The Murder Police Podcast
The Murder Police Podcast
Where Is Rhonda Day?
The aching void of a missing loved one tears at the fabric of a family like nothing else. Rhonda Faye Day—compassionate soul, devoted grandmother-caretaker, avid reader, and animal lover—vanished from Kentucky on July 28, 2018, leaving her family in a nightmare that continues to this day.
We trace Rhonda's story through the eyes of those who knew her best. She was the woman who stopped to move turtles from busy roads, the one who painted rocks for children to discover in parks, who sat beside hospital beds caring for ailing relatives. Despite personal struggles with addiction, Rhonda maintained deep connections with her family, especially her grandmother with whom she shared a home.
The details surrounding her disappearance raise disturbing questions. After borrowing just $5 for gas to visit a childhood friend in Louisville, Rhonda called her grandmother promising to return home. She never did. Her car appeared days later, abandoned near the Ohio River, just over a mile from where she was last reportedly seen. Police told the family to retrieve the vehicle themselves instead of processing it for evidence—a critical error that may have compromised valuable forensic information. Meanwhile, the person Rhonda visited never participated in searches or reached out to check on her whereabouts.
What happened to Rhonda Day? Did she suffer an overdose that someone covered up? Did something more sinister occur? Or, as some suggest but her family firmly denies, did she choose to disappear? The absence of activity on her phone or financial accounts since that July day speaks volumes.
Someone knows what happened to Rhonda, and her family deserves answers. If you have information—no matter how small—please contact the Louisville Metro Police Department at 502-574-7111. Help bring Rhonda home and end this family's torment.
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If you've been searching for a true crime story that cuts to the core, one that's not only chilling but heartbreakingly real, you've found it. This is a Murder Police Podcast special episode. This episode is when is Rhonda Day, airing on one of too many anniversaries of her disappearance. Warning the podcast you're about to listen to may contain graphic descriptions of violent assaults, murder and adult language. Listener discretion is advised.
David Lyons:Rhonda Faye Day was the kind of person who stopped to move turtles off the road. She was known to sit beside a hospital bed around the clock to care for her ailing grandmother. She had a sense of humor that could catch you off guard and a heart that pulled in anyone in need. She was a mother, a granddaughter, a sister, and to the people who loved her, she is everything.
Wendy Lyons:On July 28, 2018, Rhonda Day vanished.
David Lyons:And what followed has left her family and anyone who learns about her asking the same question.
Wendy Lyons:Where is Rhonda Day?
David Lyons:Rhonda grew up in a close-knit Kentucky family. Her Aunt, melissa, remembers her as a curious child, always stopping to admire flowers and bugs and often trailing behind her and her cousins on family walks. She loved animals, creeks and was full of laughter. In essence, rhonda was a Kentucky girl. In adulthood that curiosity turned into compassion. Rhonda once showed up daily to change her cousin's surgical bandages so her aunt wouldn't have to leave work. She brought secondhand treasures home to her grandmother all the time.
Wendy Lyons:Rhonda lived above her grandmother and took care of her, especially when she was in the hospital. Rhonda's family said she always came home because she didn't want her grandmother to worry. Rhonda even found a cat, a beautiful cat, that she gave to her grandmother, who still has the cat to this day cat that she gave to her grandmother, who still has the cat to this day.
David Lyons:The family said she never left home without her cat, highlighting her deep connection and love for animals. Another thing was that Rhonda was known for hiding hand-painted rocks in the park so kids could just stumble across them and find them hand-painted rocks in the park, so kids could just stumble across them and find them. And she was also known around Bullitt County, where she lived in Kentucky, by the people in the library system who regarded her as one of the most avid readers they'd ever seen. Rhonda had been married twice and had one son and two beautiful grandchildren. Despite her ups and downs, including a battle with drug addiction, she was by all accounts someone with a maternal heart and a deep love for her family.
Wendy Lyons:Her cousin, destiny, remembers Rhonda's Thanksgiving cheesecakes and a childhood prank involving cat food that became family lore, as in, rhonda convinced someone to eat the cat litter after convincing them that it really was food.
