Shot in Broad Daylight on a Park Bench: The Unsolved Case of Carnell Sledge & Kate Brown
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you are new, then welcome. So happy to have you. So guys, today's case is actually one that I had seen on Unsolved Mysteries, which I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with Unsolved Mysteries. It's a very popular show on Netflix, and I always really enjoy it. I think they do a great job of delivering ethical, helpful coverage.

However, they are limited in their time. And I always like to do my own research on the cases that they cover because they often leave out quite a bit. So I've done quite a few episodes on my other podcast, Mile Higher, covering unsolved mysteries cases and then just going in, you know, way deeper and bringing up a ton of points they miss or information that's missed. And again, no hate to them because I really think they do a great job. They

Most of the time, I think all of the time, include families in their coverage, which I think is excellent. But yes, today we're going to be talking about a case that is just so shocking because it's hard to explain, but I think this case...

I just don't understand how it wasn't solved. And when I say that, I mean, I think it should have been solved by now. It's so confusing. It makes no sense how someone was able to get away with this. But I still have hope that there will one day be justice for these two victims. And I really think they are on the edge of potentially getting this case solved. They just need, you know, more people to know about it, more push, hopefully someone to come forward with that tip that just...

you know, sends them over the edge towards justice. We're going to be talking about the unsolved murders of Carnell Sledge and Kate Brown. As of right now, their families are really calling for more coverage. They really need more people to know about this case. And up until recently, when it was covered on Unsolved Mysteries,

It was not a very well-known case. The reality is, Carnell and Kate's families have now gone over five and a half years without answers, and that desperately needs to change. And let me tell you, these two were wonderful people, and that's another reason why this doesn't make any sense. There's really...

I mean, as far as I understand, no one in their lives that would stand out, like no reason that they should have been targeted. And without getting too ahead of myself, I mean, I personally believe this, there was a good chance that this was a hate crime. Just that random act of violence fueled by hate. But I don't for sure know that. That's just kind of what my gut's telling me. But I'm curious to see what you guys all think.

I want to go ahead and jump in. So let me start out by telling you more about Kate. Kate's full name is Catherine Colby Brown. She was born on October 12th, 1985 in Olmstead, Ohio, which is just west of Cleveland.

To her loving parents, Kim and Tom. She had one big sister, Lauren, and one little sister, Alex, and she definitely took that role of middle sister very seriously. With her older sister, Kate was always following her around, you know, doing the normal younger sister thing, getting involved in similar interests. And with her younger sister, she really played the role of protective big sister, always looking out for her no matter what. Now, Kate is described as someone who was incredibly lighthearted, very carefree, and

And also described as a little weird, but weird in a good way. You know what I mean. She was goofy and she had this infectious smile and many of her loved ones say that she just had a heart of gold. And I also learned that Kate was really one of those people who could become friends with anyone, like strike up a conversation.

with a stranger. She was very open-minded to people. She could have been someone that you, you know, just met in a casual way and soon you would feel like you were her friend. And I think that's because she was someone who always saw the best in people and

Also, she was just very loyal to the people that she loved. Now, Kate also loved yoga, exercising, listening to music. She loved the Cleveland Browns. She loved volleyball. But above all else, her greatest love was really her family, especially her niece and her nephews. To them, she was really the fun aunt. She was always there for them, very involved in their lives. And they called her Aunt Titi.

which I loved because my daughter also calls my sister Titi as well. And I know that's a very common name for aunt for many people. They say that she always gave them, you know, the best birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, all of that was just very active in their lives. Now for the last seven years before she was murdered, she was working for a company that sourced jewelry to sell on

eBay and she was living in Fairview Park which is just west of Cleveland and around the time of her murder she was in the best physical and mental place of her life. For several years there Kate had really struggled with anxiety and depression which is something I know so many of you out there can relate to and she was really coping by using alcohol which is also very common. That being said though she had finally reached this place in her life where she knew she needed to get better

And in 2017, she completely changed her life around, completely cut out alcohol. And by 2019, she really became the healthiest possible version of herself. She had lost 100 pounds, like I said, got sober and was just in a really great place in life.

She made exercising a priority, was eating healthier, and feeling better and more confident than ever. But she's not the only person today that I'm going to be talking about that was absolutely crushing it in life. Carnell, the other victim of the Park Bench murders, as they are known, is also someone who was just doing amazing things with his life at a young age and...

He's just so impressive and inspiring to me. He was absolutely crushing it in all aspects of his life. His full name was Carnell Edward Sledge. He was born on April 3rd, 1979 to his parents, Darlene and Carl, and was raised in Bedford, Ohio, which is just southeast of Cleveland. And he had one younger brother named Terrence. And just like Kate, Carnell, who also went by Nell most of the time, was born in the

was an incredible sibling to his brother. He was always a good role model for him and got him involved in sports so that they would always have things to do together. And being in this, you know, role model leadership sort of position was a big part of his life, even outside of his younger brother. From a very young age, he really always took an interest in helping others and

Love to involve younger children in the community in activities such as just playing catch or playing basketball.

really any sort of outdoor activity, leadership seemed to just really come natural to him and it was a big part of who he was. That side of him really shaped a lot of his adult life. For his career, Nell worked as an audio-visual technician for a company called Crescent Digital, but he also dedicated a lot of his time to volunteering. From 2013 to 2018, he worked with special education students in the Westlake School District and also volunteered at Applewood Centers, which

which is a non-profit that provides mental health services to children and young adults nell also volunteered with empower sports which is another non-profit that seeks to enrich the lives of young athletes through sports while promoting kindness character and relationships and i think of all the things he should be remembered for one of the biggest should be his dedication to volunteering and helping children a lot of the kids that he worked with called him coach sledge and to this day

They still talk about him. They speak so highly of him. I mean, he was truly beloved.

by those children. And he really just made such a big impact on their lives. And I think that's just because he had a really special and unique ability to really connect with younger kids and to really make them feel special and heard and important. And he was so patient and kind. And for him to have made such a lasting impact on their lives, I think just tells you everything you need to know about him. And I think another reason why he was really...

