MISSING AND MURDERED IN THE MIDWEST: A podcast looking into crimes that made the headlines, starting in the Quad City area, and expanding throughout the Midwest. Podcast host and News 8 Executive Producer Toria Wilson, has dedicated her time into researching and looking back at stories News 8 has reported on, the murder cases that shocked us and the missing persons cases that left us with unanswered questions.
EPISODE THREE: Carrie Olson’s disappearance sent shock waves throughout the Quad Cities community.
Olson, 29, was reported missing on December 30, 2013, after her father noticed she was absent from work that day. She was last seen at a Rock Island gas station.
In early 2014, dozens of search parties scanned areas such as Black Hawk State Historic Park, Campbell’s Island and where her cell phone last pinged: Camden Park. Volunteers braved snowfall and bitter cold temperatures to try and find Olson.
By February of that year, billboards were posted around town looking for information, a $10,000 reward was being offered to find her and family and friends, would hold a candlelight vigil, continuing the call for Olson to come home.
It wasn’t until weeks later her body was found about 300 miles away in Minnesota.
The landowner discovered her body in a wooden area on April 5th, 2014. Her body had been there for less than two days. She was found just 15 yards away from a road, but the combination of heavy snow and her body being below the tree line, hid her from plain sight.
More than six months after Olson’s disappearance, and three months after her body was found, Timothy McVay was arrested and charged for her disappearance and her death.
Not too long after the charges were brought against McVay, an official death certificate was released ruling her death a homicide by unspecified means.
This episode breaks down the search efforts for Olson including the arrest, trial and ultimate conviction of McVay with the latest information on how long he will stay in prison for.
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