logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2022
1h 16m

208 - The Disappearance of Leichia Reill...

Steven Pacheco
About this episode
On a bitterly cold winter night in January of 1985, twenty-one year old Leichia M. Reilly left her family home to visit a popular, local nightspot. She never made it home and early the next morning, her parents reported her missing.

Investigators tracked down everyone who had been at the bar that night and found several witnesses who stated that they saw Leichia leaving at approximately 3am in the company of another man, off-duty NY State Trooper Daniel D. Rose. Rose did not report being at the bar that night, nor did he tell investigators he had seen the missing woman.

Rose quickly hired a lawyer, denied leaving with Leichia, denied knowing her and denied being involved in whatever happened to her. Severely lacking evidence, and having never found a body, detectives had nothing to work with and cannot even technically classify it as a homicide, rather than a missing persons case.

Leichia's father, Patrick Reilly, was devoted to finding his daughter and seeing her killer put behind bars. He made a vow that both of these things would happen, but tragically, passed away after thirty years of wondering, searching and hoping. What happened to Leichia that cold January night and what secrets might the former police officer hold about her fate?

Trace Evidence Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Official Website

Official Merch

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
Up next
Aug 29
250 - The Murder of Janet Shirar
Sunday, May 25th, 1980 -- Kokomo, Indiana. Twenty-nine year old special education teacher Janet Shirar doesn't show up for a pre-planned family gathering and birthday party for her nephew. After multiple calls to her apartment go unanswered, her mother, stepfather and friend arri ... Show More
1h 18m
Jul 25
Major Case Updates
In this week's Case Updates, we look back on five cases previously covered which have had significant updates. We will also cover three smaller updates in which reward money for information has been increased in hopes of stirring up new tips and leads.Case Updates:233 - The Murde ... Show More
50m 34s
Jun 2025
249 - The Disappearance of John & Shelly Markley
As Christmas of 1995 drew near, many families in rural Ohio drew closer and felt themselves caught up in the joy and pageantry of the holiday season. Unfortunately, for one family, the holiday would forever be associated with pain and grief, loss and doubt, a disappearance and th ... Show More
1h 43m
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
David Shier Part 3: Hollow Answers
Over the past two weeks, you’ve heard the story of David Shier, who vanished from Trinidad, Colorado, in February 2022, and the exhaustive search that followed. Despite the urgency, no clues surfaced. Dave's family was forced to reexamine every detail, lead, and possibility.On th ... Show More
1h 5m
Jun 2025
David Shier Part 2: Graveyard of Secrets
Last week, in Part 1 of David Shier’s story, you heard about his sudden and unexplained disappearance from Trinidad, Colorado, on February 11, 2022. Dave’s wife recalled that he asked her to drive him somewhere because a person had called about a property. She didn’t know more th ... Show More
1h 3m
Jun 2025
David Shier Part 1: A Walk into the Unknown
On February 11, 2022, David Shier disappeared from his home in Trinidad, Colorado. That morning, his wife, Rosemarie, saw him around 11 a.m. before she left home to run some errands. When she returned later that day, David was gone. She tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. Sh ... Show More
1h 16m
Sep 25
The Disappearance of Stefanie Damron (Maine)
Stefanie Damron’s parents say that their 13-year-old daughter walked out the door and into the woods one September afternoon in 2024, and she hasn’t been seen or heard from since. They have their own suspicions about what happened to her, but so far, a multi-agency effort hasn’t ... Show More
22m 43s
Nov 2024
66: MISSING: Jodi Huisentruit
On the early morning of June 27, 1995, 27-year-old Jodi Huisentruit, a news anchor in Mason City, Iowa, overslept and rushed out the door to head to work. But she never made it in. Concerned coworkers called the police, who found Jodi’s red Mazda Miata in her apartment’s parking ... Show More
46m 43s
Sep 18
105: MISSING: Timmothy Pitzen
On the morning of May 13, 2011, 6-year-old Timmothy Pitzen was seen checking out of the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells with his mother, Amy. But he was never seen with her again. The next day, Amy was found dead in a motel in Rockford, Illinois. She left behind notes saying T ... Show More
47m 16s
May 2024
Police Officer Turned Killer: The Murder of 16-Year-Old Susana Morales
Susana Morales was 16 years old, living in Norcross, Georgia when one night she suddenly disappeared. July 26th, 2022 was a seemingly normal evening, and Susana spent a few hours that night a block away from her house with a friend, at her friend’s apartment. This was something s ... Show More
45m 39s
Feb 2025
Roberta Michels-Hopkins
In February of 1981, Roberta Michels-Hopkins, a 29-year-old mother of two, disappeared from Camden, New Jersey, without a trace. The story goes that she left her home, heading out to buy a pack of cigarettes, and never returned. Roberta's sister said she received a phone call fro ... Show More
1h 6m
Jan 2025
Darrel Johnson Part 2: Triangle Beneath the Stars
In late June 2024, Darrel Johnson traveled from Phoenix to a remote state park in northeastern New Mexico with 33 other campers. They were celebrating the birthday of a woman’s daughter, who some described as Darrel’s girlfriend while others referred to her simply as a friend. Re ... Show More
53m 37s
Oct 4
Case 332: Bruce Miller
In November 1999, Bruce Miller, a scrapyard owner in Michigan, was found murdered in what looked like a robbery gone wrong. After three months with no solid leads, investigators feared the case would go cold. But hundreds of miles away in Missouri, the suicide of former detective ... Show More
1h 24m