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E083: Erica Fraysure
2k Plays4 years ago
A high school teen never returns from a night out with friends. Her small community is shaken as they search for her and, despite all the efforts, this 24-year-old case is still baffling police and the town.
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Transcript
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
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Sleuthhounds, 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.
00:00:19
Speaker
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Speaker
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Impact of Life Events and Erica Frazier's Story
00:01:34
Speaker
Isn't it weird how a single moment can change your entire life? One mistake can alter the trajectory of your future. One correct decision can alter your path. I often think about how different my life could have been. Like if I hadn't lost my brother in high school, how differently would my life have been? In fact, how different would the world have been? Perhaps my brother's unborn children would have cured cancer or been a pioneer for human rights. The world will never know.
00:02:03
Speaker
What if 9-11 hadn't happened? How different would the world be now? How many lives were shaped by that single disaster? Travel changed. Families changed. World relations changed.
00:02:14
Speaker
Think about all the people in your life, how each person you love has shaped you in one way or another. Now think of the one person who's been the most influential in your life, that one person who's your best friend, who is there for you no matter what. Now imagine that that person has disappeared. They vanished into thin air. Imagine how your life would change. Would you be too scared to go about your normal day-to-day activities?
00:02:38
Speaker
Would you be too scared to take chances? Could you go on living life without them? This is the story of Erica Frazier.
Engaging the Community and Erica's Background
00:03:20
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:03:29
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.
00:03:45
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 and the public consciousness Helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week
00:04:08
Speaker
Okay, so, Allison, I know that my last episode was about a senior in high school, and so is this week's, but it was completely coincident. Like, it wasn't planned. So, hey, don't worry about it, Maggie, because in some places in the U.S., especially in the northern U.S., graduation is in June, so it still works. Tis the season.
00:04:32
Speaker
Good. Good. And this case, Allison's actually more local to us. This is a case from Bracken County in Kentucky. So we're doing a Kentucky case this week. And like I said, Erica was a senior at Bracken County High School. So just like in the Randy Lee case, Erica's high school was smaller than most. It had around 350 kids in her high school.
Erica's Disappearance and Initial Investigation
00:05:03
Speaker
And that's grades like nine through 12. And that's way smaller than the middle school. Wow. That is small. Yeah. It's smaller than the middle school I teach at. And I know it's definitely smaller than the high school where you're at. Right. I mean, we have closer to that in each grade. I mean, not quite, but. Yeah. Cause aren't they over like a thousand kids or like right at. Yeah. We have like, I'd say 250 ish.
00:05:31
Speaker
in each grade. So yeah, this is a small school. Erica seemed like your average everyday student like she wasn't super like academic, but she was never really a problem. One article I read was like an interview with her teacher and she talked about how witty Erica was and like really funny but would pass notes with her like classmates and her friends and things like that because you know,
00:05:57
Speaker
This is like pre-cell phone. So back in the day, we had to pass notes instead of sending text messages. That's right. Yeah. And you'd figure out like cool ways to fold the notes to pass them. Yeah. So you really had to like dig into it. Yeah. Yeah. And you had the code names in case anybody intercepted your notes so they wouldn't know who you're talking about. Right.
00:06:24
Speaker
And from everything I read, it seemed like she really would go out of her way to put a smile on a teacher or a friend's face every day, which I thought was really cool. Yeah, that's really sweet. Yes. And since Erica's high school was only like 350 kids, we can basically gather that she's from a small town. And like many of us small town people, most weekends were spent cruising around town in your parents' car or if you were super lucky in your own car.
00:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, because that's pretty much all there is to do in small towns. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So like the town that I grew up in is small, but then we would go to like Pykeville is a little bit bigger than the actual town I grew up in, even though it's still small. So like we would always go there for the weekends and like
00:07:12
Speaker
cruise around the movie theater parking lot, because that was what cool kids did. Like all teens in her town, Erica was cruising around town that night of October 21st, 1997. And Erica was last seen that night between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Video in Tan in Brooksville, Kentucky. And I feel like Video in Tan is just so reminiscent of the 1990s. It totally is. Yeah, like you go get your VHS tape
00:07:40
Speaker
And you go to the tanning bed. And I feel like Erica probably had like one of those playboy bunnies, the stickers that you put on you so see how tan you were. Right. Now, so she was a senior in 97. Yeah. So that's the year that I graduated high school.
