July 7, 2025 • 15 mins
When 19-year-old Katelin Akens vanished in Virginia on her way to the airport, her disappearance unraveled into a chilling mystery. Nearly a decade later, there have been no arrests and no answers. -- Source material is available at AutopsyofaCrime.Substack.com -- Thank you BetterHelp for sponsoring this episode. Listeners can save 10% by visiting BetterHelp.com/Terin
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
When I partner. With companies for the.
Podcast. Or the sub stack.
It's really important. For me.
That. I partner.
With companies and brands that Ibelieve in.
And that's. Why I'm so excited to tell you
about our sponsor Betterhelp. Betterhelp is the.
Largest online therapy? Platform.
(00:25):
And you heard that right. Online it's completely virtual
your. Therapist.
Is at the tips of your fingertips.
Getting to therapy or finding a good therapist can be so hard
and we all have busy lives. We have.
Work. We have kids, maybe we're dog
(00:45):
moms, and it can be really difficult to find someone that's
in your network and someone whose office is close enough
that you can fit it into your busy schedule.
Better help. Eliminates all of that by taking
just a quick quiz. They can match you with a
therapist in as little as a few days.
(01:07):
Completely tailored. To your needs.
And what you want to focus on and you don't have to worry
about. Who's in your network?
What the commute? Is going to be to this
therapist's office because it's.Entirely virtual.
And sometimes therapy can be like dating.
If the first therapist you get matched with is not a good fit
(01:29):
for you, you can change therapists.
At No. Additional Cost Better Help is
there for you to help you feel better and enjoy life because we
all deserve to be happy and taking care of our mental health
is. Just as important as our beloved
skin. Care Routine Even if you don't
(01:49):
have insurance, you can still sign up for better help.
They actually offer special discounts for those who are.
Uninsured. So really.
There's no excuse. Take care of yourself.
And feel better listeners. Of Autopsy of a crime can save
10% on their first month of better help by visiting
(02:10):
betterhelp.com/terran. That's better help.
HELP. Dot com.
Forward. Slash TE.
RIN. Hello, Clarisse.
Welcome to or welcome back to Autopsy of a Crime.
(02:34):
The case we're going to talk about today is the mysterious
disappearance of Caitlin Akins. Caitlin Akins was 19 years old
and she vanished in Virginia on her way to the airport.
Her disappearance unravelled into a chilling mystery nearly a
decade later. There have been no arrests and
(02:55):
no answers. On December 5th, 2015, nineteen
year old Caitlin Akins was supposed to board a flight back
to Arizona to embark on a new and exciting journey.
Cosmetology school and her fiance awaited her.
Instead, she vanished without a trace in rural Virginia.
(03:18):
It's been nearly a decade and the mystery surrounding her
disappearance remains as haunting and unsolved as the day
that she was last seen. This is not just a story of a
missing person. It's a case tangled in
conflicting accounts, troubling evidence, and a deafening
(03:39):
silence that refuses to break. Before we get into the details,
I want to make a note that through my research for this
case, there is some conflicting information regarding a few of
the times and some evidence thatwas or was not found.
(03:59):
I've done my best to sort through some of these details
and I've used the most often stated timeline in detail of
events. Caitlin Aikens had returned to
her hometown of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and it was a
short visit. During her time in Virginia, she
(04:21):
stayed with her mom, Lisa Sullivan.
Caitlin's sister had just recently had a baby and Caitlin
was excited to meet her new babynephew and to be an aunt.
The trip was meant to be brief and she had a return flight
booked for December 5th to go back to Arizona where she lived
with her fiance and was set to begin cosmetology school on
(04:44):
December 7th. Caitlin had so much to look
forward to. By all accounts, Caitlin was
happy during her visit with family.
At just 19, her life was unfolding.
She was engaged, about to embarkon a new career and finally
stepping into the future she haddreamed of.
(05:06):
She was vibrant, driven and full.
Of promise. There were milestones waiting
for her careers to explore, adventures to chase and a
wedding to plan. Her mother, Lisa Sullivan, had
to work the day that Caitlin. Was leaving.
