Baby For Sale / The Barrel

Summary

Cold Case Files – Episode Summary

Episode: "Baby For Sale / The Barrel"

Date: August 26, 2025
Host: Paula Barros (with narration by Marissa Pinson)
Podcast: Cold Case Files by A&E / PodcastOne

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Overview

This emotional double-feature episode explores two chilling cold cases:

1. The tragic murder of a baby girl sold for “adoption” and discarded in the Arizona desert—unraveling across decades and states, with justice ultimately secured for the victim, Francine Meegan.
2. The discovery of a mummified body inside a barrel in suburban Long Island, leading to the heartbreaking identification of Reyna Marroquin and the shocking downfall of her killer after 30 years.

Both stories spotlight the perseverance of investigators, the anguish of those left behind, and forensic breakthroughs that finally brought answers to the lost and justice to the perpetrators.

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Case 1: Baby For Sale – Francine Meegan (00:32–25:59)

Key Discussion Points & Timeline

The Discovery (00:32–03:27)

• Narration warns of content involving violence against children.
• In October 1990, rancher Alan Kessler and his young son JB find the burned body of a baby in a remote Arizona ravine.
  • JB’s chilling words: “There’s a baby, daddy.” (02:16)
• Law enforcement is called; investigators are stunned by the gruesome discovery.

The Investigation Goes Cold (03:27–06:46)

• Forensics reveal the child was a white female, approx. 10 months to 2 years old.
• “You can’t have a child that’s a year and a half old that’s suddenly missing from a family without explanation.” (05:53, Detective)
• No missing persons reports match; composite sketches yield leads, but ultimately, the child is buried as Jane Doe and the case goes cold.

An Unlikely Informant (06:46–08:27)

• In 1994, Gerardo Vasquez learns from his girlfriend about a murder—her brother-in-law killed his own baby.
  • “And that’s when she said his baby. And immediately I said, you know, we’re gonna have to tell somebody.” (07:34, Vasquez)

Reopening the Case (08:27–12:31)

• Vasquez eventually approaches police; they investigate James and Lillian Meegan.
• No records exist of their daughter, Francine, after birth. She never enrolled in school.
• Detectives find adoption paperwork connecting Francine to Valerie Jensen, an Orange County woman.

Valerie Jensen’s Story (10:19–14:28)

• Valerie and her husband had informally adopted Francine (renamed Danielle) from the Megans after being offered the baby by her biological parents due to their own financial struggles.
  • “[Francine] was the little princess around the house. Just loved to be around her brothers...” (12:31, Valerie Jensen)
• The situation turns menacing: The Megans demand more money, eventually taking the baby back after a threatening late-night visit.
  • “‘If you don’t give her back to Lillian, you’ll know what it’s like to lose one of your own.’” (13:45–14:08, Jimbo’s threat quoted by Valerie)
• Valerie last hears Danielle’s cries over the phone: “He’d put the baby on the phone, and I’d just hear her screaming and crying... calling, mama, mama, mama.” (14:28, Valerie Jensen)

The Megans Confronted (17:45–20:09)

• Police interview James and Lillian Meegan. Lillian claims the child was stolen from a casino parking lot—an account detectives find implausible.
• James physically recoils from seeing Francine’s photo, a red flag for investigators.

Building the Case (21:02–22:01)

• Detectives reach out to the public for help, gathering statements from the Megans’ former friends and associates.
• A friend reports James confessed to killing the baby after losing control: “The baby was crying. And next thing he knew, he grabbed it and shook it... Before he realized what happened, it was over.” (21:41, Marcel Peet)

Identifying the Victim (22:01–23:29)

• Coincidence connects the dots: Jackie Price reads about the case in the newspaper and alerts her husband, who works for law enforcement; DNA confirms Jane Doe is Francine Meegan.

The Truth Emerges (23:35–25:08)

• Lillian claims Francine accidentally overdosed on pain meds, but detectives doubt her account, believing James killed Francine and burned her body to conceal the crime.
• Jury convicts James Meegan of first-degree murder (life sentence, no parole); Lillian pleads guilty to negligence (18 years).

Reflections (25:37)

• Valerie Jensen’s remorse: “She wasn’t given a chance, you know, she deserved to be loved and to grow up... they took that from her for absolutely no reason.” (25:37, Valerie Jensen)

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Case 2: The Barrel – Reyna Marroquin (25:59–39:24)

Key Discussion Points & Timeline

A Barrel’s Dark Secret (25:59–27:31)

• In Jericho, Long Island (1999), real estate agent Peter Coconos is asked to help remove an old steel drum from a crawl space.
• The unbearable smell leads to police discovering a female body inside, preserved by chemicals.

