Hidden True Crime - Utah House of Horrors | Summer Roney Full Story + Exclusive Interview

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Summer Roney was a vulnerable adult who was brutally murdered on December 30th, 2024. Today on Hidden True Crime, we are talking about Summer's story + interviewing Summers sister Michelle who had guardianship over her. Lauren Matthias sat down with John Dehlin, Megan Connor and Mindy Caldwell as they reviewed the book "The House of My Mother" written by Shari Franke, the oldest daughter of Ruby Franke. About Hidden True Crime: Lauren Matthias, a former television reporter, and her husband Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, started Hidden True Crime in 2020 with their Season, 'Beyond the Veil,' a psychological deep dive into the doomsday murders and prophet. What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime Credits: KSL News Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Armoire and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style* Check out Effecty and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.effecty.com* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://happymammoth.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hidden-a-true-crime-podcast1836/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lately, I've been trying to be more intentional about what I wear, intentional about everything, just choosing pieces that feel effortless, still put together, timeless, but also not overthinking it every morning. It's why I keep going back to quince. Their pieces just make getting dressed easier and I feel so classy. I feel elevated. The fits are flattering. The fabric is really high quality. Everything is wearable day to day. I actually got this really, really, beautiful yellow V-neck midi dress from them, and I paired it with some Italian leather sandals. It's one of those outfits that just works. It feels polished but still comfortable. It's exactly what I've been looking for. What surprises me, though, is the quality for the price.

Quince uses premium materials like European linen, organic cotton, but they cut out the middleman. So everything is priced way lower than you'd expect. Refresh. your every day with luxury you can actually use. Head to quince.com slash hidden true crime for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, quince, q-u-in-c-com slash hidden true crime for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash hidden true crime. My name is Lauren Mathias and this is hidden true crime where we delve into the hidden motives of unimaginable crimes. On our most recent hidden headlines. We told you about how Utah police discovered the body of Summer Roney on New Year's Eve inside a cardboard box. And today, we have an interview with Summer's sister, Michelle. Before we

hear from her, though, I do want to go through the charging documents and share a little bit about summer so that everyone has some very important background information because this is a case that hidden true crime is going to be following. 30-year-old Summer Roney has been described to us by multiple people now. We have been reaching out and we have been talking to people. And everyone says the same thing about summer. She was incredibly sweet and positive, upbeat, funny, was loyal to family. She loved animals and everyone shares how much she loved people, especially children. Despite being very tiny, in fact, she was four feet, 11 inches and she weighed under 100 pounds.

Her personality, though, was larger than life. That was just who Summer was at her core, a fun-loving sister, aunt and friend with a very big heart. Summer was adopted from Russia as a young child. And even though she was 30 years old, as I mentioned, Summer's sister Michelle tells us that Summer was really only the mental age of 12 years old. Thus, her sister Michelle was Summer's guardian. And while Summer was this caring, giving friend and sister, she was also extremely vulnerable with her delays. And that vulnerability led to her being taken advantage of by the people closest to her and those who should have protected her. And unfortunately, just last month, as we reported on, Summer's life was taken from her.

On Friday, December 27, 2024, Summer told the couple that she was living with. She lived in their basement that she was going to go out with her on and off again boyfriend of four years, 40-year-old Jacob or Jake Holt Johnson, because he had gone. got in a hotel room for the night of December 28th and that he was going to pick Summer up and they were going to go stay there at this hotel. And so to this couple, her landlords, she seemed to be looking forward to it. And while Jake and Summer had been broken up, Jake had just gotten out of a drug and mental health type facility on Christmas Eve. It's called a rehab in the charging docks. And he was going to be out of this facility for about a week.

and then he was going to go back the following Monday. And so despite their previous rocky relationship, it's my belief and perhaps others that maybe Summer thought it was going to be this fresh start and that Jake had made some changes. And so when he reached out, Summer was willing to maybe see him again. But sadly, this couple, they never physically saw Summer again after that night.

A couple of days later, shortly after midnight on New Year's Eve, a police officer spotted a white Jeep compass in a northern Utah 7-11 parking lot, just outside of Salt Lake City. Now, the SUV was parked across multiple parking spots, and that was what got the officer's attention right at first, was it was parked oddly. And after noticing, though, the odd way that this Jeep was parked across these multiple parking spots, the officer then noticed the driver in the driver's seat that appeared

to be unconscious. And so the officer, of course, then began tapping on the window. When Jake came to, it was clear that he was under the influence because he had slowed and slurred speech and he was nodding off. So the officer then takes a flashlight and he peers into the back of the car through the window. And that's when he noticed that there was a female inside a cardboard box who would later be identified as 30-year-old Summer Roney. Summer was lying on her back with her knees up to her chest and her arms curled in. She was only wearing underwear. She had an orange extension cord and packing tape wrapped around her neck and her body was

covered with wounds, bruises, and blood, head to toe. Not only was it clear that she was no longer alive, it was also clear that her death had been very brutal. Inside the box, along with her body, were bloody peasant. paper towels, a black trash bag, and a clear scotch tape roll. The cardboard box also had numerous blood stains on it, including like prints. It was no surprise that Jake was immediately arrested. And as the investigation began, the evidence against him started racking up very quickly. In his car, police found a hammer with blood on the passenger seat, as well as large knives,

