Murder In America - EP. 38 MICHIGAN - Halloween Party Homicide: The Murder of Chelsea Bruck

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

In 2014, a woman disappeared from a massive Halloween party. She had been enjoying her night, hanging out with her friends, then... vanished, into thin air. Months later, her body was found, and soon her killer was brought to justice... but this killer was someone that NO ONE ever suspected. This, is the story of the murder of Chelsea Bruck, and you're listening, to MURDER IN AMERICA. - Get 20% off your first order and FREE SHIPPING with MANSCAPED, by using code "MIA" at checkout, at the link below! (Trust us... it's worth it!!): https://www.manscaped.com/ - CHANGE the way YOU BANK with CURRENT!! And don't forget to use our code "MIA" when signing up to get a free $50 credit!! Literally, free $50!!! current.com/mia - Up YOUR jewelry game with AURATE (don't forget to use our special link for your purchase!!): AurateNewYork.com/MIA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's episode is sponsored by Hocum, the new film that critics are calling Damian McCarthy's most unnerving horror yet. From the director of Oddity, Hocom stars Adam Scott, in a deeply monstrous horror that bloody disgusting called pure nightmare fuel that holds you firmly in its grip. Don't miss Hocom, the groundbreaking new horror from Damian McCarthy, now playing in theaters. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone. However, having someone with you to listen, to understand, and to

support you can make all the difference. I know that I'm a huge therapy advocate I've advocated for therapy for years. And if you want to give therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great place to start. Better help therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US. BetterHelp also does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their 12-plus years of experience and industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. And something that I love is if you aren't happy with your therapist match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations. I've personally used

BetterHelp in the past, and I think that if you're on the edge, if you're thinking maybe it's time to start therapy, I say just go ahead and do it. There's literally no downside because you don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash MIA. That's betterhELP.com slash MIA. I really love to get dressed up every once in a while when I'm going out with my girlfriends or on a date night with Colin. But lately, I've been trying to be more intentional with my everyday wear, and I've found that the best options that work for me are good quality, effortless pieces that will last me forever, and they still look cute, which is why Quince has always been my go-to. The thing I love about Quince is that all of their

fabrics feel elevated. Their clothing always fits me perfectly, and I can just throw on anything from theirs, and it looks so put together, but it's so effortless. Now that the spring season is upon, us, Quince makes it so easy to refresh your wardrobe with spring pieces that feel as good as they look. I love that they always use premium materials like 100% European linen, organic cotton, and ultra-soft denim. And everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They also work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality and craftsmanship, not the brand markup. I recently have been to on the hunt for a good denim skirt. And so I went to Quince and I ordered their stretch denim

mini skirt and I am absolutely obsessed with it. It is so cute. I've already worn it several times. I have made a ton of different outfits with it and I could not believe the price of it. I actually had to go back and double check it because it is such good quality. I could not believe how affordable it was. But that's been my experience with everything I've gotten from Quince. They are so affordable and their items are amazing. And I know you will love them too. So refresh your everyday with luxury that you'll actually use. Head to quince.com slash America for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.

Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash America for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com slash America. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover

may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. In our story last week, we discussed the innocent parts of Halloween. Children running through the neighborhoods in their cute costumes, trick-or-treating, and lots and lots of candy. But as the years past, the holiday tends to lose its innocence.

The costumes get more revealing, we stay out a lot later, and we trade our candy in for alcohol. Before you know it, Halloween parties look a whole lot different than they did when you were seven. In our story for today, we are going to be telling you about one of these adult Halloween parties. There were costumes, loud music, hundreds of people drinking and having a good thing. good time. It was the party of the year, the kind of event that a lot of people in their early 20s would enjoy. But one thing that the partygoers weren't aware of was that someone among the crowd was lurking in the shadows, looking for a vulnerable victim. Someone who would take this

night of Halloween fun and turn it into a real-life horror story, ending in rape and murder. This is the story of the murder of Chelsea Brooke. And you're listening to Murder and America. This was the Facebook invitation that was sent out to over 1,000 people in Monroe County, Michigan in 2014. The host, Mike Williams, otherwise known as Big Mike, was notorious for his large parties that he held on his big property. Like most rural places, there isn't a lot of nightlife in this town, so when there is a big social event, everyone is excited to go. One of the people that received this invite was 22-year-old Chelsea Brooke and her friend Becky Brinson. The two were best friends that had met while working at a local restaurant called Olga's Kitchen. While on the job that summer of 2014, the two would often talk about the party and how excited they were for Halloween to come around.

It was, after all, the party of the year, and they decided to go as Batman villains. Chelsea was going as Poison Ivy and she spent weeks making her costume. She bought this little green leotard and hand-sowed fake ivy leaves all over it. She had green tights and red shoes, and she completed the costume with a maroon wig and red lipstick. Chelsea was very proud of her costume, and she and Becky were ecstatic when the day finally came around. Saturday, October 25th, 2014. That night, the two got into their costumes, grabbed their alcohol for the evening, and made their way to 3587 post-road for the biggest party of the year.

When Chelsea and Becky arrived at the property, there were already hundreds of people in attendance. Big Mike had set up two large tents with dark red lights illuminating the partygoers. There were heavy metal bands playing, a lot of good food in the area, and of course, plenty of booze. Chelsea spent the night with her friends Becky and Penny and drank from her big wine jug that was labeled Poison to match her outfit. Everyone knew the party was going to be huge, but at this point in the night, there were over 800 people on the property. The last band finished their set just after midnight and afterwards, Big Mike lit a big bonfire for everyone to enjoy.

On their way out of the tent towards the bonfire, Chelsea bumped her nose on a low-hanging tent pole, and she heard it pretty badly. There wasn't any blood or anything, but it had left a mark. After Chelsea got hurt, she was kind of in the mood to head back home. But Penny was supposed to be her ride, and she wasn't ready to leave just yet. So she told Chelsea to just drink a little more, and the pain would soon go away. And the alcohol did help a little. After a few minutes, Chelsea was back to having a good time with her friends. Now, at some point between 12 and 1, Penny and Becky got separated from Chelsea in the big crowd of people.

