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E069: Beth Ellen Vinson
1.6k Plays5 years ago
Taking a leap of faith and moving from home to chase your dreams takes a lot of courage. No one would have expected Beth Ellen to fall short of her dreams in such a shocking way.
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Transcript
Podcast Beginnings and Buzzsprout Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own, whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are?
00:00:20
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends and from where our listeners hail.
00:00:49
Speaker
Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform.
00:01:00
Speaker
What are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our Coffee and Cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card after your second month on a paid plan. It's that easy.
00:01:22
Speaker
Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world.
Personal Obsessions and Dreams
00:01:31
Speaker
Now it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
00:01:36
Speaker
Recently, I have become obsessed with the TV show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Making the Team. I love it for the drama of the show and the dancer in me really loves it because all of the dancing. But the biggest part of me loves it because those girls are doing something I was never brave enough to do.
00:01:55
Speaker
When I was a senior in high school, I received a tryout invitation to a Division I school for their dance team. I debated on going. I really and truly did, but the homebody in me just couldn't leave my parents and family to pursue that dream. So I settled for a small college with a tinier dance team instead.
00:02:15
Speaker
Dancing for a team like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is always a dream for literally every dancer. My brother pushed me to consider trying out. He ensured me that he knew I had what it took to make the team, but I could never make the jump to move that far away from home. And I was, and honestly still am, jealous of all the girls who are brave enough to live out their wildest dreams.
00:02:38
Speaker
And our story today, we meet a young girl who, like many of us at 17, had big dreams. She wanted more than her small life, and she was willing to do anything to achieve her dreams. She moved away from home and made some questionable career moves, all to make it to New York City. Sadly, she would fall short of her dream. This is the story of Beth Ellen Benson.
00:03:35
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Alison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
Podcast Goals and Crime Door App Discussion
00:03:45
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page.
00:04:01
Speaker
Coffee and cases podcast and to follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tiktok at coffee and cases podcast Because as these families know conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness Helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week. Okay Maggie I promise I'm not gonna talk to you about this each week, but
00:04:30
Speaker
I have to bring up crime door again. Okay. Because again, my obsession continues. So Slootowns, if you don't know this about, like I get fixated on something like this and then I can't let it go. But like, let me explain to you why. Are you ready? I'm ready. Because they write freaking awesome descriptions of their cases.
00:04:56
Speaker
Like I'm just scrolling through the cases on crime door that they just recently posted.
Listener Feedback Request
00:05:02
Speaker
And here are some of the descriptions. And if this doesn't draw you in, I don't know what will. Mother misses dinner vanishes. Pregnant woman found dead in barrel.
00:05:16
Speaker
I got a notification about that one and I want to check that one out. Yeah. Woman's mummified corpse found in trunk. Oh my. Woman disappears while on phone call. That seems kind of difficult. Woman strangled with sweatpants.
00:05:37
Speaker
Like these are the descriptions. Every single one of them, I'm like, I kind of need to read that right now. I need to read it. Right. Exactly. And then of course, you know, I get excited when I see a case that, you know, we've covered and then I see us on there again listed like Rico Harris. I'm like, Oh, there we are. And then I got excited.
00:06:03
Speaker
Oh goodness, it's okay. Obsessions are okay in... Yeah, exactly. In moderation, that's the word I'm looking for.
00:06:15
Speaker
There you go. Sorry, Maggie. I'm ready for your show. Okay. So, Sleuth Hounds, you may have noticed, if you follow us on social media, that Alison and I have posted a very important question, and we've talked about it in the show maybe a couple times, but again, we're just coming to you guys and wanting your input and your kind of feedback on where you want to see Coffee & Case's head in the future.
00:06:44
Speaker
Um, so because allison and I have taken on like I guess this like initiative to cover some lesser known cases um as we mentioned that can cause you know pose a problem when we're researching because There's not always as much research on Like a local small missing persons case as there is something that gained a lot of national attention Right. So we want to know Would you guys?
