Help Me Hayley: Cold Case Files

In August of 1976, a 24-year-old Lewiston mother vanished. For years, Patty Otto's daughters were told she left voluntarily, despite her youngest recalling vivid memories of a violent fight that night between her parents. Patty's husband was arrested shortly after she disappeared, accused of trying to coordinate the murder of an LPD investigator looking into the case. He was never charged with harming his wife. Patty's daughter is on a mission to find out the truth. Could a 1978 discovery in Oregon be the key to solving this case? KHQ talks in depth about the case's twists and turns with Patty's daughter who refuses to ever give up her fight for answers.

In 1987, 16-year-old Deanna Criswell boarded a bus in Spokane headed for Arizona and was never seen by loved ones again. Her accused killer was identified through DNA long before she was. She was marked 'Jane Doe 19', and that label would remain until 2015 when her family saw a post on the Jane Doe Network. What happened to Deanna is all too common in the United States with a minimum of 40,000 unidentified remains cases yet to be closed.

It's been one year since a Stevens County man vanished. Guy Geyer, 61, was renovating a home near Chewelah. His daughter says after the disappearance, they found his worksite at the residence oddly tidy with his expensive tools left behind. As the days since he vanished continue to stack up, his family fears investigators should not only be looking for Guy's remains, but also a potential killer. If you know anything about what happened to Guy, please call 509-684-2555.

The FBI and local law enforcement held a recent press conference on the 40-year anniversary of the abduction and murder of University of Idaho student Kristin David. The 22-year-old was found dismembered in the Snake River. Her case is one of several that occurred in roughly the same area, around the same time, that remain unsolved. Has one person gotten away with multiple murders, or could the LC Valley have been home to more than one killer capable of unthinkable evil? It's a question that haunts the community decades later.

It took a Spokane County jury less than two days of deliberations to convict Clay Starbuck of murdering his ex-wife Chanin in December of 2011. Prosecutors pointed to a shaky alibi, a switched-off cell phone, and a neck swab that was a partial match to male Starbuck DNA. Nearly a decade later, the Washington Innocence Project is involved and pushing to get never before tested evidence in the system. The Starbuck children have never wavered in their support for their father.

In 2020, 24-year-old Makayla Young was stabbed dozens of times and nearly decapitated by a man she was dating. Anthony Fuerte entered a plea of guilty to the murder in April and will be sentenced May 24th. The family is asking anyone touched by this story to send statements for the judge to review prior to sentencing.

Ian Eckles went to Kittitas County to go turkey hunting with friends in May of 2020. Ian never showed up to meet them. While looking for clues, friends saw a man driving Ian's vehicle. A three-week search for that armed suspect, since identified as Jorge Alcantara Gonzalez, followed in what has been called the biggest manhunt in county history. Even though he was eventually found and charged with taking Ian's property, the investigation into Ian's death and search for his body continues.