Going West: True Crime - Laney Gwinner // 256

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host T. Dan, I'm your host Daphne, and you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. I hope everybody had a wonderful things giving, wonderful week with family hopefully and we are so sorry this episode is late. Yeah, we had some family in town from Oregon. We did some really fun things through the week and then our editor got sick. Poor guy. Yeah, poor Drew. I hope you're feeling better buddy. But yeah, today we are finally back. Can't wait to share an episode with you guys today. Oh, and speaking of, today's episode. Thank you so much to Sandra for recommending it. All right guys, this is episode 256 of Going West, so let's get into it. 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc

Starting point is 00:01:06 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc

Starting point is 00:01:22 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc In December of 1997, a 23-year-old woman went out to a bowling alley with friends to celebrate finals week and a recent promotion. But after a fun seemingly uneventful evening, she disappeared without a trace along with her car. She was missing for a whole month before her body was found during the search for someone else. This is the story of Laney Gwinnner. A Lena Jane winner, more commonly known as Laney winner, and that's what we're going to call her today, was born on March 18th, 1974, to parents John and Sandra, and she had

Starting point is 00:02:34 a brother named David. The winners resided in West Chester Township, which is a suburb just north of Cincinnati, Ohio. which is a suburb just north of Cincinnati, Ohio, and her friends and family remember her glowingly, saying her bubbly personality, big heart, and beautiful smile lit up any room she walked into. Her aunt, whose name is Patty Hall, said fondly, quote, she loved country music. She loved line dancing and she loved animals. She was known among friends for how fun she was, especially on the dance floor, and a Facebook memorial page run by a close friend of Lainey's reads, quote,

Starting point is 00:03:13 She had taken an interest in line dancing, which all but consumed her. Any Thursday through Sunday night, you could find her at the Cheyenne cattle company, owning the dance floor. Everyone around her could see and feel it, even those who didn't know her, yet. Laney made a lasting impression. Those lucky enough to have been considered a friend by Laney now have a place in their heart that will remain forever untouched. Daphne, have you ever been line dancing before? Uh, like in middle school they made us do that right? We should try it sometime. I'm down. I'm down. I don't dance much. Yeah, I know we're not like huge fans of country music, but it'd be fun.

Starting point is 00:03:56 We do anything. Yeah, we'll try anything. So by all accounts, she was a joyful young woman, a very girly girl, and a lovely and devoted friend. After graduating from Lakota High School in 1992, Laney got a jump on her career. And first, she worked for two local phone companies, Quest Communications and Telco Communications, and the two together made up more than a full-time job for sure.

Starting point is 00:04:23 So, you know, she had these two different jobs, but so like two. Well, it's her phone company. Yeah, two part-time phone company jobs that made one full-time job, essentially. And then in the evening, Laney was pursuing degrees in both business and accounting at Raymond Walters College, which is now known as the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College at night. So she was working full of Cincinnati Blue Ash College at night. So she was working full-time, going to school at night, just trying to, you know, make her dreams come true, ASAP. Situated in the southwest corner of Ohio, Cincinnati is perched along the Ohio River,

Starting point is 00:04:57 which divides the border of Ohio and Kentucky where the Midwest meets the South. Now, in December of 1997, 23-year-old Lainey seemed to be at the top of her game. She had just finished her finals for the semester, and she had done really well. She had recently gotten a promotion at work, and about six weeks prior, she had started dating a new boyfriend, Mike Hawkins,

Starting point is 00:05:20 and the two were having fun together. But on the evening of Wednesday, December 10th, Lainy went out with some friends to celebrate, dressed casually in a blue sweater, jeans, and boots. Lainy loved to shoot pool, so she wound up at Gilmore Lanez, a local favorite for bowling, pool, drinks, and also food. Now Gilmore Lanez, which is still open today, is located in Fairfield, Ohio,

Starting point is 00:05:44 about a half-hour drive north of Cincinnati. And other locals and friends hanging out that night remember that Laney was in really good spirits, and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had a couple of beers, but not so many that she couldn't have driven herself home, and shot a few games of pool. When she was getting ready to call it a night, she made two phone calls from the phone at the bowling alley.

