April Millsap Part 1: The Girl on the Trail – Who Was April Millsap?

She was just 14. A daughter, a dreamer, a life that mattered.

On July 24, 2014, April Millsap leashed up her beloved dog Penny and set out on the Macomb Orchard Trail in Armada, Michigan. Minutes later, she sent her boyfriend a chilling text: “I think I almost got kidnapped.” By nightfall, Penny returned alone—and April’s body was discovered just off the trail.

In this first chapter of Dark Dialogue’s April Millsap series, John and Angela take listeners beyond the headlines. Who was April Millsap? What were her dreams, her passions, and the ordinary life she lived in a small Michigan town before everything changed?

Through intimate storytelling, we remember April not just for the horror of her final moments, but for her kindness, her laughter, her bond with Penny, and her dream of becoming a veterinarian. Her story is more than a crime—it’s a legacy of love, community grief, and the resilience of those left behind.

👉 Listen now to hear April’s story from the beginning. 👉 Follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode in this series. 👉 Share this episode to keep April’s name alive and help ensure that her memory is never reduced to a headline. 👉 Support our work by joining the Dark Dialogue Collective, subscribing on Substack, or donating via Patreon or Ko-fi—every contribution helps us shine a light on victims who deserve to be remembered.

Because April Millsap was more than a victim. She was a daughter, a friend, and a bright life stolen too soon.

Episode Transcript

John (00:10):
She was just 14, a bright, compassionate kid from her made of
Michigan, a one stoplight town whereneighbors still wave from porches
and leave their doors unlocked.
April Millsap wasn't the kind ofgirl who faded into the background.
She dreamed of becoming aveterinarian doted on her dog.
Penny.

(00:30):
And filled her small world withkindness, laughter, and promise.
But on July 24th, 2014, a normalsummer walk turned into a nightmare.
April leashed that penny and headedout to the Macomb Orchard Trail.
A quiet stretch of pavementwinding through trees and
farmland just steps from her home.

(00:53):
It was the kind of path that mostpeople wouldn't think twice about,
but that day, something went wrong.
Horribly wrong minutes beforevanishing, April sent a
chilling text to her boyfriend.
Just seven words that will haunt everyone.
Who reads them.

(01:13):
I think I almost got kidnapped.
And then silence hours later,penny tried to bring help to her.
Her body was found just off the trail,beaten, discarded, and robbed of the
future that she's so richly deserved.
This wasn't just amurder, it was a rupture.

(01:36):
The town of arm Mato was shattered.
Strangers began eyeingeach other with suspicion.
Rumors spread faster thantruth, and somewhere in the
chaos, some knew what happened.
This is dark dialogue, the storiesbehind the headlines and the
voices that refuse to be forgotten.
Today we begin the story of AprilMillsap, not just a victim, not

(02:01):
just a headline, a daughter.
A dreamer, a life that mattered.
So Angela, how's it going?

Angela (02:11):
It's going well.
How are you?

John (02:13):
I'm good.
I'm good.
Another day in paradise,something like that.

Angela (02:17):
Paradise,

John (02:18):
yeah, something like that.

Angela (02:19):
When did our zip code change?
I'm kidding.
You weren't

John (02:22):
notified.

Angela (02:23):
I was not notified

John (02:24):
and you're missing out.
But

Angela (02:28):
where have I been?

John (02:29):
I don't know where.
I don't know where inthe hell you've been,
but you know when 14-year-old AprilMillsap leashed up her dog and walked
into the woods that July afternoon,she didn't know that she was walking
into the hands of a predator.
She didn't know that her finaltext would spark panic or that her
hometown would never feel safe again.

(02:49):
She just wanted to go for a walk, have amoment of peace, and instead she vanished.

Angela (02:55):
It's one of those cases that knocks the wind out of you, a girl
just walking her dog in broad daylightin a community where danger wasn't.
Supposed to exist, and then a single text.
I think I almost gotkidnapped and she's gone.

John (03:11):
Yeah.
You know, and this is anotherone of those, you know,
this was a tough one for me.
It's a tough one toresearch about this one.
It's gonna be a tough one to talk about.
This is a tough one.
There's my trigger warning.
I mean, okay.
It's, it's just tough.

(03:33):
But listeners, welcome back to DarkDialogue, the podcast where we unravel
the shadows of the human mind anddive deep into the mysteries that
hunt small towns and big cities alike.
I'm your host John.

Angela (03:45):
And I'm Angela.
And together we'll shine a light onthe stories that keep us up at night.
Unsolved disappearanceslives stolen too soon.
And the questions that refuse to be buried

John (03:56):
In this episode, we begin our journey into the case of April Millsap,
a young girl with a bright future,a big heart, and a tragic ending.
We'll look at who she was, whathappened that day on the trail, and
how her final moments sent a shockwave through her community and beyond.

Angela (04:15):
We'll talk about the warning signs, the investigation that followed,
and the ripple effect of her murder,because April wasn't just a victim.
She was a daughter, a friend, a girlwith dreams of becoming a vet, and
her story deserves to be told in Pull.

John (04:31):
If you believe cases like April's deserves more than a footnote.
Take a second rightnow to follow the show.
Leave a review, give us a thumbs up.
And most importantly, share this episode.
Post it, tag us, talk about it.
The more people who hear hername, the harder it becomes
for her story to be forgotten.

Angela (04:53):
Your support helps us keep asking the hard questions and helps families
know that their loved ones still matter.
Join us on Patreon, chip in on coffee,or become part of the Dark Dialogue
collective to help fuel this work.
Every share, every dollar andevery listen makes a difference.

John (05:14):
This is Dark Dialogue and this is the Girl on the
Trail who was April Millsap.
You got to dig up somelocation information.
I know you're excited about that.
I am.
Alright, well tell us wherewe're going this week.

Angela (05:33):
So we are in, and I think you've pronounced it, arm Meda Uhhuh.
So Arm Me, mission of Michigan.
Is a village in Macomb County, whichwill, I will touch more on in a bit.
But the first record of land purchased inthe area that became our made of township
was made by John Proctor in 18 25, 23.

(05:55):
More families had bought landin the rural, rural area.
By 1832, there's that word favorite.
I know.
Until that year, the areawas part of Ray Township.
A meeting was soon called toorganize a separate township, and
the vote won by two, only two.
Thus, our Maita Township was foundedwhen the discussion began to choose

(06:18):
the name for the new township.
Legend says that Hosea, Northropjumped up and shouted the name Armida.
The name was accepted without anyonetotally understanding the meaning.

John (06:32):
I love that

Angela (06:32):
I do too.
The village grew as residents improved onold Native American Trail, which became
a key route between Romeo and Port.
Huron now are Maita Ridge Road.
The village was incorporatedas our Maita in the late 1860s.
While I will mention the censusrecords for Arm Meda, they will
be part of the overall statistics.

(06:54):
When I talk about Macomb County in a bit,10 years after it was incorporated, the
1870 census reported 494 people around 2010, 4 years before this tragedy occurred.
They reported an increase of, or anincrease to 1730 people, seventeen thirty,

(07:14):
seventeen hundred and thirty people.
And in 2020, a reduction to1,684 people was recorded.
A notable person from Arm Ma of Michiganis John Huff, a sharpshooter who
Mortally wounded Confederate General,JEB Stewart, during the Civil War.
Kind of thought Johnwould appreciate that.

John (07:36):
I alleged that.
Thank you.

Angela (07:37):
Yeah.
Huff a native Amer a native of armArmida shot Stewart during the Battle
of Yellow Tavern in Virginia, thoughhe himself was killed in action.
Just 20 days later, his home in Armidastill stands on East Main Street.
If you want to go visit it,

John (07:53):
I think I do, actually.
I, I

Angela (07:54):
think you

John (07:55):
should.
This town seems like afreaking cool little town.
It does, and I want to go there.
It does.

