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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.
Hear the story on Where's Dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder.
My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice. Today I'm discussing the case of Tracy Kirkpatrick.
Tracy was a 17-year-old with the world at her fingertips. She had a solid plan to get her bachelor's degree, then attend law school, and was working two jobs to make it happen. But one night while working in a women's clothing store, that was all stripped away from her when she was brutally murdered. The week this episode airs marks 35 years since that night, and her case continues to baffle investigators. This is the case of Tracy Kirkpatrick.
On the night of Wednesday, March 15th, 1989, 17-year-old Tracy Kirkpatrick is very tired working the closing shift at the Eileen's Lady sportswear store in Frederick, Maryland. She's had this job for about a month and also works part-time at Barrett Shoes right next door. She worked at Barrett's earlier that day from 1 to 4. The job was a part of a work-study program at her school.
As a part of the program, she got to leave school early to work job one at the shoe store and job two at Eileen's.
Tracy was all set to graduate from Brunswick High School in a few weeks, and had a solid plan in place for her future. She'd applied at Mount St. Mary's University, where she wanted to get her accounting degree. After that, she'd work as a certified public accountant until she could save up enough money to go to law school and pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer. She'd saved up enough money to buy her own car, a 10-year-old Pontiac Grand Prix, and was counting her pennies to save for tuition.
So this is why Tracy works two jobs at the Westview Shopping Center and finds herself closing a loan on a random school night.
Now, Tracy's family sees how hard she's working, and her mom Diane decides to bring her McDonald's for dinner sometime between 6pm and 7.30pm. Unfortunately, we have a lot of conflicting reports about the exact time this happened. Either way, by the time Diane gets there, the store is totally empty, and she finds Tracy just reading a book. Tracy mentions that she is exhausted, and plans to go right to bed when she gets home.
They chat for a few minutes, and then Diane heads back home. Eileen's closed at 9 p.m. that night, and Diane and Tracy's dad Bill could usually expect Tracy home around 9.30 or 10 p.m. They only lived about 15 minutes away in Point of Rocks, Maryland, so when Tracy isn't back by 10.30 p.m., Diane and Bill get nervous that something may have happened.
But obviously, they weren't feeling that it was something extremely nefarious right away. The night before, Bill actually had to go down to the shopping center to give Tracy's car a jump after the battery died. He found Tracy talking to her ex-boyfriend, 19-year-old John German. That night, through her battery dying, whatever else happened, they decided to get back together.
Now, the timeline on this next statement is unclear, but at some point, Tracy had also told her father that if she didn't make it home by 11pm from work on any given night, that something was probably wrong and to come get her. Some have taken this statement as nefarious and possibly in relation to John German, but I wasn't able to find anything that linked this statement to John. Some believe that this was mostly related to her pretty beat up car. We just don't know.
Either way, when Tracy isn't back home by 1045, her parents hop in the car to do exactly that. They go look to see what's going on.
But when they get to Eileen's, there are police everywhere. Now, this was an outdoor shopping center, so they quickly realize that the police aren't just at the shopping center, they are in front of Eileen's. Bill and Diane are obviously terrified. They assume the store must have been robbed. They run to police and explain that their daughter was working in the store. Diane is saying she wants to see her daughter. She's begging to know if she's okay.
and the officer just hangs his head and shakes it no. Diane says she doesn't remember what happened next, and she was hospitalized later that night for shock. It wasn't car trouble. It wasn't a robbery. Tracy had been killed.
After Diane brought Tracy dinner, Tracy's boss checked on her too around 8pm. Just like Diane, they say everything was fine. There were no customers in the store. With just an hour until close, the manager left thinking that Tracy was all set for the night. She just had to clean up, tally up her receipts, count out her drawer, and lock up the store.
We don't know if any customers came into the store after this, but there were no transactions after 8pm, so it seems like a pretty slow night. At around 9.15pm, security officer Don Barnes Jr. is taking a walk around the center, just doing his rounds. He notices that the lights and Eileen's were still on, but it's only 15 minutes after close, so he assumed the employees were still finishing up and he goes on to the other stores.
