Leah Hickman

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2:26Today, I'm discussing the case of Leah Hickman. When 21-year-old Leah went missing from Huntington, West Virginia in December 2007, the entire community rallied together to find her. Within days, her family was speaking to national news outlets. digital billboards displayed Leah's picture and information, and her employer offered a$10 ,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts. But just a week after Leah was reported missing, the hopes of finding her alive turned to absolute horror when she was found. And despite statements from authorities stating that they know who did this, almost 20 years later, Leah's loved ones are still waiting for justice.

3:14This is the case of Leah Hickman. In December 2007, 21-year-old Marshall University junior Leah Hickman has just aced her final exams, which means she can now let out a huge sigh of relief and focus on celebrating the holidays with her family and friends. Leah is extremely ambitious. She's studying journalism with hopes of becoming a TV news anchor someday. Her mom, Sherry Russell, said that Leah really just wanted to be in a position where she could make change and influence others for good. And it does appear that Leah was well on her way. On Friday, December 14th, a few days after classes end for the semester, Leah and her half-sister and roommate Jessica head out to the mall to do some Christmas shopping.

4:01They're there for about two hours and leave around 11am. During this trip, Jessica praises her younger sister for the improvement she's made in her writing. She would later recall that this was a really special moment for them. And really, Leah seemed uniquely well-positioned for this career path because she was already kind of this pillar of the community. She was a Mason County native, and her father, Ron Hickman, had been the Mason County Assessor in West Virginia for over a decade, and was up for re-election again. Leah spent a lot of time publicly helping her father with his political campaigns.

4:36She was also a prominent member of her church. All signs pointed to Leah achieving her goals. But Leah and Jessica go to the mall, do some Christmas shopping, and return to their apartment in Huntington. Leah calls her mom around 1.30, and she convinces Leah to go back to the mall with her and her stepbrother that evening for more Christmas shopping. Leah also had plans for later that night. She was going to go to the nightclub that her best friend from high school worked at, and stay the night at her place. Jessica confirms that Leah packed a bag for that night. Around 3, Leah speaks to her dad.

5:12He says that she was excited about her grades and coming home for the holidays. Now, Jessica had plans to stay with her boyfriend that weekend. So she also packs up some stuff and leaves the apartment sometime around 4. Before leaving, she solidifies her regular Sunday plan to have breakfast with Leah at Bob Evans, and says she last remembers Leah just washing some dishes. At some point, Leah logs into her MySpace account, and at 5.40pm, Leah makes the last call from her cell phone. She calls a friend to say that she's going to McDonald's, and talks about her plans to buy some cleaning supplies, and then clean her apartment over the weekend.

5:53We know that Leah makes it to the McDonald's and back home. The receipt was later found in her apartment. But she never shows up to meet her mom and stepbrother at the mall. They were supposed to call Leah when they got to the mall. But it turns out that Leah's stepbrother left his phone in the car by accident. And Leah actually had her mom's phone at this time. There appears to be some sort of battery issue with Leah's phone at this point. So Sherry and Leah's stepbrother leave the mall around 7. and Leah's mom immediately calls her when they get to the car, but it goes right to voicemail. At this point, she just thinks that Leah's upset at her because they missed each other at the mall and that she didn't call like they planned.

6:35She keeps calling until about 11pm, but eventually she gets the message that Leah's mailbox is full. Leah also never shows up at the nightclub. Her friend calls and hears that Leah's voicemail is full too, But she assumes that her friend just fell asleep after a very hard week of acing her final exams. On Saturday morning, Leah's mom continues to call her cell phone, until she finally just reaches out to Jessica to ask her to go to the apartment to see what's going on. But when Jessica gets there, she's stunned when she sees that it doesn't look like Leah ever left. Leah's car is there, as are her keys, purse, and the bag she packed.