Angela (08:00):
Armida has hosted a county fair every August since 1872.
That's

John (08:05):
freaking rude.

Angela (08:06):
So you should go in August.

John (08:08):
I'll have to, yep.

Angela (08:09):
However, the reason I now want to visit myself specifically on
the second Saturday in October is theHalloween Festival known as Armida Giddon.

John (08:21):
That's pretty freaking clever.

Angela (08:22):
It celebrates the fall fun and all things spooky.
That is right up my alley.
The event includes a 5K walk,run and shamble, a street fair
with craft benders and food gamesand activities for children.
And in the eveningalighted Halloween parade.
So bucket list item number 8,743.

John (08:43):
Right on.

Angela (08:44):
So you'll go in August?
I'll go in October.
Perfect.
It works.
Now I'll talk a little bit aboutMacomb County and a few little
tidbits from that county as a whole.
It is part of the DetroitMe metropolitan area.
Why did that word look so out?
It looked like,

John (09:03):
I don't know why

Angela (09:04):
it looked like it was wrong to me.
Do you ever have that?
Yes.
You look at a word and it'slike, that's just wrong.
It is part of the Detroit metropolitanarea, bordering Detroit to the north and
containing many of its northern suburbs.
Was former organized on January15th, 1818 as the third county

(09:24):
in the Michigan territory.
The county was named in honor ofDetroit born Alexander McComb Jr.
Highly decorated veteran of warin 1812 and Hero of the Battle of
Plattsburgh, he was made commandinggeneral of the US Army in 1828.
Lot of army stuff for you.

John (09:43):
Yeah, I'm loving it.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, you know this,that hangs above me is an original
flag from the war of 1812.
I knew it was very important to you.
Yeah.
That flag flew.
And you know what's really uniqueabout that particular flag?

Angela (09:59):
Hmm?

John (10:00):
Well, it has 13 stars and 13 stripes, right?

Angela (10:04):
Yeah.
And I was counting really fast

John (10:05):
and if

Angela (10:06):
you couldn't tell,

John (10:07):
it is the flag that the Star-Spangled Banner was written about.
It only flew for likethree years, I think.
And then.

Angela (10:14):
No wonder it is very important to you

John (10:16):
because the original idea was to add one star and one stripe for
every state, and then they came to therealization that they were gonna end up
with a flag that was like eight feet wide.
Yeah.
So they decided, okay, we'll keepit at 13 and we'll just add stars.
Yeah,

Angela (10:30):
I gotcha.
So Macomb County, Michigan is knownfor its blend of suburban living,
automotive industry influence obviouslyand recreational opportunities.
It's recognized for the GeneralMotors Tech Center in Warren, a global
hub for automotive innovation, andits numerous parks and metro parks.

(10:51):
The county also attractions likeChimney Johns Field, which with
its minor league baseball team andfamily friendly activities, and CJ
Barrymore's Family Entertainment Centerand indoor outdoor amusement park.
Additionally, Macomb County is known for.
It is diverse dining, shopping, andentertainment options, as well as

(11:12):
its strong community atmosphere.
The census records are quite astounding.
And now remember, this isfor the county as a whole.
In 18 10, 580 residents werereported, and that grew to 840,978.
Wow.
In 2010.

John (11:32):
That's, I mean, I, I don't know why I'm surprised by that,
but that's more, quite a bit morethan the whole state of Wyoming.

Angela (11:39):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Couple of Wyomings landed there in 2010.

John (11:42):
Yeah.

Angela (11:42):
And that was just four years before this story takes place.
But an estimated 886,175people lived there as of 2024.

John (11:52):
They're gonna break a million before too long.
Yeah.

Angela (11:55):
It is way too big for me

John (11:57):
because Detroit's growing again.

Angela (11:58):
Yeah,

John (11:59):
yeah.

Angela (12:00):
Well, 'cause we're building again, aren't we?
Yeah.
So.
There is an absolute ton of notablenames brought to us by various
parts of this country, and we donot have time to name them all.
So naturally I will throw out a few thatcaught my eye while reading up on it.
Actors Dean Kane and Dave Couoriginated from this county

(12:21):
as well as several musicians.
Maybe you've heard of a few Eminem,Alice Cooper, kid Rock and Uncle Cracker.

John (12:29):
Wow.
I knew that.
I knew Kid Rock and I knew Eminem,not because I, I cannot stand him,
but because, I don't know, it'ssome crap with this eight mile.
Yeah, that thing.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which until, I guess it was,I'm pretty sure it's true.

(12:50):
Crime Gar Garage.
No.
It's true crime all the time.
I think one of them guys lived in Detroit,and I think that it's that it's Mike that
lived in Detroit for some time, and so hewas talking about like, I don't know, I
guess that's how Detroit's laid out, likeeight mile, 10 miles, uhhuh, whatever.
I don't know a thing about Detroit.

(13:10):
I've never been there, but Ihave friends that live there.
I knew that Kid Rock come fromthat area, who I really like.
I think he's freaking awesome.
Uncle Cracker's.
All right.
Alice Cooper's badass,

Angela (13:21):
right?

John (13:22):
But yeah, you know Alice Cooper, this is the reason, not that, not
Michigan, but that, that area is whyhe made an appearance in what movie?
Wayne's World.
Wayne's World like actually Mil w

Angela (13:38):
can't even see Milwaukee without hearing that now.

John (13:42):
But yeah, so that, thank you for that.
That was drinking.
That was really cool.
I, I enjoyed all of thehistory that he had in there.
So, do you know why theguy was a sharp shooter?
You know where the termsharp shooter comes from?
No, I do not.
It's because they started with thesharps rifle making those line, the
sharps rifle allowed them to makethose long distance sharp shots.

(14:07):
Mm-hmm.
So they became known as sharps shooters,which then got shortened to sharp shooter.

Angela (14:13):
Well, they took one letter away and it just is easier to say.
Got it.

John (14:18):
Yep.
But yeah, I don't know.
Is this like a new thing?
Is I gotta come up with some nonsensetrivia bullshit for every episode.
He's

Angela (14:26):
just about to ask you.
Why do you test me every time?

John (14:29):
This is fun.
I like to see your face whenyou're like, you son of a bitch.

Angela (14:33):
You son of a bitch.
And then my face when I actuallyknow and I'm like, ha ha.
I feel like, yeah.

John (14:40):
Then I gotta throw in a secondary question just to tone
down your arrogance a little bit.

Angela (14:44):
You all should see his face when he is like, shit, now I
gotta come up with something else.

John (14:49):
Yeah, it's kind of becoming a thing and it's not planned.
I don't know why.
It's because it is, I got so muchuseless bullshit information in
my brain that it is just like, yousay something and I'm like, oh,
I know some dumb shit about that.

Angela (15:02):
Why haven't you gone on any game shows yet?

John (15:05):
You don't have

Angela (15:05):
time.

John (15:06):
Doesn't interest me.

Angela (15:07):
Well, and you don't have time.

John (15:10):
I think that, yeah, it just doesn't interest me.
Doesn't not, we're just

Angela (15:14):
gonna leave it at that.

John (15:15):
I mean, what's the one that they, what's They

Angela (15:18):
wouldn't let you wear your v mask on a

John (15:20):
Well, the sooner.
There you go.
There's another reason.
But what's the one where they'relike, uh, you can, you can like take
a hundred thousand dollars or youkeep going and then you get to a
million and they have like all thebriefcases and bullshit up there.
They open briefcases

Angela (15:35):
deal or no deal.

John (15:36):
Yeah.
I'd go on there and they'd be like,you get, I'm offering you 10,000.
I'd be like, okay.
They.
Yep.
No, absolutely.
That'll help enough.
Then walk out with nothing.
That show drives me crazy becausethey keep saying no and keep saying
no until they're freaking broke.
I'd be like, yes, make me an offer.
Take dude.

