Up and Vanished - Molly Miller & Colt Haynes

Episode Date: March 12, 2020

The UAV team goes to Love County, Oklahoma for the disappearance of Molly Miller and Colt Haynes. This case is the fourth case covered in the UAV TV Series on Oxygen. Catch up on the Oxygen app now. http://bit.ly/OXYGENappstore   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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questions or concerns about your gambling or someone else close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. Hey guys, today we're going to explore the Molly Miller and Colt Haynes case from Love County, Oklahoma. This case was covered in the fourth episode of the Up and Vanish TV series. You can stream the series now, anytime, on the Oxygen app. Here's an overview.

We didn't start this, but we will finish it. We're not going to let go until Malene calls her home. One night in Love County, Oklahoma, in 2013. Our town is really small. It's Wilson. Everybody knows everybody. There's one degree of separation. A car spun out in front of a cop vehicle, instigating a high-speed chase. It all started with a late-night police chase in Wilson The car held three young people people she thought were her friends

driver James con nip and two passengers Colt Haynes and Molly Miller Molly was a very rambunctious girl who enjoyed life wild outgoing fun down-to-earth and just an amazing person I enjoyed life. Wild, outgoing, fun, down to earth, and just an amazing person. During the pursuit, they peeled into the woods to take cover,

but only one of them emerged. Police say James Connip was driving a car that spun out in front of an officer, led authorities on a chase, where the pursuit was called off by the sheriff. I'm going to get out of the car here and talk to him. I think that it seems very fishy how it was dealt with. Some of these witnesses are scared of being threatened with their life.

And until those people come forward, this case is likely to go unsolved for a while. Three went in and one came out. What really happened that night? This case is really frustrating. A moment of reckless adrenaline leading a car of young people into the woods. Then there's a string of phone calls all night, made by both Molly and Colt. Collectively, it seems they called over 30 people that night. Then around 10 a.m. the next morning, all the calls abruptly stopped. Here's PI Philip Klein to discuss both the calls and the timeline.

So is this a missing persons case or a homicide case? To me, it's a homicide case. Philip Klein began his investigation by collecting the cell phone records of Molly and Colt. His team then interviewed over 30 people who spoke to both Molly and Colt the night of the high-speed chase. From that information, they built a timeline of what they believe happened after the chase. They're all three in the vehicle.

They're running from the cops. At some point, we believe that Molly and Colt fled the vehicle, but Conn kept going. And so at this point, Molly and Colt are technically still running from the cops, right? Right. They ran into a ravine, and we believe Molly and Colt began to hide.

Conn drove through another fence and eventually the car died. We believe Conn got out of the car and took off and ran home. According to Phil's investigation, Colt called multiple friends saying he was stuck in a ravine. He was hurt and needed help.

According to witness statements to us, Colt climbed up in a tree to see where he was. At some point, he fell out of the tree and broke his leg. We believe Molly was right there with him. But at some point, Molly starts calling the cops. On July 8, 2013, at 12.57 a.m., Molly Miller makes her first call to 911. The towers puts Molly Miller right there on that hill. 911 dispatch pinged Molly's cell phone

on the property adjacent to the Knipp family compound, less than 100 yards from where Conn Knipp's Honda Accord was found. In addition to 911, Molly called over a dozen people between midnight July 8, 2013 and 10 a.m. the next morning. She was looking for help in a ride home. There's a lot of strange phone calls in this case. Here's a clip of an accidental phone call that was made to 911 after Molly and Colt disappeared. The sound is pretty muffled, like it was dialed from someone's pocket. But in the call, it sounds like someone's mentioning Molly Miller's name,

talking about someone getting shot in the mouth, and more suspicious activity. Colby Barrick is Connip's uncle. In 2018, Colby was arrested on unrelated gun charges and is serving 48 months in federal prison. Eight months after Molly and Colt went missing, Colby Baric accidentally called 911 and from the sounds of it, he was describing how Molly and Colt were allegedly murdered. 2014-12-28-34 Hello? The 911 operator immediately called Sheriff Russell. I was just on 911 listening to a 911 phone call. I mean, they were talking about Molly and Colt and, I mean, the girl that was killed and dope and stuff like that.

Like, they didn't know that they were on 911. And it comes from a pond just north of Long Hollow Road on Oswald. And your phone pinged January and March, you like? Yeah. Okay. All right. Hey, listen. Yeah.

I want the tape from Oswald. I'd like that today. The mysterious phone call was made from Moxley Lake, a location that Molly's family believes is the main site that needs to be searched. Paula believes that Moxley is a possible location for their bodies. The 911 operator, she never said anything about it being Moxley. But the sheriff, he knew it was at Moxley Lake. Interesting.

