Mother Killed & Baby ABDUCTED: What Happened to Christine & Vanessa Holloway?

Hello everyone and welcome back to Drew Kermit Kendall Ray. Thank you so much for joining me and if you're new to this show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. And man, I just realized that I am looking a lot like this polar bear. Do you see this people? My son is huge. Not only that, I also have a diet coke. Anyway, you guys, the case that I'm going to be talking to about today, I am beyond surprised that one, more people aren't talking about it and two, that I had never heard of it. This case absolutely needs more coverage because we're going to be talking about the murder of Christine Holloway and the abduction of her 14 month old daughter who is still missing to this day. And there is a chance that she is out there somewhere. This case is just heartbreaking in every way, absolutely devastating. And it's been six years since it occurred. And the fact that baby Vanessa is still out there, she would no longer be a baby at this point, is really eerie to think about. But a very real possibility. And I just feel so, so badly for Christine's family, who still doesn't have answers about where Vanessa is. I really hope through this episode today, we can offer their family some support. And in fact, my team and I are going to be reaching out to their family and see if there's any way that we can help through my foundation higher hope. And now let's go ahead and jump in. And I want to start, of course, by telling you more about Christine Marie Holloway, who was born on Halloween in 1976 to her parents, Deborah and Terry. She was the eldest of five siblings and from a young age, she really developed a knack and passion for nurturing her brothers and her sister. Taking care of others just came easily to Christine, which actually led her to study psychology in college. And she was even the first person in her family to graduate with a college degree. Her loved ones say that she was definitely the golden child and that she had the most contagious big belly laugh that you'd ever heard. And from what I was able to learn about her, it seems like there was really two main pillars in her life. That was family and faith. Christine was Catholic and she was part of this group called the Columbia's, which is a woman's Catholic organization. And everyone said that she was as patient as a saint. They also all say that she would really do anything for anyone, especially anyone in her family. She was very close with all of them, especially her niece and nephew whenever she was off work, especially after work, she would go and spend time with them. And they would puzzle together. Christine was really into puzzling. So that was something they really enjoyed to do all together. And you know, it's these qualities about Christine that make it so fitting that Christine's job was at a child care center. She worked at Bright Morningstar Childcare in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where she was known for being an attentive and reliable caregiver for the children that went there. And part of the reason that she worked there was also so that she could spend time with her own daughter when she was there. And her name, like I mentioned earlier, is Vanessa. Now being a mom was something that Christine had always wished for. And in 2018, that wish came true when she and her boyfriend Jose Morales got pregnant with a baby girl. And from the moment that Vanessa was born, it was just obvious to everyone that Christine was destined to be a mom. And that was very evident in the way that she cared for her. Now as for Vanessa's relationship with her dad, it's safe to say that they were a lot less close. Jose had two kids from a prior relationship, and they lived with him during the week at his mom and step-dad's house in New Haven, Connecticut. And then on the weekends, he would stay with Christine and Vanessa at her apartment in Ansonio, which is about a 30 minute drive. The two of them met on a dating app a few years prior to 2019. And as a couple, things were pretty turbulent from what I've read. And I'll dive more into that later. Right now, the most important thing to understand is that Christine and Vanessa were totally attached at the hip. And it's also important to know that Christine was really known for her reliability. So much so that when she didn't show up for work on December 2nd, 2019, her boss called the police and asked for a welfare check. The call to the Ansonio Police Department came in at about 1 p.m. and an officer was dispatched shortly thereafter. And for my audio only listeners, Christine rented out a second floor apartment of a third car garage. And right away, the officer noticed that something was a bit strange because it had just snowed the night before. And temperatures were still incredibly low. Yet, he could see that two of her windows were open, a skylight window as well as a bay window. Yet when he knocked on the door, nobody answered. And there were no sounds coming from inside the house either. And in these winter conditions, the open windows definitely made him wonder and worry. However, because there was no reasonable suspicion, the officer left. And meanwhile, Christine's family also got word that something may have been wrong. Her boss Rosie had contacted one of her brothers and her brother's girlfriend, Jody, about the fact that she didn't show up to work. And because they lived nearby, Jody went over there herself to see if Christine was home. And at first, she did see fresh footprints in the snow, which made her wonder if someone had been there. But nobody came to the door and she didn't hear the sound of, you know, anyone behind the door, Vanessa crying or anything like that. So her next thought was maybe they were just still over at Jose's mom's house because they were there for Thanksgiving. So she goes over there. But when she gets there, Jose acted like he didn't know anything about Christine not showing up for work. All he told her was that he saw them that morning around 7 a.m. as she and Vanessa left the house. So Jody's reaction was to call the local hospitals thinking maybe they had been in an accident. And when that didn't pan out, she ended up just calling the police department to explain their concerns. And