Starting point is 00:06:08 One to a friend, letting them know that she was leaving, and the second to her boyfriend Mike, telling him that she was headed over to his house to spend the night. The strange thing here is that the timeline of the evening has been somewhat disputed, with reports claiming that Laney left the bowling alley sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. during the early morning hours of Thursday, December 11, 1997. But Laney never made it to her boyfriend's house that night, and he just kind of figured that she had maybe changed her mind and headed home to her parents' house in Westchester, where she lived with her family while she was attending school. So he's not super alarmed yet,

Starting point is 00:06:46 even though she had said, I'm leaving and I'm coming over right now, he thought, okay, something must have come up. I'm sure everything's fine. Yeah, sometimes people have a change of heart as well, not a big deal. But her parents assumed the opposite, and they actually thought that she was spending

Starting point is 00:07:01 a couple of days at Mike's house. So it seemed that there was kind of this miscommunication going on here where her parents are thinking she's at Mike's. Mike is thinking that she's at her parents and the two are not communicating, obviously. So nobody knows where she is. Yeah, and this is always really tough when this happens because we lose so many important days or so much important time, which is not anybody's fault, of course, but it is always a super unfortunate when this happens.

Starting point is 00:07:29 So the late start on the Missing Persons report, unfortunately, also meant a late start on the search for Laney. But basically, when she didn't show up for work multiple days in a row, Laney's parents, friends, and her boyfriend, Mike grew very concerned, and that's when they kind of started to compare notes and realize that nobody had seen her since she left the bowling alley early that Thursday morning. So Laney's father, John, was the one to report her missing, meanwhile, her friends and family launched a guerrilla campaign to really get the word out in the community,

Starting point is 00:08:05 including urging local news stations to broadcast the details of her disappearance. And actually, it wasn't just Lani who disappeared. Her car was missing, too. Lani's beloved sports car, which was a black 1993 Honda Civic CRZ Dell Soul 2-seater, with Ohio license plate AKP 3607, had seemingly vanished into thin air. Now of course, some wondered if she had gone with it, like maybe willingly disappearing herself. But her friends and family protested that not only

Starting point is 00:08:41 would she not have done that to them, but she had a way too much going for her at that moment in time to voluntarily run away. Yeah, I mean, she was working to jobs, she was also in school, doesn't really make sense. And somebody could argue maybe that that's why she wanted to run away because she was doing all these things. Maybe she wanted to, you know, a little change of pace, but it just, her family was like, this is like, that's not what happened here. So police were also keeping a close watch on her bank account, of course, because if she did run away willingly, she would have probably used it.

Starting point is 00:09:11 Absolutely, I mean, she must have. But her account remained untouched, so that was not a good sign. And no cash had been withdrawn, and there were also no new charges on her debit card at all. So, all signs pointed to somebody abducting her in her own car. Now, as we said, no one had seen her after she had walked out of Gilmore lanes. So it seemed as if something had transpired in the short distance between the bowling alley and her car, which was parked in the conjoining Gilmore lanes parking lot. And this was located at 5595 Dixie Highway in Fairfield,

Starting point is 00:09:48 and it sits at the intersection of South Gilmore Road and Dixie Highway. Now, directly next door, across just a small stretch of grass, acting as basically a median, is a gas station with a car wash, a convenience store and also an ATM, as well as a bowling supply shop.

Starting point is 00:10:06 Gilmore Lane's features a large parking lot surrounding the building on three sides, all except the side that's shared with the gas station. Please begin questioning those who were at Gilmore Lane's that night, which was no easy feat, of course, considering that dozens of people had been in and out of the bowling alley and parking lot on the night that Laney had disappeared. And how do you even track that down? Like this is the 90s. Like how are you going to find everybody that was in the bowling alley?

