The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages and is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome back everyone. Welcome back. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski. And I am her husband and co-host, Eli Sulkowski. And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases.
And missing person cases. All right, my love, this week we are focusing on a... Cold case. Cold case. You'd like to jump right in? Yeah, I think we should just jump right into this week's case. Sounds good. Let's do it. Let's do it. Today we are covering the cold case of Kenneth Charlot. And this takes place in February of 2018 in Pass Christian, Mississippi. But first a little bit about Kenneth. Kenneth is 60 years old in 2018. He was born August 5th, 1957. And he would be 65 years old today.
Kenneth had lived in the small town of Pass Christian his whole life and was a proud gay man. In 2018, Kenneth was living alone on Seal Avenue in a home that was built by the Mennonites after Hurricane Katrina. The home is a platform house, so it sits up on stilts so any potential flood will pass under the home. Kenneth was a kind man with a set routine.
Gabrielle Malley, Kenneth's sister, says, quote, he only wore white t-shirts, Fruit of the Loom t-shirts, Levi jeans, and white Chuck high tops, end quote. Kenneth loved his family and they always came first. Kenneth was one of seven siblings. His sister, Gabrielle, says, quote, he's that favorite uncle. He lived here in this house and one of the rooms in the house had video games and twin beds. When nieces and nephews came over, they could play video games, end quote.
Kenneth's best friend, Golman Ray, says, quote, he was my best friend. I mean, he was somebody I could talk to about anything. I could ask him to help me out with anything. We may as well have been brothers, end quote. And now a timeline of events. On Wednesday, January 31st, 2018, at around 10 p.m., Kenneth's cousin, who lived across the street from him, heard talking and noises coming from Kenneth's home but didn't think anything of it. Nothing sounded unusual.
The next day, Thursday, February 1st, Kenneth's family kept trying to call him all throughout the morning and his family grow increasingly concerned when no one is able to get a hold of him. The police chief in 2018, Timothy Hendrix, says, quote, it was outside of his character to be gone any length of time without notifying someone, end quote. At around 6 p.m. that evening, a relative of Kenneth's went to go check on him at his home.
When they arrive, the first thing they notice is Kenneth's car is gone and there's water leaking from under the house. Remember, the house is up on stilts, so this is something that would have been visible because you kind of drive your car right up under the house. All the doors to Kenneth's home were locked. Inside, the water had been left running as if Kenneth had been interrupted. Kenneth's bed sheets were missing and there was blood in the kitchen and leading out of the home.
The police are immediately called and Kenneth is reported as a missing person at this time. That same day at 11 45 p.m., Kenneth's car is found engulfed in flames near 43rd Avenue in Gulfport, Mississippi. This is about a 20 minute drive from his home in the past. Kenneth is not with the vehicle and the family holds on to hope that Kenneth will be found alive.
On Friday, February 2nd, around 11 p.m. that next day, two men are walking on 29th Avenue in Gulfport and find a body at the edge of the woods. One of the men who find the body, his name is Eary Murray, and he says, quote, I saw what I thought were mannequin parts and then at second look I realized it was a body, end quote. The two men call police. Eary Murray told local news that it looked as if Kenneth had been shot in the head.
Eary also told local media, quote, he had underwear and a t-shirt. He was almost in a fetal position and on his back. His legs were up and his arms were up. His shirt was pulled up. You could see where they had drug him across the road, end quote. Police arrive on scene and immediately recognize Kenneth, but also declare it a homicide. Investigator Austin Langfit says, quote, we believe the body was moved. We do not believe it occurred where he was found, end quote.
Police immediately begin investigating Kenneth's case as a homicide and on Saturday, February 3rd, police chief Timothy Hendricks says, quote, this investigation into this senseless act is in the early stages and very fluid. We are receiving cooperation and information from multiple sources and verifying it in a steady and methodical manner, end quote. On February 12th, 2018, 11 days after Kenneth's murder, his memorial service is held at our Mother of Mercy Church.
