The Internet's Darkest Corners 7

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Joseph Parker, Samantha Parker
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Jennifer Sheffield, Brandon Sheffield, Joseph Parker
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Rana Ibrahim, Brandon Sheffield, Jennifer Sheffield
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Gary Manders
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Grenfell Tower
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Lane Bryant
7. 30:00 – 33:09: Lane Bryant

Notable quotes from "The Internet's Darkest Corners 7"

• I shot my wife in the temple of her head. and I thought I'd killed her and I put her in the freezer out in the garage.

  about Joseph Parker · at 0:41

• She's got a big hole in the temple of her head and to get her body moved around in there. I think I broke her wrist. she was frozen from being in the fancy in the sink 48 hours. Now, according to Joseph, Samantha was still.

  about Samantha Parker · at 1:30

• Jennifer Sheffield's life was largely encapsulated by the post she made on social media. She worked hard studying in medical school with the hope of becoming a doctor, a journey that she.

  about Jennifer Sheffield · at 8:54

• Brandon Sheffield had been the one to pull the trigger both times, shooting Jennifer before turning the gun on himself.

  about Brandon Sheffield · at 12:39

• Throughout 31-year-old Rana Ibrahim's Facebook page, friends, family, and followers have been accustomed to seeing posts of her children, various religious texts, and other media from her.

  about Rana Ibrahim · at 14:30

• It was a dramatic scene and one that you can start to piece together based on the footage alone as it was clear that there was a fire raging inside that apartment complex and the entire floor Rana was.

  about Gary Manders · at 16:10

• They were 23 stories in the air in the highest floor of the Granfell Tower located in North Kensington, London, England, where Rana and hundreds of others lived. And now somewhere in that.

  about Grenfell Tower · at 17:14

• It's the have it all sale at Lane Bryant.

  about Lane Bryant · at 26:11

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Joseph Parker — Person · Primary subject (perpetrator in first case) · 3 mentions · first at 0:21
  Central figure in the opening 911-call case: he confesses to shooting his wife, placing her in a freezer, then later dies by suicide during a traffic stop.
• Jennifer Sheffield — Person · Primary victim (second case) · 3 mentions · first at 8:54
  Subject of the second story: a medical student/TikTok creator who announced a civil divorce and was later killed in an apparent murder-suicide by her husband.
• Rana Ibrahim — Person · Primary subject/victim (Grenfell segment) · 2 mentions · first at 14:30
  Central figure in the Grenfell Tower segment; her livestream documents being trapped by smoke and illustrates the consequences of the 'stay put' guidance and building failures.
• Samantha Parker — Person · Primary victim (first case) · 1 mention · first at 1:37
  Victim of Joseph Parker; her death and the freezer concealment are the core facts of the first story and the basis for the surreal 911 call narrative.
• Brandon Sheffield — Person · Perpetrator (second case) · 4 mentions · first at 9:10
  Husband of Jennifer Sheffield; described as handling divorce amicably before later killing Jennifer and himself, shaping the episode’s second tragedy narrative.
• Gary Manders — Person · Referenced participant (Grenfell segment) · 1 mention · first at 16:05
  Appears briefly in Rana Ibrahim’s livestream as a smoke-covered resident emerging from the hallway, reinforcing the immediacy and danger of the fire conditions.

Companies & orgs

• Lane Bryant — Company · 3 mentions · first at 26:06

Places & events

• Grenfell Tower — Place · 2 mentions · first at 23:21

Full transcript with timestamps

0:07 911 location of your emergency. Okay. What's going on? All right. This is what's happened. Uh

0:18 it's the 7th of November, 2014. 45-year-old Joseph Parker dials 911 at 2:45 in the morning to report an urgent incident that had taken place inside his home in Springville, Tennessee. An incident that had been solely his own doing.

0:32 I'd been married 12 years on on the 4th, which would have been two nights ago at 4:00 a.m. Um, I shot my wife in the temple of her head. and I thought I'd killed her and um I put her in the freezer out in the garage.

