ColdCaseDetective
ColdCaseDetective
Helping a Hitchhiker: The Unsolved Disappearance of Stephan Mitchell Adams
Stephan Mitchell Adams, known to his friends and family as a hardworking and persevering individual, was a kind and empathetic young man hailing from eastern Oklahoma. His deep rooted interests in higher education and engineering, as well as his inclination to take care of his family and protect those he loved, was cut short by an unexplainable, unsolved disappearance in the hilly woodlands of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on December 13th, 2004, leaving all who knew him across Cherokee Nation and the entire county at large grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubt…
As a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis, this is an examination of the disappearance of Stephan Mitchell Adams, and the troubling mystery near Tenkiller Lake…
This is Cold Case Detective…
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Researched and written by TJ Ruesch
Episode narrated by William Earl
Music by CO.AG
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Stephan Mitchell Adams known to his friends and family as a hardworking and persevering individual was a kind and empathetic young man hailing from Eastern Oklahoma. His deep rooted interests in higher education and engineering, as well as his inclination to take care of his family and protect those. He loved was cut short by an unexplainable unsolved disappearance and the Healy Woodlands of Tahlequah, Oklahoma on December 13th, 2004, leaving all who knew him across Cherokee nation and the entire County at large grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubt as a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis. This is an examination of the disappearance of Stephan Mitchell Adams and the troubling mystery near Tenkiller Lake. This is cold case detective Stephan Mitchell Adams was born on August 4th, 1978. It's a parent's Carl Adams and Deanie Hayes near Weber falls in Cherokee County. Oklahoma. Stephan was the third child becoming the youngest of three boys, his older brothers Bradley, and Chris welcomed a younger brother with open arms and quickly fostered a healthy bond with the families. Newest member from birth Deni always spoke about Stephan's sweet Brown eyes on his delicate love for everything and everyone he encountered. He was fascinated by people and displayed little shyness, smiling at strangers and rarely crying outs. This bled into his childhood and adolescents. When Stephan continued to live as a well-mannered boy, a BDO once yet still his fun loving, whimsical self. He knew how to make the people around him laugh. A natural class clown guaranteed to boost his classmates spirits. His mother described him as a character, never afraid to back down from a bit of weirdness to mellow outs, tense situations, or simply just to make others feel at ease. People regularly told Stephen he would one day make a wonderful father as well as just being a faithful friend. When Stephan and his brothers were still in grade school, the family did hit a bit of a rough patch after Carl and Deanie Adams got divorced and the family split up despite this fracture. However, the Adams clan remained tight knit, strengthening their bonds, even amidst the hardships Stephan and his brothers continued to perform well in school, not letting the distractions of life, take them down nefarious paths as he needed the end of high school. And the beginning of adulthood, Stephen realized he could continue his academic excellence and attend college and opportunity not necessarily readily available to all of his classmates in Cherokee County. He researched as much as he could. The programs that interested him and prepared tenfold for a post-graduation career in engineering, eyeing job opportunities in management sectors. He ultimately chose Haskell Indian nations university in Kansas to pursue his passion prior to completing his degree, though, Stephan's life would take a drastic twist in his late teenage years, delaying his move to university. You see Stephan met fellow TeleQual residents, Alicia, Renee Sizemore, and the too quickly enter the relationship before long Alicia discovered she was expecting a baby girl and the couple married. They moved in with each other. Stephan worked a few jobs here and there, but nothing that set him on his career path. Eventually their infant daughter was born, who they named Cheyenne and Stephan and Aleisha became full-time parents.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately. However, the stresses of Parenthood at such a young age saw the wants happy couples, relationship crumble behind closed doors. Stephan and Alicia would get into frequent arguments and soon recognized their marriage was untenable with a baby girl to attend to the couple divorced at the turn of the millennium. However Stephen's troubles were far from over after the divorce and on two separate occasions, Stephan was falsely accused of child molestation by Alicia and her family. Both incidents led to Stephan being found, not guilty, and the charges were dismissed, but Stephan was still plagued by disagreements with his ex wife, even though they had sorted custody battles in courts, Alicia would not allow Stephan to visit his daughter on his own time. And instead forced supervised visitations as Alicia fought for sole custody and to completely remove Stephan from his daughter's life. Nevertheless, Stephan persisted, while managing custody issues. He moved in with a cousin of his nearby, the Northeastern state university campus, where Stephan had finally enrolled to take college courses. He was doing quite well despite the other stresses of his life. And he had a good part-time job at El Chico, a local Mexican restaurant. He had the full support of his family behind him as the unfortunate disturbances shrouded his life and was able to start a much healthier relationship with his new girlfriend. Brianna FA it was looking like an uphill climb to fight for time with his daughter, Cheyenne, but a climb. Stephan was mentally and emotionally prepared to undertake. He had already made it so far in his young life and he'd be damned to let it all slip away tragically. However, despite Stephan's on shakeable determination, his aim to build a better life for himself. And his daughter was seemingly ended when in the middle of December, 2004, he vanished without a trace, bringing his fight for a career and a happy family to a screeching halt. Let's now turn to the timeline of events that led up to Stephen's unexplainable
Speaker 3:Disappearance.
