March 29, 2024 • 8 mins
On Tuesday March 31st, 1998, Stacey’s sorority sisters, family and friends held a vigil for her at OSU. Hundreds of students also gathered together & left a trail of lit candles & printed posters of Stacey in hopes of her safe return home.
In Episode 4, we dive into the aftermath of Stacey’s disappearance and discover new leads.
Visit unseentruthpodcast.com for more case information
If you have any information about Stacey Colbert's case please contact Ohio Detective Bureau: (740) 833-2830 or via email at dcsodetectives@co.delaware.oh.us
Connect with The Unseen Truth on social media:
Follow Us On Instagram
Follow Us On Facebook
Connect with Finishing Stacey's Fight and help get justice for Stacey:
Follow on Instagram
Follow on Facebook
Support Finishing Stacey's Fight
In Episode 4, we dive into the aftermath of Stacey’s disappearance and discover new leads.
Visit unseentruthpodcast.com for more case information
If you have any information about Stacey Colbert's case please contact Ohio Detective Bureau: (740) 833-2830 or via email at dcsodetectives@co.delaware.oh.us
Connect with The Unseen Truth on social media:
Follow Us On Instagram
Follow Us On Facebook
Connect with Finishing Stacey's Fight and help get justice for Stacey:
Follow on Instagram
Follow on Facebook
Support Finishing Stacey's Fight
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(gentle music)
(00:03):
On Tuesday, March 31, 1998,
Stacey's sorority sisters, family and friends
held a vigil for her at OSU.
Hundreds of students also gathered together
and left a trail of lit candles
and printed posters of Stacey
in hopes of her safe return home.
During the vigil, everyone visited Stacey's apartment
(00:25):
and placed donated yellow and white flowers
on the front step area.
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(00:46):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(01:07):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
This is episode four, the vigil.
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
The entire OSU community came together
to help in the efforts of finding Stacey.
Sorority members, alumni and volunteers
(01:27):
passed out over 100,000 flyers and yellow ribbons.
As weeks went on and the search for Stacey continued,
detectives were hard at work in the investigation.
They were interviewing everyone Stacey knew,
reviewing evidence taken from her apartment
and following up on potential leads.
We know that the state of the apartment
(01:48):
showed signs of foul play and smelled of bleach.
The refrigerator door was open,
there were the half-eaten breadsticks
that she ordered the night before on the counter
as well as a gallon of milk.
A boot print was also found in the inside of the door.
Again, all signs of foul play
and that the attack was sudden and unexpected.
(02:09):
Everything of Stacey's was still in the apartment.
Her keys, purse, $40 in cash,
uncash checks and credit cards were all there
except for two pieces of jewelry.
A golden necklace pendant with a pi symbol
in a diamond shape which was her sorority necklace
(02:30):
and an Amethyst birthstone ring with a gold band
which Stacey was known to always wear and never take off.
With all the evidence collected,
all signs were pointing to the possibility
that Stacey knew her attacker
and willingly let him in her apartment.
And because of the large gap in time from 4 a.m.,
(02:51):
the time the neighbor heard her screams
until 2 p.m. that afternoon
when the neighbor knocked on Stacey's door,
the killer had plenty of time to clean up and leave.
But who would do such a thing
to such a well-loved, ambitious woman?
That's exactly what the police were trying to figure out.
Who would want to hurt Stacey Colbert?
(03:13):
At the time of Stacey's disappearance,
498 missing persons reports were filed
according to the Columbus Police Public Records Unit.
Although only one or two ended up going unsolved.
There were also a slew of unsolved murders
during that time that took place
on or around OSU from 1994 to 1998.
(03:35):
On March 5th, 1994, OSU freshmen
Stephanie Hummer left the Evans Scholars House
at 52 East 14th Avenue with her friends
and headed towards another friends house on East 10th Avenue.
On the way, one of Stephanie's friends
cut her hand on a chain-linked fence.
(03:56):
So Stephanie accompanied her back to the scholar house.
She decided to head back to catch up
with her friends shortly after
and walked down Pearl Avenue,
but never made it back to her friends.
