Police Walked Away 3 Times Before She Vanished | Kortne Stouffer

It's one thing for someone to disappear without a trace, but what happens when that person disappears from an apartment police had already been to three times that very same night. Courtney Stouffer had spent the evening arguing with neighbors, but also hanging out with friends and dealing with police repeatedly. Then sometime during the early morning hours everything suddenly went quiet. By the time her family realized something was wrong, Courtney was nowhere to be found. Her car was still there. Her phone and purse were still inside. Her dog had been left behind. And maybe most strange of all, there was no clear evidence showing that Courtney had ever actually left the apartment on her own. Police had just been feet away from her home only hours earlier. So, how does a 21-year-old woman simply disappear without anyone seeing where she went? Well, her family would still be asking that question 14 years later before they would ever get any answers. Courtney Stouffer grew up on a farm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania surrounded by a large and close-knit family. And the way her family describes her, Courtney was not exactly the type of person who would blend into the background. She was loud, she was outgoing, happy-go-lucky and also deeply caring and absolutely loved being the center of attention. Her parents remembered her as obnoxious and crazy at times, but always in a lovable way that made Courtney Courtney. There was nothing boring about her. She was colorful, expressive, energetic and was a remarkably warm person that the people in her community still remember today. Growing up on a farm also meant Courtney wasn't afraid to get dirty. In fact, some of her closest companions growing up were the animals that she helped care for. Of all of her animals, the one she bonded with the most was her dog, Sheba, and she was a very important part of her life. These two were inseparable. As Courtney got older, her colorful personality only became more obvious. She loved singing, dancing, telling stories, and finding different ways to express herself. Eventually, that included tattoos, dreadlocks, bright clothing, and a style that was pretty much impossible to miss. But before she completely figured out what she wanted to do with her life, Courtney bounced around a little bit. After high school, she started working part-time for her father's recycling equipment business, Stover Equipment Company. Then she earned her cosmetology license and began working alongside her mother at a local hair salon. Eventually though, she found something that combined two things she always loved, creativity and animals. Courtney became a dog groomer, and unlike some of the jobs that she tried before, this was one she genuinely loved. By her early 20s, Courtney had fully embraced this sort of a free-spirited lifestyle. She was distinctive, she was memorable, and according to practically everyone who knew her, Courtney was the type of person whose absence would be noticed quickly. Which makes what happened to next all the more difficult to understand. Because at just 21 years old, Courtney, who was living with her boyfriend in an apartment in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, but just vanished. When Courtney was 20, she met and fell in love with 19-year-old Brad Herr, and together, after 9 months of dating, they moved into an apartment in Palmyra. This apartment was located at 810 West Main Street in downtown Palmyra, Pennsylvania. And that was reassuring for her family as that was just a short drive from her childhood home. So, she remained close to her parents, too. Now, moving into a new apartment with her boyfriend and having this new found sense of freedom and independence, it was really exhilarating for her. So, she occasionally held gatherings at her home. But, on the evening of July 28th, 2012, a party would set off a sequence of unexpected events ending up with a call to the police. Apparently, this party bothered a couple neighbors on this particular evening, and they called the police. At around 9:30 p.m., the police showed up at the residence and basically ended the get-together. According to police, they were notified by the neighbors that this particular party was getting a bit out of hand. It was getting late. Neighbors are ready to go to bed, but it seemed like Courtney and her friends they were just getting things started. Now, gatherings like this, they happen all the time. People show up, they have a good time, they spend the night. It's all fun and games. But, the problem with this particular gathering was that Courtney's boyfriend, Brad, was actually on probation for a prior DUI charge. So, the fact that the police got a call it was not a good look for Brad. One wrong move like this, and he could easily be going to jail. >> [music] >> And in fact, that's exactly what happened. After it was found that Brad was present, police immediately arrested him for violating his parole. It wasn't like he was barred from being somewhere like this, but one of the deals of his parole was that he had to stay out of trouble. And in the police's eyes, well, he was causing trouble. Now, this incident really upset and scared Courtney. See, she was under the impression that Brad would be incarcerated for the remainder of his probation. She was really worried. And after about 30 minutes at 9:54 p.m., she