00:07:13
Speaker
Prefer us to stay as we normally do like 40 to 50, 55 minute shows. And then just like throw in a couple of like 20 or 30 minute episodes, like in the regular rotation. Or would you want us to just keep, every week is like the 50 minute show, but we could offer like a Patreon package that would give you like the 20 to 30 minute, kind of like mini episodes.
00:07:43
Speaker
Right. And that's pretty common. And that's, that would be, as Maggie said, additional content. So we would still have our weekly, every Thursday episode, and then offer those shorter episodes via something like Patreon.
00:07:59
Speaker
Right, so if you love coughing cases, please go on to, I think they're on all of our social media accounts and just kind of let us know the direction you would like to see us head with this idea.
00:08:16
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah, I know it's on, I know it's on our Facebook page, our Coffee and Cases podcast Facebook page. And I know it's on our TikTok. So I know it's on at least those two social media channels. So yes, absolutely. Sleuthhounds, go on one of those this week and let us know which you would prefer.
00:08:41
Speaker
Yes, and that brings us into today's episode.
The Case of Beth Ellen Benson
00:08:46
Speaker
And Allison, today we are going to be talking about one of the longest running cold cases, which was really hard for me to say just then, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
00:08:57
Speaker
Okay. And today's episode, like it's so, but it's eerie. It's going to sound scary, familiar, like so many similarities to our episode 63. But the Paterinkoski. Yes. So many. Okay. Maybe there's not so many similarities, but it's enough that like when I was researching it,
00:09:24
Speaker
Like I thought I was accidentally researching the same case. Yeah. Wow. And I'm like anxious to see if you pick up on the similar. Okay. I'm ready. I'm ready. Um, so.
00:09:40
Speaker
Beth Ellen, and that's what I'm like, she must have been like a first and middle namer. Most places I saw she went like they refer to her as Beth Ellen. She was 17 and she had big plans for her life back in 1994.
00:09:58
Speaker
So she knew exactly what she wanted to do and when she wanted to do it. So she had life figured out or at least she thought she did. Like most 17-year-olds, Beth Ellen did not see eye to eye with her parents who also had big plans for her. And Beth Ellen's mom and dad, just like most parents, longed to see her graduate high school before leaving the nest. And they had even like
00:10:27
Speaker
kind of bribed her to follow their plan before starting out on her own, but she just couldn't wait any longer to start on this journey that she had in mind for herself. She knew that she wanted to make it on Broadway. They had said, you know, like if you graduate high school, we'll pay for an apartment for you. I'm in New York City and she just couldn't wait.
00:10:51
Speaker
Oh no. So she left before? Yes. So she leaves home like drops out of high school, despite her parents efforts to keep her there. And she moves to Raleigh, North Carolina, I guess as like, kind of like a halfway point in pursuing her career to eventually make it to New York City. Maggie, I see so many kids who are like,
00:11:15
Speaker
I just urge my kids, any who want to drop out, even if they could make it in something like this, I'm always like, get your high school diploma so you got the backup plan. Yeah. I mean, I had that conversation with my seventh grade kids because at that age, some of them don't really understand what it takes to survive in the world.
00:11:37
Speaker
So I try to tell them, you know, like at least have that to fall back on. And I think Beth's parents tried to have the same conversation, but she was just really stubborn and just like went against what they had in mind for her. I feel like that happens quite often though. I mean, I see it a lot as a high school teacher that like the students will have the very
00:12:00
Speaker
Um, idealistic like view of what life is going to be like. And you know, that they're going to be able to do what they love and still make enough money to live. And, you know, and the parents are like, let's take the more practical career. And that's hard because I mean, I totally get it. I mean, we're heck we're teachers and that's not even necessarily a quote unquote quote practical career. Cause our salaries are very high.
00:12:30
Speaker
compared to our student loans. Yeah, true that. But I get her excitement and her drive and I think her drive is admirable, but I get where her parents were coming from and as a parent, I probably would have been pretty upset if my child dropped out with just that little time left.