Forensics and Initial Leads (27:31–29:30)

• The victim is a pregnant woman (almost 9 months) who died from blunt force trauma; clues in the barrel point to the late 1960s.
• A corroded address book is found inside her purse—it becomes the critical clue for identification.

House History and the Plastic Factory (29:30–31:44)

• Detectives trace the barrel to a plastic flower factory once owned by Howard Elkins, a former resident.
• Former colleague Mel Gantman recalls Elkins had an affair with a beautiful immigrant “from the islands”—mirroring the body found.

Motive and Identification (31:44–35:16)

• Classic motive: “One of the prime movers in homicides is a married guy who has his girlfriend pregnant... She’s dead. She winds up under his house.” (31:52, Detective)
• Drying and spectrally scanning the address book reveals a resident alien number, leading to a name and a photograph: the victim is Reyna Marroquin, a Salvadoran immigrant, 25, missing since 1969.

Confronting the Suspect (35:16–36:59)

• Detectives question Elkins in Florida. He admits an affair but denies knowing about a murder or pregnancy, refusing a DNA test.
• Detectives warn: “We’re going to take a sample of your blood... and we’re going to put you in jail for the rest of your life. You understand that, Mr. Elkins?” (36:44, Detective)

A Shocking End (37:07–37:56)

• Before police can get DNA by court order, Elkins dies by suicide.
• Post-mortem DNA confirms Elkins as the father of Reyna’s unborn child; the case is closed.

Aftermath and Family (38:13–39:24)

• A final cryptic note—“Don’t be mad. I told the truth.” (38:13, found in Reyna’s address book)

• Oscar Corral, a reporter, travels to El Salvador to inform Reyna’s family, who finally gain closure after decades. Her remains and those of her baby are returned home for burial.

  • “Breaking the news to them was like breaking the news to somebody whose family member has been killed the day before. I mean, it was that fresh in their minds...” (39:09, Oscar Corral)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You can’t have a child that’s a year and a half old that’s suddenly missing from a family without explanation.”
  — Detective (05:53)

• “If you don’t give her back to Lillian, you’ll know what it’s like to lose one of your own.”
  — Quoting James “Jimbo” Meegan’s threat (13:45, Valerie Jensen)

• “She wasn’t given a chance...they took that from her for absolutely no reason.”
  — Valerie Jensen, grieving “adoptive” mother (25:37)

• “One of the prime movers in homicides is a married guy who has his girlfriend pregnant...”
  — Detective (31:52)

• “Don’t be mad. I told the truth.”
  — Found message in Reyna Marroquin’s address book (38:13)

• “Breaking the news to them was like breaking the news to somebody whose family member has been killed the day before.”
  — Oscar Corral, journalist (39:09)

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Structural Timeline & Timestamps

• 00:32–14:28: Francine Meegan’s short life: discovery, informal “adoption,” extortion, and disappearance.
• 14:28–23:29: Case reopens; key evidence and confessions; body identification via DNA.
• 23:29–25:59: Arrests, prosecution, sentencing, and reflections.
• 25:59–29:19: Discovery of the barrel; forensic findings and address book clue.
• 29:19–35:16: Tracing barrel origins, suspect identification, and victim’s background.
• 35:16–37:56: Confrontation; suspect’s suicide; DNA confirmation and closure.
• 38:13–39:24: Aftermath, family outreach, and final resting place.

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Tone & Language

The episode is marked by somber, reflective storytelling, direct language from witnesses and investigators, and moments of raw emotion—especially among those who fought to solve these crimes or still carry their memory. The tone is factual with moments of deep empathy and understated horror at the details uncovered.

Transcript

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Hi, Cold Case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files, as well as the A and E classic podcast, I Survived, American justice and City Confidential, are all available ad free on the new A and E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just 4.99amonth or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show. This episode contains stories involving violence against children. Listener discretion is advised.

