Morbid - The Disappearance of Delimar Vera

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

On December 15, 1997, ten-day-old Delimar Vera died in a tragic housefire when the Philadelphia home of Luz Cuevas and Pedro Vera caught fire unexpectedly. After a brief investigation, the fire department identified a faulty heater as the cause of the fire and deemed the baby’s death an accident and claimed that the girl’s remains had been completely destroyed in the blaze. Luz Cuevas was skeptical of their explanation and struggled to accept her daughter’s death.Six years after the fire, Luz was at a party where she ran into Pedro’s cousin, whom she hadn’t seen in several years. The woman, Carolyn Correa, had with her a little girl named Aaliyah, whom she claimed was her daughter, though Luz didn’t remember her having children or being pregnant six years earlier. Even more suspicious was that six-year-old Aaliyah bore a striking resemblance to Luz herself and she couldn’t shake the feeling that Aaliyah was in fact her own supposedly dead daughter, Delimar. Had Luz Cuevas been right all along? Had Delimar somehow managed to survive the fire? And if so, why was she now in the custody of a strange woman she hadn’t seen in six years?Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!ReferencesBenson, Clea, and Rusty Pray. 1997. "10-day-old baby dies in N. Phila. fire." Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16: 38.CBS News. 2004. New twist in baby ID case. March 9. Accessed June 28, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-twist-in-baby-id-case/.CNN. 2004. Mom finds kidnapped daughter six years later. March 2. Accessed June 28, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/03/01/girl.found.alive/.Cuevas v. City of Philadelphia. 2006. 05-3749 (United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania, August 11).Egan, Nicole Weisensee. 2005. "Her side of the story." Philadelphia Daily News, October 13: 3.Frisby, Mann. 1997. "Heater blamed in fire that clais infant." Philadelphia Daily News, December 16: 10.George, Jason. 2004. "Girl found and woman held after a ruse lasting years." New York Times, March 3: A13.Gregory, Sean. 2004. Back from the blaze. March 15. Accessed June 28, 2024. https://time.com/archive/6737931/back-from-the-blaze/.Pompilio, Natalie. 2004. "Kidnapped girl returned to birth mother." Philadelphia Inquirer, March 8.Pompilio, Natalie, and Joel Bewley. 2004. "Case of child once believed dead is far from over." Philadelphia Inquirer, March 6.Pompilio, Natalie, and Thomas Gibbons. 2004. "Woman suspected of kidnapping girl 6 years ago turns." Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2.Soteropoulos, Jacqueline. 2005. "Abductor of infant gets 9 to 30 years." Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24: 1.Tampa Bay Times. 2004. Daughter lost in fire returns, but questions swirl in family. March 7. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/03/07/daughter-lost-in-fire-returns-but-questions-swirl-in-family/.The Record. 2004. DNA testing helps mom find only daughter. March 2. Accessed June 28, 2024. https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2004/03/03/dna-testing-helps-mom-find/50702564007/. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. Hey guys, I'm Ash. This is morbid. Everything has been so morbid. Yeah, sorry. We took a week-long break, and it's the first week we've taken off in like three years. It's really funny that you called it a break. Well, this is what's funny. So we're going to get into it real quick.

I'm going to let you all know what's been going on because I think people have been like, where'd you go? What's going on? Because we started morbid. as like a podcast and like a kind of a hobby in the beginning. And then Morbitt said, how about your whole life? Yeah, how about how about I become your life this week? And we were like, I'd rather not. But we were going to take the week of Christmas off. We planned for it. We said it. We were ready to do it. We were like, cool. We were going to, we were thinking like maybe we'll get ahead.

You know, we're going to really like pile up on some research and pile up on some recordings and just, you know, like make our lives easier in the new year. Yeah, maybe even like bake a couple things together. Yeah, just take a minute. And we were planning that. And then this week, the week before Christmas, turned out to be our week off. And I'm doing air bunnies right now, air quote, air quote, air quote, air quote. Because what happened was this week, it started off with COVID entering my household.

And I think we talk about it all the time. No one in this house goes anywhere, like at all. And we're luckily all vaccinated, except for my two-year-old who can't be vaccinated yet. Getting to that later, don't worry about it. But we're all vaccinated, which I'd like to say, thank everything that we are vaccinated, because somehow it entered the house. A couple of us have got it. And that includes my unvaccinated two-year-old.

And let me tell you, not awesome. So when we first found out that it entered the house, scary. We immediately were scared about the little one because she's the only one not covered. And while we waited for that, you know, everything, she was acting fine, everything was going all right. While we waited for that, Bailey, my dog started going, she's been going downhill for a while and we've been kind of trying with different, I'm going to try not to cry here because it's been a week. So hopefully I want me to not look at you. Oh, no. But don't look at me.

I think it really hit us on Thanksgiving when she didn't get up on Thanksgiving, because that bitch was always hungry. Because she was always about Thanksgiving was her Super Bowl, like it is most of ours. Girl was a hungry, hungry hippo. She was on that. And usually during Thanksgiving dinner, Bailey would be driving us nuts around the dinner table. She would be like under the table. She'd have her head between your legs. She'd want to get a chair. She tried to get on the table. It was just a whole thing. I think there was a year where she like tried to bite the tablecloth. She literally pull it down. She was a smart gal. And we were just like, yeah, then we would reward that bad behavior with tons of turkey. Because she's beautiful. Because she's beautiful. Obviously.

And she deserves it. And this year, she didn't really get up from her bed during dinner. And so we were like, that's concerning. And, you know, we had another couple of bouts of tough situations with her. She got pancreatitis. And, you know, she was just acting sick a lot. We could tell she was in pain. And this week, it got worse on, I think it was Saturday night.

Yeah. When we got home, she was crying and she just wouldn't stop crying. She was clearly in pain. We tried everything. And then Sunday was a really rough day. And we ended up calling the vet. We brought her in and they kind of advised us. She's only here for you. She's kind of here just for you guys at this point. And we found she's in more pain than she is happy. And when she was happy, she was just lying in bed all day. Yeah. So we had to make that really, really terrible decision because we had Bailey for 12 years. We, John and I got Bailey before we even got engaged. That was our engagement. Like, pretty much. That was our commitment before our commitment. I remember Bailey was your promise ring. She was. I remember the day that you brought Bubba home. Yeah. And I was like, she needs a middle name because I was. Oh, yeah. I think I was 12. Yeah. Holy. Yeah, it was 12 years ago. Yeah. I can't do math right now. how my brain isn't working. No. But yeah, and I remember being like, her middle name should be Rose, Bailey Rose. And you were like, yeah, sure. And I was like, yeah, but that's what we called her, Bailey Rose. And yeah, and first of all, it was, I know, like, if people don't have pets, it might be like, I'm sure it can be like, okay, you're a little insane. But like anybody with pets and maybe people who don't have pets understand it, I don't know, it really is a different

kind of grief. And I had pets growing up, I had dogs growing up. And I remember being sad. But they were my family dog. But then this was just me and John's dog. And Bailey has gone through everything with us. And she's like your first kid. She sleeps in our bed. She slept in our bed from the second week we brought her home because we were terrible at willpower. And she was, she's with us 24-7 during this lockdown.