00:12:56
Speaker
Moving away from home, just like you said, was a lot harder for Beth Ellen than what she thought it would be. She quickly learned that making her dream come true, like making it onto Broadway, would be much harder than she ever could have thought. So while her parents
00:13:15
Speaker
thought that she was working at a local grocery store to earn money and pay her bills. Beth Ellen was actually working as a dancer in an escort service, a fact that would later end up crushing her parents. That's like a dangerous position, I think. Yeah, and I think especially at 17.
00:13:39
Speaker
Right. I totally get that you're going to make a lot more money than at a grocery store. True, but I don't really think that she did though. Cause I think she was struggling to make ends meet how she thought she was going to be able to with this career. Right.
00:13:59
Speaker
She was often called to hotels to dance for clients and on the night that she disappeared. That's exactly what happened So she and her boyfriend Rick were watching a movie in her apartment near
00:14:12
Speaker
Well, actually, you know, I don't really know, I've never could find if it was like their apartment together or just his apartment. Like I, what, I'm not for sure. Like, okay. Like her living in an apartment. Yes. And, um, it's was near a North Carolina state university on August the 16th, 1994. So she's called for a job. He knows that she's like an exotic dancer. And so she leaves around two 30 in the morning to head to the end keeper hotel.
00:14:41
Speaker
but she never made it there.
00:14:44
Speaker
Man, again, this makes me nervous even just no matter what your job is leaving at two 30 in the morning. Yeah. And like she hadn't even been in Raleigh all that long. Like I'm wanting to say if I can remember correctly just a couple weeks. Oh gosh. Yeah. So it's not like she was there for a while. It was just a couple of weeks. Um, and actually three hours after she leaves the apartment, police are called.
00:15:13
Speaker
to go check out like an abandoned car. And they find a white 1990 Mazda 626 in front of a car dealership on Capitol Boulevard. And it's like kind of near some warehouses and kind of like hidden from the road. And that car belonged to Beth Ellen Benson. But this car I'm guessing is nowhere near the Innkeeper Hotel. No.
00:15:38
Speaker
And, you know, while this may sound weird, you know, that you come upon like an abandoned car, for the purposes of our show, finding an abandoned car in front of a car dealership isn't the oddest thing that we have ever talked about. True. But the condition of, or I guess the condition they found her car in was odd.
00:16:05
Speaker
odd how. So, Allison, Beth's car was found. Are you ready for this? Yeah. With the engine running. So just like patron Cospies. Yes. The door, like the driver's side door open.
00:16:22
Speaker
Hmm the radio blaring so obviously this was not like Flat tire or some reason why the car was left there. Yes, it was left in a hurry Yes, and it appeared that all of Beth's personal positions were in the car like all of her clothes things she had taken when she'd moved out of her parents house and
00:16:49
Speaker
The most disturbing part is that a single shoe was left behind on the floor on the driver's side. Which tells you this was not voluntary. Yes.
00:17:02
Speaker
Just for comparison sake, I went to the script for the page episode that we did, and I literally wrote, Paige's shoes were left in the car. Her purse and wallet still inside. Her wallet was full of money. There were personal items, including important looking papers also left in the car. What's more strange is Paige's silver Oldsmobile was idling with the keys and the ignition light and radio on.
00:17:29
Speaker
and then the open beer can in the seat and Paige was nowhere to be found and neither was Beth. Like the similarities in this though. Yeah, that is creepy. Hopefully this time though, the police aren't going to be like, oh, let's just have a toad somewhere. Hopefully they view this one as a crime scene.
00:17:50
Speaker
Yes. And I thought it was weird because Paige's case was one of Michigan's longest running cold cases. And this is one of Raleigh, North Carolina's longest running cold cases. Hmm. So I like, am I making connections that aren't like there or could I be onto something?
