September 18, 2022 • 26 mins
Guest episode by We Saw The Devil.
Irene Gakwa came from a beautiful and close-knitted family. After moving to the Boise, Idaho suburb of Meridian to be closer to her brothers, and beginning nursing school, it seemed like she was living her life dream. After abruptly moving to Gillette, Wyoming, she seemed to change. After a WhatsApp call with her parents on 2/24, Irene has never been seen or heard from again. What happened? Where is she? And why is her secret boyfriend, Nate Hightman, who was just charged with financial crimes against her AFTER she went missing, not arrested for her murder? Especially considering he made some sinister purchases at Walmart the day of her disappearance...
Please listen, share, and raise this case's visibility as you can.
We Saw The Devil will post updates to this case as it happens.
Where is Irene (Official site made by her family): http://www.whereisirene.com
http://www.wesawthedevil.com/
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CrimeLapse will be back soon, thank you for your patience.
Irene Gakwa came from a beautiful and close-knitted family. After moving to the Boise, Idaho suburb of Meridian to be closer to her brothers, and beginning nursing school, it seemed like she was living her life dream. After abruptly moving to Gillette, Wyoming, she seemed to change. After a WhatsApp call with her parents on 2/24, Irene has never been seen or heard from again. What happened? Where is she? And why is her secret boyfriend, Nate Hightman, who was just charged with financial crimes against her AFTER she went missing, not arrested for her murder? Especially considering he made some sinister purchases at Walmart the day of her disappearance...
Please listen, share, and raise this case's visibility as you can.
We Saw The Devil will post updates to this case as it happens.
Where is Irene (Official site made by her family): http://www.whereisirene.com
http://www.wesawthedevil.com/
-------
CrimeLapse will be back soon, thank you for your patience.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
You are listening to We Saw theDevil, an investigative and conversational true crime
podcast that deep dives into fascinating criminalcases that are salved unsolved. Are ongoing
for America's Laurie Valo to Jrummy's armin Mivas. We examine and discuss the
world's most shocking cases. If you'reenjoying the show, don't forget to follow
(00:31):
us online. Check us out atWe Saw the Devil dot com, and
We Saw the Devil on Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram, and don't forget.
You can become part of the showby backing us on Patreon. Hello
(00:52):
everyone, you are listening to WeSaw the Devil. I'm your host,
Robin, and I'm going to behonest. Today's episode was originally going to
be a news update on a handfulof cases that I've been covering, Eliza
Fletcher, Laurie Valo, and thenthat random mass shooting on Wednesday that also
took place in Memphis. But nowit's not. I've been really angry and
upset since Eliza Fletcher's story hit thenews for a handful of reasons. Like
(01:17):
so many other women, I'm beyondexhausted, I'm tired, of seeing women
disappear at the hands of their partners, dragged off the street and kidnapped by
a complete stranger, raped by afellow student, friend, or blind date
from a dating site, assaulted.I myself am exhausted with having to mentally
check off a number of safety protocolsbefore I perform a simple everyday task.
(01:40):
You know that men can do withouta second thought. And I'm also tired
of being told to carry a gun, as if a that should even be
a freaking requirement to a woman's existenceto begin with. And b I don't
think a gun would have helped SydneySutherland who was struck from behind by her
rapist slash murderer's truck and killed.I'm just so tired of hearing it all.
(02:00):
The day after Eliza Fletcher was found, yet another predator attempted to kidnap
a jogger in Knoxville, Tennessee.Tried to drive up and pull her off
of the street the running path.Luckily, she was able to get away.
While Eliza was still missing, theMemphis Police Department also announced that there
were four young black girls who wentmissing in forty eight hours. Four children
(02:24):
under the age of fifteen. Butdid any of you hear about that,
because I'm betting you didn't. Theygot a couple tweets each, and then
some online bipoc accounts posted and sharedtheir missing posters. Eliza Fletcher quite literally
captured all headlines and interests, andI can understand why it's not every single
day that a woman is completely pulledoff of the street in such a public
(02:46):
manner. As everyone knows, andas we discussed in a previous episode,
she she's known as quote unquote thebillionaire heiress, so obviously there's going to
be elevated coverage of her case inthe media. But as I was scrolling
through Liza fletcher updates on Twitter,I came across the case that I'm covering
today in this episode, and itabsolutely gutted me. I saw her picture
(03:08):
on a missing person's ad and she'ssitting on the ground and kind of a
fall photoshoot type of photo. Apile of dried leaves kind of surrounds her
falling in the picture, and shehas the brightest, most infectious smile I've
ever seen in my life. Andimmediately I had to know what happened to
her. So I've been reading everydocument and watching every single interview that I
(03:30):
can find, which admittedly there aren'tvery many, because this case just hasn't
gotten the visibility that it and somany others deserve. And the more I
read about this case that I'm coveringtoday, the inquirer I got, because
I mean fucking I rate. ActuallyI even reached out to the family,
offering to help in any way thatI can to increase the visibility of this
(03:51):
case. And guys, you maynot know it, but a lot of
this podcast host from different true crimepodcasts that you may listen to, a
lot of us actually talk. Wehave some some groups and whatnot that we
all talk in private groups. Weshare feedback with one another, help frustrations,
we celebrate our successes together. Andone frustration that's consistently shared is how
(04:13):
people of color are underrepresented in notonly in news and media coverage. I
mean that's a given, but alsoin the true crime podcast arena itself.
And this may be a difficult conversation, but I really need you, guys,
you listeners, to hear what I'msaying and at least keep your heart
and minds open. Speaking solely formyself, I've tried to approach this subject
in previous social media posts or episodeshere when we saw the devil, you
(04:36):
know what happens. It actually resultsin one star Apple reviews of how I
am pandering or creating divisiveness or nastyracist emails. And the thing is,
guys, my experience isn't unique.All of my true crime podcast host friends
they've all experienced this as well,and we actively discuss it on a weekly
(04:58):
basis. Miss white Woman's syndrome isa phrase that was coined by late journalist
Gwen Eiffel at a two thousand andfour journalism conference in response to commentary by
CNN anchor Suzanne Malvoux. Malvau madethe comment quote in nineteen ninety four during
a Rwanda we were looking at NancyCarrigan and Tanya Harding. Gwen Eiffel then
(05:19):
interjected, and, referring to thenewsroom management, said quote, if it's
a missing white woman, you're goingto cover that every day. And when
Gwen Eiffel said that, the roomabsolutely exploded in applause. And for just
a little additional context, for thoseof you unaware, the Rwandan genocide happened
when over one hundred days in nineteenninety four, longer period of time,
(05:42):
but this was the worst. Overone hundred days in nineteen ninety four,
a million titsy and moderate Hutus weremurdered by the ethnic majority the Hutu.
