What Really Happened to Courtney Townsend

Shaun About a year ago, in March of twenty twenty five, we talked about the baffling disappearance and death of Courtney Townsend, a thirty two year old mom, daughter, sister and friend who went missing under some really strange and unexplainable circumstances.

John Since we originally shared the details of the case, we've learned more and we have more to share. If you haven't listened to that original coverage, though, not to worry, because we're going to revisit that episode and then fill you in on those additional details.

Shaun John and I want to share with you the story of Courtney Lynn Townsend. Ruby, a friend of the family, reached out to us to share this information with our listeners. Courtney's sister, Dallas and Courtney's mother are asking the public for help to bring justice to her case. They need people to come forward with information. Dallas has not stopped working on getting her story out to the public since day one of her sister's disappearance. She created the Facebook page called justice for Courtney and has been posting updates often. She has also asked for the public's assistance with donations through a GoFundMe account to hire a private investigator. All of these links will be in our Linktree and on our Instagram and Facebook.

John Courtney was a loving mother and a great friend with an outgoing personality. She loved her friends and family and would have done anything for the ones she loved. Courtney was from Utah but was known to have friends and family in Las Vegas, and she would visit here often. Courtney was only thirty two years old when she was last seen in Saint George on November sixteen, twenty twenty three. She was driving her mom's car when she was pulled over by the police in hurricane, Utah, which is about twenty miles east of Saint George. The traffic stop was captured on body cam footage. She told the officers that she was headed to Cedar City. He did end up giving her a speeding ticket, but before he walked away, she tried to give the officer a small box like a jewelry box, and no one knows for sure what was inside the box or what her reason was for doing that.

Shaun Three days later, on November nineteen, twenty twenty three, the car was found near Duck Creek Village, Utah, thirty miles from Cedar City and more than eighty miles from Saint George. The car was in the forest about ten feet from the roadway. It had been completely burned. About a half inch of snow had fallen the night before, and when the deputy found the car, according to the report, he said the vehicle was cold to the touch. There were not any footprints around the vehicle, so he was able to determine the car burned before the snow fell. If you visit the justice for Courtney Facebook page, you can see that the car was completely burnt out by the fire and the fire was determined to be arson. The deputy found other items near the car, including navy dog tags, earrings, sunglasses, a wooden box, a wallet, credit cards and driver's licenses. But none of the identifying cards belonged to Courtney. All of this evidence was turned over to a detective with the Kane County Sheriff s office, and the car was towed and eventually destroyed. I want to point out that according to the family, this is partly where things went wrong. Duck Creek is under Kane County jurisdiction, but Courtney had been reported missing from Saint George, which is in Washington County. So the detectives in Kane didn't realize at first that the car was connected to Courtney's disappearance.

John Her sister, Dallas, and multiple friends and family members urged authorities and the community to keep looking for Courtney and to not give up hope. For months, they did not have any answers or information. According to the police, the snow made searching impossible until it began to melt in the springtime. It wasn't until May of twenty twenty four, when a person riding an ATV in the area found some clothing on the side of the road. Search and rescue volunteers were able to recover partial remains that were later determined to be Courtney's. Inexplicably, one day later, on May twenty eighth, twenty twenty four, the Kane County Sheriff's Office said they did not suspect foul play was involved and that it wasn't a suspicious death. However, they stated that the investigation is ongoing. Given the state of her car and the fact that only partial remains were recovered, it's confusing to us why they wouldn't consider her death suspicious. We regret that we don't have more information on the details of the investigation.