7:18At 1.01pm, Jessica logs into Leah's MySpace page, and she posts, quote, Oh sister, where are you? End quote. Leah is scheduled to work that night from 5 to 9 at Dress Barn, so her mom tries calling the store, thinking that Leah must just still be upset. But it's the middle of the busiest time of the year, and she only gets a busy signal or eternal ringing with no one picking up. Leah's dad Ron makes the hour drive from his house to Leah and Jessica's apartment Just to see what's going on But again, there's just no Leah And all the calls from her friends and family are being met with her voicemail being full Then, when Leah misses her breakfast date with Jessica on Sunday morning She begins calling emergency rooms and searching for Leah herself Then her mom finally gets a hold of someone at Dress Barn And they tell her that Leah never showed up for her shift This appears to be that breaking moment when they realize that something is really, really wrong here Leah's manager Peggy says that Leah was the type of employee to call if she was going to be even just a few minutes late in traffic Not showing up and not calling was just something that Leah never did So at 4.48pm, Leah's mother files a missing persons report with the Huntington Police Department And the search for Leah begins immediately In addition to a huge show of support from the community, the Huntington Police Department spared no expense in finding Leah.

8:52They even fly in dogs from California who specialize in eliminating scents. Her friends and family are putting up flyers everywhere. By Wednesday, Jessica's on MSNBC to talk about Leah, and Dress Barn announces a$10 ,000 reward for information leading to her. By Thursday, that reward, right along with Leah's information, is being displayed on digital billboards, and there's a vigil for her that night. On Friday, Jessica's back on MSNBC, and the community holds a benefit concert to add to the reward fund. The concert was held at a bar named Marley's Doghouse in Huntington, but during the concert, the venue goes silent as the TVs broadcast breaking news.

9:36The body of a young woman was found in the crawlspace of Leah's apartment building. This is the season for all your holiday favorites. Like a very Jonah's Christmas movie and Home Alone on Disney+. Did I burn down the joint? I don't think so. Then, Hulu has National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We're all in for a very big Christmas treat. All of these and more streaming this holiday season. And right now, save big with our special Black Friday offer. Bundle Disney +, and Hulu for just$4.99 a month for one year. Savings compared to current regular monthly price. Hence,$12.1. Offer for ad-supported Disney +, Hulu bundle only.

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11:11While law enforcement does say that they need to do further testing, they also really don't beat around the bush. They say that the woman recovered is very likely Leah. And of course, they later confirmed that it was. She was found at about 5pm. Forensic investigators were on the scene until 1am. And Leah wasn't removed from the crawlspace until the following day. 19 hours after she was found. Even the mayor came out to the scene that night. She was sent to the medical examiner in Charleston. Few details have been released about Leah's autopsy, but we know that she was killed on December 14th, she was strangled, and she was not sexually assaulted.

11:59It took authorities a few weeks to tell the public any of this. Most early reports include statements from the Huntington Police Department Stressing the importance of not revealing details in Leah's case And the public was not happy But they rallied around Leah and her family in ways that I rarely see in true crime cases Dress Barn closed on December 22nd and 23rd out of respect for Leah Two of the biggest shopping days of the year And they took the$10 ,000 reward fund to help pay for her funeral Leah's mom said that 72 dress barn stores participated in giving, which makes them our hero of the week.

12:40What really amazed me is that when patrons were met with this sign that the store was closed in honor of Leah, they weren't upset. Instead, they made a makeshift shrine for her. Leah was incredibly loved. Her family rents the largest venue in town for a public memorial for Leah. it holds 500 people. They were anticipating 1 ,000, but more than 2 ,000 showed up. The following day, her loved ones held a private burial for her where she was laid to rest in a baby blue casket, her favorite color. Of course, with this massive show of support for Leah's family, people also wanted answers. Why did this happen?

13:28And especially, who did this? The Huntington PD was and is keeping a lot of information close to the vest in this case. But what they've said repeatedly over the years is that they believe whoever did this likely knew Leah and the layout of her apartment. They did receive extreme criticism for not finding Leah earlier. Everyone wanted to know how Leah was in that crawlspace for an entire week without being found. So let's dig into that a little bit. According to reporting from WSAZ News in Huntington, Leah's body was wrapped in plastic. But most major reporting on this case never mentions this.

