Mother Killed & Baby ABDUCTED: What Happened to Christine & Vanessa Holloway?

On December 2, 2019, 43-year-old Christine Holloway was found dead in her home, her young baby Vanessa missing. Her boyfriend, 48-year-old Jose Morales was immediately under suspicion, as he was high, unhelpful with police, and just generally unconcerned for his dead girlfriend and missing baby. Further questioning and investigation led police to charging Morales with beating Christine to death and trying to clean the crime scene afterwards. Vanessa is still missing to this day. Anonymous tips: https://tip411.com/tips/new?alert_gro... https://tip411.com/tips/new?alert_group_id=21553&fbclid=IwY2xjawHATXlleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXeZGarQEHryvdgKDOlvPn_IMznqRT7_KT9ynjeMgblF1Bi5t_AVkfxTqg_aem_2_bZyRx7gtJyzSwE0JZCkA Facebook: / 477930012830043 https://www.facebook.com/groups/477930012830043/ This episode is sponsored by: Delete Me http://joindeleteme.com/tckr - promo code: TCKR Merit Beauty http://meritbeauty.com Quince http://quince.com/tckr DIME Beauty http://dimebeauty.com - promo code: - promo code: PODCAST20 Cash App https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb - Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Cash App Green, overdraft coverage, borrow, cash back offers and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. — Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [email protected] mailto:[email protected] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

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• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:03Kendall Rae?

  Hello everyone and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me, and if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. And man, I just realized that I am looking a lot like this polar bear. Do you see this, people? My son is huge. Not only that, I also have a Diet Coke. Anyway, you guys, the case that I'm going to be talking to you about today, I am beyond surprised that, one, more people aren't talking about it, and, two, that I had never heard of it. This case absolutely needs more coverage because we're going to be talking about the

• 1:41Kendall Rae?

  murder of Christine Holloway and the abduction of her 14-month-old daughter, who is still missing to this day. And there is a chance that she is out there somewhere. This case is just heartbreaking in every way, absolutely devastating. And it's been six years since it occurred, and the fact that baby Vanessa is still out there, she's, would no longer be a baby at this point, is really... Eerie to think about, but a very real possibility. And I just feel so, so badly for Christine's family, who still doesn't have answers about where Vanessa is.

• 2:26Kendall Rae?

  I really hope through this episode today, we can offer their family some support. In fact, my team and I are going to be reaching out to their family and see if there's any way that we can help through my foundation, Hire Hope. And now let's go ahead and jump in. And I want to start, of course, by telling you more about Christine Marie Holloway, who was born on Halloween in 1976 to her parents, Deborah and Terry. She was the eldest of five siblings, and from a young age, she really developed a knack and passion for nurturing her brothers and her sister. Taking care of others just came easily to Christine, which actually led her to study psychology in college. And she was even the first person in her family to graduate with a college degree. Her loved ones say that she was definitely the golden child

• 3:10Kendall Rae?

  and that she had the most contagious, big belly laugh that you'd ever heard. And from what I was able to learn about her, it seems like there was really two main pillars in her life. That was family and faith. Christine was Catholic, and she was part of this group called the Columbiets, which is a women's Catholic organization. And everyone said that she was as patient as a saint. They also all say that she would really do anything for anyone, especially anyone in her family. She was very close with all of them, especially her niece and nephew. Whenever she was off work, especially after work, she would go and spend time with them and they would puzzle together. Christine was really into puzzling, so that was something they really enjoyed to do all together. And, you know, it's these qualities about Christine

• 3:55Kendall Rae?

  that make it so fitting. That Christine's job was at a childcare center. She worked at Bright Morning Star Childcare in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she was known for being an attentive and reliable caregiver for the children that went there. And part of the reason that she worked there was also so that she could spend time with her own daughter when she was there. And her name, like I mentioned earlier, Is Vanessa. Now, being a mom was something that Christine had always wished for. And in 2018, that wish came true when she and her boyfriend, Jose Morales, got pregnant with a baby girl. And from the moment that Vanessa was born, it was just obvious to everyone that Christine was destined to be a mom. And that was very evident in the way that she cared for her.

• 4:39Kendall Rae?

  Now, as for Vanessa's relationship with her dad, it's safe to say that they were a lot less close. Jose had two kids from a prior relationship, and they lived with him during the week at his mom and stepdad's house in New Haven, Connecticut. And then on the weekends, he would stay with Christine and Vanessa at her apartment in Ansonia, which is about a 30-minute drive. The two of them met on a dating app a few years prior to 2019. And as a couple, things were pretty turbulent, from what I've read. And I'll dive more into that later. But right now, the most important thing to understand is that Christine and Vanessa were totally attached at the hip. And it's also important to know that Christine was really known for her reliability.

• 5:24Kendall Rae?

  So much so that when she didn't show up for work on December 2, 2019, her boss called the police and asked for a welfare check. The call to the Ansonia Police Department came in at about 1:00 p.m., and an officer was dispatched shortly thereafter. And for my audio-only listeners, Christine rented out a second-floor apartment of a third-car garage. And right away, the officer noticed that something was a bit strange because it had just snowed the night before, and temperatures were still incredibly low, yet he could see that two of her windows were open, a skylight window as well as a bay window. Yet when he knocked on the door, nobody answered. And there were no sounds coming from inside the house either. And in these winter conditions...

• 6:10Kendall Rae?

  The open windows definitely made him wonder and worry. However, because there was no reasonable suspicion, the officer left. And meanwhile, Christine's family also got word that something may have been wrong. Her boss Rosie had contacted one of her brothers and her brother's girlfriend Jody about the fact that she didn't show up to work. And because they live nearby, Jody went over there herself to see if Christine was home. And at first, she did see fresh footprints in the snow, which made her wonder if someone had been there. But nobody came to the door and she didn't hear the sound of, you know, anyone behind the door or Vanessa crying or anything like that. So her next thought was maybe they were just still over at Jose's mom's house.

• 6:55Kendall Rae?

