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[music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Welcome to True Crime Garage Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, thanks
00:02:13
for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always, we have a man who knows your email password. Here is the
00:02:20
captain. >> And you should be ashamed of yourself. You made it so easy. It's good to be
00:02:24
[music] seen. Good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.
00:02:34
Today, we still have some of this fantastic beer called 14 Karat. 14 karat is a 14th anniversary IPA brewed by the
00:02:42
brew team over at Sun King. It's hoppy, bitter, malty, and smooth out nicely for
00:02:47
a classic hoppy beer taste. Garage grade four out of five bottle caps. And let's
00:02:53
give some cheers and thank yous to our friends for filling up the fridge this week for us here in the garage.
00:02:58
>> A big we like your jib goes out to Dan from Shippingburg, Pennsylvania. >> And last, but certainly not least,
00:03:04
Captain, we have Katie and Maddox from Aurora. Everyone we just mentioned went to trueimeg garage.com and donated to
00:03:11
this week's beer fund and for that we thank you. Yeah. Bwin beer run if you'd like to meet us in
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person and why wouldn't you? Cuz we smell delicious. We'll be at Crime Con Nashville this year and our promo code
00:03:25
is TCG for 10% off. We'll also be at CrimeCon UK. Same promo code TCG for 10% off. Join us. [music] smell our musk and
00:03:37
that's enough of the business. >> All right, everybody, gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk
00:03:43
some true crime. [music] A mother's hope to find her missing pregnant daughter. >> I would love to see her with her child
00:04:12
cuz she is such a mothering person. >> Chicago police released new surveillance video of Kiara Kohl's from 2018. The
00:04:20
last moments she was seen running errands also with a person of interest. The CPD video includes a plea from
00:04:27
Cole's mother directly. You could be the one that helped bring Kiara home. >> While initial surveillance video
00:04:33
released by CPD was not Kohl's, investigators and Cole's family hope everyone will stop to check out these
00:04:40
new images to try and close this cold case. >> If you know something, say something.
00:04:45
You know, this is going on too long. And you know, I just hope anybody out there
00:04:50
that knows anything have a heart and finally call in. This afternoon, community organizers prepare for the
00:04:56
fifth annual March, We Walk for Her at 5:00 at 35th and King. The purpose to bring attention to all the unsolved
00:05:05
cases of missing women and girls of color. >> What's most important is that every
00:05:09
case, Kiara Kohl's case and every cold case, gets the necessary attention that it deserves in black and brown
00:05:16
communities. >> Kohl's was a letter carrier. She would be the mother of a young child now.
00:05:22
>> I can't let her down. and I got to do all that I can to bring her and her child home safe.
00:05:27
>> Cole's mother says the painful void remains for their family, but hopes someone with information will ease their
00:05:33
suffering. [music] >> [music] [music] >> In April of 2019, ABC News talked to Karen Phillips, Kiier's mom. Phillips
00:05:59
said she's tries to remain positive as her suspicions run high toward her daughter's boyfriend, saying, quote,
00:06:07
"I've never pointed fingers at him in the beginning, but all of this time has passed." So, by this point, Captain,
00:06:13
we're talking 6 months after her daughter has disappeared. She's saying, "I haven't heard anything from
00:06:21
this guy since the day the police went to do the wellness check. I haven't seen him around town, haven't talked to him,
00:06:27
nothing." >> Yeah, pretty shady. >> And so, she's saying given that 6 months has gone by, he must have had something
00:06:34
to do with it. NBC 5 Investigates reported that there was no criminal history in Josh's past. that they were
00:06:42
able to uncover. The chief communications officer at the Chicago Police Department told ABC News that
00:06:48
Josh remained a person of interest given that he may have been one of the last individuals to see her, meaning Kiara.
