0:02

Originals. This is an iHeart

0:05

original.

0:07

Hi everyone, I'm so excited

0:10

to share episode one of the new season

0:12

of What Happened to I wanted

0:14

to let you know. You can listen to this episode

0:16

ad free with iHeart True Crime

0:19

Plus, available exclusively

0:21

on Apple Podcasts. You'll also

0:23

get instant access to episode two

0:25

right now, a whole week ahead of everyone

0:28

else, and early access

0:30

to future episodes and exclusive

0:32

bonus content. So head to Apple

0:34

Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime

0:36

Plus and subscribe today. This

0:45

story can be hard to hear. There's

0:47

detailed talk of suicide and violence,

0:49

but we think it's important not to gloss

0:51

over the reality of what happened to Libby

0:54

Caswell. Please take care while

0:56

listening.

1:01

You know, he asked me would I tell him this story

1:03

about his mother dying? That's

1:06

how he said it. I didn't know how

1:08

to even handle that, And when I talked to

1:10

a psychologist, I was like, how do you even tell

1:12

a child this story

1:15

when they ask what happened to my mother?

1:21

So far, Cindy Caswell has

1:23

been able to avoid telling her grandson

1:25

Xavier this story. The

1:28

story you're about to hear the

1:30

details of what happened to Libby Caswell

1:33

are not suitable for a ten year old

1:35

like Xavier, so instead, Cindy

1:37

tries to focus on the good memories

1:40

Xavier still has of his mother. He

1:42

was only four when Libby died.

1:44

He remembers episodes

1:47

of Sesame Street that he watched with his mother,

1:50

and this certain song, you know at

1:52

the beginning that's like I'm

1:54

stronger, faster, you know,

1:57

and smarter. And he'll

1:59

start crying and he wants to talk about

2:01

her. So we look at pictures, and

2:04

you know, I try to tell him it's

2:07

okay to cry and grieve.

2:09

When he asks Sue how she died,

2:12

what do you tell him?

2:13

I tell him that I don't.

2:16

I don't know any effects

2:18

about his mother, and

2:21

I'm still waiting until

2:24

then. I say, you know, when

2:26

you're older and later

2:28

on, maybe we'll all know exactly

2:31

how your mom died. And

2:37

when I know, I can tell him more.

2:46

My name is Melissa Jelson. I'm

2:48

an investigative reporter who covers violence

2:51

against women. In the first season

2:53

of this show, What Happened to Sandy Beal,

2:56

I dug into the story of a young woman

2:58

who wanted to be a cop back in the nineteen

3:00

seventies, but ended up fatally

3:02

shot. She was found alone

3:04

in her car, parked in a secluded

3:07

location known as a cop hangout.

3:09

It was a story about a family search

3:11

for truth and a police culture

3:13

that refused accountability, a

3:16

story where the official version just

3:18

didn't make sense. And ever

3:20

since that show aired, my inbox

3:22

has been flooded with tips from listeners with

3:25

unresolved stories of their own. Among

3:27

the tips from strangers was an email

3:30

from a source I've known for years, someone

3:33

who has a reputation for searching for

3:35

truth and police accountability.

3:38

I received a call from Cindy Caswell

3:41

and I actually was a voicemail left at the

3:43

police department. It's not unusual

3:45

for me to receive calls from family

3:47

members wanting me to look

3:50

into the death of their loved one.

3:52

Doctor Bill Smock is the director of the

3:54

Clinical Forensic Medicine Program

3:57

for the Louisville Metro Police Department.

4:00

It comes somewhat of a household name ever

4:02

since the trial of Derek Chauvin, where

4:04

he provided expert testimony about

4:06

George Floyd's death.

4:08

When the body

4:10

is deprived of oxygen.

4:13

Explaining in medical terms how

4:16

kneeling on someone's neck for nine minutes

4:18

can kill.

4:18

Them gradually

4:21

succumbed to lower and lower levels

4:23

of oxygen, and he died.

