Going West: True Crime - The Love County Disappearances // 514

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

In July of 2013, three friends wound up in the woods of rural Oklahoma after a high-speed police chase - but only one of them emerged. Following a flurry of frantic phone calls asking for help, the pair who were left behind in the woods disappeared, and have never been seen again. As weeks turned to years, the secrets surrounding that strange night began to slip out in the town of just over a thousand people. Whispers of corruption, intimidation, and a cover-up still linger alongside the question of what really happened to Molly Miller and Colt Haynes that night. This is the story of the Love County Disappearances.

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. thank you so much to everybody who has bought tickets to our tour thus far that's happening in September we are so excited. Yes oh my god thank you guys can't wait to see you it's going to be an amazing night you guys don't want to miss. But if you don't know about it yet we are going to Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago this September 2025 we're going to have so much fun. We're going to be on the stage with Love Murder. You do not want to miss this.

And you can go pick up your tickets at goingwestpod.com slash tour. And thank you in advance. We're so excited to see you guys there. Now, today's case, this one has been recommended a few times over the years. So big thank you to Chris, Erin, Kaylee, Anonymous, Stevie, Cynthia, and Jennifer.

We're gonna dive into phone pings, suspicious calls, and a lot of corruption. So buckle up for this one. Yeah, this one gets crazier the deeper you dive. There's so much to it, so let's not waste any more time. All right, guys. the deeper you dive there's so much to it so let's not waste any more time. Alright guys! This is episode 514 of Going West, so let's get into it! In In June of 2013, three friends wound up in the woods of rural Oklahoma after a high-speed police chase, but only one of them emerged.

Following a flurry of frantic phone calls asking for help, the pair who were left behind disappeared and have never been seen again. As weeks turn to years, the secrets surrounding that strange night begin to slip out in the town of just over a thousand people. Whispers of corruption, intimidation, and a cover-up still linger alongside the question of what really happened to Molly Miller and Colt Haines that night. is the story of the Love County disappearances. ["Love County Disappearances"] Molly Miller was born on April 30th, 1996 in Oklahoma as a member of Chickasaw Nation,

which is a tribe headquartered in South Central Oklahoma along the border of Texas. Growing up, Molly lived primarily with her mother, Melissa, and her older brother, Garrett, but she was also very close with her grandparents and spent time living with them as well in the small rural cities of Hilton and Wilson, Oklahoma. Now, Molly was known for being a gifted athlete

and especially excelled at softball. But her grandfather, Alex Miller, best remembers her sense of humor, saying, "'She could come off the wall with stuff "'that will just crack you up.'" Her older cousin, Paula Fielder, who has become Molly's greatest advocate in the wake of her disappearance, described her as affable and warm, remembering, quote, She had a huge

sense of right and wrong, and Molly was just a good-hearted little girl who would stand up for the underdog. She was very outspoken, and she was just a good kid. At the time of her disappearance during the summer of 2013, 17 year old Molly was a junior in high school with reports making it seem like she was about to enter her senior year that fall at her vocational school. She aspired to work towards becoming a nurse once she graduated and was holding down a part-time job while attending school. So in most ways,

she was very typical teenager, but in recent years, she had struggled with intermittent drug use and occasionally butted heads with her mom, Melissa, especially because of her drug use, leading her to run away a few times. Like many other small towns, Wilson has seen its fair share of drug use and drug busts, and many of the locals and especially the local teens were just bored enough to want to try it.

In June of 2013, Molly met 21-year-old Colt Haynes, who Molly was charmed by instantly. Yes, and we're going to be talking a lot about Colt Haynes as well today. Yeah, the disappearances in question today are about Molly and Colt. So let's get into Colt a little bit. Colt Haynes was born on April 28, 1992 and spent his whole life right there in Wilson, Oklahoma. He attended Wilson High School, so a different school than Molly, and at the time he disappeared, he was working at a tire center. Like Molly, Colt had a few run-ins with drugs and he had dabbled in methamphetamine use, but despite the sporadic drug use,

his sisters recall that he would always report back to his family to let them know that he was safe. Hence why his disappearance was so disturbing, as you guys will see, especially given the eerie details surrounding it. While at this point in Colt's life, he was making strides, and in October of 2012, he and his girlfriend at the time had their first baby together, a son that they named Jayden. And remember, this would have been like eight months before he and Molly even met.

So at this time, Colt's girlfriend was Katie Ingram, who was fresh out of a relationship with another local man whom she had dated from 2009 until January of 2012, when she met Colt. Her ex was James Connip, sometimes referred to as Connip, or most commonly known as Conn, and we're going to talk a lot about this guy today, and the fact that he was the son of a prominent local family because his cousin Joe Russell was serving as the sheriff at the time. Now, like Colt, Con had a history of run-ins

with law enforcement, but Con seemed pretty confident in his ability to get out of scrapes with the law because of his familial connections. Katie explained that he had a nasty streak and described him as an angry and abusive person, later saying in an interview, quote, "'Oh, he would beat me in the head.

