A Knightmare: Who Killed Tawnya?

Tawnya Dawn Knight

She was born on February 7th, 1981 to Lori and Frank Knight.

Tawnya was a pretty teenager that boys gravitated towards. She was a tomboy, and someone who always had a smile on her face. Tawnya could probably outrun most of the boys her age. She was very fast. She grew up in Arizona with her mom, but had come to live in Kansas with her dad a few years before her murder. 

On December 7, 1996, Tawnya asked her father if she could have a sleepover at a friend’s house. Tawnya was always on time and when she didn't show up the next day, Frank was concerned. The Spring Hill Police Department considered Tawnya a runaway, and told the family that she would be home in a few days.

On June 7th, 1997. Her body was found in brush in a farmer's field. A farmer was in the middle of tilling his field when he spotted something that he was about to run over. When he took a closer look he realized it was a human skull and a partially decomposed human body. Tawnya's parents were able to identify her through dental records. Detectives had no indication if it was a natural, accidental, or homicidal death. However, the Johnson County Coroner at the time was sure Tawnya was murdered.

No arrests or suspects have been named in the case, so Lori hired a private detective named Jeff McDonald. He thinks that Tawnya was led to believe there was going to be a party.

McDonald said. "I can't find anyone who can say, 'I remember that night. I remember there was a party.'"

McDonald believes it was a lie. A fabrication by two people he called "The Mastermind," a girlfriend of Tawnya's, and "The Heavy," a boy that had a crush on Tawnya. McDonald thinks that the two concocted a murder plot motivated by "The Mastermind" being jealous and "The Heavy" having his advances being shot down by Tawnya.

McDonald learned The Mastermind dropped Tawnya off at a boy's house the night she went missing. McDonald said the boys who were playing video games were surprised to see Tawnya and didn't know why she was there. The Mastermind never came back to pick Tawnya up, one of the boy's mothers offered her a ride home, but she decided to walk back around midnight. The mother watched Tawnya leave and walk down the road.

She is the last person known to see her alive.

To get home, investigators said she had to pass a graveyard just off the main path. McDonald said he believes she was lured into the graveyard by The Mastermind and The Heavy and murdered there. And then her body was dumped just over an adjoining chain link fence from the graveyard, and the spot where her body was found.

The Mastermind and The Heavy were interviewed. The Mastermind was also polygraphed. She thought that the polygraph was fun, and she also failed the test.

Sadly, Tawnya's case remains unsolved. 

"I just got to keep believing that I'm going to get justice because you can't give up hope, and you've got to believe in something," Lori Knight said.

If you believe you have information about the night Tawnya went missing, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department asks that you call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. You can remain anonymous

https://www.facebook.com/justicefortawnya/

#JusticeForTawnya

Will You Help Get Justice For Rachel Galbreath?

Rachel Galbreath

"If tears could build a stairway and memories were a lane, I would walk right up to heaven to bring you home again.
No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye.
My heart still aches in sadness and secret tears still flow.
What it meant to lose you - no one will ever know."

On May 9th, 2014, when 33 year-old Rachel worked at a dog grooming salon. When she didn't show up for work, one of her co-workers and friends stopped by Rachel's apartment in South Holland Illinois. It was about 10:30 a.m., and when her co-worker made her way inside, she found Rachel savagely beaten to death and lying in a pool of her own blood in her living room. She had been hit over 20 times by a blunt force object. When Rachel's family went to identify her, she was unrecognizable.

Investigators theorized that Rachel's murder could have been a crime of passion, rage, from someone she knew and trusted. Someone that attacked her from behind and without warning, since Rachel was trained in martial arts and could have probably defended herself otherwise.

Rachel and a tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend. They lived on and off together for eight years. He allegedly had a jealous and violent streak. One night, Rachel had woken up with him on top of her holding her down. This scared her pretty bad. Rachel had also found out that he was engaged to another woman the whole time they had been living together. A few weeks before her murder, she kicked him out. 

Two months after Rachel was killed, her boyfriend got married. He was the sole beneficiary of Rachel's life insurance policy that was activated 30 days before her death. Oh, and the pay out was between $100,000 and $200,000. The boyfriend has never been named a suspect.

