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. Eli is still working on that production
and is in rehearsal this evening, so that's where
he is. But I still wanted to get on here and
bring you a brand new episode. Just really quickly
at the top, we had several kind reviews come
in over this last week. So thank you so much.
And I'm just going to take a minute here at the
top to just plug it. If you can, leave us a review,
five stars. It really goes a long way for other
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so much, but I get it. Everybody's busy. So maybe
this week, maybe next week, but really appreciate
it if you can take the time. With that being
said, we're just going to go ahead and jump into
this week's episode. This week, we are talking
about the missing person case of Khoi’s Dang Vu.
And this takes place in April of 2007 in Clark
County, Washington. But first, a little bit about
Khoi. Khoi Dang Vu was 25 years old in the spring
of 2007. Khoi was born deaf and did not speak.
He also lived with developmental disabilities.
His family shared that he functioned at about
a level of a 10 -year -old child. He knew some
American Sign Language but was not fluent in
it. Communication for Khoi wasn't always easy,
but he was able to get his point across. If he
was able to get a piece of paper, he would usually
write to communicate. But still, Khoi was social.
He was friendly. He was trusting in a way that
was really beautiful, but also in a way that
worried his family. He loved meeting new people.
He would often go to the local Albertson supermarket,
where he would approach strangers with a piece
of paper. On it, he had written a short introduction
that said, Hi, my name is Khoi, and he would ask
others to tell him something about themselves.
His brother -in -law, Josh, says, quote, He was
very friendly, very trusting, very happy. He
would approach anyone. He'd walk up to you and
hand you a note. Khoi loved basketball. He spent
time at the local playground shooting hoops and
riding his bike around the neighborhood. His
bike was his main mode of transportation. He
was known in the community. People recognized
him, and many people knew how to interact with
him and how to understand him. He lived at home
with his family on Northwest 92nd Street in Orchards,
Washington. He lived with his parents, his sister,
and brother -in -law. The family had immigrated
to the United States from Vietnam in 1990, building
a life together. Khoi did not know any Vietnamese.
He only could communicate in English. At 25,
Khoi had brown eyes and black hair. He was around
5 '6 and weighed about 108 pounds. And now, a
timeline of events. Friday, April 6, 2007. So
that Friday was normal, according to Khoi’s family.
Khoi spent the evening in his mother's room, sitting
with her, watching TV. The next day, the family
had plans. They were going to drive to Seattle
to visit Khoi’s older brother and celebrate his
mom's 68th birthday. Khoi was very excited about
the trip. At one point, he showed his mom the
gift he had bought for her. He was proud of it,
especially how well he had wrapped it. He was
showing it off. His brother -in -law, Josh, says,
quote, he seemed to be very excited about the
trip. Sometime between midnight and 1 a .m.,
Khoi left his mother's room to go to bed. This
would be the last time anyone saw him. So Saturday,
April 7th, 2007. So like I said, sometime between
midnight and 1 a .m., Khoi said goodnight. to
his family and went to bed. Overnight, a storm
moved through the area. It was a really bad storm.
Lots of wind, rain, thunder. Conditions that
would have made it difficult or even dangerous
to be outside. The next morning, the family went
to wake Khoi for the family trip. He wasn't in
his room. At first, there was immediate confusion.
Khoi had wandered off before. but only ever during
the daytime and only ever in good weather. He
often went on his bike, and he would always come
home within a few hours. But this felt very different
from the beginning. Khoi’s jacket, the one he
always wore and his favorite jacket, was still
hanging in the closet. His bicycle was still
in the garage. The helmet was hanging with it.
His brother -in -law, Josh, says, quote, The
jacket he normally wears is hanging in his closet.
His bike's still sitting in the garage and his
helmet is still sitting there. It seems like
he changed clothes sometime between going to
bed and leaving the house. No one knows exactly
what Khoi was wearing when he disappeared. There
are no signs of forced entry to the home. By
8 a .m., the family had called police to report
him missing. When police are called, a search
is launched almost immediately around the area
of the home. It's truly believed at this point
that Khoi had wandered off, even though it was
unlike him to go in the middle of the night and
to go in very bad weather. That didn't make sense
to the family, but still, that was what police
were operating under at first. So the first day,
it appears that a search is done around the house,
but no clues are found about Khoi. The next day,
Sunday, April 8th, a large search began almost
immediately at daybreak. Family, friends, local
law enforcement agencies were all there to help
cover area. Again, they focused on areas around
the home. And they paid specific attention to
areas where maybe somebody would hide or stay
to... get out of the rain to stay dry or warm.
