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. Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin -Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski. And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Ali, and it will just be me coming to you this week. You might remember we mentioned it a few weeks ago, but Eli is involved in a theater production, so his nights are quickly filling up with rehearsals as they get closer and closer to opening. So very excited about that opportunity for him, but I do miss him here. As a co -host in the podcast, I miss him just around the house. So he is missed. He is deeply
missed. But I wanted to get on here and bring you this week's episode. We are on a cold case this week, and this is episode 158. So I think we should just go ahead and get into it. And just as a bit of a content warning at the top, while this case does not center around a young person specifically, there are young people involved. Today, we are talking about the cold case of Laneshia Crowder, and this takes place in August of 2000 in Carrollton, Georgia. But first, a
little bit about Laneshia. Laneshia Crowder was just 21 years old in the summer of 2000. To her family and friends, she went by the nickname Lane. She was a young mother, raising two small children on her own. who was seven at this time, and her two -year -old daughter Lyric. Her world revolved around them. Friends and family say she carried responsibilities far beyond her years. Even though she was the youngest in her friend group, she had the oldest mindset. She was steady,
protective, the friend everyone leaned on. A mother figure not just to her children, but to her friends too. Laneshia was described as the center, which is such a beautiful way to describe her, I think. She was the center of her friends, the center of her family, and the center of her children's lives. In August of 2000, she lived in a brick ranch -style home in the Castleberry Estates, a tight -knit subdivision just north of Carrollton, Georgia. It was the kind of neighborhood
where everyone knew each other. Neighbors watched out for each other, kept an eye on everyone. And a place where you didn't expect violence. And now a timeline of events. Saturday, August 12, 2000. This is the last day Laneshia is seen alive. That evening, she leaves her mother's house. Her mother's name is Doris. She leaves her mother's house with Kenneth and Lyric. It's a normal night. Nothing feels unusual. When they get home, Laneshia gets her kids ready for bed
and tucks them in. After the kids fall asleep, Laneshia gets on the phone and starts talking with friends. It's reported that she talks on the phone until around midnight that Saturday night. According to reports, this is the last time anyone will talk to her, is around midnight Saturday night going into Sunday morning. All day Sunday. Folks tried to reach out to Laneshia and she wasn't responding, which was out of her character. She would normally get back to you
pretty quickly. Monday, August 14th, rolled around and still there was no sign of Laneshia or of her children. Laneshia‘S roommate, Grady, starts to get worried. At the time, it's reported that Grady... is her roommate, but they might have been dating based off of comments made by police and her family. Either way, Grady had been in the Bremen City Jail since August 4th on a bench warrant and hadn't been able to reach Laneshia
for the past couple of days. When he still couldn't get through, he got in touch with a neighbor and asked them to check on her. So shortly before 10 p .m., the neighbor walks over to the house and looks in through a bedroom window. They see Laneshia on the ground. They immediately call 911. The fire department arrives first just a few minutes later. Through the window, the fire department also see the body of a woman. But they also see a child nearby. And they notice
movement from the child. To them, the child is still alive. so they force entry to make sure that everyone there is okay. Inside, they find Laneshia dead. It appears Lyric had tried to help at some point. Band -aids had been taken out and were scattered about the room. Police arrive just minutes after the fire department to the scene, and they confirm that Laneshia Crowder is dead. She was found in her bedroom. Her son, Kenneth, He's found in the bedroom next to where
Laneshia was found. Kenneth is gravely injured. He was beaten so severely that he's barely clinging to life when he's found by police. He's airlifted to Children's Healthcare in Atlanta and listed in serious condition. Later reports will say that he sustained brain damage during the attack. Lyric is also inside the home, Laneshia‘s two -year -old daughter. She is physically unharmed, but she's found near her mother. Investigators
are stunned by the scene. Police will ultimately come to the conclusion that Laneshia was likely killed early Sunday morning, shortly after her last phone call. Her body and children had been in the home for over 24 hours before they were discovered. Investigators note that there were no signs of forced entry in the home. Ultimately, the investigation will reveal that nothing was
stolen from the home either. The next day, Tuesday, August 15th, it's been a day since the discovery of the bodies, and Laneshia‘s autopsy is performed. But instead of answers, there were more questions. The state crime lab said that they were not able to determine her exact cause of death. It is reported that she did have head wounds, but none of them were severe enough to be fatal. It's also reported that she was not shot. Outside of this, police don't reveal much else about
Laneshia‘S death at this point. Investigators at this time say that they don't even know what kind of case that they're working. Homicide, suicide, accident. All possibilities remain open, according to them. However, the fact that Kenneth is so badly injured makes me think, and it seems like the police think, that someone else was involved in this. So toxicology testing is rushed
for Linisha's autopsy. Carroll County Sheriff Tony Reeves says, quote, It is a very wide open case, a lot of problems, a lot of questions, but it's a solvable case. Kenneth remains hospitalized. According to reports, his eyes are open, but he cannot respond to questions. Investigators hope he'll recover enough to speak to them and tell them what happened. Police also try to gently talk with Lyric, the only unharmed witness inside the home. Neighbors are in shock by the murder.