Rachel's family said that they will never give up on getting justice for Rachel.

Justice For Rachel Facebook Page

Do You Know Who This Woman Is That Was Found In Indiana?

Jane Doe Boone County, Indiana

On Sunday, May 3, 1992, on a rural highway in Boone County, Indiana, a local farmer found the naked body of a young female lying face down in a side ditch with water. Investigators said it appeared that she was dragged part of the way down the hill and then just tossed. The women's face was so badly decomposed she was unrecognizable to anyone who might have known her. A cause of death could not be determined either, but investigators think her being strangled was likely.

Investigators surmised that she was 17 - 22 years old and that her hair was born, red, reddish brown or auburn. It was also shorter than collar-length. She was  about 5'6" tall, and 130 pounds. Her tattoos included the following: "MOM" upper right arm; A cross and "LOVE" on the right breast; A cross on webbing between the index finger and thumb on the right hand. She was wearing a light-green tank top and anklet socks.

She might have been born in New Mexico, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York or Pennsylvania. She probably spent the last weeks of her life in western and south western Indiana.

The victim is believed to have died three to five days prior; however, the cause of death could not be determined. Foul play is suspected.

Who Was Really Was William L. Toomey And Why Did He Poison Himself With Cyanide?

On December 4th, 1982, a well-dressed stranger walked into the Sacred Hearts Church in Boise, Idaho.He appeared to be between 35-45 years old and was heavily suntanned, had sun-bleached hair. He apparently wanted to go to the confessional, but it was occupied at the time, so he waited. As parishioners entered for the 6 p.m. mass, one of them found the man lying dead on the floor. The police were called to investigate. None of the church members recognized the man and he carried no identification.

An autopsy determined that he had committed suicide by swallowing cyanide tablets.The man was dressed in Western attire
Belt was brown leather with a large buckle displaying a Mexican 100 peso coin in the center, bolo-type tie made of turquoise and silver. He had a wallet on him,  but all items of personal identification had been removed, worn spots on the wallet indicated that it had previously held several items. There was also $1,900 in cash and a typewritten note which stated:
"In the event of my death, The enclosed currency should give more than adequate compensation for my funeral or disposal (preferred to be cremated) expenditures. What is left over, please take this as a contribution to this church. God will see to your honesty in this.". The note was signed "William L. Toomey" However, no person with that name could be located. Police did discover that a Boston company which manufactured ceremonial garb for priests had the same name. Despite this, they could find no connection between the company and the dead man.

Police traced some of his clothing items back to Phoenix Arizona and took the  man's fingerprints. No matches were found in any databases. The church's priest believes that the man came from a Catholic background and decided to end his life in church so that he could make peace with God and be taken care of by the church members.

The man known as Toomey has never been identified. However, investigators have looked into the possibility that he may be connected to the murders of two priests in the Southwest in the early 1980's. Both priests had connections to Arizona, which was where Toomey bought the belt buckle. Also, the second murder happened just weeks before his suicide. Despite this, there is little evidence connecting him to either case. There has also been some speculation that Toomey was connected to the murder of Father Reynaldo Rivera, who was murdered in New Mexico in 1982

A Cold Case Squad Is Taking Another Look At The Murder Of Lisa Au.

Lisa Au

She was a happy and lively 19 year old and working as a hairdresser in 1982.

On January 20th, 1982, flooding rains were pouring down on Oahu when Lisa finished up work at the Susan Beers Salon in Kailua. She had been working happily and talking about her dinner plans, telling her co-workers she was going to see her boyfriend, Doug Holmes, at his sister’s apartment in Makiki. Now she was headed out into the bad weather. Lisa had just gotten her driver's license two days before. On her way, police reports show, she stopped to buy poke, which was diced raw fish. And after dinner, she headed home to Kailua. But she never got there.

