Josh Dufort

Shaun Josh Dufort was a twenty three year old aspiring actor living in Las Vegas. He was energetic, positive, and loved by his large family and his girlfriend, and he made friends so easily.

John When he was murdered in November of twenty ten, his huge network of loved ones quickly realized something was off with someone Josh trusted. What they didn't realize is just how shocking the circumstances actually were.

Shaun Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean.

John And I'm your co-host, John.

Shaun For this week's episode, we have the story of the murder of Josh Dufort. One of Josh's sisters contacted us through Instagram, and of course, we were interested in telling Josh's story and trying to get more awareness about this fifteen year old unsolved murder. Before we get to that, let's start with our cold case missing person story. This season and probably into next season, we are covering all the cases listed in the Las Vegas Metro Police Department's database of missing persons cold cases. For the most part, so far, the cases we've covered from the database have been the most recent stories, most within the last ten years. And for several of these missing person stories, there hasn't been much news coverage or many details to share, unfortunately, but we'll keep covering them and sharing what we do know. And thank you to everyone who takes the time to share their photos and stories. We do the podcast, so new leads reach the families and that's always our hope that people get answers. This week, we decided not to choose one of the most recent cases, and instead we chose the oldest case listed in Metro's database. Sometimes, strangely, it seems that with older cases, we have better luck in finding out details about the people. I think that could be because a long time ago there used to be more newspapers, and those kinds of records are just easier to find than old local TV news coverage. Maybe even if it's only just a few years old. And thanks to the newspaper archives, we were able to learn a few things about this missing person, even though we couldn't find any family to reach out to. But at least we have more to share than just a name, a date, and a photo.

John Benita Holzmann was twenty two years old when she was last seen leaving the Flamingo Hotel after her shift on January first, nineteen sixty three. We weren't able to find out details about her disappearance, who reported her missing, or even what she was wearing, and even that date of January one, nineteen sixty three, is listed as the date she was last seen. But it leaves some unanswered questions. For example, we don't know what time she left work. It was New Year's Day, so she might have disappeared New Year's Eve. There's also some speculation that maybe January first was just used as a placeholder, and the record doesn't state the exact date and only the year is known. We looked through all the Las Vegas Review Journal and Las Vegas Sun archives, trying to find information about her disappearance, such as details of the search for her, but nothing could be found. What we do know is that Vanida Gail Bowers was born on July nineteen, nineteen forty, so if she were alive today, she would be almost eighty six years old, which is totally possible. Her Namus case was created less than a year ago, on May four, twenty twenty five. In nineteen fifty seven, at age sixteen, Vinita married a man named Zell Holzmann. The story was covered in the Fresno Bee because the couple had received the very first marriage license issued in nineteen fifty seven. Zell was twenty two years old, and during the interview, he quipped that he needed the clerk to speed things up because he was on his lunch break, and he had parked in a ten minute zone and needed to get back to work at the phone company.

Shaun Vinita was working as a waitress and said that the wedding ceremony was happening later that same day at Zell's home. She said it would be a surprise to their friends. The couple had been dating for about a year and a half, she said, and Zell bought her an engagement ring just a few weeks ago. Just to note that Vinita was about sixteen and a half at the time of this interview, making her about fifteen years old when she started dating Zell. And he would have been about twenty or twenty one. I will say that the photo and the tone of the article is extremely upbeat and Vernita's excitement about getting married and building a home with Zell really comes through. Based on the research we did and other online sleuths have done, the records seem to show that she had a son born in September of nineteen fifty seven. A woman claiming to be her granddaughter and searching for info online about her grandmother said that she had two children with Zell, a boy and a girl her would be her father and her aunt. I tried reaching out to her, but I had no luck. I had suspected that possibly the couple was rushing into marriage because Vinita was pregnant, but apparently she already had her daughter and she had had her when she was about fourteen or fifteen years old. However, she separated from Zell on March first that same year, just after being married for two months. She cited extreme cruelty in her divorce petition and asked for support for her unborn child. A news article about a small house fire from the summer of nineteen fifty seven leads us to believe that she likely moved back in with her mom after the divorce. Her divorce was finalized in April of nineteen fifty nine.

John We don't know for sure what led to her living in Las Vegas, but some online comments say that Zell had kicked her and the kids out, and she chose to move here on January one, nineteen sixty three. The kids were being cared for at daycare when she never came back for them. The children, ages five and three, were then raised by their grandmother. We didn't find any marriage records for her in Clark County, but based on obituary and findagrave listings for her mother, it appears that Vanita had at least one sister, a nephew and a niece who has the same name as her. There are no age progressed images of Anita, but we will share the photos that we have. When Vanita disappeared, she was five foot seven and one hundred and twenty pounds. She was a white female with red hair with brown or green eyes. If you have any information, you can contact the Las Vegas Metro Police Department at seven oh two eight two eight two nine oh seven.

