Cases resolved in 2021 (pt. 2)
The second set of cases covered on this blog that were resolved in 2021. Links to more detailed write-ups on each case are provided. Read part one here.
The murder of Sydney Loofe.
Sydney Loofe (24) was brutally murdered in Wilber, Nebraska on November 15th, 2017. She was brought to an apartment in Wilber by a young woman named Bailey Boswell, whom she met on Tinder. Sydney thought that she was meeting up with Bailey for a second date, but was instead lured into something far more sinister. Bailey and her 51 year-old boyfriend, Aubrey Trail, had been looking for a young woman to help fulfill their fantasies of sexual torture, but Sydney was unaware of this. At some point after Sydney arrived at their apartment, she was strangled to death and then dismembered. Her remains were found in a rural area of Clay County just a few weeks later.
In June 2018, Both Bailey and Aubrey were charged with first-degree murder and improper disposal of human skeletal remains in the killing of Sydney Loofe. Their trials were separate, but both ultimately ended up being found guilty. However, the penalty phases of their trials stretched into 2021, as both were being considered for the death penalty. In June 2021, Aubrey Trail was sentenced to death--with the judge stating that the “exceptional depravity” of the crime is what made it fit the criteria for the death penalty. Bailey, on the other hand, was spared the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison in November 2021.
The disappearance & presumed murder of Kelsie Schelling.
Kelsie Schelling had just recently found out learned she was pregnant when she disappeared from Pueblo, Colorado on February 5th, 2013. The 21 year-old was reportedly pregnant with the child of her on-again, off-again boyfriend Donthe Lucas. Kelsie vanished after driving two hours from Denver to Pueblo to visit Donthe, per his request. She never returned to Denver and was never seen or heard from again. Both cell phone records and surveillance footage confirmed that Donthe and Kelsie did, in fact, meet up shortly before her disappearance. Additionally, surveillance footage from several places around Pueblo captured Donthe driving Kelsie’s car around between February 6th and 7th--without Kelsie--before eventually abandoning the vehicle at a hospital.
Donthe was eventually arrested and charged with murdering Kelsie in December 2017. He went to trial during February 2021 and was ultimately found guilty. During the trial, prosecutors stated that Donthe killed Kelsie and disposed of her body in a landfill. Cell phone pings revealed that Donthe was at a landfill just hours after Kelsie was last seen. He then tried to cover up the murder by using Kelsie’s phone to send text messages, impersonating her. Donthe was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The murders of Kara Kopetsky & Jessica Runions.
Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions vanished nine years apart from neighboring towns in Missouri. Kara vanished from Belton at the age of 17 during 2007, while Jessica vanished from Grandview at the age of 23 during 2016. Both girls were involved with a man named Kylr Yust prior to their disappearances. In fact, Kara had ended a relationship with Kylr just weeks before she vanished--and she had obtained a restraining order against him as well. Many suspected that Kylr was responsible for Kara’s disappearance, and Kylr himself had confessed to numerous people that he had killed her as well. Over the next nine years, Kylr was in and out of jail on various violent charges, but he still had not been charged with anything related to Kara’s disappearance.
Jessica Runions vanished after leaving a party with Kylr during September 2016. Two days later, Kylr was arrested on arson charges after Jessica’s car was found on fire. Months later, Jessica Runions’ remains were spotted by a mushroom hunter in a rural area of Cass County. When investigators came to investigate the area, a second set of remains were found. Those remains were eventually identified as that of Kara Kopetsky. Kylr was subsequently charged with killing both Kara and Jessica. He finally went to trial during 2021. A jury ultimately convicted him of voluntary manslaughter for the death of Kara, and second-degree murder for the death of Jessica. Kylr was later sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years. A detailed timeline of this case can be found here.