A million people were tortured and killedin one hundred days, literally just over
three months. Hundreds of thousands ofwomen on both sides were raped. More
than eight hundred thousand people were killedin mid May of nineteen ninety four alone,
(06:05):
eight hundred thousand people in just thematter of like a week or two.
And yet two figure skaters received morecoverage than a million genocide victims and
survivors. And in my lifetime,I've never seen a worldwide obsession with the
missing person's case like we did withGabby Petito. And I won't rehash that
(06:26):
one. I mean, you allknow what happened. I covered it heavily
myself on this podcast because I thinkmost women really related to her situation.
I know I did, and I'mnot saying it should not have been covered.
Visibility is always a good thing forany criminal case or missing person.
In fact, I wish every singleone could be covered. The more eyes
on, the better. But Thefact of the matter is that the media
(06:48):
should cover the Black women, Latinawomen, Indigenous women, and other women
of color who go missing. Inreality and statistics, women of color do
not get the same amount of mediainterest, if any at all. Per
the National Intimate Partner and Sexual ViolenceSurvey, multiracial women or thirty three point
(07:09):
five percent of reported rapes, Nativewomen twenty six point nine, Black women
twenty two percent, Hispanic fourteen pointsix, and white women eighteen point eight.
The disparity is real in terms ofviolence, whether it's intimate partner violence,
homicide, rape, domestic violence,and also media coverage. Black Americans
(07:30):
constitute thirteen percent of the US population, yet thirty one percent of missing persons.
Fifty four percent of missing persons arewhite, but they make up seventy
six percent of the population. Black, Latina Indigenous women are much more likely
to be victims of rape, domesticviolence, and homicide, like I said,
(07:50):
yet we rarely see them that plasteredon every single news channel with twenty
four seven coverage like we have inother cases and some of the other cases
that have been recognized as quote unquotemissing white women's syndrome. We have cases
like Elizabeth Short, jac Duggard,Polly Class, John Benet, Ramsey,
Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, HollyWells, Lacy Peterson, Jessica Lynch,
(08:16):
Kaylee, Anthony, Madeleine McCann,Holly Bobo, Molly Tibbots, Jamie Class,
and most recently Gabby Petito. Andnot only that, and it might
not be something that you're cognizant ofbecause it's not something that we really think
about, but the laws that aremade after missing persons cases, the ones
named after them, they're all namedafter white women. We have Lacy and
(08:41):
Connor's Law named after Lacy Peterson,Amber Alert Laws after Amber Hagerman, Jessica's
Law after Jessica Lunsford, Kayley's Lawfor Kaylee, Anthony, Meghan's Law,
Dru's Law, Laurie's Law, Kristen'sAct, and then Skyler's Law after Skyler
Nie. Regardless of your political partyaffiliation, I think that we can all
(09:03):
agree that the media is out forclicks of views and money. They follow
the money. They sensationalize these storieswhere and when they can in order to
get the highest revenue possible. That'sjust sadly how it works. And I
don't think a single person listening rightnow. I don't think any of you
feel that a victim's race should determinehow newsroom managers assign coverage. But it
(09:26):
does, and unfortunately, there arefar reaching consequences on that. Do you
think any of the four kidnapped childrenfrom Memphis received a fraction of the police
and law enforcement resources that Eliza Fletcherdid? What do you think would have
happened in the insanely suspicious tam LaHorsford case out of Georgia if news stations
had flown in twenty reporters posted twentyfour seven coverage, followed local law enforcement
(09:52):
around and camped outside her friend's homewhere she died. Would there have been
a different outcome? Would they havetried a little bit harder and gone down
the straight and narrow to pull theevidence and be more transparent about it.
I'm just going to go ahead,go out on a limb and say that
I think there could have possibly beena different outcome in that case based on
(10:13):
what we know so far. Instead, that case was just a light blip
on the radar and then nothing.Her family still continues to fight for justice.
The fact of the matter is thatthese large cases the ones that receive
all of the media coverage receive adisproportionate amount of government resources because investigators are
(10:33):
pressured into solving the highest profile cases. This is an issue that can quite
literally determine whether a case gets solved. And being born into a skin that
is not white should not be thedetermining factor of whether your murder, you're
kidnapping, you're assault receives law enforcementresources. It just shouldn't be, but
(10:56):
yet it is. And I'd liketo say just one more thing. Earlier,
I mentioned how a lot of yourfavorite true crime podcasters how we all
talk to one another, And oneof the constant topics is the fact that,
guys, when we publish episodes onpeople of color, where the victims
are people of color, those episodestend to perform without without fail, thirty
(11:18):
to sixty percent more poorly on averagethan those featuring white victims. Those episodes
receive thirty to sixty percent fewer downloadsthan episodes that feature victims who are white.