So she arranged for her former husband and Caitlin's ex
(05:28):
stepfather, James Branton, to drive Caitlin to Ronald Reagan
National Airport. Lisa dropped her daughter off
that morning so that James Branton could take Caitlin to
the airport. According to Lisa, Caitlin and
James appeared to be happy to see each other.
(05:50):
James was expressing interest inCaitlin's aspirations in
cosmetology school while the twodiscussed her future comfortably
sitting on the couch together. The airport was about an hour
and a half away from Spotsylvania County, where James
Branton's home was. Caitlin left her mother's house
(06:10):
that morning with her suitcase and her phone, headed home to
Arizona. James Branton texted Lisa at
1:52 PM to let her know that he had dropped Caitlin off. 8
minutes later Lisa received a text from Caitlin saying I'm at
(06:30):
the airport, battery dying, won't be able to text for a bit
but that message was a lie. James Branton told investigators
that he dropped Caitlin off at the Springfield Town Center, a
mall, because she wanted to killsome time before her 5:40 PM
(06:52):
flight. He alleges Caitlin didn't want
to be dropped off directly at the airport hours before her
scheduled flight. There's also some information
that James Branton had to be to work by 3:00 PM that day, which
required him to drop Caitlin offearlier than her flight time.
He says the plan was that Caitlin would enjoy some time at
(07:14):
the mall and then take the Franconia Springfield Metro to
Reagan National Airport. Surveillance footage from the
airport showed no sign of Caitlin.
Her boarding pass was never usedand there was no trace of
Caitlin anywhere. Some reports state that there
(07:36):
was also no surveillance footageof Caitlin at Springfield Town
Center. Caitlin's phone never pinged
near the airport. In fact, it was tracked back to
Spotsylvania County, specifically near James
Branton's residence, hours aftershe was supposedly already gone.
(08:00):
This made many wonder if Caitlinever, in fact, left Spotsylvania
at all. Her phone went dark later that
evening. And then came the most chilling
discovery. A discovery that would send Lisa
Sullivan into horror of the unknown.
(08:20):
Where was her daughter? On December 7th, 2 days after
Caitlin was supposed to be in Arizona, a local Spotsylvania
man discovered a blue suitcase lying in a drainage ditch on
River Rd., not far from Brandon's home.
For context, River Rd. is a long2 lane Rd. lined by trees, and
(08:46):
it's also close to the Rappahannock River, which can be
quite treacherous. It rises quickly, it often
floods, and it's an extensive stretch of river.
Inside the suitcase where Caitlin's clothes, her wallet,
(09:07):
and her plane ticket. The suitcase had clearly been
tossed. Notably missing from the
suitcase, Caitlin's cell phone and the charger.
The location of the suitcase, coupled with her phone pings and
the lack of any confirmed sighting of her after arriving
(09:27):
at James Branton's home, shiftedthe focus for investigators.
James Branton's behavior after Caitlin's disappearance also
raised suspicions. He declined to take a polygraph
test, and he quickly retained a lawyer.
He ceased communication with investigators and reportedly
(09:51):
refused to allow a search of hisproperty.
To this day, James Branton has not been charged in connection
with Caitlin's disappearance, and authorities have never
officially named him a suspect. However, many, especially
Caitlin's family, remain convinced that the answers lie
much closer to home with James Branton.
(10:16):
Caitlin's mother, Lisa, has remained A tireless advocate for
her daughter, keeping Caitlin's story alive through social
media, news appearances and public pleas for help.
Her frustration is evidence, sheonce told reporters.
Quote you don't just disappear from someone's car in a Facebook
(10:42):
post from the Help Find Caitlin Eagan's Facebook page on
December 6th, 2020, the post reads.
James Branton, please tell me where Caitlin is.
It's five years now. What did you do?
Why have you never helped find Caitlin Michele?
(11:04):
You never texted her or put out Flyers?
Share her pic. You have done nothing.
I thought you said you loved herlike your own.
I have left notes on your front door and vehicles and not a
word. Nothing at all.
I went to your house begging youto talk and you refused.
(11:28):
You are living your life like nothing is wrong.
How can you live with yourself? How do you live your life like
that? I think about her every day,
wondering where she is for the last five years.
