In Episode 4, we dive into the aftermath of Stacey’s disappearance and discover new leads.
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On Tuesday, March 31, 1998,
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Stacey's sorority sisters, family and friends
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held a vigil for her at OSU.
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Hundreds of students also gathered together
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and left a trail of lit candles
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and printed posters of Stacey
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in hopes of her safe return home.
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During the vigil, everyone visited Stacey's apartment
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and placed donated yellow and white flowers
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on the front step area.
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This is episode four, the vigil.
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The entire OSU community came together
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to help in the efforts of finding Stacey.
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Sorority members, alumni and volunteers
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passed out over 100 flyers and yellow ribbons.
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As weeks went on and the search for Stacey continued,
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detectives were hard at work in the investigation.
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They were interviewing everyone Stacey knew,
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reviewing evidence taken from her apartment
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and following up on potential leads.
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We know that the state of the apartment
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showed signs of foul play and smelled of bleach.
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The refrigerator door was open,
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there were the half-eaten breadsticks
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that she ordered the night before on the counter
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as well as a gallon of milk.
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A boot print was also found in the inside of the door.
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Again, all signs of foul play
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and that the attack was sudden and unexpected.
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Everything of Stacey's was still in the apartment.
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Her keys, purse, $40 in cash,
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uncash checks and credit cards were all there
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except for two pieces of jewelry.
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A golden necklace pendant with a pi symbol
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in a diamond shape which was her sorority necklace
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and an Amethyst birthstone ring with a gold band
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which Stacey was known to always wear and never take off.
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With all the evidence collected,
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all signs were pointing to the possibility
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that Stacey knew her attacker
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and willingly let him in her apartment.
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And because of the large gap in time from 4 a.m.,
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the time the neighbor heard her screams
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until 2 p.m. that afternoon
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when the neighbor knocked on Stacey's door,
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the killer had plenty of time to clean up and leave.
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But who would do such a thing
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to such a well-loved, ambitious woman?
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That's exactly what the police were trying to figure out.
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Who would want to hurt Stacey Colbert?
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At the time of Stacey's disappearance,
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498 missing persons reports were filed
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according to the Columbus Police Public Records Unit.
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Although only one or two ended up going unsolved.
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There were also a slew of unsolved murders
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during that time that took place
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on or around OSU from 1994 to 1998.
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On March 5th, 1994, OSU freshmen
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Stephanie Hummer left the Evans Scholars House
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at 52 East 14th Avenue with her friends
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and headed towards another friends house on East 10th Avenue.
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On the way, one of Stephanie's friends
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cut her hand on a chain-linked fence.
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So Stephanie accompanied her back to the scholar house.
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She decided to head back to catch up
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with her friends shortly after
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and walked down Pearl Avenue,
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but never made it back to her friends.
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Everyone was in a panic
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and a search for Stephanie was quickly conducted.
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Unfortunately, police found a chilling discovery.
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Stephanie's remains were found the next day
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in a field off River Street on Columbus's west side.
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She was partially clothed
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and had been raped and beaten.
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According to Detective Pat Barr,
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who was the detective on the case at the time,
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said he believes the investigation was made more challenging
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because of two major events
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going on the weekend of Stephanie Hummer's murder.
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The Arnold Schwarzenegger classic
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and a civil war reenactment at the fairgrounds.
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The events brought thousands of extra people
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to Columbus that weekend.
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Barr also stated that he believed Stephanie's killer
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was passing through town
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and is still out there to do it again.
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For 12 years, Stephanie's case went unsolved.
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Fortunately, Stephanie's killer
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would later be caught in 2006,
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thanks to advanced DNA technology.
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But could this convicted killer
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have been responsible for Stacy as well?
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He was free and able to commit more killings until 2006,
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but police never found any connections there
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and Stacy wouldn't have known him.
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Police did investigate other possible connections
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with unsolved murders and missing persons in Columbus
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during the time of Stacey's disappearance,
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but none of them held water or seemed to be tied together.
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There were no obvious signs of who the attacker was
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and still no sign of Stacey.
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There were, however, certain acquaintances of Stacey's
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that were on the detective's radar.
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Two males that had some very questionable reactions
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and responses to Stacey's disappearance.
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You may recognize one of them.
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Remember the acquaintance Bob that we mentioned earlier?
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The one we suspected may have had communication
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with Stacey on that Friday night she went out
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with co-workers to the Arlington Cafe.
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He was one person that was not cooperative
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and wanted nothing to do with helping in the search for Stacey.
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As a matter of fact, he even had friends of his
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demand that Stacey's family leave him alone.
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Whenever they tried to contact him,
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it was a big surprise to everyone
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because he was always willing to help
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and was one of Stacey's friends
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who helped her move just six months before.
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So why was he so adamant about not helping find someone
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he considered a friend?
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If this isn't a major red flag, I don't know what is.
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Unfortunately, at the time,
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Bob's alibi checked out
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and detectives had no concrete evidence
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to tie him to Stacey's disappearance.
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But little did everyone know there was evidence collected
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that was not revealed to the public.
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The potential DNA evidence that could eventually lead
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to the person responsible for Stacey's disappearance.
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It's only a matter of time
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and certain psychic accounts of where Stacey could be
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might be the key to finding her.
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In the next episode, we uncover multiple statements
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from psychics who claim to know exactly
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what happened to Stacey.
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Episode five, the psychics is available right now.
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Make sure to follow us on social media
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at UnseenTruthPodcast and visit UnseenTruthPodcast.com
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for more case information.
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