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, Allie 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 I'm your co -host Eli. Welcome back everyone. Thank you as always for your patience with us. I know we were off again kind of unexpectedly last week. Our dog has been going through some health stuff and he had surgery last week but he's doing better. He's almost back to his normal self so... Thank you all so much for the kind wishes and positivity that still came through. Like, we still got some great reviews over this last week. So thank you all so much for sticking
with us and coming back for another case. And with that, we are on episode 133 this week. And we are on a cold case. So should we just go ahead and get into it? Let's do it. Today, we are talking about the cold cases of Grover Cecil, Joyce Reason, and Johnnie Rankins. otherwise known as the Be-Lo Murders, and this takes place in June of 1993 in Windsor, North Carolina. But first, a little bit about Johnnie, Joyce, and Grover. Johnnie Rankins, he is 48 years old in 1993 and lived in nearby
Edenton. I could find very little details about him, but we do know that he worked on the cleaning crew. Joyce Reason is 36 years old in 1993. She was a single mother to two young girls. and she was also engaged and the wedding was planned for later that summer. She worked as a cashier at the B -Lo grocery store. And Grover Cecil,
he went by the family name of Bud. He was 47 years old in 1993 and was the store manager of the B -Lo, a position that was newer to him as he had only been the manager for a few months. He was married and a father. And now, a timeline of events. Sunday, June 6, 1993. It was nearing closing time at the B -Lo grocery store. The grocery store is located in Windsor, North Carolina. It's a small community with a population of around
2 ,400. The employees are busy trying to get closing cleaning done and helping the last few customers check out. As it neared the 6 p .m. closing time, the overnight cleaning crew was starting to show up and gather their supplies. Since it was Sunday, there was a plan to clean and wax the floors. The cleaning crew consisted of four guys, Johnnie Rankins, Thomas Hardy, Jasper Hardy, and Sylvester Welch. 6 p .m. came and
the last customers left. The doors were locked and most of the employees had left for the evening. Two employees remained, Joyce Reason, a cashier, and Grover Cecil, the manager. A few minutes after 6, Jasper, a member of the cleaning crew, looked up and saw Joyce and Grover walking towards them with a strange look on their face. Behind them was a man that Jasper had never seen before. He's described as a black man in his 20s or 30s, around 6 foot tall, slender with medium complexion.
His nose had a noticeable bump, like he had had an injury to it prior. The man had hidden in the store and waited until the doors were locked before approaching Grover first with a gun. The man had the gun to Grover's back. Grover tells the cleaning crew, quote, do what he says. He means business. The gunman seemed at ease and even seemed to anticipate how many men were part of the cleaning crew. He asked where one of them was when he only encountered three of them, according
to reports. The gunman is able to get all four members of the cleaning crew and Joyce and Grover to the back of the store near the meat counter very quickly. The man gathers cash and money orders from the store. He ordered the hostages to bind each other up at the wrists and ankles using duct tape and dog leashes that he had found in the store. Grover was ordered to bind the hands of the rest of the hostages, and then the
gunman bound Grover's hands. Once everyone was tied up, the gunman had the hostages lay down and put them into three piles of two so they were lying on top of each other. Jasper, one of the cleaning crew members, thought everybody was going to be okay. Everyone was complying with the gunman. Jasper said that the man kept saying, quote, I don't want to have to kill anybody. He also kept promising that no one would get
hurt as long as they followed orders. He also told the hostages that he used to be a police officer and he had been fired from his job. He didn't have anything left to lose. Jasper was lying on the floor with another person on top of him. He was laying with his face turned toward the wall and was praying for the ordeal to be over. Then, suddenly, the man fired a bullet into each pile. Jasper said, quote, I heard the shots, pop, pop, pop. Sometimes there would be
a grunt when someone was hit. It appears that when the man went to fire a fourth time, the gun jammed or he ran out of ammunition. The gunman then rolls each victim onto the stomach and leaves them on the floor. He leaves for a couple minutes and returns with a knife that he had found. The gunman approached Jasper and his brother Thomas. He asked them if they would identify him. Thomas told him no. To which the man shouted, quote,
I don't believe you. Jasper was still lying facing the wall, so he didn't see the gunman approach his brother and stab him. Thomas is violently attacked. His throat is slit and the butcher knife breaks off in his back. The gunman then approached Jasper and asks him as well, quote, will you identify me? To which Jasper responds, quote, no, man, I don't know you. The man then replies, quote, okay, big man. I'll let you live. Jasper waited. He didn't believe the man and