How many more days, weeks, months and years is it going to
(11:50):
be? Please tell me where she is,
James. There are theories, of course.
Some believe Caitlin may have been harmed in a crime of
opportunity after being dropped off.
However, that's increasingly hard to believe given the
(12:10):
forensic trail. Others think Branton may know
more than he is willing to tell,but without concrete evidence,
speculation alone won't lead to charges.
Caitlin's disappearance has beenfeatured on major platforms such
as Disappeared and various true crime podcast.
(12:35):
Law enforcement has said they still consider it an active
investigation, but public updates have been rare.
The Aware Foundation has also covered Caitlin's disappearance
in a post on Facebook. It says Caitlin Akins
(12:56):
disappeared. The caption reads quote.
The stepfather messaged Caitlin's mother at 2:00 PM on
the day she disappeared, statingthat he had dropped Caitlin off.
But police later discovered thathis phone pinged close to his
home, nowhere near the airport or the mall.
The stepfather also said he had work that day at 3:00 PM, but it
(13:20):
was later discovered that he never showed up to work that
day. End Quote.
Caitlin Akins would be 28 years old today.
Her mother still holds on to hope, but not necessarily the
hope of a happy ending. Instead, it's the hope of
(13:40):
resolution, of knowing what happened to her daughter, to be
able to bring Caitlin home, to give her daughter a proper
burial with dignity. The story of Caitlin Aikens is a
painful reminder that people don't just vanish.
Someone knows what happened thatday.
(14:04):
Someone is keeping a terrible secret.
Until that silence is broken, Caitlin Aikens remains missing.
Somewhere between the truth and a lie that was texted at 1:52
PM, there are answers. If you have any information
(14:24):
regarding the disappearance of Caitlin Akins, please contact
the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office at
540-582-7115. Once again, that's 540-582-7115.
(14:46):
Caitlin was last seen on December 5th, 2015 when she was
19 years old. Her height is listed as 54 and
her weight 122 lbs. Autopsy of a Crime will continue
to follow this case and others like it because the dead and the
disappeared deserve a voice. Thank you so much for listening
(15:13):
to this episode. All source material and
photographs and other things I was able to find during my
research for this episode will be listed on the sub stack and
that will be linked below. It is Autopsy of a
crime.substack.com. Until next time, stay safe you
(15:36):
guys.
When I partner. With companies for the.
Podcast. Or the sub stack.
It's really important. For me.
That. I partner.
With companies and brands that Ibelieve in.
And that's. Why I'm so excited to tell you
about our sponsor Betterhelp. Betterhelp is the.
Largest online therapy? Platform.
(00:25):
And you heard that right. Online it's completely virtual
your. Therapist.
Is at the tips of your fingertips.
Getting to therapy or finding a good therapist can be so hard
and we all have busy lives. We have.
Work. We have kids, maybe we're dog
(00:45):
moms, and it can be really difficult to find someone that's
in your network and someone whose office is close enough
that you can fit it into your busy schedule.
Better help. Eliminates all of that by taking
just a quick quiz. They can match you with a
therapist in as little as a few days.
(01:07):
Completely tailored. To your needs.
And what you want to focus on and you don't have to worry
about. Who's in your network?
What the commute? Is going to be to this
therapist's office because it's.Entirely virtual.
And sometimes therapy can be like dating.
If the first therapist you get matched with is not a good fit
(01:29):
for you, you can change therapists.
At No. Additional Cost Better Help is
there for you to help you feel better and enjoy life because we
all deserve to be happy and taking care of our mental health
is. Just as important as our beloved
skin. Care Routine Even if you don't
(01:49):
have insurance, you can still sign up for better help.
They actually offer special discounts for those who are.
Uninsured. So really.
There's no excuse. Take care of yourself.
And feel better listeners. Of Autopsy of a crime can save
10% on their first month of better help by visiting
(02:10):
betterhelp.com/terran. That's better help.
HELP. Dot com.
Forward. Slash TE.
RIN. Hello, Clarisse.
Welcome to or welcome back to Autopsy of a Crime.
(02:34):
The case we're going to talk about today is the mysterious
disappearance of Caitlin Akins. Caitlin Akins was 19 years old
and she vanished in Virginia on her way to the airport.