14:12And I never found a solid source of this statement. So take that for what you will. It was also quite cold during this time. Remember, we're in December. So it was about 17 to 37 degrees Fahrenheit, which some experts have argued may have greatly slowed down decomposition enough to have prevented even the best-trained dogs from finding her so soon after her death. The crawlspace Leah was found in was underneath the laundry room, so some have cited that the many smells may have confused the dogs. but outside of that let's examine the area leah was found and her apartment building like i said she was found in a crawl space this was located in a common laundry room in the basement of the building she was not behind a closed door but she was also not in plain view investigators say that they only found her because they were running through possible foul play scenarios and where someone might hide or hide her.

15:16An investigator was crawling on his hands and knees into this space when they found her. It was so difficult to get into, the owner of the building said that he'd never even been in there. Now, it is worth mentioning that he was a new owner of this building. The police did instruct him to limit his comments to the media, so we don't know a lot, but we do know that he bought the building in April 2007. the same month that Leah and Jessica moved in. There were four units total, so it's not some huge apartment building with tons of tenants. Actually, Jessica and Leah should have been the only residents in the building at this time.

15:55Of the four units, two were empty. Jessica and Leah rented one, and the other was leased to a man who was out of town the weekend Leah was killed. However, the owner says that there were some renovations and repairs being done at this time, There were some leaky faucets being repaired, and they were installing a new water heater. Whether the owner was doing these repairs himself or hiring an outside company is unclear. So while news reports state that there were several access points to this area, and everyone in the building had access to it, I think it's really important to remember that Jessica, Leah, and possibly the owner or some plumbers should have been the only people in the building at this time.

16:40There was also no access to this common area from the outside of the building. But that doesn't mean they couldn't have just walked in the front door. Either way, the Huntington Police Department has been adamant from the beginning that if there were some type of threat to the public, they would be obligated to let them know. So it seems very likely that whoever killed Leah was someone close to her. Of course, the question is, who? The Huntington PD has said that whoever did this left DNA and trace evidence That they made many mistakes They just need technology to advance And unfortunately, despite many rounds of testing over the decades In facilities locally, in Quantico, in Phoenix, and more Have yielded no results Like many things in this case, they have not revealed what they're testing But they are testing a lot According to statements from her friends and family, Leah didn't have any enemies.

17:42She had gone out on a few dates with a man recently, but Leah's family says that he was pretty devastated to find out that Leah was missing and then that she was killed. One of my first thoughts was maybe Leah met somebody at Dress Barn. As of just a few years ago, her dad says that people are still coming up to him to say how Leah helped them put together an outfit, and how sorry they are about everything. Maybe someone met her and just became obsessed. But of course, that is just pure speculation, which is a lot of what we have in this case because so few details have been released. There are so many rumors online in this case, many pertaining to Leah's sister Jessica, and possibly an ex-boyfriend of hers that may have lived with them at one point.

18:30Many say that Jessica didn't seem sad enough for them at Leah's funeral or when she did media. In fact, the criticism was so bad that she stepped away from it altogether. Jessica said that the anxiety was just too much, and it began to negatively impact her career. Leah's best friend Caitlin even jumped in to defend Jessica, saying that the sisters were close, they got along well, and didn't often fight. There's obviously quite a bit of information that law enforcement has that we do not. I mean, they've said as much many times over the years. but I also found one statement that tells me they likely know who did this and just don't want to compromise the integrity of the investigation.

19:13They say Leah's case isn't a whodunit. It's a how do we prove it. So the list of potential suspects in this case is probably pretty short and obviously extremely private. Despite the massive pop of media when Leah went missing and when she was found, I think the lack of detail in her case has really caused it to fade from the media. There just wasn't much for reporters to work with. We know Leah was likely killed by someone who knew her, and the layout of her apartment building, but they won't name or eliminate any suspects publicly. They just keep saying they have a good idea of who did this, and hopefully in time DNA will prove it.