he thought he would be attacked next. But the man doesn't attack him. He gathers up the money, a little over $3 ,000 in cash and money orders, and places them into a grocery bag along with keys to the store and heads out the door. Jasper was alive and unhurt, but still bound. Sylvester Welch and Thomas Hardy were also clinging to life. Thomas had been stabbed and Sylvester had been shot in the back. Sylvester is able to free himself from the binds and drag himself to the
office and call 911. The phone call comes in at 6 .56 p .m. When police enter the B -Lo grocery store, they find Sylvester in the front office, but everyone else were in bloody piles in the back rear corner of the store. A first responder said, quote, I remember the smell of blood. There was blood everywhere. Sylvester Welch and Thomas Hardy are still alive but in critical condition. They are rushed to Pitt Memorial Hospital in
Greenville. Johnnie Rankins, Joyce Reason, and Grover Cecil are all dead inside of the Be-Lo. Jasper Harding was left unhurt and is able to provide police with details from the terrible night. Police begin combing the scene. We know they find two spent casings from a .45 caliber pistol. As more police gather at the B -Lo, neighbors start to come out. A man who was visiting his girlfriend who lived across the street from the B -Lo, and they were both home during the attacks,
they said they didn't hear anything. Witnesses tell police that they saw a white car with Maryland license plates speeding north on U .S. 17 after the shooting. The next day, Monday, June 7, 1993, Thomas, who was stabbed, is still listed in critical condition, while Sylvester, who had been shot, was in a serious condition, according to the hospital. The brutal slaying sent shockwaves through the small community. Police say that they saw an uptick in applications for concealed
carry the very next day. Jasper, who walked away unhurt, says, quote, and you can believe I plan to stick to every one of them. Police are still working their way through the crime scene. Sheriff Perry believes that the gunman might have piled the victims up so that one shot would kill two people. Police say, quote, We think he may have been low on ammunition. Only in military executions have I heard of it. I've never heard of it in a robbery. I've heard of the enemy stacking our
soldiers and killing them this way. Jasper is on edge. He says, quote, Local police are able to rule out all former officers for their departments, so they send out an alert to other departments in the state and other states to see if any recently fired officers fit the description of the gunman. On Tuesday, June 8th, two days after the murder, police tell media that there may have been a
second man involved in the crime. Sheriff Perry tells media that the white car that was seen speeding north after the murder was also seen in the parking lot just before the killings took place. A man was seen waiting in the car in the parking lot, and then two men were seen in the car when it was speeding north. The second person is described as a black man with a darker complexion. He would have been between 6 foot and 6 foot 2 in his mid -30s and was described as being
very muscular. Police are still at the Be-Lo combing through the store in search of more evidence. Altogether, $3 ,324 was stolen from the store. On Wednesday, June 9th, it's been three days since the murder, and there is some good news. Thomas and Sylvester are doing better. Their condition is upgraded to fair and they are healing. Investigators are still sorting through officers who had been fired from other departments. But investigators also wonder if he really was a
police officer. Sheriff Perry says, quote, At this time, most police officers would carry a 9mm pistol. or older officers would sometimes carry a .357 revolver. However, the casings that were picked up at the store were from a .45 caliber pistol. Police don't think that he knew the victims. They believe he was an outsider, and investigators alerted Maryland authorities due to the license plate seen on the white car. Police continue
to investigate, but the updates slow down. The next one comes in November of 1993, so it's been five months since the murders. And the FBI have gotten involved along with the State Bureau of Investigation. The FBI have created a profile of the suspect and they release it to the public. They believe that the gunman would be a threat to his family and friends because of the stress
he is under. They believe that this is not the first time that he is killed and that he has likely served time in the past on felony charges of some kind. While in prison, he likely thrived and was a model inmate. He could have even found religion there. He would be very manipulative. They believe that he could convince anyone of almost anything. The FBI say, quote, think back to Memorial Day. Who came to this area for a
visit? Who came to this area for a funeral? We are asking that anyone who knows this person to please give us a call. The reward for information has grown to $30 ,000. Over the next year, police continue to work on the case, and they even create a task force. But still, in June of 1994, so a year since the murders, there's no suspect in the case, and the B -Lo has closed down. Investigators strongly believe that the killer likely has had or is in a relationship with a woman who lives
in the area. Police say, quote, the investigation has led us to believe that this woman may also be in danger and is possibly afraid to come forward with information about the killings. The task force is willing to provide complete anonymity and a safe haven for her and others she may have told about the incident. There's even more of a probability that this woman has mentioned the murders to friends or other family members, but has made them assure secrecy in order to prevent