Penny and her sister were ready to leave at this point because they had work early the next morning, but they couldn't find Chelsea anywhere. They couldn't call her either because Becky actually had Chelsea's phone. Her Poison Ivy costume didn't have any pockets, so she had asked her to hold onto it. Both Penny and Becky looked for Chelsea for a while, but in a crowd of over 800 people, they weren't having any luck. And in what Becky described on the Dateline episode about this case, as the, quote, biggest regret of her life, they ended up leaving the party without her. Witnesses would later come forward, claiming to have seen Chelsea after this. She was sitting alone in the dark, cold, and crying.

I mean, a party of this size is already a little over. and then to have lost your friends, your ride, and you have no way of contacting anyone, it had to have been very upsetting for her. The next morning, Becky woke up feeling a little hungover, but she was in a good mood. She had finally gotten out of the house, let loose, and she had had a really good night with her friends. But she still had Chelsea's cell phone, so she called Chelsea's mom and left a voicemail saying, Hey, I have Chelsea's phone.

Tell her that she can come over any time today to pick it up. But to Becky's surprise, the day went by, and Chelsea never came to pick up her phone. This was a little strange to Becky, because people their age never go without their phones. But she wasn't too alarmed just yet. That was, until she got on Facebook that night. It was a message from Chelsea's older sister. You see, Chelsea still lived with her parents, and according to the Facebook message, she had never made it home that night.

Becky thought that this was weird, but she didn't jump to worst-case scenario just yet. and she responded to the message saying, quote, she's probably at a friend's house or maybe she's sleeping. She could have woken up, eight, and then went back to bed. End quote. Becky's mind just wouldn't let her think of the worst. There's no way that anything bad could have happened to Chelsea, not in this town.

Things like that just don't happen here. But that little voice of doubt grew bigger and bigger as the hours passed with still no word from her friend. And by Monday, all of Chelsea's family and friends were in a full state of panic. And they all knew deep down that something was terribly wrong. Her family spent all of Monday calling the Monroe County Police Station and every friend that Chelsea had. But everyone was given them the same answer.

No one had seen or heard from her. Chelsea's sister had even messaged Big Mike, the host of the Halloween party, asking him if he'd seen her. Mike told Dateline that he didn't even really know who Chelsea was, but he wanted to help in any way he could, so he and his dog went looking for her around his property. They walked around for miles, thinking that maybe she had passed out or gotten hurt somewhere. But as they hiked through the fields, Mike's dog stepped on a fox trap, and he had to carry him back to his house.

And waiting for him at his home was Chelsea's mom, who was there at the property to search for her daughter. Mike told her that she had permission to search the property, but that he was going to take his dog to the vet because it got injured. When Mike returned from the vet, Chelsea's mom, along with a few sheriff deputies, and about 15 other people in their community had gathered and sort of set up a camp on his property. They had a tent, a search team, canines, a generator, a porta-potty, and they didn't even ask permission to set it all up.

Because in their mind, they didn't need permission. Chelsea was missing, and this was the last place that she was seen. And they were going to do everything in their power to find her. Mike would later tell Dateline. I talked to my attorney about how we should handle it, and he said, just leave them alone for now and eventually they'll go away. And we took that advice. We just kind of let them do their thing.

In regard to the family setting up camp, Mike said, I don't even think they asked. They just did. And I think they kind of suspected me and maybe they were trying to put the heat on me. You know, I don't know. And he was right. Chelsea's family did have their suspicions of Mike. After spending all day searching the property,

Chelsea's mom confronted him and accused him of hiding her somewhere. on the property, saying, quote, is she in your basement? Is she in your trailer? Do you ever locked up somewhere? Mike was very caught off guard by all of this because he didn't even really know Chelsea. And in his mind, he had been doing everything he could to help find her. But a worried mother will do anything to find her child. And in her mind, she needed to question everyone. The police were also asking some really hard questions like, is it possible Chelsea could have run away? But her family was adamant that she wouldn't have. Chelsea's older sister said, in an interview, quote, she even told my mom that night, I'm not even staying that long,

I'll be home in a couple hours. She was just going to go with her friends for a little bit and come back, end quote. And the fact that Chelsea didn't come home after saying this led her family to believe that something terrible had happened. Her mom would later tell the media that if she would have known Chelsea was attending a party with that many people, she would have never let her go. Chelsea's friend Penny joined the search on Mike's property, but she was still kind of in denial that something bad could have happened to her.

Telling Dateline, quote, At the time, I guess there was a hope that maybe something silly happened. Like, she got her leg caught somewhere, or she was just somewhere on the property. I mean, this is Monroe. Stuff like that doesn't happen in Monroe. End quote. The next morning, the police would knock on Becky's door, seeing if she had any idea where Chelsea could be.

Unlike Penny, Becky's mind went to the worst scenarios, like, what if she got hit by a car, or was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. There were many theories floating around town, especially now that everyone was getting word of her disappearance. And one of the many ways that they were spreading the news was through Facebook. Big Mike's band named Pickax Preacher even posted to Facebook saying, Big Mike is known for his love of music, friends, family, and a good party. No one could anticipate the disappearance of 22-year-old Chelsea Brooke.

Mike and Pickax's Preacher are hard. heartbroken for the family. We are only trying to raise awareness for the missing young lady with this article in hopes to bring her home safely. We encourage all partygoers to present any pictures, video, or tips to the authorities in order to help with this ongoing investigation. We also want to stress the police do not care if you have video or pictures of illegal activities such as smoking dope. They even let people go who had warrants for their arrest that presented tips. Their only concern is to bring Chelsea Bruck home to her family. Mike would also talk to several news stations where he would say this.

