August 16, 2023 • 21 mins
The seemingly peaceful backdrop of rural Orange, Virginia has been hiding a chilling mystery since 2010. Samantha Ann Clarke, fresh out of high school, vanished into the night, leaving behind a trail that has been cold for over a decade. Investigations led to a man, that three years later, was convicted of murdering another local teen. This episode covers the eerie story of Samantha's vanishing and the pursuit for answers that followed.
The search for Samantha took a grim turn in 2021 when it was reclassified as an abduction and homicide investigation. This case intertwines with our previous episode where I tell you the story of what happened to Alexis Tiara Murphy.
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Thank you so much and big, big hugs to each and every one of you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Holly (00:00):
Tell me a true crime story.
Hey there, welcome to episode23 of Tell Me a True Crime Story
(00:21):
.
I'm your host, holly.
This episode is about the 2010disappearance of Samantha Clark
out of rural Orange, virginia.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
Do you have a case suggestionfor me?
If so, please send me an emailand let me know what case you'd
(00:45):
like to hear me cover.
My email isholliestellmepodcastgmailcom.
Please, with a Y, h-o-l-l-y-s,tell me podcast at gmailcom.
I'm only 23 episodes deep intomy true crime podcasting journey
(01:06):
and I need your help to grow myaudience.
I'm an independent podcaster,which means it's just me doing
this whole shebang writing,researching, recording, editing
and promoting the podcast.
I don't have the benefit of thebig guys marketing money and
reach, so how you guys can helpme tremendously is by leaving me
(01:31):
a review or a five-star rating.
That helps this podcast becomemore relevant and visible to
more people.
To leave me a rating and areview on Apple, just go to my
show page and scroll down tillyou see ratings and reviews.
Select a star rating, then,below that, click on Write a
(01:52):
review and that's it.
Thank you guys again for beinghere.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
Now let me tell you a true crimestory.
This episode kind of ties tothe last episode, so if you
haven't heard that one, pleasego back and listen to it first.
It's called One Murdered, oneMissing, and it's about the
(02:16):
disappearance and murder of17-year-old Alexis Murphy in
2013.
In that episode, I told youthat the man convicted of her
murder, randy Taylor, is alsothe suspect in the disappearance
of another young woman from thesame area.
This is that story.
Today I will tell you about thedisappearance of teenager
(02:38):
Samantha Clark.
Samantha Ann Clark was born onWednesday, july 17, 1991.
She went missing at the age of19, just three months after
graduating from high school.
According to her Aunt Brenda,whom she was close with,
samantha was a real sweet girlwith a good personality, who
(03:00):
liked hanging out with herfriends, going roller skating
and listening to music.
Let's go back in time togetherto mid-September 2010.
It was night time, either alittle before midnight or a
little after midnight reportsvaried on this, but Samantha
Clark, who often went by Sam,hollered by up the steps to her
(03:23):
younger brother, hunter, andsaid she'd be back in the
morning.
Samantha left their home onLindsay Drive in the town of
Orange, virginia, taking onlyher house key with her.
She has not been seen or heardfrom since.
Samantha's mom, barbara Tender,wasn't at home when Samantha
left.
She'd been working theovernight shift.
(03:46):
At 12.30 am Barbara received acall from the house while at
work, but she couldn't answer itat that time.
When she took her break an hourlater she called her house and
a twelve-year-old hunteranswered.
He told his mom that Samanthahad left, but he didn't know
where she'd gone.
That phone call made Barbaraworried and a bit confused.
(04:08):
When she'd left for work,samantha had been sitting on the
couch in her pajamas watchingTV.
It was unusual for Samantha toleave the house in the middle of
the night.
According to Barbara, samanthadidn't leave the house by
herself after dark and on top ofthat Samantha did not have a
cell phone, car or driver'slicense.
(04:29):
When Barbara got off work andreturned home at 7.05 am,
samantha wasn't back yet.
Barbara found Samantha'spajamas lying on her bed, so she
knew Samantha had changed outof them before she left.
Barbara took Hunter to school,then laid down to get some rest,
hoping Samantha would get backin the meantime.
When she awoke a few hourslater Samantha was still nowhere
(04:51):
to be found.
Barbara was worried, so shewent to the police for help and
to report her daughter missing.
