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E056: Kristen Modafferi
1.5k Plays5 years ago
After flying to San Francisco for the summer, 18-year-old Kristen Modafferi told her sister that she was “learning about life.” Unfortunately, life has a dark side.
Link to order form for the cookbook: http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=009
Link to order form for the bracelet:
http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=010
If you would like to make a donation to the Kristen Foundation, please see the link below:
http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=107
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Transcript
Inspiration to Start Your Own Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
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?
00:00:20
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.
00:00:50
Speaker
Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform. So, what are you waiting for?
Buzzsprout Benefits and Referral Codes
00:01:02
Speaker
Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our Coffee & Cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes,
00:01:13
Speaker
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. 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. Now it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
Who Are the Sleuthhounds?
00:01:38
Speaker
If you've ever found yourself wondering why I call all of our listeners Sleuth Hounds, it's because the name implies someone who looks into all avenues to solve a puzzle, someone who looks beyond the surface, and who continually asks questions, who follows every trail in search of an answer.
00:01:59
Speaker
The name also calls to mind images of a bloodhound on the trail of an evil doer, simultaneously sniffing and seeking the truth. In my mind, the bloodhound also looks like Sherlock Holmes, complete with a hat, pipe, and maybe even a monocle.
00:02:16
Speaker
And the association of a dog in search of the truth makes sense, as dogs are miraculous seekers of sense and of explanations for those sins, in much the same way as Maggie and I explore multiple possibilities in our cases and seek explanations as well.
00:02:35
Speaker
In the case of our furry friends, what makes them so miraculous is, of course, their sniffers. If you've ever caught yourself speculating how in the world your dog can wake up from a deep sleep halfway across the house only seconds after you've opened that container of leftovers, it's because dogs have roughly 300 million smell receptors.
The Power of Dogs' Sense of Smell
00:03:00
Speaker
where humans only have 6 million. In fact, according to the article, Fun Facts About Your Dog's Sense of Smell, scientists believe their sense of smell is between 10,000 and 100,000 times stronger than that of a human. And your dog's nose being cold and wet? It's its way of trapping scent particles from the air.
00:03:26
Speaker
Combine this quality with the fact that dogs can separate the smells to focus on a single one, and you've got an invaluable skill.
00:03:37
Speaker
These combined abilities are so strong that dogs can not only smell and follow animals, food, explosives, human scent, and drugs, but they can also smell diseased trees that show no signs of external damage, disease-ridden mosquitoes,
00:03:59
Speaker
cancer and other infectious diseases, medications, falling glucose levels in their owner, and potentially even COVID-19. Those studies are still being conducted, but most miraculously, it seems that dogs can even smell human emotions. So when a highly trained search dog in this week's story hit on the scent of human DNA,
00:04:29
Speaker
I think it's important that we pay attention.
The Mystery of Kristen Modifari's Disappearance
00:04:32
Speaker
Despite the fact that a replicating study used a method that's a new advancement, are these scents leading us down the right path and once found and believed? What might they reveal? Those are the questions we need to ask this week. Those are the questions surrounding the case of Kristen Modifari.
00:05:11
Speaker
Oh,
00:05:31
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. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:05:50
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. Okay, it's that time again, Slootowns. When we come to you asking for ratings on Apple Podcasts, and we hope
00:06:17
Speaker
The last time ever that we asked because we are only one away from our goal. One. Look at how much you've helped us reach our goal just like we knew you could. It was a lofty goal. We knew that and we've continually acknowledged that and with you, we're able to meet that goal. You have shown up and we're so grateful for you. If you are that one person who has yet to raid us,
00:06:42
Speaker
Never fear. You have time right now. Just hit pause and give us that five-star rating. We are one rating away from a bonus episode. Keep sharing, Sleuthhounds. This week of all weeks, please share us with someone new. Tweet about us. Share a link on your Instagram. Share one of our posts on your Facebook page. Post to that cold case group on Facebook for others to listen to our show. Just make sure that you follow us on social media. Coffee and Cases podcast on Facebook.
00:07:12
Speaker
Or as always, listen in each week to know when that bonus episode will air. Hopefully, we will be sharing it in next week's episode when you'll get that bonus content. Now, let's really get into the show.
Emotional Impact on Families of the Missing
00:07:25
Speaker
Maggie, you know this to be true. There is no such thing as an easy case that we cover. Yeah, no clear answers. No, we don't discuss cases that have just one potential suspect. And no matter the outcome, either the victim's body being found or the victim vanishing into thin air, there is no easy emotion either for the families of the victims.
00:07:53
Speaker
It's not easy to know that you won't share holidays with your loved one. It's not easy to know that your family member is no longer here and not being able to find justice by the perpetrator paying the price for his or her crime. And it's definitely not easy to have no answers because your family member just
00:08:16
Speaker
vanished to not know where, to not know who did it, and to not even know in which direction to look for clues. And it's this last scenario, Maggie, that is the case for the Modifari family at the center of our case this week. Okay. Which is really sad. Yes. To not even know where to begin. No. So let me tell you the details that we do have.
00:08:42
Speaker
Kristin Modiferri was the second of four daughters of Robert and Deborah Modiferri. She was born on June 1st, 1979 in Danbury, Connecticut. So this is only like four months after I was born. So I kind of put myself in her shoes when I think about this case, same age. Her parents had been high school sweethearts and her father, an electrical engineer, and her mother, a teacher,
00:09:12
Speaker
So similar to being an Anthony. When I researched it, they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina with their little family in 1988 because Robert had taken a job there. So that was where Kristen grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Okay.
00:09:31
Speaker
Kristen, a beautiful, vivacious brunette with these deep dimples and a sweet smile, was also Maggie brilliant and inquisitive.