Starting point is 00:10:34 Yeah, it'd be so hard, especially somebody who does not want to be questioned, who is not going to come forward and say, I was there that night because they are her killer, you know? Exactly. So Gilmore Lane's was and still is a pretty happen in spot for locals of all ages, and the night of December 10th was no exception. According to patrons, everyone knew everyone there that night, and many of them had seen or even spoken to Laney. So while police interviewed everyone who had been there, every patron was

Starting point is 00:11:03 cooperative and helpful, and police had no reason to believe that anyone there was the culprit or involved in her disappearance in any way, which made things a lot more tricky. As it seemed that this was a parking lot abduction, and probably a completely random crime of opportunity. Many investigators believe that it was someone who happened to be at the adjacent gas station at the time that Laney was leaving, or possibly passing by on the busy Dixie highway out front spotting her from their own vehicle. Now Laney's friends and family were racked with guilt for not ensuring that she had made

Starting point is 00:11:39 it to her car safely, and subsequently made it home safely. On Saturday, December 13th, 1997, almost three full days after she had last been seen, Laney's friends and family held a vigil in the parking lot of Gilmore Lane's, just hoping to raise awareness and willing somebody who had been there that night to come forward with any new information. And to the delight of both Laney's loved ones and the investigators working on the case, tips poured in after the vigil. How cool is that that they're able to hold this vigil to find information and then all the sudden it just sparks this huge interest. Yeah, like it worked.

Starting point is 00:12:22 But I'll say unfortunately, none of them actually led to Laney's whereabouts, nor the location of her car. So at first, it seemed like it was going to be this great help and then it didn't lead them anywhere. And Frank Smith, the cold case detective who took over Laney's investigation, said quote, after 72 hours, you're losing your ground, losing the element of surprise, losing the vehicles, losing potential witnesses. But police continued their relentless questioning, interviewing hundreds of people. And in addition to everyone at Gilmore Lane's, employees and locals alike, they spoke to

Starting point is 00:13:00 her friends and family and even focused on her boyfriend Mike, giving him a polygraph test or a lie detector test. Now no one raised suspicions, which was in theory a relief that no one, you know, that she knew or loved was involved, but it also brought in the parameters of the search significantly, because remember as well, at this point they still have no idea what happened to her. They don't know if she's alive, they don't know if she's deceased, they don't know if she point, they still have no idea what happened to her. They don't know if she's alive. They don't know if she's deceased. They don't know if she's hurt.

Starting point is 00:13:28 They have no idea. Yeah, the only information they have to go on is that she went missing from that bowling alley. And her car is missing. So like that leads us with so many possibilities. So police began ramping up their efforts in the hope of just kind of jogging someone's memory. Bill Boards replaced in the area with a picture of Laney smiling in a cowboy hat, offering

Starting point is 00:13:49 a $10,000 reward for information. They searched nearby parks and wooded areas to see if her body had maybe been buried there if she was deceased, and along the Great Miami River, which bordered Fairfield, where they believed her car may have been dumped in the water. Frank Smith, the cold case detective who took over Laney's case, remembered, quote, "'We interviewed, we polygraphed, we backgrounded

Starting point is 00:14:15 so many people in this case, and we firmly believe that when she walked out of there that night, she walked out by herself and probably was grabbed before she even got into her car. Christmas and New Year's came and went with no sign of Laney, a devastating first for her friends and family. Then, on January 4, 1998, a seemingly unrelated crime set into motion a chain of events that

Starting point is 00:14:42 would further change the course of the investigation into Laney Gwynner's disappearance. Michael Parton, or Mike, was a local man who had recently begun his tenure as a police officer in Covington, Kentucky just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Now late on the evening of January 4th, in the dark, cold, dead of winter that followed the excitement of the holidays, Mike was summoned for backup to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, one of many bridges connecting Ohio and Kentucky over the Ohio River. A fellow police officer had pulled over a young man under suspicion of drunk driving,

Starting point is 00:15:23 and after being summoned from the car for further questioning, the man fled on foot into the night. Mike arrived on the scene and spotted the man running across the bridge. Mike ran after him, but lost his footing and slipped, falling from the bridge and plummeting into the frigid, harshly frozen Ohio River below. Horrified, his fellow officer called for backup immediately, and a massive search effort was launched, utilizing boats, divers, and even helicopters. But the Ohio River didn't give up its victim willingly. It was known to be murky, silty, and dark, especially in the winter when ice and snow run off raised the water levels significantly.

