Daphne Hope (8 of Spades, Colorado)

Summary

The Deck Podcast: "Daphne Hope (8 of Spades, Colorado)"

Host: Ashley Flowers (audiochuck)
Episode Date: February 18, 2026

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Overview

This episode of The Deck investigates the cold case of Daphne Hope, a 34-year-old woman from Colorado who vanished in the summer of 2001. The case, initially mishandled and almost lost in police files, is revisited by Ashley Flowers and Detective Jason McDonald from the Aurora Police Department. The episode reconstructs Daphne's last known movements, explores troubling leads—including possible ties to organized crime and a convicted serial killer—and highlights systemic issues that have slowed progress. The team also speaks with Daphne’s family, painting a nuanced portrait of her life and the enduring impact of her disappearance.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

The Initial Disappearance (01:04–07:09)

• The Case Reopens: In 2008, Aurora PD receives a missing persons case from Denver PD that had received little attention for seven years.
• Family's Search:
  • Maureen, Daphne’s cousin, is the first to look for her, discovering only Brian—a friend—at Daphne’s home (03:51).
  • Initial suspicions: A “drug deal gone bad” relayed by Daphne’s boyfriend, Gary Sterling, to Maureen.
• Police Response:
  • Both the Aurora and Denver police departments are contacted in close succession, but the case is poorly documented and action seems cursory.

The Investigation Stalls (07:09–22:01)

• Detective Connor’s Challenges:
  • He treats the 7-year-old case like a fresh missing persons case, starting with family interviews (07:09).
  • Family confirms Daphne had a history with drug use and sex work but stress she would never abandon her son.
    • “Daphne would have never chosen to leave her son unless it kept him safe... being a mom was the thing she was most proud of in her life.” —Michelle Quattlebaum (08:15)
• Gary’s Account:
  • Gary claims last seeing Daphne after driving a friend, Sadie, home, returning to find Daphne missing but her purse left behind (11:32).
  • He later volunteers a peculiar anecdote about being seen digging in his backyard—a detail he offers unsolicited (17:08).
• Rumored Theories:
  • Multiple rumors surface:
    • Daphne possibly taken by organized crime figures (“traded as currency”—15:59)
    • Hiding in witness protection (17:08; ultimately debunked through FBI/DA checks by Detective McDonald)
    • Foul play or accidental disappearance
• Physical Evidence Vacuum:
  • Despite a thorough 2008 search of Gary’s property with ground-penetrating radar, no remains or unequivocal evidence were found.
    • “Gary had pretty much provided everything he could. He gave that long written statement, he allowed us into his house... He didn't know where Daphne was.” —Det. McDonald (21:49)

Serial Killer Theory & Dead Ends (22:01–29:34)

• Connection to Richard White:
  • Serial killer Richard White operated in the area during the same period, targeting women along notorious Colfax Avenue (22:21).
  • After a letter to White, he responds tersely:
    • “I did not kidnap or kill anyone in 2001. I have no information concerning this or any other missing persons case. Happy hunting, RP White.” (28:14)
  • No evidence implicates White, but police can't formally rule him out.
    • “I wouldn't rule him out. I can't rule anybody out right now.” —Det. McDonald (29:15)
• The Case Grows Cold:
  • With leads exhausted and some witnesses (like Brian) deceased or untraceable, the case stagnates (29:34).

Race, Sex Work, and Systemic Bias (30:01–32:21)

• Family’s Frustration:
  • Michelle Quattlebaum expresses frustration over law enforcement's slow response, believing race played a part.
    • “If she were a white woman, it would not have taken...this long to learn about her story.” (30:01)
  • Michelle also discusses societal perceptions of Black women and sex work victims, referencing firsthand experiences with trafficked individuals.
    • “Society looks at black women. We can't be victims. And that's just not the truth.” (30:46)
• Personal Memories:
  • Michelle shares Daphne’s life as a charismatic, talented hairstylist who, after turning to sex work, appeared less stable and disappeared from family sight (31:33, 32:05).
  • In their last phone call, Daphne was striving for sobriety and a fresh start (32:32).

Renewed Interest & Continuing Obstacles (33:24–41:12)

• Recent Developments (2025 onward):
  • Podcast coverage prompts renewed attention; Detective McDonald rigorously rechecks all original leads (34:07).
    • Verifies Daphne was never in witness protection, cross-checks DNA against unidentified remains (35:00), and re-interviews Gary (35:37).
  • Finds that key witnesses’ identities remain elusive (e.g., "Sadie," "Pablo," "Jackie"), and some have died.
  • Cadaver Dog Search:
    • McDonald brings dogs to Gary’s former property; the dogs alert at two spots (yard and near the kitchen stairs), prompting plans for further investigation (37:08).
• Gary Remains a Person of Interest:
  • Gary has never been arrested or charged, maintains he loved Daphne—“She remains in my heart. Even after all these years. I still love her and I miss her.”
• Family’s Ongoing Grief:
  • Daphne’s son and mother still hope for closure. Her mother, Kariya, recounts a mysterious phone call years after the disappearance:
    • “I heard a voice, and she said, mama. I said, Daphne. And then...had to get off...That’s the last I heard.” —Kariya, Daphne’s mother (38:55)
• Investigative Hopes:
  • Police still seek help identifying “Sadie,” “Pablo,” and “Jackie”:
    • “If your listeners have any idea who those people are, I’d really appreciate that tip.” —Det. McDonald (41:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On police record-keeping:
  • “It's as if, just like Daphne, any record of her case had vanished.” —Ashley Flowers (06:07)
• Michelle Quattlebaum on societal failure:
  • “We can't be victims. And that's just not the truth.” (30:46)
• Detective McDonald on serial killer theory:
  • “I can't rule anybody out right now. And he certainly fits the profile...” (29:15)
• Gary's sentimental claim:
  • “She remains in my heart. Even after all these years. I still love her and I miss her.” (paraphrased, ~37:20)
• Hope amid despair:
  • “I'm going to be honest with you. I still hold on to Hope in my fantasy world. And no family should ever have to contrast up a reality so that they can go on. I want her to be alive. I want her to be...” —Michelle Quattlebaum (40:07)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------------| ----------- | | Case introduction & initial hand-off | 01:04–03:29 | | Family's initial search, early police response | 03:39–07:09 | | Law enforcement’s challenges, family interviews | 07:09–08:42 | | Insights from cousin Michelle | 08:15, 30:01, 31:33, 32:32, 40:07 | | Gary’s statements and theories | 10:52–18:41 | | Organized crime/trafficking theory (Pablo/Jackie) | 14:27–19:06 | | House search and lack of evidence | 20:27–22:01 | | Serial killer (Richard White) theory | 22:21–29:34 | | Race, sex work, and systemic bias discussion | 30:01–32:21 | | Family reflections & last known contacts | 31:33–32:32 | | 2025 renewed investigation & cadaver dog search | 33:24–37:20 | | Mysterious phone call to Daphne’s mother | 38:55 | | Unresolved leads: Sadie, Pablo, Jackie | 40:26–41:12 | | Call for tips/contact information | 41:12 |

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Conclusion & Call to Action

Despite renewed attention, Daphne Hope's disappearance remains unresolved. Aurora PD and her family need help identifying key individuals (“Sadie,” “Pablo,” “Jackie”) and piecing together Daphne’s last days. Listeners are encouraged to come forward with any tips—Detective Jason McDonald can be reached at 303-739-6013.

Daphne Hope is remembered as a loving mother, talented stylist, and cherished family member. As her case reaches its 25th anniversary, the search for justice and closure continues.

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For further information or to provide tips, contact:

• Detective Jason McDonald, Aurora Police Department: 303-739-6013
• Direct email in the show notes

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The Deck is an Audiochuck Production
[Visit TheDeckPodcast.com for more details]

Transcript

[Gary Sterling]

There was evidence in the house and they would not listen to me.

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

The Proof podcast is back with a new case and a new season. And this time the stakes are higher than ever before.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

The letter from the doctor said I have six months or less to live. I'm scared shitless right now.

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

A dying man is serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn't commit.

[Ashley Flowers]

Did you ever question if they got the right person?

[Dying Man's Family Member]

I don't think I believed it at the time. I don't think I believe it now.

[Ashley Flowers]

I'm scared to be sitting here in this damn chair talking about this shit.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

How many other cold cases are gonna come forward and go, hey man, we need to look at my shit because I didn't do it. How many more do we have?

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

You can listen now to season three of Proof wherever you get your podcasts and follow along with us as we reinvestigate the murder at the bike shop.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

Everything I tell you is the truth. I'm not bullshitting one way or the other. I hope I don't bring a ton of shit down on me. I really do.

[Ashley Flowers]

Our card this week is Daphne Hope, the eight of spades from Colorado. In the summer of 2001, Daphne Hope vanished. And for over seven long years her case disappeared into the reams of files at the Denver Police Department. And even when new detectives did start digging, no one has been able to piece together exactly what happened to Daphne. Over the years, theories about her disappearance have varied widely from sex work and drug deals to a serial killer. There was even speculation that Daphne wasn't missing at all, that she was hiding in protective custody. And then there's the man she lived with after at the time, what might he know about her disappearance? I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck. In November of 2008, the Aurora Police Department started looking into a seven year old missing persons case that of 34 year old Daphne Hope. The case had just been transferred from the Denver pd who had discovered while moving older files to a new database that Daphne had technically gone missing from Aurora. So Denver had sent over a letter and a one page file, both which contained old details about the case along with some recent follow up.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

The detective that came across this case and realized it needed to go to us did do a Social Security number check on Daphne to see if there had been any activity in the last seven years and there was none.

[Ashley Flowers]

That's Detective Jason McDonald of the Aurora Police Department. Now he didn't start working Daphne's case until September of 2025 and he was able to dig into the limited detective notes from 2008 to share what the Aurora team had to work with, including other information that stood out.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Daphne still had an outstanding warrant in the system, so we knew from that that she hadn't been contacted by any law enforcement for the last seven years.

[Ashley Flowers]

She had been reported missing by her cousin Maureen in the summer of 2001. Detective McDonald explained that Maureen had plans to see Daphne on August 10th for a hair appointment.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

And that's when Maureen went to Daphne's residence and she wasn't home. And the person who actually answered the door was a friend named Brian. And Brian hadn't seen Daphne either, and he was concerned about her whereabouts.

[Ashley Flowers]

It was a bit odd that Brian was at the house because he didn't live there. Maureen knew that Daphne lived there with her boyfriend Gary, but Brian offered to call Gary right then to see if he knew where she was. When they got him on the phone, Gary told Maureen something concerning that Daphne had gotten into a confrontation with some people that involved a drug deal gone bad. But that was basically it. He didn't know where she was now. No real concrete explanation as to how that confrontation ended. Just she hadn't come home.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

It was unusual for Daphne to just disappear like that. She wasn't a runaway in the past. She didn't have a history of just disappearing and coming back under unusual circumstances.

[Ashley Flowers]

When three more days had passed though, and no one had heard from Daphne, another one of her cousins, Lisa, decided to call the Aurora PD and just asked them to do a welfare check.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

And they knocked and they didn't get any response. Nobody seemed to be home. Entry wasn't made into the residence. There weren't circumstances that met that kind of entry at this point. But then on August 16, three days later, still with no contact with Daphne from family, they got her entered as a missing person with Denver police.

[Ashley Flowers]

So just to be clear, two police departments were being contacted around the same time. The cities of Aurora and Denver are right next to each other. Daphne had actually lived in both at one point or another. The Aurora PD did a welfare check first. Then Maureen filed a missing person report with the Denver pd. And while there is some record in the Denver file of them checking in on the case over the years, it's unclear if they ever did a larger in depth investigation into Daphne's disappearance. Hence the the only couple of pages Denver called a case file that got passed on to Aurora. Our team reached out to Denver PD to see if maybe something had gotten left out. I mean like Help us help you, right? Give us anything that details your investigation or the steps you took to find Daphne. But all they told us was that after a good faith search, they were unable to locate any records related to Daphne. Hope and listen, like, we have great relationships with a lot of police departments, but some people just don't want to play ball. So we even asked Detective McDonald to check with Denver, thinking maybe he would have more luck cop to cop, you know. But they couldn't find anything for him either. It's as if, just like Daphne, any record of her case had vanished. Back in 2008, after getting the two page report of Daphne, Aurora PD assigned Detective Steven Connor to start an investigation and see if he could get more answers. And he had an uphill battle, not just because of how old the case was, but because he felt strongly that Daphne was no longer alive. But even with that grim thought, Detective Jason McDonald said that Connor started his investigation off like any other detectives still.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Had to go through the steps that we would on a fresh missing person case, which is contacting the reporting party, contacting family members that we can find anybody associated to the missing person to try to find out more about them and where they could have gone or what happened to them.

[Ashley Flowers]

So In December of 2008, Detective Connor started with Daphne's cousins Maureen and Lisa. Maureen told him about what Gary said, the thing about a drug deal gone bad. But it turns out she hadn't just heard that from Gary. Daphne herself had told Maureen that she'd stolen some money or drugs from a group of people. Now, Lisa told Detective Connor that Daphne had a history of drug use. And both acknowledged that Daphne would sometimes do sex work, which Detective Connor already knew from reviewing her record. She actually had passed charges for prostitution. But even if Daphne had decided to lay low for a day or two, she would have never stayed gone. Because another cousin of Daphne's, Michelle Quattlebaum, told us that there was one thing she would never just leave behind.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

Daphne would have never chosen to leave her son unless it kept him safe. She would never just say, I'm done being a mom. I'm going to go away. Now Daphne actually said that the, the single greatest thing that she accomplished was having her son. So being a mom was the thing that she was most proud of in her life.

[Ashley Flowers]

Michelle told us that Daphne didn't think she could have children. So when she finally got pregnant, she was overjoyed. She named her son awesome. And when Daphne went missing, awesome was living with his dad's family in Denver while Daphne was in Aurora with Gary. And that's Gary who at least according to those Denver PD records that had been sent over, hadn't been the one to report his live in girlfriend missing. So guess who Detective Connor went to track down next?

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Our detective was able to call Gary Sterling and got him by phone to agree to come to the station for an interview.

[Ashley Flowers]

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[Ashley Flowers]

And enter code deck to get 60% off your first box. Detective McDonald explained to our reporting team that in December of 2008, Detective Connor was able to make contact with Daphne's on again off again boyfriend, Gary Sterling, the guy who lived with Daphne when she went missing.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

So Gary explained his relationship with Daphne, how long he'd known her, which was for some time, that they were friends, that they'd been on and off romantically. Gary really expressed how she was like the love of his life and that he truly was depressed about her disappearance and really was kind of clueless on what happened to her.

[Ashley Flowers]

Gary told Detective Connor about the last time he saw Daphne. Now he didn't give a date or anything, but Gary said that his friend Brian Wilson was over at the house and this is the same Brian who Maureen told police she had met when she went looking for her cousin on August 10th.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Brian had allegedly just broken up with his girlfriend and he was feeling down and out and he asked Gary and Daphne if they knew a girl that could come over and keep him company. And they in fact knew a woman named Sadie. And Gary went and picked her up, brought Sadie back to the house and Sadie and Brian, they didn't hit it Off, I guess their conversation went stagnant and Sadie has to go home. And so Gary drove Sadie back home and when he returned, oh, by the way, Brian left the house. Gary then drove Sadie home. When Gary came back, Daphne was gone. And that was the last time Gary had seen Daphne.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's unclear if Sadie was just a friend or if, like, keeping him company meant something else. But Gary told the police everything was as he left it when he returned from dropping her off, just no Daphne. But he did think that she would be back soon because he said that her purse was still there.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

And so I think looking at the evidence in that lens, it makes it look like somebody called her outside, somebody she knew, she met somebody just for a short period of time. And things went awry from there.

[Ashley Flowers]

Though Gary never called any of Daphne's family to tell them that he couldn't find her. He says he did call Aurora PD about Daphne in the days after she went missing.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

He says he did. He says he called the police and they told him, since you're not a relative, we can't take a report from you. A relative has to report her missing. That's what Gary says police told him. He says he also called police. The first time that he called police, they told him, it hasn't been long enough. You need to wait a couple more days. And so he says he called twice. Detective Connor, when he looked at this in 2008, could not find any calls from his residence or Gary's phone number to the police department to make any said reports.

[Ashley Flowers]

Gary ended up writing out a statement for police recounting what he said he remembers from 2001. And it's strange. One of the first things he mentions is that Daphne had told him she might not be around in the near future. Here's an actor reading from Gary's statement.

[Actor Reading Gary's Statement]

A few weeks before Daphne disappeared, we were sitting, relaxing and having a drink and she said, sterling, I've got to leave for a little while, but I'll be back. She said, I saw this ad in this X rated paper and sent in a response to the ad and received a correspondence. She mentioned the Colorado Springs area and said it involved the money she needed to pursue her dream. She also mentioned an alias that she would be going by and told me to remember the alias, which I forgot. It was a simple name. Carla Shimon. Something simple.

[Ashley Flowers]

Gary had also mentioned a few other people who Daphne had been mixed up with before she went missing.

[Actor Reading Gary's Statement]

A week or so before Daphne disappeared, she and another female named Jackie got into an argument at the Flare Club on Montview Boulevard in Clinton. The argument started over a pimp drug dealer named Pablo who had offered Daphne a ride that night to my house. Daphne came home that night and told me the next morning about what had happened. She said, sterling, you won't believe how Jackie acted last night. She said, I've been knowing this guy Pablo for a long time, and last night I ran into Pablo at the Flare Club. She said, we'd talked in the club for a while, was getting late, and he offered me a ride home. I said, yeah. Then she said, when they approached his car, Jackie ran out of the club, started cussing me out, calling me all kinds of hoes, and said I needed to take my ass back to Gary's house. She said that she told Pablo to forget it. She just walked to my house and she did. She told me that the next morning.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Jackie supposedly had seen Daphne being given to some people by Pablo and that those people took Daphne away.

[Actor Reading Gary's Statement]

Jackie comes back over to my house and tells me that she feels bad. I asked her about what and she said, I'm mad at Pablo. We got into it because I told him he needs to tell them people about Daphne. I said, what happened to Daphne? She said, pablo shouldn't have did that girl like that. He took her to this Mexican that was parked and waiting on the Potomac in Colfax and gave her to him, and they took her.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

In the sex trade business, women are currency and are traded as currency. And so this idea of Daphne being given to some guy that was waiting in a car and he takes off with her, that's legitimate type of stuff that happens.

[Ashley Flowers]

The idea is that Pablo might have been involved in the illegal drug trade or organized crime. Although Gary also told police that Pablo himself had turned up with Jackie looking for Daphne after she disappeared.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

And they were looking for anybody that knew anything about Daphne to see what they knew. And Gary found that very suspicious. And he felt like maybe they had something to do with her disappearance.

[Ashley Flowers]

The problem for the Aurora pd, though, was that Gary didn't have any more information about Pablo or Jackie. Not even a last name that would help with any real follow up. But Gary wasn't done. He had one more lead for detectives. This one, he says, from Daphne's brother, Preston. Although Gary had gotten his name wrong, he referred to her brother as both Sheldon or Shelton. Within the same story.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

When Preston was in jail at one point in Denver, he was really upset about Daphne being missing and that nobody's finding her. And Preston said that somebody came into his cell to get him to quiet down about was either detectives or the FBI. He didn't know, but somebody said, stop ranting and raving about Daphne. She's fine. She's in protective custody.

[Ashley Flowers]

Obviously, this seems unlikely. We did ask Detective Connor about this, and he pointed out that in his mind, if this were true, any inquiry into Daphne would have raised a red flag within any government agency protecting her. And when Connor did eventually interview Preston, he denied Gary's story. And while he didn't have much more to add, he was able to provide a DNA sample that could be used to help identify his sister if Daphne's remains were ever found. Now, there was one more thing Gary told police, something that didn't make it into his written statement. He basically said, hey, listen, you might hear a rumor that my neighbor saw me digging in my backyard. Which is, like, a weird thing to offer up, because by that point, he also pointed out that the neighbor had moved out and wasn't around anymore. So had Daphne really just disappeared from the house while Gary was driving another woman home? Only one way to find out. Talk to Brian and Sadie. Right, those people who were supposedly there the last night Gary saw Daphne. Well, here was the problem with that.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Brian, he was nowhere to be found. And Detective Connor put an attempt to locate in the Colorado database for him. And then it turns out that he passed away before we were ever able to make contact with Brian. So that's somebody we can't follow up with to find out what he truly knew about Daphne's disappearance, if he had anything to do with it or not.

[Ashley Flowers]

That left Sadie, who, by the way, they didn't even have a last name for. Actually, in 2008, they didn't even have a first name for her. Gary couldn't remember. Only came to him in a 2025 interview with Detective McDonald. But even then, he didn't know her last name or how to find her. But there was one big thing. Detective Connor could search. Gary's place. He was still living in the same house that Daphne had disappeared from seven years prior. The same house with the same yard where a neighbor maybe saw Gary once digging. According to Gary. And Connor had heard another story from Daphne's cousin Maureen, one that made him extra interested in getting inside that place. Maureen said that earlier that summer, before Daphne went missing, she and a friend hid from police in the basement of Gary's home. There was this crawl space area down there, and at one point after Daphne disappeared, the family thought that that area might be worth taking a closer look at. At First, Gary was cool with Daphne's family going to look in the basement, but then he backpedaled. Wouldn't let him. So the Aurora PD told Gary they wanted to search his property. And on December 18, 2008, a warrant in hand, they arrived at his house.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Rather than whip the search warrant out, they actually had Gary sign a consent to search. And he was happy to do so.