Speaker 2:The morning of Monday, December 13th, 2004 begins like any other Stephan Mitchell Adams awakes at his Telequah Oklahoma apartment. He shares the modest living quarters with his cousin, but keeps to himself most mornings, Stephan eats breakfast after sunrise and prepares for an important day. He has final exams for his autumnal semester at Northeastern state university later that day and is anxious to perform well. Stephan informs his roommate that he also has a shift at El Shiko that evening and will visit his mother between class and work. He packs up a few books and school supplies, but leaves the majority of his possessions behind not needing much for an exam across town. Stephan departs
Speaker 1:Between eight and 9:00 AM and heads towards grand Avenue where the NSU Tahlequah campus resides between nine and 10:30 AM. Stephan takes his final exam at NSU, his classmates. Some professor alike confirm his attendance and reports, nothing out of the ordinary at the same time, Stephan takes his test and from maybe as early as seven 50 that morning, I witnesses spotter man sitting in his truck at the dollar general store located on East Downing streets in Tahlequah. This dollar general is only a few blocks from Stephen's apartment. And the man occasionally gets out of the car to walk around as if waiting for someone. One eye witness asked the man what he's doing, hanging around at the storefront to which the man sees. He's a construction worker from keys, Oklahoma waiting for someone to pick him up. No one recognizes the man and his activity is considered odd compared to the day-to-day traffic around the area. Back at the NSU campus at around 1:45 AM. Stephan wraps up his exam and leaves his classroom. He hops into his whites 1995, GMC Sierra single cab, short bed truck with Chrome bed rails, driving off NSU grounds and theoretically towards his mother's place in Weber falls within the next 15 minutes, estimated to be around 11:00 AM the mysterious man at the dollar general disappears and not return. About seven minutes later at 11:07 AM. Stephen's girlfriend, Brianna far rings his cell phone. He picks up on the couple chats about Stephan's exam. He tells Brianna, he thinks he fed well and is looking forward to wrapping up the semester. Stephan also informs Brianna that he is on his way to Weber falls to visit his mother Deni. But after he drives on unidentified man down to keys, Stephan, doesn't clarify if he knows the amount or knots, but Brianna has a muffled voice in the background. Assuming Stephan has already picked up whoever it is. Most likely, just a hitchhiker outside of this bizarre errand. Brianna claims, Stephan sounds normal and in good spirits and doesn't think much else of it. This would be the last confirmed contact anyone has with Stephen Adams at around 11:30 AM. Stephan's cousin who lived with him back at their apartments, tries calling Stephen's phone. The cell rings only twice before cutting to voicemail, subsequent attempts to call Stephen's phone results only with voicemail options. From this point, his phone never rings again around the same timeframe between 11:30 AM and 12:00 PM. Stephan is spotted by an eyewitness outside a convenience store in Crookston, Oklahoma,
Speaker 2:South of keys. He is by himself. The supposed hitchhiker, nowhere in sight, Stephan appears agitated or upset by something a different demeanor than Juan heard by Brianna. Just a short time before he reportedly gets back into his car and drives northbound along highway 80 to the opposite direction of Weber falls. This is the last confirmed sighting of Stephen Mitchell Adams, Monday, December 13th, where zone and Stephan never arrives at his mother's house in Weber falls, despite multiple calls by her, around other family members. No one is able to reach him at 5:00 PM. That same day, Stephan fails to show up for his evening shift that El Sheeko neither Stephan's supervisor, nor his coworkers hear from him. A strange normally at odds with his usual punctuality later that night, when Stephan never returns to his Telequah apartment complex, his family reaches out to the rest of their family and various friends to check to see if Stephan had taken shelter with any of them. Again, they are unable to find Stephan's whereabouts and go to beds fearful of his fate. The following day on Tuesday, December 14th, Stephen supposedly disappearance reaches a new severity. When he fails to show up to class for another exam at NSU, this is the final straw for his family who know that Stephan would never jeopardize his future by skipping a final exam, they file an official missing persons reports with the police department. Investigators immediately start seeking out the hitchhiker. Stephan told Brianna he was driving to keys the day before they also put out a BOLO notice for any five foot seven native American men matching