4 | Not At This Time

Summary

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Blunt Force Trauma

Episode 4 | Not At This Time

Date: April 21, 2026
Host: Troy Taylor | Podcast: Blunt Force Trauma by EchoSpace

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the ongoing, tangled investigation into the 2021 death of Faithe Ely, who was found dead on the side of an Oklahoma highway. Officially ruled a hit and run, numerous gaps, inconsistencies, and a frustrating cycle of bureaucratic inertia have left her mother, Amanda Langston, and host Troy Taylor questioning if the truth—and justice—will ever be found. The episode immerses listeners in the relentless, cyclical process of seeking answers, uncovering a story riddled with dead-ends, conflicting agency statements, lost evidence, and family heartbreak.

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Key Points & Insights

1. The Relentless Pursuit of Answers

• Amanda Langston has spent five years fighting to get Faithe's case properly investigated.
• The episode opens with Amanda's voicemails and calls (01:01–03:10), each met with bureaucratic stonewalling or indifference.
  • Notable Quote:
    “This is what five years of asking questions sounds like.”
    — Troy Taylor (02:52)
• Multiple agencies routinely pass the case between one another, with Amanda left in limbo.

2. Initial Response and Questionable Investigation

• Early on, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) and Seminole County Sheriff's Office found the case suspicious.
• Lieutenant Dansby (OHP senior on the scene) told Amanda the case felt “hinky,” meaning something seemed off (06:12).
  • Notable Quote:
    "His word was 'hinky,' you know, he used that word, you know?"
    — Amanda Langston (06:26)
• Although the first responders flagged the circumstances, OSBI (the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation), led by Agent Miles Keen, quickly concluded it was a straightforward hit and run—before the medical examiner had even released a report (07:15–08:40).
• Interviews with key witnesses were conducted sequentially, in the same vehicle, within a short timespan—a problematic approach as it allowed witnesses to potentially influence each other’s stories.

3. Evidence Gaps and Lost Leads

• No house search—the site of a prior altercation involving Faithe—was conducted before investigators locked in their narrative.
• There were no physical traces (e.g., glass, vehicle fragments) at the scene to support a hit and run, but the case was still classified as such.

4. Frustration with Records Access and Agency Evasion

• Troy details his attempts to obtain records (10:10–17:00), repeatedly denied because the case was “open,” records were “purged,” or simply due to lost evidence.
  • Notably, OHP and OSBI cannot even agree who leads the case—or issue a case number.
  • Notable Quote:
    "Once I regain my composure, I send OHP’s PIO another email...most importantly, does OHP have a case number allocated to Faith's case? And if not, is there a reason why?...but I never get a response again. Not to that email, not to the follow up I send a month later, or the one I send after that. They just stop replying entirely."
    — Troy Taylor (15:00–17:00 approx.)
• Every attempt to clarify ownership or process is met with shifting answers, including contradictory statements to the podcast, the family, and even NBC Dateline.

5. Jurisdictional Blame-Shifting

• OSBI and OHP continually shift responsibility for the case back and forth, culminating in a Kafkaesque bureaucratic loop (17:00–21:00).
  • One agency says “contact them,” while the other says “not ours.”
  • “The words ‘case number’ seem to send them running and screaming.”
    — Troy Taylor (17:00)

6. The Crucial “Hit & Run” Determination

• How was “hit and run” so quickly decided as the cause—even before autopsy results?
• OSBI sought an outside opinion from Oklahoma City Police’s specialized “Signal 30” team, showing them only limited information (injury photos, time of day), withholding names and location (18:49–20:06).
  • Notable Quote:
    "They simply asked…do you think this is a hit and run? And he flat out said…it's possible. Does this look like…domestic violence?…that too is possible. Why they went with hit and run, I don't know."
    — Amanda Langston (19:13)
• The process for seeking external traffic homicide expertise was bypassed or minimized, as OHP (the appropriate experts) were either ignored or overruled.

7. Internal Turf Wars & Accountability Dodge

• Lieutenant Dansby (OHP) asserts the Highway Patrol never officially “owned” the case until OSBI dumped it on them as a cold case (20:49–21:48).
  • Notable Quote:
    "When it was given to us, we didn't have any lead. It was a cold case. When they gave it to me...because they didn't have any lead. They exhausted all they were going to do."
    — Lt. Dansby (21:33)
• Internal affairs investigations, like Amanda's formal complaint, led only to staff transfers, not answers (27:55–29:37).

