Episode Transcript
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Faithe Ely's body was found along a rural Oklahoma highway in a suspected hit and run on March 28,
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2021. She left behind a family, including a six-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son.
For years, her family has fought for answers in a homicide investigation that is not what it
initially seemed. During her interview with Faithe's family, Amanda Langston, Faithe's mother,
"Know who your neighbors are because they might be murderers."
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Welcome to The Corrupt Crew.
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Faithe Morgan Ely was born on Tuesday, June 24, 1997. She was the second of four children,
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with an older brother, Stephan, and a younger brother, Taylor. In the middle with Faithe was
her little sister, Kaitlynn, with just a 360-day gap between their birthdays.
Kaitlyn told News 9 in a 2021 interview,
"360 days apart, we did everything together. Birthday parties, Christmas, shared a room
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together." We spoke with Kaitlynn and Amanda extensively in our research for this episode.
Kaitlynn and Faithe were different, but close growing up. Kaitlynn was more reserved, and Faithe
was outgoing. Faithe designed their shared room in pink, purple, glitter, and MTV. She defended
the bullied and talked at a super speed. Amanda, Faithe's mother, describes her as a
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beautiful mess. Faithe was an artistic, spunky, fearless, loving, and creative person. She loved
to draw and write. Faithe wore clothes that might be uncomfortable or out of season,
but made her look gorgeous. When asked why she did this, Faithe responded that pretty hurts.
The family lived in Shawnee, Oklahoma, a rural city in central Oklahoma,
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while the kids were growing up. Faithe had a daughter in 2015. She embraced motherhood,
dressing her daughter in pink outfits and all the adorable bows.
In my conversation with Kaitlynn, she specifically said,
bows, more bows, bows that were bigger than her daughter's head. And I loved that so much.
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Oh yeah, get you some JoJo Siwa bows. You know what a JoJo Siwa bow is?
I vaguely remember that being a thing about 10 years ago.
Huge. I've got a box full of bows.
Wasn't JoJo like a really cute little blonde girl, giant bows on her head?
Yeah, I think she was on...
Some kind of a pageant show?
Yeah, the old lady on there who directed them was like really rude and mean.
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She ended up in a wheelchair, I think.
Dance moms.
Oh my gosh.
That's what it was.
I'm sorry that that happened to JoJo,
both the large bows on her head and the mean lady director.
I mean, the ponytails were snapped. They were tight.
The following year, she would lose custody of her daughter and struggle with alcohol
and addiction. She fell into a crowd of people and a string of men that were just not good for her.
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Faithe had a second child, a son, in 2018. At the hospital,
Faithe made Kaitlynn promise if anything should happen to her, Kaitlynn would take care of her son.
I don't know about you, but I felt this was a really strange promise
for a 20 or 21 year old mother to make.
I agree. I'm scratching my head here. Where did her
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daughter go? Was it like with the baby daddy or somewhere else?
I believe that her daughter is with the baby daddy's parents. So it would have been
the baby's grandparents.
I can see how losing custody of her daughter made her a bit fearful for her second child.
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Especially if she had been through the court system and knows that Kaitlynn
would be able to provide a solid, good home for her children.
Faithe always made sure the kids were dressed nicely, but in reality, her life was in chaos.
She was fighting an invisible battle, not only with addiction,
but in realizing her own self-worth. She would call Amanda when she needed help and advice.
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Faithe had a supportive family to lean on and would frequently tell Amanda,
I know mom, I'm trying.
Focusing on her sobriety, Faithe flew out to a California rehab center in 2020.
Amanda took guardianship of Faithe's son while she was in California.
In June, Faithe's older brother Stephan died in a car accident.
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This would have been just 12 days after she arrived at the rehab center.
Less than a year later, on March 28, 2021, Faithe would die in what was initially described as a
hit and run.
Faithe was living with her boyfriend Ryan and his mother, Ronnica, in Seminole, Oklahoma.
Ryan was not the father of Faithe's children, but they had dated on and off for about three years.
