Clues with Morgan Absher & Kaelyn Moore

Episode: Thanksgiving Special! Heart Starts Pounding: Cold Cases Solved This Year
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Kaelyn Moore
Special Theme: Cold cases solved through forensic breakthroughs and dogged investigation

Overview

In this Thanksgiving-themed episode, Kaelyn Moore walks listeners through three major cold cases that saw headline-making breakthroughs in 2025. From infamous, decades-old mass murders to shocking betrayals and family tragedies, these cases showcase how technology, tenacious families, and evolving investigative methods are at last providing justice – and closure – for victims and their communities. The tone is empathetic, respectful, and highly engaging, with Kaelyn reflecting on gratitude for scientific advancements and the determined people who never stop seeking answers.

Key Case 1: The Yogurt Shop Murders (Austin, Texas, 1991)

(Segment Start: 03:44)

Background

• Crime: On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls (Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, Amy Ayers) were found brutally murdered and burned in the "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" shop.
• Context: Austin was a small, relatively peaceful town at the time. The community was shaken to its core.

Initial Investigation Details

• Witnesses saw suspicious men near closing; police gathered scant physical evidence due to fire and water damage.
• Four local teenage boys (Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott) were heavily interrogated and implicated due to poorly handled and coerced confessions; no physical evidence tied them to the crime.
• Convictions ensued but were eventually overturned due to inconsistent statements and lack of evidence.

The Breakthrough

• Catalyst: The Homicide Victims’ Families Rights Act (2021) led to new mandates to re-test cold case evidence with advanced technology.
• Forensic Advances:
  • New ballistics analysis linked a .380 casing from the Austin scene to a similar unsolved case in Kentucky.
  • Partial Y-chromosome DNA from beneath a victim’s fingernails was sent around the country for manual comparison.
• Major Find: A DNA match surfaced in Greenville, South Carolina, connecting the Austin crime to another long-ago murder.

Killer Identified

• Identity: Robert Eugene Brashers – a serial killer and rapist, previously unknown to Austin detectives.
• Crimes: Multiple murders (in TX, SC, MO, FL, TN) with shocking parallels—sexual assault, victims tied with their own clothes.
• Closure: Brashers was identified posthumously (he died in 1999 after a police standoff) through genealogical DNA work, notably by CeCe Moore.

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On closure: “One of the girl’s sisters actually said that she thought she was going to die not knowing who did this. So it is amazing, amazing, that she was able to get this level of closure in her lifetime.” (Kaelyn Moore, 25:53)
• On the mood in Austin: “It was still this really open, gaping wound in the community, I would say. And I’m sure some of you can relate... from towns that also have these really visceral crimes that have remained unsolved for decades.” (Kaelyn, 27:35)
• Reflection: “As technology and DNA forensics continue to develop, it means more of these cold cases will be able to be solved.” (Kaelyn, 47:39)

Timestamps

• Case intro: 03:44
• Major breakthrough: 16:00
• Brashers revealed: 22:30
• Reflections and closure: 25:53

Key Case 2: The Murder of Aliza Sherman (Cleveland, OH, 2013)

(Segment Start: 28:11)

Background

• Crime: March 24, 2013. Aliza Sherman, a much-loved fertility nurse and mother of four, was stabbed to death in public outside her divorce attorney’s office.
• Immediate Red Flags: Video shows a hooded person fleeing; Aliza was in the midst of a bitter divorce, and had previously expressed fear for her life.

The Husband as Suspect

• A history of domestic disturbances (22 police calls); Sanford Sherman (husband) was scrutinized.
• Daughter Jennifer launched a civil suit for financial improprieties by Sanford; evidence suggested document forgery and suspicious behavior.

Investigative Stall & Break

• Despite strong circumstantial evidence, no direct physical evidence emerged against Sanford; authorities did not pursue him further.
• The case remained cold until 2021, when Attorney General David Yost’s team at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) took over.

The Attorney Becomes the Focus

• Key clues surfaced around the divorce attorney, Gregory Moore:
  • Phone disconnected from the network for three critical hours.
  • Security footage missing for 21 minutes.
  • Deleted voicemail from Aliza, never given to law enforcement.
  • Moore’s track record of elaborate schemes to delay court dates, including phoning in a bomb threat (2012).
• Investigators theorize Moore orchestrated the murder to delay proceedings.

