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Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host Mark Covey and I'm Courtney and this is Mountain

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State Mysteries.

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The case we have for you today is about two co-workers who were found stabbed to death at

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a mall in Virginia in November of 1996. This is the case of Cheryl Edwards and Charlida Singleton.

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Charlida was born in Richmond, Virginia, but she mostly grew up in Delaware. After high school,

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Charlida went to complete several business courses as a step into her new life. She married a man

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named David in Delaware in 1978 and the two went to have six kids together, three boys and three

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girls. In 1988, eight years before the murders, Charlida and her family moved back to Richmond.

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David said that Charlida had a passion for jazz and running. He also said that she was a lot of fun

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to be around. David and Charlida were in the middle of renovating their home into their dream home.

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Despite the amount of effort it took to be involved in such a big project like that,

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they somehow managed to do it while raising their six kids and both managing a full-time job.

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Charlida was the assistant manager of All For One, a dollar store at the Clover Leaf Mall. It was at

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this dollar store where Charlida would meet Cheryl Edwards. Cheryl was a cashier at All For One in a

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school crossing guard. The two jobs were a mess for her. She was supporting herself and her son.

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With our research, we noticed that little was known about Cheryl's life, but we didn't know

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she lived near Richmond, not too far from the All For One. It's said that she was a great mother

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and that she was actually close with her mother who would watch her son while he was in school.

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From our research, we aren't sure what the relationship was like, but we take it that

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Charlida and Cheryl were strictly co-workers. We have heard they had a really good working

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relationship. The Clover Leaf Mall opened in 1972 and it was the first regional mall in the area.

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It has stores like JCPenney's. I know I could name off so many other stores and it would be a

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walk down memory lane for people. Like most malls, the atmosphere started to go downhill.

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There was a major shoplifting problem, drug and alcohol violations. Auto thefts, most of the

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troubled seemed to come from teens who would hang out and end up causing the trouble. So the mall

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emptied up patrol in the area. Off-duty police officers were hired to patrol the parking lots

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and in all honesty, management felt like they were seeing an improvement.

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On November 7th, 1996, Charlida and Cheryl were scheduled to work the closing shift. The store

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closed at 9 p.m. but they did the closing duties. They left the store around 10 p.m. That night,

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Cheryl's mom, Robin, was watching her son. Robin actually lived in a retirement community

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and he was staying with her until Cheryl came to pick him up. By 1130, Robin began to grow concerned.

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Robin, along with one of Cheryl's brothers, headed to the mall to see if they could find Cheryl.

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When they got to the mall, it was around midnight. They both saw Cheryl's pony at Greenpreet in the

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parking lot. Charlida's car was parked right next to Cheryl's. Robin thought that maybe they were

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just in the store doing inventory. She thought that maybe she just forgot to tell her. So what

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her and her son did was walk to the back of the mall to the security door and explain what was

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going on to the officer who was working. The officer looked him inside and they all walked to the

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all-for-one store. They all saw that the gate was down in front of the store. It's one of those

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gates that every mall has. It comes down from the ceiling but you can still see through it. They saw

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that every light in the store was on but one in the back of the store. The store was eerily quiet

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so Robin called out for Cheryl but she was met with silence. After waiting for a couple of hours,

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Robin called other family members to come to the mall so they could help search for Cheryl.

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They would even search a wooded area near the mall. Her family even went to a nearby nightclub

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to see if she was there. When they found out she wasn't there around 4 a.m. they went back to the

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mall and called the police to report the situation. Around the time they contacted the police,

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Charlida's husband David arrived. From her research, it sounded like David fell asleep

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and woke up in the middle of the night and realized that Charlida never made it home.

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Which caused him to drive to the mall once police made it to the scene. Robin, David,

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and a Chesterfield police officer walked together to the rear door of the all-for-one store. When

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they got to the door they realized that it was unlocked. When the officer opened the door to

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walk inside, David called a glimpse of disorder. When the officer stepped back out after a few

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minutes inside, he told Robin and David that everything was okay. Charlida and Cheryl weren't

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inside. He basically encouraged them both to go home. Robin and David found out later that

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Cheryl and Charlida were inside and that they both been murdered. Do you find yourself searching for

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a true crime podcast focused on West Virginia? Well, I have you covered. I'm Mark Covey,