00:09:44
Speaker
According to the article Without a Trace by Matt Birkbeck in 1997, so when I graduated high school, Kristin had already in her short 18 years done so much. She sang acapella and she had actually traveled to Russia with her high school chorus.
Kristen Modifari's Background and Ambitions
00:10:05
Speaker
I know that sounds like fun.
00:10:07
Speaker
In addition to her singing skills, like I said, she was also brilliant. She actually scored 1570 on her SATs. Wow. Yeah, that's on for those of you Slootowns who don't know on a 1600 point scale. So only 30 points off of perfect. And the average score in 1997 was a 1015 and she scored 1570.
00:10:33
Speaker
So super smart. Yeah, she's a genius. She is. She skipped a grade in school and still scored that. So she's a year younger than most people taking the ACTs and still almost got a perfect score. You're so girl. I know. And she had been awarded a full ride to North Carolina State University. And I mean, Maggie, I consider myself decently intelligent. She blows me out of the water.
00:11:00
Speaker
I mean, she's so impressive. Yeah, I'm impressed. So at age 18, when I was debating which college to attend, what classes to take, still undecided as to my major. I didn't decide to English until the second semester of my freshman year. Hey, no, mine was first. Mine was first semester. Was it?
00:11:21
Speaker
Yeah, it was after a week. It was after my biology lab final and I, cause I had hated biology the whole time and I just was not like naturally good at that. And there was a kid in there that was finishing up his bio lab, his biology to lab and they were dissecting cats. And I was like, no, it's strange. I'm into English right now. Yeah. Well that comment about cats.
00:11:50
Speaker
You'll know when I get to the point in the story why that rings a bell for me. Okay. But I'll just put that on the back burner. Okay. So while we, while I was still deciding what I wanted to do with my life, Kristin was already about to be a college sophomore. She graduated a year early. She had already chosen her career path as an industrial design.
00:12:15
Speaker
Okay. She had discovered and honed a love for photography and she had chosen to take a summer trip to San Francisco to develop that love of photography.
00:12:29
Speaker
She is an impressive girl. Yeah, but driven, independent, dedicated. Yes. And the reason she was able to take that trip and wanted to take that trip is because she was actually awarded a scholarship at North Carolina State University. And part of that scholarship program, they were called the Park Scholars.
00:12:52
Speaker
She was encouraged, along with the other students in that program, to spend a summer either domestically or abroad in a new city to develop, you know, a perspective of the world. So it's supposed to be this enriching experience. And then when they return to school in the fall for their sophomore year, they would share about their various experiences.
00:13:17
Speaker
That sounds fun. Yeah. And I have to add here as a side note, this story of Chris and Matafairy is in no way meant to discourage such an exploration of the world. I took a similar trip. I know I've talked to you about it, Maggie, when I did a semester abroad at Oxford University when I was in college.
00:13:35
Speaker
I'm telling you the impact of that trip, it still influences me today. And I do think it is so important to see the world and get perspectives different from your own. Definitely. And I feel like because I went on that trip, I also understand Kristen's excitement about going off on her own to see the world and assert her independence.
00:14:00
Speaker
I get it. And I mean, she was traveling a long way too. She was traveling all the way across the country. So from North Carolina to California. I was too big of a scaredy cat. I was never brave enough to do any of this study abroad things. And I really regret it. I wish I would have. I could see you doing it now though.
00:14:18
Speaker
Yeah, definitely now, for sure. Yeah. So she moved all this way just to kind of prove to herself that she could, to explore her interest. And even though she was 18 when she made that trip, and I was 20 when I made mine, I get how much the excitement that you feel can overpower any fear. I mean, at that age, there's this very real sense of independence and assurance of your own self, you know, that like nothing bad is gonna happen to me. Like you're, like yeah, like you're untouchable.
00:14:48
Speaker
And I know my mom was so much more nervous about my travels than I was. Yeah, you're probably like, bye. I know. I'm going to have so much fun. I'll see you in a few months. Yeah. And I know that Kristen's parents likely felt the same as mine. Her father, Robert, was a bit more understanding of the opportunity that Kristen was going to have. But her mother, Deborah, she just needed a little bit more convincing.
00:15:13
Speaker
She sounds like my mom. Right, yeah. I think moms are naturally hesitant. Eventually though, both of her parents were in agreement. According to that article I mentioned earlier by Birkbeck, Deborah, Kristin's mom, stated, quote, she was so excited about the whole thing we couldn't say no. She was really ready to grow up, end quote.
00:15:38
Speaker
And Kristen did show that she was responsible, Maggie. Here's what she did. She arranged for a place to live, which was a $500 a month room in Oakland, which sounds like a lot to me, even today, let alone at $97. But I guess, I mean, it is California and I've always heard how expensive it is to live there. Yeah, but it's really pretty and I kind of wish I could live there.
00:16:02
Speaker
but that's pricey. Yeah. But she had already arranged for a place to live, so she knew where she was gonna stay. She had enrolled in a photography course at UC Berkeley to take while she was there that summer, and it was a course that she had already paid the $925 tuition fee for.
00:16:21
Speaker
And she had already found a job as a barista at Spinelli's coffee shop that was in Crocker Galleria in San Francisco's financial district. So found a place to live, enrolled in a class, and found a job. Look at her. I know. So I mean, I get why her parents were like, yes, she's responsible. She's got this. The only thing so far, Maggie,
00:16:49
Speaker
As a parent myself now, that likely would have given me pause is that she found the room that she was going to stay in from an ad on Craigslist. Craigslist was a thing in 1997.
