November 2, 2023 • 38 mins
In 2017, Libby Caswell was found dead in a motel room in Independence, Missouri with her boyfriend’s belt around her neck. Her grieving mom Cindy is left with more questions than answers. Award-winning investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen digs into the circumstances surrounding Libby’s death.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Originals. This is an iHeart original.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hi everyone, I'm so excited to share episode one of
the new season of What Happened to I wanted to
let you know. You can listen to this episode ad
free with iHeart True Crime Plus, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
You'll also get instant access to episode two right now,
a whole week ahead of everyone else, and early access
(00:30):
to future episodes and exclusive bonus content. So head to
Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.
This story can be hard to hear. There's detailed talk
of suicide and violence, but we think it's important not
(00:51):
to gloss over the reality of what happened to Libby Caswell.
Please take care while listening.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
You know, he asked me would I tell him this
story about his mother dying? That's how he said it.
I didn't know how to even handle that, And when
I talked to a psychologist, I was like, how do
you even tell a child this story when they ask
what happened to my mother?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So far, Cindy Caswell has been able to avoid telling
her grandson Xavier this story. The story you're about to
hear the details of what happened to Libby Caswell are
not suitable for a ten year old like Xavier, so instead,
Cindy tries to focus on the good memories Xavier still
has of his mother. He was only four when Libby died.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He remembers episodes of Sesame Street that he watched with
his mother, and this certain song, you know at the
beginning that's like I'm stronger, faster, you know, and smarter.
And he'll start crying and he wants to talk about her.
So we look at pictures, and you know, I try
(02:05):
to tell him it's okay to cry and grieve.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
When he asks Sue how she died, what do you
tell him?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I tell him that I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I don't know any effects about his mother, and I'm
still waiting until then. I say, you know, when you're
older and later on, maybe we'll all know exactly how
your mom died. And when I know, I can tell
(02:39):
him more.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
My name is Melissa Jelson. I'm an investigative reporter who
covers violence against women. In the first season of this show,
What Happened to Sandy Beal, I dug into the story
of a young woman who wanted to be a cop
back in the nineteen seventies, but ended up fatally shot.
She was found alone in her car, parked in a
secluded location known as a cop hangout. It was a
(03:10):
story about a family search for truth and a police
culture that refused accountability, a story where the official version
just didn't make sense. And ever since that show aired,
my inbox has been flooded with tips from listeners with
unresolved stories of their own. Among the tips from strangers
was an email from a source I've known for years,
(03:33):
someone who has a reputation for searching for truth and
police accountability.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I received a call from Cindy Caswell and I actually
was a voicemail left at the police department. It's not
unusual for me to receive calls from family members wanting
me to look into the death of their loved one.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Doctor Bill Smock is the director of the Clinical Forensic
Medicine Program for the Louisville Metro Police Department. It comes
somewhat of a household name ever since the trial of
Derek Chauvin, where he provided expert testimony about George Floyd's death.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
When the body is deprived of oxygen.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Explaining in medical terms how kneeling on someone's neck for
nine minutes can kill.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Them gradually succumbed to lower and lower levels of oxygen,
and he died.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Smock is a national expert in cases where a person
died from asphyxia a lack of oxygen, and he spent
his entire career in forensics, evaluating autopsies, exploring crime scenes,
and analyzing case files, which is exactly why Cindy reached
out to him. Libby Caswell, like George Floyd, died of
(04:46):
asphyxia in December twenty seventeen. She was found in a
motel bathroom with a belt wrapped around her neck. She
was just twenty one years old.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So I said, Sidney, please send me everything you asker,
autopsy photos, autopsy report, seeing photos, whatever you have, and
I'll take a quick look.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
It ended up being more than a quick look. After
Smock saw the material Cindy sent him, he went deep.
Then he got angry.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Libby's case stands out in my mind and keeps me
awake at night. There were multiple injuries that were not documented.
There is evidence that was myssed.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Libby's story gripped me too and sent me down a
long road full of intense conversations and uncomfortable questions. Did
you not believe that he's telling the truth.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
No, no, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I've interviewed him and his story is very credible and
captivated the town of inde Hennance, Missouri.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
Three years after her daughter's body was found in a
motel bathroom, Sinny Kaswell believes her daughter, Libby was murdered.
Speaker 8 (06:06):
As forty one Action News reporder Sarah Planke shows us,
Libby's mom has a team of experts on her side
who say the crucial questions in the case remain unanswered.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
What happened to Libby Caswell isn't just a story about
a young woman's death. It's about how Libby lived and
loved you know. I think she held onto a little
bit of too much hope, and that's a good trait
to have and tell you're in a situation like this,
and how she was failed by local police.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
I'd say, if one is a really poor investigation and
ten is a perfect investigation, I'd give them a point five.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's also about the systems that were supposed to help
Libby and didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think the law is set up to punish families
in this situation.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And how far you'd go to find justice for a
loved one.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What happened to her is unknown, and it's something that
I need to know.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What God second from iHeart Podcasts, I'm Melissa Jelson, and
this is what happened to Libby Caswell, Chapter one, The
(07:29):
girl in Room three nineteen.
Speaker 9 (07:33):
Second again.
Speaker 10 (07:36):
Wanting again to the emergency hotel if you're aware Studio motel.
I'm gone on that id Bok cover. She heard yourselfing
about the whilk coming. I don't want to do freaking out.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's a Monday night in Independence, Missouri, December eleventh, twenty seventeen,
at eight o four pm, A nine to one one
call comes in from the sports stadium in a rundown motel,
just a couple of miles from where the Kansas City
Chiefs play. This call lasts about five minutes before ending abruptly.
(08:20):
I'm going to play parts of it now.
Speaker 11 (08:22):
What that real happened?
Speaker 10 (08:24):
I don't know what happened to go to the bathroom
open the door like I don't know. My my my
note was she had put a belt around your neck,
and I seen the belt outside of the door. Would
(08:44):
open the door and be fell night. Oh this is
twenty one her hand again again. Elizabeth Caswell.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Elizabeth Caswell Libby. The caller says he just woke up
and found her with his belt around her neck. He
thinks she hanged herself.
Speaker 10 (09:18):
Conscious at all, No, I don't know you want to be.
Speaker 11 (09:24):
Counter breeding at all?
Speaker 10 (09:27):
Love and little bit bloody, but like like like blue.
I don't think it's Glad.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it's.
Speaker 10 (09:45):
Someone open.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay, we're getting help turned that way.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
We're getting help turned that way.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Okay, what do I do?
Speaker 10 (09:53):
What do I do? Okay, Okay, Kenny County's breeding at all? No, No,
there's no I wasn't going from them. I would rope
up and crowned or like, I don't know how long.