of course, we know that a welfare check had already taken place. But thankfully, when they pushed for more to be done, they listened. And in fact, after learning from Jody that Christine often spent her weekends with Jose at his mom's house where they lived, it decided to give him a call on a recorded line. But Jose quickly changed his story. He goes on to say that he had only ever spoken to her on the phone and that the last time he had actually laid eyes on her was Friday afternoon. So that is you guys both left her house together and spoke. Okay, so you talked during the morning, and that was 7 o'clock when she was leaving for work. What's the last time you saw her? I'm going to buy a credit. A fine error because like everybody's concerned because they haven't talked to her. We're more concerned about you know your daughter. What is she doing? What is she doing? What color is it? Gold? Who has the fourth fusion, you know, or the fourth focus? No, no. Because she had another car, a black car, and that's you know of. So clearly the change in story was suspicious to them right off the bat and Jody even confirmed that he definitely told her that the two had physically saw each other that morning. But that wasn't the only bizarre part about this phone call because the comment that he made about the kind of car that she drove was weird too. So it turns out that a week before this, Christine had gone a new car. She got a black Ford focus and Jose apparently helped her pick it out. But for some reason, he told them that she still drove her old car and that he knew nothing about this other one. Mind you, that Ford focus was still parked outside of her apartment. So with all of this, around 8.45 pm, two officers returned to the apartment to conduct their second welfare check. They both approached her unit and walked around the immediate vicinity and one of them even went around the neighborhood to ask if anyone remembered seeing anything. And someone did report seeing Jose hanging around outside earlier that day. And this time there was enough concern for Christine and Vanessa's safety that the officers decided to just go ahead and kick down the door. Earlier to today, we had a mid person technically just to try to make contact with that number 6 and a half birdle-lap. They came out and they said nobody's home. She's a mother of a one year old. She always shows up at work, she always contacts us. We haven't heard from her. This is really, really bad. We have bad feeling. Talked to a boyfriend boyfriend and says, I haven't seen her. There's a couple windows open on the second floor, which is really odd because obviously it's freezing out. I can't get into the house. I'm going to kick in the door in a minute. Police Department. And as they entered her house, there was a brief moment where things seemed okay, but then within seconds, one of the officers shouted for the other. As there in the bathroom was 43-year-old Christine Holloway's naked body, so badly beaten that they knew they couldn't save her. As you can tell in that footage, this discovery was just beyond traumatic. And as soon as her loved ones learned what had happened, they could hardly wrap their minds around it. They could hardly believe that it was true. And I just remember my husband freaking out. Danielle got a call that they're taping her house off. I collapsed in the lobby, screaming no, no, no, no. I remember my husband saying she's gone. I said, stop saying that. We don't know what's going on. I'm like arguing with him. And he turned to me, grabbed my hands, looked at me, and my dead in my eyes and said she's gone. A medical examiner would later determine that Christine had suffered at least eight blows to the head with a weapon that they believed to be a hammer. However, no weapon was ever found, so that's just a best guess. With or without it though, they knew that this was not an accident, and so a homicide investigation kicked off right away. But it wasn't just a homicide investigation. There was also a missing person. Baby Vanessa was nowhere to be found. And like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we still do not know where she is to this day. And while the search for her isn't over yet, I do still have some hope that they will find her. So immediately after the discovery of Christine's remains, investigators being to process the scene and they quickly realized that it actually didn't look like the attack happened in the bathroom, even though that's where her remains were found. So the substantial blood evidence was found in the hallway area, not far from her daughter's crib. However, someone clearly tried to clean it up. And when state police forensically examined the place, they found signs of blood on the walls, the rocking chair, the rug, a container of toys, and also on some stuffed animals, which is just beyond disturbing. There was also a wet, red stained rag that was found in a bucket under the sink. And that same sink was later determined to have bone fragments in the pipes. Plus, there was a single pink infants crock that didn't have a matching pair, which also had blood stains on it. So obviously this was a really eerie and disturbing crime scene. And something interesting that they noticed though was that the rest of the house was relatively clean. Besides two overflowing recycling bins that were filled with water bottles and beer cans both inside and outside. The house was relatively well kept. It wasn't like anything had been stolen. There was even a candlelit. Plus, let's not forget that the front door was locked when those two welfare checks occurred, suggesting that whoever left her in there in that condition had to have had a key. And I'm sure you can see where this is going, but Jose, of course, quickly became someone that they wanted to speak to immediately. And so early the following morning, on Tuesday, December 3rd, he was picked up at his parents' house. And he voluntarily came into the police station for an interview. And the strategy here was to not let Jose know that they knew Christine had been killed. They basically said they wanted his help to find her and Vanessa because both of them were missing. And honestly, he sounds pretty incoherent during the interview, but I thought it was important to place him of it so you