00:17:05
Speaker
Yes. And the room that she was going to rent was in a house where four young professional men were also living. And
00:17:26
Speaker
Okay, so my hesitancy, it might not be what you think. It's not that I wouldn't want my daughter staying with men necessarily, but I mean, if I'm honest, that does give me some pause. Yeah. But what would worry me the most is that she could have stayed in the dorms on campus. Oh yeah. Yeah. And I feel like that would have been way safer. Yeah.
00:17:52
Speaker
But as I said, Kristen was independent and she didn't want to stay in the dorm. She wanted to explore the city, to know what it was like to live there, like truly live there.
00:18:04
Speaker
And it was on her 18th birthday on June 1st, 1997, that she set out on a plane bound for San Francisco a little more than three weeks before her photography class was set to begin on June 24th because she wanted to, you know, start her job, get some spending money and explore the city before getting into classes. And then you and I both know once you start classes, time is much more limited.
00:18:30
Speaker
Yeah, zero fun. Nothing. Yeah, study, study. Well, there were some people who had fun in college. Yeah. I was the one who was, my dad would call me and he would be like, what are you doing, Allison? And I'm like, oh, I'm studying for a, you know, psychology test or I'm writing an English paper. And he would be like, why don't you go to a party?
00:18:52
Speaker
I'm like, Ellen, I'm reading the complete works of Emily Dickinson right now. What are you doing? I'm a little busy. No, but yeah, she wanted to get out there and just explore. And that's exactly what she
The Start of Kristen's Disappearance
00:19:05
Speaker
was doing. Her father had called her though around June 25th or 26th. I mean, they had talked obviously since she had been out there, but he did call her on June 25th or 26th.
00:19:19
Speaker
And he had left a voicemail for Kristin on the house answering machine, likely excited to hear how her first photography class had gone. Oh yeah. Because she remembered how it started June 24th. Yeah. So it was actually shocking to him when it wasn't his daughter who returned his call, but one of her roommates who returned it. So was this like
00:19:47
Speaker
Her cell phone? No, cell phones weren't really big in 97. Yeah, I was in like first grade, so. Yeah, because I can remember, I mean, I had a cell phone, but it was like four emergencies. Okay, so this would have been like a landline in her room or something. Yeah, so there was a home phone with an answering machine. Okay.
00:20:14
Speaker
And so of course the roommates heard his message that he left for Kristen and one of the roommates called him back. And what the roommate said in the call was even more shocking. I don't know. The 24-year-old web designer roommate
00:20:33
Speaker
told Robert that neither he nor any of the other roommates had seen Kristen for several days, not since June 23rd, the day before her photography class was set to begin. So have they talked to police? No.
00:20:51
Speaker
Okay. So he told Robert that they were beginning to get to get concerned, which is why he returned Robert's call, right? And he actually told Kristen's dad that they had not reported her disappearance to police because they had assumed that maybe she made a friend
00:21:13
Speaker
or met a boy or had gone on an impromptu trip with somebody and had been staying with him or her and none of those sound like her. Well she is fiercely independent and there are some details that I'm going to give you in just a second which then you're going to be like well maybe because as much as I want to be mad Maggie that they hadn't reported anything sooner or called her parents sooner
00:21:44
Speaker
I kind of have to admit that I understand where they're coming from because remember they had just met Kristen themselves. That's true. So like they wouldn't know what is or isn't abnormal behavior for her. And they did later tell her parents that Kristen was always going on little adventures around the city.
00:22:08
Speaker
And so like she would get up early for work and pack a bag so that the minute she got off work, she would just head out to explore different neighborhoods in San Francisco or Oakland, or she would have a bag packed to go to different beaches or different attractions that the city had to offer. So this was pretty common of her to, again, go on these little adventures.
00:22:34
Speaker
And like you said, like they don't really know her and most call, okay, not most, but some college students, like I had a roommate in college that I hardly ever saw.
00:22:46
Speaker
She, her things were in my dorm, but she's basically lived with her boyfriend. Her parents just didn't know. So, I mean, I can kinda get that, I guess. Yeah, so, I mean, and like even in that Birkbeck article, Kristin's older sister, Allison, said, quote, she was looking for something bigger than what she had in Charlotte. She would call and tell us she was learning about life, end quote.
00:23:13
Speaker
And she had even enrolled in a belly dancing class at YMCA, which again sounds like a lot of fun. And so I guess I just have to keep telling myself at least this roommate called. Right, yeah. But now Kristen's father, obviously in shock himself, also had this horrible responsibility of telling his wife that their sweet daughter was missing.
00:23:39
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know what I would say or do. Yeah, or how you would even go about, yeah, forming words to say it. Yeah. They called the police station to report Kristen missing that day. So on the 26th. So nobody has seen her since the 23rd.
00:23:57
Speaker
So they call the police, report her missing on the 26th. They take the first flight to California that they could get on. They went straight from the airport to police headquarters in Oakland.
00:24:12
Speaker
Right? Because where she was staying was in Oakland. And once they got there, they were told, are you ready to be mad and frustrated, Maggie? Always. Okay. They were told that because it was after four on a Friday, the officers who had been assigned to Kristin's case had gone home for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Monday.
00:24:34
Speaker
Oh, okay. Cool. Well, how about you let me speak to somebody else then? I know. And like, I get that detectives obviously deserve time off. I am not saying that they can't spend time with their families, that they need to be 24 seven every day, you know, looking into cases, but I do feel like the officers who get assigned to cases in my mind should be on different shifts so that there can be a continued focus on finding missing persons.
00:25:03
Speaker
I mean obviously I'm an outsider and you know I don't honestly understand all of the logistics that go into it but that would make sense to me. And I still like I mean even if they had to be on the same shift they still should not be like oh well it's Friday so you just need to come back in on Monday to talk about your missing daughter who's been missing since the 23rd. I know and
00:25:27
Speaker
You're about to get frustrated again because, as you can guess, Maggie, because Kristen had already turned 18, albeit only by a couple of weeks, what do you think was the first assumption by the police? She probably ran away. Yep, ran away.
