WEBVTT
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To listen ad free, visit sinspod dot co slash subscribe
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starting at two ninety nine a month. You'll also get
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Because of the July fourth holiday, we're delaying the release
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of the next part of The Murder of Daniel Mendoza
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since this week is typically a down week in the
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podcasting world. If you want to listen to the first
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four parts of that series, please visit sinspod dot cost
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slash one twenty nine through sinspod dot cost slash one
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thirty two. We'll bring you part five next week, and
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this gives you an extra week to catch up.
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Today, though, we're flashing back to our first episode covering
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Lake Mead National Park, one of the most beautiful and
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also one of the most deadly national parks in the country.
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We'll have even more new cases for you having to
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do with the mysteries of Lake Mead when we wrap
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up our coverage of the Murder of Daniel Mendoza, but
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for now, please enjoy this flashback as a preview.
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In the summer of twenty twenty two, Lake Mead dropped
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to its lowest levels in almost a century. The shoreline
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crept back. Boats that had been swallowed years ago sat
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beached in the sand like ghosts. But that wasn't all
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the lake revealed.
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Lake Mead has long been a gateway for families, boaters,
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and hikers, but it's also one of the deadliest national
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parks in the country. People vanish, accidents happen, but every
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so often the lake gives up a secret.
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Hi and Welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas
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true crime podcast. We focus on cases that deal with
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domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases.
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I'm your host Sean.
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And I'm your co host John.
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Today's episode is part one of a three part series
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about Lake Mead and the stories it has kept hidden
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beneath the surface for far too long. Summer has arrived
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here in Las Vegas and people are heading out on
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various road trips and vacations, and Lake Mead is a
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top destination year round in our area and for the
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Southwest in general. Lake Mead straddles the border between southeastern
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Nevada and northwestern Arizona. It's just a short drive from
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Las Vegas. It's about forty five minutes from the Bolagio
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Fountains to Lake Mead recreational area. It was formed by
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the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River
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in the nineteen thirties. At full capacity, the lake stretches
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about one hundred and twelve miles long, covers over one
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hundred and fifty thousand acres, and can hold nearly ten
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trillion gallons of water, though it's been far from full
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in recent years. With over seven hundred and fifty miles
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of shoreline, it's a popular spot for boating, fishing, and swimming,
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but it also has deep, dark pockets that are hard
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to search and easy to disappear into.
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We wanted to put together this series ever since some
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of the cases the lake has kept hidden beneath the
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surface started making national headlines. When we started our research,
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we weren't sure if we had a bias, since we
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lived so close to the lake and the local news
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makes it seem like it's overly dangerous. Were the stories
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that had come to light recently, just making it seem
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like we were living close to a major hazard. Well,
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it turns out that it's true. Lake Mead is one
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of the most dangerous national parks in America. From two
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thousand and six to twenty sixteen, at least two hundred
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and fifty four people died in or around the lake.
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Most of those deaths were drownings or car accidents, and
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that number doesn't include suicides, which are tracked separately. Lake
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Mead also had the most murders of any national park
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during that time, with six murders in the park during
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that decade. Keep in mind that the National Park Service
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also says it's one of the most visited parks in
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the country, with nearly six million people visiting in twenty
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twenty three alone, So of course, more people equals more
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opportunity for crashes or accidents, but the sheer size of
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the lake, the extreme heat, and the lack of cell
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service in many areas make it a risky place to visit.
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In one weekend alone in June of twenty twenty three,
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six people died at Lake Mead. A multiple car accident
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killed three people, two others drowned, and one died by suicide,
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while the park rangers rescued an additional twenty three people
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that weekend. I feel like we can't overstate how dangerous
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the lake is. And I know some locals who are
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listening right now probably have a story of something scary
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that happened to them or someone that they know. Everyone
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sees a lot of warnings during the summertime, the reminders
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to wear your life jacket, to take ample water on
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your hikes, and let folks know where you'll be going
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before you go. Don't drink and drive or drink in
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jet ski. But honestly, when it comes to Lake Mead,
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you can't be too careful. For much of the country
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and the world, the dangers of Lake Mead became impossible
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to ignore in twenty twenty two, when extreme drought caused
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the water levels to drop to their lowest points since
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the reservoir was first filled in the nineteen thirties. As
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the water receded, everything hidden beneath the lake was exposed,
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including junk cars and old boats, including a World War
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II landing craft, and sadly, human remains. That summer, four
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sets of remains were discovered. Three were eventually identified as
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individuals who had drowned decades earlier, which brought some closure
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and answers to families who could finally lay their loved
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ones to rest, but one body stood out immediately because
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he hadn't drowned, he had quite obviously been murdered.
