Midnight Trace

March 31, 2010 — Randy Stone, a 42-year-old insurance agent, former Marine, husband, and father, arrived at work at his insurance office in Independence, Missouri.

To those around him, Randy appeared to have a stable life. He and his wife, Teresa, had been married for nearly two decades and were active members of their church. But behind the scenes, a secret had been hidden for years.

Investigators would later discover that Teresa had been involved in a long-term affair with the couple’s pastor, David Love. According to court records, the relationship had lasted for approximately ten years and had been concealed from their spouses through secret communications and disposable cell phones.

That morning, Randy was alone in his office when someone entered and sh*t him to death.

When authorities arrived, they found Randy dead inside the business from g*nsh*t wounds. What initially appeared to be a targeted k**ling soon turned into a case of betrayal and conspiracy.

In the days that followed, investigators began examining Randy’s personal and professional relationships. Their attention eventually turned to David Love, Randy’s former pastor. The investigation uncovered evidence of Love’s secret affair with Teresa, as well as communications linking the pair before the sh**ting.

The case took an even more shocking turn when Love, the man who had counseled members of the congregation and later spoke at Randy’s funeral, became the prime suspect in the m**der. After the k**ling, Love left Missouri and moved to South Carolina, where he worked as a truck driver. Authorities arrested him there months later.

Faced with the evidence, David Love eventually admitted his role in the crime. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to second-degree m**der and acknowledged that he had sh*t Randy. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Investigators also concluded that Teresa had helped plan the m**der. In 2012, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit m**der and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Prosecutors said the affair and the desire to continue the relationship were key factors behind the plot.

Follow for chilling stories, cold cases, and strange mysteries. 🔍

November 16, 1995 — Linda Sobek, a 27-year-old aspiring model and former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader, left home for what appeared to be a routine photo shoot with freelance photographer Charles Rathbun.

Linda was building her modeling career and had professional opportunities lined up. That day seemed no different.

But after meeting Rathbun, she vanished.

When Linda missed appointments and stopped contacting family and friends, concern quickly turned into a missing-person investigation. Detectives learned that Rathbun was the last known person to see her alive.

According to prosecutors, Rathbun drove Linda to a remote dry lake bed area for the shoot. There, he s**ually a***ulted her and k**led her. Evidence presented at trial showed that Linda died from asph**iation consistent with str**gulation and compression. The autopsy also found evidence of s**ual a***ult.

As investigators closed in, Rathbun offered an explanation. He claimed Linda’s death had been an accident during the photo shoot and told police she had been accidentally struck by a vehicle while performing driving maneuvers for photographs.

But the evidence didn’t support his story.

Medical examiners found no injuries consistent with being run over by a vehicle. Investigators concluded that Linda’s death was not an accident.

The case broke open when Rathbun agreed to show detectives where he had b*ried her. After initially leading authorities through a series of false locations, he eventually directed them to a shallow grave in the Angeles National Forest. There, investigators recovered Linda’s rem**ns approximately a week after she disappeared.

The discovery destroyed Rathbun’s accident claim.

Prosecutors argued that he had used the promise of a photo shoot to isolate Linda before att*cking her. Physical evidence, witness testimony, and Rathbun’s own actions after the crime helped build the case against him.

In 1996, a jury convicted Charles Rathbun of first-degree m**der and s**ual a***ult. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Follow for chilling stories, cold cases, and strange mysteries. 🔍