4:26

Smock is a national expert in cases

4:28

where a person died from asphyxia a

4:30

lack of oxygen, and he spent

4:32

his entire career in forensics,

4:35

evaluating autopsies, exploring

4:37

crime scenes, and analyzing case

4:40

files, which is exactly why Cindy

4:42

reached out to him. Libby Caswell,

4:45

like George Floyd, died of asphyxia

4:48

in December twenty seventeen. She

4:50

was found in a motel bathroom with

4:52

a belt wrapped around her neck. She

4:55

was just twenty one years old.

5:00

So I said, Sidney, please send me everything

5:02

you asker, autopsy photos, autopsy

5:05

report, seeing photos, whatever you have, and

5:07

I'll take a quick look.

5:09

It ended up being more than a quick look.

5:12

After Smock saw the material Cindy sent

5:14

him, he went deep. Then

5:17

he got angry.

5:18

Libby's case stands out in my

5:20

mind and keeps me awake at night. There

5:22

were multiple injuries that were not documented.

5:26

There is evidence that

5:29

was myssed.

5:34

Libby's story gripped me too and

5:36

sent me down a long road full of intense

5:39

conversations and uncomfortable

5:41

questions. Did you not believe that he's telling

5:43

the truth.

5:44

No, no, I'm

5:52

telling you.

5:53

I've interviewed him and his story

5:55

is very credible and

5:58

captivated the town of inde Hennance,

6:00

Missouri.

6:01

Three years after her daughter's body was found in

6:03

a motel bathroom, Sinny Kaswell believes

6:05

her daughter, Libby was murdered.

6:06

As forty one Action News reporder Sarah Planke shows

6:09

us, Libby's mom has a team of experts

6:11

on her side who say the crucial questions

6:13

in the case remain unanswered.

6:17

What happened to Libby Caswell isn't

6:20

just a story about a young woman's death.

6:22

It's about how Libby lived and

6:25

loved you know. I think she held onto a

6:27

little bit of too much hope, and that's

6:29

a good trait to have and tell you're in a situation

6:31

like this, and

6:35

how she was failed by local police.

6:37

I'd say, if one is a really poor

6:39

investigation and ten is

6:41

a perfect investigation, I'd

6:44

give them a point five.

6:46

It's also about the systems that were supposed

6:48

to help Libby and didn't.

6:50

I think the law is set up to punish

6:53

families in this situation.

6:55

And how far you'd go to find justice

6:57

for a loved one.

6:58

What happened to her is

7:01

unknown, and it's

7:03

something that I need to know.

7:07

What God second

7:15

from iHeart Podcasts, I'm Melissa

7:17

Jelson, and this is what happened

7:19

to Libby Caswell, Chapter

7:28

one, The girl in Room three

7:30

nineteen.

7:33

Second again.

7:36

Wanting again to the emergency

7:39

hotel if you're aware

7:42

Studio motel. I'm gone

7:44

on that id Bok

7:47

cover. She heard yourselfing about

7:49

the whilk

7:52

coming. I don't want to do freaking out.

7:58

It's a Monday night in Independence, Missouri,

8:01

December eleventh, twenty seventeen,

8:04

at eight o four pm, A nine

8:06

to one one call comes in from the sports

8:08

stadium in a rundown motel,

8:11

just a couple of miles from where the Kansas City

8:13

Chiefs play. This call

8:16

lasts about five minutes before ending

8:18

abruptly. I'm going to play

8:20

parts of it now.

8:22

What that real happened?

8:24

I don't know what happened to

8:27

go to the bathroom open

8:32

the door like

8:37

I don't know. My my my note

8:39

was she had put a belt around

8:41

your neck, and I seen the belt outside

8:44

of the door. Would open the door and be fell night.

8:56

Oh this is

8:58

twenty one

9:03

her hand again again. Elizabeth Caswell.

9:07

Elizabeth Caswell Libby.

9:10

The caller says he just woke up and

9:13

found her with his belt around her neck.

9:16

He thinks she hanged herself.

9:18

Conscious at all, No, I

9:20

don't know you want to be.

9:24

Counter breeding at all?

9:27

Love and little bit bloody,

9:29

but like

9:32

like like blue. I don't think

9:34

it's Glad.

9:35

I think it's.

9:45

Someone open.

9:48

Okay, we're getting help turned that way.

9:49

We're getting help turned that way.

9:51

Okay, what do I do?