The next day, Lisa’s parents called Holmes at his University of Hawaii dorm. He told them he would go out to look for her. Holmes found Lisa's 1976 Toyota around noon. it was parked on the shoulder of the highway in Maunawili near the old Kailua Drive-in. There was no Lisa so Holmes he called the police. The driver's side window was rolled down about halfway, and the officer who met Holmes noted that there was about “2 to 3 inches of water” on the floor of the vehicle and that the seat was “soaked and drenched.” Lisa's purse was completely dry, leading the police to believed the scene was staged. The officer also noticed scratches on Holmes’ face. Crime scene technicians would later determine that Lisa’s car had been “wiped clean” of any evidence.

A massive search for Lisa followed, the whole time her parents hopeful that Lisa would be found alive.

10 days after she went missing, a jogger and his dog found Lisa's naked body in a ravine off Tantalus Drive. Her body was so decomposed, that the coroner wasn't able to determine a cause of death, but her death was classified as a homicide. 

Numerous theories started to emerge about her demise. Some thought that it might be a serial killer, since there was other female homicide victims around the area. These women were all strangled to death and were around the same age as Lisa.

Lisa's driver's license and car registration were missing, this made police think that it was someone impersonating a police officer. Police were so sure of this fact, they started focusing on one of their own as a suspect. For about a year, an investigative grand jury heard evidence against the Honolulu police officer suspected in the case. A Windward Oahu woman claimed she had been stopped by an unmarked police car. There was also a sexual harassment complaint against the suspected officer from a young woman during a police ride-along. He also lived near Lisa at the time. But at the time the prosecutor wasn’t able to secure an indictment. 

To this day, many still believe it was a police officer who killed Lisa.

Both of Lisa's parents since have passed away, but she has not been forgotten, quite the opposite.

A former investigator in Lisa's case started working as a private investigator for Lisa's family.  He started  the investigation over. Witnesses, before Lisa's case was moved to homicide, that detectives failed to track down, or simply ignored, were re-questioned. While re-tracing Lisa’s movements her ID was found at the store where she wrote out a check for the poke. Security guard, Thomas Thornburg, worked at the Makiki apartment building where Doug Holmes’ sister lived and where Lisa Au was last seen alive. He was not previously questioned by police. He said that saw the Lisa and Holmes arguing about 11 p.m. Holmes had agreed to two, lie detector tests and failed both. He said that he felt guilty he didn't give Lisa a ride home that night. Holmes also claimed that he was trying to end his relationship with Lisa.

About a year after Lisa's murder, her body was re-exhumed. The Au's private Investigator speculated that Lisa's original autopsy wasn't done correctly and he was right. When the body was exhumed, investigators learned her remains were still in the police body bag. There were also leaves and dirt and rubbish inside. Lisa's body had never been washed. Her skull was also examined again, but cause of death could not be determined again.

Lisa's sister just wants answers and a cold case squad is trying to help her find those answers. 

In a statement, Police Chief Susan Ballard said that cold case detectives “are looking for anything that may have been overlooked at the time or whether new technology can provide new information."

Jennifer Stone Never Made It To Graduation.

Jennifer Lynn Stone

She was born on December 9th, 1969. Her drive, personality, and intelligence made her a sure success in her chosen field.

April 23rd, 1992 was a breezy day in Georgia. Jennifer was a 22 year old senior at UGA majoring in advertising and on the cusp of graduation. She lived alone in her apartment, at 187 Hull Street, for about 8 months. It was located in the downtown business district of Athens and was connected to a clothing business behind the bus station.

Jennifer was last seen by her friend at around midnight. She had missed two meetings that day, one at noon and the other at 6:00 p.m. When she failed to show for the second meeting, the students went to her apartment to check on her. They found a side door opened a few inches, looked in and saw her body. Jennifer had been strangled to death. The students left immediately and  called police.

Investigators later surmised that Jennifer stepped out side for a smoke and that a burglar entered her house during the brief time she was away. When Jennifer came back inside, she was forced to her bedroom and raped. Then she was strangled to death. Jenny was alive at 1:00 a.m., because that’s when her boyfriend called to check on her. Her cameras were being sold or traded for dope at around 3:00 a.m.

During interrogations, local dope dealers told cops that the assailant was a stranger to them. Investigators figured he was passing through. He was described as a light-skinned African-American with a thin mustache. DNA collected from the scene confirmed that he was of mixed race.
Even though police obtained a DNA profile of the killer, he has never been caught.