Yeah, there, I mean, there's some guilt. That's why, you know, I've been doing everything I can to cooperate with everybody. I'm extremely sorry. I've been posting about it on Facebook. About a week into her disappearance, the search for Chelsea was in full force. It seemed like the entire Monroe County was looking for her. People were knocking on doors, searching through fields. Police were looking into her old boyfriends and going through tons of footage that people

had sent in from the party, hoping to get some kind of clue as to what happened to her. But unfortunately, they weren't coming up with anything. And their investigation was difficult to say the least. There were over 800 people at that party. And to make matters worse, everyone was wearing Halloween costumes. And the search for a lead was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Family and friends are still frantically searching for Chelsea Brooke, the 22-year-old, vanished after leaving a party in Frenchtown township early Sunday morning. Box

News, Marielle Lou, live right now with the latest on the investigation into Chelsea's disappearance. Mariel, what do we know? Monica, these search parties are actually very large, but you wouldn't know it. I've seen about half a dozen people go here into the cornfields behind me, but they disappear because they are so tall. There are also several volunteers here across the street. This is the site of that epic house party, the last place Chelsea was seen. Support for murder in America is brought to you by Manscaped, who is the best in men's below-the-waist grooming champions of the world. Manscaped offers precision-engineered tools for your family jewels.

And Manscaped just launched their fourth-generation Trimmer, the lawnmower 4.0. You heard that right, the 4.0. Join the over 2 million men worldwide who trust Manscaped, with this exclusive offer for you. 20% off and free worldwide shipping with the code MIA at manscaped.com. Now, obviously, Courtney doesn't have any ball trimming experience, hopefully, but let me tell you, I've got some horror stories. I know this is a bit cringe to talk about, but I've cut myself many times in the past. I've shed blood.

Trust me, it's not fun. It's honestly pretty freaky and also extremely painful. This literally just happened to me a few weeks ago, and it was a scarring experience. Not literally, but, you know, scarring in my mind. But ever since I started using the Manscape Lawnmore 4.0 hasn't happened. Just imagine shaving with a sleek, well-designed, optimized trimmer that makes shaving time your favorite time in the bathroom. Well, that can be achieved with the new lawnmower 4.0 from Manscaped. I was actually one of the first people to try the new 4.0, and I'm absolutely blown away by the performance.

Manscape engineered the ultimate groin and body tremor by focusing on intelligent functionality and an incredibly comfortable grooming experience. The fourth generation trimmer features a cutting-edge ceramic blade to reduce grooming accidents thanks to their advanced skin-safe technology. After using the lawnmower 4.0, let me tell you, I have no more fear shaving. It's helped me get through the experience a lot quicker and with a lot less blood. Sorry, I really do apologize for the graphic details, but you have to know the truth. You can get 20% off, which is a great deal. End free shipping by using the code MIA at Manscape.com.

That's 20% off with free shipping at Manscape. And be sure to use our custom promo code, MIA, like Murder in America. If you want to upgrade your shaving experience and help support your favorite podcast, do us both a favor. Head to manscaped.com and use our promo code MIA. Anyways, guys, if you didn't hear about enough bloodshedding in that ad, let's get back to the gruesome story. Weiss did talk to some people that gave them a little insight on what happened that night. Like we mentioned, several people saw Chelsea crying, saying that she was, cold and didn't have a ride.

And the police talked to about six people who said that they let Chelsea use their phone that night. It later came out that Chelsea had called her friend Penny and asked if she could come pick her up. Penny told Dateline, quote, at the time I thought I was being responsible. And I told her, I'm sorry, I drink too much, and I have no business driving. She didn't sound desperate for a ride. She didn't sound upset.

End quote. And that was that. Penny regretfully didn't pick Chelsea up and that phone call would be the last time she ever spoke to her friend she would later say quote In hindsight probably the worst mistake I ever made was not looking out for her better than I did There was so much I could have done to protect her and I didn't

end quote It was around this time that the police got an interesting call from a woman who claimed that her son had some important information regarding the Chelsea Brooke disappearance When the police talked to this man, he tells them that he is positive that he talked to Chelsea that night because he remembers having a conversation with her about her costume. He said that at about 3.30 a.m., the two started talking because he's highly allergic to poison ivy, and they kind of laughed about it because she had fake poison ivy sewn all over her.

But something that he noticed that stood out to him was that there was a man by Chelsea, a man that hovered over her, almost like he was comforting her. And after their conversation about her costume, Chelsea, and this mystery man, appeared into the darkness. The witness didn't know the man, but he was able to give a good description of who he was. He was tall, skinny, with swoopy hair covering his forehead, and he wore glasses. Police quickly called in a sketch artist and they were able to get a composite sketch of the man in question. And now it was their main priority to find him. Missing person flyers with Chelsea's information and the composite sketch were plastered all over Monroe County.

The flyers read this. Chelsea Ellen Bruck, age 22, was last seen at a Halloween party at 3587 Post Road in Newport, Michigan on October 26, 2014. Bruck is 5'7 inches tall, 140 pounds, has blonde hair and green eyes. She has a small anchor tattoo behind her right ear. Brooke was wearing the costume shown in the center photo portraying the character Poison Ivy from the Batman series. The outfit consisted of yoga pants, green ivy leaves, and a wig. Police released a composite sketch of the man seen leaving the party with Brooke. He is described as white with a medium-build, medium-length dark hair, a thin mustache and facial hair,

wearing a black hoodie and black-framed glasses. Anyone with information should call the Monroe County Sheriff's Office immediately. When the police released the composite sketch, they immediately received hundreds of tips from their community. But unfortunately, none of them panned out. It turns out that the sketch looks like a lot of people. Big Mike even told Dateline that the sketch, quote, looks like 150 different people that I know. I can take you to a bar right now

where everyone in the bar looks like that. End quote. But an interesting part of this case was that the police were never able to shake their suspicions of Big Mike. And unbeknownst to everyone, he was a person of interest from the very beginning, so much so that they even asked him if they could search his house.

and to their surprise he told them no, which really raised their suspicions. So the police ended up getting a search warrant and stormed his home with SWAT teams and all. They spent the entire day combing through his property with a fine-tooth comb. They dug all through his house, searched in the fire pit outside,

and pretty much looked at every square inch of his land, just to come up with nothing. And now they were back to square one. That was, until they received another interesting tip from a man named Harlan Bird who claimed to have information about what happened to Chelsea. When detectives brought him in for questioning, Harlan tells them that he was at the party with his best friend and he noticed Chelsea in the parking lot with two men. He said that the men were pushing her around and that Chelsea was crying and calling out for

someone to help her. Seeing this, Harlan ran to her aide, fought the guys off, and picked her up off the ground. Next, Harlan tells investigators that he noticed a red four-door car nearby that was open. So he put Chelsea inside of the vehicle, even though he didn't know whose car it was, and he told her to stay put while he went and got help. He said that he looked around the party anywhere from five to 15 minutes, and when he got back to the parking lot, Chelsea and the car were gone. Police were intrigued by Harlan's story, but something he mentions next really sparked their interest. He said that while helping Chelsea off the ground, he got some of her blood on his shirt. When the detectives asked for the shirt, he said that he had already washed it and the blood was gone.

