CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - It’s been 12 years since Molly Young was found dead in her ex-boyfriend’s apartment in Carbondale, Illinois.

Her family and many of her supporters believe they are closer than ever before to the truth.

Molly Young’s father, Larry Young, has been a vocal advocate for answers in his daughter’s case since day one.

He never imagined he would be fighting this long.

Young said his faith has helped get him through the tough times.

“Without it, it would have been a lot harder,” Larry Young said.

He also credits the many people who have stood by his side.

“Justice is a slow process,” Young said. “It’s a lot slower than I’d like it to be for sure.”

On March 24, 2012, 21-year-old Molly Young was found dead inside her ex-boyfriend Richie Minton’s apartment in Carbondale.

“My thought process was to get it on track as if we just got the case in brand new,” Joe Cervantez, Jackson County State’s Attorney said.

The state appellate prosecutor’s office took over the case in 2013, but later concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with murder.

The case remained open.

“The disappointment is the appellate prosecutor sitting on the case for ten years leaving it open for further evidence to surface and not hiring experts or getting expert opinions or interviewing people further,” Larry Young said.

We reached out to State’s Attorney Joe Cervantez to see where the case stands now.

He said the focus is on seeking fresh opinions.

“I think we owe the family and the public at least another opinion that’s outside of our chain of command so to speak, outside of the Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office and the appellate prosecutor’s office, but not that of a lay opinion but of an expert opinion and that’s what we’re doing,” Cervantez said.

Back to the scene where Molly died in 2012, many details of the investigation have left lingering questions.

A new investigator recently stepped into the picture.

Retired homicide commander Tim Corbett from Indiana is working at no charge to the family as a consultant on Molly’s case.

“I volunteer my time, I pay for my own food, my own hotel room,” Tim Corbett said. “Everything that I have to do I will pay for because I feel there’s been a disservice here.”

Larry Young said Corbett has been able to develop new leads that have never been gone after.

“I’ve been able to talk to people who haven’t been talked to in the past,” Corbett said. “I’ve talked to people who have been talked to, re-interviewed them and looked over everything that I had available in order to make informed decisions on what route I needed to go.”

April 15, 2024, would have been Molly’s 34th birthday.

Larry Young can’t help but think about what might have been.

“There are so many things you miss that each day you might see something that reminds you of her,” Young said.

While the journey has been long, and often disappointing Young reflects on the positives.

“The biggest victory is Molly’s law and the governor came to Carbondale to sign it,” Young said. “It passed unanimously in the [Illinois] house and senate.”

It was something that strengthened the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and extended the time a victim’s family could file a wrongful death lawsuit.

As for the next step, the state’s attorney said they will continue working on this case until they’ve exhausted all resources.

“I think ultimately cases, death investigations, cases like this all need to have resolution for the sake of the victim’s family,” Cervantez said. “I don’t think there’s any question about it. So, it’s my intent to have a resolution to this case one way or the other by the end of my term or my next term if I’m blessed.”

His current term expires this year.

“I definitely have hope, more hope than I’ve ever had in the last ten years,” Larry Young said.

Note: I’m more of a lurker, less of a poster - so if there’s a better way to post articles please let me know.

We had our 300th member join today. Perhaps a modest milestone, but the fact that Molly Young's story and the JFM cause is still resonating is noteworthy and worth giving pause to thank those in support.

We trust that every time Molly's name is spoken and her story shared, we are that much closer to having Justice for Molly Young.

The path to Justice is not always easy or as timely as many hope. We can assure you there is movement behind the scenes.

If you feel called to action, a quick note of thanks and support for Jackson County State's Attorney, Joe Cervantez can go a long way.

You should be celebrating your 36th today, surrounded by the friends and family that love you. I'm sorry you were robbed of that. You deserved much more.

Today is a heart-wrenching day for the family and closest friends of Molly Young. My heart, thoughts, and prayers continue to go out to each of them.

Today marks 14 years since Molly was taken from this world. That's 5114 unimaginable days of heartache, confusion and anger this family has had to endure.

The current States Attorney is sitting on key information, with no signs of offering more than the status quo. Why? Has she even met with the family to explain the inaction? There are clear paths, ones already initiated under the prior JCSA, to pursue new affidavits and/or grand jury testimony. And yet... crickets.

ISP reportedly has the same information but they too stand idle, despite knowing the alibis have been fully blown. Why? Why do they not pursue the remaining avenues of investigation? The inaction is inconceivable and beyond sickening.

Justice delayed is justice denied!

Molly deserves justice. The Youngs deserve closure that only full and transparent investigation will bring. The Southern Illinois 'Little Egypt' community deserves healing.

JFM! (SLR)

You would be 34 today. 😪

JFM Supporters,

This is not a promotion but a notification to Molly's supporters who may have heard that the 911 call from Molly's case is reportedly being featured on tonight's episode of "911: Did the Killer Call" at 9pm CST on HBO Max. I wanted to provide a bit of context and color ahead of the airing.

There was some measure of renewed hope around Molly's case in mid-2024, when a company from the UK approached the Young family about including Molly's story. Eager to keep her name in the public eye, Larry Young agreed to be interviewed for the show. Mr. Young was not paid for his participation. Any claims that suggest Mr. Young is using the death of his daughter for notoriety and financial gain are strongly denied.