When she was told she'd have towait 48 hours to report
Samantha missing, barbara andher sister Brenda drove around
looking for Samantha.
Barbara reached out to some ofSamantha's close friends, but
none of them had seen or heardfrom her.
(05:11):
It wasn't likely that Samanthawas staying away voluntarily.
Samantha was the type to gethomesick.
She'd once gone to aneighboring town Culpeper, just
17 miles away for two weeks.
During that time she'd calledher mom or aunt every day until
she returned home.
The Orange Police Departmentstarted working Samantha's case
(05:34):
on September 15, two days aftershe'd left.
Authorities gatheredinformation from the family
computer and from phone records.
They interviewed people she'dhad contact with.
Soon the investigation began tofocus on a group of people that
Samantha had recently becomeacquainted with.
She'd first met them about aweek before she went missing.
(05:55):
One of the people in that groupwas then 45 year old Randy
Allen Taylor, and just daysbefore she vanished she'd met
several of Randy Taylor'sfriends at a restaurant in
nearby Green County.
Through phone records,authorities determined that
Randy Taylor was the last personto have spoken with Samantha,
(06:15):
barbara.
Samantha's mom, told WVIR Newsthat she learned that Randy
Taylor had called her house sixtimes the night Samantha
disappeared, and that headmitted that he was the last
person to see her, but RandyTaylor claimed that he'd only
wanted to warn Samantha thatsomeone had threatened to beat
her up.
Now this is where this episodeties in with our previous
(06:38):
episode called One Murdered, oneMissing.
In that episode, I tell you thestory of the murder of 17 year
old Alexis Tiara Murphy at thehands of Randy Allen Taylor.
Yes, I'm talking about the sameRandy Allen Taylor that is the
suspect in the disappearance ofSamantha Ann Clark.
Three years after SamanthaClark vanished, alexis Murphy
(07:02):
suddenly went missing too.
Only about an hour southwest ofwhere Samantha Clark lived,
alexis left her house on asummer evening in early August
of 2013 to go buy some hairextensions for her senior
portrait.
She was having taken the verynext week and never returned.
The store that Alexis was goingto purchase the hair extensions
(07:24):
at was in Lynchburg, virginia,which was a little over a 30
minute drive southwest on USRoute 29 from her house in
Shipman, virginia.
Alexis was driving her dad'swhite Nissan Maxima when she
left around 6 pm on Saturday,august 3rd 2013.
Alexis Grandma awoke in themiddle of the night on August
(07:47):
4th 2013, around 1 am, andrealized that Alexis never
returned from her shopping tripin Lynchburg.
It wasn't like her to misscurfew.
Worrisome was the fact thatAlexis was always glued to her
cell phone, but her familycouldn't reach her.
Her family knew she didn't runaway.
Alexis was about to start hersenior year in high school,
(08:10):
where she was going to beco-captain of the volleyball
team.
She'd just gotten a raise ather job.
She was active on Twitter andhad about 12,000 followers.
Alexis was excited and she wasa happy, typical teen girl.
She had no reason to run away.
This was reported missing.
Authorities didn't waste timeand started looking for Alexis
(08:32):
in her dad's car that she'd beendriving.
The FBI and Virginia StatePolice and the Virginia
Department of EmergencyManagement assisted the Nelson
County Sheriff's Office in thesearch for Alexis.
Investigators subpoenaedAlexis' cell phone records and
received them two days afterAlexis disappeared.
Thankfully, they revealed aclue Alexis' phone had pinged at
(08:56):
a popular teen hangout inLovingston, virginia.
At 7 pm the evening she wentmissing.
This hangout was the Liberty GasStation, which was not far from
Alexis' home.
Surveillance footage from thegas station revealed that Alexis
had gotten gas there aftershe'd left her home.
The video footage showed thatas she entered the store to pay
(09:17):
for her gas, a man held the doorfor her.
The gas station attendants toldpolice that the man was a
regular customer who often satfor hours in his camo Chevy
Suburban in the gas stationparking lot, gawking at the
young women that went in and outof the store.
One attendant, melissa Gerald,said she was working the evening
(09:38):
Alexis went missing.
When Alexis walked out of thegas station and across the
parking lot, she witnessedAlexis turn her head as if
someone had called out to her.
She then observed Alexis walkover to the man in the camo
Chevy Suburban and the twotalked.