00:08:02
Speaker
Oh, but so she would have been, I guess I graduated though, May 97. So she would have been the year after me if she was still a senior in October. Yeah. There was one report Allison and I'm going to mention it, but like I didn't see it on any other website that I looked at that actually said the last place Erica was seen was at a party. But like I said, there was only one place that I read that in.
00:08:32
Speaker
Okay. So most said the video in tan. Yeah. And if that was like almost all new stations said that, and like almost all, like almost everything that I read said the video on tan. There was only the one place that sent a party. Okay. But regardless of her location, we do know one thing for sure. And that is that Erica was never seen or heard from again after that day in October. Hmm.
00:08:59
Speaker
I know, so what could have happened to Erica? So to really think about what could have happened to her, let's revisit some details that we do know about her disappearance and the last time that anyone saw her. Okay, I'm ready. Many believe that Erica's troubles started, I feel like we say this so many times, because Erica started hanging out with like a rougher crowd of kids. Oh, so she's getting involved in things that maybe
00:09:28
Speaker
she should have. Yeah. And I think like things she normally wouldn't have. So her new friend group liked the party scene, which from what I read, I didn't really gather that that was really what Erica's typical scene would have been until she started hanging out with this new group of individuals. Okay. So maybe that's why there was the one rumor about the party. Yeah, I think so. And I'm wondering if
00:09:58
Speaker
like maybe most or maybe both could be true. Like maybe they were going, they were at a party and then we're cruising or, you know, had planned on going to a party. Like, you know, I didn't read any of that, but I'm wondering if maybe that was the case. Okay. Erica was just like many of our students. Allison, she was ready to graduate. The real world was calling her name and she longed
00:10:24
Speaker
for the freedom that so many of our students seek, especially at the high school level. Like by the time they get to you, Alison, I feel like they're basically done. They are so ready. But then they, I mean, they say they're ready to be gone and never come back. But then as soon as they graduate, they're like, I need to come back and visit. And I'm like, come on back. Are you going to be in your room today so I can come visit you? Right. I love that though. So, but I get like wanting to start your life.
00:10:53
Speaker
Yeah. And Erica was ready to do that. And she had actually been working part time at a pizza place so she could have her own spending cash. Like I'm sure she maybe had her eyes set on a car payment or paying for college because she even was requesting more hours at this pizza, pizza shop. Okay. So she really is like trying to save. Yeah. Yeah. She's like, like what, from what I can tell seems just like a really good kid, like,
00:11:22
Speaker
She's working, she's earning her own spending money, like not really trying to ask her mom and dad for a lot of extra stuff. And she had plans after high school, she had planned on attending Northern Kentucky University after graduation to become an accountant. So kudos to Erica. So good with mathematical figures, unlike us. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
Not me. Today at summer school, two of the math teachers were talking about, because, you know, in middle school, they're learning percents in sixth grade, I guess. And one of the teachers was like, they just really can't grasp percents. And I was like, think to myself, I'm 30 and I can't grasp percents. On the day of Erica's disappearance, everything seemed normal in her small town.
00:12:11
Speaker
I'm quote back then to hang out with your friends on a Friday night or Saturday night. You got into your parents car or your own car if you were lucky enough and you went to Brooksville and you cruised town. Amanda, who was Erica's best friend at the time, told Dateline and that's just what we were doing. So it's a typical night in this small Kentucky town. So nothing unusual, nothing really stands out to her friend.
00:12:39
Speaker
No. And like, you know, as our listeners know, we started doing like more, like lesser known cases. And so Erica, there was a lot of coverage on her case, but it was a lot of the same things. And I didn't read anywhere where like anybody had said, like, we noticed a scary person driving around in a
00:13:03
Speaker
black minivan or, you know, like I never read anything like that. Everything just seemed like it was normal. I think that's even scarier. I do too.
Challenges in Missing Person Cases
00:13:14
Speaker
Like when you can't point out something strange, but something so devastating happens. Right. I do too. Erica's mother obviously trusted her daughter and so she wasn't worried when Erica took the keys to her black four door 1988 Pontiac.
00:13:30
Speaker
But when Erica did not return home, her mother did actually phone police pretty quickly. And as I mentioned earlier, you know, she was hanging out with that different group of people. And because that group of people had a reputation in town of partying, many in the community believed that Erica was just being a rebellious teen and would eventually show up and even police like had this assumption of her. That angers me.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah. Y'all already know how I feel about this. Yeah. Yeah. Same. The assumption that just because, you know, first of all, I don't like the assumption anyway, because I, I'm always like better safe than sorry. So I feel like they should always treat it seriously and they should never dismiss. But especially if they're judging Erica because of the other people around her.
