Pat and the Miracles: The Disappearances

Can you imagine coming home to find your spouse and children missing, only to discover the same eerie emptiness in your neighbor's home? Picture the chilling realization of not one mother, but two, along with two children, vanishing without a trace in the quiet town of Grand Junction, Colorado. 

As the episode unfolds, you'll encounter the baffling contradictions within the police force concerning the disappearances. From claims hinting at intentional disappearance to police's belief of the women initiating a fresh start. The story is woven during a time authorities call Grand Junction's "killing season." This episode promises an enthralling journey through this captivating true crime story, teeming with strange coincidences, and questions that still remain unanswered.

Frederick, Don. “Identity of woman’s body still a mystery.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. September 28, 1975. 
Frederick, Don. “Victim’s husband jailed in multiple slayings.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. November 9, 1975. 
Frederick, Don and Sinclair, Suzanne. “Police stymied in murder, disappearance cases.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. September 14, 1975.
Sinclair, Suzanne. “Two Junction women disappear.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. August 26, 1975.
Sinclair, Suzanne. “Police ‘beef up’ investigation of disappearances.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. August 27, 1975.
Sinclair, Suzanne. “Private investigators enter probe of disappearance case.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. September 27, 1975.
Sinclair, Suzanne. “Two bodies identified, third found in search.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. October 3, 1975.
Sinclair, Suzanne. “Relief evident, but fear lingers.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. November 9, 1975.
Sullivan, Ray. “Uncertainty finally ends for Bothams.” The Daily Sentinel. Grand Junction, Col. October 3, 1975.

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Transcript

Julia Goodwin: 0:00

Aya, this is Julia and murder is bad. In 1975, bands like the Eagles, kc and the Sunshine Band and the Bee Gees were topping the charts. Please don't say the Bee Gees. Please don't say the Bee Gees. Do you guys remember what a girl wants? I just love Amanda Bynes movies. But also in 1975, the whole Patty Hearst trial was going on and at the theater Monty Python and the Holy Grail, jaws and Rocky Horror Picture Show In Grand Junction, colorado.

Julia Goodwin: 0:52

In 1975, kenneth Botham Jr was getting home from an overnight trip. When he pulled his blue and white Toyota Land Cruiser into his driveway on Ouray Avenue he saw Thad, his toddler, playing in the front yard in only a t-shirt and no diaper. This is pretty common at our place. My three-year-old and my seven-year-old will do like a lap in their birthday suits after they take a bath. But in 1975, especially in the suburbs, your kids were usually put together a little bit. So Ken definitely thought something was off and when he finds his five-year-old there he asks where mom is? Ken answers I'm sure she's around here somewhere there, told Ken he hadn't seen her all day and that he had been taking care of Thad. And he asked did I do a good job. Ken checked the house, asked the neighbors and then went across the street to see if his wife was at her friend's house. When he found that that house was also empty, with dirty dinner plates from a spaghetti dinner still out and the range still on, he called police.

Julia Goodwin: 2:10

Patricia Botham, linda Miracle and Linda's two children, troy and Chad, were reported missing. Police don't find any evidence of forced entry or a struggle or foul play, but both of the women's cars are still parked in their driveways. I would say that an entire family and a mother without her children missing suggests foul play. But that's just me Plains. Trains and automobiles are checked, but there's nothing to suggest that Pat, linda and the kids used any of those. Linda's sister-in-law, vonna Murphy, suspected that Linda might have called Pat over to help with a domestic situation that got out of hand. Ken was unable to make a comment, but his boss, president Frank Simonetti of TriStar Corporation, which was an auto-ignition systems company, said Ken's quote at loose ends and didn't know what to believe about his wife's disappearance. Linda was separated from her husband, dilbert Miracle. At the time he was a truck driver and made a long-haul trip to California once a week. He wasn't even back until the Sunday after people discovered her disappearance.

Julia Goodwin: 3:36

Then police say that they believe the disappearances are unrelated and that the women left at different times. Police Chief Ben Meyer said we want to make a determination whether foul play is involved, but at the same time they were seeming pretty certain that there wasn't any foul play. The way that police interpret the evidence is that Linda and her kids left sometime Friday night or Saturday morning and Pat left Saturday before her kids woke up, which would have been in the morning. So there's overlap, but they're still thinking they left at different times. Chief Meyer said that the premature panic had caused him to send out usually plainclothed officers in uniform during evening hours while investigating. Oh heartbreaking, they had to put on their uniforms.