  Because they were there for Thanksgiving, so she goes over there. But when she gets there, Jose acted like he didn't know anything about Christine not showing up for work. All he told her was that he saw them that morning around 7:00 a.m. as she and Vanessa left the house. So Jody's reaction was to call the local hospitals, thinking maybe they had been in an accident. And when that didn't pan out, she ended up just calling the police department to explain their concerns. And of course, we know that a welfare check had already taken place. But thankfully, when they pushed for more to be done, they listened. In fact, after learning from Jody that Christine often spent her weekends with Jose at his mom's house where they lived,

• 7:38Kendall Rae?

  they decided to give him a call on a recorded line.

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• 10:44Speaker 08

  A girl here that's saying that she's the sister of Christina Holloway? All right. Is that Christina, your girlfriend? Yeah. Okay, she's saying that she couldn't contact her all day today. She said that she talked to you today and that you said you saw her leave this morning. I'm not leaving in the morning to go to work, nobody. Who is she, who is she with when she left over at 2423? Is that your baby as well? Yeah.

• 11:10Kendall Rae?

  But Jose quickly changed his story. He goes on to say that he had only ever spoken to her on the phone and that the last time he had actually laid eyes on her was Friday afternoon.

• 11:22Speaker 08

  Oh, that you guys both left her house together this morning? No, I talked to her. Okay, so you talked to her this morning? Yeah. At 7 o'clock when she was leaving for, leaving for work? Yeah. When's the last time you saw her? Uh, Friday. Friday. Find her because like everybody's concerned because they haven't talked to her. We're more concerned about, you know, your daughter, your, your, your daughter. Oh, your daughter? She won, you won. What is, what does she drive? Uh, my, my Honda 2002. 2002 Mazda 2002? What color is it? Gold. Gold?

• 12:06Speaker 08

  Yeah. Who has the Ford Fusion, you know, or the Ford Focus? No, no. Does she have another car, a black car? No, neither of them.

• 12:17Kendall Rae?

  So clearly, the change in story was suspicious to them right off the bat. And Jody even confirmed that he definitely told her that the two had physically saw each other that morning. But that wasn't the only bizarre part about this phone call because the comment that he made about the kind of car that she drove was weird, too. So it turns out that a week before this, Christine had got a new car. She got a black Ford Focus and Jose apparently helped her pick it out. Yet, for some reason, he told them that she still drove her old car and that he knew nothing about this other one. Mind you, that Ford Focus was still parked outside of her apartment.

• 13:01Kendall Rae?

  So with all of this, around 8:45 PM, two officers returned to the apartment to conduct their second welfare check. They both approached her unit and walked around the immediate vicinity, and one of them even went around the neighborhood to ask if anyone remembered seeing anything. And someone did report seeing Jose hanging around outside earlier that day. And this time, there was enough concern for Christine and Vanessa's safety that the officers decided to just go ahead and kick down the door.

• 13:31Speaker 09

  Earlier today, we had a person technically just to try to make contact with that number six and a half murder lap. They came out, they said, nobody's home. She's a mother of a one-year-old. She always shows up at work. She always contacts us. We haven't heard from her. This is really, really bad. We have a bad feeling. Talked to boyfriend, boyfriend says, I haven't, I haven't seen her. There's a couple of windows open on the second floor, which is really odd because obviously it's freezing out. I can't get into the house. I'm gonna kick in the door in a minute. Police department.

• 14:02Kendall Rae?

  And as they entered her house, there was a brief moment where things seemed okay, but then, within seconds, one of the officers shouted for the other. Because there, in the bathroom, was 43-year-old Christine Holloway's naked body, so badly beaten, that they knew they couldn't save her.

• 14:22Speaker 08

  Oh, ****, butt. Oh, ****, dude. Holy ****. Get the DB here.

• 14:27Kendall Rae?

  As you can tell in that footage, this discovery was just beyond traumatic. And as soon as her loved ones learned what had happened, they could hardly wrap their minds around it. They could hardly believe that it was true.

• 14:40Speaker 10

  And I just remember my husband freaking out. Danielle got a call. That they're taping her house off. I collapsed in the lobby screaming, "No, no, no, no, no." And I remember my husband saying, "She's gone." I said, "Stop saying that. We don't know what's going on." And I'm like arguing with him. And he turned to me, grabbed my hands, looked me in my dead in my eyes and said, "She's gone."

• 15:05Kendall Rae?

  A medical examiner would later determine that Christine had suffered at least eight blows to the head with a weapon that they believed to be a hammer. However, no weapon was ever found, so that's just a best guess. With or without it, though, they knew that this was not an accident. And so a homicide investigation kicked off right away. But it wasn't just a homicide investigation. There was also a missing person. Baby Vanessa was nowhere to be found. And like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we still do not know where she is to this day. And while the search for her isn't over yet, I do still have some hope that they will find her. So immediately after the discovery of Christine's remains,

• 15:48Kendall Rae?

  investigators began to process the scene and they quickly realized that it actually didn't look like the attack happened in the bathroom, even though that's where her remains were found. Substantial blood evidence was found in the hallway area, not far from her daughter's crib. However, someone clearly tried to clean it up. And when state police forensically examined the place, they found signs of blood on the walls, the rocking chair, the rug, a container of toys, and also on some stuffed animals, which is just beyond disturbing. There was also a wet, red-stained rag that was found in a bucket under the sink. And that same sink was later determined to have bone fragments in the pipes.

• 16:32Kendall Rae?

  Plus, there was a single pink infant's croc that didn't have a matching pair, which also had blood stains on it. So obviously, this was a really eerie and disturbing crime scene. And something interesting that they noticed, though, was that the rest of the house was relatively clean. Besides two overflowing recycling bins that were filled with water bottles and beer cans, both inside and outside, the house was relatively well-kept. It wasn't like anything had been stolen. There was even a candle lit. Plus, let's not forget that the front door was locked when those two welfare checks occurred, suggesting that whoever left her in there in that condition

• 17:17Kendall Rae?

  had to have had a key. And I'm sure you can see where this is going, but Jose, of course, quickly became someone that they wanted to speak to immediately. And so, early the following morning, on Tuesday, December 3rd, he was picked up at his parents' house, and he voluntarily came into the police station for an interview. And the strategy here was to not let Jose know that they knew Christine had been killed. They basically said they wanted his help to find her and Vanessa because both of them were missing. And honestly, he sounds pretty incoherent during the interview, but I thought it was important to play some of it so you guys can hear how it went down.

• 17:57Speaker 11

  Even though the door is kind of closed, I mean, you're free to leave. We brought you here to talk to you, and I understand you're...