Starting point is 00:16:14 It was also as many as 167 feet or 51 meters deep and almost a thousand miles or over 1500 km long. At the time of his death, Mike was just 25 years old and had only been on the force for just over a year. He left behind Wife Lisa to whom he had just been married, and a young stepdaughter. The man he was chasing, Shanta Robertson, was convicted of manslaughter and put in jail. When they finally recovered his body,

Starting point is 00:16:38 Mike was buried with police honors. That's just crazy that he's just trying to follow a drunk driver and loses his footing and then dies in the, you you know in the events of it But it's seemingly yeah, it's very very sad, but it seemingly has a connection here to Laney right so so let's get into that So on January 11th 1998 while there were still desperately searching for any sign of Mike the search and rescue team noticed something that looked like a body floating in the Ohio River near Warsaw, Kentucky, approximately 65 miles or 104 kilometers from Gilmore Lane's where Laney had last been seen.

Starting point is 00:17:16 And this body floating in the river wasn't Mike, but it was actually Laney Gwynner floating in some brush near the riverbank exactly one month after she had disappeared. An autopsy was conducted the very next day, which was January 12, 1998, and Laney's body was reportedly, quote, fully closed and in good condition. Yeah, but how crazy is this that they're looking for officer Mike and they happened to stumble upon a second body? Yeah, because it's like if he had not lost his footing and fallen off that bridge, trying to chase a drunk driver, it who knows if or

Starting point is 00:17:57 when she would have been found. So this is, I mean, really is so crazy. So, you know, even though the water was obviously very, very cold this time of year, it seemed odd that her body was so well preserved given how long she had been missing, because typically within a month she probably would have been visually unrecognizable. And this led investigators and the medical examiner to believe that her body had been sheltered from the water for most of the time that she had been submerged in it, which brings us back to her car. So although there was still no sign of it, investigators believe that she had been killed inside her car, potentially even in the bowling alley parking lot, and that her murderer

Starting point is 00:18:40 had been driven her car and body into a nearby embankment of the Ohio River and dumped Lani and her car there. Now, it's hard to believe that nobody saw or heard this happening or that it happened as quickly as it seemed to have happened, but Lani's body was protected inside her car for weeks and then eventually dislodged and traveled downstream until she was spotted. It was like divine intervention for real. So there was no water in her lungs, meaning that she was already dead when she entered the water, and there was also no signs of sexual assault.

Starting point is 00:19:18 And very little signs of a struggle. Now although there were scratches found on her arms, those were ultimately ruled to be from sticks and branches that she had just come in contact with while floating in the river. There was no sign of her sweater, but she was still wearing her jeans, boots and t-shirt that she was believed to have been wearing underneath her sweater that night at the bowling alley. Her driver's license was found in her back pocket, and there was so much skepticism from

Starting point is 00:19:48 the medical examiner that an official cause of death was never announced. On January 17, 1998, the Gwynner family held a beautiful service for Lainey at the St. John Church in her hometown of Westchester, Ohio. The Justice for Elena Facebook page remembers quote, she would have been proud of the number of friends and family that came to show their respects. Now that the worst is over, we begin to look for answers. Her loved ones also held a memorial service on what would have been her 24th birthday two months later on March 18th. The following month, in April of 1998, the reward for information leading to an arrest in her case was increased to $50,000. On the one-year anniversary of

Starting point is 00:20:54 her disappearance, another memorial was held, and again, her family begged their community for information. But none came. Then Frank Smith joined the investigation, bringing with him a specialty in cold cases. Frank zeroed in on trying to find the car, believing that it would lead them directly to Laney's killer. To this day, Frank believes that the car is either in the Great Miami River or the Ohio River, and the Great Miami River actually flows into the Ohio River, so it's possible for her to have been deposited in the Great Miami River, even though the discovery of her body was made in the Ohio River.

