Jonelle Matthews | Who Killed...? [AUDIO]

Slow Burn media and Bill Huffman present who killed a podcast that provides a voice for the voice 34 years later and it is still unclear what happened to Janelle Matthews police say nobody has ever been found no suspect ever arrested but they're not giving up and tell us modern tools among other things might help them solve this case to the front door of the Greeley Police Department is a new missing person poster but the case of 12-year-old Janelle Matthews is decades older than even this building the possibility that something will come forward we have to just keep trying Janelle was a seventh grader in 1984 just finished a Christmas choir performance police said a friend and the friend's father dropped Janelle off at her house about an hour later her family came home but Janelle was gone her shoes Left Behind the front door open the television still on it is Sergeant Joseph timkowich was a young officer back then there was all hands on deck call and just about anybody and everybody who would respond to a phone call or could respond to a phone call was called in throughout the night and the rest of the day the days became years and a decade later Janelle's family told reporters they believed she'd been kidnapped and killed the community said their official goodbye you had 12 years of light this is one of those cases that never closes it'll be there until we we do resolve 34 years later Greeley police released video from that night hoping to jog some memories put it out there in the public and let them think about hey I remember that night or I remember seeing this car or I remember seeing that person walking police believe someone who knows what happened might have lived Community or nearby at the time the tile does police will not give specifics but said advances in forensic technology and scientific testing could lead to new answers we could get a piece of evidence tonight tomorrow or the next day it will resolve the entire case and that's why we have to keep looking keep searching Greeley police will be recontacting Witnesses and people who interacted with Janelle before her disappearance and they hope that if you have any information you will call police there's a cash reward in this case even if you have been interviewed before police said reporting in Greeley Jennifer meckels 9 News hello and welcome to episode 130 of who killed I am your host Bill Huffman and this is a slow burn media podcast I hope you guys have had a great week I also hope some of you were able to check out the Dateline from last Friday about Amy mihalovic as you know I made my bones cover in her case with the who killed Amy mihalovic podcast you know the one that led to the one that you're currently listening to the bottom line is that it is great to get the national attention from a show like Dateline but there's only so much they can cover in an hour if you want to take a deep dive I suggest the investigation discovery Lake Erie murders three-part series that covered the mahalovic case or you can scroll all the way back to episode 1 of this podcast that I did on Amy I believe there are anywhere from 16 to 25 episodes with guests ranging from her father to the chief of police to Phil torzny to Mr Renner himself Nick from the True Crime garage Christy Gibbons and you know all the players involved again if you're interested in learning more about that case please go back and check it out and you can either do it via television or via my podcast who killed Amy mihalovic October 27 1989 is the first episode of that particular podcast and it is incredibly hard to get the attention of a show like Dateline and I know that when James Renner was writing his book on Amy he wrote letters to the producers pleading with them to cover her case all of his letters are in his Kent State archive he has long been the leader of the band when it came to trying to get these shows to cover her case now I try doing my part back in 2019 when I gave the Dateline producer my card at crime con and had the question who killed Amy mihalovic again with my podcast on it the show may not have brought us any closer to finding the killer much like my podcast but what the coverage did is it brought the power of the Dateline brand and thanks to them the case now has been seen by millions of people for the very first time and it's not very common for Dateline to cover unsolved cases but I'm certainly glad that they chose Amy's now we are left to wait to see what happens with this newfound publicity but we're not here to talk about Amy's case we could always talk about Amy's case but today we are here to talk about an another case from the 1980s and a 12 year old girl by the name of Janelle Matthews who was abducted and murdered in a quiet suburb 50 miles north of Denver and thanks to great reporting from The Coloradoan the Greely Tribune the Idaho Statesman and many more for covering Janelle's case throughout the years so I'm going to take you back a few days before Christmas in 1984. on December 20th on this night one family's life would be turned upside down and a town would be left with a horrible mystery this was when 12 year old Janelle disappeared she was last seen about 8 PM entering her house at 3 20. 