Stephan's description, as well as his white GMC Sierra truck over the next few weeks, law enforcement canvases, the Hills and various landscapes of Tahlequah, Oklahoma and its surrounding communities. When the holidays come and go without any sign of Stephan detectives begin approaching the case as a homicide investigation. They based this conclusion on the fact that Stephan left all his personal belongings behind, including his two inhalers, which he needed due to a severe case of asthma at the same time, police look at Stephen's ex-wife and her family as potential instigators. Stephan had been Jew in court for a custody hearing on December 21st in hopes of reversing the supervised visitation ruling. But the timing of his disappearance seems like more than just a coincidence. They interview Alicia Sizemore and have her take a polygraph test. She technically fails, but as we know, polygraph tests are famously unreliable and without any concrete evidence against her or her
Speaker 1:Family law enforcement, let her go just after new year's day. In January of 2005, Stephen Adams, his family receives a vial phone call from an anonymous man who threatens to hurt the family. If the investigation does not cease, police are made aware of the call on the Adams family goes on high alert, however, no physical damage is ever brought forth against them. In 2006 rescue groups team up with law enforcement agencies to search the waters of Tenkiller Lake, a large and deep body of water located in the vicinity West. Stephan was last spotted. The search only covers portions of the Lake rather than its entirety. Uh, nothing of note is found. These dimes are paralleled with ground searches at the Fort Gibson historical sites, but they all prove fruitless in the end, across the next few years, investigators scour the rest of Eastern Oklahoma for any vital clues, but come up empty handed, they keep tabs on Stephen's social security number, bank accounts, credit cards, and phone service, but non-art ever used or activated dating back to December 13th, 2004. The case is left cold until July of 2011. When Stephen's father Kyle Adams submits a petition to impanel a grand jury to the district courts of Cherokee County, asking for a special investigation into the disappearance of his son nearly seven years ago, the petition lists several factors contributing to the motion, including previously unheard statements. The man's Stephan picked up at 11:00 AM on December 13th, went by the name of Ronnie Miceli who was tasked with delivering Stephan on his truck to multiple individuals. The petition claims that meet Ling also wrote threatening letters from jail to Brianna Farr Stephen's girlfriend at the time demanding, she keep her mouth shut about her missing boyfriends. The petition also claims that there are witnesses who saw Stephan beaten to death, that his disappearance was orchestrated by members of the Sizemore family and the district attorney's office in Cherokee County refused to charge first degree murder against any specific individuals or allowed the Adams family access to any investigative files or any pertinent information regarding the search for Stephan. The factual basis of these claims mentioned are neither confirmed nor denied, but the case is taken up by a grand jury. Nonetheless, another five months passed by before the grand jury publishes their final reports stemming from the special investigation on January 12th, 2012, the report lists five males,
Speaker 2:Hypothetical conclusions in the overview of the grand jury's findings. The first being that they believe Stephen Adams is indeed a victim of homicide and that his body is located somewhere in Eastern Oklahoma. Their second point States that Stephen's truck had been located, parked, locked, and abandoned by the Illinois river the day after his disappearance, but that it was subsequently run sacked of its belongings, including Stephan's NSU textbooks, which were sold back to the university before the truck was stolen. A second time. The report also clarifies that while there were certain individuals who had motives to kill Stephen Adams, they could not discern the exact cause of death, but they felt those responsible actually appeared before the grand jury in courts. Most crucially the overview States that they do believe the killers will be brought to justice. And that those who clearly lied under oath during the grand jury, testimonies should be investigated and properly prosecuted by then district attorney Brian Kooster, the grand jury concludes the report with optimism that their investigation and later findings will help aid the search for Stephen's body and bring his killers to justice
Speaker 1:Over nine years later, however, and neither revelation