Paula Fielder believes that Molly and Colt could be located in Moxley Pond. I asked her to come with me to see it. In addition to the evidence of the 911 call, Colby gave law enforcement a tip in 2018 while in prison for a weapons charge that Molly and Colt's bodies are located in Moxley Pond. The pond has never been searched by authorities. So in your mind, is this pond the most significant place to look for her?

Right now it is, yes, until it can be searched and taken off the list. It's the main tip right now that we have. How deep is that thing? They say it's probably about 20 feet deep. Really? Mm-hmm. This water's coming from the North Lake. It's pretty deep. It continuously has water in it.

And the other side of this wall of bamboo. Yeah. We had no idea this existed. Can continuously has water in it. And the other side of this wall of bamboo. Yeah. We had no idea this existed. Can't see anything. No. This area has to be checked. The lake has to be checked. Just to at least eliminate it from any possibility of her being here.

So this is the place where Colby makes that strange 911 call where he mentions Molly Miller by name. Correct. And my first thought is maybe it's just some guys goofing around, firing off some rounds, having some drinks or something out here in the woods, goofing off. But then the fact that he mentions the same location to law enforcement as a possible place where their bodies are. Correct. That's strange.

Yeah, and that was four years after the 911 call that he mentioned this to law enforcement. What were they doing out here? That's the main question. We don't know what they were doing out here, but the things that are on the tape makes us wonder if they had moved the bodies possibly off the NEP property and move them to this location. So it needs to be checked. Get ready for Las Vegas-style action at BetMGM, the king of online casinos. Enjoy casino games at your fingertips with the same Vegas strip excitement MGM is famous for. When you play classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette with our ever-growing library of digital slot games, a large selection of online table games, We'll see you next time. Remind you to play responsibly. BetMGM.com for T's and C's. 19 plus to wager. O-N only. Please play responsibly.

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probably the biggest advocate for getting this case solved. Paula, nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for coming here. Well, thank you for having me. What is your relationship to Molly? I'm Molly's cousin. Molly just was a good-hearted little girl who would stand up for the underdog. You know, she was very outspoken, and she was just a good kid. She got wrapped up in drugs, you know, and started hanging around some bad people, which led to where we are today, you know? Her missing, presumed to be deceased, and so she just got into a really bad situation. Tell me about Colt Haynes.

Who is this person and how does Molly know him? I don't know much about Colt. From my understanding, she had just recently met him. He was staying at the house where Connip had picked them up from, and Molly went with them. Was Molly friends with Colt? She had become friends with Colt, yes. From my understanding, he was older than her.

I believe he was 22 when they went missing and she was 17 and I think she was infatuated, probably more than likely, with him. According to one of her friends, you know, she just kind of liked him. I don't know if the feeling was mutual, you know, with Colt or not, but I don't think she knew him well. Like I said, I only think they knew each other about a week from what I've been told. Oh, really? Can you walk me through the moment you found out she was missing? Well, it was on Facebook. My sister called me and told me that had I seen the post about Molly missing? And I said, no. I called Molly's mother and I asked her what was going on. She told me about the chase and they couldn't get a hold of Molly.

and they couldn't get a hold of Molly. So they reported her initially as a runaway with the local police department. That was on the 8th after the police chase. They reported her as a runaway. She didn't meet the criteria for an Amber Alert once they decided that she was not a runaway. Melissa, Molly's mother, called me on, I believe, the 18th of July and said, I need you here. She was frantic on the phone, and she was like, I need you here. They've killed my baby. I asked her what she meant, and she says, they killed her.

They killed her? That's what she was saying on the phone. She was very frantic. And I said, how do you know, and she says they killed her. They killed her? That's what she was saying on the phone. She was very frantic. And I said, how do you know this, Melissa? She said, I just know. How soon after was this? This was on the 18th of July. Okay.

The following day, my sister and I loaded at, from everything that we had been told up to this point, Molly had been out at Oswalt Road. We're not familiar with the area, so Oswalt and Long Hollow is where we were told. My sister and I drove down here from Shawnee. We went straight to Oswalt Road without telling any of the family. We went to Long Hollow, drove up and down Long Hollow Road, and then we parked on Oswalt, and we started walking. We walked for miles and miles and miles, looking in ditches, looking under the bridges.

Molly's stepdad showed up out there. He called and asked where we were, if I was coming down. I said, well, I'm already here. And he came and showed up and he helped us search. That night of the car chase, did Molly call anybody? Not during the car chase. How about after? Yes.