But the reason thatinvestigators began to focus on
that man was because of whatthey saw next on surveillance
(10:02):
footage from that evening.
A camera outside of the gasstation showed the man in the
camo Chevy Suburban pull outonto Route 29 heading north, and
Alexis stads white NissanMaxima following directly behind
it.
Police learned that the man'sname was Randy Allen Taylor.
(10:23):
He was 48 years old and he hada criminal record.
He lived in a 1956 camper onhis ex-girlfriend's mom's
property off of Route 29, lessthan three miles north of the
Liberty gas station.
They soon realized that he wasalso the same man that is the
last known person to have spokento Samantha Ann Clark the night
(10:46):
she vanished in 2010,.
Just three years before Alexisstads Nissan Maxima was located
on August 6th, thanks to ananonymous tipster.
It was left abandoned in theparking lot of what used to be a
movie theater inCharlottesville, virginia, which
is over an hour's drive northof Lynchburg, in the complete
(11:07):
opposite direction of whereAlexis was headed that day to
buy hair extensions.
Camera footage from a nearbybusiness showed someone getting
out of Alexis stads car andwalking away from it.
However, the video was of poorquality and it was impossible to
see who it was that left thecar there.
When questioned by cops, randyTaylor claimed he didn't know
(11:32):
Alexis or anything about herdisappearance.
However, when confronted withthe video footage from the gas
station that showed him holdingthe door for Alexis, he and
Alexis talking in the parkinglot and her following him going
north on 29 out of the parkinglot, he changed his story.
He said that she'd been to hiscamper that night, but that she
(11:52):
was with a man.
He said that they smoked potand drank beer together and were
there for about an hour.
Subsequent searches of RandyTaylor's tiny dirty camper
turned up some startlingevidence.
Truth that Alexis Murphy hadbeen there, and the evidence
showed that it had been anythingbut a casual meeting.
(12:14):
The evidence indicated that aviolent struggle had taken place
there.
The items discovered were afingernail embedded in the
carpet, a stud earring and along black hair with the root
attached.
That strand of hair was foundon Randy Taylor's pillow.
Also found bald up and shovedunder a couch was a bloody
(12:35):
t-shirt that belonged to RandyTaylor.
Hidden inside the bloodyt-shirt were black hair
extensions and a strip of falseeyelashes.
The items were sent for DNAtesting and were determined to
belong to Alexis Murphy.
A couple days later, speciallytrained canines sniffed out
Alexis missing iPhone 70 feetfrom Randy Taylor's camper under
(12:58):
bushes.
It seemed to have beenintentionally destroyed.
It was smashed, cracked and itsbattery was missing.
The FBI was unable to get anyinformation off of it.
Investigators believed thatAlexis was no longer alive.
They sat her family down andtold them that they believed
she'd been murdered by RandyTaylor and that they wanted to
(13:20):
charge him with her murder, eventhough they had not found her
body.
A year later, in 2014, randyTaylor was convicted of the
abduction and murder of AlexisMurphy by a jury of his peers.
He received two life sentencesand now resides in the Supermax
Red Onion State Prison as inmatenumber 1032583.
(13:45):
He appealed and his appeal wasrejected.
But that's not the end of thestory.
On December 3, 2020, sevenyears after Alexis Murphy
disappeared, her remains wererecovered on private property in
Lovingston, virginia.
According to sources, randyTaylor was brought back to
(14:09):
Nelson County, Virginia, fromhis prison cell and led
authorities there.
Two months later, those remainswere positively identified as
being those of Alexis, now goingback to 2010 and Samantha's
disappearance.
In December, nearly threemonths after Samantha vanished,
her family and friends held acandlelight vigil for her.
(14:30):
The vigil produced several tipsfor police, but none of them
panned out.
Throughout the years, near theanniversary of her disappearance
, samantha's family and friendswould gather for many more
candlelight vigils or balloonreleases.
In February of 2011, five monthsafter Samantha was last seen
(14:50):
leaving her home in OrangeCounty, investigators searched
Green Acres Lake in Green County, which is about 25 miles west
of where Samantha lived.
The lake is in Green Acressubdivision and is about 27
acres and at its deepest pointis about 32 feet.
In April of that year, 2011,the lake was searched again by a
(15:14):
state police diving crew andanother crew that used a remote
operated vehicle to record videoof the lake's floor.