[Valerie Jensen]

He had asked us if it was a girl, if we would take her, if we would take her and raise her as our own. I started getting phone calls and you know, Lillian wants the baby back. She changed her mind and I said, that's not an option anymore. All I remember of that night was were Jimbo's words. If you don't give her back to Lillian, you'll know what it's like to lose one of your own. He put the baby on the phone and I just hear her screaming and crying and crying, you know, calling, mama, mama, Mama.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

This was an upper middle class Long island neighborhood where the homes were luxury homes. There's no crime. That's why everybody wants to come and live out here.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Toward the rear, There is a 22 by 24 foot crawl space. He crawled all the way to the back of the crawl space. He saw the barrel. I saw what appeared to be a human hand and a foot.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Foreign.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

It's October 9, 1990, in Orm Ranch, Arizona. Alan Kessler is a Rancher responsible for 600 head of cattle on a 26,000 acre ranch in 1990. His son JB is 5 years old. About an hour into their day, Alan Kessler's horse pulls up before a shallow ravine. Allen looks down and notices a dark object lying among the rocks.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

I just assumed it was a doll. It had been burned. It was black and was kind of shiny and it was sitting up there. But my son said, there's a baby daddy.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

JB is now 20 years old.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

She's laying on a little ledge of rock with her head kind of facing us. There were still some kind of shreds.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Of clothes on her. It's not rational. It doesn't make sense. Why would you come across a burned baby? I mean, we see some strange things out here sometimes, but you just don't see burned babies laying around.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Allen and JB call the local authorities. Yavapai county sheriff's investigators Ernie Cox and Frank Valentine respond to the ranch.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

I see a charred body of a little infant that may be a year and a half, two years old. It has its hand up in the air, and it's like looking up into heaven. You think that maybe the baby was alive, trying to cry, trying to ask for some help or something.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Cox and Valentine notice the crime scene is located near a freeway turnoff, a popular stopping point for passing motorists.

[Detective / Investigator]

It was popular to dump trash for some of the locals, illegal dumps. So we started looking for tire tracks, footprints, anything that would give us a clue as to who had come and gone.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Valentine locates a set of tire tracks and the impression of a cowboy boot still fresh in the Arizona clay.

[Detective / Investigator]

The vehicle pulled in and stopped. You can see where it stopped. Somebody stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle wearing a large cowboy boot.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Valentine believes the owner of the footprint to be the killer. To begin searching for the boot print's owner, investigators start by examining the corpse of the child. Dr. Philip Keene is the medical examiner for Yavapai County. In 1990, he conducts roughly 70 autopsies, very few involving the murder of an infant. Keene looks for any identifying features.

[Detective / Investigator]

We were able to establish that this.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Was a female, that it was Anglo, and we estimated this child was anywhere.

[Detective / Investigator]

From 10 months up to maybe a.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Year and a half or two years of age.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Investigators tell Keene they are especially interested in putting a name to their victim. Keene, however, offers little in the way of hope.

[Detective / Investigator]

Visual is not reliable. Fingerprints are reliable, but they are not kept on file for people under the age of 8 in the state of Arizona. Dental records are fine, but they're not very good in children who are still.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

In the process of erupting teeth through the gums.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Keene takes an inked impression of the infant's feet for his vials and draws blood for a possible DNA comparison sometime in the future. He determines that the child was burned postmortem. Unsure of how the victim was killed, Keene marks the case of death as an undetermined homicide and completes his autopsy with more questions than answers.

[Detective / Investigator]

Your mind has to rush to all.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

The possibilities of who is this child?

[Detective / Investigator]

Why is this child abandoned in the.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

High desert as it was, and what.

[Detective / Investigator]

Is the story that is behind this child's demise?

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Keene labels the victim baby Jane Doe and sends a copy of his medical report to investigators and hopes for someone to provide some answers. Inside a small office, investigators Valentine and Cox cull through piles of missing Persons reports looking for their baby Jane Doe.

[Detective / Investigator]

You can't have a child that's a year and a half old that's suddenly missing from a family without explanation. It just, you know, it's something that's going to turn up.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Medical reports are circulated and a composite sketch of the child is developed, generating plenty of leads but little in the way of real information.

[Detective / Investigator]

We had leads from all over the place, none of them panned out. But that's kind of the price you pay. That's what you get when you, when you put out a shotgun information, try to get as much as you can. One of those could, you just never know.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

You get upset and trying to figure out where do we go, there's somebody out there knows something and we need to, we need to make contact with them somehow and get them to tell us any little thing so that we can go on further and find out.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Who this child is and who's the responsible party of this death.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Two months after she was first found in a ravine, baby Jane Doe remains unidentified. Her body is buried at a local cemetery and the investigation into her case goes cold. Four years later, Gerardo Vasquez is 38 years old, an amateur boxer and a social worker in Tulare County, California. In the summer of 1994, Vasquez also finds himself in a relationship with a woman who has a burden she needs to share.

[Detective / Investigator]

She mentioned that she knew of a murder that had taken place. And I go, who did the killing? You know, and she said, my brother in law. And then she quieted down again and I could see her tensing up.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Determined to learn more, Vasquez presses his girlfriend for information.