0:54 It happened on him and his wife Samantha's 12th wedding anniversary, a day that should have been a celebration, but instead had somehow ended in Joseph shooting Samantha at point blank range before proceeding to put her body inside their garage freezer. An awful crime that Joseph was now confessing to a 911 operator. But this confession wasn't the real reason for his call. As Joseph likely would have been content without ever reporting his own crime, had it not been for the fact that hours prior, he noticed something unusual.

1:22 I was in the garage when I checked on her night and she's not dead. Um she's uh got a big hole in the temple of her head and um to get her body moved around in there. I think I broke her wrist. You know, she was frozen from being in the in the fancy in the sink 48 hours. Now,

1:47 according to Joseph, Samantha was still alive, despite having a large hole in her head and spending so long in their freezer that she was seemingly frozen solid. When he checked on her that morning, he realized that she wasn't actually dead and was even still conscious. The scenario Joseph was describing should have been impossible with it being so outlandish that Joseph felt the need to tell the operator that this wasn't a prank.

2:10 This is no prank call. I need somebody to get out there and help her. But I I promise you this is a legit call and I need somebody to get out there and help her cuz I I still love her. It's hard to believe that after that, you know, but um I love her. I still love her, you know. I've loved her every day I've been married to her. stress here.

2:34 He was being serious and all he wanted to do now was get Samantha help as he claimed to still love her despite everything he had done. And help couldn't come quickly enough as Joseph went into greater detail about just how bad Samantha's condition was and how he was able to determine she was alive in the first place.

2:50 She's been frozen for two days. She's frozen solid. It's amazing she's still alive. She just called her jaw. She's in bad shape. She's a mess. She can't talk. I just blink. Blink once, yes. Blink twice, no.

3:11 Despite being unable to speak or move, Samantha was still blinking and was actually blinking in response to questions Joseph was asking her. Once for yes and twice for no. And in a moment of what appears to be a regret for what he had done, he tried to make things better by giving her blankets and pouring water in her mouth.

3:27 Yes, she's still in the garage. I made her as comfortable as I can make her try to drink a little water.

3:34 These responses led to a lengthy one-sided conversation that ended with Joseph vowing to get her help, which he was attempting to do now as he drove miles away clearing the scene for authorities and paramedics to save her while calling 911 and explaining the surreal scenario.

3:47 We don't have a history of domestic disputes. You know, we've never had to call police and nothing. We just had a real bad night a couple of nights ago. Waving the gun around, got myself in trouble.

4:05 The two had a happy and healthy marriage that for whatever reason had turned sour on their anniversary and what he referred to as a real bad night or something in Joseph had snapped. But despite admitting to the murder, he made it clear that he had no intention of going to prison. He just wanted to make sure that Samantha was saved.

4:21 Don't want to get arrested tonight and all that. telling the operator that they'll find her in the freezer before ending the call shortly after.

4:29 Go to the garage. You can't yell for can't yell you go to the garage to that's where you'll see her once you get to the garage.

4:43 Sure enough, when authorities entered Joseph and Samantha's home and ventured into the garage, they would see Samantha's red hair flowing out from the side of the freezer. And inside they would find Samantha herself frozen completely solid with a gunshot wound to her head in the same exact manner that Joseph had described. But other than this, it was clear that Joseph's retelling of events was flawed to say the least. As Samantha hadn't just been placed inside the freezer, she had been jammed inside of it. As if he was desperate to get her to fit inside. So much so that he actually sawed off her left leg along with making a series of other cuts to her body to get her to fit. And this wasn't even the most damning revelation, with the most important having to do with Samantha's condition. Just by looking at her, it was clear to the first responders that Samantha was dead and had been dead for

5:31 days, likely having been killed instantly by the gunshot, meaning that the blinking Joseph had witnessed was entirely hallucinated. It never could have happened. And yet, that was his reality. He fully believed it. Upon the discovery, Joseph quickly became the number one most wanted man in Tennessee. And that same day, police would track down his vehicle as he appeared to have been trying to flee the state. But the officers got to him first, pulling him over and then surrounding his vehicle, drawing their guns, and preparing for anything. But just as Joseph had said on the phone, he had no interest in going to jail. And that was something he was dead serious about. When officers finally got his car door opened, they would find Joseph Parker in the driver's seat, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His death made it impossible to fully confirm why he had taken Samantha's life that night. But

