Detective Writer

Murder Mystery Storytime: Kenneka Jenkins!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mysterious case that has immensely frightened many people in Rosemont, Illinois for numerous years, the death of Kenneka Jenkins.

Kenneka Jenkins was a 19-year-old woman who attended a party with a few friends at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare hotel in Rosemont, Illinois in room 926. On Friday, September 8th, 2017 at 11:30 P.M., the party had begun. However, witnesses at the party recalled seeing Jenkins acting strangely, swaying back and forth, and drinking cognac but she wasn’t seen taking any other drugs or marijuana. At 3:20 A.M. Jenkins was shown on camera footage staggering alone near the front desk.

Around one hour later, Jenkins’ friends called her mother, Teresa Martin to help search for Jenkins. She arrived at the hotel at 5:30 A.M. and knocked on many guests’ rooms until a hotel employee complained to 911. Although no one had seen or heard from Jenkins for a few hours, the hotel management staff said they could not provide any video footage to her loved ones until Jenkins was officially reported missing to the police. At 1:15 P.M., Jenkins was reported missing to hotel management. While at first, the camera footage didn’t show anything; however, at 10 P.M., the police saw footage of Jenkins stumbling around the hotel.

Security footage shows Jenkins stumbling as she walks around.

There is a video in which she is having difficulty standing on her feet and repeatedly hits the wall. If you do not wish to view it, DETECTIVES, please feel free to skip ahead.

Kenneka Jenkins was found inside the walk-in freezer within the walk-in cooler that was inside a barely used hotel kitchen. I will not show you the photo of Jenkins’ body in the freezer as it may be a bit distressing. Jenkins was found lying face down on her side with one shoe off. She had a small cut on her foot. She was pronounced dead on Sunday. The coroner’s autopsy report revealed that her blood alcohol was 0.112, she didn’t have any illegal drugs in her system, and she had an unprescribed medication that treats headaches and epilepsy – topiramate. Lesions were also found inside her stomach and there was evidence of brain swelling but neither condition was associated with her death. The police did not suspect foul play but they confirmed their investigation was not complete.

Although Jenkins’ family attorney filed a $50 million dollar lawsuit against the hotel, to this day, the reason why or how Jenkins got inside the freezer remains a mystery to this day. What do you think happened, DETECTIVES?

I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!

Murder Mystery Storytime: Kendrick Johnson!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mysterious case that has puzzled Georgia for many years, the death of Kendrick Johnson.

Kendrick Johnson was born on October 10th, 1995, and passed on January 11th, 2013. He was a student at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. His body was found inside the school’s gymnasium, headfirst in the center of a vertical rolled-up wrestling mat. Students found his body while trying to climb up the mats. The autopsy stated that Johnson died from positional asphyxia, a lack of being able to breathe properly due to an unusual position of the body. His case was ruled an accidental death. Authorities believed that Johnson had gotten stuck or fallen in the mat while trying to get his shoes and died there since he was barefoot when his body was discovered.

Kendrick Johnson was shown in security footage entering the gym prior to his death. I will not be showing you the image of Johnson’s body, DETECTIVES as it is very distressing. On June 15th, 2013, further investigation revealed that there were traces of blunt force trauma to his soft tissues and right neck which speculated that Johnson’s death may not have been accidental but actual murder. Johnson’s family has filed suits to open more investigations and while the case has been reopened and closed numerous times, they continue to remain hopeful the truth will be revealed soon. What do you think happened, DETECTIVES? Do you believe it was murder or accidental?

Murder Mystery Storytime: Elisa Lam!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mysterious case that has spooked California for many years: Elisa Lam’s death.

Elisa Lam was born on April 30th, 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was known to be a blogger calling herself Ether Fields on Blogspot. In January 2012, Lam blogged about her struggles with mental health, feeling lost with no sense of direction, and having a relapse that caused her to drop a few classes at the University of British Columbia. Lam had been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder; however, she was given a few medications to cope. She did not have a history of self-harm or suicide attempts. Although Lam did not always take her bipolar meds and would occasionally suffer hallucinations and one time, she was hospitalized for a strong episode.