There was multiple calls on her phone. And 33 incoming and outgoing phone calls were to one number, a boy by the name of DJ Epley. And from my understanding, that was not Molly talking to DJ. It was Colt Haynes using Molly's phone to talk to DJ. Why? Asking him to help try to find them. And DJ had gone to a location looking for them, but he was in the wrong location. I think Colt must have told him that we're near Long Hollow Road.

must have told him that we're near Long Hollow Road. DJ Epley went to Bear Hollow Road, which was quite a ways, I would say probably 10 miles or more from where Molly and Colt actually were missing. There was also a phone call at 6 30-ish, and she had actually spoke to somebody and asked him for a ride, and he was unable to come and get her. And then at 9.33 a.m. on the morning of the 8th, she made a phone call to a Brandon Smith who was at work and unable to leave work and come and get her. At 9.39, six minutes later, Molly's phone went dead and was never used again. Colt Haynes' phone, he made multiple calls from his phone that night and into the morning hours.

His phone went dead approximately 20 minutes after Molly's did. Well, about 15 minutes after Molly's phone went dead, Colt Haynes' phone went dead. Four people that Colt was on the phone with, well, there was four people out looking for Colt and Molly, but he was on the phone with one of them in particular. They were semi in the right vicinity, but I think they were a little too far down on Pike Road from where Molly and Colt were. So they're searching for them for a couple of hours and they went to Con's house shortly after and asked Con where they were. And they had Colt on the phone with them and he told them he didn't know where they were.

They're just messing with you. Molly did call 911 at 1257 a.m. the morning of the 8th and she she hung the phone up it was only five seconds 9-1-1 operator called the number back with no response and nobody has ever checked that in the state of Oklahoma there's domestic abuse law if a 9-1-1 call comes in and it's a hang-up call and they call back and there's no answer you have to respond and to make sure nobody's being hurt. But nobody ever responded. So the car chase happens.

Colt and Molly leave the car. Are they together during this time period? Do they break off? What do we think happened from that point? I believe Molly and Colt were together. I don't think Molly ever left Colt's side. He hurt himself. From my understanding, he had climbed a tree. We don't know if he climbed that tree to get a bearing of where they may be or if he climbed the tree to get cell phone signal or exactly what, but he fell from the tree and broke his ankle. He had told somebody on the phone his ankle was broke. I don't believe Molly ever left him. And the people that were, the four people that were out searching for them said that, one of them I believe said that

he could hear Molly in the background talking on the phone as well. So is anyone else with Colt and Molly? Where's James Kahn? After the police chase and after he took them on this route that he took them, he abandoned them out there in the woods. But this was Kahn's MO. I mean, this is something that he did frequently. You know, he was notorious for stealing cars, taking police on high speed chases and going in this direction that he took them that night. The landowners out there were constantly fixing fences where Connip had run through their fence. So they were in a Honda Accord. The terrain was incredible out there. I still

wonder what it must have been like in that car out there bouncing around, because I've been through it in my truck, and, you know, it was very difficult for me to maneuver getting through there in a truck, much less a Honda Accord. I think they went through a creek bed in that car, and when they came up on the other side, I believe that the car disabled at that point. There was a lot of parts to the car out there. And Molly and Colt got out of the car at that point. Con took off back to the Nip property. So we know he was back at the Nip property the following morning, but Molly and Colt were nowhere. After Molly went missing, did you go to the police?

Molly's mom and stepdad did. Okay. What happened? I mean, they followed up on some leads, you know, and checked on some things, but I don't believe that it was thorough. Molly's mother called the Love County Sheriff's Department on the 9th, requesting that they take a missing person report. on the 9th, requesting that they take a missing person report. The dispatcher who answered that call, I have spoke to her, and Joe Russell, who was the sheriff at the time, Kahn's cousin, Joe Russell, he was leaving the building when the call came in, and she took the phone out to him and said, Molly Miller's mother's on the phone and wants to file a missing person

report. And he said, this is not my problem. She needs to talk to Wilson PD or Carter County. Why? He would not take the call. Well, he... He's a sheriff. It didn't have to be his problem. He had gotten away with it for 16 years, you know, running this county the way he wanted to. His family was allowed to do whatever they wanted to with no repercussions ever.