Shaun So many people who loved Courtney have been left with unanswered questions. Dallas told the local news I'm not going to let her turn into a cold case. Years from now, it's just not in me. I can't do it. She deserves better. Courtney was thirty two years old. She was four foot eleven and weighed one hundred and ten pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. But she enjoyed wearing wigs on occasion and liked changing the color of her hair. Here's what you can do to help. If you have any information about Courtney or her disappearance, please contact the Kane County Sheriff's Department at four three five six four four four nine one six. Her loved ones are interested in hearing from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious around the time she went missing. That would be November of twenty twenty three. Or if you have any idea where Courtney may have been in the few days between when she was last seen and the car was found, or any other details or information you may have, the family is pleading for even the smallest details, which may help them find out what happened to Courtney. They are also actively seeking assistance from forensic investigators or an attorney. We will share their GoFundMe where they hope to raise enough money to hire a private investigator to continue this investigation. Please help them out by sharing her photo on social media this week. We hope they find answers soon. Since we aired this original episode, Courtney's family was able to get an actual video copy of the police body cam footage from the day that Courtney was pulled over by the police officer for speeding in hurricane, Utah. Hurricane is about two hours from Las Vegas, and when Courtney was pulled over, she told the officer she was traveling to Cedar City. In the video, you can hear the conversation between her and the officer. It's a bit hard to make out exactly what she's saying. She seems. Maybe she's a bit nervous, but she seems upbeat and happy. But she's speaking kind of fast, and the video captured by his body cam is not very clear. And even though you can see that Courtney is wearing dark clothes, her hair is brown and she's wearing sunglasses. They still apply to filter over her face, so she's slightly blurred out and you can't make out all her features. When the officer asks her about how fast she was going, she seems like she was not really clear about the fact that she was speeding. She seemed really surprised that he had pulled her over and that he said she was going fifty five. She was just really shocked by that. When he asks for her license and registration, she said that she didn't have her license on her, and she wasn't sure if she could find it right that minute. But she hands over the car registration and she says to the officer, this is my mom's car and states that her name is Courtney Townsend. She's speaking clearly. She's not slurring her words. And based on the officer's demeanor and his banter back and forth with her, you can tell that he's not concerned that she's intoxicated. He's just like, whoa, where are you going? You're driving really fast. He makes that point that she's driving quickly. A couple of times in the video, like we said, she says that she's going to Cedar City, which is about forty miles on the I-15 from hurricane. He goes back to his car and he does a background check looking her up in the system. He's in his car for several minutes, and then he writes her the speeding ticket. And when he hands it to her, she seems not concerned. She's not angry, she's not crying, she's not upset in any kind of way. She just kind of takes it from him and he starts to explain to her, you know, how she needs to handle the ticket, where she needs to go. But she's like, I already know all that. I'm good and accepts the ticket from him. And then from the car, she picks up a small dark colored box, um, about the size of maybe a deck of cards and a folded piece of paper, and she tries to hand it to the officer and he says, what's that? And she says, it's a present, but he says, no, I can't take it. And she says, what are you married? And he says, yes. And she says, take it for your wife. And he says, no, no, thank you. And she seems a little disappointed that he doesn't take it, but it's kind of an odd exchange. After we saw it, we wondered, much like Courtney's family does, could she have been trying to give the officer some kind of note or some kind of message? We don't know what exactly that piece of paper was. You don't see any words or anything when she hands it to him on the video. But we've covered cases before where someone is experiencing domestic violence or some kind of violent situation, and they're trying to communicate with authorities by just slipping a note to keep it quiet. They're not trying to draw too much attention to the fact that they need to pass this message along. So we don't know if this was possibly a missed opportunity that the officer could have at least read that note to see what she was trying to pass him, or possibly even open the box to see what was inside.