• 18:03Speaker 12

  I'm free to leave. Why not walk all the way home?

• 18:06Speaker 11

  No, we'll give you a ride. I'm just saying you're not held captive here, not like you're not...

• 18:11Speaker 12

  So why, what I came here for?

• 18:13Speaker 11

  To talk to you.

• 18:14Speaker 12

  About what?

• 18:15Speaker 11

  We're trying to find Christine and your kid.

• 18:18Speaker 12

  Oh, right, well, that's, that's exactly what I've been trying to, I've been trying to call her too.

• 18:23Speaker 11

  So then?

• 18:24Speaker 12

  We're on the same page.

• 18:25Speaker 11

  Okay, good. It's, I'd rather have it that way. When's the last time you talked to her?

• 18:29Speaker 12

  I talked to her, I think, was Monday morning, when she was going to work.

• 18:34Speaker 11

  So that was yesterday morning, Monday. About what time?

• 18:36Speaker 12

  Early in the morning.

• 18:38Speaker 11

  Okay, so that was talking on the phone or in person?

• 18:40Speaker 12

  On the phone.

• 18:41Speaker 11

  On the phone. Did she say anything? Was there a problem? Was there any kind of issue? No, no argue? Did you hear anything in the background?

• 18:49Speaker 12

  I didn't hear nothing.

• 18:49Speaker 11

  She didn't sound like she was having any problems? Did she sound different?

• 18:53Speaker 12

  Well, it was super fast. It's like she couldn't be on the phone.

• 18:57Speaker 11

  But just giving you short answers and trying to...

• 18:59Speaker 12

  Like quickly, I probably spoke to her for less than a minute, probably. Quick, quick.

• 19:04Speaker 11

  And that's not normal?

• 19:05Speaker 12

  That's not normal. Well, it is, and it is, there's some time this week. For a while, sometime. It was early in the morning, it's, uh...

• 19:13Kendall Rae?

  The fact that this man even remotely tried to say that he wanted to help find them is such a massive load of shit. I learned that during the 38-minute drive to the police station. This guy, not once, not a single time, did he ask about his daughter. Instead, he was talking about how nice the squad car was and how he lived a sober lifestyle. Mm-hmm. Just listen to this.

• 19:42Speaker 11

  We want to find her one-year-old. And we need your help. I want to find her too. Well, we need your help. It's the only reason we brought you here.

• 19:49Speaker 13

  I mean, because if I went, someone came to my house and said, "Vanessa's missing," and that's my one-year-old daughter.

• 19:56Speaker 11

  I'm worried. That's why I keep trying to call my kids.

• 20:01Speaker 11

  The whole "right here," you talked about everything but her. The whole "right here," you didn't talk about a one-year-old daughter that's missing. I don't get that. That's my daughter. Yeah, that's, we want to find her. And you're, the only reason you're here- Is to find her. Is to help us find her. Alright, so let's find her. So where is she? I don't know.

• 20:23Kendall Rae?

  His concern was so opposite of genuine. It's very obvious to anyone, I think, that sees this footage. And you could tell that the investigators felt the exact same way. So they decided to question him about the timeline of the weekend. But he stuck to his story about seeing her that previous Friday afternoon.

• 20:45Speaker 11

  Did you stay over this weekend? No. You didn't stay over there this weekend? No. Do you normally stay over there during the weekend? Sometimes I do, yeah. Not normally, but sometimes I stay over there. Alright, so when's the last time you saw her in person? Friday. And where was that? At my house. At your- Where you picked me up, yeah. She was there? Yeah. Okay, with Vanessa? Yeah. Okay. And when did she leave on Friday? Somewhere in the afternoon or around six, I think. So at night, evening, like around dinnertime? Yeah. Alright. Did she leave by herself? Yeah, with Vanessa. With Vanessa? Yeah. So make sure I got this right. She left your house, or your parents' house, on Friday- Yeah. With Vanessa? Yeah.

• 21:30Speaker 11

  And you didn't go with her? No. So where'd you stay over the weekend? I stayed with my friend Hector. Hector.

• 21:40Speaker 12

  He lives in the city, man.

• 21:42Kendall Rae?

  Now, this whole Hector piece is very important, and it's also verifiable. Not to get ahead of myself here, but investigators spoke with him later on, and it was confirmed that they weren't together that entire weekend. Hector actually lied at first and said they were, but then later admitted that Jose asked him for an alibi, asked him to lie. They were only together for part of the weekend, and there were several stretches of time where Jose was unaccounted for. During this interview, though, they didn't know any of that. They had, however, spoken to Jose's stepdad, and he gave them some very important information. He told investigators that Jose told him

• 22:26Kendall Rae?

  that he and Christine were going to her apartment together on Friday. He didn't say that he was going to Hector's. Yet, when he was confronted with this, Jose tried to say that his stepdad was probably just confused.

• 22:39Speaker 11

  Jose, when did you go to Hector's house? Friday. When Friday? Friday night. And when did you come home? During the day, not sure. End of day? During the day, not sure. During the day? Jose, did you tell your parents where you went on Friday? Yeah. Listen. Yeah, listen what? Your dad said you went to Christine's Friday with her. Why would he tell me that? He said that I went to Christine's. Yes. Friday, that's why he thought I was. You said you told him where you went. And if you told him you went to Hector, he wouldn't tell you. She got her own car. Right, but why would he tell me that you went to Christine's if you told him where you went?

• 23:24Speaker 11

  Why would he tell? He probably assumed. No, you said you told him where you went. I told who, my father? Yeah, you just told me, you said you told him where you went.

• 23:33Speaker 12

  I told my father where I went.

• 23:35Speaker 11

  Yeah, that's what you told me. And that's what I said. Why did then why did he tell me you went to Christine's if you did?

• 23:41Speaker 12

  I told my father that I went to Christine.

• 23:44Speaker 11

  That's what you just told me about thirty seconds ago.

• 23:48Speaker 12

  Oh, I'm not sure. You're missing my words.

• 23:51Kendall Rae?

  Now, as the interview continued, Jose had the audacity to tell investigators that he and Christine weren't actually that close. Which, by the way, completely went against everything that Christine's family had to say about their relationship.

• 24:06Speaker 12

  We have boyfriend-girlfriend.