43rd Avenue Court Janelle had performed in a holiday concert with the Franklin Middle School Honor Choir in Greeley earlier that evening she was dropped off at home by a friend and her friend's father now Jim Matthews Janelle's father came home about an hour later after attending a basketball game for his oldest daughter Jennifer he found Janelle's shoes and a shawl near a heater in the family room and according to reports this is usually when she watched TV and Janelle would sit close to the heater when he couldn't locate his daughter Mr Matthews phoned the police now there were footprints in the snow around the house and the girl's disappearance instantly became one of the biggest mysteries in the history of Greely and Janelle was in the seventh grade at Franklin Middle School she was an active member in her church Sunnyview Church of the Nazarene and she is said to have been a very outgoing and independent personality and at the time of her disappearance Janelle lived with her father Jim her mother Gloria and her sister Jennifer Greeley police officers said they had a reason to believe an individual with direct knowledge of Janelle's disappearance might have resided in Greely or the surrounding area at the time and might still be residing in the community police thought the person likely knew Janelle and had previously interacted with the 12 year old again Greely was about half the size that it is today and it was basically considered a small town when Janelle disappeared the coloradoans say Greeley was quote a place where kids rode their bikes on dirt roads past Farmers Fields explored Ravines and sold Girl Scout cookies door to door on the night Janelle went was last seen Christmas presents were already tucked beneath trees and holiday lights blinked from rooftops and reflected in the snow before Janelle went missing parents let their children play outside with little worry well that all changed on a dime when Janelle disappeared from her family's two-story clapboard home in Greeley again her house sat on a quiet street and caused parents in the neighborhood to become a lot more paranoid and of course investigators launched a wide scale search but again this just led to more frustration for the investigators an interesting fact is that her picture was one of the first to show up on the missing kids milk cartons and you can look it up with the article I believe it was the Milk Carton Kids and they do reference Janelle there was no Trace ever found of Janelle there were no arrests and no evidential DNA and no answers of course this was 1984. so a bulletin went out to area residence and they were asked to Aid in a county-wide search for Janelle Matthews who had been missing since December 20th the bulletin red the search was being sponsored by the friends and relatives of Janelle Matthews and it took place on that Saturday February 9th which would have been Janelle's 13th birthday now the group was requesting Property Owners Aid in the search by setting aside that day to search their own property checking all outbuildings Wells irrigation ditches and garages police officials suggest that those participating in the search were to wear warm clothes boots and gloves and they should also bring a flashlight a sack lunch and have a full tank of gas and a spare tire volunteers may have to drive more than 100 miles in the search at a news conference after a five-hour meeting with the Millers Mrs Matthews said she hopes to give volunteers to help type addresses so that a reward poster on Janelle Matthews can be sent to every Sheriff's Department in the country so far math is estimated about 2 000 posters with Janelle's photo had gone out and Mrs Miller had contacted the Matthews family last week after seeing them on television and of course this is according to The Coloradoan and she had had a daughter go missing and she felt like she could help and so she was basically counseling the parents and basically in a sense these were the people that they had to turn to it's one of those things you end up in a not particularly fun type of Club if you lose a child and all these parents who are the parents of missing or murdered children definitely have a common Bond and that was definitely seen in this case where other parents who had had missing children really did help Gloria and Jim Matthews it's really cool that those types of families can come together and help one another cope Jim and Gloria Matthews had Janelle officially declared dead in 1994. ten years after her disappearance there was a funeral service and dozens of family friends said goodbye Lieutenant Brad Goldschmidt said Janelle's DNA is on the National Database in case something turns up but they had no DNA from a suspect at the scene of her abduction hundreds of volunteers showed up for the search all around Greely at a time when child abductions seemed prevalent the story of Janelle's became National headlines her parents appeared on national TV talk shows and programs about missing children again something that we've seen in many of the cases that I've covered Amy's case being the most particular one that I would like to reference there because Margaret really did her due diligence and was on every show that she could at the time and this went for Jim and Gloria the same thing they went and did their due diligence to keep their daughter's name in the spotlight and you know they sent out thousands of reward posters and it was just one of those things that you do everything that you can it's John Walsh has always said that if you have a missing child it is your job to be their number one cheerleader so her parents appeared on national TV talk shows and programs about missing children thousands of reward posters the girl were produced and distributed but the case went cold I mean it is what it is President Reagan even mentioned Janelle in one of his National addresses Reagan said the girl quote what if have celebrated a happy 13th birthday with her family just last month but five days before Christmas Janelle disappeared from her home over the years investigate pursued hundreds of leads in a cold case that was really familiar to longtime Greely area residents Janelle had been adopted by the matthews's and her birth mother was checked to see if there was any connection to the girl's disappearance and police said she was definitely not a suspect Jim and Gloria Matthews now live in Costa Rica and The Big Break came after oh a mere three and a half decades when human bones were discovered by workers in Weld County and those were of Janelle Matthews a 12 year old girl who vanished from her West Greeley home on December 20th 1984. despite initial extensive searches for Matthews and her face being printed on the side of milk cartons part of the