412: Kepner Stepbrother Locked Up, Teen Kills Family With Adult Boyfriend & Alabama CSAM Bunker

We're ready for the comparison.

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Let's start with a new test of shopping. Hey true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of cerealously. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of cerealously. With me or host Annie Elice, also your true crime bestie.

And today's Thursday, which means headline highlights. And we have a lot to talk about today, not only new cases, but a very happy update that I am excited to share with you.

And you know the drill though.

Before we get into everything, I have to let you know what we do here. Mondays are our deep dives where we go into one singular case. Go down the rabbit hole, explain everything, the thoughts, the theories, the facts, the speculation. And this week in case you missed it, we did a mega deep dive into the Reagan Hancock and Taylor Parker case. Now, if those names aren't familiar, let me just say you probably saw the documentary,

maternal instinct on your Netflix feed this weekend. Everybody's been talking about it on social media as well. But there was so much more that was not able to be included. Which we've talked about that before, right, in 90 minutes, how can you possibly include everything. So I put out a two and a half hour episode that included not only all the details,

but a lot of the footage, the interviews, the interrogation, things that we were able to source through a workaround internally that Netflix wasn't able to get. Other creators haven't been able to get. And so if you want like the full comprehensive deep dive, like you know, we like to do, go listen to it now.

So let's get into headline highlights, and I'm really, really excited,

because today's guest is super special to me. She is a royal, she's an aeros, and her name is Amy Cole. Wow, I've only those things were true.

“But as you're going, I'm like, who do we have on to that?”

No, I'm trying to figure out the tip. And like, I'm running out of things since it's happening every week. But I need to like start jotting down ideas, which if any of you guys have ideas, well, I would like your heartfelt sentiments towards me. I think you're an aeros.

I think you're royal. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. All those things.

Younger. Okay. Not that. Obviously not that. So please welcome to the show, my older sister, Amy.

And wiser. At times. At times. Now really quickly before we get into the case. I do want to mention this.

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“So I want to start with this update, which I think is going to make you incredibly happy.”

It is as well as so many of you listeners. Because we have a very significant update in the case of Anna Campner. Now, you know this whole story. We have been following it very closely for months now. Actually, almost it will be.

Well, be a year this fall. It's been a long time. Wow. So if you are forgetting, Anna Campner was an 18-year-old girl who, unfortunately, was not only sexually assaulted by her 16-year-old stepbrother,

but also murdered while on a family cruise. And then he stuffed her body under the bed, covered her with life jackets, and pretended as though nothing happened. So early on, it was apparent that he was the one who did this. Allegedly, I'll say.

But he wasn't kept in custody and nobody understood why. And one of the big arguments I guess that I've had, and I know you have felt this as well, is that he clearly is a danger to society. She had outcry to her boyfriend before. He had seen things on FaceTime where he had tried to creep into her room.

And so clearly, this guy is a danger to society being out there. He's a sexual predator. He's a deviant. Like, why is he not being held in custody? But now, we have can happily announce that not only is Timothy currently facing charges

but he is now officially in custody.

Finally. Finally. Can I get a little? Honestly. The next shot was happy last night.

I know. Now up until this point, he had been living with a relative. He was also being monitored electronically and had to follow a list of court-ordered conditions, while everything made its way through the court system.

“Because remember, this is also a federal case because this happened on the water.”

But that arrangement is officially over. So a federal judge has now ordered that Timothy be detained ahead of his trial, which is not scheduled to begin until September 8th. So he will be in custody for the next few months. Now, prosecutors have been asking for this.

Arguing that Timothy shouldn't be out on release while facing these charges, being that they are so serious. However, his defense team had pushed back saying that he's been cooperative throughout the investigation, and that he hasn't caused any issues or hurt anyone while he was out.

But here's what is interesting.

And I'll be curious to know what you think about this because I have my own kind of interpretation of this. We still don't know exactly what led the judge to make this decision. The order explaining why Timothy's release was revoked is currently sealed, so those details have not been made public. But I do think that this is really telling.

Because the judge said, quote,

“"The government has established by clear and convincing evidence”

that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community going forward." He also stated that he presents a danger to himself and to others. Which I mean, no surprise, a danger to others. He's a sexual predator, in my opinion.