[Detective / Investigator]

I asked her who did he kill? And that's when she said his baby. And immediately I said, you know, we're gonna have to tell somebody.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Over the next 18 months, Vasquez talks with his girlfriend, wearing down her resolve and gathering more information. Her brother in law's name is James Megan. According to Vasquez's girlfriend, Megan and his wife Lillian tried to sell their child for adoption in Las Vegas. By January of 1996, Vasquez feels like he has gotten all the information he can and is ready to go to police.

[Detective / Investigator]

I knew that I was starting on a difficult journey and that there was.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

No script for this journey.

[Detective / Investigator]

I didn't know what the outcome was going to be. All I knew is what the next thing was, what I was going to have to do. I was going to have to report it and I was going to have.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

To let the cars fall where they.

[Detective / Investigator]

Do, but I felt like I didn't have a choice.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

On January 11, 1996, Sergeant Ken Hefner of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department receives a call.

[Detective / Investigator]

We get information like that quite often. We get calls almost on a daily basis. People wanting to report homicides, sometimes with very vague information on very old situations.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

According to Vasquez, James and Lillian Meegan tried to sell their daughter for adoption in 1990. When the scheme turned sour, the Megans took their daughter back and allegedly killed her. Armed with this information, Hefner runs a background check on the family.

[Detective / Investigator]

I did some research and saw that there was a child, a female child named Francine, born to them at the right time frame.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Hefner follows the paper trail to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, where he finds no evidence of Francine Meegan's death. Then Hafner polls the local school district looking for evidence she ever attended grammar school.

[Detective / Investigator]

Francine was not in school. She was born. She should be in school. She isn't in school. We can't authenticate that she had died in some proper or reported way at.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

This point, because we know that the child was actually born and never made it to school. Years later, when it became school age, we have serious concerns that the story's gonna pan out to be true.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detective Tom Thousand works the case with Hefner. He unearths adoption papers for a Francine Meekin filed six years earlier. The family seeking custody of the girl was an Orange county couple named Dennis and Valerie Jensen. On January 22, Detective Thousand finds Valerie Jensen living and working in Southern California. He greets Jensen at her job, asking pointed questions about the Megans and their child Francine, an infant Valerie Jensen knows as Danielle.

[Valerie Jensen]

I'll tell you, that's the weirdest feeling when you have homicide detectives coming to your work, wanting to see you. First thing that they asked me was, when was the last time that I saw Danielle?

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

As detectives, listen, Valerie Jensen takes them back seven years to the day she got a phone call from her good friends James and Lily and Megan with an unusual proposal.

[Valerie Jensen]

It's Jimbo or James. And he was saying, you know, Lillian's gonna have a baby. And he had asked us if it was a girl, if we would take her, if we would take her and raise her as our own.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

As unconventional as James Offer was, Valerie took delight in the possibility of adding a baby girl to her family of five.

[Valerie Jensen]

We couldn't have any more kids at the time, and we were gonna. We were a family of boys. I wanted a daughter. I did. And this was just the too good to be true type situation.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Seven months later, Valerie Jensen got a second call. This time it was Lillian Meekin on the other end of the line.

[Valerie Jensen]

I answered the phone, and she says, come pick up your daughter. Okay. You're kidding. No, come pick up your daughter. He's waiting for you.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Valerie tells police she and her husband traveled to Las Vegas, where they found James and Lillian Meegan living in a motel room far removed from the bright lights of the city.

[Valerie Jensen]

It wasn't like the nicest place. It was sad. The baby was laying on a bed by herself, and I picked her up and she was just. That was. Was over. I knew that she was gonna go home with us.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

According to Valerie, the Jensen struck a deal with James and Lillian Meegan in exchange for custody of baby Francine. They agreed to help the Meekins get back on their feet financially. Valerie wrote a check for $1,000 and made arrangements to purchase a car and home for the Meekins. The Jensens then headed back to California with a new addition to their family, a newborn baby girl renamed Danielle Nicole Jensen.

[Valerie Jensen]

She was the little princess around the house. Just loved to be a around her brothers and got so excited when she'd see her dad. And she was just something else. She was definitely a blessing.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

For three months, the custody arrangement worked fine. Then what seemed to be a blessing turned into a nightmare. It began with calls from Lillian Meekin asking questions about the child.

[Valerie Jensen]

It started getting kind of tense, the constant communication with Lillian and, you know, placing demands. And all of a sudden, now you're going to try and start telling me how to raise this child, and that wasn't what I was going to do.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

According to Valerie, James then began to call. At first, he was polite, then insistent. Lillian wanted her baby back, and money was the only thing that could keep her quiet.

