Episode 23 Transcript- The Disappearance of Bethanie Dougherty

[Stephanie] On the evening of April 1st 2008, in a small hamlet of Killowag, New York 18-year-old Logan Dougherty was winding down for the night after a long day. He hugged and kissed his mother goodnight and went to bed. When Logan awoke on Wednesday April 2nd, 2008 at 6:00 AM, he found the house empty. The clothing that his mother had set out to wear for her early morning shift at the  Xtra-mart was still set out. This is the case of the disappearance of Bethany Doherty.

[Amanda] I'm Amanda Morgan. 

[Stephanie] And I'm Stephanie Yoder. 

[Both] And welcome to New York's Dark Side. 

[Intro Music]

[Amanda] Hey everybody, this is Amanda and I am excited today because I have a very special guest host. It's the one, the only, the beautiful, my best friend, Stephanie Yoder!

[Stephanie] Hi, everyone. 

[Amanda] And she's bringing you the episode, so I'll let her introduce what we're talking about. 

[Stephanie] Hi, I'm Stephanie Yoder, longtime friend of Amanda. Gosh, Since what? 

[Amanda] Fifty Years. 

[Stephanie] It's been Fifty Years. Not that long. No. Seventh grade?  

[Amanda] Seventh Grade. Yeah, yeah, I used to hate you. Yeah, in like 4th grade because you stole my solo and I'm still not over at that. 

[Stephanie] Yes, good times, good times. Well, but I wanted to sit here with Amanda and talk about a case that is kind of near and dear to me, or at least a case that I have found intriguing since, gosh, since 2008 when it happened. Umm, this is the case of the disappearance of Bethany Dougherty. On the evening of April 1st, 2008 in the small hamlet of Killawog, New York, 18 year old Logan Dougherty was winding down for the night after a long day. He hugged and kissed his mother, Bethany Dougherty goodnight and went to bed, knowing that when he awoke his mother would have already left for work, so he'd have the house to himself. Sure enough, when Logan awoke on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 6:00 AM, he found the house empty. He began to move around the house as normal and walked through the dining room to find something odd. The clothing that his mother had set out to wear for her early morning shift at the xtra-mart was still set out. That's strange, he thought. But then he figured maybe she just decided on wearing something else instead. I do that all the time. And so he just continues to, you know, along through the home. But then he had found some other items that kind of raised a little bit of concern, like her purse was still there, her cell phone, her car keys. And her cigarettes, and also her car was still parked in the driveway, so unfortunately not having much time to waste, Logan still needed to go to school, so he hurried, got ready and left for the day. 

[Stephanie] But when he arrived home after school that day, he found the house still in the same condition. So Logan quickly contacted Beth's half brother, his uncle and the two decided that Logan should immediately call his father and then the police. Police were dispatched to the home, took a look around. They took a statement from Logan and noticed that nothing was missing from the home other than the purple pajamas that Bethanie was last seen in. Bethanie Lynn Dougherty or Buffy as her closest friends called her, was 40 years old at the time of her disappearance. On April 2nd, 2008, she was reported missing by her oldest son and was last seen by him in their home at 554 Jennings Creek Rd in Killawog between 10:00 and 11:00 PM on April 1st. Killawag, New York is a very rural town in upstate New York. It's located about 3 miles South of Marathon. To get a better idea of this area, that total city population of Killawog is 105. That's all. That's it. So, yeah. And I I'd say that it's always intrigued me only because I grew up in Whitney Point and that was about 6 miles away from there. So this case was all over the news in my area and I remember seeing, you know, missing persons posters posted everywhere. This was a pretty big deal in our little town, so.

[Stephanie] In the early hours of April 2nd, around 3:30 AM, several neighbors in the area reported hearing a woman screaming and called 911. When police responded, however, they found nothing amiss and with nothing left to go on, they left the scene. Logan, however, didn't hear anything, which makes sense as the screams were heard about 80 to 100 yards away from the Dougherty house. When police responded the afternoon that Logan had called police, it didn't take long for them to determine that something was very wrong just because all of Bethanie's belongings, her daily belongings, were still present in the home like I'd mentioned earlier. Somethings you know, things she never, never be without like her cell phone and her cigarettes and of course, her car. So it was quickly thought that she left of her own volition. She was a smoker, but she never smoked inside the home, so police began to theorize that she had woken up to get ready for her job at the Xtra-Mart, which was a convenience store in Freeville, NY, roughly 30 minutes away from her home. She was training to be a manager there at the time and she was never late to her job or anything like that. She wasn't known for, you know, for that sort of behavior in any way.