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the host and creator of Mountain State Mysteries, where every Friday my co-host Courtney and I

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tell you about one of West Virginia's coldest unsolved cases. Tune into Mountain State Mysteries

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on your favorite podcast platform. Both Charlida and Cheryl sustained more than 10 stab wounds

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and cuts to their neck, chest, back, and head. However, the exact number of wounds has never

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been shared. They both had wounds on their hands and arms, showing that they fought their attacker,

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which is natural to do. You're going to defend yourself when someone is attacking you. Police

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said they were stabbed with a knife, but never said what type of knife it was. It was apparent to

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police that a struggle took place. The store safe was found open. It was missing between $1,000 to

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$1,500. Other than the cash, the murderer took nothing from the women. Their wallets, checkbooks,

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and jewelry were all left behind. It's never been made clear if robbery was the killer's primary motive.

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The police actually pointed out that the murders in particular, that the fact that Cheryl and

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Charlida were stabbed multiple times, which sometimes indicates there is a personal motive,

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but it also shows that the killer could have been scared and wanted to make sure the two were dead.

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The police actually explored a few possibilities of how the killer could have gotten into the

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store. They did learn that the rear door was double bolted and you needed a key to both open

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and close the door. None of the keys were missing and there was no key left in the lock. Since Charlida

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was the assistant manager, she was more than likely had the keys on her or would have been responsible for them.

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The police said there was no sign to force entry, which the killer could have used intimidation to

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get in the store. Police thought it was more than likely that the killer approached the women as

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they were leaving out the back door. It's also possible that one of the women let the killer in,

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but given the time of night, it's honestly unlikely they would have opened the door for anyone

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unless they were expecting that person. So one of the possible clues that police couldn't make

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sense of was a spealed 28 ounce bottle of Parsons Ammonia. Police actually found the Ammonia in

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the hallway between the back door and the office where the women were murdered. They found out

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that the Parsons brand Ammonia wasn't sold at any of the stores in the mall and that the mall's

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cleaning staff didn't use it in that ounce. So police focused on this detail for a while.

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They sent out a nationwide notice asking if anyone had seen this type of Ammonia or something like

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it at a crime scene, but this lead was a dead end. They were never able to connect the Ammonia to

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another crime scene. At the time of the murders, the Clever Leaf Mall was equipped with various

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surveillance cameras. The police reviewed the footage to identify anyone who was seen walking

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or driving in the parking lot around the time of the murders. However, there was no direct view of

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the rear door to the all for one store. Police were actually able to track down a lot of the people

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that they saw in the footage. They said it was unbelievable how many people they actually identified,

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but after meeting with each person, none of them seemed to be the suspect. Out of everyone,

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they were able to track down. There was one man who wanted to be questioned as a possible witness.

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In an article from the Richmond Daily Times, Dispatch, it said that there was a composite

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sketch that was developed and sent out shortly after the murders. Court, I put the sketch in your

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document. Can you describe it for everyone listening? So it shows a white male with dark hair and eyes.

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His eyebrows are pretty close together, kind of forming a unibrow. His nose is pretty large.

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He don't have a top lip, and he has a really bad receding hair line. Oh, he does his hair like

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really swoops down. It's like his eye, it has like the way the pictures show him like. His eyes are kind of

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it would be his right eye. If he saw him in person, it's like different than his left eye. Yeah,

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like the left eye is sloped a little. Yeah. So the sketch is pretty detailed. How could someone

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talk about a unibrow if they didn't get a good look at this man? But yet again, we aren't sure if

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this man had anything to do with the murders or not. There was a camera in the all for one store

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that was actually in a prime spot. It actually faced the hallway, so the killer could have been

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called on camera. However, the tape in the camera hadn't been changed in like a month, and the hallway

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lights were off. The investigation led to a lot of dead ends. Investigators attempted to recreate

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what might have happened. They've been played out every scenario. They sit in the parking lot

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after the mile closed to get a sense of what the area was like at that hour. They wanted to know

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how any kind of activity could have been expected. Despite all of their efforts, they made little to

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no headway. At times, they actually wondered if the killer was from out of town. The mall was so

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close to the interstate, so it makes sense that someone could have gotten off of the interstate,

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committed the murders, and then hop back on. Do you find yourself searching for a true crime

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podcast focused on West Virginia? Well, I have you covered. I'm Mark Covey, the host and creator

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of Mountain State Mysteries, where every Friday, my cohost Courtney and I tell you about one of

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West Virginia's coldest unsolved cases. Tune into Mountain State Mysteries on your favorite podcast

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platform. Lieutenant Andy Scruggs told the Richmond Daily Times Dispatch in 1997 that they

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considered the killer, quote, could have been someone passing through looking for money and

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happened to see two people coming out of the store at night. And God knows where they are now.

