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Lazy Masquerade: The Best Things Happen in the Dark.
Explore the disturbing unsolved murder of Katie Janess in Atlanta, a brutal case with no suspects and many chilling details.
Key Takeaways
- Katie Janess was the victim of a vicious, targeted murder in a public park with no witnesses or surveillance footage.
- The brutality and symbolism in the attack suggest a hate crime or personal vendetta.
- The attacker likely had medical knowledge and possibly knew Katie or her dog Bowie.
- The case remains unsolved despite ongoing investigations.
- The video serves as a cautionary tale about personal safety and awareness during nighttime activities.
Summary
- Katie Janess, a 40-year-old bartender from Atlanta, was brutally murdered during a late-night walk in Piedmont Park in July 2021.
- Katie was walking her pitbull Bowie when she was attacked and stabbed over 50 times, including targeted wounds to her rainbow tattoo.
- Her dog Bowie was also stabbed and found near her body, suggesting he tried to protect her from the attacker.
- Katie had earphones in and may not have heard the attacker approach; no witnesses or functioning surveillance cameras captured the crime.
- The attacker showed signs of medical knowledge due to the precision of the wounds and carved the letters 'F A G' into Katie's torso while she was still alive.
- The crime scene and mutilation suggest a personal grudge or possible hate crime, especially given the LGBT symbolism involved.
- No valuables were taken, making robbery an unlikely motive.
- The attacker may have been someone Katie or her dog knew, as Bowie did not bark or growl during the attack.
- The case remains unsolved with no known suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
- The video highlights the dangers of walking alone at night with earphones and the complexity of this brutal, public crime.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
3 Unsolved Mysteries That Will Lead You Down Rabbit Holes.
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First up today, a fairly recent case from Atlanta.
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Katie Janess was a 40-year-old woman living in the Midtown area with her fiance, Emma Clark.
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A social and outgoing person, Katie worked as a bartender and enjoyed partaking in improv theater, but what she and Emma loved more than anything else in the world, other than each other of course, were their two pitbulls, Bowie and Tori.
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In the midnight hours, Katie would often take one of the dogs for a walk while her fiance was working a night shift.
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She had numerous routes.
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One that she occasionally took led her through Piedmont Park, a place just a mile away from her home and two miles from downtown.
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Emma was uncomfortable with Katie going on these late night walks and had asked her time and again to carry some pepper spray with her, but Katie insisted that she always felt completely safe.
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At midnight on July 28th, 2021, Katie strapped her leash around her darling Bowie, it was his turn to go walkies after all.
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Once strapped up, she put in her noise cancelling earphones, began listening to one of her favorite podcasts and set out the front door with her dog.
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That night, she chose to take the Piedmont Park route, a decision that would cost her her life.
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On her way to the park, Katie passed by Henry's, the gastropub her girlfriend Emma was working at.
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She popped in to say a quick hi and bye.
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Something she always did.
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Whenever she was dog walking in the area, Emma didn't know it at the time, but this brief exchange was the last contact she would ever have with her fiance.
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Within minutes, Katie was back out on the street.
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She put her earphones back in and with Bowie by her side.
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The two of them continued in the direction of the park.
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Five minutes later, at 12:09 AM, they were caught on CCTV.
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Crossing the Pride intersection on 10th Street, just a half mile from Piedmont.
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This is the last known image of Katie, captured by the city surveillance camera.
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Mere minutes before her slaying.
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Emma returned home to their shared apartment a little before 1:00 AM and was surprised to find that Katie still hadn't finished her walk with Bowie.
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She gave her a call to see where she was, but there was no answer.
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Her surprise quickly turned to concern when her text to Katie went unread.
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Worried something may have happened to her.
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She used the Find My iPhone app to track Katie's location.
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According to the app, Katie was still in Piedmont Park.
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But the ping wasn't moving.
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Emma immediately hopped on her bicycle and rode to Piedmont, scouring the entire perimeter of the park.
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Looking for any trace of Katie.
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With no sign of her, she got off her bike and approached the 10th Street Park entrance on foot.
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As she got closer to the gates, she noticed what she thought was a bin bag lying on the ground.
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But she soon realized it wasn't a bin bag at all.
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It was Bowie.
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He was maybe 50 feet from the gate on the inside.
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I just ran and I grabbed him because I didn't know.
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Maybe he was still alive.
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Obviously, I knew something was wrong because he was just laying there.
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It soon became apparent that the poor dog had been stabbed numerous times.
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Now terrified for her fiance, Emma entered the park.
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It didn't take her long to find Katie.
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She was lying just 100 feet away from Bowie.