6:19 reports seem to indicate that he had recently lost his job, and the couple was experiencing financial hardships, putting their home in danger of foreclosure, with this perhaps being the reason the two were arguing on their anniversary. But reports also indicate that this murder didn't happen in the midst of the fight, as evidence points to Samantha having been asleep at the time she was shot, adding some uncertainty to how the situation truly did unfold. But one noteworthy discovery made after the fact was that at the time of his death, Joseph had drugs in his system, which could have been a factor in the murder itself, and it certainly was a factor in the hallucinations he was seeing afterwards. As he stood in his garage having full conversations with the frozen, mutilated corpse of the woman he had just killed, all the while truly believing it was all real, with this 911 call leaving a haunting

7:02 impression on myself and the many others who have stumbled across it. in the internet's darkest corners.

7:09 We're breaking news now. This out of branded where her husband is being incredible though. Like really interesting.

7:14 Hello. Come here. Coming. Shopping for clothes used to be a nightmare. You you trustling Ryan.

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8:39 scanning the QR code on screen, clicking the link in the description box below, or by going to expressvpn.com/crowley. Jennifer Sheffield's life was largely encapsulated by the post she made on social media. She worked hard studying in medical school with the hope of becoming a doctor, a journey that she documented on her growing Tik Tok page. But when she wasn't at school or at a hospital, her time was spent with her family. She had been married to a man named Brandon Sheffield for around a decade. And when they met, Brandon already had two children from a separate relationship. Though this didn't deter her in any way, and instead she took on the responsibility of helping to care for them, raising the children alongside Brandon as if they were her own for much of their lives to the point where they seemingly started referring to her as their mother, a role that she thrived in, as she frequently posted pictures

9:32 and videos alongside them. And the same was also true for her being a wife, as she loved to share her memories and moments with Brandon, cultivating this image of the perfect family and the perfect pair. But on social media, things are rarely ever as they seem. And on the 10th of December, 2024, Jennifer would drop a bombshell on her followers.

9:51 So, I'm about to be a newly single mom. Um, and I am in the middle of a divorce. Um, my husband is being incredible, though. Like, really and truly, like, we are we're working together. Everything's great. We're splitting everything down the middle. Like, you know, everything is good. After approximately 10 years of marriage, Jennifer announced that she and Brandon were getting a divorce. There was no explanation for why, just the simple fact that they were separated and had already started the divorce process, something that was reiterated by both of their Facebook relationship statuses as they shifted to single around the same time. Despite the sad and even shocking news, it was clear that they were handling it better than most. There didn't appear to be any resentment between them as Jennifer described Brandon as having been incredible throughout the process, supporting her in any way possible,

10:41 which was obviously good not only for them, but for their children who were top of mind for the pair.

10:46 It is a very civil divorce with our daughter, our daughter in mind, and I really appreciate that. However, you know, I'm going to be a mom, single income right now, and he will be helping with her. He will be supporting her, you know. Um, so essentially like I'm really thankful that for that and that I will not have to worry so much about supporting her.

11:07 It was apparent that there was some kind of custody split being discussed between them, which isn't really made fully clear in the video. But what was clear was how grateful Jennifer was for Brandon's support. But even with this help, this marked the first time in Jennifer's adult life that she was really on her own.

11:22 I've never done this before. I've never been on my own before. So yeah, if you just have any tips, like I would really appreciate it cuz like I'm a little scared right now.

11:32 It was uncharted territory and something that she was understandably nervous about. But despite her fears, Jennifer maintained an optimistic attitude and thankfully at this point the divorce itself was going about as well as it could be. They were both supportive of each other. They were both thinking of the children and there seemed to be no bad blood between them. Though, as I said before on social media, things are rarely as they seem. We have more breaking news now. This out of Brandon where a husband and wife are dead following a murder.

12:02 According to Brandon police, the couple was found on Tulon Street this morning after family conducted a welfare check on 30-year-old Jennifer Sheffield. 18 days after posting this video praising Brandon Sheffield for the incredible way he had been handling their divorce. Both Jennifer and Brandon would be found dead inside their Mississippi home. That morning, family members arrived at the house to perform a welfare check but noted signs of foul play outside, leading to them calling the police. Inside, officers discovered the pair lying next to each other. Each had a single gunshot wound to the head, with one thing being blatantly obvious.

