himself from the interrogation room.
So basically, he just like kind of freaked out after telling him this,
the police, this little bit of information, but it was a huge bombshell.
He couldn't take it back. Yeah, cause now probably like oh shit what have i done what have i done
which is the only reason you would crinkle that paper up and leave willingly like that
so police's minds are just blown at this point and they strongly suspected he and rucker's
involvement in kiplins disappearance and likely death even more than they did before, but they were unable to detain him as of yet.
So, Halle spoke to the third member of their crew,
Rucker, finally, for his examination.
Now, Rucker shockingly also passed his polygraph,
just like Chris had,
which suddenly kind of called into question
Timmy's account of things,
because it's like Chris and Rucker passed on paper, according to the test, it doesn't seem like they are being deceptive.
Like they're lying about not being involved in Kipland's disappearance. And then here's Timmy like freaking out. Obviously, we've talked about polygraph tests a lot on this show.
They can be very faulty, so this doesn't really mean a whole lot to me, because it does seem
like all three of them were involved.
Like they all know what's going on, but at the very least, police now know that they
need to pay extra close attention to Timmy.
Now during the summer of 1996, so the summer after the polygraphs and over a year after
Kiplin went missing, police continued to work on their case against the boys.
Meanwhile, Chris, Rucker, and some friends one night gathered for a movie night.
And there, Rucker reportedly raped a young female attendee and later lied about it, leading
to one of many counts of perjury that we will very much get into.
The following summer in 1997, Rucker and Timmy became engaged in a very public shouting match
on Spanish Forks Main Street.
Rucker had apparently had enough of the rumors that Timmy was spreading around town that Rucker alone
was responsible for Kiplen's disappearance.
Which is so weird to me that Timmy is going around saying this because we know, like Timmy is really sus.
Like we know that he's got something in his mind that he's not sharing.
And so it's like, just shut up.
I think, yeah, I think all of these boys are sus, yeah Timmy you got a big mouth bro. Yeah for sure but it's so it's
almost like well maybe your mouth is so big and wide like maybe maybe this is all
maybe he's saying all this because he is desperate to take the the attention off
himself for it. Yeah he's trying to point a finger in a different direction.
Exactly which is as we, many guilty people do.
Well, according to later court documents, Rucker was yelling at the top of his lungs
during this incident and even said that if there were no other cars on Main Street, he
would kill Timmy on the spot, threatening to retrieve a gun to do so.
Rucker apparently also told multiple friends and acquaintances that he had committed what
he called the ultimate crime, but offered no other context.
So frustrated, feeling like they knew who was involved in Kipland's presumed murder,
the Spanish Fork Police Department
were locked in a waiting game with the three men
that they felt sure had committed the crime against her. Now, as police worked hard to find the culprit or culprits, in order to put the painful ordeal
behind them and focus on memorializing Kiplin, her family made the very difficult decision
to have her legally declared dead.
So four years after her disappearance, her friends and family held a touching memorial
service and erected a grave marker with her name and picture in their local Spanish Fork
City Cemetery, which they hoped to eventually use to host Kipland's remains whenever they
should be found. Her father Richard hoped that the impending anniversary would spark
a renewed effort in Kiplin's case,
and he pleaded with the public and those who may know something around town, including the parents and families of those believed to be involved.
Richard said in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune,
quote, If it were their daughter, what would they want the parents to do?
I would try to make it right. Meanwhile, police continued to do what they could
without a confession or any forensic evidence.
Godavar dogs were paraded through Spanish Fork Canyon
and detectives scoured the ground,
both on and off the trails,
but they never came across any sign of Kiplin or her remains.
Yeah, so they're checking the area
that Timmy was talking about,
the area he said that they were with her at. But they so they're checking the area that Timmy was talking about, the area he said that they
were with her at and-
But they just couldn't find anything.
Yeah, she's not there.
There's no sign of her belongings or anything else.
Well, in 2003, bolstered by what was essentially a written accusation from Timmy Olson, a grand
jury investigation began.
Hundreds of people were subpoenaed to testify, including classmates,
family members, and friends of the three boys central to this investigation.
Over the next two years, leading into the 10-year anniversary of Kipland's disappearance,
the grand jury heard everything, from conjecture to timelines and damning evidence,
which was all new. I mean, it was shocking
how much their students and peers had concealed over the years. And actually, one woman claimed
that she saw Rucker threaten Timmy in the aftermath of the written account that he had
given years prior, explaining that Rucker gave him strict instructions not to bring
up his name in the investigation again.
And then Chris's ex-wife, whom he of course married years after Kipline went missing,
also came forward with an incriminating piece of information.