Shaun Our main case this week concerns Joshua Allen Dufort, or as his family and friends call him, Josh. He was born on July fifteenth, nineteen eighty seven, and in twenty ten he was twenty three years old and an aspiring actor living here in Las Vegas. He was born in Danville, Michigan, to his parents, George and Dana Dufort. He has an older brother, John, and two younger sisters named Katie and Audrey. One of the common things you hear about Josh is that he moved to Las Vegas to pursue acting. That's a real common misconception, according to his sister. He actually moved here because one of his best friends was coming here to visit his mom. So Josh came along and he started to pursue acting after he met a few people working here in the acting industry. He worked at rehab, which was one of the largest pool party events, probably the first pool party event to happen in Las Vegas, which used to be at the hard Rock hotel. He worked sometimes as a landscaper to help make ends meet, and Josh's family was very generous with him and helped him out by sending him money every month to make sure he could pay his bills. Josh had an incredibly creative and fun hobby. He was into LARPing, which is live action role playing. And here in Las Vegas, he founded a group called Las Vegas LARPing and Battle Gaming Club. And there are many photos of him online in his medieval LARPing gear. And his LARPing group absolutely adored him and considered him their king. He had a girlfriend named Shannon Lute, and according to his family and friends, he was always happy, always smiling. And his uncle Jeff said he was the type of guy that the glass was always half full, and he was always trying to cheer people up and never burden people with his problems. He made every oddball kid feel wanted and he was friends with the geeks, and he was friends with the jocks. He was just that kind of guy.

John Josh was also friends with a man named Don Juan Futrell, also known as DJ. And if you're wondering, yes, that is his real name. He was a former super lightweight boxer who fought southpaw. He was active Nineteen ninety six and twenty ten, and he was very successful as a boxer. He had twenty eight professional fights with a forty six percent knockout rate. His overall record was twenty two, four and two, and in two thousand and seven, he fought and beat Hector Camacho. Those two were really good friends. They were introduced by Luttrell's wife. They had a shared interest in working out and boxing. They were always working out together and they also had a shared interest in clothing. Friends said that DJ was trying to mentor Josh and give him guidance and push him toward entrepreneurial activities whenever he could. Josh always spoke well of DJ. His friends said that he was a good influence on Josh, and they even said that Josh thought of him as a big brother. They had big plans. They were going to start a t shirt company together called Rough Rags. Their plan was to print the t shirts and then sell them on the strip specifically, it's often referenced that they were going to print the t shirts and sell them on the strip out of a garbage bag. I'm not sure why, but that's how it's often described. Josh didn't have any money, so DJ offered to get insurance for them to help get the business started. He told him that in Nevada, these types of small businesses had to have health insurance, so he helped him with the application and that will be very important later. One of the biggest misconceptions about this case revolves around that whole insurance thing. We're going to pause here for a quick break. If you want to listen ad free though, head over to Since podcast subscribe and you'll skip right over the ad.

Shaun We're going to talk now about the night that Josh was murdered, which was November seventh, twenty ten. Josh was at a party and DJ called him and asked him to come over and work out. So Josh told his friends that he was going to visit DJ and left the party. His girlfriend Shannon, tried to call him later that night but couldn't get him on the phone. Sadly, the next morning she was contacted by the police and they asked her if she recognized a particular phone number, which was Josh's phone number, and all the police would tell her is that they were looking for a missing person. Shannon, of course, became extremely concerned and started to drive around town looking for him. It was later that afternoon that she learned that Josh had been killed. It turned out that Josh had gone home, changed into his running clothes, and decided to run to JJ's house for some reason, I guess to possibly jumpstart his workout. And it was a runner. Early the next morning that discovered Josh on the side of the road in Henderson. He had been beaten badly and strangled with a cord attached to his earbuds. Initially, they thought he might have been robbed, but that theory quickly fell apart because nothing was missing. His iPod was still there, and his cell phone. His friends gathered together that night to mourn Josh and look to each other for support, and they invited DJ to come over as well. A few of the friends have said that DJ was acting oddly that day. Everyone, of course, was visibly and understandably distraught, but DJ seemed very cold and aloof about the murder and just kept repeating things that Shannon felt were really generic, such as this is crazy, and who could have done this? And then he announced that he was going to go.