When she arrived in California on January 26th, 2012, Lam was traveling by herself on the Amtrak and buses. She checked into the Cecil Hotel on January 28th, two days later. She was supposed to stay in a shared room but her roommates said that she had moments of “Odd behavior.” Therefore, she was moved to her own room two days later. She had also attended a live taping of the Conan show in Burbank, California but security escorted her off the property for disruptive behavior. Lam was scheduled to check out of the hotel on January 31st but when her family did not hear from her, they immediately traveled back to Los Angeles to find her.

However, there was a recording of Lam inside the hotel elevator on January 31st in which she is seen repeatedly leaving and entering the elevator numerous times. The footage lasts about two and a half minutes. She appears to have pressed every button and makes unusual gestures. If you don’t wish to view this video, DETECTIVES, please feel free to skip ahead.

While there have been several theories as to what happened to her in that elevator, of course, no one truly knows.

On February 19th, 2013, Lam’s body was found inside one of the Cecil Hotel’s water tanks by a hotel maintenance employee. Hotel guests were complaining of the water having poor taste, black color, and low water pressure. On February 21st, the LA coroner reported that Lam’s body was discovered nude, with no evidence of sexual or physical assault, bloated and moderately decomposed, and she had a little bit of alcohol in her system but no recreational drugs. To this day, no one knows what happened to Lam or why she was in that tank. Despite her story becoming very well known, it continues to remain a mystery to this day. What do you think happened, DETECTIVES?

I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!

Unsolved Disappearances: Asha Degree!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved disappearance: the case of 9-year-old, Asha Degree.

Asha Degree was born on August 5th, 1990 in Shelby, North Carolina. She had an older brother, O’Bryant who was born in 1989. He was ten years old when his sister disappeared. Both children had a childhood centered close to the church, school, and family. Asha Degree’s parents had worked regular jobs so when school was over, the siblings would let themselves in. At the time of her disappearance in February 2000, Asha was in the fourth grade attending the Fallston Elementary School and going on a three-day weekend.

On February 13th, 2000, the kids went to church and came back home. Around 8 P.M., the kids went to sleep. However, about an hour later, the power went out in the neighborhood due to a car accident that occurred nearby. Asha’s father, Harold came to check on the kids around 12:30 A.M. on February 14th, 2000, which is when the power came back on. He came back to check on them again around 2:30 A.M. and the kids were still asleep in bed in their shared room.

O’Bryant remembered hearing his sister’s bed squeak but he thought she was trying to make herself more comfortable. For an unknown reason, Asha packed her bookbag and walked out of her home. She was wearing a long-sleeved white T-shirt and white pants. Despite the heavy rain, she was walking along the North Carolina state highway 18, and a truck driver and a motorcyclist spotted her, they tried to talk to her but she ran away into the woods near the highway. When her mother woke up a few hours later, Asha was already gone and the police were immediately called.

When police dogs could not pick up Asha’s scent and her mother, Iquilla could not find her in the neighborhood, only a mitten was found but Iquilla that did not belong to her daughter. On February 15th, candy wrappers, a pencil, a marker, and a Mickey Mouse-shaped hair bow were discovered in a shed that was confirmed to be hers. On February 16th, her mother found that in Asha’s bedroom, she was missing a pair of blue jeans with a red stripe, her favorite clothes. On August 3, 2001, Asha’s bookbag was found near Highway 18 in Burke County during a construction project. It was wrapped in a plastic bag. The contents contained a “New Kids On the Block” t-shirt and a Dr. Seuss book. Several years after she disappeared, a photo of Asha was placed as to how she may have appeared as an adult.

Although, there have been multiple leads, unfortunately, they have not been successful. Asha Degree has not been seen since the night she disappeared but her family still holds hope that she will come back and is still out there. Where do you think Asha could have gone? Why did she leave her home in the middle of the night? Why did she run away when people tried to talk to her? What do you think, DETECTIVES?