Everyone was in a panic
and a search for Stephanie was quickly conducted.
Unfortunately, police found a chilling discovery.
(04:17):
Stephanie's remains were found the next day
in a field off River Street on Columbus's west side.
She was partially clothed
and had been raped and beaten.
According to Detective Pat Barr,
who was the detective on the case at the time,
said he believes the investigation was made more challenging
because of two major events
(04:38):
going on the weekend of Stephanie Hummer's murder.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger classic
and a civil war reenactment at the fairgrounds.
The events brought thousands of extra people
to Columbus that weekend.
Barr also stated that he believed Stephanie's killer
was passing through town
and is still out there to do it again.
For 12 years, Stephanie's case went unsolved.
(05:03):
Fortunately, Stephanie's killer
would later be caught in 2006,
thanks to advanced DNA technology.
But could this convicted killer
have been responsible for Stacy as well?
He was free and able to commit more killings until 2006,
but police never found any connections there
and Stacy wouldn't have known him.
(05:25):
Police did investigate other possible connections
with unsolved murders and missing persons in Columbus
during the time of Stacey's disappearance,
but none of them held water or seemed to be tied together.
There were no obvious signs of who the attacker was
and still no sign of Stacey.
There were, however, certain acquaintances of Stacey's
(05:47):
that were on the detective's radar.
Two males that had some very questionable reactions
and responses to Stacey's disappearance.
You may recognize one of them.
Remember the acquaintance Bob that we mentioned earlier?
The one we suspected may have had communication
with Stacey on that Friday night she went out
(06:08):
with co-workers to the Arlington Cafe.
He was one person that was not cooperative
and wanted nothing to do with helping in the search for Stacey.
As a matter of fact, he even had friends of his
demand that Stacey's family leave him alone.
Whenever they tried to contact him,
it was a big surprise to everyone
because he was always willing to help
(06:30):
and was one of Stacey's friends
who helped her move just six months before.
So why was he so adamant about not helping find someone
he considered a friend?
If this isn't a major red flag, I don't know what is.
Unfortunately, at the time,
Bob's alibi checked out
and detectives had no concrete evidence
to tie him to Stacey's disappearance.
(06:52):
But little did everyone know there was evidence collected
that was not revealed to the public.
The potential DNA evidence that could eventually lead
to the person responsible for Stacey's disappearance.
It's only a matter of time
and certain psychic accounts of where Stacey could be
(07:13):
might be the key to finding her.
In the next episode, we uncover multiple statements
from psychics who claim to know exactly
what happened to Stacey.
Episode five, the psychics is available right now.
Make sure to follow us on social media
at UnseenTruthPodcast and visit UnseenTruthPodcast.com
(07:35):
for more case information.
(upbeat music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(07:55):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(00:03):
On Tuesday, March 31, 1998,
Stacey's sorority sisters, family and friends
held a vigil for her at OSU.
Hundreds of students also gathered together
and left a trail of lit candles
and printed posters of Stacey
in hopes of her safe return home.
During the vigil, everyone visited Stacey's apartment
(00:25):
and placed donated yellow and white flowers
on the front step area.
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(00:46):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(01:07):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
This is episode four, the vigil.
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
The entire OSU community came together
to help in the efforts of finding Stacey.
Sorority members, alumni and volunteers
(01:27):
passed out over 100,000 flyers and yellow ribbons.
As weeks went on and the search for Stacey continued,
detectives were hard at work in the investigation.
They were interviewing everyone Stacey knew,
reviewing evidence taken from her apartment
and following up on potential leads.
We know that the state of the apartment
(01:48):
showed signs of foul play and smelled of bleach.
The refrigerator door was open,
there were the half-eaten breadsticks
that she ordered the night before on the counter
as well as a gallon of milk.
A boot print was also found in the inside of the door.
Again, all signs of foul play
and that the attack was sudden and unexpected.
(02:09):
Everything of Stacey's was still in the apartment.
Her keys, purse, $40 in cash,
uncash checks and credit cards were all there
except for two pieces of jewelry.