Angela (15:54):
It was more than you had five minutes ago.

John (15:56):
Exactly.
Be happy and

Angela (15:58):
move on.

John (15:59):
I would suck at game shows because I'd be like, I can I just
take what I have now and leave.
Yeah.
Can I just call it good?
I'm a terrible gambler.
'cause I'm always like,okay, I'm good with that.
Yeah.
Put a quarter in a slotmachine, 75 cents comes out.
I'm like, yeah, that's,that's pretty good.
That's, that's good.
Yeah.
Better than where I started.
So I'm I'm good with that.

Angela (16:16):
That's how I'm feel about it too.
So when I it, I'm like, I'm done.
Other people are like, no,put some in your pocket.
Put 20 back.
No, I'm done.

John (16:24):
Yeah, that's, that is true.
Why piss

Angela (16:26):
off the, the Luton gods?

John (16:28):
That is the way that I gamble for sure, is I'll go in with like
20 bucks and if I, if I've decidedI'm gonna blow 20 bucks gambling,
then I'm good with blowing 20 bucks.
But I, as soon as I've made 20 bucks.
It's locked into my pocket andthen I only play with my winning.
So worst case scenario, onceyou've made your 20 Yep.
You break even.

Angela (16:49):
Yep.

John (16:49):
So I am not the dude that's gonna go rack up a bunch of debt to keep
playing 'cause I No, no, I don't think so.
But anyway, so we better get on withthis story 'cause it's a brutal one.
So I'm glad we got a, I'm

Angela (17:04):
trying to postpone the brutality.

John (17:06):
Glad we got a little bit of a laugh in.
Um, obviously this is episodeone, so, uh, we don't get into the
terrible, terrible, terrible stuff,but that's the whole thing's terrible.
So obviously we're talking about AprilDon Millsap, who was born January
2nd, 2000, which is just anotherfreaking issue with this is because

(17:30):
she's like a month older than my son.
So, oh yeah, because that hits home a bit.
He was born in February of 2000.
So, and she was born in Wise County,Virginia, and she was the only child
of Jennifer Millsap and Bobby Millsap.
And it was a healthy birth, not like,

Angela (17:50):
okay.
Sorry, my brain just went, what?
Okay.

John (17:55):
Yeah, go ahead.
Because you're thinking of what's,what's his Damn, Ronnie, Ronnie Millsap.
Yeah, that's right.
Thank you for that.
It was a healthy birth,no reported complications.
And our early life was in Virginiaand was marked by, you know, a typical
infancy family focus with parentsproviding a nurturing environment.
So Mother Jennifer worked locally andher father was involved initially, and

(18:20):
the family was described as close duringApril's early years with no specific
stories or milestones talked about at all,but portrayed as a happy early childhood.
And so they lived a, a nuclearfamily life in Virginia.
April was doted on as a child,but her parents' relationship was

(18:40):
strained, which led to a separationwhen April was pretty young.
I couldn't find exactly, but Ithink that it was around four
or so when she was around fouror so is when they got divorced.
Okay.
And there's absolutely no custodybattles that were noted at all.

(19:01):
Um, her mom basically just became her,you know, main provider at that point.
And then So the 'cause it was

Angela (19:10):
amicable or just 'cause he failed?

John (19:13):
I think he failed.
Okay.
Because he doesn't factor intoher story beyond this time.
At all do better, Bobby?
Yeah.
So I think, I think that he bailed.
I mean, there may have beensome occasional contact Yeah.
But I couldn't find any of it.
And then mom started dating a guy bythe name of David Lichen Felt, and

(19:40):
he's reported as being her stepfather,but I don't think that that's true.
I don't think they were ever married,but he damn sure stepped in as
father to April, no doubt about that.
And they had a very close relationship.
He was just her dad.
Mm-hmm.
And, and it, it's kind of remarkable,you know, not that, you know, not that

(20:03):
a guy stepped up and was a dad becausethat's our job, but it's a little
remarkable that he had, that he tooksuch a role in her life and was not.
Even her stepfather, he literallywas her mom's boyfriend,
but it made no difference.
That was his little girl almost fromthe second they met, it sounds like.
And they, um, yeah, I mean theyhad a very close relationship.

(20:28):
It, everything describes theirrelationship as extremely close.
So, you know, thank God for thisguy and what a standup dude.
And, you know, it's, it'sjust, it's really cool.
But they, they relocated to ourmeda, which you just got done
talking about for a quieter life.

Angela (20:48):
Yeah.
And if you can't find me next, in thenext two months, that's where I'm at.

John (20:51):
It sounds like a freaking awesome place.
It really does.
And I'll be talking about it throughoutthis, but I just gotta say, man, the,
the cops in this story, I was watchingan interview, and again, sorry, I'm
pulling from memory instead of mynotes, but it was either like the.
It was one of the investigators, I can'tremember if it was the sheriff or the, if

(21:16):
he was city police, I just don't remember.
But in the interview, he wasjust, he just, he couldn't gain,
he couldn't keep his composure.
He was crying because it was hisjob to protect him and he failed.
And it's like, alright, dude,you take that so personal, like

(21:36):
you're a good freaking cop.
Yeah,
you're a good freaking cop.
And, and, and this interviewwas years after and did

Angela (21:44):
you train other cops,

John (21:45):
please?
No shit.
But I just got it as this small townpolice force that truly cares about
their community and truly are thereto serve and protect their community.
And they take that oath very seriously.
And as we work through thiscase, they also do some freaking

(22:07):
standup investigative work.
I mean.
It is hard to believe that they're insuch a tiny little town because man,
they could teach some big city detectivessome shit, both the way that they handled
this case, but we'll get into all that.
Anyway, the family settled in a modesthouse on Fulton Street in our Meda.
It was a safe environment, communityoriented, and then they added the

(22:31):
dog, the family dog Penny, who was aBorder Collie, which border Collies
are near and dear to my heart.
I grew up with them.
We had 'em as cattle dogs, and soI just fell in love with the breed.
But if you're not familiar withBorder Collies, they're about as
intelligent as, I don't know, halfthe high school graduates out there.

(22:54):
I mean, they are such freaking smart dogs.
That's almost scary how damnsmart border colleagues are.

Angela (23:01):
I have the tangent.
Our neighbor had one when we moved outthere and they have free ranch chickens.
And we had chickens under our porch.
One day I stepped on the porch, chickensfly out, and I yelled to the neighbor's
house, Kip, come get your chickens.
And he did.

John (23:18):
Oh yeah, yeah.
I mean, the best, thebest cow dog I ever had.
And named him badger for obvious reasons.
And you literally couldride to the top of a hill.
And I could say Badger, go gatherthem and take 'em to the gate.
And he would go gather the cows atthe bottom, take 'em to the gate,
and I would go over and gatherother cows and meet him at the gate.

(23:40):
And they're amazing dogs.
And,

Angela (23:43):
and the look on KIPP's face too is like son of a bitch.
Three of them got away, you know?

John (23:48):
Yeah.
You get your ass

Angela (23:49):
back here.

John (23:50):
They're so incredibly smart and just, they're very high energy.
They're not probably the best dogsfor in town unless you can walk
'em all the time and everything.
But they're amazing dogs.
And you know, April and Penny justformed this really close bond.
I mean, that was her dog and

Angela (24:07):
well, yeah.

John (24:09):
And so, you know, the community life in Arm, Maida.
It was peaceful, very low crime village.
And you know, like you told us aboutit, you know, it's, it's known for,
its faires, it's orchards trails.
It's really pretty.

Angela (24:24):
Community is big.