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There was potentially a history of domestic abuse between them,
but like so many other domestic abuse situations,
no police reports were made, but the abuse was documented by Faithe's family and friends.
Faithe did not tell her family that she was living in an RV with Ryan outside of Ronnica's home,
but instead told them that she was staying with her friend, Ronnica.
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It wasn't until after Faithe's death that her family discovered Ronnica was Ryan's mom.
Two weeks before her death, Faithe had accepted a job at a cafe as a hostess and waitress.
She didn't have a car and had been walking to work.
Faithe was working really hard to get her life back on track.
At 4 p.m. on March 28, Amanda met Faithe at Brahms in Seminole.
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Brahms is like a dairy queen with a small grocery store in it.
Ronnica drove Faithe to Brahms,
but she went into the store while Amanda and Faithe stayed in the parking lot.
They briefly discussed Stephan's death and getting Faithe a car so she could be mobile again.
Amanda left to drive an hour back to Oklahoma City around 4.30 p.m.
Back at Ronnica's home, Faithe and Ryan got into an argument that evening.
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According to Ryan, he attempted to pressure Faithe into talking about Stephan's death,
but she didn't want to talk about it.
At some point, Ronnica got involved in the argument.
This turned into a fight or a scuffle between Faithe and Ronica.
Ryan's stepfather had his adult children over for a family gathering of sorts,
so there were six adults plus children in the house that night.
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Plenty of witnesses to that fight.
Yep.
Faithe left the house and started walking barefoot down Oklahoma State Highway 56.
This stretch of highway has a 70 mile per hour speed limit and no street lights.
The weather was 60 degrees and clear when Faithe was walking down the highway,
but visibility would have still been low due to the darkness.
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The first 911 call came in at 8.34 p.m.
A homeowner living along the highway called 911
after they heard a man screaming and saw Faithe's body beside the road.
Faith was lying along the side of the highway in an apparent hit and run.
At the same time, Amanda received a call from Ronica
screaming that Faithe had been hit by a car and was dead.
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Ryan told investigators he heard what sounded like a speed bump from half a mile away.
He grabbed a flashlight and found Faithe on the roadway.
According to Ryan, he had witnessed a truck and trailer pass by
and then heard the bump a few seconds later.
At that point, he ran and found Faithe lying in the roadway.
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My husband and I talked about this.
We don't think there's a way to hear a speed bump a half a mile away.
We just don't think that's possible.
I find the description very interesting.
That it sounds like a speed bump.
When, in theory, if Faithe had been struck by a vehicle,
that vehicle would have been going, let's say, 70 miles an hour.
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They're not speeding.
They're doing the speed limit on the nose.
I don't think that's going to sound like a speed bump.
I agree.
Kaitlynn and her husband Casey went to the scene.
They saw Faithe lying on the road just 10 feet away.
No CPR was provided when EMTs arrived.
Faithe Morgan Ely was declared dead at 8.34 p.m.
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when the first 911 call was received.
Faithe's cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma.
She had a cut on her head, broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and collapsed lung.
There were also numerous older bruises on Faithe's body.
The medical examiner declared the manner of death as probable vehicle versus a pedestrian.
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This is where the case turns strange.
Typically, with a vehicle versus pedestrian accident,
there are skid marks as the vehicle attempts to brake.
In Faithe's murder, though, not a single skid mark along the roadway
or tire marks next to her body.
She also had no road rash and her left rib cage had just a slight indentation.
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From the exterior of her body, there was almost no visual damage to her rib cage.
There was also no vehicle debris at the scene.
No glass, plastic, or metal from the vehicle damage was found along the roadway.
There was also no vehicle debris on or in Faithe's body.
How does that even happen?
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I don't know.
It's super weird.
If Faithe had been walking along the side of the road,
it's safe to assume there would be footprints along the side of the road, but there were none.
This may or may not be strange.
I'm not sure the footprints would be clearly seen on the side of our highways.
Law enforcement was treating her death as a hit and run,
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so they might not have even looked to confirm footsteps were or were not present as well.