multiple large knives, hatchets, multiple hatchets, a gas can, two empty bleach bottles, a Spider-Man backpack that belonged to Summer with her ID inside, footy pajamas that summer loved to wear, they were cut upwards, and her child-sized two crocks, white crocs, as well as men's clothing that were wet and had bloodstains on them, were also found in this car. Research was then done at Jake's house. and was full of even more evidence, proving that the murder occurred in the house. To start, the house smelled like bleach everywhere, obviously indicating cleanup and someone

trying to hide evidence. But despite the obvious cleanup efforts, there was blood everywhere, including the bed sheet from the primary room bed and the wall at the top of the stair landing. And in the kitchen, there was blood on the kitchen counter, the kitchen blinds, the paper towel roll, and the floor had bloody drag marks. There was hair in the kitchen sink as well as a baseball bat, which had smudges as if it had recently been washed. In the basement, there was more. In the basement, the following items were found with blood on them,

a cushion cover, a mattress protector, and a jacket. There was also blood on the carpet and the wall, the baseboard, a stair post along the stairwell, and pieces of bloody carpet that were cut out and damp and smelled like bleach. Yet again, indicating some type of intense cleanup that was attempted. The affidavit goes on to say, quote, In the garage, the pole of a push broom was located in the track of the garage door that kept the door from being opened. Detectives removed the garage door.

Detectives located a mattress in the garage wrapped in plastic with blood stains, as well as a paper towel with hair and what appeared to be a small piece of skin. An empty Clorox bleach bottle was located on top of the mattress in the garage, and white, blue, and orange Jordan shoes were located in the garage with blood stains on them. Two large black trash bags were located with multiple items inside that had blood stains to include a karaoke machine, lampshade, and a body weight swing. Also inside the trash bags were multiple towels that were beginning to crush. and appear to have bleach stains, end quote.

So as police continue to try to put the timeline together, they were able to get surveillance footage from both of Jake's neighbors, actually, as well as the 7-Eleven where Summer and Jake were found. So on surveillance from the neighbor's footage, they could see that at 206 p.m. on the 30th of December, Jake was organizing the trunk area of his car. Now, a few minutes after that, he backed his car up into the driveway, With his garage door open, and after that, he was seeing trying to close his trunk.

Again, this is an SUV. So he's trying to close that back door of his SUV. And he was able to get it most of the way closed, but he could be seen, like, sort of having a difficult time getting it latched. Seven and a half hours later was when he was first seen on surveillance at that 7-11 just before 10 p.m. So he does go in. He buys a couple of things, and we don't know what he'd.

buys yet. So we might find out later. But he then comes back out to his car. Surveillance catches his car then moving just slightly after he gets into it. But then it stops again. And that's where it sits for another two hours. And so two hours later, shortly after midnight, so we're at New Year's Eve now on the 31st. That is when the officer notices his car again across multiple parking spots and sees him passed out in the driver's seat, which then led to the finding of summer. So this next part is difficult to hear. Everything's difficult to hear. So just a warning. When Summer's autopsy results came back, it was just even more proof how brutal her murder truly was. According to the affidavit, Summer's entire body was covered in bruises

with chunks of skin missing from her knees and other areas of her body. Summer had seen several marks and open wounds caused by a claw hammer, including several to her face and head. She also had a ruptured and hemorrhaged liver, hemorrhaged lungs, a hemorrhaged heart, hemorrhaged arteries, broken ribs, a possible brain bleed, and fractured bones. Her cause of death was ruled the totality of her injuries from blunt force trauma. Now, the question many people have now is how did things get to this point? how did Summer and Jake meet? How did their relationship progress? We will get into that more with Summer's sister Michelle in just a few minutes. But the charging documents also outline four witnesses

that knew Summer and who had either seen things or heard things. And let's start with the couple that Summer had just moved in with, who she lived with. She had just moved in actually in November with Jake's help at the beginning of November. They described Jake as a, a hothead, so that was their impression of him, a hothead, and told the police a little bit more about Summer and who she was, including that even though Summer was 30 years old, they estimated her mental age to be about 16 years old. They said that while she lacked basic life skills, they taught her how to cook eggs, they helped her with transportation, home from work, and even encouraged her to get her driver's license. She had a separate entrance into the house,

so a little bit more privacy. So while they never saw her after the night before she went to that hotel on the 28th, they do believe that she came home after that night and that they heard her leave super early on the morning of the 30th. One friend told law enforcement this summer would frequently talk about the physical and emotional abuse the summer experience at the hands of Jake. And in November, just a month before she died, Summer told her this friend that Jake had choked her and nearly killed her. Another person police talked to was a male co-worker of Summers who they referred to him in the charging documents as NM.

And so NM says that just a couple of months before Summer's life was taken, she had confided in NM on a drive to work that Jake was verbally abusive and had hit her multiple times. Even after she asked Jake to leave her apartment, Summer said that Jake was still harassing her by texting and calling her. A few days later, when the coworker picked Summer up again, Summer told this coworker told NM that Jake was still verbally abusing her and had threatened to find her. After that, it seemed like Summer and Jake had broken up and she had moved on. And she wasn't bringing Jake up as much anymore, according to those that knew Summer. But then, Summer showed up for work over two hours late on Saturday, December 28th. So two days before her death, she shows up.

two hours late. And even though summer was often 15 to 20 minutes late, according to coworkers, she was never two hours late. And her phone never usually went straight to voicemail like it did that morning when they were trying to get a hold of her. And so when she finally shows up to work that day, she does seem off. And she told NM that she didn't have her phone. That was her reasoning for it going straight to voicemail. Two days later, summer was late for work again, except this time she never showed up at all. And hours later, when her body was discovered, Jake was arrested and taken into custody. After news of the arrest broke, Jake's ex-wife did an interview with a local Salt Lake City Station, KSL, talking about their nine-year marriage and the abuse she suffered throughout. Take a listen.