Speaker 2:Has happened. The case is still open, but there are no updates, no clues are no promising leads. As of the present day, whilst discussing the timeline of Stephen Adams disappearance. We mentioned a man spotted in the parking lot of a dollar general store. The morning of the ordeal, as random as it may have seemed, the dollar store situation may be connected to the case in more ways than one. In fact, investigators have pleaded with the public to keep an eye out for the man who was seen there, who will authorities, aren't calling a suspect, but a person of interest they believe he may have vital information to either the location of Stephen's body or could at least provide a better idea of what happened to him that chilly winter's day, the dollar store man is our major case point seemingly at the center of this mystery. When the unidentified man was first sought out by law enforcement, a sketch was released along with a detailed description, built from multiple testimonies of people who shopped at the dollar general that morning. He was described as a Caucasian male in his forties or fifties, standing at around five foot, 11 inches and weighing approximately 190 pounds. He was thought to have had either Brown or salt and pepper colored hair obscured beneath a dark green stocking cap or beanie. Some people
Speaker 1:Also mentioned that the man had a beard and a mustache
Speaker 2:Of about four to five days worth of facial hair growth. However, this wasn't a
Speaker 1:Unanimous testimony along with the green cap, the man was so wore dark blue or black faded jeans. A tan colored car had jackets over a flannel shirts and wore eyeglasses. His vehicle was estimated to be a black or other dark colored, 2000 Ford ranger pickup truck fashioned with a silver toolbox in the bed. He never gave his name, only his destination and a basic reason as to why he was hanging around for such a long time. There are a few reasons why this is pertinent to Stephan's case. The first is the general strangeness of the predicaments locals were quick to pinpoint the bizarre nature of the man's situation. There aren't a lot of middle-aged men sitting in parking, lots of dollar stores waiting for rise to cities, just a few miles away, especially before eight in the morning in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The second is the location of the man. The dollar general in question is found right next to Stephan's apartment complex in the 400 block of East Downing streets, less than a minutes, walk away. Not only that, but police reports from the morning also detail another sighting of a quote suspicious man snooping around Stephen's apartment. The morning he went missing, it was never confirmed that the dollar general man was also the man at the apartment complex. But the fact that the area had two strange interactions with an unidentified male at the same time, make it truly baffling. The third reason this connects to Stephan's case is the timing of it all. Along with the parallel suspicious sightings, the dollar general man timed his stay count at the store to coincide with Stephen's departure from home and his time spent at NSU campus. The dollar general man also left the shop at the exact same time Stephan left class. And right before Stephen theoretically picked up the hitchhiker later reported to be Ronnie Michaline. It was never clarified if Ronnie Michaline was the dollar general man, but considering the police are still looking for the man in the sketch, it is safe to assume they are two different people. So could this old just be a coincidence? Of course, there is nothing criminal about waiting in a parking lot for someone to give you a lift. However, when you start to list all the coincidences, it becomes too much to ignore. The dollar general man was near Stephan's apartment. On the morning he went missing and never returned. He also told people he was heading to keys, Oklahoma, the exact location where Ronnie Meech Ling or whoever the hitchhiker was told Stephan, they were going. Is it possible? The dollar general man was working in tandem with others in an abduction operation. At the very least, it cannot be ruled out. He could have been watching Stephen the morning of the third
Speaker 2:Teenth and waited for him to leave for his exams. Then when 11:00 AM arrived and Stephan never returned, he knew that Stephen had been kidnapped. And at that point left the seat again. However, it is also possible that the dollar general man is truly just a person of interest and had no involvement with the disappearance. Maybe the man is sought out by police because he had the best vantage point of Stephan's apartments. The day he went missing. And this could be the only eyewitness to be able to describe the other male who was seen snooping around that morning. It is impossible to label the dollar general man's exact involvements, but considering the circumstantial oddities and overall suspicious nature of his activity, it is vital. We find the