00:14:27
Speaker
and not her own actions. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I've talked to my mom about this. Obviously, Anthony and I don't have any kids yet, but I've kind of talked to my mom about how would, as a parent, how do you handle... If your kid comes home and they're hanging out with people you don't really approve of, what do you say and do as a parent? I just am a firm believer that
00:14:54
Speaker
You can be nice and be friends with everyone. That doesn't mean you have to be like them. So just because she was with a group of kids who party doesn't mean that's how she was. Right, exactly.
00:15:07
Speaker
And even if they party, doesn't mean that they didn't meet with foul play either, you know, if something had happened to them. Right. Exactly. Yeah. That's the same thing with like people with mental health issues that doesn't discredit like what happens to them just because they have a history of like a mental health issue. So is this like, I mean, I know we've talked about it a lot, but I guess it's pretty common then. So I actually was really curious about that. And I really tried to Google and see if I could find like,
00:15:37
Speaker
how many missing children are labeled initially as like runaways or just like, they'll show up later type cases. And I couldn't really find like a specific answer. Maybe I just wasn't using like the correct word combination, but I did find a one interesting statistic on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And it said that nearly
00:16:04
Speaker
26,500 runaways are reported to them, were reported to them in the year 2020. And one in six of those are victims of sex trafficking. And I feel like that's a massive number. Golly, one in six? Yeah, that's like over 4,000 kids, is it not? Oh, well, there's our percentage. See, I'm good with percentages. But when you get into statistics like that, then my brain doesn't work.
00:16:34
Speaker
Sure. But I'm like, that's a lot of victims for sex trafficking. And like, in the intro, I kind of talked about like, how could the world be different if things like certain circumstances have been different. And like, imagine how their cases could have turned out if they had been like, correctly investigated and labeled at the beginning.
00:17:00
Speaker
And that's what I'm saying. I get that it takes finances. I get that it takes manpower. But I would much rather take something seriously and save 4,000 children than to not. You know what I mean? Because I'm afraid of, I don't know, investigating something where the person will turn up. I'd rather save the kids.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like it's better to be like over, like over cautious. Yeah. Another article I found called rethinking runaways and missing children, which was super fascinating by the way. And from what I can gather was written by like some type of veteran, like law enforcement persons. Mm-hmm.
00:17:55
Speaker
But this author talks about like the shift that we saw in how domestic violence cases were handled because they were talking about like the first domestic violence case that they ever. Went on like they basically just took the husband to a hotel and was like if you go back you'll get arrested like you know there wasn't any like.
00:18:20
Speaker
And so now, you know, we've had a shift. So if there is like a domestic violence dispute, there's, you know, actual like consequences for that. And they were saying, they were saying we need to approach
00:18:32
Speaker
have that same attitude towards missing children. And this is a long quote, but it was really good. So I've included the whole thing. So that article says, quote, it is time that we have the same cultural shift in regards to runaways as in domestic violence.
00:18:49
Speaker
Instead of approaching the report of a voluntary missing young person as a delinquency matter, let's teach recruits and veterans alike to approach these cases from the standpoint of protecting the child. The actions taken by the first responders and call takers are the most important factors in protecting the missing child regardless of how they went missing.
00:19:09
Speaker
We know from over 100 case reviews conducted by the Amber Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program that in cases where the first responders failed to properly assess the circumstances, secure crime scenes, missed evidence or suspect information, the success rate in terms of successfully recovering the missing child plummeted. An estimated 71% of runaways
00:19:32
Speaker
are thought to have been endangered during their runaway episode. Factors such as substance dependency, use of hard drugs, sexual or physical abuse, presence in a place where criminal activity was occurring or because they're extremely young age, 13 years old or younger, place even the voluntary runaway at risk one. Every runaway case should be considered in terms of potential threats facing the child, not the acts of the child.
00:19:59
Speaker
First responders and call takers need to determine if there are elements present that suggest the child is running from abuse in the home or if they have been lured away by a predator through the use of technology or grooming. Were they abducted or are they voluntarily missing
00:20:15
Speaker
but at risk to many dangers that threaten the runaway child. If we looked at it from the perspective of threats to the child rather than the delinquency of the child, we would see an improvement in how we approach these cases from the onset." End quote. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, because it brings up great points because even if it looks like a child running away is voluntary, what are they running away from?