Then between 10.30 and 10.45pm, he makes his way past Eileen's again, and notices that the lights are still on. So Don tugs on the door, and to his surprise, it's unlocked. He walks inside, calls out, and gets no response. Then he makes his way through the store to the stock room, where he finds Tracy on the ground covered in blood.
When investigators get to the scene, this is what they find. The cash drawer from the register was on the counter alongside a pile of receipts from the day's sales. No money was taken. There was a blood smear found on the store's back door, and blood drops in a rear hallway that led to the loading docks and dumpsters, making them believe that this is how the killer exited the store.
There were also some latent prints found at the scene. Tracy's personal keys and store keys were missing alongside her wallet, which had a small amount of money in it. Her car was still in the parking lot. Tracy had been stabbed at least 22 times across her body, including on her head, neck, arms, back, and chest. It was absolutely gruesome. It's worth noting that the medical examiner didn't find any defensive wounds.
So, a few things that the scene stuck out to investigators. First, there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't appear that whoever did this broke into the store. And they didn't take the money from the register either, despite it being in plain sight on the counter. Tracy also didn't show any signs of sexual assault. To them, it seemed like this may have been a crime of passion committed by someone she knew. So, they got to work trying to figure out who may have done this.
The problem was there wasn't much to work with. Tracy was popular and well-liked with no known enemies. There also didn't appear to be any witnesses. There was one man who was in the parking lot that night. He says he was waiting for his partner and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Other than that, apparently no one saw or heard anything.
Frederick Police Department Corporal Barry Horner says that he didn't sleep for the first 72 hours. Everyone was just trying to gather up any pieces of this puzzle to figure out why someone would do something like this. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Ibotta. Are you planning your dream vacation but dreading the cost?
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Tracy was laid to rest on March 20th in Pennsylvania, where she spent most of her childhood. Not long after, her older siblings, Deonda, age 19, and Jack, age 21, moved back into the family home to support their parents, and their youngest sister, Angie, who was only 16.
Like we see in so many cases, this of course just changed everything about their lives. They would call to check in on each other more frequently, and now if Bill couldn't get a hold of one of his kids or they weren't where they were supposed to be, he went straight to his car to go find them. They were terrified and devastated, and so was the community.
Eileen stayed closed on the day after the murder out of respect for Tracy. The other shop that she worked at, Barrett Shoes, enacted a policy to have two employees on every shift. Brunswick High School acknowledged Tracy's passing over the intercom and held a moment of silence across the campus in her honor. The Frederick Police even held a student assembly in search of answers about Tracy's murder. But like I said, they just didn't have much.
They interviewed everyone close to Tracy, including past and current romantic interests. They interviewed the security guard and her manager. And while they would later say that they were developing some strong persons of interest early on, there just wasn't much movement in the case. Then, about three months after Tracy's murder, police get a tip that changes everything when a man calls into a Las Vegas hotline and confesses to killing Tracy.
The way that this hotline worked was that anybody could call in and pay by the minute to leave an anonymous confession about any type of misdeed. Others could also pay by the minute to listen to these confessions. And for some reason, someone calls in to confess to killing Tracy. Luckily, the operator of the hotline turns this audio over to police. Here's what the caller said. Quote,
Hello, my name is Dawn, and I'm calling from Frederick, Maryland. I know this is going to sound surprising, but three months ago I stabbed a girl to death.
And you might think that in making this tape, I'm setting myself up to be caught. But there are a lot of guys named Don in Frederick. The girl I killed was working in a ladies' sportswear store. I often came by and talked to her when she was working alone. And one night when she was in the storeroom and we were talking, our conversation turned into an argument. And so I took out a knife that I have with me at all times and I killed her.