John (24:26):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Huge.
And it's a really pretty location too.
I mean, it, it really just seems thesame thing I didn't do is look that up.
So here we go.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
I mean, the trail where this tragedytakes place is a gorgeous trail.
And so from the ages of about eight to14 April enjoyed outdoor activities.

(24:47):
She went on regular dog walkson the McCone Orchard trail.
And I don't understand thisat all, but I guess I, I just
don't understand this bullshit.
But I mean, this was avery pretty little girl.
And, but for whatever reason.

(25:08):
She developed like the, this bodyimage issue where she thought she was
FI mean, she's a tiny little thing.
I don't know if you sawpictures of her or not.
No, not yet.
But she's a little bitty thing.
But anyway, she thought that she was fat.
It's society and itdoes that to all of us.
And so she got this fitness tracker app.

(25:29):
I'm pretty sure it was MyFitnessPal,if you're familiar with that one.
Mm-hmm.
And started these daily walks, you know?
And I mean, I'm not saying thatit's bad that she was doing that.
I think it's great that shewas outside exercising and
stuff, but she had no, not, and

Angela (25:43):
the mentality that she was doing it.

John (25:45):
Yeah.
And she had no reason to think.
And no kid does.
I mean, for cran out loud,she was 14 freaking years old.
Right.
If she would've been a little bitchubby, it would've been fine.
But she was not a little bit chubby.
She was a little bitty thing.
So I don't know where that came from,but I bring it up because it's going
to be a huge part of this story.
This is a beautiful little town.

(26:06):
It is a beautiful little town.
Yeah.
It's gorgeous.
And so, you know, the McCone OrchardTrail, we'll be talking about it
throughout, but it's a really nicepaved trail that kinda winds through
the woods and the fields and andthat, so she would take her dog
Penny walking on that every day.

(26:26):
My goodness.
She was gorgeous.
Oh yeah.
She's a beautiful little girl.
Yeah.
And she would take her, her dogwalking on that trail every day, you
know, and I mean, it's the kind oftrail that I could spend hours on.
It's just beautiful.
And then, you know, she helpedwith fam, with household chores.
Family dinners were common.

(26:48):
And then, you know, she, growingup in her Mais, she would've
participated in the fairs and allthe festivities that you talked about
when you were telling us about it.
She made friends easily through school,and she was known for outgoing nature.
She participated in communityevents and, uh, there's really
no reported troubles or anything.

(27:10):
The only thing I could find was thatbody shaming thing, which honestly,
a lot of teenage girls go through.
Not just teenage girls, A lot of teenage,anybody, teenagers go through, you know,
that whole thing anyway, but you know,

Angela (27:26):
who can judge by a picture too?
She looks very sweet.
Like she

John (27:30):
really does.
Very, very

Angela (27:31):
sweet.

John (27:31):
Yeah.
She really looks like just a, areally pretty sweet little girl.
I mean, I, yeah.
And she loved animals deeply.
She fed strays, she cared for Penny.
Like, I mean, they were best friendsand she wanted to be a vet, you know?
So she really loved animals.
She enjoyed reading, music, textingwith friends, and she was tech savvy.

(27:55):
And like I said, she got the MyFitnessPalapp and she had her cell phone in.
And she was growing up at, atthat time where, you know, like
now every kid has a cell phone.
You know what I mean?
So, you know, she had,she was on it a lot.
And this was also, I don't know,I think it's maybe slowed down a

(28:15):
little bit, but this was like socialmedia at its prime, where you're
posting all, everything, everything.
Every meal just tied my shoes.
I just stood up.
I never understood that shit, but.
That's the time periodthat we're talking about.
So,

Angela (28:34):
oh, you just made me quote easy a in my head.

John (28:37):
I dunno what that means.

Angela (28:39):
They, he, uh, teacher says, what is it with you kids in posting absolutely
every thought, like, I can't remember thekid's name, but he is like, just got to
the gas station and bought a Coke Zero.

John (28:55):
So freaking true man.
And then she had creativeoutlets, like drying animals.
She participated in church activities.
She was strong with her family and,you know, she had a good relationship
with her mom, but she was kind ofgoing into those teenage years a little
bit, you know, and so they were, Imean, but they were having normal,

(29:16):
there was no like big blow up fights.
She wasn't rebellious, nothing like that.
They were.
Typical mom, daughter, teenage things.
Yeah.
But she did keep a very strongbond with her mom's boyfriend.
I mean, they were like best buddies.
And he had come into her lifewhen I think she was six.
And so now she's 14, so he is her dad.

(29:37):
Yeah.
Because like I said before, I don'tthink her dad had anything to do with,
or very little, at the very least.
He was still in Virginia, I'm sure.
Yeah.
And so, you know, theywere a long ways away.
But she attended elementary schoolin her Maida after their move.
And she excelled academically.
She was described as smart.

(29:58):
She was an eager learner, no learningdisabilities or anything like that.
And then enrolled inour MA of middle school.
Which was for grades six through eight.
And so she graduated eighth gradeduring the spring of 2014 and was set to
enter our Maita High school that fall.
And so she was involved in herclasses some, possibly some clubs.

(30:21):
I couldn't find anything like thatspecifically, but teachers recalled
her as a positive and helpful student.
She got good grades.
She received her communion at in 2010at St. Mary Mystical Rose Catholic
Church, which was a milestonecelebrated with her families, no

(30:41):
sports activities that I could find.
But she loved her walks and peersviewed her as a reliable friend.
So she was excited for high school,which every kid that age just can't wait.
You know, like to start high school,that's such a big freaking milestone.

Angela (31:00):
I was not that kid.

John (31:01):
Oh, I was, I was definitely that kid because that meant that I was
getting older and could leave home soon.
Without a doubt.
I mean, we didn't have, wedidn't have junior high or, um,
we didn't have middle school.
Did you?
I,

Angela (31:15):
I was the first eighth grade class in our middle school.

John (31:18):
Okay.
Yeah.
We didn't have middle school.
We had junior high, you know, and so

Angela (31:22):
yeah, I went to junior high and then middle school.
It was very weird.

John (31:25):
Oh, that is really weird.

Angela (31:27):
We went to junior high, we started eighth grade and junior high.
We went to Christmas break.
After Christmas break,we went to middle school.

John (31:35):
Oh, that's really weird.

Angela (31:36):
And really weird.
That's what's wrong with me.

John (31:38):
Wow.
That's, yeah.
I've just

Angela (31:39):
decided just now that's what's wrong with me.

John (31:42):
So, you know, the, the whole junior high experience was so much
different because you were, yeah.
At the high school, you'rejust like in a different part,
but you were still, I mean.
Some of your, at leasthere, some of your, we were

Angela (31:54):
subject to the high school.
Some

John (31:55):
of your, your classes were in the high school.
Mm-hmm.
So you literally had to walkthrough the senior hall to get
to some of your classes stuff.
Yeah.
That was intimidating ashell, let me tell you.
That was very freaking intimidating.
And those kids were sobig, but we were so little.
I mean, figure, you start in seventhgrade, you're pretty damn, you're little

(32:16):
small compared to seniors, you know?
But anyway, she was upbeat,friendly, kindhearted.
She was described by her friends and hermom as being beautiful inside and out.
She was caring, loving, like wesaid, she loved pets that came up
so many times, loved animals, butshe was bright, smart, ambitious.

(32:39):
Church going community minded.
And like I already said before, therewas really no rebellious space noted.
She handled, her family changesmaturely and she aspired to become a
veterinarian from a very early age.
She had a passion for animalsand she planned college.
She planned her college's, vet school, andher mom encouraged those dreams, seeing

(33:04):
potential tied to her the daily life that,you know, she loves, she loves spending
time with Penny and stuff like that.
So she found something shewas that passionate about.
Mm-hmm.
Just as a kid, you know?
And so, you know, I think thather, it, they just seem like
a very, very close family.