Then the case goes cold a little bit as far as media coverage goes, but it does appear that police are actively working on it behind the scenes. And on April 25th, 2018, this is two and a half months after Kenneth's murder, police ask for the public's help in locating a man named Cornell Smith that they wanted to question about Kenneth's murder. He was also wanted in connection to an aggravated assault that occurred days after Kenneth's murder and on the same street that Kenneth lived on.
Police chief Timothy Hendricks says, quote, it is believed that he may have significant and notable information about the crime, end quote. Kenneth and Cornell had become friends in the weeks leading up to Kenneth's murder. Cornell did have a criminal record at this time in 2018. He had recently served time on an armed robbery charge and before that he had served time on a manslaughter charge from 1998. Kenneth didn't pay mind to Cornell's history at all.
Kenneth's sister Gabrielle says, quote, they were friendly because he had a background and we would mention that to him, but his feelings were he had paid his debt to society so he didn't see any reason to hold that against him, end quote. And then the next day on April 26th, police are able to track Cornell to Escambia County, Florida. Police are able to question Cornell and he's never been officially ruled out by police, but he has never been charged in connection with Kenneth's murder either.
Police will dig into Cornell's banking records to see if there's anything that they are able to link to Kenneth, but nothing is found. Cornell is currently serving time in a Florida prison on a kidnapping charge where he will serve 20 years. On October 18th, 2018, so this is eight and a half months after Kenneth's death, police set up a reward of $2,500 for information that leads to an arrest. Police Chief Timothy Hendrick says, quote, we don't want to know your name.
We just want to know your information in hopes it can help us put several pieces of this puzzle together. Some people have called in anonymous tips already, but we want more information to corroborate and verify pieces of this puzzle, end quote. And then that's the last you hear about Kenneth's murder, at least in local media for several years. The next time that media picks it up is in January of 2021, just shy of three years of Kenneth's murder.
The family offers a $5,000 reward for information. Kenneth's sister Gabrielle says, quote, we just want people to put themselves in our place. If your family member had been killed in their home, which is supposed to be your safe place, and then your body is discarded on the side of the road, just put yourself in our shoes. And if you know anything, come forward, please. I can't think of anybody who would want to hurt Kenny. It's totally senseless, end quote.
A few months later, on May 25th of 2021, a resident of past Christian donates $1,000 to the reward fund for information, bringing the grand total to 6,000. And this reward is still in place as of 2023. So more recently on February 23rd, 2023, this is five years since Kenneth's murder. But just a few weeks prior to recording of this podcast, police announced a renewed focus on the case.
Lori Massey with the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers says, quote, we're trying to make the public aware of this cold case, whether it's five years, two years, 20 years old, end quote. Kenneth's family believe that he was the victim of a hate crime because he was a gay man. His sister Gabrielle says, quote, we're a small community. We don't usually have these things going on in past Christian murders and stuff like that, end quote.
Police have dug through Kenneth's financial records and his phone, but no leads have come from this. The new police chief, Darren Freeman, says, quote, no one has been cleared or ruled out. I can say that 100%. It's just a matter of getting witnesses to come forward and provide us information, end quote. And with that, if you know anything about the murder of Kenneth Charlot, you are encouraged to call the past Christian Police Department at 228-452-3300.
Or you can remain anonymous and call the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898. And the sources for the timeline today come from the Sun Herald, the Greenwood Commonwealth, WLOX, WXXV, WXXV25, WDAM7, and the Seacoast Echo. So that is the case of Kenneth Charlo. Thank you for covering this case specifically. All cases are important to cover.
But the thing about someone being more marginalized across intersectional identities, the more likely it is that it is less covered, which is odd because they're a part of multiple communities. We are, you and I are both part of the queer community. And for anyone listening who also is, I think you probably know what I'm saying when I'm like that, you know, I didn't know him, but I know him. But more on Kenneth, he seemed like an awesome guy.
I just want to before we get into it, it's really important to me, especially this time that we like talk about who this person was. I saw pictures of him with his family and he seemed like a really good guy and a good uncle, a good family member, community member. And on a happier note, I'm very, I'm like honored that he was, that he was and still is a part of our community. I wish I had known him. Yeah. Family came first for Kenneth.