It's a lockdown quotation. It's really not a lockdown. Since we've been at home with the panorama, it's, she's been with us even more. She's been farting all over us for decades. Not everybody. She's been just, in any time we're sad or anything going on, she's just like the first thing to make you happy. She's such a snugglebug. Yeah.

And it's like, I didn't realize it was going to be so shattering. I mean, literally, I have not felt grief like this since I can. I think the last time I can remember feeling grief like this was when our miscarriage that we had. I think that is like the only time I can remember like actively sobbing. And so, like, I was not prepared for this at all, and neither was John. Like, we're both just completely beside ourselves. And I keep, like, every night being like, oh, Bailey's right. Oh, she's not there.

And it's just like in the morning, like, oh, we got to bring Bailey. We don't bring Bailey out. And that's hard. And then one of my twins, like, really took it hard. And that was a whole added thing because I'm crying. She's crying. And I'm trying to tell her it's okay to cry when you feel sad. Like, it's okay.

Like, but it's going to be. It's just not easy. But I also just want to mention, because I don't know, hopefully this person is listening, but at our vet, I guess some of the people who work there listen to the podcast. And after Bailey was gone, we were kind of sitting in the room, like just sobbing John and I. And this person who I didn't get their name because I was so out of my brain at that point that I didn't get to ask, but she came in. She was a tech, I believe.

and she was so sweet and she told me that she listens to the podcast. And she was like, the reason I'm saying this because she was like, I don't want you to think. I'm just being like, hey, I love your podcast. But she was like, I just want to tell you like a lot of us listen and like we feel like we know Bailey even more than we know her. And she was like, and we've worked on her. We've been here with her. Yeah. We know how much you love her.

And like, I just want to tell you how sorry I am. And then she gave me a hug. And it was like the nicest hug. And it was just so nice. And she was so sweet. and she was like, I'm going to take care of her because we got Bailey cremated. And she was like, we're going to take good care of her. And it, like, really helped.

And I just want to tell her, like, you're a lovely human being and I love you. And I've told everybody about you and how you made my life. Yeah, like you helped my soul in that moment. So thank you so much. And I hope you hear this. And I'm so sorry, I didn't ask your name. How dare you? I was such a wreck.

So thoughtless, Elena. You were wonderful. And, you know, they were. They were at the, you know, our vet, and I just appreciate all of them so much. But that was the big thing that happened at first. That was just like earth-shattering this week. But it was going to, obviously, we were going to maintain, like, working and doing everything we had to do. And then it comes in threes.

Then my mother, who was, you know, in her 70s, took a pretty tough fall. She's okay. But at the time, it was really scary. So that was a big thing. that happened that was like Elena and I like left our houses. Yeah like in the middle you know at night and it was really tough. But that was the day after we had put Bailey down. So first night was no Bailey and crying ourselves to sleep. Second night was my mom fell and that was really because you know I love my mom so much and Ash loves our mom so much. Yeah, it was really scary. But she's okay. She's all good. She's doing all right.

But that was big. Yeah. Then the next night. everything seemed okay in the day. We're still grieving, you know, Bubba, still making sure my mom's all right. But that night, my littlest one woke up and threw up all over John several times. We knew it wasn't a stomach bug because we haven't gone anywhere. The kids have been out of school because of the exposure. And we took her immediately in the middle of the night to, you know, our local urgent care that's just for kids. and she tested positive for COVID.

So that was horrible. Yeah. And the next day was horrible, the next and I was so she was very sick the first few days. Yeah. She's doing really well now. So fingers crossed, it stays that way. We're waiting to hear about our other kids who are vaccinated, but everybody, nobody else is showing symptoms. So whether we are positive or not being vaccinated, I think,

so immensely, immensely helpful for this. Oh yeah, because I've been like smooching the baby. Oh yeah. We've just been like snuggling with her heart for. I'm like, I don't even care. Just give me COVID if you have to. Honestly, because John and I have been, for a couple of nights, we were just sleeping next to her on either side of her because we were just so worried that she wasn't going to be able to breathe or something. Like she got really stuffed up at one point. When she was throwing up, we didn't want it to, you know, something to happen. So we were sleeping on either side of her and she's just breathing into our faces all night. Like, and who gives, like, I was like, I'm vaccinated. Yeah, whatever. You're my child. And we've all tested negative

twice now. All of us have tested negative. We're just waiting on the kids, but nobody's showing symptoms, knock on all the wood. So, you know, vaccinations were the key here. And I'm very, very glad we got it. Nash and I had got our booster. So the only one who showed symptoms that, you know, got it is my littlest one, and it's because she's not old enough to get vaccinated. So it really shows the difference between. But it's been horrific. It just feels like it's been like one thing after the other. But we are counting our lucky stars that everyone is okay right now. So we're just going with that. It's literally been one day at a time because her symptoms have changed quite a bit. Yeah. So we're not going to sit here and say everything's fine because I don't know.

And I feel like as soon as we say that. life is going to be like, you thought it? That's the same thing. And like my mom's doing well, so we're just all holding on to all of this. Yeah. And we'll just stay in our little pod for Christmas. Yeah, this is all to say that it has been a very bad week, very bad end of the year. It's been, I mean, there was one day where I'd thank goodness for Ash and Jean because they both made me go upstairs because I'm not real good at processing emotions of any kind, especially this many emotions. and I had cried so hard over Bailey and I'm just not used to doing that. And so I had kind of not allowed my brain to process any of this because it's just in my head,

I've always been like just bust through. And I'm sure some of you are out there too, like that. Where my type A is at? Where are you Capricorns? And you're just like, you know what if I work? And because I was like, we're going to get morbid out this week. We're going to do what we need to do. Everything's going to stay the same.

And I was like, that's the most unhealthy thing that you could possibly do. Because then my brain just started processing everything, like, against my will, and I got the worst migraine I've ever gotten my life. I was so sick. I had to be sent up to bed. I thought at one point I was like, I probably have COVID now. Like, this is the way it is. I thought you had COVID for sure. I think it was just like emotionally.

I just wasn't ready for all of this at once. So that's another thing. You don't have to be the superhero. Like, you should. I notice people listening that do the same thing I do. And I also was like, I don't want my girls. to think that they have to just shut it all down and like plow through because it's not healthy. Like you can plow through some stuff, but some stuff you got to just if you're able to,

and I am very fortunate enough to be able to with Ash being there, with John being there, to like take a minute and like self-care for a second, it was necessary. Because I swear I woke up the next morning and I was like, all right, let's do this. Let's do the rest of the week. I can do this. Sometimes you literally just need a day to fucking cozy up in your covers, cry your little heart out. And take care of yourself.

Eat some shitty food and just like, just have one day. It's necessary. It's just so if you're like that, I feel you. I totally feel you, but you're allowed to crumble every once in a while. So don't feel bad if you have to crumble. If shit sucks right now, you can crumble for a minute. Crumble, man. You'll come out of it. Put it back together. You can do it.

