True Crime with Kimbyr - College Cheerleader’s Bright Future Shattered: The Heartbreaking Murder of Saleha Huda

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

In this emotional episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha explores the tragic case of Celia Huda—a University of Florida senior, cheerleader, and aspiring nurse—whose life was brutally cut short. After immigrating from Ghana and chasing her dreams in Gainesville, Saleha's promising future collided with evil. Why did this bright, talented young woman become a target? With little media coverage and disturbing details, this Florida case deserves to be heard. Join True Crime with Kimbyr as Kimbyrleigha dives into Celia’s life, the horrifying events that followed, and the haunting questions that still remain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College seniors Celia Huda had it all. She was a University of Florida competitive cheerleader, part of a successful dance team, and about to go to graduate school to become a nurse. She had everything to look forward to, but she crossed paths with a monster, forever shattering all of her dreams. This is her story.

Hi, everyone, welcome back to my channel. If you've never been here before, my name is Kimberlea. Nice to finally meet you, and if you have been here before, you're probably wondering Kimber what is going on here? What is this? What is this orange couch doing here? My favorite color is orange and I've always wanted an orange couch and no, this is not here to stay. I'm creating something new. It'll be happening soon and this couch was part of it today. I was filming for something else and I needed a bigger space because

there was someone else sitting here with me. I think I might bring it back around maybe at Halloween since you know it might go with the motif but Try not to be too distracted. Today's case combines a few topics that we've talked about before. One, it's a Florida case, so it's part of my Florida murder series, and it involves a university student, and she's a cheerleader. And it's sad that these characteristics seem to somehow be related in other cases like this.

What drew me into this case was Florida, of course, because that's my home state, but also because, as I was getting interested in it, I was shocked by the lack of coverage there was, was, especially because of how disturbing the series of circumstances really are. And I think you'll know exactly what I mean as we get into this. Now I'd like to introduce you to Celia Huda. She was actually born in Ghana, which is a country in West Africa.

She's the youngest child of her parents, husband and wife, Ali, and Hawua Huda. They already had two children by the time Celia came around, and Celia's older brother Abdul was seven years old, and she also had a sister, Sean, that was about five. Celia Huda was born in Ghana on May 27, in 1989. But eventually, when Celia was about five, Sean was about 10, and Abdul was about 12 years old, their parents decided to immigrate to the United States.

They moved to Gainesville, Florida. They wanted to move to America for many of the same reasons that other people do, because they wanted a better life for themselves and their children. They wanted their children to have a better chance in life than they felt that they had growing up in West Africa. It was quite a cultural for them as a family, but the children were still young enough to assimilate easily.

The children attended P.K. Young Developmental Research School in Gainesville. It's a K-12 public developmental school that's connected to the University of Florida. And students stay here from kindergarten through the time they graduate high school. And of course, then they hopefully go to college, which is what it prepares them for, specifically to go to the University of Florida, which is, like I said, connected to to this school. The students are actually selected by lottery to reflect the demographic of the school-age population of the state. My daughter went to a similar school. We had to wait a long time to get accepted and get a spot. We had to win a spot. And these schools are usually very highly

sought out. They provide a superior education compared to other public schools, especially with this one being associated with one of Florida's biggest and highly regarded universities. P.K. Young has won awards for being in the top of the best schools in the nation. Celia's parents valued education above everything else. It was the highest objective to give their children the opportunity to get a quality education. It was all about family and academics. And I know admission to these schools are very selective. But if you are enrolled and you have siblings, those siblings usually get priorities.

So it must have been a big deal for Celia's parents to have their children attending this school. They took education, like I said, very seriously, which meant their kids were expected to make it their main focus. And sometimes that made it hard for them to connect with American children, especially when the girls are getting older, they're becoming teenagers. And Sean and Celia weren't allowed the same freedom their friends had. They weren't allowed to date. They had very strict rules. And it was hard when their parents had beliefs and traditions from a different country that they wanted to honor, as well as honoring being an American and growing up differently. The older two children of the three seemed to have an easier time with the children. rules, but Celia was a rebel from a young age. Everyone could tell that she was all about

doing things her own way. She was very curious, adventurous, outgoing, and athletic. She was involved in sports and she loved dancing, and this meant she was drawn to more social environments than her siblings. She was a natural-born performer. As soon as music would come on, she would start moving to the beat. It was like it was a part of her. Something she couldn't help. She just had to get up and she had to move. She really, She ran track. She was part of dance schools that focused on hip-hop dancing, and she also did gymnastics. Eventually, this led her down the path of wanting to become a cheerleader. So that is what Celia did. It started actually back in middle school and high school.