I actually met Jake 10 days after he got out of prison. He robbed a pharmacy when he was 18 years old and got, he was addicted to drugs at age 14. So I met him at a singles word ho-down at my local church. The first time that he stepped back into a church after so many years. And I saw this guy with tattoos coming out of his sleeves and this huge smile and this cowboy hat and just somebody who was ready to, in my mind, be saved, which I had my own childhood trauma.

So I think that that's how I found my self-worth. And I think that that's how a lot of us who do stay with abusers that we find our self-worth is by saving somebody or rescuing somebody or helping them to see the light in themselves and the good in themselves. And there was light, too. There were good things throughout the years. But there's also so much dark. So we met at the Singlesword Ho-Down. And then he wasn't ever active in the church that I was in the Church of

Jesus Christ of Lattery Saints, he would come, but he never fully was converted. We were married for nine and a half years. And honestly, our marriage was hell on earth, but I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time. And there was a lot of paranoia that started very early on, where if I, if I talked to another guy at church or was smiley or friendly, I noticed really early that he would get really jealous and he would think that I was hitting on the guy, even though I was just smiling. And so I made moves to avoid that. And I actually asked my bishop if I could be taken off of the welcoming committee because it made him so uncomfortable. And that's so sad looking back that he was, he was manipulating my light and trying to get me to hide my light even back then.

She also talked about Jake's struggles with addiction and the fight she was going through to keep her kids safe. So what happened in May is my children told me that he was gone all night when I picked them up the next day that he was gone all night and that he had been jumped in the neighborhood walking through the nice neighborhood and herrimand that he lived in and my 10-year-old son came home and said so mom dad had a huge cut under his eye and he had scratch marks all over the front of his neck and he said he got beaten up by some gang members in the middle of the night. So first of all I was very concerned and I called the herrimand police the next day to find out if it's legal. Number one, one, to leave a 10-year-old and a six-year-old at home all night long, unsupervised.

And that's not illegal, which I was shocked about. And two, I felt very strongly that night that there was a woman who was attacked because you don't get scratch marks all over the front of your neck by getting beaten up by men. You do that when you are assaulting a woman. That is where you get. So I called to just at least make an informative report. And I actually contacted Summer sister at that time because I had her, she'd been concerned about her before to just make sure that summer was okay.

So at that point, with the police reports and everything, I filed for a child protective order to protect my children. How can I send my kids with somebody who's throwing knives at invisible people? That's terrifying, and it was denied. The 4th District Provo Court denied that because they said that it was mental health and that he should be protected. my children needed to be protected from those knives that were being thrown. As of now, Jake is being held without bond in the Salt Lake County Jail and is charged with one count of aggravated murder,

one count of obstruction of justice, one count of purchase, transfer, possession, or use of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person in relation to the hammer that was found that was used to hurt summer, and one count of abuse or desecration of a human body. Now on the charging documents, one of the most telling things, in my opinion. And the charging documents, by the way, can be viewed in full at patreon.com slash hidden two crime, but it states that Jacob Holt Johnson was charged with first degree aggravated murder due to, quote, the homicide being committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved manner. Any of which must be demonstrated by physical torture, serious physical abuse,

or serious bodily injury of the victim before death. End quote. So we are still learning about Jacob Holt Johnson, the man charged with this atrocious crime. But what we know right now, his social media profiles say he is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He was married for nine years. We heard from his ex-wife.

Well, he also has an ex-fiancee. He's also the father to two young children. According to his Facebook profile, he studied at BYU, Idaho in Rexburg, as well as Utah State University and Logan. His parents are married and his dad works for the Eldiest Church as a research engineer for family search and has worked there for over 16 years according to his LinkedIn profile. Jacob Johnson's next court date is January 21st in Salt Lake County.

And now it is time to hear from someone who loved Summer very, very much. Her sister and guardian. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought in sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in. Ora actively removes your data from broker's sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your

information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But ORA goes beyond data protection. With one app, You get a VPN, antivirus, password manager, spam call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance, all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or just a VPN. ORA gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today atora.com slash remove. Protect yourself now atora.com slash remove. Michelle, what's one financial lesson you learned?

hard way. I'll go first. It's not too late to start saving. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness app that makes it easy to start saving and investing for your future. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that matches you and your money goals. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you get started with the spare money you have right now. And one of the best things about acorns is they allow you to see projected growth on their website. Simply go online. Type in how much money you'd put in. and see the potential future balance of your account. Sign up now and join the over 13 million all-time customers

who have already saved and invested over $22 billion with Acorns. Head to Acorns.com slash hidden true crime or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non-client endorsement. Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns, Tier 1 compensation provided. Investing involves risk, Acorns Advisors, LLC and SEC registered investment advisor.

A few important disclosures at Acorns.com. slash hidden true crime. Has losing weight and getting healthier been on your mind lately? Have you heard about groundbreaking GLP1 treatments like OZMPIC and WeGO? With Effecti, getting access to these powerful medications has never been easier or more affordable. Starting a new medication is always a bit scary when you aren't sure what to expect. And using Effecti makes it so much easier with their hands on support, which gives unlimited access to licensed doctors so you never have to jump through hoops for help with any dosing questions or just other support when you need it. Effecti uses rigorous testing and their products are backed by research so you can rest assured. Ready to level up your weight loss game.