So if anybody else is going through the shit, storm like that, that we have been going through anything, that I'm so sorry. I feel like everybody is going through some shit right now. Yeah. And it's like really rough and like all the tornadoes that literally took away everybody's everything right at the end of the year near the holidays. Like what the hell? I just am like what is going on? Seriously. But it's been really cool to see everybody like pull together and like, you know, fundraise and and send things for people to have a Christmas or a holiday. But man, it's been tough on everybody. It certainly has.

We're right there with you. I'm sorry that was so long. I think I needed to get it out too. Well, I think people were also wondering, like, what the fuck happened. I wanted to let you guys know exactly what's been going on. And also, I think it's just like we've been in this house dealing with it. So I just needed to, like, vomit it out to you guys. Oh, yeah.

No, I bet you didn't it feel good? It really did. And I also just thank everybody for bearing with us. And being so sweet about Bailey and, like, caring. and like I can't tell you how much it meant to me to like read everything because I read everything. I normally am like very careful what I read online. But with this one, I was like, I know there's so many people who are going to get this. And there's so many people who are going to like feel this way.

And so many people who like feel like they know Bailey. Yeah. So are going to care. So thank you guys so much. I just love you guys. Pour one out for Baba. Yeah. But yeah.

So that is my, that's our. update on the end of the year. But hopefully, you know, nobody claim it. Nobody claim it. We are just going onward and upward. We're just, you know, that's all. We're taking it one day at a time. Yeah. Nobody claimed 2022 for the love of everything. Do not. Do not do it. Do not do it. Do not do it. Do not be that guy. Oh, and that and just one more quick thing. I'm like, wait, what? The virtual live show. Yeah, that. That's why we couldn't do it. We could not go to the location we were going to do it at. And with everything going on, we were just, it just couldn't happen. But like, we literally couldn't go to the location or be around of the people who were going to help us.

They were going to help us film it and everything to make it a real interactive experience for you guys. Which it still will be. Still going to happen. And we'll give you guys all the details of everything that's going to happen with that soon. But it's definitely still going to happen in January. We just had to push it out for, you know, literally everything that I I just talked about for 15 minutes and everybody's been awesome. So thank you so much for understanding. It bummed us out big time. Yeah, we're actually really freaking stoked for that and we have cool costumes and stuff.

But don't worry. It's coming. Still there. Coming. So yeah, that's, I know that was a long beginning. We haven't been doing those lately. I feel like this one was necessary, I think. So I just wanted to let you guys all know.

But love you guys. And back to regularly scheduled programming. And we got some big stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Like, we have all our cases lined out and we have big ones coming. And we're back. We're back, baby. Back baby. And through all of that, I have been reading this really good book that I'm going to tell you all about.

What book? The True Story of a Shocking Double Murder, a Brilliant Beautiful Virginia Socialite, and a deadly psychotic obsession by Ken Englade. So that literally has everything that you look for in a case to cover. Certainly does. Literally, like, it's just like, oh, this is a book for Ash to cover. Literally, a double murder, a brilliant, beautiful socialite, and a psychotic obsession. Yeah.

I actually found this book while I was looking for a book on another case that I was working on. That happens to me so much. I know. And I still plan to finish that other case. But then I found this book and it got delivered, like, super fast. So I was like, oh, okay. We're actually just kind of totally gear shift here. And we're going to go into the deaths of Nancy and Derek Hesom.

Oh, okay. All right, so let's get into that. Let's get into this. The deaths and murder, I should say, of both of these people. Oh. So Nancy Hesom was born in 1932 in Jerome, Arizona. Her father was a geologist. His name was Platt Carico Benedict. Wow, that's a great name. It truly is. And her mother has a great name, too. Her mother was Nancy Langhorne Gibbs. That is a great. Both of those are just like, all right. Chef's Kiss. All right. Well, they were like, they were well off people, you know. Oh, they have to. Like, those names require that. That's exactly how I feel. It just makes sense. Because Nancy's mother, Nancy, came from a very distinguished Virginia family.

And actually, Nancy Haysam, that's Little Nancy, her maternal grandmother was first cousins with Lady Astor. Oh, okay. Yeah. So when little Nancy was born, she became Lady Astor's goddaughter and was actually given the middle name Astor. Oh, cool. Yeah, right? Now, for those of you who don't know, Lady Astor was actually the first woman to become a member of parliament in 1919.

She actually ran for her husband's seat when he died. Badass. And she sat on parliament until she passed away in 1945. Wow. Crazy, right? Look at that. Yeah, just like feminism and shit. Look at that.

Parliament and shit. Parliament, huge. No? So Nancy grew up with two brothers, one older and one younger. The family didn't stay in Jerome very long because once Nancy's father caught wind of golden Yukon, he wanted to head that way. And Nancy's mother was not so inclined. She didn't like Jerome very much, and her hope all along was to bring their family back to her Virginia roots.

So Nancy and her brothers moved to Virginia with their mother while their father traveled around different areas being a geologist and whatnot. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. So growing up, Nancy did really, really well in school. She could play the double bass. She could play violin, piano. She loved acting in her school's productions. Like she was always the lead.

And she also took ballet for a while. Wow. She was very busy girl. Yeah. She also was like really well, excuse me, really into art as well in her later years. And she would become a really good painter. She's very multifaceted. The most multifaceted.

Like an actual artiste. Like a full-blown artiste. And like not only like in painting, but just like artist in every. Well, that's, it's like triple threat. Literally. Like maybe more. Who knows? So when she turned 17, her dad wanted the whole family to come join him in South Africa.

And it was there. that Nancy met her first husband, Ian Hall. Her family, for some reason, did not approve of this marriage. And they told Nancy that if she did go through with it, that they were not going to come to the wedding. And they would not support it in any way. Oh, that's a, that's a deep line in the sand. It is. I guess they just didn't feel like he was good enough for her. I couldn't find a ton of information about this dude. They had their reasons, I suppose. But basically, he was just like immature and stuff like that. Okay. So the problem, though, is that Nancy was old enough. She was 19 years old, she could make her own decisions. So she went through with it and she started her life with

Ian. Now they had two sons together, Howard and Richard, but shortly after Richard was born, Nancy was done with Ian. Her parents were right about him. He was immature. I guess he had like a mean streak and he was just like irresponsible. Okay. So she was like, you know what? I'm done with this. I'm leaving you. So she left him and was actually able to raise her two kids on the money that she made investing in gold stocks for about six years. Wow. So a single mom back then for like six years supporting herself. And investing. Supporting. Wow. I mean, obviously she knew like the ins and outs of that business with her father being so invested in gold, but still like still impressive. Very impressive. So about six years after she and Ian divorced, Nancy met a man named Derek Hesom. I don't know if you picked up on the last name there,

but spoiler alert, they do get married. You know, I knew I heard that name before. Yeah, yeah, and they do get married. Derek himself. was born in 1913 in South Africa. He grew up on his grandfather's plantation very, very well off. I also, as soon as you said 1930, I was like, oh my God. And then I'm like, people were born then? People were fucking bored then? Like 1913? That's insane. No, he wasn't. A double check that. What? No one was around then. It really was. And when he was old enough, he went to school for engineering. Once he finished with school, he moved to England. But when he moved, it was right around the start of World War II, so he kind of really had no other option but to join the army. Yeah,

rough time to move. Yeah, definitely rough time to move. He served in the Middle East, and he was along for a lot of crazy missions. He definitely saw combat while he was out there. Oh, boy. And also worked on the intelligence side of things. So a real dummy. Yeah, just like, freaking idiot. Engineer, just like, yeah, totally. Incredibly, incredibly, incredibly smart. Yeah. Now, after returning home, he met this woman from New Zealand, and together they had three children. Not a lot is really known about their marriage other than the fact that when they divorced, she went back home and he got to keep the kids. Okay. Some people wonder if like meeting Nancy is what happened and then they got divorced or if he got divorced first, it's kind of like, nobody's really sure.