So they focus on that, and they also ask the
public to check their outbuildings and cars to
see if Khoi maybe wandered into them to get out
of the weather since it was so bad the night
he disappeared. Still, after a full day of searching
on Sunday, there's no evidence of what happened
to Khoi, no sign of him. By Monday, April 9th,
so this is three days that he's been missing,
the search has expanded. The FBI joins the investigation
officially. It's unclear exactly what prompts
the FBI to join the investigation. According
to police, the FBI offered their help and so
they just accepted the extra manpower. Again,
investigators stress to the public that they
should check their own properties. In their backyard,
sheds, outbuildings, parked cars, just to make
sure that Khoi didn't wander into them. While
investigators are working on searching different
areas, Khoi’s family is working on getting his
picture out there. So they pass out flyers, especially
around Albertson's grocery stores. It was a place
Khoi knew and a place that he was very familiar
with. They believe that if he saw one, he would
likely go to it and try to ask for help. Slowly,
tips started coming in from the public. There
were some possible sightings near an elementary
school, but this didn't end up panning out, according
to reports. There were also some reports of him
in the greater Portland area. And again, police
follow up, but they weren't able to verify if
it's him. Police say, quote, there's nothing
that indicates foul play at this point, but we
won't rule it out. His family, however, is more
and more concerned with each passing day. His
brother -in -law, Josh, says, quote, we're trying
to remain positive. It's difficult for the family
because he needs help. He can't survive on his
own. On Tuesday, April 10th, so this is four
days now, the search continues. The FBI and local
investigators began looking deeper, questioning
registered sex offenders in the area. They also
explored whether Khoi could have had any contact
online. While his family had never taught him
how to use a computer, there was one in the home,
so it was an avenue they were looking at. Other
teams sent divers into nearby ponds to search
them. And still nothing. Sergeant Tim Bieber
says, quote, It's certainly concerning that it's
gone so long, with so many experienced investigators
working on this. The next day, Wednesday, April
11th, so five days now, no confirmed sightings.
All of the tips seem to have dried up. Again,
Sergeant Tim Bieber says, quote, it's day number
five and we're very concerned. We're all waiting
for the phone call saying, hey, we've got something
big here. But the phone call never comes. The
search continues for days after this, but the
next real big development comes on Sunday, April
22nd. So it's been 16 days that Khoi has been
missing. And the family and investigators announced
that there's now a $1 ,000 reward for information
leading to Khoi. A few days after this, on Friday,
April 27th, so 21 days, three weeks, Khoi has
been missing, investigators officially reclassified
the case as a criminal investigation. Sergeant
Tim Bieber says, quote, if he just walked away
and was just a missing person, he probably would
have turned up by now. or some evidence of where
he was at would have turned up by now. Police
revealed that they were speaking to a person
of interest, but they don't release a name. They
also confirmed that all registered sex offenders
within a two -mile radius of Khoi’s home had been
ruled out. The next day, Saturday, April 28th,
so 22 days Khoi has been missing, Police continue
questioning this person of interest, but refuse
to release a name or identity, or even to confirm
if it's just one person or maybe multiple people
that they're talking to. Again, police say, quote,
After this amount of time, it looks more and
more like there's something more to this case.
There's definitely something wrong, and we have
to assume it's criminal in nature. Khoi’s family,
however, is left in limbo. The family says, quote,
It's another stressor in life. It's good sometimes,
and it's rough sometimes. We're all wondering,
we're hoping, we're distraught and frustrated.