And we talk about this a lot. It's disgusting, it's horrifying,
it's embarrassing, but it's true.This is a known phenomenon, and we're
(11:41):
constantly talking about how to tackle ofdisparity, because this is an issue that
is so deeply entrenched in the criminaljustice system. I mean, hell,
it's not even just that. It'sall connected media, journalism, education,
mental health, social services, criminaljustice, and more. It's so heavily
interconnected. And this is all definitelya full conversation for another episode and another
(12:01):
day, but I just wanted peopleto be aware that this effect is actually
played out in true crime podcasts aswell, and it hurts my heart every
single time I put out an episodeon a case that needs the visibility,
needs to get out there, andit doesn't receive half the downloads, and
then other podcast hosts that I knoware like, yeah, same with same
(12:22):
with mine. It's just really sad. And this is not to take anything
away from Eliza Fletcher and what shehorrifically endured. And all of my love
went out to all of the peopleacross the country today who went to run
in support of Eliza Fletcher quote unquotefinishing her run, because it continues the
conversation. I don't know if anyof you guys saw the post that I
(12:43):
made on our Facebook, Instagram andTikTok about all of the different things that
women can't do. I mean,basically, we're not allowed to exist without
the threat of violence. I feellike anytime a conversation is ignited out of
tragedy, hopefully you know something cancome of that. Something can So that
(13:05):
being said, I will be coveringthe last of the Eliza Fletcher case because
I really do want to cover everythingthat's happened in that so far as well.
But for this episode, we're coveringa nursing student who has gone missing
and it's all but confirmed that herboyfriend murdered her. So why hasn't he
been charged in her death? I'mgoing to introduce you to the case of
(13:26):
Irene Gakua. But how has everyonebeen? I hope you guys are practicing
appropriate self care and doing things thatmake you happy and also staying hydrated.
It's been a hell of a weekon the news front, especially, and
even though the Internet is arguably oneof the greatest inventions of the twentieth century,
I just feel like some weeks thenews cycle because we have such constant
(13:48):
access to news these days, Imean instantaneous really, God, Google Maps,
you know, even if there's anact of shooting, it pops up
on Google Maps if it's in yourcity. It's just absolutely why. I
feel like constant exposure to news canbe emotionally draining and impactful to our mental
health, and it seems that thelast couple of weeks have been extra fruitful
(14:09):
on that end, so I hopeall of you guys are taking good care.
So before we get started, let'sjust get our quick housekeeping out of
the way. You're listening to WeSaw the Devil. I'm Robin. You
can find our website at We Sawthe Deevil dot com and from there you
can find all of our socials thePatreon, as well as send a message
if you have any concerns, compliments, case requests, questions or complaints.
(14:31):
And most importantly, if you're enjoyingthe content on this podcast, please take
thirty seconds out of your day toleave a five star review on whatever platform
you're using to listen. It meansthe world to us content creators, and
it actually has a lot to dowith things like sponsorships, guest opportunities,
and exposure. So if you wantmore and better content, leaving a five
(14:52):
star review helps with that. Alrighty, that's enough of that. Let's start
from the ground up and cover thiscase. If you follow us on any
of our social media accounts, youlikely saw the missing person's post I made
about her yesterday. Irene Gaqua's smilewas positively infectious. Born and raised in
Nairobi, Kenya, to parents Francisand Joyce Gaqua, Irene is the youngest
(15:15):
of three children. Her oldest brotheris Kennedy, and brother Chris is the
middle child. Both Kennedy and Chrishad actually already immigrated to the US in
previous years, settling in the Boise, Idaho suburb of Meridian. They both
married, settled down, and madelives for themselves. The Gaqua children had
always been incredibly close, and Irenereally missed her brother, so she decided
(15:39):
to come to the US to jointhem and also pursue her dream of becoming
a nurse. The entire Gaqua familywas close for that matter, I mean
really really close. All three siblingswould have WhatsApp calls with their parents every
day or almost every other day.Francis and Joyce were particularly anxious about Irene's
move to a country more than ninethousand miles away. Irene Gaqua was just
(16:00):
five feet tall and barely even weighedninety pounds. She was very, very
very small. Not only that,she was incredibly shy and introverted. When
she lived in Nairobi, she wouldrarely actually leave the house due to her
anxiety and shyness. Her father wasquoted as saying, quote, we sometimes
had to remind her to get outof the house and get some sun light.
(16:22):
But again, the Gauqua siblings wereespecially close, so the fact that
Irene was going to move in withher younger brother Chris and his wife,
Joyce, tampered a lot of herparents' fears. Irene made it to the
US in May of twenty nineteen andmoved in with Chris and Joyce, and
she would actually help babysit their kidswhile they were at work. But she
also got a job in a grouphome taking care of its elderly residence.
(16:45):
Having taken care of her own olderparents, Irene's incredible patience and love for
the residence was evident to all.Irene ended up meeting thirty eight year old
Nathan Heitman on Craigslist and had asomewhat secretive relationship with him for a while.
In twenty twenty, she and hersister in Lac Joyce went on a
girl's trip to Los Angeles. Thetwo had become basically inseparable best friends,
(17:07):
and Irene confided in her about herrelationship with Hypman, but she asked her
not to tell her brothers or anyoneelse. After dating for a period of
time, Irene moved with him intohis Meridian home. Despite Irene living with
Hytman, she never gave her brothersand parents many details about him or their
relationship. In fact, any theyhad no idea, as she was a
(17:30):
fairly private and independent person. Theydidn't really question it, especially when she
began going to school at the Collegeof Western Idaho. They eventually found out
about him, and they knew thatshe and Nathan had broken up and gotten
back together multiple times, but theythought that their relationship had ended. In
the summer of twenty twenty one,Nathan and Irene moved together to Gillette,
Wyoming, where Nathan purchased a home. Irene transferred her studies to Gillette College
(17:56):
and continued pursuing her dream of nursing. She would video chat with her parents
via WhatsApp every single day without fail, and texted her siblings and sister law
back in Idaho daily as well.She returned to visit them and Meridian multiple
times, with the last visit beingThanksgiving of twenty twenty one. Since Irene
and all of her siblings were planningto go to Kenya for Christmas to visit
(18:18):
their parents, it was just theThanksgiving for the siblings alone. They cooked
African dishes that their mother used tomake, like rice, cabbage and tomatoes,
ugali, and barbecued goat. Afterthey ate dinner, they video chatted
with their parents and then Irene returnedto Gillette. That was the last time
that her siblings saw her in person. Irene continued to maintain close contact with
(18:41):
her family until the end of February. On February twenty fourth of this year,
Irene had a WhatsApp video call withher parents. They noticed that she
appeared much skinnier than usual. Shelooked tired, and her hair, which
was usually braided, was straight,unkempt and disheveled. She did not look
well and that was the last timeher parents spoke to her. Her parents
(19:03):
attempted to contact her on WhatsApp multiplemore times, but the chat request went
unanswered. Instead, they received textsin response, texts that were completely Unlike
Irene's normal writing pattern. Irene usuallywrote in a mixture of Swahili and Kenyon
slang, and the recent text messageswere in very, very disjointed English.