Her disappearance unravelled into a chilling mystery nearly a
decade later. There have been no arrests and
(02:55):
no answers. On December 5th, 2015, nineteen
year old Caitlin Akins was supposed to board a flight back
to Arizona to embark on a new and exciting journey.
Cosmetology school and her fiance awaited her.
Instead, she vanished without a trace in rural Virginia.
(03:18):
It's been nearly a decade and the mystery surrounding her
disappearance remains as haunting and unsolved as the day
that she was last seen. This is not just a story of a
missing person. It's a case tangled in
conflicting accounts, troubling evidence, and a deafening
(03:39):
silence that refuses to break. Before we get into the details,
I want to make a note that through my research for this
case, there is some conflicting information regarding a few of
the times and some evidence thatwas or was not found.
(03:59):
I've done my best to sort through some of these details
and I've used the most often stated timeline in detail of
events. Caitlin Aikens had returned to
her hometown of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and it was a
short visit. During her time in Virginia, she
(04:21):
stayed with her mom, Lisa Sullivan.
Caitlin's sister had just recently had a baby and Caitlin
was excited to meet her new babynephew and to be an aunt.
The trip was meant to be brief and she had a return flight
booked for December 5th to go back to Arizona where she lived
with her fiance and was set to begin cosmetology school on
(04:44):
December 7th. Caitlin had so much to look
forward to. By all accounts, Caitlin was
happy during her visit with family.
At just 19, her life was unfolding.
She was engaged, about to embarkon a new career and finally
stepping into the future she haddreamed of.
(05:06):
She was vibrant, driven and full.
Of promise. There were milestones waiting
for her careers to explore, adventures to chase and a
wedding to plan. Her mother, Lisa Sullivan, had
to work the day that Caitlin. Was leaving.
So she arranged for her former husband and Caitlin's ex
(05:28):
stepfather, James Branton, to drive Caitlin to Ronald Reagan
National Airport. Lisa dropped her daughter off
that morning so that James Branton could take Caitlin to
the airport. According to Lisa, Caitlin and
James appeared to be happy to see each other.
(05:50):
James was expressing interest inCaitlin's aspirations in
cosmetology school while the twodiscussed her future comfortably
sitting on the couch together. The airport was about an hour
and a half away from Spotsylvania County, where James
Branton's home was. Caitlin left her mother's house
(06:10):
that morning with her suitcase and her phone, headed home to
Arizona. James Branton texted Lisa at
1:52 PM to let her know that he had dropped Caitlin off. 8
minutes later Lisa received a text from Caitlin saying I'm at
(06:30):
the airport, battery dying, won't be able to text for a bit
but that message was a lie. James Branton told investigators
that he dropped Caitlin off at the Springfield Town Center, a
mall, because she wanted to killsome time before her 5:40 PM
(06:52):
flight. He alleges Caitlin didn't want
to be dropped off directly at the airport hours before her
scheduled flight. There's also some information
that James Branton had to be to work by 3:00 PM that day, which
required him to drop Caitlin offearlier than her flight time.
He says the plan was that Caitlin would enjoy some time at
(07:14):
the mall and then take the Franconia Springfield Metro to
Reagan National Airport. Surveillance footage from the
airport showed no sign of Caitlin.
Her boarding pass was never usedand there was no trace of
Caitlin anywhere. Some reports state that there
(07:36):
was also no surveillance footageof Caitlin at Springfield Town
Center. Caitlin's phone never pinged
near the airport. In fact, it was tracked back to
Spotsylvania County, specifically near James
Branton's residence, hours aftershe was supposedly already gone.
(08:00):
This made many wonder if Caitlinever, in fact, left Spotsylvania
at all. Her phone went dark later that
evening. And then came the most chilling
discovery. A discovery that would send Lisa
Sullivan into horror of the unknown.
(08:20):
Where was her daughter? On December 7th, 2 days after
Caitlin was supposed to be in Arizona, a local Spotsylvania
man discovered a blue suitcase lying in a drainage ditch on
River Rd., not far from Brandon's home.