A golden necklace pendant with a pi symbol
in a diamond shape which was her sorority necklace
(02:30):
and an Amethyst birthstone ring with a gold band
which Stacey was known to always wear and never take off.
With all the evidence collected,
all signs were pointing to the possibility
that Stacey knew her attacker
and willingly let him in her apartment.
And because of the large gap in time from 4 a.m.,
(02:51):
the time the neighbor heard her screams
until 2 p.m. that afternoon
when the neighbor knocked on Stacey's door,
the killer had plenty of time to clean up and leave.
But who would do such a thing
to such a well-loved, ambitious woman?
That's exactly what the police were trying to figure out.
Who would want to hurt Stacey Colbert?
(03:13):
At the time of Stacey's disappearance,
498 missing persons reports were filed
according to the Columbus Police Public Records Unit.
Although only one or two ended up going unsolved.
There were also a slew of unsolved murders
during that time that took place
on or around OSU from 1994 to 1998.
(03:35):
On March 5th, 1994, OSU freshmen
Stephanie Hummer left the Evans Scholars House
at 52 East 14th Avenue with her friends
and headed towards another friends house on East 10th Avenue.
On the way, one of Stephanie's friends
cut her hand on a chain-linked fence.
(03:56):
So Stephanie accompanied her back to the scholar house.
She decided to head back to catch up
with her friends shortly after
and walked down Pearl Avenue,
but never made it back to her friends.
Everyone was in a panic
and a search for Stephanie was quickly conducted.
Unfortunately, police found a chilling discovery.
(04:17):
Stephanie's remains were found the next day
in a field off River Street on Columbus's west side.
She was partially clothed
and had been raped and beaten.
According to Detective Pat Barr,
who was the detective on the case at the time,
said he believes the investigation was made more challenging
because of two major events
(04:38):
going on the weekend of Stephanie Hummer's murder.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger classic
and a civil war reenactment at the fairgrounds.
The events brought thousands of extra people
to Columbus that weekend.
Barr also stated that he believed Stephanie's killer
was passing through town
and is still out there to do it again.
For 12 years, Stephanie's case went unsolved.
(05:03):
Fortunately, Stephanie's killer
would later be caught in 2006,
thanks to advanced DNA technology.
But could this convicted killer
have been responsible for Stacy as well?
He was free and able to commit more killings until 2006,
but police never found any connections there
and Stacy wouldn't have known him.
(05:25):
Police did investigate other possible connections
with unsolved murders and missing persons in Columbus
during the time of Stacey's disappearance,
but none of them held water or seemed to be tied together.
There were no obvious signs of who the attacker was
and still no sign of Stacey.
There were, however, certain acquaintances of Stacey's
(05:47):
that were on the detective's radar.
Two males that had some very questionable reactions
and responses to Stacey's disappearance.
You may recognize one of them.
Remember the acquaintance Bob that we mentioned earlier?
The one we suspected may have had communication
with Stacey on that Friday night she went out
(06:08):
with co-workers to the Arlington Cafe.
He was one person that was not cooperative
and wanted nothing to do with helping in the search for Stacey.
As a matter of fact, he even had friends of his
demand that Stacey's family leave him alone.
Whenever they tried to contact him,
it was a big surprise to everyone
because he was always willing to help
(06:30):
and was one of Stacey's friends
who helped her move just six months before.
So why was he so adamant about not helping find someone
he considered a friend?
If this isn't a major red flag, I don't know what is.
Unfortunately, at the time,
Bob's alibi checked out
and detectives had no concrete evidence
to tie him to Stacey's disappearance.
(06:52):
But little did everyone know there was evidence collected
that was not revealed to the public.
The potential DNA evidence that could eventually lead
to the person responsible for Stacey's disappearance.
It's only a matter of time
and certain psychic accounts of where Stacey could be
(07:13):
might be the key to finding her.
In the next episode, we uncover multiple statements
from psychics who claim to know exactly
what happened to Stacey.
Episode five, the psychics is available right now.
Make sure to follow us on social media
at UnseenTruthPodcast and visit UnseenTruthPodcast.com
(07:35):
for more case information.
(upbeat music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(07:55):
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
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