77: Natalee Holloway Detailed Murder Confession, Dating App Nightmare, Chelsea Grimm, JJ Vallow, & Tim Ferriter
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Hey everybody, welcome back to this week's episode of Headline Highlights over here on Serialistly. It's me, Annie, your true crime bestie, and holy shit, we have got some really mega huge updates to talk about today. Coming first and foremost, there has been an official confession and like a detailed gruesome confession at that regarding Natalie Holloway.

way who I think we all know who has killed her and we've been all wondering for the last not even wondering but we've all known I think for the last like decade it feels like but we now have the details about it and I mean it is very very grisly so we're gonna get into everything today guys

So for those of you who are new, who aren't really sure what Headline Highlights is, it's a segment we do over here on Serialistly, where in addition to the deep dive true crime cases that we cover, we discuss the latest news and everything that's going on in the true crime world. And like I said, today we have got a lot to talk about, guys. I want to start with talking about Chelsea Grimm. Now, I have seen this case a lot in the headlines, and I've seen some of your comments asking me to cover this case.

Authorities in Arizona are looking for a California woman who disappeared more than two weeks ago while traveling solo across the country with her pet bearded dragon. So not entirely solo. Chelsea Grimm left home in San Diego on September 24th for a cross-country trip to Connecticut, where she was heading for a wedding.

Three days into the trip, however, on September 27th, she met up with a friend in Phoenix, Arizona, and she called her parents to say that the drive was taking longer than she thought. Chelsea said that she actually planned to skip the wedding and head back home to San Diego.

Instead, her mother said that Chelsea had planned to take a couple of days and camp, and she warned them not to expect to hear from her for a couple of days. That was the last time that her parents heard from her. Her dad said that she hasn't done much camping since she was a teenager and that her plan was a little unusual.

Chelsea was reportedly spotted at a hotel in Seligman, Arizona after the phone call with her parents. A witness said that she seemed disoriented and was trying to use euros instead of U.S. currency. On September 28th, a police officer responding to a report of a woman acting suspiciously found Chelsea in her car at a cemetery in Williams, Arizona.

Chelsea told him that she was working on a photography project about missing soldiers and had gotten very emotional. She told the officer that she planned to camp in her car that night.

On September 30th, a woodcutter saw Chelsea camping in her SUV near Ashfork, Arizona. He said that overall she seemed okay. But on October 4th, Chelsea's parents reported her missing. On October 5th, hunters found Chelsea's SUV abandoned in the middle of a dirt road near Ashfork.

Both tires on the right side of the SUV were flat. Her cell phone, wallet, clothing, and sleeping bag were not in the car, and her pet bearded dragon was also missing.

Chelsea's mom, Janet, said that she thinks that the fact that the bearded dragon is also missing is a hopeful sign. Her dad, Steven, said that she was spontaneous, that she changed plans a lot. This wasn't the first time that she ever changed a plan, for sure. But he also said,

She was upset with a boy that she was dating. She was scared of him. We feel like she was running away from him. And I think overall that that was affecting a lot of her mindset. Police do not suspect foul play since her car was locked and nothing in the car appeared to be disheveled. But Chelsea's family has hired a private investigator to help local authorities investigate their daughter's disappearance.

Now, a lot of people are talking about this case because it seems like this young girl just kind of up and vanished. She was acting disoriented.

The fact that she was also seen trying to use euros instead of U.S. currency makes me feel initially as though the call to her parents saying she was going camping was forced, not only because she hadn't gone camping since she was younger, but that it was out of the blue. She was on her way to a wedding. That coupled with her being at a hotel,

a man nearby using currency now she has this history of like a date a guy that she was dating and they felt like she was running away from him could this guy a stalker somebody have caught up to her been holding her hostage saying you know or hostage like or whatever it would be saying call your parents tell them you're going camping so that nobody expects you nobody expects you at the wedding nobody expects you going home and

and then maybe I don't know if this guy is European that'd be an interesting detail but like why the euros and not the currency there's just something really odd here other people are questioning could this be like a mental health crisis could she be having a psychotic break maybe suffering from schizophrenia so a lot of the details are unclear but the bottom line is she's missing and nobody has seen her or heard from her since that last sighting so

lot of different opinions out there and just hoping that Chelsea's family does get answers so please share her case wherever you can so that hopefully they do get those answers

Taking that over, kind of sidestepping it, I want to talk about another case, a Facebook dating app nightmare that unfolded. A 29-year-old man in Florida named Caleb Fast was arrested over the weekend for allegedly holding captive a woman that he met through the Facebook dating app, and he apparently kept her in his home against her will for days while he beat and sexually assaulted her.

According to court documents, deputies responded to an emergency call at about 4.53 a.m. this past Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Church in Pensacola, Florida. First responders found the victim, who was not identified, and said that she needed medical attention. Deputies could see that the woman was visibly shaken and nervous and had suffered an obvious injury to her right eye, which was completely swollen shut.