But then afterward, she enrolled at Santa Fe College, which is just 13 minutes away from her family's home. This is a junior college. Some of you might call it a community college, and most students start here two years before transferring into a state university. They have programs that are specifically designed to guarantee admission to the University of Florida, which was the school Celia wanted to attend. She tried out and got on the Santa Fe College Saints cheerling squad. And this was her first taste of what it was like cheering

for a college sports team. And the Saints were basketball players. But her big dream was to cheer for the University of Florida. In 2008, that dream was closer to coming true when she got accepted into UF as a junior in the fall, majoring in family, youth, and community sciences. Then she tried out. for a coveted spot on the university's cheerleading squad.

And if you don't know how competitive this is, one simple Google search is all it takes. College cheerleading is huge. It takes a lot of talent and athleticism, which were both things that Slea had. But she didn't just want to be a UF cheerleader. She didn't want to just be rallying around football players. She wanted to be a competitive cheerleader.

If you don't know the difference, think of the show Cheer. I think it was on Netflix. These teams compete against other top Division I cheerleading programs across the nation at the NCAA Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida. It's a pretty big deal. And these cheerleading teams are comprised of co-eds with elite stunting and tumbling abilities. There's a number of skills that someone should have when they're even considering trying out

for something like the University of Florida Gators competitive cheer team. I'm not going to name them all, but you have to know what these moves are to begin with and then how to do them successfully. That's a lot. And you have to know how talented Celia was to link. and a spot on this team as a cheerleader. It was her smile that immediately made an impression on the coaches and the judges. In addition to her skills, she was a great flyer,

and she ended up as one of the squad's limited number of flyers. This is the one that gets thrown up in the air, doing all the tricks, and who has to be caught by her fellow teammates. Her teammates would actually fight over who would be the one to catch her as she fell from the air. She loved cheerleading, and she loved being a part of a team.

And when I was looking at pictures, I couldn't help a note how toned and athletic she was. She was dedicated and it showed it's a tough sport. There are whole YouTube channels and YouTube videos with tips and tricks and the entire experience of becoming a competitive cheerleader. Everything from looking the part and being cheer-ready

to how hard it is juggling competitive cheer and college. Not to mention having a social life at the same time. They have practices three or four times a week and they have around four performances every year and when they're practicing, they're doing conditioning, they're doing tumbling, as well as preparing for all kinds of events and appearances. So it takes a lot of time and effort. Celia's weeks were very busy with practices and working out. It's a lot, especially with an already full schedule of classes and wanting to hang out with friends.

Not only that, dance, as I mentioned, was a huge part of Celia's life. So on top of school interleading, she's also in a competitive dance team called Urban. essence dance team. They've appeared on BET and MTV, and she became the secretary of the group. It's where she met girls, who would ultimately become some of her closest friends. For example, the president of the group, Ternisha Gaines, loved Celia's feisty nature and her leadership ability. Something people noticed first about Celia was how tiny she was. She was barely five feet tall, but she had a very big personality. She joined the dance group with her longtime friend to Kaya Natil, who everyone called Kaya. She knew Sali

Celia really well and she appreciated how bold she was. She said she was the type of person who would honestly and humbly tell you when she was upset with you. She wore her heart on her sleeve. It's a good quality to have in a friend. She wouldn't let anyone walk all over her despite her size. Celia loved dancing so much. She would dance even when there wasn't music playing because she could probably hear it in her head.

She moved to her own beat and that went for how she lived her life as well. There was one time when her and her friends they took a trip to Panama City Beach. for spring break and when they got to the sand there she was without any music on just dancing away. Friends who were on this trip like Karen Richards who was also on her cheerleading squad and some of her teammates that were responsible for catching Celia during her flying stuns said that they always knew Celia to be the type of person who lived in the moment. But as much as Celia had a fun side, she was equally as serious, which made her a great athlete. She performed even when she was injured.