Anyone with any information on the death of Jennifer Stone is asked to call the GBI TIP line at 1-800/597-TIPS.

This Unidentified Victim Was Found In Volusia County, Florida In 1989, Do You Know Who He Is?

Volusia John Doe 1986

On the afternoon of Jan. 18, 1986 in dense woods, often used as a biker campsite, off Jones Island Road in Bulow Creek State Park, about four miles north of the park's entrance, a man cutting palmettos found the skeletal remains. An examination revealed he was the victim of a homicide, but some of his bones were scattered by animals or damaged. From what investigators could gather from the man's severely rotted clothing, the man might have been a biker. The items included a long-sleeved baseball T-shirt (white with black sleeves), a leather cap with a pin with the initials "FTW," some rings, a Harley-Davidson belt buckle, and a keychain with the words "KKK MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING." 

The victim is believed to be a white male, approximately 20 to 35 years old and about 5 feet, 9 inches tall. It's believed he had a facial deformity which caused his jaw to appear lopsided and gave him an exaggerated, noticeable overbite.

Anyone who believes they might have information on the identity of the victim or the homicide itself is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at 386-254-1537.

Risha Went To Visit A Friend And Never Returned To Her Children.

Risha Aleena Lewis

She was born on August 9th, 1979. Risha was 26 years old when she left her residence in the 400 block of Moorehouse Drive in New Castle, Delaware and went to visit a friend in the 200 block of west Pulaski Highway in Elkton, Maryland. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on January 21, 2006, she called home and stated she was on her way back there.

She never arrived and has not been seen since. Her vehicle, a white four-door 1997 Ford Crown Victoria with the Delaware license plate number 304653, was found abandoned in Newark, Delaware on October 17, 2006.

Lewis has not been in contact with either of her two children since she went missing. Her cellular phone remains activated but has not been used. Delaware police are investigating her case. 

Her disappearance remains unsolved.

At the time of her disappearance Risha was 5'3" tall, 130 pounds with black hair, brown eyes. Her ears and right eyebrow were pierced and she had a Cesarean section scar on her abdomen.

A gold rope bracelet and a gold rope necklace with a pendant that says "Mommy and Me". She wore contact lenses. Risha has the following tattoos: red flames with the name "Kev" on one upper arm, a large unspecified tattoo on the other upper arm, her name "Risha" on her wrist, the name "Jamie" on her calf, a butterfly between her breasts and vines or barbed wire on the small of her back. 

If you have any information in Risha's case, no matter how small, please contact New Castle County Police Department at 302-395-8171.

The Cold Case Squad Is Investigating The Disappearances of Debra Spickler, Janice Pockett, and Lisa White.

Debra Lee Spickler

She was born January 22, 1955.

On July 24th, 1968 Debra went missing in Mystic Connecticut. At the time she went missing, she was staying in Vernon with relatives. She was last seen walking in the direction of Henry Park swimming pool. It was reported that the whole family was headed to the pool that day. Debra was last seen a white sleeveless shirt, green polka-dot shorts and white sneakers.

At the time of her disappearance Debra was 5'5" tall and weighed 125 pounds.

Janice Kathryn Pockett

She was born on October 15th, 1965. Janice was last seen leaving her family's home on Anthony Road in Tolland, Connecticut on July 26, 1973. She was a take-charge kind of girl.

7 year old Janice planned to ride her metallic green Murray bicycle, which had a bell and a banana seat and go down the street and pick up a dead butterfly that she had left under a rock on an earlier family walk. Janice never went out by herself, but her mom allowed her to go because the rock where Janice had stored the butterfly was practically visible from her family home when standing in the middle of the road. Janice was carrying an envelope to put the butterfly in.

A woman drove by Janice's propped up bicycle and slowed down, concerned that a child might pop into the road. There was no Janice to be seen. About a minute and a half later, a man drove by traveling in the opposite direction, and saw the bike on its side.

The bike was one of the only traces of Janice that police found. The envelope and the butterfly was never found.

Her case remains unsolved.