But something about Harlan's story seemed off. And because he claimed that he had her blood on his clothing, investigators started to grill him hard. They asked him, did you hurt Chelsea? Did you rape her? Did you kill her? And you can see in the video that Harlan is getting visibly upset and denying everything. Then finally, he admits that he made the entire story up.

Harlan thought that it would look cool if he was the one to help the woman that went missing. Investigators were able to confirm that Harlan's story was false and that he never saw Chelsea that night, and they were angry. He wasted valuable time and resources that could have been dedicated to actually finding Chelsea. But Harlan learned a good lesson that day because he was arrested afterward for providing police with false information. A little over a week after Chelsea disappeared, her family held a prayer vigil where her close friends and family came together, lit candles, and all prayed that Chelsea would be found safely. News reporters came and Chelsea's mom told them, quote,

she's coming home, it's not a hope, it's a reality, end quote. Her mother always believed that they would find Chelsea alive. At one point, Penny met her for the first time and introduced herself by saying, I was Chelsea's friend, to which her mom responded, no, you are Chelsea's friend. And everyone that loved Chelsea dedicated any time they had to helping with the search. At this point, the entire town was covered

in missing persons flyers and purple rink. which was Chelsea's favorite color. The Bruck family worked tirelessly day in and day out. They even moved their search headquarters off of Big Mike's property to a vacant bank so that they could have more space and expand their resources. They managed to gather hundreds of volunteers who were each assigned to certain groups that would search different parts of Monroe County, and they were determined to cover every inch of the town until they found Chelsea.

Unfortunately, months passed, and there was no luck in the case. ...as well, passing out flyers and raising a wish with vigils. Police and search crews certainly have their work cut out for them. Most of Newport, Michigan, where Chelsea went missing, and maybe Michigan, where she actually lives, look a lot like this. Miles and miles of cornstalk taller than me as far as the eye can see. Wednesday, search crews were back at it, looking for the clue that could bring Chelsea home. Eventually, the new year came around, 2015 and still no sign of Chelsea Bruck. But around a week into the new year, investigators received another tip.

A woman in Toledo named Carrie Carr had called in saying that her ex-boyfriend confessed to her that he killed Chelsea. When police bring her in for questioning, she tells them that her ex attended the Halloween party, left with Chelsea, and ended up killed Chelsea. killing her and dumping her body in a Toledo cemetery. When detectives questioned why she never said anything, she claimed that he threatened her. He like, grabbed me by my shirt, and he had a knife and he goes, this is what I used with Chelsea broke. He didn't say that her name exactly. What did he, what he said?

He said, this is what I used on Chelsea. Okay. Don't make me use it on you. The two ended up breaking up, and now that they were over, she'd didn't need to protect him anymore, and she wanted him arrested. I want him locked up, but I can't have him, like, questioned and then released. He lives on the same street as me. Right.

He's going to come after me and my kid. But detectives obviously didn't listen to Carrie. If this guy really was their perpetrator, they needed to question him immediately, so they brought him into the station. When they tell the man what has been said, he immediately shuts it down, saying that Carrie is pretty much crazy, and he's been having issues with her for a while. So detectives talk to Carrie again, and eventually she too admits that she made it all up because she was angry at her ex and she wanted to get him in trouble. And they arrest Carrie, just like they

did Harlan. At this point, detectives are frustrated beyond belief. They have dedicated so much of their time to this case and have now had two different people provide false information for seemingly no reason. And again, they're back at Square One. It was March now, five months after Chelsea's disappearance and detectives were feeling a lot of pressure, not only from Chelsea's family, but from the community. Purple Ribbons still covered Memorough County, and although beautiful, it was a grim reminder that she still hadn't been found. And people in the community were starting to wonder if she would ever be found. One of these people was a woman named Cheryl Redsloff, who owned property in Monroe. Her land is adjacent to a big country road, and she often found a

lot of debris on her property from people throwing stuff from their cars. On this Sunday afternoon in March, Cheryl was walking on the edge of her property, cleaning up trash and big branches that had fallen during the winter when something caught her eye. When she got a little closer, she realized it was a red shoe. But she didn't think much of it and she put it in the trash bag along with the other stuff she found along the road. Later that afternoon, her husband asked her if she found anything. interesting in her cleanup and she told him no just a bunch of trash in this red shoe Cheryl said that her husband immediately was alarmed and said quote do you think it could have been her shoe her husband didn't even have to say Chelsea's name for Cheryl to know exactly who he was

talking about but she responded no there's no way it could be Chelsea's shoe search teams have been looking all over town for months and there's no way they would have missed that but the more she thought about it, her property was just 2.3 miles away from Big Mike's, and hundreds of people would have taken that road by Sheryl's on the night of the party. Maybe it could be Chelsea's shoe, so she decided to call the Sheriff's Department to let them know. Detectives quickly made their way to Cheryl's house to grab the shoe, and they sent a picture of it to Chelsea's mom. I'm sure a part of her wanted to believe that the shoe didn't belong to her daughter, but as soon as she saw the picture, she knew it was Chelsea's. Throughout the investigation,

her mother had had such a strong sense of hope that they would find Chelsea alive, but after finding the shoe, she knew deep down that her daughter wasn't coming home. Investigators searched everywhere around the area to see if there was any more evidence, but they came up with nothing. Chelsea had been missing for five whole months, and the only piece of evidence that they had was one single shoe. But detectives had no idea that soon they would come across some evidence that would blow the case wide open. Banking can be really annoying. Everybody makes mistakes, but unfortunately, Unfortunately, oftentimes banks aren't prepared to help you out when you've made one yourself.