able to connect with them so much is because he was kind of like a big kid himself. He loved to be goofy and to have fun and just play. And, you know, that's rare in adults these days. His mom, Darlene, said that he was also just not the type of person to get rattled

He was really, really relaxed and level-headed, which as a quality, I'm sure, served him well in all areas of his life. So I'm sure a lot of you are wondering how Kate and Carnell knew each other and how they became involved in each other's lives. More than a decade before their deaths, Kate and Nell met one night downtown in Cleveland after actually physically bumping into one another at a bar. And the rest is history. They were just...

good friends ever since that day. Nell has been described as sort of a big brother role to Kate because he was seven years older, but they truly made an impact on one another's life. And it was really a friendship that was based in support. If one of them ever needed something, the other wouldn't hesitate to drop everything they were doing and just be there for them no matter what it was. And like I said, that was true for over a decade. ♪

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Now, I will say it was one of those friendships that sort of ebbed and flowed. And I mean, most of us have friendships like this where sometimes they would go months without seeing each other, not for any particular reason. I mean, adult life is just busy. But when they would reconnect, it was like no time had passed. And like I said, if one of them ever called the other needing something, the other would drop everything to be there for them. And that was exactly what happened on June 4th, 2019. But that day ended instantly.

in a way that no one could have imagined. That evening, around 5:19 p.m., a couple named Tony and Caitlin Vaca had driven into the Rocky River Reservation, which is a part of the Cleveland Metro Parks.

with the intention of going kayaking. Now, the Metro Parks is this very vast system of nature preserves, including 18 reservations, which surround the city of Cleveland. It's unofficially referred to as the Emerald Necklace, and it's essentially this network of parks that spans hundreds of miles, where people can often be found walking, jogging, biking, and just enjoying nature. I've never been there myself, but from the pictures and videos I've seen, it looks incredible.

Absolutely stunning. And on June 4th, 2019, Tony and Caitlin went there with the intention of kayaking. But when they pulled their car into a small parking lot just off of Lorain Avenue Bridge and Valley Parkway, they stumbled upon what appeared to be a man's body. So Tony was the first to approach him, and when he first saw him, he thought maybe this was someone who had fallen.

and just gotten injured, maybe needed help getting up, needed some assistance. But when he got closer, he realized that the situation was much, much worse than he thought. Not only could he see that this man had been shot and was no longer moving,

But then just a few feet in front of him, there was a body of a woman lying face down, partially in the water and partially on land. And it looked to him immediately that both victims had been shot very recently and that neither of them were alive. So obviously Tony is panicked.

He yells over to Caitlin, tells her to call 911, and that's exactly what she did. And here's the audio from that call. Cleveland Metro Parks Police, this is Carla. Hi, I'm on Valley Parkway, and there's two bodies here. And it looks like there's two bodies that were shot. Both these people are definitely dead. And within minutes of that 911 call being placed, the Metro Parks Police showed up and began to process the area for evidence. And depending on what coverage you consume on this case,

you will get a different idea about how this investigation was initially conducted. And when I first watched the Unsolved Mystery episode, I mean, there was definitely some criticism aimed at law enforcement in that, but it was sort of on the lighter side. And when I dug a little bit deeper, I realized it wasn't, I don't know, it's tough. In my opinion, the police work on this case and the support of the family hasn't been exactly stellar. It hasn't been horrible enough.

but at first I really thought they were giving it their all and that really doesn't seem to be the case the more I dug in. Again, definitely not the worst I've seen, but...

Definitely not something you could consider stellar, in my opinion. So let me just explain how all of that went down, and then I think you guys will understand better what I'm trying to say. So when responding officers arrived at the scene, they observed the same thing that Tony and Caitlin saw, which was an adult black male lying face down on the grass beside a park bench, along with an adult white female about six feet in front of him,

but she was lying face down partially in the water. And at first, they weren't exactly sure what happened, of course. They thought, you know, maybe this was a murder-suicide or obviously it could have been a double homicide. So the first thing they started to do was look for a weapon. But when a weapon wasn't located, it became clear that this was in fact suicide.

a double homicide. And I guess in my opinion, because this was such a busy park, very public, tons of people going by, walking by, riding their bikes through, as this was all happening,

I believe that this should have been immediately treated as a crime scene, and it just wasn't. I guess I just don't see the harm in treating this as if it's a worst case scenario, and then, you know, backtracking if needed. But instead, precious time went by where people were able to continue walking, biking through the area, potentially contaminating the crime scene.

and also allowing potential suspects to get away. Now, in one source, I learned that the area was taped off and that the roads were shut down within 17 minutes, but another report said that it took up to 45 minutes. But either way, those, in my opinion, are both a significant amount of time. But anyway, regardless of the time it took, here's what they learned right off the bat.

When Metro Parks detectives began to process the scene, they found a total of three shell casings. And this was a match to the number of bullet wounds that they found on the victims. And this was later confirmed by an autopsy, but Nell had been shot two times in the back of the head.

and Kate had been shot once in the same place. So very brutal, obviously execution style, and just shocking. But these shell casings provided more information than just the number of shots fired. For starters, it was determined that these casings were from a small weapon and that the gun was fired directly

in close range. And I think this is pretty common knowledge, but when you fire a gun, those casings are going to fall pretty close to where the shooter is standing. And they were found in close proximity to the bodies, which tells us that the shooter was...

pretty close to the victims when they fired the weapon. But here's the thing. Firearm murders can be a lot more difficult to solve because oftentimes there's no trace evidence left behind. And because they couldn't trace these casings back to a specific person's firearm, it's

It made things a whole lot more difficult. They also found blood on the back of the park bench and it was Nell's blood, which told them that he had likely been shot from behind while he was still sitting down. And while this isn't necessarily 100% confirmed,

the placement of their bodies really says a lot when it comes to what people think could have happened. Considering Nell was still near the park bench when he was found, it's believed that he was shot first in the back of his head. And then when Kate got off the bench to try and run away, her killer managed to shoot her a single time also in the back of

the head. And because she was found a few feet in front of Nell and partially in the water, it's believed that she must have tried to run forward to get away. And if you're watching this episode, you can see that the water is literally right there, like right in front of the bench. It's then believed that Nell was shot a second time in the back of the head

And maybe that's just because the first shot didn't kill him, although we're not 100% certain. I will say, of course, it is possible that Nell was shot twice before Kate was even shot. But considering she didn't get that far away from the first shot being fired, although it happens fast, many people believe that...