flood of pre-amber Alert missing Milk Carton Kids of the 1980s her case quickly went cold it was a work crew Excavating in a rural part of of the county near County Road 49 and County Road 34 and a half when they discovered the remains about 4 50 PM then this is according to the Greeley Police Department police said staffers with the Weld County coroners and Sheriff's Office went to the scene to investigate based on the new evidence and a Coroner's examination of the remains a positive identification of Matthews has been made Janelle's sister Jennifer mogensen remember Janelle as a quote strong independent opinionated 12 year old she knew what she wanted and how things should be done unquote now mogensen had told the Associated Press after the body was recovered she was a junior in high school at the time and said she was playing her varsity basketball the night her younger sister disappeared again the family's house was empty when Janelle was taken home because their father was at the game and their mother was out of state The Remains were found in an area south of Greeley and east of Milton Reserve as workers were installing a pipe to an oil and gas site investigators would not say how she was killed and they wouldn't divulge whether or not there was DNA on her clothing quote we're trying to digest everything that's happened over the last four weeks lead police detective Robert cash told the sun Mike Peters and many of the original Greeley cops who investigated Janelle's case figured they wouldn't live to see the day that she was found but when the day came shock went through the Starbucks table where the so-called Grumpy Old Men drinking coffee trade stories once a week this is from The Coloradoan or the Greeley Tribune I believe it was the Greeley Tribune in January of 2015 Mike Peters gave a timeline to the Greely Tribune 30 years ago today this is what we know happened in a West Greeley home to 12 year old Janelle Matthews even after one of the most intense investigations in Greeley police history little is actually known about that night and this is the timeline December 20th 1984. Janelle was part of the Franklin Middle School choir which performed at a local Bank in the evening her mother Gloria was on a trip to California her father was at her sister's basketball game at 8 15 PM Janelle was brought home by friend Deanne and her father she was dropped off in front of their home on the 300 block of 43rd Avenue Court and they watched Janelle go inside that's the last time she was seen by friends or family at 8 30 PM Janelle took a phone call from a friend of her father's and said he would return home from the game soon at 9 30 PM Jim Matthews who was a principal at Platte Valley Elementary School in Kersey arrived home from the basketball game the garage door was opened and no one was in the house in the TV room Janelle's favorite place to watch TV was set up with a pillow and a nearby space heater that she liked to use to keep warm but Janelle was nowhere to be found he thinks she probably walked over to a neighbor Jim wraps a Christmas package thinking her daughter would his daughter would return soon at 10 pm Jennifer comes home Jim asks about Janelle and Jennifer said she had not seen her Jim becomes worried and calls their pastor and friend James Christie who tells Jim to call the police and he does at 10 15 Greely police respond ask questions and begin a house and neighborhood search around midnight Gloria Matthews calls the house to tell her family she's arrived in California Jim tells her the terrible news that Janelle has been missing since 8 30 pm Gloria catches the first plane home the following morning thus began The Disappearance of Janelle Matthews police found no forced entry to the house but there were footprints around the outside as if someone was looking through the windows the garage door was left open but there were no signs of a scuffle in the snow for the next year there were countless searches newspapers and television stories contacts through National organizations the case just went cold according to Peters quote it was such an odd Discovery right in the middle of an oil field 20 miles away from her house now Matthew's remains were found in the same clothing that she wore to the choir concert the indictment read at the time of the new discovery none of them had heard the name Steve Panky neither had former Chief Garner but now Panky 68 has been identified as a person of interest in the investigation a series of weird connections to the Matthews family and some Bizarro claims by pinky had made for a combative relationship according to the papers between him and the Greeley police but authorities did stop short of naming him as a suspect at the time in 1984 Steve was 33 years old he was married to Angela Hicks and they had a son and that name may sound familiar because it's kind of bizarre because there was another case that I covered with the same victim's name Angela Hicks but definitely not related interesting coincidence though according to an article on medium by Martina pacova there were multiple reports of him having money troubles a trailer park owner filed an action against him in 1976 for harassment and death threats in 1977 a woman he knew from church accused him of raping her pinky eventually moved to Idaho and he was was a quote unquote two-time failed candidate for governor Greeley said he was home he said he was home the night that Janelle disappeared but was unaware of her disappearance until he returned from a trip on the night of December 26 1984 and heard about the case on the news he denied any involvement but pinky did claim to have some strained connections with Janelle's family he says that on December 27 1984 a week after Janelle vanished his estranged father-in-law who was a Gravedigger dropped a strange remark about a body that needed to be buried and then just left again he did tell the police about this but it's just bizarre in 2008 Steve and Angela's son was shot to death by his