00:20:44
Speaker
And that's the big question. Exactly. And like, just because they, like you said, they voluntarily did it or in Erica's case, she's voluntarily staying like away because she's like, quote unquote rebellious. That doesn't make it any less of a risk for her because if she's out doing things she shouldn't be doing or with people she shouldn't be with, like she's still in danger. Yeah, exactly.
00:21:13
Speaker
Like, so yes, the person that wrote this article. Yes. We support you. Absolutely. Okay. So anyways, off my soapbox, back to Erica's case. Um, so as the night turned into day, so remember her parents call like that night when she isn't home. So we're into the next day. There's still no sign of Erica. This is sounding a lot like Randy Leach.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yes, it is. And as a teacher, this pulls out my heartstrings and I think it will. You too, Allison. But Erika's friends recall their high school principal like pleading over the intercom
00:21:55
Speaker
for anyone with information about where she may be to come forward to police. And that just is sad to me. Yeah. But despite that plea, nothing significant came forward. Either they were tight lipped like in the Randy Leach case or they really just didn't know anything because police did not make any type of significant breakthrough discovery.
00:22:21
Speaker
It wouldn't be until weeks later, they discovered Erica's car abandoned in between bells of hay on like a really country. Cause you all know, I can't say that R word. So they find her car in between like hay bells on this country road. Okay. So that's odd. I mean, we grew up in the country. You're not driving your car.
00:22:49
Speaker
in a field through hay bales and then leaving it there.
Investigation and Speculations on Foul Play
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah. And you're leaving your purse, your cash, your checks, like you're leaving all that. It's no, I don't think so. And that was only about approximately a mile from the video in tan. So if you remember, that was the last place most people agree that Erica was seen alive. The chief, I know like what it gets, it gets a little stranger though. You're like, what happened?
00:23:19
Speaker
to get from the video in Tan to this Hayfield. Yeah. And I never read like what is in this case that I like what I'm telling you is like basically everything I read that this is it. Like we don't have a whole lot of information. Honestly. Okay.
00:23:42
Speaker
Chief Deputy Bobby Scott from like their local police department told Dateline that authorities found Erica's car abandoned on a country road like later into that day. The keys were missing and her purse was still inside the car and it was completely untouched. However, there wasn't anything in the car or around it. There was nothing that would help piece together what happened the night that Erica disappeared. So we have our purse and
00:24:14
Speaker
That's about it. So obviously she's not going to run away without her purse because she wouldn't have any cash. Like she wouldn't have any means to get anywhere. Plus why would she abandon her car if she wants to get away? Yeah. That's what I was about to say. Like if she was like the intent was that she's going to run away. Like you literally have a car. So why would you abandon it? Like you're going to get further in a car than on fit. Exactly.
00:24:40
Speaker
And Logan Johnson's article called Kentucky communities still fearful 20 years after Erica Frazier disappears. Deputy Scott said this about the evening that they found Erica's car quote, there was nothing in the car that would lead anyone to believe that there was foul play. We weren't even able to find fingerprints. There were no foreign hairs, nothing in the purse. This also, I thought Allison, you would think is kind of strange.
00:25:06
Speaker
Erica's car was actually reported to police by a group of teenagers, which I thought was strange. Like, so it's so far off the road that people can't just see it? Yeah, I'm assuming that it's kind of like I picture it being hidden because bells of hay are big. And if this is a small car, it's a Pontiac, so it's not going to be that big. I think it could be hidden if it's placed the correct way. If it was found by a group of teenagers, then that means
00:25:34
Speaker
This was a place that teenagers went. Right. So I don't know if again, maybe like, this is where the party comes into play. Like, is this where like a party may have taken place and the car was just left. You know, I get that the video in Tan was what was in, you know, all of the different articles that you read, but the placement of the car and it being found by a group of teenagers.
00:26:04
Speaker
Again, I would infer then that this is a place where teenagers hang because why else would they have, you know, you wouldn't just happen upon it in a hay field that isn't frequented often. And so- I didn't read, I didn't read like maybe like, unless their family like owned the farm and they're like- I mean, that could be true. Right, that could be true. But it's worth looking into, I think.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's an interesting theory. Um, and actually authorities have gone back several times, um, to check the area. They really didn't find anything. They eventually, like weeks after finding Erica's car. Um, and actually I think I misspoke, like her car was found almost the next day. It was her keys that were found. Yeah. It was her keys that were found later during one of the searches.