Unsolved Spooky Mysteries: The Somerton Man!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mystery that has plagued South Australia for many years, the case of the Somerton Man. Now, just a disclaimer, DETECTIVES, if you don’t wish to see the photo below or hear about the case, please feel free to skip this one.

On December 1st, 1948, an unidentified man was found lying in the sand on the beach of Somerton Park, a seaside suburb. His head was resting against the seawall, his feet were crossed, and his legs were stretched as he lay on his back. He also was wearing a formal suit but he had no identification and no witness recognized him.

When the body was taken to the hospital, a few items were discovered with him. In his right coat collar, there was an unlit cigarette and in his pockets, second class rail and bus tickets, gum, cigar packets, and aluminum comb. Aside from having no ID, the doctor who performed the autopsy stated that the man’s foot was twisted, his liver was quite swollen, and his eye pupils were smaller than usual.

The unknown man also had a suitcase with items that had the name tags out, making it even more of a challenge to identify him. One of those items also had this note with him and there was an unknown and unsolved code with him that still puzzles police to this day. The brown suitcase was found by staff at the Adelaide Railway Station and was officially destroyed in 1986. When investigators tried to figure it out, the best result they were able to come up with, was “Ended” or “Finished.” There have been several theories as perhaps the mystery man was a spy but none had been followed out. Who was this man and what this note could have possible meant?

Unsolved Spooky Mysteries: The Watcher!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mystery that has creeped the heck out of Westfield, New Jersey, the case of 657 Boulevard Watcher!

Now, I will say there is a new show on NetFlix, DETECTIVES with the same title, The Watcher but there are a few fictionalized pieces that never actually occurred. However, let’s discuss the story a bit.

The real story began back in June 2014 when Maria and Derek Broaddus had just purchased the 657 Blvd home in Westfield, NJ. Three days before they could move in, the couple began to receive mysterious letters from someone who only identified himself as “The Watcher.” The person addressed the letters to the family as the new owners, knowing the couple’s name, reproached them for beginning renovations, and even threatened the couple’s children. The Watcher told the family that his or her family has been watching the house since the 1920s, first a grandfather, then a father, and now the new watcher. When the couple went to the police concerning the letters, the Broadduses family discovered that the house’s previous owners had received an anonymous note themselves but since they had been living there for over 23 years, they thought the letter was a simple prank and threw it out- a fact the previous owners neglected to mention.

Here is one of the creepiest quotes: “It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet? Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone? I would be very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.”

Over time, the Broadduses family began to receive more creepy letters that grew with threats back and forth. The family was understandably frightened for their safety that they never moved into the house. After 6 months, they put the house up for sale but had a difficult time getting rid of the home as they made it a point to warn any potential renters or buyers. In 2016, luck seemed to turn on their side when another family rented the property but soon after, another letter arrived that seemed a bit too extreme.

Here is another quote that was in the letter: “Maybe a car accident. Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you feel sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet. Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.”

However, the family simply asked the Broadduses to install more security cameras and didn’t move out.

Throughout the years, there have been several suspects as to who the watcher could have been: neighbors, a man who played extremely violent video games under the username “The Watcher,” and even the Broadduses themselves. Maria was suspected because the DNA on the envelope was discovered to be found and Derek later confessed to New York Times that he sent letters to neighbors who were rude to him on Facebook in 2017. Although, to this day, the watcher has never been identified and the case remains unsolved. The new owners of the home have not revealed if they receive or have gotten letters from the watcher either.

Check Out My Advice for Young Writers’ Book Chat!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about my meeting with the self-publishing company that helped make my first book become a reality! The meeting was Thursday, October 20th, 2022 at 4:25 P.M. EST. But I was not alone as I was joined by another fellow author, Emma Rothman who wrote Things my Therapist Doesn’t Want Me to Say: Ten Years Post Heart Transplant. The link is available here if you would like to check it out!

I hope you like this video, DETECTIVES!

I hope you have enjoyed this video as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post and until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!

Murder Mystery Storytime: Digna Ochoa!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you about another unsolved murder in Mexico, the assassination of human rights lawyer, Digna Ochoa.