9:53

What do I do? Okay,

9:55

Okay, Kenny County's breeding at all? No,

9:59

No, there's no I wasn't going

10:01

from them. I would rope up and crowned or

10:03

like, I don't know how long. Oh

10:14

my god. Right.

10:24

The dispatcher asked the caller to loosen

10:27

the belt around Libby's neck.

10:30

Okay, are you able to undo the belt at all?

10:38

Because if he hasn't been unconscious for too long, you're

10:40

gonna do the belt.

10:41

You may start breathing yet, but

10:43

the caller has already left the motel room

10:46

and shut the door behind him.

10:48

I can hear another person talking in the

10:50

background, but can't make out what they're

10:52

saying.

11:00

Do you want.

11:07

Don't knock?

11:08

Do it, I

11:11

was removing I

11:18

WoT my legs.

11:21

Up.

11:27

The call drops At this point the

11:29

dispatcher tries to call back but can't

11:31

get through. The police are

11:33

already on their way.

11:38

Pray Emula's called Sportsbium and she twenty

11:40

seven, who calls advisator woke

11:42

up on to the bathroom and found her and unconscious

11:45

and a belt wrapped around her neck. Our

11:48

collor is hysterical and still trying

11:50

to decipher

11:52

as the female breathing or not, but the collar

11:54

does not think she is. Color was apparently

11:57

very panicked right out of the room and is now walked until

11:59

home. I'm gonna ahead and respond

12:01

on overthe ever twenty

12:04

I being.

12:05

The room three nineteen three one.

12:06

Ninety heavy Room three nineteen.

12:10

Within a few minutes, three officers

12:12

are on scene. They discover

12:14

that the nine one one collar is gone, like

12:17

completely gone, not at the motel,

12:19

nowhere to be found, and the room

12:21

who was staying in Room three nineteen

12:24

is locked. The officers

12:26

try to get a key from someone at the front desk,

12:29

but can't find anyone, so they

12:31

break down the door.

12:33

Twenty two make an entry force the door.

12:35

Ever inside

12:38

room three nineteen, it's dark. The

12:41

lights are off, the TV is on, and

12:44

from what little the officers can see, the

12:47

room is in chaos. There are piles

12:49

of clothing all over the floor. A

12:52

bedside drawer has been flung wide open.

12:54

There's an empty vodka bottle and what looks

12:57

like a diamond ring on the ground. In

12:59

the open drawer of the bedside table, there's

13:02

a photo of a man's face that

13:04

seems to be printed from a database

13:06

of some kind. On top of the

13:08

bed is a man's watch with a broken

13:10

strap. A woman's purse

13:12

has been tipped over, its contents

13:14

spilled across the carpet. On

13:17

first scan of the small motel room, it

13:19

appears no one's there, but

13:22

then the officer's notice the bathroom

13:24

door is closed. Once

13:26

they open the door, they see a body,

13:29

the body of a young woman with

13:32

long brown hair, wearing sweatpants

13:34

and a pink sweatshirt. She's

13:36

lying on the floor on her side, in

13:39

the cramped space between the toilet and the

13:41

bathtub. There's a belt

13:43

wrapped loosely around her neck. One

13:46

officer approaches the body and notes

13:48

that it's cold. It seems

13:51

clear she's been dead for a while. The

13:54

bathroom is too small for her to lie

13:56

fully extended on the ground, and

13:58

so her feet are propped up on the opposite

14:01

wall. Her position it

14:03

doesn't look natural. One

14:06

of the officers notes this in his report,

14:09

writing quote her feet appeared

14:11

to have been placed against the wall so

14:13

the door would open and close. And

14:16

these facts, the position of

14:18

her body, the belt around her neck,

14:21

the caller who fled. It isn't

14:23

clear what happened, so the officers

14:26

call for more help.

14:27

You go to the front esc who registered

14:30

this room, hit copies of any IDs

14:32

or anything they were used.

14:33

To print this room.

14:36

At around eight thirty pm, a crime

14:38

scene investigator arrives at the motel

14:40

and begins to photograph the scene. He's

14:43

followed soon afterwards by four detectives

14:45

and a sergeant. After surveying

14:48

the scene, the sergeant calls his captain,

14:50

Mike Anka.