Nell was shot first, then Kate tried to run, she was shot, and then the killer went back and shot Nell a second time. However, no one knows exactly how it happened. But really, the order doesn't matter too much. What really matters is that two innocent people, two genuinely good souls, were murdered in broad daylight, and their killer needs to be brought to justice. But after detectives looked at the crime scene itself and the condition of the bodies, they

They turned to the parking lot to see if maybe they could find any potential suspects, learn any more information or more information about the victims. And it turns out that both Kate and Nell's cars were parked in the lot. And for those of you who aren't watching this episode, I do want to specify that

This wasn't some big parking lot. It's more of like a small turnoff on the road with just a space for a couple of cars. But anyway, detectives ran their license plates, of course, and that's how they made the identification on who the victims actually were. But here's what was immediately strange.

Nothing in their cars had been stolen. The cars themselves hadn't been stolen, so this clearly wasn't any type of robbery. I mean, both victims' phones, wallets, and keys were either in their cars or still in their pockets. So the idea that this could have been a robbery gone wrong is, of course, not completely out of the question, but...

Seems very unlikely. Kate and Nell's bodies were sent to Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office that day. And meanwhile, in the early morning hours of June 5th, their families were being notified with the worst news you could ever possibly get as a parent. And keep in mind, by this point, detectives themselves didn't know if or how these victims knew each other. So around 2 o'clock in the morning, Carl Sledge, Nell's dad,

got a knock at his front door and he never could have imagined the news that he was about to receive. Darlene, his mother, had been asleep so he went and woke her up and honestly, at first, they thought the detectives had gotten the wrong person. They just could not have imagined this could be their son, Nell, who was dead. And when they first started going over everything with them, the first thing that they did was actually show them a picture of Kate to see if they knew her and they actually didn't. And then they...

brought out a picture of Nell and as you can imagine it was just the most earth-shattering moment that they could have ever gone through. Darlene said that once she got the news and saw the picture of him she got up from the table and just went into her room and cried for hours and just cried

horrific pain and confusion as well. She just did not understand how this could have happened to her son. And truth be told, they really weren't given a lot of information other than that Nell had been shot and that they didn't believe it was related to any kind of robbery. And then Kate's family said that they got even less information. Detectives came to their house around 3 a.m. and her dad, Tim, said that at first he thought he misheard them when they said that Kate was dead. He was just...

you know, totally shocked, couldn't wrap his mind around that. And I guess all they really said was that Kate was deceased, that she was found in a park and something about a gun. So at first, for the first couple of hours, they believed that she had taken her own life in this park. And they didn't even know about Nell at this point. They didn't really get many details. I mean, I'm sure it was a whirlwind. So who knows if

you know, things were missed or anything like that. But they were just completely shocked, confused. I mean, this made no sense to them. And it wasn't until the next day when they realized that she hadn't taken her own life. They saw it reported on the news that Kate had been killed and

and that Nell was also with her and had been killed as well. And even though Nell's family didn't know Kate, Kate's family knew Nell. They knew that the two of them had been friends for over a decade and how closely they had supported one another over the years. And Nell's mom just explained it that, you know, he was a little more private, that he had a lot of friendships that they didn't know about. He kind of just did his own thing. So it wasn't a shock to them that he had this relationship

So the following day, June 6th, a press conference was held where some but not a whole lot of information was shared.

On June 4th, 2019, at approximately 5.22 p.m., the Cleveland Metro Parks Police received a report of two deceased individuals in the Rocky River Reservation. Responding officers located Carnell Sledge, a 40-year-old male, and Catherine Brown, a 33-year-old female, north of the Lorain Road Bridge, east of Valley Parkway.

Cleveland Metro Parks Detective Bureau is leading the homicide investigation and has received support from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations as well as the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office. Currently, we believe this to be an isolated incident and overall, the safety of the parks is not in question.

Our thoughts are with the victims' families, and we will work as hard as possible to conduct a thorough investigation to bring justice for the families of Catherine Brown and Carnell Sledge. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County at 216-722-7000.

I wanted to release the causes of death for the two individuals that the Chief mentioned. Ms. Brown died of a gunshot wound to the head and Mr. Sledge died of gunshot wounds to the head. Both of the manners of death were homicide.

And as the Chief said and I can confirm our preliminary investigation reveals nothing other than this looks like an isolated incident. And we would join the Metro Parks Rangers in offering our condolences to the Brown and Sledge family. Oh, I'm sorry. And we will be releasing a paper notification of the causes of death later this morning.

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So of course, in the early days of the investigation, they decided to do a deep dive into both of their lives to see if there was, you know, anything glaringly obvious that could point to who could have possibly done this. Especially considering it really didn't look to be a robbery gone wrong. They thought maybe...

there was someone in one of their lives or maybe someone that they both knew who could have been responsible. But as they looked more into their lives, it really didn't seem like that was the case either. I mean, neither of them had...

any debts or any enemies or something they did that pissed another person off, as far as they could tell, there was no one in either of their lives that would obviously want to do something like this. So their next step was to look into their lives leading up to their murders, especially that day. And specifically, why were the two of them meeting up? Now, that is really the million dollar question here that no one has been able to answer to this day. No one.

Nobody knows why they chose to meet up that day. We do have a little bit of context, but not an actual reason. So let's get into that. Now, like I mentioned earlier, Kate was living in an apartment in Fairview Park, which was only about two miles from the bench where she and Nell were both killed.