man in the dark green stocking cap to take that next step in this investigation, let's now turn to the most prominent theories surrounding the disappearance of Stephen Mitchell Adams. Many of the earliest theories surrounding Stephan's disappearance involved on accidental death theories that included no third parties or alleged killers responsible for the man's fate. Instead, these theories suggested Stephan run his truck off a road on his way down highway 82 towards Weber falls to see his mother, these theories posits that Stephan drove the hitchhiker down to keys and dropped him off without a hitch. Then somewhere on his journey, his truck may have started causing problems or broken down to a degree where it was still drivable, but not necessarily safe to do. So. This could have been when Stephan pulled over at a convenience store near Crookston where a passer-by alleged, they spotted Stephan acting flustered or in some sorts of emotional distress, maybe Stephan was obsessed about his truck, worried about having one more thing, break down or go wrong. When so much in his life was volatile at the time. And then after deciding to turn round because of his truck's troubles, he broke down again. But this time on one of the winding roads through the surrounding foothills, if this was the case and Stephan lost control of his truck and sped off the road, it is,
Speaker 1:Is highly possible. He drove into a ravine or steep drop-off
Speaker 2:Concealed his destroyed car and even worse. Stephan's injured body. When people
Speaker 1:I think of Oklahoma, they usually imagine the flat Plains
Speaker 2:Open pastures of Prairie, grass, and farmlands. However, it should be noted that Eastern
Speaker 1:Oklahoma is a more mountainous region of the States featuring uneven terrain. That could definitely
Speaker 2:Tributes to such a scenario. Stephan was driving a 10 year old truck at the time. So a random breakdown during a routine trip isn't out of the ordinary or unexpected. It also
Speaker 1:Explain why Stephan was heading northbound after he left the convenience store in Crookston. When Weber falls is in the opposite direction, if he felt more comfortable, just heading back to Tahlequah where he trusted mechanic could look things over for him, he may have simply decided to postpone his visit with his mother. All that being said, there are too many holes in the accidental death theory to be ignored. If Stephen was having car troubles and needed immediate help, why wouldn't he just call someone? He owned a cell phone and could have called a local mechanic or a friend to pick him up on a similar note. If the car troubles were enough to disrupt his plans with his mother, why wouldn't he call her to let her know what was happening? Remember at the same time Stephan was seen at the convenience store. His cousin was attempting to call him, but only reached voicemail. Now, certainly Stephen was agitated at that point and may not have been in the best of moves to talk, but if he was in a bind with his truck, it surely would make sense that Stephen would at least answer his cousin's call and explain what was happening on a larger scale. The accidental death theory doesn't make sense, ultimately because of the fact that the truck was never found to begin with Hans Stephan driven off the road, he couldn't have gone very far after that. Even traveling at high speeds down interstate 82, the trees and inclined surrounding the highway would have slowed his vehicle enough so that it wouldn't completely vanish into the woods. These lands were scoured by search and rescue teams and investigators, especially highway 82, a large white truck would have been found. And if a random passer-by found the total truck before police, they would have reported it. Seeing as those Stephen's body would be inside an entire pickup truck, doesn't evaporate into thin air. And unless Stephan drove his broken truck deep into the wilderness off the crushing it through horrific injury, there is simply no reason why it wouldn't be found spinning on from these theories came another hypothesis that if Stephen didn't drive off the road by accident, he did it on purpose. Some believe that the life circumstances around Stephan had become too intense and led to a breakdown which tragically then led to a suicide attempt. These theorists believe Stephen left his apartment that morning with the idea he would not return explaining. That was the reason he left behind all of his personal belongings, including his life saving inhalers for his asthma condition. They continue saying Stephan camouflage his day to appear normal with final exams and a trip to his mother's house. When his girlfriend called off the class, Stephan again, hit his true intentions, presenting himself to be in good spirits. Then he used a story about a hitchhiker to cover up his plans, giving himself on alibi.