guys can hear how it went down. Even though the door is kind of closed, I mean, you're free to leave. We brought you here to talk to you and I understand you're free to leave. You know what I mean? All the way home? No, give me a ride. I'm just saying you're not... What help captive here? I'm not like... So why would I get here for it to talk to you? How about what? We're trying to find Christine or your kid. All right, that's exactly what I've been trying to call her and so on. So that... We in the same page. Okay, good. I had to... I'd rather have it that way. When's the last time you talked to her? I talked to her. I think it was Monday morning, when she was going to wear it. So that was yesterday morning? Yeah. About what time? I already did it morning. Okay. So that was talking on the phone or a person posted on the phone. Did she say anything? Was there a problem? Was there any kind of issue? No, no, why are you... Did you hear anything in the background? She didn't sound like she was having any problems? Did she sound different? Well, it was super fast. Is like, she couldn't go to the phone. She just give you short answers and try to... They were quick. I probably spoke to her for less than a minute. I mean, quick. That's not normal. Well, it is like this. It doesn't sound as sweet for a while sometimes. It was only in the morning and it's fine. The fact that this man even remotely tried to say that he wanted to help find them is such a massive load of shit. I learned that during the 38-minute drive to the police station, this guy, not once, not a single time, did he ask about his daughter? Instead, he was talking about how nice the squad car was and how he lived a sober lifestyle. Mm-hmm. Just listen to this. We want to find her one year old. And when you try to find her, it's all... Well, we need your help. It's really weird isn't we brought here. I mean, because they've got... So, look at my house and said, that this is missing and that's my one year old daughter. I'm whatever you. That's why I keep trying to call her. But, like, kids. We can tell her... You can tell her whole right here. You talked about everything but her. The whole right here, you didn't talk about a one year old daughter that's missing. I don't get that. That's why it's a little bit... Yeah, that's... We want to find her. And the only reason you're here is to find her is to help us find her. All right, so where is she? I don't know. His concern was so opposite of genuine. It's very obvious to anyone. I think that sees this footage. And you could tell that the investigators felt the exact same way. So, they decided to question him about the timeline of the weekend. He stuck to his story about seeing her that previous Friday afternoon. Did you stay over this weekend? No. You didn't stay over there this weekend? Do you normally stay over the weekend? Sometimes, I do, yeah. Not normally, but sometimes I stay over it. All right, so when's the last thing you saw in person? Friday. And where was that? Out my house. I hear her at William Pitt. Yeah, yeah. She was there. Yeah. Okay, with NASA? Yeah. Okay, and when did she leave on Friday? So, when did I have to go on a six, I think? So, at night, you think, like, around that time? Yeah. All right, did she leave by herself? Yeah. With NASA. With NASA? Yeah. So, make sure I got this right. She left your house or your parents' house on Friday. Yeah. With NASA. Yeah. And you didn't go with her? No. So, where did you stay over the weekend? I stayed with our friend Hector. Hector. He was on the same. Now, this whole Hector piece is very important, and it's also verifiable not to get ahead of myself here, but investigators spoke with him later on, and it was confirmed that they weren't together that entire weekend. Hector actually lied at first and said they were, but then later admitted that Jose asked him for an alibi. Asked him to lie. They were only together for part of the weekend, and there were several stretches of time where Jose was unaccounted for. During this interview, though, they didn't know any of that. They had, however, spoken to Jose's stepdad, and he gave them some very important information. He told investigators that Jose told him that he and Christine were going to her apartment together on Friday. He didn't say that he was going to Hector's. Yet, when he was confronted with this, Jose tried to say that his stepdad was probably just confused. Jose, when did you go to Hector's house Friday? When Friday? Friday night? When did you come home? No, the day. That's true. And the day. During the day. I saw what they were doing today. Jose, did you tell your parents where you went on Friday? Yeah. Listen. Yeah. Listen, what? Your dad said you went to Christine's Friday with her. Why would he tell me that? He said that I went to Christine's Friday. That's why he thought I went. He said you told him where you went. And if you told him you went to Hector, he would tell you. He got her on a car. Right. But why would he tell me that you went to Christine's if you told him where you went? Why would he tell? He probably asked so. No, you said you told him where you went. I told him where my father? Yeah. You just told me. You said you told him where you went. I told my father where I went. Yeah. That's why you told me. And that's why I said, why did he tell me you went to Christine's if you did? I told my father that I went to Christine. That's what you just told me about 30 seconds ago. I'm not sure. You missed him out words. Now as the interview continued, Jose had the audacity to tell investigators that he and Christine weren't actually that close, which by the way, completely when it gets everything that Christine's family had to say about their relationship. We have boyfriend, girlfriend. You guys are. Yeah, but we got that close either because she got her own place. She's doing our lives. She lived. She got her own apartment. We're not that close. Right. It's like we have a baby. Yeah. It's not like she might girlfriend, girlfriend. We say that we used to have a very lightly, but we have a baby together that happened. We have a, sorry, I have a soon little bit of responsibility by helping her out a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, no. So we in love with the baby. So we never come over