1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for our audiences. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,840 Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,000 I'm your host, Mark. 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:11,240 And I'm Courtney. 5 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:41,200 And this is Mountain State Mysteries. 6 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:55,240 The case we have for you today is about a Marshall University student who is packing 7 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,240 up her things to visit her family during the Christmas break. 8 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:07,080 She went missing and then was found murdered in the crawl space of her own apartment complex. 9 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:13,280 This is part one of the story of Leah Hickman. 10 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:21,320 Leah was born on November 22, 1986 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Ronald L. Hickman 11 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,080 and Sherry J. Cole Russell. 12 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,760 Leah grew up in Leon, West Virginia. 13 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,720 When Leah was in high school, she played the trumpet in the school band and performed 14 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,280 with the bell choir. 15 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:42,240 In 2005, Leah graduated from Christ Academy, a K-12 school in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 16 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:47,840 Later that year, she started her freshman year at Marshall University in Huntington, West 17 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:48,840 Virginia. 18 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:54,440 Leah studied journalism in hopes of one day becoming a television news reporter. 19 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:00,320 Not wanting to live on campus, Leah moved into an apartment with her half-sister, Jessica 20 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,160 Vickers. 21 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:10,360 If you remember 2005 like us, the social media craze was on the rise. 22 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,520 Leah, just like everyone else, joined MySpace. 23 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,600 She worked at a Sears department store for a little while. 24 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:22,800 In 2007, she would start working at Dress Barn clothing store in Barbersville, West 25 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,800 Virginia. 26 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,920 December 14, 2007, started out as a normal day for Leah. 27 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:33,480 That morning, her and her sister went to the mall earlier that day. 28 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,920 Her sister had to leave for work later that evening. 29 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:41,440 Leah spoke to her mother earlier that afternoon and they talked about her coming home for 30 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:42,560 the holidays. 31 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,800 Her mother promised to call her that evening. 32 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,520 Her mother said that that phone call was just a normal call and Leah had seemed excited 33 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,000 to return home for the holidays. 34 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,080 Around 3pm, Leah spoke with her father. 35 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,760 She had just received her grades and was really happy with them. 36 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:03,720 She talked about how she missed her father and was looking forward to seeing him when 37 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:04,720 she came home. 38 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,080 Leah's sister returned to the apartment for her lunch break around 3.30. 39 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,840 Her sister said Leah was excited about her grades and was packing her bags for the trip 40 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:15,840 home. 41 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,240 She left around 4pm while Leah was doing the dishes. 42 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,600 This would be the last time she saw Leah alive. 43 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,440 At some point, Leah logged into her MySpace. 44 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,400 We are 100% sure what she was doing on MySpace at the time. 45 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,480 The last known contact with Leah was around 5.40pm. 46 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:38,080 Leah made a call from her cell phone to a friend saying she is going to get food from 47 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,680 McDonald's, which in total was a 6 minute drive round trip. 48 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:50,080 You can see a picture of her receipt on her social media and website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com. 49 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,920 It's the last call Leah made from her phone. 50 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,360 All incoming calls that night went straight to voicemail. 51 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:05,040 Incoming callers started to receive a message that Leah's voicemail was full. 52 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,440 Leah's sister did not return to the apartment that night when she got off work. 53 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,160 She decided to stay with her boyfriend that night. 54 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:18,120 On the morning of December 15th, Jessica Vickers, Leah's sister stopped by the apartment and 55 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:23,680 notices Leah's purse, keys, and car are still at the apartment, but Leah is nowhere to be 56 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:24,680 found. 57 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:29,800 At 1.01pm, Vickers posted a message on Leah's MySpace page. 58 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,360 Quote, Oh sister, where are you? 59 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:34,360 End quote. 60 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:42,200 5pm, Leah did not show up for her scheduled 4 hour shift at Dress Barn on Merritt's Creek 61 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:47,160 Road in Barbersville, West Virginia, where she had been working for 5 months. 62 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:54,080 Her manager, Peggy Nida, later told reporters the Hickman was not the type of employee who 63 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:59,520 didn't show up for work, and she would usually call even if she was going to be just a few 64 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:00,920 minutes late. 65 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:09,000 On Sunday, December 16th, around 4.48pm, Leah's mother, Sherry, files a missing persons report 66 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,640 with the Huntington Police Department. 67 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,360 Authorities began the investigation into Leah's disappearance. 68 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,480 I just want to throw this in. 69 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:22,840 I've seen other reports that Leah's mom tried to file a missing persons report with the West 70 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:28,840 Virginia State Police, but she was told it was best to file it with the local authorities. 71 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:37,120 On Monday, December 17th, at 7.30pm, Leah's friend, Roger Parker, of Proctorville, posted 72 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:42,920 a message on Leah's MySpace page informing friends that she is missing. 73 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:49,520 Invest anyone with information on her whereabouts to contact him or friend, Caitlin Starkey. 74 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:54,280 Leah's friends began to post flyers across the area. 75 00:05:54,280 --> 00:06:02,280 Tuesday, December 18th, police continued to search for Hickman and conduct interviews, 76 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:04,480 searching for leads in the case. 77 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:13,240 Wednesday, December 19th, Jessica Vickers was interviewed on MSNBC concerning her sister's 78 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,240 disappearance. 