her own death. Police believe that the woman would have likely been in an abusive relationship with the man. Investigators also give more of the profile of the murderer. They say, quote, He is not an ordinary killer. He would be a neat person, but still someone who would rather wear jeans than suits. He would be very, very smart. They believe he drives a small to medium two -door vehicle, which is possibly medium blue
in color with rust spots. They also believe the killer is connected to the drug world and wouldn't keep a legal job for long, but he would have a strong ability to do detailed work with his hands and mathematical skills. He is physically fit but not muscular. Smooth skin and light brown -green eyes. He also has a large Adam's apple. Police say, quote, this is a person who probably stays home a lot during the day and comes out at night. He may even stay away from home for
several days but always returns. Investigators hope that the woman will come forward and once again offer protection to her. But another year comes and goes. in June of 1995, so it's been two years since the murder, and police say they are still actively working the investigation. The SBI is still working the case, and agent Dwight Ransom says, We have taken countless leads into this case. Many of them turned out to be
dead ends. We've worked every lead we've been given, exhausted every single thing reported on this case, no matter how trivial the information might have been. but we have not had enough to move close enough to an arrest. The suspect or suspects may very well be in or around the area, and we firmly believe somebody knows something that may very well lead us to the suspect or suspects in this case. But the case goes cold.
Years pass without an update, but investigators work behind the scenes on any leads that trickle in. The next update is in 2018. so it's been 25 years since the murders. A lot of the original investigators have retired at this point, but the case continues to puzzle them. Retired investigators now theorize that robbery was a secondary motive. The man's real intentions was to hurt people. They also question his claim that he was a police officer, something that they've done since the
beginning. Quote, it has always puzzled me that he had only one magazine for his pistol. A person trained in the military or as a police officer always carries more than one magazine. That leads me to believe he wasn't military or a police officer. All I do know is he is a cold -blooded killer. As of 2023, there have been no new updates in the case. However, there is still a $30 ,000
reward for information. So if you know anything about the murders of Grover Cecil, Joyce Reason, and Johnnie Rankins at the Be-Lo grocery store in June of 1993, please call the Windsor Police at 252 -794 -3111 or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 1 -800 -334 -3000. So that is the unsolved case of the Be-Lo murders. I thought that I had known this case or maybe heard about it prior to tonight, but I'm just glad that you brought it back to me, at least.
The details of this case are so bizarre and terrifying, and I know that this case is actually a little different from ones that we've covered prior, but I'm really glad to be... to be talking about
it. And just to jump right into the timeline, that closing shift exhaustion, while you provided great detail of what those moments were during the crime, but as someone who has worked closing shifts before in a store setting, this kind of scenario is something that I've... played out in my own head or just like worst case scenario where someone is still in the store. And yeah,
it's terrifying to think about. I think anyone who has worked in a retail or maybe service setting where there is a closing, you go and lock the doors. I think this kind of thing runs through a lot of people's heads. Unfortunately, it's It's something that we run into in the true crime world where a closing shift is kind of targeted. That's actually the next question I had. And I have my own answers so far. But why was this place targeted? And I'm curious to know your
thoughts. I think that's a really good question.
You know, police seem to feel that. the suspect is an outsider that this he didn't know any of the people there this was not like a personal vendetta against anyone um this this was um an attack like almost like a random attack but to me there are some details that seemed to suggest that this person at least studied the store a little bit to know to hide what time closing was and he seemed to know how many men in the cleaning crew would be there like he anticipated
four of them so it does seem like he planned it out but why this store why June why why right now I have no idea that was a similar question that popped up for me Or something that I just believe that maybe he did, which was study the store, study the closing and cleaning crew, like clock out times, arrival times, just maybe eyes on the building. But again, just, you know, begs the question, why? And I know that's the crux of this case and that it's the reason we're covering
it now. The randomness of it just really sticks out in my head. Well, yeah, and it just doesn't really make any sense because it's like, well, if this was a robbery, he got all the money really quickly. He didn't need to kill anybody. Everybody was complying. They were doing exactly what he said. So if this was purely a robbery, why turn it into a triple murder? I mean, it seemed as if he... thought he had killed five people there.