Julia Goodwin: 4:31

Right underneath one of the articles about the disappearances in the Daily Sentinel, I saw another story about a group of people loitering in a park and being suspicious. The headline was literally about a park ranger chasing off a cult. So I looked into it and this group supposedly contained missing persons from Oregon, and this group would later be known as Heaven's Gate, the cult that would eventually lead to a mass suicide in the 90s in order to leave their bodily containers and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-bopp Comet. But this is not even the last true crime cameo, just So you know.

Julia Goodwin: 5:16

A week after saying the disappearances were not connected, police start thinking that they are connected. Sergeant Fred Albrecht tells the media that he thinks at least one woman doesn't want to be found, and it's clear that he's referring to Linda. He doesn't say why he thinks this, but she is a woman separated from her husband, who dates around, and even in the 70s people kind of looked a scant at that. That's only my guess. Linda's mother-in-law, isla Miracle, was baffled, numbed and very concerned. She said her family thought of hiring a PI but thought too much time had passed to you know, like search the scene. Another week passes and the miracles decide to offer a $5,000 reward for information or for the return of Linda, troy and Chad. They end up only receiving one postcard at the PO box they had set up for tips. It was from a self-declared astrologer whose advice they felt wasn't worth following up on. I'm kind of curious what they said. Now, just just a little bit. If you're out there, hey, hit me up.

Julia Goodwin: 6:35

At the same time, chief Myers thinks the disappearance is merely coincide, though the women could be together. He believes they are unrelated in that there's no foul play. Isla said the police are so evasive and don't offer many answers to our questions. Maybe they think it is none of our business. I get like keeping your cards close to the vest, but like that, just not communicating with the families is irksome.

Julia Goodwin: 7:08

Police Captain Robert Burnett said he thought they were related but might have just been a case of the women thinking it was a good time to start a new life. Quote you hear of people dropping out of society daily. I don't know what it was like in 1975, but sure. He also said it was easier for women to up and move and get a job without any work history, because it's more plausible for women to have been homemakers and have never had a job before. He goes on to say that the department has found nothing to even indicate what they should be even looking for. Police had not gathered any physical evidence from the homes because, according to Captain Burnett, they saw no need to. Okay, several news stories covering the disappearances would also bring up the stabbing death of 24-year-old Linda Benson and her 5-year-old daughter a month prior to Pat and the Miracles missing. Oh my gosh, pat and the Miracles is such a great band name, and also the disappearance of 24-year-old Denise Oliverson, who was last seen April 6th riding her bike. Apparently, this area of Colorado had not really experienced these types of events before this point, and later on 1975 in Grand Junction would come to be known as the killing season.

Julia Goodwin: 8:48

A couple more weeks passed and on September 26, a badly decomposed, weighted-down body of a young woman was found in the Gunnison River. Four members of a Denver and Rio Grande railroad maintenance crew discovered the body in a willow patch about a mile below the Bridgeport Bridge. Larry Rowe said it was in about 14 inches of water, I guess in a little eddy in the willows. We wouldn't have seen it, except we went to see what smelled so bad. Trigger warning Foreman Albert Cesario said that the facial features had been obliterated but that the body had looked like that of a young woman. The body was nude, except for a blouse or dress that had risen over the arms, which were extended over her head. The body was weighted down with a railroad angle bar that had been tied around the waist. There was like a bunch of scrap around too, so they figured whoever did this just grabbed one of these angle bars from a pile. The body was taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital to be frozen before an autopsy could be done by forensic pathologist Dr Thomas Canfield.

Julia Goodwin: 10:15

The newspapers speculated that it could be Pat Botham, linda Miracle or Denise Oliverson. Ila Miracle said police did not contact them about the body being found. Quote it just gives you a creepy feeling. Every time the phone rings I jump and now we will wonder until we hear something. The Miracle said they were willing to spend all their money to find them. They hire a former FBI agent, vince Jones, who was assisted by Mesa County Deputy Rick Clausen. Like the Pickles, former Montrose County Deputy Bill Wise also offered his help free of charge. A couple days later Dr Canfield said the woman had to have been deceased at least three weeks, if not more.