No one can imagine who would want to hurt Laneshia. She was focused on raising her children and didn't bother anyone. With no clear suspect or motive, Lyric is placed in child protective services until family members can be cleared of involvement in Laneshia‘s death. On Thursday, August 17th, just three days after the body was found, Kenneth remains in critical condition. Still, there are no major developments or breakthrough in the
case. It takes a few weeks until Wednesday, September 6th, so about 24 days after the murder, police announce that they now know what killed Laneshia. They say that they know the cause of death. And this is interesting because it seems that they walk back this statement later on, but we'll get to that in a little bit. At this time in September of 2000, they refuse to reveal the cause of death. And they actually refuse to confirm if it's officially a homicide, but continue to
treat it as one. And from everything we know now, it is a homicide. Kenneth is still hospitalized and still unable to be questioned about the night of his mother's death. Lyric and eventually Kenneth will ultimately go to live with their grandma, Laneshia‘S mother Doris. We really don't get any other updates in the case. The next updates that I could really find come in 2015. Her children really begin to advocate for their mother as
they enter adulthood. They do an interview with USA Today and Kenneth begins to tell people what he remembers from that night. He talks about knowing that something was wrong, telling his sister to hide or to run. And then he remembers them coming into the room and beating him and his mom. It's also reported in 2015 that police believe that the case is solvable. They say that they have evidence from this case, including
the object that was used in the murder. In 2020, approaching the 20 -year anniversary, again, her children continue to speak out about what they remember from that night and wanting justice for their mother. Again, Kenneth says, quote, I knew something was wrong. I could tell it. So I told my sister to hide. And then when they just came in the door and they started beating my mom, started beating me. Lyric says that she remembers some of the events from that night,
too. She says, quote, I just remember being behind the door and watching what happened, and watching them come in and doing what they did. Investigator Amanda Halsey says the attack likely wasn't planned. She says, quote, She also believes that the perpetrators may have panicked, possibly surprised that Kenneth survived. Investigators think it likely that when news broke that Kenneth was still alive, the suspect likely had some sort of reaction
in their personal life. Police say they are holding information back, key details, in order to protect the case. Laneshia‘S family believes that the killer is still in the area. Her mother, Doris, says, quote, Over the years, she says that people have made cryptic comments to her. Some have approached the children and said things meant to scare them about their mother's death. In July of 2021, so this is approaching 21 years, Laneshia‘S family planned to do a balloon release
to honor her life. But frustration is growing with the family. Despite those earlier statements that the cause of death had been determined, Investigators say at this time that they couldn't determine it, that they don't truly know what it is, and the family echo that. Family members say communication from law enforcement has been minimal. The family asks what exactly is going on in the investigation. Laneshia‘S sister says, quote, they never reach out to us. It has affected
us very bad. The family ultimately just wants justice for Laneshia and for her children. The family also questions forensic findings in the case, including the absence of evidence under Laneshia and Kenneth's fingernails, something expected if they had fought back in the attack. Officials confirmed that Laneshia had no natural cause of death, so there wasn't some underlying sickness that caused her to die all of a sudden, that they never realized. revealed all these
years. The sheriff's office says that the case is active and that they even have a person of interest in the case. But due to COVID at this time, it's slowing down progress and they haven't been able to talk to everyone that they would like to. They say that they also have resubmitted some evidence for testing. Again, investigator Halsey says, quote, there are several things we are waiting on. But that was really one of
the last updates that I could find. And while I was encouraged that it was from 2021, I was hoping that there would be some announcement that there was some breakthrough in the evidence, but not one that I could find. So that is really all we know about the cold case of Laneshia Crowder. So if you know anything about the murder of Laneshia Crowder in August of 2000, You are encouraged to call the GBI Region 2 office at 706 -565 -7888 or the Carroll County Sheriff's Office at 770
-830 -5888. So that is the cold case of Laneshia Crowder. This is a case I almost felt like I should have prefaced it at the beginning where we are going to have more questions than answers. It feels obvious why I wanted to bring this one to cold and missing. This is not a case that I was very familiar with. Maybe if you are from this area in Georgia, you might be familiar with it. It did seem like it did have such an impact
a little bit on the region in 2000. But outside of that, you might not have heard of this case. I certainly never had. And learning the details. The details are pretty brutal in this case. I didn't want to get into, you know, just like too many of them just for the sake of being graphic. But I think it is just important to note that Laneshia’s children were present for her murder. Like that is a horrific fact that I just think can't be ignored and certainly needs justice.