But I thought the danger to himself is interesting because one of the things we talked about a few weeks ago when we were covering this is like, he has the potential to not only flee to do whatever but like to pull a Brian laundry and take the cowardly way out knowing that he's facing adult charges and serious, you know, time in jail. Well, we know he had a big psychotic episode shortly after the incident on the cruise ship

and that was reported. And so as all of these consequences are coming down on him and now this reality is setting in perhaps he's been showing some sort of behavior that has led them to this or there's been more accounts from family. Well, let me tell you this next little statement.

The judge also stated that because of the allegations, it suggests, quote, a level of psychopathy and lack of remorse that by itself raises a serious concern that the defendant can snap at any time. Despite the well-meaning and serious efforts of his caretakers to make sure that it doesn't happen.

Basically saying like this guy has shown no remorse, he's a clear psychopath.

Caretakers have been trying to like manage things and he's still is not, I guess like exhibiting the behaviors that they wish that they were saying. Well, I mean, think about how this whole thing started. They're on a family vacation with your entire family present. And you, we still don't know exactly what happened.

But something, some catalyst created this situation where he attacked her. We don't know what that is, so maybe there's more light on him. Had the balls to do it while his family's on the cruise ship and like they're going to discover this. So that kind of says like despite the efforts of his caretakers and however much support he has around him, he's still a menace to society.

Yeah, that you know, a dentist the menace. I am 100%. Because think about it too. And again, to your point, we don't know the catalyst. But we do now know that she did have sexual interactions with somebody else on that cruise ship.

So was that what pushed him over because he felt like she belonged to him or that he was entitled somehow. I mean, there are no accounts from anybody from the family. Or I guess we haven't heard from anyone about on the cruise that leading up to the night. There had been any sort of arguments or any kind of weird behavior. So again, there was some sort of incident or emotion that struck him to then attack her, which is he's definitely someone that you can't.

I mean, he's a wild card.

“Yeah, would you guys know we're going to this trial?”

So we will be keeping you updated. Like I said, most of it is still under seal because it involves a minor and because it's federal case. Everything that rolls in with that. But what we do know is that good old Timothy was ordered to report to the federal court house in Tampa, where he was then taken into custody by U.S. Marshall service.

So he is officially locked up until September. I would imagine his family is very relieved relieved and like can sleep well. I don't know if he was staying with relatives. I feel like some people were kind of like not covering for him, but like, and again, it's difficult when it's family. But yeah, cyanara.

Yeah. All right. Well, this next case is extremely heartbreaking. It's one of the more sad cases we've covered in a while. This one took place back on March 9th when police were called to a home in Colorado after a 16 year old girl named Grace Ryan was found unresponsive in a bathroom. And tragically, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

As investigators began looking into what happened, they said they uncovered months of text messages that painted a really troubling picture of what her life was inside the home that she lived in with both of her parents.

So let me just walk that back real quickly.

The doctors found that her liver was abnormally fatty due to alcohol abuse at a very young age 16 years old. So in detectives started searching through the phones belonging to Grace and her mother 55 year old Gretchen Ryan. They say they found evidence that the two had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana together almost every single day dating back to September 2025. I'm sorry.

“What mom is just smoking weed and drinking with their 16 year old daughter?”

I'll tell you. I was still really. I mean, immediately. I was going on what yeah, like, hi, you're a parent. You're not a friend. No. Yeah. And police also alleged that Gretchen regularly had alcohol delivered to the home and even took steps to hide it from the daughter's father who lived in the basement, which I have other questions about that.

I have a lot of questions.

Why was the father living in the basement? What's she door-dashing the alcohol? I guess so. So, okay, sorry. I have so many thoughts and you'll probably answer them. Keep going. Well, and I'm like, door-dash, like, they still come to the door. You're living in the basement, like, are you just? But also, like, did she really feel like the daughter was her friend, was she lonely at, continue?

Well, the investigators made another shocking discovery because they found a hundred and seventy-three empty bottles hidden underneath Grace's bed and inside her closet, including multiple bottles of vodka and other hard liquor. Like, full-sized bottles or many bottles, not that it makes a huge difference, but a hundred and seventy-three empty alcohol bottles, which is a lot of alcohol. And now, I mean, no thanks. If you're trying to hide it, throw it away. Well, throw it away, but also, I'm thinking, like, a 16-year-old girl, how do you hide a hundred and seventy-three bottles?

I mean, just this space alone that it takes up the smell, I mean.

