Kelsie Schelling, 21, vanished in February 2013 shortly after finding out that she was eight weeks pregnant. Schelling was reportedly traveling from Denver to Pueblo to talk to Lucas about the pregnancy. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Criminal defense attorney Danielle Iredale joins host Ana Garcia. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The car was moved from that location the following morning, then showed up at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center Feb. 9. Eight years after his girlfriend went missing, a Colorado man has been convicted of first-degree murder in her death. I plan to make things work. Laura Saxton, Schelling's mom, took the stand again and testified that Schelling's car was never in California. New5's Colette Bordelon reports that the District Attorney has confirmed that Martinez was going to testify for the prosecution this week that Lucas confessed to her that he killed Schelling. Saxton also pleaded with police to not stop searching for her daughter's body, so she can have a proper burial. Torres, continuing his testimony from Friday, began the fourth day of the trial by detailing alleged text exchanges between Lucas and Schelling on the night of Feb. 3 and the day of her disappearance Feb. 4, breaking them down minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour as the conversation unfolded. And even if it's not the answer I wanted, the community heard it and they know what happened., The jury reached a unanimous decision on their first vote, a juror later revealed to 20/20.. She met Donna Whitson, single Continued. Schelling was eight weeks pregnant when her friends and family last heard from her on February 4, 2013, when she visited the likely father of her unborn child. Since meeting in 2010 as students at a junior college in Colorado, Kelsie Schelling and Donthe Lucas purportedly had a fraught relationship, one which allegedly turned abusive on the part of Lucas, according to Schelling's friends and relatives (via Fox 21 News). Its hard to explain, Torres said, Its definitely a person, emotional bond. During the trial, investigators had revealed troubling information about Schellings possible whereabouts. Then you can take her back home., Sara Lucas allegedly responded: What happened? and, Are you OK? to which Lucas responded, Yeah. Then, at 11:10 p.m., he told her to go to another location near his grandmothers house. For years, Donthe maintained that he had nothing to do with Kelsies disappearance and had no idea where she could be. By taking this avowal seriously, Adrian Johnston nally claries the philosophical project underlying iek's eorts. Using cell phone data from Lucas and Schellings phones, the prosecution believes both phones were in the same location as the texts were being exchanged. Lucas insisted to the man, who later testified about the incident in court, that he wouldn't be convicted of that crime but in the end, it seemed to seal his fate. We did not have a body that would've told us location No modus operandi of how she died. The white stain in #Schelling's car was negative for saliva. KRDO NewsChannel 13 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. 13M subscribers Kelsie Schelling goes to see boyfriend, never seen again: Part 3 Schelling left work and headed to Pueblo, Colorado, where her boyfriend Donthe Lucas asked her to meet. However, 20/20 learned that in March 2013, a woman named Roxann Wilkins reached out to Schellings mother through the Facebook page, saying she used to date Lucas and he had confessed to her that he killed Schelling and where her body was. The defense points out that Suhr was lying to Lucas the whole time, and tried to have her admit she was having sex with him in exchange for information. But tragically, Kelsie Schelling went missing soon after she revealed her pregnancy to her partner, Donthe Lucas. In the recording, Lucas tells Binet the last time he heard from Schelling was the previous day, Feb. 9. Shortly before noon, other texts are exchanged between Lucas and Schellings phones, which the prosecution alleges were not actually sent by Schelling. Their argument continued through texts beyond 4 a.m. MORE:Lucas trial day 1: Former inmate testifies Lucas admitted guilt to the murder, Later that morning, Torres read texts from Schelling to Lucas that said, Im sorry for hanging up on you over and over. One minute, he had no involvement. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Donthe Lucas in court for Kelsie Schelling's murder. She was like, Stop calling me. On 4 February, Kelsie got confirmation of her pregnancy from her doctor and sent the scan pictures to Lucas. It was just a special bond that we formed. During the hearings, while the defense called upon no witnesses, the prosecutors invited Kelsies friends, family members, investigators, along with other experts to take the stands and highlight how Donthe could have slain Kelsie. You dont have to have a happy little family with me. They alleged that when she left Lucas at the Walmart, she was going to meet up with a drug dealer. Per Fox 21 News,Lucas purportedly had a strong reaction when he saw Schelling's neighbors hanging up missing flyers, and according to testimony at his trial, went as far as to harass the family of a middle-schooler who had helped aid in distributing them. Chieftain reporter Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@chieftain.com or on Twitter @ZachHillstrom, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Goodnight., Torres said Lucas replied, Oh I know all of that … thanks for stating it for me.. The search for Tibbetts and the . [3] Overview [ edit] Strangely enough, around the same time, the family of another missing woman 1,200 miles away in Portsmouth, Ohio, had been receiving similar messages. Binet asked Lucas if he had any idea where Schelling might be, to which Lucas replied: Honestly, Im not too sure. He told her that he and Schelling would do drugs together, like cocaine. Introduction: Managing the World; 1. Deputy District Attorney Kyle McCarthy then skipped ahead to the communications exchanged the following day and asked Torres to read from texts that allegedly were exchanged between Donthe Lucas and his mother, Sara Lucas. I'm never going to recover without getting her back, Saxton said. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Megan Lancaster, then 25, had disappeared just months after Schelling. Saxton still doesn't have all the answers she's searched tirelessly for. Morning Forecast Therefore, after many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he stood trial for the same in early 2021. We know that that's his thoughts and feelings about it. It was the most emotional moment in the courtroom today by far, watching a mother look at these remnants of her daughter. When all this got combined with Donthes former home catching fire just weeks after officers searched it for evidence, he was charged and arrested for his former girlfriends mysterious murder. Suspecting foul play, police accelerated the investigation. She did say that he called once from jail, but they ultimately never spoke again. Saxton said the car was given to Schelling when she moved back from California and that there were certain belongings that were kept in the vehicle. But soon, Kelsie started confiding in her friends that her boyfriend was physically abusive and exhibited other toxic behavioral traits. If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here. PUEBLO, Colo. CBI Investigator Kevin Torres remembers it like yesterday. He was the first person who listened to me like I wasnt a crazy person, said Laura Saxton, Kelsies mother, He gave me hope when I didnt have any.. Lucas also admitted to Suhr that he was the person seen in the Walmart surveillance footage and that he moved the car to St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center. Schelling's family has set up a website called HelpFindKelsie.com and are reportedly offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest. Leave me alone, Lucas said. Schellings car was discovered more than a week after her disappearance without a trace of the young expectant mom. There's no body, no murder weapon, no crime scene. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Its been over eight years since Laura Saxtons 21-year-old pregnant daughter Kelsie Schelling vanished. In this week's True Crime Daily Podcast: An update to the Colorado cold case murder of missing pregnant woman Kelsie Schelling (1:50). She questioned her daughters boyfriend Donthe Lucas on the phone herself, organized community searches as the case went cold and followed up on leads through the Help Find Kelsie Facebook page -- including one that claimed the young expectant mother was still alive. From the moment she realized Schelling was missing, Saxton led the fight to find her daughter. She texts him at 10:20 p.m., saying shes arrived and Lucas replies that hell be there shortly. Season 1. Lucas said they met up again the following morning and that he brought Schelling to Parkview Medical Center, where she went inside the hospital and emerged a short time later, saying Im not pregnant. Saxton said she told Lucas that she didn't care if they were together or apart, but she told him "there is a child involved now." Saxton said the messenger told her Lucas had sold her daughter into sex trafficking. Suhr said Lucas had lied to police when he claimed he was with Schelling in her car after the evening of Feb. 4, 2013 -- he had moved her car himself, Suhr said. The jury convicted Lucas after approximately four hours of deliberation. A jury. Then in October 2015, Saxton had a new possible lead. Saxton never met with Marcus at the McDonalds after Vancouver Police backed out of their involvement, believing it to be a scam. Her mother said she wonders what would have become of her life. Help Find Kelsie/Facebook. MORE: Lucas trial day 2: Friends of Kelsie Schelling speak to a toxic and abusive relationship. PUEBLO, Colo. (KDVR) After numerous delays in the trial of the man accused of killing Kelsie Schelling in 2013, Donthe Lucas was found guilty by a jury in in a Pueblo courtroom. Born February 18, 1991, the 21-year-old from Denver, Colorado, was eight weeks pregnant when she decided to visit her boyfriend, Donthe Lucas, at the Home of Heroes in Pueblo. But Lucas claimed when they spoke later, Schelling ended up telling me shes not pregnant. Obviously it's an important piece of evidence that he moved the car because it shows he's covering up the crime. Laura Saxton fought tirelessly for justice in the case of her missing pregnant daughter. Text messages show he first instructed her to go to a specific Walmart on the south side of town. Sara Lucas says she only met her son's girlfriend. Donthe Lucas (credit: Pueblo Police Dept. They dated on and off while there, and after two years, they both decided to leave the school. Plus, a baggage claim sticker leads to an arrest after human remains were found in two suitcases on the side of a Denver road in December (30:07). The trial, which began in February, was delayed multiple times, most recently due to someone in the courtroom testing positive for COVID-19. The 21-year-old from Colorado had already announced to family and friends that she was expecting, and she and her parents had even begun picking out baby names. I would like to have known what she finally settled on as a career, if she ever would've got married, had more kids, all those things, Saxton said. Kelsie Schelling's childhood rocked with emotional fallout from family split: Part 1Schelling's parents got divorced and she lived with her mother, Laura Sax. CBS4 was on scene in 2017 when investigators dug up the yard of a home where Lucas used to live. ). In addition to this, Schelling's phone records indicated a call was made from her cell to a woman who Schelling reportedly didn't know, and whom Lucas was romantically involved with even though Lucas could not explain the call.

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