Despite her teammates telling her, you know what, you should take it easy, Celia would push herself and she would continue to work through it. Karen appreciated her willingness to work hard for their team, and it was great to know that you had someone who was willing to do their best and work their hardest for a shared goal. The Gainesville community itself is very tight, especially if you are a local. When college students go out, they all hang out at popular spots,

and everyone gets to know each other. know each other. Celia and many of the girls she danced with and cheered with, they were well known. They were kind of like local celebrities. And that was part of the culture going out, clubbing, partying. We know the trail when we're in college. But having protective immigrant parents, that made it hard for Celia to be as independent as many of her friends, especially since she was still living at home when she started school at UF. However, she was an adult. And finally, she made the decision to move out on her own into her own apartment. Despite her parents not liking this idea, she explained that it had to do with all the activities she was doing.

It was too much. She wanted to live closer to campus, but UF was only a 10-minute drive away from her parents' house. The truth was, Celia, wanted to get out from underneath her parents' watchful eye. Her sister, Sean, felt the same way when she moved out on her own. Of course, they loved their parents, but they didn't like the philosophy they had about boys. Their parents said, boys can wait. Relationships can come later in life and education came first. Well, Celia, like many girls her age, wanted to have freedom and have fun.

Wanted to have her own life aside from her parents to grow into her own person. So she moved out into an off-campus apartment called the District Department complex. It was only a six-minute drive to campus. It's now called Pavilion on 62, but it still looks exactly the same. Very student-focused with things like a big, real sand volleyball court outside, hammocks to lay on, they have a gym, basketball court that was decorated with gators colors, really nice pool area. There was also a really great common area with a pool table, and they also had a dog park. And Celia wanted an apartment that accepted dogs because she got her own dog.

She named him Vegas, and she absolutely adored him. She treated him like he was her child. Celia was thriving. She had a group of close friends. She was doing well in school. She had a new place to live, a fur baby to keep her company and a loving family. She spent a lot of time with her cousins as well. She comes from a large West African family and she had many ties with other cousins of hers who also lived in Gainesville and were close to her age. She and her cousin Danielle Ogiman were very close. They bonded over their love for dance and they both participated in the University of Florida's African Student Union's dance squad. This was on top of all of her other responsibilities. Her dance team, her cheerleading responsibilities, but it was very important to her.

Yuchana Akishu was the choreographer of the squad and when organized their practices at the Rights Union Amplitheater. Celia was just as dedicated to dancing for the African Student Union as she was about her other group activities. And since Celia was so tiny, she was used to be the one that they would throw into the air anytime they needed someone to do a more complicated move. The African Student Union was founded to support and unite African students and to promote awareness of African issues and culture to all students and the Gainesville community. This organization was formed to represent the diverse African continent at the University of Florida. Whether you were from North, South, East, or West Africa, you were welcome to be a part of the

African Student Union. The dance troupe put on performances and they would showcase traditional African dances complete with all the native costumes. It was a great way to bond with other African students and also her cousin Danielle. They had so, many fond memories of dancing together. And you can imagine how much time Celia put into all of this. When she wasn't dancing and cheering or in class, Celia loved to spend time with her childhood friend Indyhorn. She had known Celia since they were 12 years old. And now that Celia had her own apartment, Indy would bring her dog Bobby over to play with Vegas and the girls would stay up watching movies, that they would rent from Red Box. You guys remember Red Box? I don't even know if that's still a thing,

But you could go to these little kiosks and you could get DVDs, and they would rent a bunch of them. But as busy as Celia was, she wouldn't have time to take these DVDs back, so they would be lying all over her apartment and constantly racking up a large late fees. But it was worth every moment. Indy loved spending time over at Celia's. She had a number of animals, not just her dog Vegas, but a fish, mice, and a snake. And Indy referred to it as Celia's own mini zoo. They were best friends. They would confide in one another

and indeed loved how welcoming Celia was. She thought that she was a joy to be around and she made others feel comfortable in her presence. They had been through a lot together. And even as busy as Celia was, she still found time to spend with friends. Her apartment was only about a 20-minute drive

from her parents so she visited on a regular basis, especially in time she needed something like many college students do or to celebrate holidays or other important events with her family. But it wasn't just her family and friends. She devoted her time too.