19:57And really, Leah's case just sits for seven years. until April 2014, when there's a major renewed interest in her case after someone spray paints the words who killed Leah Hickman on the outside of her apartment building.

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21:30Much like the investigation into who killed Leah, law enforcement isn't saying much about whoever vandalized her apartment building. They do say that the date that this event happened doesn't appear to be significant, and that two different types of paint were used. The new owner of the building puts up a reward for information leading to the vandal, but as of recording this episode, that person hasn't been found. Or if they have, they are not telling us that. After this, every anniversary article reads about the same. Police still have DNA. They think it's someone close to the case. And they hope that testing will produce positive results.

22:15We are left with so many questions in this case. And I think that's in large part because law enforcement instructed so many people to be quiet in this case. The owner of the building, Leah's family, and of course, law enforcement themselves have said very little. We know that Leah's car and laptop were taken and analyzed, but the results have never been made public. We don't really know if Leah's mother's cell phone was ever recovered, or if Leah's cell phone with the bad battery was analyzed. I couldn't even find a clear answer about whether or not Leah and Jessica's apartment was locked that day.

22:54or if they really did have a back door that someone could come through. There's conflicting information for almost all of that. But I think the layout, the access, how whoever did this got in and put Leah there is the key to this. So honestly, as frustrating as not having those answers feels, it makes sense to me why law enforcement wants to keep it private. They say the DNA sample they preserved will last 40 years. As of recording this episode, it's been about 17 since Leah was killed. As much as I wish we had the answers now, I just hope that over the next 23 years, they can use that DNA to finally bring whoever did this to justice.

23:38Which brings me right to our call to action. As of 2022, Leah's father Ron says he doesn't want Leah to be forgotten, and her pastor is still appealing to the media to help find answers. So please share her case. We know media can move mountains, and maybe a new spotlight on her will help shake something loose to get all those answers her loved ones and the public have been asking for.

24:13As a reminder, Leah Hickman was 21 years old when she was killed in Huntington, West Virginia on December 14, 2007. She was white, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was 5 '2 and weighed 125 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call the Huntington Police Department at 304-696-4420. You can also submit tips anonymously through their tip line at 304-696-4444. But, as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time. Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice Media Original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player.

25:09It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice.

25:20Thank you.

26:10Welcome to the secret after show. the door is open, our emotional support puppies are in the room with us, and they are here to comfort us all along the way. I don't have anything for what's going on with me this week, so I'm going to skip right to the case. Let's talk about why I picked it. Honestly, I feel like I just kind of fell in love with Leah a little bit. I saw the case, I believe, first on Reddit, and I was just kind of like shocked and horrified and whenever I think it's whenever I see cases that have these shocking discoveries like her being in this crawl space and some of the very

26:56um graphic descriptions of her in there despite people never seeing that information doesn't exist and people were making up these very graphic descriptions and it horrified me and whenever I see a case that horrifies me and then I go and look and don't see that it's that there's a ton of coverage in the true crime community that makes me want to cover it that tells me what's going on here why is this so sensational and why is nobody talking about it that always makes me want to take a deeper look into it because there's always some reason it's not being covered and I think here it's because it's a shorter episode there's less information unless you want to spend 45 minutes speculating, which you surely can.

27:40People have certainly done. That is not my style. If you want to do that, you can find all those rumors and speculation on Reddit because there's a lot. But that's why I picked it. I saw that so many people cared for Leah. I mean, my goodness, if I dropped dead today, 2 ,000 people would certainly not be at my service. I think that's a huge show for how loved she was that coupled with these horrific details and the lack of recent coverage, I should say, just made me want to help. On to media discrepancies. There was a lot, and I think that's because there was so little information. Her being wrapped in plastic really got to me.