I also said that she had lost 100 pounds recently and was really prioritizing her physical and mental health. And the Rocky River Reservation was actually where she found a lot of peace and healing. She would go on walks there, meet up with her mom to play cards and walk with her too. And she just loved the area and went there almost every day. So she was very familiar with and really loved the place where she was murdered, which is just heartbreaking to think about. It was truly a safe place for her where she...

you know, just was able to gather solitude and work on her fitness. And it was a big part of her health and healing journey. So the fact that she and Nell had chose to meet up there that day really wasn't out of left field at all. And using surveillance footage and cell phone data, detectives were able to put together a rough timeline for that day. According to data, Kate had arrived home to her apartment and then signed into her apartment complex's gym at 3.38 a.m.

And then at 4.02, she received a text from Nell asking if she wanted to meet up. She then called him at 4.10 and they proceeded to talk on the phone for about 10 minutes. Now, unfortunately, investigators can't actually listen to this call, but from context clues, detectives think that they were probably talking about where they were going to meet up because there were no texts specifically saying, let's go meet at the park or anything like that. But anyways, Carnell had left work at 4.24 p.m.,

And then at 4.31 p.m., Kate signed out of her gym. And then the next thing we know is that at 5.01 p.m., Kate's gray Toyota is seen on a police cruiser's dash cam driving into the park, followed by Nell's red Mazda, which is seen two minutes later, captured by that same camera. And because of how close that police cruiser was parked in relation to the bench,

It's believed they arrived in that parking lot around 5.04 p.m. They then believe they got out of their cars and sat down on that park bench together. Then there's one final timestamp, which is at 5.08 p.m., and it was when Kate had unlocked her phone for the last time, which actually ended up being a really important piece of data because if you remember, Caitlin and Tony had arrived at 5.19, which...

essentially leaves an 11-minute window from...

when they arrived at the park to when they were killed. So a very short amount of time. And to bring this full circle, remember how earlier I was sort of calling into question how quickly detectives had shut down the streets and began processing the crime scene? Well, it seemed to have been even more casual than I thought. In an article from Cleve Scene News, it's reported that Caitlin described feeling like investigators handled the crime scene poorly.

She said that she thought it was all done very casually and that many people were just allowed to leave. I guess there was a guy walking his dog right through the area and there was just no concern that he may be contaminating the scene. She also thought it was weird that they didn't close down the road right away and that the investigators seemed to touch their bodies very quickly. And this is the same article that says it took them 45 minutes before shutting down the road.

Which is a long time if you ask me. And her husband Tony said to him it felt like they were treating this like a stolen package situation, not like two people had just been murdered. But here's the craziest part of all of it that I haven't gotten to yet. It turns out that there was a man sitting in his truck in the same parking lot while the murders took place. This guy who worked as a roofer was actually parked 125 feet from that bench

and was in eyeshot of it all happening. However, he claims he didn't see or hear anything. He told detectives that he actually did see both Kate and Nell drive up to the area and that he was just sitting in his car,

writing work orders on his laptop when it actually happened. And according to detectives, this is confirmed. He willingly gave them his laptop and the data shows that he was using it in that window of time where they believed the victims were murdered. Now, there is definitely a lot of speculation, a lot of questioning around this guy. People think it's very strange that he didn't hear this happening.

However, there are a couple of explanations about how he could not have heard the shots being fired. For one, a small caliber weapon is just not as loud as other guns, which, you know, you'd still think it would possibly be loud enough where he would have heard it. I mean, I'm not an expert in guns by any means, but it's not like it's silent. However, and detectives believe this, and this makes the most sense to me,

The killer probably, I mean, could have been, I think it's pretty likely, using a silencer. That would have suppressed the sound a lot to the point where you can barely hear it, even if you're pretty close up. But from 125 feet, you probably would not hear it at all. And then you got to think about the fact that

maybe his job as a roofer played a role in things. I mean, he's very used to hearing loud sounds. Is it possible that he did hear something and it just didn't register? I don't know. I'm just trying to make sense of it because the data on his laptop shows that he was working on the laptop when the murders occurred. So just

couldn't have been him. I guess you can never say never. It just seems very unlikely with the information we do have. I do wish I had more information to share about this person. This is all that has been reported because I'm sure a lot of you have questions about him, but...

As far as I know, he's completely cleared. But he was the first person who was considered a person of interest in the case, but he was not the last. There are actually a handful of other people that detectives looked into, so let's go over those. First of all, the exes. So in the beginning, Kate's family had some questions about Nell's ex-girlfriend.

Now, she and Nell met online about a year before he was killed, and they dated for about six months, but they broke up when they realized that they were just better off as friends. But I guess the two of them had recently decided that they were going to give the relationship another chance. In fact,

They were texting just hours before Nell was murdered. And then basically, Kate's family feels that her reaction to Nell's death was over the top. They felt like it was performative, but detectives did end up conclusively ruling her out. Not only was her gun not a match to the weapon used to kill Nell and Kate, but she also had a rock-solid alibi. So her being a possibility, off the table. And then there's Kate's ex.

Apparently, Kate and her ex-boyfriend had dated years ago, but it definitely was not a healthy relationship by any means. It ended up being really toxic. But recently...

I guess Kate had been seeing him secretly. And it turns out that the two of them had hung out the night before her murder. Police checked security cameras at her apartment and saw him coming and leaving that night. And the thinking was, you know, maybe they had gone into a fight and he decided to kill her because of it. And another thing kind of on that same note is not long before they were killed, Kate had actually told one of her sisters that Nell told her

that he thought the two of them would end up together one day. Now, to my knowledge, and of course, no one truly knows, but it is believed that nothing ever happened between them. Like, nothing romantically that...