Right now, my listeners can get $50 off of GLP1 weight loss treatments at effecti.com with code hidden true crime at checkout. That's effecti.com, eFF-F-E-C-T-Y dot com and use code hidden true crime to get $50 off your first month of GLP1 weight loss treatment, no hassles, no memberships, and no hidden fees. Get started today. Hormonal changes are so hard to see the least. Hot flashes, anyone else. Add in the thousands of hormone disruptors that are in our environment, and it is even worse. From our water, food, the air we breathe, and the clothes we wear, they are everywhere. But the good news is that when hormone harmony enters the picture, it can help reduce hormonal symptoms in women of all ages. Hormone Harmony is a supplement that contains science-backed herbal extracts called

adaptogens. The best thing about adaptogens, they help the body adapt to any stressors like chaotic hormonal changes that happen naturally throughout a woman's life. Hormone harmony is actually part of my personal 2024 playbook. Hormone harmony makes no compromises when it comes to quality and it shows. For a limited time, you can get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com. That's Happy H-A-P-P-Y-M-A-M-M-O-T-H.com, just use the code hidden true crime at checkout. That's code hidden true crime. Use that with happy mammoth.com for 15% off today. Hi.

Hello, Hidden Gems. I am with a very important guest today. This is Michelle Tishner. And Michelle Tishner is the sister of Summer Roney. and not just the big sister of Summer, but you were her guardian. Is that right? That's right. And you were her guardian because she was a vulnerable adult.

Yeah. She was vulnerable, but she was perfect in every way. She had some developmental delays, but that's kind of what made her so special and childlike. And yeah, she was adopted from Russia. She had holes in her heart. So she was adopted and they fixed that. And she's been kind of fighting her entire life since she came into it. When I say she was childlike, she was genuinely childlike.

Cute, little petite. It's not just her looks, but she had an innocence to her where on some of these delays where, you know, she struggled to kind of understand consequences or backwards forward, forward, backwards thinking. But when I look at that, that's just what's so kind of special about her and who she was, is that she really just had this innocence to her. She was so, so good with something. It's like music. Oh, my gosh. She was incredible with music. She really related to it a lot. Every time I would see her, she would talk about, oh, I've got a song for you to listen to that she would think that would resonate with you and be impactful to you. But she did.

She went to high school or she got her high school diploma. She did get it a little bit late. She got it at 20 years old. And she worked really hard for that. And we're so proud of her for that. She also, after that, she really wanted to be a dolphin trainer still. And somebody said, well, that's going to be kind of hard to do in Utah summer. And she thought about that.

And she goes, okay. So that's when she went on to get her, her CNA. And again, she worked so hard to do that and pass that the exam. It took her a little bit longer. She did it. And we were so proud. And it just fit her personality so well because she was such an empathetic caretaker. and, you know, everybody at the senior living centers that she worked at just loved and adored her.

So, yeah. She was a caretaker and that was how you kind of explained her too. Yeah, this was a very sweet woman. Sweet. Herred about everyone around her and innocence. Yeah, and she did that through her career. As you pointed out, she had to work really hard to get there. She did.

I mean, she didn't have to work hard to be sweet because that's just who she was. was but yeah she worked really hard to get to that and she just I mean she she she just thrived for some of the the struggles that she was up against in life in general but she was just so beautiful and kind-hearted and so we're just so proud of her and what she was able to accomplish. She was 4-11 we would say she is tiny but mighty. but and she was she just is so petite she's like a size two little boy's shoe um weighed you know she was 99 pounds um and she was trying to get to over a hundred so that she could get her wisdom teeth pulled um she was almost there okay because what happened to her and what i have read in

the charging documents. And I know you've read them. Yeah. You know, and I have shared with everyone prior to this interview, so we don't have to rehash the, you know, what has just, what you have learned has happened to your sister. But I do want to understand because, I mean, this is so heinous and so horrible. She, she knew Jacob. She knew the man behind bars who was charged with doing this to your sister.

Can you tell us a little bit of background there? So they connected on Tinder is how they first met. Okay. I being the sister I am in protective mode. I went in and looked him up and he did have a record. And I was hesitant about that, but it was 20 years ago. And so I thought, you know, it was in his 20s, people change. I haven't seen anything more like recently.

And so I said, okay, well, let me, let's meet him, bring him over to the house. And so she did. And I, you know, is kind of a funny story. I asked him to take off his sunglasses. talk to me because you got to left him on during the day, which I thought was... It's just who you are. You're really protecting her. You're saying, let me see your eyes. You don't look at me when I'm, you know, you're here. I have to ask, you've referred to, you know, how childlike summer is, how she's petite, how she wears a size two in little boy's shoes,

how she has a Spider-Man backpack. What can, I mean, was, was. was what was the draw for for Jacob? I mean, I, I guess I have to wonder. Yeah. And that's a good point because when they first met, according to Summer Story, was that when she was explaining who Drake was, was she said, well, we went on a date.

I said, give me the details. You know, we went on a date. And he said, I'm sorry, I can't, I can't date you. You know, or said something like, you're underage. And so she pulled out her ID and she showed it to him and said, no, look, I'm over 18. That's how childlike she looked. And he, Summer told me that he wrapped his arms around her and said, oh, thank goodness. It's like you're of age.

And so that, just to give you an idea of how really childlike summer was, I hope, I don't know if that answers your question. Yeah, no, it does. He believes that she was underage, which to me, it brings the concern of why would he connect with her in the first place? Why would he choose to go on a date with her on the first place if he thought she could possibly be under age? So you feel almost in some ways he targeted her from the very beginning? I do. I absolutely do. Tell me about what you told me about the neighbors. Yeah.