00:06:55
CPD told NBC's datine that there was no proof of life for Kiara. We have a pretty good idea of what transpired,
00:07:04
they said. Now, it's a matter of finding evidence. There is a minimum of two or three people of interest who were the
00:07:12
last to see Kiara before she disappeared. We've narrowed down our group here to a personal associate of
00:07:20
hers, a friend who was one of the last people to see her. So, that's a little insight into their investigation and who
00:07:27
they think are persons of interest. But then there's this. Josh and his other baby mama and their kids, like you
00:07:36
talked about briefly yesterday, Captain, they move out of state. Now, it's unclear when they moved away, but
00:07:44
several articles say it was quote soon, but what we do know is she goes missing in October of 2018. We do know that they
00:07:54
moved out of Illinois before the end of the year, before the end of 2018. So, that's not a lot of
00:08:01
time between disappearing and the end of the year. Again, we don't know the exact
00:08:06
date. From everything that we've looked at, it looks like police have not been in contact with Josh after he left
00:08:14
Illinois. In January of 2019, we have Kiara's family and several postal worker friends
00:08:23
that held a very public vigil press conference for their missing loved one. This was led by community activists
00:08:33
and her relatives, all pleading for information in the case and also reminding the public that there was a
00:08:40
$28,000 reward for information in this case. That reward included 25,000 from the US Postal Inspection Service, 2500
00:08:50
from the Chicago branch of the National Association for Letter Carriers. So, they're banding together, hoping to find
00:08:56
one of their own. Some of the relatives called out Josh Simmons by name at this event, demanding that he speak with
00:09:03
police since he had refused to do so since very early on in the investigation. They all loudly demanded,
00:09:09
"Clear your name." In fact, Karen said that Josh had never been officially questioned in her opinion. She meant
00:09:16
beyond this initial interview. The crowd cheered when people questioned why if Josh hadn't done anything that he was
00:09:23
afraid to talk to the police. Kiier's dad gave an impassioned speech pointing out that Josh's missing in action status
00:09:33
is questionable and should be questioned and he was begging the public for tips and for leads. Well, just to be clear, I
00:09:41
have no problem with Josh getting a lawyer, but again, this is your girlfriend of six years.
00:09:49
She's carrying your child. You would think you would want to give them as much information as possible.
00:09:56
>> Well, and then another sad date will be the due date. April 23rd, >> yeah, >> was the due date. And it came and went
00:10:04
and no new news. In May of 2019, the family announced that the reward for information leading to Kiara's
00:10:12
whereabouts had increased to $46,000. This was after a rather large donation from a local businessman. And
00:10:22
unfortunately, no one has ever come to collect that money. We've not found Kiara.
00:10:28
In July of 2022, there was more bad news. Uh Kiara wasn't found as we stated, but the CPD announced that they
00:10:38
were this is one of the issues that I have with this case. They announced that they were quote suspending the
00:10:46
investigation. So the case classified as suspended, meaning that the case cannot proceed
00:10:53
further at this time. >> Right? That can happen for a variety of reasons for my understanding including
00:10:58
detectives exhausting all leads. My understanding captain is that this is not a permanent status and can be
00:11:07
changed if more information becomes available to police. But of course her family is horrified to
00:11:14
learn that the police were essentially abandoning the case the investigation. Karen told ABC News that she feels the
00:11:22
police just put it, meaning the case, to the side because they were frustrated with it. It's already frustrating that
00:11:28
it's going to be two years, she said. And for you all, meaning the Chicago Police Department, to say you all don't
00:11:35
have enough to go on, it's really disappointing. I mean, if if you've not spoke to your person of interest who
00:11:41
moved out of state since he moved. >> Yeah. Which is ridiculous. It seems to me like kind of a lazy job. If you're
00:11:49
going to go, "Well, we're suspending the case because we're we're lacking information."
00:11:54
Pick up a phone and call this guy. >> Yeah. >> Fly down there and try to interview him.
00:12:00
>> Yeah. >> See if he will talk. Times change, people change. Maybe he will talk.
00:12:07
Maybe he's tired of the fingers being pointed at him and we're in his direction and he's willing to open up.
00:12:12
Not that it really matters much, but I would like to know if he transferred to another USPS job because
00:12:22
that'd make it less suspicious of why he would transfer, but because like we said before, he had
00:12:30
a good position at the USPS in Chicago. Police have stated, they countered after
00:12:38
the announcement of the investigation being suspended that they continued to work jointly with the US Postal
00:12:44
Inspection Service and the FBI and that the case remained a high-risk missing person's investigation with foul play
00:12:52
suspected. So, it's a little talking out of both sides of your mouth, I guess, in
00:12:58
this situation. It it it to say this one thing then also almost in the same breath say that the
00:13:05
case has been suspended doesn't seem it doesn't seem to be on point here. Now >> it also seems like law enforcement went
00:13:16
from being very uh connected to the family and giving them information and again privied information. Hey,
00:13:25
you're telling us this isn't your doctor. We know it's not your doctor. don't tell people we're on the same
00:13:30
team. They kind of go from that to not really having much communication with Karen at all. Well, and here's the
00:13:38
thing, too, and this became an issue. So, in 2021, remember the Gabby Patito case?