(10:14):
Oh my god. Right.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
The dispatcher asked the caller to loosen the belt around
Libby's neck.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
Okay, are you able to undo the belt at all?
Speaker 8 (10:38):
Because if he hasn't been unconscious for too long, you're
gonna do the belt.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
You may start breathing yet, but the caller has already
left the motel room and shut the door behind him.
I can hear another person talking in the background, but
can't make out what they're saying.
Speaker 10 (11:00):
Do you want.
Speaker 12 (11:07):
Don't knock?
Speaker 10 (11:08):
Do it, I was removing I WoT my legs.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Up.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
The call drops At this point the dispatcher tries to
call back but can't get through. The police are already
on their way.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Pray Emula's called Sportsbium and she twenty seven, who calls
advisator woke up on to the bathroom and found her
and unconscious and a belt wrapped around her neck. Our
collor is hysterical and still trying to decipher as the
female breathing or not, but the collar does not think
she is. Color was apparently very panicked right out of
(11:58):
the room and is now walked until home. I'm gonna
ahead and respond on overthe ever twenty I being.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
The room three nineteen three one.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Ninety heavy Room three nineteen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Within a few minutes, three officers are on scene. They
discover that the nine one one collar is gone, like
completely gone, not at the motel, nowhere to be found,
and the room who was staying in Room three nineteen
is locked. The officers try to get a key from
someone at the front desk, but can't find anyone, so
(12:31):
they break down the door.
Speaker 11 (12:33):
Twenty two make an entry force the door.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Ever inside room three nineteen, it's dark. The lights are off,
the TV is on, and from what little the officers
can see, the room is in chaos. There are piles
of clothing all over the floor. A bedside drawer has
been flung wide open. There's an empty vodka bottle and
(12:56):
what looks like a diamond ring on the ground. In
the open drawer of the bedside table, there's a photo
of a man's face that seems to be printed from
a database of some kind. On top of the bed
is a man's watch with a broken strap. A woman's
purse has been tipped over, its contents spilled across the carpet.
(13:17):
On first scan of the small motel room, it appears
no one's there, but then the officer's notice the bathroom
door is closed. Once they open the door, they see
a body, the body of a young woman with long
brown hair, wearing sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt. She's lying
(13:37):
on the floor on her side, in the cramped space
between the toilet and the bathtub. There's a belt wrapped
loosely around her neck. One officer approaches the body and
notes that it's cold. It seems clear she's been dead
for a while. The bathroom is too small for her
to lie fully extended on the ground, and so her
(13:59):
feet are propped up on the opposite wall. Her position
it doesn't look natural. One of the officers notes this
in his report, writing quote her feet appeared to have
been placed against the wall so the door would open
and close. And these facts, the position of her body,
(14:19):
the belt around her neck, the caller who fled. It
isn't clear what happened, so the officers call for more help.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
You go to the front esc who registered this room,
hit copies of any IDs or anything they were used.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
To print this room.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
At around eight thirty pm, a crime scene investigator arrives
at the motel and begins to photograph the scene. He's
followed soon afterwards by four detectives and a sergeant. After
surveying the scene, the sergeant calls his captain, Mike Anka.
Speaker 11 (14:54):
I was actually I was off duty, but I got
a call from one of my sergeants that he had
been called out with his squad on a death investigation,
with nobody on seeing telling what happened, and a female laying,
you know, in the bathroom with a belt wraptor in henet.
Obviously his first inclination. It was homicide with something like
(15:17):
that or that significance I responded.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
In At the time, Mike Anka was the captain of
the Criminal Investigations Unit for the Independence Police Department or IPD.
He's since been promoted to major Anca gets to the
sports stadium in around ten pm. By then, the motel
is swarming with cops.
Speaker 11 (15:37):
In any situation where your caller fleas before the police
gets there, that is a red flag for us. Obviously,
people grieve different, people deal with things different, but that's
a little bit outside the normoust people you know, are
standing outside waiting on us when we show up without.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
The nine one one caller to talk to IPD gets
to work documenting the scene at the motel. One officer
puts up crime scene tape. Another tries to hunt down
security footage from the cameras in the parking lot.
Speaker 11 (16:10):
Obviously that motel has got recordings the person that was
running the hotel in the office or whatever, they were
not able to access that film, so he was instructed
to go back and get that later.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
A group from the Medical Examiner's office is also called
to the scene, an investigator and a transport team who
will take the body to the Morgue for an autopsy.
The investigator notes the rigidity of the woman's body and
determines she has been deceased for an extended period of time.
IPD also tries to track down any witnesses, and they
(16:46):
find one, the man who is staying next door to
room three nineteen. He tells officers that twenty minutes prior
to their arrival, he heard a woman getting beat and
a female voice saying, don't hurt me. But he seems
intoxicated and his timeline doesn't make much sense, as the
body was cold by the time police showed up. By midnight,
(17:11):
IPD has gone from the sports stadium in but their
work is not done. It's around this time that two
officers are sent to Cindy Caswell's house.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I was off Mondays, so I was up later than usual.
I always just sat in that recliner right by the
front window, and I would watch first.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
The news and then late night TV. And I was
sitting there thinking about going to bed, you know. And
I got up and was just locking doors and checking everything,
and I noticed some flashlights outside. So I walked over
and kind of peeked out the window, and I realized
(17:54):
it was police officers and they knocked on the door.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Cindy let the officers in and went to wake up
her husband.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Bob came in and he was like just confused, like
I was. And they asked him to sit down and
asked if we were the parents of Elizabeth Caswell, and
you know, we're just kind of nodding her heads.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
And I believe his words were sorry to tell you
that she is deceased.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I believe.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I said how, and they said she hung herself. It
was said apparent suicide. I don't remember a lot after that.
My heart just started pounding really hard.
Speaker 13 (18:37):
And I was.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Just it was hazy, and I felt like time just
kind of just stopped.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Cindy sits on her living room couch, frozen in a
nightmare state, trying to wrap her head around the fact
that her twenty one year old daughter, her oldest child,
Elizabeth Caswell, known to everyone who loved her as Libby,
is dead. What Cindy didn't know is that mere hours
(19:18):
before IPD delivered this news, Libby's death was being investigated
as a homicide. And yet, standing in front of Cindy
as December eleventh becomes December twelfth, the officers have only
one question for her.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
They asked, was she suicidal? I said, no, she was not.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
But Cindy has a question for them.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I said, where is Devin? Where's he at?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
One of the hardest things about my job as a
journalist who covers women's violent deaths is that I never
get to meet the women I spend months and years
reporting on. By the time I entered the picture, they're
already gone. Instead, I have to fill in the blanks
with the stories of the people who loved them, like Cindy,
(20:24):
who holds on tight to every memory of her twenty
one years with her daughter Libby.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I had a rough time getting pregnant and staying pregnant,
so it was a hard time that I carried her
to term, and I think I was two weeks overdue
and being induced on a March twenty fifth snowstorm here
in Missouri. So it's exciting, you know. She was tiny,
(20:50):
seven pounds and three ounces in just the light of
our lives.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Libby Caswell was born and raised in Independence, Missouri, a
town of about one hundred and twenty thousand people right
outside of Kansas City. Cindy tells me her early years
were typical for a little girl growing up in the
suburbs of the Midwest, lots of running around outside, playing
hide and seek, going to church, hanging out with her
(21:18):
two younger siblings. Libby and her sister Natalie were especially close.