And a few days later, I realized that I had created a lot of sadness, and I thought about turning myself in to the police. But whatever they do to me, that won't bring Tracy back. So I've decided that I better keep free, because we have the death penalty in Maryland. Thanks for listening. I'm sorry for what I did, but nothing can change it. Bye."
Obviously, this is huge and police pursue the lead. They trace the call to a payphone and a Safeway grocery store in Walkersville. This is about 7 miles northeast of Frederick. But since it was a public payphone that a ton of people touch, there's really no evidence to be collected. And since we're in the year 1989, there are no cameras in the store to help identify the caller either. They're basically back at square one.
By early October, they are desperate to figure out who this caller is. So the Frederick Police Department issue a public letter to the caller in the Frederick News Post. They address the caller's concerns about the death penalty and assure them that if they come forward, they will not be put to death for Tracy's murder. And in this letter, they really appeal to the killer's presumed guilt over killing Tracy.
It reads in part, quote,
as well as the pain which has consumed your life since that night. You and I both know we need to talk about Tracy's death, so you once again will have peace of mind. Call me soon."
Unfortunately, the letter does not compel Tracy's killer to come forward. But by the end of the month, they get a call from a Massachusetts psychic who says they think they might know who killed Tracy. She says she's been working with a man named Sean who came to her for help in identifying Tracy's killer. So this man mails her a bunch of newspaper clippings so she can become familiar with the case. She says she's been working with a man named Sean who came to her for help in identifying Tracy's killer.
She says as soon as she got these clippings, she immediately felt weird about the situation, so she called the police to report it. They end up playing her the audio of the confession and ask if this was the man she was speaking with about Tracy, and this woman says her heart just dropped when she heard this man's voice. She knew this was the guy, so police tell her just to keep talking with him while they look into his possible involvement.
They end up tracing the letters back to Walkersville, Maryland, where the call also took place. But the man living there isn't named Don or Sean. And this part is a little weird and unclear because when police discuss this aspect of the case, they don't name names. But it seems like they know this man made the call but don't feel like he killed Tracy.
After a few months, the Frederick police come up with a plan. They ask four local radio stations to play the audio from the call at the same time on the one-year anniversary of Tracy's murder. So at 9.15 on March 15, 1990, this call is blasted across the radio. They get some tips, and two hours later, the caller is positively identified. And,
As I said, I know that it's frustrating, but we just don't know if this is the same man who worked with the psychic or someone new. But here's what we know. This man was already considered a suspect in the case, though not a strong one. Investigators approached him on that same day, on the 15th, and he refused to answer questions.
So, at 1am on March 16th, 1990, they come back with a warrant to search his home, his car, and collect hair and DNA from his person. In the home, they find newspaper clippings discussing Tracy, but nothing else that linked him to Tracy in real life.
Still, investigators were hopeful that this could be their guy. I mean, it really seemed like it could be. In reporting by Paul Duggan for the Washington Post, Frederick Police Chief Richard Ashton said, quote, Realistically, even if he did make that call, it doesn't mean he killed Tracy Kirkpatrick. It's important to keep that in perspective, end quote. But then he also says, quote, We hope everything we see tightens a knot around his neck, end quote.
So take that for what you will. Unfortunately, just like the names of suspects or persons of interest, information about testing evidence is also pretty unclear in this case. We know items were taken, but it seems that most everything collected at the scene could only be connected back to Tracy, and not her killer. So Tracy's case just sits.
It was featured on Unsolved Mysteries and A Current Affair, but it remained stagnant despite the Frederick police being pretty adamant that they've narrowed down the suspect pool to two men.
In 1994, they actually took Tracy's case to a grand jury for an indictment, but were turned down. Essentially, there was no evidence to believe that these two men worked together to kill Tracy, and indicting either one separately would result in the other being accused in court and likely the case being thrown out. Bill Kirkpatrick later explained this to reporter Jeremy Arias of the Frederick News Post, saying, quote,
She told us, End quote.
That same year, the Frederick Police told the media that they have a prime suspect, with Corporal Robert A. Servasic saying he had no doubt in his mind that they have Tracy's killer. But they weren't talking. So who was it, or who were they?