12:39 Brandon Sheffield had been the one to pull the trigger both times, shooting Jennifer before turning the gun on himself. What happened that night isn't fully understood, but the motive is fairly clear. This was likely the result of the divorce that Brandon had supposedly been handling so well, though obviously there seemed to be more going on behind the scenes. Perhaps the violence was spurred on by the holiday season and Brandon's realization that this would be their last as a married couple. Or perhaps he just wanted Jennifer all to himself. and if he couldn't have her, no one could.

13:11 Since her murder, Jennifer's video has become a morbid piece of internet history. And just seeing how full of hope she was is heartbreaking in hindsight. And because of Brandon's actions, not only was Jennifer robbed of her future, but these children were robbed of their mother figure and their father figure all in one night. And making this even more devastating, some articles have claimed that one of these children was actually in the house during the shootings. What Brandon did was nothing short of evil. But surprisingly, not everyone has seen it this way, as the discourse around this case has somehow led to people actually sympathizing with him and even blaming Jennifer for her own murder. Sadly, this is just a fraction of the disrespect that Jennifer has faced since her death, as there have been numerous other online controversies surrounding her and her family. Though, for the sake of this

13:57 video, I don't want these to distract from the very real story and the very real victim at its core. a young woman who will now never get to experience the future that she was so hopeful for.

14:06 I had this feeling this morning for some reason to tell you that it's going to be okay. You still have a purpose. You've got to keep pushing. You still have a heartbeat. And that means that you've got to keep going. It was unlike anything she had posted before. Throughout 31-year-old Rana Ibrahim's Facebook page, friends, family, and followers have been accustomed to seeing posts of her children, various religious texts, and other media from her day-to-day life. But on June 14th, 2017, Rana would begin her very first live stream. And it was clear from the start that something had gone terribly wrong.

14:51 Don't open the front door. Open the front door. You're going to bring the smoke in. You're not going to be able to breathe. I'm scared. Maybe someone outside.

14:59 They're in the other. Are you sure? They've gone into the apartment. The footage is from Rana's perspective as she and another woman discuss what lies behind the front door of the apartment unit they were in. The woman, believed to be 33-year-old Israim, told her not to open the door as it would let the smoke in. While Rana insisted that people might still be out there and in danger, eventually leading to her peeking outside and in turn giving us a glimpse inside their nightmare situation. There's too much smoke here.

15:28 Okay. Okay. I'm going to open it. The door opens for just a split second, revealing a thick layer of black smoke. the loud ringing of fire alarms and someone pounding on a door. Ra eventually calls out to whoever was knocking outside, beckoning them towards her.

15:55 Hello, come here. Come here. Hello. Hello. Come, come, come. Quick, quick. To which 57year-old Gary Manders emerges from the smog completely covered in ash. It was a dramatic scene and one that you can start to piece together based on the footage alone as it was clear that there was a fire raging inside that apartment complex and the entire floor Rana was filming on had been filled with smoke. Smoke that essentially trapped her and a few others inside this flat. Given the sheer amount of smoke in that hallway, it was obvious why the others in the room insisted on keeping that door closed. But Rana continued to hit back on this as she didn't want anyone to be stuck out there alone. Come in. You got

16:38 because THE SMOKE IS COMING THE PEOPLE DOWN. THE PEOPLE OUTSIDE. HELLO. HELLO. OKAY, I'm going out. Hello.

16:52 Oh my god, I closed it. Before eventually conceding and closing the door for good. It was obvious that the situation was dire, but just how dire wasn't revealed until Rana made her way over to the window. Okay, I'm not going. Okay.

17:14 They were 23 stories in the air in the highest floor of the Granfell Tower located in North Kensington, London, England, where Rana and hundreds of others lived. And now somewhere in that high-rise was a growing fire.