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Emma ran to check her pulse, but there wasn't one.
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An autopsy was carried out on Katie, which revealed the true extent of her wounds.
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I'll detail them now, but fair warning, they're very gruesome.
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Here we go.
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A number of defensive marks along Katie's arms and hands indicated she had tried to repel her attacker.
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But ultimately, she had been overpowered.
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In very Jack the Ripper fashion, the perp had butchered Katie, leaving her nearly unrecognizable.
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She had been stabbed more than 50 times with a sharp blade.
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At least 14 of those punctures were to her lower back, targeting Katie's rainbow tattoo.
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15 others had been made to her face.
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These cuts extended from her forehead down to her chin.
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Most of her facial features, including her eyelids, nose and lips, had been sliced to pieces.
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As had her chest and abdomen.
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Her throat had been slashed so deeply that her head had nearly detached from her body.
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Given the precision of some of the slices and punctures, it's believed that the attacker had some sort of medical training.
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Additionally, Katie had been eviscerated.
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And the letters F A G had been carved into her torso.
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According to forensic experts, Katie was still alive when those letters were carved.
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She had also suffered blunt force injuries to the face.
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Neck and fingers.
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Horrific stuff.
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Given the 100 foot distance between them, it seems likely that Bowie may have been trying to protect Katie from whoever had done this.
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After he had been slain, Katie may have attempted to flee from her attacker, only to be struck in the neck so that she couldn't scream.
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Maybe she tried to defend Bowie herself and that's how she sustained some of her wounds.
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It's completely possible that since Katie had her earphones in, she didn't even hear the perp creeping up behind her until it was too late.
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Maybe no one else in the area heard a woman scream or a dog bark because they too were wearing earphones.
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It is, after all, worryingly common for people to go around wearing them while alone at night.
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I know I used to until you guys warned me against it.
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Unbelievably, none of the nine surveillance cameras monitoring the park were functioning at the time of the incident.
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So it's hard to speculate on a timeline of events with any degree of certainty.
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What we can confidently say is that whoever this perp is, they're clearly an extremely brazen and demented individual.
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Not only were their actions barbaric, but they had committed this atrocity in a public space.
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Admittedly, it was late.
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But this was a public park in a major city.
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There were still plenty of people about and any one of them could have passed by and caught them in the act.
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Not to mention, Katie had Bowie with her.
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Her loyal pitbull.
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Pitbulls are well known for their protective instincts, making Katie anything but easy prey.
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Even if Bowie was a particularly timid pitbull, there's no way the perp could have known that.
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So why randomly target her when dozens of easier targets would have passed by in due course?
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Well, perhaps this wasn't a random targeting.
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Given that the perp acted knowing full well that Bowie was there, it's possible they already knew the dog well.
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Maybe Bowie was already familiar with the perp and trusted them.
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That would explain why nobody else in the area heard a dog barking or growling.
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If the perp did in fact know Bowie.
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That means that Katie knew her killer.
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That makes a lot of sense.
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Given how vicious the slaying was, it seems probable that the perp held some sort of grudge against Katie.
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Had developed some sort of obsession with her.
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Or maybe even an obsession with her partner, Emma.
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Then again, it's entirely possible that this was just a random attack, conducted by an opportunistic madman.
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Piedmont Park is known for having a large homeless population.
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And many people online have shared their stories about encountering weird transients there.
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Maybe one of them was responsible.
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They could have passed Katie, took a disliking to her, then asked to pet her dog.
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Only for them to quickly ram a blade into Bowie's throat and then turn their attention towards Katie herself.
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That said, it seems unlikely that one of those transients would have snapped and mutilated Katie.
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But didn't bother taking her phone, money, or as far as I can tell, any of her other possessions either.
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It's also possible that Katie was targeted.
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Simply because she was a member of the LGBT community.
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A theory supported by the targeting of the rainbow tattoo on her back and the fact that this happened so close to the Pride crosswalk.
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As it stands, there are no known suspects in this case.
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Though given that this happened under a year ago, the investigation is still ongoing.
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Images of six people who passed by the area around the same time as this incident have been released to the public.
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Though authorities now believe that none of them were involved.
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It's possible that Katie's case was in some way linked to that of Tori Langs.
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Another woman slain in Atlanta's Gwinnett Park that very same day in July.
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Though Tori's case also remains unsolved.
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That's just one theory though.
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And given the details of Katie's demise, the whole thing just feels very personal.
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But surely if the perp was someone Katie knew, the authorities would have unmasked them by now.
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That makes me lean more towards one of the park's transients being responsible.