So the neighbors, they had observed, they saw summer outside working in the gardening, with Jake. And they thought, what is this guy doing with a child? Like, who is this child over there? Because when you see Summer, she's just so tiny. She looks like a child. That is the first thing that people are, Summer's always having to prove that she's over 18. Early on, kind of, it wasn't long after that I started noticing some concerns and she had confided in me. that he had, you know, pushed her up against a wall and had been just saying some terrible, like just verbally abusive. And so I did report that to the police.

I did reach out to his ex-wife and kind of try to understand who this person is. I just got a really, really bad, like my intuition was saying something's not right here. And I reached out to Jake's father as well. As a parent, I would want to know if there was something that I could, if my son was behaving in that way, to join help, right? It wasn't to be malicious or, you know, say anything mean.

It was just trying to understand or trying to let them understand what I had observed. because I was so concerned. So towards the end, she did hide from me that she was seeing him because she was afraid that and Jake said that I was trying to get his kids taken away from him by reporting this. So I was not allowed to know. I mean, the isolation was next level with this with this guy. That makes it so right. So rather than understanding that you're caring about her and you,

you want to make sure he's he is behaving and good to her or leaving her alone. He's now saying, no, you're getting my children taken away. Were his parents receptive when you called them? You know, so with Jake's past, it was the way that basically, the part that stands out to me today and even going back through that was that Jake could hold his own in a fight, but would never lay a hand on a woman. That's what you're told by his family. Yeah.

So they didn't listen. They didn't hear you. I mean, that's how I'm hearing that. Yeah. To me, it felt like they, you know, as I felt when I first looked into him, is that, yes, Jake had a past. And to me, it felt like they were possibly, thinking that I was causing issues, but they said even his bitter ex-wife wouldn't,

hasn't said anything like that. So it was, they called her bitter. They called her bitter. Yep. But nothing wrong with, with Jake. He would never hurt a woman. He would never lay hands on a woman.

And what did you find when you did that initial, uh, background check, well done. That's what we would all do. Uh, what did you, what did, you find out what was his past when he was in his 20s right it was there was um aggravated robbery

there was i believe it was drug distribution or um controlled substances involved which you know really worried me with that um just because i know how heart recovery can be and but again i was he was he was in his early 20s i believe and so i'm when I met him, he was, I think, 37. So. Okay. And so you're seeing these signs. She confides in you originally, you know, initially about some physical abuse and some emotional abuse. Yeah.

And then he starts to isolate her. Yes. Absolutely. And it was next level. I mean, her phone would go on Do Not Disturb when she was over there. it was there was just he was he tried to at times talk to me and say I will leave her alone but that just it would always from what I observed with summer was she loved his kids so much and that was kind of the hook.

And she was so good with kids and animals. She was just so caring again. And that was how he kind of, I feel like pulled her back in as saying, the kids miss you. I remember saying, well, the kids really miss me. There was at one point where I even reached out to the ex-wife and I said, would you be willing to let Summer see the children so that she doesn't happen without Jake? And should we talked about that? And I mean, I believe she said yes, but it was so up and down that and there was so much kind of isolation and him stopping her from telling me.

I just can't imagine the threats he must have put in her mind and she would have a hard time understanding that those aren't real. I think any of us would when you're in that cycle of abuse. Did she have a lot of dating experience? No. No, that was her first, like, she was excited about him. She said, I met. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the

internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in. ORA actively removes your data from broker's sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But ORA goes beyond data protection. With one app, you get a VPN, antivirus, password manager, spam call protection, dark web monitoring,

and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance, all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring, or just a VPN. ORA gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one. one service. Start your free trial today atora.com slash remove. Protect yourself now atora.com slash remove. Somebody. Well, what's his name? So, no, she had had some kind of not very committed relationships, but that was, I think, she had been on some cute little dates, like to rodeos and stuff, but that was her real first relationship. serious relationship, yeah.

And you mentioned, so isolating, do not disturb. Yeah, so many red flags, you're hearing scene, you're so concerned. Would they break up and then get back together then? Would she say, I need to leave and then he would pull her back in? You mentioned love bombing too. Yeah, there was some love bombing. But the love bombing was not something that lasted for, you know, a week at a time. and then he was, you know, getting angry and verbally abusive.

From what I saw, the love bombing was to get her over to his house. And he would, you know, the kids miss you or I miss you or let's try and talk. And I'm really trying to change. She told me, Michelle, he's really trying to change. I said, okay, well, let's talk about that then. Let's understand how Jake is trying to change and what differences you're seeing. Because ultimately, I didn't want to, you know,

I wanted her to come and formulate to her own decisions and not just tell her everything that she had to do because, I mean, having a guardianship with somebody at that age, it can be difficult, right? So, yeah, and she saw the best in everyone, really. I mean, that's part of what made her so innocent. Yes. Yeah. And so how long did they know each other then? I think it was a total of about four, close to four years. I'm pretty sure it was about that time frame. I'd have to go back and look. And did you ever hear of anything escalating more than those initial things? Or did she start to kind of at that moment block you out? Like did you hear about additional pushing, additional shoving or? No, she blocked me out from that because, I think again, she was worried that I was trying to get Jake's children taken away from him.