[Ashley Flowers]

This would be the first time this property would be searched. An outside company used ground penetrating radar both inside and outside. Although the search wasn't without hiccups. Snow in the backyard made the GPR results less accurate, and the conditions inside were somehow even worse.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

I understand Gary's house was a total nightmare. Just a mess, like hoarder type mess. We have no way to account for what's gone missing over the last seven years. What items Daphne left behind versus what if they're still there? Where they went, we just don't know. Seven years is a long time to pass. Certainly with people living in that house, things are going to change on a daily basis. And so being behind the eight ball with a seven year gap really hamstrung us.

[Ashley Flowers]

While no remains were found, Detective Connor told our reporter that a purse was found in the basement. But they don't know if it was Daphne's purse. And even if it was, that wouldn't prove much, since Gary's story was that Daphne had left her purse behind. And this meant that Aurora PD had zero physical evidence.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

So Gary had pretty much provided everything he could. He gave that long written statement, he allowed us into his house. He didn't know where Daphne was. He had provided everything he could.

[Ashley Flowers]

So by mid December of 2008, that initial suspicion of Gary petered out. Maybe she had walked out of his house and met with foul play. It seemed like a less likely scenario until they learned about the connection Daphne may have had to a convicted serial killer.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

So back in the early 2000s, there was a guy named Richard White who was a serial killer in Colorado.

[Ashley Flowers]

This guy had been suggested to Detective Connor by a colleague of his. In some ways, Richard Paul White made sense. He operated in and around the area Daphne disappeared from around the same time she disappeared.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

He killed women and men, but seemed to have a prevalence for women rather than men with his victims. And so a random killer of women, Daphne could have been a random target. And, you know, it was just an investigative step that had to be taken.

[Ashley Flowers]

Richard was arrested in 2003 after his sister turned him in. The Associated Press reported that he confessed to killing six people starting in 1998, though only four of his victims have been confirmed, two of his victims were found buried in the backyard of his former Park Hill home in Denver. Now, interestingly, this was a neighborhood Daphne and her brother Preston once lived in growing up. I mean, that was well in the past, but Daphne's son actually lived there with his father. Daphne would go visit him there. So that could put Richard and Daphne in the same area at the same time. And Richard's M.O. was to target women along East Colfax Avenue. This is a street with quite a reputation and close to where Daphne was living with Gary.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

I think Colfax has been called the seediest highway in America. Colfax itself is a major thoroughfare that runs east, west, and it runs all the way through Denver to the west and through Lakewood to the mountains. It's about 30 miles long. It's a very long thoroughfare and it's infamous for its criminal activity.

[Ashley Flowers]

Now, if this sounds familiar to you, this is an area that we've talked about in our recent episode on Tangy Sims.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

There's a lot of old seedy hotels, motels, tattoo shops. Every kind of adult vice you could possibly want, you can find on Colfax. And so Daphne just living a few blocks north of Colfax in a rough part of town, you could certainly accurately say many sex workers have been picked up off of Colfax and have disappeared forever.

[Ashley Flowers]

If Gary's account of that night Daphne disappeared is correct, then there would have been a roughly 30 minute window when Daphne was at Gary's house by herself. It's not totally inconceivable that she could have left the house and made her way down to Colfax or anywhere in the area that Richard might have been when they were putting two and two together. Richard had already been sitting in prison for five years, so Connor thought I'll just ask him.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

And so Detective Connor, he wrote a letter in 2008 to Richard White, who was locked up in DOC for all these murders, and asked him if he'd be willing to talk about this case if he had anything to do with this disappearance.

[Ashley Flowers]

To everyone's surprise, Richard wrote back about a week later.

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Gary Sterling]

There was evidence in the house and they would not listen to me.

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

The Proof podcast is back with a new case and a new season. And this time the stakes are higher than ever before.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

The letter from the doctor said I have six months or less to live. I'm scared shitless right now.

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

A dying man is serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn't commit.

[Ashley Flowers]

Did you ever question if they got the right person?

[Dying Man's Family Member]

I don't think I believed it at the time. I don't think I believe it now.

[Ashley Flowers]

I'm scared to be sitting here in this damn chair talking about this shit.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

How many other cold cases are gonna come forward and go, hey man, we need to look at my shit because I didn't do it. How many more do we have?

[Podcast Host (Ashley Flowers)]

You can listen now to season three of Proof wherever you get your podcasts and follow along with us as we reinvestigate the murder at the bike shop.

[Dying Man (Life Sentence Inmate)]

Everything I tell you is the truth. I'm not bullshitting one way or the other. I hope I don't bring a ton of shit down on me. I really do.