• 24:08Speaker 11

  You guys are.

• 24:09Speaker 12

  Yeah, but we're not that close either. Because she got her own place, she do her own life, she live, she got her own apartment. We're not that close.

• 24:17Speaker 11

  Right.

• 24:18Speaker 12

  It's like, we have a baby.

• 24:20Speaker 11

  Yep.

• 24:21Speaker 12

  Well, it's not like she my girlfriend-girlfriend. We say that, we use that word very lightly.

• 24:26Speaker 11

  Yeah.

• 24:26Speaker 12

  But we have a baby together. That happened, it happened, so I guess I have to assume a little bit of responsibility. By helping her out a little bit.

• 24:35Speaker 11

  Yep.

• 24:35Speaker 12

  So, yeah, no, so we in love with the baby. So we let her come over and stay over at our house. And holiday and things like that for see the baby.

• 24:44Speaker 11

  So you do all that for Vanessa?

• 24:46Speaker 12

  Yeah.

• 24:46Speaker 11

  It's not for Christine?

• 24:47Speaker 12

  It's not for Christine, it's for Vanessa. Yes, I agree.

• 24:51Speaker 11

  So your family likes Vanessa?

• 24:53Speaker 12

  We love Vanessa, yeah. We really, we really, we really don't like Christine.

• 24:58Speaker 12

  She said she okay, you know, but, alright, that's it.

• 25:02Kendall Rae?

  The way that this slob did his interviews really made everything so very obvious. That slip up at the end there is really everything, right? To go from, "We don't like Christine," to, "She's okay." And investigators used that slip up to see if he would slip up again when talking about their last contact. And they totally caught his ass in another lie. Remember how he said he spoke to her on the phone on Monday morning? Well, when they asked him to bring up his call log, that specific call wasn't there. They found other calls from that day, but not one from the morning of the second with Christine.

• 25:43Speaker 11

  Can you, uh, would you, would you, uh, show me the phone call? That you made to Vanessa? Monday morning, on your phone, please.

• 25:53Speaker 12

  That's me trying to call her.

• 25:55Speaker 11

  You got a whole bunch of phone calls from today, that's...

• 25:58Speaker 12

  Me trying to call her. Cause I was worried, so I keep trying to call, keep trying to call, keep trying to call. It goes straight to voicemail.

• 26:07Speaker 11

  Did you erase stuff?

• 26:09Speaker 12

  I, I always delete all my, I, I pretty much delete it. I delete all my calls all the time.

• 26:15Speaker 11

  You didn't delete these seven, though.

• 26:18Kendall Rae?

  He also, yet again, lied about what kind of car she drove and continued to deny knowing where the two of them were. And eventually, he did ask to leave, which legally, they had to agree to. But before he left, they did two things. For one, they confronted him with the fact that a witness saw him leaving Christine's place on Monday morning, which went against what he said about last seeing her on Friday. They also took possession of his clothes, which he certainly did not like that. And during that time, they found bruising, swelling, and abrasions on him, which unsurprisingly, he didn't have an explanation for.

• 27:00Speaker 11

  You realize that somebody saw you leaving Christine's house today?

• 27:06Speaker 12

  How's that?

• 27:08Speaker 11

  It's not important, who?

• 27:10Speaker 12

  Today?

• 27:12Speaker 11

  Well, not Tuesday, Monday. You were at the house Monday, leaving. Where's your daughter?

• 27:19Speaker 12

  I'm right here, Mom. Now, now we can go.

• 27:22Speaker 11

  You can go, are you gonna bring us?

• 27:26Speaker 11

  I told him, the reason he's here is because somebody saw him leaving the house Monday. Hold on a second, hold on.

• 27:31Speaker 12

  Well, you guys taking me home?

• 27:33Speaker 11

  Yeah, we're taking you home, but we're taking your clothes first.

• 27:35Kendall Rae?

  After this, they drove him back to mommy and daddy's house, where the conversation actually ended up continuing there. And there's footage of it. And during this conversation, the officers decided to share the truth about Christine.

• 27:49Speaker 11

  We know where Christine is.

• 27:52Speaker 08

  You know where Christine is?

• 27:53Speaker 11

  Yes.

• 27:53Speaker 08

  Oh, you got my mama?

• 27:55Speaker 11

  Yes.

• 27:56Speaker 08

  Well, what about the baby?

• 27:57Speaker 11

  Uh, Christine's dead.

• 28:01Speaker 08

  No, no, no, no, no, no, no, what was it?

• 28:05Speaker 08

  We're on the tour!

• 28:08Speaker 08

  We're on the tour!

• 28:09Speaker 11

  We're looking for... Your son, this, this, this, this, trying to light on our situation.

• 28:15Speaker 13

  We're working with right now.

• 28:18Speaker 13

  We're investigating, so I'll let you know this, it's a homicide.

• 28:21Kendall Rae?

  They also confronted Jose about Christine's new car, which he was now saying he knew about all along.

• 28:28Speaker 13

  We can't find the car that he says she's always driving. But we find, we know where the car is that you say that she's driving.

• 28:35Speaker 08

  They know why?

• 28:36Speaker 13

  Yeah.

• 28:37Speaker 11

  When I asked you about her buying a new car, you said you knew nothing about it.

• 28:40Speaker 12

  No, I know about it.

• 28:42Speaker 11

  Well, why did you say you didn't know anything about it?

• 28:43Speaker 12

  I know about it, but first time.

• 28:45Speaker 13

  Jose, we also just took your car.

• 28:47Speaker 12

  The car is gone?

• 28:48Speaker 13

  Yep.

• 28:49Kendall Rae?

  And he literally just continues to crash out to dig himself deeper and deeper into a deeper hole.

• 28:58Speaker 12

  I don't know, I don't know, but you want me to come up with an idea, make something up? What you want me to think? What you want me to say? To just invent a situation?

• 29:10Speaker 12

  I don't know. I don't know, I don't know.

• 29:13Speaker 13

  What were you doing that?

• 29:13Speaker 08

  You gonna have to break the door in there to get in? Walking her house all day?

• 29:18Speaker 12

  I don't know.

• 29:19Speaker 08

  Why you mean you don't know?

• 29:21Speaker 12

  I was at, I was at Hector.

• 29:25Speaker 08

  When?