(19:25):
Her oldest brother said that it wasalmost like someone was using Google Translate to
send them, like reverse Translate tosend them. Between February twenty sixth and
the first week of March, Irene'sfamily received text messages from her phone,
most of them basically being excuses forwhy she couldn't video chat. One of
the messages said, Dad, Idropped my phone in the water and now
the microphone doesn't work. Another saidI just want you to know that I
(19:48):
love you and miss you mom.Her father replied to this message saying,
we miss you. We want tosee you, not just chat on WhatsApp.
We love you always. You willbe my daughter. For her.
Growing increasingly worried that they couldn't getin touch with her, her brothers actually
decided to go through Irene's call recordsbecause her phone was part of their family
plan. They found a close friendof Irene's that she spoke too frequently and
(20:12):
gave them a call. That's whenthey discovered that Irene had moved with Nathan
Heitman that they'd gotten back together andmoved to Gillette, Wyoming together. They
didn't even know that they had rekindledtheir relationship again, so in March twentieth,
her brothers reported her missing officially tothe Gillette Police Department. The department
(20:33):
dispatched an officer to talk to NathanHeitman that very same day. Nathan claimed
that he had seen Irene in lateFebruary when she came home one evening,
packed all of her clothes and twoplastic bags, and then left, getting
into a dark suv before driving off. He said he hadn't heard from her
sense. He did admit, however, to withdrawing all of her money from
her account, but he told policeofficers that this was to force her to
(20:56):
contact him because she would inevitably needmoney, and that he was desperate for
her to come back. Irene's documentation, like her passport, her IDs,
and other personal effects were still We'restill in Nate Heyman's possession. Irene's family
sent many requests for him to givethem her belongings. She's missing, she
(21:17):
has not been seen. Can youplease give us, you know, some
of her personal effects, her photos, her driver's license, her student ID.
Can you please give us her personaleffects? He refused to give them
to her family. By April twelfth, Nathan Heitman was under investigation as a
person of interest in the disappearance ofIrene Gauqua, and police uncovered a lot
of disturbing activity. The department issueda public statement naming Heightman a person of
(21:42):
interest in the case and said quote, he has not made himself available to
detectives looking to resolve questions that existin this investigation. They found that between
the end of February to the middleof March, Nate Heyman had transferred thirty
seven hundred dollars from Gakua's bank accountto his own and then also spent an
(22:02):
additional thirty two hundred on her creditcard. Her WhatsApp was deleted, her
Gmail email address had also been deleted, and her phone number had also been
deleted after it was last active onMarch fourth. On April twenty fourth,
Irene's family created the website where isIrene dot com, and her brothers traveled
to Gillette to put up missing personsflyers. Again. Nathan Heitman, still
(22:26):
refusing to return Irene Gawkwa's belongings toher family, even though they've traveled to
Gillette begging for them, and tothe credit of the people in Gillette,
Wyoming, many of them have actuallyrallied together to help. They've organized search
parties that campas neighborhoods. They've collectivelyhung missing Persons flyers, They've gone door
to doors seeking information. One ofthe largest groups printed out t shirts that
(22:49):
say Where's Irene and they wear themin public every time they go out.
So this case gains visibility, andto this day, here we're in early
September, almost mid September, youwill still see flyers with Irene's face posted
around the town. On Tuesday,May tenth, the Galet Police Department arrested
Nathan Heyman. He was charged withtwo felony counts of theft, one felony
(23:11):
count of unlawful use of a creditcard, and two felony counts of crimes
against intellectual property. That's it.Heyman is pleaded not guilty to all charges,
and he was actually released on aten thousand dollar bond. His pre
trial conference is scheduled for November,so we actually have about a month and
a half before his pre trial conferenceis scheduled, and you can bet your
(23:33):
ass that I'm going to be coveringthis rapidly now, guys. Here's the
thing. As police investigated him asa person of interest in this case,
it came to light that on Februarytwenty fourth, the same day as that
last what's Up call to that Irenehave with her parents, Nate Heyman was
seen in Walmart buying new pair ofboots, a shovel, and a fifty
(23:57):
five gallon drum. Again the daythat Irene went missing forever, he was
caught buying a new pair of boots, a shovel, and a fifty five
gallon drum. I think that mostof us know what that likely means.
And not only did Nate Heitmann buythis drum, but he bought the drum
and was seen by his neighbors burningit the very next day. He had
(24:21):
a fire in this drum the verynext day, on February twenty fifth,
he bought all these items. He'sbeen completely non responsive to the police.
To the police department, they havecalled him completely uncooperative. He's refusing to
help, refusing to speak, andthey've only arrested him for the financial crimes.
Pieces of this they've served multiple searchwarrants of his home. I'm not
(24:44):
sure. I don't think they've doneanything with his property of the grounds around
his home, though I've seen peoplearrested and charged with murder on a whole
hell of a lot less and thisman, this walking thumb, he knows
something. He is out right now, he's home and chillen, and I'm
just so absolutely appalled by this.And as people who follow true crime,
(25:06):
we all have those cases that pullout our heartstrings, you know what I
mean. We all have those cases. For a lot of you. I
know a lot of you. It'sLaurie Vallo with JJ entirely. You know,
they in particular pull at your souland you follow that case rapidly because
of it. When I came acrossIrene's picture and just saw this beautiful,
(25:26):
innocent, sweet person who not onlydisappeared, but we now have proof that
her boyfriend purchased boots, a shovelin a drum like. I don't know
how many of you guys have seenthe movie Megan is Missing, but that's
what I envision and I just wantto vomit. So I am actively begging,
I am imploring all of you toshare everything you can about this case.
