The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali, and it will just be me coming to
you this week. You might remember we mentioned
it a few weeks ago, but Eli is involved in a
theater production, so his nights are quickly
filling up with rehearsals as they get closer
and closer to opening. So very excited about
that opportunity for him, but I do miss him here.
As a co -host in the podcast, I miss him just
around the house. So he is missed. He is deeply
missed. But I wanted to get on here and bring
you this week's episode. We are on a cold case
this week, and this is episode 158. So I think
we should just go ahead and get into it. And
just as a bit of a content warning at the top,
while this case does not center around a young
person specifically, there are young people involved.
Today, we are talking about the cold case of
Laneshia Crowder, and this takes place in August
of 2000 in Carrollton, Georgia. But first, a
little bit about Laneshia. Laneshia Crowder was
just 21 years old in the summer of 2000. To her
family and friends, she went by the nickname
Lane. She was a young mother, raising two small
children on her own. who was seven at this time,
and her two -year -old daughter Lyric. Her world
revolved around them. Friends and family say
she carried responsibilities far beyond her years.
Even though she was the youngest in her friend
group, she had the oldest mindset. She was steady,
protective, the friend everyone leaned on. A
mother figure not just to her children, but to
her friends too. Laneshia was described as the
center, which is such a beautiful way to describe
her, I think. She was the center of her friends,
the center of her family, and the center of her
children's lives. In August of 2000, she lived
in a brick ranch -style home in the Castleberry
Estates, a tight -knit subdivision just north
of Carrollton, Georgia. It was the kind of neighborhood
where everyone knew each other. Neighbors watched
out for each other, kept an eye on everyone.
And a place where you didn't expect violence.
And now a timeline of events. Saturday, August
12, 2000. This is the last day Laneshia is seen
alive. That evening, she leaves her mother's
house. Her mother's name is Doris. She leaves
her mother's house with Kenneth and Lyric. It's
a normal night. Nothing feels unusual. When they
get home, Laneshia gets her kids ready for bed
and tucks them in. After the kids fall asleep,
Laneshia gets on the phone and starts talking
with friends. It's reported that she talks on
the phone until around midnight that Saturday
night. According to reports, this is the last
time anyone will talk to her, is around midnight
Saturday night going into Sunday morning. All
day Sunday. Folks tried to reach out to Laneshia
and she wasn't responding, which was out of her
character. She would normally get back to you
pretty quickly. Monday, August 14th, rolled around
and still there was no sign of Laneshia or of
her children. Laneshia‘S roommate, Grady, starts
to get worried. At the time, it's reported that
Grady... is her roommate, but they might have
been dating based off of comments made by police
and her family. Either way, Grady had been in
the Bremen City Jail since August 4th on a bench
warrant and hadn't been able to reach Laneshia
for the past couple of days. When he still couldn't
get through, he got in touch with a neighbor
and asked them to check on her. So shortly before
10 p .m., the neighbor walks over to the house
and looks in through a bedroom window. They see
Laneshia on the ground. They immediately call
911. The fire department arrives first just a
few minutes later. Through the window, the fire
department also see the body of a woman. But
they also see a child nearby. And they notice
movement from the child. To them, the child is
still alive. so they force entry to make sure
that everyone there is okay. Inside, they find
Laneshia dead. It appears Lyric had tried to help
at some point. Band -aids had been taken out
and were scattered about the room. Police arrive
just minutes after the fire department to the
scene, and they confirm that Laneshia Crowder
is dead. She was found in her bedroom. Her son,
Kenneth, He's found in the bedroom next to where
Laneshia was found. Kenneth is gravely injured.
He was beaten so severely that he's barely clinging
to life when he's found by police. He's airlifted
to Children's Healthcare in Atlanta and listed
in serious condition. Later reports will say
that he sustained brain damage during the attack.
Lyric is also inside the home, Laneshia‘s two
-year -old daughter. She is physically unharmed,
but she's found near her mother. Investigators
are stunned by the scene. Police will ultimately
come to the conclusion that Laneshia was likely
killed early Sunday morning, shortly after her
last phone call. Her body and children had been
in the home for over 24 hours before they were
discovered. Investigators note that there were
no signs of forced entry in the home. Ultimately,
the investigation will reveal that nothing was
stolen from the home either. The next day, Tuesday,
August 15th, it's been a day since the discovery
of the bodies, and Laneshia‘s autopsy is performed.
But instead of answers, there were more questions.