At the time of her disappearance Janice was 4'0", 65 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing navy blue shorts with an imprinted American flag and star design, a blue and white-striped pullover shirt, white socks and blue sneakers. Janice has a gap between her front teeth.

Lisa Joy White

She was born on February 2nd, 1961. Lisa loved acrobatic dancing and cheerleading.

13 year old Lisa was last seen in Vernon, Connecticut on November 1st, 1974. The night before her disappearance, she'd been arrested for underage drinking and her parents grounded her. After her mother went to work at 4:30 p.m., she sneaked out to visit a friend on Prospect Street in Rockville, two miles away. Following her visit, at 7:30 p.m., Lisa began walking home. She never arrived and has never been heard from again.

Lisa left a note for her mother saying she was in love with an older boy and "you think I'm a little girl, but I'm not." According to her sister, she associated with older boys and some men. The police initially believed she'd run away from home, but foul play is now suspected in her case.

Lisa's disappearance was one of five in a ten-year period in the Vernon area. Two of them were found deceased years after their disappearances but the other three, including Lisa, remain missing. It is not clear whether the cases are related. Lisa's disappearance remains unsolved. Her mother died in July 2012.

At the time of her disappearance Lisa was 5'0" tall, 110 pounds with blonde hair, blue eyes. She was last wearing green pants, a blue denim jacket and work boots. Lisa has a small pockmark on her forehead above her right eye. She was in very good physical condition at the time of her disappearance. Her teeth are perfectly aligned due to the previous use of orthodontic braces.

In October 2014, the Tolland County Cold Case Squad was formed to investigate these three cases. After investigating each case as a stand-alone the authorities now look at all three cases as connected.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has authorized rewards in each case making the grand total $150,000 for information about Debbie Spickler, Janice Pockett, and Lisa White that will lead to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for these three crimes.

If you have information in any of these three cases please call the cold case squad tip line at 860-870-3228 or use email DCJ.TollandCounty.ColdCase@ct.gov. Vernon police can be reached at 860-872-9126 and Connecticut State Police at 860-896-3230.

What Happened To Colorado Paramedic Eric Pracht? UPDATED 04/24/2020

UPDATE: This statement was released from Eric's family  today.  "From our family, we would like to thank all of you for following Eric's page over the last few years. It is with a very sad heart that we tell you, that the remains found on Green Mountain on Thursday, were most likely those of Eric. We have not received final confirmation from the coroner yet, but all evidence supports the likelihood that it is Eric. Our family would like to thank everyone that has supported us through the years. The love and support has been incredible. We apologize for the delay in getting this posted, however we needed the time to take care of each other. Thank you for your understanding and love through the years."

🚒Eric Randolph Pracht🚒

🚒His parents are Randy and Denice Parcht. Eric loved to help people. Since the age of 12, Eric and his dad would go Kayaking together. Eric was a paramedic.

🚒On July 22nd, 2016, Eric was 25 years old and having a party in his condo in Lakewood, Colorado. After awhile the party dwindled down to Eric's fiance and three friends. That night, the group began discussing some recent police shootings and Eric became upset.

🚒According to his fiance, sometime after midnight on the 23rd, Eric and his fiancee take out the trash out. While doing so, Eric told her that he needed to go for a short walk to get some air. She went back inside and he left for his walk. He was carrying his keys, wallet and cellular phone. 

🚒Around 1 a.m., Eric's fiance and a couple of friends went and looked for him to no avail.

🚒At 1:30 a.m., one of Eric's neighbors said they think they heard a gun shot.

🚒Sometime after 9 a.m., Eric's fiance called the police.

🚒At 2:30 p.m., Eric's parents are contacted about his disappearance.

🚒At 4:30 p.m., the Pracht family arrive at condo to search for Eric around the condo and surrounding area and find nothing as well.

🚒At 5:00 p.m. Eric's cellular phone made a call. The phone pinged off a tower at the base of Green Mountain, but.. the special area that Eric's home was in possible that Eric's phone never left the condo.

🚒Eric has never been heard from again, and since then there hasn't been any activity on his phone, credit or debit cards, or social media pages.