Speaker 12 (21:24):
I was born February nineteen ninety nine. She was born
March of nineteen ninety six. We'd play outside together all time.
We'd be down at our creek every day, just like
looking for crawdads and weird rocks and just stuff. We
were always really close. We were almost kind of like twins,
I always say, because when you look back at pictures,
(21:47):
we were always in like similar outfits with the same hairstyles.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Natalie is now twenty four older than Libby was when
she died, but she still talks about her with the
reverence of a younger sibling. It's clear how much she
misses her big sister.
Speaker 12 (22:02):
We were together all the time, every single day, for
you know, pretty much all of our entire lives. We
used to talk about when we get older, we were
going to buy a house together, and we made like
drawings of like these huge houses of this half would
be her house and this half would be my house.
She was just my built in best friend.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Libby had boundless energy as a child, and so Cindy
enrolled her in dance and cheerleading, which Libby took to instantly.
In ninth grade, her high school varsity cheerleading team was
invited to perform at Disney World. Cindy bought her a
cell phone, her first, so Libby could communicate with her
(22:46):
family while she was away.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
She called me at the entrance of Disney World, and
she was like, Mom, you know how at the beginning
of all my Disney movies there's the castle and the
sparkles and the light. She said, it's just like that
in real life. And she was just beside herself, and
I was wishing I could be there, you know. But
(23:08):
we just got the money for her to go, you know,
because it was quite expensive to send someone there.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Growing up, Libby's family was solidly working class. Her dad
was in construction and her mom put in part time
hours at the local grocery store.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Well, I've worked for Price Chopper Bakery on and off
for a long time. Oh my gosh, I think my twenties.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Cindy was eventually promoted to head cake decorator at the
grocery store, A job she still held when I met her.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
It's very rewarding to have someone come back and say,
you know that cake you did for my mom or
this cupcakes you did, Oh my gosh, they were so pretty,
and she was so excited, and I'm like, heyy, that's.
Speaker 11 (23:53):
Why I do it, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Even though money was tight, Cindy was eager to support
Libby's extracurriculars, ille charding her to and front practices, ordering uniforms,
and cheering her on from the sidelines. Cindy remembered being
that age herself and having different priorities. At fifteen, she
dropped out of school and ran away with her boyfriend,
(24:16):
who later became her husband, Libby's dad. They got divorced
after Libby's death.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Being as young as I was, I thought I was
totally in love, you know, and couldn't live without em.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I was too young to know what I wanted.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I think between you know, thirteen and twenty two, you
still really are just kind of searching of.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Who you are and who you want to be. And
I don't think it's a good time to try to
settle down.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Cindy hoped that Libby would forge a different, more independent
life for herself, one where a husband and kids came later.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
If at all I knew she would have boyfriends, you know,
I'm not that in saying, because, for one, she was
so beautiful, you know, and that attracts.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
People. But I had a plan.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I was going to keep her in sports and dance
and cheer, and she was going to be too busy
for all that.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I kept trying to just tell her to be careful.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
And teenagers make big mistakes that are life changing when
you can't take it back or go back and redo
your childhood. And so she would always say, I know, Mom,
I can take care of myself, and you've always told
me that.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
As Cindy anticipated, Libby got a lot of attention from boys.
By her freshman year of high school, she had a
serious boyfriend. I've seen a photo of the couple from
this time period. Libby is kissing her boyfriend's cheek, her
dark hair spilled across his chest while he makes eye
contact with the camera, a soft, almost bashful smile spread
(25:55):
across his face. They look young, fresh faced, and blissfully
in love. So despite all those heart to heart conversations,
Cindy found herself trying to convince Libby to slow down.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
It became a struggle because she didn't want to hear
what I had to say about things. She said, well,
you met dad at fourteen and you did this, And
I say, yeah, but you know, I can save you
some struggles if you just listen and take to heart
what I say. But she just thought she was in
(26:32):
love with this kid, and I believe that's the summer
she became pregnant.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Libby gave birth to her son, Xavier, in twenty thirteen,
when she was just seventeen years old. As it does,
life changed drastically after she became a mom, and despite
how challenging it was, her special bond with Xavier was undeniable.
She loved to make him giggle and they often goofed
off together, like in this video we have of the
(27:00):
two of them facetiming with her sister Natalie. In it,
Libby is holding her toddler son up to the camera.
A filter adds a space helmet on top of his head.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Come on, come on, you can't look.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
You're downloading Natalie's handsome anat.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
He loved his mom. She was the only one he
would kiss like. He wouldn't give no one else kisses,
but he would only give her kisses.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Libby was an attentive and observant mother despite her age.
When Xavier was still quite young, she recognized that he
wasn't hitting some of his developmental markers.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
She just noticed a lot of different little things that
I didn't notice, you know. I was like, well, some
kids developed later in others. But she just determined and
had him evaluated and they said, yeah, he has autism.
She was just really on that and gott even the
helping need and early, like three years old.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I've spoken with a bunch of Libby's friends and they
all said the same thing, how much she loved her son,
how dedicated she was as a mother.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
From the mommy from the mommy, Oh God.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
But they also wanted me to know how much fun
she was to be around. Libby was silly, a bit
of a prankster. She liked to dance around to music
in the kitchen, make funny faces. She prided herself on
getting a laugh.
Speaker 13 (28:39):
She had a mouth on her, not in a bad way,
but like in a funny way, like she's a comedian.
Speaker 8 (28:45):
It was freshman year of high school and we were
running laughs in gyms and she came running past me
and she said, I just want to let you know
you're really pretty, and then she just kept running and
I was like, wait a minute, hold on, I want
to be friends, man. And we became friends like that,
and then we just became inseparable.
