WEBVTT 00:00:08.269 --> 00:00:10.810 The views and opinions expressed in Cold and 00:00:10.810 --> 00:00:13.710 Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All 00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:16.129 parties mentioned are considered innocent until 00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:18.949 proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing 00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:22.410 also contains adult themes and languages. Listener 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:26.269 discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin 00:00:26.269 --> 00:00:28.989 -Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski. 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:31.289 And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover 00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:34.969 cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone, 00:00:34.990 --> 00:00:37.289 and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:40.049 host, Ali, and it will just be me coming to 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:42.469 you this week. Eli is a little busy with some 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:46.149 other projects, but he will be back with us again 00:00:46.149 --> 00:00:49.909 next week. But I wanted to go ahead and bring 00:00:49.909 --> 00:00:51.810 you this week's case. I didn't want to take a 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:54.549 week off because if you'll remember last week, 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:58.390 we talked about the missing person case of Karen 00:00:58.390 --> 00:01:01.390 Grajeda. And towards the end of the timeline, 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:04.390 I mentioned that there is a cold case that goes 00:01:04.390 --> 00:01:08.189 kind of hand in hand with Karen's case. So that's 00:01:08.189 --> 00:01:09.829 the cold case that we're going to be talking 00:01:09.829 --> 00:01:14.750 about today for episode 125. So just as a bit 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:17.150 of a content warning at the top, this case does 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:20.010 involve a young person and there are mentions 00:01:20.010 --> 00:01:24.049 of sexual assault. Today, we are talking about 00:01:24.049 --> 00:01:28.150 the cold case of Esther Lizette Galaz. and this 00:01:28.150 --> 00:01:32.109 takes place in December of 1994 in Tucson, Arizona. 00:01:33.290 --> 00:01:36.650 But first, a little bit about Esther. Esther 00:01:36.650 --> 00:01:39.870 goes mostly by her middle name of Lizette, but 00:01:39.870 --> 00:01:42.469 her siblings call her Junior since she is named 00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:46.469 after her mother, Esther. I'll just refer to 00:01:46.469 --> 00:01:49.069 her as Lizette throughout the podcast, so if 00:01:49.069 --> 00:01:51.269 I mention Esther, I'm talking about her mother. 00:01:52.450 --> 00:01:56.489 Lizette is six years old in 1994. She and her 00:01:56.489 --> 00:01:59.209 family, that included four other siblings, had 00:01:59.209 --> 00:02:01.969 recently moved to the Bella Verda apartment complex 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:05.870 a few weeks before the timeline starts. She lived 00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:07.890 there with her siblings, two brothers and two 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:11.750 sisters, and her mother, Esther, and her mother's 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:14.810 boyfriend, Martin Lopez. While Esther and Martin 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:17.050 were not married, he acted like a stepfather 00:02:17.050 --> 00:02:21.569 to Lizette. Lizette is a rambunctious little 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:25.389 girl. Her aunt says, quote, She likes to sing 00:02:25.389 --> 00:02:28.509 and dance. There was one song she liked to sing 00:02:28.509 --> 00:02:32.569 in Spanish a lot. It's called Tengo Celos. She 00:02:32.569 --> 00:02:34.689 likes to sing and move her body around to the 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:38.189 music. She was a loving child. She was always 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:40.530 friendly and she loved her siblings and peers 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:44.310 her own age. She liked school a lot. End quote. 00:02:45.210 --> 00:02:47.889 Lizette is a popular student at Prince Elementary 00:02:47.889 --> 00:02:50.770 School. One of her teachers described her as, 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:54.009 quote, she had a strong little spirit. She had 00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:57.030 the greatest smile in the world. She was also 00:02:57.030 --> 00:02:59.490 so concerned about everyone in the class, including 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:02.650 me. If someone would fall down, she would go 00:03:02.650 --> 00:03:05.689 over to them, bring them to me, and want to take 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:08.449 care of them and get them a drink of water. If 00:03:08.449 --> 00:03:11.409 I needed help in class, she was there. End quote. 