girlfriend crazy Twist of events there he insists he was so worried about the com conversation that they had with his estranged father-in-law that he actually told the FBI about it the following week on the advice of his attorney Panky talks about a volatile relationship that he had with the last known person to see Janelle alive he claims that Russ Ross who dropped Janelle off at her home around 8 pm on the night of December 20th assaulted him in the 1970s over Pinky's attempt to start a union at the 7-Up Bottling Company where the both of them worked now pinky also says he was the youth pastor at the sunny View Church of the Nazarene which Janelle's family later attended after he was kicked out and that's questionable because that's what he told the son and he said he was accused of raping the piano player charges which were later dropped after he took a polygraph test the church actually claims pinky was never a youth pastor there and police say they have corroborated Pinky's statement with the alleged rape victim records of the charges from 1977 are no longer available pinky did move to Idaho in 1989 and that was five years after Janelle went missing and Stephen pinky kind of comes from a long line of successful politicians he is the great grandson of BF Pinky the former lieutenant governor of New Mexico and a prominent cattle rancher in the southwest before he lost his wealth due to drought and that was according to his 1929 obituary he says that he has been in touch with Idaho authorities throughout the years regarding the Greeley Cold Case and he was even contacted by them when JonBenet Ramsey of all people was murdered in 1996. he told them that he suspects it was because authorities might have linked to Colorado girls who died Christmas time interesting that he would just be talking talking to the son about this it's just ridiculous this week's episode is sponsored by hellofresh with hellofresh you get farm fresh pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep skip trips to the grocery store and count on hellofresh to make home cooking easy fun and affordable that's why it's America's number one meal kit this summer hellofresh is here to take the work out of eating well reach your goals with delicious calorie smart and protein smart lunch and dinner options plus new vegan recipes too hellofresh makes entertaining easy with a selection of crowd-pleasing eats like their bratwurst bar with caramelized onions Dijonnaise slaw and pineapple relish or a snack board with pretzel bites spiced bar nuts and hot honey peach jam so go to hellofresh.com who killed 16 and use the code who killed 16 for 16 free meals plus free shipping again go to hellofresh.com who killed 16 and use who killed 16 for 16 meals plus free shipping now pinky was born in California to Dana pinky Jr and his wife Ruth Dana pinky Jr was a minister as was his father evangelist and Reverend Dana Panky senior from 1941 to 1942 Dr pinky senior served as a pastor of Greeley's Bethel Baptist Church according to Historic newspapers however he claims that on August 15th just weeks after the discovery of Janelle's body two Greely detectives visited him at his Idaho townhome and accused him of being involved in the girl's disappearance and Death on September 4th gun toting SWAT officers from Colorado and Idaho surrounded and then searched his home and confiscated his 2 to 2019 Subarus which were later returned in a variety of other items one item of Interest was a CD from his son's funeral which pinky figures may have been in interest because of a rumor one which he of course denies that he mentioned Janelle while quote over his son's ashes at the service he first told the Idaho Statesman that he was a suspect in the Janelle murder investigation and then he gave the lengthy interviews to the Colorado sun in which he claimed that he gave a DNA sample to Greeley police pinky gave an hour and 47 minute interview to the Sun the next day he referred questions to a newly retained lawyer he told Panky not to give further interviews probably some good advice to a possible murder suspect so a grand jury in Colorado began investigating the death and Pinky was subpoenaed and he even told the Statesman that he had been subpoenaed to testify authorities searched the Twin Falls home of Panky serving him a warrant that said investigators had probable cause to believe that he kidnapped and killed Janelle pinky said that he had been waiting for 35 years to tell his story and is confident he is not a suspect I am being transparent I am not running from this he said I am more eager to answer questions under oath the authorities announced that Stephen pinky a former Greely resident who had moved to Idaho had been indicted on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping in Janelle's death according to a grand jury indictment on December 20th 1984 Mr Pinky was armed with a gun and took Janelle from her home and killed her during the course of the kidnapping now Greely is a city of nearly a hundred and ten thousand people and is about 50 miles north of Denver Mayor John Gates was working on the city's police force at the time of Janelle's disappearance and he recalled there was evidence that the scene that showed that she might have been abducted Mr Pinky had long been a person of interest in Janelle's disappearance according to police they said he quote intentionally inserted himself in the investigation many times over the years claiming to have knowledge of the crime which grew inconsistent and incriminating over time the indictment went on to say adding that he repeatedly asked for immunity in exchange for information well that's one way to get yourself a target of an investigation ask for immunity for information before they even know what that in information is good stuff not bright wonder why you're a killer among the details he gave law enforcement Personnel was that a rake had been used to cover up tracks in the snow on the evening that she was taken and that was according