00:25:46
Speaker
And because of that initial assumption, you know, we've seen it before that Kristen had just decided to go on a trip as a legal adult without letting her parents know. Their thinking was, you know, adding a few days to the investigation wasn't that big of a deal, right? So annoying. It was just another few days to give Kristen the chance to come back on her own.
00:26:12
Speaker
That's super frustrating. It is super frustrating. But by Monday, June 30th, Kristen still hadn't shown up, nor has she called
Clues and Leads in Kristen's Case
00:26:22
Speaker
anyone. And now it had been a full week since anyone had seen her. I'm shaking my head. You all could see right now.
00:26:32
Speaker
In the meantime, since Robert and Deborah were already in town, they decided to see what they could find on their own, right? Which is exactly what I would do. There's no way I would just sit back and wait until Monday. So they went to pay a visit to Kristen's roommates to see what information maybe they would be able to provide and to look around Kristen's room.
00:26:55
Speaker
So after leaving the police station, obviously disheartened, they went straight to investigate the room that she had been renting at the house located at 274 Jane Avenue in Oakland. Once they got there, her parents saw normal items. There was a letter from one of her younger sisters that she had just recently sent. There were photographs of the family, so she wouldn't feel homesick.
00:27:22
Speaker
Her clothes were still neatly put away. Some of them were hanging out to dry on the clothesline in the back, which tells me nothing is in disarray. Yeah, and I also think that she clearly didn't go on a trip or go to stay with someone because she left everything, she left clothes on the clothesline. Right, I know. And it's not detailed new that I think, yeah, it tells me that she had planned on coming back.
00:27:54
Speaker
not going for several days or somewhere. Exactly. Because why would you just leave all your belongings or like your clothes out on the clothesline? It doesn't make sense. Exactly. But when her personal belongings were searched more thoroughly, they did find one thing that was out of the ordinary.
00:28:14
Speaker
Per the written account of Kristen's case on the Charlie Projects website, in searching Kristen's room, a newspaper was found in the trash. And I'll go ahead and tell you, Maggie, on some of the other research articles that I read, they noted that this newspaper wasn't found until much later. But whenever it was found, it doesn't change what was interesting about the paper. So I'm gonna go ahead and share it now. Okay.
00:28:42
Speaker
So upon opening the rolled up newspaper, they noticed that a personal advertisement had been marked.
00:28:50
Speaker
Circled on the page was an ad that read the following, quote, friends, female seeking friends to share activities who enjoyed music, photography, working out, walks, coffee, or simply the beach, exploring the Bay area. Interested, call me end quote. Well,
00:29:20
Speaker
I'm not gonna lie. Like, I don't, I mean, like, I don't have a very big circle of friends. I mean, it's like you and a few other people, you know? So, and I've kind of always been that way. So if I was in a new town, like, I mean, I could kind of see myself circling that advertisement and be like, oh, look, I can make a friend. I know, exactly. I would do the exact same thing. And,
00:29:48
Speaker
What's interesting though, Maggie, is we don't know if Kristen had placed that ad herself. True. Because admittedly it does sound like her, because look at the interest. It's music. Remember she sings a cappella, went to Russia. Photography. Exploring the city, which is exactly what she did. Coffee. Coffee, yup. She works at a coffee shop. So she could have placed the ad and maybe she circled it because she was excited, because right there it was. And remember, this is like,
00:30:17
Speaker
pre, you know, everybody having cell phones, pre-Facebook. So I mean, this is a way to meet people and she hadn't started her photography class yet. So either she created the ad or she could just as likely have seen the ad and circled it because it sounded, you know, like you just said, like a kindred spirit. But wouldn't
00:30:41
Speaker
If it has like interested, call me when her phone number be listed. Thank you for saying that because that is my huge problem with this detail that I cannot get over. It confuses me so much. So
00:30:59
Speaker
What the police said is, first of all, they didn't know who had written the ad, nor did they know if Kristen had responded to the ad. And when police investigated it, they actually contacted the newspaper, but the newspaper had already purged the records by the time they knew to follow up on the lead. But it's that detail that you just said that confuses me, because if there was an ad that said, call me, right, and they had the newspaper with the ad in it,
00:31:28
Speaker
there would be a phone number listed. Right, because even if she didn't write it, even if she was like, ooh, this could be my new best friend, she would have to have a way to contact this person. It's not like they have ESP, it would know to me. Meet her at... I'm getting vibes. She wants me to meet her at the coffee shop at 4.30.
00:31:51
Speaker
I feel it. Yeah. They would have a phone number to follow up. And so the only thing I can think is that the person who wrote the ad, Kristen or otherwise maybe forgot to put the phone number. But then if they did, if there wasn't a phone number for anyone to find Kristen or, you know, for Kristen to find, then I just feel like this advertisement is a red herring. Like I feel like it can't have anything to do with her disappearance.
00:32:19
Speaker
that's true right because who would have found her if she wrote the ad and didn't put a number and who would she have found if somebody else wrote the ad and didn't put a number but i feel like wouldn't police kind of figure that out though like oh this is probably just to distract us because there's no number i mean maybe
00:32:36
Speaker
But when Monday rolled around and the police did begin their investigation, now of a missing person and not of a runaway, so the parents were able to convince the police, listen, she would not have done this. Here's the kind of girl she was. Once they started their investigation, they interviewed all of Kristin's roommates who were all both helpful and cooperative.
00:32:59
Speaker
And they did discover a few more details by interviewing some of Kristin's co-workers at Spinelli Coffee, but Maggie, some of those details were conflicting. So all of them agreed that Kristin had been wearing the standard uniform. So she'd been wearing a black Spinelli's t-shirt and tan trousers.