In fact, green Acres Lake wassearched many different times by
investigators.
Three years later, in 2014, thelake was searched yet again.
James Fenwick, who was thechief of police of the town of
(15:36):
Orange at the time, said thatthere were thick spots of
aquatic grass in the lake thathad previously kept divers from
clearing about 10% of the lake,but in the time since the prior
searches, the Green AcresHomeowners Association put grass
eating carp into the lake,which made the divers job easier
(15:58):
.
As far as we know, that searchturned up nothing.
In 2018, samantha's mom, barbaraTender, told Dateline that she
misses having Samantha home withher.
She said quote I miss hersmiles, her laughs, the funny
things she would say to make melaugh.
She's a happy girl, she wouldalways stay happy and if you
(16:19):
were sad, she'd find a way tomake you happy end.
Quote.
I read in several news articlesthat the family had a Facebook
page called Help Find SamanthaClark and a website, but I
couldn't find either of those.
On Samantha's mom's personalFacebook page, there's a post
showing a big decal on the backwindow of what I assume is her
(16:42):
vehicle.
The decal reads Samantha andClark still missing, scenes 9,
13, 10.
Date of birth 7, 17, 91.
Long brown hair, brown eyes,glasses, right eyebrow, nose and
tongue pierced.
Weight 145 pounds.
(17:02):
5 foot 1 inch.
Call the OC Sheriff'sDepartment with any information
540-672-1200.
In covering true crime cases andlearning the intricate details
and circumstances of each one,you see how cases can be handled
vastly differently from others.
(17:23):
Samantha was 19 years old whenshe left home and never returned
.
Her mom, barbara Tender, feltthat many people had given up on
Samantha's case because of thelack of publicity it received
and, from an investigativestandpoint, samantha's case was
merely deemed suspicious formore than 10 years before it was
(17:45):
reclassified by authorities toan abduction and murder case.
Alexis Murphy, on the otherhand, was 17 years old she was a
minor so when she went missing,the FBI became involved in her
case.
From the onset, her casereceived a lot of media
attention, including nationalmedia coverage.
In 2018, eight years afterSamantha disappeared.
(18:09):
Then, chief Fenwick toldDateline they did suspect foul
play in Samantha's case.
He said that Samantha's casewas not an inactive case and was
still a top priority.
He also said that a detectivethat had been assigned to the
case had retired in 2015 butcame back part-time solely to
(18:29):
work Samantha's case In Januaryof 2021, within weeks of the
discovery of Alexis Murphy'sremains.
The town of Orange, virginiaPolice Department Chief James
Fenwick, and the Orange County,virginia Commonwealth's attorney
, diana O'Connell, announced ata press conference that the
disappearance of Samantha Clarkin 2010 had been reclassified as
(18:53):
an abduction and homicideinvestigation.
Chief Fenwick said that thedecision was made due to new
information and advances ininvestigative and forensic
technology.
He acknowledged that RandyTaylor is known to have been one
of the last to have contactwith Samantha Clark, but he
would not say if Randy Taylor isstill under investigation as
(19:15):
the prime suspect in her case.
He stated quote it's no secretthat Randy Taylor was one of the
last people to have contactwith Samantha Clark.
Beyond that, we're not going tocomment any further.
End quote the chief said hebelieves the community could
possibly have more informationand that it's not too late for
anyone that has information tocome forward.
(19:38):
At the time of her disappearance, samantha Clark was 5'4 and
weighed 145 pounds.
Samantha has brown eyes andwore eyeglasses.
She had long, wavy brown hairand usually wore it up in a bun.
She has several ear piercings,including a bar in her right ear
.
Her right eyebrow, rightnostril and tongue were pierced
(20:00):
too.
She had four tattoos a playboybunny on her right arm, a tigger
above her right ankle, twodolphins on her lower back and
the word lucky on her left ankle.
One month ago she would havecelebrated her 32nd birthday.
If you have any informationabout the disappearance of
(20:21):
Samantha and Clark, please callthe Town of Orange, virginia
Police Department at540-672-1491.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this episode of Tell Me a
True Crime Story.
Please tell your friends,coworkers and family about this
podcast.
(20:41):
Share a link to the podcastwith someone who loves true
crime and follow the podcast onsocial media.