Julia Goodwin: 11:10

Pat and the Miracles have been missing about a month. At this point A search is done a mile in both directions around the nearby tracks and police spend four hours combing the riverbed. Foreman Cesario said they had been in the same area a week and a half ago and they hadn't seen or smelled the body A week after its discovery. The body is rolled out as being Pat or Denise. It is that of a woman between 20 and 30 years old. Private Investigator Jones believes it to be Linda.

Julia Goodwin: 11:50

The very next day, another body was found about half a mile from where the first body had been found and it had an angle bar tied to its pelvic area as well. From two rings a high school class ring and a wedding band and the nightgown being worn. This body is identified as 25-year-old Patricia Jantz-Botham. At 3 am Ken Botham was called to identify his wife's body and dental records confirmed it as well. Ken had told reporters earlier in the week that he thought something had happened to his wife. He suspected she had left in her nightgown because he found signs that she had been reading in bed. He thought she had slipped on her tennis shoes to go over to Linda's because one of her shoes had been found there. Ken said that Pat often helped Linda with problems and somehow had got into something she couldn't handle. He added she would never leave the children alone. If she could be here, she would. After her body had been discovered, ken remembered that she was always taking pictures of the kids at Bridgeport. Ironically enough, she used to like to go down there in the evening.

Julia Goodwin: 13:10

Sheriff Dick Williams and three of his deputies, milo Vig, mike Smith and Larry Smith. The Smiths used two boats to search for the missing teeth of the first body. When they found Pat's body near some rocks about 50 feet away from the shore, it seemed that the lowering water level caused it to be revealed. Chief Myers said that they had a lot to go on and will now go and collect evidence from the homes. Over a month later Ken was able to call Pat's parents, albert and Maria Jantz, before the discovery was announced on the news. They lived in Greenville, south Carolina at the time. Her father said we had not expected her to be alive, so in that sense it's not a surprise, it's a relief.

Julia Goodwin: 14:05

News sources then began to tentatively ID the first body as 25-year-old Linda Dianne Miracle. Her father, A. B. Chamberlain, came down from Denver. Her mother, dolly Baldwin, had remarried and lived in Los Angeles at the time. This is when the Sheriff's Department took over from the Grand Junction Police Department and formed a massive search for Troy and Chad Miracle, thinking that the boys might also be tied to railroad scraps. They dragged a 22-mile stretch of the river with magnets Around. 12.30 on October 3rd, a child's body was found halfway between where the other bodies had been found and shortly after that a fourth body, another child, was found. Sheriff Williams said anybody who is connected with any one of the women is a suspect and that they had gathered up a lot of stuff but didn't know what it meant, which is better than just not collecting any evidence at all. Authorities tried to drain part of the river using a bowl dozer to divert a channel of the river, but they were unsuccessful. A week after the discovery of two children, it was announced that they had been shot. The following week a memorial service for Pat was held at Faith Baptist Church. On October 14, the searches along Gunnison River were called off. Police also say that they were looking more into friends and family of the two women.

Julia Goodwin: 15:42

It is also reported that Ken Boetham had revived Linda after an attack in her home six weeks prior to her disappearance and murder. So here's the story. In the early morning hours of June 15, linda had been asleep in front of her television when she was awakened by a man trying to choke her. She kicked the man and fainted. When she came to she ran outside, screamed and fainted again, and before we start talking about delicate female sensibilities and pulling out of Shay's lounge, linda Miracle was like 5'4 and 99 pounds. So being choked and attacked would definitely cause major physical reactions in anyone, but especially someone as petite as Linda. Ken Boetham then ran across the street, picked her up and called out to his wife. Pat opened their door so Ken could carry Linda in. Ken was able to revive her and then call the rescue squad, who arrived around 2 am. Linda was admitted to St Mary's Hospital for a hurt toe and some sources say blood in her lungs.

Julia Goodwin: 16:56

Even more baffling is that hours before and only a mile and a half away, another woman was involved in a similar attack. A man entered the bedroom of Naomi Jackson and put his hands over her mouth. A struggle ensued. Naomi was able to kick the man who took off, and then Naomi ran to a neighbor's house to call police. Around 10 pm A man in either attack was never identified. Then, on October 5th, a 13-year-old girl had gone missing. Police said no foul play was suspected, but that's also what they had said about Pat and the Miracles.