Speaker 7 (29:05):
She was just a bright, happy person. She was one
of those people who, no matter what she had or
didn't have, she was always willing to give to other people,
always looked on the bright side and saw the best
in everybody.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
But to some of her friends, Libby's tendency to see
the good in others wasn't always a positive. I think
she held on to a little bit of too much hope.
And that's just what Libby did, though, and she would
find the best in anybody, and that's a good trait
to have.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And tell you're in a situation like this.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
This is a reference to case your four number seventeen
eighty nine two point four. Today's date is December eleventh, twenty.
Speaker 11 (30:05):
Seventeen, and the time is twenty two thirty two.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
And tell me your last name, sir uh Fristo fr Stoe.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Okay, Well, the reason why you're here, I guess apparently
you witnessed some activity over there at the sports stadium in.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
It's December eleventh, twenty seventeen, around ten thirty pm. IPD
has been on the case for about two hours. There's
still no sign of the nine one one caller, but
they did identify a key witness, David Fristo. Fristo was
a guest at the sports stadium in who happened to
meet Libby when she checked in, and, as he tells
(30:47):
the detective at the police station, she wasn't alone.
Speaker 11 (30:52):
I'm met know these.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Individual No, I met him last night.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
You know. They parked him front of went over.
Speaker 11 (30:57):
What kind of equal were there?
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Fristo says, Libby was with two men, one of whom
appeared to be her boyfriend, and as far as he
could tell, they seemed like a normal couple.
Speaker 13 (31:08):
So I go outside and you know, they was like, man,
we got a kid. We're just getting away, you know,
some quality time. I said, hey, that's one. Then they
went that way and I went my way.
Speaker 7 (31:20):
And this was last night.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, and I didn't see him no more until the.
Speaker 15 (31:23):
Night when I seen him.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Fristo saw the boyfriend again alone around eight pm. The
detective asked Fristo to describe him.
Speaker 9 (31:35):
It was white.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
It's kind of medium mill so white.
Speaker 11 (31:39):
Me and Bill.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, height, weight probably about.
Speaker 15 (31:43):
One fifty Hi probably about bobb eight, maybe a little taller.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Anything else, identif hanging out her or him, tattoos or I.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Didn't pay attention.
Speaker 11 (31:56):
Yeah, I'm trying to picture. Do you think you could
pick you out of a photo? Liar possible?
Speaker 5 (32:05):
You know, well, I've.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Constructed a photo liar possible suspect.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
At this point, the detective slides a piece of paper
over to Fristo. On it other mugshots of six men.
They all stare straight into the camera.
Speaker 11 (32:22):
Okay, why don't you go ahead put circle.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Around him without hesitation, Fristo marks the photo in the
bottom left corner. I recognize the face in the mugshot.
It is Libby's boyfriend and the father of their child,
and the man who called nine one one your hand,
(32:49):
Devin Martin. He's the guy Cindy asked about when the
cops showed up at her door to tell her that
Libby was dead.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
I said, where's Devin? Where's he at?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
And it's a good question where was Devin? Because even
though he'd called nine one one, he didn't stick around
for the police to arrive, and if it wasn't for
David Fristo, he might not have called nine one one
at all. I was standing out in front of.
Speaker 15 (33:16):
The motel try okay, yeah, so I couldn't see what
I was going on around the back and I was
just standing there, and all of a sudden he.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Came around the corner. Devon was driving through the motel
parking lot when Fristo spotted him. He was crying and upset,
and I was like, man, what happened?
Speaker 13 (33:34):
And they tuck him a minute to get it out
of him, and he said, my wife hung herself, but
he did. He just kind of kept going and I'm
trying to talk him down, and I'm like, man, he
settled down, just called police.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Thet him know, man, that something happens. Man, if you run,
it's gonna be bad on here.
Speaker 13 (33:52):
And I finally talked him down and then he what
they called him police?
Speaker 11 (33:56):
And did you ever hear that conversation?
Speaker 7 (33:58):
Yes?
Speaker 11 (33:59):
Was there any other question of the askes that you
ever heard? Was she alive? Was your breathing?
Speaker 13 (34:05):
And he said he don't know, and they wanted him
to go into room and they didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
And I'm like, I don't blame you, but you.
Speaker 15 (34:12):
Got to stay here and until Felice get here. And
then you say he took off. Yeah, and from there
it was the last time I see him. I couldn't
even tell you which direction he went.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Just as IPD is finishing up with Fristo, they received
another nine one one call. It's Devin, three hours after
his initial call. He says he's ready to talk and
he's on his way to the station. I want you
to be detail.
Speaker 11 (34:47):
I want you to be honest.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
This season on what happened to Libby Caswell.
Speaker 9 (34:58):
I was like, promise when you're to call me back?
Speaker 11 (35:00):
And she said, I promise and click and that was it.
And that was the last I spoke to her.
Speaker 9 (35:04):
She told me like she was dying. She's finally going
to do what she.
Speaker 14 (35:06):
Needed to do for her.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Let me, Den said Nathan, I don't think I feel
safe with Devin anymore.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Something seems off right now.
Speaker 12 (35:15):
I was like, did he just hit her?
Speaker 11 (35:18):
The medical examiner ruled Libby's death undetermined. I go, what
do you mean they undetermined?
Speaker 3 (35:25):
It wasn't until much later and I thought, why would
they not search the car?
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Those three agencies are failing to do the right thing.
Speaker 7 (35:34):
Sooner or later, somebody talks.
Speaker 12 (35:36):
Sooner or later, somebody can fap you.
Speaker 9 (35:44):
I think I did from the ring and keep it
in the ground, don't make.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
What Happened To Libby Caswell is written, reported, and hosted
by me Melissa Jelson, with writing and story editing by
Marisa Brown and Lauren Hanson. Episodes are edited by Jeremy
Thal and Carl Catle. Our executive producer is Ryan Murdoch.
For iHeart Podcasts, executive producers are Jason English and Katrina Norvel,
(36:24):
with our supervising producer Carl Catele. Fact checking by Maya Shukree.
Archival material courtesy of KSHB forty one News. Our theme
song is written by Aaron Kaufman and performed by Aaron
Kaufman and Elizabeth Wolfe. Original music by Aaron Kaufman with
additional music by Jeremy Thal. Our episodes are mixed and
(36:46):
mastered by Carl Catle. To find out more about my
investigation or to send a tip, please email me at
what Happened To Libby at gmail dot com. Thanks so
much for listening until.
Speaker 9 (37:03):
One way five eyes so in pieces and pieces and
then do you.
Speaker 10 (37:15):
Follow you.