The state crime lab said that they were not able
to determine her exact cause of death. It is
reported that she did have head wounds, but none
of them were severe enough to be fatal. It's
also reported that she was not shot. Outside
of this, police don't reveal much else about
Laneshia‘S death at this point. Investigators
at this time say that they don't even know what
kind of case that they're working. Homicide,
suicide, accident. All possibilities remain open,
according to them. However, the fact that Kenneth
is so badly injured makes me think, and it seems
like the police think, that someone else was
involved in this. So toxicology testing is rushed
for Linisha's autopsy. Carroll County Sheriff
Tony Reeves says, quote, It is a very wide open
case, a lot of problems, a lot of questions,
but it's a solvable case. Kenneth remains hospitalized.
According to reports, his eyes are open, but
he cannot respond to questions. Investigators
hope he'll recover enough to speak to them and
tell them what happened. Police also try to gently
talk with Lyric, the only unharmed witness inside
the home. Neighbors are in shock by the murder.
No one can imagine who would want to hurt Laneshia.
She was focused on raising her children and didn't
bother anyone. With no clear suspect or motive,
Lyric is placed in child protective services
until family members can be cleared of involvement
in Laneshia‘s death. On Thursday, August 17th,
just three days after the body was found, Kenneth
remains in critical condition. Still, there are
no major developments or breakthrough in the
case. It takes a few weeks until Wednesday, September
6th, so about 24 days after the murder, police
announce that they now know what killed Laneshia.
They say that they know the cause of death. And
this is interesting because it seems that they
walk back this statement later on, but we'll
get to that in a little bit. At this time in
September of 2000, they refuse to reveal the
cause of death. And they actually refuse to confirm
if it's officially a homicide, but continue to
treat it as one. And from everything we know
now, it is a homicide. Kenneth is still hospitalized
and still unable to be questioned about the night
of his mother's death. Lyric and eventually Kenneth
will ultimately go to live with their grandma,
Laneshia‘S mother Doris. We really don't get any
other updates in the case. The next updates that
I could really find come in 2015. Her children
really begin to advocate for their mother as
they enter adulthood. They do an interview with
USA Today and Kenneth begins to tell people what
he remembers from that night. He talks about
knowing that something was wrong, telling his
sister to hide or to run. And then he remembers
them coming into the room and beating him and
his mom. It's also reported in 2015 that police
believe that the case is solvable. They say that
they have evidence from this case, including
the object that was used in the murder. In 2020,
approaching the 20 -year anniversary, again,
her children continue to speak out about what
they remember from that night and wanting justice
for their mother. Again, Kenneth says, quote,
I knew something was wrong. I could tell it.
So I told my sister to hide. And then when they
just came in the door and they started beating
my mom, started beating me. Lyric says that she
remembers some of the events from that night,
too. She says, quote, I just remember being behind
the door and watching what happened, and watching
them come in and doing what they did. Investigator
Amanda Halsey says the attack likely wasn't planned.
She says, quote, She also believes that the perpetrators
may have panicked, possibly surprised that Kenneth
survived. Investigators think it likely that
when news broke that Kenneth was still alive,
the suspect likely had some sort of reaction
in their personal life. Police say they are holding
information back, key details, in order to protect
the case. Laneshia‘S family believes that the
killer is still in the area. Her mother, Doris,
says, quote, Over the years, she says that people
have made cryptic comments to her. Some have
approached the children and said things meant
to scare them about their mother's death. In
July of 2021, so this is approaching 21 years,
Laneshia‘S family planned to do a balloon release
to honor her life. But frustration is growing
with the family. Despite those earlier statements
that the cause of death had been determined,
Investigators say at this time that they couldn't
determine it, that they don't truly know what
it is, and the family echo that. Family members
say communication from law enforcement has been
minimal. The family asks what exactly is going
on in the investigation. Laneshia‘S sister says,
quote, they never reach out to us. It has affected
us very bad. The family ultimately just wants
justice for Laneshia and for her children. The
family also questions forensic findings in the
case, including the absence of evidence under
Laneshia and Kenneth's fingernails, something
expected if they had fought back in the attack.
Officials confirmed that Laneshia had no natural
cause of death, so there wasn't some underlying
sickness that caused her to die all of a sudden,
that they never realized. revealed all these
years. The sheriff's office says that the case
is active and that they even have a person of
interest in the case. But due to COVID at this
time, it's slowing down progress and they haven't
been able to talk to everyone that they would
like to. They say that they also have resubmitted
some evidence for testing. Again, investigator
Halsey says, quote, there are several things
we are waiting on. But that was really one of
the last updates that I could find. And while
I was encouraged that it was from 2021, I was
hoping that there would be some announcement
that there was some breakthrough in the evidence,
but not one that I could find. So that is really
all we know about the cold case of Laneshia Crowder.