14:54

I was actually I was off

14:56

duty, but I got a call

14:58

from one of my sergeants that

15:01

he had been called out with his squad on

15:04

a death investigation, with nobody

15:06

on seeing telling what happened,

15:08

and a female laying, you

15:10

know, in the bathroom with a belt wraptor in henet.

15:13

Obviously his first inclination.

15:16

It was homicide with something like that or

15:18

that significance I responded.

15:19

In At the time, Mike

15:22

Anka was the captain of the Criminal Investigations

15:24

Unit for the Independence Police Department

15:27

or IPD. He's since been promoted

15:29

to major Anca gets to the sports

15:32

stadium in around ten pm. By

15:34

then, the motel is swarming with cops.

15:37

In any situation where your caller

15:40

fleas before the police gets there, that

15:43

is a red flag for us. Obviously, people

15:45

grieve different, people deal with things different, but

15:49

that's a little bit outside the normoust people

15:52

you know, are standing outside waiting

15:54

on us when we show up without.

15:56

The nine one one caller to talk to IPD

15:59

gets to work documenting the scene at the

16:01

motel. One officer puts

16:03

up crime scene tape. Another

16:06

tries to hunt down security footage from

16:08

the cameras in the parking lot.

16:10

Obviously that motel has got recordings

16:12

the person that was running the hotel

16:15

in the office or whatever, they were not able

16:17

to access that film,

16:20

so he was instructed to go

16:22

back and get that later.

16:24

A group from the Medical Examiner's office

16:26

is also called to the scene, an

16:28

investigator and a transport team

16:31

who will take the body to the Morgue for an

16:33

autopsy. The investigator

16:35

notes the rigidity of the woman's body and

16:38

determines she has been deceased for an

16:40

extended period of time. IPD

16:43

also tries to track down any witnesses,

16:46

and they find one, the man who is

16:48

staying next door to room three nineteen.

16:51

He tells officers that twenty minutes

16:54

prior to their arrival, he heard

16:56

a woman getting beat and a female

16:58

voice saying, don't hurt me. But

17:01

he seems intoxicated and his timeline

17:04

doesn't make much sense, as the body

17:06

was cold by the time police showed up. By

17:10

midnight, IPD has gone from the

17:12

sports stadium in but their work

17:15

is not done. It's around this time

17:17

that two officers are sent to Cindy

17:19

Caswell's house.

17:21

I was off Mondays, so I was

17:23

up later than usual. I always

17:26

just sat in that recliner right by the front

17:28

window, and I would

17:30

watch first.

17:31

The news and then late night TV.

17:34

And I was sitting there

17:36

thinking about going to bed, you

17:39

know. And I got up and

17:41

was just locking doors and checking

17:44

everything, and I noticed some

17:46

flashlights outside. So

17:49

I walked over and kind

17:51

of peeked out the window, and

17:53

I realized it was police officers

17:56

and they knocked

17:58

on the door.

18:00

Cindy let the officers in and

18:02

went to wake up her husband.

18:05

Bob came in and he was like just

18:07

confused, like I was. And they asked

18:10

him to sit down and asked

18:12

if we were the parents

18:14

of Elizabeth Caswell, and

18:16

you know, we're just kind of nodding

18:18

her heads.

18:19

And I believe

18:21

his words were sorry

18:23

to tell you that she is deceased.

18:26

I believe.

18:26

I said how, and they

18:28

said she hung herself. It was

18:31

said apparent suicide. I

18:33

don't remember a lot after that. My heart

18:35

just started pounding really hard.

18:37

And I was.

18:39

Just it was hazy, and I felt like time

18:43

just kind of just

18:46

stopped.

18:54

Cindy sits on her living room couch, frozen

18:57

in a nightmare state, trying

19:00

to wrap her head around the fact that her twenty

19:02

one year old daughter, her oldest

19:04

child, Elizabeth Caswell, known

19:06

to everyone who loved her as Libby, is

19:09

dead. What

19:15

Cindy didn't know is that mere

19:17

hours before IPD delivered this news,

19:20

Libby's death was being investigated as

19:23

a homicide. And yet,

19:25

standing in front of Cindy as December

19:28

eleventh becomes December twelfth, the

19:30

officers have only one question for

19:33

her.