(25:49):
The website is where is Irene dotcom. There are multiple resources there
as well. There is a rewardor more information leading to an arrest in
the case, the phone number tothe Gillette Police Department National Missing and Unidentified
Person System, as well as atimeline. Irene was thirty two years old.
She's five foot one eighty nine pounds, black with black hair and brown
(26:14):
eyes. You can also, ifyou're interested, utilize the missing person's graphic
on our Facebook page and all ofour social media to share as well.
But this case really her family,her sweet family, really really deserves justice
in this no more or no lessthan any other family who has a missing
loved one who's likely mean, let'sbe honest, unfortunately been murdered at the
(26:37):
hands of their partner. But that'sit for today, guys, thank you
so much for listening. Again.You're listening to We Saw the Devil.
I'm Robin. This has been thecase of Irene Gaqua missing out of Gillette,
Wyoming. For more information, pleasecheck the show notes or go to
the website where is Irene dot com. Until next Crime
You are listening to We Saw theDevil, an investigative and conversational true crime
podcast that deep dives into fascinating criminalcases that are salved unsolved. Are ongoing
for America's Laurie Valo to Jrummy's armin Mivas. We examine and discuss the
world's most shocking cases. If you'reenjoying the show, don't forget to follow
(00:31):
us online. Check us out atWe Saw the Devil dot com, and
We Saw the Devil on Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram, and don't forget.
You can become part of the showby backing us on Patreon. Hello
(00:52):
everyone, you are listening to WeSaw the Devil. I'm your host,
Robin, and I'm going to behonest. Today's episode was originally going to
be a news update on a handfulof cases that I've been covering, Eliza
Fletcher, Laurie Valo, and thenthat random mass shooting on Wednesday that also
took place in Memphis. But nowit's not. I've been really angry and
upset since Eliza Fletcher's story hit thenews for a handful of reasons. Like
(01:17):
so many other women, I'm beyondexhausted, I'm tired, of seeing women
disappear at the hands of their partners, dragged off the street and kidnapped by
a complete stranger, raped by afellow student, friend, or blind date
from a dating site, assaulted.I myself am exhausted with having to mentally
check off a number of safety protocolsbefore I perform a simple everyday task.
(01:40):
You know that men can do withouta second thought. And I'm also tired
of being told to carry a gun, as if a that should even be
a freaking requirement to a woman's existenceto begin with. And b I don't
think a gun would have helped SydneySutherland who was struck from behind by her
rapist slash murderer's truck and killed.I'm just so tired of hearing it all.
(02:00):
The day after Eliza Fletcher was found, yet another predator attempted to kidnap
a jogger in Knoxville, Tennessee.Tried to drive up and pull her off
of the street the running path.Luckily, she was able to get away.
While Eliza was still missing, theMemphis Police Department also announced that there
were four young black girls who wentmissing in forty eight hours. Four children
(02:24):
under the age of fifteen. Butdid any of you hear about that,
because I'm betting you didn't. Theygot a couple tweets each, and then
some online bipoc accounts posted and sharedtheir missing posters. Eliza Fletcher quite literally
captured all headlines and interests, andI can understand why it's not every single
day that a woman is completely pulledoff of the street in such a public
(02:46):
manner. As everyone knows, andas we discussed in a previous episode,
she she's known as quote unquote thebillionaire heiress, so obviously there's going to
be elevated coverage of her case inthe media. But as I was scrolling
through Liza fletcher updates on Twitter,I came across the case that I'm covering
today in this episode, and itabsolutely gutted me. I saw her picture
(03:08):
on a missing person's ad and she'ssitting on the ground and kind of a
fall photoshoot type of photo. Apile of dried leaves kind of surrounds her
falling in the picture, and shehas the brightest, most infectious smile I've
ever seen in my life. Andimmediately I had to know what happened to
her. So I've been reading everydocument and watching every single interview that I
(03:30):
can find, which admittedly there aren'tvery many, because this case just hasn't
gotten the visibility that it and somany others deserve. And the more I
read about this case that I'm coveringtoday, the inquirer I got, because
I mean fucking I rate. ActuallyI even reached out to the family,
offering to help in any way thatI can to increase the visibility of this
(03:51):
case. And guys, you maynot know it, but a lot of
this podcast host from different true crimepodcasts that you may listen to, a
lot of us actually talk. Wehave some some groups and whatnot that we
all talk in private groups. Weshare feedback with one another, help frustrations,
we celebrate our successes together. Andone frustration that's consistently shared is how
(04:13):
people of color are underrepresented in notonly in news and media coverage. I
mean that's a given, but alsoin the true crime podcast arena itself.
And this may be a difficult conversation, but I really need you, guys,
you listeners, to hear what I'msaying and at least keep your heart
and minds open. Speaking solely formyself, I've tried to approach this subject
in previous social media posts or episodeshere when we saw the devil, you
(04:36):
know what happens. It actually resultsin one star Apple reviews of how I
am pandering or creating divisiveness or nastyracist emails. And the thing is,
guys, my experience isn't unique.All of my true crime podcast host friends
they've all experienced this as well,and we actively discuss it on a weekly
(04:58):
basis. Miss white Woman's syndrome isa phrase that was coined by late journalist
Gwen Eiffel at a two thousand andfour journalism conference in response to commentary by
CNN anchor Suzanne Malvoux. Malvau madethe comment quote in nineteen ninety four during
a Rwanda we were looking at NancyCarrigan and Tanya Harding. Gwen Eiffel then
(05:19):
interjected, and, referring to thenewsroom management, said quote, if it's
a missing white woman, you're goingto cover that every day. And when
Gwen Eiffel said that, the roomabsolutely exploded in applause. And for just
a little additional context, for thoseof you unaware, the Rwandan genocide happened
when over one hundred days in nineteenninety four, longer period of time,
(05:42):
but this was the worst. Overone hundred days in nineteen ninety four,
a million titsy and moderate Hutus weremurdered by the ethnic majority the Hutu.
A million people were tortured and killedin one hundred days, literally just over
three months. Hundreds of thousands ofwomen on both sides were raped. More
than eight hundred thousand people were killedin mid May of nineteen ninety four alone,
(06:05):
eight hundred thousand people in just thematter of like a week or two.