called her mom to rant about everything. How her party was dispersed by police and neighbors, how her boyfriend just got arrested, and now she was scared of him being thrown in jail for violating his probation. Her mom, Wendy, tried to console her and even offered to let her stay over at her house and talk about it there. It was only a 10-minute drive down the road, after all. But, she declined her mom's offer. After this call with her mom, Courtney then called another one of her friends, who was 29-year-old Cody Pruett. The two actually knew each other because Cody worked at a nearby racetrack for horses, and they met there, and they quickly became pretty good friends. Well, she told him about this whole mess of a party, which was disrupted by her neighbors and the police, and during the call, it was decided that the two would go out and try to get her mind off of things. So, the two met up, and right away, Cody noticed how distraught Courtney really was following all of this. The pair then met up with a friend of Cody's, Milton Rodriguez, and they were also joined by another couple, a guy by the name of Arvard and his girlfriend. [music] The group then got into Milton's car, and they drove to Harrisburg, where they spent the night out. But, no sooner than they got here, witnesses say that Courtney was very clearly distressed, and she ended up in an argument with the couple who tagged along with Milton and [music] Cody. Apparently, she was accusing Arvard of breaking into her home and stealing things, money to be exact, just a couple months prior. Now, from the outside looking in, this whole situation felt like it came completely out of nowhere, and maybe it did. But, Courtney was clearly on edge after everything that had just happened. So, long story short, this argument got heated, and understandably, it was causing a bit of a disturbance. And in the end, Courtney was asked to leave. And she was causing a pretty significant disturbance at this point, so that's exactly what she did. But, after Courtney left, well, keeping in mind some of the other cases that we've covered, your mind might be going to a pretty dark and honestly predictable place by now. But, in reality, Courtney didn't disappear after she left the group that evening. After some time, Cody got a text from her saying that she needed to go home, and she asked him to drop her off. So, Milton and Cody headed out and ended up finding her. And they got into the car, and they started the journey home. First, Cody dropped Milton off at his house and then he planned to drop Courtney off, too. But according to Cody, she wanted to go back and pick up her car before heading home, planning on driving herself. But while they were out, Courtney had a few drinks, so Cody didn't believe she was in any state to drive. But she was being insistent and so in the end, he relented and dropped her off at her car. Cody watched Courtney get into her car and start driving to her house, but to be on the safe side, he decided to follow her home to make sure that she made it back safely. By this point, it was around 3:00 a.m., basically early morning of July 29th. And Courtney and Cody reached home in their separate cars. They parked their cars outside and they went inside the apartment. But before she could make it to her apartment, she spotted one of her neighbors. And things got pretty heated. She and the neighbor got into an argument with Courtney insisting that this neighbor was the reason her boyfriend ended up getting arrested. As the argument was happening, other neighbors heard the commotion and they called law enforcement yet again. So police arrived to diffuse the situation once again and the police showed up about half an hour later and they ended up having to threaten both sides with an arrest to get everyone to just back off. Well, this somehow ended the argument and everyone called it a night. The police went off in their cars, the neighbor went to their apartment and Cody and Courtney went into her apartment at about 3:50 a.m. But this still wasn't the end of things because just a few minutes later, loud banging and stomping sounds were heard coming from Courtney's apartment. So yet again, the police showed up. This was now the third time in one [music] night. They arrived about 20 minutes later at about 4:21 a.m. But when they reached the units, everything was quiet. There was no noise at all coming from inside. They knocked on the door, but no one came to answer it. The following morning, the sun rose and everyone was now getting ready for the Lebanon County Fair. Just about everyone in the area was planning to go, including the Stouffer family and all of Courtney's friends. But when the fair gates finally opened, everyone was there except for Courtney. This was when things really began to feel strange. Courtney had made plans with her brother and grandfather to attend this fair. It was a tradition. But now she was a no show, and on top of it all, she wasn't answering her mom's calls either. Now, Wendy knew about the incident from the night before, so she thought to just give her daughter some space and let her reach back out. But when another day passed and there was not even a text message from her daughter, that was when she got anxious. This was unlike her. She wouldn't miss the fair for the world, and she would never let a day go by without calling her parents. So, where was she? And why wasn't she answering her