And what makes this case even more heartbreaking is that according to investigators, Grace told her mom over and over. And over and over again, that she was seriously sick and that something was wrong. And in the months, leading up to her death, she said that she had been vomiting up blood, having difficulty eating, trouble walking, and at one point was even wearing an adult diaper. She had also told her mom repeatedly that she felt like she was afraid she might die. So obviously, this girl is very, very sick and suffering from alcohol abuse.

Yeah, at a very extreme rate. I mean, you're thinking this, they're saying this dates back to September, who knows if it went back earlier, but that's not that long ago to have these extreme. That's a lot of alcohol. To be wearing an adult diaper, confiding in her mom, she thinks she's going to die in her mom, not doing any, what the fuck? Okay. So the messages included in the affidavit are extremely difficult to read, and here's why.

“Just days before her death, she had texted her mom saying, if you're going to do this to me, you need to take me to a hospital.”

Then on March 4th, she sent another message that said, "I'm going to die." And according to the affidavit, Gretchen just replied with, "No, you aren't." You imagine your mom saying, "No, our mom used to freak out if she heard us like, she wouldn't eat a filling on them." She wouldn't let us eat a breath meant. Or draw a rancher.

Yeah, but investigators say that at one point Gretchen had realized how serious the situation had actually become. And in one text that she sent to her daughter Grace in January, she wrote, "I'm committing child abuse and murder. I will go to prison, so we have to do something. It's really bad." And in another message, she told her daughter, "If you can't get up to pee, get food or drink, and puke blood, we aren't going to make it. We need help." This isn't working. I'm going to lose you.

My mind is blown. I know. There's an admission right there, but so was this like, not my child's ones. But like, was this something where she felt like she couldn't control herself? Well, investigators say that there was absolutely no indication of her ever trying to get help for her daughter.

And Grace herself even started to realize that she wasn't going to get the help she needed. On March 3rd, just days before her death, she texted a friend. I don't think she wants to get me the help which really scares me. I'm going to die. So this is where I felt a little bit confused because I'm thinking she obviously has access to a phone. And she's scared.

So why wouldn't you call 911? I mean, it's just so dependent on her mom that she felt like her mom really was going to help her. And maybe she didn't want to get her mom in trouble. And I also was wondering, like, is there an element because for me it would be out of fear? I mean, not fear of getting caught, but obviously the mom knows what's going on.

But is there an element of the dad in the basement?

“That's why the mom's hiding it is that what's driving them to drown.”

I'm not sure. And she also told a friend, me and her have been fighting really badly and it gets physical.

That came just the night before she died.

“And according to investigators, Grace texted her mom from the bathroom saying she wasn't feeling well at 10-07 PM on March 8th.”

The record show that Gretchen replied and continued sending text messages to her daughter afterward, but none of them were answered. It wasn't until the next morning around 8.15 AM that the 911 call was made. And when detectives interviewed Gretchen, she tried to say that she didn't know what happened and that Grace must have been getting into her stuff. But she eventually admitted that she gave Grace the alcohol and that she also drank heavily herself. And according to The Alpha David, she became emotional and told investigators, "I can't do this. I'm so upset. I feel like I killed her."

Uh, you did. I know. She also reportedly said that she "deserved to go to jail." Amen. Gretchen told detectives that Grace had suffered a seizure the night before she was found dead and later woke up vomiting. But Gretchen believed that she was okay.

And when she asked why she didn't check on her after she stopped responding to those texts, Gretchen reportedly said, "I was scared I was going to find her really sick." And so I kind of buried my head in the sand and I went back to bed, which was stupid. As investigators continued looking into Grace's home life to find out how all of this went unnoticed, which was obviously a lot of our questions too, they learned that she had been withdrawn from public school in the fall of 2025 and was supposed to be attending classes online.

According to court documents, at the time she died, she had only completed one online semester of ninth grade and hadn't participated in any of the activities outside of the home since then. Which obviously is part of why probably some of the community didn't know it was going on, but still your friend isn't in school anymore. They're not coming to the activities that they're supposed to participate in. You'd hope that somebody would have taken that a little bit more seriously. But also aligns with if the drinking started in September, for example, if that's when she was withdrawn from school.

Yeah.

So after a two month long investigation authorities arrested Gretchen on May 15th and charged her with one count of second degree murder in connection with her daughter's death.

She is currently being held on a $500,000 cash only bond.