• 29:25Speaker 13

  How was he, how does he not know where he was yesterday? It's not even 24 hours later, how does he not know that?

• 29:31Speaker 12

  I say I was at my boy Hector.

• 29:35Speaker 11

  Oh, you weren't, because you were leaving the house at 1:49.

• 29:39Speaker 13

  We have him on video leaving the house, and we also had.

• 29:42Speaker 12

  On video?

• 29:43Speaker 13

  He was there.

• 29:44Speaker 08

  Today?

• 29:45Speaker 12

  On video.

• 29:46Speaker 13

  Monday.

• 29:47Speaker 12

  There is nothing that I can tell you, I don't know.

• 29:49Speaker 13

  Were they in a serious relationship?

• 29:51Speaker 08

  Yeah.

• 29:52Speaker 13

  Well, he said it was.

• 29:53Speaker 12

  Oh, we wasn't a serious relationship.

• 29:55Speaker 13

  They were dating, so he's gonna say you were.

• 29:58Speaker 12

  I was at his house, I was at with him. I was with him.

• 30:01Speaker 13

  On Monday.

• 30:02Speaker 12

  The weekend, the weekend.

• 30:03Speaker 13

  No, Monday. Well, you just said you were with Hector on Monday. You said, I don't remember what I was doing on Monday.

• 30:09Speaker 12

  I was with Hector on the weekend, the weekend.

• 30:12Speaker 08

  What about Monday? They asking about Monday.

• 30:15Speaker 13

  Listen, you don't have to answer, and you are putting up a lot of walls.

• 30:20Speaker 12

  It's not that a lot of walls.

• 30:22Speaker 13

  Yeah.

• 30:22Speaker 12

  Maybe my brain is messed up, maybe my, I don't, I, I, I'm not clear minded person. No, I FaceTimed you from Hector's house, make you believe that I was with her.

• 30:34Speaker 12

  Did you see her? Did you see anything in the background? You saw my face on FaceTime? I was making you believe that I was at Christine's, but I, because I didn't want you to think that I'm out with my friend partying.

• 30:43Speaker 13

  So where, where were you FaceTiming with? What phone were you FaceTiming with?

• 30:47Speaker 12

  With Hector's.

• 30:48Speaker 13

  Do you, do you have your phone?

• 30:49Speaker 12

  Yeah.

• 30:50Speaker 13

  Alright, so then you should have Hector's, uh, contact.

• 30:52Speaker 12

  No, no, no.

• 30:53Speaker 13

  You should have Hector's contact.

• 30:55Speaker 12

  No, no, no, no. I was FaceTiming with the...

• 30:58Speaker 13

  But that's not Hector's number.

• 30:59Speaker 12

  No, no, no, not Hector. I was FaceTiming my mom.

• 31:04Speaker 13

  With Hector's phone, you said?

• 31:05Speaker 12

  No, no, not with his phone. With my iPad. With my iPad.

• 31:09Kendall Rae?

  So obviously, that iPad was taken in to be examined, as well as both of his cellphones. And shocker, that iPad connected to a wifi source at Christine's apartment over the weekend. His two cellphones also pinged on cell towers near her street. Plus, like I said, a witness reported seeing him outside of Christine's place on Monday morning. And this neighbor said he saw Jose carry something to his car shortly after 1pm, which was after the first welfare check, and that the two of them actually stopped briefly to talk about the weather. He said he remembered Jose returning to the house and then 20 minutes later, he left again, which was confirmed by surveillance video.

• 31:53Kendall Rae?

  Jose's car could be seen leaving her neighborhood less than an hour after that first welfare check, which means he was actually likely inside when the officer knocked on the door. And that neighbor wasn't the only witness from that weekend. A different neighbor said that he was almost positive that he saw Jose getting into his car on Sunday, December 1st, with Vanessa. And think about it, this would have been one day before Christine was found and after investigators believe she was killed. Because based on their calculations, they think she died early on Sunday morning. And I do feel like the piece about him putting Vanessa in the car seems to get brushed over a lot.

• 32:37Kendall Rae?

  What if what the neighbor said he saw is true? That means Jose had an entire day with Vanessa. With his daughter, that's unaccounted for. And I'll speak more to this later, but like I said in the beginning, I do think it's possible that she's still alive. And this is a big part of that. Also, when Christine's apartment was forensically examined, they never found evidence to suggest that Vanessa got hurt. None of the blood found in the apartment was hers. And also, a few of her belongings were missing as well. And investigators have yet to find those items.

• 33:12Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Ashkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 33:26Speaker 04

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant. So I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 33:37Speaker 03

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 33:43Speaker 05

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 33:48Speaker 03

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 34:08Speaker 00

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• 35:39Kendall Rae?

  In a press conference early on, a lieutenant had stated that they were looking for the public's help in finding her. And they're also looking for people to keep an eye out for Vanessa's polka dot blanket, Reko car seat, and gray Eddie Bauer First Adventure backpack diaper bag. These are all belongings that investigators believe may have stayed with her, assuming that she was given to someone alive. And at that same press conference, a $10,000 reward for information leading to her return was announced. And of course, at this point, we all know who investigators are looking at as their primary suspect. It's pretty damn obvious. But of course, there wasn't any concrete proof yet, so they couldn't just arrest him. But they did arrest him for something else.

• 36:24Kendall Rae?

  Jose was arrested on December 3rd after they found two stun guns in his house during the execution of a search warrant. Turns out, he was previously convicted of a felony, so he wasn't legally allowed to have those. And that worked out nice in their favor because this was enough to keep him behind bars until an additional arrest could be made. And in the meantime, they just kept... Digging for evidence, which wasn't too hard to find. It turns out there were multiple surveillance cameras that captured Jose coming and going from Christine's neighborhood that weekend. And while of course, all of it is incriminating, there's one specific video that I want to highlight. Just after 6:00 AM on Sunday, December 1st,

• 37:08Kendall Rae?