00:03:12.229 --> 00:03:15.469 At this time in 1994, Lizette is three and a 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:18.389 half feet tall, has long brown hair, and brown 00:03:18.389 --> 00:03:23.719 eyes. And now, a timeline of events. On Monday, 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:28.879 December 19th, 1994, Lizette had a normal day 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.120 at school. When she got home from school, she 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.500 immediately heads outside to play with kids in 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:38.000 the apartment complex. She stops by the Lessard's 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.659 apartment around 4 p .m. to ask if their son 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:43.060 could come out and play, but the little boy wasn't 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:45.800 home, so Lizette hung around for a minute eating 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:48.280 cookies before heading back outside to find someone 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.990 to play with. While at the neighbor's apartment, 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:54.289 her mother's boyfriend Martin walks by. He gives 00:03:54.289 --> 00:03:56.490 her a quick kiss and keeps walking towards the 00:03:56.490 --> 00:03:59.569 family's apartment. Lizette eventually finds 00:03:59.569 --> 00:04:02.349 her friend Amber to play with. They spent the 00:04:02.349 --> 00:04:04.550 afternoon playing school and laughing on the 00:04:04.550 --> 00:04:07.990 swings. As it began to get darker outside, she 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.009 waved goodbye to her friend and headed home. 00:04:11.009 --> 00:04:14.129 Amber says that when she said goodbye to Lizette, 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:17.500 She saw her run towards a blonde woman near the 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:20.920 convenience store next to the apartments. The 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:22.959 convenience store is going to come up a lot in 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.680 this timeline, so I just want to take a quick 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:27.519 second to talk about it. The location of the 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.160 convenience store is right next to the apartments. 00:04:30.579 --> 00:04:33.879 It is very, very close. They practically share 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:37.040 a parking lot, and if your apartment was on the 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.829 side closest to the convenience store, It's likely 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:42.810 your apartment would be closer to the convenience 00:04:42.810 --> 00:04:45.870 store than other apartments in the complex, just 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:48.829 to paint a picture a little bit. Lizette eventually 00:04:48.829 --> 00:04:51.389 did wander inside her apartment right around 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:54.790 6 p .m. She immediately asked her mom if she 00:04:54.790 --> 00:04:57.910 could go back outside to play. Esther says no. 00:04:58.290 --> 00:05:00.769 It was getting dark and the temperature was starting 00:05:00.769 --> 00:05:04.410 to fall. Esther then put her 11 -year -old son 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:06.970 in charge. She needed to run to the convenience 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:09.730 store to make a quick phone call on the payphone. 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:12.560 Esther takes one of Lizette's younger sisters 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.519 with her to the store. After a few minutes, Lizette 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:18.860 announced to her brother that she wanted to go 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:21.699 with her mother and left the apartment. Again, 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:24.420 the store is very, very close to the apartment 00:05:24.420 --> 00:05:27.759 complex, so it would not have been strange for 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.620 Lizette to run after her mom. Only around five 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:34.300 to ten minutes pass by before Esther returns 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:38.790 back to the apartment. Lizette's not there. When 00:05:38.790 --> 00:05:42.310 Esther asks her son where Lizette is, he says 00:05:42.310 --> 00:05:44.110 that she wanted to go to the store with her. 00:05:44.970 --> 00:05:47.670 Esther turns around and heads back outside to 00:05:47.670 --> 00:05:49.930 look for Lizette since she hadn't run into her 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:53.350 at the store or coming back. When she didn't 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:55.949 immediately find her daughter, she asks for more 00:05:55.949 --> 00:05:58.829 help in the search. When the whole family comes 00:05:58.829 --> 00:06:02.430 up empty, Esther calls 911 around 8 p .m. to 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.250 report Lizette missing. Esther says, quote, my 00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:08.750 son said she went out. We went looking for her, 00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:11.230 and the neighbors went looking for her. After 00:06:11.230 --> 00:06:15.089 two hours, I called the cops. End quote. Police 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:17.689 arrive and start searching the complex. They 00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:20.209 start knocking on other unit doors, asking if 00:06:20.209 --> 00:06:23.610 anyone had seen her. As hours continue to tick 00:06:23.610 --> 00:06:26.430 on, police decide to alert the media to get Lizette's 00:06:26.430 --> 00:06:30.069 picture out there around 10 .15 p .m. Initially, 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:32.310 police think that Lizette just wandered away 00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:35.199 from the apartment. maybe running to catch up 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.699 with her mother or to play with kids in the complex. 00:06:38.500 --> 00:06:40.819 However, Lizette had never wandered away from 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.879 home before. And as the minutes tick on and it 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.740 gets colder and colder, police worry about the 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:48.699 temperature and that something nefarious had 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:51.519 happened. While it had been in the mid -70s during 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.959 the day, it was dropping down to 40 degrees at 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:57.620 night. We do know that police locate two young 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:01.230 witnesses. The kids say that they saw a girl 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:03.870 matching Lizette's description talking to a man 00:07:03.870 --> 00:07:08.350 in a light blue or gray small pickup truck. An 00:07:08.350 --> 00:07:11.709 argument was happening between them. The man 00:07:11.709 --> 00:07:14.329 seemed to force the little girl into the truck. 