79 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,840 Other national media began to carry stories on the disappearance of Leah. 80 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:27,720 11am, Police Cavamus, Leah's neighborhood, searching abandoned houses and interviewing 81 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:33,600 sex offenders in the area, looking for any new evidence in the case. 82 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,560 The state did not turn up any new information. 83 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:44,800 Dress Barn announced a $10,000 reward for any information on Leah's whereabouts. 84 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:51,280 Thursday, December 20th, police announced that they are pursuing new leads in the case. 85 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:58,680 At 6pm, friends conducted a candlelight vigil at the Memorial Student Center Plaza on the 86 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:04,200 campus of Marshall University. 87 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:11,200 On December 21st, Jessica Vickers was interviewed on MSNBC for the second time concerning her 88 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,080 sister's disappearance. 89 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:19,400 The Huntington Police Department found a body of a white female in a crawl space in the 90 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,120 laundry room of Hickman's apartment building. 91 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,160 Police believe it was Leah's body, but the woman was not identified conclusively. 92 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:37,720 Police forensic units looked for clues and treated the discovery as an active crime scene. 93 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:44,040 To see pictures of the crawl space, you can see them on all of our socials and our website, 94 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,240 MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com. 95 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,200 Shoutout to our follower Seth, who sent us pictures when he found out what case we were 96 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:52,200 covering. 97 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:59,560 December 22nd, forensic units continued to investigate the apartment building. 98 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,360 Leah's body was removed from the building and sent to the state medical examiner's office 99 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,560 for identification. 100 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:14,560 December 24th, police announced the body has been positively identified as Leah Hickman. 101 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:20,600 December 26th, the funeral for Leah Hickman was announced to take place at the Point Pleasant 102 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:27,400 National Guard Armory at 7.30 p.m. and that Leah will be buried the next day following 103 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,800 a private graveside service. 104 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:36,160 December 27th, Dress Barn announced that the $10,000 reward fund will go to pay for the 105 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,800 funeral. 106 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:46,200 December 29th, more than 2,000 attended services and visitation for Leah Hickman at the National 107 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,200 Guard Armory in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 108 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:55,640 Well let's jump forward to Tuesday, January 10th, 2008. 109 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:01,600 News reports police know the cause of Leah's death, but they're not releasing it until 110 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,760 the preliminary autopsy reports are out. 111 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:10,440 Thursday, January 10th, police hold a press conference and confirm Leah was strangled to 112 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,640 death, which is one of the most personal ways to be murdered. 113 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,800 There are no signs that she was sexually assaulted. 114 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:24,600 They haven't excluded anyone with the regard to suspects in the case. 115 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:30,160 They did not believe Leah's murder was a random act and they think the person or persons 116 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:38,560 responsible for the crime was and were familiar with Leah and the layout of her apartment 117 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:45,520 building stating they are not going to release the results of the DNA test at this point 118 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,280 of their investigation. 119 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:57,640 Friday, June 13th, six months in, police confirm it is still an active investigation, 120 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:03,440 but there are still no suspects and they are waiting for results from the latest forensic 121 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:10,800 test and they are hoping that will provide new insight on the murderers. 122 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:19,200 September 2008, eight months into the investigation, police talk about the DNA in the case saying 123 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,920 there are new developments in the case of a martial student who was murdered in her 124 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:30,480 off-campus apartment last December, quote, there's still an individual that we believe 125 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:36,680 was involved, end quote, Huntington police captain Steve Hall said. 126 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:42,120 At this timeline, we know you still have some questions about the day Leah went missing, 127 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,280 that's why we are going to answer some of them. 128 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:50,200 So from reports, we think Leah was in the middle of doing laundry when someone or multiple 129 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,840 people entered the apartment. 130 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:59,000 It's been said before that Leah and her sister would often leave the back door open while 131 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,720 they were doing laundry. 132 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:08,000 The apartment was made up of four different apartments, one occupied by Leah and her sister, 133 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:13,320 one by the man who owned the building and two that were vacant. 134 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:19,520 Before you jump to conclusions, during the time of Leah's disappearance, her and Jessica 135 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,400 were the only two staying in the apartment. 136 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:28,840 The owner was in Florida at this time and was rolled out of the crime altogether from 137 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,040 what we have been put together. 138 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:37,840 However, we have seen reports that Jessica's ex boyfriend was supposed to stop by and pick 139 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,280 up some of his belongings. 140 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,280 During their breakup, he was deployed. 141 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:48,680 For multiple reports, we gather that him and Leah did not get along. 142 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:53,560 We also seen reports that there was construction going on during the time and the owner's 143 00:11:53,560 --> 00:12:01,440 brother was overseeing it while he was in Florida. 144 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:08,800 Join us next time when we tell you the second part to the story of Leah Hickman. 145 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,240 If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, make sure you subscribe and give 146 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:18,320 us a five-star review and leave a comment wherever you listen to podcasts. 147 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,680 It helps others find good West Virginia true crime. 148 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:27,400 Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. 149 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:29,600 I'll let Mountain State Mysteries. 150 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,120 Do you have a case you want us to cover? 151 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:39,360 Email us at MountainStateMysteries304 at gmail.com. 152 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:55,400 For the show notes, check out our website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com.