For context, River Rd. is a long2 lane Rd. lined by trees, and
(08:46):
it's also close to the Rappahannock River, which can be
quite treacherous. It rises quickly, it often
floods, and it's an extensive stretch of river.
Inside the suitcase where Caitlin's clothes, her wallet,
(09:07):
and her plane ticket. The suitcase had clearly been
tossed. Notably missing from the
suitcase, Caitlin's cell phone and the charger.
The location of the suitcase, coupled with her phone pings and
the lack of any confirmed sighting of her after arriving
(09:27):
at James Branton's home, shiftedthe focus for investigators.
James Branton's behavior after Caitlin's disappearance also
raised suspicions. He declined to take a polygraph
test, and he quickly retained a lawyer.
He ceased communication with investigators and reportedly
(09:51):
refused to allow a search of hisproperty.
To this day, James Branton has not been charged in connection
with Caitlin's disappearance, and authorities have never
officially named him a suspect. However, many, especially
Caitlin's family, remain convinced that the answers lie
much closer to home with James Branton.
(10:16):
Caitlin's mother, Lisa, has remained A tireless advocate for
her daughter, keeping Caitlin's story alive through social
media, news appearances and public pleas for help.
Her frustration is evidence, sheonce told reporters.
Quote you don't just disappear from someone's car in a Facebook
(10:42):
post from the Help Find Caitlin Eagan's Facebook page on
December 6th, 2020, the post reads.
James Branton, please tell me where Caitlin is.
It's five years now. What did you do?
Why have you never helped find Caitlin Michele?
(11:04):
You never texted her or put out Flyers?
Share her pic. You have done nothing.
I thought you said you loved herlike your own.
I have left notes on your front door and vehicles and not a
word. Nothing at all.
I went to your house begging youto talk and you refused.
(11:28):
You are living your life like nothing is wrong.
How can you live with yourself? How do you live your life like
that? I think about her every day,
wondering where she is for the last five years.
How many more days, weeks, months and years is it going to
(11:50):
be? Please tell me where she is,
James. There are theories, of course.
Some believe Caitlin may have been harmed in a crime of
opportunity after being dropped off.
However, that's increasingly hard to believe given the
(12:10):
forensic trail. Others think Branton may know
more than he is willing to tell,but without concrete evidence,
speculation alone won't lead to charges.
Caitlin's disappearance has beenfeatured on major platforms such
as Disappeared and various true crime podcast.
(12:35):
Law enforcement has said they still consider it an active
investigation, but public updates have been rare.
The Aware Foundation has also covered Caitlin's disappearance
in a post on Facebook. It says Caitlin Akins
(12:56):
disappeared. The caption reads quote.
The stepfather messaged Caitlin's mother at 2:00 PM on
the day she disappeared, statingthat he had dropped Caitlin off.
But police later discovered thathis phone pinged close to his
home, nowhere near the airport or the mall.
The stepfather also said he had work that day at 3:00 PM, but it
(13:20):
was later discovered that he never showed up to work that
day. End Quote.
Caitlin Akins would be 28 years old today.
Her mother still holds on to hope, but not necessarily the
hope of a happy ending. Instead, it's the hope of
(13:40):
resolution, of knowing what happened to her daughter, to be
able to bring Caitlin home, to give her daughter a proper
burial with dignity. The story of Caitlin Aikens is a
painful reminder that people don't just vanish.
Someone knows what happened thatday.
(14:04):
Someone is keeping a terrible secret.
Until that silence is broken, Caitlin Aikens remains missing.
Somewhere between the truth and a lie that was texted at 1:52
PM, there are answers. If you have any information
(14:24):
regarding the disappearance of Caitlin Akins, please contact
the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office at
540-582-7115. Once again, that's 540-582-7115.
(14:46):
Caitlin was last seen on December 5th, 2015 when she was
19 years old. Her height is listed as 54 and
her weight 122 lbs. Autopsy of a Crime will continue
to follow this case and others like it because the dead and the
disappeared deserve a voice. Thank you so much for listening
(15:13):
to this episode. All source material and
photographs and other things I was able to find during my
research for this episode will be listed on the sub stack and
that will be linked below. It is Autopsy of a
crime.substack.com. Until next time, stay safe you
(15:36):
guys.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.