00:07:14.949 --> 00:07:18.189 Police take this sighting seriously. The kids 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:20.290 were not together. They saw it from different 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:22.649 vantage points and described a similar event. 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:27.899 As it turns into Tuesday, December 20th, Police 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:30.060 believe that something more serious has happened. 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:32.720 They continue to look for Lizette through the 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.500 night. However, no sign of the little girl is 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:39.199 found. Captain Lyle Mann says, quote, it's like 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.579 she went up in smoke. We've not discounted anything. 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:45.319 We're very concerned foul play may be involved, 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.879 end quote. As the morning breaks, a full search 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:53.199 is launched. Helicopters and scent dogs are brought 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.110 in to help aid the searchers. Police are going 00:07:56.110 --> 00:07:58.629 door to door through the apartment complex and 00:07:58.629 --> 00:08:01.430 doing the same at six other apartment complexes 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:05.449 nearby. The search lasts all morning and into 00:08:05.449 --> 00:08:10.110 the afternoon. Around 4 .15 p .m., a man who 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:12.970 wasn't with Lizette's search effort, he was just 00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:15.990 out walking his dogs. He was walking them through 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:18.829 a vacant lot that was about half a mile away 00:08:18.829 --> 00:08:22.199 from where Lizette lived. In the lot was a dry 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:25.259 desert wash, and when he was walking his dogs 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:28.160 through there, he found a discarded mattress. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.199 When the man looked under the mattress, he made 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.240 a horrible discovery. The little body of Lizette 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.940 is found. The police block the area and begin 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.600 processing. Quickly, they change the case to 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.100 a homicide investigation. Police refuse to comment 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:48.399 on the state of her body at this time or a possible 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:51.419 cause of death. They want to wait for an autopsy 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:55.659 report. The next day, Wednesday, December 21st, 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.700 Lizette's autopsy is conducted. Police initially 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:02.600 refused to comment on the cause of death, but 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.340 eventually it's leaked and then confirmed by 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:08.360 police that Lizette had been sexually assaulted 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.340 and died from a result of blunt force trauma 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:16.139 to the head. The autopsy puts her time of death 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.879 somewhere between 8 p .m. Monday night. and noon 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:23.299 on Tuesday the next day. So she was last seen 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:27.279 around 6 p .m. on Monday and then found around 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:32.200 4 .15 on Tuesday. Police do bring her mother 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.379 and her mother's boyfriend downtown for questioning. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:39.340 However, they're released after four hours, and 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:42.159 police will eventually clear the family of any 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.240 involvement in the crime. A friend of Lizette's 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:48.070 does come forward to say that Lizette was at 00:09:48.070 --> 00:09:51.470 their house until 7 p .m. That would have been 00:09:51.470 --> 00:09:54.889 about an hour after she was last seen. This sighting 00:09:54.889 --> 00:09:57.429 is only mentioned once, and it's unclear if police 00:09:57.429 --> 00:10:01.529 ever ruled this out. Pretty quickly, police make 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:04.429 a connection between Lizette's case and the sexual 00:10:04.429 --> 00:10:08.309 assault of three young girls in 1993. We talked 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:11.490 about this a bit last week. Police make the connection 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:14.850 because the description of the assaulter in those 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:17.870 cases matches the description of the man who 00:10:17.870 --> 00:10:20.629 was seen forcing the young girl into his truck. 