"'He would set me up against the bedpost and beat me. "'His grandma would see it all happen "'and hear it all happen. "'He's threatened to kill me before. "'He's threatened everything. "'He's a very evil guy. So luckily, Katie got away from this guy, and soon after that she started seeing Colt, and their son Jaden was born later that year. Now despite the fact that their relationship didn't last, they were co-parenting amicably, and she described Colt as a quote, good guy.

During their time together, Katie had opened up to Colt about her volatile relationship with Khan, and Colt absolutely hated him because of this. Naturally, I mean, he sounds like a terrifying and horrible person. And it's not like this guy went away either, which made Colt hate him even more, because Khan stalked and harassed Katie after their relationship ended. And despite their long-standing rivalry, Colt found himself in Khan's company on a July evening in 2013. For whatever reason, on the night of July 7th, again 2013, 21-year-old Colt and 22-year-old Con were cruising around Wilson together in Con's Black Honda Accord and stopped to pick up 17-year-old Molly Miller. Having just met Colt in the last week, the exact nature of their relationship is not

known but it does seem like Molly had a crush on Colt, so things were likely moving in that direction. Molly actually knew Con before she met Colt and seemed to like him and trust him for whatever reason. Again, it seemed like their relationship was fine and they were just kind of friends. So the guys picked Molly up around 10.30 p.m. on that Sunday evening.

Now, it hasn't been made clear why exactly the three of them were getting together, but according to Colt's ex Katie, they were likely with Colt that night to score some drugs. Because like Colt, Colt, of course, had a history of hard drug use and is also believed to have been a dealer. So maybe that's why Molly kept him around. I'm not really sure. Well, on top of this, you know,

it's been pretty made pretty clear that Colt does not like Khan. So there's gotta be something in the situation that benefits him. Yeah, so true. And Khan's criminal history began with charges of marijuana possession when he was in his early teens. But here's a little bit more on what's happening with Colt and drugs.

I know it's kind of confusing. We have Katie, Colt, and Conn. But Colt is the victim here. Here's what Katie said about it. Quote, I think Colt wasn't in the right state of mind. I had heard that Colt had been doing serious drugs, and I had heard that he had started messing with heroin and just other stuff. And I just knew that he was in a different state of mind and I just know it was drugs. I feel in my heart it was drugs." So yeah it does seem like that is why he is with Khan that night to begin with. So while the trio, again Khan, Colt

and Molly were heading down Wilson's main street in Con's car. By some accounts, they stopped at a convenience store, and Con spotted a few deputies out patrolling and decided to take the opportunity to stir up some controversy. Yeah, this guy is such a shit-stirrer. Which I think really shows his character in general. Like, if your cousin is the sheriff and you still want to mess with police, like, you're just an ass. You're a bad cousin. Yeah, you're kind of just shitting on your cousin.

But, you know, as we're going to get into, his cousin really doesn't give a fuck. Yeah, seriously. But still, con proceeded because around 10.45 p.m., two police officers reported seeing a car drive recklessly pulling donuts in front of their patrol car and Flinging gravel in its wake. So he's like really taking it to the next level and even more so coming up next because After the deputy saw this they flipped on their sirens and con peeled out taking off down Highway 76. Initially, they started out in Carter County,

but Khan knew where he was luring the officers to. He drove until he crossed the County line into Love County, just south of Wilson, which fell under the jurisdiction of his cousin, Sheriff Joe Russell. Like, this is a game to con. You know, mess with them until it's uncharted. You can't get me because my cousin's

the big dog in town territory. Yeah, I mean, this guy thinks he's like dukes of hazard or something, like he's gonna cross county lines and then, oh, you can't get me. Well then, he took it a step further and led the officers almost directly to his family's sprawling property. His grandparents own this property, which was a thickly wooded property in Love County that spanned about a thousand acres. That is a big home land.

Yeah, that's a lot of land. It's a big piece of land to live on. Now, allegedly on this pursuit, Khan reached speeds of up to 120 miles or almost 200 kilometers per hour. Man, I'm actually kind of impressed that a Honda Accord could go that fast. Right. 120? But remember, two other people are in the car, Molly and Colt, and they're probably freaking out because they're fully at his mercy. And I know Molly was cool with him while Colt obviously wasn't, but still, these aren't his best friends who are

willing participants of this high-speed chase. They probably want out of this car so bad. And especially because during a lot of this chase, Con was doing things like driving in the wrong lane, he was swerving into oncoming traffic, and turning his headlights off so that he could be harder to see. Yeah, this guy is just completely reckless. Well, predictably and honestly really disappointingly, considering how reckless Khan was being in the car, Joe Russell called the deputies and told them to stand down on behalf of his cousin Khan., so he's like, yeah, don't go after him, it's all good. I'm rolling my eyes. Well Con then careened down a dirt road near his family's property and rammed into a fence near where Long Hollow Road became a dead end.