19:33

They asked, was she suicidal?

19:39

I said, no, she was not.

19:41

But Cindy has a question for them.

19:44

I said, where is Devin? Where's

19:47

he at?

20:03

One of the hardest things about my job as

20:05

a journalist who covers women's violent deaths

20:08

is that I never get to meet the women I spend

20:11

months and years reporting on. By

20:13

the time I entered the picture, they're

20:15

already gone. Instead, I

20:18

have to fill in the blanks with the stories

20:20

of the people who loved them, like

20:23

Cindy, who holds on tight to

20:25

every memory of her twenty one years with

20:27

her daughter Libby.

20:29

I had a rough time getting pregnant and staying pregnant,

20:32

so it was a hard time that I

20:35

carried her to term, and I

20:37

think I was two weeks overdue and

20:40

being induced on a March

20:42

twenty fifth snowstorm

20:45

here in Missouri. So it's

20:47

exciting, you know. She was tiny,

20:50

seven pounds and three ounces in

20:53

just the light of our lives.

20:56

Libby Caswell was born and raised in

20:58

Independence, Missouri, a town

21:00

of about one hundred and twenty thousand people

21:03

right outside of Kansas City. Cindy

21:06

tells me her early years were typical

21:09

for a little girl growing up in the suburbs

21:11

of the Midwest, lots of running

21:13

around outside, playing hide and seek,

21:16

going to church, hanging out with her

21:18

two younger siblings. Libby

21:20

and her sister Natalie were especially

21:22

close.

21:24

I was born February nineteen

21:26

ninety nine. She was born March of nineteen

21:29

ninety six. We'd play outside

21:31

together all time. We'd be down

21:33

at our creek every day, just like looking

21:36

for crawdads and weird

21:38

rocks and just stuff. We

21:41

were always really close. We were almost

21:43

kind of like twins, I always say, because when

21:45

you look back at pictures, we were always in

21:47

like similar outfits with the same

21:50

hairstyles.

21:51

Natalie is now twenty four older

21:53

than Libby was when she died, but

21:56

she still talks about her with the reverence

21:58

of a younger sibling. It's clear

22:00

how much she misses her big sister.

22:02

We were together all the time, every

22:05

single day, for you

22:07

know, pretty much all of our entire

22:10

lives. We used to talk about when

22:12

we get older, we were going to buy a house together,

22:15

and we made like drawings of like

22:17

these huge houses of this half would

22:19

be her house and this half would be my house. She

22:22

was just my built in best friend.

22:26

Libby had boundless energy as a

22:28

child, and so Cindy enrolled her

22:30

in dance and cheerleading, which

22:32

Libby took to instantly. In

22:35

ninth grade, her high school varsity

22:37

cheerleading team was invited to perform

22:40

at Disney World. Cindy bought

22:42

her a cell phone, her first, so

22:44

Libby could communicate with her family while

22:46

she was away.

22:48

She called me at the entrance

22:51

of Disney World, and she was like, Mom,

22:54

you know how at the beginning of all my Disney

22:56

movies there's the castle and the sparkles

22:59

and the light. She said, it's just like

23:01

that in real life. And she was just

23:04

beside herself, and I

23:06

was wishing I could be there, you know. But we

23:09

just got the money for her to go, you know, because

23:11

it was quite expensive to send someone

23:13

there.

23:15

Growing up, Libby's family was solidly

23:17

working class. Her dad was

23:19

in construction and her mom put in part

23:21

time hours at the local grocery store.

23:24

Well, I've worked for Price Chopper Bakery

23:27

on and off for a

23:29

long time. Oh my gosh, I think

23:31

my twenties.

23:33

Cindy was eventually promoted to head

23:35

cake decorator at the grocery store,

23:37

A job she still held when I met her.

23:40

It's very rewarding to have someone

23:43

come back and say, you know that cake

23:45

you did for my mom or this cupcakes

23:48

you did, Oh my gosh, they were so pretty,

23:50

and she was so excited, and I'm like,

23:52

heyy, that's.

23:53

Why I do it, you know.