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On May first, twenty twenty two, visitors near Heminway Harbor
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saw a metal barrel exposed by the receding waterline. The
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barrel had rusted through, exposing its contents inside with the
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skeletal remains of a man. He had been shot and
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sealed in the barrel at least thirty years earlier. He
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was wearing jeans, Tracks brand tennis shoes, and a silver
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TIMEX watch. Forensic investigators estimated his height between five foot
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six and six foot one, which is a very wide range.
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His shirt was size two XL and his pants were
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a size forty six waist and thirty inch length, so
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he was likely on the larger side. His genes were
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light blue Vidal sassoons, and his sneakers were size eleven.
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All his clothing was likely bought from a kmart in
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the nineteen seventies. The forensic investigators determined that he was
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likely killed in the late seventies or early eighties, and
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the FBI eventually created and released a three D facial
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reconstruction of the man in hopes that someone might recognize him. Sadly,
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so far no one has. As we mentioned, he is
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the only one of the four sets of remains discovered
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in the summer of twenty twenty two who has not
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been identified. Law enforcement hasn't ruled out a mob connection,
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but there's no confirmed link to organized crime. You can
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view the FBI's three D image of this man on
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our social media, as well as the photos of his clothes,
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and Watch as always will post photos of the known
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victims were covering along with links to open care. Please
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take a moment to look and share this information because
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someone out there might recognize him, and who knows If
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whoever murdered him is still out there, maybe we can
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eventually bring them to justice as well.
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It's hard to imagine that someone who likely died before
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I was even born had been hidden under the lake
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for all of that time. Someone cared about him once,
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and it's possible someone still does, so please take a
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look at those photos and share them. When I was
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researching this episode, I discovered that the hem and Way
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Harbor dough has some elements that are similar to another
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unsolved Lake Mead murder, this one from the nineteen nineties,
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and there is a woman in Tennessee who has been
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waiting her whole life for answers in justice. Back in
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August of nineteen ninety four, two fishermen were out near
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the Las Vegas boat Harbor in the early morning when
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they found the body of a man floating in the water.
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The man had been shot several times and was tied
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to a twenty gallon galvanized trash barrel the long court,
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possibly in a attempt to keep him submerged. Pleice later
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identified the victim as thirty four year old Christopher Scott Huffman.
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Chris had grown up in Henderson and he worked in
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casinos in Las Vegas. He had a family, a wife
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named Lynn and a young daughter, and at the time
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of his murder, Lynn was just about a week away
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from giving birth to their second child. Chris's father, Bob Huffman,
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was well known in nearby Prompt, Nevada, where he owned
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the Saddle West Resort and served on the town board.
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Chris's life hadn't been perfect. He'd had some brushes with
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the law, and once Chris was identified, that's all The
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Review Journal focused on his criminal record and not his life.
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Not the people who loved him, possibly as an attempt
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to explain away what had happened to him. The reporting
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in the RJ barely mentions his wife and didn't mention
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his children or his parents at all.
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Chris's daughter, Christine, his namesake, was born just eleven days
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after he was killed. She never got to meet her,
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but when the drought started to uncover remains in Lake Mead,
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she spoke out to the press in Clarksville, Tennessee, where
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she lives. Christine was hoping that when the John Doe
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and other remains were found in twenty twenty two, new
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information might also surface related to her father's murder and
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finally get her family some answers. She was also very
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frustrated with how Chris's death was treated in the press
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and how more hasn't been done for all the victims
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at Lake Mead. She said it's not right how they
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just didn't care about every person they find at the
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bottom of that lake. She said nobody cared, nobody was
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looking for them, and nobody wanted answers for their families.
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She said she'd come to terms with the fact that
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it's not likely her dad's killer is out there anymore.
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But she still shares her father's story hoping that someone
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will come forward, and she believes strongly that all the
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victims in Lake Mead need to be treated with respect
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and have their cases treated properly by law enforcement. All
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those families deserve answers. Chris's case remains unsolved and is
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listed as an open homicide on Metro's website. Over thirty
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years later, his daughters are still hoping someone will speak up.