[Valerie Jensen]

So basically, what they were saying is, we need money, and Lillian's changing her mind. But if you say, send us some money, I can talk Lillian out of changing her mind.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

The Jensens refused to pay any more money to the Meaghans. Four weeks later, in the middle of the night, they got a knock at their front door.

[Valerie Jensen]

There stands Lillian. And Lillian comes in and she says, I came to pick up my baby. I want my baby. And I said, no, no. And all I remember of that night were Jimbo's words. If you don't give her back to Lillian, you'll know what it's like to lose one of your own.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Openly afraid of her former friends, Valerie Jensen handed over Danielle. It was the last time she would ever see her, but not the last time she would hear her. As Valerie explains to Detective Thousand, she heard Danielle's voice at least one more time on the phone. In September of 1990, Jimbo would call.

[Valerie Jensen]

And he'd put the baby on the phone, and I'd just hear her screaming and crying and crying, you know, calling, mama, mama, mama. And he just was irate. She won't shut up. All she does is cry.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Investigators digest Valerie Jensen's story and believe it, leading them to an inescapable conclusion. Unable to wring any more money out of the adoption scheme and stuck with a daughter he did not want, James Megan took the short way out and killed his own child. But without a body, how do Cold case detectives prove it? They decided to visit James Megan and bring a picture of his daughter.

[Detective / Investigator]

He virtually just recoiled from the picture. Anybody reading that body language would say, you know, some something's wrong here.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

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[Detective / Investigator]

We're standing across the street from 4000, 480 El Oro, which was the house the Megan family was living in at the time that this investigation came to.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Fruition on February 13th. Detectives Ken Hefner and Tom Thousand ask Lillian Megan if she and her husband have a moment to talk.

[Detective / Investigator]

Lillian's demeanor was immediate and profound. She just began to slump, drop her shoulders, drop her head. It looked like the weight of the world had just crashed down upon her.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

When you walk into the Meegan household, you have a full understanding that James Megan rules with an iron fist. The first thing you see hanging on the wall between the living room and the kitchen is a very well worn thing, thick leather belt that is so worn in that it hangs perfectly flat on both sides around the nail.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detectives question James and Lillian Megan separately about their daughter Francine, who the Megans allegedly sold to an Orange county couple in 1989 and who investigators now believe has been murdered. Lillian tells detectives her daughter has been missing for more than six years and that she was kidnapped out of a parking lot of a local casino.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Leaves the baby in the car while she goes inside to cash a check and when she comes out, the baby's gone. And when they ask her why she didn't report this to the police, she just tries to explain that she was worried about the scrutiny and never told the police. The story is completely unbelievable that she would have her child taken from her vehicle at a casino and not report to anybody.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Lillian's story might be unbelievable, but it is more Than what James Megan offers police when asked about his daughter.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

He couldn't give you an answer to anything. He'd refer us back to Lillian, which would make no sense. If you had a child and it was stolen out of a car and your wife was the one that had it when it happened, certainly you'd have a conversation with her at some point where you'd know every detail about it.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Then Ken Hefner takes out a photo of Francine and puts it on the table in front of her father.

[Detective / Investigator]

He turned sharply to his right. Just was so fearful of looking back and seeing that photo. So we knew then anybody reading that body language would say, you know, something's wrong here.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Something is indeed wrong. But without a body or some idea of what might have happened to Francine Meegan, cold case detectives are forced to wait.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

We believe that the child is dead. We believe that this has happened. The judge, James, has killed this child and done something with the body. And we're going to keep a surveillance on the house to see what's going on with James Megan and see what he does next.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

What James Megan does next is try to leave town. In the early morning hours of February 14, 1996, a surveillance team tracks the Meagans heading out of Las Vegas.

[Detective / Investigator]

We ended up stopping the Meagans as they're about to head out of town, which I'm sure just was another situation to them that just shocked them back into reality. You're not going anywhere. You're not going to slip out in the early morning hours and drift away, and this thing's going to just be forgotten.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detectives have enough to hold James Megan on a charge of murder, but not nearly enough to support a conviction. Cold case detectives decide to reach out to the public.

[Detective / Investigator]

And we're looking for the help of people who knew the Meaghans who may have lived next door to the Meaghans, who. Who may have heard what they may have said on this issue to come forward and help us.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

It doesn't take long before neighbors and friends of the Meaghans line up to offer detectives any information that may help the case. According to Marcel peet, a friend of James Megan, he and Megan had a conversation that turned into a confession to.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Murder in some kind of car accident. His leg was messed up. He was on medication for the pain, and. And the baby was crying. And next thing he knew, he grabbed it and shook it.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Before he realized what happened.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

It was over. He didn't know what to do. He was scared.

