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Transcript for The Case of Nicole Dawn Markley

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

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Listener discretion is advised.

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I'm your host Mark.

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And I'm Courtney.

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And this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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The case we have for you today is about a girl who had her whole life ahead of her.

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This is the story of Nicole Don Markely.

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Nicole was last seen by her family on January 17, 2003, when she left her home in the four

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states area of West Virginia.

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She was walking over to her grandmother's house, something that she did often, but

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this time it was different.

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She didn't make it to her grandmother's house.

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Nicole never returned home that evening.

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When her mother, Sherry, realized she never got a call from Nicole during the day, she

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started to get concerned.

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Sherry said in an interview that, quote, she was a good kid and would always check in with

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me.

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I thought maybe she was with the new guy she was dating, but she wasn't.

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End quote.

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Sherry told 8line, she had a bad feeling and wasn't taking any chances.

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So she called the Marion County Sheriff's Department and reported her missing.

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Family and friends immediately started searching the hills in the four states area of Fairmont,

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West Virginia, looking in sheds, backyards, ditches and walking through the woods trying

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to find Nicole.

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But sadly, there was no trace of her.

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Sherry Harris, Nicole's cousin said, quote, I remember just all of us being in the back

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of trucks, looking for her in ditches up along streets anywhere we could go walking the hills.

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End quote.

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Nicole's 17th birthday came and gone.

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Her family was still searching for the answer of where Nicole was.

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Nicole's mother, Sherry told 8line, she'll always remember the day Nicole was born because

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it was the aftermath of the fatal space shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28th, 1986.

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The search for Nicole never stopped.

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About two weeks later, on February 1st, 2003, a hunter found her body laying face down in

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the Teberbock Creek in the four states area of Marion County.

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The day Nicole's body was found was also marked by another disaster.

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It was the day of the space shuttle Columbia explosion that killed all seven crew members.

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Sherry said, quote, it's just something I'll never forget.

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End quote.

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Sheriff Jimmy Rifle was a roadway deputy at the time, but remembers the impact the case

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had on the community.

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What they initially thought was that Nicole was another runaway juvenile quickly turned

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into a homicide investigation.

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He told 8line that the medical examiner concluded that Nicole's death was a homicide, which

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jumped started the investigation.

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12 news reported that the autopsy results revealed her cause of death was drowning.

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Deputies were confident that they knew who her murderer was.

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Two years later, in July of 2003, 20 year old William Hammond of four states was charged

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with the first degree murder in connection with Nicole's death.

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Sheriff Rifle did not get into specifics on what led investigators to Hammond or whether

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or not the two knew each other.

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Five months later, prosecutors dropped the charges against Hammond.

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According to NBC affiliate WBOY for Marion County prosecuting attorney Susan Rifle said

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in December 2003, quote, we felt the case needed more investigation.

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We felt the best thing for the victim and for justice was to dismiss the indictment

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without prejudice.

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Christine Hall, Nicole's on said, quote, I flipped out.

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I can't believe it.

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In quote, no further charges have been filed in the case.

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Sherry told 8line, quote, it's not fair and it's not right.

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The one who took my child's life is out there running around free.

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It's not fair for her.

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Not fair for her family.

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Not fair for her son.

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In quote, Detective Kevin Alkir said people in the community of four states are staying

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tight leapt.

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Quote, I would say probably someone in four states or more than one individual probably

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has information about this case and we can just hope one day they will come forward.

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In quote, Nicole's son Jeremiah was just one month away from turning two years old when

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his mother was killed.

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He was raised by Sherry and her husband Jeff.

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When he graduated high school in 2020, he said it was in honor of his mother who wasn't

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able to graduate before she was killed.

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Sherry said, quote, she'd be so proud of him.

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In quote, she also said that he's a spitting image of Nicole from her bright smile to her

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spunky attitude.

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Sherry said, quote, we keep her memory alive for him and for us every holiday, every birthday,

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every day of our lives.

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We talk about her.

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In quote, Nicole's family hopes that keeping her memory alive will feel their never ending

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fight for justice.

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She believes the person who killed her daughter was infected with her and that the charges

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should never have been dropped.

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Sherry said, quote, he continues to be free while our family mourns.

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It's like a nightmare that never ends.

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Share a frightful told Dateline that he understands that the family is frustrated over the lack

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of closure and stressed that they haven't given up on her case.

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Quote, throughout the years, the investigation slowed down as we exhausted all of our leads

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and tips stop coming in.

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In quote, share frightful added that the case is cold.

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But as detectives, I have time.

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They work on it.

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For now, Nicole's family visits her memorial.

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Sherry said that her daughter's death will always haunt her.

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Family members have mixed emotions about whether the case will ever be closed.

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For now, they keep her memory alive by sharing her story with the community and online with

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the Facebook group in memory and Nicole Don Markely.

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Anyone with any information regarding Nicole's case is asked to contact the Marion County

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Sheriff's Department at 304-367-5300.

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Courtney, do you have any final thoughts on this case?

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I just think it's really sad that this case hasn't garnered much attention.

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I feel that is sad that the police have failed her.

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I think that's the biggest thing.

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One of my biggest questions is I wonder if the sheriff and the prosecuting attorney work

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in.

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I just want to know what led them to think that there was a lack of evidence.

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What made them think other things of this nature?

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I want to know what else happened to her.

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I know people can drown in few inches of water and everything, but it just makes me wonder

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how this happened.

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Was there anything else?

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Was there stuff that they missed?

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Things of that nature.

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I'm sad that this son never got the chance to really know his mother.

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He never got to experience a lot of memories with his mother, but I'm happy that his family

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is keeping the memory of her alive for him.

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Mark, do you have any final thoughts on this?

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Like you, I really hate this case.

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It hasn't got the light that it should.

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I honestly feel like it could be solved if the pieces were there.

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I want to know like you, you know, if there was more than just drowning because I just

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I feel like I'm not sure how deep the river is if she was on the bank of it or what, but

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I feel like there is definitely more to it than just drowning.

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I wonder why they let William Hammond go free.

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I wonder what evidence was lacking, what evidence they did have on him and why he's only been

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really the only suspect in this case that I was able to find.

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Seeing pictures of Jeremiah on Facebook, on the Facebook page with her family, it honestly

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broke my heart doing the research for this case, but it also kind of made me smile because

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you can see him and his family smiling through the paint celebrating the cold to this day.

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And I honestly just cannot imagine what they've gone through throughout these years, knowing

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how easily her case could be solved.

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Stay tuned for the next episode where we will be telling you the story of a Marshall student

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whose case has left everyone scratching their heads.

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If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, give us a five star review and leave

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a comment wherever you listen to podcasts.

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I love Mountain State Mysteries.

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For the show notes, check out our website, MountStateMysteriesPodcast.com.

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Thank you.

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