In June of 2007, so two months Khoi has been missing,
the reward was increased to $5 ,000, but still
no real developments in the case. In January
of 2008, so nine months Khoi has been missing,
investigators began to say publicly what many
had feared. that they believe Khoi Dang Vu was
the victim of a homicide, even though they still
have never found his body or any evidence. At
some point, according to investigators in Clark
County, detectives came to believe that Khoi's
body may have been disposed of in a dumpster,
one that was later taken to a landfill near Boardman,
Oregon. How this information comes about in Khoi's
case is never really made clear. by investigators
or that I could find. And that's really the last
update we get. Over the years, Khoi’s case has
been in the media, but no real developments,
no suspects have ever been named. And his body
has never been found. So if you know anything
about the disappearance of Khoi Dang Vu or his
whereabouts today, please call the Clark County
Sheriff's Office at 564 -397 - So that is the
missing person case of Khoi Dang Vu. When I first
discovered Khoi's case, I was really shocked
about how little information there was, but at
the same time how there seemed to be a lot of
details in the case. So it kind of seemed like
there was this kind of juxtaposition of... kind
of this known answer of what happened to him
but without having a lot of details around the
case. So that's something that I was really confused
by and wanted to try to sort out for myself which
is why I really wanted to look into this case
and then I knew it was a case that I wanted to
bring to Cold and Missing. It fits right into
all the other cases that we cover here. It is
a more unique missing person case and that police
do believe very firmly here that it is a homicide
and even seem to have an idea of what happened,
but no body and still is classified as a missing
person case slash homicide case. Very interesting
overall. And then, you know, hand in hand with
wanting to know more about this case, it's just
also the tragedy of this case for this family.
Khoi was someone who needed his family and needed
the support of his family to really thrive the
way that he was. He was living such an incredible
life, it seems like. He was involved in his community.
He was out. He'd ride his bike all over the place,
enjoyed meeting new people. And it seemed like
the community kind of watched out for him and
knew how to talk to him and, you know, understand
him. So he was really in such a supportive place
and seemed to be thriving. And because he was
deaf and had developmental disabilities, the
support of his family is so crucial in his ability
to thrive and for him to be taken away from his
family, from his support, from his community.
It just seems cruel on such a level that feels
um more rare it just it it really leaves me almost
speechless it I'm having trouble finding words
to describe how tragic and just evil it feels
like that somebody would go after Khoi and create
harm in his world it's yeah it really almost
leaves me speechless quite truly. But it leaves
me with a lot of questions as well. So just to
kind of get into some of the questions that I
know I have in this timeline and just to talk
about that a little deeper, I am very interested
if I could sit down and kind of know anything
about this case, about how this case shifts.
It's really about at that three -week mark that
that's when investigators you know, shifted to
a criminal investigation. And part of that makes
a lot of sense. You know, their rationale in
the beginning, they say that it's because, you
know, if he had wandered off, they would have
found signs of him. I mean, they have seasoned
investigators. They have the FBI resources. They
would have found some sign of what happened to
him. But from my understanding, no evidence was
found of. where he went I mean what direction
he could have even gone in it doesn't even seem
like we know how he got out of the house the
only thing we really know is you know he goes
to bed between midnight and 1 a .m it does seem
like it's closer to maybe 1 a .m that's how it's
initially reported in the beginning and then
they go to wake him up at around 8 a .m and he's
gone his brother -in -law says that it does seem
like He had changed clothes, but we never know
what kind of clothes he was wearing. So I'd be
very curious if we ever determined that. Did
they go through his closet and see, you know,
was a shirt missing that he always wore? What
was missing from his closet if he did change
clothes? Were any clothes missing from his closet?
There is some reports that it looked like his
bed had not been slept in. So that drives even
more questions. Did he get into the bed that
night at all? Did he get into his, it seems like
he got into his room if he changed his clothes.
So what happened in there? So many questions,
so many questions. Police think that after, you
know, about three weeks, they haven't found any
evidence, something criminal must have happened.
The family. believes that something criminal
must have happened kind of from the beginning
because it was so unlike him to leave the house
in the middle of the night. Police say they have
a person of interest that they're talking to
around this same time. I'd be curious if police
were ever able to rule that person out, if that's
still a person of interest in this case. I'd
be curious if anybody else has popped up over
the years, you know, since 2007, 2008. Has anybody
else come across police radar that could be responsible
for this? And then, to me, it seems like one
of the biggest questions is the bombshell that
comes right at the end of the timeline, that
it is a homicide investigation and police believe
that Khoi’s body was placed in a dumpster and
ultimately taken to a landfill. I tried to look
for reports of if this landfill had ever been
searched, and I couldn't find any media reporting
that police searched the landfill. It doesn't
mean that it didn't happen, but from my understanding,
landfill searches tend to be very difficult and
require a lot of, like, police presence, just
like a lot of manpower to make them happen and
to make them effective. You know, it is reported
on by the media just because such a large police
presence. But I couldn't find any reporting that
they had ever gone out there from 2007, 2008,
2009 to search the landfill for Khoi. It seems
like they go out there like there's a prisoner
who escapes years later, like in the 2015, 2016
times. So they search the landfill for him. But
that's really the only. time I could find the
landfill being searched. So I would be curious
to know if that ever happened in Khoi’s case.