[Amanda] Do you know if they initially connected the screens from earlier in the day? To her disappearance or did that take a little bit? Or did you, Were you able to find that in any of the source material?

[Stephanie] Yeah, the source material that I found, um, basically said that, you know, it was that same night that she ended up missing. Umm. And also it was, it was eerie because she always woke up at 3:00 AM. And the screams were between 3:00 and 3:30 AM. So it's just too much of a coincidence. 

[Amanda] Right.

[Stephanie] So, And and the screams I think I mentioned were were a woman. And you know, since they were 80 to 100 yards away, it just made sense. So police began to theorize that. Bethanie may have woken up and wanted a cigarette. So she went outside to have a smoke, but found someone outside waiting for her. The dishes were still in the sink that night, some were clean and some were dirty. So it might have been that she was in the middle of doing dishes and she was interrupted by something or someone and she was abducted. Why would Bethany go outside in the chilly early spring air with nothing but her pajamas and no personal belongings. None of this really made sense and you know to leave her 18 year old behind its just, odd. The Broome County Sheriff's Department and the New York State Police began investigating her disappearance, and a sheriff's deputy and New York State forensics teams began to go through the home and the surrounding areas to get photographs and canvas the area. They began speaking with neighbors and anyone with a connection to Bethanie. Bethanie's estranged husband Bill Dougherty was someone they looked at heavily in the beginning of the investigation as they were divorcing. On top of the divorce, the home was a source of contention for the couple. From what I found, they had owned the home together and after their separation in November of 2007, Bill moved out and into his parents house. But ultimately, the battle over the home that they had shared made its way into the courts. So the judge ruled in Bill's favor, however, and Bethanie had been ordered to vacate the home on Jennings Creek Rd. By the end of the school year. As this was April, it was coming up quick for her, but Bill was able to provide a solid alibi and later participated in the searches for her, so he was ruled out. 

[Stephanie] Police made it a point to follow up closely with the neighbors in the area, especially those that had called 911 about the screen. So two separate witnesses had heard that woman screamed between the hours of three and 3:30 AM. In one interview with one witness, it was found that the person had looked out the window and they saw two figures caught in some sort of struggle. Next to a dark truck. This truck was corroborated with the second witness to be a mid to late 90s Chevy S10 pickup, and it became the first major clue in this case. Although the police have never been able to confirm that the truck is directly involved in Bethanie's disappearance, they're still very eager to speak with the trucks owner and to get more information about. What they might have seen or heard that night, but this person never came forward and no one ever provided any further information on this truck. That's where that stands. In the days that followed Bethanie's disappearance, a massive search was launched in the area. So 84 volunteers. They had helicopters surveying the area and they even had police dogs that searched over 200 acres of rural land and about 15 miles of roadways. Along that Tioughnioga River, the search team partnered with the New York State Forest Rangers, who sent boats into the Tioughnioga River, which meets with Jennings Creek. Others walked along the banks and again turned up nothing. So Bethanie's family believed that whatever happened to Bethany was more than likely foul play. They didn't believe that this was a random crime committed by someone unknown to her, Bethanie's father, Terry Curtis, told WICZ News "I know my daughter Bethanie would not have just gone outside for a stranger in the middle of the night. She knew the person that took her". Oddly enough, this isn't the first tragedy to befall Bethanie's family. I found this very interesting and researching this because I had no idea. So 10 years earlier, Bethanie's cousin Marla Green-Ware was reported missing in June of 1998. Two weeks later, police found her body in her apartment. Unfortunately, due to decomposition, investigators couldn't determine the cause of death. Her death is considered suspicious but no one has been charged with her murder and there have been no suspects. Police say that there's no indication of a connection to Bethanie's case. But it's just odd, right? 

[Amanda] Yeah. 