to the indictment Mr Pinky had watched children walk home from the Middle School that Janelle attended it also stated Now The Coloradoan reported pinky acted erratically in the days following the girl's disappearance Angela Hicks his wife at the time told investigators he asked her to read him newspaper accounts about the case the indictment says that Janelle died from a gunshot wound to her forehead and Pinky is accused of shooting her during the course of the kidnapping attorney Michael War called the discovery of the remains significant but he said that pinky had been at Person of Interest since 2018 and Pinky told the Times newspaper last week now this was back in 2018 that he was being framed pinky attended the same church as Matthews in 1978 and there may be have been some connection through that according to Rorke pinky was and I believe is still well he was at the time being held at the Ada County Idaho jail on Nobel he was eventually extradited from Idaho to Colorado to face the charges and his attorney Anthony J vorsts told NBC affiliate Kusa of Denver that quote the fact that they waited 36 years to indict him reflects the fact that they don't have any evidence there's never been any evidence I anticipated he will be exonerated of all charges pinky claimed to the Idaho Statesman in 2019 that on the night of Janelle's disappearance he was home with his wife at the time and was loading up his car for a visit to California to visit family for Christmas and they were planning to leave the next day but in the indictment it says other evidence considered by the grand jury in returning this indictment against Panky was that his now ex-wife said the trip actually started on December 22nd 1984 two days after Janelle went missing and that the trip was actually not planned and was unexpected the ex-wife said that on the way back pinky uncharacterilistically listened to the radio searching for the news of the girl's disappearance and when they got back to Greeley on December 26 as I mentioned before he forced her to read newspaper articles about the case after getting back home pinky began digging in their yard and a car was on their property that was on their property caught fire and was disposed of at a salvage yard according to the indictment I mean I'm gonna say this clearly that's a red flag but she may have been too close to the situation to connect the dots I know there are people listening who are saying quote why didn't she go to the police then now it's a valid question but one that is also a bit unfair because none of us know what was going on in her mind she eventually told police what she thought was odd so in my opinion she was the linchpin in bringing down her husband ex-husband and at the time of Matthew's disappearance Pinky and his wife lived about two miles from her home and I've stated that before but in 1980 he lived about 10 miles north of the remote site where her remains were eventually found and again this was all information that came out of the grand jury indictment Pinky's ex-wife said that in 2008 she heard pinky say at the funeral of his son who had been murdered as I mentioned before quote I hope God didn't allow the this to happen because of Janelle Matthews according to the Weld County District Attorney's Office Pinky has been charged with one count of Murder in the First Degree after deliberation one count of Murder in the first degree felony murder second degree kidnapping and two counts of Crime Of Violence which are described as sentencing enhancements a trial date is being set and the date is actually October 6 and they expect the trial to last about four and a half weeks so to set the trial for October Pinky has waived his right to a speedy trial which was supposed to take place within six months of the not guilty plea he entered in early February this accused killer has pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping and the trial was originally meant to take place in July but there were some legal issues and when Pinky finally did enter his plea Janelle's parents and sister were both in the courtroom and again we will find out in just a matter of months what really happened and what the verdict will be and after waiting 34 years what's another few weeks and let's certainly hope that it leads to a guilty verdict and some answers for her family and maybe a bit of closure for the Greely community and on that note I must bid you farewell until next week thank you so much for tuning in as you know you can find new episodes of who killed every Friday wherever you get your favorite podcast thank you to everyone who's helped make this show possible I know it's cliche to say but it's true when I say every contribution big or small helps keep these Slow Burn podcasts running with that being said if you do enjoy the shows you can help support my podcast Empire Which is far from an Empire via Paypal with my username at William huffman3 or if you have the venmo app you can use my username at Bill Dash huffman-3 and you can also support the show by leaving a five-star review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows those five stars help to keep the important cases that I cover such as all the unsolved cases that I've covered in the spotlight if you'd like to stay up to date on the new cases that are coming down the pipeline follow me on Twitter at bill huffman3 and again thank you so much for listening until next time be healthy and stay safe 3 A.M the comedy horror podcast that holds weekly Gatherings around the campfire let me tell you what you're gonna get you're gonna hear stories about demonic possessions prison stabbings Skin Walkers glitches in The Matrix cult leaders missing 4-1-1 night Marchers Operation Paperclip Mesopotamian devil worship and so many monsters it'll give Kanye West a runaway for his money pop and meme culture also aren't off topic a camp where laughs and scares are constantly competing for first place we're just 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