and stay over our house and how they have been like that for seeing a baby. So you do all that for the nasty. Yeah. For a summer. It's not for Christine. It's for the next time. Yeah. So your family likes, but it's also that. Yeah. We really, we made her like Christine. She said she okay. You know what? All right. It's the way that this slob did his interviews really made everything so very obvious. That slip up at the end there is really everything, right? To go from we don't like Christine to she's okay and investigators use that slip up to see if he would slip up again when talking about their last contact and they totally caught his ass in another lie. Remember how he said he spoke to her on the phone on Monday morning? Well, when they asked him to bring up his call log, that specific call wasn't there. They found other calls from that day, but not one from the morning of the second with Christine. Can you would you would you show me the phone call that you made to Vanessa on Monday morning? Your phone please. That's me trying to call her. Yeah, who but your phone calls from today? That's me trying to call her. Yeah. Cause I'm worried so I can try to call you trying to call me trying to call her. You know straight to voicemail. Did you erase stuff? I always did it on my out. I pretty much deleted it. I deleted all my calls and we're talking. You didn't delete you seven. He also yet again lied about what kind of car she drove and continued to deny knowing where the two of them were and eventually he did ask to leave which legally they had to agree to. But before he left, they did two things. For one, they confronted him with the fact that a witness saw him leaving Christine's place on Monday morning, which went against what he said about last seeing her on Friday. They also took possession of his clothes, which he certainly did not like that. And during that time, they found bruising, swelling and abrasions on him, which unsurprisingly, he didn't have an explanation for. But you realized that somebody saw you leaving Christine's house today. How's that? It's on door-to-door. Today? Well, not Tuesday Monday. You were at the house Monday, what do you think? Where should I go? I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, now you can go. Here you go. You can go. I told him that the reason he's here is because somebody saw him leaving the house Monday. Well, that's the second one. I know you guys are taking me home. Yeah, we're taking you home, but we're taking your clothes first. After this, they drove him back to Mommy and Daddy's house where the conversation actually ended up continuing there. And there's footage of it. And during this conversation, the officers decided to share the truth about Christine. You know where Christine is? Do you know what Christine is? Yes. Oh, you bet, Mama? Yes. Well, you want to go to the baby? Uh, Christine's dead. We're having fun! We're looking for her. We're looking for her. You were so sick. This was the shadow light on her situation. We're working on it right now. We're investigating us so that you know this. It's a homicide. Christine's new car, which he was now saying he knew about all along. We can't find the car that he says she's always driving. But we know where the car is that you say that she got it. They know what? Yeah. But I asked you about her buying a new car. You said you didn't know nothing about it. I know a lot. But why did you say you didn't know anything about it? I know a lot of things that people first have to do. I was here, we also just took your car. The car is gone? Yep. He literally just continues to crash out to dig himself deeper and deeper into a deeper hole. I don't know. I don't know. But why did it come up with an idea, babe? What do you want me to think? Why? What do you want me to say to just think, man, as a situation? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. You guys have to break into one there to get in. I was in her house one day. I don't know. Why do you think you don't know? I was up. I was up. I was up. I was up. How was he? How did he not know where he was to the yesterday? How was he? It's not even twenty-four hours later. How did he not know that? I just said I was up. My boy's head's there. Oh, you're up. Because you were leaving the house. At one forty-nine. We had an okayo leaving the house and we also had a witness in him. He was there. Today? Monday. Monday. There's nothing that I can tell you. I don't know. Were they in a serious relationship? Yeah. Well, he said it was me. Oh, he wasn't a serious relationship. And they were dating. So he's going to say you were... I was out of my mind. I was out of my mind. I was with him. I was with him. The weekend. The week no Monday. But you just said you were with Hector on Monday. You said I don't know much about what I was doing on Monday. I was with him. I was with him. The weekend. The weekend. Why do I want Monday? Yeah, I can't have a Monday. Listen, you don't have to answer. And you are putting up a lot of walls. It's not the wall. Yeah, I mean my crazy. It's the best stuff. Maybe I don't... I'm not clear of my person. No, I face tell you from Hector house make you believe that I was with him. Did you see her? Did you see anything in the back when you saw my face on FaceTime? I was making you believe that I was at Christie. Well, Hector's had a one of you think that I'm on with my friend, Tarja. So what were you FaceTimeing with? What following you FaceTimeing with? What Hector's? Do you have your phone? Yeah. So then you should have Hector's contact. No, no, no, no. You should have Hector's contact. No, no, no, no, no. I was FaceTimeing with this. But that's not Hector's number. No, no, no, no. That Hector. I was FaceTimeing my mom. With Hector's phone, you said. No, no, no, no, that was from with my iPad. With my iPad. So obviously that iPad was taken into be examined as well as both of his cell phones. And shocker, that iPad connected to a Wi-Fi source at Christine's apartment over the weekend. His two cell phones also pinged on cell towers near her street. Plus, like I said, a witness reported seeing him outside of Christine's place on Monday morning. And this neighbor said he saw Jose carry something to his car shortly after 1 p.m. Which was after the first welfare