And police believe that Molly and Colt were definitely terrified by this point, I mean, who wouldn't be? Because all signs point to them running from the vehicle and into the woods. Well, after this crash into the fence, Khan left the now-dead vehicle and ran back to the safety of his family home. Like, what is the point of all this? It's giving, it's giving like,

I'm 22 but I peaked in high school, so my brain never left. It almost kind of feels like maybe he's trying to impress Molly, who's in the back seat. Yeah, so impressive. Like, you're so cool. You're a 22-year-old going on a high-speed chase, and you just crashed a car. And by the way, we're gonna get into this, but that car is actually not even his car.

And since Khan ran off in the direction of his home, at this point Molly and Colt are alone in unfamiliar territory amongst this massive property, forced to fend for themselves of course. So at 12.57am, Molly decided to place a call to 911, but unfortunately, they were unable to hear her. Now according to the operator, there was about 5 seconds of silence, and then the call was dropped. When the operator returned the call, Molly didn't answer. Between the two of them, there were about 33 calls made to friends in emergency services

that night. More than 12 of those calls were to 911, but the problem was, almost none of these calls fully or successfully went through. Though later we are going to get into which ones did and what they were able to share with others. But for now, it's clear that they were really trying to talk to someone and they could just barely get through. I mean, obviously this is rural territory, so the signal is very, very spotty. But they are trying. Yes they are.

Well the last time that the two were heard from was much later that morning at 9.33am when Molly made her final call, a desperate plea to a friend asking to be picked up. Then after that, both cell phones were either turned off or died within 18 minutes of each other. Molly's at 9.39am and Colt's at 9.57am. And this detail has been the source of much speculation in the aftermath of the disappearances because of the narrow window of time between the phones being turned off. But it's certainly possible that they simply died around the same time

because, you know, of course they had been using them all night trying to get somebody to pick them up. But it's also possible that they were turned off by someone else and discarded together. Because, suspiciously, their phones have never been found to this day. But we are going to get into some other phone calls that they made that night, as well as cell phone location data, here shortly. Now as the morning wore on, neither Molly nor Colt resurfaced, and after dozens of frantic phone calls, their phone activity was silent. Molly's mom Melissa reported her missing that very day, which was Monday, July 8th,

2013. Having caught wind of this police chase and unable to get ahold of her daughter, she just had a feeling that there was something really wrong. But even as she filed this report, the police assured her family that this was simply a runaway case and that Molly was probably gonna return.

I'm sure she and Colt's history didn't help this along with Conn's, you know, and it just makes me wonder if they looked at the car chase and the group and thought it made sense for them to go off, you know, oh, well, the car crashed into the fence, oh, they're probably trying to run so they don't get in trouble with the law,

but we know now how badly Molly and Colt wanted out of this situation and wanted to get away from Con and his antics. Yeah, I mean, the shitty thought here from the beginning was that, you know, maybe they're trying to hide out somewhere because they had just gotten drugs, and so that leaves this gap of time where people are thinking, well, if they are just trying to hide out, we don't really need to report a missing until a few days later. But Molly's mom was like, no, this is not typical of my daughter. I need to report her missing today.

Well, that's the thing. Even Colt's family waited a few extra days to report him missing because they knew that sometimes he would disappear when he was using. So even his own family thought that he was probably fine, which I think just gives a little bit more credit to the police for thinking the same thing. But obviously we know now that is not the case and starting this investigation a little bit earlier, especially because Molly's a minor, would have been a very good idea. But also remember Colt, on the other hand, is 21, so he's allowed to do whatever the hell he wants. But when Colt did not resurface by July 14th, his sister Monique Stewart reported him missing herself.

Monique said, He wasn't calling back, he wasn't answering messages. I was like, okay, I know something's wrong. That was our big deal. You don't make me worry. At the dead end of Long Hollow Road in rural Love County, there was a fence that was believed to have been damaged by the car that Khan was driving as we mentioned, but this was not reported or investigated.

Authorities did, however, recover the vehicle involved in the high-speed chase on July 22nd. So two weeks after Molly and Colt went missing and the Honda Accord was found abandoned just outside the Nip family's massive property. And it had sustained eighteen thousand dollars worth of damage from that fence crash. Two days after Colt was reported missing on July 16th, 2013, After Colt was reported missing on July 16th, 2013, Conn's own sister came, Conn, not Colt, we're talking about Conn here, James Conn Nip's own sister, came forward with some valuable information.