Recent Developments

• Moore was indicted in 2025 on charges including aggravated murder, conspiracy, and kidnapping; trial set for 2026.
• Motive appears to be self-preservation through eliminating his own client to halt a challenging case.

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On documentation forgery: “She was just dehydrated the day that she gave him access to her biggest bank account.” (Kaelyn, 31:50)
• Aliza’s haunting warning: “I am really afraid he is going to have me killed.” (Kaelyn, quoting Aliza, 32:22)
• Missing security footage: “There were 21 minutes missing from the security footage from the time when Eliza must have been attacked.” (Kaelyn, 34:20)

Timestamps

• Case intro: 28:11
• BCI picks up case: 33:30
• Attorney indicted: 34:15

Key Case 3: The Murder of Doris Worrell (Douglas, GA, 2006)

(Segment Start: 38:10)

Background

• Crime: Doris Worrell was found shot to death in her husband’s sports park business; her husband John and a young nanny, Paola Yarberry, were the only witnesses.
• Initial Focus: Husband John had an alibi, and Paola claimed to witness nothing; early lead suspects were former or banned employees, but no evidence stuck.

Out-of-the-Blue Confession

• The case went cold until 2025, nearly 20 years later.
• Family Persistence: Doris’s sister, Leanne Tuggle, kept pressure on the investigation.
• Family Revelations: Leanne found out John had relocated the family to Costa Rica—and was living with Paola, the former nanny.
• Paola’s Testimony: Now an adult and finally ready to talk, Paola confessed John had planned Doris’s murder, motivated by fear of losing custody and wanting "something that couldn't be undone, something that would make his life much easier." (Kaelyn, quoting Paola, 44:13)
• John was arrested and extradited to Georgia, facing murder and conspiracy charges.
• Paola’s role: Not a perpetrator, but privy to the plan as a powerless teenager.

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On Paola’s confession: “The story that Paola told police was that there was a lot of marital turmoil between John and Doris...He was scared he was going to lose the children if he divorced Doris. And that’s when he told her that he was looking for someone who could do something that couldn’t be undone, something that would make his life much easier.” (Kaelyn, 44:13)
• On family resolve: “One of Doris’s sisters, Leanne Tuggle, refused to give up hope that she would get justice. She worked tirelessly on her sister’s case over the following 20 years, even when the police seemed to stop.” (Kaelyn, 41:52)
• On Paola's age and situation: “Honestly, calling her and John lovers doesn’t even seem right in this situation.” (Kaelyn, 44:08)

Timestamps

• Case intro and crime scene: 38:10
• Family moves and new revelations: 42:30
• Paola’s confession & arrest: 44:13

Conclusion: Reflections on Thanksgiving and Progress

(Segment Start: 47:39)

Kaelyn’s Closing Reflections

• Not all case resolutions remove the pain, but closure and answers matter profoundly.
• Advances in forensics are key to justice: “As technology and DNA forensics continue to develop, it means that more of these cold cases will be able to be solved.” (Kaelyn, 47:39)
• Thanksgiving is a time to acknowledge progress: “One of the things is the big leaps in technology made in the last few years that are helping families like this find closure.” (Kaelyn, 27:39)

Memorable Final Notes

• Kaelyn hints at more solved cases discussed in the Patreon after-show "Footnotes."
• Next week, the podcast shifts to cozy winter mysteries and dark holiday folklore.

Timestamp

• Reflection and wrap-up: 47:39–end

Memorable Quotes

• On closure:

  "I read that one of the girl's sisters actually said that she thought she was going to die not knowing who did this. So it is amazing, amazing that she was able to get this level of closure in her lifetime."
  — Kaelyn Moore (25:53)

• On persistence:

  "One of Doris’s sisters, Leanne Tuggle, refused to give up hope that she would get justice. She worked tirelessly on her sister’s case over the following 20 years, even when the police seemed to stop."
  — Kaelyn Moore (41:52)

• On technological hope:

  "As technology and DNA forensics continue to develop, it means that more of these cold cases will be able to be solved.”
  — Kaelyn Moore (47:39)

Other Noteworthy Moments

• Kaelyn references the Asha Degree case (another notorious cold case, detailed in her other podcast, Clues), expressing hope it will appear on next year's solved list.
• The episode is laced with empathy and gratitude, conscious of victim’s families and the emotional stakes.

For listeners hungry for forensic details, riveting storytelling, and hope in the darkest stories, this Thanksgiving special delivers compelling analysis and well-earned optimism for justice.