Witnesses came forward to say that Faithe had been walking down the road earlier in the day,
but there were no confirmed witnesses to her 8 p.m. walk.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation took over the case.
Through a warrant, they were able to track down a couple
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that had driven through around the same time as Faithe's death.
This couple did advise there had been a woman walking in the middle of the road
when they drove through.
She did not respond to them, so they had to weave around her in the roadway.
They were not provided a photo of Faithe,
so we were unable to confirm if the walker is Faithe or not.
So this walker was in the middle of the road for a period of time,
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not just along the side of the road.
If it was even Faithe.
How do you know it wasn't somebody from the party happening at Ronnica's house?
I mean, it's a highway, so I would think walking in the middle of the road with your bare feet
isn't a typical night out for a person to do.
No. I think it's a telling story of her mindset that she took off
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so suddenly and didn't even have shoes on.
Yep.
Faithe's hands and feet were bagged for fingernail testing.
This would be important information if Faithe was in a fight prior to or at the time of her death.
At this time, Faithe's nails continue to be held as evidence,
but the DNA has never been tested.
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Why the F not?
I don't know. Can somebody please test this DNA?
It needs to be tested.
That's like three years ago.
Exactly.
Her autopsy did confirm there were no indications of sexual assault prior to Faith's death.
However, just two months previously, Faithe was drugged and raped.
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In September 2024, a 25-year sentence was delivered to a man for the rape.
In our research with Amanda, we did check in
to see if this person could possibly have been the same person to murder Faithe.
Amanda stated no, in no way would this have been connected.
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My mind, I don't know anyone else's, if it went to
what if it was this guy who had raped her and then was trying to keep her quiet?
He was silencing her.
That is apparently off the table.
We can close that door.
I was going to say because there would be a possibility of
if he was in prison for the rape, he could have hired someone.
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Always possible.
I watch too many movies.
It's very, very clear, hopefully to our listeners by this point,
that her death is not actually a hit and run.
I think the writing is clearly written on the wall,
right down to no tire tracks, no skid marks, no vehicle debris.
This is not a hit and run.
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Yeah, the whole thing is off.
What Ryan had claimed earlier of just overhearing what
sounded like a truck and trailer going over a speed bump,
if that were to happen, you would surely have skid marks.
She would surely have something on her body that would indicate that
a whole truck and trailer went over her body.
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It just doesn't add up.
Well, if you think about it from a truck driver's perspective, right?
You're the person driving, say, the F-150
that's going down the road pulling a trailer at eight o'clock at night.
If you see somebody in the road or you think that there's something that you're going to hit,
your first instinct is to hit those brakes.
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And I understand that it's a heavy unit, right?
Like it's a full-size truck.
It's pulling a trailer.
You don't know what's in the trailer.
Assuming this story is correct, there should have been
two vehicles worth of skid marks on that roadway.
Because in theory, I think most of us would have locked it up trying to stop the vehicle.
It's a natural reflex to press on the brakes as fast as you can.
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If something is jumping in front of you.
Yeah.
Swerve out of the way.
It's another natural thing that, you know, they say you're not necessarily
supposed to do for like a deer in the road.
But if you see a human in the road, everybody's going to swerve out of the way.
Yeah.
Unless it was intentional.
Yeah.
I get advice from my husband all the time.
If an animal were to jump out in front of me to not even, not even brake, not even swerve.
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Like the animal is, if it's too late, it's gone.
If you swerve or stop, it's going to become a bigger accident because you don't know.
Because you could go into the ditch.
Exactly.
But at 70 miles per hour, apples and oranges, you know, you're going so fast.
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Pulling a trailer, it doesn't ring true.
Would you be able even to think like that fast, you know, to stop, to press the brake?
Or would it have just happened so quickly?
It takes you back to Melody Rohrer, where Colby went left of center and deliberately struck her.
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If this was a vehicle versus pedestrian situation, it would have to be something like that.
Then also they slowed down, picked up all of the debris,
made sure that Faithe's body was completely clean.
And somehow her body still doesn't show vehicle damage.
So I'm pulling the strings here.
On the side of the highway, mind you.