But really, even before all of that, I would
be curious to know exactly where that information
came from. Because while it's vague, it's also
very specific of what happened. We don't have
the specific details of maybe specifically what
building or dumpster it could be but it's it's
a pretty specific story of what happened to him
and where did police get that story did that
come from the person of interest did that come
through a rumor mill like how how did that get
to be part of his story that seems incredibly
unclear to me I really tried to find What made
police pivot to this story in those months, but
I could not find anything outside of police just
saying, this is what we believed happened. My
hopes in this case, of course, my ultimate hope
is that resources could be put towards Khoi’s
case and they search the landfill. If that's
where they think he is, then to me, I feel like
let's put the resources to... bringing him home.
Let's get him out of there and get him to his
family and a place to rest. It feels so cruel
to have an idea of where he may be, but just
not doing it. And maybe it's really naive of
me to think that it can be done. I know it would
be very difficult to find his body if that's
where it is, but it seems cruel and unfair to
not even try. I think his family deserves the
effort of at least trying. And, you know, it's
like every passing day, it just is going to make
it more and more difficult. So ultimately, that's
my hope in this case is that resources are put
to bring him home. If we have an idea of where
he's at, that that's what we do. And then if
we're not able to do that, if we can't. get him
out of there and bring him home then let's put
the resources to bringing justice to his case
a homicide happened here someone very vulnerable
it seems like was taken out of their home the
night before a family trip and murdered so if
someone is responsible for that then they should
be held accountable for that and I do just want
to stress because police say that this is a homicide.
That's what they say. Looking at, you know, the
Clark County government website on Khoi’s case,
they say it's a homicide. So it's not like they
think that this was an accident where Khoi wandered
off in the night and then the bad weather hit.
So he needed to get out of the rain and he got
into a dumpster. you know, somehow suffocated
or was crushed, killed in an accident manner.
That's not what police are saying happened here.
Very firmly, I think they're saying that's not
what happened here. They do believe that it's
homicide in nature. Khoi is a missing person.
We do not have his body. He has not come home
to his family. And ultimately, I think we just
need to put resources towards this case. If we
can't bring him home, then let's get... justice
for him. Let's have somebody answer for what
they did because this is a heinous and cruel
crime what happened to Khoi. So again if you know
anything about the disappearance of Khoi Dang
Vu in April of 2007 or his whereabouts today
please call the Clark County Police at 564 -397
-2036. We will have some pictures of Khoi on our
Instagram, at coldandmissing. If you're not,
please follow us there. We always post the cases
that we're covering, of course, but then in our
stories, any active missing person cases, things
happening in the here and now, we always share
as they come across the feed. So it's just a
really good resource for what's happening kind
of in the true crime community. And if we ever
need to take a week off, of course, we'll update
you on the Instagram. If you or someone you love
is hard of hearing, we have official transcripts
on our website, www .coldandmissing .com. It
is the official transcript, so I go through and
I make sure that all of the spelling is correct.
I don't have any control over some automatic
transcripts and podcast players, but if you're
looking for official transcripts with official
spelling, they are on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. And like I said at the beginning, if you
could just take some time to leave us a review,
these cases get out there, cases like Khoi’s
So if you've never heard of Khoi's case, maybe
leave us five stars, drop us a kind written review.
It would mean the world to us. And you can also
review us on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. So, you know, if your podcast player doesn't
have any ratings, but you'd still love to leave
one, you can do it there. And again, I just appreciate
you. If you have taken the time to leave us a
review in the past, comment on an episode, or
are thinking about doing it or doing it right
now, thank you. I really do appreciate it. And
I believe it's advocacy work. So thank you. But
that is all I have for you. Thank you so much
for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host,
Ali. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.
Thank you.