David Lyons:So when Rhonda left her home in Lebanon Junction, kentucky, for a quick trip to Louisville on July 28, 2018, and never returned, her family knew something was very wrong. On that Saturday, july 28, 2018, rhonda borrowed $5 for gas from her grandmother to visit a childhood friend in Louisville, a friend that she knew through a cousin. This trip to Louisville from Lebanon Junction, kentucky is only about 30 or 40 minutes by car and good traffic. The family knows that she made it to a truck stop because surveillance footage at that truck stop showed her gassing up her car there.
Wendy Lyons:Rhonda even called her grandmother that evening and told her I'm going to be a little later than usual, but I'll be home. You can lock the door if you need to.
David Lyons:That said, her grandmother left the door unlocked, but Rhonda never came home. The next morning Rhonda's grandmother called family members in a panic. It was because Rhonda always came back home and never left for any significant amount of time or stayed away. At first, like a lot of families, they considered that maybe she just simply stayed the night at a friend's place. After all, rhonda at the time of her disappearance was 42 years old and an adult woman and could make her mind up about things. But then another night passed with no word, and her chargers for her devices, her purse and her cat remained at home. Melissa and the rest of the family then went ahead and called the police and reported her missing.
Wendy Lyons:That marked the beginning of a nightmare that still hasn't ended.
David Lyons:The man that Rhonda visited that night lived on a road called Mariana Drive in the Pleasure Ridge Park, or what locals call PRP area of Louisville, kentucky. In a quick interview after she disappeared, he had told the family that he last saw her in the driveway at around 5 am playing on her iPad in the car. He claimed that she waved to him and then drove away, but this is where it gets a little troubling.
Wendy Lyons:Rhonda's phone and iPad chargers were left behind on her bed. Now she took those devices, but she left the chargers.
David Lyons:For someone who uses their devices frequently, that just doesn't add up for the family. And if she planned to leave for an extended period of time, why wouldn't Rhonda have taken those chargers with her? It certainly doesn't sound like someone who is planning to be gone for a very long time, maybe even overnight. Sometime after her disappearance the case gets a little more mysterious. Remember she drove her car from Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, to the PRP or Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood of Louisville. Her car was a blue Chevy Aveo and it wasn't found until about five days after she disappeared and was last seen. Oddly enough, it was found abandoned in a refinery parking lot on Cane Run Road, which is just about 1.3 miles from the friend's house that she visited, just about 1.3 miles from the friend's house that she visited. Cane Run Road, by the way, runs parallel to the Ohio River in Kentucky, and the banks of the Ohio River are actually just several hundred feet away from Cane Run Road and that parking lot.
Wendy Lyons:So the weird thing is the family had already searched that area and didn't see Rhonda's car. So was the car there the entire time and the family missed it, or was it placed there after her disappearance? And if so, why and by whom?
David Lyons:In the family. They weren't the only ones to see the car. A witness later said that they had seen the vehicle on Sunday afternoon, the day after she was last seen. That leaves a narrow window for when the car could have been moved or, worse, staged. But the most shocking detail, when the vehicle was found, it wasn't impounded or processed by the police department. Instead, rhonda's family was told to come pick it up. It's likely that the police department at that time still believed that Rhonda, as an adult, had simply gone to stay somewhere.
Wendy Lyons:Sadly, any forensic evidence that might have existed, such as seat positions, gas tank levels, fingerprints it, was now compromised.
David Lyons:Rhonda's family launched their own investigation, as so many families do when a family member goes missing. They canvassed neighborhoods in that area. They went door to door and knocked on those doors. They asked for surveillance footage from the places that they visited. At one point, volunteers from the Crystal Rogers missing person case, which is a highly publicized missing person case from Bardstown Kentucky, joined as a search team to help them look for Rhonda Cadaver. Dogs were brought in to the friend's home and truck but according to the family, nothing was found.
Wendy Lyons:Oddly enough, the family remains confused about one thing the man Rhonda visited never called to check in, he never offered any further information, he never even participated in the search. So the question the family has is is this man a friend of Rhonda's or not?