Starting point is 00:21:36 Frank personally believes that it was initially a sexually motivated crime, that a man saw her alone and then just took advantage of the opportunity, approaching her with the intent of sexually assaulting her, but when she fought back, he got scared and probably killed her by accident, subsequently dumping her car and body to get rid of any trace of his crime. Frank speculates quote, My own personal opinion in the case of Lainey? It probably was sexual assault, but when whoever the suspect is attempted to take her, he had his hands full because she definitely was a fighter, and at that point

Starting point is 00:22:11 he couldn't complete the sexual assault, and he completed an act of homicide. One source claimed that Frank Tractown leads as far north as Chicago and as far south as Florida. In June of 2006, a home was rated believed to contain paperwork and possible evidence that may pertain to Laney's murder as well as other crimes, but the information found from that search has never been made public, nor of the findings from the supposed lead in Chicago. Frank even made the rounds to prisons in the area and questioned people who were free

Starting point is 00:22:45 at the time, but later locked up for crimes similar to this nature. Now Frank announced that the investigators heard via ongoing interviews that someone had been seeking a ride late that night from the bowling alley, and that they believe that man was ultimately responsible for Laney's death. Like either he used that as an opportunity to try to objector and possibly sexually assault her. Right, like as some sort of ruse. Yeah, or he asked her for a ride and things went wrong because he's a piece of shit.

Starting point is 00:23:19 But no other details were made public, like no names were ever associated with this claim. Comment sections and online forums are rife with speculation, by the way, of course, with every case we cover, but this in particular, for this case in particular, there's a lot of speculation that a local man who lived near the bowling alley was the culprit, claiming that Frank believed this as well, and that the man had criminal charges of sexual battery on his record. However, neither Frank nor any of the locals claiming they believed he was involved ever named this guy, and because there was no evidence left behind and no car still, he was never

Starting point is 00:24:00 identified as a person of interest. Still, desperately seeking her car as the last known link to Laney, Franken listed divers and underwater search-and-rescue teams to scan the rivers with Sonar. And despite their best efforts, the car still did not turn up, which is so insane to me. But in 2005, the remains of a black Honda were found in the Great Miami River, which he's told us about, only described as being in poor condition. Now, Frank was, of course, very hopeful that the vehicle identification number or the VIN would match Lainey's, saying, quote, there's a misconception that water destroys evidence and that's not the case always. Even though the vehicle has been uncovered for many years, it's not uncommon to retrieve evidence from one that has been submerged for so long.

Starting point is 00:24:56 But unfortunately, this car was not a match to Laney's. So there was just another Black Honda in the river. Yeah, God is scary. But Frank was relentless in his quest for justice for Lainey, claiming that this would not deter his efforts, and this is what he said, quote, There's been a lot of people who have forgotten about Lainey Gwynner, but I'm certain that the Sheriff's Office has not and will not. It's always important to compare and contrast similar cases when there are so few leads, and one case in particular bore a resemblance due to the similar circumstances, but also

Starting point is 00:25:32 due to the physical resemblance between the victim and Laney Gwynner. 17-year-old Erica Frazier disappeared on October 21, 1997, from a video store in Brooksville, Kentucky, about an hour drive away from Gilmore Lane's where Laney was last seen. And this is only like a month and a half before Laney went missing. Exactly. So, Erica had been out with some friends that night, and her last known whereabouts were at the store between 9 and 10 pm. The following day, her 1998 Pontiac Bonaville was found abandoned at a farm, a short

Starting point is 00:26:08 distance from where she had last been seen, with her purse, wallet, checkbook, and cash inside. Her keys were found covered in leaves across the street. That's so suspicious. Yeah. So creepy when that happens. Yeah, and there was no sign of a struggle, but foul play is suspected in her disappearance. No shit. Someone's trying to cover her car. Yeah, definitely. But oddly, Erica, who was a senior and high school at the time, had like Laney been planning to study accounting. But the similarities didn't end there. Erica and Laney are physically strikingly similar. Both were thin and medium heights. Lani was 5'7", and about 110 lbs, and Erica was 5'6", and 115 lbs.