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We'll be sharing photos of Priss on our social media
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as well, in the hope that someone will eventually come
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forward with information. Christine's family has had to live with
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the silence for decades.
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One of the cases we have to share with you
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this week is actually a story where, for once John
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and I don't feel that the links to organized crime
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are just rumors or Vegas urban legends. On Wednesday, April second,
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nineteen eighty, Annella's Air Force based serviceman and his friend
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were hiking near north Shore Road, which is appropriately named
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as it runs along the north shore of Lake Mead. This,
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like most of the area around Lake Mead, is a
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very remote area. They noticed a car several hundred feet
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off the road stuck in a twenty five foot ravine.
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They checked the car to see if anyone was hurt
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or needed assistance, but found the car was empty. They
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located the registration information and found that the car was
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registered to a man named Nicholas Costanza. They tried to
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call him to let him know where his car was,
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but they were unable to reach him. Instead, they spoke
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to his father, Nicholas Costanza Senior, who said that he
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didn't know where his son was or why his car
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was in that ravine. Two days later, on Friday, April fourth,
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those same friends were hiking along that same trail and
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the car was still there, but it had been bashed
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up and looted. So the friends were curious about the
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car and they decided to search it as well. As
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they peered inside the ransacked Oldsmobile Cutlass, they made a
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haunting discovery. In the trunk was the body of twenty
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seven year old Nicholas Anthony Costanza Junior, whose friends and
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family called Nicki Nicki.
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Costanza had been shot in the back his car reportedly
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in nineteen seventy seven or nineteen seventy eight. Oldsmobile Cutlass
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had clearly been in some kind of an accident. He'd
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been missing since March thirtieth, and it was determined that
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he had been dead for at least two or three days.
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He was born on June twentieth, nineteen fifty two, in Newark,
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New Jersey, and he moved to Las Vegas with his
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family and lived here for twenty five years. He worked
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as a dealer at the Tropicana, and on the surface
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he seemed just like another young man trying to make
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a living. But more on that in a bit. The
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Homicide Division of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department opened
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an investigation, but no arrests were ever made, and more
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than forty five years later, the case is still cold.
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When you begin to look into Nicki's family in the
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world around him, though, the waters muddy very quickly.
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Nicholas Costanza Senior owned a restaurant called Nicholas's Little Italy,
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and it was later said that he moved his family
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from Newark in the hopes of starting his own organized
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crime family. He was reportedly a longtime associate of reputed
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mobster Anthony's Billetro with ties to organized crime, and according
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to federal prosecutors, was intimately associated with the legal activity
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including drug distribution, counterfeiting, and bookmaking. How close were the
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Costanza's link to organized crime. While Nicholas's daughter, Nicki's sister Elaine,
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married mob informant Frank Kulata. Frank Colatta was a former
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mobster and hitman who operated in Las Vegas as part
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of the Chicago Outfits famous Hole in the Wall Gang,
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which was a burglary crew known for high profile break
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ins during the late nineteen seventies and early nineteen eighties.
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Both Kulata and Spilettorro were later portrayed in Martin Scorsese's
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nineteen ninety five film Casino. Joe Peshi's character Niki Santoro
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was based on Spilettorro, and Frank Vincent's character Frank Marino
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was based on Culata. Kulata served as a technical advisor
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for the film and even appeared in a small role,
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helping ensure its gritty portrayal of organized crime was as
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accurate as possible. Nicki's brother Jerry was also arrested multiple times,
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further supporting theories that the Costanzos were entangled in the
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criminal underbelly of nineteen eighties Las Vegas. According to Nicholas
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Senior's ex wife. However, Nicholas Senior was not capable of
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organizing a bowling team.
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Two years after Nicky's murder, his father and brother were
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both arrested on drug charges when an associate of THEIRS,
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Frank Scunngio, became an undercover informant for the FBI. Scunjio
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had been caught in a massive undercover FBI sting operation
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called Jewel Pigeon, and had agreed to cooperate with the
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FEDS and wear a wire. Nicki's father claimed that he
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was only buying drugs from Scunjio to try to gain
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information about his son's murder. The two of them had
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worked together at the Tropicana and he was trying to
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gain his trust. Unsurprisingly, though prosecutors did not believe that,
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both Jerry and Nicholas Senior eventually pleaded guilty to multiple
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counts of cocaine distribution. Nicki's murder is unsolved, and given
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the strong culture of silence around organized crime, we may
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never know what happened to him. Nicholas Senior openly complained
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that investigators had washed their hands of it, and suggested
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that they didn't care because the family was Italian. Whatever
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the truth, it's clear that Nicki Costanza lived and died
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in a time when Las Vegas was shaped by corruption,
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connections and calculated silence. His life was cut short by
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a single gun shot. His body hidden in the trunk
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of his own car was likely a final message, but
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what that message meant and who sent it is still unknown.