check. And that the two of them actually stopped briefly to talk about the weather. He said he remembered Jose returning to the house and then 20 minutes later, he left again. Which was confirmed by surveillance video. Jose's car could be seen leaving her neighborhood less than an hour after that first welfare check. Which means he was actually likely inside when the officer knocked on the door. And that neighbor wasn't the only witness from that weekend. A different neighbor said that he was almost positive that he saw Jose getting into his car on Sunday, December 1st, with Vanessa. And think about it, this would have been one day before Christine was found and after investigators believe she was killed. Because based on their calculations, they think she died early on Sunday morning. And I do feel like the piece about him putting Vanessa in the car seems to get brushed over a lot. What if what the neighbor said he saw is true? That means Jose had an entire day with his daughter that's unaccounted for. And I'll speak more to this later, but like I said in the beginning, I do think it's possible that she is still alive. And this is a big part of that. Also, when Christine's apartment was friendsically examined, they never found evidence to suggest that Vanessa got hurt. None of the blood found in the apartment was hers. And also, a few of her belongings were missing as well. And investigators have yet to find those items. In a press conference early on, a lieutenant had stated that they were looking for the public's help in finding her. And they're also looking for people to keep an eye out for Vanessa's polka dot blanket, Raco Carstee and Grey Eddie Bauer first adventure backpack diaper bag. These are all belongings that investigators believe may have stayed with her, assuming that she was given to someone alive. And at that same press conference, a $10,000 reward for information leading to her return was announced. And of course, at this point, we all know who investigators are looking at as their primary suspect. It's pretty damn obvious, but of course, there wasn't any concrete proof yet. So they couldn't just arrest him, but they did arrest him for something else. Jose was arrested on December 3rd after they found two stun guns in his house during the execution of the search warrant. Turns out he was previously convicted of a felony, so he wasn't legally allowed to have those. And that worked out nice in their favor because this was enough to keep him behind bars until an additional arrest could be found. And in the meantime, they just kept digging for evidence, which wasn't too hard to find. It turns out there were multiple surveillance cameras that captured Jose coming and going from Christine's neighborhood that weekend. And while of course all of it is incriminating, there's one specific video that I want to highlight. Just after 6am on Sunday, December 1st, Jose's car can be seen on Derby Avenue, headed in the direction of St. Michael's Church. He's not seen at the church because there weren't any cameras there, but he is seen going that way. And then, about 15 minutes later, he drives back towards Christine's apartment in a scene stopping at a gas station where he attempts to buy cigarettes, but his car declined. Here's why that matters. On December 5th, investigators got this bizarre phone call from an employee of a nonprofit. It's called Kid Education, and they happened to have a donation bin set up at St. Michael's Church. And the caller tells investigators that while one of her employees was going through the bins, she found several items with blood-like stains on them. And she also found some mail, which was addressed to Christine Holloway. And when she Googled the name, she saw that she had been recently murdered. And she realized she needed to call the police. Isn't that insane? And I just have to say how amazing it is that she actually called because I feel like we're living in a time where a lot of people would be like, hmm, not my business, not my problem. Or wouldn't have even taken extra time to Google her name or really look much more at it. Maybe just have tossed it aside. I just thought it was really cool that she actually made that call. And crucial to this case. And within five minutes of making that call, a team of officers showed up and, man, they found a lot. They found blood-stained children's clothes, toys, pillows, a towel, books, mail clothing, and Jose's 3XL size, and female adult clothing, as well as a single pink children's crock. And I'm sure a lot of you have already figured it out. That was the matching pair to the single crock that was found at Christine's apartment, the one that had blood on it. And when these items were tested, it was confirmed that the substance was blood and that it was a match to Christine. They also matched her DNA to bloody towels found in Jose's shower and after processing his car, they confirmed that her DNA was on a large black contractors trash bag, located in his trunk, as well as in other areas inside the vehicle. Even his shoes had a, quote, tissue-like material on them that they linked back to her. Plus, and this is really upsetting to think about, but when they found Christine's body, she actually had some hair in her hand, almost like she had tried to fight off her attacker. And when they tested that hair, who did it belong to Jose? So the truth was just impossible to ignore by this point and the discoveries didn't end there. It turns out that back on December 1st, a man had placed a 911 call to the insomnia police department. The call came in around 2am and spoiler, it came in from Jose's phone, which pinged at a tower not far from Christine's apartment. And on that call, he can be heard slurring his words, of course, saying, ''Mertel Avenue'' which is the street that her apartment was on. He didn't give a specific address, though, and he really can't be heard saying much else, but when investigators listen to the audio closely, they did hear a woman's voice in the background saying, ''Stop! Hang up! Who are you calling?'' And an officer actually was dispatched to the hospital, but it was not a big deal. And it was a big deal, but it was a big deal. And it was a big deal. And it was a big deal. And it was a big deal. And it was a big deal. And an officer actually