Her apartment was also close to the village, which is a local assisted senior living residence where Celia actually volunteered on the weekends and any time she had free time. She was practicing her bedside manner for the future because by 2010, Celia was in her senior year of UF. She was planning to go into graduate school for nursing, and she and her other close cousin, Ellum, were so excited.

They were planning to go to graduate school together, so they would spend so many hours. many hours talking about nursing. Once out on her own around 2008, Celia was able to go out more. She didn't have to worry about going home at a certain time, and the Gainesville North Florida club scene, it was huge for young adults. Like many other big cities, especially ones that revolve around universities. There's a lot going on. Going out and enjoying the nightlife with friends was a part of Celia's normal routine. And of course, she would meet a lot of people, including guys, and it wasn't long before she had a boyfriend. You know what I'm going to say,

next. Her parents were not thrilled. This wasn't the only guy Sali had hung out with and gone close to, but this one became an official boyfriend exclusively for Slea. His name was Antonio Drayden. And in Salia's mind, he was a catch. The first thing that attracted her was, of course, his looks and his charisma. They met at a club and they hung out and talked and eventually, Celia found Antonio or Tony, as most people called him that were close to him, on MySpace, and they began messaging until finally they met up in person and just hit him. it off. It made sense. Tony was the life of the party. His energy matched Silias. He was popular. He was definitely a ladies man. Ladies loved him. And the thing about Tony was that he had a steady

job. He went to church. He had his own apartment, his own car. He dressed well. But he had a bad boy side. And I hate to put it this way. But the first thing that came to mind is when guys say she's a woman in the streets, but a freak in the sheets. It's not exactly a great analogy here. but I think you understand. He knows how to be serious when he needs to, but he had a really funny, sexy, fun side to him and many girls like that. And he stood out with his long hair

and his tattoos and his jewelry, a big, bright smile, great sense of humor. And when you're in your 20s, those things are important. I mean, I'm just basically describing my own boyfriend and I'm way past 20, so those things are still important. There's still some of the qualities that we see in others because it's their style. It's what makes some of the way.

us who we are. This was one of Celia's first more serious relationships. But everything she liked about Tony were all the things her parents were not impressed with. He was also older than her. Even though it wasn't much, I think she was about 19, he was 22, but it might have been the neck tattoos or the bad boy look. Parents are usually not fans of that,

and you already know how protective Celia's parents were. It wasn't just Tony. It could have been any guy. They just had a strong opinion about relationships while their daughter was paying for a quality education. She already had to split her time between all of her extracurricular activities. They just didn't think he should be another one of them. So they let it be known that they were not fond of her new beau. Some of Celia's good friends also had their opinions.

Don't we all care about our friends and who they're dating? They didn't know what she saw on Tony, mostly because they would hear or maybe even see him doing things that didn't seem faithful. Celia considered the relationship committed, exclusive, like it was only the two of them, and she held to her promise that Tony was her boyfriend. There was no one else for Celia. That was it. But that's not what friends saw when they went out to clubs and witnessed Tony talking other women

and rumors that he was doing even more than that. Everyone that knew Celia knew that she was worth the type of love that she gave to others. She was giving Tony her all, and yet it was like trying to tame a wild horse. I grew up hearing this theme play out in songs all the time, where there's a guy that you want, but you know he's probably not good for you. But then that just makes you want him even more. Does anyone remember no doubt the song Bathwater,

where Gwen Stefani sang about a man that all the ladies wanted, and he could choose any of them. And she knew that she was probably setting herself up for a heartbreak. And in the song, she asked why we choose the boys that are naughty. Plus, she knows she can't tame him, but she just keeps trying and hopes that she'll be his only girl. But she knows that she's just another one on his list. Yet she says she just can't help it. He's her kind of man.

And I think many of us can relate to that. It's a great song, but it's also good because it begs the age-old question, why do all the good girls always want the bad boys? Gwen actually asked that in this song. I promise this is not a tangent. It's very relevant to this aspect of who Celia was. She was the quintessential good girl. She came from a large, loving family.