Michaela Greenroyd filed a report about her brother's activities on the night that Molly and Colt went missing, saying, quote, My brother, Connip, and I was talking, and he said he was about to go to jail for murder, and I didn't believe him. The following day was July 17th, 2013. He told me the same thing and was more serious about it. So I believed him.

But even with this seemingly damning tip, I mean, why would his sister lie about this? Why would she say that he said, I'm gonna go to jail for murder if he didn't say that? And why would he say that if he didn't kill anybody? Yeah, I mean, this is literally the guy's sister. Yeah, but you know, there's no forensic evidence that led investigators to the conclusion that Khan was involved in whatever happened to Molly and Colt and there were no remains found. We still don't know where Molly and Colt are.

So this is really just words to the police at this point. And unfortunately, Khan declined to even confirm that the three of them were together on the night of their disappearance, which made seeking answers exceedingly difficult. And honestly, it just made him look way more suspicious as if he knew something happened to them and he didn't want police to even know he was with them at all in fear that he'd be found out. But the problem is, is that everybody knows that they were together. I mean, that's the entire story is that the three of them were in this car that

was in a high-speed chase, and that's how all of this went down. So the fact that he's like, oh yeah, no, I wasn't with them, it's like, dude, everybody knows you were. He said, no, literally everybody knows. According to Molly's cousin, Paula, she said, quote,

I spoke to Con on September 1st. I went to his house, and I asked Con if Molly and Colt were okay when he left them in the woods, and he said, I don't know what you're talking about. I was never with Molly and Colt were okay when he left them in the woods. And he said, I don't know what you're talking about. I was never with Molly and Colt. I didn't leave them in the woods. And I said, well, Con, I know you're lying.

According to Molly's phone records and people she spoke to, she told them that she was in a police chase with you. You left them in the woods. They didn't know where they were and they needed a ride. And he just kept denying. I finally said, Con, I know she's dead. I just don't know where she's at. I said, can you please just tell us where she's at?

His eyes started watering up like he was about to cry, and I said, Con, just please tell me where she's at. And really quick, I know that her statement is a bit confusing since she's saying that people spoke with Molly about the police chase So it seems like Molly was able to talk about whatever happened But we are going to get into the phone calls that were that she was able to make here in a bit And we just want to go in order of the story so that you guys don't get even more confused But as you can tell people in their lives know that they were in a dangerous situation before they went missing,

which is why Paula is confronting Khan so boldly about this. But Khan has refused to speak on the matter, or offer up any more information than he already has. Paula has said that she doesn't necessarily believe that the deaths were intentional, but she does believe that Khan knows exactly what happened to Colton Moly. Summer turned to fall and no forward momentum was made in determining the whereabouts of Molly and Colt. Their family spread the word the best they could in their small community, and Paula organized many searches of the dense brush where they were last known to be, but with Kahn refusing property belongs to the Sheriff's family, and he is in charge of deciding if that property is ultimately searched, and he chose to protect his deadbeat cousin instead of doing what was right and what his job expected of him.

Well, I mean, as we're going to get into, this is pretty much the narrative of this entire family, is that they cover for each other and especially Sheriff Joe Russell. Yeah, especially him. But yeah, it's it's just even more interesting than that Kahn's own sister had come out with the fact that he said he was gonna go away for murder, so she is doing the right thing, but the sheriff isn't. And actually, eight months after the disappearances, another tip came in from yet another member

of the Knipp family, though this time, it was apparently unintentional. This part is absolutely crazy. Yeah, and I wanna start by saying we never ever take information from other podcasts or shows, but Payne Lindsay's podcast and show Up and Vanished found something during their own deep investigation into this case that we want to mention because it has become a big

part of this case. It would feel wrong to leave this out because this call in question is now heavily discussed alongside the story. So big shout out to Up and Vanished for finding this. They do amazing work. I mean, they uncovered this phone call years ago and connected it to the case themselves. So on March 29th, 2014, Conn's uncle Colby Baric seemingly accidentally dialed 911 and left behind an incriminating tip in his wake. In that call, Colby says quote, You know you're fucking mad. You know you're fucking tired. And then in between inaudible mumbles and like background noise, Colby said, Fucking Moxley Lake. A Buck knife. And Molly Miller.