was dispatched to Mertel Avenue shortly after this, but nothing looks suspicious, so they left. All that to say, this call was just even more proof that Jose was with Christine when she died. And investigators finally felt like they had enough at this point. So, on February 7th of 2020, Jose was charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence, and he received a $5 million bond. He wasn't charged with anything related to Vanessa's disappearance, although he currently remains the only suspect there as well. And no surprise here, but on February 18th of 2020, he pleaded not guilty. And no surprise here either, but at this point, he had completely changed his story about what happened to Christine. Two weeks after his initial arrest, he ended up telling investigators that he was, in fact, at Christine's apartment on the night that she was killed. But according to Jose, and God, I couldn't even make this shit up if I tried, he claims that he was high on PCP, PCP. And when he was high on the PCP, two intruders broke into the apartment. So, yeah, you're seeing where this is going already, right? And he goes on to explain that these two intruders were the ones who actually killed Christine and abducted Vanessa. That's right, you guys. He told them this crazy story about being high on, quote, angel dust, and how after they broke into the house, one of the men knocked him out, so he wasn't able to protect the girls. And there is more to his tail, which I will get to in a minute. But yeah, isn't that crazy? And he is stuck with this story over all of these years, and he's even used the drugs as an excuse for why he lied initially. He actually told investigators that the drugs made it so he couldn't remember what happened, but as the effects wore off, he started to piece it together. I'm sure all of you agree that this is a load of shit. It doesn't even make sense, not even how drugs like this work. And I know Christine's family definitely doesn't believe him. And sadly, they had to wait years for justice, despite his arrest in 2020, Jose didn't go to trial until April of 2025. And during that time, the Holloway family just had to hope that he would confess the actual truth. He's even talked about a plea agreement in exchange for information on Vanessa's whereabouts, but nothing was ever agreed upon. And this naturally led to a lot of frustration in their family. And the police were frustrated too, with the lack of movement in the case. But his trial did eventually come, and we definitely learned a lot. So when it came to the defense's argument, we obviously know the story that they had to spend, because Jose really already spun it for them. They had to argue that Jose was high on PCP when these two strange men came into the apartment, and they were responsible for the abduction and the murder of Christine. The prosecution, on the other hand, they didn't believe that he was on drugs at all. They argued that there was no evidence to suggest that he took any, and that the only evidence of intoxication at all came from the alcohol that they found in those recycling bins. And FYI, because I'm sure some of you are wondering, the Toxology report showed that Christine had no alcohol in her system at the time of her death, suggesting that Jose was likely the person who had consumed it all. Drunk or not though, the prosecution argued that he was an abusive boyfriend, and ultimately at a domestic dispute resulted in her murder. They pointed to text messages between the two where he was clearly controlling and manipulative, with the hope that the jury would see Jose for the monster that he is. And as each witness took the stand, the truth got clearer and clearer. In the first few days, there was just a lot of basic testimony setting the scene and going over the evidence, things like that. And the jury also heard from Christine's boss, the officers who conducted the welfare checks, as well as from the medical examiner. They also heard testimony from Christine's landlord, who happened to be working in the garage below her apartment on Sunday, December 1st. And he spoke about the loud noises he remembered hearing coming from her unit. Apparently it sounded like someone was moving furniture, which the prosecution believed was when Jose was moving her body to the bathroom and cleaning up the scene. There was also testimony from Christine's neighbor, who claimed that he saw Jose outside of her apartment that day as well. But truth be told, at the end of the day, the state didn't necessarily need witnesses or even cell phone data to convince the jury that he was there. I mean, we already know that he admitted to being inside, and to my surprise, this moron decided to take the stand in his own defense. And he also ended up admitting to the tampering with evidence charge. So, after I rolled the bag, I went outside to the front of the apartment to the deck to smoke. And what did you do on the front of the deck? I started, I smoked the bag of dust. When I went outside to smoke, it was on 1 o'clock in the morning. I got super high. I got disoriented. Everything got blurry. I couldn't see clear. I was stumbling. I stumbled my way inside of the apartment. I left the screen door closed itself. I left the door open because the front door was, I left it a jar or whatever. And I walked right in the side to the bathroom. And what did you do in the bathroom? I sat on the toilet. Okay, so at that point, you were in the bathroom, you looked out the window. What did you see? And what did you do? From across the street, I saw movement first, and then I saw two individuals walking on the sidewalk across the street. One of the individuals started walking across the street towards the apartment, and he did a bit of a job towards the apartment. I saw that warning signs and bells and alarms went, started running through my head. I tried to work my way out the bathroom to close the front door, but because I was so intoxicated, I can't really move. So I stumbled my way out the bathroom and made it to, to ride with the bureau as that. Because I was so intoxicated that I couldn't do what I really wanted to do. I went in my pocket, I grabbed my phone and I dial 911. The 911 call ended up being played for the jury, and Jose confirmed that it was Christine's voice in the