John Before he left, though he told them he wanted them to hear some voicemails he'd gotten from Josh the previous night. As we said, Josh went home to change into his running clothes to run to DJ's house. We did find that a little bit strange, but I like the theory that possibly he went to jumpstart his workout. I think that's a good theory. When he got home, he saw some men out in front of his house. So he called DJ and he seemed to know who those men were. And he also thought DJ would know them too. And he also seemed, based on what Shannon said, like he was extremely mad that the men were there out in front of his house, swearing up a storm and wondering what the heck they were doing there next. He just left for DJ's on foot doing his run and when he was on his way, he called and left two more messages that his friends described as increasingly panicked. He said he was being pursued, he was being chased and he needed someone to come get him. He sounded extremely panicked and he implied he was in danger. His family and friends said he sounded absolutely terrified and like he was on the verge of tears. Obviously, his friends were in absolute shock about these voicemails, and probably wondered, rightly, why DJ didn't just take those straight to the police. Someone must have though, because just the very next day.

Shaun The police searched DJ's house with a warrant and seized his cell phone and his laptop, including those voicemails. And while they were searching DJ's house, they found some paperwork for two life insurance policies on Josh that were worth one point seven five million dollars, with DJ as the beneficiary. The insurance papers claim that Josh was making one hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year selling t shirts, which, as we said earlier, was just completely made up. The t shirt business never really happened. And also, the paperwork had DJ and Josh listed as being domestic partners, which is common on life insurance policies when you're talking about a same sex couple, because this was before we had marriage equity in the US. However, they were not a romantic couple, so this was something also fraudulent in the insurance paperwork.

John So despite all that, DJ wasn't charged and DJ did submit a death certificate to get paid for Josh's life insurance. Given all the fishy circumstances, American General Insurance sued him to prevent paying out. They had to do that because that's the only way they could avoid paying out the insurance policy, given all of the strange circumstances. It seemed clear to them that there was some fraud going on. In a deposition before the case, Futrelle claimed that he didn't even know that he was the beneficiary until Josh died, which absolutely doesn't pass the smell test. There was a recording introduced into evidence of Josh talking to the insurance company when they were getting the policy, which is not unusual. The weird thing was it obviously wasn't Josh. It wasn't his voice. He didn't know the answer to basic questions. He couldn't answer questions like, what's your Social Security number and what are your parents names? In the end, DJ's brother admitted that it was him on the recording pretending to be Josh to get the insurance policy. Futrell was also pressed in the deposition about what he thought domestic partners meant, and he clearly understood, based on the transcripts, that that implies a romantic involvement. One of the aspects of being domestic partners is that you share a residence, and those two absolutely didn't live together. Josh was living with his girlfriend at the time, and they weren't romantically involved. In the end, the case never went to trial, and Futrell has never been paid that insurance money. Strangely, though, neither Futrell nor his brother have ever even been charged with insurance fraud, and the insurance company said that's because they didn't end up collecting any money. Neither of them have been charged with anything regarding the case, but Futrell remains the one and only person of interest, per the Henderson police. The police obviously don't have any direct evidence tying DJ to Josh's murder, and it would be difficult to secure a conviction based on just insurance fraud. The problem here is that the insurance fraud doesn't imply murder. It does imply some level of motive to anybody paying attention. But it seems like the investigators think the case isn't strong enough to get a conviction.

Shaun As we mentioned, there are many common misconceptions about the case. Even though DJ put in the insurance paperwork that there was a t shirt business, according to everyone in Josh's life, there was never a working t shirt business. It never really got off the ground. And as we mentioned, even though DJ put in the paperwork that they were domestic partners, this was just completely fabricated. They were not living together as a romantic couple or romantically involved at all. DJ also tried to claim that Josh had made one hundred and eighty thousand dollars a year selling t shirts on the strip, and even if the business had got off the ground, it doesn't seem remotely plausible that someone would make that kind of money selling t shirts out of a bag on the strip. And one of the biggest things people point to was that Josh himself had signed the life insurance paperwork. And of course he did, because he thought what DJ was telling him was true, that it wasn't life insurance paperwork, it was actually health insurance paperwork that would help him open the new business.

John Futrell, as we said, is the one and only person of interest in this case. There are a lot of theories about what might have happened, but without any direct evidence linking him to the crime, it's impossible to move forward with a case against him. Josh's family and loved ones have lived over fifteen years with no answers, no closure and no one charged with his murder. They deserve closure and Josh deserves justice. If you have any information about the case of the murder of Josh Dufort, you can email who killed Josh Dufort at gmail.com. You can call the Henderson Police Department at seven oh two two six seven five thousand, and you can also call Crime Stoppers at seven oh two three eight five five five five five to remain anonymous. Sean and I will continue this conversation in our weekly swing shift bonus episode. So to hear that, head over to senzangakona, subscribe and join Patreon or Apple Podcasts to hear those ad free episodes and bonus episodes. Until next week, we remind you that what happens here happens everywhere.

John Thanks for listening. Visit since podcast. Subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and threads at Sins and survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at questions at survivors dot com.

Shaun If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or need support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website. www.sinsandsurvivors.com Sins and survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is researched, written and produced by your host, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website at sinsandsurvivors.com

John The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance.