Transcript
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C (1:30)
Hi park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia d', Ambra, and the case I'm going to share with you today takes place in Prentiss Cooper State Forest in Southeast Tennessee. According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, this recreation space is about 10 miles west of the city of Chattanooga and sits right next to the Tennessee River Gorge. It became a State Forest in 1945 and ever since has been a popular destination for visitors who enjoy bird watching, hiking, one of a kind views, and camping. I visited here just a few months ago while on a trip with my family. There's a section of the forest that includes some acreage of nearby Cumberland Trail State park, so a few of the hiking trails visitors walk on meander between both of those places in the winter of 2020. Something else converged in these woods too, that would forever change the lives of several Tennessee residents from Chattanooga to Nashville. This case is not only heartbreaking, but in my opinion, it's extremely frustrating. Long after I researched it, which included reading every scrap of news coverage I could find and pulling dozens of court records, I was still left with a sense of anger that I'm not sure will ever go away. It's forced me to revisit the all too familiar questions. How well do you really know the people you keep company with? And how far will a person stretch the truth to say themselves? This is Park Predators. Around 4:15 in the morning on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, a person jogging along a gravel road known as Game Preserve Road inside Prentiss Cooper State Forest was making their way through the cool, dark pre dawn air when they noticed something coming up in front of them. About two miles past the entrance to the recreation space, parked by itself was a silver Toyota sedan, and from the looks of it, the car appeared abandoned. Now, at that moment, the runner didn't think much of the situation. I mean, they were there at that time of morning too, so maybe they figured another person was doing what they were doing and getting some exercise. So the runner just kept on and didn't report the car. A few hours later though, around 6:45am Some forestry officers working in the area clocked the park sedan too. But this time they saw something that stood out. Coming from inside the vehicle was a little bit of smoke and there was the noticeable smell of burning plastic. So naturally they approached the Toyota and tried to put out whatever was causing the smoke. But when they opened one of the car's back doors, that let in a lot of fresh oxygen and the small fire that was burning inside quickly turned into a much larger blaze. I imagine not wanting to get hurt or deal with something they didn't necessarily have the proper equipment to address. The forestry officers backed away from the car and reported what they'd found to their supervisors. About 45 minutes later, at 7:32am Firefighters from suck Creek Fire Department had arrived on scene and put out the fire. Inside the backseat of the sedan they noticed there were some towels and articles of clothing. Approximately 10 to 15 minutes after putting out the fire, the crews unearthed something disturbing. There amongst the ashes was what appeared to be a set of human remains. At that point the fire department pulled back and called the Marion County Sheriff's Office to send deputies to the scene. Officials arrived around 8:15am and shortly thereafter the Sheriff's office asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to send in some agents to assist them with the investigation. It was determined pretty quickly that the vehicle fire had been set deliberately. Investigative reports described the state of the Toyota when it was found as vandalized. So I think it's fairly safe to Say based on that description, law enforcement didn't suspect the blaze was accidental or the result of some kind of vehicle malfunction. Not long after authorities took control of the scene, they looked up the Tennessee license plate number for the vehicle and discovered that it belonged to a 22 year old man from Franklin, Tennessee named Shawn Moss. According to investigative reports, deputies tried to get in touch with Shawn in a variety of different ways but were unable to make contact with him. So for the time being, they focused on getting in touch with his loved ones and digging into his recent cell phone activity. Later that day, they removed the human remains from the car and sent them off to the office of the medical examiner for further analysis. They wanted to try and figure out who they belonged to. A natural assumption I have to think authorities made at that time was that the remains belonged to Shawn. But until the ME could confirm that for sure, they had to sit tight. Shortly after 1 o', clock, a tow truck removed Shawn's car from the state forest. And it was around that same time investigators were already well into chasing a few promising leads. According to investigative documents, they'd spoken with a few people who knew Sean and been able to figure out the last time he'd talked to Anyone was at 10:56, either the previous morning or night. But I think it was night, Wednesday, February 5th. The investigative reports don't delineate AM or PM or use military time, so I had to make some inferences just based on the overall timeline. But either way, they determined that he was said to have been in communication with and in the company of a 22 year old man from Hickson, Tennessee named Caleb Cox. Naturally, authorities quickly got a hold of Caleb, who at that time was about 40 minutes southwest of the crime scene in Jasper, Tennessee. They asked him if he'd come to the sheriff's office to talk and he agreed. But literally, while he was on his way there, authorities learned that surveillance footage from the state forest had captured something crucial to their investigation. You know that one family member who is really hard to shop for. The trouble is over. Check out Storyworth Memoirs for your loved ones this holiday season. It's a gift they won't see coming. Something that makes them feel truly special. Each week, Storyworth emails a loved one a thoughtful question to capture their life stories. Responses can be written or recorded over the phone. No apps or tech skills needed. After one year, Storyworth compiles the stories and photos into a beautifully printed full color hardcover book to preserve family memories. With new personalized questions, an easy magic editor and fresh book designs. Storyworth continues to innovate. Every week I get an email asking me a question to put into my Storyworth book, and I know that in a couple of years when me and my young son look back, we're gonna be laughing and giggling and maybe even crying a little bit when we look at some of the responses. Give your loved ones a unique keepsake you'll all cherish for years. Storyworth Memoirs right now save $10 or more during their holiday sale when you go to storyworth.com parkpredators that's storyworth.com parkpredators to save $10 or more on your order. The holidays are a time for connection, not chaos. Between baking, gifting and endless gatherings, no one wants to spend precious hours in crow grocery aisles. With Thrive Market, you can simplify the season. Get premium healthy groceries for your entire family curated and delivered to your door so you can skip the store and save your sanity this holiday season. Thrive Market makes it simple to keep things festive and healthy this season by restricting over 1000 sketchy ingredients from the side so everything you shop is high quality and trustworthy. This time of year we're hosting a lot, which is why I turn to Thrive Market because I can get all sorts of salty and sweet and crunchy delicious snacks and to keep around for myself and for company by using Thrive Market. I especially love the peanut butter and chocolate cups from Skinny Dipped. Highly recommend. Ordering is easy, delivery is easy. Go to thrivemarket.com parkpredators to get 30% off your first order and a free $60 gift. That's thrivemarket.com parkpred. According to court records, while investigators were waiting for Caleb Cox to come speak with them, they received word that Sean's Toyota had been captured on video entering Prentiss Cooper State Forest at 3:46am that very morning, which was just a few hours before forestry officers found it burning with a body inside. In addition to Sean's car, the surveillance video also showed a red Volkswagen Jetta following very closely behind his vehicle when it came into the park. In the footage, the license plate of the Volkswagen was visible enough to make out, and when investigators looked it up, they discovered that it belonged to the mother of a 22 year old woman named John Beth Holland, who was from Huntsville, Alabama. For reference, Huntsville is a little more than two hours southwest of Prentiss Cooper State Forest. And wouldn't you know it, John Beth just so happened to be dating Caleb Cox. So fairly quickly, investigators started to put a few puzzle pieces together and now they had more information to confront Caleb with when he arrived for his interview. When authorities spoke with him one on one, he started talking pretty quickly. He told investigators that he and Sean had been hanging out the previous night and gone driving along Suck Creek Road just outside of Chattanooga. He said at some point during that outing, Sean had ingested substances that caused him to overdose. And Caleb said that when he realized Shawn wasn't alive anymore, he'd panicked and called his girlfriend to assist him in covering up the situation. Together, the couple drove separately to Prentiss Cooper, with Caleb behind the wheel of Sean's car and John Beth in her mom's vehicle. And when they arrived, Caleb said he lit a few pieces of paper on fire inside Shawn's Toyota. Then he and John Beth left in her mom's car. After getting that statement from Caleb, investigators quickly went to speak with John Beth, who, according to investigative reports, did initially provide a statement to authorities, but then eventually lawyered up. The next day, February 7th, Caleb's version of what happened to Shawn completely fell apart when the office of the medical examiner informed investigators that Shawn had not died from an overdose, but instead he'd been shot multiple times and the projectiles from the bullets that killed him were still lodged in his chest cavity. So, as you would expect, authorities realized they needed to talk with Caleb a second time in light of this development. And when they confronted him with the new information, that's when he completely changed his tune. He admitted that he lied before about the overdose story and went on to explain that what really happened to Sean was a result of an argument between the two of them over narcotics. According to Caleb, he said that when he and Sean were at his place in Hixson on Wednesday night, at some point, they got into an argument over drugs, which prompted Shaun to pull a revolver on him. During the altercation, Caleb said he shot his friend in what he claimed was self defense. After the murder, he took some of Shawn's personal items and the gun he said Shawn had pulled on him out into the woods behind his apartment and hid them. Then he called his girlfriend, John Beth. After Caleb made this confession, authorities escorted him to his apartment and asked him to walk them through exactly how the killing occurred. He. While being videotaped, Caleb provided a detailed statement and reenacted how he said things went down between him and Sean. But not much about Caleb's confession could be easily corroborated. As far as authorities knew at that time, the only other person who could say for sure what went down between the two young men was Sean, and he was dead. So not much to go on there. Still, police officers with the City of Chattanooga Police Department, TBI agents and personnel of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office processed Caleb's place as a crime scene and swept it for forensic evidence. Strangely, though, when investigators with an explosive detection canine searched the woods behind Caleb's place, they never found the revolver he claimed he'd used to kill Sean. They did, however, find some things that belonged to Sean. So I imagine because of that inconsistency over the gun and the fact that Caleb had already lied to them once, investigators weren't going to take his word as gold or really trust that he was telling them the whole truth. Plus, they had more than enough probable cause to arrest him right then and there for tampering with evidence, aggravated arson, vandalism, and abuse of a corpse. They also arrested his girlfriend, John Beth, and charged her with accessory after the fact. The couple was booked at the Marion County Jail and held without bond for the time being. A few days later, John Beth's charge was upgraded to accessory after the fact to criminal homicide. And by March 10, Caleb's charges were upgraded too, and included criminal homicide. The General Sessions Court of Hamilton county took over the case and worked to gather what they needed to eventually take it before a grand jury. Court records show that Caleb was arraigned for the new charge in early March and received a $250,000 bond, which he posted and was released pending trial. John Beth posted her bond as well, which was only $10,000. As you can imagine, when Shawn's loved ones learned what had happened to him, the news was heartbreaking. His obituary, a GoFundMe page set up to benefit his mother Martha, and his social media presence, which are all still around online, show that he had a lot of people in his life who cared about him. He was described as an amazing person who was funny, kind and magnetic. He had a way of befriending strangers and making people smile. He was also an Eagle Scout and a gifted artist who specialized in glassblowing. His business, Hennessey Glass was a passion of his, and it appears he'd only been operating that business for a short while before he was murdered. Nine days after his body was found, his loved ones held a Celebration of Life service for him at his home church in Nashville. Afterwards, an event to raise funds for his family and several charities he supported was held at a local beer hall. Tributes to the slain 22 year old popped up all over online with some friends writing Facebook posts that read in part you were always comforting to others with your kind and loving presence and you may have not even known it. You will be beyond missed in our community and in this world. You didn't deserve this. My heart goes out to your wonderful family and loved ones. End quote and another stated quote I am just lost for words. You were just incredible and you always knew how to make everyone laugh. You will always hold a special place in my heart. Fly high sweet angel. I love you. I will cherish every Hennessy glass piece I ever got from you. You are so talented. Praying for your family. End quote Nearly nine months into the investigation, a grand jury in Hamilton county officially indicted Caleb for one count of first degree murder, one count of tampering with evidence, and two counts of abuse of a corpse. His girlfriend John Beth was indicted for two counts of abusing a corpse, accessory after the fact, and tampering with evidence. Much to the dismay of Shawn's loved ones, the case did not move swiftly through the criminal justice system. For the rest of 2020 and into 2021, Caleb and John Beth remained out on bond while prosecutors prepared their case for trial. In hindsight, it's no surprise to me that this scenario played out the way it did, because 2020 was truly a rough year for many courts due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Homicide cases that probably should have glided toward trial fairly fast found themselves stuck in slow motion because of the coronavirus impact on court operations. There was also issues with staffing and pretty much everything related to the criminal justice system. But even with those challenges taken into consideration, this particular case had other unusual circumstances arrive that were curveballs, so to speak. For example, in May of 2021, about 15 months after Shawn's murder, Caleb Cox and John Beth Holland got arrested again. Don't let overpriced phone bills suck the joy out of the holidays this year. Right now, all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50% off. 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