- So, they can recreate what you look like
from your DNA? Holy...
♪ (haunting intro) ♪
- (narrator) It was the end of summer when tragedy would strike
the Flying G Ranch Girl Scout Camp.
- Oh, god. If it's a Girl Scout camp, that's already scary enough.
- (narrator) ...16-year-old girl scout aide at the time.
- 16-year-old girl scout. That's so-- it's so sad
when it's the younger ones. - (narrator) The night of the crime
was August 18th, 1963. - I love these videos.
I can just put 'em on my TV, and then just close my eyes
and listen to it. You know what I mean?
Obviously, there's visuals that go with it,
but I can just sit here and just listen to the guy's voice.
- (narrator) Sometime during the night,
Margaret's tent mate, Claudia Shride, made her way to the infirmary.
She claimed to have left the tent with Margaret still sleeping inside.
When Claudia returned, she apparently found Margaret
dead in her sleeping bag. - How? Was she stabbed?
- (narrator) Witnesses say there were no obvious signs of trauma.
- Okay, no. - (narrator) And they assumed Margaret
had simply died of natural causes. - No trauma? And then, they just died
in the forest? What the heck? - (narrator) After some investigation,
Jefferson County Police discovered Margaret's underwear
and leotard had been ripped. - Ooh.
- (narrator) They even found some skin under her fingernails,
which led them to believe she had been murdered.
- I mean, skin under the fingernails, that's very-- I mean, if it's skin
of somebody else, that's definitely-- there was a struggle.
- I don't understand why it took time for them to realize that she might
have been assaulted, because I think, at first,
they said, "Oh, she might have died of natural causes."
And then, they realized later that there was more to it.
So, I think that was bad police work. - (FBE) So, we've recently gone over
some unsolved mysteries here on React.
But this time, we wanted to take a look at some true crimes
that were solved in 2020. - Wow! Okay, cool.
- (FBE) At the crime scene, there was DNA left
under Margaret's fingernails. But at the time, they were not able
to match it to a suspect. But recent advancements in DNA
have led investigators to find people who might be related to the suspect
and narrow their search. - Oh, wow.
- (FBE) Investigators found familial DNA in a public database,
and they were able to confirm that James Raymond Taylor,
a local TV repairman at the time, as a suspect after 56 years.
- Dang, that's a whole case for 56 years.
- That's crazy! And then, there's no statute of limitation
against murder, so that guy can still go to jail against that.
- (FBE) Unfortunately, Taylor has not been seen since 1976,
and he would be around 80 years old now.
So, if anybody watching at home has any information on James Taylor,
they are urged to call the Jefferson County Sheriff's tipline.
- So, he just straight up disappeared. - So, that was a double whammy there,
because they know who did it, but they haven't found him.
That's really creepy. Ugh. - (FBE) This is the oldest case
that has been solved with DNA evidence.
- Well, thank God it's the future
and we're able to make stuff like that.
That family has been probably speculating what happened
for 57 years now. And the fact that they finally
have a sense of closure this year, I would've felt relieved.
- (narrator) The 25th of June, 2010, 47-year-old Bonnie Woodward
was an East Alton, Illinois resident, mother, and cancer survivor.
She had worked at the Eunice C. Smith Nursing Home located in Alton
for over 27 years. - Right on.
- (narrator) Her shift ended at 3 PM when she walked out
to her red Chevy Avalanche truck, which was sitting
in the nursing home parking lot. She jumped into the truck
and wound the windows down. A man was seen in the parking lot
by her coworkers half an hour prior
to Bonnie exiting the building. - Hmm.
- (narrator) He'd been driving a silver or gray
2000-2005 Chevy Malibu and was smoking a cigarette.
He walked over to Bonnie in her truck and a heated exchange followed
according to a witness. - Okay.
- (narrator) She was then seen entering the car with him,
and they left together. - Oh.
Yeah, I wouldn't do that. - (narrator) Bonnie's truck
was left abandoned and unlocked, but no personal items
were left behind. - That's really weird.
Why'd she leave her door unlocked and everything but get in the car
and they drove away? - It's crazy to me how someone
could be coerced into a situation in which they would die.
There was a heated argument, and then homegirl just
gets in the car willingly. - (narrator) Bonnie vanished that day
and was never seen again. - So creepy stuff
like this can happen. - (narrator) Bonnie was a mother
to two sons and had a 17-year-old stepdaughter
named Heather Woodward. On the third of July, 2010...
