A case 8 years in the making: The team that solved Kelsie Schelling's Strangely enough, around the same time, the family of another missing woman 1,200 miles away in Portsmouth, Ohio, had been receiving similar messages. The young woman had driven down to Pueblo on February 4, 2013, to meet with her boyfriend, Donthe Lucas, after sharing the news of her pregnancy, never to be seen or heard from again. sandiway.arizona.edu I've been here over an hour just waiting." Schelling didn't show up to work on Feb. 5, and a worried co-worker tried calling her. Lucas and Schelling continue to exchange texts throughout the day of Feb. 4, beginning before her OBGYN appointment. It's a sad situation that didn't have to end up like this if he had just let her come home.. 10:50 a.m.: Opening statements wrapped up from prosecutors and Donthe Lucas' defense. The jury convicted Lucas after approximately four hours of deliberation. I moved the car, Chostner said. For years, Donthe maintained that he had nothing to do with Kelsies disappearance and had no idea where she could be. Schelling texted Lucas at 8:50 p.m., saying, Im coming now. Binet asked Lucas if he had any idea where Schelling might be, to which Lucas replied: Honestly, Im not too sure. Warner Bros. Entertainment | It was discovered during the trial Wednesday morning that an upcoming witness in the trial was found shot to death last week in Denver. PUEBLO, Colo. CBI Investigator Kevin Torres remembers it like yesterday. Kelsey Ann Smith (May 3, 1989 - June 2, 2007) was an Overland Park, Kansas teenager who disappeared on June 2, 2007 and was murdered that evening. [That was] where he seemingly intended to board a flight to Tucson, and the concern was once he got to Arizona that he may take other efforts to meet friends in Mexico.. Donthe Lucas found guilty in death of pregnant woman Kelsie Schelling Lucas was found guilty of first-degree murder in connection to the death or disappearance of Schelling. But Tate said they would never perform a biopsy on a pregnant woman and said even if Schelling did have HPV, its a common diagnosis about 15 percent of women have HPV at any given time. One year since the disappearance of Colorado woman Kelsie Schelling, her family continues to grow desperate to find her and is asking the public for help. Kelsie Schelling: Found or Missing? Is She Alive or Dead? - The Cinemaholic Dont worry about me. (Schelling's family denies claims that she ever engaged in the use of illegal substances, per ABC News). They instructed Saxton to bring the money to a specific McDonalds restaurant in Vancouver, Washington, and to hand deliver it to a person named Marcus who would be wearing a red hat. When police questioned Lucas, he told them that the morning after they met, he took Schelling to the Parkview Medical Center and hinted she had a miscarriage there. You probably wouldnt believe me if I told you anyway so you can see for yourself.. There's no body, no murder weapon, no crime scene. S43 E19 Finding Kelsie A young woman goes missing. So, lets find out more about where he is today, shall we? So-called jailhouse snitches are often considered to be not credible as jurors often ask what that witness may have received in return for testifying. I had information that Donthe was leaving Pueblo with members of his family and was heading to [Denver International Airport], Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner said. In a separate incident reported in 2017, a man claimed that Lucas, aided by family members, attacked him over $1000 he claimed Lucas' family stole, perABC News. In this week's True Crime Daily Podcast: An update to the Colorado cold case murder of missing pregnant woman Kelsie Schelling (1:50). Therefore, after many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he stood trial for the same in early 2021. We did not have a body that would've told us location No modus operandi of how she died. The defense in Lucas' trial rested on Monday without calling any witnesses. Suspecting foul play, police accelerated the investigation. [He said] that [she] was his best friend and he had nothing to do with it, and then he would just shut down and start crying hysterically and get upset, Suhr said. If the offender is used to having the victim take care of them and be focused on them and dancing around to be sure the offender is doing OK, if now, suddenly, thats not happening, that can lead to an escalation, Walker said. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. I'm really grateful to know that we know the answer, Saxton said. Morning Forecast One minute, he had no involvement. Feb. 4, 2013, was the last time Schelling was seen. Then, Suhr said something unexpected happened with Lucas: her undercover relationship with him blossomed into romance. Once the money was exchanged, then this courier person would go and get Kelsie and bring her back to the McDonalds, Saxton said of the instructions she received. Great now., Sara Lucas asked Donthe, Shes not pregnant?, He responded: Nothing. The texts exchanged indicate Lucas and Schelling were constantly arguing throughout the night of Feb. 3, both in text and in short phone conversations in which Schelling seemed to continually hang up on Lucas. At 11:29 a.m. on Feb. 5, Torres said Lucas texted his mother, Going to make sure she didnt leave anything in the house. The defense points out that Suhr was lying to Lucas the whole time, and tried to have her admit she was having sex with him in exchange for information. OK. However McCarthy said, there was no deals made about charges he would get to plead to, time he would get to serve. Torres said Lucas never took the car to Denver. Late in the afternoon on March 8, a Pueblo County jury issued a guilty verdict in the trial of Donthe Lucas, who'd been charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend, Denver's Kelsie . We know that that's his phone. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Laura Saxton fought tirelessly for justice in the case of her missing pregnant daughter. The man claimed he was lured online into a supposed jewelry venture, and that he was told to pick up the money and wire it to someone hed never met. The community organized search efforts to try and find Schelling with her family filing a lawsuit in 2015 against the Pueblo Police Department and the Lucas family. He said that Schelling had called him early that morning from a private number and said he told Schelling she needed to get in touch with her family members because they were worried about her. Law enforcement finally turned Schellings missing persons case into a criminal case. Prosecutors called Ryan Rivera, who testified that when he was in jail with Lucas, Lucas claimed that investigators would never find Schelling's body and that they would never convict him. When Suhr was back on the witness stand Wednesday, she said Lucas proposed to her, who took the ring, but said she would have to think about it. Its really hard to find words to use for it, because its so awful. Lucas appears to have asked Schelling to come down to Pueblo after she got off work the evening of Feb. 3, and expresses disappointment she will not drive down. I told you Id give you everything you need when you get here so u dont need that job.. 4:34. He said Schelling wanted a relationship but thats not what he wanted. The argument between Schelling and Lucas, according to the exchanged texts as recounted by Torres, continued into the early morning hours of Feb. 4. Circumstantial and forensic evidence are prominen 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. March 8, 2021 / 11:59 PM Waiting for your permission to load facebook comments. Eighteen hours later, an unknown man is seen getting in the car and driving away. Schelling's Late Philosophy in Confrontation with Hegel Peter Dews (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy . The homicide trial of Donthe Lucas, accused of first-degree murder in the 2013 disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend, Kelsie Schelling, resumed Monday with the testimony of Colorado Bureau. I know that that is a long shot than anybody [sic] would even try to help us with that., Saxton said the thought of her daughters body being left there is just the worst possibility to me, because he discarded her like garbage. Schelling's body has never been found. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. I know that my testimony could potentially help take him down, and that was realistically why I wanted to testify, she said. The car was moved from that location the following morning, then showed up at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center Feb. 9. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. She claimed Schelling was alive. He told her that he and Schelling would do drugs together, like cocaine. Daily Briefing Laura Saxton and her daughter Kelsie Schelling, who vanished in 2013. She had just seen her unborn child on an ultrasound, and she sent that photo to her on-again/off-again boyfriend. If its really what happened Im so sorry you had to go through that alone, Lucas said in a text to Schelling. They alleged that when she left Lucas at the Walmart, she was going to meet up with a drug dealer. Lucas also admitted to Suhr that he was the person seen in the Walmart surveillance footage and that he moved the car to St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center. I will support you whether Donthe is in the picture or not in the picture. Missing in America: Kelsie Schelling - NBC News Over the course of the following weeks, she became close with Lucas and had the opportunity to speak with him about Schellings disappearance. Those charges were later dropped when investigators found out that she would sometimes give him permission to use her bank card, and he was released. Trace #DNA of #Lucas was found inside a pair of gloves and two sweatshirts. "We're doing everything in our power. During the interview, Lucas admitted to moving Schelling's car specifically, driving it from the Walmart where they were supposed to meet to a nearby medical center where it was later found. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play. The first search warrant was executed at the suspects home on Feb. 14a period of 11 days, or 264 hours. Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. In December 2019, the judge postponed the trial until May 2020, as a new lawyer joined the defense team. That was dumb and I apologize. At 1:28 a.m., Schelling tells Lucas, I wont tell you anything about the baby. Schelling, and Hegel. Either make things work with me or walk away.. Now that she is gone, Ive had to turn into a fighter, Saxton told 20/20.. Wish you would have told me you knew it was very likely to happen so I could be prepared. Its hard to explain, Torres said, Its definitely a person, emotional bond. The prosecution argued that Lucas didnt want his pregnant girlfriend to have their unborn baby, so he plotted and killed her before it could happen. I plan to make things work. I wont tell you about my appointment. We wanna bring her home with us, her and Cadry both. Re-examine a current true crime case where unanswered questions remain and the mystery is still unraveling. Johnston also uses iek's combination of . However, in January of 2019, both the prosecution and defense said they would not be ready to go to trial by early April 2019, because of an additional 125 witnesses who could possibly be called to testify. While in custody, Lucas admitted to police that he picked up Schellings car and dropped it off at the hospital. Plus, a baggage claim sticker leads to an arrest after human remains were found in two suitcases on the side of a Denver road in December (30:07). She drove to Pueblo that night to meet him, explaining that he had told her to come. Her body has never been found. Their lock to their front gate into the dump had been tampered with., It caught my attention when I grabbed the lock in my hand, and I said, Well, somebody tried to get in here overnight, Guadalupe Maestas, a worker at the landfill, told 20/20. Thats what came to my mind right away.. Michelle Chostner prosecuted the case alongside senior prosecutor Kyle McCarthy, and Alex Baker, an Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney Generals Office. Suhr said the plan was basically just to kind of befriend him, get to know him, try and meet him, see what his family was like, see if I could get him to talk about anything.. Some of Schellings close friends also testified that Lucas was abusive. Donthe Lucas. Emmanuel Chandler, then 29, turned himself in for the crime and has not yet entered a plea.. No one but the investigators knew what Martinez was planning to say in her testimony. He inferred that Schelling had lied about being pregnant numerous times in the past to try to, make me stay with her and keep talking to her or whatever.. Moreover, only a day earlier in Denver, Schelling's doctor had told her that the baby was healthy. They asked the family to deliver $50,000 in cash to the same McDonalds in Vancouver, where a man named Marcus wearing a red hat would be waiting. Lucas pleaded not guilty to the murder charges in August 2018, and the judge set a trial date for 2019. At 1:34 p.m., Lucas sends another text saying, sorry again about the loss, telling Schelling he will soon be going up to Denver to drop off her car. Walker was called as a blind expert, meaning she was not familiar with the details of the Lucas case but spoke to general trends in domestic violence cases. Please enter valid email address to continue. She texts again at 11:24 p.m., saying Where are you? Ad Choices, Benjamin Satterthwaite; Kelsie Schelling; Donthe Lucas, Criminal defense attorney Danielle Iredale, Body parts found in suitcases, luggage tags lead to suspected killer; Kelsie Schelling update - TCDPOD. At 1:10 p.m., Lucas texts Schelling, saying that he will drop off her vehicle and asks if he should, leave the keys in the visor?. Megan Lancaster, then 25, had disappeared just months after Schelling. Walker said domestic violence, broadly speaking, addresses patterns of coercive control where one person in a relationship maintains power over the other. The defense argued it was a missing persons case. After Torres, the prosecution called to the stand Jennifer Walker, the executive director of the Crisis Center a nonprofit organization in Douglas County that address domestic violence. Police say her death does not appear to be related to the trial, but instead a possible result of domestic violence. Prosecutors confirmed that Wilkins and Martinez were the same person. MORE: Lucas trial day 2: Friends of Kelsie Schelling speak to a toxic and abusive relationship. Opening statements were set to begin just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, and. the Alert is a 2023 documentary on Peacock. 'The Last Day,' Dateline's new documentary series, premieres with Hours later she vanished. (viaABC News). For Lauras part, the case doesnt end with the verdict. Their argument continued through texts beyond 4 a.m. MORE:Lucas trial day 1: Former inmate testifies Lucas admitted guilt to the murder, Later that morning, Torres read texts from Schelling to Lucas that said, Im sorry for hanging up on you over and over. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). kelsie schelling murder, mollie tibbetts murder, true crime series. Dont worry. In most scams, they're compartmentalized, Garrett said. Experts testify Tuesday on various evidence found in Schelling's car - KOAA
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