And I think that was a threat that he had given to her. She wouldn't have come up with that on her own. So I heard, you know, afterwards, after all of this comes out, you start to read the statements that there was additional abuse. And it's, yeah, it's, I was not aware of the, I wasn't even aware that she was, he had moved. And so we shared location with each other. And I kind of always had a gut feeling that maybe that was Jake's house because I've noticed the phone kind of go on and do not disturb again. But I didn't know for sure and thought maybe it was another friend of hers. So take me back to understanding then this, you know, her last, her last days. Did you know they were in touch? What happened leading up to her murder? So I remember it was on Halloween and we were looking for possibly a second costume or some stuff for her nephew, my son. And she said, guess whose birthday it is today? And I said, who's?

And she said, it's, you know, Jake's son's birthday. I said, you're not still talking to him, are you? And she said, oh, heck no, I haven't talked to him for a while. And that was really, I did kind of start to see some changes in her, I guess, her being more social and just being out there and being around people because she loved to be around people. And so I definitely, I believe that, but I do believe that's when they maybe started talking again, is maybe she wished a happy birthday of some sort. But no, on Christmas, she was here on Christmas morning. and then she went down to our uncle's house and did some gift opening there.

And I didn't, I did not know they were back in touch. And from what I understand, I found out later on is that he had just gotten out of some mental health rehab type facility on Christmas Eve and was planning on going back in on the Monday. So you got out of like a, a rehab type situation or mental health? I don't really know which one it is. But there was, from what I've learned is that he was struggling with something.

Again, I didn't feel like I was needing to look into this guy because I didn't, I didn't think they were still communicating. Right, right. You had no idea they're still communicating, but he gets out on December 24th and then your sister is killed December 30th. Is that correct? Right. So we're talking.

I got the news on the 30 on New Year's Eve, but she had been gone for some time, because you've read in this. Right. Right. Because at first what was reported is that maybe it happened that day, but we later learned that that it had been like a day before they. Like between maybe 10 to 12 hours, I mean, the way that she was found. Yeah.

Okay. So what can be? Yeah. I'm so sorry. Yeah. And she missed her shift on that day. And she would not. I mean, if she was running late, she would call and let him know, but for her just to not show and it was going straight to voice mail.

Yeah. What did they call you? It was the police that called you? The police came to my home. It came to your home. and let you know they found her. Yeah. One thing you mentioned was that you feel lucky that you at least were able to say goodbye and that you had her body.

Can you tell me? Yeah. I mean, when I first found this out, I was frantic of, because I just didn't know anything. they can't tell you a lot. And I thought, well, where's her Spider-Man backpack? And I just was looking for that. And like you guys use a size two little boy shoe. You might not be looking for the right stuff.

And she wore onesies. Like it's just so tiny that it could easily be mistaken for his son's stuff. And so I went to and kind of served. through her bedroom and everything and I said guys it's not here she never where is it where is it the spider man backpack the spider man backpack yeah and they did end up in that report say that her spider man backpack was located but my fear was that he was taking her to dispose of her and that fear was absolutely correct because of what was found in his car along with the summer Yeah.

Yes, including gasoline and things that would help him try to get rid of a body. Yes, just brutal. Just brutal. Absolutely brutal. So brutal. I have to ask you, and I feel like nobody's asking this question, but I'm listening to this. And usually, you know, when it comes to domestic, not usually often when it comes to domestic, to domestic

perhaps it's a crime of passion. That's the category they put something in. This almost feels, I have to be honest, like something premeditated. Has that, am I jumping to conclusions from what you know and of what you've heard?

No, I don't, I mean, from what I know, I mean, this is all me speculating and putting things together. But I absolutely think there's a level of, this premeditation. I mean, one of the things that I had said in my police report is that he had threatened to kill her.

And I believe that she was going to try and give him some space with whatever to try and get heal himself and was communicating that, at least from what I've understand and have learned, that there's a good chance that I just absolutely, this seems to be. be that he got her over to that house because they had spent, as you saw in the document, that they had spent, he had gotten a hotel and she kind of had that conversation. And so for her to just kind of go over there, there could have, I mean, there's so much, but this absolutely feels like there's a level of premeditation, absolutely. And it's just sick to me.

Yeah. You just said in your police report, she, she, had been threatened by Jake that he said he was going to kill her. Can you tell me about that? You know, it was something that I almost had to go back through and read because just your head's spinning with all of this information. And then when I read through some of that, you know, I've really got to go back and understand some of this. And I just, and part of my messages was somewhere, I said, somewhere you threatened to kill you. I mean, this is after she had, stayed at my house for a few nights because I wanted to make sure she felt safe.

And she said, I'm not going to talk to him anymore. You know, I said, as he called you? Because I said, I wanted to put a no contact order in place. And so I don't remember the exact details of that. And I probably will be able to. I just, my mind on everything has just been, you know, so over the place that I'd have to probably go back through some messages and see that police report or, but yeah. But there was that threat.

There was a threat. Absolutely. There was that threat. And yet from people that talked to her right before she met him that night, she seemed like there was nothing wrong. She almost seemed excited from what I read and so charging docs. Well, in the charging documents, they had gotten that hotel, which I didn't know about. But, and then she was late for work.

if you read it. And she said she would be late, but then she didn't show up for two hours and her phone was going to voicemail. And then she showed up and the manager said that she seemed very distant or off is what the charging dock said. So and that was the last time that she was seen by that work employee from what I understand. Yes, yes. Yeah. And forgive me. Yeah, I did read that.

I guess I meant like a previous one. Maybe it was a couple days earlier or something. Yeah, yeah. She seemed happy. She seemed really excited to be going to this hotel. He got her a nice hotel. And he had been, and there had been that level of separation. So it makes you wonder if she thought, okay, I mean, he's probably a changed person or, you know, trying to understand again, just giving everybody the benefit of the doubt with, yeah.