Speaker 2:So to speak. This would explain why Stephan was then seen alone and upset at the convenience store. He had never actually picked anyone up and was struggling to cope with what he was about to do the theories then speculate. This is why Stephan's cell phone was ignored and eventually shut off from here. There are dozens of sub theories with some suggesting Stephan drove into the nearby Tenkiller Lake on purpose, Oh, this posit, the Stephan drove off somewhere. He knew he'd never be found to end his own life on his terms away from where his family could find him. However, we must follow up this theory with the fact that nearly every professional investigator associated with the case, including Stephan's family and closest friends have rejected the idea that Stephan committed suicide, too many people attempt to decipher one's mental state as being fragile and immediately label a disappearance as suicide. Yes, Stephan was going through immense difficulties and fighting to see his own Childs, but he was also determined and strong-willed, and had already overcome so much in shorts. He had hope that his situation was ready to change with a custody hearing, to reverse supervised visitation in a men nine days to speculate without any concrete evidence that he killed himself, simply because his current situation wasn't the smoothest of rides is an insult to his memory, especially when there are many other factors to suggest suicide is not the cause of death. Most contradictory of all is the fact that there were numerous purported threats against Stephan's family and his girlfriend, if Stephan had ended his own life, why would people who had a vendetta against him scare his living family members and threatened them with violence? If the investigation wasn't halted, if Stephen's enemies saw that he had disappeared and they had nothing to do with it, why would they try and stop investigators from figuring out what exactly did happen
Speaker 1:That would absolve them of any wrongdoing and that have nothing to worry.
Speaker 2:Plus there have been countless private detectives, law enforcement officials, and an entire grand jury who have all ruled Stephan's case to be that of a homicide. So it is reasonable to assume there may be yet more information that might not be available to the public that points directly to murder. It also makes little sense that all that bizarre behavior would take place within the same few hours. On the same day, Stephen vanished to the suspicious sightings, the hitchhiker, the cell phone Stephen's behavior at the convenience store. It all adds up to something
Speaker 1:More than a mere suicide attempt. So if Stephan was murdered, the question is who could have done it? The idea of a serial killer doesn't really get tossed around much in Stephen's case. And it makes sense there was zero known or an identified serial murderers in the Telequah Oklahoma area in the early two thousands, or really the surrounding areas for much of that timeframe and location. Our research did show that were a couple of criminals and small-scale killers around Eastern Oklahoma in December of 2004, but almost all of them involved specific motives or victims, not of Stephan's demographic or were obvious instances of the killer knowing their victim and not just a random murder as is too often seen in serial homicides. In fact, it's that exact type of crime, a killer killing because of a personal relationship with the victim that fits Stephan's case file best as previously mentioned, Stephan did have a group of people who did not want him alive and theorists believe it was this collection of characters who conspired to and ultimately did kidnap him. Remember Stephan's ex wife, Alicia accused him, not just once, but twice of child molestation against their young daughter, Cheyenne, both times the accusations were dismissed in courts and Stephan was found not guilty, but that didn't stop the rest of Alicia's family from taking out that anger on Stephan himself, Deni Hayes, Stephen's mother told police after his disappearance, that at some point between Stephan going missing and the court cases Alicia's father threatened to kill him. Personally, Stephan never appeared to distraught or intimidated by the threats and never any violence against the Sizemore family to protect his future with his daughter. Yet that didn't stop them from verbally abusing Stephan or stop Alicia from going out of her way to stop Cheyenne, seeing her father. So beyond the clear motivation, what else could point to the size Moore's being responsible? Well, theorists are quick to point out that the last sighting of Stephan at the convenience store in Cookson was actually reported by a semi distant relative of Alicia's. The woman who told or authorities about Stephan's agitated, demeanor, and northbound departure in the wrong direction was Alicia's mother's brother's sister-in-law or in simpler terms. The sister of Alicia's aren't in law. Now it's easy to understand how this might sound convoluted and somewhat irrelevant. Small towns
Speaker 2:Across America are known for large interconnected families where scratch anyone and their kin to anyone else. Yet it has led some to wonder if this eyewitness was a part of the Sizemore family that held disdain for Stephan, could they have made up the sighting to throw off police? Maybe this person did see Stephanie at a convenience store, but lied about him being alone to give the hitchhiker or Ronnie Ling an alibi, or at least absolve them of any wrongdoing, or maybe this eyewitness lied about the direction in which Stephen drove. So that detectives would look in the wrong places for his body or his truck, and at least slow down the investigation. However, it is still entirely plausible that even if the witness was giving a false statement to aid her extended family, parts of the citing remain true, the part which makes the most sense is Stephen's odd behavior, his obvious discomfort and agitation for telling what was about to happen, whether he knew outrights what it was or knots. Again, it must be stated that just because this eyewitness had a relation to Alicia and her family does not mean she was lying or covering up a murder, that is an extremely heavy accusation to make with pretty much no evidence, other than a rough distant relation to someone we know wanted Stephen out of the picture. Also, if the size Moore's included a relative so far down the family tree in their scheme, that would most likely mean there were plenty of others in the family who knew of that dastardly plot too. Maybe the eyewitness was closer to Alicia than just being her mother's brother's sister-in-law, but there is still an enormous amount of doubts surrounding her potential role in a murder conspiracy. Could she be one of the people who lied under oath during the grand jury inquiry in 2011, that too is a distinct possibility assigned from the convenience store, witness, the other suspects in the investigation aren't as clear cut as to what they mean regarding Stephan's fate.