I've overdrafted my checking account multiple times in the past and had to pay high fees for making that little mistake. It makes no sense to punish someone for not having enough money by charging them more money. It's infuriating. But that situation doesn't ever have to happen to you again, and it won't for me now that I use Current. Current is a technology company that lets you manage your money on your phone. Current believes banking should be more accessible and affordable. No surprises, no minimum balances. Current's easy-to-use app and debit card give you flexibility, freedom, and faster access to your money.

So, Current is kind of banking for the future. They've made the whole banking process a lot more accessible, a lot easier to use, and above all, a lot more forgiving. Current allows its users to overdraft their account up to $100 with no fee. That's right, forgiveness is coming back with Current. Current can also help you reach your saving goals by rounding up any purchases that you have to save up that spare change. And it can also help you track your spending habits so you can see when and where you spend your money the most. For a limited time, Current is giving a $50 sign up bonus to new customers who sign up for premium and set up a direct deposit of $200 or more. That's right. Current will deposit $50 right into your account.

Enter our code MIA during sign up or visit current.com slash MIA to claim your offer. And remember, don't forget to use that code MIA during sign up. Download the current app, sign up in less than two minutes, and enter code MIA during signup. Shortly after Chelsea's shoe was found, a young man named Eric Kisob and his friend were going around town to abandoned buildings and stealing the scrap metal off the roofs to sell for an extra buck. On this particular day, they went by an abandoned building that was about 10 miles away from Big Mike's property. It was a tiny little decrepit building with the roof caved in and it was filled with trash. When Eric stepped inside, he started looking around and noticed a big piece of plywood.

He looked under the plywood and saw what he believed to be a leafy plant. But as he took a closer look, he noticed that the leaves were fake. And then he realized it was a cost of. A Poison Ivy costume. And right next to the costume was a maroon wig. The boys thought it was weird, but they didn't really think anything of it and ended up leaving the building with their stolen metal. It wouldn't be until a week later when Eric saw Chelsea's missing person flyer

that he realized it was her costume. Eric contemplated calling the police because after all, he did touch it, and he didn't want to be looked at as a cessing. as a suspect, but ultimately he decided to make the call to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department. And Eric was right to believe that investigators would suspect him, because like any good detective, they brought him into the station and interrogated him. They asked him a lot of hard questions, like, did you hurt Chelsea? Did you go to that party? Did you have anything to do with her disappearance? But Eric denied everything.

Can you go to that party by chance? There's tons of people with this. We're trying to have everybody that were gone to the party. You say you didn't go to the party that I'd postroar in Newport that day at all? No. However, at the time, my baby's mother lived in Newport. Okay. You said you don't know Chelsea?

I don't know. Okay. I got to ask you. Yeah. Did you have anything to do with her disappearing at all? No. Investigators were definitely suspicious of Eric after hearing his girlfriend lived on the same road

that the red shoe was found on. But he adamantly denied everything, saying that he was home that night with his daughter. and he even offered to give his DNA to investigators. And it was soon clear that Eric was not responsible for Chelsea's disappearance. While investigators were scoping out the abandoned building where Chelsea's costume was found, they realized something that sparked their interest. Remember Harlan Bird, the guy who falsely claimed to have helped Chelsea the night of the party?

Well, he actually lived right next to the abandoned building where Chelsea's costume was found. And investigators were starting to wonder if Harlan could have been responsible all along. So they brought him in for questioning again, and this time he took a problem. polygraph. Investigators were shocked to find out that Harlan passed it, and he was also being very cooperative, and without any further evidence, the police had to move on. Although things were moving slowly, it seemed like investigators were finally getting some traction in the case. And then, on April 24, 2015, they got the call that they had all been dreadfully waiting for. On a property about seven miles from Big Mike's, a man was driving a dump truck to a construction

site to get some soil for his property. He was building a new home for him and his family, and he was just about to lay down the soil when all of a sudden the truck gets stuck on something. He gets out and walks to the back to see what's going on. And when he does, he sees something that would be ingrained in his mind forever. Can you tell that's male or female?

Female? Female. Female here. When investigators arrive on six, When investigators arrive on scene, they find a body that was mostly just a skeleton at this point, but it did have some skin attached to the chest and legs, along with some blonde hair still attached at the scalp. The face was unrecognizable, but investigators were pretty sure it was the body of Chelsea Bruck. They were even more confident it was Chelsea when they found a fake poison ivy leaf lying near the body.

The remains had been found under some small logs and branches, making it clear that someone had tried to conceal her body. Investigators immediately notified Chelsea's family that a body had been found, and the next day they were able to confirm through dental records, that it was, in fact, Chelsea Bruck. Investigators on the case felt even more pressure, more motivation to find out what happened to Chelsea, because this wasn't just a missing person's case. anymore. It was now a homicide investigation. Soon after finding her body, the state lab called in with a shocking discovery. They had been testing Chelsea's costume that was found inside of the abandoned building, and they had found something on it. For one, Chelsea's costume had been ripped in the crotch area, and they found blood inside of the outfit. They also found another person's DNA inside of there, a males. Investigators took the male DNA and entered it into CODIS. If you

are familiar with CODIS, it's basically a big database that holds the DNA of criminals. If you're ever convicted of a felony, your DNA goes into the database and can be tested against other crimes that have been committed across the country. But when investigators put this male's DNA into CODIS, there were no matches, meaning their perpetrator had never been convicted of anything. The detectives tested the DNA against Harlan Bird and Eric Cassad, and neither of them matched. It was now top priority for investigators to get DNA from everyone that they could that attended Big Mike's party, including Big Mike himself. But when they asked him for a DNA sample, he refused. Mike would go on to tell Dateline, quote, they asked for my DNA and I talked to my

attorney and he said you don't have to if you don't want to, and I just felt like I didn't want my DNA in some database. I'm not a criminal. I'm not a felon. And I also felt like they were pointing the finger at me, and I was over it. I was kind of trying to move on with my life, end quote. And because Mike didn't offer up his DNA, he stayed on the detective's suspect list. A few weeks later, the medical examiner's office was finally able to determine Chelsea's cause of death. Blunt forced trauma to the face. Detectives weren't very surprised by this finding because they knew immediately that Chelsea's jaw was broken when they came upon her remains.