Speaker 9 (37:18):
Until until one way five Eyes, So in pieces and
pieces in the.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Remember you can get episode two right now at free
and a whole week early with an iHeart True Crime
Plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Subscribers also get
early access to future episodes and exclusive bonus content, completely
ad free. So open your Apple podcast app, search for
(38:16):
iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today
Originals. This is an iHeart original.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hi everyone, I'm so excited to share episode one of
the new season of What Happened to I wanted to
let you know. You can listen to this episode ad
free with iHeart True Crime Plus, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
You'll also get instant access to episode two right now,
a whole week ahead of everyone else, and early access
(00:30):
to future episodes and exclusive bonus content. So head to
Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.
This story can be hard to hear. There's detailed talk
of suicide and violence, but we think it's important not
(00:51):
to gloss over the reality of what happened to Libby Caswell.
Please take care while listening.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
You know, he asked me would I tell him this
story about his mother dying? That's how he said it.
I didn't know how to even handle that, And when
I talked to a psychologist, I was like, how do
you even tell a child this story when they ask
what happened to my mother?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So far, Cindy Caswell has been able to avoid telling
her grandson Xavier this story. The story you're about to
hear the details of what happened to Libby Caswell are
not suitable for a ten year old like Xavier, so instead,
Cindy tries to focus on the good memories Xavier still
has of his mother. He was only four when Libby died.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He remembers episodes of Sesame Street that he watched with
his mother, and this certain song, you know at the
beginning that's like I'm stronger, faster, you know, and smarter.
And he'll start crying and he wants to talk about her.
So we look at pictures, and you know, I try
(02:05):
to tell him it's okay to cry and grieve.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
When he asks Sue how she died, what do you
tell him?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I tell him that I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I don't know any effects about his mother, and I'm
still waiting until then. I say, you know, when you're
older and later on, maybe we'll all know exactly how
your mom died. And when I know, I can tell
(02:39):
him more.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
My name is Melissa Jelson. I'm an investigative reporter who
covers violence against women. In the first season of this show,
What Happened to Sandy Beal, I dug into the story
of a young woman who wanted to be a cop
back in the nineteen seventies, but ended up fatally shot.
She was found alone in her car, parked in a
secluded location known as a cop hangout. It was a
(03:10):
story about a family search for truth and a police
culture that refused accountability, a story where the official version
just didn't make sense. And ever since that show aired,
my inbox has been flooded with tips from listeners with
unresolved stories of their own. Among the tips from strangers
was an email from a source I've known for years,
(03:33):
someone who has a reputation for searching for truth and
police accountability.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I received a call from Cindy Caswell and I actually
was a voicemail left at the police department. It's not
unusual for me to receive calls from family members wanting
me to look into the death of their loved one.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Doctor Bill Smock is the director of the Clinical Forensic
Medicine Program for the Louisville Metro Police Department. It comes
somewhat of a household name ever since the trial of
Derek Chauvin, where he provided expert testimony about George Floyd's death.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
When the body is deprived of oxygen.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Explaining in medical terms how kneeling on someone's neck for
nine minutes can kill.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Them gradually succumbed to lower and lower levels of oxygen,
and he died.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Smock is a national expert in cases where a person
died from asphyxia a lack of oxygen, and he spent
his entire career in forensics, evaluating autopsies, exploring crime scenes,
and analyzing case files, which is exactly why Cindy reached
out to him. Libby Caswell, like George Floyd, died of
(04:46):
asphyxia in December twenty seventeen. She was found in a
motel bathroom with a belt wrapped around her neck. She
was just twenty one years old.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So I said, Sidney, please send me everything you asker,
autopsy photos, autopsy report, seeing photos, whatever you have, and
I'll take a quick look.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
It ended up being more than a quick look. After
Smock saw the material Cindy sent him, he went deep.
Then he got angry.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Libby's case stands out in my mind and keeps me
awake at night. There were multiple injuries that were not documented.
There is evidence that was myssed.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Libby's story gripped me too and sent me down a
long road full of intense conversations and uncomfortable questions. Did
you not believe that he's telling the truth.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
No, no, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I've interviewed him and his story is very credible and
captivated the town of inde Hennance, Missouri.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
Three years after her daughter's body was found in a
motel bathroom, Sinny Kaswell believes her daughter, Libby was murdered.
Speaker 8 (06:06):
As forty one Action News reporder Sarah Planke shows us,
Libby's mom has a team of experts on her side
who say the crucial questions in the case remain unanswered.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
What happened to Libby Caswell isn't just a story about
a young woman's death. It's about how Libby lived and
loved you know. I think she held onto a little
bit of too much hope, and that's a good trait
to have and tell you're in a situation like this,
and how she was failed by local police.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
I'd say, if one is a really poor investigation and
ten is a perfect investigation, I'd give them a point five.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's also about the systems that were supposed to help
Libby and didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think the law is set up to punish families
in this situation.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
And how far you'd go to find justice for a
loved one.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What happened to her is unknown, and it's something that
I need to know.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What God second from iHeart Podcasts, I'm Melissa Jelson, and
this is what happened to Libby Caswell, Chapter one, The
(07:29):
girl in Room three nineteen.
Speaker 9 (07:33):
Second again.
Speaker 10 (07:36):
Wanting again to the emergency hotel if you're aware Studio motel.
I'm gone on that id Bok cover. She heard yourselfing
about the whilk coming. I don't want to do freaking out.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It's a Monday night in Independence, Missouri, December eleventh, twenty seventeen,
at eight o four pm, A nine to one one
call comes in from the sports stadium in a rundown motel,
just a couple of miles from where the Kansas City
Chiefs play. This call lasts about five minutes before ending abruptly.
(08:20):
I'm going to play parts of it now.
Speaker 11 (08:22):
What that real happened?
Speaker 10 (08:24):
I don't know what happened to go to the bathroom
open the door like I don't know. My my my
note was she had put a belt around your neck,
and I seen the belt outside of the door. Would
(08:44):
open the door and be fell night. Oh this is
twenty one her hand again again. Elizabeth Caswell.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Elizabeth Caswell Libby. The caller says he just woke up
and found her with his belt around her neck. He
thinks she hanged herself.
Speaker 10 (09:18):
Conscious at all, No, I don't know you want to be.
Speaker 11 (09:24):
Counter breeding at all?
Speaker 10 (09:27):
Love and little bit bloody, but like like like blue.
I don't think it's Glad.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it's.
Speaker 10 (09:45):
Someone open.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay, we're getting help turned that way.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
We're getting help turned that way.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Okay, what do I do?
Speaker 10 (09:53):
What do I do? Okay, Okay, Kenny County's breeding at all? No, No,
there's no I wasn't going from them. I would rope
up and crowned or like, I don't know how long.
(10:14):
Oh my god. Right.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
The dispatcher asked the caller to loosen the belt around
Libby's neck.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
Okay, are you able to undo the belt at all?