They shot him in the mouth. Right there. I can put my finger all the way through it. They shot him in the mouth right there. I can put my finger all the way through it. Then water splashed, two shots rang out, and the phone line went dead. That is so eerie. Yeah, and this phone call originated near a pond called Moxley Lake on Oswald Road, which is just north of Long Hollow Road, in the exact vicinity where Molly and Colt were last seen. So rattled, obviously, the operator called the sheriff, Khan's cousin, none other than Joe Russell. And she reported to Joe that Colby was, quote,

"'talking about Molly and Colt, "'and I mean, the girl that was killed "'and dope and stuff like that They didn't realize they were on 9-1-1 Joe asked to hear the recording immediately and claimed that he wanted to investigate the report personally But no arrests ever stemmed from that information and obviously if Colby is Con's uncle then he's also related to Joe so now two family members are in question and he's saying I'll figure

this out and then he does a jack shit about it yeah this feels like something that we've talked about before like a story that we've covered before where it's like the the sheriff's like hey give me give me the information and I'm honestly surprised that Joe didn't just like delete that phone call somehow. I know I completely agree. Well unfortunately Moxley Lake is situated entirely on land owned by the Nip family. No surprise there.

And they would not consent to it being searched. And of course Joe Russell didn't push for it to be searched despite this very incriminating, encrypting phone call. And I just don't know if I believe, by the way, that this was an accidental call or an unintentional call, because how many times have you accidentally dialed 911? Uh, never. And press call? And with what Colby is saying, it's like he's mad at somebody about it, and he's giving so many details. Like he's retelling the story while he's on the phone, almost like he's doing that on purpose.

So I wonder, because there were two, like two shots rang out, right? So I wonder if he felt like he was in danger and he did this as a safety net or something. Yeah, like maybe he was being threatened and he just, you know, dialed that 911 real quick and maybe left the phone in his pocket Yes, as the operator said they mentioned that it sounded really mumbled like the call Wasn't very clear. So this unintentional phone call could have very much been intentional Yeah, and just been like a hit in like you're saying by the way when Heath was saying all that he's like His hand is like in his pocket. He's dialing yeah so yeah that he could have absolutely

done that that's just it's just a theory well without more from this call no arrests were made of course as Daphne mentioned but in January of 2014 Khan was finally detained for that police chase that took place on the evening that Molly and Cold had disappeared. So finally, like six months later, they're like, Okay, um, well you did run from police, so we are gonna charge you with that. God took long enough. Well, Con was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and eluding a police officer. And then Con's girlfriend at the time, Sabrina Graham, was also charged.

Because remember when I said that Khan was not driving his own car that night? Well, it turned out that that 2012 Honda Accord that Khan had been driving wasn't even his. It was Sabrina's, his girlfriend's. And after the police chase, Sabrina filed a false insurance claim to cover the damage to the vehicle, despite the fact that she had given him permission to borrow it. So much fuckery. Too much fuckery.

Now, Kahn received a sentence of 10 years in prison, but he was released in 2018 after serving only 4 years. But luckily, he was questioned about the disappearances, but he maintained his innocence and continued to allege that he didn't know anything about Molleen Colt's whereabouts, still claiming that he wasn't even with them that night. In 2018, so the same year of Khan's release, Khan's uncle, Colby Barak, the one that we talked about earlier about making that unintentional phone call, was arrested on firearm charges and he was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

And allegedly, while he was incarcerated, he tipped off law enforcement about the bodies of Molly and Colt being concealed in the water of Moxley Lake. See? So now he's given up some information. Even more reason to think that was an intentional call. He's like, help me. Exactly. Well, a year after the disappearances, Molly's family hired a private investigator in hopes of gaining some momentum. You know, they just really didn't have a lot of power here, and there's clearly some corruption and conflict of interest thanks to Con and his sheriff cousin, Joe. And private investigator Philip Klein admitted that he believed that this was a homicide

case. He interviewed over a hundred people in connection with the case and was also able to obtain the phone records for Molly and Colt. And now, finally, let's get into those phone calls. So based on the pings from their phones and the remnants of the car chase, Philip believed that Khan careened down Long Hollow Road, damaged multiple fences and gates in his wake until his car finally came to a stop.

Well, I guess his girlfriend's car. Philip believes that Khan then ran to the safety of his home while Molly and Colt fled on foot, absolutely frightened by the chase and also Khan's behavior. Now, for hours hours Molly and Colt were lost in the expansive brush of rural Oklahoma and wound up in a ravine on or near the Nip family's property. Molly reportedly briefly told a friend that she was in a field before the call dropped and as the night wore on Colt

allegedly climbed up into a tree, which is believed to be just over the property line outside of the Nips property, in order to see where they were. Like he just was climbing up to get a little bit better of a view. You know you're lost when you have to climb a tree to try to see more terrain so that you know where to go. Exactly. Well, according to his brief interactions with a few people that he called and was able to actually speak with, he fell from this tree and broke his ankle. His sister Monique Stewart explained quote, He told the friend that he had climbed a tree

to try and find a road and fell out of the tree and broke his ankle. He said the bone was sticking out, so we know that he wasn't walking anywhere. So he was hurt, but he was still alive. It was at this point that the pair started to panic, frantically calling multiple friends as well as the police, you know, obviously as we know because they made 33 phone calls that night. But with spotty service and the late hour, they had trouble connecting with anybody to figure out a viable plan. Now, supposedly, some of Colt's friends even drove up and down the nearby back roads while honking their horns, you know, just in hopes that the pair could hear them.