Okay. Yeah. So Derek was 46 at the time and Nancy was 27 when they met. Okay. But despite the age difference, they just really hit it off. Nancy was mature for her age and she had just been married to like an incredibly immature man. So she was like, cool. This older guy is going to swoop in.

This will do. He has kids. I have kids. He knows the deal. And, you know, he's like a stable man. He's kind. He clearly has a lot going for him. Yeah.

And that's what she wanted. Yeah. Everything seems fine to me. Everything seems fine. So they got married. And on April 15th, 1964, they had one daughter together. Her name was Elizabeth Roxanne. Amazing.

Like, I love that. Her middle name is Roxanne. love Roxanne. I do too. I feel like I don't know any Roxanne's, I don't think. The only Roxanne I know is Brianna's mom from teen mom. And I don't know her personally. I was just going to say, do you know her? I feel like I do. I feel like, Roxanne. But I don't know her either. No. But I feel like every Roxanne should be awesome. You know what? I feel like to a degree you kind of have Roxanne vibes. That's an amazing compliment. I don't know if it's because your screen name was like Roxie gal. I'll take it. But I think you could be a Roxanne.

I love that. I'll take it. Yeah, I could see it. That's my new name, Roxanne. So her middle name was Roxanne. And she was a little Aries, just like, oh, just for fun facts there. Like John. Now, she was the only child that they had together because, remember, so Nancy had her two sons,

and then Derek had three kids, and then there's a one daughter together. So they're kind of just molding their families. Now, at the time they were living in Rhodesia, which later became Zimbabwe. Now, at the time that they were living there, the black people in the country were trying to gain their independence. But because their prime minister at the time was a really shitty fucking person, there was a lot of racially charged tension. And Derek Hesom at the time was a CEO of a government-owned mill. And he did not agree with the oppressing of the black people who worked for him. He was like, fuck that.

I'm not going to do that at all. Yeah. So he treated everybody equally. And he would give black people sometimes promotions ahead of white people. But it was just based on who deserved it. Yeah, of course. Now, that went directly against the orders and wishes of Prime Minister Ian Smith who wanted white people to be dominant in these industries.

That's so fucked. And, like, literally wanted black people to be oppressed. Like, do not give them any kind of anything, any kind of like privileges above the white employees. Or even equal, too. Or even equal. Literally nothing. So Derek actually got a few warnings to just stop giving black workers equal and fair

opportunity, which he fucking ignored because he was like, no, I'm not doing that. That's horrific. So because he ignored these like warnings, he got placed under house arrest for giving black people fair opportunities. Man. Like planet Earth. Planet Earth is the worst. Wow. So while all this was going on, Derek realized this was only the beginning of what was going to become a huge problem. And he didn't want his family like around for all of this because it was going to get violent. It was going to get intense. So one day. he just left for Switzerland and his family followed him. There you go.

Because he was like, I can't. Head on out to Switzerland. And I mean, they had like a lot of kids at the time too. Yeah. So they had to protect them. So over the years, they moved around a ton. Derek would take different jobs at manufacturing firms and mills. And finally around the early 80s, I believe it was 1982, he was ready to retire.

So Nancy had always hoped that they would end up back in Virginia, kind of like her mom. Like she just loved her Virginia and roots. Yeah. And she especially hoped that once Elizabeth was finished with her studies at Wycombe Abbey, she would go to college at the University of Virginia. So the now retired couple found a home in Boonesboro, Bedford County, Virginia. Of course. Boonsboro. Boonsboro.

And Nancy decided to name their home loose chippings. Apparently, she always named the houses that they lived in and the cars that they drove. You know what? That is the thing that makes me feel like I know this case. But I don't. You probably do. That's the thing that, like, I was like, wait a second, I've heard that. So I wanted to present this in a way where, like, because I listened to a few other, like, things.

And I was like, I want to present this in a way where it hasn't been presented before. So I'm kind of like burying the lead a little bit. I love that. Burry that lead. Don't Google anything. Burry that lead. I'm burying it. Also, naming your house is awesome.

I have not done it, but I want to. I would like to name a future house of mine. Yeah. That'd be really fun. Now, she named the house loose chippings because it was a novel. by Thomas Gerald Wheeler, a British novel. Yeah? I don't know what it was about at all.

Yeah, I'm going to be honest. I've never read that. Yeah, sorry, I've never heard. I read a lot of books. I haven't read that. Maybe we shouldn't because, like, spoiler. It doesn't really go great.

All right. Now, the house was beautiful, and it was on a road called Holcomb Rock Road. It had a tennis court, a pool, a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a beautiful garden that Nancy and Derek planted and set up together. That was like their thing.

every house that they lived in, they would, um, like, plant and build a garden together. Shut up. And Nancy especially like to find different rocks to build like walls around the gardens. Oh. It was like her way of adding some art into the architecture. I love that. Whenever people garden together, I feel like it's such a wholesome. Especially like older couples.

Like shut the fuck up. You guys are so cute. Like I want to, I want a garden later in life with my husband. Like I want us just to be like old people gardening. Yeah, I feel like I could get Drew to Garden, I think. Oh, yeah. I feel like you could. I want to start a garden.

garden. I'm going to start a Bailey garden. Yeah. Because that was the other thing, like, I'm not sidetracking, I promise. No, it's telling you something. You're also allowed to. I'm grieving. They gave us at the bet when they gave Bailey back to us, they gave us a little seed packet that we can plant in her memory. And it's like little annuals and perennials that will all come up in different times and like you plant them in a little plot and then you just constantly have this garden for Bailey. It's like her garden. And then Ash gave me a really sweet little Bailey statue to put in it. I did. Sorry, I just had to tell you guys. Solar powered.

It is. It's really nice. Yeah. But it's lovely. Yeah, that is lovely. I'm going to cry right now. Sorry, I lost my place. I know.