00:33:23
Speaker
They also agreed that she had on her usual fly London sneakers and had her green Jansport backpack. They also recall her having a long sleeved blue plaid flannel shirt and that she had worked her full eight hour shift. Okay. But where she went or was headed after work is where the stories don't match up.
00:33:53
Speaker
So remember Kristen was known for going to new places nearly every day and that pattern was pretty much matched by the potential spots where her co-worker said she might have gone. So one co-worker thought that day a little out of character for Kristen that she was going to head straight back to her house in Oakland.
00:34:15
Speaker
Yeah, that does seem weird for her. Yeah. So again, that would stand out. Another coworker thought, as was mentioned in an article by Mike Moffitt, that Kristin mentioned something about needing to get directions to lands and beach because she was going to head there to go to a party.
00:34:36
Speaker
and yet another coworker recalled seeing Kristin talking to a blonde woman on the second floor of Crocker Galleria and that memory sticks because the coworker saw her around 3 45 pm and Kristin's shift had ended around 3. So that meant she had stuck around for nearly an hour after work.
00:35:01
Speaker
It was clear to the police that foul play was involved, especially as they were interviewing the coworkers and they found that Kristin had never come by to collect her $400 paycheck. Oh yeah, if you're in college, you're coming back to get that money, honey. I'd still love to get $5, let alone $400.
00:35:25
Speaker
What gets even more confusing though, Maggie, is that all of these potential theories from her coworkers hold some credence. Everyone. And I know that doesn't make sense right now, but I'll tell you how. Well, it's kind of like the theory, the sightings in the case from last week. Like they all really looked like this guy. It all seemed to make sense, but then it just wasn't. Right. So I'm going to start with what the coworker said at the end and work my way back. So the one coworker recalled the blonde woman.
00:35:55
Speaker
though who the blonde woman was has never been determined. So many people wonder if this could be the person who placed the ad in the paper somehow, right? Or was it someone whom Kristen had arranged to meet up with to go on one of her adventures? I mean, it does seem, I don't know if you would stand and talk to a stranger for 45 minutes.
00:36:20
Speaker
Right. I feel like you would have to know them. Or maybe you started talking to them about something and then some detail came up where like you have a connection. You know what I mean? Like something about green up. I'd be like, Oh, I went to Graham County High School. You know, did you know so-and-so? And then you might stand around and talk.
00:36:40
Speaker
And I did tell you because of my skepticism about the ad, my explanation as to why I don't believe this theory with the blonde woman. I do think that seeing Kristen 45 minutes after her shift would be something that would stand out in your memory. Yeah, I agree. I do agree with that.
00:36:58
Speaker
And this woman could obviously have something to do with Kristen's disappearance or just as likely could have information about where Kristen was headed next after leaving the Galleria that day. But I doubt that it's the person who placed the ad in the paper.
00:37:16
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not a fan of that theory. No, me neither. But today, 23 years later, we still don't have any more information about who the blonde woman could be. And what's more, Kristen's manager is sure that Kristen left the building alone.
00:37:34
Speaker
So some credence to that theory, I do think it's a memory that would stand out, but I don't know if that's the direction I would go in in terms of what happened to her. Yeah. So going in a different direction, another of the coworkers, remember, had recalled Kristin asking for directions to the beach.
00:37:55
Speaker
And as part of the police officer's investigation of this theory, law enforcement brought in a bloodhound to track Kristen's scent and they were in luck. The dog tracked her scent from Spinelli's coffee to the Muni 38 Geary bus stop right outside of the Galleria.
00:38:17
Speaker
And that bus route ends near Lands End Beach. Okay. You know, the co-workers said that's where she was asking for directions to. And the bloodhound picked up Kristen's scent again at the end of that route.
00:38:36
Speaker
and traced her scent to an area of Sutro Heights Park on the shore near the Sutro Bath ruins. And it was here near like this rocky terrain by the ocean that the dog lost her scent. Now, whether there was a party there or not, remember the co-worker thought she needed directions to get to a party, the authorities haven't been able to determine, but it does seem clear Maggie that Kristen was here.
00:39:04
Speaker
Okay, so that's encouraging. Yes. Now, some people worry though that because this is a rocky terrain, the sea is right there, that maybe she had lost her footing and fallen into the water and then swept out to sea. And this was an area where others had fallen to their death. But those tragedies tended to be in the winter months when it was windier and the water was colder.
00:39:33
Speaker
But I feel like we do have to question, could the same thing have happened to Kristen?
00:39:37
Speaker
I just, like, I'm just not getting that vibe. Like, I just don't think it was. She slipped and fell into the ocean. Like, I just don't get that from the story. See, I'm not either. And there is still hope that that was not Kristen's fate because, you know, I talked about how dogs, which is fascinating to me, how they can separate one scent from another. I mean, it would be like if you smell soup, but instead of smelling the soup, you're like, I smell
00:40:03
Speaker
you know, tomato paste and granulated sugar and garlic powder and, you know, like separating it. So even though the bloodhound had tracked her scent there, Maggie, it did show that she had been there, but the dog's scent can't determine when she was there.
00:40:24
Speaker
So I wonder how long does it last? I was wondering the same thing. I am not sure, but we do know this bloodhound isn't looking there until over a week after she's missing. That's true. So it must last a while.
00:40:39
Speaker
So like I said, we don't know if Lanzen Beach is the last place that Kristen went on June 23rd before she disappeared or if she had potentially gone there in the days leading up to her disappearance, right? We don't know which is the case. We just know she was there. We just don't know when. Right. And I'm with you. I'm inclined to believe that she just went there previously because of these reasons. Number one,
00:41:08
Speaker
That memory of Kristin going there would stand out just like the blonde woman because she had asked for directions, right? So that is a detail that would stand out in my mind if somebody asked me for directions, right?
