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- [00:00]
A
Hi, I'm Emily. I'm Ashley. This is Reconsidered Unsolved, where we focus on unsolved cases in the pursuit of justice. You are listening to season one, Rachel Hansen. Hi everyone. Last week Emily and I traveled to Arizona to attend a press conference for Rachel Hansen. On June 4, 2022, Rachel was brutally murdered in her apartment. On the four year anniversary, June 4th of 2026, Rachel's parents held the first ever press conference to reignite public attention on Rachel's unsolved case. Justin Yentas, private investigator, opens and closes the press conference and you'll hear from Kim and Todd, Rachel's parents, Emily and I, and Johnny Martinez, the director of Silent Witness. We are going to play for you the unedited press conference. Thank you so much for listening.
- [00:55]
B
All right, Good morning everyone. My name is Justin Yentes and I'm an investigator with Arizona Investigative Associates and I'm here today to assist the the Hansen family. Four years ago today, Rachel Hansen was killed. I wanted to take a few minutes to lay out plainly and factually what we know about how she died. Because the people of this community deserve the truth. And because somewhere out there, someone hearing these facts knows more than they've shared. Rachel Hansen was 19 years old. She was a Gilbert resident building a life of her own. In the early morning hours of June 4, 2022, that life was taken from her. At approximately 2:11am Rachel called 911 from her apartment. She told the dispatcher that someone had broken into her residence and and that she had been shot. During the call, Rachel was able to report that she had been shot. But based on the information that has been made public, she did not identify the shooter. Police officers and emergency personnel responded to her apartment and found Rachel suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to the hospital where medical staff performed life saving measures. Despite those efforts, Rachel succumbed to her injuries. She was pronounced deceased at 5:12am on June 4, 2022, four years ago this morning. Here is what the evidence establishes at this stage. Rachel was shot inside her own apartment after an apparent unlawful entry. She was alive and conscious long enough to place that 911 call herself. The identity of her assailant and the motive remain unknown. Gilbert colleague Gilbert police classified the case as a homicide and have investigated it as such under Arizona law. I want to pause on one fact because this fact matters. At the time Rachel died, her mother Kim was out of state visiting her grown children and grandchildren. Her father Todd, who's with us today, was not notified until several hours after Rachel had already passed. Rachel died without her family beside her. Rachel died without her mother and without her father, without any of the people who loved her even knowing what had happened until hours later. No family should learn the truth that way. And no family should be waiting for the rest of the truth four years later. Now, I want to be specific about where this happened, because specifics are what jog memories and bring people forward. Rachel was murdered at 1925 S. Coronado St. In Gilbert. The Redstone Apartments on the southwest corner of Greenfield and Ray, apartment 3133. You all that are from the area know the area probably very well. It's right by San Tan Mall, across the street from the main event, across the street from topgolf, a very safe area. If you lived in that complex In June of 2022, if you were a resident, a visitor, a neighbor, an Uber driver, a doordash driver, anyone who is in that area, we are asking you to come forward. If you have knowledge about this case, however small it may seem to you, we are asking you to come forward. You may not realize that what you saw or heard is the piece that matters, but please let us and the police be the judge of that. There is a phrase that has come to define this family's fight for truth. Rachel, 45, six years ago, sat on dash her beloved horse, holding a sign that read silence is betrayal. These these years later, those words are why we're all standing here. The silence around Rachel's death is. Is a betrayal of her and of every family member still waiting for answers. And today we're hoping to break that silence. You'll hear from several people this morning, each of whom carries a piece of the story. First, you'll hear from Rachel's parents, Kim and Todd Hansen. They'll tell you who their daughter truly was, what these four years have cost their family, and what they're asking this community and of the investigators involved in this case of today. After that, you'll hear from Dr. Emily Reader and Ashley Dasano, hosts of the Reconsidered Unsolved podcast, who dedicated an entire season of their show to Rachel's case and have traveled here from Oregon to be here with us. Also, you'll hear from Johnny Martinez, the executive director of Silent Witness, who will explain exactly how anyone with information can come forward safely and anonymously. With that. With that, I'd like to introduce Rachel's parents, starting with her mother, Kim Hansen.