(33:26):
And yeah, her mom her mom has areally bad speech impediment, so
she's really hard to understand.
And so, I don't know, it, it kind offactors into the story just simply because
when she's excited, which we'll talkabout later, she's, you, she's almost,
she can't understand her 'cause she has a,

(33:47):
a pretty bad
speech impediment anyway.
And then when she getsexcited, it gets really bad.
But between her mom and her,I'm just gonna start calling
her her stepfather, I guess.
I mean, why not?
And essentially he is.
And 'cause he was in her lifefrom a very early age and he
helped her with her homework.

(34:08):
He attended all of her school events,they shared households, you know, uh,
he, he's described as being extremelyattentive, providing stability.
Absolutely no conflictsreported quite the opposite.
They had a very close relationship.
And so it's noted that she was reallygrowing up just surrounded by love.

(34:31):
Her mom had daughtered her.
David adored her, and so I, Imean, it's the best possible
situation for a child to grow up in.
Yeah.
And the worst possible scenariofor a tragedy like this to happen.
And I'm not saying that,and it scenario is good.
Yeah.
Right.
I'm not saying like any parent is happywhen their kids die, but you know,

(34:56):
there are those parents out there thatreally don't pay any attention to their
kids and don't really even, you know,factor into their lives much at all.

Angela (35:03):
Yeah.

John (35:04):
But when you're

Angela (35:05):
like Bobby,

John (35:06):
right.
But like, when you're best friendswith your kids and stuff, I mean, it's
just, it just makes it so much worse.
Yeah.
So summer, she was enjoyingher summer in 2014.
You know, I mean, as any kidis doing, they're enjoying
their time off from school.
You know, she justgraduated in middle school.

(35:26):
She was excited for high schooland she kept her routine, which
her, one of her big daily routineswas the evening walks with Penny.
And, you know, she would text hermom and text her boyfriend pretty
regularly, um, on those trips.
And I mean, there was just no indicationthat anything bad was coming at all.

(35:48):
And then on July 24th, 2014,it was a hot Thursday and.
She was a freaking teenager, so shewas, she slept till about noon or so.
I mean, she's a teenageron summer break, so.
Yep.
You know, she's till about noon and Yeah.
And you know, this case coming so soonafter the Heather Don Church case, uh,

(36:13):
it's kind of the same situation with Aprilas it was with Heather, when I say, okay.
Yes.
Teenager, but kind of gist, you know,like 13, 14, you're kind of into
that teenagery thing, but not really.
You're still a little kid, you know.

(36:33):
And so April was very much thatshe was maturing and moving into,
you know, that teenage period.
Mm-hmm.
But at 14, you're, you'rereally not there yet, you know?
And so, but that Thursdaywas hot, so she left home.
After getting out of bed andgetting going and everything, she

(36:53):
left home around six to six 30to take her dog penny for a walk.
And her, her and her boyfriend wereteenagers, and I don't even know if
I need to explain any more than thatbecause it pretty well covers everything.
But, you know, it was, they, theywere teenagers in a relationship

(37:15):
and acting like teenagers.
And so at this particular moment, theywere having a fight about something.
And it doesn't even matter what it wasabout, it doesn't factor in, but they were
having a fight and so she texted him, at6 28 said, I think I almost got kidnapped.

(37:37):
And I think, uh, I'll have to look andmake sure, but I'm pretty sure that it was
like OMGI think I almost got kidnapped.
And then he was, they werehaving a, a little spat.
And so I, I can, I just can see it.
I can see it happening.
Yeah.
Like, he was like, I'm noteven gonna look at the, I don't

(38:00):
even care what she's saying.
Oh, yeah.
So he didn't respond backto her for quite some time.
And so when she left the housethat day, she was dressed casually.
I think she had on jeans, uh, on tanktop, and then just, you know, sneakers.
And she carried her cell phone with her.
All, like, all kids then did all the time.
Yes.
But she really wanted it becauseshe was tracking her miles.

(38:25):
Mm-hmm.
Or step counts, you know, so.
It really factors in big to this case.
That's why you keep coming back to it.
So when she left the house, shestarted it and I don't know,
have you used MyFitnessPal?

Angela (38:37):
No, but I have used similar,

John (38:39):
yeah.
So I, I, I've used thisparticular one a lot.
I really like the app, but you know,like so many of those, you like start
your run and, and then you stickin your pocket, whatever it counts,
your steps, your miles and all that.
So she did that.
When she left, she started her, herrun or you know, her walk or whatever.
And then Jennifer, her momsaw her leave the house.

(39:02):
And, you know, I mean there was absolutelyno nothing to be concerned about.
And she entered the trail nearDepot Street and the path was
about one to two miles from home.
And there are wooded sections.
I mean, it's a beautiful trail andit does, it kind of winds through the
woods and I think there's, kind ofgoes past a lake on one side and it

(39:24):
goes up through the trees and it'sa, it's really a very pretty trail.
But, you know, one of the bad partsabout it, and this, the, this case
really reminds me a lot of the Delphimurders case because the, the trails are
real similar type of trails, you know.
Sure.

(39:45):
The mon the, the Mon and High BridgeTrail in the Delphi case, you know,
it's a similar trail that windsthrough the, through the trees and
all the kids go and walk this trail.
And this one seems like avery similar type situation.
And then, you know, the, that thetext message in light of what is

(40:06):
coming is really freaking chilling.
And it was OMG, I thinkI almost got kidnapped.
I think it was like OMFG

Angela (40:20):
probably.
Yeah,

John (40:21):
I'm pretty, I'm pretty sure it was, but it was sent
while she was on the trail.
Which now, well, I mean, weknow that it indicates some
kind weird shit was going on.
Yeah.
On that trail.
Somebody's watching her.
Right.
I mean, it's really hard.
I, I know the whole story, soI, I know what was going on.

(40:41):
But you know, at this point inthe story, it's really hard.
Like, okay, did she see somebody creepy?
Or, you know what?
Just freaking happened.

Angela (40:50):
There's a tiny part of me that remembers being a 14-year-old girl
fighting with a boyfriend, and thatcould be a way just to get him to talk,

John (41:00):
right?
Yep.

Angela (41:02):
So,

John (41:04):
yeah, and I can remember being a 14-year-old boy in a relationship, and
you're like ticked off at your girlfriendand you're like, you know, I don't know,
texting, because we didn't have that.
No, we didn't.
I could see myself, if I put myselfin a teenager's shoes that could text,
I could see myself being like, I'mnot even looking because I am, I'm

(41:26):
a 14-year-old brat, and I'm not evenpaying attention to you right now.
I could just, I, I mean, yes,

Angela (41:34):
the hand on the hip was a hundred percent needed too, by the way.

John (41:38):
Oh yeah.
Absolutely.
You can't act the partif you don't be the part.
This is true.
Don't you know anythingabout the part method acting?
But anyway,

Angela (41:49):
people out there are like, why are they only voice?
Why can't we see them?

John (41:53):
This is why I got, I got my mask.
So, you know, it was, we don'tknow exactly what led to that
text, but as we get into thestory, I can give you my opinion.
I of what I think happened, but betweensix 30 and eight, April was ambushed

(42:16):
on the trail and then dragged into thewoods, kind of down into a, a drainage
ditch where she was brutally beaten and.
You know, I'll say this, it's, it'srough to say, it's rough to picture.
We're gonna have to talk aboutthe specifics and it's not fun.

(42:38):
But she was stomped on theneck, in the face and the body,
which led to asphyxiation by thefoot on her throat and stuff.
There was an attempted sexual assaultbecause her clothes were torn off of her.
It was unsuccessful.
But she was found partially nude.

