Dec 15, 2020
On October 19, 1971, ten year-old Cheryll Spegall was last seen
running to catch the bus to school near her home in Highland
Heights, Kentucky. No one saw her after that. No
one, that is, except her murderer. Whoever that person is (or
was), he has never been caught. Not yet, that
is. Cheryll’s lifeless body was found nearly two weeks
later, buried under a pile of rocks in a remote area in neighboring
Pendleton County, by a milk truck driver who just happened to pull
over at that particular spot on the way to his last
stop. While Cheryll’s family and friends have never
stopped searching for Cheryll’s killer all these years later, it
has really been over the past three years that the case has taken
on a new life – a spark that has ignited a fire of interest by law
enforcement as well as a wide range of people who never knew the
young girl – many who weren’t even born yet when the murder
occurred. The catalyst for this sudden and dramatic
interest in a 49 year-old unsolved homicide? One person
– namely, Melissa’s guest on this episode. Her name is
Beth
Rowland, one of the most dedicated and whip-smart amateur sleuths
we’ve ever met. A music teacher by day, Beth’s interest
was ignited years ago when, on a date with her then-boyfriend (now
husband), she learned of a mysterious “man on the porch,” an older
gentleman who liked to watch passersby from his front stoop that
the locals all told themselves to stay away from because rumor had
it that he had “killed a girl” back in ’71. Fast forward
to three years ago, when at a family dinner, Beth’s curiosity about
the case compelled her to ask her mother-in-law, who lived near the
Spegal family home at the time, what she knew about it. The
answers only increased Beth’s interest, and soon she started a
blog, “Gone in the
Fog,” which now has nearly fifty chapters, both in text and in
audio, about her personal journey and her investigation into the
murder – and how in the process she has compiled as much or more
investigative data as the police themselves. Take a
listen to Melissa’s fascinating hour-plus interview with Beth
Rowland and prepare to want to get involved yourself! If
you have any information about the disappearance and murder of
Cheryll Spegal, please call the Kentucky State Police Post 6 at
(859) 428-1212.