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But even then, the authorities believe the perp must have had some medical training.
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And it doesn't seem likely that someone with those skills would end up homeless.
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With no new leads developing since the incident took place, it's hard to make any sense of it.
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Until we can, until the person responsible is brought to justice, the people of Atlanta have to go to bed each night.
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Knowing that someone this sadistic is roaming their streets.
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The Wackers.
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Former investment banker, Nick Massee and his socialite wife, Lisa, were a high rolling couple.
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Living in North Vancouver.
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On the night of August 11th, 1994, the couple mysteriously fell off the face of the Earth.
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And for almost three decades, baffled detectives have been trying to figure out what happened to them.
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Let's examine their story.
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From the outside looking in, Nick and Lisa Massee were living a fairytale lifestyle.
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The pair met at a hair salon Lisa worked at.
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Nick would often come in for a haircut and despite there being a 16 year age gap between them, there was also an undeniable spark.
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It wasn't long before they started dating.
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Fast forward 10 years and the couple were living in a large house on Monterey Avenue.
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Spending much of their time traveling and enjoying themselves.
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To everybody's knowledge, neither of them had any enemies to speak of.
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Quite the contrary, the Masse were extremely popular and could hardly walk down the street without bumping into a friend or two.
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In fact, the night before they both vanished, they'd been invited to watch the Symphony of Fire fireworks display in Vancouver's English Bay.
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However, the couple told their friends that they had a prior engagement.
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That evening, they were meeting with a man who was a potential business partner.
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This still unknown person apparently had $10 million to invest in Turbodine Technologies, a company that Nick was the director of.
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This was a huge deal.
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The Masse were going to meet the guy at Nick's favorite restaurant.
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The Trader Vic's in Coal Harbor.
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He made a reservation for four people on the evening of August 10th.
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Nick was to bring Lisa with him.
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And the unknown man, his partner.
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Thing is, neither the Masse nor the investors showed up to the restaurant that night.
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The restaurant staff thought that was odd.
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Nick was a regular customer and always called to cancel a booking if the need arose.
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It wasn't like either of the Masse to simply not show up.
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We don't know why the group didn't meet at the restaurant that evening.
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But we do know for a fact that the Masse were still alive and well at that point.
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Both Nick and Lisa were spotted that evening at the West End Bayshore's Garden Lounge.
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Right next door to the Trader Vic's.
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According to witnesses, the couple remained there from 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM, sharing a bottle of wine.
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That's the last time both Nick and Lisa were ever seen.
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But not the last time they were heard from.
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The following morning, August 11th, was Lisa's 39th birthday.
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In the AM, she made two calls from Nick's phone.
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One to her boss at the hair salon and the other to Nick's business partner.
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Lisa told both of them that she and her husband would be away for a few days.
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She didn't say where they were going.
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According to phone records, the call may have been made from the Sunshine Coast or maybe even Point Grey.
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But certainly not from their home.
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After that call, nobody heard from either of the Masse ever again.
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And to this day, their whereabouts and well-being remain a mystery.
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After a week had passed with no word from either of them, Lisa's sister started to become worried.
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She went to the couple's house on Monterey Avenue.
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And when she saw their car still parked in the driveway, she figured they must have returned home.
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She walked up to the front door.
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But before she had a chance to knock, she noticed something on the ground.
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Two plastic zip ties.
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That was strange.
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Even stranger, the front door itself had been left unlocked.
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And the alarm system disabled.
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The sister took a look around, but aside from the couple's abandoned cat.
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The house was completely empty.
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Wherever Nick and Lisa were, however, they had both left their Canadian passports behind.
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After Lisa's sister reported the couple missing, the authorities quickly learned that neither of them had accessed their bank accounts since they had vanished.
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Investigators started looking into both of their pasts, hoping to find some clues or suspects.
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Some hidden information about where they may have gone.
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Or who may have wanted them out of the picture.
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They had both been married before they met each other.
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Sure.
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But a jealous ex-partner being behind all this was highly unlikely.
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After all, Nick and Lisa had been together for the past 10 years.
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For an ex, that's a long time to wait before making a strike.
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No.
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It was much more likely that someone from Nick's professional past was responsible.
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He had dealt with some rich and powerful clients during his time as an account director.
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Notably, some of Vancouver's most corrupt stock promoters.
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Indeed, Nick was set to testify in the upcoming trial of his tennis partner, Nelson Scalbania.
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A man accused of stealing $100,000 from a trust fund.
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Perhaps the accused and his partners wanted to silence Nick.
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It's possible.
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Just three weeks after the couple had gone missing, a group of thieves tried breaking into Nick and Lisa's abandoned house.