Speaker 1:It's still unknown whether or not the dollar general man was ever located. And if so, what detectives learned about his time spent in Tahlequah on descent
Speaker 2:Number 13th, it's also still unknown. How running Miceli, the supposed hitchhiker fits into the investigation.
Speaker 1:The man wasn't identified until Carl Adams, Stephen's father listed his name in the petition for the grand jury in 2011, and claimed that Ronnie told people his role in the disappearance was to hit your ride with Stephan and then quotes deliver him on his truck to another group of individuals who these people were, has also never been clarified. Brianna Farr told police. She received a letter from Ronnie from jail though, advising her to back off from the case, but it also hasn't been made public why Ronnie was in jail in the first place. Was it full his connection to Stephan's disappearance or a completely separate issue? We have searched for Ronnie tirelessly across the internet and databases, but found zero matches. Could it be his name was misspelled in a court reports. Could it be that Ronnie Ling is an alias for someone else? And on that subject is Ronnie.[inaudible] also the dollar general man. They never appear in the same vicinity together in the story. And the dollar general man's movements aligned perfectly with Ronnie's entrance into the scenario. Again, these answers have not been provided by investigators. Maybe they think that by releasing Ronnie's full profile, it will hamper their investigation. But from our perspective, the official investigation has been stalled for nine years now. And the haze surrounding Ronnie MIECHV sling makes it very hard to get a full grasp on the case at large technical details. Aside theorists to believe Stephen was kidnapped and murdered by someone associated with Alicia and her family titled together like this. Stephan was supposed to be kidnapped at an earlier date, like the grand jury reported, but those plans fell through and they were redirected for December 13th, 2004, a man, either part of the Sizemore family or paid by them later known as the dollar general man is recruited to spy on Stephan's apartment that morning. He arrives at the dollar general at around 7:50 AM and begins to stay counts the area waiting for Stephan to leave during his time spent in the parking lots. He also wanders over to the apartment complex himself and snoops around making him man who was later reported to have been spotted near Stephanie's home that morning. Then when Stephan left for class, the dollar general man state puts making sure Stephan did not return home earlier than expected at 11:00 AM. Once it was confirmed, the coast was clear. The dollar general man left his job done. This is where Ronnie or the hitchhiker as we'll call him enters the plot on Stephen's route home, possibly where Stephan parked his car on NSU campus. The hitchhiker introduces himself to Stephan and asks for a ride to keys. Knowing keys is on his way to Weber falls, Stephan agrees and calls his girlfriend.
Speaker 2:When Stephan tells Brianna everything is okay and hangs up the phone. The hitchhiker probably asks to use the phone himself. This is where the hitchhiker most likely Cole's the people he is delivering Stephan to the hitchhiker then holds onto the phone after he is done. And when Stephan's cousin attempts to call the hitchhiker, either turns the phone off or destroys it using a gun or the means to hold up. Stephan, the hitchhiker has Stephan drive off into an unknown parts of town or secluded location, where they are then intercepted by others who take Stephan's truck, kill him and dispose of his body. They dumped the body somewhere in the Eastern Oklahoma wilderness and drive the truck to the banks of the Illinois river, where it is ransacked and stolen. The following day, everyone involved gets out clean and the police are left with a massive case. Void of clues. In this theory, the siting at the convenience store is considered a red herring fabricated by those responsible to date. This is perhaps the most plausible theory drawn up by investigators. It includes crystal clear motive, suspicious characters, and fits the timeline of events. It may seem a stretch to believe that a little family in a little town in Oklahoma could concoct such a horrific scheme and also get away with it. But remember the grand jury themselves said they felt like they knew who killed Stephen. And those responsible had testified before the courts. This was almost certainly referencing the Sizemore family since they were known to be involved with the hearings. At this point, it comes down to physical evidence being procured by cold case detectives and all combined with an admission by a member of the family or guilty party until that happens. This remains just another theory, like all the others, regardless of how well the pieces seem to fit the puzzle. Before we divulge our hypothesis of Stephan Mitchell Adams, unsolved disappearance, we want to make known that our conclusions presented in cold case detective are purely logical speculation based on evidence circumstance and factual subtext. We are only privy to the same information presented in each episode. And we do not attempt to promise certainty or an expert guarantee on the findings we reach in closing, we simply observe research and reports. In Stephen's case, we find it relative