Sorry. I got it. I got it. I'm like, I'm grieving, okay? No, I don't blame you. So at this point in their life, Derek and Nancy's life, Elizabeth was the only child that they had to focus on in the way of getting her through school. Because all of her siblings were way older than her and just scattered across the

Because growing up, they grew up everywhere. So these people are like travelers. Oh, yeah. So there's no problem just being like, see, I'm going to live in another country. Not at all. Yeah. And they all had great jobs and everything. Yeah. Good for them. Yeah. Amazing family. See the world. So Elizabeth, like I said earlier, was supposed to be finishing her studies at Wycombe Abbey. It's like a very prestigious private school. Sounds it. It's super prestigious. Any Abbey, I feel like it's like, oh, that's how I feel. Downton. This is not Downton. It's Wycom. Okay. So up until her last, year at Wycom, Elizabeth had been doing really, really well in school. She had gotten almost exclusively A's. I think she had like a couple of these. And just like her mom, she loved to act.

She almost always had the leading part in the school place. Like I said, so did Nancy. Amazing. She could speak Latin, Greek, and French. Oh, okay. She skied. She played lacrosse. I believe she was actually the captain of the lacrosse team. She also played tennis and played multiple instruments. Wow. She also wrote incredible essays for all her classes. And in the book that I read, they were saying, like, some of them were literally the lengths of actual books. Oh, okay. And this is, like, high school for Americans. Yeah. Like, it's, it's not at all high school. Like, I was going to say, very different, but, but like the equivalency. Exactly. Yeah. Before you go off to, like, university. So she would write, like, book long essays. Damn. She was kicking ass. She was taking

names. It's like 50,000 words, at least. I, sure. But then all of the sudden, it was just like everything came crashing down around her because her original plan had been to major in history and her parents had other plans. They wanted her to follow in her father's footsteps and go for engineering, which I understand because like, holy shit, you're going to make really great money for the rest of your life. Of course, and it's like a really important job. It's a really, it's a job that's never going to go out of. Of course, you're always going to need engineers. And you can do amazing things for the world. You can, you know, I get it. But like, you could do the same thing as a history major. Well, that, and it's also like, just let them, let them do what they're going to do.

Yeah, because sometimes maybe that's a major in history. Let her major in history. Because maybe it's not important to her, like engineering, you know? She just, if you don't have drive for it, too, it's always going to be a job and you're going to hate it. Of course. But I understand the, like, instinct as a parent to want to be like, but this is what I think is best for you. Because I totally, like, caught myself. before and they're five. And I've caught myself being like, don't you want to do this? And then I'm like, no, she doesn't want, I'm not pushing her to do that. Right. Exactly. But it's hard. We have to think this is a very different generation as well. I mean, Derek was born in 1913.

Exactly. So like his parents set him up to do whatever the fuck they wanted him to do probably. And again, it's really hard not to. Exactly. So they informed the school that this was their decision. This is what was going to be happening. And they had Elizabeth enrolled in these like really intense math and science courses that would look best for her into engineering. Very different from history. Very, very different. And that was one of the catalysts to her last year in school. She was angry with her parents and she let it affect her schoolwork. She also started using drugs. She cut off all her hair, which like doesn't seem that intense. But back then, this is like around the late 70s or early 80s, excuse me. This is around the early 80s. And back then, like you, you did not cut your hair into like anything other than like long prim and proper,

especially at this school. Like, everybody looked a certain way. Oh, okay. And it was like punk rock and crazy to cut your hair like she had cut hers. Oh. So this wasn't like the crazy 80s where you had like the big teased out hair. No, I don't think so. This is like a different kind of place.

Because it's like England. I was going to say because this is a proper. Well, but England, this is probably like the school is probably really pretty. That's what I mean. Because I was going to say England was like first on the punk scene. Oh, yeah. We'll get into that actually. Oh, nice.

A little bit. Love that. Because, yeah, you're right. But so not at this school, not at the white. I was going to say, but it sounds like this school was a very different situation. You needed to look like everybody else left. So the school called Nancy and Derek multiple times to express concern over Elizabeth. Like I said, she'd always been an A student.

And the sudden change in her attitude towards school had teachers and administrators just like honestly worried. Yeah, like she cut her fucking hair. Shit is going awry. Yeah. It was like more of the drug use. Of course. It was like more of the drug use. It was like a little bit more of a mom.

Yeah, I would say so. But Elizabeth herself called her parents too. She was, like, complaining about her new feelings towards school and specifically the classes that they wanted her to take. So at one point or another, they backed off about the engineering. They listened to her. And they told her, you know what, do it makes you happy. That's all you can do.

But unfortunately, by that point, it was too late. Elizabeth had fucked up her last year so badly that she was going to have to stay another year to redo all her senior classes if she even wanted to get into college. Yeah. She had, like, flunked interviews that she was going to, you know, do for other universities. And she's seeing all her friends who she's been with for years and years at this school. Yeah, they've all been on the same track, I'm sure.

All of them have been on the same track. And now she's seeing them graduate and go off into the real world. And she knows that she's going to be stuck behind. And that's hard, which is making her feel angrier, feel isolated, feel like she didn't do enough. Like she's starting to feel like shit. And then she meets this girl called Melinda Duncan. Now, Melinda got Elizabeth a little bit more into drugs.

Because her senior year wasn't the first time that Elizabeth had ever done drugs. She remembered that even before she started boarding school, she would like break into her parents' liquor cabinet. Okay. Nancy herself was a big gin drinker, like only drank gin to the point where her husband would tease her and say that the juniper extract used to flavor her gin was also used for a drug that caused similar aggression to speed. Wow. Yeah, he was like, you should probably not drink gin. escalated quickly. Yeah. And he himself liked to drink scotch instead, but Elizabeth found out that summer that she actually liked vodka. So that was kind of like when she started experimenting. And then when she started going to different boarding school, she was introduced into different drugs. But she'd always been able to keep it under control. Like she'd keep her drugs and the study separate. But that last year just took every last ambition out of her to the point where one day she arrived at choir practice like fucked up. And the teachers noticed and pulled her aside. And they were like, we know that you're high on something and you're expelled.

Eke. So, yikes. The rest of the story is like a little bit unclear on exactly what happened there. But Elizabeth claimed that once she found out, that once the school found out that she was like on drugs, they basically told her she was done there and that she couldn't call her parents. Which was like, that's what she said. She said like she wasn't allowed to contact her parents at all. But I also, yeah. Well, I also read as other sources that her parents were on a trip to act.

Africa while all of this was happening. So they weren't reachable. And the school was like, you can stay here until, like, your parents are done with their trip, but then you're going to be expelled as soon as we can reach them. Because it's like your parents aren't able to be contacted. Exactly. Which Elizabeth. That seems a little more like normal?

Yeah. Elizabeth will find out as a little bit of a pathological liar. Yeah, I could sense that. Yeah. Sense that coming. Yes. A little bit. Now, around this whole, the same time that Elizabeth,

is basically getting expelled. Her friend Melinda, who got her into like some harder stuff, she found out that she was rejected from her dream school. So one day, July 1st, 1983, the two of them just had decided that they were leaving school and they were going to set out on an adventure by themselves. Okay. So some people over the years have also alleged that Melinda and Elizabeth may have been more than friends.