8. Disappearing Evidence and Stonewalling

• Records requests for 911 calls, dashcam footage, etc., are unsuccessful; audio was purged after three years, with contradictory explanations (10:10–17:00, 31:54–33:10).
• Agencies have no active case number for Faithe’s death—a highly unusual practice that raises concerns about responsibility and record-keeping.

9. Autopsy Questions & New Information

• Amanda and others continue to question the integrity and findings of the medical examiner.
• Ashley, a contributor, acquires Faith’s autopsy report and is troubled by inconsistencies, prompting calls for independent review (34:29–35:33).
  • Notable Quote:
    “It just screams that something isn’t right. …I just don’t think it’s an accident.”
    — Ashley (34:34–35:32)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Amanda Langston:

  • “They always say, like, the boyfriend’s the first person, but in this case, like, they made him the last person to look at.” (06:05)
  • “I don’t want the OSBI to have this case back. They’ve already screwed it up the first time.” (21:48)
  • “I still don’t understand what possible...what’s the reason for them to have refused that night to investigate and collect evidence from the second crime scene?” (21:48)

• Troy Taylor:

  • “Five years after Faith’s death, I can’t get two state agencies to agree on who owns her case.” (17:00)
  • “Is it because there is no formal open case…because it fell through some kind of jurisdictional gap? Or is it because nobody wants to give this case a number because…the moment it has a case number, somebody has to own it? And the moment somebody takes ownership, they own every mistake that got made that first night and the days since.” (17:00–18:49)

• Lieutenant Dansby (OHP):

  • "It pretty much was given [to us] in the cold case, even though it was within the same year." (21:33)
  • “There’s zero written communication to document that [OHP taking the case].” (20:49)

• Signal 30, OKC Police (Lt. Steiner):

  • “We have zero influence on what they decide to do. …Could our opinion be wrong? Of course it could be wrong. …We didn’t go in there and say, oh my God, this is 100%...” (24:34–25:35)

• Ashley:

  • “I managed to get a copy of Faith’s autopsy report and things aren’t really adding up for me. …I just don’t think it’s an accident.” (34:29–35:32)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:01–03:10 – Amanda’s unanswered calls and voicemails
• 06:05–06:30 – First responders’ unusual suspicions (“hinky” feeling)
• 10:10–17:00 – Troy’s ordeal with open records, agency ping-pong, missing evidence
• 18:49–20:06 – How the “hit and run” theory was formalized
• 20:49–21:48 – OHP’s perspective on dumped responsibility
• 24:34–26:14 – Signal 30’s actual involvement and agency confusion
• 27:55–29:37 – Amanda’s complaint to OSBI Internal Affairs and bureaucratic fallout
• 31:54–33:10 – The missing 911 call and records dilemma
• 34:29–35:32 – Ashley’s troubling findings in the autopsy report

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Tone

The episode is permeated by deep frustration, bureaucratic opacity, and heartbreak. Amanda’s grief and perseverance are palpable, while Troy’s tone swings between journalistic persistence and open disbelief at the state’s dysfunction.

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Conclusion

The mysterious death of Faith Ely remains unsolved, hindered as much by agency inertia and passing the buck as by any lack of evidence. The case highlights the chaos, confusion, and heartbreak that occur when institutional lines of responsibility blur—and when loved ones are left to fight, alone, for answers. As Amanda languishes in call waiting hell, the only consistent reply from Oklahoma authorities is a cruel four-word refrain: Not at this time.

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Further Action

If you have information about Faith Ely’s case, contact EchoSpace Media Tips or find the podcast on social media for ways to help. Support Justice for Faith Ely via Facebook (see episode notes for the link).

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Transcript

[Troy Taylor]

What they did to your family. You're lucky to make it out alive.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Streaming on Peacock.

[Caitlyn]

These men are going to come after me.

[Troy Taylor]

Taking them out. It's my only chance.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Put a bullet in her head. From the co Creator of Ozark.

[Troy Taylor]

Looks like a family was running drugs.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Execution style killing. It's rare for the Keys. Any leads on who they might have been running for? The cartel killed my family.

[Troy Taylor]

I'm gonna kill them.

[Caitlyn]

All of them.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Mia Streaming now only on Peacock.

[Troy Taylor]

Please note, this podcast contains references to physical and sexual assault and graphic depictions of violence. Listener discretion is advised. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are solely those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily align with the opinions or beliefs of the host or producers.