00:41:24
Speaker
I feel like she probably asks people for directions all the time because she's not friendly. Now, that's what I was going to say is I feel like the memory of her asking directions would stand out in my mind, but the memory of when she asked for the directions might be a little bit more muddled because she did go on adventures all the time. And number two reason I'm not inclined to believe this theory is because police found no other evidence at the site.
00:41:51
Speaker
In an archived web article, Kristin's father also doubts this theory. He stated, quote, we really don't believe that's what happened to Kristin. It's a very tourist oriented area. So there would always be people around. If she had fallen into the water, somebody would have seen something, end quote.
00:42:13
Speaker
I didn't really think about that. I didn't think about it probably having a lot of people around and it went like after she got off work at like three, you know, three 30 or whatever, it would have been pretty crowded. I'm assuming at that time. Yeah. So I'm in, I'm inclined to believe him.
00:42:32
Speaker
The Modifari family searched for two weeks for Kristin before they had to get back to their other daughters. And in that two weeks, law enforcement continued their now diligent search. Meanwhile, Robert and Deborah wanted to raise awareness though about their daughter's disappearance and they wondered why it wasn't being blared over all forms of media.
Media Attention Challenges for Missing Adults
00:42:57
Speaker
Probably because she was 18. And you know what you're right and that I had never thought about it before researching this case and that problem that they encountered Maggie was a big one because missing children get far more media coverage they get milk cartons billboards news stories and in today's time they get amber alerts but adults not so much
00:43:22
Speaker
And Kristen had just turned 18. I mean like three weeks prior. So she was a legal adult. And so when Robert and Deborah contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, they were turned away because the center's hands were kind of tied and they can only help if Kristen had been younger than 18 and she wasn't.
00:43:53
Speaker
So were there like news stories about Kristen though? There were after her parents started calling the news stations.
00:44:02
Speaker
But what I didn't realize too is that if you're a child, then police are required to enter your name and information into a national database that's managed by the FBI that makes that information available to law enforcement across the country. But that is a luxury afforded apparently only to missing children. Well, I mean,
00:44:28
Speaker
One, I'm glad that they do that. But two, why is it only children that we do that for? Exactly. I mean, I feel like that is a legitimate issue. Yeah, because she could have been taken to Washington State. She could have been taken anywhere. And they would have no idea because they wouldn't have access to the details.
00:44:50
Speaker
Somebody needs to look into that. Right. And again, to know that your child was only three weeks too late. Oh, I'm sorry my child didn't disappear three weeks earlier. Yeah, my bad. So I can't imagine her parents' frustration and anger with the system.
00:45:07
Speaker
Luckily, in their case, they had the funds to do their own alerts. So her family actually bought billboards to put Kristen's face on. They handed out flyers with her description and her picture. They called, like I said a second ago, news stations to have her stories published, the stories concerning her disappearance. So her parents kind of took care of what should have been taken care of for them.
00:45:36
Speaker
One of those new stories aired and the final statement from one of her co-workers that Kristen had planned on going straight home was found to potentially also have some truth. And I'll get into why it could be true once I get into this theory and some of the evidence.
00:45:55
Speaker
So again, because going home and not going to explore would have been somewhat abnormal for Kristen, again, I think this is something that would stand out. Even you said that when I told you what the coworkers had said. So perhaps the most important detail to add weight to this theory though, is a call that came into the police station
00:46:20
Speaker
on July 10th after that story aired on the news and only two days after Kristen's parents headed back to Charlotte, North Carolina.
00:46:31
Speaker
Obviously, you know, them thinking, how in the world are we going to tell our other three daughters that Kristen is not with us on the return trip and about how she hadn't been found? Yeah, talk about a hard conversation. I mean, it's hard to have that conversation with your spouse even harder, I think, to share that burden with your kids. But the man who called into KGO TV San Francisco
00:46:59
Speaker
He said that Kristen had somehow gotten herself involved in a lesbian love triangle and that she had been killed when fighting off the two women's advances and that her body had been dumped off of a bridge in Port Reyes. Okay, so I feel like
00:47:22
Speaker
we went from she possibly slipped off a cliff to like she was murdered and thrown into a dumpster. That's a very big leap. A big leap. News reporter Mike Moffitt interviewed the ABC 7 news manager Bill McGee
00:47:40
Speaker
And Bill McGee had noted that he had actually believed the caller story because of the level of detail that the caller went into. But police who took cadaver dogs with them to follow up on the lead came up empty handed.
00:47:55
Speaker
And Moffat also cites in his article a 2003 Reader's Digest story in which an investigator, in Kristin's case, so not a news person, a police officer named Patrick Mahaney, he stated, quote, he gave us too many details. When people do that, we know they're not giving us a tip. They're telling us a story. That's true. That makes sense.
00:48:22
Speaker
Yeah, and it is a story that the man now says it was that he made. The man who called was named John Onuma, and he was 36 at the time, Maggie, and when police interviewed him, first he denied being the caller, because it was an anonymous call, and then he finally admitted to it. Why did he say he made up the story?
00:48:50
Speaker
He said it was because of his girlfriend, Jill Lampeau. He told police that two of Jill's coworkers had been conspiring to have her fired, and he wanted to get back at those coworkers. And that is why he made them suspects in Kristen's case. Okay, wow. Again, a bit of a stretch. Yeah.
00:49:17
Speaker
So yeah, let's just get back at somebody by making them suspects in a missing persons case. Yeah, let's make them have to be murderers. And to do that to Kristen's family. Yeah. But what is odd is that Onuma himself lived only a mile away from Spinelli's coffee.