00:13:47
This becomes nationwide news. Everybody's kind of following this Gabby case. Karen is upset at the juxiposition with
00:14:01
the coverage received by her daughter's case. She's saying, "Look, my daughter's case
00:14:06
made national headlines for a day, maybe two, and that was it." Gabby's case was
00:14:11
a headline news for weeks. [snorts] And Karen's friend, this is community activist George Ivy, said in a September
00:14:18
21st press conference, quote, "I want you all to treat Kiara Cole's case like it was Gabby's." end quote. Karen said
00:14:27
that they will cover a black person's case, but you might see it one time. With a white woman, you might see it all
00:14:33
that week or even every week. The family wasn't just disappointed in the lack of
00:14:38
media coverage. They were mad at CPD. And the US Postal Inspection Service, which they felt continued to under
00:14:46
prioritize this case. Her father, Joseph Kohl's, told Chicago Sun Times in 2021 that he had heard the investigators had
00:14:56
their eye on someone, but he hadn't received any updates as of late. He too expressed frustration with the police
00:15:04
and their failure to focus on missing black women and children. because Josh hasn't been super cooperative and and we
00:15:12
don't really have a great idea of her movements on October 2nd other than that she went to the store and talked to her
00:15:21
mother about that. But that's all going to change in June of 2022. Yeah, this is when a whole bunch of new
00:15:28
information comes out. And it seems a little strange to me that that they were holding on to this so tightly and
00:15:36
secretively for so long. So, in June of 2022, the Chicago Police Department decided that they were going to release
00:15:43
some new real some real information here, right? So, they issued a 8 minute long video with an update on the case.
00:15:53
This was video footage. It contains some video footage from across the street from Kiara's apartment on Tuesday
00:16:01
evening, October 2nd, sometime when it was still light outside. It showed Kiara parking her car outside her building and
00:16:08
walking into her apartment. This is lugging groceries bags. So, this is returning,
00:16:16
our best guess would be returning from that trip to the grocery store that we've talked about.
00:16:22
And then what we have too on the video footage is a man referred to by detectives as a person of interest
00:16:31
subsequently arrives and also enters the apartment. Sometime later, now it's dark
00:16:37
outside. Kiara and the man/person of interest walked out of the apartment. They got into Kiara's car with Kiara
00:16:47
driving and they drove off. Minutes later, at 10:43 p.m., Kiara was seen on surveillance footage from inside a
00:16:55
24-hour Walgreens located at 8628 South Cottage Grove. She walks in, she goes straight to one of those standalone ATM
00:17:06
machines. >> Yeah. >> She made two withdrawals and then she leaves the Walgreens.
00:17:12
>> She makes two withdrawals, but don't we believe that the total was roughly around $400? Yeah, we don't have to go
00:17:19
roughly or believe. We know by police statements that that she withdrawal a total of $400 from her bank account
00:17:28
verified by police. And >> what's wild about this too, Captain, it seems like a very
00:17:37
it it seems I don't want to say planned out is not is not the right word here, but she's she's in that Walgreens for
00:17:44
less than three minutes in and out. So her movements and her chore, her task is is well known to her before going into
00:17:56
those doors. She doesn't shop or do anything else while she's there. She just simply goes to the ATM.
00:18:01
Now, of course, police are they want to know from her the people that knew her best, what do you make of this? And to
00:18:09
which Karen is saying, look, this is incredibly and extremely out of character for my
00:18:15
daughter. She was very conservative with her money and she didn't have an answer as to why her
00:18:25
daughter would simply walk in and get $400 cash. If >> you're in law enforcement, the first
00:18:30
question is, who's this cash for? Is it for her or is it for somebody else? >> The there's another news article out
00:18:37
there by CBS Chicago that reported that Chicago detectives told the family that the couple went to an
00:18:49
ATM nearby where the video captured Kiara taking out 400 from her bank account and handing it over to her
00:18:57
boyfriend. Okay. So, this is interesting to me because what we're hearing here in this report, in
00:19:06
this statement, if this is true, police for some reason seem to have reason to believe that after they went to the ATM,
00:19:16
that Kiara gave the money to who they are referring to in this story as her boyfriend.