background. However, he said that she wasn't aware of the two men approaching the house. And after that was when the fatal attack happened. I got hit on the right side of my face. I lost my balance. I already had no balance to begin with. So I fell. I got on my floor and I got hit right around my chest area. I stood there, laid out on the floor. Hi, I'm listening, but I'm on the floor, and I can hear that there's a struggle going on in the bed area. There's a fight. I hear screams. At the same time, I hear that somebody leaves the apartment. I see that somehow Christine got away from whoever it is that she was fighting with and tried to run out the apartment to go after the guy that left the apartment with Vanessa. The guy that she was struggling with was chasing her, but she doesn't get that far. She gets to in between the carpet and the tiles. She either tripped or collapsed. Half of her bodies on the tile, the other half of her bodies on the carpet. The guy that's running behind her stops and hit her with a crowbar. He gets up, he starts pacing, and you scratch me. That's what he says. He hits her two more times. And as for why he didn't do anything or maybe call for help, well, Jose said that he tried, but one of the intruders threatened to hurt his daughter. I tried to do something, but I can't because I'm stuck. I'm PCP, I'm stuck. I couldn't move. I was in the verge of passing out, of blacking out on the PCP. So the only thing that I can do is scream. I try to scream stop. He looks at me. His point thing I Christine with the crowbar, he's looking at me. He said to me that if I call police, the same thing will happen to your daughter. Those words have an effect on you in regard to your conduct the next two or three days. Yes, I was afraid of calling the police. Well, the ladies of gentlemen, the jury went out the next. Well, I got up, I stumbled my way into the doorway and I looked to see where he was going. And I saw him go towards the corner at the same time I saw his headlight coming in. I think the number one question that we all have though is why not call the cops anyway if this was really true if. And obviously it's not, but if it were, there is no reason why anyone wouldn't have called the police and to make things even more maddening. Jose said that after these so-called intruders left, he dozed off on the bed for an hour or two. Just took a nice little nappy nap and then when he woke up, he said that he just freaked out and started cleaning up the evidence. But the fact of the matter is, and this is really the prosecution's whole point here, why would you clean up a crime scene if you are not the person responsible? Riddle me that. That just no one would do that. But according to Jose, he just did it because he was in a haze from the PCP that there wasn't really a good reason for it. He just wasn't thinking and he was scared. So he started cleaning it up. As for why he lied in the first place, we already know we've already been over this. He said that it was because of the drugs he couldn't remember afterwards. He had to wait until they wore off. And what's interesting about the way Jose's memory works is that he can't seem to remember what happened, but he was able to easily recall everything that didn't implicate him. And his defense attorney really, really tried to sell it. I mean, they gave it a good honest try. And in the end, they argue that there just wasn't any evidence linking Jose to the murder itself. Sure, he cleaned up the crime scene, but that was it, according to them. They said there was a lack of intent, no murder weapon, and questionable evidence pointing to his responsibility. In fact, foreign DNA was found under her fingernails, and it wasn't a match to Jose. Plus, I guess surveillance footage captured a car leaving her neighborhood in the early morning hours after her murder, and that car wasn't Jose's. And they claimed that that was the car of the intruders. And lastly, the defense really emphasized that 911 call he made. In their eyes, why would someone call 911 before committing a homicide? And yes, I will say that part is strange, but Jose is strange. And I'm sure there is a reason that makes sense for that 911 call being placed. And I think it's really important that at the end of the day here, we remember that oftentimes, the most obvious answer is the correct one. Jose was there when she was killed. We know this. He admitted to disposing evidence, and there was a documented history of his control and manipulation over Christine. He literally admitted to dragging her body from the hallway to the bathroom, undressing her, yet we're supposed to believe he didn't also kill her. Not to mention the fact that he was coherent enough to drive to go by cigarettes, but supposedly not coherent enough to call the police. I mean, come on, who is buying that shit? Also, let's not forget that Jose came and went from her apartment multiple times on that Sunday, and he could have gone to the police any number of times. And yet, he didn't. And actually, according to his own statement, he continued smoking PCP, which let me remind you, we don't actually have proof that he smoked it. We only have his word in his word. Doesn't mean a whole lot does it. And so in the end, the jury did not believe his word. And after only two hours of deliberation, they found Jose guilty of first degree murder and tampering with evidence. And this was, understandably, a huge relief to her poor family who finally got justice for Christine after years of waiting. But of course, it didn't take away their pain. Good morning, Your Honor. Thank you for the opportunity to address the court. My name is Anna Rodanski, and I am the youngest of six children. Christine Holloway is my first niece. Debbie, Chrissy's mother is my oldest sister. My other sister, Kathy, died at 34 years old of lymphoma, and that was the worst day of my life. I didn't think I would experience another worst day like that. However, my beautiful, brilliant, kind, caring spiritual niece was brutally murdered on 12 to 2019. How does one even begin to start to tell how this has affected my life as well as our family and friends? I would like to start with some background about Chrissy. She loved children, she loved her job, and taking care of so many adorable children at the