The Skeleton Key Chronicles

9 hours ago

After nearly nine years of wondering what happened to Rigoberto Jose Garcia, investigators are now digging up two neighboring properties in West Chester, Ohio, where they believe they may finally find him. And what's especially interesting about this development is that both properties belonged to a woman who passed away just days before police received the tip that led them there.

Rigoberto, who went by Miguel, disappeared on January 12th, 2018, after working at a property in Maineville, Ohio, where he'd been taking down Christmas lights. The 37-year-old owned a lawn care business and had spoken with his wife, Sara, earlier that afternoon, telling her he'd see her that evening. But he never came home. His family reported him missing two days later, and on January 19th, his white Toyota Tacoma was found in Fairfield, with no sign of Rigoberto.

The new search began on October 27th at two properties on Gregory Creek Lane in West Chester. Both belonged to LaWana Kay Tzeiranakis, who had recently passed away following a car accident. Police say a tip came in shortly after her death, and after checking it against other information, they had enough reason to obtain search warrants and begin excavating the grounds. Investigators have also confirmed that Rigoberto, LaWana, and a living person of interest all knew one another, although they haven't explained how they were connected or identified that person.

Fairfield Township Police Chief Robert Chabali has said he's very confident they're looking in the right place. Crews have been searching the grounds with heavy equipment, including areas around the buildings and wooded portions of the properties. As of the latest confirmed reports, they hadn't located Rigoberto, but investigators believe the information they've received could finally explain what happened to him.

For Rigoberto's wife, their three children, and everyone who has been waiting for answers since 2018, this is a major development in a case that has gone unresolved for almost nine years. The search is continuing, and police are asking anyone with information about Rigoberto or activity around the Gregory Creek Lane properties to contact investigators.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

13 hours ago

Christa Pike has finally spoken about what happened on September 30th, a month after Tennessee's failed attempt to carry out her sentence. Her attorneys released her statement on Friday, with Pike describing how she'd already made peace with what was coming that day. She'd said her goodbyes and prepared herself for the end of her life, even telling the people gathered to witness the procedure that she was leaving them in "loving kindness." Instead, she woke up several days later in a Nashville hospital, something she'd never imagined would happen.

Now 50, Pike says she's still experiencing considerable pain in her arms, hands and throat, and continues to have difficulty speaking. She described herself as "deeply hurt by the incompetence" of those responsible, adding that the experience has affected her emotionally as well as physically.

Pike also admitted she'd never really imagined a life beyond September 30th. Having spent years preparing for that day, she's now facing a future she hadn't expected to have.

Pike also acknowledged Colleen Slemmer's family and all they've endured since 1995.

Tennessee has ordered a review of what happened on September 30th, and while Pike's sentence remains in place, no new date has been announced. Her statement offers a glimpse into what she's experienced over the past month, although many questions about what happened that day remain unanswered.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

18 hours ago

It's been 46 years since a truck driver found an unidentified teenage girl along Interstate 45, just north of Huntsville, Texas, on November 1st, 1980. The previous evening, she had been seen at a gas station and the Hitchin' Post Truck Stop asking for directions to the Ellis Prison Farm. She told people she was from the Rockport and Aransas Pass area, roughly 260 miles away on the Texas Gulf Coast. Someone even wrote down directions for her, but nobody knew why she wanted to go there. What they also didn't know was that she was actually 14-year-old Sherri Ann Jarvis from Stillwater, Minnesota, and she was more than 1,100 miles away from home.

She had passed away under circumstances that led investigators to believe someone else was responsible. With nothing to identify her, authorities began trying to determine who she was. They interviewed people connected to the facility and even traveled to Rockport and Aransas Pass, speaking with police and school officials in hopes of finding someone who recognized her. Nothing came of those efforts, and the girl was eventually buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville under the name Walker County Jane Doe.

Back in Minnesota, Sherri's family had been searching for her. She was just 13 when she was removed from her family home because of repeated school absences and placed in state care. She later ran away, but not before writing her family a letter promising she would return. Her loved ones even hired a private investigator, never realizing she had ended up more than a thousand miles away in Texas. Sherri loved horseback riding, animals and children, and her family never stopped wondering what had become of her. Both of her parents would pass away without learning what happened.

For decades, investigators continued trying to identify the girl buried in Huntsville. Her remains were examined again in 1999, but the available DNA technology couldn't provide an answer. In 2020, investigators turned to Othram, a Texas laboratory specializing in forensic genetic genealogy. Using preserved material from the original examination, scientists developed a DNA profile that eventually led investigators to six possible relatives. They began building a family tree, contacted Sherri's surviving family members and confirmed her identity through additional DNA testing. In November 2021, after 41 years, Walker County Jane Doe finally had her name back.

Sherri's surviving relatives have since visited her grave in Huntsville, where local residents had cared for the resting place of a girl whose name they never knew. Although her identity has finally been restored, no one has been publicly identified as responsible for what happened to her. Investigators are still seeking answers about her final hours and how she ended up so far from home.

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