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Right.
You're telling me nobody has seen anything, any kind of picking up of the debris or nothing.
Like there's so many cars on a highway.
It's mind boggling.
Yeah, it's because it's not right.
Yep.
Faithe's clothing had two pieces of evidence on them, soil and blue lint.
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The lint was assumed to be from a blue blanket that was draped over her body.
But the blanket was not stored as evidence.
So again, it's unverifiable.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation determined her cause of death was from a hit and
run. Witnesses reported seeing a truck and trailer moments before Faithe was killed.
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Then the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation found surveillance footage from outside of a
Dollar General showing a truck and trailer pass by just moments before Faithe's death.
You know, it makes sense that it's outside of a Dollar General because they're everywhere.
Everywhere.
It doesn't matter how rural, how few people live in that town, Dollar General.
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There's a DG right over there.
And if you don't want to go to that one, guess what?
There's another one two minutes down the street.
Yeah. How many do we have in our town?
Four?
Five?
I think around five.
And I can think of at least two that are not in the city with us, but are right outside.
Nothing against DG guys, nothing against them.
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I shop there.
I shop there occasionally.
It's a fantastic business model if you think about it, because there's
like 50 people that live in the middle of nowhere, but they got Dollar General.
Yep.
The truck driver was never identified, but there was an exit for another highway
before the section of Highway 56 where Faithe's body was found.
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The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation did not search the RV where Faithe and Ryan
were living.
The house where Ronica lived was also not searched.
No photos were taken documenting the condition of anyone in the house during the family gathering,
so it's impossible to know if anyone was injured from the fight Ronnica and Faithe had gotten into.
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Within a year, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol took over the case.
It was determined that Faithe's death was not the result of a hit and run,
and the truck is no longer considered to be of interest.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation did not offer a reward for information while
they had the case.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol was unable to provide reward money stating their budget
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doesn't extend to this type of situation.
Then contacted again by Faith's family, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation stated
they couldn't offer a reward since it was no longer their case.
Talk about a runaround.
Exactly.
I mean, Faithe's family is getting confusion everywhere, and it's not helpful.
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No one is being held accountable for anything.
Faithe's family provided a $600 reward in 2021, then they held a benefit in 2022
to raise a $2,500 reward for information in Faithe's death.
Faithe's family continues to search for answers.
There are two Facebook groups, #IMattered and JusticeForFaithe, all one word.
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Kaitlynn has custody of Faith's son and is raising him as her own.
The reward has been increased to $5,000 for information related to Faithe's murder.
Some things about this case that really strike me as odd is that Ryan said he saw that truck
and trailer, but other witnesses did not.
The truck driver is never tracked down, and today it is no longer considered evidence.
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So what about Ryan's statement about seeing it?
Shouldn't that be investigated?
It definitely should.
Also, Faithe's fingernails need to be tested.
If she was in a fight, as all accounts say that she was prior to her death, there might
be someone else's DNA under her nails.
They need to test the damn DNA.
That's what they need to do.
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Yep.
If you have information on Faithe's murder, you can contact Trooper Tim Baker or Lieutenant
Dustin Thornton at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol at 918-627-0440.
Additionally, you can contact the Oklahoma Highway Patrol at 405-425-2323.
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You can also report an anonymous tip to Amanda Langston or Caitlin Alderman on Facebook Messenger.
We are interviewing Faithe's family in an additional episode.
Be on the lookout for it.
Faithe's reward poster will be shared on our socials.
So please, please share this on your own socials.
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We want to leave you with a quote Amanda sent us during the research for this episode.
We want your listeners to know that justice is slow.
And a lot of times it takes the family to be the voice that reminds law enforcement that
they were real.
They were loved.
They mattered.
And they deserve justice and accountability.
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I just love that quote so much.
And I adore them as human beings.
They are out there fighting the fight on the front line every single day.
To solve this, no one else is on their side.
We are on their side.
Our corrupt crew is on their side.
We have social media behind us.
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No matter where you are in the world, you can share this story and you can help Faithe.
You can help her family.