00:19:23
>> Right. So that goes to what you were saying there, Captain of She goes to this ATM.
00:19:29
Mom has no clue why her daughter would take out $400 cash and police, according to this report, are saying she gave it
00:19:36
to Josh. >> Old red flag. >> So now there's more information here. Less than an hour later, this is before
00:19:44
11:45 p.m. Kiara's car was again captured on video from a another area of the city.
00:19:52
The car drove up parked in a male person, not not a male carrier. Right. Right. >> Not a US Postal Service. Yes. A man a
00:20:01
man climbed out of the passenger seat and closed the door and walked away. And what the what the footage does not show
00:20:08
us. >> So it shows us this man getting out of the car passenger side. It does not show
00:20:13
anybody else ever getting out of that vehicle. >> And how weird is that? >> Exactly.
00:20:19
>> How weird is that? So, what I'm guessing is this man drove the car, parked it,
00:20:27
scooted onto the passenger side, and then left that way. >> Yeah, >> that's that's what I'm guessing.
00:20:34
>> I'm guessing he didn't drive the vehicle with his mind. >> Yeah, that there was no ghost rider.
00:20:39
>> I'm the only one that can do that. >> But but there's but there's but there is
00:20:43
more evidence of where that car goes. >> Yeah. So, daytime video surveillance from Kiara's neighborhood. It's unclear
00:20:51
what time of day. It shows a person of interest driving up to Kiara's block in her car in her car. The man parked the
00:21:01
car, got out, walked into the apartment building, into Kiier's apartment, and soon exited after and seen carrying some
00:21:09
unidentified items out of the place. He then climbs into what is described as his vehicle, which had been parked
00:21:18
nearby on the block overnight, and drives off. So, in the 8-minute video, it shows some still shots of the
00:21:26
interior of Kiara's apartment and two shots of the interior of her car with what could be tiny drops of blood
00:21:35
splashed on the inside of the vehicle. This is what what people have said that they think they're seeing when they see
00:21:41
the pictures of the interior of her vehicle. >> Yeah, there's red drops, but that's not confirmed by police.
00:21:48
>> So, for 4 years, everyone believed that Kiara was alive and last seen wearing a
00:21:53
postal uniform on that Wednesday, October 3rd. Right. >> That's a big misstep by law enforcement.
00:21:58
>> So, we now learn that that's absolutely incorrect. She was actually last seen at
00:22:03
an ATM the night before dressed in a dark jacket or hoodie, leggings, knee high socks and sneakers, and a hat.
00:22:12
So, the >> given money to her boyfriend. The new timeline putting her missing at about
00:22:17
10:45 p.m. Tuesday and no one really alerting to her being missing until Thursday meant
00:22:25
that someone had plenty of time to dispose of Kiara [music] and dispose and hide and we we say it every week.
00:22:35
Hide, bury, burn, conceal evidence. [music] [music] Hey there, it's [music] Katie Nolan,
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host of Casuals, the sports podcast where we don't care how much you know about sports, we're just [music] happy
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and start learning today. Oh, [music] the car from Carvana is here. Wow. Will you look at that? It's
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00:26:17
Cheers, mates. Cheers to you, Colonel. Onward [music] and upward. >> Cheers to you, Captain. Power to the
00:26:24
people. Cheers to the people in the back. >> Well, and a quick reminder, we will be
00:26:28
at Crime Con in Nashville. And if you want to see us, make sure billing. Make sure you use our promo code TCG.