- [06:03]
C
All right, thank you, guys. Thank you to all of you for coming and for your continued support and interest. In Rachel's case, through the last four years. We're grateful for all of you and that you have stuck with us and continue to as we fight for answers. Thank you to Modern Law for letting us meet here and especially thank you to Justin. He has been a tremendous support personally and professionally, just helping us in Rachel's case. Honestly, this was really hard to do to collect my thoughts of what I wanted to saying because I never imagined we would be here four years later. Sometimes people say to me that, oh, it'll get easier in time. And I know they mean well, but that's not truth. It doesn't get easier, especially when there are no answers. It gets harder because fear sets in. The fear that we may never know. Are we going to get answers? Are things being investigated? Will we ever really know? And we fight that fear. But it's a fear that comes as the years go by. We've always wanted to hold a press conference. We have asked from day one to have a press conference regarding Rachel's case. We wanted the community to know that this tragedy happened in the middle of Gilbert in what is supposed to be one of the safest communities in the US in a very nice area that's highly populated and yet Rachel's life was taken. And we needed the community to come forward and, and help to find answers. As many of you know, there's very little evidence and we understand that. No, no weapon, no motive, no cameras, sadly, no witnesses at 2 in the morning. And that's why immediately we ask that the community be notified. A press conference held so that everybody would know, not just a select few. And that never happened. And that's why we decided to do this, because we continue to seek answers. We also felt that the community had a right to know for their own safety. It's been four years and the person that took Rachel's life is still out there somewhere. So four years later, we still are sharing this information with the community to raise awareness and press for answers in the investigation. We're very disappointed that the Gilbert Police Department chose not to make a statement about the case, not to be here and be present. They were invited to do so, but sadly, that's one of the things that's been most difficult in this case. In the past four years of waiting and hoping for answers, there has been very little communication, few updates. Weeks and sometimes months have passed of hearing nothing, no contact at all. And for a grieving family, grieving parents, that's really hard. It's been an emotional roller coaster of wondering, waiting, hoping and praying that something is actually happening and that an investigation is ongoing. So we would like to ask the Gilbert Police Department, like to publicly ask them to engage other law enforcement in this investigation. We're asking that they reach out to the FBI or other law enforcement that is familiar and has experience solving homicides like Rachel's. We've been patient for four years, and it's time to move the investigation forward. Rachel did not deserve to have her life taken. She had her whole future ahead of her, and it was stolen from her and from us and all that loved her. So we made a promise just the days after we lost her that we will never stop. We will continue to seek for justice and answers and not let this case be forgotten. Not let her smile. We won't let it go. So we made a promise to her and we intend to keep it. Thank you, guys.
- [11:26]
B
Next we're going to hear from Rachel's father, Todd.
- [11:32]
D
Yeah, I get to follow that. My name is Todd Hansen. I'm Rachel's dad. And I want to thank all of you for being here. Particularly I want to thank the media. You folks have come and you have come to our home and interviewed us. And you have kept this story alive for four years now. And anytime we've asked you or told you there was an event or something, you have shown. And we are so very grateful to you. We want you to know that four years ago today, my daughter. Bear with me.
- [12:23]
B
My daughter.
- [12:24]
D
I'm going to get through this. My daughter Rachel was murdered. I've been largely silent. I do not have all the words to say and have a real hard time holding my emotions as I speak about Rachel. As you can see, my wife does a much better job than I ever could. Let me assure you, Kim and I are in lock step. We're unified together as Rachel's parents to find the person who took our daughter's life. I feel the need today to set the tone of our family for this press conference to give you a little bit of an idea who and what we are, and also to give one example. This is what happens when I go away from my notes. To give one example of how losing our daughter has affected our family, her friends and the world. I awoken at 7am Saturday, June 4, 2022, to loud and obviously important knocking at our door. My wife was out of town. It was rather unusual. It was a police department. I gathered myself, dressed and sat down with them. I was told my daughter had been shot and had died, was murdered. After they left, two of my sons had heard the commotion and asked me what happened. We spent the next couple of hours talking, settling anger and getting mad and crying together. At that time, my role in this became evident. Then I had to break the news to my wife over the phone. That's a whole another conversation I obviously can't do today. Since then and to this very day, it has been my job as a husband and a dad to not allow hate in our home. I learned this principle from my dad, who taught me to never allow hate in my