Starting point is 00:26:55 Both were pretty young women with light brown hair, and had even both been wearing jeans in a sweater at the time they vanished. But unlike Lani's case, however, a person of interest emerged quickly in Erica's disappearance, the last person that she had been seen with. Along with her friends, Erica had been hanging out with a 20-year-old acquaintance named Shane Simcox. Shane was believed to be the last person to see her, but he claimed that she had dropped him off at his home around 9pm and that he had not seen her after that. What brought him into the spotlight, however, was his criminal record and his behavior after Erika vanished. Shane had been expelled from

Starting point is 00:27:36 the high school that he and Erika attended after threatening a teacher and her daughter. He was also convicted of burglary. So during the investigation into Erica's disappearance, Shane maintained his innocence, but also refused to take a polygraph test, and due to a lack of evidence, was never questioned in relation to Erica's disappearance. Then, less than two months later, Laney was killed a short distance away. Now this may be purely coincidental, but Shane Simcox is definitely someone worth looking into. Now, in addition to the idea that Erica's disappearance

Starting point is 00:28:13 was related to Laney's, another theory is that there is a serial killer stalking the area, or at least there was one at this time. Now, one local in Ohio so adamantly believes this theory that they posted it along with a map of the missing and murdered women

Starting point is 00:28:30 in a missing person's Facebook group, listing Laney as one of the potential victims. So between 1997, when Laney was killed and when Erica went missing, and 2013, six women in the Cincinnati vicinity bearing physical similarities went missing or were murdered. In 2005, so about eight years after Leney went missing and then was found murdered, 18 year old Misty Gwynner, as far as we could find no relation to Leney Gwynner, but pretty

Starting point is 00:29:02 where they have the same last name. Disappeared from downtown Cincinnati and was found three days later on the side of the road. Five years after that in 2010, 17-year-old Paige Johnson was abducted from comington Kentucky, where Mike Parton is from, directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati and remained missing for almost 10 years, until her remains were found in a park.

Starting point is 00:29:31 In 2011, to the following year, 22-year-old Caitlin Markham, who was also from Lainey's town of Fairfield, went missing from her home, and her body was actually found in the woods two years later. 28-year-old Mindy Ingram, who was from Cincinnati, was found strangled in the woods in 2013. And one private investigator theorizes that as many as 16 murders and disappearances in the area, could be related and were likely committed by a truck driver whose route was through the Midwest. Since the theory emerged, a man has come forward and admitted to killing Mindy Ingram. But at the time of Laney's death, he was living in another country, so he obviously couldn't have been involved.

Starting point is 00:30:20 So no connection at least to Mindy Ingram. And even if there is a serial killer on the loose, Mindy's death was unrelated, so we can kind of take hers out of this pool. And then we can actually do the same for Paige Johnson, because in 2020, a 34-year-old man was arrested for the murder of Paige Johnson. And while he was in the area, he would have only been about nine years old at the time of Laney's death. So very unlikely that he is involved in her murder. Yeah, so you know, you can rule out a couple of these deaths or murders,

Starting point is 00:30:56 but it seems like there are a few that appear to be connected. Yeah, I mean, they could be. Yeah, or at least investigators believe that they may be. Right, which is terrifying, you know, but it's it's definitely possible. So students at Mason High School in Mason, Ohio, Northeast of Cincinnati, study Laney's case is a part of their forensics class. And their teacher, Randy Hubbard, actually hopes that it will lead to developments in the investigation. That's so cool, because it helps the students

Starting point is 00:31:24 learn, but then it also actually helps a real life case. I've never heard of anybody doing that. That's awesome. Yeah, it's very unique. So after years of students pouring over the details, one class actually managed to gather that a witness passing by may have seen Leney talking to a man outside her car that night, shortly after she left Gilmore lanes, the person who