00:26:58
Speaker
And they were only like 100 yards away from her car. So like, how good did you search dudes that you missed the keys that were 100 yards away from her car? Right. But then like, was she running? Was she, cause even if you're at a party, it doesn't make sense that your car would be found with your person, but your keys are a hundred yards away.
00:27:24
Speaker
And everything that I read about the keys it almost seemed like they had been hidden like it all like i'm pretty sure in one article I read that they were under like a bush or under some leaves or something. So were people like playing a prank or were they. You know, like messing with her hiding her keys so she couldn't.
00:27:46
Speaker
Like in my mind, it just goes to someone was trying to hide the car. Like I feel like something's happened to Erica and we're hiding the car, but then why is there no evidence? So, well, and I guess I struggle because I get that there's no evidence, but at the same time, if you find a car that's hidden and you're saying that this teen ran away and wasn't, you know, smart enough to take the car.
00:28:12
Speaker
And then you find the keys and she's left her wallet and purse behind, which again, doesn't make any sense if you're going to call it a runaway. I don't see how you could say there's no sign of foul play. Because to me, a car being hidden and the keys being hidden and her purse being left behind and all of that screams foul play to me.
00:28:34
Speaker
Right, because if she's rebellious, so like if it's like the Randy Leach case and she just got drunk and was too scared to go home, like it's been weeks now. So she would have been home by now. Right. If the intention was she was abducted and the car was just disposed, I feel like the keys were very poorly hidden. If they're only 100 yards away from the car, like why didn't you flush them down the toilet or something? Right.
00:29:00
Speaker
And there were no fingerprints, but if she's running away, then she left everything she would need in the car. So it just doesn't add up in my mind. So I really think we can rule out the rebellious teen and the teen that decided to run away from home. I think so. The Charlie Project actually labels her as missing and endangered.
00:29:27
Speaker
So I don't, I don't know what that means. Like what does that mean? I would think endangered. I take that as like, whether endangered by another person or by circumstances that she's in need of help. Yeah. Like sex trafficking or something like that would be endangered as well. Right. So I guess just missing
00:29:54
Speaker
That means could mean multiple things. She could have run away or she could have been abducted, but I feel like do they make the distinction between missing and abducted? I don't know if the Charlie Project does. Okay. Unless we know, you know, absolutely for sure. Like if someone has seen someone be abducted. So the legal definition
00:30:22
Speaker
of missing endangered person is, and this is from law insider, is a person who's believed to be in danger because of age, health, mental, or physical disability in combination with environmental or weather conditions, or is believed to be unable to return to safety without assistance. Hmm. So kind of like, it's almost like a catch all. I mean, right? Yeah. Eric needs help.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. In an article called Investigators Still Pursuing Leads in the 1997 Case of Missing Teen, there have been some recent tips into Erica's case. In fact, a recent tip in the case of a missing woman led Kentucky State Police investigators and cadaver dogs to a particular stairwell at a local school searching for Erica's body. Oh, a stairwell? Yeah, but like,
00:31:17
Speaker
I feel like at a school yeah they would not disclose like the actual location because they said that if something were to come up or like they found meaning you know something significant that they wouldn't want that to like be leaked because it would be something that they would use to try to catch whoever was doing it like it would be something only the if it was foul play the killer would know but again that detail makes me wonder if there really were a party
00:31:50
Speaker
Because why else would there be evidence of something at a school? Yeah, I think it's strange. And that tip came in in 2020. So like, how would they have her scent? Oh, that's a good question. I mean, you're talking now, gosh, yeah, 23 years later. It's like 23 years or something. Wow. The search, they said though, did come up empty for the moment, according to this article.
00:32:21
Speaker
for the moment. So that says to me, that seems to imply that they have other places that they might be going to next. Yeah. And one of the police officers said in that article, quote, there are so many different variables. The lack of information is probably the hardest thing in a case like this. End quote. So I feel like they have a lot more that they aren't telling in her case.
00:32:51
Speaker
It sounds like it. That same trooper says leads about Erica being buried in a stairwell aren't unfamiliar to authorities. The original investigator in her case received a similar lead years prior to that. Huh. Which is weird. So we know there's a stairwell. We just maybe don't know which stairwell. Yes.
