What Happened to Joseph Smedley? Episode Nine: Coverage

A Heavy Weight is re-releasing our coverage of Wilma June Nissen, a young mother of three whose homicide remains unsolved nearly five decades later. On October 4, 1978, Wilma’s body was found along Highway 182 in Lyon County, Iowa, near Rock Rapids, by a utility worker laying cable. With little usable evidence at the scene, investigators could not identify her at the time, and she was listed as a Jane Doe for years. In 2006, a forensic technician matched the unidentified victim’s fingerprints to an earlier arrest record from Los Angeles, finally restoring her name. Since then, Wilma’s daughter, Krissi Haas, has continued to push for answers and accountability, while investigators have pursued leads and tested limited physical evidence, including DNA that was reportedly too mixed to be useful at the time. Authorities have also publicly asked for help identifying people connected to the case, including individuals known by the aliases “Sugar” and “Peaches.” If you have credible information about Wilma June Nissen’s homicide, you can contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at (712) 472 8300 or submit a tip through Lyon County’s online tip form. Tip submissions are not monitored 24 7, so emergencies should go to 911. For anonymous reporting and possible reward eligibility, Project Cold Case notes you can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222 TIPS.

20 Jan 25min

In November nineteen sixty nine, twelve year old Nora Kathylene “Kathy” Jones left her house in South Nashville with her roller skates over her shoulder, headed for the roller dome on Thompson Lane. She never made it home.Two days later, searchers found her in a vacant lot. More than fifty years later, her murder is still unsolved.https://nashvillecoldcase.gov/1969-124859-nora-kathylene-jones/

12 Jan 34min

Halloween night, 1981. Sixteen year old Debra Mae “Debbie” Fulton leaves her house in Hammond, Indiana, with a little cash and a simple plan: walk to the Roller Dome, skate with friends, come home.She never makes it.The next day, a boy playing under the Calumet Avenue bridge spots a body in the Grand Calumet River. Debbie has been killed by a blow to the head. Within weeks, her case is being used as an example in debates about runaway youth and juvenile law. Headlines call her a chronic runaway. Officials argue over whether she should have been locked in a secure facility “for her own protection.”Forty years later, her killer has still not been identified.In this episode of A Heavy Weight, we trace Debbie’s final walk, revisits the investigation into her death, and looks at how the label “runaway” can obscure the reality of kids in crisis. Along the way, we dig into what research now tells us about runaway youth, their risk of violence, and what it means to build safety without defaulting to incarceration.If you lived in Hammond in 1981, skated at the Roller Dome, or crossed the Calumet bridge that Halloween night and remember something, please consider reaching out to the Indiana State Police or Hammond Police Department. Someone in that community still holds a piece of what happened to Debbie.https://www.in.gov/isp/crime-reporting/cold-case-investigations/cold-cases-by-county/lowell-district-investigations/debra-fulton-10311981/

5 Jan 33min

In 1974, a young woman was found shot and hidden beneath a mattress off a rural road in South Bend. It took six months before anyone knew her name: Victoria Lynne McDonough. No arrests were ever made. This episode revisits Victoria’s life, the investigation that failed her, and the questions that still haven’t been answered.https://www.in.gov/isp/crime-reporting/cold-case-investigations/cold-cases-by-county/bremen-district-investigations/vickie-mcdonough-11271974/

30 Dec 202528min

Episode 10 brings together the most unsettling pieces of Joseph Smedley’s case — the late-night messages, the odd cell phone pings, the missing belongings — and confronts the gaps that remain. This episode is a call for truth, transparency, and for anyone holding a piece of the story to finally come forward.

16 Dec 202524min

In this episode we return to the death of Indiana University student Joseph Smedley, whose body was found in Griffy Lake with a backpack weighed down with rocks. Drawing on a twenty year study of suicide by drowning and the insight of forensic pathologist Dr Darin Wolfe and forensic aquatic death investigator Andrea Zaferes, we ask how likely it really is that Joseph died by suicide in the way his case was closed. We unpack the challenges of determining cause and manner of death in bodies recovered from water, revisit the original autopsy and the attempted second autopsy, and explore the confusing trail of cell phone pings that suggest Joseph was not alone in his final hours. Along the way, we raise larger questions about how death determinations are made, what it means when a case is labeled suicide instead of undetermined, and why some missing students receive wall to wall coverage while others are met with silence.Content note This episode includes discussion of suicide, death, and possible foul play.

1 Dec 202534min

Joseph Smedley’s death was ruled a suicide by drowning, with alcohol and cannabinoids listed as contributing factors. In this episode, we slow down and examine that conclusion through the lens of Joseph’s autopsy and toxicology reports.Forensic pathologist Dr. Darrin Wolfe and drowning expert Andrea Zaferes walk us through what those reports can and can’t tell us in a decomposed body recovered from water. We talk about the rare nature of suicide by drowning, the backpack filled with rocks, conflicting details about how Joseph was found, and the critical questions his family still doesn’t have answers to, about his phone, the handwritten note, and missing scene photos.This is not about solving Joseph’s case in one episode. It’s about understanding why so many people, including experts, see his death as extremely unusual.Content note: This episode includes discussion of a death that was ruled a suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, worried about someone, or need support, please reach out. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 or chat via 988lifeline.org for 24/7 free, confidential help. If you’re outside the U.S., please contact your local crisis line or emergency services.

18 Nov 202543min