00:10:21.129 --> 00:10:23.990 A major difference, however, is that in the 1993 00:10:23.990 --> 00:10:27.129 cases, all of the girls were let go after the 00:10:27.129 --> 00:10:31.830 assault. On Monday, December 26th, the day after 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:34.549 Christmas and a week after she was last seen, 00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:38.610 Lizette's memorial is held. The community donates 00:10:38.610 --> 00:10:40.750 to cover the expenses of the funeral for the 00:10:40.750 --> 00:10:44.250 family. And the next day, December 27th, she 00:10:44.250 --> 00:10:47.370 is laid to rest. As the weeks pass by, police 00:10:47.370 --> 00:10:49.809 say that they chase down hundreds of leads and 00:10:49.809 --> 00:10:54.549 rule them out. By mid -January 1995, police say 00:10:54.549 --> 00:10:57.830 that they have no suspects. The FBI agreed to 00:10:57.830 --> 00:11:00.850 create a profile for the suspect, but that's 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:03.669 never released to the public. The case appears 00:11:03.669 --> 00:11:06.740 to go cold quickly. The one -year anniversary 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:09.940 comes around in December of 1995, and police 00:11:09.940 --> 00:11:12.240 have no new information to share on the case. 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:16.240 Police still say that the witnesses who saw the 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.600 man force the girl in the truck is their strongest 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:21.860 lead, but police do acknowledge that it could 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:24.000 have been a father and a daughter having an argument 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.879 and not related to Lizette at all. Police beg 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:30.179 the public that if anyone has any information, 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.009 to please come forward. In January of 1996, so 00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:37.629 just over the one -year mark of Lizette's murder, 00:11:38.529 --> 00:11:41.309 Karen Grejeda goes missing, who we covered in 00:11:41.309 --> 00:11:44.769 our last episode. Both Karen and Lizette look 00:11:44.769 --> 00:11:47.970 similar. They're both young Hispanic girls and 00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:50.049 live on the south side of Tucson in apartment 00:11:50.049 --> 00:11:55.169 complexes. In January of 1997, over two years 00:11:55.169 --> 00:11:59.250 since Lizette's murder, and Rodolfo Ceteno Morales 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:02.649 is arrested for the sexual assaults in 1993. 00:12:03.649 --> 00:12:06.169 Police begin looking at him to see if he could 00:12:06.169 --> 00:12:08.870 be involved in Lizette's murder, since he does 00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:11.509 match the description of the man seen forcing 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:16.029 a girl into his truck. In December of 1997, at 00:12:16.029 --> 00:12:18.470 the three -year anniversary, through donations 00:12:18.470 --> 00:12:21.889 in the community, Lizette's headstone is placed 00:12:21.889 --> 00:12:25.879 at her grave. In April of 1998, nearly three 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:28.519 and a half years after the murder, Morales is 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:32.139 found guilty on five kidnapping charges and three 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:35.980 sexual assault charges. He is sentenced to 248 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:39.379 years in prison. He maintains that he did not 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:43.059 have anything to do with Lizette's murder. After 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:45.419 this, there's not a lot of updates on Lizette's 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:49.419 case. The next big update comes in 2023, so at 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:51.860 this point it's been over 30 years since Lizette's 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:54.879 murder. And it appears that the police have been 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.200 working quietly on her case in the background, 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.820 using advances in DNA technology to try to get 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:04.360 more information. Detective Miller gives the 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:07.740 following statement in 2023. And just as a heads 00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:10.580 up, he calls Lizette Esther throughout this next 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:13.529 statement. Quote, in the initial investigation, 00:13:13.950 --> 00:13:16.029 there were some child witnesses that described 00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:18.309 a male talking to Esther near the convenience 00:13:18.309 --> 00:13:21.330 store where her mom had gone and Esther was called 00:13:21.330 --> 00:13:23.750 out by name and Esther went and got into the 00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:27.570 truck. So a lot of media coverage on that. Further 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:30.450 advanced forensics have been completed and different, 00:13:30.529 --> 00:13:32.950 more modern investigation techniques have been 00:13:32.950 --> 00:13:36.389 used over the last five years to develop a potentially 00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:40.519 another suspect. That doesn't match the description 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:43.519 that the children initially gave. They're small 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.600 kids. Their memories change. The descriptions 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.679 are different. And it's likely that the suspect 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.559 is not a Hispanic male, which was originally 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:55.559 thought to be. So we're broadening our suspect 00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:58.980 search. Unfortunately, technology can't take 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:01.500 us all the way there. It's going to have to be 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:03.919 knocking on the doors, the old traditional type 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.340 of police work that may potentially lead us down 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:09.480 the road to identifying the suspect. We're hopeful. 