00:18:07
Speaker
Hmm. You're the super sleuth. Yes. So anyways, back to today's story. Besides the fact that we know how the story ends, like I don't think to an investigator coming upon an abandoned car at a car dealership
00:18:23
Speaker
would be like super off-putting. We've talked about the fact that we as humans rationalize things. So in my mind, if I were a police officer responding to a report about an abandoned car that is still running, I could totally see myself just thinking like the driver must only be like a few feet away. Maybe they're, you know,
00:18:45
Speaker
Needed to get up and stretch their legs. They were sleepy Maybe they had a flat tire and walked to get help because you know, this was 1994 so it's not like we had the cell phones today But there were no flat tires on the car. It literally looked like someone just like
00:19:03
Speaker
got up and walked away minus the shoe. Minus the shoe, which is what, again, immediately I was like, that should tell law enforcement that wherever the driver went, it was not a voluntary action because you wouldn't leave a single shoe behind. I'm just saying. Right.
00:19:25
Speaker
I'm going to go, but I'm only wearing one of my shoes. Like I know I was going to do that. I'm going to play hopscotch on one leg while I walk around the corner. Yeah. You're not going to do that. I don't like my left too. I'm only wearing my right one. Right. Let's just leave it on.
00:19:45
Speaker
Um, police are able to determine obviously who the car belongs to. Um, and I am going to kind of circle back to how they found that out here in a minute because it's weird. Really? Like not just running the license plate? Okay. Okay.
00:20:06
Speaker
So they were unable to so they knew who the car belong to but they were unable to find beth ellen that was until seven days later when beth ellen's body was found covered by a single piece of cardboard. By factory manager about half a mile from the car lot where her car had been found.
00:20:25
Speaker
Hmm. So pretty close to the scene where her car was. Could they tell like, did it happen that night then? I'm guessing since it's so close. You know, in all of the research that I read, I did not see where it's been released that they determined at what point she died, like officially. But I would guess yes, because here in a little bit,
00:20:56
Speaker
Like I talk about like how badly decomposed she was, so I'm gonna get to it. Yeah.
00:21:02
Speaker
So Paige had actually been stabbed multiple times. In fact, in a documentary that I watched called NC Unsolved, when Beth's father called to talk to police, and I guess he just did like daily like checkups on the case or on like her whereabouts, he was told that they had found a body, but that he could not come identify the body because that was like the first question that he asked.
00:21:28
Speaker
And in the interview, he said that police told him Beth Ellen's body was too badly decomposed and that she was nearly unrecognizable because I guess it had been raining almost every day since she disappeared. And it was super, super hot. So those two factors accelerated the rate of decomposition.
00:21:50
Speaker
They didn't have her dad identify her. Did they use like fingerprints or DNA or like how did they know that this was her?
00:21:59
Speaker
I actually didn't read anywhere online that it came out and said how she was identified. I don't know,
Suspects and Theories in Beth's Case
00:22:08
Speaker
like I don't think that she was so badly decomposed that they wouldn't be able to tell that it was her. I think the main reason that they didn't want the dad to identify her wasn't necessarily that she was so decomposed. I think it's the fact that she was stabbed over 15 times.
00:22:28
Speaker
Wow. Yes. And her stab wounds were described as quote, violent and heavy. It's what her dad said that investigators told him. So I think that's the reason that he wasn't permitted to identify the body. Which tells me, see, that seems personal. I know. And I talk about
00:22:55
Speaker
Like that's what I think too. Like, and I'll talk about, there really are only like two suspects that, or possible suspects that people have talked about. But like if you stab someone 15 times, like you're angry about something. Yeah. And especially with the violent and heavy, I just, I don't know.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah. And like, like, it just leaves us wondering who killed her. And really the biggest question is why did they kill her? Because she's only been there a couple of weeks. Right. So a lot of people think that maybe Beth was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Um, she was killed by somebody she didn't know. Like maybe she like had to pull over and this person pulled over and there was like a scuffle type thing, but
00:23:48
Speaker
The predominant amount of people that are familiar with this case will tell you that it was they believe either her boyfriend or The man that had paid for her services Hmm I know I'm not sure how I feel about those theories yet, but I need you to tell me about them So we'll talk in a minute. Well and police
00:24:14
Speaker
They do investigate both. So first they obviously investigate the boyfriend, Rick. Rick fails a polygraph test. I feel like we say that so many times. I know. Makes me feel guilt, but I shouldn't feel that way because they're not accurate. Right. And that's what one of the investigators said. His name is John Lynch. He actually said like,
00:24:41
Speaker
Big deal, he failed this polygraph test. All of the motions he was going through at that time didn't make him a good subject for a polygraph. So just like in the Lee Ochi case and the mom failed her polygraph test, they can say, oh, well, it was given to me right after I found out that my child or my significant other was missing. But stress is factored into the polygraph test. So I just don't ever really buy that excuse.