You know, it's just the level of almost it, it's really eerie and I hate to like say it, but it's just how do you even, how does one know to like the mattress was wrapped in plastic and just so much of it to start shaking when I think of it. But it's, it's, I don't know if it's just this level of evil that I don't understand or if it's, it's, it's, it's. I mean, he was getting ready to dispose of her and had the gas can. And he had the bleach and he had all this stuff. And it's just, I can't help but think that. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent.

That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in. Ora actively removes your data from broker sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But ORA goes beyond data protection. With one app, you get a VPN, antivirus, password manager, spam call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance, all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or just a VPN.

ORA gives you all of it together at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at ORA.com slash remove. Protect yourself now at aura.com slash remove. He thought about it was almost maybe like if, well, if I'm going back into, you know, he was supposed to check back into the facility on that Monday, if maybe that was his like, well, if I can't have her, nobody can. I just, I don't know. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a very possible if he's going back in there. Yeah. And it was kind of last minute from what I understand that she even went with him that day. But I could be wrong on that. That's for just speculation. Yeah. Gosh, I'm so sorry. I keep saying that, but I know that this, I can't imagine what you're going through.

You know, I want to ask. again about, you know, to me this seems like almost a pre, you know, it's almost sounds like a very planned murder, that this wasn't something that happened that night and it turned a murder. My God is telling me that there's something sinister. I saw a piece of the news. I didn't see the whole press release. I wish I could find it, but that it was torture. And it was that lasted several hours, I believe it was very hard.

And so, I'm sorry, that, I mean, I know it will take a minute to find out, but I do believe that the death penalty is on the table, but there's a few options that he could be charged with. but it was torture and it's such an ugly and scary, just something you don't want to think about, but that it went on, he did say hours. And so I don't feel like this was, well, I'm sorry, I just, I feel like I'm going to throw up sometimes when I think about it,

but I don't feel like this is something that was like a passion of crime where you just push somebody down the stairs and you accidentally break the neck, I mean, it's not something that you saw read and you just snap out of it was it went on for um it was an instant and that's your sister suffered and and i like to believe that that um you removed from your body at some point and you don't you don't feel but i don't that's what i tell myself to feel better about this You ever suspect there's somebody else involved?

I do. I expect, I, okay, well, I suspect that there was phone calls made between those two hours. This is, again, my gut feeling. I think that somebody knew before she was found the way he had done. Tell us a little bit more, you know, I, I, you know, I, are you learned, well, first off, let me ask you this. Are you learning about a lot of the details as the public learns, or are you getting a heads up or what's going? No, it's as the public learns, right? I mean, I did know that they were going to file charges. They called me before and said,

we're getting ready to file charges. But it's all the official charges. But it's, no, I mean, I'm learning this. That report was such a shock to me because again, I just thought it would show the charges and not the details of everything. And yeah, I just couldn't have. It's, you know, it's like a horror film, but worse. It's like a horror film is not even that bad, you know. And so, and I understand why I was not able to, you know, they couldn't give me that information because then, you know, they need to protect the case and the integrity of the case. But yeah, I'm learning as it, and I'm learning on Facebook, but like different posts and people, you know, just kind of reaching out to me and the timelines and stuff like that.

Have you been able to talk to the officer who found her or anyone that's been on the case to explain anything more to you? Again, I mean, I know. I mean, I reached out to them and I said, I read through the document and I just want you to know that my heart is with you and your team because at this scene, just reading it was so difficult that my heart goes out to them for what they do in bringing justice. And it's and so, but as far as the, I mean, there's just there, there's not a lot of trust me, I try to get information, but I'm not able to for once. Yeah, but my heart goes out to them because it's just that is such a hard job, you know. I would love just to know a little bit more about summer. You've sent me, you know, some photos and we want to share those here.

Yeah. But tell us a little bit about her. her. We want to remember this beautiful sister of yours and get to know her. I mean, yeah, I mean, I, she was incredibly coordinated. I mean, she loved to snowboard. She loved to wakeboard. She was actually just, but she was fearless. I mean, I remember her just, I look over. She goes, hey, can I jump off the houseboat? And I said, sure, here, let me get a, let me get a video of you while you do it. And she turns around and just does a back flip off.

And I mean, she was always just doing backflips off of everything. And she liked to dirt bike and she really was fearless, like child bike, fearless, where you're always kind of like on high alert with her if she's doing this sport. But she just, she was so adventurous. She grew up all over the world. And, you know, just... And why would she grew up all over the world just because parents traveled or family traveled? Yeah, just different houses.

I mean, she had a, I mean, she lived in Maui and just Jackson Hole, California, Malibu. And so she loved traveling because that was something that she was familiar with. then she just loved the water because obviously kind of grew up in that area. But she, yeah, everything she did just scared me sometimes. You know, it's like, I'm already, I don't know. There was one, she loved cliff dining, for example, at Lake Powell. Lake Powell was one of her favorite places. And, but yeah, she was such an adventurous person, so kind-hearted.

I remember once we went to on a trip, her and I just together, it was over, like my older daughter was out of town. And we thought, well, let's go somewhere. Let's go on a little trip. So we went to Newport Beach. And we got a noise complaint, not because of loud music, not because of a party or people over there, but because we stayed up just laughing so hard online. And we laughed so hard when we got that noise complaint. We thought we're just going to keep getting ourselves in trouble. But it just super funny, super goofy.