Facebook, instagram and TikTokare at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
And remember it would reallyreally help me out a ton if you
would write a short but sweetreview for the podcast on Apple
Podcast or give it a five-starrating on Spotify or anywhere
(21:06):
else that you know of that youcan review or rate podcasts.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I truly, truly appreciate eachand every one of you.
Please join me in episode 24when I'll tell you another True
Crime Story.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
Bye-bye, thank you.
Tell me a true crime story.
Hey there, welcome to episode23 of Tell Me a True Crime Story
(00:21):
.
I'm your host, holly.
This episode is about the 2010disappearance of Samantha Clark
out of rural Orange, virginia.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
Do you have a case suggestionfor me?
If so, please send me an emailand let me know what case you'd
(00:45):
like to hear me cover.
My email isholliestellmepodcastgmailcom.
Please, with a Y, h-o-l-l-y-s,tell me podcast at gmailcom.
I'm only 23 episodes deep intomy true crime podcasting journey
(01:06):
and I need your help to grow myaudience.
I'm an independent podcaster,which means it's just me doing
this whole shebang writing,researching, recording, editing
and promoting the podcast.
I don't have the benefit of thebig guys marketing money and
reach, so how you guys can helpme tremendously is by leaving me
(01:31):
a review or a five-star rating.
That helps this podcast becomemore relevant and visible to
more people.
To leave me a rating and areview on Apple, just go to my
show page and scroll down tillyou see ratings and reviews.
Select a star rating, then,below that, click on Write a
(01:52):
review and that's it.
Thank you guys again for beinghere.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
Now let me tell you a true crimestory.
This episode kind of ties tothe last episode, so if you
haven't heard that one, pleasego back and listen to it first.
It's called One Murdered, oneMissing, and it's about the
(02:16):
disappearance and murder of17-year-old Alexis Murphy in
2013.
In that episode, I told youthat the man convicted of her
murder, randy Taylor, is alsothe suspect in the disappearance
of another young woman from thesame area.
This is that story.
Today I will tell you about thedisappearance of teenager
(02:38):
Samantha Clark.
Samantha Ann Clark was born onWednesday, july 17, 1991.
She went missing at the age of19, just three months after
graduating from high school.
According to her Aunt Brenda,whom she was close with,
samantha was a real sweet girlwith a good personality, who
(03:00):
liked hanging out with herfriends, going roller skating
and listening to music.
Let's go back in time togetherto mid-September 2010.
It was night time, either alittle before midnight or a
little after midnight reportsvaried on this, but Samantha
Clark, who often went by Sam,hollered by up the steps to her
(03:23):
younger brother, hunter, andsaid she'd be back in the
morning.
Samantha left their home onLindsay Drive in the town of
Orange, virginia, taking onlyher house key with her.
She has not been seen or heardfrom since.
Samantha's mom, barbara Tender,wasn't at home when Samantha
left.
She'd been working theovernight shift.
(03:46):
At 12.30 am Barbara received acall from the house while at
work, but she couldn't answer itat that time.
When she took her break an hourlater she called her house and
a twelve-year-old hunteranswered.
He told his mom that Samanthahad left, but he didn't know
where she'd gone.
That phone call made Barbaraworried and a bit confused.
(04:08):
When she'd left for work,samantha had been sitting on the
couch in her pajamas watchingTV.
It was unusual for Samantha toleave the house in the middle of
the night.
According to Barbara, samanthadidn't leave the house by
herself after dark and on top ofthat Samantha did not have a
cell phone, car or driver'slicense.
(04:29):
When Barbara got off work andreturned home at 7.05 am,
samantha wasn't back yet.
Barbara found Samantha'spajamas lying on her bed, so she
knew Samantha had changed outof them before she left.
Barbara took Hunter to school,then laid down to get some rest,
hoping Samantha would get backin the meantime.
When she awoke a few hourslater Samantha was still nowhere
(04:51):
to be found.
Barbara was worried, so shewent to the police for help and
to report her daughter missing.
When she was told she'd have towait 48 hours to report
Samantha missing, barbara andher sister Brenda drove around
looking for Samantha.
Barbara reached out to some ofSamantha's close friends, but
none of them had seen or heardfrom her.
(05:11):
It wasn't likely that Samanthawas staying away voluntarily.
Samantha was the type to gethomesick.
She'd once gone to aneighboring town Culpeper, just
17 miles away for two weeks.