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Why did he have to kill them both? I don't know. Especially if it's a drifter. What are the chances

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of him getting caught if he doesn't stay in the area? End quote. I mean, does this make any sense?

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It's kind of. To me, the killer would have to be super close to the back door to even know where

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the back door was. I mean, even at our local mall, I barely know where the back doors are at the mall.

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Like I just drive by and I don't pay any attention. But with this being unplanned,

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if the person was from out of town or not, they would have to know how this worked.

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They would have had to be walking around that part of the mall. Both families were to get more

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attention on the murders. Along with police, they approached various programs and solve mysteries.

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America's most wanted just to have their murders featured in an episode, but they were unsuccessful

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and that's really disappointing because we both know how hard it is to get coverage on a case,

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especially one like that. It just seems to be so cold at the time. The investigation turned into

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an examination of Charlida and Cheryl's backgrounds. They wanted to see if someone wanted to kill one

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of the women and disguise it as robbery. Like this had to be explored. Just like any other case,

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you'd want to investigate that theory. But with how brutal the murders were, it seemed like it was

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necessary to learn if there was anyone in either of their lives who had motive to kill them.

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Basically, the further investigation scot, the clearer it became that no one was out to get them.

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Cheryl and Charlida both lived pretty normal lives, going to work, spending time with their

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families, taking care of their children, none of which included developing enemies.

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Neither Charlida or Cheryl mentioned having any issues whatsoever with customers. No threats or

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really anything like that. There was basically no warning signs coming from them that someone could

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be casing the store at any point before the murders, which this doesn't mean someone could have been

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doing that without causing any attention to themselves. So I kind of want to backtrack to the

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robbery motive. So from what I can tell from my research, a lot of the employees at the mall

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were kind of shocked and they honestly wondered why someone would target the dollar store out of

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all the stores in the mall. Like this was a store where if you bought five items, you'd be paying

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five dollars and some sale tax. It's not like you're at JCPenney's buying a dress or a suit,

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spending hundreds of dollars. So it's been hard to figure out why someone would rob and kill two

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women for a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars when you could have got more from any other store.

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Some even wonder if the killer could have been a former employee at the all-for-one store who was

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familiar with the store and knew where everything in the back was and they could have been familiar

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with Charlida or even Cheryl. For instance, thank you Cheryl and Charlida as Nellie ran for a second.

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She was killed because she could have confessed and told the cops who killed Ray. So who's to say

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if Cheryl and Charlida knew the killer that they were only killed because the killer knew

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they would confess to the cops and the killer would have been caught with the robbery.

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During my research, I couldn't find if all of the former employees of the all-for-one store

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were investigated. I would like to think they were because it seems like a good possibility to me.

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To be honest, we aren't a hundred percent sure if the killer was even a male. In all of the articles,

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I've seen the police just referred to the killer as a he. It also wasn't clear if they thought it was

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one person or multiple people who committed this crime. In 2011, the Clever Lake Mall was demolished.

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It was already having issues and started to get downhill before the murders. They just added more

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to the uneasy feeling in customers and employees. You can look at it like the Nell in the coffin for the mall.

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After the mall was demolished, the site became a combination of stores, restaurants, offices,

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and apartments. And it's now called the Stonebridge Shopping Center. In 2019,

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Cheryl's niece, who was 14 at the time of the murders, said, quote,

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You can dress it up and make it new, but they'll never forget the tragedy that occurred there,

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end quote. As of today, the murders of Cheryl Edwards and Carlita Singleton are still in salt.

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If you or anyone you know has any information on the murders of Charlita Singleton and Cheryl Edwards,

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please contact the Chesterfield County Police Department at 804-748-1251.

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If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow,

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Do you have a case you want us to cover? Send us an email at MountainStateMysteries304

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at gmail.com. For the show notes, check out our website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com.

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Thank you.

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you