Speaker 8 (10:38):
Because if he hasn't been unconscious for too long, you're
gonna do the belt.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
You may start breathing yet, but the caller has already
left the motel room and shut the door behind him.
I can hear another person talking in the background, but
can't make out what they're saying.
Speaker 10 (11:00):
Do you want.
Speaker 12 (11:07):
Don't knock?
Speaker 10 (11:08):
Do it, I was removing I WoT my legs.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Up.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
The call drops At this point the dispatcher tries to
call back but can't get through. The police are already
on their way.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Pray Emula's called Sportsbium and she twenty seven, who calls
advisator woke up on to the bathroom and found her
and unconscious and a belt wrapped around her neck. Our
collor is hysterical and still trying to decipher as the
female breathing or not, but the collar does not think
she is. Color was apparently very panicked right out of
(11:58):
the room and is now walked until home. I'm gonna
ahead and respond on overthe ever twenty I being.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
The room three nineteen three one.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Ninety heavy Room three nineteen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Within a few minutes, three officers are on scene. They
discover that the nine one one collar is gone, like
completely gone, not at the motel, nowhere to be found,
and the room who was staying in Room three nineteen
is locked. The officers try to get a key from
someone at the front desk, but can't find anyone, so
(12:31):
they break down the door.
Speaker 11 (12:33):
Twenty two make an entry force the door.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Ever inside room three nineteen, it's dark. The lights are off,
the TV is on, and from what little the officers
can see, the room is in chaos. There are piles
of clothing all over the floor. A bedside drawer has
been flung wide open. There's an empty vodka bottle and
(12:56):
what looks like a diamond ring on the ground. In
the open drawer of the bedside table, there's a photo
of a man's face that seems to be printed from
a database of some kind. On top of the bed
is a man's watch with a broken strap. A woman's
purse has been tipped over, its contents spilled across the carpet.
(13:17):
On first scan of the small motel room, it appears
no one's there, but then the officer's notice the bathroom
door is closed. Once they open the door, they see
a body, the body of a young woman with long
brown hair, wearing sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt. She's lying
(13:37):
on the floor on her side, in the cramped space
between the toilet and the bathtub. There's a belt wrapped
loosely around her neck. One officer approaches the body and
notes that it's cold. It seems clear she's been dead
for a while. The bathroom is too small for her
to lie fully extended on the ground, and so her
(13:59):
feet are propped up on the opposite wall. Her position
it doesn't look natural. One of the officers notes this
in his report, writing quote her feet appeared to have
been placed against the wall so the door would open
and close. And these facts, the position of her body,
(14:19):
the belt around her neck, the caller who fled. It
isn't clear what happened, so the officers call for more help.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
You go to the front esc who registered this room,
hit copies of any IDs or anything they were used.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
To print this room.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
At around eight thirty pm, a crime scene investigator arrives
at the motel and begins to photograph the scene. He's
followed soon afterwards by four detectives and a sergeant. After
surveying the scene, the sergeant calls his captain, Mike Anka.
Speaker 11 (14:54):
I was actually I was off duty, but I got
a call from one of my sergeants that he had
been called out with his squad on a death investigation,
with nobody on seeing telling what happened, and a female laying,
you know, in the bathroom with a belt wraptor in henet.
Obviously his first inclination. It was homicide with something like
(15:17):
that or that significance I responded.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
In At the time, Mike Anka was the captain of
the Criminal Investigations Unit for the Independence Police Department or IPD.
He's since been promoted to major Anca gets to the
sports stadium in around ten pm. By then, the motel
is swarming with cops.
Speaker 11 (15:37):
In any situation where your caller fleas before the police
gets there, that is a red flag for us. Obviously,
people grieve different, people deal with things different, but that's
a little bit outside the normoust people you know, are
standing outside waiting on us when we show up without.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
The nine one one caller to talk to IPD gets
to work documenting the scene at the motel. One officer
puts up crime scene tape. Another tries to hunt down
security footage from the cameras in the parking lot.
Speaker 11 (16:10):
Obviously that motel has got recordings the person that was
running the hotel in the office or whatever, they were
not able to access that film, so he was instructed
to go back and get that later.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
A group from the Medical Examiner's office is also called
to the scene, an investigator and a transport team who
will take the body to the Morgue for an autopsy.
The investigator notes the rigidity of the woman's body and
determines she has been deceased for an extended period of time.
IPD also tries to track down any witnesses, and they
(16:46):
find one, the man who is staying next door to
room three nineteen. He tells officers that twenty minutes prior
to their arrival, he heard a woman getting beat and
a female voice saying, don't hurt me. But he seems
intoxicated and his timeline doesn't make much sense, as the
body was cold by the time police showed up. By midnight,
(17:11):
IPD has gone from the sports stadium in but their
work is not done. It's around this time that two
officers are sent to Cindy Caswell's house.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I was off Mondays, so I was up later than usual.
I always just sat in that recliner right by the
front window, and I would watch first.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
The news and then late night TV. And I was
sitting there thinking about going to bed, you know. And
I got up and was just locking doors and checking everything,
and I noticed some flashlights outside. So I walked over
and kind of peeked out the window, and I realized
(17:54):
it was police officers and they knocked on the door.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Cindy let the officers in and went to wake up
her husband.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Bob came in and he was like just confused, like
I was. And they asked him to sit down and
asked if we were the parents of Elizabeth Caswell, and
you know, we're just kind of nodding her heads.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
And I believe his words were sorry to tell you
that she is deceased.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I believe.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I said how, and they said she hung herself. It
was said apparent suicide. I don't remember a lot after that.
My heart just started pounding really hard.
Speaker 13 (18:37):
And I was.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Just it was hazy, and I felt like time just
kind of just stopped.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Cindy sits on her living room couch, frozen in a
nightmare state, trying to wrap her head around the fact
that her twenty one year old daughter, her oldest child,
Elizabeth Caswell, known to everyone who loved her as Libby,
is dead. What Cindy didn't know is that mere hours
(19:18):
before IPD delivered this news, Libby's death was being investigated
as a homicide. And yet, standing in front of Cindy
as December eleventh becomes December twelfth, the officers have only
one question for her.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
They asked, was she suicidal? I said, no, she was not.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
But Cindy has a question for them.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I said, where is Devin? Where's he at?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
One of the hardest things about my job as a
journalist who covers women's violent deaths is that I never
get to meet the women I spend months and years
reporting on. By the time I entered the picture, they're
already gone. Instead, I have to fill in the blanks
with the stories of the people who loved them, like Cindy,
(20:24):
who holds on tight to every memory of her twenty
one years with her daughter Libby.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I had a rough time getting pregnant and staying pregnant,
so it was a hard time that I carried her
to term, and I think I was two weeks overdue
and being induced on a March twenty fifth snowstorm here
in Missouri. So it's exciting, you know. She was tiny,
(20:50):
seven pounds and three ounces in just the light of
our lives.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Libby Caswell was born and raised in Independence, Missouri, a
town of about one hundred and twenty thousand people right
outside of Kansas City. Cindy tells me her early years
were typical for a little girl growing up in the
suburbs of the Midwest, lots of running around outside, playing
hide and seek, going to church, hanging out with her
(21:18):
two younger siblings. Libby and her sister Natalie were especially close.