She had parents that cared about her, that put strict rules in place to hopefully set her on the right path, or the best path in their eyes. She was a good student, a good athlete. She had many opportunities at her fingertips. You would think her perfect match would be someone just like her. But instead, it seems like she was attracted to her opposite. Why?

Parents wonder, friends wonder, sometimes we even ask her ourselves so I googled it because I wanted a psychological reason why women find the bad boys so attractive even though we know their trouble. One article I found about how women will get involved with a guy that all their friends and family will warn them about, show them all the red flags, and they still find him appealing. Well, the bad boy is defined by not only evolutionary biologists, I'm not kidding, and psychologists, as men who are masculine, rebellious, bold, intend to exude exaggerated sexuality. And they're usually emotionally unavailable. It goes on to explain that if a girl's inner life is unexpressed, meaning she has to keep a lot in, she's closeted, not being herself,

she may be drawn to a more rebellious man because through him, she's vicariously expressing her inner rebel, the things that she wishes she could possess. She can when she has him, because the bad boy is now an extension of her. So now she gets to have that as part of her identity. A lot of times good girls will admire the freedom that a bad boy seems to have. He can do as he pleases. He answers to no one. And data shows that women who are sheltered are more drawn to men who are adventurous. And it makes sense.

I think about pop culture and I think about stranger things. When the good girl like Nancy falls for the Steve Harrington or going back even further, Sidney Prescott and Scream falling for bad boy Billy Loomis, who was clearly trying to take her virginity, but acting like he was in love with her. I'm sure almost all of you have seen that movie and know that relationship did not end well. But bad boys, they're mysterious. They may be different and it makes them kind of forbidden, especially if your parents don't approve. We want what we can have, right? But as exciting as this

relationship initially was for Celia, over time, she started to realize she also felt hurt. She and Antonio would not see I die on certain things and she couldn't trust him. So eventually, after about a year and a half of dating, Celia decided to break it off. By June 2010, she told her friend Kaya that she felt like she wasn't acting like herself anymore, that she was surprised at the things she was doing, saying, and thinking. She wanted to remain friends with Antonio and she did, but they weren't just friends because they would hook up here and there. That's just how these relationships go sometimes. But for the most part, Celia had finally realized it wasn't going to work out. It's tough because had Antonio been all

been all the things that she wished for, plus the parts of him that she actually did like and that did exist, she would have loved to make it work. But they were arguing more and more, mostly over loyalty and trust. Antonio still had a lot more freedom than Celia since she was studying, cheering, and in college. So keeping tabs on him was probably exhausting. He was a 22-year-old guy who just wasn't ready to settle down. Her parents were happy. Her friends thought this was the best for them as well. And eventually that same year, Celia met another guy, 21-year-old Mike Carter. They were the same age and they had a lot in common. And Mike just made a better match.

They end up clicking really well and they started dating. Celia's friends were happy for her. It's not easy to move on, but Celia was determined to finish her senior year at UF and start to focus on her career. It's December of that year, 2010. Summer came and went, so did fall. And now winter break is next. The holidays are right around the corner. Celia and her family are preparing for their next celebration.

And after Christmas, Celia still had a couple weeks before classes began. It's December 29th. She reaches out to her friend Indy, a good friend from back home, that she's always hanging out with during the holidays, and asked her if she wanted to go out later that night. Maybe for some drinks and dancing. And Indy was like, yeah, just come through whenever. So Celia says, okay, I'll come by later.

Celia and Mike had been hanging out at her apartment that day, and he spent the night the night before, and now Celia had to run some errands. So they parted ways for the time being. She needed to stop by her parents' house that evening, and then she planned to go out with Indy. Then she was going to go back home and hang out with her boyfriend Mike at her place.

However, Celia never showed up at Indies. And you know what happens, right? It's the holidays, everybody's busy. So at first, Indy didn't think that much of it. Was it a little odd that Celia didn't let her know she wasn't going to hang out? Yes. But they had known each other since they were little, so she knew that by the next day, she would just say what happened and Celia would explain.