Their relationship was purely a friendship, as far as everyone knows. But according to her sister, that is something that Nell had told her. And going back to the ex-boyfriend as a possible suspect, they thought, you know, maybe Kate had told him something similar or told him something else about Nell. And that he became angry about it and wanted to seek revenge. Maybe the two of them were talking about getting together. I mean, no one knows. And so it seemed like he could have been a potential suspect, but...

Once again, just like Nell's ex, he had a solid alibi and was ruled out. And again, just to reiterate, there is no proof that there was any type of argument between the two of them. It's purely just a theory. But then there is this guy from Tinder. And this is actually really freaky, but I guess the Friday night before Kate was murdered, she had gone on a date with this guy that she met on Tinder. And it did not go well, to say the least. I mean, she was totally creeped out by this guy. He just gave her bad vibes.

She actually said that his eyes were black. I don't know what that means or if maybe that was just a metaphor. I don't know if they were actually black or anything, but overall, she was like, this isn't it. And it was not a match to say the least. And luckily, she had good instincts and left that date early and then

I'm assuming it was like the next day or something. She ended up finding out that this guy murdered someone. She texted her sister saying that he told her that he had stabbed someone because this dude pulled a knife on him. So of course investigators were like,

the hell's going on here? Maybe this is our guy, but they looked into him further and he had an alibi that was totally verifiable. So again, he was ruled out as well. They were able to confirm that he was in Southern Ohio, not even remotely close to where she was killed and

As you can only imagine, not knowing who did this was just eating away at these families. And then the other thing that was just really eating away at them is wondering why the two of them had met up. I mean, obviously they're friends. They have been for a decade and they could have just chosen to meet up to catch up.

But their families were wondering if there was more to the reason why they decided to meet up that day. And to this day, nobody knows why. And just as a reminder, their text messages only talked about when they were meeting up and like the logistics of it. They didn't talk about why at all. They had that phone call. And unfortunately, there's no data from the phone call. So we don't know what they talked about. It's assumed that they were probably speaking about why they were meeting up on the call. But nobody knows why. And that's just really the biggest question here. ♪

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Nell's parents say they don't know what was so important that he would have asked to see her that day because at 5 p.m. that evening, he was actually supposed to be at his grandma's house for a family dinner that he had planned. Family dinner is just something that they did a lot. They were all super close and like I said, that one for June 4th happened to be Nell's idea and if he was going to be late or miss it for any reason, they just know he would have texted or called. That's just the type of guy he was. So they can't understand why he would have driven to the

park, which was in the opposite direction of his grandma's house. So in their minds, they're thinking it must have been something important if he wanted to meet up with her that day, you know, kind of last minute when he had these plans that evening at five o'clock, which

were important to him so what was it that was so important now one of kate's sisters wonders if maybe he wanted to talk to her about being more than friends but again we just don't have any information to confirm or deny that and obviously the bigger question is what would any of that have to do with them being murdered or does it have anything to do with them being murdered

Which brings me to the theories in this case. Now there are a few main theories to go over and with the little information that has been made available to the public, it's really hard to know which of these hold more weight. But I'll go over each one of them and maybe you guys can tell me what you think. And to start off, let's go back to the idea of a robbery gone wrong. Now I know I've already spoken about this. I wanted to bring it up just once more to keep it in your minds.

It's possible that this was a robbery gone wrong. It seems very unlikely considering nothing was taken, but there's always that possibility that the perpetrator, you know, had killed them, was planning on robbing them afterwards, but then someone walked by or something happened where they got spooked and they took off. Again, to me, it is very,

very, very unlikely. And I'm sure most of you would agree. And I know investigators definitely agree. But something that is more likely, and in my opinion, this is what I believe happened. And I think most people feel this way, that this was a random attack and that it quite possibly could have been a hate crime.

As we all know, we unfortunately share this planet with a lot of very hateful, evil, and racist people. And it would not shock me if someone had come across a black man and a white woman, didn't like that, and they killed them for that reason alone. I think it's for sure in the realm of possibility. Again, it's not a question of whether or not you're a racist.

In my opinion, this is what I lean towards the most. I think a disgusting, hateful person could have saw these two and just murdered them as a result of their prejudice. And let's just look at the data that backs this theory up. The FBI Hate Crime Statistic Program reported a rise in hate crimes nationwide in 2019 when these murders occurred and 57.6% of these crimes.

were race, ethnicity, or ancestry related. And that's just on the hate crimes that were reported, so it's higher than that. Not to mention that in 2019, Cleveland had 30 hate groups reportedly operating in that area, which is

which is hard to even wrap your mind around. So yeah, the theory that this could have been a hate crime, to me, totally checks out, and it's something that is not lost on either of their families. People have also speculated on whether or not this could have been gang-related. However, investigators don't feel that this is as likely of a theory. Typically, gangs are going to go after other gang members, and neither Kate or Nell were in a gang.

So that theory, you know, falls a little flat. Definitely not out of the realm of possibility, but again, very unlikely. One thing that I will say, though, is that in summer of 2019, after Nell and Kate were murdered, there were two other violent encounters that were reported in the Rocky River Reservation. In late July, a woman reported that she was robbed at gunpoint by two men,

one of which was wearing a ski mask. Then just one day later, a park employee and his mom were driving when they were flagged down by a driver on the side of the road in the park. He said that when they pulled over though, he thought he saw someone in the passenger seat of the vehicle holding a gun. Not completely sure, but that's what he thought he saw. So luckily he sped off before anything could have happened.

And at first, the FBI and the Metro Parks Police said that they were considering these as possibly being connected to the case. However, not long after that, they basically said, never mind, they weren't related. We don't have a lot of information as to why they think that, but that's what they said. And then, of course, another big theory in this case is that one or both of the victims were targeted specifically.