In an interview with investigators, the victim said that she and Caleb had met through the Facebook dating app, and the two had been romantically involved for about two weeks before the attack. She said that she went to Caleb's home voluntarily on Thursday, but claimed that when she tried to leave on Friday, he would not allow her to leave. Instead, she said he grabbed a handgun and told her he would kill her if she tried to leave. Just a fucking psychopath.

She said she believed Caleb's threat because he had punched her in the stomach the previous week and she had been urinating blood. While being held against her will, Caleb allegedly got angry with her and punched her repeatedly in the face. He then allegedly said that he would beat her even worse if she tried to leave.

After some time had passed, Caleb told her to take off her clothes, but she replied back that she didn't want to. So in response, Caleb started hitting her. And at that point, she didn't want to keep getting hit. So she went back to the bedroom, took off her clothes, and Caleb raped her. She was finally able to escape Caleb's house on Sunday when he drank wine and apparently got so drunk that he passed out. After leaving, she ran to that church and called 911. She had told them that she had been locked up since Thursday.

Caleb was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with one count each of kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, aggravated assault, and sexual assault. He is currently being held on a $167,000 bond. He is scheduled to be in court on November 9th for his arraignment.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

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Now,

Dating apps are getting really fucking scary, guys. I mean, there are so many cases, Tinder, Facebook, all of these apps, and so many cases we've gone over in the last few years where...

the murder or a rape happens because of these apps and who they're meeting and people using these apps as a sense of just preying on people. So I think people have to be really sick and twisted to set up an account just to go into this kind of fucking depravity, but that's just my opinion. But it's just a reminder, if you're listening to this and you're single and you're on those dating apps, I don't want to discourage you from using the apps and meeting somebody because they have proven to be effective for people, but

Just go the extra mile and be safe. Tell a friend or family member where you're going. Send them a screenshot of the person's profile that you're meeting because you never really know who it is you're meeting and if they are just a predator who is like lurking on these apps trying to find their next victim. It's really, really scary.

Speaking of predators and scary-ass people, let's talk a little bit about Tim Ferriter, because he was found guilty recently. Now, we've talked about this case a little bit, because the trial was going on for Tim Ferriter, the Florida dad who was accused, along with his wife, of absolutely heinous child abuse.

The background of this case is basically that on January 30, 2022, Jupiter Police responded to a home about a missing runaway, and they found an 8x8 structure within the garage that was described by the mother as a small office.

The structure had a deadbolt on it, and it was locked from the outside, while inside there was only a mattress, a bucket, and a camera. Police located the missing boy at school and learned that he had been forcibly confined and locked in that structure since at least 2017.

Tracy and Tim Ferriter, who are his adoptive parents, allowed him to go to school, but he was reportedly locked inside this structure whenever he returned. Jupiter Police said that his parents would bring him food and made him use that bucket as his toilet. The boy said that Tim once slammed him against a wall by his neck and struck him in the face with an open hand. Other abuse included Tim Ferriter spitting in the boy's face and spanking him with a belt.

Most of his meals consisted of leftovers and said that the abuse happened a lot in Arizona when they lived there for at least five years.

Tim's trial recently ended, and he was found guilty and convicted of aggravated child abuse, of false imprisonment, and neglect of a child. Now, during the trial, the victim testified and said that he never wanted to be locked in the room and stuck there, saying that it was dehumanizing, but also said that he didn't have a bad image of Tim or Tracy, saying, "...they just made a mistake. They were just acting out of frantic surprise of my actions, and they weren't trying to do any harm."

Now, did he really believe that? Was that a component of conditioning and guilt? I don't know. But according to True Crime Daily, forensic psychologist Dr. Sheila Rapp testified during the trial and said that the victim suffers from reactive attachment disorder. She said she does not believe that they were malicious insofar as they were deliberately trying to abuse and hurt their child.

A different psychologist, Dr. Wade Myers, however, said on the stand, it was a longstanding pattern of harsh, cruel, and demeaning actions toward this child, as well as close to three years of essentially solitary confinement when he was not in school, as well as really sadistic punishments while he was locked away in the room.

Tim was offered a plea deal that would have required two years in prison with five years of probation, but he rejected it. It's also reported that he plans to appeal the verdict.

When the verdict was read in court, you could see Tracy sitting in the gallery with her face in her palms, and then later she was crying, probably because she knows that that's what's going to happen to her next, but I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if she takes a plea deal now seeing how it all unfolded for her husband, Tim. It'll be interesting to learn what the full sentencing is.