[Ashley]

Thank you for calling the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. If you are a law enforcement or medical professional reporting a death, press 1. Family members needing assistance, press 2. Human resources. Hello, you've reached Ashley at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. I'm unable to take your call at this time. Please leave your name and a number, and I will call you back as soon as possible. Thank you.

[Amanda Langston]

Hello. My name is Amanda Langston. I am the mother of Faith Ely. She was killed March 28, 2021. I have submitted three letters requesting a review of the autopsy, and I've heard nothing. I was calling to get an update on that. If you could give me a call back. This is the second message I've left. Thank you. Yes, I would like to speak to someone in the Office of Professional Standards and training, please. Mr. Davidson.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Gerald Davidson.

[Ashley]

Can't take your call now. You can leave a message after the tone.

[Amanda Langston]

Hello, Mr. Davidson, my name is Amanda Langston. I am the mother of Faith Ely. She was murdered March 28, 2021. Your OSBI agent, Miles Keane, was lead investigator, and I am trying to report him as having serious misconduct in this investigation, and I would like to know what steps I need to follow in order to get that investigated. Thank you so much. Have a great day.

[Troy Taylor]

This is what five years of asking questions sounds like.

[Ashley]

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. At the tone, please record your message.

[Amanda Langston]

Hi, Brad. This is Amanda Langston, Faith Ely's mom. I'm sure you know my voice by now. Just wanted to make sure you knew who was calling. I still have not heard from the new lieutenant, and I have been unable to get in touch with Trooper Baker. If you could give me a call with that contact information or who I need to call to find that out, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Troy Taylor]

Thank you facing roadblocks at what feels like every juncture. And if it isn't a roadblock, it's a duck shove or a sidestep. It's a whole lot of people who aren't available. A whole lot of voicemail boxes that must be getting pretty full by now.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Hello?

[Amanda Langston]

Hi, Lieutenant. Yes, ma'.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Am.

[Amanda Langston]

This is Amanda Langston, Faith E. Lee's mom.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Huh.

[Amanda Langston]

I was just wanting to reach back out to you and see if there's any kind of an update over the ME Letter or anything else on the case.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

There is not. They haven't responded or anything like that. They haven't even said that they received it.

[Amanda Langston]

Oh.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

So.

[Troy Taylor]

Oh, it's the sound of five years of asking questions. And it's also the sound of five years of getting no answers. After Amanda tells me OSBI came to the conclusion it was a hit and run. Before reviewing the medical examiner's report, I shoot Amanda a message. Exasperated at the idea that Faith's case was so quickly dismissed, I begin asking questions around how the investigation was handled and suggest we attempt to get a broader idea of what steps were taken. And she stops me pretty much mid sentence. She asked me to give her an hour and 36 minutes later, sends me a link to a Google Drive folder. Inside there are dozens and dozens and dozens of recordings going all the way back to 2021. It's a repository of every call she's made, every voicemail she's left, every conversation she's actually managed to have with the people working her daughter's case. If I want to understand what's actually happening here, she tells me it's not what's on paper. It's not what's in the press releases. It's in everything that's inside that folder. So I make a cup of coffee and start listening. I'm almost, but not quite surprised to find clips of my own conversations with Amanda, Caitlyn, and Casey in the folder.

[Amanda Langston]

They always say, like, the boyfriend's the first person, but in this case, like, they made him the last person to look at.

[Troy Taylor]

Yeah, and you've got, you know, you've got Lieutenant D. Sansby saying to you on the night, this. This. Right. Something looks hanky. Right. Like, this doesn't look right. Something's off. Stay away from that. Yeah, I think it's not right. And he's ohp.

[Amanda Langston]

I think that's verbatim. Yeah, I think that's verbatim. Like, verbatim. Like, his word was hinky. You know, he used that word you know?

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Yeah.

[Troy Taylor]

And he was the OHB officer on. On the scene, right?

[Caitlyn]

Yeah.

[Troy Taylor]

Lieutenant Dansby was the most senior OHP representative on the scene the night Faith was killed. He's the guy who decided in conjunction with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, that Faith's death didn't look like a standard traffic case. Probably something that wasn't going to be within the scope of ohp. The sheriff goes on to escalate the case to osbi. OSBI sends Special Agent Miles Keen. And within hours of Keane's arrival, it feels like whatever hinky feeling had brought him out to the highway, well, it's gone. He appears to have made up his mind that really this is just what it looks like on the surface of things, a hit and run. But what I want to know is how. How did he get to this conclusion so quickly?