And yet two figure skaters received morecoverage than a million genocide victims and
survivors. And in my lifetime,I've never seen a worldwide obsession with the
missing person's case like we did withGabby Petito. And I won't rehash that
(06:26):
one. I mean, you allknow what happened. I covered it heavily
myself on this podcast because I thinkmost women really related to her situation.
I know I did, and I'mnot saying it should not have been covered.
Visibility is always a good thing forany criminal case or missing person.
In fact, I wish every singleone could be covered. The more eyes
on, the better. But Thefact of the matter is that the media
(06:48):
should cover the Black women, Latinawomen, Indigenous women, and other women
of color who go missing. Inreality and statistics, women of color do
not get the same amount of mediainterest, if any at all. Per
the National Intimate Partner and Sexual ViolenceSurvey, multiracial women or thirty three point
(07:09):
five percent of reported rapes, Nativewomen twenty six point nine, Black women
twenty two percent, Hispanic fourteen pointsix, and white women eighteen point eight.
The disparity is real in terms ofviolence, whether it's intimate partner violence,
homicide, rape, domestic violence,and also media coverage. Black Americans
(07:30):
constitute thirteen percent of the US population, yet thirty one percent of missing persons.
Fifty four percent of missing persons arewhite, but they make up seventy
six percent of the population. Black, Latina Indigenous women are much more likely
to be victims of rape, domesticviolence, and homicide, like I said,
(07:50):
yet we rarely see them that plasteredon every single news channel with twenty
four seven coverage like we have inother cases and some of the other cases
that have been recognized as quote unquotemissing white women's syndrome. We have cases
like Elizabeth Short, jac Duggard,Polly Class, John Benet, Ramsey,
Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, HollyWells, Lacy Peterson, Jessica Lynch,
(08:16):
Kaylee, Anthony, Madeleine McCann,Holly Bobo, Molly Tibbots, Jamie Class,
and most recently Gabby Petito. Andnot only that, and it might
not be something that you're cognizant ofbecause it's not something that we really think
about, but the laws that aremade after missing persons cases, the ones
named after them, they're all namedafter white women. We have Lacy and
(08:41):
Connor's Law named after Lacy Peterson,Amber Alert Laws after Amber Hagerman, Jessica's
Law after Jessica Lunsford, Kayley's Lawfor Kaylee, Anthony, Meghan's Law,
Dru's Law, Laurie's Law, Kristen'sAct, and then Skyler's Law after Skyler
Nie. Regardless of your political partyaffiliation, I think that we can all
(09:03):
agree that the media is out forclicks of views and money. They follow
the money. They sensationalize these storieswhere and when they can in order to
get the highest revenue possible. That'sjust sadly how it works. And I
don't think a single person listening rightnow. I don't think any of you
feel that a victim's race should determinehow newsroom managers assign coverage. But it
(09:26):
does, and unfortunately, there arefar reaching consequences on that. Do you
think any of the four kidnapped childrenfrom Memphis received a fraction of the police
and law enforcement resources that Eliza Fletcherdid? What do you think would have
happened in the insanely suspicious tam LaHorsford case out of Georgia if news stations
had flown in twenty reporters posted twentyfour seven coverage, followed local law enforcement
(09:52):
around and camped outside her friend's homewhere she died. Would there have been
a different outcome? Would they havetried a little bit harder and gone down
the straight and narrow to pull theevidence and be more transparent about it.
I'm just going to go ahead,go out on a limb and say that
I think there could have possibly beena different outcome in that case based on
(10:13):
what we know so far. Instead, that case was just a light blip
on the radar and then nothing.Her family still continues to fight for justice.
The fact of the matter is thatthese large cases the ones that receive
all of the media coverage receive adisproportionate amount of government resources because investigators are
(10:33):
pressured into solving the highest profile cases. This is an issue that can quite
literally determine whether a case gets solved. And being born into a skin that
is not white should not be thedetermining factor of whether your murder, you're
kidnapping, you're assault receives law enforcementresources. It just shouldn't be, but
(10:56):
yet it is. And I'd liketo say just one more thing. Earlier,
I mentioned how a lot of yourfavorite true crime podcasters how we all
talk to one another, And oneof the constant topics is the fact that,
guys, when we publish episodes onpeople of color, where the victims
are people of color, those episodestend to perform without without fail, thirty
(11:18):
to sixty percent more poorly on averagethan those featuring white victims. Those episodes
receive thirty to sixty percent fewer downloadsthan episodes that feature victims who are white.
And we talk about this a lot. It's disgusting, it's horrifying,
it's embarrassing, but it's true.This is a known phenomenon, and we're
(11:41):
constantly talking about how to tackle ofdisparity, because this is an issue that
is so deeply entrenched in the criminaljustice system. I mean, hell,
it's not even just that. It'sall connected media, journalism, education,
mental health, social services, criminaljustice, and more. It's so heavily
interconnected. And this is all definitelya full conversation for another episode and another
(12:01):
day, but I just wanted peopleto be aware that this effect is actually
played out in true crime podcasts aswell, and it hurts my heart every
single time I put out an episodeon a case that needs the visibility,
needs to get out there, andit doesn't receive half the downloads, and
then other podcast hosts that I knoware like, yeah, same with same
(12:22):
with mine. It's just really sad. And this is not to take anything
away from Eliza Fletcher and what shehorrifically endured. And all of my love
went out to all of the peopleacross the country today who went to run
in support of Eliza Fletcher quote unquotefinishing her run, because it continues the
conversation. I don't know if anyof you guys saw the post that I
(12:43):
made on our Facebook, Instagram andTikTok about all of the different things that
women can't do. I mean,basically, we're not allowed to exist without
the threat of violence. I feellike anytime a conversation is ignited out of
tragedy, hopefully you know something cancome of that. Something can So that
(13:05):
being said, I will be coveringthe last of the Eliza Fletcher case because
I really do want to cover everythingthat's happened in that so far as well.