[Detective / Investigator]

That was huge. I mean, that's Kind of evidence that is very damning when your best friend comes forward and you could tell the man took no great pleasure in telling us what he did, but it was the truth and he was going to get it out.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Pete's information advances the case against James Megan significantly. Cold case detectives, however, realize they're still missing a significant piece of the story. If Meegan killed his daughter, what did he do with the body? And where is it now? Meanwhile, in Prescott, Arizona, schoolteacher Jackie Price sits down with her husband Dennis and reads the newspaper over breakfast on the.

[Valerie Jensen]

Second page of the Prescott Courier.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

A little story caught my eye that.

[Valerie Jensen]

Said that a man had been arrested.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

And was in jail, but they couldn't find the body of his daughter that was missing. Jackie remembers reading about the body of a baby found burned in the Arizona desert six years earlier. Price shares details of the news article with her husband Dennis, who happens to work at the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

My wife said, you know, that's your baby. I know that's your baby. And I kind of said, what? And she said, the baby you guys found, you know, this.

[Detective / Investigator]

I'm sure that that is the baby.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

And I said, you know, I don't think so. You know, what are the odds?

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

I thought, no, you're wrong. This, this is really connected. I felt very, very strongly about that. Jackie's husband agreed to to put a call into the Las Vegas Police Department. DNA later confirms what Jackie Price already knows, that Francine Megan is indeed baby Jane Doe.

[Detective / Investigator]

Nothing in this job shocks me anymore. Surprise. Yeah, we were pleasantly surprised that the information got out and we had her body.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Cold case detectives believe James Megan to be their killer and decide to confront his wife, Lillian. Faced with the evidence of Francine's remains, Lillian. Lillian is willing to talk about how her daughter died. According to Lillian, her husband James brought an almost lifeless Francine to her arms, claiming that the child had gotten into some pain medication James had been taking for his broken leg.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Lillian said she tried to do CPR and the baby basically dies in her arms. They decide at that point they're going to take the baby out of the house. So she puts the baby in, in some clothes and puts the baby inside a suitcase, puts the suitcase in their car.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Lillian says that they then traveled to Arizona looking for a spot to dump the body of their one year old. Just off I17, the couple found a turnout and pulled over.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

James takes Francine out of the suitcase, puts her on the ground, pours gasoline on her and sets her on fire. And I remember Lillian commenting that she couldn't watch so she didn't want to look and asked that they drive away and they didn't stay to watch to make sure that the body burned up.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Cold case detectives don't believe Lillian's story of an accidental overdose, believing it to be a last desperate attempt to save her husband from a charge of murder.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Clearly, if he admitted that he picked up the baby and shook it, he'd be admitting to murdering the child as opposed to just having some medication that the child gotten into, which she was trying to do at that point.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

On August 20, a jury renders its judgment on how Francine Meeken died and who was responsible. Her father, James, is convicted on a single count of first degree murder and is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Francine's mother, Lillian, pleads guilty to negligence and receives a sentence of 18 years. The meekins former friend, Valerie Jensen, who once called Francine her daughter, laments the senseless loss of an innocent child.

[Valerie Jensen]

She wasn't given a chance, you know, she deserved to be loved and to grow up and to be with her family, and they took that from her for absolutely no reason.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

On the afternoon of September 2, 1999, in the township of Jericho, Long island real estate agent Peter Coconos heads to the home of a client. He has asked Kokonos to help dispose of a 55 gallon drum, one that has rested in the crawl space of the client's home since before he moved in nine years earlier.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

When he purchased it, he saw the drum and, you know, he tried to.

[Detective / Investigator]

Move it but he couldn't lift it.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

So he rolled it back and he.

[Detective / Investigator]

Left it and I guess he forgot all about it.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Coconos and the homeowner decide to see what's inside. They get a screwdriver and pry open the sealed lid.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

We got a little surprised because I looked inside, there was another drum upside down, which it was deteriorating, it was corroding. And then we start smelling an awful smell.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Not entirely sure of what they have discovered, the men close the lid and call the police. Within minutes, Nassau county police arrive and confirm there is a human body inside the barrel. Detective Sergeant Robert Edwards and Detective Brian Parpan are called to the scene.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

When we got here, the barrel was almost directly in front of this tree. It was on the street. It was almost directly in front of the tree where they had left it for the garbage. We sealed the drum up, called the medical examiner's office, made the notifications we had to make to move the drum into the medical examiner's office for a further inspection and autopsy.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

