15-year-old Nick Markowitz was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kidnapped in an attempt to lure out older brother Ben. Unfortunately, Ben was out of town. After Jesse James Hollywood realized he had committed a serious act, he went to his lawyer. But the conversation didn't go as he wanted, and he wanted to dispose of the evidence of kidnapping. Instead of kidnapping, he graduated to murder. Having one of his lackies kill Nick. Jesse Hollywood fled and managed to avoid detection for years, even while he sat on the top of the FBI's most wanted list. Finally found in Brazil five years later and brought to justice.

Sources:

Markowitz, susan with Glatzer, Jenna. 2010 My Stolen Son the Nick Markowitz story

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrime/comments/f5j7z6/full_case_of_nicholas_markowitz_long/

https://www.pomc.org/murder-wall/murder-wall-stories/nicholas-samuel-markowitz-15-years-old/

https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/articles/alpha-dog-nicholas-markowitz

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5530172/

https://www.noozhawk.com/gunman-in-alpha-dog-murder-granted-death-penalty-reprieve/

*BONUS*

Kenneth Parnell kidnapped and assaulted Stephen Stayner, the younger brother of Cary Stayner, who would go on to become the Yosemite National Park Killer. In a family so small, the tragedies are unfathomably large. Kenneth kidnapped and kept Stephen for years, only when he aged out of Kenneth's preference and brought in an additional young boy did Stephen have the strength to take action. He took the newest kidnap victim, Timothy, and carried him back to the police.

Still, for everything that happened, Kenneth served under a decade before getting out. Years later he would be sentenced again, after attempting to have his caregiver buy a 4-year-old. In the end, he died in prison, but not before affecting multiple families exponentially.

Sources:

⁠https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/notorious-child-predator-dies-in-prison/article_0e638ade-58e7-502a-b078-f9d0c00df32e.html⁠

⁠https://www.factualamerica.com/crime-scene-stories/the-shocking-truth-behind-steven-stayners-7-year-kidnapping-ordeal⁠

⁠https://www.grunge.com/825537/what-happened-to-steven-stayners-kidnapper-kenneth-parnell/⁠

⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/steven-stayner⁠

⁠https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/where-is-kenneth-parnell-who-kidnapped-steven-stayner-now⁠

Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story

This month, we are in the C's for first names. All these women share a few things in common: their cases are unsolved, little is known about them, and the all deserve to be remembered. Many of the women were lost along the Highway of Tears. Some of the cases are decades old, some are in the 2000's. But they are all equally tragic.

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/?profileID=carolyn-connolly

https://www.thecanadianlibrary.ca/post/story-of-carolyn-connolly

https://www.facebook.com/unsolvedunknown/photos/on-august-2nd-2008-the-body-of-a-woman-was-found-in-an-alley-in-toronto-ontario-/441808585167885/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/cassandra-antone

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/cathy-williams

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/cecilia-nikal

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/cecilia-payash

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/chantelle-alice-rose-bushie

https://www.vice.com/en/article/all-her-life-chantelle-bushie-found-ways-to-disappear-until-one-day-she-never-came-back/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/charlene-candice-catholique

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/charnelle-jenny-masakeyash