00:26:36
We'll also be at Crime Con UK. Same promo code TCG. Join us in Nashville or in the UK. Nay, join us in both
00:26:49
Nashville and the UK. Yay. In 2022, Chicago Police Department homicide detective Will Savlar, I believe is how
00:27:00
you pronounce his name. Will Savlar >> Savlar spoke with NBC5 Investigates. He told the investigative news team that he
00:27:09
believes Kiier was not alive for long after the handoff of the $400 cash. So, this is hearing it right from the mouth
00:27:19
of a detective, >> right? From the horse's mouth >> that there How dare you speak of
00:27:23
Detective Will >> Savar? >> Maybe that's an upgrade. Who knows? Uh hand off of the $400 cash. So, they seem
00:27:31
to have reason to believe that she gets this money from the ATM, hands it off to
00:27:36
the person of interest. He specified that the person of interest is not a stranger. In this talk with NBC 5, he
00:27:44
said that this person of interest has regular access to the apartment, but the fact that he came back to the residence
00:27:50
after Kiara was last seen was significant. And the good detective goes on to say, "In the totality of what
00:27:57
happened the night before, that's a big deal." End quote. Note that CPD refers to this person only simply as a person
00:28:06
of interest repeatedly and never uses this person's name. They have never confirmed that Josh is or was the person
00:28:16
of interest seen on the video with Kiara heading out on Tuesday night and then parking her car on Wednesday alone,
00:28:23
>> right? >> But everyone knows that it was Josh that they are referring to. Remember that a
00:28:29
couple of years earlier, police had said that they had two or three people of interest and a good idea of what may
00:28:35
have happened to Kiara. >> Two or three people, Captain. So Josh and who? >> But I just want to point out that it
00:28:44
seems like law enforcement is like, well, we have video footage of Kiara going into her apartment and then who
00:28:51
follows behind her? Josh. And then they leave and they take Kiier's car. And who
00:28:57
does she leave with? Josh. But then when they start talking about these other movements, they never confirm that it's
00:29:03
Josh. It's it's very strange. Well, and you know, this is something that we should
00:29:08
have talked in great detail with Williams about, but again, it's this is a whole different state. We're in Ohio,
00:29:15
so I don't know that it that it's the same everywhere, but you would think >> the United Postal Service is a pretty
00:29:22
uniform outfit. So, you would think what whatever goes on here probably is going
00:29:27
on in other states. But the reason why I'm really honing in on this police statement that where they say time and
00:29:36
time again, we've narrowed it down to two or three people of persons of interest. So we everybody
00:29:43
John Q public out there and and John Q garage out there, they all believe that they're seeing Josh Simmons on that
00:29:53
footage that was finally put out by police. So, if they're saying we've narrowed it down to two or three people,
00:29:59
so it's Josh and who. Do they have reason to believe that he had an accomplice? And the reason why I'm kind
00:30:04
of circling around this little detail like a like some kind of hungry vulture here
00:30:10
>> is that >> if if you have to not only punch in codes and whatnot when you're calling
00:30:17
off, but also give some kind of voice. >> Uhhuh. >> Well, we do know. But we have reason to
00:30:26
believe there's information out there that says suggests that the other woman involved in this love triangle, Kiara,
00:30:34
who know this is weird too, was also pregnant at the time, but there's information out there that tells us that
00:30:41
she worked for the postal service as well, >> right? So, is she the one that calls off
00:30:47
for our missing person? It it does she punch in the codes and have to give voice a woman's voice
00:30:55
and call off for her? >> Well, it make a lot of sense. And and guess who's missing?
00:31:02
>> Josh Mia >> and Kiara. >> He's like, "You got a missing person's investigation on my uh long-term
00:31:11
girlfriend." He gave him the old smell you later and went down to Louisiana. >> Yeah. Smell you later, losers. So, in
00:31:19
March of 2023, finally, we're we're in this year, Captain current year. Kiier's family announced yet another increase in
00:31:26
the reward that somebody out there, if they know something, speak up because you stand to make a whole lot of money
00:31:31
here. This is $63,000 that they announced, >> or just do the right thing, be a good
00:31:37
person, donate the money to charity. >> If you had any reason to be quiet before, $63,000 might make up for those
00:31:45
reasons. So, they they held another birthday party for their their missing daughter this in September of 2023, and
00:31:53
they stated, quote, "As the years go on, it gets harder and harder." Definitely with the police not doing what they're
00:32:00
supposed to do, it makes it even harder. Karen told CBS News. We should note here, Captain, that a Nameless profile,
00:32:09
the website Nameus, if you go there, there is a Nameless profile that was created for our missing person, Kiara.
00:32:16
This was created in 2019, right? >> And on that profile, it states that she has a tattoo of a heart on her right
00:32:24
wrist, a Jaguar on her shoulder, and a tattoo reading lucky Libra on her back. So some identifying marks there.
00:32:33
>> I think it's pronounced Jacuire. >> She would be 31 years old today. >> So very sad here. Very young woman here
00:32:43
with her whole life ahead of her. And she had everything in place. She had worked hard to put everything in place
00:32:49
to have a successful life. And not only would she be 31 years old today, her baby
00:32:56
would be four years old. >> Yeah. Well, like Karen says, it's it's frustrating. I couldn't imagine being
00:33:04
the mother of a victim and it just not getting the traction. And we've seen this for years. I mean, the cases we
00:33:12
covered, but sometimes it's just because there's not enough information or there's not a
00:33:19
fascinating twist or turn or we don't have any video footage. This case has all those.