23:54

Even though money was tight, Cindy was

23:57

eager to support Libby's extracurriculars,

24:00

ille charding her to and front practices,

24:02

ordering uniforms, and cheering her

24:04

on from the sidelines. Cindy

24:07

remembered being that age herself and

24:09

having different priorities. At

24:12

fifteen, she dropped out of school and

24:14

ran away with her boyfriend, who later

24:17

became her husband, Libby's dad. They

24:19

got divorced after Libby's death.

24:22

Being as young as I was, I thought I was totally

24:24

in love, you know, and

24:26

couldn't live without em.

24:27

I was too young to know what

24:30

I wanted.

24:30

I think between you

24:32

know, thirteen and twenty two,

24:36

you still really are just kind of searching

24:38

of.

24:39

Who you are and who you want to be.

24:41

And I don't think it's a good

24:43

time to try to settle down.

24:46

Cindy hoped that Libby would forge a different,

24:49

more independent life for herself, one

24:52

where a husband and kids came later.

24:54

If at all I knew she would have boyfriends,

24:57

you know, I'm not that in

25:00

saying, because, for one, she was so beautiful,

25:03

you know, and that attracts.

25:06

People. But I had a plan.

25:08

I was going to keep her in sports and dance

25:11

and cheer, and she was going to be too busy for

25:13

all that.

25:14

I kept trying to just tell her to be careful.

25:16

And teenagers make

25:19

big mistakes that are life changing when

25:21

you can't take it back or go

25:24

back and redo your childhood. And

25:26

so she would always say, I know,

25:28

Mom, I can take care of myself,

25:31

and you've always told me that.

25:33

As Cindy anticipated, Libby

25:35

got a lot of attention from boys. By

25:38

her freshman year of high school, she had

25:40

a serious boyfriend. I've seen

25:42

a photo of the couple from this time period.

25:45

Libby is kissing her boyfriend's cheek, her

25:48

dark hair spilled across his chest while

25:50

he makes eye contact with the camera, a

25:53

soft, almost bashful smile spread

25:55

across his face. They look young,

25:58

fresh faced, and blissfully in

26:00

love. So despite all

26:02

those heart to heart conversations, Cindy

26:05

found herself trying to convince Libby

26:08

to slow down.

26:10

It became a struggle because

26:13

she didn't want to hear what I had

26:15

to say about things.

26:19

She said, well, you met dad at fourteen

26:22

and you did this, And I

26:24

say, yeah, but you know, I can save you some struggles

26:26

if you just listen and take to heart

26:29

what I say. But she

26:31

just thought she was in love with this

26:34

kid, and I believe that's the

26:36

summer she became pregnant.

26:38

Libby gave birth to her son, Xavier, in

26:40

twenty thirteen, when she was just

26:42

seventeen years old. As it

26:44

does, life changed drastically after

26:47

she became a mom, and despite

26:49

how challenging it was, her special

26:51

bond with Xavier was undeniable.

26:54

She loved to make him giggle and they often

26:57

goofed off together, like in this video

26:59

we have of the two of them facetiming

27:01

with her sister Natalie. In

27:03

it, Libby is holding her toddler son

27:06

up to the camera. A filter adds

27:08

a space helmet on top of his head.

27:10

Come on, come on, you can't look.

27:12

You're

27:15

downloading Natalie's

27:22

handsome anat.

27:26

He loved his mom. She was the

27:29

only one he would kiss like. He wouldn't

27:31

give no one else kisses, but he would only give her

27:33

kisses.

27:34

Libby was an attentive and observant mother

27:37

despite her age. When Xavier

27:39

was still quite young, she recognized

27:41

that he wasn't hitting some of his developmental

27:44

markers.

27:45

She just noticed a lot of different little things

27:47

that I didn't notice, you

27:49

know. I was like, well, some kids

27:51

developed later in others. But

27:54

she just determined and had him evaluated

27:56

and they said, yeah, he has autism. She

27:58

was just really on that and gott

28:01

even the helping need and early, like three years

28:03

old.

28:05

I've spoken with a bunch of Libby's friends

28:07

and they all said the same thing, how

28:09

much she loved her son, how dedicated

28:12

she was as a mother.