It later came out that there were fractures to her jaw and nose and severe fractures to her eye sockets. It was clear to investigators that Chelsea's last moments were brutally violent. And for the sake of protecting their investigation, detectives decided to keep this information from the public. And after six months of agony, Chelsea's family, while heartbroken, were finally able to lay her to rest. For the next couple of months, the investigation trudged along at a very slow pace. Detectives were still working really hard on the case, but there wasn't any headway made. Then, in September of 2015, the man who found Chelsea's body called the sheriff's department

again. While excavating the property for his home, he found a red shoe. Investigators went out to the scene again, got the shoe, and decided to look around a little more. When they did, they found Chelsea's tights that were a part of her poison ivy costume. They now had both shoes, her tights, leotard, wig, and her body. Now, all they had to do was find her killer. The one-year anniversary of Chelsea's death came and went and there were still no answers. Big Mike decided to move his annual Halloween bash to a club in Detroit because the tragedy of Chelsea's death still haunted Memorough County. No one was really in the mood to celebrate after what happened in 2014. But investigators were still working hard on the case, and there was one man in particular that

they were trying to find. You see, very early on in the investigation, detectives received a tip from a homeowner who lived on the same road where Chelsea's shoe was found. The homeowner claimed that on the night of the Halloween party. A white man with a mustache showed up on his property at about three in the morning pounding on his front door. The stranger told the homeowner that he was coming from a big party and he asked him if he could sleep there. The man didn't know the stranger that was standing on his front porch so he obviously told him no. But instead of leaving, he just passed out right there on the porch. The next morning, the strange man was gone, but he had left the vest that he was wearing. When the homeowner grabbed the vest, he noticed there was a pocket knife and a piece of

rope inside. A few hours later, the man would return to the property to retrieve the vest. The homeowner didn't think too much about the encounter, but after the town got word of Chelsea's disappearance, he decided to call it in. Early in the investigation, investigators had asked the partygoers to send in any footage that they had taken that night. There were hundreds of pictures and videos to go through, but eventually detectives were able to find a few clips of the man in question. There he was at the party with a mustache and a black vest, dancing to music, and having fun. The homeowner was able to confirm that that was definitely the man who came knocking on his door at three in the morning, and now it was the investigator's top priority to find out his identity.

They plastered pictures of his face all around Monroe County, hoping that someone would be able to identify him. And to the detective's surprise, a man came into the station soon after, claiming to the guy in the picture. Investigators immediately noted that the man strongly resembled a composite sketch that was originally compiled. When they started questioning the man about the night of the party, he claimed that he was so drunk he barely even remembered most of the night. Detectives asked if he would be willing to give up his DNA and the man agreed. He also agreed to schedule a polygraph with investigators. But on the very day that the man was supposed to show up for his polygraph, the Monroe County Evidence Technician received an email. She approached

detectives and told them, you're going to want to see this and handed them a piece of paper. Apparently, the DNA that was on Chelsea's leotard was run through CODIS again. And this time when they ran it, there was a match of a guy who had just gotten arrested. It wasn't Harlan Bird or Eric Kassab, the man in the party footage, or Big Mike. It was DNA from a man named Daniel Clay, a name that investigators weren't really, familiar with. After doing a little digging, detectives found out that Daniel had been living in Monroe County for a while, but he didn't really have a permanent address. He was unemployed and just kind of mooched off of people by living on friends' couches or with his different girlfriends.

Daniel had a pretty lengthy criminal history and had been arrested a number of times for mostly petty crimes. But his most recent arrest was in May of 2016 for stealing someone's backpack full of tattoo equipment. This incident landed him with a larceny charge, which is considered a felony. An interesting part of this story is that before Daniel was arrested, the rules for Codis were that you only had to give up your DNA if you had been convicted for a felony. Daniel had never had a felony before this incident, so that's why his DNA wasn't in the system. But one month before his arrest, they changed the law that you only had to be arrested for a felony to have your DNA entered. And now police knew the identity of their killer simply because he stole a backpack.

Detectives were doing everything in their power to locate Daniel, but it was difficult because he was essentially homeless. But they had a few ideas of where he could be staying, so they decided to set up surveillance and find him. They ended up spotting him on the porch of his girlfriend's mobile home smoking a cigarette. Once they confirmed it was indeed Daniel Clay, detectives came up with a plan. They didn't want to immediately tell him that he was a murder suspect, because that would give him time to perfect his story or immediately lawyer up. So they decided to take a different route. You see, Daniel already had two warrants out for his arrest for unpaid child support, so investigators decided to arrest him on the child support warrants, and during their interrogation, they were going

to surprise him with the fact that his DNA was on a murder victim's pieces of clothing. When investigators knocked on the mobile home door, Daniel tried to make a run for it out back, but he was eventually caught, arrested, and brought back to the station for questioning. Daniel, B-A-N-I-E-L. Yep. Call it, S-L-A-Y. Mm-hmm. You have the right to remain silent, you understand?

Yes. Mm-hmm. Okay. Investigators wanted to make sure they were crossing all T's and dotting all eyes for this interrogation. So they read him his rights, and like they had planned all along, They convinced Daniel that he was only there for his unpaid child support charge. But after a few questions, the detectives asked him something that would catch him off guard. Were you at Big Mike's annual Halloween party in 2014?

Daniel answers yes. And the detectives ask him a few more questions. Now that detectives have Daniel admitting to be at the party, they bring up Chelsea Brooke. Daniel says he never saw Chelsea that night, and he claims that he never even heard of her until a little while after when the news started covering her case. At this point, Daniel can most likely see where this interrogation is going.