We don't know. But what we do know is that as Tracy's case got passed down to new detectives over the years, it's clear that they weren't all on the same page about who did this. One detective would say that the call into the hotline was a complete hoax. Others would say that they knew that that was their guy. So getting a pulse on what the police really think is pretty hard in this case. And really, all we can do is speculate.
But the public at the time, and even people who hear this case today, just can't get past something. That call. The man named Don. Because there was a man named Don at the scene that night. The security guard. Apparently one of two men at the scene, according to the Frederick Police Department.
Now, we don't know who the other man is, and it's possible that Don maybe wasn't even included in that count of the two men. But again, we can only work with what we know, so let's talk about Don. The thing is, Don wasn't just a security guard. He also worked for the Frederick County Sheriff's Department as a deputy. Like a lot of folks in law enforcement, he was moonlighting as a security guard for extra cash. But Don wasn't just any sheriff's deputy.
He was the son of former Sheriff Don Barnes Sr., also known as the Singing Sheriff.
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This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series Back in Crime. If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. He turned the gun straight at us and shot. Oh my God, the window went out. And the kid standing there with me, I think he got hit. Okay. Oh God. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.
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Don Barnes Sr. has quite the reputation in Frederick, Maryland. Elected in 1974, he was the youngest sheriff in Maryland history at age 32. He served two terms from 1974 to 1982, but he was also known around town because he was the lead singer of a popular local country and western band called the Countrymen. When Don got elected, he actually joked that he had no aspiration to be the next Johnny Cash, but said he'd consider having his band play at the local prison.
Hence the nickname, the Singing Sheriff. Now, as far as I could find, there was nothing really nefarious in Don Sr.'s background. He was in a few lawsuits over the years, but nothing crazy. In 1978, he was named Sheriff of the Year by the Maryland State Sheriffs Association. It seemed like he was quite respected and well-loved.
But people couldn't help but connect Don Jr. to the call made to that hotline. He was the man who found Tracy dead. It's only natural to look further into him. Some also speculate that whoever made the call was either trying to frame Don as the killer, or shine a light on him as the actual killer of Tracy. Some thought maybe he just got away with it because of his connections in the community. But either way, in the end, absolutely nothing happens with Don. And the case just sits.
Obviously, Tracy's family is frustrated. And really, everyone's frustrated.
Over the years, they and the police have been very frank about possible missed opportunities. Tracy's family says the police missed evidence, compromised the crime scene, and overall just that they could have done more in those early days of the investigation. And like I said, some officers agree with them. The second detective assigned to the case, Bob Cervasic, says that one of his biggest regrets was them not taking the back doors to the store into the crime lab for testing.
He says that this area was completely dim, and basically only investigated with flashlights. And the first detective on the case, Corporal Barry Horner, agrees. He says that at that time, Tracy was one of 35 cases they were working on. He admits that in those first few days, they were just too busy to give the case the attention it needed. By the time they went to subpoena the phone records from the store, they were gone.
Now, no investigation is perfect, but I'm sure this still has to sting for the Kirkpatricks. All of the what-ifs are hard to put out of your mind in a situation like this. But there really is no other option than to just move forward. Over the years, items from the crime scene were periodically sent off to different labs for testing, but a match has never been made.
In 1999, on the 10-year anniversary of Tracy's murder, her family holds a vigil at Brunswick High School. And of course, there's a lot of media to talk about how a decade has gone by with no resolution. Here, the Frederick police again reiterate that it's down to two suspects, both from Frederick and one that they're familiar with. Again, they do not elaborate, so take this for what you will.
Tracy's family also again reiterates that they'd be willing to ask for the death penalty to be taken off the table if someone came forward to confess to killing Tracy. But no one does. By 2003, Tracy is featured on the Frederick PD's website as one of ten unsolved homicides within the department. That same year, more samples from the crime scene are submitted. And again, nothing comes back.