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The final case we have for this episode is a
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domestic violence homicide where the alleged killer vanished somewhere on
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Lake Mead. On the evening of September seventh, nineteen ninety seven,
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police responded to a call from a quiet neighborhood in
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Las Vegas. Inside a home near Jones and Spring Valley,
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they found two people shot to death. The victims were
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fifty nine year old Jeanette Rowe and her thirty three
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year old son, Bradley Schweitzer. Jeanette worked as a nurse
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at UMC, and it was reported that Bradley had been
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struggling with drug use. According to investigators, what happened was
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that a family argument had turned deadly. Jeanette had been
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in the kitchen preparing dinner when her husband, Robert Rowe,
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confronted Bradley about his drug use, he got in his
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face and shot him with his nine millimeter handgun. When
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Jeannette tried to intervene, he then shot her. Robert's sixteen
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year old daughter fled to a neighbor's home for help.
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When the police arrived, the stove was still on and
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the officers turned off the gas to prevent a fire,
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but they couldn't legally search the house right away. They
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had to wait nearly an hour for a warrant. During
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that time, Robert Roe vanished. He was last seen pulling
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out of his driveway in a tan pickup truck. They
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found Bradley deceased in a chair in the living room,
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and Jeanette was found dead in the kitchen.
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Two days later, Robert's truck was found abandoned at Lake Meade.
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Detectives discovered that his sailboat, normally docked at the marina,
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was missing. That set off an intense search involving park
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rangers and aerial surveillance. On September tenth, a ranger spot
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the sailboat drifting aimlessly on the Arizona side of the
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lake in a spot called Rattlesnake Cove. The sales were down,
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the rudder was missing, and Robert was nowhere to be found.
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Homicide Sergeant Bill Keaton told reporters, he's either dead out there,
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or he's trying to lead us to believe that he's dead.
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The location was remote and hard to get to on foot,
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and the boat had clearly been left adrift. But was
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it a stage suicide or an actual one? At the time,
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police were unsure. Sergeant Kevin Manning said, did he kill
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himself or did he just swim away? We don't know,
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and we have almost no way of reasonably finding out.
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To me, if he was taking his own life, it's
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about the cruelest thing he could do. Because his daughter
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and the rest of his family may never know for sure.
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For us, the case will be open forever. Decades later,
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Robert Rowe remains missing and the case remains unsolved. As
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Robert L. Smith wrote, it's a mystery as deep as
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the lake itself. Cases like this remind us that while
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Lake Meat is a popular destination for voting and camping,
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it's also a final resting place for some and a
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hiding place for others. The shrinking shoreline continues to reveal
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more than just debris. It reveals lives and rupted families devastated,
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and crimes that still don't have answers.
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We'll be back next week with part two of our
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Lake Meads series, where we'll look at more missing persons,
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unsolved mysteries, and families still searching for answers. But for now,
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if you have any information about the hem and Way
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Harbor Dough, the murder of Christopher Scott Huffman, or Nikki Costanza,
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or the disappearance of Robert Rowe, please contact Crimestoppers of
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Nevada at seven oh two three eight five five five
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five five, or visit crimestoppers of envy dot com. Tips
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00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.680
can remain anonymous, and please check out our Instagram, Facebook,
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00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:53.279
or our website for photos and case summaries, Share them,
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talk about them. You never know who might hold the
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missing piece, because someone always knows something and justice doesn't
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just because the evidence was underwater. Thank you for listening,
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and remember what happens here happens everywhere.
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Thanks for listening. Visit sinspod dot com, slash subscribe for
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leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice.
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You can contact us at questions at sins and Survivors
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dot com.
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If you are someone you know as affected by domestic
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00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.200
violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources
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or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources
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this is available on our website, Sins and Survivors dot com.
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Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research,
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written and produced by your hosts Sean and John. The
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00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:12.799
information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time
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00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.200
of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please
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email us. Links to source material for this episode can
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be found on our website, Sinsensurvivors dot com.
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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
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those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All
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individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not
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constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal
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professionals for guidance.