And she remembered that they had been watching the Mike Myers cult classic So I Married an
Axe Murderer, love that movie, when she playfully asked him quote,
What's the worst thing that you've ever done and Chris's response like a dumbass was what if I told you I killed Hipland
Davis now obviously his wife was completely stunned by this but Chris
immediately walked back his statement and just said that oh I was I was
kidding about that hey why would you joke about that be B, what a scary-ass thing to say,
like I just don't see why that would come to your mind to even jest about if you weren't
involved. This is years later, you're just watching a movie with your wife. Yeah, and
it's not even like, even if he wasn't anywhere close to this investigation and he said that,
I'd still think it's fucking weird.
But the fact that you are literally like a person of fucking interest in this case
and you're saying it, that's even more weird.
It's almost like he's desperate to get it off his chest.
Oh, finally an opportunity. I can bring it up again. Yeah. What? It's so odd.
And a lot of people do that.
They joke when they're really just trying to like kind of out themselves for something. Yeah, he's like testing the waters.
Well, another account came out that when Kiplen's case had come up in discussion at a party years
prior, Timmy actually admitted that he knew exactly where her body was and that he had
killed her along with the help of two others, presumably Rucker and Chris.
Timmy apparently even added that she had gotten what she deserved.
But he was found to have made many shocking statements,
which came tumbling forward at the inquest of the grand jury.
And over the years, witnesses compiled so many others.
Like once, he apparently bragged to friends saying quote
I know that fucking bitch. I killed her
Another time he apparently said I took her I beat her killed her and disposed of her body
Wow, there's a lot of people coming. I know this is a lot like you're telling a lot of people big mouth Timmy
Big mouth Timmy big ass mouth Timmy. Big ass mouth.
But I mean, really, if that many people are coming forward, it's like, are this
many people lying and making up quotes to the police?
I don't know.
I don't think they would.
Well, he also once apparently called a friend and asked to stay at the friend's
house because the FBI was descending upon him knowing that Timmy had killed her.
He allegedly said, quote, I did it, I did it.
I raped and killed Kipling Davis.
Timmy later addressed a group of people at a gathering
and referring to his cohort said, quote,
we all know who did it.
We all did it.
I mean, again, this is a lot of quotes.
Big mouth Timmy.
A local woman also claimed mouth Timmy a local woman
also claimed that Timmy admitted to her that he was involved this guy just can't
shut his fucking mouth like funny now what is going on Tim I mean this is
horrible but dude really um he also told her that they had buried Kipling in the
sand and told her almost with like a hint of remorse, as if he really
has any, come on, quote, it was an accident.
We didn't mean to.
She's cold.
She's alone.
She's up in the train tunnels and they need to go get her.
And sadly, as the jurors would learn, it wasn't just Kiplin who had fallen prey to Timmy's
poor treatment of women.
So Timmy had been married twice by the time he was in his late 20s, and both of his wives
claimed that he had been physical with them.
The grand jury also revealed that Timmy had once gotten into an altercation with a woman
about what had happened to Kiplin, and had eventually punched her in the stomach, shoved her into a wall,
forced her into his vehicle, driven her up to Spanish Fork Canyon, you remember that place,
and raped her, which was eerily similar to what is believed to have happened to Kipling on the day she disappeared.
I mean, this is pretty much the same exact thing.
Yeah. He also once came on to another woman, and when she she turned him down He hit her in the head with a flashlight
Okay, so not only is Timmy a big mouth, but he's also a big piece of shit. Yeah, I mean he's super abusive
There's so many examples of him
Confessing and hurting women so ultimately it seemed as if Timmy had pointed the finger at Rucker all those years ago to alleviate blame from himself, like we said.
And Rucker and Chris had passed their polygraph test because maybe they had not actually been the ones to kill Kipling.
They had just helped Timmy cover it up.
And honestly, I feel like that is what happened here personally. I just have a feeling that this was sexually motivated and that Kipling was killed for either
Like attempting to reject him or them or to cover up the crime of rape
Yeah, either way. I believe that all three were involved as to who actually
Killed Kipling. Maybe it was one of them. Maybe it was two of them
Maybe it was one of them. Maybe it was two of them. Maybe it was all of them But I don't think any of them are fully innocent and neither does the law as we're gonna get into right now go for it
Exactly because Chris Rucker and Timmy were all charged with lying to law enforcement
Timmy was found guilty of 15 counts of perjury and was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison
Chris was sentenced to five years and Rucker was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Chris was sentenced to five years, and Rucker was sentenced to four.
And guess what, y'all?
Chris and Timmy were also charged with first degree murder.
In May of 2009, Chris was found guilty of obstruction of justice and pleaded no contest.
In February of 2011, Timmy somewhat accepted responsibility
claiming that he witnessed Kiplans murder, though he wouldn't say who had
actually carried it out. God, like enough of this nonsense already, just say what
happened. I know, it's like we know that you guys were involved, somebody just
tell the truth. Because this whole time, I mean all of them, but really especially
Timmy is like, I don't know anything. Okay, here's what happened. I don't know anything. Okay, here's what happened.