  Jose's car can be seen on Derby Avenue, headed in the direction of St. Michael's Church. He's not seen at the church because there weren't any cameras there, but he is seen going that way. And then about 15 minutes later, he drives back towards Christine's apartment and is seen stopping at a gas station where he attempts to buy cigarettes, but his car declined. Here's why that matters. On December 5th, investigators got this bizarre phone call from an employee of a nonprofit. It's called Kiducation, and they happened to have a donation bin set up at St. Michael's Church. And the caller tells investigators that while one of her employees was going through the bins,

• 37:50Kendall Rae?

  she found several items with blood-like stains on them. And she also found some mail, which was addressed to Christine Holloway. And when she Googled the name, she saw that she had been recently murdered, and she realized she needed to call the police. Isn't that insane? And I just have to say how amazing it is that she actually called, because I feel like we're living in a time where a lot of people would be like, "Mm, not my business, not my problem", or wouldn't have even taken extra time to Google her name or really look much more at it, maybe just have tossed it aside. I just thought it was really cool that she actually made that call. And crucial to this case, and within five minutes of making that call, a team of officers showed up and, man, they found a lot.

• 38:35Kendall Rae?

  They found bloodstained children's clothes, toys, pillows, a towel, books, male clothing in Jose's 3XL size, and female adult clothing, as well as a single pink children's croc. And I'm sure a lot of you have already figured it out, that was the matching pair to the single croc that was found at Christine's apartment, the one that had blood on it. And when these items were tested, it was confirmed that the substance was blood and that it was a match to Christine. They also matched her DNA to bloody towels found in Jose's shower and after processing his car. They confirmed that her DNA was on a large black contractor's trash bag located in his trunk, as well as in other areas inside the vehicle.

• 39:19Kendall Rae?

  Even his shoes had a "tissue-like" material on them that they linked back to her. Plus, and this is really upsetting to think about, but when they found Christine's body, she actually had some hair in her hand, almost like she had tried to fight off her attacker. And when they tested that hair, who did it belong to? Jose. So the truth was just impossible to ignore by this point. And the discoveries didn't end there. It turns out that back on December 1st, a man had placed a 911 call to the Insonia Police Department. The call came in around 2:00 a.m. and, spoiler, it came in from Jose's phone,

• 40:03Kendall Rae?

  which pinged at a tower not far from Christine's apartment. And on that call, he can be heard slurring his words, of course, saying, "Myrtle Avenue," which is the street that her apartment was on. He didn't give a specific address, though, and he really can't be heard saying much else. But when investigators listened to the audio closely, they did hear a woman's voice in the background saying, "Stop, hang up, who are you calling?"

• 40:53Kendall Rae?

  And an officer actually was dispatched to Myrtle Avenue shortly after this, but nothing looked suspicious, so they left. All that to say, this call was just even more proof that Jose was with Christine when she died. And investigators finally felt like... They had enough at this point. So on February 7th of 2020, Jose was charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence, and he received a $5 million bond. He wasn't charged with anything related to Vanessa's disappearance, although he currently remains the only suspect there as well. And no surprise here, but on February 18th of 2020, he pleaded not guilty. And no surprise here either, but at this point,

• 41:38Kendall Rae?

  he had completely changed his story about what happened to Christine. About two weeks after his initial arrest, he ended up telling investigators that he was, in fact, at Christine's apartment on the night that she was killed. But according to Jose, and God, I couldn't even make this shit up if I tried, he claims that he was high on PCP. Yeah, PCP. And when he was high on the PCP, two intruders broke into the apartment. So yeah, you're seeing where this is going already, right? And he goes on to explain that these two intruders were the ones who actually killed Christine and abducted Vanessa.

• 42:22Kendall Rae?

  That's right, you guys. He told them this crazy story about being high on, quote, "angel dust", and how after they broke into the house, one of the men knocked him out, so he wasn't able to protect the girls. And there is more to his tale, which I will get to in a minute. Um, but yeah, isn't that crazy? And he has stuck with this story over all of these years. And he's even used the drugs as an excuse for why he lied initially. He actually told investigators that the drugs made it so he couldn't remember what happened. But as the effects wore off, he started to piece it together. I'm sure all of you agree that this is a load of shit. It doesn't even make sense, not even how drugs like this work.

• 43:07Kendall Rae?

  And I know Christine's family definitely doesn't believe him. And sadly, they had to wait years for justice. Despite his arrest in 2020, Jose didn't go to trial until April of 2025. And during that time, the Holloway family just had to hope that he would confess the actual truth. There was even talk about a plea agreement in exchange for information on Vanessa's whereabouts, but- Nothing was ever agreed upon, and this naturally led to a lot of frustration in their family. And the police were frustrated too with the lack of movement in the case. But his trial did eventually come, and man, we definitely learned a lot. So when it came

• 43:49Kendall Rae?

  to the defense's argument, we obviously know the story that they had to spin because Jose really already spun it for them. They had to argue that Jose was high on PCP when these two strange men came into the apartment and they were responsible for the abduction and the murder of Christine. The prosecution, on the other hand, they didn't believe that he was on drugs at all. They argued that there was no evidence to suggest that he took any, and that the only evidence of intoxication at all came from the alcohol that they found in those recycling bins. And FYI, because I'm sure some of you are wondering, the toxicology report showed that Christine had no alcohol in her system

• 44:33Kendall Rae?

  at the time of her death, suggesting that Jose was likely the person who had consumed it all. Drunk or not, though, the prosecution argued that he was an abusive boyfriend, and ultimately, at a domestic dispute, resulted in her murder. They pointed to text messages between the two where he was clearly controlling and manipulative with the hope that the jury would see Jose for the monster that he is. And as each witness took the stand, the truth got clearer and clearer. In the first few days, there was just a lot of basic testimony, setting the scene, and going over the evidence, things like that. And the jury also heard from Christine's boss, the officers who conducted the welfare checks, as well as from the medical

• 45:17Kendall Rae?

  examiner. They also heard testimony from Christine's landlord, who happened to be working in the garage below her apartment on Sunday, December 1st. And he spoke about the loud noises he remembered hearing coming from her unit. Apparently, it sounded like someone was moving furniture, which the prosecution believed was when Jose was moving her body to the bathroom and cleaning up the scene. There was also testimony from Christine's neighbor, who claimed that he saw Jose outside of her apartment that day as well. But, truth be told, at the end of the day, the state didn't necessarily need witnesses or even cellphone data to convince the jury that he was there. I mean, we already know that he admitted to being inside. And, to my surprise,

• 45:59Kendall Rae?

  this moron decided to take the stand in his own defense. And he also ended up admitting to the tampering with evidence charge.