But they couldn't. Molly also made several calls to family and friends during the early morning hours, saying that she was in a field and asking someone to come get her. But Molly and Colt have never been heard from again. Between midnight and 10am, Molly called over a dozen friends and managed to speak with a friend named Brandon Smith, but he was running late for work and was already en route, so obviously not realizing the gravity of the situation and very much struggling to hear her out in that rural, those rural parts that she was in.

He told her that he couldn't get her but asked what was going on and if she was okay. After telling her that he couldn't pick her up, she hung up on him and did not answer subsequent phone calls. Now, Molly apparently mentioned being somewhere on Oswald Road, which is only less than a mile, or 1.6 kilometers from the Nip family compound.

She claimed to be on Oswald Road in between Pike Road and Long Hollow Road, which is a stretch of only two miles or 3.2 kilometers. She was supposedly only about a quarter of a mile or 0.4 kilometers from where Khan's car was found. So they're really not that deep. They just didn't know what direction to go. They had been walking all night.

They were probably walking in circles, honestly. Yeah, and to be fair, this is Khan's property. This is not Molly's or Colt's property. So they don't know, even though they know that they're probably somewhere near Khan's house, they don't know where the hell they are. But Khan does. And actually, PI Philip Klein believes that Khan went back out looking for Molly and Colt. Maybe he was afraid that they would go to law enforcement

or that if there were drugs involved that night, if there were, he would be on the hook for supplying them because obviously we know he's got Sheriff Joe Russell wrapped around his finger, but you can only get away with so much and if you're into a lot deeper shit, like he still doesn't want to get caught. He's still afraid of getting in trouble. So Philip maintains that Khan returned later that night with a gun in order to hunt them down to avoid any more police scrutiny.

Obviously, we know that Molly last spoke to somebody after 9 a.m. So it's possible that in the morning they were able to somewhat find their way out or maybe after the night, Khan woke up and said, oh I wonder if they're still out there and then the killings happened then that morning. You know, not, Philip isn't saying they happened in the night but at some point Khan went out there looking for them. Well you know here's the thing, we really don't know what Molly and Colt were doing that entire night. We don't know if maybe Molly was trying to help Colt get to safety or, you know, obviously he broke his ankle. So like, we don't know how far they had traveled within hours.

Do you know what I'm saying? So maybe Khan was like, maybe Khan was out there actually looking for them during this night and not, you know, sleeping and, you know, finally found them in the morning. Yeah, and I can't imagine that Colt went very far at all with his bones sticking out of his ankle. So I'm sure after that happened, they were more so, you know, stuck where they were. And it appears that Molly probably stayed by Colt's side, you know, obviously, because

she has not been found to this day either. Well, the same year that he was hired 2014, Philip led about a dozen searches of this area with cadaver dogs and they indicated in many areas of the vicinity where Molly and Colt were believed to have disappeared, including the clearing adjacent to the knit property where the broken branch indicates that Colt fell from the tree. So he was even able to find the spot where they think that Colt broke his ankle. That's wild that they were looking up in the trees and that they found a broken branch and were like, that's probably where he fell. Well, it's really eerie because this was also the site of Molly's final phone ping.

So it's possible that this is the spot that Kahn found them if he did indeed find them. And of course, you know, a lot of people wonder if because Colt broke his ankle and wasn't able to walk that maybe the two of them succumbed to the elements while searching for a way out. I kind of find that hard to believe, you know, it's obviously summertime.

So yeah, exactly. And also they were searching that very area. So unless they walked onto the knit property and died naturally, both of them died naturally then, then they probably would have been found. But it also feels really strange for that to be the case, seeing that they were along a major road that they could have taken to get out of the area Obviously they weren't doing that anyway But it is interesting as well knowing that Molly said like I'm on Oswald Road like come pick me up from here

so maybe she was saying that she knew she was on the road and she just couldn't go any further because she didn't have a Car and Colt's ankle was broken it's also very interesting that Colts friends were driving up and down that road honking their horns and that Apparently Molly and Colt couldn't hear them or maybe they could hear that. I mean, we don't know No, that really is such an eerie detail of this case and it really reminds me of like Brandon Swanson and Brandon Lawson and where it's like I'm here. Why can't I hear you? Why can't you hear me? Why can't we see each other like this very much falls into that? weirdly eerie, like, parallel universe vibe. It really does.