But when she texted her the next day, like, what happened you last night? Indy never got a response. She did think that was a little odd. I just wasn't really like Celia to ignore a good friend, but still she was going to let it slide. Two days later, on New Year's Eve, Indie gets a call from Celia's mom. Now that was out of the ordinary. Celia's mom asked Indy if she'd heard or seen from Celia and she tells her no. She explains they had plans. Celia never came on Wednesday, December 29th. She never showed up. Well, Celia's mom tells Indy that they haven't heard from her either.

The last time they saw her was that same evening. It was Wednesday around 4 p.m. She dropped by, she hung out, she grabbed an insurance card she was looking for, and she left around 6. Indy wasn't worried. She said that sometimes Celia did this. She was so busy with classes and her boyfriend or whatever she had going on, she just didn't call back. But she will eventually. As close as India and Celia were, Indy knew that sometimes Celia needed time alone. And she would respond when she was ready.

They also have this kind of, I'd call it a philosophy on keeping in touch with each other, basically. They always let each other know if they're going anywhere like different, like if there's any special event, life events, personal things, then maybe Celia wouldn't normally share. She would share with Indie. Indy. That was their special bond. You know, you may not want your business out there, but it's important to at least let one person know. And that person for Celia was Indy. And since Celia had not mentioned anything, Indy just thought she was probably busy and would get back in touch with everyone soon. After all, it's New Year's Eve. Celia probably had plans. Well, Celia's family felt differently. They kept in touch on a regular basis, even just to check in, and Celia had never been this silent,

this long, especially for no reason. They had just seen her. So Sean, her sister, kept calling and texting, but she wasn't getting an answer. So she went to Celia's Facebook. When she realized that there wasn't any activity

for nearly three days, that was it. It was the night of the 31st, New Year's Eve, and Sean just had this terrible feeling inside. As sisters, she and Celia were very close. They could feel if the other wasn't happy or something had happened. And Sean had this gut feeling like something horrible was going on. Whenever something wasn't right,

Celia and Sean knew. They just did. And Sean's feeling was stronger than it had ever been before. The next day, Celia's family contacted the Gainesville Police Department. Lieutenant Jarrett Weinlan helped them file a missing person's report. He asked them when was the last time they saw or spoke to Celia, and they relayed to him. It was the evening of December 29th.

came by around four, she was picking something up, and then she left around 6 p.m. and she was wearing Black University of Florida sweatpants. Her dad was the last one to see her, and she always kept in touch and would let her family know what was going on. She said she was going to be going back to her apartment. So the lieutenant is given the address to Celia's residence over at the district complex to take a look

and see if she did go back there. It's 1 p.m. that afternoon, and police make it over to Celia's apartment where she lives by herself, to do a welfare check. The first thing that they were checking for was her silver Nissan Centra. And they realize it's not in the usual spot and they don't see it in the vicinity near her building.

So they add that to the missing person's report and then they get a key from the landlord. They didn't need a search warrant or anything at this point because she had been missing for three days. So they were conducting a welfare check. They go inside and they notice her apartment is very organized, it's clean, it's well kept, and they're searching room by room looking for Celia,

or anything out of the ordinary, and nothing looks amiss. Everything looked normal. For example, her closet. Nothing seemed to be taken out. It wasn't like things were ripped off the shelves or ripped off hangers like she was leaving really suddenly. To the contrary, she even had a cheerleading uniform that was set out on a hanger, the top and bottom,

just neatly set there ready to go to be put on. These pictures always get to me. It makes me realize how similar we all are. On her shelves, you can see her perfume bottles. Johnson's lotion, even ear drops for her dog's ears, as well as books, actual light bulbs, I mean, just miscellaneous items that we all have. And nothing was disturbed. Here's her desk and her workspace with her computer. She had even painted her walls of bright green and a bright blue, which was definitely her personality. Her laptop case is there. She's got pictures of friends and

family, a printer, things that a college student would have in their room. There was also a collage on a cork board hanging on her bedroom wall with lots of pictures of her, her friends, her dog Vegas, but no Celia in her apartment. No signs that anything was wrong until they got to her bathroom. Upon opening the door, they get their first clue that something isn't right. Inside, they found Little Vegas. He was shaking, he was scared, he was crawled in a little ball, and from the looks of it, it looked like he'd been in there for days.