[Amanda Langston]

The audio recordings, Ryan, Monica and Smurf that night, they are literally done one right after the other. And the time frame show like they did them all at the same time. 30 minutes. Like one says they started at 0014 and it ended at 0046. The next one will say 0047 to 0117. So there's no time frames between. Of course their stories are going to be consistent. If you interviewed them all at the same time in the same vehicle right there. They hurt each other. From what King told me, they interviewed them in their vehicle, in the OSBI vehicle, one at a time. Steven's daughter and son in law, who were on, who were at the party, were still there. The agents didn't interview them till April 1st

[Troy Taylor]

because they didn't even go to the house. Right.

[Amanda Langston]

They didn't go to the house at all.

[Troy Taylor]

And I guess that's probably the beginning of it. You've got three people saying the same thing. Three stories that all match up. She left. We told her not to walk on the highway. She did. Hopefully she didn't jump in front of a car. You don't have any glass or fragments of a motor vehicle or any kind of transfer. But she got a victim on her back on the shoulder of a highway. She's got injuries and bruising, blunt force trauma consistent with the pedestrian versus automobile incident down the left hand side of her body, the same side a car would have hit her on. So it's a hit and run. I guess that's how Keen started down that path. But it's not enough for me. So I start making calls, sending emails and submitting open records requests with all of the different departments Involved. I start at the very beginning, ticking off the basics. Step one, which department is currently leading the investigation. Sounds simple, right? Yeah, I thought so, too. Where is Daredevil? I'm right here.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

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[Amanda Langston]

So what's next?

[Troy Taylor]

I feel liberated. We're gonna take this city back over

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

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[Amanda Langston]

They're hunting us.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

It's time we started hunting them.

[Troy Taylor]

I can work with them. This should be tons of fun.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again now streaming only on Disney plus.

[Troy Taylor]