But you're not actually explaining it all. So just like, geez, just stop. I know and give the family
a break. Like, don't be such an asshole. You're already going to prison. Just tell them what
happened. It's horrible. Especially because Timmy said that Kiplen had been knocked down and then hit with a rock
Later the three boys returned removing her body and placing it in another location where her body remains today
But of course Timmy refused to divulge where this was
Probably because it would officially prove that he was the ringleader of this crime
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges and received a 15-year sentence to be served
concurrently with his perjury charges.
But amid the flurry of arrests and appalling information that was coming to light, the
only thing that Kipland's family truly cared about was bringing her home.
And they weren't being given that small semblance of peace.
Yeah, like according to Richard, he pleaded with the central figures in his daughter's
disappearance, saying quote, I just asked him, please, Tim, just tell me where she is.
I'll be your biggest advocate if you will.
I'll help you in any way I can.
All I want to do is just bring her home.
Just tell me where she is."
And he didn't.
And it's so sad because Richard should not be having to offer grace to this horrible
piece of shit who is saying he knows what happened.
I mean, like you just said, Timmy said that Kipling was hit with a rock and that they
moved her body.
Okay, so where is she?
And he won't tell him.
I mean it's just so frustrating like, you know, Richard, like we said, you know, the
only thing he really wants is just to be able to bury his daughter and, you know, and do
a memorial for her and this guy just, he's so, he's so egotistical that he just can't
give that last little bit of information.
And police give favors to people all the time.
I am sure that he could cut a deal with police if he gave up the location of her remains.
I am sure that they would happily do something for him if he would just do that because they
want that so bad.
But Timmy has refused to reveal where Kiplen's body is concealed to this day to which
Richard added quote, what about the sleepless nights my family has gone through about where
Kiplen's body is? Why can't Tim just show us and bring us peace to our family? All our family wants
is to bring Kiplen home to bury her in a proper place. But through his lawyer, Timmy countered quote, I've done everything I can.
I take responsibility.
There's nothing else I can do.
There's nothing else I can provide that would change the situation.
Yeah, there really is Timmy.
Just show them where her body is.
That is such a frustrating thing to say of like, well, I've done all I can do.
There's nothing left.
There is a huge piece of this that you are purposefully not sharing.
Well, Richard wrote a book about the experience entitled When an Angel Leaves Your Life and
the proceeds from this book contribute to a scholarship fund.
Timmy was up for parole in 2021, but it was denied on the grounds that he had not acted in good
faith by revealing the location of Kiplen's body despite having admitted to committing the crime.
Ha ha. So that's so funny to me that like literally because he won't reveal where
Kiplen's body is, they're like, yeah, we're not going to give you parole.
Yeah. Eat shit, dude. Yeah. reveal where Kipling's body is they're like yeah we're not gonna give you parole yeah eat shit dude yeah well horrifically his projected release date
still is February 10th 2026 which is just eight months after this episode
comes out Richard maintains quote if it takes the rest of my life to find Kipling
I'll do it Kipling was about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 110 pounds when she went missing.
She had blue eyes and curly red hair.
On the day she disappeared, she was wearing dark jean shorts, a white crew neck top, and
a light blue jean vest with beige stripes on it, along with two silver rings, one of which was
shaped like a flower, and the other which was shaped like a shield bearing the letters CTR.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Kipline Davis or the
whereabouts of her remains, please call the Spanish Fork Police Department at 801-804-4500.
Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode.
Please make sure that you share this story.
I just, it's unbelievable that we know that these three
young men were involved in the disappearance of Kipling.
And to this day, they have not told the full story.
It is just so frustrating.
It's horrible.
And especially because again,
the fact that Timmy is taking
responsibility but not. It's like he's taunting the family year after year that he does not
disclose the location of her remains. It is truly so cruel. And the part of this that doesn't make
any sense is that you're already serving the time for this crime. So there is really, if you tell them where the remains are,
they already know that you committed the crime.
Just tell them, there's no reason to hold back.
He's a selfish piece of shit, you know?
Absolutely.
So what can we expect?
But we do hope, of course,
that Kipland's remains are found soon
and that her family can actually bury her
after 30 plus years.
Well, now actually we just hit the 30 year anniversary
of her disappearance.
So thank you again, everybody for listening.
Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on this.
Check out our socials.
We're on Instagram at going west podcast
and we're also on Facebook.
And real quick, before I let you guys go,
Daphne's book Night Watcher is gonna come out
on July 8th, but you can pre-order it right now.
You can get it on Amazon. Sorry guys, we're going to remind out on July 8th, but you can pre-order it right now. You can get it on Amazon.
Sorry guys, we're going to remind you of that until then, because I really think you guys
would love this book. It is a thriller fiction novel about a serial killer. And yeah, check
it out. It's called Night Watcher.
All right. So with that guys, for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. I'm just a little bit of a I'm just a little bit of a I'm just a little bit of a
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