00:25:11
Speaker
I'm not a professional. So what do I know? Has he ever been arrested for involvement? No, and not that I could find had he ever really been named like an official person of interest. So okay. But I do think that Rick does some really fishy things directly after Beth's disappearance that kind of make you stop and thank for a couple of seconds.
00:25:39
Speaker
Okay. I'm nervous. It's weird. Like some of this case is just weird. So the strangest thing that he did, in my opinion, was not filling the polygraph test. The strangest thing that he did was the fact that he showed up at the car lot while police were investigating the report of an abandoned car in that lot.
00:26:04
Speaker
so like before he even knows before this car is even identify please do not tell me this is how they knew it was her car yes it's how they knew it was her car oh my goodness yeah that that's weird especially if as you said
00:26:20
Speaker
it is like off the beaten path like not on you know because like tucked away a little bit then this is not just happenstance like oh I just happened to drive by here at 3 30 in the morning oh at at 3 30 in the morning and just happened to see my girlfriend's car and you know police looking at it
00:26:45
Speaker
So he tells police that he's actually out searching for best. And that's how he stumbled upon the car because she's been missing for like three hours at this point. But she hasn't.
00:27:03
Speaker
Well, I guess I should say she's been gone from his apartment for about three hours. But he knew where she was going. Like I'm sure that's not like a, let me go in. Oh, two minutes later I'm leaving. Right. That's what I thought too. And like the weird thing is like he knows she's going to this like Innkeeper Motel
00:27:26
Speaker
Play so why would you why would he that's good point Maggie because that's why I said is the place where her car was anywhere near the innkeeper hotel and you said no it's actually from some things that I read and some like videos I watched
00:27:45
Speaker
In the opposite direction, like he would have needed to go I can't remember like he would have needed to go like south, for example, on this road and her car was found like on the north side of the road. So if he knew that she was at this innkeeper hotel.
00:28:00
Speaker
like he wouldn't have been going by her car and police say like even if he had been driving the direction where her car was located like he wouldn't be able to see her car from the road like as he's driving to say like holy crap i need to pull over that's beth's car okay this is super fishy i know and like super fishy police probably know more than we do but like that alone to me was just just bizarre
00:28:30
Speaker
So like makes you think, okay, if he didn't do it, he was involved in it because why would you drive? If I'm supposed to be like driving to my parents' house, which is Northeast from where I live, and all of a sudden Rodney's like driving South to Atlanta and it's like, oh, I'm just looking for Allison, like just wondering where she was. And then my car happens to be there when I'm supposed to be at my mom's. Yeah, that's like, I don't know. I don't have a good feeling.
00:28:59
Speaker
No. And that's not the only thing that like kind of makes you stop for a second about him in this case. So we know that Rick last saw Beth Ellen at two 30 in the morning. Um, his roommates didn't get back to the apartment until three 30. So that left the Rick with like an hour long timeframe where he has no alibi other than to say like, I was just chilling at home. Hmm. And that's okay.
00:29:29
Speaker
Now when I'm going to overlook because like that would be hard because let's say like, you know, I come home from school and then something bad happens. And then just because I happened to be home alone where nobody can corroborate.