[Ashley Flowers]

Just before the new year, Detective Connor received a thin envelope postmarked from Colorado Springs on December 29, 2008. Inside was a single sheet of paper with two sentences scrawled in black ink. It was from Richard White, and he wrote, quote, I did not kidnap or kill anyone in 2001. I have no information concerning this or any other missing persons case. Happy hunting, RP White. Now under his name, he wrote the words serial killer with a capital K and a backwards capital R. If that sign off wasn't weird enough, he also drew a little cartoon of a skull and crossbones. And this seems to have made police focus less on Richard, particularly because he had confessed to multiple other murders. But Detective McDonald is the first to admit that's not a guarantee.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

I mean, I wouldn't rule him out. I can't rule anybody out right now. And he certainly fits the profile of somebody who snatches women off the streets and kills them.

[Ashley Flowers]

With Richard leading nowhere, that pretty much left the Aurora PD Back to square one and short on ideas.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

When you've done everything you can and there's nothing left to pull, the case typically will then go cold. Not closed. It'll always remain open as long as it's unsolved. But what else can you do? You've got other cases that you got to move on.

[Ashley Flowers]

So Daphne's case lingered not just for years, but for over a decade and a half. And all Daphne's family could do was wait.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

If she were a white woman, it would not have taken. I believe it would not have taken this long to learn about her story. That is what I believe.

[Ashley Flowers]

That's Daphne's cousin Michelle again, who, by the way, has never been interviewed by police. She has worked in community engagement with students and families and as a mental health advocate. When our reporter talked to her about Daphne, she brought up an experience she had when she facilitated a discussion for a student thesis studying human trafficking. Michelle said that experience showed her just how much ambiguity there is when it comes to sex work and how people can be exploited without realizing the full extent of how they were being harmed.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

There were people in the group that I facilitated that had been trafficked, and they didn't see it that way because they were just doing what needed to be done to survive. And that's how society looks at black women. We can't be victims. And that's just not the truth.

[Ashley Flowers]

To Daphne's family, she was more than just a photo on a card. She was fun, popular, and known to talk a lot. And she liked to sing. She even appeared in a production of Grease while in school. And she was also really great at doing hair. Michelle remembers how beautiful and confident Daphne made her feel when she did her hair for her wedding. But there was also a darker side that Michelle remembers.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

She was employed. She was a licensed, practicing hairstylist, did great work, had heavy clientele that were very loyal to her. And then eventually she turned to sex work.

[Ashley Flowers]

And.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

That Became very interesting, because when she was a hairstylist, you could see.

[Ashley Flowers]

Where the money went.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

You could see her investing it in herself, in her child. But when she turned to sex work, you no longer saw that. And then the drug usage increased.

[Ashley Flowers]

According to Michelle, she might have been one of the last family members to talk to Daphne. In their final conversation, she appeared to be trying to make a change in her life.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

I just remember having a conversation with her, and she had legal stuff going on. I didn't pry too hard, but she just told me she was like, michelle, I can't go to jail. I won't survive in jail. I cannot do that. I will die if I go to jail. And, you know, having the conversation really wrapping it up quickly, it's like, well, then you have to get sober. You know, you have to do things differently. And a few days later, sometime she called me, and she was sober, and she was excited about the direction that her life was, that she could see her life heading in because she was sober. And shortly after that, she was missing.

[Ashley Flowers]

For the Aurora pd, much like Daphne's family, all they had were rumors about her disappearance. But rumors were not answers. And while they dipped in and out of the case on occasion, it wasn't until 2025 that. That things really heated back up. And we happened to play a small part in this. We were working with the Aurora PD to cover some cases in their area, and we sent over a list of cases featured on the Colorado Bureau of Investigations cold case decks, and Daphne was on that list. So Detective McDonald reviewed the file, talked to us about doing an episode on her, and then started chasing down every lead he could.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

The to do list I created for myself from the get go was I need to follow up with the FBI and the District Attorney's office to see if Daphne was, in fact, ever a protected client of theirs, because that's what her brother had told Gary at one point. And, you know, maybe she's in Kansas somewhere, living on a ranch under a different identity. So I needed to rule that out first, and I did that. I followed up with the FBI, I followed up with the district attorney's offices to find out if Daphne Hope was ever a confidential informant. Was she ever in protective custody for any type of case? And she was not. I needed to also follow up with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to find out if there were any unidentified remains of any Jane does that fit her genetic profile.