So he starts to ramble on about how he loves women. It would never hurt a lady because he's a lady's man, which is why he has a lot of girlfriends and two kids. Then he goes on to say how he's this night. and peaceful guy that doesn't like fighting or violence. He could have never been the one to kill Chelsea Brooke. I look like it should be the Stephanie. I think of love.

Peace and love. That's my motto. I don't like violence. I'm like, I just like smoke and eat. I'm like that. Detectives then ask him, so you've never seen Chelsea Brock? He answers, no. You've never talked to Chelsea Brock?

Nope. You've never had sex with Chelsea Brooke. No, and now it's time to turn up the heat. You told me you never had sex. Never had sex, never nothing. Would there be any reason that your DNA would be with Chelsea Brough? No. Or on her clothes or not her hair?

No, it's my knowledge. When detectives confront Daniel and tell him that his DNA was on Chelsea's clothes, he says this. I did not do anything to that girl. Did not tell him. At this point, Daniel knows he's in trouble, so he starts to backtrack a little, saying that he did have sex with someone that night in his car. And she had dark hair, but he didn't remember who. It could have been Chelsea. He just wasn't sure.

I think the thing is, Daniel, all right? You're telling me, there's a possibility. You had sex with a girl in the backseat of that car? Yeah. It was backseat, right? Yeah. You had sex with a female that had dark hair and the back of your car. All right?

You're telling me you left alone. There's a possibility, all right, a likelihood, and I say likelihood, which I'm 99.9% sure that it was Chelsea that you had sex with. Like, I don't remember who I had sex with that night. I know I was up and had sex someone. I've always wondered if it could have been her or not. And then you guys called me and it would freak me out. I didn't want to say it had sex with somebody and then find out it's her.

and then, you know, she disappeared. I know I left alone. I know I didn't do anything. I don't even know where the fuck her costume was found at. I don't know where that spot is. I do know the other spot, like the area. I don't know where she found along there. But the detective was playing his cards right,

because Daniel was under the impression that investigators found semen DNA. So he admitted to having consensual sex with Chelsea. What Daniel didn't know was that the DNA recovered was skin cells from when he ripped her leotard. The thing is, is you remember, I mean, it's coming back. It was skin, right? From force, from tear. Your DNA cells were on where her craft was torn and where her top was torn.

From grabbing her or something like that. Okay. So that's where your DNA was. I'm past that. Okay, right? I know that you tore that. I were passing off or whatever. Okay. So, but it was torn.

You had to tear her, but I'm not getting asked. I had to have somebody after me or something. Okay. So there was, and this is the thing. All right. There had to be somebody after me. Listen to me, Daniel. We're past all that.

Okay. All right. I have your BNA where her stuff was torn. Nobody others. Nobody else. Nobody. No one. Okay.

This is where we're at. Okay. This is where it's time. something happened when you left with her. Now listen, when you left, now he did it. Either something happened where it was intentional, unintentional, accidental. The detectives are slowly but surely pulling out the truth, but they really needed that full confession that Daniel was the one to kill her.

So Detective Preadmore comes up with an idea, and he tells Daniel a lie. He says that Chelsea's mom had recently told investigators that Chelsea had a rare condition called brittle bones disease, making it to where her bones break super easily. Detective Piedmore said that at that moment, Daniel almost seemed relieved, like he finally found a way out and that he could pin the entire murder on a mere accident. And he starts to come clean. Daniel admits that the two had consensual sex in his car at the party. After the party, he saw her walking down the road and offered to give her a ride.

She agrees, and they drive around for a little and have sex again. But this time, Chelsea wanted to get a little freaky and asked him to choke her. Daniel said that when he did this, Chelsea just went limp. Are you that monster murder? It wasn't intentional. No, I didn't intentionally hurt her. Okay, then we need to know what happened. Okay, there's a big difference.

We had sex. And she did get freaky. Okay. And we sat there and she said, like, well, let's go. Because we had sex there. And we left. Okay. Had sex somewhere else.

Where are some? I don't. It wasn't right. It wasn't driving around. We were just driving around. Okay. Having sex. Because I, she did, like, leave.

And I had seen her as I was pulling out. She's like, I'm about to walk. I'm about to walk. So tired of this. I'm like, stop in and we'll go. Okay. She said, okay. Okay.

She said, it got rough. Like, she liked and rife. I choked and stuff. Yeah. And then she got, I freaked out. I was wasted. Okay, so... When detectives questioned how Chelsea got all of her facial fractures,

Daniel says that he was punching her a little during sex too. Then they tell him that her jaw was basically split in half, and that there's no way that that could have happened from punching her. So he comes up with this story that after she went limp, he started giving her CPR and hitting her really hard to wake her up. When he realized she was dead, he put her body in the back of the car, and he must have slammed her head in the car door.

And that's why her jaw was split. I remember with phone like this and hitting on it and trying to wake her up. After I couldn't give her a seat car, I could get the ones here. The jaw thing, I literally have no idea how I did that. Unless, like, when I was getting out of the car, I hit it up in the door or something, maybe. And it would have had to have been a smash. I mean, not on purpose. I could see that.

That, I could understand. If I did it, not on purpose. You know, I was upset, and I was losing my mind. But I never did it. You would have hit. The next thing Daniel says he remembers was driving around for a while. He ended up stopping by some railroad tracks and carried her body out into the woods. He laid the big branches over her, hoping no one would ever find her.

When investigators asked him how her clothes ended up five miles away, Daniel couldn't give any reasoning. He didn't know how her clothes ended up in the abandoned building. But detectives didn't need that answer. They had heard enough, and they arrested Daniel Clay for the murder of Chelsea Bruck. And do you remember Chelsea's friend Becky, who she met working at Olga's kitchen? Well, Becky had another friend at Olga's kitchen. It was the woman who had had Daniel Clay's baby. Before Daniel was put into custody, he called her to let her know that he was being arrested

for Chelsea's murder. Becky had to find out, at work, that her co-worker's boyfriend was responsible for the murder of her best friend. Orate is a fine jewelry brand founded by Women for Women. Pieces range from classic to statement to completely original. Orate makes the jewelry you've always wanted but could never find. Orate's gold feels substantial and the diamond sparkle and shine, such high quality and so beautiful. Because it's all real gold, you can wear it and never have to take it off.