- Oh, this was 10 years ago? Okay. - (narrator) ...she'd been staying
with Roger and Monica Carroll. Investigators then discovered
that Roger drove a silver Malibu, which resembled the description
of the unknown man seen in the parking lot.
- Okay, so she knew the person. - (narrator) ...was conducted with...
- What the? - (narrator) ...cadaver dogs,
but no sign of Bonnie was found. - Yeah, definitely.
It sounds a little more like they kind of have him, right?
Same model of the car and everything.
- Damn, a cancer survivor? And then, you have to go through that?
That's crazy! - (FBE) Even though there was
no evidence to convict Roger Carroll for Bonnie Woodward's murder,
recently an unlikely witness spoke to police to help
convict him of his crime: his own son. - Oh, wow!
- Oh, so his own son ratted him out.
- (FBE) He said when he was just 16, he and his father, Roger,
left a vacation early, and they passed Bonnie's work.
Roger happened to make a comment that he was glad she was working
when he saw her car. - Interesting.
- (FBE) Roger apparently went back to Bonnie's work
and told her that her stepdaughter was at his house.
- Oh, okay. - I get seeing the daughter,
but why would you go to a friend of a friend?
You don't really know that person very well.
- (FBE) The son said he later saw his father dragging a body
across the yard and was instructed to start a fire to burn her remains
and later clean up the ashes. - Wow, he told
his 16-year-old son to do that. - (FBE) Roger Carroll was
then arrested and was sentenced to 65 years for the murder
of Bonnie Woodward. - Wow. These are really sad stories.
- Morality will come out. It ate at this kid for 10 years.
You know what I mean? At 26 years old, this guy's like,
(slams table) "I can't sit by any longer.
You murdered somebody." - And it took him years, man.
It took him to be an adult, like, an actual adult to be like,
"I gotta speak up. I have to. As a kid, I couldn't,
'cause I was just a kid then. But now it's like I have to."
That's insane.
- (narrator) James Essel was a loving father and husband.
He owned the Sugarloaf Mountain Market convenience store.
- Aww, looks like a cute little homey market.
- (narrator) James' body was found laying behind the counter.
He was stabbed 29 times. - Ooh, 29 times! Jeez.
That's hate. - (narrator) He had fought hard
for his life, since the suspect's blood
was also found at the crime scene. - Oh, he was defending himself.
- (narrator) Police sent the DNA samples
they had collected...
- 1992 to 2017. That's a long time.
- (narrator) ...was able to make two images.
- Huh, interesting. - (narrator) One of how the suspect
might have looked like in 1992 and what he might look like in 2017.
- Oh, wow. That's good. That's cool. - So, they can recreate
what you look like from your DNA? Holy [censored].
- (narrator) Unfortunately did not help, and police decided
to focus on genetic genealogy to solve this case.
- Okay, I do remember hearing that if a person is killed
the way that he was killed, it's usually a crime of passion.
Or I guess maybe they had a psychological problem,
but I think maybe it was someone he knew.
- (FBE) To help find James Essel's killer,
authorities went to genetic genealogy to find family members of a suspect.
And in January 2020, they were able to narrow down their search
to one man named Hans Huitz. In February, police collected DNA
from Hans which matched the DNA left at the scene
of James Essel's attack. - Wow.
- (FBE) Two days later, when police attempted to arrest him,
he took out a firearm, which he would not put down,
and was shot and killed by police. - Mm. Ah.
- (FBE) Essel's family said that they were relieved
that the case had finally been solved after 30 years,
but they were disappointed that Essel didn't get
the justice he deserved. - Yeah, honestly,
I'd be disappointed too if I was the family.
You murdered somebody. You took someone's life from them,
and now it's like you got the easy way out.
- I feel like at least that way, you know for sure that he's not here
to do that anymore to anyone else on this planet.
He fought for his life, left blood, and because of that,
they were able to get the guy, you know?
So, they should just be more focused on that and the fact that they
were able to catch him because of that, you know?
I feel like that's more important. - That happened this year! Jeez!
While coronavirus is going on and I'm [censored] quarantined
in my apartment, some dude is getting caught for a crime
he did 30 years ago. Holy [censored].
- Thanks for watching this episode of Adults React.
- If you liked this video, make sure you hit the Like button.
- What's the craziest solved case that you've heard of?
Let us know down in the comments. - Hey, everyone.
Lauren, producer here on React. Thank you guys so much
for watching this episode. What do you hope gets solved in 2021?
Let us know down in the comments, and let's all cross our fingers. Bye!