[Ashley Flowers]

Along with her brother Preston. Aurora PD had also collected DNA from Daphne's son, but there were no matches to Any unidentified Jane does, not on a state or national level. And this DNA was put into CODIS as well. So Detective McDonald was checking things off his list. But he learned that some of the miscellaneous people earlier detectives had identified all passed away, but not Gary Sterling. So In September of 2025, Detective McDonald called Gary, who had moved out of state, and they spoke for around 45 minutes.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

It was in that conversation with him on September 11th when I learned the name Sadie, because I asked him, who's this girl that you set Brian up with that you then drove home? And because it wasn't mentioned in his handwritten letter what her name was. And that's when he told me the name Sadie. He told me roughly where she lived and that it was a 30 minute round trip drive. He told me that when he returned back home, there were no signs of forced entry into the house. The lights were still on. Nothing looked awry or, you know, tossed.

[Ashley Flowers]

Detective McDonald was also hoping to get more information about a few of the other names that had come up back in 2008, like Pablo and Jackie. Problem was, Gary still didn't know anything else about them.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

I didn't get all the answers I wanted, but he answered every question I had. And I don't believe I have anything else to ask him unless something new comes up in the case that I need to bounce off him. But you can't ever rule anybody completely out until you can really rule them out. Right? So I wouldn't say Gary is ruled out, nor would I say anybody is ruled out at this point, because we just don't have Daphne because of our interviews.

[Ashley Flowers]

Detective McDonald decided to reach out to Detective Steven Conner for some clarification, and he discovered something. Cadaver dogs were never used to search Gary's home. Back in 2008, that search had only used ground penetrating radar, which, considering what cadaver dogs can do, could be significant.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

There's dogs that are trained for that scent, and they can be run over a property or in a residence and will alert when they come across what they feel is a decomposing smell.

[Ashley Flowers]

So while we were reporting this case, McDonald brought a team of cadaver dogs through Gary's old home. I mean, it has a new owner now, but they searched inside and out. And According to Detective McDonald, the dogs did hit on two spots. One in the backyard and one inside near the kitchen. And the kitchen spot is interesting because it was near the stairs leading to the basement. Detective McDonald hopes to use ground penetrating radar to investigate the spots that they did get hits on further and we'll bring you any updates as they come. For now, Detective McDonald is only calling Gary a person of interest. He's never been arrested or charged with any wrongdoing in connection with Daphne's disappearance. Our team reached out to Gary, and at first he seemed interested in talking to us, but he has yet to agree to an interview. He just told us in a text quote. She remains in my heart. Even after all these years. I still love her and I miss her. End quote. This year will mark the 25th anniversary of Daphne Hope's disappearance. Daphne has four grandchildren whom she's never met. Her mother, Kariya, told our reporter Taylor Hartz, that Daphne was always happy around children and adored by her son. And there was something else Karia said to us, that at some point in the years after her daughter disappeared, she received a strange phone call.

[Gary Sterling]

I know one time when I was living in Arizona, I don't remember what year it was, but the phone rang and I heard a voice, and she said. It said, mama. I said, daphne. And then it was like somebody was trying to get, you know, talk on the phone and had to get off of it. And that's the last I heard.

[Ashley Flowers]

The family never reported this call to the authorities. As for Detective McDonald's thoughts on whether Daphne could still be alive, here's what he had to say.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

There's a possibility. We just don't have any indications or evidence right now showing that she is. We've had this missing person entry into the national database. It's been out there for years now. And in my experience, when there's been no activity like that, it's usually not good. If we find Daphne, my gut tells me that she's the victim of a homicide, and I believe it just based on what we know in the case, whether it's all truthful or not, but it's all we have to work with.

[Michelle Quattlebaum (Daphne's Cousin)]

I'm going to be honest with you. I still hold on to Hope in my fantasy world. And no family should ever have to contrast up a reality so that they can go on. I want her to be alive. I want her to be.

[Ashley Flowers]

When Detective McDonald looks at his to do list, there's still some unfinished business left around. People that he hasn't been able to identify or even talk to yet. People like Sadie. If anyone out there knows who she might be, he would love to hear from you. She would have been in the Aurora or Denver area in August 2001. And then, of course, there's the mysterious Pablo and Jackie.

[Detective Jason McDonald]

Well, I've checked off a lot of those things that I originally came up with, the things that still exist are Jackie and Pablo. And so if your listeners have any idea who those people are, I'd really appreciate that tip. I got to figure out who these people are and talk to them and find out what they know.

[Ashley Flowers]

If you have any information about the disappearance of Daphne Hope In August of 2001, please get in touch with Detective Jason McDonald of the Aurora Police Department. That number is 303-739-6013. We're also going to put his direct email address in the show notes. The Deck is an Audio Chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com I think Chuck would approve.