00:29:49
Speaker
I get that. Like I wouldn't want to, you know, find him guilty because of that. Now the car thing, I'm still hanging on to that. I'm not letting that go yet. I'm like you. I don't think that the lack of an alibi really like implicate Tim in any way, but the fact that he showed up like at the
00:30:08
Speaker
like abandoned car scene is something that like I keep going back to but again doesn't necessarily make him guilty. He literally could have maybe he already checked the other direction and he was like coming back the other way. I don't know but that's a possibility. Unless this was a place that they frequented often like if they often went to this car lot or maybe this is a spot where like
00:30:36
Speaker
Like if she's this escort, like whatever the, you know, business guy she works for, I say guy, it could be business girl, whoever she works for, like maybe this is where they meet before she goes to these jobs. Like, I mean, maybe there could be a reason, but then if that were true, you'd think that he would have told police that. Exactly. And there's not really more, there's not really any more like,
00:31:05
Speaker
investigation involving Rick past like the failed polygraph test and the no alibi in the core thing. Which telling me there's no physical evidence.
00:31:17
Speaker
Yes, agreed. And then the second person that also this lead or investigation portion goes nowhere is the man that she was going to dance for. So apparently this man had been on a binge of drugs, drinking and hiring dancers for about 24 hours when Beth is supposed to arrive at the bachelor party. I think it's the dude alone in the hotel room.
00:31:48
Speaker
Okay. That I find that creepy too. Yes. Um, but it's like, in fact, he was so like inebriated and had been dealing with so many escorts during that like 24 hour period. He is unable to definitively tell police if he saw Beth Ellen that night or if he did not. That's a bad problem. Right. Because I feel like
00:32:17
Speaker
That kind of hinges on things because, but they are several months later and I don't, I cannot find how they figured this out, but they are able to determine a couple months later that the man, like she never arrived at the hotel. Okay.
00:32:39
Speaker
And I never read how they were able to determine that. Maybe they used street cameras and stuff. Because that technology has been around for a while. Or something. Or maybe the hotel lobby has a camera. Yeah, I definitely went with maybe they hypnotized the high dude and found out that she was never there. But that's just me.
00:33:02
Speaker
We have seen hypnosis in some of the cases. Yeah. Yeah. So not out of the realm of possibility. Yes. But after I like read more about just basically how high and wasted he was, like I don't think, even if she had popped into the hotel, I don't know that he would have been able to murder her
00:33:27
Speaker
because she wasn't even near the hotel, her car wasn't, nor was her body found near the hotel. And he was like super wasted. So I don't think he would have been able to kill anyone. And again, we established the one shoe in the car shows that she was taken from the car. Right. So in my mind, I am saying, okay, something has happened to her on her way to work.
00:33:52
Speaker
or her this this job. Her parents believe that Beth was trying to actually escape the life that she had found herself in. They felt that she was overwhelmed and that she was getting like too deep into this lifestyle that just wasn't for her. And they
00:34:09
Speaker
Like kind of piggyback on the fact that her car was packed with her clothes and all of her positions But they believe that she was on her way home to real re enroll in high school graduate and get her life back on track For me though
00:34:27
Speaker
If this theory is true, then I have to assume that because Beth was getting out of this like escort ring, she made someone mad, like mad enough to chase her down, get her to pull over and then to kill her. See, I don't know. I think that's wishful thinking on the parents part. Like I get why they would want to think that. I do think it's bizarre that she has so much stuff in her car.
00:34:57
Speaker
especially if she does have a place down there, unless she was lying about that. And maybe like, like you said earlier, you didn't know if that was her boyfriend's apartment or like when they shared together, like maybe she was kind of living out of her car. That's true. And to go back to Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, some of the girls do that until they find an apartment. Yep. So, I mean, it could be something like that.
00:35:22
Speaker
And like, I mean, really assumptions are kind of all that we have to go on. Police are able to deduce that Beth Ellen probably struggled with her attacker. And that's the reason that a shoe was left behind. We can guess also because the corridor was left open. So it was kind of like in a rush. They are able to
00:35:46
Speaker
determine that she put up a good fight, um, trying to like fend off her attacker, which kind of makes me think like, I feel like we should have DNA evidence in this case. Yep. I was just thinking that cause I was thinking, what about under her fingernails? Like even with decomposition there, I would think that there would be some under there or like on the steering wheel or something. Or like the door handle. Yeah. The door handle. Cause if she's going to be pulled out, then you'd think there would be.