“So honestly, this whole case is devastating, and I hope that we'll get a little bit more answers.”

Grace is obviously asking for help over and over again, her mom was also worried. So again, that just begs the question, what drove her to start drinking in the fall? Like, what was that catalyst that caused them to both start doing drugs and drinking together, hiding it from their dad? And then obviously now it got to the point where she kind of knew what had happened and then he sent denial about it. I wonder if there was like some sort of like compulsion on her mother's end or like she's being homeschooled and so she's like, oh yeah, have a drink your home and like there has to be something mentally deeper here.

I would imagine. So I had a very, very close friend in high school and and at the end of high school, her parents went through a very bad divorce and her mom became very good friends with her and they drank a lot. And it was not the family you would expect to see that from and it was actually shocking and it reminds me a lot of this because a lot of us were kind of saying like hey what's going on like they're drinking a lot and there is noticeably behavior going on that was not something that would happen.

“And I think in that situation it was that the mother was just going through something so painful and it was nice to have a friend.”

And yeah there and you're the cool mom and the kids are coming around and you feel cool and everybody wants to have your house be the party house. And I mean that didn't last long and thank god nothing tragic happened, but oh my, I know.

Okay, well this one is a rough one and this next case is coming from North Carolina and I have to say it is really shocking when I first heard about it.

I needed to research it because I couldn't make sense of it and it makes me feel so bad for the girl involved even though kind of torn because I think she I mean she is the one to blame. But I also feel for her a little bit. So back on May 7 that deputies were called to a home in Fairview, North Carolina for a welfare check. This was after 41 year old Travis Grant hadn't shown up for work for several days. However, this wasn't the first time that the authorities had been asked to check in on the family.

In fact, deputies had already responded to that same house twice in two days before that. Now according to the sheriff's office, welfare checks were requested on May 5 and again on May 6. So deputies had responded both times, but they said that they didn't have enough information or reason to legally force their way into the home.

Then during that third welfare check on May 7, deputies finally entered the home and when they did, they made a horrifying discovery.

Besides, they found three people dead from gunshot wounds. And investigators believed that these three people had been deceased for several days before they were found.

So as investigators began piecing together what had happened, they realized that someone else was missing from the home in all of this.

Travis and Kimberly's 16 year old daughter star. So they started searching for star and it really didn't take long to find her. Around 4 a.m. the next morning, officers located her vehicle in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and it was parked outside a motel six. Then later that morning, authorities entered a hotel room and they found a star with a 28 year old man named Devon Loving. So investigators said that they believed that the two of them had been in Tennessee for, quote, more than a few days.

Both star at 16 years old and 28 year old Devon were taken into custody and they were questioned. And those interviews led to both of them then being charged in connection with the murders.

During a press conference later that evening, authorities announced that star and Devon had each been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Devon was also charged with abduction of a child because, remember, he's 28 and she is 16. And even though she's only 16, star is actually being charged as an adult and both her and Devon were denied bond. So as news of the discovery and the arrest starts spreading, people who knew this family really struggled to make sense of what had happened. One of stars friends who lived across the streets said that she grew up around the family. She spent a lot of time at their home.

She said, quote, "She would take care of me at school. If like someone was bullying me or something, she would stand up for me. It's so weird to expect my neighbor to do all of that." And it's the one that I grew up with. I was at their house constantly.

She also described stars family as kind and welcoming, saying, quote, "Her family was great to me.

They treated me well. She was an amazing person to me."

“And honestly, that's kind of what makes this case so difficult to wrap your head around because the people who knew this family say that they seemed very normal, very close, very well-liked.”

Nothing about their dynamic seemed like it would ever lead to something this tragic and this horrific, especially at the hand of their own daughter. Now while the authorities haven't publicly announced or established the nature of the relationship between star and devine and investigators haven't announced emotive, I think it is pretty clear what happened here, given little bits and pieces that we've learned. Because a relative since these murders has come forward claiming that star's parents, Travis and Kimberly knew about her 28-year-old, going to say boyfriend, Devine, and that they had concerns about the possible relationship between the two of them before the murders.

According to Travis and Kimberly's niece, family members had learned that star had allegedly been communicating with Devine through a burner phone. He had purchased her this so that she wouldn't get caught. It wouldn't be under the family plan. They could talk in secret, and the parents learned about this. I think we're all still in shock. Brittany Tussie is the grand sneeze. As soon as her parents found out about it, they were like, "No, this is not happening," and we're putting a restraining order on him, and before they were even able to do that, they killed them.