Speaker 12 (21:24):
I was born February nineteen ninety nine. She was born
March of nineteen ninety six. We'd play outside together all time.
We'd be down at our creek every day, just like
looking for crawdads and weird rocks and just stuff. We
were always really close. We were almost kind of like twins,
I always say, because when you look back at pictures,
(21:47):
we were always in like similar outfits with the same hairstyles.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Natalie is now twenty four older than Libby was when
she died, but she still talks about her with the
reverence of a younger sibling. It's clear how much she
misses her big sister.
Speaker 12 (22:02):
We were together all the time, every single day, for
you know, pretty much all of our entire lives. We
used to talk about when we get older, we were
going to buy a house together, and we made like
drawings of like these huge houses of this half would
be her house and this half would be my house.
She was just my built in best friend.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Libby had boundless energy as a child, and so Cindy
enrolled her in dance and cheerleading, which Libby took to instantly.
In ninth grade, her high school varsity cheerleading team was
invited to perform at Disney World. Cindy bought her a
cell phone, her first, so Libby could communicate with her
(22:46):
family while she was away.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
She called me at the entrance of Disney World, and
she was like, Mom, you know how at the beginning
of all my Disney movies there's the castle and the
sparkles and the light. She said, it's just like that
in real life. And she was just beside herself, and
I was wishing I could be there, you know. But
(23:08):
we just got the money for her to go, you know,
because it was quite expensive to send someone there.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Growing up, Libby's family was solidly working class. Her dad
was in construction and her mom put in part time
hours at the local grocery store.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Well, I've worked for Price Chopper Bakery on and off
for a long time. Oh my gosh, I think my twenties.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Cindy was eventually promoted to head cake decorator at the
grocery store, A job she still held when I met her.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
It's very rewarding to have someone come back and say,
you know that cake you did for my mom or
this cupcakes you did, Oh my gosh, they were so pretty,
and she was so excited, and I'm like, heyy, that's.
Speaker 11 (23:53):
Why I do it, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Even though money was tight, Cindy was eager to support
Libby's extracurriculars, ille charding her to and front practices, ordering uniforms,
and cheering her on from the sidelines. Cindy remembered being
that age herself and having different priorities. At fifteen, she
dropped out of school and ran away with her boyfriend,
(24:16):
who later became her husband, Libby's dad. They got divorced
after Libby's death.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Being as young as I was, I thought I was
totally in love, you know, and couldn't live without em.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I was too young to know what I wanted.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I think between you know, thirteen and twenty two, you
still really are just kind of searching of.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Who you are and who you want to be. And
I don't think it's a good time to try to
settle down.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Cindy hoped that Libby would forge a different, more independent
life for herself, one where a husband and kids came later.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
If at all I knew she would have boyfriends, you know,
I'm not that in saying, because, for one, she was
so beautiful, you know, and that attracts.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
People. But I had a plan.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I was going to keep her in sports and dance
and cheer, and she was going to be too busy
for all that.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I kept trying to just tell her to be careful.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
And teenagers make big mistakes that are life changing when
you can't take it back or go back and redo
your childhood. And so she would always say, I know, Mom,
I can take care of myself, and you've always told
me that.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
As Cindy anticipated, Libby got a lot of attention from boys.
By her freshman year of high school, she had a
serious boyfriend. I've seen a photo of the couple from
this time period. Libby is kissing her boyfriend's cheek, her
dark hair spilled across his chest while he makes eye
contact with the camera, a soft, almost bashful smile spread
(25:55):
across his face. They look young, fresh faced, and blissfully
in love. So despite all those heart to heart conversations,
Cindy found herself trying to convince Libby to slow down.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
It became a struggle because she didn't want to hear
what I had to say about things. She said, well,
you met dad at fourteen and you did this, And
I say, yeah, but you know, I can save you
some struggles if you just listen and take to heart
what I say. But she just thought she was in
(26:32):
love with this kid, and I believe that's the summer
she became pregnant.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Libby gave birth to her son, Xavier, in twenty thirteen,
when she was just seventeen years old. As it does,
life changed drastically after she became a mom, and despite
how challenging it was, her special bond with Xavier was undeniable.
She loved to make him giggle and they often goofed
off together, like in this video we have of the
(27:00):
two of them facetiming with her sister Natalie. In it,
Libby is holding her toddler son up to the camera.
A filter adds a space helmet on top of his head.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Come on, come on, you can't look.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
You're downloading Natalie's handsome anat.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
He loved his mom. She was the only one he
would kiss like. He wouldn't give no one else kisses,
but he would only give her kisses.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Libby was an attentive and observant mother despite her age.
When Xavier was still quite young, she recognized that he
wasn't hitting some of his developmental markers.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
She just noticed a lot of different little things that
I didn't notice, you know. I was like, well, some
kids developed later in others. But she just determined and
had him evaluated and they said, yeah, he has autism.
She was just really on that and gott even the
helping need and early, like three years old.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I've spoken with a bunch of Libby's friends and they
all said the same thing, how much she loved her son,
how dedicated she was as a mother.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
From the mommy from the mommy, Oh God.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
But they also wanted me to know how much fun
she was to be around. Libby was silly, a bit
of a prankster. She liked to dance around to music
in the kitchen, make funny faces. She prided herself on
getting a laugh.
Speaker 13 (28:39):
She had a mouth on her, not in a bad way,
but like in a funny way, like she's a comedian.
Speaker 8 (28:45):
It was freshman year of high school and we were
running laughs in gyms and she came running past me
and she said, I just want to let you know
you're really pretty, and then she just kept running and
I was like, wait a minute, hold on, I want
to be friends, man. And we became friends like that,
and then we just became inseparable.
Speaker 7 (29:05):
She was just a bright, happy person. She was one
of those people who, no matter what she had or
didn't have, she was always willing to give to other people,
always looked on the bright side and saw the best
in everybody.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
But to some of her friends, Libby's tendency to see
the good in others wasn't always a positive. I think
she held on to a little bit of too much hope.