00:36:14
Speaker
And her family says there's no way that she would have pulled over for someone that she didn't know. So they are saying it had to have been somebody that she knew and trusted enough to pull off the side of the road. And I have to agree with them just, I mean, not even with the fact that like she wouldn't pull over for a stranger, but the fact that she was stabbed, like we said, is such a personal way to kill someone. I feel like it almost had to be someone
00:36:44
Speaker
who knew her and had like a like a personal issue with her or have anger with her, you know? Yeah. And like that also reminds me of the Page-Rinkosky case. And like, because we kind of talked about that, like who would you pull over for? Especially, you know, at thinking about
00:37:06
Speaker
Beth Ellen here, you know, in the middle of the night. And the only people I can think of is if I knew that someone I knew, you know, was in a car behind me or in front of me or whatever, or if it were an officer. Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. Because we talked about that with the page. And like, those are the only things that I can think of that I would
00:37:35
Speaker
you know, pull over for it. And at night too, I mean, if she's like near warehouses, I mean, you know, around here there are some like businesses and stuff that'll have like, you know, malls have mall security or whatever. Like it makes me wonder if like any of these warehouses had like warehouse security where like it would look like a cop car. I mean, I would still pull over, you know, and I think most people would like,
00:38:05
Speaker
anything like that. I don't know. That's my theory. And you know, I think the sad thing with her case, which I really like didn't read too much where this was brought up, but like we've covered several cases where prostitutes have gone missing. And sadly, like the public and authorities kind of say, well, it's just like a result of their lifestyle that they disappeared or,
00:38:34
Speaker
You know they were murdered because they're a prostitute. Nobody deserves that, no family deserves that. Exactly like regardless of what they do as a like career or to earn money to pay their bills or feed their family like they're still people at the end of the day. Right. And they deserve justice. I couldn't agree more.
00:38:55
Speaker
So the homicide detective that was actually assigned to Beth Ellen's case back in 1994, said at a news conference, and I believe this was like the 20th anniversary of Beth Ellen's death, that he still believed the case could be solved and that someone somewhere has to know something that would lead to a break in the case.
00:39:17
Speaker
And there was actually an article called the goldsboro teens murder still unsolved 20 years later that that same investigator is quoted to say Quote if you've been living with this for 20 years if you've been carrying around a burden for 20 years It may be weighing on you and it may be time for you to remove that weight in quote
00:39:40
Speaker
Let's just hope that, you know, again, that's why we cover these cases that are lesser known because maybe somebody somewhere will hear it and be like, you know, this person I know wasn't at home that night and, you know, was super interested in the case right after or, you know, something, some detail.
00:40:09
Speaker
Taking a leap of faith and moving from home to chase your dreams takes a lot of courage. We know that Beth Ellen was filled with courage. Courage to move away from home, courage to leave her previous life behind, to become who she wanted to be. Courage to chase a dream at all costs.
00:40:27
Speaker
Now, it's someone else's turn to be brave. This case has been unsolved for too long. Someone saw something or overheard something. By this point, they have had to. We need you to be brave and give those tips to police. If you killed Beth Ellen, be brave and turn yourself in. Have enough courage to give this family peace. Beth and her family deserve to know who killed her and why she had to die. Sleuthhounds, we've seen cold cases be solved.
00:40:56
Speaker
And this could be one case that we could solve together. Share this case. Keep talking about Beth Ellen Vincent. Help us solve her case. If you have any information concerning Beth, please contact your local FBI office or your nearest American embassy or consulate. Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode.
00:41:22
Speaker
As always, follow us on Instagram at coffee cases podcast and on TikTok at coffee and cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffee and cases podcast at Gmail dot com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to write our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon. Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.