So if you know anything about the murder of Laneshia
Crowder in August of 2000, You are encouraged
to call the GBI Region 2 office at 706 -565 -7888
or the Carroll County Sheriff's Office at 770
-830 -5888. So that is the cold case of Laneshia
Crowder. This is a case I almost felt like I
should have prefaced it at the beginning where
we are going to have more questions than answers.
It feels obvious why I wanted to bring this one
to cold and missing. This is not a case that
I was very familiar with. Maybe if you are from
this area in Georgia, you might be familiar with
it. It did seem like it did have such an impact
a little bit on the region in 2000. But outside
of that, you might not have heard of this case.
I certainly never had. And learning the details.
The details are pretty brutal in this case. I
didn't want to get into, you know, just like
too many of them just for the sake of being graphic.
But I think it is just important to note that
Laneshia’s children were present for her murder.
Like that is a horrific fact that I just think
can't be ignored and certainly needs justice.
And so when I was learning about this case and,
you know, kind of put together that her children
were there at the time of her murder, her young
children, I knew that this was a case that I
wanted to bring to cold and missing to get some
energy behind it. It feels like the family is
putting a lot of energy behind it. There's an
investigator on it. It feels like it's really
on a precipice of, like, maybe a major breakthrough.
Truly, that's why I wanted to bring it here to
Cold and Missing to hopefully kind of get it
over the edge of like energy, energy behind the
case, people talking about it, asking about it.
That's a big motivator in me bringing it to Cold
and Missing. And then, of course, this fits perfectly
in with the mission, right? Like a wonderful
woman, an incredible mother, an incredible friend,
an incredible family member was. Taken. And there
have been no answers. And while her children
and her mother have been advocating for answers
in her case and really working with the media
to keep it active, there hasn't been a lot of
other people doing that. So I wanted to just
do my little part, our little part. Let's get
it out there. Let's get other people talking
about it. Other people should know about Laneshia‘s
case, and we should have answers here. Like I
said, there are a lot more questions than answers.
So one of the questions I have, in recent years,
Investigator Holsey, it sounds like she believes
that it is a crime of passion, something that
kind of happened in that heat of the moment.
So if that is the case, then... You know, I wonder,
who were all the people that she was talking
on the phone with that night? Were there any
calls that were made that maybe she missed because
she was on the other line? Did she make any calls?
Just who was the last person that she talked
to that evening? Did she tell that person that
she was expecting anyone to stop by? It sounds
like, based off of those comments from the investigator,
that Laneshia very likely could have known the
killer then. And I think there's also some other
facts that we know. We know nothing was stolen,
so it doesn't seem like robbery was apparent,
a motive in this case. And then we know that
there are no signs of forced entry. Of course,
if you've been a longtime listener to Cold and
Missing. You know that no signs of forced entry
doesn't always mean a lot with us. There are
a lot of ways to force your way into somebody's
house without necessarily breaking a lock or
a window that wouldn't leave behind those kind
of obvious forces of entry. But considering everything
else, did she know this person? That's just a
question I have, but we really don't know. It
does seem like with Kenneth, You know, he was
old enough and thankfully he survived. He went
through a really difficult attack. Per Kenneth's
statement and even lyric from what she remembers
of that evening, it sounds like there could be
multiple people. There never seems to be a specific
number as far as I can tell. But it does seem
like at least more than one person. So if that's
the case. Who would have done this with somebody
else that knew Laneshia? It just brings up a lot
of questions. But so, so thankful that Kenneth
and Lyric are still with us, that they were not
harmed in the same way that their mother was
that evening. I know that this was very harmful
to them, no matter what. Kenneth obviously went
through a very... Intense physical attack and,
you know, barely survived that. And then what
Lyric had to go through must have been very terrifying.
And that leaves its own mark on somebody. So
what her children went through is horrific. I
just I can't emphasize that enough. And it's
just such a motivator of me wanting to get answers
in this case is because these. Her children deserve
answers. They deserve answers because they had
to go through this in a very up -close -and -personal
way. So they deserve answers and for somebody
to say why they did this to them. Yeah, it's—I
can't believe someone would do that to children.
I'm always shocked by the cruelty of people.
Thinking more again to my questions, I would
be very curious that evidence that they were
talking about, that they were retesting, even
in 2015, they said they had a murder weapon or
the object used in Laneshia‘s death. I guess her
death is like another thing that we should just
talk about. So there's some back and forth of
if there is a cause of death, if there's not.