I've been listening to Amanda's recordings for a few weeks now. And every time I click play, I find myself more confused, frustrated and bewildered. But as I finish up on another recording, I become aware of the fact that I'm only seeing things from one side of it. I need to engage directly with these agencies to understand what happened and why. Not just based on what people have to say, but based on data and documentation. I start by sending out three formal requests under the Oklahoma Open Records act. One each to the Public Information Office at OHP and OSBI, and another to the Office of the Chief Medical examiner, asking for exactly what you'd expect. Incident reports, CAD entries, 911 audio, body cam footage, scene documentation, medical examiners reports. And I ask, knowing full well that as an open case, the information that will come back is going to be somewhat limited. But I ask nonetheless. I click send. And then I wait. The first response comes back from osbi. It arrives the next morning. It's polite, it's formal, and it cites three different Oklahoma statutes. And the bottom line is OSBI investigative records are confidential. They can't and won't be released. So I write back. I ask if there's a representative who's willing to do an interview, or failing that, if the OSBI would like to provide a comment on Faith's case at all and his response is brief. We have no comment at this time. I send one more email. I understand they can't talk about it, but can they at least just confirm they're still leading the investigation? And if so, can they give me a case number? And the next day, the answer comes through. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is the lead investigator regarding the case. I'd reach out to them for any further comment or information. And the timing's good, because a couple of days later, I hear back from the OHP's Public Information Office. They direct me to an online portal to submit my records request, which I do. And a day later I get an email back from the records department telling me they've canceled my request and if I'd like more information I should contact their public information office. So I email the PIO again and while I'm waiting, managed to find a direct portal to submit a request to the dashcam unit for ohp. So I take full advantage and send a query to them directly, this time specifically asking for the 911 audio, any body cam or dash cam footage, and anything else they have that is available to be released in face case. Interestingly, the dashcam unit comes back to me before the PIO does. But what they tell me has me kinda scratching my head. First they chastise me for not submitting my request with an incident report number. My bad. But they do me a favor. They find the incident report number themselves and they attach it to the request and then they run the search. But they hit a bit of a roadblock. Faith's death occurred more than three years ago now and they have a three year retention policy. So unfortunately, the footage and the audio, they tell me it's all been purged. I follow up with the OHP PIO again, this time following up on both the circle they and the records department sent me in, as well as asking for clarity on the response from the dash cam unit. Was everything deleted? Eventually they do get back to me, but only on the initial records request. And even there they've changed their position. Faith's case is still active. They won't be releasing anything. I ask for an interview, they won't do one. I ask if they'd be willing to provide a written comment on the record. They won't. So I ask, can they at least provide me with a case number and the best phone number for tips? They take a whole week to get back to me. And when they do, the response is, well, let me just read it out. They say instead of a case number, let's just refer to this as the Faith Ely case or investigation. No case number. Just call it Faith's case. I haven't been doing this all that long, but in that short time, I've submitted a lot of open records requests. I've looked at a whole lot of cases, broken down a whole lot of information and data. Records, reports, audio files. And all of them have one thing in common. They all have some kind of reference number, a filing number, a report number, a case number. Not one of them has ever been referred to as the case. Well, not until now anyway. Once I regain My composure. I send OHP's PIO another email, consolidating my questions into a single chain. And I try to make them as clear and concise as possible. Can they confirm the dash cam footage has actually been purged? Can they confirm OHB is currently the lead on this case? Can they confirm whether the case is being investigated as a homicide? Would they provide a written comment on the status of the case? And most importantly, does OHP have a case number allocated to Faith's case? And if not, is there a reason why? I click send again and then I wait and wait and wait and wait, but I never get a response again. Not to that email, not to the follow up I send a month later, or the one I send after that. They just stop replying entirely. I leave it all for a couple of months. But then something comes across my desk that leaves me well and truly perplexed. It's an article shared with me by Amanda, published by NBC Dateline, about Faith's case and the fact that five years had passed without any closure. Seems that Dateline went down the same path I did, trying to figure out whose case it was. They reached out to the same people I did to ask the question, only they got a completely different response. The same person at OSBI who told me the case was with OHP and that I should contact them with questions for this information told Dateline this is an ongoing investigation for the OSBI and we do encourage those with additional information to reach out, which is the exact opposite of what they told me six months earlier. So I write to the OSBI again and ask for clarification. Has the lead on the case changed? Should tips be going to OSBI or should they be going to ohp? In their response, tips can be sent to the OSBI contact we provided you, which is curious because they'd never actually provided me any OSBI contact. I follow up and they go on to send me the OSBI tip line. And I take the opportunity to ask one last time, can they also provide me a case number? I don't know why I'm surprised, but I am. When the reply comes back, I apologize. OHP is the lead investigator on this case. So to clarify, one last time I write, so TIPS should not be sent to osbi, they should go directly to ohp. Is that right? And I get a single word back. Correct. Five years after Faith's death, I can't get two state agencies to agree on who owns her case. And when they lean in a certain direction, the words case number seem to send them running and screaming. OSBI tells me it's OHPs. The OHP PIO tells me to send a request to the records department. The records department tells me to send a request to the OHP pio. The dashcam unit tells me they deleted everything. The OHP PIO tells me, just call it Faith's case. Osbi tells NBC it's their case, and then they tell me it's their case. And then in the very same email, they change their mind. It is OHP's case. And in the meantime, in the middle of all of this, the OHP PIO decides the best course of action is to just disappear. And none of them, not once, not in any exchange across six months of correspondence, can give me a case number. You couldn't make it up. And I can't help but wonder why. Is it because there is no formal open case, not because it's been resolved, but because it fell through some kind of jurisdictional gap? Or is it because nobody wants to give this case a number because the moment it has a case number, somebody has to own it? And the moment somebody takes ownership, they own every mistake that got made that first night and the days since. Every interview done in the same vehicle, every house that never got investigated, every lead that didn't get actively pursued. Safer, I guess, to simply refer to it as the Faith Ely case. 28 days. This is the gap between Agent Keen telling Amanda he's made the determination that it's a hit and run and the medical examiner releasing their report on faith's death on April 29th. I call Amanda and I ask her the question I keep asking without being able to find an answer. In the absence of the medical examiner's conclusion, how did they firmly conclude that everyone in the house could be ruled out and that it was just a hit and run? And how did they get a green light on the whole hit and run thing? And it turns out they had some help getting there.

[Amanda Langston]

They were not giving given her name. They were not given the location. They were given time of day. They were shown the crime scene photos and a few of the autopsy photos of her injuries. They were informed of the physical altercation that occurred within a certain amount of time frame before her body was so called, found.

[Troy Taylor]

Yeah.

[Amanda Langston]

And they simply asked OKC Signal 30 unit, do you think this is a hit and run? And he flat out said he told them it's possible. They. He said Osbi asked them, does this look like it's a domestic violence? And he said, I told them that that Too is possible, he said. Why they went with hit and run, I don't know. But it was not our office that told them it was. It was not up. Why didn't you ask ohp, they are the traffic homicide.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Hello?