Tussie's convinced the family was angry, Devine loving 28, had become involved with their 16-year-old daughter. The situation where he was constantly going to her work and seeing her, so the last day that Travis was at work, he told his boss and several coworkers that he was going to put a restraining order out, and then he never showed back up at work.

“They most definitely told star that that's what they were doing. They ended up taking the phone from her, and then they told her that more than likely that that's what they were doing, and then that this is how the horrible tragedy played out.”

He buys her this burner phone. He's constantly going to star's work so that he can see her. This 28-year-old predator who has no business being with a 16-year-old girl. And when the parents found out about it, Travis told star, like, "Hey, you better stop this relationship, otherwise I'm going to put a restraining order out on Devine." And what I found so interesting about this, and I wonder if your mind is going there. When I was 17, I was dating a 26-year-old, which in hindsight is the worst mistake I've ever liked.

It was awful. I've shared that before on here, but like worst mistake I ever made and like looking back and like, "What was this sick freak doing?" But dad said when he found out about the relationship that he was going to arrest him and called me, and he called me, and he said, "He was freaking out," and he said, "Amy, I'm going to call the cops and get this guy arrested." Absolutely not, which now in hindsight. I know, if it were me immediately, you don't need to call the cops on there. But I said, "You cannot do that. That is so embarrassing to Annie," and like, "Yeah."

“I think I might have even lightly defended the guy and said, like, "You don't want to ruin his life, it's consensual."”

Like they both like each other, which obviously, I wasn't that old either at the time, so it's like, "Right."

I mean, I wasn't making the best of them. Why dad came to me for advice? No, but it totally reminds me of that, because it's not, I mean, 17 is older than 16, but still your minor. And like, I look back on that all the time, and like, that was a pivotal relationship in my life in a lot of negative ways. And so I thought about that, and like how this guy is just like, praying on her, she's probably like, "Oh my God, this older guy is so into me, my parents are the ones who are getting in the way of this world."

You love, and like, you can't rationalize what the reality truly is and how awful and dangerous it really is. So anyway, what did he say to convince her that this was the right plan? Probably right, they're going to keep us apart, let's get rid of them and we'll be together. And like, I think too, I think I've said this in the past, I think when with the TV shows that are out there right now, the movies that are out there, these kinds of relationships and even crime itself has been glamorized to an extent.

So I could see we're an impressionable 16-year-old girl if he's been like, "It's romantic, we're going to be together, we're going to get rid of your family, and live together, and run away together." She's not quite thinking. Her frontal lobe is in developed. She's like, "Thinking this is the man of her dreams, and it's a fairytale ending." And like, she gets swept up. That's why at the beginning I was like, "I feel for her." She obviously made the complete wrong decisions here, even though they're only allegations right now, and they haven't been proven in court.

But, I mean, I think he groomed her, obviously. So let me ask you in your situation. Like, what would it have taken for that person to convince you to kill that? You killed that multiple of your grandmother.

“That's what I mean. So it's like, did she have a good relationship and not that that matters?”

How do you get to it from A to B? Yeah, that feels like a big. And I'm so sick of burner phones, and like these older ask guys buying burner phones for kids. I thought one for the last, he like, bribed the kid in junior high to give her the burner phone. Like, stop praying on minor children.

I get where that's an incentive, because when I got my first phone, it was like, you're allowed to call me.

And no one else, like mom was like, "You're not allowed to talk." So if someone was like, "Here's a free phone." Well, of course, that would have had like the pages. And when they're like calling from the payphone, because we're all this fuck. So obviously right now, there are still a lot of questions, but with a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man,

both facing triple murder charges. This is definitely a case that I think the writings on the wall, but we also are going to keep a very close eye on. Can I be honest for a second? One of the biggest reasons people struggle with fitness isn't motivation. It's not knowing what to do.

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at her family's luxury wildlife estate in South Africa on June 1st. And if that wasn't shocking enough, it happened just one day after another person connected to the estate was also found dead on the same property.