I know I mentioned earlier that detectives didn't find anything or anyone in their lives other than the people that had already been ruled out that day.

suggest this to be the case but it definitely doesn't rule it out and we all know that statistically you are more likely to be murdered by someone you know than someone you don't but what's hard about this theory is that neither family believes that their loved one was the person who was targeted and in the unsolved mysteries episode when they're both being interviewed both families people in their families suggest that they believe it was the other person who was targeted like people

people in Nell's family believe that Kate was targeted and that it was someone in her life or something going on in her life. And Kate's family believes the opposite, that it was possibly someone in Nell's life and that he was the one who was targeted. So it's a difficult situation. And as far as I know, as far as what's been reported, neither family has like an exact situation that they can point to or an exact theory like

X happened and therefore that may have led to Y or you know what I mean? So really, there's nothing solid to back up that theory at all. But again, people have...

you know, situations in their lives that they don't tell their family about or people in their lives that their families don't know about. So you can't rule it out as a possibility. Some have speculated that since Nell was shot twice, that maybe he was the target. But I think you could just as easily argue that he was shot twice because maybe the first shot didn't kill him right away. Or you could consider that maybe he was shot twice because this was a hate crime and it was somebody racist who had more aggression towards him. And...

Honestly, I haven't seen anyone else report that, but that's just something that I was kind of thinking about. But I feel like overall, it's just really hard to form any opinion because there's just so little to go on. And here's the crazy thing. And this was actually kept under wraps at first. But back in 2019, a person wrote an anonymous letter to the Fox 8i team saying,

claiming to know who the killer was. They said that it was a woman who had gotten into some type of argument with Nell and then just started shooting. Now, I actually was able to find this very blurry screenshot of this letter, so I'm going to do my best to read...

what I think it says, but just keep in mind that I'm not totally sure. Here's my best guess from what I can tell. I have seen the news reports that the killer or killers of Carnell Sledge and Kate Brown haven't been found.

And then it cuts off and picks back up

Now obviously this letter is a little incoherent to say the least, but it's

Still important, nonetheless. Fox 8 says that they immediately turned it over to the FBI when they got it, but it wasn't until 2021 that the FBI came out asking for the writer to come forward and provide information. So I'm not sure why it took them so long to ask for that. But here's what's frustrating. It turns out this person did come forward, and they were not an actual witness. It was someone who said...

They had a vision, a that's so Raven moment, you could say. So obviously that was a dead end, which is really frustrating. But I also wanted to bring up something that Kate's family has said, which I completely agree with. And that is that they believe whoever committed these murders really knew what they were doing. Because if you think about the crime scene,

and their injuries. They were shot three times in total between the two of them. And of course, there were only three shell casings found at the scene, which means that this person did not fire off the gun more than that, as far as we know, unless other shell casings were removed. Unlikely though, right? So it seems like this person had experience with guns. And even though it seems that they were shot in close range, it's believed that Kate did try to get up and run away.

after she saw Nell get shot. And of course, this is not confirmed, but it seems like that was probably the case. And then she was shot from the water in the back of the head. And...

obviously that's not a very big target plus she was moving so it really does seem like someone who had experience right and of course this is America a lot of people do have experiences with guns so I don't know what there is to do with this information but I think it's something to consider but speaking of the crime scene I want to go back to that for a minute because that also just plays a huge role in all of this I started to mention earlier just how big the Rocky River Reservation is but

I think it's super important that we talk about the location of where this took place. The day that Kate and Nell were murdered, it was a beautiful 75 degree day. It was early June, which is the peak of people starting to get back outside for the summer. So to say that this park was busy would truly be an understatement. I mean, people were out there walking, running, walking their dogs, riding their bikes, kayaking, picnicking. I mean, you name it. People were there.

And so their families just have a hard time believing that nobody saw anything. They really feel like someone had to have seen something. And maybe it's not a case of someone withholding information. Maybe they didn't realize they saw something important. That could be the crucial key piece of evidence they need to move this case forward. Because how were two people shot in such a busy area in broad daylight?

at like the most beautiful time of day, golden hour, right? In the summer, it's really hard to believe no one could have seen this happening or heard anything or seen someone running from the scene. Nothing. It's just unreal. And I mean, it shows you how busy it was that someone came across their bodies so quickly after they were murdered. And then the other big question is, how did this person get away without anyone seeing anything? I

I mean, for one, it's possible that they just left on foot. That's definitely probably the most likely scenario. The park is really big and there actually was a hiking trail not far from where the bench is. And this seems a little bit more risky, but it's possible that this person, as soon as they committed the murders, just died.

tried to blend in and look like they were walking through the park so someone could have absolutely seen them that day and just not realize what they were seeing and then of course another idea is that they drove off valley parkway is the road that runs through the rocky river reservation and it would have been very easy for them to have gotten into their car and driven off so i guess that's

probably just about as likely as them walking away on foot not to mention there's also two major interstates that run through that area as well so they could have gotten away pretty quickly but according to detectives who say that they've scoured license plate readers and all other available data and nothing has jumped out to them as suspicious or it's possible that something has jumped out to them but that information hasn't been made public for whatever reason

One thing that they have said is that they don't believe that either of them were specifically followed into the park. And I'm assuming that's just based on that dash cam that picked up both of them entering the park. So that really makes you think that it really could have been a wrong place, wrong time situation or someone who just...

got angry seeing a mixed-race couple in their minds. I mean, obviously, they weren't actually a couple as far as we know, but someone absolutely could have seen that and just done this out of pure hatred. I will say, though, it seems that detectives have kept a lot of information close to the vest. I don't

have anything to specifically back it up that they have something we don't know but that is possible and I hope that that's the case that they have something more solid that they are holding back for a specific reason but overall this case is just a truly hard to know horrible situation no matter how you spin it

But one thing that is really good to hear is that the FBI actually did get involved in this case very early on. Now, the FBI typically doesn't get involved in regular homicide cases unless there's some federal element to it. But in this case, they were asked to assist and they agreed to help. And it had actually been 20 years since the Metro Parks police had a homicide case on their hands. That's how...

rare it is for this area. So of course, they were quick to bring in additional resources, which major credit to them because there are a lot of cases and agencies out there who don't want to bring in additional resources because of pride or, you know, whatever it is. And families end up having to beg them to bring in other resources outside of their department. And some of them are just stubborn. So that to me was...