And that's something that I read over and over again and found in my research on this case. There was a local media story that went to his house and you could just see all the photos on his wall, like family photos. His home was his sanctuary and his place for family. And the walls were just like a living testament to how important his family was to him. And his family is hurting for answers in this case.
They really want to know what happened here because this is their uncle, this is their brother, this is their family. And the community wants to know what happened here. A lot of the community has come and supported, they've donated to the reward fund because this like, that's not a part of the past Christian community. That's not something that happens there. So everyone is appalled by it and want answers. Yeah. The word hate crime was mentioned.
It really clicked and made sense to me the imagery of, or the fact that, I think you said his car was engulfed in flames. Like that's a, it's a big statement and it's an image like associated with hate crimes. Honestly, hate crimes and like up evil, like this versus this. That's like what it's, I don't know. That's what I thought of. And that that makes sense to me. That makes sense to you.
With the car being engulfed in flames, like my first reaction to that was just like, they're getting rid of evidence. Like that's what they're doing here. Something this car was used in this crime. And so this is somebody trying to erase themselves from being connected to it by means of fire, you know, trying to get rid of DNA fingerprints, whatever, because you know, an engulfed car is going to be found more than likely, especially like a beacon.
Yeah, you like be like, it's like lighting stuff on fire in that way is it's usually to send a message. I think that's why I leaned into that. I didn't think about the evidence thing though. That was very smart, honey. Unfortunately, just in researching cases as I do, I come across like engulfed cars quite a bit. Okay, so maybe it's not. Thank you. That's good information to know. And people just like cars on fire.
Yeah, usually though, what I found kind of notable about this, which I think could like support like what you are saying is the area where the car was found was pretty residential from what I could tell from where I could kind of figure out between the reports of where it was at and Google Maps. You know, there's houses, like a sub subdivision. Yeah, there's a lot of houses nearby. There's kind of a camp area where people facing homelessness live.
So there's like a lot of people kind of in this area. So you're going to see an engulfed car. Yeah, like it would be not just like in our neighborhood, like we would notice it. Yeah, whereas other times whenever I see that detail in a case, it might be more out in like a rural countryside where maybe there there is a chance that it could be lit, burn, extinguish itself without somebody finding it just because these roads aren't traveled as much.
Well, we've, I think if you're at least in the Midwest, you've at least driven by something like that. If not that a barn that's been completely engulfed in flames or something that's just left there. That, yeah, I'm just echoing what you're saying. But it does sound like in this case, the police seem to have some working theories, but they just can't like put all the pieces together. And they're really like begging for people to come forward and just say what you know.
And it's like you can remain anonymous. They're working with crime stoppers where you can speak anonymously and they have ways of making sure that you do get the reward money if you wish to, you know, collect it. And that's a motivation for you. That's fine if it is. But you can call crime stoppers and still get that, which is great for everyone.
Like you can remain anonymous and the police can close this case and the family can get some justice and Kenneth can get justice because he deserves it. All our victims do. Everyone deserves just to have an answer and the families deserve to know whatever they need to know to come to terms with what has happened. And that's different for every family member, I think, but anyone who wants an answer, I think should be able to get it.
So again, if you know anything about what happened to Kenneth Charlot in February of 2018, you can call the past Christian Police Department at 228-452-3300. Or again, to remain anonymous, you can call the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898. And we, of course, will be posting pictures of Kenneth that I was able to find from news reports, from newspaper clipping. So we are going to be posting those in the beautiful graphics that Eli makes. Those are on our Instagram.
You can find us cold and missing. Just search that and we should pop right up for you while you're in your podcast app. If you wouldn't mind leaving us a little review of five stars, a thumbs up, a rainbow, a unicorn, whatever the metric is in your podcast app, we would really appreciate it. We had a new review this week. I have a sneaking suspicion it is from the same Sherry that left us a donation a couple weeks ago. So if it is the same Sherry, wow, thank you so much.
We really appreciate you. If it is a different Sherry, we are doing very well with the Sherry's with the Sherry demographic. So tell your Sherry's. We got the Sherry's. We got the Sherry's. So that's all I have. All right, baby. Thank you. Have a good week and stay safe, y'all. Stay safe, y'all.