Caroline Von Rantsau was the Eris to D-A-L, a multi-million-dollar German shipping company,

and she spent a lot of time at her family's estate in South Africa. The property is located on what is known as the South Africa's premier safari region, and serves as both a wildlife reserve and destination for trophy hunting. But on June 1st, Caroline was found dead in our room in the estate from a gunshot wound. Investigators believe that Caroline was shot with a 0.357 caliber hunting rifle,

and reports say that it was the same type of gun that her father had in his gun cabinet. Authorities are still working to determine exactly what happened, and autopsy results have not yet been released, but it's obviously still an under investigation. But here's where the case really takes a very strange turn.

His just one day before Caroline was found dead,

the state's financial manager, 44-year-old Arno Cune,

was also found dead on the property after being shot with a 9-millimeter pistol. An Arno wasn't just some employee, people close to the family described him as a confident mentor, and even a father figured a Caroline. He handled bookings and finances for the estate,

and was reportedly someone very, very close to the family. So naturally, people immediately started wondering whether the two deaths could somehow be connected, and at this point, authorities have not publicly confirmed any connection between the shootings, but the timing all of it has fueled huge speculation online. And then another detail raised some serious red flags,

because some of the early reports, including from the company DAL itself,

claim that Caroline had died in a car accident.

That information was obviously proven false once the authorities confirmed she'd actually died from a gunshot wound, but by then, the rumor mill was in full swing, and the conflicting reports just added to that speculation from the public. Online, people have gone down every single rabbit hole imaginable. Some believe the initial accident reports were just misinformation spread before the facts came out,

but then others have come up with other theories, even suggesting that there may be some sort of larger cover-up that happened. But to be clear, there's absolutely no evidence publicly supporting any of these theories, or speculation at the time, they're just theories, but they do point out some very major red flags.

And as of right now, authorities haven't identified any suspects, announced any arrests or publicly named any person of interest, and they're just left answering, trying to answer some really big questions here. And so for now, they're just trying to uncover some answers to these very big questions. How did two people connected to the same estate?

“And upshot to death, just one day apart, was this tragic coincidence or was something related?”

Is there something bigger going on here? Was there actually a cover-up? My question is, were both of those guns from the same cabinet? That would be very fishy to me, so hopefully we'll have some more information soon, but something sounds a little off there. It's giving succession, and I want to see who was in line to inherit what,

and what the financial manager stealing money for him, and Caroline, was there's something more to that relationship, since they were so close, I don't like it. Did she find out something, did she find out something? Something smells a foot here.

Oh, Brian. I don't like it. I don't like it either. And you know what, I really don't like this next case. I knew you're here.

It is sick AF. It is then raging me, and it's probably going to get me flagged all over YouTube. So all of my YouTube viewers, you may need to pop over to the podcast now to listen to the

“Uncensored version, but it was too important not to talk about.”

But I want to tell you, it is incredibly difficult to hear. So authorities in Alabama have called this one of the worst cases that they have ever investigated. And like I said, the details are absolutely horrifying, so big trigger warning. Investigators in Bibb County, Alabama, say that they uncovered what they believe was a child trafficking ring in an underground bunker.

bunker, drugged, restrained, and then abused by paying adults. Authorities now believe that there are more than 10 victims. But they've also said several times that even today, they still don't know the full scope of what may have happened.

And when I first heard about this case, it's because I saw a video footage of all of these

predators being escorted out of the van and taken into custody.

“So many of you also DMed it to me, and we're like, have you heard about this?”

And this is a pretty big investigation. It first began back in February of 2025 when two children who had recently been taken into State custody started showing signs of what the state called concerning behaviors. When child welfare workers asked where they had learned these behaviors that they were exhibiting, which I'm not going to go into a lot of detail.

You can imagine, you know, certain things that they were doing that only adults do. The children allegedly said that they learned it from a man named William, and that they learned it in what they called a secret bunker. So pretty quickly, investigators located this bunker, and they started looking further into what was going on.

The bunker was originally built as an underground storm shelter.

And when investigators searched for it for the first time on February 5th, 2025,

“they found a bed, a few chairs, a small dresser, a toilet, and a sink.”

But investigators soon learned that it had been used for something much darker than a traditional storm shelter. So for months, authorities worked the case behind the scenes. And then on July 19th, they announced the investigation and the first arrest. Twenty-one-year-old William McKelroy, twenty-one-year-old Dalton Terrell, and twenty-nine-year-old Andres Trejo.