[Amanda Langston]

Hi, Brad, It's Amanda face of Ely's mom. You doing all right?

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Yeah, yeah, I'm charging my battery. I was flying a scene. I gotta go to Durant. So I was full intentions to call during the transit between McCurdin county and Durant, but go ahead.

[Amanda Langston]

Oh, okay. Do you want to call back?

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Eating a strip of a couple of chicken strips while I'm charging my battery. There's a bunch on the road. Right while I sit here.

[Troy Taylor]

Enter Lieutenant Dansby from Oklahoma Highway Patrol. He was one of the parties who responded to the call out on the night of Faith's death. But the case was never officially theirs. Not that night anyway.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

See, the OSBI kept saying, we're going to give it back to the highway patrol. The highway patrol never has a case. We showed up at the scene and said, I might want to call OSPI sheriff. And the sheriff requests the ospi. So at no time does the highway patrol say, hey, osbi, we're requesting you to take this case. There's zero written communication to document that. We requested that the sheriff is the one called OSBI hot us.

[Troy Taylor]

After OSBI concluded their investigation and made the determination that Faith's death was traffic related, they pushed the case over to ohp. The only problem was OHP didn't want it because they didn't believe it was traffic related.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

When it was given to us, we didn't have any lead. It was a cold case. When they gave it to me, the osbi, I mean, they gave it to us because they didn't have any lead. They exhausted all they were going to do. So it pretty much was given in the cold case, even though it was within the same year.

[Amanda Langston]

I don't want the OSBI to have this case back. They've already screwed it up the first time. You know, I still don't understand what, what possible. What's the reason for them to have refused that night to investigate and collect evidence from the second crime scene? I still don't understand that.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Yeah, definitely differences of opinion there because that's. That seems like something to do. And then probably not supposed to say out loud, but that guy, that Oklahoma City, the Signal 30 team, which that's what we use for the fatality collision, that's a 10 code. A signal 30 team didn't look at that it was like one guy, she consulted one guy, last name, I believe it's Sexton. And we specialize in crashes that result in death for the highway patrol. And we were already consulting on the crash, and then they went and consulted somebody else and said, oh, no, y' all are wrong. Y' all should take it. Because they say they even agree, the medical examiner agrees. But when you talk to the me, he kind of based his opinion strongly upon what the investigators were saying, the witnesses were saying. So it was all kind of skewed, in my opinion.

[Amanda Langston]

So they met with you guys, experts in traffic homicide. This is what you do. They met with you and argued with you about how this could have happened and then turned right around and shoved it back on you guys still claiming you're the experts, even though they didn't take your word for it. They didn't use your expertise as part of the investigation. I don't understand that.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

No, but that's what happened.

[Troy Taylor]

The Oklahoma City Police Department Signal 30 unit is a specialised team of 11 investigators dedicated to investigating fatal traffic collisions. They're a highly experienced team of officers who work exclusively on cases where it's suspected that a traffic related fatality has occurred. There's no question that Faith's death is not within their jurisdiction. Even if it was a hit and run traffic homicides in Wewoko, they'd be under OHP's jurisdiction. But it seems when OSBI consulted the experts under whose jurisdiction a hit and run would sit in Faith's case, that's ohp. And they didn't like the answer. They turned to signal 30 to get a second opinion. Feeling that hinky feeling again, Amanda calls a lieutenant at Oklahoma City Police Department to try to understand how all this went down and how signal 30 even got involved in the first place.

[Amanda Langston]

Today's date is March 21, 2023. This is a Tuesday. I have an appointment with Lieutenant Steiner.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Let me kind of tell you first how it works and then I'll tell you what I found out. We are actually contacted by agencies all over the state to look at stuff and give our opinion. We have zero influence in what they decide to do. We have zero influence in them deciding it's a homicide or them deciding to hit and run. All we can do is give rfp. Could our opinion be wrong? Of course it could be wrong. But it's based on our knowledge and our training. And it won't be the first time that we've disagreed with ohp. But Sergeant Sexton wasn't the officer that Went to osbi. The two officers that actually went down there were me and Sexton's partner. The only time that we had anything to do with this case is we drove out there to OSPI and he showed us a bunch of pictures up on a big screen. They didn't tell us a name, they didn't tell us location. The only thing we looked at was some pictures and gave our opinion on those pictures. What they did with that, that's on them. We don't have any control on that. Is it possible it could have been a hit and run? Yes. Is it possible it could have been a homicide?

