In episode 6, we uncover a break in Stacey's case when her remains are finally found after a 6-year long search. We hear from Captain Savage, the current detective on her case and discuss the theory of who Stacey's killer is and what the motive could be. We also hear from Stacey's sister Danielle and her friend Paula on their mission behind Finishing Stacey's Fight and keeping Stacey's memory alive.
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A tragedy that still remains unsolved, the murder of Stacey Colbert.
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Colbert when missing in 1998 her skeletal remains were found in Delaware County six years
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later.
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On November 27, 2004, a hunter looking for his lost dog in a wood line near the Scioto
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River, on State Route 257 North in Delaware County, Ohio, discovered human remains.
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Those remains would later be identified as 24 year old Stacey Colbert.
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- This is episode six A Voice Silenced.
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Unfortunately, because of the state of Stacey's remains,
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the corner was unable to identify the cause of her death.
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There is speculation about how long Stacey's remains
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were in that area, and if they replaced their
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at a later date following her disappearance,
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but detectives on her case believe her remains
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had been in the same place until she was found.
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- I had hoped for the longest time,
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even at the before her remains were found,
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and you know, you have student loans calling you,
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and by mom and I went to the court system to try to
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at least have some bit of closure
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at the after the five, six year mark,
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and right after we did that,
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not probably six or seven months later,
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her remains were found.
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It was pretty surreal.
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- And I do think that she was in the same place
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that she was the entire time.
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I don't believe she was moved,
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and I had a glimmer that happened right away,
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and she just wasn't found.
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- After six years of not knowing what happened to Stacey,
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her family could finally bring her home and lay her to rest.
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After all these years, Stacey was finally found,
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but what about all the unanswered questions?
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What happened to Stacey, and who was responsible
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for taking this precious life?
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- You know, when I found out what had happened to Stacey,
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at first, of course, I thought it had to have been
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a misunderstanding.
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Stacey led a really clean life.
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She didn't have any kind of,
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regret, steady life that nobody knew about,
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like that's just no.
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With Stacey, what you saw was what you got,
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and so I thought, truly, this will be cleared up,
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and then as it became obvious that it's not a misunderstanding,
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and it was something really, really bad,
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I mean, I can remember the night terrors,
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where I would wake up in the middle of the night
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to sitting straight up and what woke me up
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was the sound of my own voice screaming.
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You know, I am no longer 24 years old.
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I am nearly 50 years old, and I am a lot smarter,
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and a lot wiser,
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and I'm really, really determined to make sure
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that this monster gets behind bars.
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A monster was lurking out in plain sight
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and was free to hurt other women.
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It's now been 20 years since Stacey's remains were found,
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26 years since she disappeared,
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and this monster is still out there,
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prowling on his next potential victim.
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This is unacceptable.
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This person needs to be held accountable
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for his actions.
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I got the opportunity to briefly talk
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to the current detective on Stacey's case
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to find out what the status is today.
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People have ideas and theories,
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and we haven't overlooked any of them yet.
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Every as the years go on,
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it's always an our best interest to, you know,
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revaluate where we're at with cold cases,
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and you never wanna let the same individuals
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really try to work cold cases.
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Every five years or so,
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you wanna change it up a little bit,
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so we can get press set of eyes on them.
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We're back in that place again for this case,
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where some new detectives are gonna be assigned out.
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I think we've solved every homicide.
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We've had since a fifth of 2007 has been solved.
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We have probably about 10 to 15 unsolved ones
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from a few years prior to that.
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That we're still, you know, we still continue
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to wanna look at, we've solved one with genealogy DNA.
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Actually, too.
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We just solved another one, so we've solved two.
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You've seen NIRM on labs and genealogy.
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And again, that's based on having a good solid DNA.
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I know and see DNA samples that they use,
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and then they do some genealogy testing on it,
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are able to identify families,
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and so we've been successful in two of our cold cases now.
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So we're out there, we're out there trying to solve these things.
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So I never want the family to lose hope.
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And you know, they have that saying
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that they wanna finish Stacey's fight.
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We wanna finish the fight with them.
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And so that's what we're trying to do.
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- I think they're really, really close
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to being able to take it to the legal system.
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And so, her sorority sister and I started the,
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the fun me thinking that maybe possibly,
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if we can get a private investigator,
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maybe that will help us get them
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the additional evidence that they need to push it through.
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But I truly believe that the police know who did it.
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And I believe that right now,
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they're just waiting for a little bit of collaboration
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on what they have in order to get it
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through the legal standard of group.
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- Here's the thing, the police already know
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who's responsible for Stacey's murder.
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We went through all the details of this case
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and the answers are right there.
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What is the motive though?
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This would again be all speculation,
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but what I can draw from the facts of this case
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after months of thoroughly researching and investigating
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is that it seems to be a crime of passion.
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Someone who wanted more from Stacy than what she was willing to give,
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someone who was only a friendly acquaintance in Stacey's eyes
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and nothing more.
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Someone who showed up to Stacey's apartment
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in the early morning hours of March 22nd, 1998,
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and was invited in by Stacey.
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I'll let you draw your own conclusion
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about the killer and who he is.
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It's obvious, in my opinion,
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but the police need certain individuals to come forward
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to be able to successfully bring this case to trial
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and get this monster convicted.
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Is that person you?
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There is someone out there that knows who killed Stacey Colbert.
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That person can be the final piece to the puzzle of Stacey's story,
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the final piece that can provide the full picture
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for Stacy's friends and family,
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the final piece that can bring the killer to justice.
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Stacey's story is not over.
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She will continue to live on in the hearts of her family, friends,
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coworkers, and those that never knew her
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but continue to be touched by her story.
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Stacey Colbert was a beautiful person inside and out,
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and it's a tragedy that her life was taken from her
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in such a brutal manner by someone she knew and trusted.
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We relate to Stacey, we can't go back in time
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and tell her what we know now,
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but it's not too late to save somebody else
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and that's really one of the driving forces
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behind finishing Stacey's fight.
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We've got a big team behind the scenes
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of finishing Stacey's fight.
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And then, of course, there are the really close friends
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of Stacy who are doing other things
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outside of finishing Stacey's fight
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to keep Stacey's name and her case out there
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and to keep people aware and in the collective consciousness
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of the public so that it doesn't fade away from you
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and become just another case that's just sitting somewhere
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in a police dungeon collecting dust.
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Like, we want to make sure that we're doing what needs to be done
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to keep her case upfront.
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I miss you...
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I'll continue to fight for you every day.
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With new advancements in DNA technology,
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detectives continue to get closer
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to confirming the identity of Stacey's killer.
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It's only a matter of time before Stacey's killer is behind bars
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and we're all looking forward to that day.
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If you have any information about the murder of Stacey Colbert,
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please contact the Delaware County Ohio Detective Bureau
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at 740-833-2830.
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You can also submit an anonymous tip via email
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which is provided in the show notes below.
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To stay connected on Stacey's case, follow
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finishing Stacey's fight on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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And make sure to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram
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at Unseen Truth Podcast
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and visit UnseenTruthPodcast.com
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for more case information and future updates.
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