daycare where she was employed. She was passionate and full of love. They say that worst pain is a mother losing their child. I watched my mom suffer through the loss of my sister, 34 years old, and now I watch my other sister suffer through that same loss without Chrissy. And then some, with Vanessa still missing, and preparation for Chrissy's funeral, our family talk on it as a team. We each had a job to do, and my task was to go to the gates of heaven cemetery and make the arrangements. As we drove that day, so many thoughts were going through our hearts and souls. Vanessa is still missing. When we arrived at the cemetery, we were welcomed by the staff with opening and curing arms. We had to ask them if there is a way they could dig the hole for Chrissy a little bit deeper in case Vanessa had to join her. Your honor, how this murder has affected our family and friends cannot be described. What was done to my niece, Christine Hallways, unforgivable and disgusting in that monster continues to lie. Where is Vanessa? How could someone be so cruel? I hope that he stays in prison forever, forever and ever so he can't hurt anyone else ever again. I swear that has to be one of the most devastating victim impact statements that I have ever heard, especially the part about her asking the cemetery to dig Christine's grave a little bit deeper in case Vanessa had to join her. And thankfully Jose wasn't spared. When everything was said and done, a judge sentenced him to 65 years in prison. And considering he was in his 40s, this was essentially a life sentence. But we can't forget that this isn't total justice and this family still does not have the answers. Baby Vanessa, who would be seven years old now, is still missing. And that's why it's important that we keep talking about this case. Jose has never been charged with anything related to her disappearance. However, he remains the only suspect. And he still denies having anything to do with it. And I mentioned it before, but investigators and family members do believe that it's possible that she could still be alive. And I have to say I completely agree with them. I think there is a pretty good chance that she's still out there. And let's remember why they never found any evidence that Vanessa was hurt out of all that blood that they found. None of it was linked back to her. And I'd like to believe that Jose is too stupid to hide her that well after all of these years. And I personally do believe that neighbor who claims to have seen Jose putting Vanessa into his car on that Sunday. And I think it was possible that she was then given to someone else. And what was really relieving to learn is the fact that their community really came together to try and find her, which I'm sure meant so much to Christine's family. I just could believe the amount of prayers and in support from people all over the US that don't even know us. And, you know, looking out for Vanessa and the community of Ansonia made flyers and was standing on every corner passing them out to cars that were going to be dead. So all the cars that were going by of Vanessa every store, you know, had her face posted. I was blown away because you don't see that then or now, you know where people all come together for somebody. Now since those early days investigators have said that the leads in her case have started to dry up which makes sense with the time of course. time, of course, but they have also said that they aren't going to let this case go cold. They're not going to give up. One lieutenant said, quote, this is not a case that we're going to put in a box on a shelf somewhere. This will remain active until we get that answer. Their community has also continued to spread the word about Vanessa's disappearance, and I'm hoping that this episode will push her circumstances out to new people. There's a Facebook page that I will link below for you guys that I want to encourage you to follow. On Facebook, they continue to post about Vanessa, and I know that they would absolutely appreciate an influx and following and supports. If you even want to leave a comment, just say something encouraging and kind. I have heard directly from a lot of families that that really means a lot. NeckMek has created an age progressed photo, and I'm going to keep it on screen here for a minute for my YouTube viewers, because I really want people to be aware of what she might look like now. These age progress photos oftentimes are very accurate. When I visited the NeckMek headquarters, I got to see how they do it. The process takes a long time. They are extremely skilled. And so, yeah, I really try to soak in this image. There were rumors that she might be in Puerto Rico, because that's where Jose was originally from, although that's truly just a rumor. And I just have to say, I truly do not believe that his parents are involved based on their reaction to the news. They didn't try to defend Jose at all. I really appreciate that. And as for Christine's loved ones, they believe Jose is fully aware of where Vanessa is, but don't have any leverage on him to get him to give that information up. And unfortunately, he really doesn't peg me as the type of guy who's going to suddenly develop a conscience and give her family those answers just because. I know they won't stop looking for her, though. And if anyone out there knows anything, the $10,000 reward still exists. Like I said, I do plan on reaching out to their family to connect about getting them a hope grant. And maybe there's something we can collectively do to help. So if you want any updates on that, you can always follow higher hopes Instagram at higher hope org. And lastly, before I go, I want to share that tips can be made anonymously via a link that I'll share in the description box and show notes of this episode. And you can also call the insonia police department at 203-735-1885. Or NC me see at 1-800-843-5678. Really, really tough case, but also really important. So thank you to everyone who watched or listened to this episode. I know that their family probably really appreciates you all taking the time to hear about Vanessa and Christine's story. That's it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked. Or you can just search Kendal Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.