calls? With these questions in mind, Wendy drove to her daughter's apartment and right away she noticed a couple of odd things. First of all, her daughter's car was still parked out front, but the windows were rolled down. This was pretty unusual. Courtney wasn't the type of person to leave her car completely exposed and open like this. She then made her way to the apartment, which was then found [music] unlocked, and her keys were found thrown onto the ground next to her shoes. But then, Wendy saw something that really set off some alarms. If you remember, Courtney had a dog named Sheba, and she'd been a long-time companion of hers. Well, the dog had clearly been locked inside the apartment, unable to get out and do its business. And after further investigation, she also found that her daughter's phone and purse were still inside that apartment, and the TV was left on, too. All of this All of this struck Wendy as extremely weird. The dog not being let out, the windows rolled down, her belongings still in the house, and an appliance like a TV being left on, it just painted an eerie and bizarre picture. >> [snorts] >> According to her parents, this was not something she would have done. After a few more minutes of searching, they found her phone and it was plugged into the charger and had 18 missed calls on it. This was more than enough to send Wendy into a tailspin and she started calling everyone who Courtney had recently been in contact with, but no one knew anything and no one had heard from her. When all of this led nowhere, Wendy called her ex-husband Scott to drive over to Courtney's apartment and after spending a couple more hours going through her phone and asking her friends about her whereabouts, 21-year-old Courtney Stouffer was reported missing. The Palmyra and Lebanon Police Departments worked in unison right from the jump of this missing person investigation. They deemed her apartment a potential crime scene and they took possession of her car along with other things for forensic analysis and testing. They quickly found out about what she was doing before she went missing and who she was with. Her parents told the investigators that they'd called several of her friends and they all had no idea where she was. Then Scott jumped in and told the investigators about contacting a guy named Cody. See, when her parents got to the house after it was found deserted by Wendy, Scott also went through his daughter's phone and in it he found text messages from Cody asking what had happened to her when she failed to reply to him. This prompted him to call Cody and he told him everything that I just told you. Now, from this point, everything I'm about to say is from Cody's account, but he told Scott that the two had made plans to go out. He told them about the altercations Courtney got into while they were out and at her apartment and then her going into the apartment at about 3:50 a.m. If you remember, Cody also went into the apartment with her and according to him, it was to calm her down after that heated argument. Well, sometime during that time, according to Cody, the two fell asleep and he didn't wake up until 7:15 a.m. the next day, so July 29th. But when he did, Courtney was already gone. He didn't think too much of it and thought maybe she just left for the fair. He got up too and before heading to the racetrack, he stopped at a local convenience store to get something to eat. And it was during this time that he texted her, but she never replied. Scott also reached out to Milton, who was also part of the group and whose car was used throughout the night to drive the group around. And he claimed that Milton appeared to be strangely reserved and nervous and vague when answering questions. He also claimed to have no idea what happened to Courtney. Now, Scott's apprehension regarding both men, as well as the police being suspicious, too, led the cops to get search warrants for their vehicles and apartments. And they were thoroughly searched, but no evidence linking her disappearance to any foul play or anything, really, at all was ever found in the end. Cody and Milton both maintained their innocence. And detectives also talked to the guy Courtney confronted that night while they were out, Harvard. And he also didn't have any idea where she might be. According to him, he was with his girlfriend at her parents' house when all of this went down and this alibi was confirmed. He also claimed to not have any involvement in robbing Courtney as she previously claimed, and that's pretty much where his lead ended. While the police were going through the list of people who might have been in contact with Courtney the night she disappeared, her parents, friends, and the community held searches for her. And her parents even put up a $5,000 reward for any information, which was later bumped up to $100,000 through community donations. Volunteers from the community also participated in the search for her, but despite their extensive efforts, literally nothing was found that could lead to any answers about her whereabouts. The police talked to her boyfriend, Brad, who was now currently in police custody. And even though investigators felt he wasn't the most cooperative in the investigation, it didn't seem like he had anything to do with the disappearance either, since he was already in the clutches of the law by that time. But with all of this now leading nowhere, where could Courtney have possibly