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:13.399 These are still cases that people remember. They're 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:15.700 not solved, and it's our hope that by the time 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:18.059 we finish our careers here, that we can either 00:14:18.059 --> 00:14:20.340 get a result and a resolution by identifying 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:23.200 a suspect, potentially prosecuting that suspect, 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:26.539 and giving some course of justice to the family. 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.419 End quote. Police don't release any further information 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:33.759 and there hasn't been any new updates or developments 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:37.519 in Lizette's case since then. So if you know 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.679 anything about the murder of Esther Lizette Galaz, 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:49.139 please call 888 -CRIME at 520 -882 -7463. So 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:53.799 that is the case of Esther Lizette Galaz. I found 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.779 this case when I found Karen's case last week. 00:14:57.470 --> 00:15:00.149 As I've mentioned at the beginning of the podcast 00:15:00.149 --> 00:15:02.970 and in last week's podcast, these two cases are 00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:06.289 talked about by Tucson police together. They're 00:15:06.289 --> 00:15:09.549 kind of grouped together. And while there's no 00:15:09.549 --> 00:15:13.230 direct evidence to suggest that the crimes are 00:15:13.230 --> 00:15:16.049 related, police are investigating them as if 00:15:16.049 --> 00:15:19.909 they are. Looking at a map of Tucson, Karen... 00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:23.950 And Lizette lived only about a 15 -minute drive 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:28.049 away from each other. So pretty close, all things 00:15:28.049 --> 00:15:31.710 considered, on the same side of town. But in 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:36.429 learning about Lizette's case, I was really shocked 00:15:36.429 --> 00:15:40.210 that I didn't know about them. I'm really shocked 00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:42.149 I don't know about these cases, that they really 00:15:42.149 --> 00:15:44.929 hadn't come to my attention before I started 00:15:44.929 --> 00:15:47.679 digging into them myself. Just these two young 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.340 girls in very similar circumstances. I'm sure 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.659 if you listened to last week's episode, you picked 00:15:54.659 --> 00:15:57.240 up on some of the similarities of the case. And 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.600 again, while they may be related, they may not 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.779 be related. There are definitely some like themes 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:07.620 that just stand out. Even down to like, you know, 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.759 them living in the apartment complex. Both the 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:12.820 girls running outside to play and kind of running 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:14.919 in and out of their apartment. Like we know. 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:19.429 In this case, Lizette is there at 6 p .m., asked 00:16:19.429 --> 00:16:22.289 to go back outside. Her mom says no. And then 00:16:22.289 --> 00:16:25.149 a few minutes later, Lizette is gone. You know, 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:28.289 she runs out the door, assumingly going towards 00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:30.110 her mother in the convenience store, but that's 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:33.490 really the last we know. The last firm sighting 00:16:33.490 --> 00:16:37.470 at this point is Lizette leaving the apartment. 00:16:37.950 --> 00:16:42.190 This case has a lot of unanswered questions, 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:47.190 obviously. burns in my mind or that I keep coming 00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:53.029 back to was the the sighting of Lizette at another 00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:57.090 apartment around 7 p .m. Like I mentioned in 00:16:57.090 --> 00:17:00.450 the timeline this is only mentioned once but 00:17:00.450 --> 00:17:05.369 it's mentioned quickly following Lizette's disappearance 00:17:05.369 --> 00:17:09.349 so this isn't coming you know years later or 00:17:09.349 --> 00:17:12.400 anything like that this was coming I believe 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.140 the day after this person came forward and said, 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:18.960 you know, Lizette was at my apartment until 7. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:25.519 I don't know if parents also saw Lizette there 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:28.119 or if it was just her friend. How old is the 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.359 friend? I don't have any of those details. And 00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:33.700 I think those details would give us a lot of 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:37.579 information. But I am curious if just this has 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:39.680 been ruled out and it's just not part of the 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.359 narrative or if. Police do think that she might 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.980 have stopped by a friend's apartment just one 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:47.700 more time to try to keep playing. I would be 00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:50.259 really curious to know if that went anywhere. 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:55.900 One thing that feels frustrating about this case 00:17:55.900 --> 00:18:00.559 is that for so long, the suspect was described 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:04.980 as this Hispanic male. And a suspect sketch was 00:18:04.980 --> 00:18:09.740 used that promoted this image of this man. scene 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.079 forcing a girl into his truck or arguing with 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.940 a girl. The story has changed a little bit over 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:19.339 the years. But again and again, that suspect 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:22.099 is named. And I think with good reason. Police 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:26.720 really did believe the two child witnesses. They 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.680 were at different points in the apartment and 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:32.180 saw the same thing. So for so long, there was 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:37.099 this very specific search of a Hispanic male. 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:42.460 But now, In 2023, police are saying the suspect 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:45.859 is likely not Hispanic. I think what police have 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:48.859 done, I don't know this for sure if this is exactly 00:18:48.859 --> 00:18:51.039 the testing they've done, but to me it sounds 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:55.319 like they do have DNA and they were able to run 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:59.880 a phenotype DNA test. So this, from my understanding, 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:02.319 which is very limited, would be more of like, 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:04.839 you know, a 23andMe. where it can give you the 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:08.500 origins of your DNA. So I think that's what was 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:10.299 done here. We've seen this done in some other 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:13.619 cases we've covered. So I think that is what 00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:16.099 would give police, you know, that they are not 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:18.119 looking for Hispanic male. You know, he doesn't 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.200 have the DNA for it. But, you know, they don't 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.900 have any specifics like weight, age, height, 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:30.579 you know, those like real specifics. So it really 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:34.390 feels like... There was a lot of time lost kind 00:19:34.390 --> 00:19:37.849 of looking in the wrong direction, the complete 00:19:37.849 --> 00:19:42.769 wrong direction. I assume if there is a DNA, 00:19:42.890 --> 00:19:46.269 you know, profile that's been made, that it's 00:19:46.269 --> 00:19:48.230 been entered into all the databases and there 00:19:48.230 --> 00:19:52.309 hasn't been a hit, which is kind of surprising. 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:55.349 You would think that somebody who commits a crime 00:19:55.349 --> 00:19:58.789 like this would reoffend somewhere down the line 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:02.140 and have their DNA taken. This is one of those 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:04.519 cases where it's like I wonder, you know, all 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:09.839 of the backlogs, just backlogs and backlogs and 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:13.180 backlogs of rape kits sitting in police departments. 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:16.940 If somewhere in those, you know, there's another 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:20.619 match and more information and another case. 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:24.960 I am hopeful in this case that since we do have 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.920 DNA that we will get some answers down the line. 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:32.200 Lizette's family still want to know what happened 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.380 to her. They want justice. They want answers. 00:20:34.539 --> 00:20:36.880 They want to know who did this to their loved 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:44.160 one. And also, someone needs to answer for what 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:47.740 they did to Lizette. It's horrible what happened 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:51.220 to this little girl. And nobody should be able 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:55.160 to do that and not have to answer for why they 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.750 did that. So what I hope in this case, what I 00:20:58.750 --> 00:21:02.430 want in this case for the family is that they 00:21:02.430 --> 00:21:05.190 get the answers that they need and that they 00:21:05.190 --> 00:21:08.230 want and that justice is served for Lizette. 00:21:09.390 --> 00:21:11.569 Because whoever did this to her does not need 00:21:11.569 --> 00:21:14.950 to be walking out free. The person who did this 00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:19.569 is horrible, is horrible. So they do not need 00:21:19.569 --> 00:21:22.130 to be out there. They do not need to be around 00:21:22.130 --> 00:21:24.309 children. They do not need to be around people. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.079 Lizette seems like such a wonderful, wonderful 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:35.279 child. And we, the world, lost out on having 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:40.579 Lizette and seeing her impact fully. You know, 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:42.859 just in the six years that she was here, she 00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:46.160 made a huge impact on her family, her community, 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:57.000 her friends, her school. Every journey she would 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.660 have gone on, like all the impacts she could 00:21:58.660 --> 00:22:01.720 have made in her life. And it's not fair that 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.599 the world was robbed of the opportunity to see 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:10.559 Lizette grow and shine. But again, if you know 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.599 anything about the murder of Lizette Galaz in 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:18.819 December of 1994 in Tucson, Arizona, please call 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:27.380 888 -CRIME at 520 -882 -7463. We will have pictures 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:30.579 of Lizette on our Instagram at coldandmissing. 00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:33.619 You can follow us there and see the photos. Unfortunately, 00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:36.259 there's not a lot of photos of her, but I was 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:39.920 able to dig up some really great ones of her. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.759 So please look, please share, share her case. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:46.460 your community, in your network. People really 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:49.259 need to know Lizette's name and hear her story. 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:52.759 And we need to get more buzz about her case. 00:22:52.940 --> 00:22:55.579 I think that there is some momentum with police, 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.720 you know, reopening the investigation, working 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:01.779 on it quietly. But I think if we can get that 00:23:01.779 --> 00:23:04.799 media attention, that momentum here, that it 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.559 will just continue to give resources to this 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.880 case. And working Lizette's case is ultimately 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:13.259 going to be working Karen's case as well. So, 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:16.039 you know, I just think that this is a great place 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:18.680 for police to put resources, to put time, to 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:23.099 put people, to try to bring closure to the family, 00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:28.460 to the community. So please check out Lizette's 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:33.200 picture share it that's the whole goal here and 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:35.380 thank you to everyone who has rated and reviewed 00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:38.299 us I've just seen so many positive reviews come 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:42.380 in and it's been so heartwarming and humbling 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.019 it's means so much to me that you would take 00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:49.210 the time out of your day to leave a review to 00:23:49.210 --> 00:23:52.049 let me know your thoughts to take the time to 00:23:52.049 --> 00:23:54.730 appreciate the podcast we appreciate it so much 00:23:54.730 --> 00:23:57.170 here at cold and missing so thank you so much 00:23:57.170 --> 00:23:59.990 and if you haven't rated and reviewed us yet 00:23:59.990 --> 00:24:02.609 please if you have the time today or this week 00:24:02.609 --> 00:24:05.089 if you could we would appreciate it so much and 00:24:05.089 --> 00:24:08.470 it helps other people find the cases here and 00:24:08.470 --> 00:24:11.509 it'll help people find elizabeth's case so that's 00:24:11.509 --> 00:24:15.900 advocacy work that's beautiful And if you or 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:17.579 someone you love is hard of hearing, you can 00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:20.079 follow along with a transcript. The transcript 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:23.599 can be found at our website, www .coldandmissing 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.640 .com. It's the official transcript, so the spelling's 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.940 always correct there. I know in podcast players, 00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:31.259 they've started to add transcripts that are auto 00:24:31.259 --> 00:24:33.859 -generated, but the official one is on our website, 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:36.779 and it also has all of our old episodes on there. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.259 So if you're looking for more or a specific case, 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:41.359 you can search there to see if we've covered 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.789 it or suggest the case. if you want us to cover 00:24:44.789 --> 00:24:48.769 it. But that is all I have. Thank you so much 00:24:48.769 --> 00:24:51.250 for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, 00:24:51.289 --> 00:24:53.849 Ali . Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.