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Yes.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

But we didn't go in there and say, oh my God, this is 100% okay.

[Amanda Langston]

Osbi. They were informed that night that 15 to 30 minutes before she was found found on the side of the road, there was a physical altercation at the house. In your experience, what kind of an event or information would prevent you or tell you it was not necessary to collect evidence and document another scene that the physical altercation? What would tell you it's not necessary to go down there?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

I don't want to know where she came from. We back ours all the way up. I mean, we don't concentrate, just the crack scene. I mean, if she walked off from the house, we're gonna go to that house and ask the questions. But that's just the way we do things.

[Amanda Langston]

If I contacted Seminole County ADA again, would she be able to request you guys to look into this case?

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

I'll be honest with you. With the issues it's already caused.

[Amanda Langston]

Caused.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

My command is probably going to say no, I'm not. I'm not going to lie. I don't want to give you false hopes. Does that make sense?

[Amanda Langston]

Yes. Cuz now it's caused bad blood.

[Narrator/Trailer Voice]

Okay, not necessarily bad blood, but we also don't want to get involved in something where there's a. My opinion, a spat going on between the troopers and osbi. That's their issue. We don't want to be involved in it. I know OSBI thinks it's a hit and run and I know OHP thinks it is a homicide. So you've got two state agencies that are for better use not working together.

[Troy Taylor]

On March 8, 2023, Amanda gets a call back from a guy called Gerald Davison. Davidson works for the OSBI in the Office of Professional Standards and Training, Internal Affairs. Essentially, he's the guy Amanda left a voicemail for. The one you heard at the beginning of this episode. She takes him through everything. The altercation at the house, the back to back interviews, the second scene that was never investigated, the Signal 30 consultation, that didn't appear to be what the OSBI had represented it to be. The ruling out of Ryan before the medical examiner had even delivered their report.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

All right, now, Mr. Langston, now let me tell you how what you're talking with. I work in what's called the Office of Professional Standards. We deal with internal investigations, basically. And from everything you told me, I think where I'm going to send all this information is to our Investigative Services Division director. Would you be willing to fill out what we call a complaint form?

[Amanda Langston]

Absolutely.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

I've known of cases where. Where they've been asked to review things again and where they complained about the investigation, and that's how it normally occurs here, is that the director gets involved and then they, you know, resurrect the case, so to speak. So that's what the process is. Do you have any questions about that?

[Amanda Langston]

No, sir, not at this time.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Okay. All right.

[Troy Taylor]

Amanda fills out the form, she submits it in writing exactly as requested, and then she waits. She never hears back from Gerald Davidson. In fact, she never hears back from OSBI at all. Something does happen, though. It's just not what she expected.

[Amanda Langston]

I filed a formal grievance in writing to the osbi, and I talked to their Internal affairs, if you will. And then Lieutenant Dansmeat told me that he. He and the OHP Legal department had a sit down with the Internal affairs for osbi, and he told me the whole general gist of that was they wanted to know who's been talking bad about him. And then he was transferred to Turnpike Authority. He told me he was being transferred. This was the first part of July, and he was being transferred, effective July 14th.

[Troy Taylor]

That's all that comes from Amanda's formal complaint. Lieutenant Dansby from OHP gets transferred to another area. And the only other person from OHP who was on the scene that night, Trooper Baker, gets himself a new supervisor.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Hello?

[Amanda Langston]

Hi, this is Amanda Langston. I missed a call from you.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Yes, ma'.

[Amanda Langston]

Am.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

This is Lieutenant Thornton. My name is Dustin Thornton. I'm a lieutenant over our Traffic Homicide Unit now.

[Amanda Langston]

Awesome. I'm so glad to meet you, Miss. Lieutenant. How are you?

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Call me Dustin. I don't. I. I'm pretty humble, so you just call me Dustin.

[Amanda Langston]

Well, thank you, Dustin. You just call me Amanda.

[Troy Taylor]

By all reports, Lieutenant Thornton's one of the good guys. He's doing what he can, but he wasn't there for any of the decisions that Matter. And the decisions that matter, well, they got made and unmade and remade by people who were long gone by the time he took the job. Which brings us back to. To exactly where we started.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Hello?

[Amanda Langston]

All right, Lieutenant. Yes, ma'.

[Ashley]

Am.