Very good to hear. They also brought in the Ohio Bureau of Investigation, and in those early days and weeks, Hope still seemed to be very much alive. The FBI announced on June 12, 2019, that they were offering a $20,000 reward for information and...

That was the same day that loved ones gathered at the park for a balloon release and vigil in honor of the victims. He lit up the room, his beautiful smile. He loved the Lord. He just was there for everybody. Friends and family hold a vigil in the Rocky River Metro Parks Reservation at the same place where the lives of both Kate and Carnell were cut short. Smart, intelligent, God-fearing man.

Always loved his parents, his brother. He had a good heart. And for this to happen, it was a tragedy. It's senseless, you know, for two lives to be taken like this. Later that month, on June 24th, another press conference was held where they asked for the public's assistance in helping solve this case. As Chief Dolan has already laid out some of the publicly releasable facts in this unsolved case, I would like to ask the public for assistance.

The area known as the pull-off lot north of the Lorain Road Bridge in the Cleveland Metro Parks Rocky River Fairview Park Reservation is in a highly trafficked area, especially in the late afternoon and early evening weekday hours. There are numerous joggers, walkers, bicyclists, kayakers, and even vehicles cutting through the area to avoid interstate backups, and this is true for this area on any given day.

Tuesday, June 4th was a nice, warm, early evening. Temperatures in the mid-70s and accordingly there were plenty of people and plenty of activity in the park. We're asking the public to take a look at the maps displayed here. If you were in the area on the evening of Tuesday, June 4th between 4.30 and 5.30 p.m., please contact law enforcement immediately.

You may have seen something that will give us the key to solve this investigation. But after this, weeks went by and it didn't seem like they were any closer to catching the person who was responsible for these murders. Now, Kate's sister, Lauren, actually went through Kate's journal, which she said was incredibly difficult. I'm sure that was so hard. But she did that so that she could try and find anything that could explain what happened. But

she wasn't able to find anything. And I say this so often, but it's so true. For these families out there who have no answers, who have no type of

closure or understanding as to what happened to their loved one. It's truly torture. I truly can't imagine what it would be like living every day without any of these answers, having no idea what could have possibly happened, no potential lead, just having to sit there and wonder and try to come up with all these theories on your own and piece together what you do have and still be left with nothing. It's

It's just horrendous. There are no words. Kate's family has specifically shared that everywhere they go, looking around at all the people, even at like the grocery store, they're wondering, could that be the person who could have killed her? And I just...

Just imagine what that would be like. Imagine what that would be like. It's horrible. And sure, detectives were keeping them in the loop at first, but despite all of their efforts, there still aren't any answers. And how do you even begin to swallow that pill? So they've continued to turn to the public for help in hopes that someone, somewhere, maybe knew something. I'm...

I just, I miss her so much. Kim Brown, back at the place where her daughter was killed three months ago today. I wish we'd have answers. I just can't understand. I just can't understand how this could have happened. We have no idea who did it. We have just no idea. And that's upsetting. That's horribly upsetting because Kate and Carnell aren't here now. As a result of this abrupt, violent act, I mean...

And why? Kim says she believes Metro Parks police and the FBI are doing all they can as they actively investigate. It does pose new difficulties with each passing day. FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson says detectives want to hear from anyone who was in the park that day or who has heard anything that may help. She says it's still unclear if the killer knew the victims. The people that were in their circles, you know, who were they talking to?

Who did they last speak with? Their family, their friends, people online. We've run all those things. We continue to work those angles, but the stranger possibility still exists. The Metro Park says police have upped patrols in the area. Kate's family putting up signs pleading for tips as they await answers. This couldn't have happened totally in isolation. Somebody knows something.

And I'm hoping somebody will step forward. By October of that year, the reward had climbed to $30,000, but the most significant leap occurred in February of 2020. And that month, Kate's family contributed an additional $70,000, bringing the reward to $100,000. And of course, the hope was that this much money would just make someone come forward.

It's been eight months since the murders of Kate Brown and Carnell Sledge in the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metro Parks. The memorial at that location remains fresh as family members continue to plea for help. Our family's lives were changed forever the moment we were told our beloved Kate was brutally murdered. Kate's sister, Alex Zubon, spoke alongside her father, Tom Brown, today as they announced an increase to the reward for information that helped solve this Metro Parks murder mystery. As a family...

we have raised an additional $70,000. This raises the total reward to $100,000 for information. - Metro Parks Rangers and the FBI acknowledge they don't have much to go on, but they remain relentless, promising to work the case as if it happened yesterday. - Law enforcement will not rest until Kate and Carnell's killer is brought to justice. - Meanwhile, Alex and Tom continue to praise the sister and daughter they miss so much. - Kate was my best friend.

We talked every day. I still call her and leave her voicemails. She was at the top of her game. She was enjoying life. She loved going down to the park. She would go down with her mom and play cards, sit on a blanket, and...

I can't believe we're standing here. By February, authorities were saying that they'd investigated over 100 tips related to the case, but they still needed the public's help to try and solve this. And to try and help encourage the public to come forward, the victims' families ended up making signs and they started putting them up at the Rocky River Reservation to, you know, try and jog people's memories and prevent them from forgetting what happened there.

But what really pissed me off is the Metro Parks Police Department ended up removing these signs and

they straight up said that it was because of some stupid law where you can't put signs up in the park and this really angered their families and angered a lot of people in the community as well. I mean these weren't signs for like a garage sale or a birthday party or graduation and Kate's dad has made that point over and over again. They're out here trying to raise awareness for their

children's murders. And solving this isn't only to help their family, it's to make the entire community safer in these parks. And I know that a lot of people in their circles, in their family, have brought up the fact that they believe they just don't want to scare people into not being in the parks. Like, they don't want to make people feel that the parks are unsafe, but...

Clearly, with what occurred there, maybe they aren't so safe. But you would think, with the purpose of those signs being so important, that there would be some type of exception or leniency, but...