Shower, sport, sleep, cook, anything. It's jewelry for life. Orate was started by two friends during brunch when one got a green finger from an overpriced ring, sparking a conversation about how they were fed up with the traditional jewelry market. Now, I myself actually wear a lot of jewelry, so I have experience with these green, tarnishing rings and how it turns your skin the color green and I hate it and the products that we were sent from Orate are simply astounding they have not tarnished a bit they're beautiful they're just really really high quality products besides transparent pricing orate has now teamed up with Klarna to make their items even more accessible to all of you I love this jewelry I am the type of person if I have to constantly take my jewelry off I lose it so it's really nice that I just get to keep it on

and the shower and everything, and it never gets lost, and I always get compliments on it, no matter where I go. I'm telling you guys, if you like jewelry, Orate is the place for you to shop. They have all kinds of choices from dainty little rings and bracelets to big, beautiful, bold pieces that you will enjoy as well. For 20% off your first Orate purchase, go to Orate, New York.com slash MIA,

and use promo code MIA. That's 20% off with no minimum spend. and they rarely have discounts as high as 20% off, so I really encourage you to shop now while it's going on. This is the best offer out there, and it's exclusively available for our Murder in America listeners. So once again, go to Orate. That's A-U-R-A-T-E-N-Y-York.com slash M-I-A

and use promo code M-I-A to get 20% off. Yeah, guys, by checking out our sponsors and buying these products, you help keep this show alive, so please go engage with them, use that promo code. Now, let's get back to today's Halloween murder story. Unfortunately for Chelsea's loved ones, Daniel never revealed the true story behind her murder. Even after finding out that the brittle bones disease tactic was all a lie. The detectives on the case told Dateline, quote,

I don't believe we ever got the full true story of what Daniel Clay did to Chelsea. Something made him snap. We don't know. Did Chelsea simply ask for a ride home and realize he was going the wrong direction and confronted him? try to get out of the vehicle? Did she turn down his advances for sex? We don't know, but something set him off and made him snap. End quote. At Daniel's trial, he ended up pleading not guilty, and he stuck with the same old story that her death was accidental, that he choked her anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds, and that she died. The prosecution brought forward the medical

examiner and she claimed that there wasn't even enough left of Chelsea to determine whether or not she had been exfixated. But even if she had, it definitely would have taken longer than 30 seconds of choking to kill her. She said that it takes about 30 seconds for someone to lose consciousness while being choked. But to kill someone, you have to keep constant pressure on their neck for at least two minutes. So it definitely couldn't have been accidental. Daniel also claimed that Chelsea removed her costume for sex, but experts determined that Chelsea wouldn't have been able to make the rip and her leotard herself. In addition, she wouldn't have ever torn it because she spent weeks making that costume. At the trial, the prosecution turned her leotard inside out to show the jury.

Chelsea's blood covered the inside of it, meaning that she was beaten while wearing it. This alone proves that Chelsea never had consensual sex with Daniel Clay. He most likely beat her, took off her clothes, and then raped her. Daniel's defense team tried to bring up Chelsea's previous sex life by asking her loved ones at trial if she liked rough sex. Luckily, the judge wouldn't let the defense go any further with these questions. Daniel took the stand at trial, claiming that it was all an accident, but the jury saw right through his lies.

And on May 16, 2017, they found him, guilty of felony murder and concealing a dead body. And Daniel Clay was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During this trial, Daniel was actually in the process of facing another sexual assault charge from a woman he assaulted before Chelsea. And he ended up getting convicted and charged for that as well. Daniel Clay was not an innocent man who had a freak accident during sex. He's a predator who on the night of the party saw that Chelsea was alone, drunk, without a car or a phone, and he decided to take advantage of her. He kidnapped her, savagely beat and raped her, and then discarded her body like trash.

Both Daniel and Chelsea attended that party and spent the night drinking among hundreds of people dressed out for Halloween. But out of all of the villains in the crowd, Daniel Clay proved to be the most evil of them all. Everyone likes to dress up for Halloween. You can be a scary zombie, you can be a vampire, you can be something sexy, you can be something spooky. Halloween is really a holiday for everyone. It invites you to bring out your dark side. But there are certain people in the world who don't need a costume to be scary.

People whose actions speak louder than any outfit ever could. Daniel Clay is one of those people. and he's living proof that on Halloween, the scariest monsters aren't the ones on your TV or in the costume next to you. They're your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers. And it goes to show that evil, true evil, isn't always hard to spot.

Sometimes the devil is hiding in plain sight. Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to another Halloween-themed episode of Murder in America. Courtney, you wrote this episode, great job. Thank you. I heard this story years ago and I always knew I wanted to cover it. It's a very tragic tale. We're just glad here at the podcast that Chelsea eventually got justice and that justice was served. If you like this episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

You can also follow us on Instagram at Murder in America and you can join our Facebook group for free. Thank you to all of our patrons who make all of this possible. We love you guys. Our new patrons this week are J.W. Jessica Evans. Rachel Jones. Courtney Reynolds. Kelsey Keeney. Tiara. And Donna Mathany.

Now, if you would like, you can support us on Patreon where we post these episodes ad free and you get a bunch of bonus content. Just download the app and type in Murder in America. We're posting bonus episodes on there and it's a way that we can chat with you guys daily and directly. If you would like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me at Cort Shan. And you can find me at Colin Brownin or The Paranormal Files on YouTube. And yeah, just to think of the depravity of this case is saddening the randomness of it.

It was meant to be a night where you're celebrating a holiday that we all love, but it ended in tragedy and murder. And it always makes us, you know, ask the same old question. The dead don't talk. Or do they? See you on the next one, everybody. Thanks for listening.