Starting point is 00:31:46 was now believed to be her killer. The witness claimed that this man was wearing a dress shirt and slacks and was about 5'9 inches tall. Laney's brother David, now married with children of his own, issued a statement thanking Randy for his commitment to finding his sister's murderer, saying quote, The best way to describe what it means to me and my family would be overwhelming gratitude. I can't think Randy, his class, and Mason high school enough. My sister's case has been a roller coaster ride over the years with different detectives

Starting point is 00:32:22 and individuals, but in so much time and effort into it without being able to get closure. The case has been quiet for some time now, so having Randy, his team, and all of those who have offered their help and support has brought a renewed sense of hope as well as a welcome reminder that while her case remains unsolved,

Starting point is 00:32:41 it's still not forgotten. Another member of the community is maintaining his relentless search for Laney's car. So a local fisherman named Dustin Fall is using his own boat to comb the river where she was recovered, looking for any trace of her car, which is also amazing. And in the past years, he has helped recover three vehicles from the water, so Dustin just

Starting point is 00:33:06 likes doing this. And Dustin is hopeful that this will help bring answers and closure if they search long enough, saying quote, I'm going to work very closely with them from this day forward to help any way I can. I can see a tree limb laying in the bottom of the river, I can see tires laying in the bottom of the river and count them. A lot of times, I can see a fish and stop and zoom in on it until you exactly what kind of fish that is.

Starting point is 00:33:35 In 2006, Leney's father, John, unfortunately passed away and then in 2015, her mom Sandra followed. The two are buried alongside their daughter and according to Laney's aunt Tammy Hall, she says, quote, they died broken-hearted, without answers and without justice. It pushed them into an early grave from the mental and physical stress of the whole episode.

Starting point is 00:34:01 So I really feel like I didn't just lose Laney, I lost them too. But Lani's remaining friends and family still have faith that her killer will be found. Tammy added, quote, I have a feeling that one of these days it will get solved. But she still mourns the time that she lost with her niece, and the promising future that Lany was robbed of, saying, quote, she had her whole life ahead of her and will never get to see her get married have children or graduate college. Frank Smith, who retired in 2012 but claims that Lany's case still haunts him, believes

Starting point is 00:34:39 that it's possible that the perpetrator killed others before Leney or killed again after her. He's also convinced that Leney's killer lived in the area at the time and probably still does. While the Butler County Police Department have not made any recent announcements regarding the case, it is listed as a cold case that is still being investigated. Leney's friend wrote on the Justice for Lene Facebook page, quote, every day we celebrate the life of Elena Lene Gwynner, our friend, and unfortunately now our angel. This website is our way of saying thank you to her

Starting point is 00:35:19 for the way that she brightened our lives. We will always feel cheated that she was so young when she left us. At the same time, we should feel grateful that she was a part of our lives at all. It's a shame that it took losing Lainey for us to truly appreciate who we are without her. We want her to know that life without her is very difficult. She shared her joyous smile and laugh, her zest for life, and the passion for all

Starting point is 00:35:45 things that were important to her. If you have any information regarding the death or disappearance of Laney Gwinnner, please contact the Butler County Police Department in Hamilton, Ohio at 513-785-1000. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening and remember, because we were late, we're going to have an episode for you guys on Tuesday. Tomorrow, and it's going to be a new one that we have gotten so many Recommendations for and that heathen I've been following this last couple weeks

Starting point is 00:36:31 We are so eager to put it out So thank you guys so much for your patience on this episode. Thank you for always tuning in happy holidays and Happy Monday Also remember to please share this episode We really want to get it out there to help Lanie's family and her friends because she deserves justice. And if we can help in any way, we'd love to do that. So please share.

Starting point is 00:36:51 Oh, absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. Also, thank you guys for leaving us reviews. Thank you to everybody who's headed over to our Patreon and subscribed. If you want some more episodes going west, you can head over to patreon.com slash going west podcast and binge a ton of ad free full-length episodes like 76 y'all yeah like 76 all right guys so for everybody out there in the world don't be a stranger 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh

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Starting point is 00:38:14 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc 1 tbc Thank you. you

Going West: True Crime - Laney Gwinner // 256

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