Apparently not. So after this, Lauren actually ended up calling every mayor in the communities that surrounded the park to see if they could put signs near the entrances and exits. And only one city agreed, which huge shout out to them, and that was Fairview Park. So they were allowed to put them there, but that was it. And if you thought that that was the only outrageous thing that the Metro Parks police did, well, you got another thing coming because check this out. By 2023, over 270 interviews were conducted

and 165 tips were received yet neither of these families felt like it was any closer to being solved despite law enforcement saying they stayed in regular contact with the browns and sledges both of them disagree tom brown says that he finds it inconceivable that progress hasn't been made and

and that authorities are claiming to keep them in the loop. And Darlene shared a very similar sentiment. In 2023, she said that the last time she heard from the Metro Parks police or the FBI was spring of 2022. Tom said that on April 6, 2022, they had a meeting with a new chief, a guy named Kelly Stillman, and that was the last time there had been any communication. And I'll be honest, it seems like a lot of the issues in the investigation are because of this guy.

Shortly after he stepped in as interim chief, he put the brakes on something that was supposed to be really promising for the investigation. I guess the lead investigator had written this proposal to bring in this non-profit group of retired professional criminal investigators, and I'm totally going to butcher the name on this. I think it's French, and I...

think it's pronounced VDoc Society. And to my understanding, this is a group of trained criminal investigators who provide pro bono assistance to law enforcement across the United States.

And they're made up of criminologists, medical examiners, DNA experts, behavior analysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, chemists, retired law enforcement agents, and more. Their members are confidential consultants, and here's the key, they only assist in investigations when law enforcement requests that they come in. So when Kelly Stillman put the brakes on this proposal for whatever reason...

they weren't able to offer any kind of help. And imagine being in the shoes of Kate and Nell's family when they found this out. How angry you would be. How hopeful they probably were at first. All for this to be crushed by Kelly Stillman. And what's even more infuriating is this guy gave no explanation as to why he put a stop to it. I mean, it makes no sense. If you want this case solved,

Why wouldn't you want this extra help? So yeah, I understand why their families are pissed off. I would be too. So year after year, their families return to the park bench to honor Kate and Nell and pray that there will be a day that they finally get justice. And this year, on the five-year anniversary of their murders, yet another vigil and balloon release was held.

And while I know there were likely moments of comfort in being together, every year is also a painful reminder of the lack of justice. 2024 marks another year of frustration for Carnell Sledge's family. It's been five years since he was shot and killed, and there's still no answers. That's too long. Five years is a long time for somebody to, you know, our family is still grieving. But even in their grief...

They come together for a vigil each year on the same day he died to remember, as they put, the glue for this family. I remember him as being a fun-loving person. He was an amazing person.

He really was family or a tent. He actually kept us all together. His loved ones say he would do anything for anyone, which is why they're not surprised he helped his friend Kate Brown when she called and asked him to meet her at the park.

But shortly after parking, kayakers found their bodies. They were shot to death in broad daylight. That's why I want to put the pit in until he come. He stayed between 5 and 530. He died at the same time he was supposed to meet his grandmother for dinner. My baby never made it. My son-in-law told me I lost it. I lost it. I haven't been right since. It's like a hole here. I tried to, I tried to...

I'm existing. That hole in their hearts will never be filled. So they're hoping for some relief. And that can only happen when the person responsible is found. They're asking anyone with information to come forward. Just trying to get some clues, some answers, some closure.

Just kind of give our families some peace. It's gut-wrenching to be standing here knowing that two beautiful people were taken, their lives were taken for absolutely no reason in broad daylight, 50 feet away from a very busy street, in rush hour on a sunny June day. It's just, you can't, you would never imagine that that could happen to one of your loved ones in a...

Now, detectives are continuing to say that they're still actively investigating this double homicide and that they're using every resource available to them. And I hope that is true. And I guess as recently as this year, a new tip has come in that they're looking into, but they aren't providing any additional information besides that.

They say that they're still very much relying on tips in this case. And as for their families, they are doing everything that they can to keep this case in the spotlight. I'm so glad that they got featured on Unsolved Mysteries. That's how I found out about this case, as well as how thousands of other people found out about it. It really does feel like someone has to know something. And again, it's possible that they just don't know what information they're sitting on. And so...

You know, with the additional coverage, I'm really hoping that someone will realize what they have or maybe with how much incentive there is, how much reward there is. If someone were to come forward that maybe that'll, you know, push them to do so. I mean, $100,000 is no small reward and that is still active and that person can remain anonymous. Tips can be submitted in Crimestoppers of Cuyahoga County at 216-

252-7463 or at www.25crime.com. These families are not going to give up until justice is served and I hope that that day comes very soon. One thing that Darlene said that just broke my heart is she says that she had a dream six months before her son was killed and it was about him being shot and

She said that she believes that this was maybe the universe preparing her, which just broke my heart. Both Nell and Kate will be remembered for their passion for life, their love of family, and all the joy that they brought those around them. The Browns and Sledges are just such fighters, and the fact that they have been fighting for so long is just...

It's incredible. And I just have to believe that justice will come for them one day. It just has to. This whole case is just so mind-blowing to me. I mean, how could two people be killed in such a violent way in such a public setting in broad daylight and five years later there are still no answers? I mean, it just...

you can't make sense of it. I just really, really hope that one day someone comes forward and they're able to solve this case. I hope that law enforcement has something that they're working through that will bring this killer to justice or maybe even more than one killer. I mean, we don't know that for sure, but I think it's pretty likely it was just one person considering they were able to get away so quickly. But again, I just...

I really, really hope that these families get that justice and that closure to some degree one day. They just absolutely deserve it. And of course, their community needs that closure as well. No matter how many times law enforcement say that the public isn't at risk, I mean, people are always going to feel some type of way when they go to these parks and they know what happened there.

And until someone is held accountable, that fear is always going to be there for people. And I just hope that that day is coming soon. That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon. But until then, stay safe out there.