00:33:16
Speaker
And then if we're looking for her body in a stairwell, why are we saying she's missing and endangered? Yeah, or there's no foul play. I hope they've changed that ruling. I would hope that they have, especially if they're searching for remains. I mean, that exact word was used. Yeah, which means she's not gleefully living some new life somewhere.
00:33:42
Speaker
Right. And the police have said that they won't stop pursuing new tips or information that come in. So they're saying that they're dedicated to giving this family like peace of mind. He's that same officer said, everyone always wants answers. They deserve the family to know what happened to their loved one.
Suspects in Erica's Case and Community's Role
00:34:02
Speaker
I completely agree.
00:34:04
Speaker
So in Erica's case, police have actually never named an official suspect. There were a few possibilities that I found online and this was after like extensive digging into like the seventh page of Google. So one person that we're going to talk about is Shane Simcox, which is so hard for me to say so many S's. But Shane, who
00:34:35
Speaker
would have been considered one of Erica's friends from what I read online, gave an interview in November of 1997 to the Kentucky Post. And according to a blog I read, which I know it's not a reliable resource, but we're going to talk about it anyways, called Mama Loves True Crime. Good name though. Mama does love true crime.
00:34:58
Speaker
So you got to know yourself if that's the name of your blog. But they said in that interview that he actually told police that he should be the prime suspect in Erica's disappearance. Like did he say that because he was one of the last people to see her? That's exactly why he said it. Um, okay. So he claims that Erica picked him up at his house and they went driving around and he has actually never denied being with her that night. What is weird, which, you know,
00:35:26
Speaker
I know doesn't prove either way is that he refused to take a polygraph test, even to clear his own name. Hmm. He said that he wouldn't do it because of how police have treated him. But they didn't name him as a suspect. But this is not his first run in with police. Oh.
00:35:52
Speaker
Yeah, Shane actually had several past charges, which included burglary. He had also threatened a teacher and a child. And according to him, he told the teacher he was going to quote, kill her. Oh, yeah. Okay, so I get why he's nervous, because even if he's innocent, because of his past and those comments, it's, it's not gonna look good.
00:36:21
Speaker
Yeah, I would I feel like he would be someone police would get stuck on like this is this is him. This is him right, right? Um Either way he still remains in many people's eyes The main person of interest in this case because he was the last person to see her alive and something else I read On one of the websites is that his current whereabouts are actually unknown at this time which
00:36:47
Speaker
Okay. I mean, could be because of guilt, but to play devil's advocate could be because everybody in this small town views him as, you know, the perpetrator. And it's hard to get past judgment and rumors unless he were to have left. Oh, exactly. And I think we've covered a few cases where
00:37:16
Speaker
like family members or people that were proven to not be involved have actually had to move away from town where people couldn't move past it. So this is a little odd, but in 1998, a self-proclaimed psychic named Sylvia Brown appeared on the Montel Williams TV show and in
00:37:38
Speaker
Yeah. And in that show, she stated that Erica was at the bottom of a lake near Brooksville. Hmm. I guess she had a premonition. Despite the fact that this woman, you know, was a self-proclaimed psychic police run with her theory and they searched the lake, even though it was based solely on her like paranormal abilities, but nothing was found.
00:38:06
Speaker
So she would go on later again to the Montel show and claim that a specific man was connected to Erica's disappearance and that he was involved. And from what I read, this man's name was Chris Miner. Hmm. So tell me about this Chris Miner.
00:38:27
Speaker
So there's not a whole lot about him. Really, all we know is that shortly after this Montel Williams show, he shot his wife to death and then killed herself. So does commit murder. Yeah. Yeah. But he actually ended up being cleared by police. And this was even before the show aired.
00:38:52
Speaker
And his family actually went on to like sue over this incident because they said it was like slander. Which, I don't blame them. You can't go on there and just like name somebody, be like, oh, Maggie Dameron robbed a bank. Yeah. Okay. I had a vision Maggie robbed Krispy Kreme. She took all of the donuts. Yeah.
00:39:19
Speaker
All the glazed donuts are gone. Another person who I've read about in a possible connection to Erica's case is another Chris. And this I checked like 10 times because I have never heard this last name. And I was like, this has to be a mistake. But this person's name is Chris below. Oh, like below zero. Hmm.