It was hard for us to even find a normal picture of her because all the pictures she was just making a goofy face. But she didn't like to dress up. She liked her onesies. She liked her, you know, she couldn't walk in high heels as coordinated as she was. She couldn't walk in high heels. But she, yeah, she just the sweetest, most sentimental. and empathetic person you'll meet.

And she always made time for just to even call and say to everybody. The funeral said that she was a collector of people and that is so her. I mean, she just, once she made a friendship, she didn't ever lose it. She just stayed in touch with everybody. Sounds like, yeah, one of the most beautiful things about her and something, though, that tragically wasn't good in this situation. It's so sad. Yeah, I mean, if I could add to that, you have such an extreme on both sides of summer is being so empathetic and vulnerable and just such the opposite.

And there was that age gap. And there was not only the age gap, but with, you know, some of her, you know, just her vulnerabilities has just made it the worst possible scenario and the perfect. victim, I feel like. Right. Because, yeah, what was their age group or age gap? It was large. Ten years, but then also if you... Throwing the vulnerable adult and some of her developmental delays, it's much larger, I mean, than that. And anybody who knew summer could tell that. I mean, just there are little basic things. Like, how do I cook eggs? I don't know how to cook eggs. That was mentioned in there. So I thought I would talk about that. But yeah, she didn't have a driver's license.

She was scared to drive. Right. And did she love Spider-Man? Was that? Tell me about the Spider-Man back. Love Spider-Man. Love Lilo and Stitch. Our favorite Disney show to watch was Robin Hood.

We thought that was great. She'd always identify with the characters. Who are you in this movie? And who am I? So she just, yeah, she likes Spider-Man. So who was she in Spider-Man? Do you remember? I don't remember on Spider-Man.

I think she just always liked to run around and go, Spider-Man, with her little, like. But we would kind of go back and forth between characters. That was just kind of one of the things we'd talk about when we watched the Disney movies together. Yeah, such a positive, positive light. I can't get over, honestly. I agree how lucky it is that that that policeman was there and knocked on the window of the car. Right. Do we know was he simply under the influence?

I have a hard time understanding that too. Like what was going on? Like I'm glad something was going on so that they could want him. Like thank goodness. But so you, you don't know anything else about that either. No, I'm curious as to what did he buy in the store? And I just, no, I don't. I mean, I know what you know as far as that.

report goes, but I mean, he was there for three hours. And there's no, there's no other charges like around DUI. Maybe those are to come and I don't know. But yeah, I mean, I feel like it was just a blessing that we have her and we're able to give her a proper burial. I mean, I feel he was hours away from us. I could, I could be having a conversation with you saying, trying to figure out where she is. And so I was upset that we weren't able to have an

open casket. But now I'm just very thankful that we have our ashes. And she had a proper priority after reading that. Yeah. That was a hard thing. I mean, Summer didn't, both of her parents

have passed. And so she didn't have that scary dad to, that, you know, the boyfriend needs to be scared of. And I think that all of that just made her so opportunistic for the control that he craved, whatever it may be. I don't understand it, but it's just so much on that. What do you hope when it comes to your sister's case as we move forward? We want to continue following it here, into crime.

And we, of course, are hoping for justice for your sister. But what does that look like for you? Or what do you want the public to know what are the next steps? What would you like us to be aware? I mean, it's a good question because I found out that the death penalty could be on the table. Morally, I'm usually opposed to that. I don't know what the, I know that I would be upset. if he ever stepped foot out of prison again.

He's a danger to society, absolutely. And he robbed us of such a special person who had so much more life in front of her. But I just, you know, as we go through this, I just don't want any, I want every stone unturned. I want this case. And I believe the detectives and everybody is doing such a good job

and taking this very seriously from, you know, from, you know, what I've seen and that. But I want justice for this and I want, I want somebody to learn from this situation. That, I mean, you can always play this should have could have what a game, but maybe this will reach somebody and or somebody's family who's in a similar situation with, you know, they're a adult vulnerable, you know, child or sister. And this can reach somebody in that way too, just to take everything so seriously. And I guess I wasn't a good enough stalker at times, but you do what we can. I think you did a good job, doing a background check right when you learned about him,

as you say. that just only so much you could have done. Everybody knows I do that, so it was it. Good. Yeah. As you should. Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you for being with us tonight. We will, is there anything else you want to say before we end? No, I mean, it's just been hard to talk about this. And as I, part of the reason why I wanted to come on here is because as that charging document. it came out and it was just so heinous. And I wanted people to remember summer, not summer, just not some random person who was found. And share who she was because she was just, we called her Summer Roney the one and only. So that was her, that was her name that she gave herself. But now I think, I think that's, I know that, you know, thank you for following this and bringing some light to it. As more come down, I mean, I will be at every court hearing.

I will get justice for her. And I will be there to look him in the eyes because I'm very upset that that is the last person my sister saw was him. I want to add before we end, if anyone, anyone is listening to this and they're thinking of going back. or not back to an abusive partner. Think of summer and help summer be your decision to not.

If anybody out there is considering back and forth. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Do not. Thank you so much for being here tonight. Again, we will continue to cover the case and we're here for you anytime. Anytime you want to bring us updates, any time you have something to say.

anytime you want us to be able to remember summer. We're here. Thank you. That means a lot to me. Thank you, Michelle. Can you tell me a story? Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car. Was she brave? She was tired, mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required. Did you have to find a dragon? Nope. She bought it 100% online, from her bed, actually. Was it scary? Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be. Did the car have a sunroof? It did, actually. Okay, good story.

Car buying you'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on... Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.