The Most Fascinating Case I’ve Seen - Carol Cole

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Bossia Parish
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Incogn
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Carol Anne Cole, Jeanie Phelps
4. 9:00 – 12:00: John Alvin Chesson Jr.

Notable quotes from "The Most Fascinating Case I’ve Seen - Carol Cole"

• Year 1980. A hunter along with his son and daughter stumbled across a body in Bossia Parish, Louisiana, just off the side of a rural logging road. The family found the body by…

  about Bossia Parish · at 0:07

• A startling lead emerged. Before we continue, just a quick word from today's sponsor, Incogn. Right now, your address, phone number, email, medical details, everything is…

  about Incogn · at 4:20

• Old, but it had not been forgotten. And soon enough, things started to fall into place. A woman named Jeanie Phelps had long suspected that something terrible had happened to…

  about Jeanie Phelps · at 7:33

• Even before Carolan Cold's identity was confirmed, one name had risen to the top of the list of suspects. This was John Alvin Chesson Jr. and he wasn't a new person to the…

  about John Alvin Chesson Jr. · at 11:27

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Jeanie Phelps — Person · 1 mention · first at 7:38
• Carol Anne Cole — Person · 1 mention · first at 7:54
  Stopped writing and calling, which was suspicious. The older sister in question was Carol Anne Cole. Jeanie had filed a missing person report for Carol back in the 80s. Over…
• John Alvin Chesson Jr. — Person · 1 mention · first at 11:32

Places & events

• Bossia Parish — Place · 1 mention · first at 0:13

Sponsors

• Incogn — Sponsor · 3 mentions · first at 4:25

Full transcript with timestamps

0:05 This case takes place in the USA in the year 1980. A hunter along with his son and daughter stumbled across a body in Bossia Parish, Louisiana, just off the side of a rural logging road. The family found the body by stepping directly into it. It was like being stuck in the mud, but far worse. Once they realized what it was, they scrambled away and called for their dad. The unidentified victim had been savagely killed, and investigators found what they believed to be a murder weapon thrust into the soil near her remains. The crime scene yielded no purse, no documents, no hint of her name. With no immediate leads, authorities could only label the slain teenager as Jane Doe. At the time of her discovery, the victim was estimated to be a white or possibly Native American female between 15 and 21 years old. She stood at about 5'5 in tall and weighed roughly 125 to 140 lb. Her hair was described as straight, shoulder length,

1:10 and blonde. But due to advanced decomposition, examiners could not determine her eye color. Her fingernails were painted, suggesting that she had taken care in her appearance. Investigators noted an unusual dental detail. The girl had worn orthodonic braces in the past, but the metal brackets had been removed in a non-professional manner before her death. In fact, it was later confirmed that she had personally pulled out her own braces at some point. This made identification incredibly difficult. When found, the victim was fully clothed. She wore blue jeans, a leather belt featuring a distinctive buffalo nickel buckle along with a long-sleeved white sweater with pink, yellow, and blue stripes under a beige hooded jacket. Inside these items of clothing were a number of names, Michael, David, Risha. This would be typical of a child or young adult who was institutionalized or lived in shared spaces. This meant

2:11 that the victim was likely vulnerable. From the start, authorities treated the case as a homicide. The condition of the remain suggested that she had been killed several weeks before her discovery on the 18th of January, 1981, so likely in December of 1980. But how did she die? Investigators noted that she was lying on her stomach when she was found. Her body was taken away for an autopsy and the coroner's examination provided a clear picture of what had happened to her. The identified penetrating injuries to her back and chest, indicating that she was stabbed at least eight times. Her arms were too decomposed to determine whether defensive wounds were present. It wasn't known if she was killed on site where she was found or whether she was killed somewhere else and then dumped. All they knew was that she was savagely stabbed to death. At the scene, detectives collected the knife as evidence. They

3:08 were hopeful that it might contain some clues such as fingerprints, blood traces, or a manufacturer's mark that could be traced. The police worked day and night in 1981 to develop leads in the young woman's murder. They treated the case as a top priority given the brutality of the crime and the victim's apparent youth. But there were so many questions that needed to be answered. Who was this girl? Why was she in rural Louisiana? And who could have wanted to harm her? Fingerprints were attempted, but her skin was too badly decomposed.