John Her car was discovered three days later, so that would be November nineteenth in Duck Creek, which is about two hours away from hurricane. The car had been completely burned out and there was a red chair facing the car and a fishing pole, almost as if someone had been warming themselves by the car fire or watching it burn in the photos of the car. You can clearly see, though, that it's full of various contents that are covered with snow, and it's obvious that nothing is burned among those contents. It looks like it might be a cooler or a backpack, things like that. It's not clear how those things got there, but it's very clear that they were put there after the fire because none of them were burned. There's also a key chain that was found that reads b f f l, which I take to mean best friends for life. And it's attached to a little anime monster keychain, which were also both completely untouched by the fire. It turned out that, as it's been reported, she did steal the car, but it's unclear why her mother did report it stolen, probably indicating that she didn't know that Courtney was the one that took it. There are also some words written on the car, which I couldn't really make out, and like I said, it seemed to me and also to the police that wrote up the report, that someone had set up a chair next to the car to watch the fire burn. They also found dog tags for Ray Newton, some prescriptions, and a wallet with credit cards belonging to him as well. And those are her parents. So her parent's belongings were also found in the car. That's a pretty good indication that the car was not stolen, so she could profit off it in some way.

Shaun Courtney's remains were found in two different places at two different times, a portion near the burned out vehicle and another further away. but officers haven't offered any insight as to what may have happened to her. Also in February of twenty twenty four, Courtney's backpack with her children's birth certificates inside was found in a city truck at the Saint George Animal Shelter. And no one knows. There's no surveillance footage of when that backpack was placed in the truck, who placed it there, or even where the truck was parked at the time that someone would have put her bag inside of it. So this bag was recovered months after it was known that Courtney was already dead. Needless to say, Courtney's family is not at all satisfied with what the Kane County sheriff has said. The investigation that's been conducted in this case, the sheriff has said that there's not foul play suspected in her case, but there hasn't been any statement about Courtney's cause of death, and her family just feels that there was never a thorough investigation into what really happened.