And that's just what Libby did, though, and she would
find the best in anybody, and that's a good trait
to have.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And tell you're in a situation like this.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
This is a reference to case your four number seventeen
eighty nine two point four. Today's date is December eleventh, twenty.
Speaker 11 (30:05):
Seventeen, and the time is twenty two thirty two.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
And tell me your last name, sir uh Fristo fr Stoe.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Okay, Well, the reason why you're here, I guess apparently
you witnessed some activity over there at the sports stadium in.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
It's December eleventh, twenty seventeen, around ten thirty pm. IPD
has been on the case for about two hours. There's
still no sign of the nine one one caller, but
they did identify a key witness, David Fristo. Fristo was
a guest at the sports stadium in who happened to
meet Libby when she checked in, and, as he tells
(30:47):
the detective at the police station, she wasn't alone.
Speaker 11 (30:52):
I'm met know these.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Individual No, I met him last night.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
You know. They parked him front of went over.
Speaker 11 (30:57):
What kind of equal were there?
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Fristo says, Libby was with two men, one of whom
appeared to be her boyfriend, and as far as he
could tell, they seemed like a normal couple.
Speaker 13 (31:08):
So I go outside and you know, they was like, man,
we got a kid. We're just getting away, you know,
some quality time. I said, hey, that's one. Then they
went that way and I went my way.
Speaker 7 (31:20):
And this was last night.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Yeah, and I didn't see him no more until the.
Speaker 15 (31:23):
Night when I seen him.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Fristo saw the boyfriend again alone around eight pm. The
detective asked Fristo to describe him.
Speaker 9 (31:35):
It was white.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
It's kind of medium mill so white.
Speaker 11 (31:39):
Me and Bill.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, height, weight probably about.
Speaker 15 (31:43):
One fifty Hi probably about bobb eight, maybe a little taller.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
Anything else, identif hanging out her or him, tattoos or I.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Didn't pay attention.
Speaker 11 (31:56):
Yeah, I'm trying to picture. Do you think you could
pick you out of a photo? Liar possible?
Speaker 5 (32:05):
You know, well, I've.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Constructed a photo liar possible suspect.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
At this point, the detective slides a piece of paper
over to Fristo. On it other mugshots of six men.
They all stare straight into the camera.
Speaker 11 (32:22):
Okay, why don't you go ahead put circle.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Around him without hesitation, Fristo marks the photo in the
bottom left corner. I recognize the face in the mugshot.
It is Libby's boyfriend and the father of their child,
and the man who called nine one one your hand,
(32:49):
Devin Martin. He's the guy Cindy asked about when the
cops showed up at her door to tell her that
Libby was dead.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
I said, where's Devin? Where's he at?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
And it's a good question where was Devin? Because even
though he'd called nine one one, he didn't stick around
for the police to arrive, and if it wasn't for
David Fristo, he might not have called nine one one
at all. I was standing out in front of.
Speaker 15 (33:16):
The motel try okay, yeah, so I couldn't see what
I was going on around the back and I was
just standing there, and all of a sudden he.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Came around the corner. Devon was driving through the motel
parking lot when Fristo spotted him. He was crying and upset,
and I was like, man, what happened?
Speaker 13 (33:34):
And they tuck him a minute to get it out
of him, and he said, my wife hung herself, but
he did. He just kind of kept going and I'm
trying to talk him down, and I'm like, man, he
settled down, just called police.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Thet him know, man, that something happens. Man, if you run,
it's gonna be bad on here.
Speaker 13 (33:52):
And I finally talked him down and then he what
they called him police?
Speaker 11 (33:56):
And did you ever hear that conversation?
Speaker 7 (33:58):
Yes?
Speaker 11 (33:59):
Was there any other question of the askes that you
ever heard? Was she alive? Was your breathing?
Speaker 13 (34:05):
And he said he don't know, and they wanted him
to go into room and they didn't want to.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
And I'm like, I don't blame you, but you.
Speaker 15 (34:12):
Got to stay here and until Felice get here. And
then you say he took off. Yeah, and from there
it was the last time I see him. I couldn't
even tell you which direction he went.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Just as IPD is finishing up with Fristo, they received
another nine one one call. It's Devin, three hours after
his initial call. He says he's ready to talk and
he's on his way to the station. I want you
to be detail.
Speaker 11 (34:47):
I want you to be honest.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
This season on what happened to Libby Caswell.
Speaker 9 (34:58):
I was like, promise when you're to call me back?
Speaker 11 (35:00):
And she said, I promise and click and that was it.
And that was the last I spoke to her.
Speaker 9 (35:04):
She told me like she was dying. She's finally going
to do what she.
Speaker 14 (35:06):
Needed to do for her.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Let me, Den said Nathan, I don't think I feel
safe with Devin anymore.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Something seems off right now.
Speaker 12 (35:15):
I was like, did he just hit her?
Speaker 11 (35:18):
The medical examiner ruled Libby's death undetermined. I go, what
do you mean they undetermined?
Speaker 3 (35:25):
It wasn't until much later and I thought, why would
they not search the car?
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Those three agencies are failing to do the right thing.
Speaker 7 (35:34):
Sooner or later, somebody talks.
Speaker 12 (35:36):
Sooner or later, somebody can fap you.
Speaker 9 (35:44):
I think I did from the ring and keep it
in the ground, don't make.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
What Happened To Libby Caswell is written, reported, and hosted
by me Melissa Jelson, with writing and story editing by
Marisa Brown and Lauren Hanson. Episodes are edited by Jeremy
Thal and Carl Catle. Our executive producer is Ryan Murdoch.
For iHeart Podcasts, executive producers are Jason English and Katrina Norvel,
(36:24):
with our supervising producer Carl Catele. Fact checking by Maya Shukree.
Archival material courtesy of KSHB forty one News. Our theme
song is written by Aaron Kaufman and performed by Aaron
Kaufman and Elizabeth Wolfe. Original music by Aaron Kaufman with
additional music by Jeremy Thal. Our episodes are mixed and
(36:46):
mastered by Carl Catle. To find out more about my
investigation or to send a tip, please email me at
what Happened To Libby at gmail dot com. Thanks so
much for listening until.
Speaker 9 (37:03):
One way five eyes so in pieces and pieces and
then do you.
Speaker 10 (37:15):
Follow you.
Speaker 9 (37:18):
Until until one way five Eyes, So in pieces and
pieces in the.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Remember you can get episode two right now at free
and a whole week early with an iHeart True Crime
Plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Subscribers also get
early access to future episodes and exclusive bonus content, completely
ad free. So open your Apple podcast app, search for
(38:16):
iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today
Host
Melissa Jeltsen
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