And, I mean, it's very evident by the fact that these people were rarely arrested, never went to prison until Molly came up missing, and we pushed it to the fact that, you know, his, Con's uncle, Kobe Baric, who we believe is deeply involved, and Con both have been in prison. He protected his family. They were able to run amok and do as they pleased for so long that it was just, it was just second nature to them. Until I got involved in this, you know,

I didn't know, I didn't realize, I guess I was naive to the fact that this kind of stuff really happened. The dispatcher who took the call, she did go ahead and take down the information from Molly's mother, and she made up flyers and posted them in the sheriff's department. Which, her outspokenness regarding Molly and Colt's disappearance is probably what ended up getting her fired. She was fired? Yeah. When? Oh, gosh. Probably within a month, two months after Molly's disappearance, she was let go.

In your mind, who's the number one suspect here? Connip. So who is this James Conn Nip guy? He's a vagrant. You know he is just someone who was raised in the backwoods of Love County who was allowed to just run amok and do as he pleased. He didn't care who he hurt in the process not not even his family, you know. I don't have any nice words for him, although I do have a bit of sympathy for him.

You know, when you're raised, and this is all you know, you have a choice to make a change, but sometimes people just don't realize that. And I spoke to Con on September 1st, 2013. I went to his house and spoke to him there. And I did see remorse in his eyes. Really? And I think that's what has given me that compassion because it just made me wonder what he knows, what he really wants to tell, but he's not allowed to. Chanty was going to take me on a trip to the place he's from.

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Who was the closest to each other? That's a good question. So it sounds like Molly and Khan were friends at some point in time, probably because of proximity of where they grew up. It was interesting to me to hear from Molly's aunt that she thought that Khan and Molly, you know, had a genuine care for each other. Because this whole situation sounds pretty nefarious. Anyway, sounds like Molly and Khan were friends. It sounds like Molly and Colt had only really known each other for a week or maybe a little

bit over that. When I talked to one of Molly's best friends, she said she didn't even know they knew each other. I think that it seems like Molly knew Khan better than she knew Colt. But also, it sounds like Colt also knew Khan better than he knew Molly. Later on, we learned that Colt and Khan kind of had beef and sort of didn't really like each other. Do you think that Molly could have been the reason for that beef or was that at all brought up? Yeah, it definitely was brought up. You actually talked to the ex-girlfriend of both Khan and Colt. Do you want to speak more on that? I spoke to her and she told me that James Khan Nip was abusive. And I think the biggest question for me is, we're kind of all sitting here trying to figure out

who knows who the most. Why were these three people together that night? um i mean i know that some acquaintances hang out sometimes and it's all good but how often you get in a police chase with just an acquaintance what were they doing that night before james connip ran from the cops what was the plan that night because the whole police chase started when he just decided to spin out in front of a cop car and kind of provoke them. Right. But I don't think the plan probably was, hey, let's all get in the car, spin out in front of a cop car and go on a chase. Yeah, something else was obviously going on.

And it seems like if there was some beef between Colt and Khan, even if it was stemmed from maybe, you know, a girlfriend that they both had in the past. And if Khan actually did care for, maybe just in a friendly way, Molly, maybe he, you know, didn't like Colt because of that. So, you know, there's so many relationships here, you kind of never know exactly what went down. But you can tell there could have been some tension for various reasons between those three. Yeah, it definitely does seem like a strange pairing to be in the car that night. It doesn't seem like any of them are particularly really close. It seems like to me whoever the driver is has a little bit more of the power, has a little bit more of the decision of how that night's going to go. Yeah, I think we can all agree also that it's not, this wasn't something

that was pre-planned. Payne, after talking to the PI, Philip Klein, I feel like we sort of got the impression that maybe this was an accident that was covered up. What do you think? It's definitely possible that one or if not both of them got hurt and maybe the car. I mean, it's nighttime. It's extremely dark out there, middle of nowhere in the woods. It's possible that one of them even got hurt out there in the woods. I think that that's the tough part. There's a very clear incident that occurred before their disappearance. The last thing that we know they did was ride in this car in this police chase with con nip. And then they end up they end up out there

in the middle of the woods. And from there, con makes it out. The question is, where did Molly go? And where did Colt go? And, you know, why didn't they all go together? Right. Or did they, and wherever they went, then something happened there? Like, did it actually happen in the woods, or did they all make it to Khan's property, and then something happened there? It seems like Molly was definitely lost out there. She's calling her friends frantically for hours, probably trying to get a ride or have

someone help figure out where she is. I just wonder how they all became so separated. I mean, maybe the car comes to a stop and Khan gets out and just takes off running from the cops still or something. I'm not really sure. And, you know, would they all go their separate ways? I'm not really sure. But it makes you wonder how they all became separated because it seems clear that

it just seems like Molly's by herself at that point. I mean, I guess there's no way of proving that. I think one of the things that Philip Klein mentioned to me was that maybe Colt and Khan got into some sort of fight and Colt was badly hurt and hurt in a way where he was dying or going to die. And if Molly saw that, then maybe she became a part of that as well. Yeah, that was an interesting theory that he brought up. I think what's really intriguing to me is how much time passed.