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Was that a coincidence?
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Or were they hoping to find something?
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Perhaps some damning evidence that Nick was storing.
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In 1995, Nick Massee Jr. hired a private investigator to help track down his missing father and stepmother.
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That PI was none other than Aussie Kaban.
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Who you may remember from my Cindy James video.
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Unsatisfied with the previous two theories, Kaban started looking outside Vancouver for leads.
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Interestingly, he found a link between the Masse and a guy named Fred Hoffman.
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An investment promoter who sometimes did business with Nick.
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Fred Hoffman had fled Canada just a few years prior, taking $10 million of his client's money with him.
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Nick had introduced several clients to Hoffman, who were all now out of pocket.
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One of them alone had lost $3 million.
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Maybe Nick had made some enemies after all.
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Investors who wanted Nick to pay them back with his own money.
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Or, failing that, with his life.
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It also came to light that Nick and Lisa had made a secret and sudden trip just three months before they vanished.
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A trip to the Cayman Islands of all places.
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They hadn't told anyone about this unplanned holiday, not even their nearest and dearest.
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Kaban found out that while they were in the Caymans, Nick and Lisa opened a bank account and deposited $50,000 worth of stock.
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They also had wills drawn up.
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In Kaban's mind, it appeared as if the couple were running from something and were setting up a nest egg in case they needed to flee Canada.
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That theory is supported by one of Nick's acquaintances.
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In the same month that the Masse disappeared, Nick confided in this acquaintance at a funeral.
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Telling him that he was in deep trouble and needed to get out of Vancouver.
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Nick also called his daughter, Tanya, around that same time.
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And told her that he probably wouldn't be able to call her on her upcoming birthday.
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Offering up no explanation as to why.
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So, from the sounds of it, Nick and Lisa knew they were in some hot water.
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Though it still remains unclear who was heating up the kettle.
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Regardless, someone wanted Nick dead.
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Question is, did they get to him?
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Or was Nick able to escape with his beloved wife?
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If so, are they still laying low somewhere to this very day, all these years later?
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For many years, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said there was little evidence that the Masse had been slain.
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Though they did agree that their vanishing was mysterious.
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Officer Gord Reed said, quote.
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It's a head scratcher.
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I've got missing people that I assume are murdered because they're not the kind of people who'd be able to disappear.
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But the Masse could.
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He was a sophisticated guy.
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They both had passports from other countries.
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They had lived around the world.
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He understood international banking.
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And they had some money stashed aside.
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Despite Officer Reed's prior optimism.
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In 2019, the RCMP officially changed their stance.
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And announced that they now believe Nick and Lisa were the victims of foul play.
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Though admitted, there had been no new leads in the case.
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But they do believe somebody out there has information.
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Usually, when I cover disappearances, the odds of the victims having started a new life somewhere else.
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Instead of being killed, are very remote.
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But this is one of those rare cases where both outcomes seem equally probable to me.
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But what do you think?
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Were Nick and Lisa silenced because they simply knew too much?
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Did a cheated investor, angry at Nick for introducing them to Fred Hoffman, decide to take revenge against him?
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Did the couple, terrified about the danger they were in, staged their own disappearance and escaped to start a new life elsewhere?
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With no new evidence and no conclusive proof either way, we're left to speculate about their possible fates.
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Though in my mind, if Nick Massee Jr. doesn't know what became of his father and stepmother.
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That's not a good sign.
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Then again, according to Aussie Kaban, Nick Jr. and the rest of the Massee family were less than cooperative during his investigation.
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Despite them being the ones who had hired him.
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When people disappear, said Kaban.
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They either float up or they show up someplace.
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At this point, we have no indication he's fish bait.
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I'm hoping one day Nick's going to knock on the door.
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And say, here I am.
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How do you like my suntan?
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Nick Jr. and his sister Tanya, on the other hand, firmly believe that their father and stepmother were slain.
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If still alive, Nick would be 83 years old.
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And Lisa, 67.
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There's a $50,000 reward for even the smallest piece of information pertaining to their case.
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A huge thank you to my supporters here on YouTube and over on Patreon.
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Especially my biggest supporters.
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And the deck of cards.
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Thank you guys so much for your continued support.
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If you'd like to support the channel, links on how to do so are in the description.
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Remember to smash that like button or I'll smash you.
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And you'll be hearing from me again very soon.
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Until then.
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You all stay spooky.
Topics:Katie Janessunsolved murderAtlanta crimePiedmont Parkpitbull attackLGBT hate crimetrue crimeLazy Masquerademysteryunsolved case