28:15

From the mommy from the mommy, Oh

28:21

God.

28:25

But they also wanted me to know how much

28:27

fun she was to be around. Libby

28:30

was silly, a bit of a prankster. She

28:32

liked to dance around to music in the kitchen,

28:35

make funny faces. She prided

28:37

herself on getting a laugh.

28:39

She had a mouth on her, not in a bad

28:41

way, but like in a funny way, like she's

28:44

a comedian.

28:45

It was freshman year of high school

28:48

and we were running laughs in

28:50

gyms and she came running past me and

28:52

she said, I just want to let you know you're really

28:54

pretty, and then she just kept running

28:56

and I was like, wait a minute, hold on, I want to be friends,

29:00

man. And we became friends like that, and then

29:02

we just became inseparable.

29:05

She was just a bright,

29:07

happy person. She was one of those people

29:10

who, no matter what she had

29:12

or didn't have, she was always willing to give

29:15

to other people, always looked on the

29:17

bright side and saw the best in everybody.

29:20

But to some of her friends, Libby's tendency

29:23

to see the good in others wasn't always

29:25

a positive. I think she held

29:27

on to a little bit of too much hope. And

29:30

that's just what Libby did, though, and she would

29:32

find the best in anybody, and

29:35

that's a good trait to have.

29:36

And tell you're in a situation like this.

29:56

This is a reference to case

29:59

your four number seventeen eighty nine

30:01

two point four. Today's date is December

30:04

eleventh, twenty.

30:05

Seventeen, and the time is twenty

30:07

two thirty two.

30:11

And tell me your last name, sir uh Fristo

30:13

fr Stoe.

30:16

Okay, Well, the reason why you're here, I guess apparently

30:19

you witnessed some activity

30:22

over there at the sports stadium in.

30:25

It's December eleventh, twenty seventeen,

30:28

around ten thirty pm. IPD

30:30

has been on the case for about two hours.

30:34

There's still no sign of the nine one one caller,

30:36

but they did identify a key witness, David

30:39

Fristo. Fristo

30:41

was a guest at the sports stadium in who

30:43

happened to meet Libby when she checked in, and,

30:46

as he tells the detective at the police station,

30:49

she wasn't alone.

30:52

I'm met know these.

30:52

Individual No, I met him last night.

30:55

You know. They parked him front of went over.

30:57

What kind of equal were there?

30:58

Fristo says, Libby was with two men, one

31:01

of whom appeared to be her boyfriend, and

31:03

as far as he could tell, they seemed

31:05

like a normal couple.

31:08

So I go outside and you know,

31:10

they was like, man, we got a kid. We're

31:13

just getting away, you know, some quality

31:15

time. I said, hey, that's one. Then

31:17

they went that way and I went my way.

31:20

And this was last night.

31:21

Yeah, and I didn't see him no more until

31:23

the.

31:23

Night when I seen him.

31:26

Fristo saw the boyfriend again alone

31:29

around eight pm. The

31:31

detective asked Fristo to describe

31:33

him.

31:35

It was white.

31:36

It's kind of medium mill so

31:38

white.

31:39

Me and Bill.

31:40

Yeah, height, weight probably

31:42

about.

31:43

One fifty Hi

31:45

probably about bobb eight, maybe

31:48

a little taller.

31:50

Anything else, identif hanging out her

31:52

or him, tattoos or I.

31:55

Didn't pay attention.

31:56

Yeah, I'm

31:59

trying to picture. Do

32:02

you think you could pick you out of a photo? Liar possible?

32:05

You know, well, I've.

32:07

Constructed a photo liar possible

32:10

suspect.

32:12

At this point, the detective slides a piece

32:14

of paper over to Fristo. On

32:16

it other mugshots of six men. They

32:19

all stare straight into the camera.

32:22

Okay, why don't you go ahead put circle.

32:25

Around him without hesitation,

32:27

Fristo marks the photo in the bottom left

32:30

corner. I recognize the face

32:32

in the mugshot. It is Libby's

32:34

boyfriend and the father of their child,

32:37

and the man who called

32:40

nine one one your

32:45

hand, Devin

32:49

Martin. He's the guy Cindy

32:51

asked about when the cops showed up at her door

32:54

to tell her that Libby was dead.

