Death By Champagne Podcast

07/17/2022

Someone reading this post knows what happened to Sage Smith and wants to come forward.

Is it you? Do you have information?

If so, this is a good time to come forward. Not only will you be doing the right thing but you may be eligible for a $20,000 reward if the information you provide helps solve the case.

Here are the details:

On November 20, 2012, Sage Smith went missing and has not been heard from since. Sage was last seen on the 500 block of West Main Street in Charlottesville, VA.

The last person known to have had contact with Sage was Erik McFadden, who was living on 14th Street NW at the time.

The Charlottesville Police Department knows McFadden left the area later that week. His current whereabouts are unknown, but police say McFadden remains a person of interest in this case.

Sage’s disappearance was reclassified as a homicide in 2017, but police are continuing to investigate it. Our hope is that Sage is still alive but have no information to go on.

Police ask anyone in the community who may know anything about this case to call a special tip line at (434) 970-3381.

A $20,000 reward has been established for information that may lead to the location of Sage or an arrest in the case.

You can also contact us directly if you do not want to go to the police

03/29/2022

Hope for Sage Smith

Someone out there knows something.

Her mother, father and siblings deserve answers. Will you help?

Do you have information about Sage? Do you know where Erik Tyquan McFadden, a person of interest in the case, is hiding? Are there others who you believe are involved in Sage's disappearance?
If you know something about this case, please come forward. Not only will you be doing the right thing but you may be eligible for a $20,000 reward if the information you provide helps solve the case.

Here are the details:

On November 20, 2012, Sage Smith went missing and has not been heard from since. Sage was last seen on the 500 block of West Main Street in Charlottesville, VA.

The last person known to have had contact with Sage was Erik McFadden, who was living on 14th Street NW at the time.
The Charlottesville Police Department knows McFadden left the area later that week. His current whereabouts are unknown, but police say McFadden remains a person of interest in this case.

Sage’s disappearance was reclassified as a homicide in 2017, but police are continuing to investigate it. Our hope is that Sage is still alive but have no information to go on.

Police ask anyone in the community who may know anything about this case to call a special tip line at (434) 970-3381.

A $20,000 reward has been established for information that may lead to the location of Sage or an arrest in the case.
You can also contact us directly if you do not want to go to the police.

03/26/2022

Investigator Gary Stansill speaks with A&E True Crime about a community's persistent hunt for answers about the disappearance, and presumed murders, of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible in 1999.

12/30/2021

22 years ago, Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman disappeared from Welch, Oklahoma. Families and investigators are still working hard to find the girls. Despite making an arrest in 2018, their loved ones need to know where they are. PLEASE, if you have information about these young ladies, contact Find Lauria Bible-BBI or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation - Authorized Page.

I was fortunate enough to help families tell these girls' story, and six years later, they're still in my daily thoughts and prayers. I know they made such a big impact on a lot of you, too. Please keep their faces out there until Lauria and Ashley can finally return home.

09/24/2021

This South Carolinian young man is still missing in Arizona. His Columbia dad will stop at nothing to find his son.

24-year-old Daniel Robinson was last seen driving away from his job site in the Arizona desert June 23.

Then July 19, Daniel’s Jeep Renegade was found flipped on its side in the desert.

The driver’s side window was busted out, the front windshield was cracked, and the airbags were deployed.

Police found Daniel’s clothes three feet from the vehicle, including his boots and safety vest.

Police searched the area for 12 hours, using cadaver dogs and tracking K-9′s, but did not find Daniel.

His father, David Robinson, is organizing his own third search to find him. The search, scheduled for this Saturday, already has up to 75 volunteers from both Arizona and South Carolina.

David is very grateful for everyone’s support and he urges citizens to share Daniel’s picture on social media to get the word out.

A $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information that could lead to Daniel’s discovery.

For more information, visit www.pleasehelpfinddaniel.com.

09/16/2021

https://www.wral.com/man-charged-with-first-degree-murder-in-death-of-faith-hedgepeth/19879688/?fbclid=IwAR1N8DnJzNaO_A0h63ZDYBHMXqyeoxrZY7s2UUleGEymCDNnTh4S17FLDZY

Chapel Hill police will be sharing new developments in the murder investigation of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

08/14/2021

The Pinkerton Agency was founded in 1850 by Allan PInkerton, a cooper who moved from Scotland to America in the 1840s. He fashioned himself a detective after success in helping "track down miscreants". His private agency flourished in protecting railroads and the companies that shipped on them. In one of the Patreon episode uploaded in June 2021, we covered one of his detectives, Kate Warne. She was instrumental in many of his operations, including a bid to save President-Elect Abraham Lincoln from a threatened assassination attempt during the onset of the Civil War. Outside of the fun exploits we talked about, the Pinkerton Agency has a history of strike-breaking, working against unions, and in recent times, has moved into the era of tech.