In March 2009, Tracy's family puts together a vigil at the West Ridge Shopping Center for the 20th anniversary. Diane says she hasn't set foot in the parking lot since that night. And while 20 years have passed, for her, it feels like just yesterday. Here, the Frederick PD again state that they have two suspects in mind for the crime. More DNA is submitted, and Tracy's case is given to cold case panels for review.
At this point, the first detective on the case, Corporal Barry Horner, speaks out again. Now he says that he thinks Tracy's killer may have committed the perfect crime. No evidence and no motive. But they weren't giving up. Tracy's case bounced to a ton of organizations for review. The Frederick police and her family kept her case relevant in the media, and they say by 2014 they're still getting tips. They just aren't leading to an arrest.
By 2019, 30 years after Tracy was killed, her family is still showing up for her. They hold another vigil, and her brother Jack pleads with the public to keep sharing her story. He says now their concern is that everyone is getting older, and they need to know what happened to Tracy before those people are gone.
The Frederick Police say that Tracy's case is still open, and in 2019 they were in the process of digitizing her file and focusing on DNA. They also committed to re-interviewing every single person mentioned in that file. But that's really where her case is today. Open, waiting for leads.
Tracy and her case have touched so many hearts throughout the years. While Bob Cervasic only worked on Tracy's case for about a year, he continued showing up for her vigils for decades. Diane Kirkpatrick says that he didn't just work the case, he lived and breathed it, and they've never had a more dedicated detective on the case since he retired in 1995.
Of course, Tracy's family was also never the same. Bill Kirkpatrick quit his job as a trucker, saying it gave him too much time to think. Diane quit her job in retail management because she couldn't handle the stress, and every time she saw a young girl working in a store, she thought of Tracy. Tracy's sister Deonda says she speaks to everyone she can about Tracy, not just to speak about her, but to evaluate their responses and look for possible leads.
She's also terrified for her children. She says it's scary not knowing who killed Tracy, or if they had some type of vendetta against her family, it might come back for her kids. DeAnda and her brother Jack also both applied to work for the city police, but were turned down. At this point, DeAnda believes that if Tracy's killer is caught, it'll be through some type of confession or a witness coming forward.
Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share Tracy's case. Like Deonda, I also believe that Tracy's case will likely be solved by someone coming forward.
Like I said at the very top of this episode, the week this episode airs marks 35 years that Tracy's case has gone unsolved. But it's clear that the Frederick Police Department is confident that they know who did this. It feels like it's only a matter of time before some type of DNA testing comes back positive. Or someone finally comes forward. There is always hope.
As a reminder, 17-year-old Tracy Linkirk Patrick was killed at Eileen's Ladies Sportswear at the Westview Shopping Center in Frederick, Maryland on the night of March 15th, 1989. If you have any information, please contact the Frederick Police Department at 240-674-2612. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.
Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show on your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice. Welcome to the Secret After Show. The door is open, our emotional support puppies are in the room, let's talk about Tracy's case. Now,
I obviously have no idea what happened that night, but I spent more nights closing down retail stores than I care to remember. Closing is not fun, and I couldn't help but think of that process. So just to refresh, Tracy is found. Right, so go back. Don Barnes Jr. goes by at 9.15, sees the lights on, whatever, no big deal. There's a
I think most of the time I got out of stores, you know, 15, 30 minutes later if it was a normal slow night or whatever. So 100% Tracy could have been doing all those closing tasks from like 8 to 9 right after her boss leaves. She could have cleaned up the store, especially if there's almost no customers and no transactions. All you have to do in that hour is close or read a book like she was doing earlier. But I could see her doing her task, cleaning the store, putting things back in its place, whatever, whatever.