David Lyons:Did he not check in or participate out of guilt? Was he simply disinterested, or was there something darker afoot? When Rhonda Day went missing, she was last seen wearing black flip-flops and likely shorts and a tank top. Those were the comfortable clothes that she preferred. Rhonda was around 5'4", about 180 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes. Rhonda had a tattoo on her leg that simply read sunshine, which was a tribute to her son.
Wendy Lyons:That tattoo is an important piece of information in a case like this.
David Lyons:Her phone, ipad and car keys have never been recovered.
Wendy Lyons:If Rhonda simply left home, you would think that there would be some phone activity, financial activity, sightings of her, but since her disappearance there's been nothing.
David Lyons:Nothing. There's still no trace of Rhonda. Faye Day, no Thanksgiving gatherings, christmas mornings, no birthdays celebrated in the family the way they should be celebrated Nothing. As in with any missing case, there are a lot of theories floating around and the family has tried to think of anything and everything that would make sense out of Rhonda going missing. Some people believe Rhonda overdosed and someone near her panicked, disposing of her and any evidence that would have been there her and any evidence that would have been there. As a person in drug addiction recovery, she, like others battling drug addiction, are very vulnerable to relapsing. The sad thing is, if they are with selfish people and they overdose, they are often discarded like trash. Other people think foul play was involved. Did something go wrong at her quote-unquote friend's house other than a problem using drugs? Who knows?
Wendy Lyons:If Rhonda in fact left her friend's house, did something happen to her after she left?
David Lyons:Maybe explaining why the car was found on Cane Run Road, not even two miles away from Mariana Drive. Still, other people think she chose to disappear. Some think a pending court case was enough for her to abandon everything and everybody. The problem is it was a relatively small court deal that she was facing, but we have to remember sadly enough, sometimes people do walk away from everything that you and I would regard as precious but her family disputes that to this day, Everyone in her family believes that Rhonda would never abandon her grandmother, her son, her grandchildren, her cat.
Wendy Lyons:Rhonda really was trying to change her life for the better.
David Lyons:Rhonda would never let her family suffer like this. As they searched the riverbanks of the Ohio River, scanning crowds for familiar faces, waiting for a knock at the door or a phone call, and reacting to every news report when human remains are discovered for miles around the Louisville, kentucky area and downriver, always wondering what if? But Rhonda wouldn't do that.
Wendy Lyons:Rhonda's family put it best she didn't just disappear. Somebody knows something.
David Lyons:So here is what we are asking, our call to action.
Wendy Lyons:Let's get justice for Rhonda, faye Day and answers for her family.
David Lyons:First, spread the word. Share this episode, ask local news agencies to cover Rhonda's case as often as possible and keep her name alive.
Wendy Lyons:If you know something, or if you overheard something at a party or saw that blue Chevy Aveo in early August of 2018, or if maybe someone slipped up and told you something that they shouldn't know or that maybe they didn't want you to know, it does matter.
David Lyons:No piece of information is too small. No observation is too minor. It could be the one thing that brings Rhonda home.
Wendy Lyons:Please contact the Louisville Metro Police Department at 502-574-7111 or submit an anonymous tip by calling 502-574-LMPD. Let's get justice for Rhonda Faye Day. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Murder Police Podcast. Share Rhonda's story, keep her search alive, because somewhere, someone knows what happened to her. Until next time, stay safe, stay aware and never stop looking for Rhonda Day.
David Lyons:The Murder Police Podcast is hosted by Wendy and David Lyons and was created to honor the lives of crime victims, so their names are never forgotten. It is produced, recorded and edited by David Lyons. The Murder Police Podcast can be found on your favorite Apple or Android podcast platform, as well as at MurderPolicePodcastcom, where you will find show notes, transcripts, information about our presenters and a link to the official Murder Police Podcast merch store where you can purchase a huge variety of Murder Police Podcast swag. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which is closed caption for those that are hearing impaired. Just search for the Murder Police Podcast and you will find us. Caption for those that are hearing impaired Just search for the Murder Police Podcast and you will find us. If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe for more and give us five stars and a written review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcasts. Make sure you set your player to automatically download new episodes so you get the new ones as soon as they drop, and please tell your friends.
Wendy Lyons:Lock it down.
David Lyons:Judy.