But for this episode, we're coveringa nursing student who has gone missing
and it's all but confirmed that herboyfriend murdered her. So why hasn't he
been charged in her death? I'mgoing to introduce you to the case of
(13:26):
Irene Gakua. But how has everyonebeen? I hope you guys are practicing
appropriate self care and doing things thatmake you happy and also staying hydrated.
It's been a hell of a weekon the news front, especially, and
even though the Internet is arguably oneof the greatest inventions of the twentieth century,
I just feel like some weeks thenews cycle because we have such constant
(13:48):
access to news these days, Imean instantaneous really, God, Google Maps,
you know, even if there's anact of shooting, it pops up
on Google Maps if it's in yourcity. It's just absolutely why. I
feel like constant exposure to news canbe emotionally draining and impactful to our mental
health, and it seems that thelast couple of weeks have been extra fruitful
(14:09):
on that end, so I hopeall of you guys are taking good care.
So before we get started, let'sjust get our quick housekeeping out of
the way. You're listening to WeSaw the Devil. I'm Robin. You
can find our website at We Sawthe Deevil dot com and from there you
can find all of our socials thePatreon, as well as send a message
if you have any concerns, compliments, case requests, questions or complaints.
(14:31):
And most importantly, if you're enjoyingthe content on this podcast, please take
thirty seconds out of your day toleave a five star review on whatever platform
you're using to listen. It meansthe world to us content creators, and
it actually has a lot to dowith things like sponsorships, guest opportunities,
and exposure. So if you wantmore and better content, leaving a five
(14:52):
star review helps with that. Alrighty, that's enough of that. Let's start
from the ground up and cover thiscase. If you follow us on any
of our social media accounts, youlikely saw the missing person's post I made
about her yesterday. Irene Gaqua's smilewas positively infectious. Born and raised in
Nairobi, Kenya, to parents Francisand Joyce Gaqua, Irene is the youngest
(15:15):
of three children. Her oldest brotheris Kennedy, and brother Chris is the
middle child. Both Kennedy and Chrishad actually already immigrated to the US in
previous years, settling in the Boise, Idaho suburb of Meridian. They both
married, settled down, and madelives for themselves. The Gaqua children had
always been incredibly close, and Irenereally missed her brother, so she decided
(15:39):
to come to the US to jointhem and also pursue her dream of becoming
a nurse. The entire Gaqua familywas close for that matter, I mean
really really close. All three siblingswould have WhatsApp calls with their parents every
day or almost every other day.Francis and Joyce were particularly anxious about Irene's
move to a country more than ninethousand miles away. Irene Gaqua was just
(16:00):
five feet tall and barely even weighedninety pounds. She was very, very
very small. Not only that,she was incredibly shy and introverted. When
she lived in Nairobi, she wouldrarely actually leave the house due to her
anxiety and shyness. Her father wasquoted as saying, quote, we sometimes
had to remind her to get outof the house and get some sun light.
(16:22):
But again, the Gauqua siblings wereespecially close, so the fact that
Irene was going to move in withher younger brother Chris and his wife,
Joyce, tampered a lot of herparents' fears. Irene made it to the
US in May of twenty nineteen andmoved in with Chris and Joyce, and
she would actually help babysit their kidswhile they were at work. But she
also got a job in a grouphome taking care of its elderly residence.
(16:45):
Having taken care of her own olderparents, Irene's incredible patience and love for
the residence was evident to all.Irene ended up meeting thirty eight year old
Nathan Heitman on Craigslist and had asomewhat secretive relationship with him for a while.
In twenty twenty, she and hersister in Lac Joyce went on a
girl's trip to Los Angeles. Thetwo had become basically inseparable best friends,
(17:07):
and Irene confided in her about herrelationship with Hypman, but she asked her
not to tell her brothers or anyoneelse. After dating for a period of
time, Irene moved with him intohis Meridian home. Despite Irene living with
Hytman, she never gave her brothersand parents many details about him or their
relationship. In fact, any theyhad no idea, as she was a
(17:30):
fairly private and independent person. Theydidn't really question it, especially when she
began going to school at the Collegeof Western Idaho. They eventually found out
about him, and they knew thatshe and Nathan had broken up and gotten
back together multiple times, but theythought that their relationship had ended. In
the summer of twenty twenty one,Nathan and Irene moved together to Gillette,
Wyoming, where Nathan purchased a home. Irene transferred her studies to Gillette College
(17:56):
and continued pursuing her dream of nursing. She would video chat with her parents
via WhatsApp every single day without fail, and texted her siblings and sister law
back in Idaho daily as well.She returned to visit them and Meridian multiple
times, with the last visit beingThanksgiving of twenty twenty one. Since Irene
and all of her siblings were planningto go to Kenya for Christmas to visit
(18:18):
their parents, it was just theThanksgiving for the siblings alone. They cooked
African dishes that their mother used tomake, like rice, cabbage and tomatoes,
ugali, and barbecued goat. Afterthey ate dinner, they video chatted
with their parents and then Irene returnedto Gillette. That was the last time
that her siblings saw her in person. Irene continued to maintain close contact with
(18:41):
her family until the end of February. On February twenty fourth of this year,
Irene had a WhatsApp video call withher parents. They noticed that she
appeared much skinnier than usual. Shelooked tired, and her hair, which
was usually braided, was straight,unkempt and disheveled. She did not look
well and that was the last timeher parents spoke to her. Her parents
(19:03):
attempted to contact her on WhatsApp multiplemore times, but the chat request went
unanswered. Instead, they received textsin response, texts that were completely Unlike
Irene's normal writing pattern. Irene usuallywrote in a mixture of Swahili and Kenyon
slang, and the recent text messageswere in very, very disjointed English.
(19:25):
Her oldest brother said that it wasalmost like someone was using Google Translate to
send them, like reverse Translate tosend them. Between February twenty sixth and
the first week of March, Irene'sfamily received text messages from her phone,
most of them basically being excuses forwhy she couldn't video chat. One of
the messages said, Dad, Idropped my phone in the water and now
the microphone doesn't work. Another saidI just want you to know that I
(19:48):
love you and miss you mom.Her father replied to this message saying,
we miss you. We want tosee you, not just chat on WhatsApp.