Well, as you guys can imagine, rumors were swirling around this case in such a small town, with some whispering about Molly and Colt's remains being set on fire, with the charred remains then being taken to Kahn's family property to keep them from the prying eyes of investigators, and then perhaps concealed in Moxley Lake. PI Philip Klein believes that Kahn returned to find them and got into a fight, perhaps regarding their long-standing rivalry about Katie, and that he and his uncle, Colby Berrick, shot him. Molly then tried to run, and they shot her as well.

According to local rumor, a cousin of Molly's received a call from their uncle in the days after her disappearance, and her uncle stated that he had received a message alleging that she was tied to a tree on Long Hallow Road and sexually assaulted, though of course, this could not be confirmed nor denied. Molly was apparently being drugged in order to be kept submissive, and was even fitted with a shock collar as a threat. But again, there is absolutely no evidence to substantiate these claims, this is all just rumors that were swirling around.

Rumors can be so interesting though, because it's like is somebody completely pulling this out of a hat or did somebody hear something and then they told somebody who told somebody and this really is what happened. Yeah, is it a game of telephone? Exactly. Well, after Philip Klein took up this case, a third member of Khan's family offered up a tip that may implicate him. This anonymous witness contacted Philip Klein telling him that he had two weapons that may implicate him. This anonymous witness contacted Philip Klein, telling him that he had two weapons that may

have been involved in the murders of Molly and Colt. The weapons, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a machete, were allegedly given to this man, who is said to be a family member, by Khan's own mother, who then passed them along to Phillips. So this is kind of crazy. This is a family affair. Yeah, it really is. And on the weapons was a dried red substance resembling blood. So, Philip turned the weapons over to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, who supposedly tested them for blood, but those results have not been made public yet. tested them for blood, but those results have not been made public yet. In July of 2016, another blow came to the legal standing of the Knipp family in their community.

The arrest of Sheriff Joe Russell! I mean, we all saw it coming. It was bound to happen. Yeah, he was charged with willful neglect of duty, bound to happen. Yeah, he was charged with willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, slay, and maladministration. Cause not only was Joe doing some shady shit in the Molly and Colt case, but he was also found to be harboring a known fugitive who his son was dating at the time. His son's girlfriend, a young woman named Sarah Bamberg, had four warrants out for her arrest, but claims that she stayed at their house for a few weeks while dodging law enforcement. You know, dodging law enforcement, but staying with law enforcement. So according to Sarah, her boyfriend told her, you know, Joe's son told her, quote, you've got warrants and as long as you're here dating me,

you are not going to get arrested. This whole family is so cocky. They know that as long as you stick by Sheriff Joe Russell, ain't nothing gonna happen to you. I hate that so much. But their relationship was reportedly not a healthy one. And when she broke up with him and fled, moving in with somebody else,

she was arrested within three days. So there is the proof right there for you of again of why Joe was arrested. He is doing some shady, shady shit. It's the reason why she, you know, didn't get arrested right off the bat. Yeah. Well, good old Sheriff Joe was also accused of allowing his son Willie to sell and use methamphetamine from the family home, where Willie lived with him from April of 2011 to May of 2015. So, on top of Joe's arrest,

his son Willie was convicted of dealing methamphetamine. Joe resigned, pleading no contest to willful admission to perform a duty and was sentenced to only one year of unsupervised probation as well as a measly measly $300 fine for court costs. So just essentially a slap on the wrist. Precisely. Well Paula feels strongly, remember Paula is Molly's older cousin, she feels strongly, honestly as do we, that Joe, at least in some way, helped Khan cover up Molly and Colt's disappearances. And she has become convinced

that Molly died sometime throughout that night or the next morning, and was laid to rest on the Nip property. In the wake of his arrest, Paula said, quote, there have been some in law enforcement that have definitely failed our family. Joe Russell, the sheriff of Love County at the time, most definitely

failed our family. So the next sheriff of Love County vowed to end the corruption. Yes, love it. And promise the families of Molly and Colt that he would do everything in his power to find them, including searching Moxley Lake. Yep, because finally they can do that. Yeah, because this is proving that Joe could have done it in the first place. If he really thought his family wasn't involved or knew they weren't involved, he would have said, come on guys, let's search it. Let's make the town happy.