On the morning of September 3rd, Dr. Gerard Catanese begins the process of extracting the body from the metal drum. After draining off a green industrial liquid and removing thousands of small plastic pellets, Catanese finally gets to the human remains.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

She was a female. She was of a young age. We had felt 20 to 30 the day of the autopsy. She was either white or Hispanic. We weren't sure.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

These were the first things that we picked up.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Catanese X rays the body and discovers that the victim was nearly nine months pregnant at the time of her death. A death caused by blunt force trauma to the skull. The barrel's airtight seal has completely mummified the remains, making fingerprint identification impossible. The victim's dated clothing, however, suggests her death occurred not months, but years earlier.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

The first clues came when we started.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

To see the personal effects. And some of the items looked like they had dated back to the 60s.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Alongside the body, Katney finds a small purse. Inside it is an address book, the detective's best chance of identifying their victim.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Now, nothing in there was readable at the time. You have to understand that both the pocketbook, the address book was saturated not only in her own body fluids, but also in this green liquid.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detective Parpan hands the address book off to Detective Joan Fertner. A forensic document in when paper gets.

[Valerie Jensen]

Wet, it becomes very fragile. And so I was very delicate with it and I couldn't really manipulate it or open the paper too much because I didn't want to cause any damage.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Fertner places the address book in a drying cabinet, hoping as moisture leaves the pages that the victim's handwriting will emerge.

[Valerie Jensen]

And then I ended up taking a very flexible, small plastic ruler with rounded edges, and I use that to try to separate the pages in the address book.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

While the examiner tries to coax a clue from the book, Detectives Parpan and Edwards dig into the history of the house where the body was found, identifying four different owners in the past 30 years. One owner in particular catches Detective Parpan's eye.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

And then as we were interviewing, interviewing and going back through the owners of the home, we were told that Howard Elkins had been involved in a plastic flour company.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Howard Elkins owned the house from 1959 through 1972. Elkins worked in plastics manufacturing, a profession that fits well with the contents of the barrel. Parpin and Edwards traced numbers printed on the barrel to a defunct company which in the 1970s frequently sold barrels to Elkins Plastics Factory.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

It didn't take a real Rocket scientist to come up with the fact we had to talk to him.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Cold case detectives trace Howard Elkins to Hallandale Beach, Florida, where a former partner of Elkins, Mel Gantman, gives them their first hint as to the identity of their woman in the barrel.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

She had that long hair and she had that exotic look. You know, she came from the islands and very, very attractive. She would get a second look.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

According to Gantman, the barrel comes from a plant he once operated with Howard Elkins. Colt case detectives ask Gantman if he has any idea how a young pregnant woman might have wound up inside the barrel and under Elkins former Long island home. Gantman tells detectives the company used to manufacture plastic flowers using young immigrant women as line workers. One of them gave Gantman claims became involved with Elkins.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

It did indicate that he was aware that at one time Howard Elkins had had an affair. And we asked him if he could describe the girl. She had that long hair and she had that exotic look. You know, she came from the islands and very, very attractive. She would get a second look. It was somewhat easier because she said she was very attractive, very small. She had long black hair. And this, of course, is exactly what we were looking at from the body that was recovered from the barrel.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Gantman isn't able to provide detectives with the girl's name, but his information does fill in the blanks as to why she was probably killed.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

Well, one of the prime movers in homicides is a married guy who has his girlfriend pregnant. Here we have a. A pregnant woman. You know, this is likely the boyfriend. She's dead. She winds up under his house. I mean, that was certainly the scenario that we were looking at.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

While Parpan and Edwards endeavor to establish a motive, their partners back in New York work on IDing the victim. A job that eventually finds its way to the Nassau county crime lab. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Okay, I have to say, lately it feels like the Internet is drowning us in wellness advice. One day it's cold plunges, the next it's screen detoxes. And then it's three different morning routines you're supposed to follow. Honestly, I've gone down those rabbit holes before, bookmarking a million self care tips, only to feel more overwhelmed than I was when I started. It's exhausting trying to figure out what actually works for you. That's why therapy is such a different experience. Instead of getting lost in all the noise, you're talking to a real professional who helps you sort through it. Making sense of your thoughts, giving you tools that actually fit your life. For me, therapy has been more about learning coping skills and setting boundaries than anything dramatic, and that's been life changing on its own. BetterHelp makes it so much easier to access that kind of support. They're the world's largest online therapy platform with over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than 5 million people served globally. You can connect at the click of a button. Switch therapists anytime, and sessions are just as convenient as opening your laptop or phone. And they work. Sessions average a 4.9 out of 5 rating from over 1.7 million reviews. So if you've been wanting to prioritize your mental health but you're tired of the endless trial and error advice cycle, BetterHelp is the place to start. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with better help Our listeners get 10% off their first [e-mail] Coldcase that's betterhelp.com Cold Case Cold Case Files is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home in auto policies. The process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. After drying out the pages of the address book, forensic document examiner Joan Fertner sees some faint writing has become visible but is not yet readable.