32:56

I said, where's Devin? Where's he at?

33:00

And it's a good question where was

33:02

Devin? Because even though he'd

33:04

called nine one one, he didn't stick

33:06

around for the police to arrive, and

33:09

if it wasn't for David Fristo, he

33:11

might not have called nine one one at all. I

33:14

was standing out in front of.

33:16

The motel try okay, yeah, so I couldn't

33:18

see what I was going on around the back and

33:20

I was just standing there, and all of a sudden he.

33:22

Came around the corner. Devon

33:25

was driving through the motel parking lot

33:27

when Fristo spotted him. He

33:30

was crying and upset, and I was like, man,

33:33

what happened?

33:34

And they tuck him a minute to get it out

33:36

of him, and he said, my wife hung herself,

33:39

but he did. He just kind of kept

33:41

going and I'm trying to talk him down,

33:44

and I'm like, man, he settled down, just called

33:46

police.

33:46

Thet him know, man, that something happens.

33:49

Man, if you run, it's gonna be bad on here.

33:52

And I finally talked

33:54

him down and then he what they called him police?

33:56

And did you ever hear that conversation?

33:58

Yes?

33:59

Was there any other question of the askes that

34:01

you ever heard? Was she

34:03

alive? Was your breathing?

34:05

And he said he don't know, and

34:07

they wanted him to go into room and they didn't want

34:10

to.

34:10

And I'm like, I don't blame you, but you.

34:12

Got to stay here and until Felice

34:14

get here. And then you say he took

34:16

off. Yeah, and from

34:19

there it was the last time I see him.

34:21

I couldn't even tell you which direction he went.

34:30

Just as IPD is finishing up with Fristo,

34:33

they received another nine one one call. It's

34:35

Devin, three hours after his

34:38

initial call. He says he's ready

34:40

to talk and he's on his way to the

34:42

station. I

34:46

want you to be detail.

34:47

I want you to be honest.

34:54

This season on what happened to Libby

34:56

Caswell.

34:58

I was like, promise when you're to call me back?

35:00

And she said, I promise and click and that was it. And that

35:02

was the last I spoke to her.

35:04

She told me like she was dying. She's finally

35:06

going to do what she.

35:06

Needed to do for her.

35:08

Let me, Den said Nathan,

35:10

I don't think I feel safe with Devin anymore.

35:13

Something seems off right now.

35:15

I was like, did he just

35:17

hit her?

35:18

The medical examiner ruled Libby's

35:20

death undetermined. I

35:22

go, what do you mean they undetermined?

35:25

It wasn't until much later and I thought, why would

35:27

they not search the car?

35:29

Those three agencies are failing

35:32

to do the right thing.

35:34

Sooner or later, somebody talks.

35:36

Sooner or later, somebody can fap you.

35:44

I think I did from the

35:47

ring and keep

35:51

it in the ground, don't

35:57

make.

36:01

What Happened To Libby Caswell is written,

36:03

reported, and hosted by me Melissa

36:06

Jelson, with writing and story editing

36:08

by Marisa Brown and Lauren Hanson.

36:11

Episodes are edited by Jeremy

36:13

Thal and Carl Catle. Our

36:15

executive producer is Ryan Murdoch.

36:18

For iHeart Podcasts, executive

36:20

producers are Jason English and Katrina

36:23

Norvel, with our supervising producer

36:26

Carl Catele. Fact checking

36:28

by Maya Shukree. Archival

36:30

material courtesy of KSHB forty

36:32

one News. Our theme song is

36:35

written by Aaron Kaufman and performed

36:37

by Aaron Kaufman and Elizabeth Wolfe.

36:40

Original music by Aaron Kaufman with

36:42

additional music by Jeremy Thal.

36:45

Our episodes are mixed and mastered by

36:47

Carl Catle. To find out

36:49

more about my investigation or to

36:51

send a tip, please email me at

36:54

what Happened To Libby at gmail dot

36:56

com. Thanks so much for listening

37:00

until.

37:03

One way five eyes

37:06

so in pieces

37:10

and pieces and then

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do you.

37:15

Follow you.

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Until until

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37:27

So in pieces

37:31

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