Okay. Like had like a romantic relationship. Belinda was a lesbian, but Elizabeth is not. That's not what she identifies as, and she's never confirmed it. Okay. So they made their way to Paris, and they started working odd jobs. They picked grapes for Moewe. Oh, wow.

Is that how you say that? Right. Is it Moe? Is it Moe? I think it is. Moewee? Moe. Should I Google it?

Let's Google it. Let's make sure. Apparently, it's not Moewee. It says, surprisingly, Moet is pronounced with a hard tea and not a silent tea as is typical for most of the French language. You should pronounce Moet as a word. as Moet or even Ma'et, but it's definitely not Moe. It's a had tea.

It's a had tea. That's all we need to know is it's a had tea. I felt like I was going to sound like really not bougie saying Moet. Oh, I thought that would be the most American thing we could do is say Moet. But there you go. I guess it's not. And you know what? We checked.

We checked. They were picking grapes for Moet champagne, which I just thought was really cool. Yeah. Corrections in real time. Yeah, exactly. But everywhere they went, they were running into roadblocks. because these are two 18-year-old girls just traveling around Europe by themselves. Who have been going through it.

Yeah, and like continue to go through it. So things were getting hairy from time to time. There were times where they were mugged, times where they got bad drugs and ended up like really ill. Ooh. There were times where their only option was to stay in a house where the men drugged them and sexually assaulted them. Oh, this is horrific. This was not a good trip. No.

So that was the case when they made their way to Germany. they ended up in a house with men just like that. It's been alleged actually that the men in the last house that they stayed in were members of the IRA. Oh, wow. Yeah. All right. So, not good.

Now, by this time, it was October. They're in Germany, and they have nothing left from the beginning of their trip. Almost all of their clothes had been taken. Their bags have been taken. They were out of money. They were emaciated. Elizabeth herself was covered in lice from head to toe. Wow.

This is like a nightmare. She also had a large abrasion. her head, which you could see because at this point she had a mohawk that was dyed pink. That's pretty punk rock. Yeah. You're a punk. There it is. They had decided at this point in their trip, they needed, like, this had to come to an end, or at the very least, they needed to get back to Britain where they knew the lay of the land a little bit more. Yeah. So on October 25th, they headed to the British consulate in hopes to get two train tickets back to Britain. Little did they know, though, and this is nuts. Both of their parents had been.

looking for them for months. That's not the nuts part. This is what's nuts. Elizabeth's parents were friends with a woman named Annie Massey, who was connected to this man involved in Army intelligence. So Annie suggested that if they had explained the circumstances, he might be able to help them track down Elizabeth. So Nancy wrote a letter to this man telling him the last she knew about Elizabeth's whereabouts. She gave a description of her daughter and some pictures, but she did say Elizabeth would try to hide her looks and her intelligence and that she might look a bit different. Oh, okay. The word that she used to describe Elizabeth was unkempt.

So that man referred the case to this other guy that he was connected to, an army colonel who also worked for intelligence, just like Derek Kasem had. This man's name was Stuart Harrington. Wow. Like, it just sounds so official. Just wow. Now, he had been to the consulate long before Elizabeth and Melinda showed up. And he left pictures of the two of them and just told the workers, please notify me at if any point people show up looking like this. Okay.

So the woman working the day that Melinda and Elizabeth came in looking for their train tickets recognized them immediately. And she didn't want to alert them because she was nervous that the second they knew that they'd been found, they'd make a break for it. Yeah, of course. So she made up this story and she was like, oh, you know what, can you come back tomorrow afternoon and we'll get your train tickets? It's like everything will be a-okay. Smart. So they were like, okay, for sure. And the second they got out of there, the woman contacted Stuart Harrington, telling him what terrible shape that they were in.

And she said, just be aware, you're not going to find them. You're going to see what's left of them. Oh, yeah. That's ominous as hell. ominous as hell. So Melinda and Elizabeth came back that next day for their train tickets, and one way or another, they're introduced to Stuart Harrington. He talked to them about everything that they'd gone through and offered up his home for them to stay in while they were treated for multiple different things going on with their bodies. Because at this point, they weren't even ready to hop back on a plane to get home.

Oh, wow. Like Elizabeth was covered in lice. She was also hemorrhaging really badly. Oh. And they weren't really sure what was up with that until they brought her to a doctor. I guess it was just from a heavy period. Oh, man. But I do wonder if it was from some kind of sexual assault.

Because she had been sexually assaulted. Either way, that's horrific. Horrific. And she also thought at that point in time that she may have been pregnant. So they were like, willing that out. Luckily, she was not just because of everything that she had gone for. Yeah, of course. So after Harrington got both girls set up, he wrote a lancor to, he wrote a letter to Nancy.

I just like morphed that sentence. He wrote a Lansing. He wrote a Lenser, wrote a letter to Nancy explaining this whole situation. And he warned that Melinda and Elizabeth were not ready to be separated. because their trauma throughout the trip had bonded them to the point where they were terrified to even be separated at all. And he felt like if he did try to, that they would just run away again and that they wouldn't be found.

Damn. Yeah. Like he couldn't, they had to sleep in like the same room when they were at his house. And like Melinda didn't even want to go home to her family. That's like truly fascinating. Like trauma and trauma responses and like the psychological stuff that happens during different kinds of trauma and different levels of trauma. Yeah. Is really fascinating and so sad. Because the way that like two people who are experiencing

the same trauma can bond together like that. And unfortunately a lot of times it's not a healthy bond. No, it's literally. You're leading on each other for survival. Yeah, it's a total codependence because it's just you experience this with me. So I need you or I'm, I don't know what to do. Yeah, but then it's like we have to grow and yeah, we have to make our way out of this. And basically to do that, they needed to be separated. Yeah. But it needs. You have to do it so delicately. Wow, that's so fascinating. It's crazy. So when the time did come to put them on a plane, they were put on a plane together to London. And Elizabeth's brother, Julian, met the two girls. And then Derek Hesim arrived to bring Elizabeth back home. Before he did that, he was able to contact Melinda's father. And it took a couple days of convincing, but Melinda did end up going home with her dad. Okay. And Elizabeth wrote to her once, but other than that, they didn't really see each other or hear from each other again. Wow. So they just went to the through all of this together. Yep. And then it was just like, okay. Yep. That's it. Wow. I wonder if that's, I wonder how that works if that is like healthy or if that's unhealthy or if it's neutral. I don't really

know. I think the way that this situation, in my personal opinion, and I'm not a professional by any means, I think it was very unhealthy the way that this was handled. Right. It just not only in the way of like them being split up and never talking to each other again, but a lot of the sources that I looked into while reading this case just glossed over everything that I just went through, like, Elizabeth's trip. Yeah. And it was just referred to as like Elizabeth's trip through Europe. And it's like, yeah, that wasn't a trip through Europe.