• 46:10Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 46:25Speaker 04

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to "I'm deathly allergic", in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 46:36Speaker 03

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 46:41Speaker 05

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 46:47Speaker 03

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 47:07Speaker 15

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• 47:40Speaker 16

  So after I rolled the bag, I went outside to the front of the apartment to the deck to smoke.

• 47:50Speaker 17

  Okay, and what did you do on the front of the deck?

• 47:53Speaker 16

  I started, I smoked the bag of dust. When I went outside to smoke, it was on one o'clock in the morning. I got super high. I got disoriented. Everything got blurry. I couldn't see clear. I was stumbling. I stumbled my way inside of the apartment. I left the, um, the screen door closes itself. I left the door open because I, the front door was, I left it ajar, whatever. And I walked right inside into the bathroom.

• 48:24Speaker 17

  And what'd you do in the bathroom?

• 48:26Speaker 16

  In the bathroom, I sat on the toilet.

• 48:28Speaker 17

  Okay, so at that point, you were in the bathroom. You looked out the window. What did you see and what did you do?

• 48:35Speaker 16

  From across the street, I saw movement first. And then I saw two individuals walking on the sidewalk across the street. One of the individuals started walking across the street towards the apartment and he did a bit of a jog towards the apartment. When I saw that, warning signs and bells and alarms went, started running through my head. I tried to work my way out the bathroom to close the front door. But because I was so intoxicated, I couldn't really move. So I stumbled my way out the bathroom and made it to, to right where the bureau is at.

• 49:18Speaker 16

  Because I was so intoxicated that I couldn't do what I really wanted to do. I went in my pocket, I grabbed my phone and I dialed 911.

• 49:28Kendall Rae?

  The 911 call ended up being played for the jury and Jose confirmed that it was Christine's voice in the background. However, he said that she wasn't aware of the two men approaching the house. And after that was when the fatal attack happened.

• 49:42Speaker 16

  I got hit on my, the right side of my face. I lost my balance. I already had no balance to begin with, so I fell. I got on my floor and I got hit right around my chest area. I stood there, laid out on the floor, high. I'm listening, but I'm on the floor and I can hear that there's a struggle going on. In the bed area, there is a fight. I hear screams. At the same time, I hear that somebody leaves their apartment. I see that somehow Christine got away from whoever it is that she was fighting with and tried to run out the apartment to go after the guy that left the apartment with Vanessa.

• 50:27Speaker 16

  The guy that she was struggling with was chasing her, but she doesn't get that far. She gets to in between the carpet and the tiles. She either trip or collapse. The half of her body is on the tile, the other half of the body is on the carpet. The guy that's running behind her stops and hit her with a crowbar. He gets up, he start pacing, "Bitch, you scratched me." That's what he says. He hit her two more times.

• 51:01Kendall Rae?

  And as for why he didn't do anything or maybe call for help? Well, Jose said that he tried, but one of the intruders threatened to hurt his daughter.

• 51:12Speaker 16

  I tried, I tried to do something, but I can't because I'm stuck. I'm PCP and I'm stuck. I couldn't move. I was on the verge of passing out, of blacking out on the PCP. So the only thing that I can do is scream. I try to scream, "Stop." He looks at me, he's pointing at Christine with the crowbar. He's looking at me. He said to me that if I call police, the same thing will happen to your daughter.

• 51:41Speaker 17

  Did those words have an effect on you in regard to your conduct the next two or three days?

• 51:46Speaker 16

  Yes, I was afraid to call the police.

• 51:48Speaker 17

  Tell the ladies and gentlemen in the jury what happened next.

• 51:51Speaker 16

  Well, I got up, I stumbled my way into the doorway, and I looked to see where he was going. And I saw him go towards the corner. At the same time, I saw his headlights coming in.

• 52:02Kendall Rae?

  I think the number one question that we all have, though, is why not call the cops anyway? If this was really true, if, and obviously it's not, but if it were, there is no reason why anyone wouldn't have called the police. And to make things even more maddening, Jose said that after these so-called intruders left, he dozed off on the bed for an hour or two, just took a nice little nappy nap. And then when he woke up, he said that he just freaked out and started cleaning up the evidence. But the fact of the matter is, and this is really the prosecution's whole point here, why would you clean up a crime scene if you are not the person responsible?

• 52:47Kendall Rae?

  Riddle me that, that just, no one would do that. But according to Jose, he just did it because he was in a haze from the PCP, that there wasn't really a good reason for it. He just wasn't thinking and he was scared, so he started cleaning it up. And as for why he lied in the first place, we already know, we've already been over this. He said that it was because of the drugs. He couldn't remember afterwards. He had to wait till they wore off. And what's interesting about the way Jose's memory works is that he can't seem to remember what happened, but he was able to easily recall everything that didn't implicate him. And his defense attorney really, really tried to sell it.

• 53:31Kendall Rae?

  I mean, they, they gave it a good, honest try. And in the end, they argue that there just wasn't any evidence linking Jose to the murder itself. Sure, he cleaned up the crime scene, but that was it, according to them. They said there was a lack of intent, no murder weapon, and questionable evidence pointing to his responsibility. In fact, foreign DNA was found under her fingernails. And it wasn't a match to Jose. Plus, I guess surveillance footage captured a car leaving her neighborhood in the early morning hours after her murder, and that car wasn't Jose's. And they claimed that that was the car of the intruders. And lastly, the defense really emphasized that 911 call he made.

• 54:12Kendall Rae?

  In their eyes, why would someone call 911 before committing a homicide? And yes, I will say that part is strange, but Jose is strange. And I'm sure there is a reason that makes sense for that 911 call being placed. And I think it's really important that at the end of the day here, we remember that oftentimes, the most obvious answer is the correct one. Jose was there when she was killed. We know this. He admitted to disposing evidence, and there was a documented history of his control and manipulation over Christine. He literally admitted to dragging her body from the hallway to the bathroom, undressing

• 54:54Kendall Rae?

  her, yet we're supposed to believe he didn't also kill her? Not to mention the fact that he was coherent enough to drive to go buy cigarettes, but supposedly not coherent enough to call the police? I mean, come on, who is buying that shit? Also, let's not forget that Jose came and went from her apartment multiple times on that Sunday, and he could have gone to the police any number of times. And yet, he didn't. And actually, according to his own statement, he continued smoking PCP, which let me remind you, we don't actually have proof that he smoked it. We only have his word, and his word doesn't mean a whole lot, does it?