gone? There are many plausible options about where Courtney could be. To be clear, these are just theories, so take them all with a grain of salt. But police have largely been tight-lipped about all of this, but there are several theories that have circulated online and have gained a bit of traction as time passes by. For example, some people believe one of Courtney's neighbors was involved in her disappearance. Now, I know you're probably wondering, what neighbor? See, she had problems with one of her neighbors, a 44-year-old man. It's unclear what those problems were, but there was some hostility between the two. Investigators came across a very angry voicemail left by him to the landlady demanding that Courtney be kicked out of the apartment. And he even went as far as threatening to take care of matters himself if nothing was done. Even Courtney's parents remembered him acting strangely around them when they asked about their daughter's disappearance. They say that he was extremely distant and wouldn't maintain eye contact with them. Now, if we're being honest about all this, it may have just been that he wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that she disappeared. I mean, the two were clearly not on good terms. It can be kind of hard to miss someone that you never really liked in the first place. But things get a bit more complicated than that. See, Scott recalled this very neighbor carrying a bunch of garbage bags from his house to his car and then driving off and making such a trip multiple times right after his daughter disappeared. The neighbor, on the other hand, came to his own defense and claimed he had nothing to do with the woman's disappearance and that the garbage bags were full of debris from an ongoing home improvement project. The police also searched the trash and appointed cadaver dogs to sniff every square inch of his home, but nothing ever came of it. And to be clear, investigators don't believe that any of her neighbors were involved in her disappearance. So far, they say that they have zero evidence to suspect that any of her neighbors were involved in any way at all. But the next theory suggests that Cody may have had something to do with her disappearance. He was the last person to physically be with her as far as accounts go. The fact that he was asleep in Courtney's apartment and wasn't aware of her leaving, well, many people find that strange. But investigators have also looked into Cody. His story remains consistent throughout, and investigators say they found no evidence contradicting his account, such as him being at the convenience store when he texted her. They also checked his car and apartment and found nothing incriminating linking him to the missing woman. Courtney's family believe she was most likely abducted by someone the night that she was last seen. But since there's a huge lack of evidence and the things that are left behind suggest that her routine may have been disrupted, it could amount to something, but again, investigators haven't come out with an official theory as of yet. So it could all also as easily amount to nothing. There are also online theories about prohibited substances, debt, and Courtney being caught in the crosshairs of some criminal organizations. But again, these are not substantiated with concrete or investigative evidence, and investigators were also unable to find any evidence of her being indebted to anyone. To make matters even more complicated, it's been reported that an active serial killer was also in Kentucky, and Courtney may have been one of his victims. According to a private investigator in Florida, around the time of her disappearance, 18 other women bearing a striking resemblance to Courtney were reported missing. But this theory was later discredited by many, including the Palmyra district attorney. But things really started to heat up in March of 2014, when a woman contacted Scott about something she overheard between two acquaintances. According to the woman, these two people had caused Courtney's death as a result of stealing illegal substances and got rid of the evidence in Memorial Lake, which is about 12 miles from her home. Investigators did look into this lead, but despite a 5-hour search with underwater sonar and cameras, they found no evidence of her in the lake. And they also found out the woman changed her story a lot during this time. As of present, 14 years later, Courtney Stodden is still missing and her case is still classified as open and active. Investigators believe foul play may be involved, although the bottom line is the case remains unsolved. Even though her family has used all available resources, like hiring a private investigator and keeping her case alive by conducting annual honorary events, they still don't know where their daughter is or what happened to her on that fateful night. It's bad enough that this family lost their daughter, that too in what's presumed to be a very tragic way. But the fact that they're just left here over a decade later, still confused about what could have possibly happened and if she may still be alive somewhere, I can't imagine the agony. It's one thing to lose a loved one, to know exactly what happened, why it happened and to find new ways to just live without them. But when you keep having that nagging feeling that that next knock on your door might be them coming home, that's torture. That is unrelenting torture. >> Mhm.