[Stephanie] Bethanie's family was hard at work putting up more than 600 missing person flyers around Killawog and the surrounding areas. They placed flyers out in larger cities as well, like Buffalo and Syracuse, just to get the word out. Family organized a candlelight vigil for her at the end of the month and tried to keep awareness up by talking to the press as much as possible. In the beginning of May, about a month after her disappearance, the family offered up a reward of $8800 for anyone with information regarding Beth's whereabouts. Sadly, no new information came forward and the case began to grow cold. About four months later, the reward was increased to $10,000. But still nothing. No tips, anything that could, you know, keep the case going. Unfortunately, 3 long years passed with no new developments in the case. Terry Curtis, Beth's father hired a private investigator Michael Bidwell May of 2017. A digger operation occurred near the place of her disappearance. Few details were released and nothing was stated publicly, so we still have no idea why. Um, there's a lot of information that I know that the police are keeping close to the vest, and that's I absolutely support that I, you know, but Michael Bidwell and the sheriff's detective, Matthew O'Brien, made cryptic statements indicating that there's someone close to the case that knows more than they're sharing and that they should come forward. I believe, like I said, that the police have more information. But but again, just no solid proof. They can't nail anybody with anything. It's it's just sad. I mean, in this small town, you know, rumors fly. I myself have heard rumors that I've heard rumors it was something involving drugs. But you know. Like I said, it's a small town and you can't believe all these rumors. But I know I also read in in my research, I, you know, there were some Reddit threads and there were people there were names thrown around and saying that, you know, Beth was seeing somebody that you know that they think that this man is involved. I don't want to put his name in here because. We don't know, right? But you know it... it's just so sad because given the details of this case, I do feel that this is easily solvable. We just need someone to come forward and, you know, we have witnesses. We have witnesses that that watched a struggle. We don't know if the police know more information on that, if the witness heard something but it seems as if they had more, if they had solid evidence that something would have been done by now. It's just... It's just sad. 

[Amanda] In researching this, is there anything that you found that really surprised you? Or like intrigued you?

[Stephanie] Um. Let's see, I... I do find it interesting that uh, Bethany's cousin was also found deceased in her apartment and I guess she had been there, from the material that I read, that her that her body had been there few months and that's why investigators couldn't determine anything. But umm, but other suspicious circumstances, whether that's just coincidence or not, I mean, it was 10 years prior.

[Amanda] Right.

[Stephanie] Who knows? But that was very interesting to me. Yeah, I also find it interesting, I'm really side eyeing her estranged husband. I thought that was interesting. But... But I guess you know, if the courts had ruled in his favor and she had to vacate in less than two months from the time of disappearance anyway.

[Amanda] right. I think it's hard because we don't know, like, the whole circumstances of that, but if she... Did she have custody of the kids? Like, why are you kicking your kids out of the house too? Because they have to move too...

[Stephanie] Yeah, from from what I read, she had actually been married before... So her first marriage was to Patrick McMahon. Umm, and I think that is, um, who she had all three children with, ff I'm not mistaken. I could be.

[Amanda] OK. 

[Stephanie] So she, from what I understand, the two younger ones were with their father at the time and Logan, who was 18, had decided to stay with her that night. So Yeah, from what I read that she was a full time mother. So but still it seems yeah it seems odd like don't know their relationship. 

[Amanda] Yeah, I guess if you know they weren't his children he might not care as much that he's displacing them. 

[Stephanie] Right, it's strange. I would love to know the intricacies of their relationship. But sadly. But yeah, I guess in the search they even they everyone had even searched the Whitney Point reservoir. And it turned up nothing, not even a shred of clothing. So it's just, it's so surprising to me that they searched over 200 acres and they found nothing.

[Amanda] Right. 

[Stephanie] And especially in her immediate area, you know that 80 to 100 yard area. Eat from other house. Nothing. You know, nothing was turned up and. And I know at the time, in that 2008 time period, as time, Chevy trucks were everywhere. You couldn't go outside without seeing one. 

[Amanda] Yeah, and living in a place like Whitney Point, there's a lot of farmers and what not, you know.

[Stephanie] Yeah.

[Amanda] You know, So this is super side note but...

[Stephanie] Please, go on.

[Amanda] When when I moved from Whitney Point to Endicott, which is not that far... The questions people would ask me about growing up in Whitney Point... like- someone asked me if I knew what breakfast pizza was. Like yeah! I didn't grow up on Mars. And yes, we have breakfast pizza in Whitney Point.

[Stephanie] Wow. 

[Amanda] It's only 20 minutes. 

[Stephanie] That's like, that's astounding. Yeah. I mean, sometimes it does feel like Mars, to be fair. But but yeah, we love breakfast pizza. Goodness, yeah. So like I said earlier, Bethanie Dougherty flyers were everywhere back then. It's just, and that's another thing that surprised me with the amount of, you know- and and I was a hermit. Honestly, in those days, I was a hermit. I was, you know, with my fiance at the time. And we... I basically stayed inside. I think 2008, actually 2008 was the year Shawn was born, so, I was a new mom. I was about to be a new mom because it was April. 