00:49:42
Speaker
Now, several years after Christen's disappearance, Onuma admitted that while he maintained his innocence, that it was not a good idea to do what he did. Duh. Yeah. Hello. Duh. We all know this. He stated, quote, I put the attention on me when I shouldn't have and I screwed up. I took the focus off the investigation, end quote.
00:50:08
Speaker
but now Onuma lives in Hawaii. So he moved away and while he is not a suspect, he is still a person of interest in Kristen's case. Now Maggie, there are many people who believe in Onuma's guilt. Let me tell you why. First, I do have to tell you about Kristen's personality. So we know
00:50:36
Speaker
And based upon the police interviews with Kristen's roommate that were cited in Matt Kerbeck's Without a Trace article, that Kristen had a virtue that could turn to a vice in terms of her disappearance, her trusting nature. And, you know, if you're too trusting,
00:50:57
Speaker
That could be problematic. Like if you answer a newspaper article for Brian. Right. Yeah. Well, they noted, wait till you hear this, they noted that Kristen could be naive in terms of the level of trust she put in strangers. And I am too, in a lot of ways. So again, I understand. Yeah, I always see the best in people. I do too. It's a flaw. I know. And then I give people like 20 chances. Yeah, I do that too.
00:51:26
Speaker
because I always think they're gonna change. And the roommates though, they gave this illustration about Kristen's trusting nature. They said that Kristen had once missed the last train back to Oakland after a concert that she had gone to. And she actually contemplated just sleeping on a bench at the train station overnight until the first train ride the next day. Oh no. No.
00:51:53
Speaker
and then it was actually a stranger from the concert who said that's probably not a good idea right and had discouraged her from doing it but then
00:52:05
Speaker
Just as dangerously, she had taken a ride from that man, the stranger from the concert, and had slept on that man's brother's sofa that night instead. Okay, still, just as big of a no? Yeah. So, I mean, I can be trusting. I'm not that trusting. No, me either. But since Onuma lived near the last place that Kristen was seen,
00:52:33
Speaker
And she's known to have taken rides. Couldn't she have just as likely taken a ride from him that had proven deadly? That's what some people wonder. Or maybe not necessarily him, but somebody. Well, the second reason why many still suspect Onuma had something to do with it is from his own history.
00:52:58
Speaker
So while his now ex-girlfriend Jill has been cleared, claiming that she was at the library at the time, which I'm forced to believe is true because she's not a person of interest for the FBI, though I'm gonna come back to her in a second, Onuma didn't have an alibi. And stories about him instead
00:53:24
Speaker
Well, they take a slightly darker turn, Maggie. Oh lord. Oh, Numa's past was, in fact, the subject of an America's Most Wanted episode. What? In which several women came forward accusing him of attacking them.
00:53:41
Speaker
What? Yes. And while I first do want to note for you and for us Luthounds, I just want to have this on record. Onuma has never been charged with any of these accusations. Okay, so they are just accusations. But here's what those accusations were. And these were made by women who had their faces and bodies in the shadows because they were worried about repercussions.
00:54:09
Speaker
These women accused Onuma of everything from being a, quote, human vampire to one who stated on the show that, quote, he hit me over the head and said, you know, I'm going to have to kill you. I can't let you go. Then he turned around and said, now you know what happened to Kristen Motta Ferry, end quote.
00:54:34
Speaker
Oh my I just got chills. So well now you know why some people suspect them. Yeah because up until now I was like this could be literally anybody she could have got in the car with but now I'm kind of like okay. I know and on his end though Onuma swears that he never even met Kristen and Jill who is now his ex-girlfriend swears the same thing.
00:54:58
Speaker
But that doesn't stop speculation about, you know, Onuma picking her up and, you know, that maybe he attacked her just as these other women say that he attacked them. And there are still others, Maggie, who think that despite the library story that Jill is involved because
00:55:19
Speaker
Kristen did have library books in her backpack, like all the time. And Jill's alibi was having been at the library. So people are like, could there be a connection, right? And three of the women who were in the America's Most Wanted episode and some others even came forward to say, not only that Onuma had abused them, but that his ex-girlfriend Jill had lured them there.
00:55:49
Speaker
Oh, so it's kind of like almost like the something in sex trafficking, like you use somebody else to kind of lure them in. Yep. And one piece of evidence that doesn't look so hot for Onuma, nor for Jill, is that according to the Charlie Project website, police found one of Jill's journals at Onuma's home and it was missing pages surrounding the dates of Kristin Modiferri's disappearance.
00:56:18
Speaker
like had been ripped out. That doesn't look very good. Sketchy. Now again, could be coincidence. We talked about coincidence a couple episodes ago, but I don't know. Police did also find, now you're gonna get the cat connection, did also find traces of blood all throughout Onuma's apartment, but the blood was animal and not human.
00:56:45
Speaker
Now I'm thinking that this man drank this animal's blood because he was called a human vampire. I know and they found out though that one of Onuma's ex-girlfriends had cats and they actually now believe that when they broke up or had a fight that Onuma had killed the cats and that that's why there's so much cat blood. Okay first off, how dare you kill a kitten?
00:57:10
Speaker
Right. Secondly, that's like a number one sign you're a sociopath. No, that's scary to me. Yeah, I'm creeped out now. Yeah, but before I get your feedback Maggie, there are a few more details that I unfortunately need to give you that will make you question what you now likely think is what happened to Kristen. Okay. Because there are two other traces of Kristen's scent that I haven't yet mentioned.
00:57:38
Speaker
In 2015, the modifieris paid for a deeper investigation into their daughter's disappearance. During that investigation, a world-famous cadaver dog, along with his handler, who was a former police sergeant, Paul Dosti, they found traces of human remains in the basement of the house in which Kristen was renting a room.