(43:01):
She, like we said, she was lastseen leaving the home between
six and six 30 for the walk.
She sent the weird text message at 628, and so her estimated time of death
is just shortly thereafter betweenlike 6 30, 6 45, and a lot of this
information we'd learn from that fitnesstracker app because she turned, turned

(43:25):
it on and it was running, and so.
Her mom had grew concerned that shehadn't come home by 7 30, 8 o'clock.
And so she reached outto her boyfriend, Austin.
Austin Albertson is her boyfriend's name,and Austin came over and then Jennifer
and Austin starts searching for April.

(43:49):
And then a couple of, I heard itreported a couple different ways.
I heard it reported as a man and awife, and I heard it reported as like
a guy and his girlfriend or fiance.
So I'm not entirely sure andit really doesn't matter.
But Penny
was on the trail and I can picturethe dog exactly what she did and she

(44:11):
was, she was getting help for herbest friend is what she was doing.
And so.
The walker.
He, he, you know, at first theywere like, what's wrong puppy?
You know, like, thought theyhad a dog in distress, but
she wouldn't let 'em grab her.
She kept running back into thewoods, you know, and come with me.
Come with me.
Yes.
And so the guy was like, okay,I know what's going on here.

(44:35):
And so he followed Penny back and he's theone that discovered the body laying there.
So, you know, penny did everythingshe could, you know, to, to save her
own, her end honestly, probably ledto the body being discovered hours
or even days before it would've been.

(44:55):
Yeah.
And so the body was discovered shortlyafter eight o'clock, approximately
eight 30 or roughly two hours after the,

Angela (45:05):
that's a long timeline at all.

John (45:07):
No, not at all.
The tragic part of thewhole thing it said.
The story is just so freakingtragic, everything about it.
But so Mom and Austin are searchingand they come up on, they thank
God didn't come up on the scene,but they come up on law enforcement
who had been called to the scene.

(45:27):
And so then, you know, the deputyor whatever it was that was kind of
doing crowd control calls up to theinvestigators and says, I've got a
woman and a boy here that she says theycan't find her daughter, his boyfriend.
And so the investigator was like,tell him to go to the police
station and I'll meet him there.

(45:48):
And this really speaks to the sizeof this tiny little community.
Yeah, because I think the policestation was like blocks away.
I mean, it was in walkingdistance, it was right there.
It's a tiny little town.
And so mom and boyfriend head down to the.
To the police station.

(46:08):
And this is where David, thestepfather, this is where he said
she called him and he just couldn'tunderstand what she was saying.
He couldn't figure out, you know,but he got out of her that they
were headed to the police station,so he went down there as well.
So you have Austin and his parentsat the police station, and you have
April's parents at the police station.

(46:30):
Okay.
Waiting for all of this to unfold.
Unfold.
Right.
So the, the location of the body, likeI said, was off the Macomb Orchard
Trail, and it was in a shallow ditchjust kinda right off of the trail.
It, it kind of, it kind oflooked like a, like an irrigation

(46:51):
ditch kind of along a field.
And she was kind of down in there.
Okay.
So definitely not visible from the trail.
You had to step kind of intothe woods in order to see her.
And that's why I say because ofPenny, she was probably found.
Way sooner than she would've been.
Yeah.
But she was roughly 20 to 30 feet offof the pave path near Omo Road and North

(47:15):
Avenue intersection in a, in a secludedspot back in the trees, in the brush.

Angela (47:21):
I hate to say it, but I'm a little shocked that the guy left the dog.

John (47:27):
Well, you'll understand why.

Angela (47:29):
Okay.

John (47:30):
So she was found about like a mile and a quarter or so
from her house on Fulton Street.
And so, I mean, she wasin her neighborhood.
She was home.
Yeah.
You know, that day it was hot andhumid in the eighties and it was
obviously we're in the summertime.
That time of night dusk is approaching.

(47:52):
There's reduced visibility, whichmakes investigating more difficult.
For sure.
You know, the two people thatdiscovered her body, like I said,
were a couple of joggers, Matthew.
Saada and his girlfriend or his wifewere, I, I couldn't find her name.
His name is Matthew, S-A-D-H-A, Saada.

(48:14):
And they were out for a routinerun, a walk, and every, you know,
everything trans transpired that I said.
And you know, this guy, he jumpedinto action and he did what, you
know, a lot of people don't do.
And that is he immediately went torender aid and confirmed that there was

(48:34):
no pulse, at which time he backed offand avoided touching the scene or doing
any, I mean, the dude really soundslike he knew what the hell he was doing.
I don't, I don't know his history, butso many times they read these stories
and they find a body and you're like, youdidn't check to see if they were alive.
Like what?
Yeah.
Or they find a body andjust destroy the scene.

(48:58):
And this guy dideverything perfect like he.
Confirmed that she didn't have a pulse andthen he just backed out, left everything,

Angela (49:06):
only touched pulse points and got out of there.

John (49:09):
Yes.
And, and then he called 9 1 1 and youknow, he said, we found a body and the
9 1 1 operator did what they always do.
And he was like, you know, she's dead.
You know, like he confirmed it.
Mm-hmm.
And you won't hear me in thisepisode, say of one bad thing
about any of the cops in this case.

(49:29):
They're a bunch of freaking awesome cops.
So they responded to the sceneimmediately, like I said, and then
they had to make the notificationonce they confirmed identity.
And that happened at the policestation because that's where
Jennifer was sent to go, you know?
Yeah.
And so the officers noted obvioussigns of a struggle, she'd been

(49:53):
dragged off the trail at that point.
They assumed sexual assault because.
You know, her clothes had been partiallyremoved and the positioning of her
body, there was no weapon found.
And the scene, the scene was processed.
I mean, I mean, they did everything right.
They brought out the lights andeverything, and they set up the, the

(50:15):
shit, they didn't waste any freaking time.
They dove right intoinvestigating the scene.
Just like you would expect.
Right.
Just like you would hope youwould, just like, you would hope.
But you know, so often you hear thesecases, sometimes it's little departments,
sometimes it's big where, you know, they,they're like, oh, well it's too dark.
We'll do it in the morning.

(50:35):
Or, you know, I mean, theymake so many mistakes.
We talk about it flashlightspeople, but these guys, no.
And so, like I said, thebody was found in a ditch.
It'd have been dragged off the trail.
There was drag marks evident, and, andshe was kind of partially submerged
in some, some mud and water that werein this little depression, this little

(50:55):
ditch that was, that was right there.
The clothing was disrupted.
There was blood from horrendousbeating that she took on her face,
on the ground, on trees around.
It was, I mean, it was one of the worstbeatings I think I've ever heard of.
The autopsy revealed 48 total injuries,primarily to her head and neck with

(51:19):
blunt force trauma from blows andstomping on her throat, which caused
asphyxiation to the point, and thiswill become important later in the
case, but a very clear footprintbruised onto this poor girl's body.

(51:40):
So yeah, definitely defensivewounds on her hands and on her arms.
Shoe impressions on her face, on hercheek, her neck, her chest, which was
consistent with a size 10 to 11 boot.
No other like stab wounds, gunshotwounds or anything like that.
And then obviously the, so it

Angela (52:01):
was all manual or foot?

John (52:02):
Yeah.
It was just beating,

Angela (52:04):
yeah.

John (52:04):
Is what it was.
Yeah.
So the police immediatelycordoned off the area.
They, they made about a hundred, a hundredyard radius and just closed it off all
for a hundred yards in every direction.
I mean, they just closed this thing off.
They photographed the scene.
They brought in videographers to documentthe scene before they disturbed anything.

(52:25):
I mean, I just can't, I, Ijust can't say it enough.
But you're talking about this tiny littledepartment and they didn't know if they'd
ever had a murder in this town, ever.
And they did this shit by the book.
Yeah.
I mean, they got this poor little girllaying there beaten to death and they were

(52:46):
still heads up enough to say, okay, stop.
We need to photograph and videoeverything before we move anything.
Yeah.
I mean this is shit that I wishwould happen in in investigations
in huge departments thatdeal with 50 homicides a day.
Yeah.
These guys never deal with homicide andthey're like, this is what we gotta do.
This is by the book.