3:42 Impressions of her teeth were also recorded along with samples of her hair. In 1981, DNA profiling was not available, but they kept samples in case other testing methods would be created in the future. Investigators appealed to the public, but nobody had seen anything unusual in that area, and the area was so remote that there were few witnesses. No one reported seeing a struggle. No one heard any screams, and there were no suspicious vehicles on the road around the estimated time of the murder. Databases of runaway teens were also checked, but nothing surfaced. But then, a startling lead emerged. Before we continue, just a quick word from today's sponsor, Incogn. Right now, your address, phone number, email, medical details, everything is online right now and is being sold by data brokers. This [clears throat] is dangerous for a number of reasons. Criminals can use this sensitive data to scam you. They

4:42 can do identity theft, stalk, harass. They can attempt to extort you. And they can even open up credit cards in your name. And [clears throat] if anyone wanted to, they could find out exactly where you live. And what's terrifying is that data breaches have gone up 211% in recent times. So that's why I do genuinely personally use Incogn where your data is being stored online and it forces these websites, these data brokers to remove it. They handle the follow-ups and the confirmations so you don't have to, saving you so much headache. And using their unlimited plan with their customs removal feature, you can send them any website exposing your information and their team will work to get it taken down. To protect yourself online, which is incredibly important these days, all you have to do is create an account authorizing Cogni and they will remove your data for you, keeping you safe. And they even offer a 30-day

5:42 risk-free money back guarantee. Use my link incogn.com/disturban for 60% off their annual plan. These criminals can't harm you if they can't find you. In 1983, a notorious serial killer was arrested in Texas. Henry Lee Lucas. Henry became infamous for confessing to hundreds of murders worldwide. So, this seemed to be promising. However, many of his confessions were found to be incorrect. For a period, authorities considered Henry a possible suspect and then Henry confessed to killing this girl. He told the police how he brutally stabbed her to death. But upon checking his claims, detectives found solid evidence that Henry was in Florida at the time of the girl's death. It turned out that he just wanted to increase his kill count. With this, it was back to square one, and the case went cold. In the late 1980s, forensic artists created a clay model reconstruction of the victim's face. The three-dimensional

6:45 bust was photographed and distributed to the media in hopes that someone might recognize her face, but still no identification was made. Decades then passed by. Nobody came looking for this girl. In the year 2000, as technology improved, an updated composite image was able to be created, giving a more lifelike impression of the victim. And again, no one came forward. And things only got worse. In 2005, a fire broke out at the storage facility used by law enforcement, and most of the physical evidence from the 1981 crime scene was destroyed. Even if they did find the person responsible, solving the case would be near impossible. By 2014, the case of Bossiador was over three decades old, but it had not been forgotten. And soon enough, things started to fall into place. A woman named Jeanie Phelps had long suspected that something terrible had happened to her older sister back in 1980. Jeanie said that her sister

7:48 stopped writing and calling, which was suspicious. The older sister in question was Carol Anne Cole. Jeanie had filed a missing person report for Carol back in the 80s. Over the years, Jeanie, along with a close family friend named Patty, refused to let the surge falter. The women took to the internet in the 2000s, posting dozens of messages on missing person forums and even putting out Craigslist advertisements pleading for any news of Carol's whereabouts. One reoccurring post was titled, "Help bring Carolyn home." Patty estimates that she sent out nearly a hundred such messages in hopes that someone somewhere would recognize her friend's name or face, but they never did. On the investigation side, the Bossia Sheriff's Office decided to try a new tactic in early 2015. Lieutenant Sharon Mack was a detective assigned to cold cases and she was inspired to harness social media in an unusual way. On the 6th of February

8:48 2015, the sheriff's office created a Facebook profile for the still unidentified victim, essentially giving Bossia Door her own page on the social network. They uploaded the composite reconstruction image of Jane Doe as her profile and shared all the details of the case as if Bossi Door were a person asking for help in finding her own identity. This innovative approach quickly gained traction. Within days, hundreds of people had friended the Boss profile and shared multiple posts spreading the word across states. In February of 2015, a 911 operator in Louisiana named Linda Ericson was homesick from work. She was just laid on her sofa scrolling through Facebook when she saw the page. The image of the Jane Doe's face struck her. Something about her face seemed naggingly familiar.

9:42 Linda recalled that just a few hours earlier, she had been browsing Craigslist and had seen a post from Patty in Michigan looking for Carolan. The post had included a photograph of Carolan Cole from 1980. Linda went back to find the Craigslist ad and compared it to the door profile picture. Linda then looked at the timelines between Carol and Cole and the door profile. It matched. Linda then made a call to the sheriff's office to relay the tape. Within a week, Patty, the family friend who had posted the Craigslist ad, received an email from detectives expressing interest in Carol's case.

10:20 Things moved quickly after that. Investigators found Caroline's mother, Soule, who was living in Texas, and her father and sister in Michigan. Detectives explained that they had an unidentified homicide victim from 1981 who might be their missing loved one. The family provided DNA samples so that a definitive comparison could be made, and it came back as a match. The mystery of the young woman's name was at last solved. But the family had to face the fact that their loved one had been brutally murdered. When speaking with reporters, Genie said, "There's a kind of relief there is a resolution, but there are still so many questions. Why?