I really try not to speculate on this podcast
and try really hard to stick in the facts because
my intention is never to muddy up the waters
around these cases. I always want cold and missing
just to kind of be the facts of the case of what's
reported right now. So based off of everything,
we know that according to reports, she was not
shot. That she did have some head wounds, but
they were not bad enough to cause. They were
not fatal wounds. So those themselves did not
cause death. But beyond that, police have never
confirmed a cause of death. It does sound like
an assault of some sort, right? Kenneth says
he sees people beating his mom. So there's that.
evidence and then there's this statement in 2015
that they have the object that was used in the
death so again an object being used you would
think that is if she was not shot that would
maybe be an instrument used in a beating so that's
where I land on like kind of a cause of death
what happened here I don't think that's an unreasonable
place to land based off of everything that we
know. But that brings me back around to that
object that the police talked about in 2015.
And, you know, what has been tested today? What
hasn't been tested today? What evidence do we
have? Do we have DNA? Do we not? Do we have fingerprints?
Sounds like there's good evidence in this case.
Again and again, investigators talk about this
case being solvable. And again and again, they
point to the fact that it's solvable because
they have evidence in this case. So, you know,
if I could sit down and know anything, I would
want to know what is that evidence? What hasn't
been tested? What could be tested? And what have
the results been? Anybody. It sounds like there
was a person of interest in 2021 when COVID was,
you know, still locking the world down. But what
about now? Is that still a person of interest?
Are you just looking for evidence to bring this
person in or have they been excluded completely?
Lots of questions. Would be very curious just
to know the state of the case today. But ultimately,
for Kenneth, for Lyric, for Laneshia’s family,
I'm really, really hopeful that the energy that
her children, her family have been putting into
this case, that... the investigators that are
focusing on this case, that the community that
still want answers, that continue to ask about
her case. I'm hoping between all of that energy
and the pressure that investigators continue
putting resources towards her case so that way
we do get the answers that we're looking for
and Kenneth and Lyric can have some justice.
Ultimately, In Laneshia‘s case, I am very hopeful
that it will be solved. Between the advocacy
work that her children and her family are doing
for her case and then the local media have been
doing a really good job of keeping the case active
in the last few years. So I'm hopeful between
that and then this one investigator that seems
to be really putting, you know, the resources
to her case. That between all of that and then
just the additional energy we can put behind
it, that we will start to see results and answers.
That Kenneth and Lyric can get answers in this
case. I hope that there is evidence that can
still be tested or that can get some sort of
hits, that technology catches up, whatever needs
to happen to get us to that next step where we
are bringing somebody in and justice is being
served. Again, it seems very solvable. We have
evidence. That's one thing that seems very clear
is that there's evidence in this case. So I'm
hopeful that somewhere in all of that evidence
is an answer for Laneshia and for her children.
So again, if you know anything about the murder
of Laneshia Crowder in August of 2000, please
call the GBI Region 2 office at 706 -565 -7888
or the Carroll County Sheriff's Office at 770
-830 -5888. And we will have a picture of Laneshia
up on our Instagram at coldandmissing. You can
follow us there if you're not already. If we
ever have to take a week off, we will always
try to post something on our Instagram just to
keep you in the loop. And then, you know, active
missing person cases that are happening here
and now, I always try to post them as they come
across my feed. So it's just a really great resource
at Cold and Missing. And then, yeah, let's share
Laneshia’s photo. Let's get the case out there.
Let's get people listening to this episode so
they can learn about her case. If you or someone
you love is hard of hearing, we do have official
transcripts on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. I go through and I make sure all of the
spelling is correct. So official transcripts
can be found there. I am not in control of some
of the automated ones that are in podcast players.
Official ones are on the website, www .coldandmissing
.com. And we also have all of our old episodes
up there too. So you can look through, find some
other episodes, maybe other cases you haven't
heard of, and you can give them a listen there.
And then lastly, if you can take some time today
in your podcast app, your player, if you could
just rate and review us. It really goes a long
way in getting others to listen to this podcast.
And we really are just asking for the rate and
reviews because it helps other people listen
to the podcast, which just helps other people
know about these cases. That's what we're trying
to do here. So that is why we ask that. I mean,
you know the drill. Five stars gets the algorithm
pleased, and then it just helps other people
take a chance. You know what you're looking for
when you look for other podcasts to listen to.
So if you have the time today, we'd really appreciate
it if you've done it already. Thank you so much.
Every review, every comment that comes in fills
my heart with joy. And I just appreciate it so
much. And if you haven't had the time to do it
yet, I get it. We're all busy. Maybe this week
is when you have those couple extra minutes and
you're able to slip one in. But that is all I
have for you this week. Thank you so much for
listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host,
Ali. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.