Wielding brains rather than braun, they've allegedly been monitoring Amazon facilities in Poland to "figure out a possibility of employees tinkering with the application interview process." In a report broken by Lauren Kaori Gurley of NPR, she states she discovered the possible surveillance through obtained documents. Amazon responded to NPR that the Pinkerton company is use to secure shipments, and they do not use their partners to gather intelligence on warehouse workers". To read more about this update, we suggest checking out the NPR article, "Amazon Reportedly Has Pinkerton Agents Surveil Workers Who Try To Form Unions", and/or the Teen Vogue article, "The Pinkertons Have a Long, Dark History of Targeting Workers".

I'm looking forward to bringing you more history about Pinkerton Agency, and people and crimes connected to it! I also have a list of female detectives to research - any other requests from this historic era, or current events?•
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08/13/2021

Patreon Episode from October 2020:

Clinton, Missouri, 1991. Angela Hammond was 20 years old, and 4 months pregnant in April of that year. The day she disappeared, she was hanging out with friends. At 11:23pm, Angela called her fiance Rob Schafer from a payphone to tell him she was getting ready to drive home. While on the phone, she told him a man in a green truck was circling the block. Moments later that truck pulled into the parking lot where the pay phone was located. Angela told Rob that the man looked dirty, was wearing overalls, and had a beard and mustache. He approached the payphones, and Angela further described his truck: A decal of a fish jumping out of water covered the entire back window. Their conversation is then cut off by a scream. The line was disconnected, and Rob immediately left his house to go to the payphone.

He saw the truck Angela described and raced to catch it, but the transmission in his car went out, and he was left stranded, unable to continue the chase. Angela Hammond has never been seen again. In April of 2021, the 30th anniversary of Angela’s disappearance, local police released a possible lead in hopes of learning new information. A police informant involved in a separate case had received a threatening note that mentioned his daughter. Her name was also Angela. Clinton police captain Paul Abbott who has worked the case since 2006 said the two young women looked “strikingly similar” in an interview with KCTV5, and the department is open to the possibility that Angela Hammond’s kidnapping was a case of mistaken identity.

Police have stated that they are hopeful one previous tipster will contact them again. The caller left a message with information consistent with the theory of mistaken identity, and listed information on one person that was previously looked at in the case. If you know anything about the vanishing of Angela Hammond, or information about the suspect or the green truck with the fish decal, contact the Clinton Missouri Police Department at 660-885-2679 or send an email to [email protected]. You can remain anonymous.

08/13/2021

In ep 3 of our series covering Yellow Bird by Sierra Crane Murdoch, we're led to an emotional conclusion after a winding tangle of characters fall for their crimes and lies. After the murders of KC Clarke and Doug Carlile, James Henrikson, Robert Delao, and Timothy Suckow were tried and convicted for the solicitation, conspiracy, and murder of both men. Sarah Creveling received probation for her role in embezzlement and defrauding investors. She has never been charged with any crimes related to the deaths of KC Clarke or Doug Carlile. ⁠
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KC Clarke has never been found. One day when Sierra was with Lissa, she told her a story about a day when he son fell while searching for KC. When he slid to the bottom of an embankment, he told his mom "You’re not going to believe how beautiful it looks from here," and Lissa replied, "That’s what I’m thinking. He’s buried in a beautiful place.” ⁠
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From the end of our series, "What I take away from Yellow Bird is how whole the story is. Everyone is complicated. Everyone is a hero to someone. Everyone has the capability to f**k up, and the right to hold their ground or apologize when they do. While we have a whole book built on over 150 years of crimes, most of the people you learn about are not so easily categorized. The element of humanity, and the immense concept of right and wrong are present in every person, and through Lissa and Sierra Murdoch, we’re allowed to experience it right alongside them."⁠
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We hope you enjoyed this series! If you did, be sure to buy a copy of Yellow Bird from your favorite local shop, and subscribe to our show for the next series. We always appreciate ratings on iTunes, or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

08/09/2021

Hey friends. A long-ish update about where we’ve been, originally posted to our Patreon page. We’re slowly but surely getting back to it. Thanks for still being here 🧡💕but now I have to leave because telling you all this makes me wildly uncomfortable. •
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