We love you always. You willbe my daughter. For her.
Growing increasingly worried that they couldn't getin touch with her, her brothers actually
decided to go through Irene's call recordsbecause her phone was part of their family
plan. They found a close friendof Irene's that she spoke too frequently and
(20:12):
gave them a call. That's whenthey discovered that Irene had moved with Nathan
Heitman that they'd gotten back together andmoved to Gillette, Wyoming together. They
didn't even know that they had rekindledtheir relationship again, so in March twentieth,
her brothers reported her missing officially tothe Gillette Police Department. The department
(20:33):
dispatched an officer to talk to NathanHeitman that very same day. Nathan claimed
that he had seen Irene in lateFebruary when she came home one evening,
packed all of her clothes and twoplastic bags, and then left, getting
into a dark suv before driving off. He said he hadn't heard from her
sense. He did admit, however, to withdrawing all of her money from
her account, but he told policeofficers that this was to force her to
(20:56):
contact him because she would inevitably needmoney, and that he was desperate for
her to come back. Irene's documentation, like her passport, her IDs,
and other personal effects were still We'restill in Nate Heyman's possession. Irene's family
sent many requests for him to givethem her belongings. She's missing, she
(21:17):
has not been seen. Can youplease give us, you know, some
of her personal effects, her photos, her driver's license, her student ID.
Can you please give us her personaleffects? He refused to give them
to her family. By April twelfth, Nathan Heitman was under investigation as a
person of interest in the disappearance ofIrene Gauqua, and police uncovered a lot
of disturbing activity. The department issueda public statement naming Heightman a person of
(21:42):
interest in the case and said quote, he has not made himself available to
detectives looking to resolve questions that existin this investigation. They found that between
the end of February to the middleof March, Nate Heyman had transferred thirty
seven hundred dollars from Gakua's bank accountto his own and then also spent an
(22:02):
additional thirty two hundred on her creditcard. Her WhatsApp was deleted, her
Gmail email address had also been deleted, and her phone number had also been
deleted after it was last active onMarch fourth. On April twenty fourth,
Irene's family created the website where isIrene dot com, and her brothers traveled
to Gillette to put up missing personsflyers. Again. Nathan Heitman, still
(22:26):
refusing to return Irene Gawkwa's belongings toher family, even though they've traveled to
Gillette begging for them, and tothe credit of the people in Gillette,
Wyoming, many of them have actuallyrallied together to help. They've organized search
parties that campas neighborhoods. They've collectivelyhung missing Persons flyers, They've gone door
to doors seeking information. One ofthe largest groups printed out t shirts that
(22:49):
say Where's Irene and they wear themin public every time they go out.
So this case gains visibility, andto this day, here we're in early
September, almost mid September, youwill still see flyers with Irene's face posted
around the town. On Tuesday,May tenth, the Galet Police Department arrested
Nathan Heyman. He was charged withtwo felony counts of theft, one felony
(23:11):
count of unlawful use of a creditcard, and two felony counts of crimes
against intellectual property. That's it.Heyman is pleaded not guilty to all charges,
and he was actually released on aten thousand dollar bond. His pre
trial conference is scheduled for November,so we actually have about a month and
a half before his pre trial conferenceis scheduled, and you can bet your
(23:33):
ass that I'm going to be coveringthis rapidly now, guys. Here's the
thing. As police investigated him asa person of interest in this case,
it came to light that on Februarytwenty fourth, the same day as that
last what's Up call to that Irenehave with her parents, Nate Heyman was
seen in Walmart buying new pair ofboots, a shovel, and a fifty
(23:57):
five gallon drum. Again the daythat Irene went missing forever, he was
caught buying a new pair of boots, a shovel, and a fifty five
gallon drum. I think that mostof us know what that likely means.
And not only did Nate Heitmann buythis drum, but he bought the drum
and was seen by his neighbors burningit the very next day. He had
(24:21):
a fire in this drum the verynext day, on February twenty fifth,
he bought all these items. He'sbeen completely non responsive to the police.
To the police department, they havecalled him completely uncooperative. He's refusing to
help, refusing to speak, andthey've only arrested him for the financial crimes.
Pieces of this they've served multiple searchwarrants of his home. I'm not
(24:44):
sure. I don't think they've doneanything with his property of the grounds around
his home, though I've seen peoplearrested and charged with murder on a whole
hell of a lot less and thisman, this walking thumb, he knows
something. He is out right now, he's home and chillen, and I'm
just so absolutely appalled by this.And as people who follow true crime,
(25:06):
we all have those cases that pullout our heartstrings, you know what I
mean. We all have those cases. For a lot of you. I
know a lot of you. It'sLaurie Vallo with JJ entirely. You know,
they in particular pull at your souland you follow that case rapidly because
of it. When I came acrossIrene's picture and just saw this beautiful,
(25:26):
innocent, sweet person who not onlydisappeared, but we now have proof that
her boyfriend purchased boots, a shovelin a drum like. I don't know
how many of you guys have seenthe movie Megan is Missing, but that's
what I envision and I just wantto vomit. So I am actively begging,
I am imploring all of you toshare everything you can about this case.
(25:49):
The website is where is Irene dotcom. There are multiple resources there
as well. There is a rewardor more information leading to an arrest in
the case, the phone number tothe Gillette Police Department National Missing and Unidentified
Person System, as well as atimeline. Irene was thirty two years old.
She's five foot one eighty nine pounds, black with black hair and brown
(26:14):
eyes. You can also, ifyou're interested, utilize the missing person's graphic
on our Facebook page and all ofour social media to share as well.
But this case really her family,her sweet family, really really deserves justice
in this no more or no lessthan any other family who has a missing
loved one who's likely mean, let'sbe honest, unfortunately been murdered at the
(26:37):
hands of their partner. But that'sit for today, guys, thank you
so much for listening. Again.You're listening to We Saw the Devil.
I'm Robin. This has been thecase of Irene Gaqua missing out of Gillette,
Wyoming. For more information, pleasecheck the show notes or go to
the website where is Irene dot com. Until next Crime
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