🚒It's extremely uncharacteristic of Eric to leave without warning. His family stated he loved being a paramedic, was looking forward to his upcoming vacation in Mexico and his pending marriage. Eric was never known to have expressed suicidal thoughts. He left his car, clothing and cash behind.

🚒During the investigation, police failed to check a gas station, that was just a half a block away from Eric's condo, until after seven days. By the time the surveillance video was checked, it had been erased. 

🚒The police never did a through search of Eric's condo.

🚒In Eric's condo there was a gun safe. Eric's fiance told investigators that she couldn't open the gun safe because she didn't know the combination and wasn't able to find the key. Eric's parents had bought him that safe and contacted the manufacturer and they were able to send the parents a copy of the key. By the time Eric's parents got the key and went over to Eric's condo, his fiance said that she had found the key above the gun safe.

🚒One of his guns has also been missing as long as he has, but the police have dismissed it as they believe there is no evidence a crime has happened.

🚒Eric's fiance and his two friends, who had looked for him after he went missing, refused to take a lie detector test.

🚒On October 6th, 2016, the FBI went to Eric's condo and got his Google login from his fiance in order to try to pin his location. The detectives and his fiance couldn't pin his location. The next year in January, the detectives had given Eric's parents his Google info. When Eric's parents logged on to his email to see if they could find clues to where Eric was, there was a notification saying that someone had been trying to disable the location feature of his account on October 7th, 2016. Eric's parents went to detectives and they pinged the computer that was trying to turn off the location of Eric's cell as coming from the library. However, the library wasn't open at the time, but the liquor store that his fiance worked at and her parents owned was.

🚒The police never talked to Eric's co-workers, but the parents did. They said that Eric seemed to be dealing with things ok and that he was in a pretty good state of mind before he disappeared.

🚒In November of 2016, there was the Green Mountain Fire that burn the areas that Eric's family had been searching. In fact, the day that the fire happened there was a search scheduled for the area where the fire started before it happened. Only Eric's parents, fiance and the dog team knew when and where that search was going to happen. Supposedly, the cause of the fire was arson by a homeless man.

🚒In July of 2017, an ex-boyfriend of Eric's fiance contacted the parents. He stated that his relationship with her was volatile and that she was nuts and he thought that the fiance killed Eric. He had text messages to prove this. Eric's parents asked the ex-boyfriend if he'd talk to the police and he agreed. The ex-boyfriend later decided not to go to police, he said that he was scared to death of the fiance's family and that they had the Lakewood police in their back pockets.

🚒Allegedly, Eric's fiance took down all the fliers that were put up around his condo and there has never been a flier put up at her family's liquor store where she works.

🚒His case remains unsolved.

🚒At the time of his disappearance, Eric was 5'10" - 6'0" tall, 170 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. He had a goatee at the time of his disappearance, but he sometimes had a beard. Eric was wearing a blue t-shirt with video game characters on the front, khaki cargo shorts, black ankle socks, a dark green cloth belt with metal rings, and allegedly no shoes. He would often get a rash around his navel from his belt buckle. Eric had the following tattoos: a star of life with the words "SERVING SINCE 2010" on the right side of his chest, the video game character Sub-Zero in blue ink on his calf, an ambulance on his abdomen, the Star Wars character Boba Fett on his left forearm, a Green Bay Packers helmet on his right calf, a crown across the top of his back, an angel on one shoulder, a demon on the other shoulder, the character Michael Myers from the movie "Halloween" on the left side of his chest, the character Jason Voorhees from the movie "Friday the 13th" below the Michael Myers tattoo, his last name "PRACHT" going down one arm, a dragon from the video game Skyrim on his right forearm, and the name "Denver" on his left forearm. 

🚒https://www.helpfindericpracht.com/

🚒https://www.facebook.com/MissingEricPracht/

🚒If you have any information on Eric's disappearance, no matter how small, please contact Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-711.

🚒There is a $12,000 reward in place for the person that can directly lead to Eric or provide his location.

🚒To Eric's friends and family, believe Eric will be found, i just hope it's sooner than later. If Eric did meet with foul play, i hope whomever was involved will have a conscious and come forward. If something happened to Eric by his own hand, i hope we clues are revealed to help him be found. Eric seemed like a really great guy.