They were all taken into custody on a long list of charges related to child trafficking and child essay. I'm just going to abbreviate it because I know I'm going to get flagged. Now, at the time, investigators say that they had identified six victims between the ages of three and ten years old. They also believed that this ring had been operating for at least a year, starting all the way back in 2024.

And as more court records became public, the allegations became even more disturbing if you can believe that. Investigators alleged that children were being brought to this bunker,

“drugged, restrained, and then exploited by these adults,”

and it also alleged that some of these adults were making what they called appointments and with these kids, making appointments to come and to hurt these children physically, sexually, emotionally, and paying to do so. According to authorities, some of these adults paid as much as a thousand dollars, which I'm sorry, it doesn't matter. They say as much, which like, that is not enough.

But I was like a thousand dollars, exactly. Exactly.

So then just a few days after those first arrests, the case started to expand.

On July 22nd, 23-year-old Timothy St. John was indicted on multiple charges connected to the investigation, including rape, autonomy, trafficking, kidnapping, obesity, and aggravated cruelty to animals, which sick warning right now. If you don't know the term "beastiality," first of all, do not Google it. Okay, I on it, like two years ago, I didn't know what that was.

When I started working with it, and I did Google it, and I did not even know that that was a real thing. I can't even wrap my head around that. It's people who have sex with animals. It's disgusting, it is disgusting. Now, at the time, the Bid County Sheriff said, quote, "Such behavior will not be tolerated in Bid County,

and the offenders will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law." He also stated that investigators expected more arrests to happen, which he was not kidding when he said that. Because the very next day, authorities announced three more arrests. nine-year-old Rebecca Brua, a female, 41-year-old Sarah Terrell, a female, and 44-year-old Ricky Terrell. So you've also heard the same last name going in here. It's a family situation

going on. It's disgusting. I literally had chills this entire time. I know. So disgusted. So by that point, seven people had been charged in connection with this investigation. Investigators set at the time that the scope of this case had grown significantly. The age range of the victims had expanded from three to ten years old to three to 15 years old. It was also said that some of the defendants were actually parents of the victims involved in this case. I had a feeling

because I'm like, where do these children coming from? They've got to be related and someone. This is one I'd be really curious actually for us to tap into Greg at Child Rescue Coalition and see if this is on their radar because we've been talking, unfortunately, lately, about a lot of cases involving CSAM material and children and parents being the ones who are facilitating the transactions and the behavior and selling the material. Yes, exactly. So the share of

said that the investigators had reason to believe that this abuse may have started as early as 2022. Two years earlier than initially believed. He described the bunker as a place that

was indicted. 26 year old Olivia L.M. was charged with multiple offenses including kidnapping

“and trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude. By that point, the eight suspects were”

facing well over 100 criminal charges combined and somehow the allegations in all of this as if it weren't disturbing and bad enough, they only became more horrifying as investigators continued digging into this case. Court documents alleged that everyone had a very specific role in this entire operation. Specifically, they said that Andreas would put quote a white powder into drinks that was then given to the victims before they were brought into the bunker.

They also alleged that Sarah Terrell placed an animal shot collar on some of the victims and used these collars as a form of punishment and also for her own sexual gratification. Sick freak. Authorities now believe that there are more than 10 victims connected to this case. But they have said several times that they still don't know the full scope of what had happened and they also say additional victims could still be identified as the investigation continues.

Now, since the arrests, this case has moved very slowly through the court system as prosecutors continue reviewing evidence. But the last week and the reason why we're talking about it this week in headline highlights even though this all went down in 2025 is because there was a major

development. Rebecca Brewer became the first defendant to take a plea deal. Olivia Elum,

Andreas Treho, William Chase McGillroy, Dalton Terrell, Ricky Terrell, Sarah Terrell, and Timothy St. John all appeared in court Thursday morning for sex trafficking charges. The eighth suspect Rebecca Brewer pleaded guilty to kidnapping and an amended charge of sexual torture. Her case is under gag order. On June 11, she pleaded guilty to nine counts of first degree kidnapping and one count of sexual torture. She had originally been facing dozens of felony charges.