So now I want to shift gears to Natalie Holloway, because I think for the last many, many years, I know I have, I've known that that creepo, Johan van der Sloot, was responsible for her murder. Her mother, Beth, has just tirelessly been looking for answers. He's been convicted on all sorts of other crimes, but never had confessed to Natalie's murder or his involvement. That is until now.

As a recap, if you are not a millennial and you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me break it down for you. Natalie Holloway, a very promising pre-med student with a full scholarship at the University of Alabama, vanished during her high school graduation trip to Aruba in 2005.

She was last seen leaving Carlos and Charlie's in Orangested, Aruba with Joran Vandersloot and two others. She was never seen again and was reported missing, which if you remember back then, this was an absolutely mega huge story. And it was international at the time. It was everywhere. Of course, we know that unfortunately her body was never found, but she was legally declared dead in 2012.

Well, on Wednesday, Johan van der Sloot, who is now 36 years old, the man who has long been suspected but never confirmed to have killed Natalie, was in court in Alabama. Over the years, he has been arrested multiple times by authorities in Aruba, all in connection with Natalie's murder, but he was released each time due to lack of evidence.

He was extradited from Peru, where he is currently in prison for murdering a 21-year-old named Stephanie Flores, who he strangled after meeting her at a poker tournament at a casino in Peru on May 30, 2012, five years to the day that Natalie disappeared. He later confessed to killing Stephanie in 2012. His

His defense attorney said that the five-year anniversary of Natalie Holloway's disappearance was a factor in Johan's actions, saying that the stress of prior accusations of Natalie's case has always troubled him, which literally doesn't make any sense at all. You're so stressed about being accused of murder that you murder someone? Okay, but make it make sense. Math ain't mathin'. Movin' on.

So Peruvian homicide investigators theorized that he killed Stephanie after she discovered information related to the Holloway case, information that may have been on his hotel room computer, but they don't know for sure. So in court this week, he pled guilty in a plea deal for wire fraud and extortion charges against Natalie Holloway's family.

He was accused of trying to sell information about the location of her remains to her family in exchange for $250,000. What a real stand-up guy, right? Oh, give me $250,000, give me a quarter mil, and I'll tell you where your dead daughter is. Like, what a sick asshole. Part of his plea deal included a proffer, where a defendant gives information that they know about a crime, but they can't be charged. And in the proffer, he finally confessed to killing Natalie.

In his confession transcript, he goes into detail. And just a heads up, this is absolutely gruesome, but I'm going to read the full confession for you. Now, because of his English, it's a little bit broken here and there, so the grammar isn't entirely great, but you will get the gist of it. So, here we go.

He says, plus she asked me to go back to her hotel, but I was just trying to get dropped off a little bit further away from her hotel so we could walk back to her hotel and I might still get a chance to be with her. That's what I was hoping for. So then they ask him what happens.

He says,

He says,

I start to get her to kiss me again and we start kissing each other more and I start feeling her up again, but she tells me no. She tells me she doesn't want me to, to feel her up. I insist, so I keep feeling her up either way.

then she knees me she ends up kneeing me in the crotch when she knees me in the crotch i get up on the beach and i kick her extremely hard in the face she's lying down unconscious possibly even dead but definitely unconscious and then i see right next to her that there's a huge cinder block lying on the beach

The investigator asks, when you say cinder block, I'm looking at the walls of this place. Is it like one of those? Then he says, exact same cinder blocks. I see a huge cinder block laying on the beach. So I take this and yeah, I smash her head in it with it completely. I smash her face and yeah, her face basically, you know, collapses in. Even though it's dark, I can see that her face is collapsed in. After

Afterward, I don't know exactly what to do. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. So I decide to take her and put her into the ocean. So I grab her and I half pull, half walk with her into the ocean. And then I push her off. I walk up to about my knees into the ocean and I push her off into the sea. And then after that, I get out and I walk home.

just so cold so callous which at this point he knows he's not going to be charged but like yeah so I pushed her into the sea and then I walk home which I'm glad that the last way Natalie will be remembered is by fighting off this fucking perverted predator and kneeing him in the balls and refusing his advances that's

That is how she should be remembered. And I'm actually really glad that he shared that detail because he didn't have to. It could have been he could have said a million different things. But the fact that he did say that.

I think just kind of not that Natalie died without dignity, but it just goes to show what a pure good girl she was. And like it reinforces that she didn't deserve this. She didn't ask for this. She was trying to get away from this fucking monster. And he said, no, you're not going to knee me in the balls. I'm going to now smash your face in with a cinder block and dump your body in the ocean. It just shows what little regard he has for life, in my opinion.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

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So in court, he said, I would like to take this chance to apologize to the Holloway family, to apologize to my own family. I would like to say I am no longer that person. I have given my heart over to Jesus Christ, which I'm eye rolling and I can see my brain because I'm eye rolling so hard, guys. Why is it that convicted murderers and gross rapists and all of those people always say they found God in prostitutes?

prison while I think it's believable for some I don't believe it's believable for him that's just my opinion

Natalie's mother, Beth, spoke as well, telling him,

Even though you have finally confessed and confirmed that you are my daughter's killer, you can't be tried here for her murder. And by the way, you look like hell, Johan. I don't know how you're going to make it. Which, let me just say, that is a mic drop moment for her to look at him, say her piece, say her words, and then say, and by the way, you look like complete shit. I don't know how you're ever going to make it. I mean, amen. Amen.

The judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison, set to run concurrently with his murder sentence in Peru, saying, and I quote, "...I have considered your confession to the brutal murder of Natalie Holloway. You have brutally murdered two women who refused your sexual advances. You knew the information you were selling was an absolute lie."

Now, according to Law and Crime, the concurrently running sentence is significant because the murder sentence in Peru is up in 2038, 15 years from now, meaning he will have to go back to Peru now until 2038. And the most that he could serve in a U.S. federal prison is roughly five years. And that would technically be for extorting Natalie Holloway's mother, not for murdering Natalie.

Natalie's mom spoke after his sentencing. Today, I can tell you with certainty that after 18 years, Natalie's case, it's solved. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. It's over. Yaron VanderSloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter's murder. He is the killer.

In the course of his felony prosecution, here for extortion and wire fraud indictment, he gave a proffer in which he finally confessed that he killed Natalie. He described when and how he killed her. He said that after killing her on the beach in Aruba, he put her into the water and that was the last that he ever saw her. That was all verified by a comprehensive and conductive conclusive polygraph test. Even with this confession though, he can't be tried here for Natalie's murder.

But I'm satisfied knowing that he did it. He did it alone and he disposed of her alone. It's been 18 years since Natalie disappeared and Natalie would be 36 years old today. I still miss her every day. It's been a very long and painful journey, but we finally got the answers we've been searching for for all these years. We finally today, we got justice for Natalie.

It feels victorious. I feel like you finally begin to transition from the victim to the victor and begins to make the pain and suffering feel somewhat less intense because you are here, you are at this point, the pinnacle of the journey, and you've gotten justice and you've gotten the answers you've been so desperately seeking. So it felt victorious. I was able to tell Yaron that I think in this long-ending nightmare,

He was able to express things to him that I had been wanting to tell him as far as, you know, telling him who he is. And he is a killer. Now I want to move over to J.J. Vallow because J.J. Vallow's body will finally be released to his grandparents more than three years after he was found in the backyard of his mother's whacked out loser husband, Chad Daybell.

Judge Boyce signed off on a stipulation filed five days earlier by prosecutors ordering his body be turned over to his next of kin, which are his grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock. Kay released a statement through Hidden True Crime saying, The last several years have been filled with pain and grief as we traveled this long road. We have waited and prayed for this day for so long, and we are immeasurably relieved that JJ will finally be laid to rest.

We have spent the past days immersed in the memories of the love and happiness that JJ shined and continues to shine on our life. As we reminisce in the joy that JJ filled our life with, our hearts ache for those that love JJ and share in the immense grief and loss of such a beautiful little man. We are anxious to find out when Tylee too can be laid to rest.

They also said in a statement, And I just have to say, I am so happy that JJ's body is finally being released to his grandparents. It has been such a long road for them, and so now they finally do get to lay him to rest, and

take his body, wrap him in love and be able to grieve and heal. And it's just really a full circle, beautiful moment. While we wished, of course, for a different outcome in this, as far as him still being alive, I am just happy that they are finally getting this piece of closure for them.

So that's where we're at this week with headline highlights. We will see what else happens in the late breaking hours at the end of this week, but that's a lot. That is a lot to take in for this week, and I'm glad that Natalie's parents finally are having the closure that they have so desperately longed for.

longed for for the past almost two decades now JJ's grandparents are getting his body so they can begin to heal I'm hoping that Chelsea Grimm's family gets answers as to where she is and I'm just hoping that we get more healing and more answers rather than more uncertainty and questions in so many of these cases

So thank you guys so much for tuning in with me today on this segment of Headline Highlights. Let me know what you think in the comment section on Spotify and let me know in the review section where you can write a custom review over on whatever podcast app you're listening to this on. I'm curious if you love this segment. I know a lot of you guys do, but I love hearing your thoughts.

I will probably do a deep dive on Natalie Holloway as well in the future. So if that's something you're interested in, definitely let me know. But as always, thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Headline Highlights. And I will see you bright and early Monday morning with a new deep dive on a brand new true crime case. And spoiler alert, you might want to follow the podcast because I might see you earlier than Monday with something that might be a little bonus. So follow the podcast so you don't miss that. All

All right, guys. Thanks again. It is your bestie Annie signing off. Have a great weekend and stay safe. Bye.

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