[Amanda] Yes.

[Stephanie] Yeah. So I was about to be a new mom, very pregnant. And I still remember all the press and all the flyers. Like if you could wake me up out of my baby haze then you're doing something right. Umm, but I still found it astounding that nothing like. How could they have? No, I'm not. Putting down the investigation at all. I I think it's I. I mean, I wasn't there, so I'm sure I mean. No investigation goes perfectly I'm sure, so I can't comment on that, but I do appreciate the work that they they did, but I do. I I still think it's astounding that nothing has come of this case and it's gone cold after you know... look those rewards especially in this area that that would be a big draw. I'm so surprised that the case grew cold.

[Amanda] So were there any other theories that you saw when you were like looking into this case? I know you mentioned there were some theories on Reddit and things like that.

[Stephanie] Yeah, you know, one name that I that stood out to me when I was looking into this case is Israel Keyes. I don't know that there's any there's there's no solid evidence at all. But I mean it. Israel Keyes targeted random people across the United States. So, I mean, who knows? 

[Amanda] Israel Keyes scares the crap out of me. 

[Stephanie] He is terrifying. Um Terrifying.

[Amanda] I mean, I'm glad he's dead now, but Jesus.

[Stephanie] Yeah. Thank God, what a psychopath.

[Amanda] Well, and that's the thing that's so fucking scary with him because you wouldn't have a connection because he just, you know, had his little murder buckets around and then came back years later.

[Stephanie] That guy is terrifying. Or was. Thank goodness he's no longer around. I don't think you've covered Israel Keyes yet right?

[Amanda] No. 

[Stephanie] If you covered Israel Keyes, you'd have to do it in like 78 episodes.

[Amanda] I don't know if I could do 78 episodes of one person, like doing the whole Richard Cottingham episodes... I had 40 pages, my script for those 3 episodes was 40 pages. 

[Stephanie] That's crazy. But yeah, what a... so, Israel Keyes. I mean, his name was thrown out and then other people in the area, you know, like I said, it's a small town, small towns talk and who knows? Lots of rumors. 

[Amanda] Yeah, and uh well, I bring that up in the Richard Cottingham episodes that is the hard part with small towns and communities talking because you know in the in the Cottingham episodes when they were trying to keep his confessions really under wraps and not coming out publicly to tell the the community that they had solved some of the cold cases they had.... There were still people walking around the community that people were fingering at being the killer and it's impacting their lives because, you know, they're like being looked at as a killer when police knew that they hadn't actually done it

[Stephanie] right?

[Amanda] You know it caused a lot of drama in that case 

[Stephanie] It really impacts people's lives. I it's it's unfortunate, but I don't, I don't remember back then. If if there was any major finger pointing at the time, um. But I I don't know, I didn't run in the same circles I guess though. 

[Amanda] Well, now it's easy too, because everybody's a keyboard warrior about they'll say things about life that they won't say to somebody's face

[Stephanie] For sure. Gotta love it. My my heart goes out to Beth's family. I cannot even imagine the pain of not knowing, not having an answer to something like this. Some of her family still remain in the area, and I know if it were me, I'd always be looking, always be, you know, doing a double take when I saw someone that might even remotely look like her, I cannot imagine. I really, really hope for some closure for this family, some evidence, some answer. I hate that's so hard, you know? 

[Amanda] I think that's one of the nice things about podcasts is we can share some of these cases from years ago that aren't really getting a lot of the publicity now because it's been so long and maybe someone out there is going to hear this and does know something and maybe they couldn't speak up back then. We hear it all the time with cases that are stone cold and people that you know know if things come forward later because circumstances have changed, maybe there was something they knew that they were too scared to come forward with that then that maybe they can come forward now. 

[Stephanie] Bethanie Dougherty is described to be a Caucasian female, about 5-7 and 160 lbs with blue eyes glass, wearing purple pajamas. She has three tattoos, a vine with flowers on her left ankle, a purple butterfly over tribal markings on her lower back and three Chinese scroll symbols between her shoulder blades. If you have any information regarding this case, please call the Broom County Sheriff's Office at 607-778-1196 or e-mail at NYSVICAP@troopers.ny.gov.