John On the justice for Courtney webpage run by her family, her sister Dallas. They've posted some text messages that indicate she was in an abusive relationship with Ryan, who she married recently, and that's a belief that her friends also have. Ryan has never been accused of anything related to Courtney's death, and we want to be clear about that, but we think the text messages offer interesting insight about what was on her mind. So we're going to read those. The interesting thing is, in looking at the texts, that the top of them indicates that the text messages were sent on November twelfth, twenty twenty two, a full year before she disappeared. First, her mother writes to her and says, Ryan just texted me and said, you have property of his. Courtney writes back, yes, I left during a disagreement yesterday and I was wearing his shirt. I have one single shirt that is his property. And I only took it because that's what I was wearing. He is mad that I haven't dropped it off yet, and I ignored him by taking twenty eight minutes to respond to his last text message. And he doesn't put up with disobedience and being ignored. That's in all caps because I'm supposed to do what the f I'm told, and I am never to ignore him. Ever. I wasn't ignoring him. I'm just having a breakdown because he's so effing mean, mom. Like he's so mean and it's my fault for even allowing it. But I was already struggling with shame and guilt and feeling shitty about myself and whatever. And then he targets that and uses the personal things I shared with him to hurt me and make me feel worthless whenever he's mad. So I'm feeling just a little bit blue right now because I know better. I wasn't in a position to be in a relationship and I told Ryan that, but he's convincing and so very good at pretending I was too fragile to be with someone. And he absolutely knew that. And I think that's why he targeted me, because I was weak and pathetic, and he gets off on demoralizing women and objectifying them. He loves it. I've never had anyone treat me like this. Yet I put up with it and I don't know why. If you saw some of the messages, mom, you would effin kill him. It's so bad. And I did it myself because I didn't walk away the first time. He was evil. So he knows that he can treat me this way because I've allowed it so far. Her sister Dallas has also been a vocal and persistent advocate for finding out the truth of what happened to Courtney, and as a part of that, she wrote to the Utah Attorney General. We've decided to share some excerpts of that letter and will provide a link to the full text in our source list. Dear Mr. Brown, my name is Dallas Hartford, and I'm writing to plead for your office to review the investigation into my sister Courtney Townsend's disappearance and tragic death. The handling of her case by law enforcement has been riddled with neglect, contradictions and unanswered questions, and her family has been left devastated and desperate for real answers. Courtney was not just a missing person, not just a case file. She was a daughter, a mother, a sister, and a friend. She was a licensed caregiver, CNA, who helped in caring for her ailing dad at the end of his life, where she was almost daily up until the day she disappeared, dedicating her life to helping others in their most vulnerable moments. She was the kind of person who loved deeply and without judgment, who would give everything she had to help someone in need. She spread love and light wherever she went, making everyone she encountered feel seen, heard, and valued. She was a beautiful soul who deserved more from this world. She was a person. Her family, especially her mother and children, need to know what truly happened to her. Now she's gone, and no one in law enforcement seems to care enough to truly investigate what happened. Unanswered questions and law enforcement's failure to act. Kane County has claimed that Courtney wrecked her car on Duck Creek Ridge Road in Duck Creek Village, Utah, and then walked away, froze to death, and was eaten by wild animals. However, this theory is filled with contradictions. When Kourtney's burned vehicle was discovered, her mother immediately asked officers, was there a body? And they said no. She then asked if they would conduct a search and they refused, claiming they already knew Kourtney wasn't on the mountain without actually looking. Deputy Kram later told her mother to officially report Kourtney as a missing person through dispatch, in order to initiate a search, implying that one would actually happen. But after it was reported, they still did nothing. Condition of her remains doesn't support their theory. When Kourtney's partial remains were discovered in May of twenty twenty four, six months later they were found by someone riding their four Wheeler who reported them, which raises even more questions. How were her remains missed after three previous searches in that same area? Why didn't cadaver dogs pick up if she had died there months earlier? Search and rescue experts have stated that the partial jawbone found with her femur bone could not have been placed there by animals. Animals do not pick apart bones. They eat flesh. The evidence proves she was alive after the crash. A Google Earth image from November nineteen, twenty twenty three clearly shows Courtney near the burned vehicle. This is three days after she supposedly walked away and died. If she died in November, how did her backpack containing her children's birth certificates end up in a Saint George City truck at the City Animal Shelter in February of twenty twenty four? No one can determine how it got there, who put it there, or how long it had been there on the day she disappeared. November sixteen, twenty twenty three. Courtney spoke with her mother, saying she was fifteen minutes away from being back home. Hours later, she was pulled over in hurricane, Utah with her mother's stolen vehicle. She tried to hand the officer an envelope folded into a jewelry box, which he refused to even look at. What if that was a plea for help? Why was her case treated as an inconvenience from the beginning? Law enforcement treated Courtney's case as if she wasn't worth searching for, instead of treating her as a missing endangered person. The Saint George Police Department publicly emphasized that she had mental health and drug issues as if to justify their lack of action. How is that relevant to her disappearance? Kane County repeatedly delayed searching for her, claiming there was too much snow. Yet when her family finally announced they would search on their own, law enforcement miraculously decided to search the area and later discovered her remains. Allen Aldridge of the Kane County Sheriff's Department publicly stated they do not suspect foul play, but how could that be true given all of those glaring inconsistencies? Her burned vehicle was immediately blamed on her without a proper arson investigation. Her remains and belongings were somehow missed during multiple searches. A Google Earth image proves she was alive after the car was burned. How is this not suspicious? We need and deserve real answers. We'll talk a little bit more about that later in the Swing Shift episode.

Shaun Her family is still desperate for answers and any details of anyone who might have seen Courtney in the days leading up to her disappearance, or have any information about what happened to her. You can call (435) 619-1250 If you have any information that might lead to answers about what happened, it's been nearly three years and her family deserves answers and Courtney deserves justice and the families GoFundMe is still active and it would help them out if you could still contribute. They're still well short of their $5000 goal.

John If you can leave a review on your podcast platform of choice, that always helps us, and we will remind you that what happens here happens everywhere.

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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 sinsandsurvivors.com Signs and survivors. A Las Vegas True crime podcast is researched, written and produced by your host, Shaun 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 and 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.