It was like a march into the ends of hell. Yeah, literally. Like it was just trauma, trauma, trauma, trauma, trauma. And it's interesting because it wasn't until I started reading this book that I got the information of actually what happened on this trip. Yeah, that really is the thing. Like, books are where it's at. Oh, yeah.

when it comes to these kind of stories, like the people, like the investigative journalists and authors and historians who write these kind of books. Oh, yeah. They do the work. Because most of the things that I read it was like she ran away from school and then just like traveled through England high on drugs. Yeah, because a lot of, you know, it's like a lot of articles and stuff are written and it's like partially not the author's fault, you know, of the article. Yeah. They're written to get somebody to read it. Because it and it's also like word counts and stuff like that. kind of stuff. And it's like, but it, they really do it at the expense of the entire story. Oh, yeah. Like the the victims and the people, the criminals in most cases. Absolutely. And the thing is, because of that, I'm not really entirely sure how Derek and Nancy felt about this whole situation. And mostly because,

like we only have Elizabeth to tell us how they felt. And like I said, she's kind of a pathological liar. Not a, not a reliable narrator. Yeah, correct, correct. But I would imagine it must have been pretty terrifying for them and that they'd be worried to leave Elizabeth out of their sight again. I would assume. But by the way that she described it, they just told her that they were happy that she got it out of her system. Okay. But we don't know. But again, that's one side. Yeah. So one way or another, Elizabeth got it together and she applied to the University of Virginia. Like her mother Nancy hoped she would. By that time, it was summer of 1984. Elizabeth was 20 years old. So she was starting as a freshman and she was two years older than most of the freshmen.

Okay. Which like kind of sucked for her. Yeah. She felt like it sucked. Yeah, that could be tough. Because some people might have found it a disadvantage to start so late, but Elizabeth was really far ahead of a lot of these students because of all her studies in England. And she was actually considered an elite Eccles scholar.

And according to the University of Virginia's website, that specific program is for students in the College of Arts and Science. And, quote, draws together a diverse community of students. united by their potential for significant intellectual engagement at University of Virginia and beyond. Because of their deep curiosity and intrinsic motivation, ECHL scholars enjoy flexibility in their academic requirements in order to pursue their individual scholarly interests. ECHL scholars participate in unique communal programming to cultivate academic, social, and cultural development. And participation in the ECHO scholars program forms the cornerstone of a lifetime of learning,

citizenship, leadership, and personal growth in a rapidly changing world. Sounds awesome. So like these were really like elite. Elite scholars. She was going into UVA not only older than everybody, but elite as fuck. But elite scholar. She was going to be in like way different classes, stuff like that. That sounds awesome. It really does. It actually reminded me of you. Who did not remind me of myself. I dropped out of community college. Anyways, Elizabeth was now living with her parents and going to school into her. And to her, it was really fucking boring because she had just traveled through Europe and like obviously it wasn't a great trip, but she's seen a lot of shit.

She's seen a lot of shit. She's seen the world. Might say it was exciting question mark. Exciting in like a scary way, but I'm sure there were bits and pieces that were. Well, and like she had in the book they said like she had like some actually really fond memories. I was going to say it couldn't have been a whole time. The whole time wasn't worth. But like I'm sure that much overshadowed the good.

But there had to have been some little pieces of like, wow, that's a beautiful sense. it. Yeah, and she came back with, like, contacts, like a book full of, like, people that she had met along the way. So it wasn't all terrible. But this is very boring compared to what she has been dealing with. Yeah. But things got a little spicy because she met this guy named Yens Soaring at orientation. Yens had been born in Thailand, but he was raised and grew up going to school in America, Atlanta, to be exact. His father was actually a bureaucrat with the German consular service. Yeah, of course. Yeah, just that. Yeah. So, like, very high up in the world of, like, politics and all these very elite people meeting other elite people.

It's the most wild case that I've ever run in my life. Just breathe. Like, so elite, but, like, so terrible. Yeah. So in high school, Yens was a pretty typical kid. He worked for the school paper. He liked to act in the school plays, just like Nancy and Elizabeth. Lots of fucking plays.

Yeah, a lot of Thespians. I mean, elite. Yeah. Actors. Actors. He was also in a band for her period. of time. I guess he had like a little bit of a punk rock face. Yeah, Jens. And he was also highly intelligent. He took basically only AP classes. And when the time came for college, he had big

plans. His ultimate goal was to end up at a German university because he was German, even though he was born in Thailand. Wow. But he was accepted to UVA as a Jefferson scholar. Now, students in that program have their entire tuition paid for, and they also get spending money for, quote, supplemental enrichment experiences. I'm obsessed with that. So both of them were going to this school, like, having a totally unique experience. Experience. I'm like, they're so smart that it's stressing me.

They're so smart that I have short-circuited from over here. Actually. They've taken my smarts because they're just that smart. They might have. Yeah, it's gone. Yeah. So they're fucking smart. Yeah, they are.

Even though Yens was a little bit younger than Elizabeth when they met, he was two years younger. So when she met him, she was 20 and he was 18. But they really hit it off. And they started their relationship about three months into the school year. And over the course of the next three months, they got even closer. By December, Elizabeth wrote Yen's a note saying, This is like so, Theeta.

Oh, I hated my love for you for a long time. I hated myself for discovering vulnerability. But as the weeks passed, I began to understand. I had always believed that I made men fall in love with me so that I could take out all of the hatred I felt for them by humiliating. them. I despise their cheap lust and easy passions, and in the end I made them hate themselves for loving me and the torture that I inflicted. I would make a man humiliate himself to obtain me, and then I would give him the best fuck he's ever likely to get, and then I would walk out.

I love you, and it may alter intensity and direction from time to time, but I will always love you with a part of me which no one else will be able to snatch. I literally won't comment on that. Yeah. I'm going to let it go. Let it, let it ride. That's sure something. Let it run. This is all I'll say. I'm just, let it.

It's in, it's out. I will love you with a part of me, which no one else will be able to snatch. I actually wrote that down for my future vows. I was just going to say, is that a promise or a threat? It's a real question. The entire wording of everything else makes me feel as though it's a threat. It's both a promise and a threat. Yeah, it is both.

But Yens was all in, baby. Yeah, I mean, after you get that, what are you supposed to do with that? He himself was like, I was a horrible. hormonal 18 year old boy who had never had sex with a girl before. You get that letter? And like, obsessed with me. So yeah. Yeah.

So when Elizabeth came home for winter break, she's telling her parents all about Yens. And they were like, oh, okay, you really like this guy. So once winter break was over, I think they probably were bringing Elizabeth back to school. And they were like, oh, like, we'd love to meet Yens too. Like, let's go out to lunch. Bring them out here. So they went out in Charlottesville where UVA is located. And they tried their best to get to know this kid.

The lunch apparently did not go like everybody had hoped. Derek and Nancy were not at all impressed by Yens. They thought that he was jumpy and shaky and nervous during lunch and that he didn't have enough standing for their daughter. All right. I also think they were worried that he was probably on drugs because he was nervous and jumpy and shaky. Yeah.

And after everything that they had just gone through with Elizabeth, they were probably like, please don't get wrapped up with this kid. Yeah, I could see that. Because my mom was worried that one of my boyfriends was on drugs once when he came to pick me up and he had just worked two overnight shifts. He wasn't even on drugs. He literally wasn't on drugs. She probably should have been way more worried about that with like my

boyfriends, but. But she was really worried about it. Like to the point, she still talks about it to this day, how worried she was. So I could, like I, it happens. Parents, man. Yeah. But I mean, think of all what these people have just. Of course.

