169. Smells Like A Lifting Fog - The Cheryll Spegal Case With Special Guest Beth Rowland

On October 19, 1971, ten year-old Cheryll Spegall was last seen running to catch the bus to school near her home in Highland Heights, Kentucky.  No one saw her after that.  No one, that is, except her murderer.  Whoever that person is (or was), he has never been caught.  Not yet, that is.  Cheryll’s lifeless body was found nearly two weeks later, buried under a pile of rocks in a remote area in neighboring Pendleton County, by a milk truck driver who just happened to pull over at that particular spot on the way to his last stop.  While Cheryll’s family and friends have never stopped searching for Cheryll’s killer all these years later, it has really been over the past three years that the case has taken on a new life – a spark that has ignited a fire of interest by law enforcement as well as a wide range of people who never knew the young girl – many who weren’t even born yet when the murder occurred.  The catalyst for this sudden and dramatic interest in a 49 year-old unsolved homicide?  One person – namely, Melissa’s guest on this episode.  Her name is Beth Rowland, one of the most dedicated and whip-smart amateur sleuths we’ve ever met.  A music teacher by day, Beth’s interest was ignited years ago when, on a date with her then-boyfriend (now husband), she learned of a mysterious “man on the porch,” an older gentleman who liked to watch passersby from his front stoop that the locals all told themselves to stay away from because rumor had it that he had “killed a girl” back in ’71.  Fast forward to three years ago, when at a family dinner, Beth’s curiosity about the case compelled her to ask her mother-in-law, who lived near the Spegal family home at the time, what she knew about it.  The answers only increased Beth’s interest, and soon she started a blog, “Gone in the Fog,” which now has nearly fifty chapters, both in text and in audio, about her personal journey and her investigation into the murder – and how in the process she has compiled as much or more investigative data as the police themselves.  Take a listen to Melissa’s fascinating hour-plus interview with Beth Rowland and prepare to want to get involved yourself!  If you have any information about the disappearance and murder of Cheryll Spegal, please call the Kentucky State Police Post 6 at (859) 428-1212.