• 55:36Kendall Rae?

  And so, in the end, the jury did not believe his word. And after only two hours of deliberation, they found Jose guilty of first degree murder and tampering with evidence. And this was understandably a huge relief to her poor family, who finally got justice for Christine after years of waiting. But of course, it didn't take away their pain.

• 56:00Speaker 18

  Good morning, Your Honor. Thank you for the opportunity to address the court. My name is Anna Radonsky, and I am the youngest of six children. Christine Holloway is my first niece. Debbie, Chrissy's mother, is my oldest sister. My other sister Kathy died at 34 years old of lymphoma, and that was the worst day of my life. I didn't think I would experience another worse day like that. However, my beautiful, brilliant, kind, caring, spiritual niece was brutally murdered on 12/2/2019.

• 56:41Speaker 18

  How does one even begin to start to tell how this has affected my life as well as our family and friends? I would like to start with some background about Chrissy. She loved children, she loved her job and taking care of so many adorable children at the daycare where she was employed. She was passionate and full of love. They say the worst pain is a mother losing their child. I watched my mom suffer through the loss of my sister, 34-years-old, and now I watch my other sister suffer through that same loss without Chrissy, and then some with Vanessa still missing.

• 57:20Speaker 18

  In preparation for Chrissy's funeral, our family tackled it as a team. We each had a job to do, and my task was to go to the Gates of Heaven Cemetery and make the arrangements. As we drove that day, so many thoughts were going through our hearts and souls. Vanessa's still missing. When we arrived at the cemetery, we were welcomed by the staff with opening and carrying arms. We had to ask them if there is a way they could dig the hole for Chrissy a little bit deeper in case Vanessa had to join her. Your Honor, how this murder has affected our family and friends cannot be described.

• 58:02Speaker 18

  What was done to my niece, Christine Holloway, is unforgivable and disgusting, and that monster continues to lie. Where is Vanessa? How could someone be so cruel? I hope that he stays in prison forever, forever and ever, so he can't hurt anyone else ever again.

• 58:20Kendall Rae?

  I swear that has to be one of the most devastating victim impact statements that I have ever heard, especially the part about her asking the cemetery to dig Christine's grave a little bit deeper in case Vanessa had to join her. And thankfully, Jose wasn't spared. When everything was said and done, a judge sentenced him to 65 years in prison. And considering he was in his 40s, this was essentially a life sentence. But we can't forget that this isn't total justice and this family still does not have answers. Baby Vanessa, who would be seven years old now, is still missing. And that's why it's important that we keep talking about this case. Jose has never been charged with anything

• 59:05Kendall Rae?

  related to her disappearance. However, he remains the only suspect and he still denies having anything to do with it. And I mentioned it before, but investigators and family members do believe that it's possible that she could still be alive. And I have to say, I completely agree with them. I think there is a pretty good chance that she's still out there. And let's remember why. They never found any evidence that Vanessa was hurt. Out of all that blood that they found, none of it was linked back to her. And I'd like to believe that Jose is too stupid to hide her that well after all of these years. And I personally do believe that neighbor who claims to have seen Jose putting Vanessa into his car on

• 59:47Kendall Rae?

  that Sunday. And I think it was possible that she was then given to someone else. And what was really relieving to learn is the fact that their community really came together to try and find her, which I'm sure meant so much to Christine's family.

• 1:00:01Speaker 19

  I just couldn't believe the amount of prayers and support from people all over the US that don't even know us and, you know, looking out for Vanessa. And the community of Antonia made flyers and was standing on every corner, passing them out to cars that were going by of Vanessa. Every store, you know, had her face posted. I was blown away because you don't see that then or Now, you know, where people all come together for somebody.

• 1:00:35Kendall Rae?

  Now, since those early days, investigators have said that the leads in her case have started to dry up, which makes sense with time, of course, but they have also said that they aren't going to let this case go cold. They're not going to give up. One lieutenant said, quote, "This is not a case that we're going to put in a box on a shelf somewhere. This will remain active until we get that answer." Their community has also continued to spread the word about Vanessa's disappearance, and I'm hoping that this episode will push her circumstances out to new people. There's a Facebook page that I will link below for you guys that I want to encourage you to follow if you use Facebook. They continue to post about Vanessa, and I know that they would absolutely appreciate an influx in following and support.

• 1:01:18Kendall Rae?

  So if you even want to leave a comment, just say something encouraging and kind. I have heard directly from a lot of families that that really means a lot. Necmech has created an age progressed photo, and I'm going to keep it on screen here for a minute for my YouTube viewers because I really want people to be aware of what she might look like now. These age progressed photos oftentimes are very accurate. When I visited the Necmech headquarters, I got to see how they do it. The process takes a long time. They are extremely skilled. And so, yeah, really try to soak in this image. There were rumors that she might be in Puerto Rico because that's where Jose was originally from, although that's truly just a rumor. And I just have to say, I truly do not believe that his parents are involved based on their reaction to the news.

• 1:02:02Kendall Rae?

  They didn't try to defend Jose at all. I really appreciate that. And as for Christine's loved ones, they believe Jose is fully aware of where Vanessa is, but don't have any leverage on him to get him to give that information up. And unfortunately, he really doesn't peg me as the type of guy who's going to suddenly develop a conscience and... Give her family those answers just because. I know they won't stop looking for her, though. And if anyone out there knows anything, the $10,000 reward still exists. Like I said, I do plan on reaching out to their family to connect about getting them a HOPE grant and maybe there's something we can collectively do to help. So if you want any updates on that, you can always follow Higher Hope's Instagram at HigherHopeOrg.

• 1:02:46Kendall Rae?

  And lastly, before I go, I want to share that tips can be made anonymously via a link that I'll share in the description box and show notes of this episode. And you can also call the Ansonia Police Department at 203-735-1885, or N-C-M-E-C at 1-800-843-5678. Really, really tough case, but also really important. So thank you to everyone who watched or listened to this episode. I know that their family probably really appreciates you all taking the time to hear about Vanessa and Christine's story.

• 1:03:30Kendall Rae?

  That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.

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