17:39 As she looks out the window, Rana tells her viewers that she believes the fire had started from the bottom of the structure and was quickly working its way up to them with it now being just one floor below them. But officially, this wasn't the story that Rana and the others in the room were being told. As each time they would dial 999, the operators would tell them that the fire was generally contained and leave them with one clear instruction. Stay put. This was the name of a nationwide rescue policy for all high-rise fires that stated that people should stay in their flats and wait for rescue as opposed to trying to escape on their own as buildings like these were made from thick concrete and should hypothetically keep fires relatively contained in the flat that they started in for an estimated time period of around 2 hours.

18:22 And considering that this fire had started roughly 1 hour before Rana stream, they should have been relatively safe until rescue crews got to them. And when looking outside, the fire wasn't even noticeable, meaning it was possible it was still contained and had simply been producing a lot of smoke. But that belief was far too optimistic for reality.

18:46 Fire brigade. Yeah. Hello. Hi. In the fire 16 tower. Sorry. Fire where? Flat 16 G tower. It's the fourth floor.

18:56 Right. Quick, quick, quick, quick. They're on their way already. Approximately 1 hour earlier on the fourth floor of the tower, a man called 911 to report that his freezer had caught fire. It was an incident that had happened through no fault of his own, and due to his quick phone call, firefighters would arrive on the scene within minutes, one of whom was wearing a camera that showed that they were able to handle the blaze in a relatively efficient manner.

19:35 With the camera using thermal imaging and heat sensors to asssure that the fire was fully out, the camera scans around showing a few items strewn about that were still at relatively high temperatures. But other than that, the room was completely clear, and it seemed as though the fire was out for good until the camera panned to the window,

19:59 revealing scorching hot droplets of debris falling from the outside like molten rain. The fire had spread above them and was now burning up the side of the building in a manner that was completely unprecedented and defied any sort of logic based on the firefighters knowledge of the scene. And by the time they even realized what was happening, things were already out of hand.

20:29 The fire was huge and within just that first hour, nearly the entire building was engulfed in flames. And Rana was now trapped on the tallest floor opposite to where the fire was raging. And she wasn't alone. Not only were there over a hundred people left in the building at this time, but two of them were Rana's own children, four-year-old Fathia and 3-year-old Tanya, who were stuck in the same flat as their mother and several others. With desperation mounting, some of the others called out the window for help.

20:58 We're stuck on the 23rd floor. Hello. We can film things. There's too many people stuck upstairs

21:06 until the stream went dark roughly 6 minutes later. H this window because the smoke can go to the other.

21:15 Despite things looking grim for the group on the 23rd floor, there was still some optimism about their rescue as even 30 minutes after the stream had ended, those in the group were told once again by 999 operators to stay put with the operator even telling them that the fire was contained to the fourth floor, which clearly wasn't the case. Rana's sister later spoke to the media about a phone call that they had shared around the same time where she begged Rana to try and leave recalling she did not. She respected and trusted and believed that they are coming to rescue them. And by this point there were hundreds of rescuers on the scene along with multiple helicopters flying around them which only further kept their faith alive. But tragically this was all a cruel facade. Internally fire crews were told not to go past the 12th floor shortly after Rana's stream ended. It was just too dangerous. And as for the

22:03 helicopters, well, those trapped inside would have had no idea that those were actually just police helicopters merely used for surveillance. They weren't even equipped for rescue, nor were they ever considered to be used for that, as getting too close would have blown more air on the fire and made the blaze even worse, meaning that those helicopters offered them no chance at survival. They were entirely on their own, leading to authorities finally telling them to try and escape by themselves. But by this point, there was no point. This was 2 hours after the fire had started and an hour after Rana's stream, the fire had completely taken over the structure and inside there was only one single stairway. A stairway that was now impossible to safely traverse for anyone on the higher floors. Even attempting it would have been a death sentence. The orders for them to shelter in place had cost them valuable time and in turn any

22:53 chance at leaving while they could, and it was all for a rescue that was now impossible, leaving them completely trapped. Rana, Fathia, Hana, and everyone else shown in this live stream would perish in what we now know today as the Granfell Tower fire. A fire that claimed the lives of 72 people in one of the worst fire tragedies in Europe's history. And while we've covered many large- scale tragedies on this channel before, few have been more preventable than this one. The Grenfell Tower was built back in 1974, and around the 2010s, its concrete exterior was beginning to look outdated in an area that was experiencing a wave of modernization. The neighborhood was becoming trendier and wealthier, and the tower was becoming an eyesore to some, and so the decision was made by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization along with the Royal Bureau of Kensington and Chelsea to refurbish