And so when I was learning about this case and, you know, kind of put together that her children were there at the time of her murder, her young children, I knew that this was a case that I wanted to bring to cold and missing to get some energy behind it. It feels like the family is putting a lot of energy behind it. There's an investigator on it. It feels like it's really on a precipice of, like, maybe a major breakthrough.
Truly, that's why I wanted to bring it here to Cold and Missing to hopefully kind of get it over the edge of like energy, energy behind the case, people talking about it, asking about it. That's a big motivator in me bringing it to Cold and Missing. And then, of course, this fits perfectly in with the mission, right? Like a wonderful woman, an incredible mother, an incredible friend, an incredible family member was. Taken. And there
have been no answers. And while her children and her mother have been advocating for answers in her case and really working with the media to keep it active, there hasn't been a lot of other people doing that. So I wanted to just do my little part, our little part. Let's get it out there. Let's get other people talking about it. Other people should know about Laneshia‘s case, and we should have answers here. Like I said, there are a lot more questions than answers.
So one of the questions I have, in recent years, Investigator Holsey, it sounds like she believes that it is a crime of passion, something that kind of happened in that heat of the moment. So if that is the case, then... You know, I wonder, who were all the people that she was talking on the phone with that night? Were there any calls that were made that maybe she missed because she was on the other line? Did she make any calls? Just who was the last person that she talked
to that evening? Did she tell that person that she was expecting anyone to stop by? It sounds like, based off of those comments from the investigator, that Laneshia very likely could have known the killer then. And I think there's also some other facts that we know. We know nothing was stolen, so it doesn't seem like robbery was apparent, a motive in this case. And then we know that there are no signs of forced entry. Of course, if you've been a longtime listener to Cold and
Missing. You know that no signs of forced entry doesn't always mean a lot with us. There are a lot of ways to force your way into somebody's house without necessarily breaking a lock or a window that wouldn't leave behind those kind of obvious forces of entry. But considering everything else, did she know this person? That's just a question I have, but we really don't know. It does seem like with Kenneth, You know, he was old enough and thankfully he survived. He went
through a really difficult attack. Per Kenneth's statement and even lyric from what she remembers of that evening, it sounds like there could be multiple people. There never seems to be a specific number as far as I can tell. But it does seem like at least more than one person. So if that's the case. Who would have done this with somebody else that knew Laneshia? It just brings up a lot
of questions. But so, so thankful that Kenneth and Lyric are still with us, that they were not harmed in the same way that their mother was that evening. I know that this was very harmful to them, no matter what. Kenneth obviously went through a very... Intense physical attack and, you know, barely survived that. And then what Lyric had to go through must have been very terrifying. And that leaves its own mark on somebody. So what her children went through is horrific. I
just I can't emphasize that enough. And it's just such a motivator of me wanting to get answers in this case is because these. Her children deserve answers. They deserve answers because they had to go through this in a very up -close -and -personal way. So they deserve answers and for somebody to say why they did this to them. Yeah, it's—I can't believe someone would do that to children. I'm always shocked by the cruelty of people.
Thinking more again to my questions, I would be very curious that evidence that they were talking about, that they were retesting, even in 2015, they said they had a murder weapon or the object used in Laneshia‘s death. I guess her death is like another thing that we should just talk about. So there's some back and forth of if there is a cause of death, if there's not.