Innovative Search Methods and Suspects
00:58:03
Speaker
Hmm.
00:58:05
Speaker
The officer, who was the dog handler, urged an excavation of the site and urged that the roommates again be interviewed.
00:58:16
Speaker
but what they ended up finding again there's no accusations of their roommates and they found that the composition of the basement floor which was a mixture of both a concrete slab and in other spots packed clay it seemed unlikely to be holding Kristen's remains down there because it would have likely required a specialized tool and not a mere shovel.
00:58:43
Speaker
It could be, you know, remains of something or someone long, long, long, long ago, but they're not thinking that it's Kristen's. Okay. But in February, 2017, so a couple years after that sent by the cadaver dog, a forensic pathologist visited the home as well. So Kristen's family has not given up. Like they're continuing to pay for investigations.
00:59:12
Speaker
Yeah, because 2017 wasn't that long ago. Right. I mean, it's 20 years after her disappearance. Well, this forensic scientist or anthropologist, he came with a device that he had invented to kind of, in my mind, mirror the tracing that we find so miraculous in dogs. His invention was designed to locate human decomposition chemicals.
00:59:42
Speaker
So like decomposition of our bodily elements. And it pinged right between 274 Jane Avenue, which is where Kristen was staying, and the neighboring house at 278 Jane Avenue.
01:00:02
Speaker
So both Dosti with his dog and the anthropologist Dr. Arpad Vass believe that they may have located not necessarily the burial site for Kristen, but the crime scene.
01:00:19
Speaker
Yep, and what's more, DNA testing of the human decomposition chemicals, which are like these volatile organic compounds, like human compounds that were found in soil samples that were taken from the site, that DNA, those human decomposition chemicals match the DNA samples that were provided by Robert and Debbie Modifari by Kristin's parents. So it's a DNA match.
01:00:48
Speaker
Yeah. But even if this is the crime scene, Maggie, it still doesn't answer the who. I still made this dude inventing a machine that can do what a dog did. Right. There was, at the time, a house in the neighborhood that was a halfway house for parole violators.
01:01:11
Speaker
So some people are like, could one of them had been dangerous? I don't know. To me, parole violation and murder are far cry from one another. But there is one final suspect who some private detectives believe could be responsible. A person who I will discuss in more detail in my next episode, Robert Durst.
01:01:37
Speaker
Ooh. That name might sound familiar to a lot of our listeners from the TV documentary The Jinx. He is a man who was accused of murdering three people, his first wife, a close friend, and his neighbor. And while some investigators dismiss Durst's involvement in Kristen's case,
01:01:59
Speaker
He is being investigated in the disappearance of another female in 1997, so the same year as Kristen's disappearance, also in California, and he was living in San Francisco at the time. But Oakland police worked alongside the FBI and they found no evidence of Durst's involvement. So, to summarize, as always, I've thrown some wrenches into the spokes and I've made it all confusing for you, but with that said, what does your gut say, Maggie?
Advocacy and Legislation for Missing Adults
01:02:29
Speaker
honestly i feel like it was none of those people like that's kind of what i feel like i feel like it i don't know i do think that she was like
01:02:41
Speaker
I do believe that the dog and the anthropologist were able to locate her crime scene site, but I didn't get any like strong vibes that it was really anybody that we talked about. Like if I'm being honest, I kind of think the roommates need to be investigated a little bit more. I know it's completely up in the air.
01:03:03
Speaker
Kristin's father has told reporters what Maggie and I already know must be true. He noted in an interview with the observer, quote, you never forget, never stop searching for an answer. End quote. The police haven't stopped either. There's an entire three foot wide file drawer filled with investigation reports, suspects, follow ups, interviews, et cetera, from Kristin's case.
01:03:30
Speaker
Kristen's family has urged other families in situations similar to their own not to stop either. One of the biggest hurdles her family faced was with the fact that Kristen was three weeks into her adulthood. Kristen's mom, Deborah, told Birkbeck, quote, it shouldn't matter how old a person is when they go missing. No one should be turned away from resources for that reason, end quote.
01:03:56
Speaker
So the modifiers set a goal, not to let the same thing happen to others. Fortunately, they were able to convince a congresswoman from North Carolina to take up the issue to get national funding for missing adults as well. And just a few years after Kristen's disappearance in 2000, Bill Clinton signed into effect Kristen's law, which included funding for missing adults.
01:04:22
Speaker
Unfortunately, the funding for Kristen's law ran out in 2005. But that doesn't mean that there's nothing you Sleuthhounds can do to help. There is. As Kristen's family still hangs a stocking for her every Christmas, you can show hope as well.
01:04:41
Speaker
This season, you can choose to donate to the Kristin Foundation, which raises money to help reunite missing adults with their families. Or if you're still looking for the perfect gift, on the Kristin Foundation website, you could purchase, even our international listeners, a cookbook called For the Love of a Child, a community's cookbook for $17. Or a bracelet that reads, expect miracles for only $9.
01:05:09
Speaker
both of which raise money to help pay for billboards, missing person flyers, and private investigator costs. The age of a loved one shouldn't matter when it comes to funding of the search nor when it comes to hope. If you're able, please help us here at Coffee and Cases by providing, just as Maggie and I have, a little money and a little hope to the Kristin Foundation. The link will be posted on Facebook and in our show notes to purchase either one of those gifts.
01:05:39
Speaker
And if you have information concerning Kristin Modiferri's case about the blonde woman, about the ad in the newspaper, about Kristin's movements or whereabouts, or any information about Kristin's disappearance, please call the Oakland Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 510-238-3352 or 510-238-3370.
01:06:08
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Case's podcast to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at Case's Coffee, on Instagram, at Coffee Case's podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:06:38
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.