But those charges were of course reduced because of the deal that she took. But the details of that plea deal are sealed under a gag order because the case against the other seven defendants is still ongoing. They don't want to jeopardize any of that. She most likely, I would, you know, 99.9% say that she exchanged a lot of how the operation worked, information on the other people who have been arrested and that was all an exchange for this deal, which is why it's now on a gag order

and sealed. Her sentencing has also been delayed until those cases are finished. But the charges that she pleaded guilty to still carry penalties ranging from at least 10 years in prison to life in prison. Now on the same day that Rebecca pleaded guilty, the upcoming trials for the other seven defendants were pushed back because attorneys are still reviewing that evidence. The court has also

brought in a second judge to assist with the proceedings, though they haven't explained exactly

why that happened. It might just be too much for one judge to handle conflict of interest with too many

“people who are going to be on trial who really knows. But honestly, every single part of this case”

is not only incredibly disturbing and difficult to hear, but in a raging to hear, especially when it's family members involved. Like, for what, a few thousand dollars, you're selling your children, you're selling other children, you're kidnapping other children. I mean, and the fact that the investigator still don't know how many children have been victims in this case, it just makes it even more heartbreaking. And unfortunately, it sounds like there is still a very long road ahead

before all of the facts come to light. I mean, beyond infuriating is, yeah, how I'm feeling, but also just so many questions because like you hear this stuff that happens to kids, which you know, I get very emotional about. And I don't understand how people can disassociate to a level that extreme, I get it. People are motivated by money. You hear about hitmen, drugs, all these things where it's like, you'd really do that for a thousand bucks, but people are desperate. People need money

into a lot of people. A thousand dollars is a lot of money. It is a lot of money, but when it comes to

“kids, the level you have to stoop and disassociate yourself to do anything to a child, let alone”

to this extreme. I can't, it's hard to even imagine that that's possible. And that there are that many people involved. And then you're thinking, it's family. So then when you go deeper, you're thinking, these poor children, what happened to them, but now they're watching their parents allegedly go through this process of getting in trouble for it. So now they're having to make sense of what happened to them. And they don't have family. It's just like, it's too much. It's too much.

Burn 'em all. That's what I am. Oh, beyond. Yeah. All right. So before we wrap up, you guys know, we are starting a new little outgoing segment on here from CrimeCon. We had our anonymous phone in the booth where people could either ask for advice or leave their confession. So we're going to go ahead and play another one for you now, and then we can discuss. Okay, hey, I'm actually here for some

you found out that somebody was committing a crime and you're in a position like there's somebody that's close to you, how do you go about doing that without a little for yourself into all like a month's of danger? Yeah. But thank you very, very much. We love you. We love you so much. And we'll catch you later on next week's vlog. You know, we're going to make sure you like,

comment, subscribe. And as always, pound it, nagging. See ya. All right. So my advice for that would be

“you definitely, if you think they're doing a crime, you need to tell the police or whoever you think”

they are going to commit a crime against. Well, yeah, that's what I was going to say. So is he saying like someone close to you committed the crime and they're confessing to you? I think he's saying that he thinks they're going to commit a crime. Oh, they're going to commit a crime. 100% reported. Yeah. And if you think that you could be in danger, get away from that person. And if they did, it's so my question to you. And if they did commit the crime and confess to you, and you want to

“do something without getting in trouble or you're scared to tell them what would you do?”

I would still go to the police, but I would also distance myself from that person as much as humanly

possible and tell somebody else. I'm basically knocking on this person if anything happens to me,

look at this person. I think that's good advice. So stop doing committing crimes people and hanging out with people or hanging out with people. Now, before you go, quick reminder, merch right now, anti-elease.com and get it before it is completely gone. All right, guys. Well, unfortunately,

“it's very somber note to end on, but that's what we have this week for headline highlights.”

So thank you so much for sticking with us, listening to all of these cases. We appreciate it.

As a reminder, you can go listen to that mega deep dive that released Monday. Also, on my second

true crime podcast feed, 10 to life, new episodes there, every Tuesday. So you have plenty in between both of those feeds to binge. And I will be back with you very soon on Monday, actually, with an all new case. Until then, be nice. Don't kill people. Don't be a freak parent and like be a parent, not a friend for that one and just watch your back. All right. Bye. I'm also a friend of Aldo Nadu and I'm the founder of Yaui, a friend of the art club,

who has been working on art and has been specialized in art and art. My role in shopping, because shopping in the area, in comparison to the other platforms I tested, with at least a few times. I've been waiting for all the questions. All the tools that are important for the development of the government are, for example, from the store, find the right in the dashboard. Now, there are Let's do a kostenlosen test on shopiefire.com.