(53:07):
And I mean, it pays offas you will hear for sure.
So they gathered up the evidencethat was on the scene after
they videotaped everything.
They started a grid search acrossthat perimeter that they had set up.
They set up all the lighting,like I said, so that they could
continue this throughout the night.
They picked up her jeans,her tank top, her underwear.

(53:30):
Which had been torn and displaced.
Everything was bloodstained.
They, you know, collected fibers,collected everything they needed for DNA.
They took footwear impressions.
They photographed the soildisturbances from the trail
to the ditch, the drag marks.
They took samples of thedirt and the vegetation to

(53:52):
compare for transfer evidence.
Um, there was blood splatter on a tree.
It was on the ground.
It was on the body.
They swabbed everything forDNA, and it was pretty much
all confirmed to be April's.
And it was in a pattern that wouldsuggest that she was receiving blows

(54:12):
while standing and being dragged.
And then.
Her phone was not foundat this, at this point.
And so they took, um, swabs from herbody, from her mouth or genital areas
from her fingerprints, searching forany foreign DNA that may be present.
Took hair and fiber samplesfrom her body and clothing.

(54:36):
The weather was, was the, allthe weather data was noted.
There was no rain, which helped topreserve any prints or anything.
Um, they also also noted like theinsects insect behavior at the time.
Yeah.
Okay.
Of death.
And then the status of rigormortis and all of that.
I mean, like I said, this, it just readslike a freaking textbook investigation.

(55:00):
It really does.
So the autopsy was conducted on July 25thby the Macomb County Medical Examiner,
who, like I said earlier, con, heconfirmed 48 injuries to this little girl.
Most of which was blunt forcetrauma to the head and the
cause of death was asphyxiation.

(55:20):
The co toxicology reports werenegative for any drugs or alcohol.
You know, like we said, it was, itlooked as though there had been a sexual
assault, but there was no semen or any ofthe other indicators of sexual assault.
So it was determined that it was anattempted sexual assault that had failed.

(55:41):
And so news spread freaking quickly,which, if you've ever lived in a
small town, I actually have neverlived in this small of a town.
Yeah.
I mean, it's
tiny around 1700 people.
But I've lived in, you know, fairly smalltowns and boy news travels quick when
something like this happens, you know?
But in a town this small.

(56:02):
It's gonna be damn near instant.
Everybody in town's gonna know.
Yeah.
Immediately.
You know, and it's sad as shit becauseher little friends heard that a body was
found on the trail and immediately startedtexting each other and checking in.
And, you know, several of 'em then wouldgo on to say April never answered back.
You know, they, we knew itwasn't her, but we were just

(56:24):
all checking in with each other.
But then she never answered.
And so it's just the, the wholeeverything about this case sucks ass.
Yeah.
That's all I got to say about that.
So, I mean, obviously you canimagine the immediate shock and
disbel disbelief in our made Madea.
I mean, this is, this is thekind of town where oh, I, I say,

(56:45):
I noted it in my notes here.
The first murder was over, this wasthe first murder in over 40 years.
So, goodness sake, not a singlecop probably on the force had
ever witnessed a homicide.
At least not in this town unlessthey moved from somewhere else.
Yeah.
Most of the residents probably haveno memory of a murder in this town.

(57:06):
I mean, it is an unbelievablysafe little town.
The shit just doesn't happen here.
And so I can remember the firstmurder that occurred in Cody when I
was a kid, and I was like, holy shit.
Like it.
There was a murder here.
Yeah.
In Cody.
Yeah.
Like it was, it was because it,it just doesn't happen ever.

(57:29):
The residents expressed widespread,just disbelief, and it said that they
were completely overcome with sadness.
Their hearts were broken.
And the school superintendent Michael Mesastated quote yesterday, it was disbelief.
And today it's reality.

(57:50):
You know, neighbors andacquaintances were stunned by the
brutality of the, of this murder.
I mean, it's a really bad one.
And so, and you know, when you have atown like of, of this size 1700, you
have a girl that's going to school,you have a girl that's involved in
other activities, and a girl that is,you know, a regular church attendance

(58:12):
and, and was involved in churchactivities and all that kinda stuff.
When you're talking about a town of1700 people, probably 80 to 90% of the
entire population knew this girl, knewher mother or knew her stepfather,
you know, had ties to this family.

Angela (58:30):
Probably the type of talent that shuts down for high
school football games, right?
Yeah.

John (58:35):
Yes.
Yeah.
And it, I mean this, it's the kindof situation where it literally
touches every resident personally.
You know, where, uh, you know, you couldsay that in a lot of different places.
Oh yeah.
This is really that case.
Not like, oh my gosh, Iremember when it happened.
It is like, oh my gosh, I've gottacall them because I know this person.

(59:00):
Yeah.
Or, you know, I mean, like, you intimatelyknow these people that are involved
in this, and so the neighbors andacquaintances were stunned, like I said,
and just dumbfounded by the violence.
And this is coming from a town thatnever has anything bad happened.
So I, they've gotta justbe beside themselves.

(59:22):
So word traveled way quickly, mostlyby word of mouth at this time.
Like I said, this is a time whensocial media was at its peak, so all
kinds of stuff on social media, phonecalls, you know, by that evening,
you know, families were huddledindoors, discussing the absolute
unimaginable that had just happened.

(59:42):
Yeah.
They, the community put pink ribbons,which was April's favorite color.
They tied pink ribbons totrees, to fences, to poles.
They had signs for milesaround the town and the trail.
People wore pink clothing in solidarity,memorials sprang up at the trail site

(01:00:03):
with flowers, notes stuffed animals.
I mean, April's mom was an absolute mess,as you can imagine, any of us would be.
One resident was noted as sayingthe hardest part was seeing April's
mother and realizing that Aprilwould miss milestones like weddings.

(01:00:23):
Yeah.
You know, and then anytime you havea, a situation like this, uh, with
a, with a child, a 14-year-old.
You have to think alsoabout her peers at school.
They're gonna be particularlyaffected like this, you know, death.
Mm-hmm.
Unfortunately, I lost a lotof friends when I was a kid,

(01:00:43):
and death to kids at that age.
I mean, it's a huge impact.
Mm-hmm.
It's never easy to lose a friend,but, you know, when you're 50,
60, 70 years old, it just becomesmore routine The older you get.
Sadly, when you're, you know, 10, 12,14, 15, 60, whatever, you're invincible.

(01:01:03):
You're invincible.
It's not supposed to happen.
Yeah.
Not gonna die.
And so it is a major kick to thebelly when you lose a friend.
And so they were particularlyaffected, obviously crying,
trying to console each other.
And their grief was describedas raw with songs like Butterfly
Kisses, invoking profound sadnessthroughout the, throughout her

(01:01:28):
little community of friends.
So I, this obviously led to freakingpanic and fear in the community.
As you know, they, I mean, you'regoing from a town that literally
doesn't lock their doors at night,doesn't lock their cars, probably
leaves the keys in the ignition oftheir cars to what the hell do we do?

(01:01:51):
I mean, you, and you literallyare like that because you
have no experience with it.
I mean, okay, yeah, you'redowntown New York or whatever.
This is just run of the mill shit.
We do this every day, sadly.
But when you are out, you know, in a,in a little town like this where you've
never encountered anything, you'relike, how do we keep safe at night?
And then you overreact to the pointthat I, I mean, I can just see it.