Ochoa was born in Veracruz, Mexico on May 15th, 1964. Prior to becoming a human rights lawyer, Ochoa was a nun. However, in 1999, without taking her vows, she left the Dominican convent of the Incarnate Word where she had been studying since 1991. In 1984, Ochoa entered law school and by 1988, she had already been involved with opposition groups.

On August 16th, 1998, Ochoa was kidnapped in Veracruz she was alleged to have been raped, and the individuals who abducted her were state police; however, there were no investigations into her case.

Unfortunately, that horrific incident would be the first of several for Ochoa. In August 1999, Ochoa was kidnapped and held in a car while in Mexico City. In October 1999, while still in Mexico City, Ochoa was abducted again and had been interrogated the whole night while placed next to an open gas cylinder. In August 2000, she went into exile in Washington, DC.

Although, in March 2001, when she returned to Mexico City, her court-ordered protection was lifted in August 2001. By October 2001, she was already working in law offices in Mexico City.

On October 19th, 2001, while in her law office in Mexico City, Ocho was murdered by a gunshot to the head. A note had been found in her body warning her members/coworkers that they could be next. Initially, her death was ruled a homicide by the Mexico City police but by March 2002, it was ruled a suicide despite numerous objections from human rights activists. According to the autopsy report, her body had two .22 caliber bullet wounds with the entry on the left side of her body, but she was right-handed. Her case was later reopened in 2005. While it is still unknown what exactly happened or who could have killed Ochoa, in 2021, Mexico admitted there was wrongdoing in her death investigation. Perhaps we can finally figure out the clues to this mysterious case and Ochoa can receive the justice she deserves. Let me know what you think, DETECTIVES!

Murder Mystery Storytime: Victoria Cafasso!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime in Australia, the case of Victoria Cafasso.

Victoria Cafasso was a twenty-year-old woman born on June 8th, 1975 in Surrey, England. Cafasso was a dual citizen of both Italy and England because of both her birth and that she was living in Italy with her parents and younger sister. Her mother worked in a travel agency and her father was a lawyer. She was trilingual in French, Italian, and English. She went on vacation to visit a cousin in Tasmania and a grandma in England after choosing not to attend school for a bit.

On October 6th, 1975, she arrived in Launceston and she was received by a cousin and friend also visiting but from Sydney. She was seen leaving her cousin’s house a few times to go to Beaumaris Beach over the few days of her visit.

On the morning of October 11th, 1975, at around 9 A.M., Cafasso went out for another walk on the beach. Allegedly, around 10 A.M., she was sunbathing. Around 1:30 P.M., her body was discovered partly in the water, a bit undressed, and some of her items were found about fifty meters up the beach. It was estimated her time of death must have been around 11:30 A.M. and 12:35 P.M. A few other belongings of her such as her towel, shirt, bikini bottoms, and the murder weapon have never been found.

In 2005, the coroner stated that she suffered over seventeen stab wounds and had been brutally attached on the beach. Although, she had tried to defend herself with a blunt object that had broken three of her teeth but not from the multiple stabbings. To this day, the murder has never been solved and the police response was viewed as controversial because Cafasso’s body had been moved, forensic investigators did not arrive at the scene, no photos nor videos were taken, and she was covered by a waterproof cloth and not the scene, and it was not immediately blocked off from the public which reportedly had been over fifty people. Whoever took Cafasso’s life, has never been identified.

The Mystery of María Belén Bernal!

Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mystery that has recently spooked Ecuador, the case of María Belén Bernal.

Bernal was an Ecuadorian lawyer who went missing on September 2022 after she went to visit her husband in Quito who was working at Gral. Alberto Enríquez Gallo Police Academy. On September 11th, 2022, she had been delivering a burger to him and was not seen afterward. Her husband was released on September 13th, 2022 after being asked questions regarding his wife’s disappearance. He had driven off in a BMW motorcycle that his wife had purchased for him. However, he soon also went missing.

Ten days later, Bernal’s body was found near the slopes of a dormant volcano Casitahua. Her husband still has not been found to this day and there was a reward for his whereabouts.