00:33:27
This case should have been talked about more. But sometimes >> it's only five years old.
00:33:32
>> Yeah. But again, sometimes a a bigger more more juicy story, the the sexier story comes out and then cases don't get
00:33:43
the coverage they deserve. >> Well, we covered a case just a couple weeks ago here in the garage that was 20
00:33:49
years old. It was it was at the 20 year marker for a missing loved one. And >> oddly enough, the person of interest in
00:33:58
that case moved to Louisiana as well. I love the state of Louisiana. I I love New Orleans. Uh but it seems like lately
00:34:08
from the garage, we got a lot of persons of interest fleeting fleeing to that state. And but I bring that up only
00:34:15
because to to compare this 5-year-old case with the 20year-old case. Remember in that one the family after getting no
00:34:25
answers and and not being able to give a proper burial to their daughter are so broken and beaten down after 20 years.
00:34:35
Remember the father said like I don't even blame the guy anymore. I don't even really care. I don't even know if he
00:34:41
should go to prison anymore. Maybe it was just an accident. I just want to know what happened and where my daughter
00:34:46
is. >> Right? So that's what the time will do to these people, to these victims.
00:34:52
>> Yeah. They they start grabbing at straws, willing to settle just so they can bury their loved one. So, I'm hoping
00:35:01
here, Captain, and we're not the first ones to bring this up, but there's some startling parallels,
00:35:08
to another case, and I'm hoping that this case and where this case is today may offer some form of hope to
00:35:19
Kiara's family and that maybe that that justice is on its way. So this case is Aia
00:35:29
Eagleston. So in May of 2017, Akiia, she's eight months pregnant at this time. She failed to show up for her
00:35:38
own baby shower. She's 22 years old at the time. Attractive, vivacious young black woman
00:35:45
with everything going for her, just like who we've been talking about for the past two days, Kiara.
00:35:52
She already had a little girl who she adored. Her Facebook post in communications with family members ended
00:35:58
abruptly on May 3rd. Some of the information says literally in the middle of a conversation with a friend. Just
00:36:05
stops dead air. It took a few days before the family reported her missing, just like in
00:36:12
Kiara's case. And in fact, in a lot of missing person's cases, especially when the missing person is an adult. But
00:36:18
Akiia was pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. Uh his name is Michael Robertson. He was the last person to see her alive.
00:36:28
Again, startling parallels to Kiara's case. This from CBS News. Aki was last seen withdrawing money from a BB&T bank
00:36:37
in downtown Baltimore to put a down payment on a new home she planned to share with her boyfriend, Michael
00:36:44
Robertson. She was last seen taking cash out of an ATM just like Kiara. And then this
00:36:53
Robertson's cousin also told the court that Eagleston had confided in her about physical attacks by Robertson's other
00:37:02
baby mother. Her name is Hannah Pomemeroy just two weeks before she disappeared. I
00:37:09
guess there was some kind of altercation that was known about Robertson and and this other woman. They move out of state
00:37:16
as well. They go to Michigan just within a couple of months of Akiya disappearing.
00:37:22
Aki's family took it upon themselves to keep her case in the media just like Karen is doing and and the family's
00:37:29
doing and keep the case in the media in the spotlight and also conducted their own
00:37:35
search throughout Baltimore looking in abandoned buildings behind structures and wooded areas just like what we know
00:37:43
Kiara's dad did >> right and continues to do. Aki's body was never found. Neither was her baby.
00:37:50
The baby's father, Michael Robertson, did some suspicious things that drew the the old cold eye, drew the old uh
00:37:59
eye of suspicion. >> Yeah. Old red flag >> from the family and got the attention of
00:38:06
Baltimore police. So, he searched on his computer or phone for dumpster and trash
00:38:10
collection schedules and landfill locations in the city dozens of times. >> Oh god. So either he's really concerned
00:38:18
about trash or he's looking to conceal something. >> Well, he was trash. So >> he lied
00:38:26
about needing money for their apartment there. Turns out there was no apartment.