[Amanda Langston]

This is Amanda Langston, Faith Lee's mom.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Huh.

[Amanda Langston]

I was just wanting to reach back out to you and see if there's any kind of an update over the ME Letter or anything else on the case.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

There is not. They haven't responded or anything like that. They haven't even said that they received.

[Ashley]

Achieved it.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Oh. So.

[Amanda Langston]

Oh,

[Troy Taylor]

and that's where things sit today. Amanda asks the same people the same questions every few months. The answer every time is some version of the same thing. They're reaching out and they're following up. They're waiting on the medical examiner's office or they're waiting on a completely different agency. And in between all of that waiting, the only answer Amanda gets is. The only answer anyone's got to give is just four words long. Not at this time. A couple of weeks back, I put in an open records request to Grady county for anything and everything they had on the 911 call that came in at 8:29pm the night faith died. The Bobby call. Katelyn put her hand up to collect the records.

[Caitlyn]

I ended up going down there on a Monday, open up the envelope and there are a couple of radio logs in there, as well as a USB in it. And I get home, I listen to this USB which has two recordings on it, and it looked like it was. They were both from a. Reports of a fire down there.

[Troy Taylor]

Chickasha.

[Gerald Davidson / Lieutenant Thornton / Lieutenant Dansby]

Right.

[Troy Taylor]

So not the Bobby call.

[Caitlyn]

Right? No Bobby call.

[Ashley]

Huh.

[Caitlyn]

So I thought that was very interesting.

[Troy Taylor]

That is interesting because if it came from that number, it would have to have gone through Grady County's dispatcher system. Unless. Yeah, I don't even know. Unless it's completely fabricated, basically. Unless all of the information on that record is. Is wrong.

[Caitlyn]

I also thought, well, maybe if. If they had given the location, they would have sent it to Seminole County. But I. I did the open records request with Seminole county and I had only gotten the two calls from the neighbor who. Who had covered Faith's body up.

[Troy Taylor]

Right.

[Caitlyn]

So I would have thought it would have been through there.

[Troy Taylor]

Something.

[Caitlyn]

What's the significance behind it?

[Troy Taylor]

Right. Right.

[Caitlyn]

To me, what's the significance behind it? Or is it really there?

[Troy Taylor]

Yeah. I have a friend who is a 911 dispatcher, so I'm going to try and have a chat with her and just so I can Understand the way that the CAD system works and like, whether it's possible to make someone fully anonymous by overriding information or whether it still keeps records or I'm going to do a little digging on that front. Understand the way that, like, transfers from different counties work and that sort of thing. Once I find that out, I'll give you a call back and let you know what I've found out on that front. But that might help us understand it all a little better as well. Hang up from Caitlin and contemplate it all. Either somebody made that call and gave false details, or somebody wanted people to believe that somebody made that call. And until I can understand exactly how the CAD system works in terms of recording data and transferring calls between counties, I'm not going to know exactly what happened on the highway that night. So I pick up the phone. I've got a 911 dispatcher I need to call. But just as I'm about to dial, my screen lights up. It's Rosemary. And she's found something else. Turns out she did manage to get something through an open records request and apparently it's pretty explosive.

[Ashley]

Right after, you know, our last message, I managed to get a copy of Faith's autopsy report and things aren't really adding up for me. I mean, I have a lot of questions and I am no medical professional, but it just screams that something isn't right. I was wondering if you knew if the family or anybody have gotten an independent review of this. I mean, I think when you sit down and you look at this, you'll see it yourself. I don't think this is an accident. I just don't think it's an accident.

[Troy Taylor]

Faith's case is still open and her killer or killers have not yet been brought to justice. If you know anything about Faith, her death, or those who may be responsible, we'd like to hear from you. Please visit EchoSpace Media Tips and either leave a voicemail or send us a message. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram. Unforcedrauma Podcast if you're enjoying this podcast, please consider our subscriber option on Apple Podcasts or [e-mail] Echospacepodcasts where you get access to early episode drops, ad free episodes and bonus content across all of the Echo Space shows. If you'd like to keep up to date with progress on Faith's case, please visit and follow the justice for Faith Ely Facebook page. You'll find a link to it in the episode Notes. Blunt Force Trauma is a production of Echo Space, written and hosted by Troy Taylor. Executive producers are Troy Taylor, Mark Girouli and Fred Schurzer. Our main theme song is Lose My Mind by Maya Davidoff, and the show also contains audio content from Moby Gratis.