During that time she'd calledher mom or aunt every day until
she returned home.
The Orange Police Departmentstarted working Samantha's case
(05:34):
on September 15, two days aftershe'd left.
Authorities gatheredinformation from the family
computer and from phone records.
They interviewed people she'dhad contact with.
Soon the investigation began tofocus on a group of people that
Samantha had recently becomeacquainted with.
She'd first met them about aweek before she went missing.
(05:55):
One of the people in that groupwas then 45 year old Randy
Allen Taylor, and just daysbefore she vanished she'd met
several of Randy Taylor'sfriends at a restaurant in
nearby Green County.
Through phone records,authorities determined that
Randy Taylor was the last personto have spoken with Samantha,
(06:15):
barbara.
Samantha's mom, told WVIR Newsthat she learned that Randy
Taylor had called her house sixtimes the night Samantha
disappeared, and that headmitted that he was the last
person to see her, but RandyTaylor claimed that he'd only
wanted to warn Samantha thatsomeone had threatened to beat
her up.
Now this is where this episodeties in with our previous
(06:38):
episode called One Murdered, oneMissing.
In that episode, I tell you thestory of the murder of 17 year
old Alexis Tiara Murphy at thehands of Randy Allen Taylor.
Yes, I'm talking about the sameRandy Allen Taylor that is the
suspect in the disappearance ofSamantha Ann Clark.
Three years after SamanthaClark vanished, alexis Murphy
(07:02):
suddenly went missing too.
Only about an hour southwest ofwhere Samantha Clark lived,
alexis left her house on asummer evening in early August
of 2013 to go buy some hairextensions for her senior
portrait.
She was having taken the verynext week and never returned.
The store that Alexis was goingto purchase the hair extensions
(07:24):
at was in Lynchburg, virginia,which was a little over a 30
minute drive southwest on USRoute 29 from her house in
Shipman, virginia.
Alexis was driving her dad'swhite Nissan Maxima when she
left around 6 pm on Saturday,august 3rd 2013.
Alexis Grandma awoke in themiddle of the night on August
(07:47):
4th 2013, around 1 am, andrealized that Alexis never
returned from her shopping tripin Lynchburg.
It wasn't like her to misscurfew.
Worrisome was the fact thatAlexis was always glued to her
cell phone, but her familycouldn't reach her.
Her family knew she didn't runaway.
Alexis was about to start hersenior year in high school,
(08:10):
where she was going to beco-captain of the volleyball
team.
She'd just gotten a raise ather job.
She was active on Twitter andhad about 12,000 followers.
Alexis was excited and she wasa happy, typical teen girl.
She had no reason to run away.
This was reported missing.
Authorities didn't waste timeand started looking for Alexis
(08:32):
in her dad's car that she'd beendriving.
The FBI and Virginia StatePolice and the Virginia
Department of EmergencyManagement assisted the Nelson
County Sheriff's Office in thesearch for Alexis.
Investigators subpoenaedAlexis' cell phone records and
received them two days afterAlexis disappeared.
Thankfully, they revealed aclue Alexis' phone had pinged at
(08:56):
a popular teen hangout inLovingston, virginia.
At 7 pm the evening she wentmissing.
This hangout was the Liberty GasStation, which was not far from
Alexis' home.
Surveillance footage from thegas station revealed that Alexis
had gotten gas there aftershe'd left her home.
The video footage showed thatas she entered the store to pay
(09:17):
for her gas, a man held the doorfor her.
The gas station attendants toldpolice that the man was a
regular customer who often satfor hours in his camo Chevy
Suburban in the gas stationparking lot, gawking at the
young women that went in and outof the store.
One attendant, melissa Gerald,said she was working the evening
(09:38):
Alexis went missing.
When Alexis walked out of thegas station and across the
parking lot, she witnessedAlexis turn her head as if
someone had called out to her.
She then observed Alexis walkover to the man in the camo
Chevy Suburban and the twotalked.
But the reason thatinvestigators began to focus on
that man was because of whatthey saw next on surveillance
(10:02):
footage from that evening.
A camera outside of the gasstation showed the man in the
camo Chevy Suburban pull outonto Route 29 heading north, and
Alexis stads white NissanMaxima following directly behind
it.
Police learned that the man'sname was Randy Allen Taylor.