23:43 the exterior by adding new siding known as cladding to give it a more modern appeal. It was purely aesthetic, but its effects were horrific. The cladding was created by a company called Aronic, which had tested it numerous times to see how it held up to fire. And the results were awful. Their ACM cladding received a grading of F with it being apparent that it was extremely flammable, with some likening it to gasoline due to how quickly it would erupt into flames, while also producing three times the amount of smoke as usual fires. But despite having these test scores and even acknowledging their failure in multiple emails sent throughout the company, notoriously following up their F-score with a line, "Oops," they not only refused to fix the problem, but they also kept selling it with one of their clients being the group working on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment. And it wasn't even a secret either. Those in charge of the

24:34 project wanted it done as cheaply as possible. And this ACM cladding was as cheap as it got. And so they chose it despite knowing the fire risk. And worst of all, they had the opportunity to buy a version of this product that was actually flame retardant, but they opted for the cheaper, more dangerous product, which in the end only saved them about £5,000, or roughly $6,500 USD. Aronic knowingly sold this flammable product. The companies working on the Granville Tower refurbishment knowingly bought the flammable product, and in the end, it all resulted in a disaster that they all should have seen coming. And when you couple this with the flawed orders to shelter in place and the fact that there was only one stairwell, it was a recipe for disaster. This was always going to happen. This was a failure on so many levels for so many parties. And it all traces back to greed and the value of money over the lives of

25:24 innocent people like Rana and her children. Despite the fire starting 8 years ago, justice has yet to be served as investigations are still ongoing to this day, leading to an agonizing wait for all those who lost loved ones in the blaze. With the trials themselves not expected to start for another full year

26:02 It was the usual start to the day for Roa McFarland. The 42-year-old manager of the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois, was no stranger to big sales.

26:11 It's the have it all sale at Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant had a habit of launching monthly clearance events, sending out flyers and airing commercials in the days and weeks before to let all of their customers know. And this day, February 2nd, 2008, was yet another one of these sales. She knew it would be a busy day and potentially a stressful one for one of her employees, as that morning only one worker was scheduled to open the store. Something that Roa disagreed with, leading to her coming in to help even though she had the day off.

26:38 But like I said, this was a typical morning for her, as this was just the kind of person she was, always willing and wanting to help others. And as she clocked in for work that morning at 10:00 a.m., she and her co-orker braced for a potential rush of excited shoppers. The rush, however, wasn't as dramatic as they may have expected. And in the first 15 minutes or so of opening, only five people had entered the store, four of which were female shoppers looking for some deals, while the fifth was a delivery man who walked in holding a stack of papers. The man approached them and made casual conversation. But after a few minutes had passed, he kind of just lingered around, never actually delivering anything, which Roa found strange, especially considering that it was Saturday, a day that they typically didn't receive packages. Growing more and more suspicious by the minute, Roa quietly placed a call to a nearby Lane

27:24 Bryant store, who confirmed to her that there was in fact nothing scheduled to be dropped off that day. But before she could even process this information, an incident was already unfolding around her. Out of nowhere, the delivery man pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the women, yelling at them to hand over the money from the register before proceeding to round up Roda, her employee, and the four women shopping, demanding that they all give up their cash and jewelry. After he was satisfied with the collection, he forced the women to the back of the store, where one by one he bound them with duct tape, placing them each face down on the floor and putting underwear over their heads to obstruct their view. In the minutes following, he would venture back out into the store where two other women had entered, and they two were then robbed and then forced into the back room where they were eventually subdued, but not

28:08 before he struck one of them in the face with his pistol, nearly knocking her unconscious. It appeared to be a fairly highlevel robbery. But after he now had them all in the back room, the whole operation seemed to grind to a halt. It was like he didn't know what to do next as he started pacing the room and slowly losing his cool. The minute ticked on, and the more time that passed, the more agitated he became. It was clear that the pressure was getting to him and sensing his disorganization, Roa seized the opportunity, quietly slipping her hand free, allowing her to call 911 through her Bluetooth headset.

