Ashley Flowers (2:03)
Hi everyone. This is an off week for the deck, but I'm popping in your feeds anyway because I want to bring your attention back to a case that we covered a few years ago on this show, Owachogee Osceola. Some of you will remember her case because we did a letter writing campaign to urge the Oklahoma Emmy to to change Ouachige's cause of death from undetermined to homicide. And a lot of you took action. But I'm sad to report that all these years later, despite clear evidence of murder, Ouachigees death still isn't classified as a homicide and it's standing in the way of getting answers in her case. The other reason I want to highlight her story is because earlier this month the Oklahoma governor vetoed a bill that allowed the state to help fund solving missing and murdered indigenous persons cases. According to reporting in the Oklahoma newspaper, the governor said that he couldn't back the bill because, quote, justice must be blind to race. The announcement was issued on May 5, which is a national day of awareness for the MMIP crisis. The detective overseeing Owachogee's case made us aware of this because he is in the process of trying to get the Bureau of Indian affairs on board to help with her case and he fears that due to the governor's veto that might not be realistic anymore. So please listen to Awachaki story which we Originally aired in May 2022 and if you feel inclined, it is not too late to take action. Our card this week is Owachige Osceola, the eight of Diamonds from Oklahoma. Even though Owachogee called for help on the morning her killer broke in, what actually happened inside her apartment is still a mystery. And while evidence supports police's theory about who killed her, one huge hurdle still stands in the way of justice. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck. On September 25, 2013, Toni Brown was hanging out at home in Anadarko, Oklahoma when she saw a Facebook status from her friend Awachiki. It had been posted earlier that morning and read, quote, moose is Tryna K.M. tony knew Owachigi was dating a guy named Moose, but she wasn't sure what KM meant. Just then, Tony's phone alerted her to a text from Iwachigi that said the exact same thing as her Facebook status, moose is Tryna K.M. awachigi wasn't answering any calls or texts and Tony was freaked out, so she rounded up three of their friends to go check on her. The group made the roughly hour long drive from Anadarko to Iwachigi's apartment in Norman, Oklahoma, and when they pulled up, their feelings of unease only grew. They saw that the door was slightly open from having been kicked in. They could tell because there was a shoe print on the door and the frame was splintered. So Tony and the group didn't even go in. They called police instead. As soon as Norman police officers got inside, they saw cabinets and drawers left open and stuff everywhere. But when they called out to see if anyone was home, no one answered. It was in an upstairs bedroom that police found Awachige she was laying on the floor, face down with her sheets and comforter tossed over her head. They checked for signs of life, but she had clearly been dead for a while, though it wasn't entirely clear how she had died because there were no visible wounds in her room. The bed looked as if someone stripped it in a hurry. The mattress was bare except for three pillows, one of which had blood on it, and there clothes and stuff tossed all around the room. In fact, the rest of the house was a mess as well. It looked as if the living room, kitchen and bedroom had all been ransacked. They found another bloody pillow stuffed in a dresser in the bedroom. But when they went searching for Ouachige's cell phone and stuff like her cash and cards, they couldn't find any of that in the apartment, so they were obviously wondering if someone had robbed the place. Officers secured the scene and went outside to tell Owachigi's friends what they'd found. But it was what they didn't find that concerned Toni and her friends the most because police didn't mention anything about finding anyone else in the home and Toni knew that Iwachigi lived with her five year old daughter. Immediately, officers started looking for the young girl. They weren't sure if they were dealing with an abduction or what, but the first place they checked, the first place any investigator checks when a child is missing, is with their living parents or guardians. And Tony and Wachige's other friend said that her dad lived back in Anadarko. Sure enough, when officers tracked him down, they found the young girl and determined that she was safe. Still, they weren't sure what involvement Owachiggi's ex could have had in her murder, since they knew the two had recently divorced and had gone through custody hearings. So they brought him in for an interview. The ex husband cooperated and said that he had been in Anadarko all week and he had no idea who might have killed Owachogi. He said she actually had full custody of their daughter, but it just so happened that week their daughter had been with him. Police had no reason not to believe the man's alibi, so they moved on to see what else they could find out about Owachogi's personal life. When it was her turn to give a statement, Tony filled police in about the weird text and Facebook status about Moose. Tony said it didn't sound like Owachogee, who usually texted in full sentences and didn't use abbreviations. Toni also told police since moving to Norman, Owachaki had Been online dating, and not too long ago, she had started seeing a man who went by Moose. And that guy lived in Oklahoma city. Studying Owachaki's Facebook status, Moose is tryna km. Police deciphered it as moose is trying to kill me. So it was imperative that they find Moose asap, which they did. He was in Oklahoma City, about a half an hour north of Norman. Moose was shocked to hear about Iwachigi's death, and he was willing to talk to police, telling detectives the two hadn't known each other very long. When he was shown the Facebook status that mentioned him by name, Moose immediately gave an alibi. But just as investigators started working to verify Moose's whereabouts over the last few days, they became aware of a weird call that had been made from a wachige's apartment the day she was murdered. It was 2911 and made by Awachigi herself. Hello? It's difficult to make out what's going on, but obviously something was wrong. And minutes later, a watchagi called back, but this time her tone was different. Norman911. What is location of your emergency? Yes, I accidentally dialed the wrong number.