You know, each store has its own procedure. But what I couldn't get over was that cash drawer on the counter. So...
counting out your drawer early is also really normal. I used to encourage my associates to do it because it would save me on payroll. Like, if it's a slow night, absolutely do a no-sale, grab the key to the register, and count it out so you can get out of there fast. It's a win-win all around. Employees get to go home, you save money on payroll, why not do it? So I have no doubt that Tracy could have been counting her drawer early. What I find weird is that they
The whole cash drawer, that inner plastic piece, I'm assuming, was on the counter while the door was unlocked. Because one, it's just not safe, you know what I mean, to like have a bunch... Even back then, I mean, it was like 60 bucks that they found in the register. But in 1989, I mean, even back then, having, you know, this cash drawer on the counter just doesn't feel safe. And two, doesn't really feel professional. And I get the feeling that Tracy was a professional gal. So...
Something about that, just the cash drawer being on the counter and the door being unlocked, feels weird to me. And it leads me to believe that it's possible, and I guess I think probably, that Tracy was interrupted during this process. That she locked the door at 9, began doing her closing duties of, you know, likely just counting down the drawer, and was interrupted by someone she felt comfortable enough to unlock that door for her.
and the police said it too. They think it was, you know, one of these two men at the scene. They think it was somebody who knew Tracy, who had spoken to her before at least. And I'm not saying I think it was Dawn Barnes Jr., but I am saying that I think her door was locked, she was counting out her drawer, and she opened that door for someone she knew. Just from my retail background, that's what makes sense to me. But of course, that is pure speculation. If you worked in retail, I want to know what you think. Um...
Draw me a comment on social media because maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in 1989, things were totally different. I was only one when this crime occurred long before my career in retail, and I could be wrong. I also wanted to give a shout out to one of the sources I used in this episode. Shout out to Gage Thatcher, who made a about 20 minute film on this case as a part of a student project.
But he interviewed Tracy's family, so I did use this as a source. And I just wanted to give him a shout out. Gage, if you're out there listening for some reason, I'm sure that you are much older now, obviously. But shout out to you. I think it's awesome that you chose that for your project. And thank you for doing those interviews so I could use them as a source.
One last thing, I promise. So when I talked about how in 2003, Tracy and her case were featured on the Frederick PD's website as one of 10 unsolved homicides in the department, I found something kind of neat about that whole process. So apparently the oldest case in Frederick was Anna Margaret Myers, who was the maternal grandmother of Frederick PD Lieutenant Tom Chase.
and he helped put together the outlines for the website. I just like love that. So I don't know, just shout out to him. I think it's really cool when you can see families working with law enforcement or in law enforcement because new innovative ideas like this usually come out of that. So another shout out to Lieutenant Tom Chase.
On to what's going on with me, which I have nothing under my notes for this because y'all, absolutely nothing is happening with me. I am in the same place. I am working away over here on a million projects that I wish I could tell you about, but I can't. I will say that episode eight of Media Pressure is going to air next week and you do not want to miss it. After that, it is followed by our ninth and final episode.
tentatively final, depending on, you know, hopefully there are some updates in the case. But we are accepting questions for that. So if you have any questions about the Maura Murray case, which I know you do, you can submit them. I will have a link in the episode description. Now for our segment of hope. This one is kind of weird. And I don't really know if
A crime has been committed, but it makes our segment of hope because this person was reported missing and later found. So this is about Marlene Lopez, age 52, who was a Florida mom reported missing by a concerned co-worker. And a few days after, she was found alive pounding on a shipping container that was like next to this business.
The owner of the shipping container, Tyler Sonnenberg, told this local news station that he remembers seeing Marlene Lopez walking around the container, and apparently he locked it up and she was inside. He thinks she walked into the unit by herself and passed out. This is still under investigation. It's a weird one, but I think that's also why it made this segment of hope because...
I fully believe that true crime is stranger than fiction. Truly. Some of the things that I hear in these cases, I could never make up for the life of me. So this makes our segment of hope because it's an unexpected and really...
benign, kind of mundane ending. I mean, we don't know, right? They are still investigating, but this seems like truly a mishap. Either way, Marlene Lopez is found, she is safe, and hopefully it doesn't go further than that. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.