28:39 911 emergency. We're at Despite the man being in the room with her and the others, Roda managed to alert authorities to her exact location, telling them to hurry and making it clear that the situation was urgent. In the background, you can also hear the robber himself, whose disheveled state is apparent as he outwardly states,

29:01 you operator was on it, quickly dialing dispatch and telling Roda not to hang up.

29:08 Stay on the line. Let me get you to Tinley Park, don't hang up. Though within just a split second, the call disconnected. By some stroke of good fortune, there was actually an officer in that shopping center only about 100 ft away. And from the time that Roda made that call, the officer managed to arrive on the scene within just a few minutes. He rushed inside the store, but inside he found nothing until he made his way over to that back room. Inside he would find them. Six women with underwear over their heads lying on the floor. Each one having been shot execution style just seconds after Roa's 911 call. It was a mass murder. But in the midst of this awful scene, one thing was missing. the killer himself. And so authorities flooded the area, scanning and searching all over for the gunman, who was described as a black man with a husky build and a single braid that fell to his right cheek that ended in green

30:02 beads. And the reason they knew exactly what he looked like wasn't because of security footage, as at the time, the store didn't even have any CCTV cameras, but instead it was because one of the women actually survived. When the man began his executions, he moved his way over to the employee that Roa came in to help. And when he fired his gun, she moved at just the right moment, causing the bullet to grace her neck, to which he proceeded to then play dead so that the man wouldn't notice. And thankfully, he didn't. Her testimony is the reason why we know exactly what this man looks like and why we know what those moments were like before the shooting. But despite this, after doing a thorough search of the area, even utilizing a helicopter, there was no trace of the killer. CCTV footage from a neighboring store showed that just before ROA made that call to 911, two large SUVs pulled up in front of the

30:52 building right after the shooting likely occurred. It's believed that both of these SUVs were involved in some way, with one potentially being a lookout and the other likely being the getaway car, explaining how he would have gotten away so quickly. Not to mention that the store was located right near the entrance of an interstate, which could have taken them out of the state extremely quickly. That was 18 years ago. And today, neither the shooter nor the drivers have ever been identified, marking a rare instance in which a mass shooting in America went unsolved, leaving us with so many unanswered questions to this day, with one of the biggest being the motive. Police have labeled this as a robbery gone wrong, which does seem to be the case. But why Lane Bryant? And why come in the morning when there was next to no cash in the register? I mean, in total, the killer only made off with about $200, and that's including the

31:43 cash he stole from the women. One of the main theories today is that the killer had planned on taking customers hostage as they entered the store. But perhaps he grew frustrated at the lack of customers that day until he eventually noticed that Roa was making a 911 call, which caused him to panic and start shooting. But what always gets me about this is that he never covered his face at any point, which makes me wonder if he was planning on killing these women all along. Though, if that's true, how could this ever have been worth it? Due to just how bizarre this whole situation is, some have posed other theories like perhaps this was someone with a drug addiction who was looking for quick cash to get his next fix, perhaps explaining his rapidly deteriorating behavior, or even that the suspect was actually a woman who never got caught because police were primarily looking for a male. But it's impossible to know for

32:30 sure at the moment and might not ever be known. As despite having survivor testimony, an exact description of this man's face and body, his voice, and even his DNA, which was discovered under one of the victim's fingernails, we still have no idea who this man is or where he went.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "The Internet's Darkest Corners 7"?

In order: 0:00 Joseph Parker, Samantha Parker; 5:00 Jennifer Sheffield, Brandon Sheffield, Joseph Parker; 10:00 Rana Ibrahim, Brandon Sheffield, Jennifer Sheffield; 15:00 Gary Manders; 20:00 Grenfell Tower; 25:00 Lane Bryant; 30:00 Lane Bryant.

What is mentioned in this Nick Crowley episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Joseph Parker, Jennifer Sheffield, Rana Ibrahim, Samantha Parker, Brandon Sheffield, Grenfell Tower. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Internet's Darkest Corners 7"?

The episode runs 33 min; the transcript is about 6,034 words in 71 timestamped sections.

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