(10:23):
He was 48 years old and he hada criminal record.
He lived in a 1956 camper onhis ex-girlfriend's mom's
property off of Route 29, lessthan three miles north of the
Liberty gas station.
They soon realized that he wasalso the same man that is the
last known person to have spokento Samantha Ann Clark the night
(10:46):
she vanished in 2010,.
Just three years before Alexisstads Nissan Maxima was located
on August 6th, thanks to ananonymous tipster.
It was left abandoned in theparking lot of what used to be a
movie theater inCharlottesville, virginia, which
is over an hour's drive northof Lynchburg, in the complete
(11:07):
opposite direction of whereAlexis was headed that day to
buy hair extensions.
Camera footage from a nearbybusiness showed someone getting
out of Alexis stads car andwalking away from it.
However, the video was of poorquality and it was impossible to
see who it was that left thecar there.
When questioned by cops, randyTaylor claimed he didn't know
(11:32):
Alexis or anything about herdisappearance.
However, when confronted withthe video footage from the gas
station that showed him holdingthe door for Alexis, he and
Alexis talking in the parkinglot and her following him going
north on 29 out of the parkinglot, he changed his story.
He said that she'd been to hiscamper that night, but that she
(11:52):
was with a man.
He said that they smoked potand drank beer together and were
there for about an hour.
Subsequent searches of RandyTaylor's tiny dirty camper
turned up some startlingevidence.
Truth that Alexis Murphy hadbeen there, and the evidence
showed that it had been anythingbut a casual meeting.
(12:14):
The evidence indicated that aviolent struggle had taken place
there.
The items discovered were afingernail embedded in the
carpet, a stud earring and along black hair with the root
attached.
That strand of hair was foundon Randy Taylor's pillow.
Also found bald up and shovedunder a couch was a bloody
(12:35):
t-shirt that belonged to RandyTaylor.
Hidden inside the bloodyt-shirt were black hair
extensions and a strip of falseeyelashes.
The items were sent for DNAtesting and were determined to
belong to Alexis Murphy.
A couple days later, speciallytrained canines sniffed out
Alexis missing iPhone 70 feetfrom Randy Taylor's camper under
(12:58):
bushes.
It seemed to have beenintentionally destroyed.
It was smashed, cracked and itsbattery was missing.
The FBI was unable to get anyinformation off of it.
Investigators believed thatAlexis was no longer alive.
They sat her family down andtold them that they believed
she'd been murdered by RandyTaylor and that they wanted to
(13:20):
charge him with her murder, eventhough they had not found her
body.
A year later, in 2014, randyTaylor was convicted of the
abduction and murder of AlexisMurphy by a jury of his peers.
He received two life sentencesand now resides in the Supermax
Red Onion State Prison as inmatenumber 1032583.
(13:45):
He appealed and his appeal wasrejected.
But that's not the end of thestory.
On December 3, 2020, sevenyears after Alexis Murphy
disappeared, her remains wererecovered on private property in
Lovingston, virginia.
According to sources, randyTaylor was brought back to
(14:09):
Nelson County, Virginia, fromhis prison cell and led
authorities there.
Two months later, those remainswere positively identified as
being those of Alexis, now goingback to 2010 and Samantha's
disappearance.
In December, nearly threemonths after Samantha vanished,
her family and friends held acandlelight vigil for her.
(14:30):
The vigil produced several tipsfor police, but none of them
panned out.
Throughout the years, near theanniversary of her disappearance
, samantha's family and friendswould gather for many more
candlelight vigils or balloonreleases.
In February of 2011, five monthsafter Samantha was last seen
(14:50):
leaving her home in OrangeCounty, investigators searched
Green Acres Lake in Green County, which is about 25 miles west
of where Samantha lived.
The lake is in Green Acressubdivision and is about 27
acres and at its deepest pointis about 32 feet.
In April of that year, 2011,the lake was searched again by a
(15:14):
state police diving crew andanother crew that used a remote
operated vehicle to record videoof the lake's floor.
In fact, green Acres Lake wassearched many different times by
investigators.
Three years later, in 2014, thelake was searched yet again.
James Fenwick, who was thechief of police of the town of
(15:36):
Orange at the time, said thatthere were thick spots of
aquatic grass in the lake thathad previously kept divers from
clearing about 10% of the lake,but in the time since the prior
searches, the Green AcresHomeowners Association put grass
eating carp into the lake,which made the divers job easier
(15:58):
.