The calls she started making were around midnight. And the last call she made was sometime after 9 a.m. That's a long time for, you know, them to get in the woods and to be lost in the woods, them to not have anybody come pick them up. There to be like further complication and for her to still be making phone calls. And finally, the line goes dead. Yeah. Nine hours. You guys were in those woods. I mean, what how deep are you in those woods from the road or from his property? I mean, to me, I think it comes down to it's pitch black out there at night. I think it's interesting that in the morning it's she was still making phone calls. According to Katie, you know, Colt hated Khan. I'm sure the feeling was mutual.

So you never know what happens if now you're everything's heightened you're in a police chase adrenaline um you just never know uh mixed drugs into the equation anything could happen out there it's kind of hard to even put it into perspective because literally anything could have happened for with all that anger, drugs, you know, previous relationships that they, you know, shared with this one woman who clearly doesn't like Khan. And you would think that there's some explanation, but in this one, it's really hard to even come up with a theory that makes sense. even come up with a theory that makes sense. Yeah. Sadly, I think drugs makes a lot of sense.

I mean, we haven't been able to think of a good reason that three people that don't really know each other would be in a car, especially when two of those people don't even really like each other. But drugs does kind of give an explanation a little bit for that. Maybe they weren't in their right minds. Maybe they were being promised something. Maybe they were coerced into something. Maybe everyone didn't really know what was going on or didn't really understand what would happen. I mean, maybe they were all totally out of their minds. It makes more sense that there was a little bit less self-control in this situation than you think. Also, I did an interview with Colt's brother that wasn't used in the show, and he kind of spoke to that. He said that in this town, there really isn't anything for young people to do, and that it's really not uncommon for young people to turn to drugs. Now, I'm sure that is a blanket statement and that it's not the truth for everybody.

But he really spoke to that and said it was a big issue in their town. All right, Joe Russell. So we're driving, trying to find this guy. We know what we know where his house is. Circle the block a couple of times and then you see him. I didn't even recognize that that was him. It looked a little different than his picture. What were you thinking when you jumped out that car and realized that it was him?

I mean, the guy was supposed to be inside. He's on house arrest, so we assumed that we'd be going to his house and knocking on his door and maybe having a conversation either through the door or right there at the door. But the guy isn't supposed to leave his house. So we get there. We kind of knew where his house was. We took one loop around the little cul-de-sac there, and sure enough, I kind of looked to my left, and there he is.

It looks just like the guy's picture. He had lost a little weight. He lost some weight, yeah. But his face, I mean, it looked just like him. So I just told everyone, stop the cars. I think that is Joe Russell. And so I hopped out of the car and approached him, and sure enough, it was. Actually, fortunately, he wasn't in his house, right?

He could have just closed the door on you, but at least you were able to catch him out in public, have an exchange with him. I think what he said is telling for who this guy actually really is. Definitely. think what he said is you know it's telling for who this guy actually really is definitely yeah we definitely thought he would be in his house if he was on house arrest but he was out wandering around and that allowed us to speak to him but as you heard he didn't have much to say and doesn't really seem to care much about Molly or Colt or their families. And that's because he said that. He said that he doesn't care. I think of all the places that we went,

this was definitely the most middle of nowhere, except for maybe Crestone. But still, this is kind of a different middle of nowhere. You asked earlier, when we were out in the woods, how far was that from the road? And the thing is, I honestly don't even know, but even if you got to the road, you're still nowhere. And it barely even looks like a road sometimes. It's not like some huge highway. It's a small road that often barely fits two cars, and it just goes forever and it looks the same, it never is any different. So, I mean, unless you're super familiar with the area,

I mean, if you dropped me out there, I would have no idea how to get back. This Saturday at 7, 6 central, the Oxygen Network will play the final episode in the Up and Vantage TV series. We're covering the Jennifer Kessie case from Orlando, Florida. And next week, we'll have a follow-up podcast episode on the same case. Tune in then for more. Thanks, guys, and see you next week. Executive produced by Payne Lindsay and Donald Albright additional production by Mike Rooney

Meredith Stedman and Cooper Skinner voice narration by Rob Ricotta original music by Makeup and Vanity Set a big thank you to the crew and everyone we spoke to during filming check out the show this weekend only on Oxygen. you