00:38:31
No preparations had been made to buy or rent a a home or an apartment for them. This was just something that he was
00:38:38
leading this young woman on. Evidence on his cell phone tracked his movements to Akiia's apartment on May
00:38:46
3rd. So this proved inconsistencies in his statements with police. He was interviewed three times by police and in
00:38:53
his statements they evolved according to police. Then he admitted that he did see
00:38:58
her and then argued because said that they argued because she wanted him to choose between her and the other woman.
00:39:06
Well, police were unable, unfortunately, to find Akeia, but they believe that Robertson killed her in her home and put
00:39:13
her in a dumpster. According to the Baltimore Sun, using information from Robertson's phone, they traced the trash
00:39:20
route from the dumpsters outside of the apartment to a Northern Virginia landfill. Engineers narrowed in on 20
00:39:28
acres of landfill that were filled with 500,000 tons of compacted municipal waste filled 40 ft deep within the
00:39:36
3month window around her disappearance. But they weren't able to dig. There's some kind of safety regulations that
00:39:43
prohibit excavating more than 4 feet down of landfill in this area. It took four and a half years, Captain, but
00:39:50
Baltimore police and the FBI put together a circumstantial nobody case against Robertson. He was arrested and charged
00:40:00
with two counts of murder in February of 2022. In July of 2023, a Baltimore jury
00:40:07
found Robertson guilty of two counts of firstdegree premeditated murder, and the jury deliberated for just two
00:40:15
hours. So, he was found guilty. Robertson appears to be even more of a captain term piece of [ __ ] than Josh.
00:40:25
>> He's a piece of [ __ ] >> Or maybe just not as smart because he didn't get away with it. And Josh is
00:40:31
down in Louisiana might even be having a good time for all we know. >> Ah, he's he's looking over his shoulder.
00:40:38
>> It seems that if Josh had any kind of cell phone or GPS or video trail that he
00:40:43
might have been arrested by now, but that's what I'm hoping anyway, >> right? If not, those are avenues that
00:40:48
need to be pursued and this case should not be suspended if you have avenues to pursue, which I I think they do. I think
00:40:54
there's some meat on the bone here. And I just don't like the the the status of suspended on this case.
00:41:03
>> No. And you wonder if that's like is that a decoy to maybe have people relax a
00:41:12
little bit and and we can gather information and put together a better case. I would hope that's the case, but who
00:41:20
knows? But see, what I want to know is did they collect DNA evidence from the car and are they able to connect that to
00:41:30
Josh's other girlfriend? And I think police at some point, correct me if I'm wrong, but they made a
00:41:39
a statement to the fact of, "Oh, well, we have we had a suspect, but we don't believe that he had any uh motive for
00:41:48
murder." Well, when you're dating two people and they're both pregnant, there could be a motive for murder.
00:41:57
>> Yeah. And I want to speak to Kiara for a minute. Not Kiara, our missing person.
00:42:02
to Kiara, the other woman who it's believed is living down in Louisiana with Josh and their kids,
00:42:10
>> which might have been involved in this murder and cover up. >> Correct. But also may not have been
00:42:15
involved at all. If you know some information about this and now this dude's out running around on you again,
00:42:22
go get that $63,000 and and give the police the evidence that they need to recover
00:42:28
this young woman's remains and build a case against Josh. >> Yeah. And this is why Kiara's mother,
00:42:36
Karen, is so correct. You need to shine light and bring attention to these cases. It puts pressure on law
00:42:45
enforcement to do their job, but it also puts pressure on eyewitnesses to come forward. It puts pressure on Josh, it
00:42:54
puts pressure on Josh's current girlfriend to come forward with information. The more people are talking
00:43:00
about it, the more people start realizing this ain't going to go away. And so you share these cases on social
00:43:08
media. You tell your friends and family about these cases. And could you imagine
00:43:14
if you're you're Josh and you're sitting and you moved away to try to get away from all this and it starts becoming
00:43:21
more national news. Then you have an individual that's getting scared. He's looking over his shoulder. He starts
00:43:28
wondering about all the mistakes he made. And something some somewhere out there,
00:43:35
something's going to catch up to him. And like you said, I mean, it could be his girlfriend sitting around going,
00:43:41
"Well, this guy, I'm still not enough in his eyes. I've had three children by this guy, and I'm still not enough cuz
00:43:48
he keeps running around on me." And maybe you were involved in the murder. Maybe you were involved in the cover up,
00:43:56
but police, I'm sure, would still be willing to make a deal with you. and then he could get his. And and make
00:44:05
no mistake about it, this guy's a piece of [ __ ] He dated her for 6 years and he
00:44:12
didn't search for her. He didn't put up flyers. He didn't knock on doors. He lied to the family. He lied to law
00:44:20
enforcement. He changed his story. He basically said, "Hey, I I didn't see her on the second." And then we have video
00:44:27
footage. And guess who's in that video footage? >> Everybody believes it's him, Josh
00:44:33
Simmons. >> And then on top of that, you have your pregnant girlfriend, then go withdraw
00:44:37
money, $400. What do you need that $400 for? This person is not answering questions.