As far as we know, that searchturned up nothing.
In 2018, samantha's mom, barbaraTender, told Dateline that she
misses having Samantha home withher.
She said quote I miss hersmiles, her laughs, the funny
things she would say to make melaugh.
She's a happy girl, she wouldalways stay happy and if you
(16:19):
were sad, she'd find a way tomake you happy end.
Quote.
I read in several news articlesthat the family had a Facebook
page called Help Find SamanthaClark and a website, but I
couldn't find either of those.
On Samantha's mom's personalFacebook page, there's a post
showing a big decal on the backwindow of what I assume is her
(16:42):
vehicle.
The decal reads Samantha andClark still missing, scenes 9,
13, 10.
Date of birth 7, 17, 91.
Long brown hair, brown eyes,glasses, right eyebrow, nose and
tongue pierced.
Weight 145 pounds.
(17:02):
5 foot 1 inch.
Call the OC Sheriff'sDepartment with any information
540-672-1200.
In covering true crime cases andlearning the intricate details
and circumstances of each one,you see how cases can be handled
vastly differently from others.
(17:23):
Samantha was 19 years old whenshe left home and never returned
.
Her mom, barbara Tender, feltthat many people had given up on
Samantha's case because of thelack of publicity it received
and, from an investigativestandpoint, samantha's case was
merely deemed suspicious formore than 10 years before it was
(17:45):
reclassified by authorities toan abduction and murder case.
Alexis Murphy, on the otherhand, was 17 years old she was a
minor so when she went missing,the FBI became involved in her
case.
From the onset, her casereceived a lot of media
attention, including nationalmedia coverage.
In 2018, eight years afterSamantha disappeared.
(18:09):
Then, chief Fenwick toldDateline they did suspect foul
play in Samantha's case.
He said that Samantha's casewas not an inactive case and was
still a top priority.
He also said that a detectivethat had been assigned to the
case had retired in 2015 butcame back part-time solely to
(18:29):
work Samantha's case In Januaryof 2021, within weeks of the
discovery of Alexis Murphy'sremains.
The town of Orange, virginiaPolice Department Chief James
Fenwick, and the Orange County,virginia Commonwealth's attorney
, diana O'Connell, announced ata press conference that the
disappearance of Samantha Clarkin 2010 had been reclassified as
(18:53):
an abduction and homicideinvestigation.
Chief Fenwick said that thedecision was made due to new
information and advances ininvestigative and forensic
technology.
He acknowledged that RandyTaylor is known to have been one
of the last to have contactwith Samantha Clark, but he
would not say if Randy Taylor isstill under investigation as
(19:15):
the prime suspect in her case.
He stated quote it's no secretthat Randy Taylor was one of the
last people to have contactwith Samantha Clark.
Beyond that, we're not going tocomment any further.
End quote the chief said hebelieves the community could
possibly have more informationand that it's not too late for
anyone that has information tocome forward.
(19:38):
At the time of her disappearance, samantha Clark was 5'4 and
weighed 145 pounds.
Samantha has brown eyes andwore eyeglasses.
She had long, wavy brown hairand usually wore it up in a bun.
She has several ear piercings,including a bar in her right ear
.
Her right eyebrow, rightnostril and tongue were pierced
(20:00):
too.
She had four tattoos a playboybunny on her right arm, a tigger
above her right ankle, twodolphins on her lower back and
the word lucky on her left ankle.
One month ago she would havecelebrated her 32nd birthday.
If you have any informationabout the disappearance of
(20:21):
Samantha and Clark, please callthe Town of Orange, virginia
Police Department at540-672-1491.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this episode of Tell Me a
True Crime Story.
Please tell your friends,coworkers and family about this
podcast.
(20:41):
Share a link to the podcastwith someone who loves true
crime and follow the podcast onsocial media.
Facebook, instagram and TikTokare at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
And remember it would reallyreally help me out a ton if you
would write a short but sweetreview for the podcast on Apple
Podcast or give it a five-starrating on Spotify or anywhere
(21:06):
else that you know of that youcan review or rate podcasts.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I truly, truly appreciate eachand every one of you.
Please join me in episode 24when I'll tell you another True
Crime Story.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
Bye-bye, thank you.
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