heart or in my home. Hate destroys. It can never build or rebuild. Hate cannot mend a broken heart. It can't. It's impossible. It has been my duty to follow the will of God and to keep our family strong. It has been my duty to comfort my wife in times and through hurt I cannot even state in words, times when her whole body hurts from head to toe. And also it has been my duty to honor Rachel in keeping our other children on the right track and away from the path of hate. I believe we have reasonably done so. Today we are here to bring her story to the community and to ask for your help to find the person who took her life. I would like to just share one single experience out of so many to tell how how taking her life has affected us and taken so much away. Early in 2022, I think February or March, Rachel asked me if we could go to the lake for her birthday on June 12th. We hadn't been in a couple years as a boat needed some work and I hadn't been able to get to it. I made a solemn promise to her that day that we would in fact go to the lake on her birthday. I'm not a man who takes promises lightly and I try my very best to fulfill any promise I make. This was a big promise in my heart toward a young lady who asked something of me. She was very respectful, planning ahead, knowing I had a lot of work to do. She didn't come to me the last minute asking if we could go to the lake. And for something that I then probably couldn't provide, she gave me notice and said, hey, dad, it's months away. Can we go to the lake for my birthday? I did so. Boat fixed, ready to go. She was excited. We were going to Canyon Lake, one of her favorite places to be. She would be water skiing, swimming, driving the boat, and of course, cliff jumping, which was a fear she had that she overcame. It was rather comical watching her up on the cliffs. It took her quite some time, but she conquered her fears and Then she enjoyed it so much. This promise has haunted me for four years. On Rachel's 20th birthday, that we had planned for months, we had a celebration of her life and then we buried her.
- [18:56]
C
Ah.
- [18:58]
D
Take a moment and think about that. Instead of a wonderful day celebrating her 20th birthday, we celebrated her life on earth and then laid her to rest. We laid a beautiful, beautiful young lady. Now we're here today as a family and I humbly stand before you and I beg and I plead. We ask you, the community, for help. If any of you knows anything, even the smallest of things of what happened to my daughter, please step forward and tell. Somewhere, someone knows something about my daughter's death. I love you, Rachel, with all my heart. And I miss you deeply, every single minute of every single day. And like mom said, we will not stop fighting. Thank you.
- [20:29]
B
Thank you, Todd. Next, I want to bring up Dr. Emily Reader and Ashley Desano from the Reconsidered Unsolved podcast. They dedicated a season of their show to telling Rachel's story, and we've come to work with some of these independent media outlets to try and spread awareness of these unsolved cases. Like to give them the opportunity to explain what the case means to them.
- [21:00]
A
Good morning. Thank you for having us. We are Emily and Ashley and we are the producers of the podcast Reconsidered Unsolved, which is a multi episode deep dive into Rachel's case. We're honored to be here today. When we began looking into true crime cases, we didn't anticipate becoming so involved with one case. But as we got to know Rachel and her mom Kim, and people that we spoke with that cared about her, we knew we couldn't look away and that justice needed to be served in this case. We learned through this case, through looking at this, that Rachel was spunky and spirited and as you can tell from today, deeply loved. She was a 19 year old. Like many other, navigating challenges, relationships, hopes, uncertainties about the future, and she was working toward the future of her dreams that was brutally robbed from her four years ago today. And she was prevented of becoming exactly who she wanted to become. Through our months of investigation on Rachel's case and through conversations with many sources, we believe Rachel's case can be solved. We'd like to address the Gilbert Police Department. Though we recognize the Gilbert police initially put a lot of effort into this case, it feels like the case is currently at a critical turning point. We urge the Gilbert Police Department to reconsider their communication around this case. We note the absence of The Gilbert Police Department here today. We are dismayed by the continued lack to engage the public. While we understand that there are limitations to what can be shared, we believe more consistent engagement with the public could help move this case forward. The release of additional information could potentially help spark recognition or memory in members of the public who may not realize what they know is relevant. Rachel deserves to be remembered, and her family deserves answers. We are hopeful that the Gilbert Police Department will choose to release further information to help solve the case. Because from what we have discovered, along with Justin, there is much to be shared. We want to work together to keep her story alive and move the case even one step closer to resolution. We will not stop our pursuit of information and justice for Rachel. Rachel deserves more than silence. Her family deserves more than uncertainty. And four years is a very long time to wait for answers. Thank you.
- [24:02]
B
Next, we want to bring up Johnny Martinez, the executive director of the Arizona Silent Witness Program.