And well, that's the thing. Like that was with no prior anything for them to worry about me or my boyfriends. So this situation, I can see why they would be a little like, you know, just like boop. Like, oh, no, get rid of that. Like foot on the break. And I think they're probably worried, too. They're like, please just like, don't mess this up.

Yeah, like go to school. Stay on the straight and arrow. You can major in history. You can do whatever you want. Just like, get it together. Yeah, just like keep it here. But nobody was going to snatch Elizabeth's love for Yens. No.

No, I mean, I knew that. So she was pissed. And she was like, no, it's not going to put a stop to our relationship. I'm just going to keep dating this guy. But she told Yens that her parents didn't approve. which like that kind of sucked for yens yeah and it made him really angry yeah and maybe don't like don't even tell them yeah i also like oh my god they loved you in my opinion i think it was a way for elizabeth to be like i'm better than you yeah my parents don't even approve of you but i'm giving

you lucky you that i'll stick around yeah i'm throwing you a bone here yeah i think so no yeah so elizabeth was still communicating with her parents though at this point um communicating with them enough in fact that when she couldn't get in touch with them in late March, she called their friend Annie Massey, who I mentioned earlier, to see if she would go check on them because it was really unlike her parents to not answer her calls. Okay. And I think they had actually set up a specific time

that they were going to talk about a housing problem that she was having at school. Okay. So when Annie got to the house on April 3rd, 1985, a few of Derek's friends were actually already there waiting. They actually had called her too, knowing that she had an extra key to the house. these women were Jane Riggs, Marilyn Baker, and Constance Johansson.

And they all played bridge with Derek during the week. Wow. And that was their usual day to play. And when they got there, even though both cars were in the driveway, the door was locked and nobody was answering it. This is really bad. So when they called Annie, she was like, hey, I'm actually already on the way because Elizabeth called me and she's worried too.

So she got there and she unlocked the door. She peeked inside and immediately slammed the door shut after she. she peeked inside. She told all three of the women not to open that door again and that she was going to call the police. What she saw when she opened that door was Derek Hesam lying in a pole of his own blood. He was 72 years old. 72.

She didn't see Nancy, but she assumed that she was also inside and probably in a similar condition. And she did not want anybody to go inside and mess with anything because she knew this home was about to become a crime scene. Of course. That's smart. Smart lady. Annie, let's go. Yeah, Annie for the win. So when police got there, they immediately found Derek where Annie told them that he would be. They soon came across Nancy's body, too, laying in a pool of her own blood in the kitchen in her nightgown. Oh, yes. She was 53 years old. Damn. So they were sure that the couple had been dead at least a couple of days when they took in the scene around them. Derek's face had been slashed multiple

times. His throat had been slit. There were cuts all over his hands, making it clear that he had put up quite a fight. And upon closer look at some of the cuts in his face, investigators noticed a small cut in the shape of a V on his chin, which they noted. Huh. An autopsy later showed that he had been stabbed over 30 times. Nancy's throat had also been slit, and hers was cut so deep that she was almost decapitated. She had been stabbed through the heart and into the abdomen. they were later able to determine that she had not been raped, which was good because they could rule that out as a possible motive. Yeah, that helps. Also, it looked like there was no sign of like forced entry. There, it looked like whoever had done this actually might have been a dinner guest earlier in the night. Wow. Because in the dining room, there were three chairs pushed back from the table, some dirty dishes and a wine glass left on the table. And there was also a large bloody handprint on one of the chairs. So Sheriff H.C. Well, started out as the lead investigator on the case.

And to him, it looked like this is where the night had turned sour at the dinner table. Yeah. He felt like somebody must have come over and had dinner with Derek and Nancy. Something must have come up that turned into a fight. And somehow, someone overtook both of these people, which is a lot to say because Derek was like a very large man. Oh, really? And like I said, he put up quite a fight.

Well, and it's odd, too, that they immediately thought it was at the dinner table that it went wrong because she was in her nightgown. Mm-hmm. That would give me pause for that. at least me. I think it was just a fact. It would give me pause. I don't blame me.

At the crime scene that I always go to. I think it was just the fact that like all the dinner plates from the table. And like the bloody handprints. And they were all like pushed back from the table. Yeah. But whoever this was just left this couple dead on the floor of their home and disappeared into the night. And wow.

The brutality. The brutality. To the face and shit. Like that is some real anger. Real personal shit. Rage killing. Personal. And that's where we're.

We're going to wrap up for part one. I knew it. I knew it. I knew you were going to leave me hanging this. But when we get to part two, we are going to look at a satanic angle of things. Yep, we are. It's the 80s. We're going to be led to another country. We're going across the globe. We've got a couple trials to get through. All right. It's going to get quay, cry, cry.

This is, wow, so sad for Derek and Nancy. I know. And obviously, we'll post pictures of them on the Instagram. They just look like they could be your grandparents. Oh, of course they do. Like, you could just hug them. Like, younger. They look young, but, like, my grandparents are young. Yeah, so you're just like, hmm.

And they're just, like, beautiful. Like, they're a beautiful couple. Oh, man. That's really sad. And you feel bad for all their kids. Oh, yeah. Like, clearly senseless. Whatever happened here is a senseless thing.

Man. Yeah. I am eager to know what the hell is going on here. Oh, girl. Because I got thoughts. I know I've heard of this before. I have no idea how it pans out. Yeah, I had heard of this one before, but one.

but once I got into it, and I'm telling you this book, let me scroll to the top so I can read the name to you again, the true story of a shocking double murder, a brilliant beautiful Virginia socialite and a deadly psychotic obsession written by Ken Englade by the book. Oh yeah, and we'll post the link again like we always do in the show notes, which is in the description of this episode, wherever you're listening to it, hit show more, and you will find all those links. Exactly. And I'll even post a picture of it on the Instagram when I post the picture. There you make it easier. Guys, the book has so much information. It's incredible. And I did find some really good articles too as well. Yeah, of course. There's plenty of good articles. It's just books are just like. But once this book is so meaty. That's the thing. I was like, who just can't stop turning it. There's also an on the case with Paula Zahn. Of course. 10 out of 10 recommend. In fact, I upgraded my Hulu membership so that I could watch the entire episode. Yeah, you did. Yeah, now I can watch any on the case with Pauliz on. So really Merry Christmas to myself. I was just going to say happy holidays. There you go. So yeah, we'll pick up with our podcast. too and I think you guys all might shit a brick. I'm ready for it. I'm terrified for it. And again,

guys, thank you so much for being awesome. I'm being patient with us this week. So much. We really appreciate it. I particularly appreciate all the love about Bailey. And yeah. So thanks for listening. And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that like any of this is applicable to your life. Literally none of it. And do keep. keep it so weird that you're spreading holiday cheer and doing nice things for other people. Yeah, by singing out loud for all to hear. Yes. Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?

Bye.