[Valerie Jensen]

I brought it down to my examination room and used a video spectral comparator, the VSC 2000, and that allowed me to look through the infrared and ultraviolet ranges of the spectrum outside of the range that the eye can normally see.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Fertner scans each piece of script and begins to decipher what she believes to be the victim's handwriting.

[Valerie Jensen]

On one side of the page it said Social Security number, which was written down, and on the opposite page it said Residency. It was a resident alien number, and that was listed on the other side. And when I saw that, I just said, wow.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

The resident alien number leads police to Immigration and then to a name and photograph of the woman they believe to be their victim. She is Reyna Marroquin. Reyna was 25 years old in 1966 when she immigrated to New York from El Salvador. Armed with this Final piece of information. Detectives decide it's time to talk to Howard Elkins about his old girlfriend. At 4pm detectives Parpan and Edwards knock on Elkins front door in Boca Raton, Florida and sit down for a chat.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

But he disavowed any knowledge whatsoever of anything to do with it. The items that we had just been convinced by Mr. Gantman, the barrel, for example, indicated that no, they never had a barrel like that.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Parpan asks Elkins if he ever dated a worker at his factory.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

And he told us that he did have an affair, but he couldn't even describe the girl. We asked him if he had ever put her up anywhere or if she was pregnant. And of course, his answers, they were no.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detectives Parpan and Edwards believe Elkins is lying and hope to use science to prove it. They want to compare Elkins genetic signature to DNA extracted from the unborn fetus found inside Reina Marroquine. If Elkins can be determined to be the unborn child's father, the case against him seems certain. When asked to provide a sample for testing, however, Elkins refuses and asks detectives to leave.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

So we'll be back and we're going to have a court order. We're going to take a sample of your blood and we're going to match it up to the blood in that dead baby and that dead woman and we're going to put you in jail for the rest of your life. You understand that, Ms. Ellington? And he just nodded his head and we left the house.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

The next day, Parpan and Edwards begin processing paperwork to obtain blood samples. When a call comes in from the Nassau County Detective Bureau.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

One of the detectives in the office asked me if we had Mr. Elkins in our custody. I said of course not. Why? He said that the police department from Florida had just called our homicide squad indicating that Mrs. Elkins was making him a missing person.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

By the time Parpin and Edwards arrive at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Mr. Elkins has been found. Earlier in the day, the 70 year old walked into a Walmart store, purchased a 12 gauge shotgun and a box of shells. He then got into the backseat of a neighbor's SUV and fired one shot into his skull.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

He didn't face this the last time and I don't think he was going to face at this time. I guess that he felt was his only way out.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Post mortem DNA testing establishes Elkins to be the father of Reina Marroquin's unborn child.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

He was the father of the fetus and that I felt gave us the motive. He had the opportunity and that really closed the case for us.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Detective Joan Fertner adds a final piece of evidence found folded in the back of Merokeen's address book.

[Valerie Jensen]

I took the sheet of plastic and put it over and then traced the image from the screen. And when I read the image, the words on it said, don't be mad.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

I told the truth with that cryptic message. The tangled love affair between Elkins and Marroquin comes to a close, bookended by the murder of mother and unborn child. But who was Reina Marroquin? Thirty years later, New York reporter Oscar Corral is searching the small towns of El Salvador for the Marroquin family.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Newsday made the decision to send me down to El Salvador to try to track down the family on a wild goose chase after 30 years. And it took us a couple days, but we eventually found them.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

Corral locates the home of Reyna's mother, 94 year old Arcelia Marroquin. It falls to the reporter to fill in the family on what happened 30 years prior.

[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

Breaking the news to them was like breaking the news to somebody whose family member has been killed the day before. I mean, it was that fresh in their minds. It was that fresh of a wound in their hearts. They wanted to put this behind them. They wanted to know what happened to Reyna and they found out.

[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

The following month, 30 years after she died, the remains of Reyna Marroquin and her unwanted baby are returned to Reyna's family and find a final resting place in her hometown of San Martin, El Salvador.

[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

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[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

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[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

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[Narrator / Host (Marissa Pinson)]

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[Detective / Investigator]

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[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

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[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

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[Investigator / Detective / Reporter]

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[Detective / Medical Examiner / Investigator]

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