11:01 Who? How?" Carol's mother, Sue, echoed a similar sentiment from her home in Texas. She said, "I kind of knew in my heart all along that she was probably dead. I'm just glad we got closure." With the victim's identity restored, the case shifted focus. This was no longer a Jane Doe investigation. It became a hunt for Carol Anne Cold's killer. Even before Carolan Cold's identity was confirmed, one name had risen to the top of the list of suspects. This was John Alvin Chesson Jr. and he wasn't a new person to the case. In fact, I mentioned him at the very start of the video. the man who found her body with his two children back in 1981.

11:49 At the time, he was not publicly suspected of any wrongdoing. However, decades later, Jon's own daughter came forward with disturbing allegations that cast her father's actions in a sinister light. The daughter, named Francis, was 13 years old in 1980, and she was one of the children with Jon when the body was discovered. In early 2015, after learning that the unidentified girl was actually Carol and Cole, Francis contacted law enforcement to say that she believed that her own father had actually killed Carol. Francis's account filled in some crucial background details. She stated that in late 1980, her father had picked up a teenage hitchhiker who turned out to be Carol and Cole, and he even brought her into their home. Carol stayed with the family for around a week. Then one day, Carol was suddenly gone. Francis remembered coming home from school and finding that Carol was no longer there. Her father

12:49 offered no explanation, and the family never saw or heard from her again. Now, her father, John, was often volatile and abusive towards her, so Francis didn't dare press him about what happened to Carol. Then not long afterward, on a December morning, John did something out of character. He invited his daughter and son to go on a hunting trip with him. This was the first time that he had ever taken them hunting. He drove them to a remote logging road and instructed the kids to walk down a specific path ahead of him. Francis told investigators that she found his behavior extremely suspicious. She even feared in that moment that her father might even be planning to harm her given his violent temperament. As the two children walked into the brush, they discovered the decomposed remains of Carol feet first.

13:41 Jon shouted that they should go and get help as soon as possible. Playing the role of a startled discoverer. In the daughter's view, her father had deliberately led them to the body to find it and deflect any suspicion that he was actually involved. Essentially, she believes the entire hunting trip was staged and orchestrated by her father to cover up his crime. When Carolyn's identity was revealed in 2015, she publicly asserted, "I strongly believe that he had gotten rid of her. I strongly believe that my dad killed Carolyn." and she has since seen the photograph of the murder weapon and she believes it's the very knife her dad once held up to her neck during one of his violent rages. These allegations carried serious weight because John Chess was no innocent outdoorsman. He was by 2015 a convicted murderer sitting in prison. In 1997, Jon had stabbed and killed his ex-mother-in-law, a crime for

14:41 which he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. These parallels didn't go unnoticed. Investigators took this lead incredibly seriously. Armed with a statement from Francis, and now with information that Carol lived with the family, they reintered Jon in prison and spoke with others who knew the Chess family in 1980. But there was a serious roadblock. As I mentioned earlier, the destruction of evidence in the 2005 fire meant that there was no longer any DNA evidence to the physical knife to test for, and Carol's clothing was gone as well. Any potential forensic links, like fibers or fingerprints, had been long lost. The case against Jon, even if one were to be built, would rely heavily on circumstantial evidence and witness testimony like that of his daughter. As of the most recent updates, no murder charges have been filed against him in Carol's case. Jon, now in his late 70s, remains incarcerated in prison for

15:42 killing his mother-in-law. Aside from John Chesson, no other individual suspects have been named publicly. Investigators have kept other leads open, understanding that somebody else could also be responsible. They carefully considered Carol and Cole's movements in her final months to identify anyone who might have come into contact with her. Carol had run away from a rehabilitation facility in Texas in October of 1980 when she was 17 and somehow made her way to northwest Louisiana by December. During that period, it is known that she was in the Shrefport area and made a phone call to her grandmother telling her family that she was babysitting for a local couple, but it's also believed that she stayed with multiple people. Tips that have come in since 2015 have been investigated, but none of them have led to any arrests. As of the most recent updates, the case remains unsolved and open. But many people believe, including

16:38 Francis, that the real killer is behind bars regardless. In June of 2015, a memorial service was held in Carol's honor in Michigan, where she had grown up. Her remains, which had been cremated, were placed to rest at Maple Grove Cemetery in Comtock Township on the 18th of June, a little over 34 years after she was found dead in Louisiana. A gravestone was also created, which read, "I was once lost, but now I am found.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "The Most Fascinating Case I’ve Seen - Carol Cole"?

In order: 0:00 Bossia Parish; 3:00 Incogn; 6:00 Carol Anne Cole, Jeanie Phelps; 9:00 John Alvin Chesson Jr..

What is mentioned in this Disturban episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Bossia Parish, Jeanie Phelps, Carol Anne Cole, John Alvin Chesson Jr.. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Most Fascinating Case I’ve Seen - Carol Cole"?

The episode runs 17 min; the transcript is about 2,680 words in 19 timestamped sections.

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