00:39:41
Speaker
And I kept saying like, are they saying like Chris pictured below, like I'm missing something? Yeah. Is there supposed to be a comma there? But he was a suspect in a very similar case of some missing young women. They had dark hair like she did. They looked very similar in build. He actually was sent to prison in Ohio in 2004 for involuntary manslaughter and the disappearance of a girl named Catherine.
00:40:09
Speaker
And he has been looked at there, like looked into thoroughly, says all investigators with Erica's case. And yet obviously they've looked into it thoroughly and not named him a person of interest. Then they couldn't find enough connection. Yeah, and that I think has frustrated police. Something I did find in an article that wasn't about Erica, but it was about this Chris dude.
00:40:39
Speaker
so that they took his saliva samples.
00:40:42
Speaker
when he was in black while he's been in prison after he confessed to the murder of a young woman in Ohio. It was the investigators and Catherine's murder case that tracked down Chris in Evansville in 2003 and started questions about other unsolved cases in the region. He and Evansville Police Department Detective Brent Milton originally tried to link the Western Kentucky native to five missing or murdered women. And Erica has been added to that list.
00:41:13
Speaker
Wow. So she is still being looked at then it makes it sound like in connection with this Chris below. Yeah, like, I mean, he potentially did this to a lot of other women. So this could almost be like a cereal type thing. Mm hmm.
00:41:36
Speaker
So Erica disappeared in October of 1997 and another girl that they are looking into vanished just two months later and her body was eventually found in the Ohio River. So maybe the psychic
00:41:55
Speaker
was close on two accounts. Oh, cause the water. The water because it wasn't Erica, but it was somebody else potentially by this guy. And she said Chris, but she said the wrong last name. So maybe she knows more than what we gave her credit for. You know what, maybe now obviously you can't go around just naming people, but maybe she was close.
00:42:23
Speaker
She was on to something. She could have been on to something. As you can tell, there are a few leads in Erica's case. Her parents have both died in the years since her disappearance. Due to a lack of evidence as to her fate, her disappearance is being investigated as a missing person, rather than a crime, like as I had stated before. So I don't, like, Alison, what are your final thoughts on Erica?
00:42:50
Speaker
So I'm not exactly sure just because we don't have fingerprints and we don't have a whole lot of evidence, but I'm inclined to believe that she did go someplace after the video and tan, potentially a party. I feel strongly with the continued connection to
00:43:17
Speaker
schools and stairwells that it could potentially have either been foul play involving other students or if of the theories that you presented, I think this final one, the Chris below is probably the most likely. And it sounds like he was targeting, I think you said young girls. So potentially there's a connection to a school there if he, you know, if he were like,
00:43:47
Speaker
looking at, say, high schools, you know, picking out or stalking victims or something like that. So I'm not exactly sure what, but I do not believe that it was voluntary. And I do believe that she did meet with foul play.
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah and just like us police had very little to go on so they've named no official suspects and that's really all we have for Erica. I picture many of our kids in the face of Erica Allison. You can look at her and see the willingness to change the world. It is like her eyes are holding all of her dreams but sadly things in Erica's life would come into play that would change the way she influenced the world.
00:44:34
Speaker
After Erica's death, many of her classmates no longer had the courage to go away to college. In a town of fewer than 700, a girl falling off the face of the earth just doesn't happen. Erica's hometown was shattered, her classmates were left heartbroken. Amanda Lang, Erica's best friend, told Dateline that her life plans changed drastically after Erica disappeared. Suddenly, she was too afraid.
00:44:56
Speaker
to leave her house or to even go away to college. She said, I was supposed to go to a local university for college on a graphic arts degree and I was too scared to leave. So I stayed home and went to the community college and I just never left. I was always too scared.
00:45:13
Speaker
She would go on to tell Dateline that she and Erica spent nearly every day together, laughing and passing notes in class. They even shared a locker at their high school. That last day in school though, just before Erica went missing, the two friends had argued. It would be Amanda's final memory with her best friend. Life is too short to fill that type of guilt. I hope that Amanda is able to finally tell Erica that she is sorry and that she treasured her friendship. Sleuth hounds, maybe we can help bring Erica home.
00:45:41
Speaker
alive or otherwise. If you have any information in the disappearance of Erica Frazier, please call Kentucky State Police at 1-859-428.
00:45:54
Speaker
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00:46:16
Speaker
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