(01:02:14):
It's, it's hot and everything, and youhave a kid on the second story that
opens their window and mom comes outof a dead sleep and is in their room.
You close that window and lock it.
Right now, you know, you can just.
As sad as it is, you canjust see it all playing out.
I can just understand with empathy,what this community was going through

(01:02:36):
through all this, and just the absolutedisbelief of what the hell just happened?
How did this just happen?
And so, you know, and thenmedia attention obviously was
drawn to this pretty quickly.
And you have this little tiny communitynext to a very large community in Detroit.

(01:02:57):
Right?
So you have a pretty largemedia presence nearby.
Yeah.
And so, and now I'm just likeeverybody else, if they're talking
about a murder that's happened indowntown Detroit, especially during
this period of time, a reporter'sprobably not even gonna roll over in
bed to answer the phone for that one.
Yes.

(01:03:18):
I mean.
Let's be honest, Detroit was areally, really, really rough place.
Yeah.
With a lot of murders happening.
So my, and the only reason I bring thatup is just to kinda set the scene of the
dynamic between the two different places.
You have Detroit, where it'slike, oh, there's another murder

(01:03:40):
that really sucks, but not a bigsurprise to just a few miles away.
And it's like, oh my God, what?
Yeah.
This does not happen there.
Yeah.
So you have all these freakingreporters, you know, coming
to the scene and everything.
A lot of the community memberswere appreciative of it, but
others were like, you're exploitingthis little girl's death.
And I can understand bothsides of the argument.

(01:04:01):
Yeah.
You know, I really can.
I do know that.
As much as I talk about, you know,wanting to give voices to the voices,
get these stories out, that kinda stuff.
I do think a lot of initial mediacoverage is very exploitative.
Mm-hmm.
And
they're just going for views andthey don't really give a shit about

(01:04:22):
Yeah.
Case itself, you know?
Yeah.
And so, you know, as we, aswe work through this case,
we'll dive into a lot of that.
Unfortunately, we're gonna have todive into like the autopsy examination
and the, the fad shit that happened.
I mean, I think I've set thescene pretty well as far as,

(01:04:42):
you know, it's, it's brutal.
This is the reason that this is sucha tough case to cover because I'm
not saying that a case where a girlher age is murdered is isn't tough.
'cause I have a strugglewith kids in general.
Yeah.
You know that.
Yeah.
But this one is just so.

(01:05:03):
Brutal.
Like unimaginably brutal, 48 impeding.

Angela (01:05:09):
How is she even big enough for 48 different

John (01:05:12):
I know.
And it's not like 48stab wounds, 48 gunshots.
It's like 48 blows.
So, I mean it's, it's justa really, really tough one.

(01:05:32):
14 years.
That's all the time that April Millsapgot 14 years to laugh, to grow, to dream
saving animals, and helping others to walkthe trail behind her house with her dog.
Penny.
To text her mom silly things andmake goofy faces on Instagram.

(01:05:53):
That was her life.
And then in the span of minutes it wastaken, she sent a text that read, I
think I almost got kidnapped, but itwasn't almost, it was already happening.
And the fact that she had the clarityto type those words, even as something
unimaginable unfolded around her,tells us everything that we need to

(01:06:17):
know about April Millsap, that shewas brave, alert, and doing everything
that she could do to survive.
When Penny led the people todiscover her, it wasn't just a moment
of heartbreak, it was a signal.

(01:06:39):
What followed was an outpouring.
A town flooded with fear,volunteers combing the woods,
candlelight vigils, national.
Headlines and behind itall, a family shattered.
A community violated a killer,still out there for now.

(01:06:59):
April wasn't looking for trouble that day.
She didn't go into thewoods to meet anyone.
She didn't take risks.
She did what any of us might do.
She took a walk and someone decided thatmade her vulnerable, that decision, that
act, that evil, it changed everything.

(01:07:21):
But April is more than her murder.
She's not defined by whatwas done to her, but by who.
She was a fierce little girlin a quiet Michigan town.
A girl who loved her dog, a girl whowas deeply loved, a life that mattered.
Next time we'll dive deeper into theinvestigation that followed the suspects,

(01:07:45):
the surveillance footage, the strange.
Motorcycle sighting and the manwho finally landed in custody.
But the question will remain, wasit justice or just a convenient
end into a horrifying story?
Until then, say her name, rememberher smile, and don't ever forget

(01:08:06):
that even the most ordinary walkscan end in tragedy when someone with
dark intent is laying in weight.
Before the headlines, before theinvestigators, before the questions
and the horror in the courtroom, therewas a little girl, just a, A girl.

(01:08:26):
April Millsap wasn't somecautionary tale or cold case file.
She was a person, a daughter, afriend, a kid who loved animals,
laughed loudly and left behind a trailof parts that still haven't healed.
She lived in her Ma of Michigan, a townwhere life moves slow, where people
knew each other's dogs by name andwhere danger felt like a distant rumor.

(01:08:50):
April fit perfectly in that setting.
She wasn't just kind, she was vibrant.
She had this energy that peoplenoticed, not loud or showy, but
present real, the kind that drawspeople to you without you ever trying.
She loved her dog, penny.
More than most people love anything.

(01:09:12):
Penny was her shadow, herconfidant, her best friend.
On four legs.
It's hard to talk about Aprilwithout talking about Penny
because that was their bond.
Unshakeable, pure.
She wanted to be a veterinarian.
She didn't just say itlike a passing idea.
She really meant it.

(01:09:33):
She had the heart for it, thedrive, the patience, the soul ask.
Anyone who knew her, she hada way of understanding animals
that felt almost intuitive.
The kind of kid that you could pictureone day opening her own little clinic
and hugging every patient that walked in.
She was silly, too goofy in the best way.

(01:09:55):
Selfies with scrunched noses,inside jokes with her mom, and a
laugh that made other people laugheven when they didn't know why.
She wasn't perfect.
No one is, but she was good.
And that should have beenenough to keep her safe.
April Millsap had dreams,plans, and years ahead of her.

(01:10:17):
She had homecoming dances in herfuture college career, maybe kids
of her own someday, but all ofthat was taken, not lost, taken.
And while we will explore thehow and the who in this, in the
episodes ahead, we will never forgetthe why we're telling this story.

(01:10:38):
Because April deserves more than tobe remembered for her final walk.
She deserves to be remembered forher first steps for the way that she
loved, for the way that she lived.
This is the beginning of her tribute,and we'll keep building it piece by
piece until the world remembers notjust how she died, but who she was.

(01:11:12):
That's it for this episodeof Dark Dialogue, but April
Millsap's story is just beginning.
What happened on that trail didn'tend with the discovery of her body.
It launched an investigation,a community-wide panic.
Any search for justice that would test thevery foundation of a small Michigan town.

Angela (01:11:33):
In the next episode, we'll dig into the timeline of July 24th,
2014, April's last known movements, thetext that chilled everyone to the bone
and the frantic hours that followed

John (01:11:44):
until then, help us keep April's name alive.
Take a second rightnow to follow the show.
Leave a review, hit that thumbsup, and share this episode with
someone who needs to hear her story.
These cases don't get solved in silence.
They get solved when peoplecare enough to keep talking.

Angela (01:12:04):
You can support our work directly by subscribing to our substack,
joining our Patreon, or sending aone-time donation through coffee.
And if you're ready to go a step further,check out our Adopt a Victim Program where
you can help shine a light on cases likeApril's that still demand answers, and if

John (01:12:22):
you want to take even more action.
Connect, join the DarkDialogue collective.
That's our boots on the ground effortto put real searchers on the ground
immediately when disaster strikes.

Angela (01:12:36):
You can find all those links in the show notes or reach out directly.
We're always listeningat [e-mail].

John (01:12:43):
April is more than a victim.
She was a daughter, a dreamer,and a life interrupted, and
we're not done telling her story.

Angela (01:12:51):
This is dark dialogue and we'll see you next time.

John (01:12:55):
Keep listening, keep sharing, and keep the dialogue alive.