Speaker 1:Obvious how Stephan disappeared via kidnapping, and then most likely murder. There are too many factors to suggest. Stephen ended up the victim of foul play, let alone the numerous conclusions reached by professional investigators and the Cherokee County grand jury frustratingly. They reveal a lot about the case while simultaneously not revealing much at all, at least in terms of specifics, but they do lead us to believe police have their prime suspects lined up in sight and are just waiting for the physical evidence to surface. So irreversible arrests can be made who those suspects are, is easy to define and is definitely the people who called to threaten Stephan's family both before and after he vanished. Sometimes it is all too easy to get lost in cold cases and try and link victims with Farfetch narratives about random killings. But when there is a clear cut, motivating factor behind people connected with Stephen, it is logical to assume they are the guilty party. Of course they are innocent until proven guilty, but in terms of building a hypothesis that people who literally called for Stephan to die prior to him going missing are most likely the ones who did it. So if they did, how was it done? The final theory we mentioned in the previous segment sums it up best as we believe the dollar general man was staking out Stephan's apartments and complicit in the crime, whether or not he was the actual killer. We believe Stephan did indeed pick someone up after finishing his exam. And even if the man's name wasn't Ronnie Mitchell ING, or if Ronnie Michaline doesn't actually exist, we believe they held Stephan at gunpoint and directed him towards his fate. Then after the murder, they disposed of his body in a place no one will ever find on dumps the white GMC pickup truck near the Illinois river per the grand jury's finding. We wish investigators would continue looking for the people who looted the truck and resold Stephan's textbooks back to Northeastern state university because they too could hold vital information regarding evidence left behind the killer could have left DNA and fingerprints in the truck. And while those have most likely been lost to time over the last 16 years, there is always a chance and chances are worth clinging to in times of desperation. Thus, we ask that anyone with any sliver of information related to Stephan's disappearance, his truck's disappearance, or the situation that large to please call the Oklahoma state's Bureau of investigation at eight Oh five two two eight Oh one seven. We also wants to take a quick moment and acknowledged the complicated issue regarding the accusations of child molestation against Stefan. We do not want to minimize these types of accusations, but rather clarify, we are simply reporting what was found by two separate courts in the matters. Each accusation was dismissed in courts and heavily refuted by both Stephen and his family. Therefore, that is how we present the research tragically on far too often, ideas that women lie or fabricate their stories about neglect, abuse and rape are shared and believed. These are incredibly serious topics and are very real and never to be minimized. Also just because someone's case is dismissed by a judge does not mean they didn't do something. And that is why every instance is unique and should be handled with care and respect. No matter how you feel about the accuser. However, in the end, cold-blooded murder is never justified on Stephan. Mitchell Adams did not deserve to leave earth so soon. And without a trace, he was a hardworking young man who fought tooth and nail to provide for his family. He was a free spirited presence who loved to laugh and more importantly, entice others to join him in the laughter. Stephan was well on his way to management within the engineering sector and would have made a wonderful leader among his peers. Needless to say, he had a bright future, a future cuts
Speaker 4:To darkness far too soon. His family does not deserve to dwell in that darkness any longer. Therefore it's up to us to rekindle the fire that will light the way towards his discovery illuminating the mystery of Stephan Mitchell Adams and his final drive through the foothills of the Ozark mountains. This is cold case detective, thank you for listening to this episode of the cold case detective podcast, should you wish to delve deeper into the mystery? You can follow the case file link included in the show notes, which contains important documents, maps, and further reading relevance to the case. If you would like to support the show you can do so by leaving a five star rating wherever you listen, it really helps us expand our reach and to bring awareness to the cases we cover. If you would like us to investigate a specific case, perhaps even one close to home or that of a loved one, please fill out the submission form in the show notes. Thank you for listening. And I'll see you in a fortnight with a new episode.