Now, when Indy heard that Vegas was locked up in a bathroom like this, this is when she knew, this was more serious. Indy knew how much Celia loved her dog. There was no way she was going to leave him like that, ever. Never. Something was wrong. Police have enough information to double down on their efforts to locate Celia. They put out an ABB for her car and the missing person's report is now in effect. All they can do is wait until another lead comes in and it wasn't long before a potential one does. Police are always trying to connect the dots. When a new case comes in and there are open cases in the area, they try to see if any of those open cases can be closed by comparing their facts. They either have to make the connection or roll them out. And many times it comes down

to the description of the missing person and matching it to any known victims who have been found, dead or alive. And as they're going through these cases one by one, matching details that could have similarities, one stands out. Back on December 30th, two days earlier in the early morning hours around 3 o'clock in the morning. The Alachia County Sheriff's Office gets a 911 call. A mother and daughter are driving on County Road 225 in Gainesville, about a half a mile north of the Gainesville Raceway. It's a dark, isolated stretch of road. There's nothing but trees on both sides, so it's easy to see something big and bright in the distance and as they get closer. It looked like a burning car on the side of the road. So they call police. I did my best to measure on

on Google Maps and this is my approximate location that I made where the 911 call was coming in. You can see there's just road and trees forever. The 911 callers said that they were coming around a bend and they saw flames on the side of the road and the only place I saw a bend or a turn off in the distance is right here. This matches up to how far away they were from the raceway so I assume they turned left and they saw fire on the west side of the road to the left of them. I can never be sure, but this is my best educated approximation of where the cops went. When they get there, the fire is still burning, but at this point it looks less like a

car is on fire and more like a brush fire, which is very common out here. So they're starting to do the routine extinguishing. It's still dark, there's a lot of smoke, the fire department is on site, they're putting out this fire. There are no street lights in this area, it's not residential nature, so there's no houses nearby or anything. The closest business is that racetrack. It's very desolate.

It's obvious once the fire is out that there was a body lying there. It was about 20 feet away from the roadway. The fire appeared to be an attempt to destroy the body or conceal evidence. And now we've had two previous cases that have done back-to-back that were not planned. I had no idea they were all going to include this aspect. A fire to conceal a crime. However, this is apparently a very common way that criminals try to get rid of everything. As we have seen in my last video concerning Andrea Delvesco, the room, I'll show you it here.

If you haven't seen that video, I won't spoil it. But we know by looking at scenes like this, the fires destroy everything in their paths. And it's true. They can and usually do make identification of bodies very difficult, if not impossible. In this case, the crime scene technician's main job that night was to identify who this person was. They could not tell if it was a male or female. The fire seemed to accomplish the goal of hiding this person's identity. So they do the next best thing.

They begin to look around the scene for any identifying evidence that may have been left behind. Anything could be important. So they begin collecting every single piece of debris, big, small, in between anything and everything. Trash, items along the roadway, the vicinity of the body. They look and they found this, which looked like maybe a stack of business cards or a portion of a wallet. I couldn't really make it out, and I can't see what this top card says, but it does look like a card. And this right here in the next picture appears to be that same item or items, and the CSI team is flipping through. This is definitely a business card.

So that's important because maybe a family member would recognize this, or maybe they'll call the business and connect this person to places that they normally purchase things from. This one right here was for handcrafted furniture and cabin tree. As the sun starts to come up, it was easier for them to find items than the person. brush and on the side of the road. They began marking them with yellow numbered placards like this one. Everything was important no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. They know that someone had to have driven here and taken this person out of their vehicle so things could have fallen from the perpetrator's vehicle or from the perpetrator themselves. They collect this material which looked like it could be clothing or a blanket of some kind that was actually melted onto the body.

They also collected this melted cell phone case. That's pretty significant. Even something like this. A napkin was collected. They also found a plastic bag, along with an empty pack of cigarettes, and a lot of little small items were all sent back to the lab for DNA testing.

Another telltale sign that this fire was set intentionally was the distinct smell of gasoline that was coming from this scene.