Yeah, but he didn't want to do it, obviously. No, so now this new sheriff is like, we're doing this. And true to his promise, Moxley Lake was finally investigated in 2019, but the remains of Molly and Colt were not found. So now we're left to wonder, were they never there in the first place, or after Joe resigned, did they say, shit, we gotta clean this up because they're gonna come in here? Yeah, and I think probably the latter is the case that he was like uh-oh. I'm not sheriff anymore

They're gonna come looking in this lake. Let's let's get to work Mm-hmm well the next year in 2020 Paula Fielder posted on Molly's Facebook group Operation find Molly Miller about a man that she believes knows more than he is divulged Regarding him only by his initials JLD Paul explained on the Facebook group that he had been changing his story about helping con to dispose of the bodies So she wrote quotes on July 8th 2014 you stated to the FBI US Marshals Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, and others

that you helped dig the graves of Molly and Colt. A search warrant was obtained and once you took these agencies out to the Nip property, you reneged and said that you made the story up. I'm not buying it, and the agencies aren't buying it either. They believe your story to be true. You did not implicate yourself in a double murder for attention. Well, similarly, Philip Klein announced that a man named DJ Epley had initially been helpful and then suddenly stopped assisting in the investigation. On behalf of his firm, Klein Investigations and Consulting, Philip reported,

"...the family of DJ Epley, who Klein Investigators announced yesterday as a person with direct knowledge as to what may have happened to Molly Miller, released a statement to me this afternoon saying, DJ has fully cooperated with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and other appropriate law enforcement agencies. He has answered all questions and given all the information that he is aware of to these officials. According to these law enforcement officials, DJ is not a person of interest,

nor a person of knowledge in regards to the case at hand. So it's hard to know if JLD and DJ Edley are the same person. A lot of people think that they are, but a little more on at least this guy DJ for anybody who's a little confused. He happens to be one of the people that Molly and Colt called on the night they disappeared asking for help. And supposedly, he had driven out to the area trying to find them.

So why he stopped cooperating with the investigation is unknown. And a lot of people wonder if he was there, something happened, and then he helped cover it up. Yeah, and it's very possible that he was being threatened after the fact. Like, maybe somebody said hey You drove out there you were looking for them. Don't say anything more about this investigation or We're gonna handle you you know what I mean if he was involved or maybe he's not and He's just being looked at because they're really trying to figure this out Well, it's interesting that he wanted to you know know, help assist in the investigation initially. And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh, I can't,

I can't help with this anymore, you know? So that leads me to believe that something may have happened there. Well, that's why it's, I really wonder if Paula, I'm sure Paula knows his real identity, of course. Um, if this is the same person, cause whoever Paula's talking about, at the very least she's saying they're changing their story.. So if that's DJ changing his story and we know he was there that night, that's real suspicious. Well, in January of 2021, Molly's family had her declared legally dead. And three months later came what would have been her 25th birthday. Paula said sadly, quote, I don't know if it's because we haven't found her yet or we feel

like we're getting very close. I don't know, but I do feel like answers will come. In 2024, Stan Florence, the director at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, assured the public saying, quote, to to date leads continue to come in. That's the fortunate portion of this case. We continue to receive information. The unfortunate portion of that is that virtually all of those leads have led to nothing that helps us regarding the answers

we need regarding this particular case. Leads have led us to search multiple locations. Those locations have been in wells, ponds, and many acres of lands, homes. Even cadaver dogs have been used and we've performed numerous forensic examinations of vehicles, of cell phones, and also audio recordings. A lot of information has been scattered around in this case. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations offered up a $10,000 reward alongside the $35,000 already being offered by Molly's family. And by the way, the FBI has now joined the search as well, if you could not tell

from the previous quote. Molly's beloved grandfather, Alex Miller, said that he would not give up on fighting to find his granddaughter, saying, we're not quitters. We're all bred Chickasaw Indian, and we won't quit. We'll never quit looking for this child. Hell, we'll have to freeze over before we quit looking.

Paula vows to continue the search on behalf of her cousin saying quote, It's been hard because I can't let Molly down. I made her a promise and I will follow through with this. I don't care how long it takes. I will do what I need to do for her. This is only about her for me." Molly was 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 95 pounds. She had blue eyes and black hair. Her lip was pierced and she had a tattoo of a star on her hip. Colt was about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 185 pounds. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a goatee. If you have any information about the disappearances of Molly Miller and Colt Haynes,

please call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations at 1-800-522-8017. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. I feel like we're very, very close. You know, with the phone calls, with all of the phone information, the data location, just all of the rumors and the stories that are going around. And this is just the stuff that we know that's been made public. So we can only imagine that police do have so much more of the people who are actually investigating this. So yeah, hopefully

answers come soon. This is just such a crazy story. Like you said in the beginning, it gets crazier as you go deeper because of all the corruption and just the like real ass suspiciousness. Yeah. And all of the suspicion is being pointed in one direction. Just one. Well, thank you again to everybody who recommended this case. Thank you to everybody who has bought tickets thus far to come see us live this September. Again, we're hitting Denver, Dallas, Atlanta,

Boston, and Chicago. So if you wanna come see us, we're gonna have so much fun on stage with our friends at Love Murder. Go to goingwestpod.com slash tour and get your tickets while they last. Yes, come see us, it's gonna be amazing. We love you guys and we will see you on Friday.

All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. So So Thanks for watching!