So why escalate it to there when everyone was complying, everyone was listening, you know, he got everything he wanted. So why this carnage? Yeah, the headspace he seemed to be in was chaotic and erratic, which granted, you know, You think that maybe most people committing crimes like this are in that headspace, but I don't know. A lot of people are very methodical and calm when they're committing crimes, especially that involve causing physical harm and or murdering
multiple individuals. That's one person with a lot of power over multiple people. Yeah, and some of the choices he makes, you know, some
of them. do lean towards like you know he studied the store he knew how many men in the cleaning crew to anticipate but then at the same time it seems like he didn't bring enough ammunition for how many people are going to be there he didn't bring the duct tape or the dog leashes those were things he found in the store so those things kind of seemed spur of the moment or chaotic in that sense not thought out but then other aspects of it do seem more calculated so Yeah,
this case is really puzzling, trying to sort that out. Just was this planned? Was it random? Did he study it or did he just kind of know? I don't know. There's so many questions here. The FBI profile is also something that brings up a lot of questions for me because there is
such specificity. in their description that it almost sounds like they are describing a person that they think committed this and they are just waiting for somebody to come forward and say like yes he did this you know to the point where it's like he you know he drives um you know like a a two -door medium blue car with rust spots like that is highly specific and seems like they are talking to some to somebody you know directly saying we know it's you So that's really interesting
to me. I would wonder if the FBI would stand by that profile today, if they would release as much, or if that's still along the lines of who they think did it. I think it says a lot about even the time period, how seriously they took this case. And it kind of surprised me, honestly, to see that the FBI was involved and came up with a whole... profile at all that they
were able to. And the way law enforcement responded, it's so infrequent in these cases that we cover that we see, you know, law enforcement really step up. And this was a case that I feel like they did. Yeah. You know, the local police were really up against like a horrific crime scene and something that they did not see in their day to day or even their like year to year, something
as horrific as this murder. So for them to reach out quickly to the State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI because it did seem likely that this person crossed state lines, I think it was a really smart move to just bring bigger forces with bigger resources into this investigation. But even with the FBI, the SBI, we're still covering
this case today. Even with three survivors who were able to give testimony and a really good composite sketch, we're still talking about it today because this person has not been caught. Yeah, the fact that there are, you know, some survivors of this, I want justice so badly for this case because it's almost like he was like slipped out of their fingertips, you know what I mean? The fact that they survived and could describe this person, it's like it's a ghost.
I just I would love to see justice for them. And, you know, with such a specific description, like we know a lot of details. We know he has a bump in his nose. We know he has a large Adam's apple. You know, the description of him, what he would have looked like in 1993. I think somebody would recognize him. And, you know, police investigators feel very certain that. He told somebody about this crime. People know that he committed it. So I am hopeful that, you know, so many years
have passed. Circumstances have changed. You know, people die. Conscience gets heavy that I am hopeful that somebody comes forward with information that they know about this case, maybe that they've known since 1993. But I hope that they come forward and just say what they know.
So again, if you know anything about the murders of Grover Cecil, Joyce Reason, and Johnnie Rankins at the B -Lo grocery store in June of 1993, please call the Windsor Police at 252 -794 -3111 or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 1 -800 -334 -3000. On our Instagram, we will have the suspect's sketch and a picture of the Be-Lo. This week, we don't have pictures of our
victims. I was able to find a picture of Grover and his family, but it seems like the rest of the families are really looking for privacy and the survivors as well. So out of respect and since they were not readily available. I'm not including pictures of the victims of the attack, but just the suspect and the Be-Lo grocery store, which you can see on our Instagram at coldandmissing. If you could share that suspect sketch, just
get it out there. Get people looking at it. That would do huge things for this case just to get people talking about it. And we would appreciate it so much. We also have on our website transcripts of all of our episodes. So if you or someone you love is hard of hearing, you can follow along with the podcast there. It's the official transcript. So I go through, I edit, I make sure all the names are spelled correctly and everything's
correct. Podcast players, I know they do. transcripts now but they're not always accurate so if you're looking for the accurate ones they are on our
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much. But that is all I have for you this week. Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Allie. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Have a good week and stay safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all.