00:44:45
Lawyered up, moves out of state, doesn't know anything. I mean, he's a real piece of [ __ ] We
00:44:54
will certainly have images, photos of Kiara on our website and on social, but a great resource in
00:45:04
this case for everybody out there in listenerland is missing personscenter.org. So if you search Kiara Kohl's
00:45:16
on that website, you're going to see a bunch of different photographs of Kiara. You're also going to get some of the
00:45:22
news updates that they had throughout the years, but more importantly, you're going to get links to
00:45:30
the videos that that came out, right? The ATM video. You're going to get links to the other videos and to
00:45:38
links to seeing her mother Karen speaking so passionately about her daughter and trying to find her
00:45:46
daughter. Uh the website, according to the website, if you have any information, you are encouraged to
00:45:51
contact the Chicago Police Department or this is a unique scenario here, Captain.
00:45:56
We don't get this every week, but one outfit that you can get in touch with in this case would be the US Postal
00:46:02
Inspection Service, >> right? And you can, from my understanding is that this is um
00:46:11
they they investigate all kinds of stuff, all kinds of different crimes, uh all kinds of different missing person
00:46:18
stuff. So I if it were me here and I had information, I would reach out to the US
00:46:23
Postal Inspection Service. Their number is 8778762455. 8778762455. The HBO I'm sorry, uh, Max or whatever
00:46:40
we're going to call it these days. I I feel like I feel like >> it's HBO Max. >> Call it HBO, man, because Well, it was
00:46:47
HBO Max for a while. Now it's just Max. So, there was an HBO documentary series called Black and Missing. It did feature
00:46:55
a Kia's case that we talked about. Now, like Kiar's, it was noted that her case got a lot less attention than similar
00:47:02
cases involving white women. Robertson's guilty verdict may provide a glimmer of hope for
00:47:09
Kiara's family, that they may yet see justice for her at some point. We can only hope that Chicago prosecutors and
00:47:17
investigators are doggedly working to put together their case against Josh Simmons and he gets what's coming to
00:47:24
him. But given that the investigation was suspended for a time, may still be suspended, and Chicago PD's less than
00:47:32
lustrious record of solving cases where the victim is a missing black female, unfortunately, [music] we're just not
00:47:39
that optimistic. [music] [music] Want to thank you so much for joining us here in the garage. If you'd
00:47:55
like to support the show, tell a friend or share a case on social media. Colonel, do we have any recommended
00:48:01
reading for the beautiful, beautiful listeners? This week, Captain, we have a combo platter. We have a little
00:48:06
recommended listing and a little recommended reading. I love when good people team up for the greater good. And
00:48:14
so, these are two things that we've recommended in the past. One is the Missing Persons podcast. We have Mike
00:48:20
Morford over there and Jessica Bettincourt who have been great friends of our show for many years. They run the
00:48:27
missing person's podcast and do a fantastic job. And I just noticed that last week their guest was Bill Gilmore.
00:48:35
He is Jennifer Kessy's uncle who wrote the book Aftermath that we have recommended in the past. So, check out
00:48:42
our good friends over at the Missing Person's podcast and make sure you check out Bill Gilmore's book about his
00:48:48
missing niece, Jennifer Kessie. That's a very solvable case. We just need to put
00:48:54
more people and more efforts in that regard. You can find those two great recommendations and many more on our
00:49:00
website's recommended page, trueg.com. And while you're there, sign up for the mailing list. Till next week, be good,
00:49:07
[music] be kind, >> and don't litter. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music]
00:49:46
>> Hey everybody, Ted Dansen here to tell you about my podcast with my longtime friend and sometimes co-host Woody
00:49:53
Harelson. It's called Where Everybody Knows Your Name. And we're back for another season. I'm so excited to be
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joined this season by friends like John Melany, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, Ed
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Helms, and many more. You don't want to miss it. Listen to where everybody knows
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