I really try not to speculate on this podcast and try really hard to stick in the facts because my intention is never to muddy up the waters around these cases. I always want cold and missing just to kind of be the facts of the case of what's reported right now. So based off of everything, we know that according to reports, she was not shot. That she did have some head wounds, but they were not bad enough to cause. They were not fatal wounds. So those themselves did not
cause death. But beyond that, police have never confirmed a cause of death. It does sound like an assault of some sort, right? Kenneth says he sees people beating his mom. So there's that.
evidence and then there's this statement in 2015 that they have the object that was used in the death so again an object being used you would think that is if she was not shot that would maybe be an instrument used in a beating so that's where I land on like kind of a cause of death what happened here I don't think that's an unreasonable place to land based off of everything that we know. But that brings me back around to that object that the police talked about in 2015.
And, you know, what has been tested today? What hasn't been tested today? What evidence do we have? Do we have DNA? Do we not? Do we have fingerprints? Sounds like there's good evidence in this case. Again and again, investigators talk about this case being solvable. And again and again, they point to the fact that it's solvable because they have evidence in this case. So, you know, if I could sit down and know anything, I would want to know what is that evidence? What hasn't
been tested? What could be tested? And what have the results been? Anybody. It sounds like there was a person of interest in 2021 when COVID was, you know, still locking the world down. But what about now? Is that still a person of interest? Are you just looking for evidence to bring this person in or have they been excluded completely? Lots of questions. Would be very curious just
to know the state of the case today. But ultimately, for Kenneth, for Lyric, for Laneshia’s family, I'm really, really hopeful that the energy that her children, her family have been putting into this case, that... the investigators that are focusing on this case, that the community that still want answers, that continue to ask about
her case. I'm hoping between all of that energy and the pressure that investigators continue putting resources towards her case so that way we do get the answers that we're looking for and Kenneth and Lyric can have some justice. Ultimately, In Laneshia‘s case, I am very hopeful that it will be solved. Between the advocacy work that her children and her family are doing for her case and then the local media have been doing a really good job of keeping the case active
in the last few years. So I'm hopeful between that and then this one investigator that seems to be really putting, you know, the resources to her case. That between all of that and then just the additional energy we can put behind it, that we will start to see results and answers. That Kenneth and Lyric can get answers in this
case. I hope that there is evidence that can still be tested or that can get some sort of hits, that technology catches up, whatever needs to happen to get us to that next step where we are bringing somebody in and justice is being served. Again, it seems very solvable. We have evidence. That's one thing that seems very clear is that there's evidence in this case. So I'm hopeful that somewhere in all of that evidence is an answer for Laneshia and for her children.
So again, if you know anything about the murder of Laneshia Crowder in August of 2000, please call the GBI Region 2 office at 706 -565 -7888 or the Carroll County Sheriff's Office at 770 -830 -5888. And we will have a picture of Laneshia up on our Instagram at coldandmissing. You can follow us there if you're not already. If we ever have to take a week off, we will always try to post something on our Instagram just to
keep you in the loop. And then, you know, active missing person cases that are happening here and now, I always try to post them as they come across my feed. So it's just a really great resource at Cold and Missing. And then, yeah, let's share Laneshia’s photo. Let's get the case out there. Let's get people listening to this episode so they can learn about her case. If you or someone you love is hard of hearing, we do have official transcripts on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com. I go through and I make sure all of the spelling is correct. So official transcripts can be found there. I am not in control of some of the automated ones that are in podcast players. Official ones are on the website, www .coldandmissing .com. And we also have all of our old episodes up there too. So you can look through, find some other episodes, maybe other cases you haven't heard of, and you can give them a listen there.
And then lastly, if you can take some time today in your podcast app, your player, if you could just rate and review us. It really goes a long way in getting others to listen to this podcast. And we really are just asking for the rate and reviews because it helps other people listen to the podcast, which just helps other people know about these cases. That's what we're trying to do here. So that is why we ask that. I mean,
you know the drill. Five stars gets the algorithm pleased, and then it just helps other people take a chance. You know what you're looking for when you look for other podcasts to listen to. So if you have the time today, we'd really appreciate it if you've done it already. Thank you so much. Every review, every comment that comes in fills my heart with joy. And I just appreciate it so much. And if you haven't had the time to do it
yet, I get it. We're all busy. Maybe this week is when you have those couple extra minutes and you're able to slip one in. But that is all I have for you this week. Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Ali. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all.