- [24:17]
E
My name is Johnny Martinez. I am the executive director of Silent Witness. First and foremost, I do want to start off talking about how we collect our information, how we get tips, and most importantly, we keep them anonymous. Silent Witness is a separate entity. We are our own nonprofit, and even though we partner with law enforcement, we are not law enforcement. The technology that we use is managed outside of law enforcement agencies. Because you do understand that the community may have a fear, a concern, or may just not want to talk to police, you are able to call in. Sorry about that. 4A0, witness. Or for Spanish speaking, 480-testigo. Rachel's media case number is number 2022 4150. When these cases are called in, we do not share any personal identifiers or take any personal identifiers. Information is taken. It is given to the department that is working on the case, but no personal identifiers are shared. An anonymity is very, very important to us, and we hope that this gives somebody who may be concerned about speaking up a little bit of peace to be able to call in. If you do not want to speak to law enforcement, please again call for you to witness or Florido Testigo. You could be eligible for a reward of up to $20,000. But you know what? I do understand that sometimes it is not about collecting that reward for people. This could bring, hopefully, some sense of peace to a community, to Rachel's friends, and to Rachel's family. If you are concerned about your identity being discovered. I know I sound like a broken record, but the anonymity portion is very, very important. And just Know that we do not share any information. Please call in. You know, even if you don't think the tip is important, it's too small, not big enough. Call in and let law enforcement, let the investigators be the judge of that. You never know what type of information can break open a case, bring peace and solve this crime. I will be here for a little while after if anybody has any questions. We do have the new poster printed and out in the back. You can submit a tip online through our website, silent website silentwitness.org or you can call the phone numbers. You can also get a copy of this flyer and this case information on our website as well. I want to join in with everybody else and urging the community to take time, really remember, dig deep. And anything that you possibly remember, call in anything. Thank you very much for having me today. Thank.
- [28:09]
B
You. I want to thank everyone for coming today. I want to thank the Hansen family. I want to thank Billy Terracio from Modern Law for allowing us to use her, her, her beautiful facility. I want to thank Alicia Cordova, who's also a, a victim who is, is present with us and seeking answers in her case. I thank her for joining us today. And I would like to ask the community one more time to please, please reach out. Reach out to silent witness. Reach out to Gilbert Police Department. If you're nervous about either one of those, you can call our office. We have a tip line on our website. If you were the one responsible for this, we'd ask you to please come forward. Working in defense investigations for coming up on 20 years, I've worked with a lot of people who have pled guilty, who have accepted responsibility and been remorseful for what they have done. I'm asking the person that is responsible for this crime to do just that. With that, we'll open up for any questions.
- [29:28]
A
Yes, Ashley, is there an example that you can share publicly of something that
- [29:33]
C
you feel like Gilbert could put out there?
- [29:40]
B
I've been a proponent of community based policing. I believe that involvement with the community, this is not an us versus them environment. We're not fighting against the police. We're not fighting against the prosecutor's office. We're wanting to partner with them and help them in any way that we can. There are times that witnesses would much rather talk to a private citizen than a cop. And if that can be helpful, we'd like to avail ourselves and the community as a whole to do that. Yes, Alexis,
- [30:30]
A
Pieces of evidence, the medical examiners report. How could something like that help you guys move disease forward?
- [30:40]
B
We were given the redacted police report the same day that it was released to the media. So the information that you all have is the same document that we have. So we, we are limited to. To. We're limited in what we actually know was collected. We're limited as to the. The forensic evidence that was collected. There are facts that the police have that have led them into investigative avenues that, that we don't know about. It could be helpful to the community or to private investigators to follow those leads. We had conversations with their public information office as early as late as yesterday. They were notified as well as Gilbert leadership. In fact, Vice Mayor Bon Giovanni is here. They were notified about the press conference a week or so ago and we had a conversation to discuss what their potential involvement would be and heard yesterday that they would not be able to participate but would put out a statement on their social media. There's nothing else. Thank you all for coming.
- [32:17]
A
Thank you for listening. If you have any tips on the Rachel Hansen case, please call the Gilbert, Arizona Police Department or head to silentwitness.org to submit your tip. Visit our Patreon at the Creepy Book Club for early release ad free extra episodes and behind the scenes content. Music by Craig Riever Editing, production, research and writing by the Creepy Book Club.
- [32:42]
D
Sam.