Julia Goodwin: 17:37

Tracy Freitas was last seen by some friends who were dropping her off just after midnight. Tracy lived 3.5 miles northwest of Ure Avenue by the mainline Grand Valley Canal. On October 16th. The same day, police called off the search around Gunnison River, tracy Freitas was found drowned in a pond. After an autopsy it was declared an accidental drowning. Tracy had been drinking beer with her friends and had also taken 12 motion sickness pills and decided to go swimming after being dropped off. Her friends said she had been hallucinating when they dropped her off. Tracy's dad, phil Freitas, said that an abstinence program isn't the answer to underage use. Instead there should be education on how to control themselves and to help others who may be tripping out.

Julia Goodwin: 18:34

I know it seems like we're going off on a lot of little tangents, but I find it really hard not to tell a story as completely as possible. It's also difficult not to tell someone's story who I know has mostly been kind of lost to time. So back to the case at hand. Captain Burnett, you know the man who thought there was no need to collect evidence at the Bothams or Miracles. He actually resigns. In an interview with the Daily Sentinel he alleges that there were other complications in the Botham Miracle murders and alluded to the neighbors on Ureah Avenue not being cooperative. But wouldn't you know it? The whole 1900 block of Ureah Avenue? What was left of it? Responded by writing a letter to the editor saying that they tried to help and were never listened to.

Julia Goodwin: 19:28

At the beginning of November, funerals for Linda Troy and Chad Miracle were held at Memorial Garden Cemetery. Then, on November 8, 1975, 27-year-old Kenneth Botham Jr was placed under arrest. He had been surveilled Friday night until the arrest affidavit was completed Saturday morning At 1145,. Botham was driving south on US 50 when two cars pulled him over 20 miles away from his home and about a quarter mile away from where his wife's body and the bodies of the Miracles had been found Under. Sheriff Hod Hutchinson, along with Sheriff's deputies Vig the Smiths, if you remember, and the Bobs Bob Silva, bob Evers exited their cars to apprehend Botham. His two sons that and their, along with an unidentified woman were in the car with him. The woman took the two children to their grandparents who lived about a mile away from Ureah Avenue. Botham's bond was set at $500,000 and he was held in the Mesa County Jail and OJ Holler, or Reverend the Juice, visited Botham in jail. When asked if he thought Botham was shocked, he answered I don't think so. Back in September Botham had told reporters he thought he was a suspect. He had also recently put an ad in the Ureah County newspaper looking for a man who could confirm he was in Ureah at midnight on August 22.

Julia Goodwin: 21:16

A neighbor, cora Hiner, who would babysit for Pat and Linda, occasionally said that anybody that would be cruel enough to kill two children because they thought the children might talk wouldn't be beyond popping someone else off if they thought someone knew something. She remembered Pat pulling one of her kids in a wagon, as she often did the morning of August 22. Another Ureah neighbor, Ned Crawford, said that the neighborhood knew it was more than just disappearances. Quote it's the feeling of our family that authorities have finally accomplished something. We are relieved they have made an arrest in connection with the murders. He added we're nearly satisfied they wouldn't have arrested someone if they didn't have enough evidence to support the arrest. He remembers Pat as a devoted mother. Pat's father, albert, remembers her as a bright and artistic child. ila Miracle said the arrest didn't make her feel any better. She remembers Linda as a sensitive woman who often wrote poetry.

Julia Goodwin: 22:33

One of her poems, titled A Place, read. I like it here. On nights like this, when the lake is silent and the rain belongs to me, there is no need for yesterday, and tomorrow doesn't matter. Now. All that remains is reflected peace like a rainbow in my mind. If this would last forever, I'd stay that long too, or I would take it with me when the storm passes over and I have to go. Then where would I have to come to? On other lonely nights, I'd find another place quite like this. For now. I'll sit in wonder and perhaps take time to know just how many raindrops it would take to fill the palm of my hand. And that's where we'll stop for part one. I'm not sure how many parts this will be, but definitely more than two. Thanks for listening to Murder is Bad. If you're interested in seeing pictures related to this case, go over to Instagram at Murder is Bad podcast. Take care of each other and remember murder is bad.