Anyway, various delays led to the interviews not being filmed until early 2025. Why is this important? The States Attorney for Jackson County (JCSA) at the time of the pitch had expressed commitment from his office to seek independent forensic specialist input. Some believe it was to his detriment that he made and pursued some of those commitments; a sentiment bolstered by the fact that he was ultimately unseated in the November 2024 election. To date, the new JCSA has not publicly come forward to express the same commitments. Additionally, some community members have expressed that the re-hiring of staff from prior administrations (who failed to seek an indictment) may affect the direction of future investigations or media portrayals. It is quite possible that the same staff may have influenced the direction of this show's producers, by offering additional support for the show in the way of another case, that was aired earlier this season.

This is in no way an allegation that such occurred, merely a possibility raised for public consideration, given that this show has already aired an episode originating from Jackson County, Illinois this season. In that episode, the caller was ultimately found guilty of a heinous crime.

Advanced screening of this episode was not offered to the Young family. Likewise, I have no insight into how the episode will be edited and what, if any, sway the producers will try to impart. While I still hold hope that this show will maintain impartiality in its presentation, there are certainly reservations going into the viewing. Mr. Young contends that, at the end of a grueling 3 hour long interview, he felt pressured to state on camera that he believed Molly's death could have been suicide. If accurate, this does not rest well and the optics of such an attempt raise serious concerns about editorial integrity and may not portend the impartial presentation desired.

We continue to stand with the Young family in their pursuit of truth and accountability.

Thank you for reading.

Justice For Molly!

I just (by chance) listened to Crime Junkie's podcast episode about Molly today and realized it's her birthday. There is still hope for justice, and how lovely it is to keep her memory alive

https://www.kbsi23.com/news/new-developments-in-molly-young-murder-case/

An injustice to one is an injustice to all! Thank you for creating this sub!

="=JusticeForMolly

Very happy to see that Kendall Rae, a prominent name in true crime, covered Molly's story last week on the Mile Higher podcast. If the below link does not work, just enter "Mile Higher Episode 416 Molly Young" and you should be able to find it.

While the family and investigative team wishes Rae had reached out for more support on critical forensic evidence and supporting context, we are grateful for the supportive comments, exposure, and broadened reach Rae's extensive audience brings.

I'm very interested in your feedback on the episode. What did they do well? What do you wish they had spent more (or less) time on? What questions did the episode raise in your mind that we may be able to help answer?

Link: https://youtu.be/kTBmGNSJ93Q?si=LNIsWv6-La9qxzTf

JFM!!!

Dear Community.

I am leading an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Molly Young's death in Carbondale, Illinois, in 2012.

A review of the original case materials suggests that very few residents of the apartment complex were originally interviewed by Carbondale Police Department or Illinois State Police, and that some details of interviews conducted may have been inconsistently reported or potentially omitted.

I'm hoping to speak with individuals who lived in or frequently visited the complex at that time, or anyone with relevant information about the neighborhood or its residents.

The following names are listed solely because they were known to live in or around the complex at the time or were known to frequently visit of the complex. To be absolutely clear, none of these individuals are suspected of involvement or wrongdoing of any kind, but they may hold valuable insight into the timeline or the events that transpired on the morning of March 24, 2012, following Molly's death.

• Jennifer Cheek

• Hannah Miller

• Demetrius King

• Eduardo Robinson

• Nathan and Amanda Cowen

• Andrea Marshall

• Unyime Ekanem

• Lateah Martin

• Amara Reese

• Breanna White

• Kyle Danko

• Joseph H. Brown

• Audrey Huber

• Sunnie Simmons

• Eric Stanley

• David Waters

• Odell Kirksey

• Heather Haddix

• Emily Kelly-Padden

• Candice Watson

• Michael Koeller

• Alan Owens

• Derek Young

• Michael Schroeder

• Thomas Brand

• Brandon Wilhoit

• Rieve Stanford

• Daniel Orzechowski

• Rio Madjid

• Zach Harris

• Kody Leehy

• Juanita Kindle

• Keith Jamison

If you lived in Carbondale in 2012 or have any insights regarding the above, please feel free to DM me or comment respectfully. All information will be handled with care.

*Note - Neither I nor anyone associated with this follow-up information-gathering effort are affiliated with law enforcement.

Reason I ask is because there was so much time in between her estimated time of death and those 911 calls.

Continuing on with sharing some thoughts on various media that are out in the public space, I wanted to bring attention to Monica Zukas's old local radio show "Reality Check"; some episodes of which are still available on Soundcloud. Zukas is a local to the Southern Illinois area and was very involved in JFM early on. She was the first to air the original 911 call and, to my knowledge, one of the few who corresponded with Wes Romack within a year or so of Molly's death.

Since this is local "coverage," I think it helps those not from the area to understand the environment surrounding the case. Recognizing that this aired back in 2013 and much more is known about the case now, I don't find a deep-dive really necessary. I find that the context of it being a local broadcast and the visceral reactions of the male audience guest speak volumes. I'll add only a few comments.

They raise a good point about the 911 call and the female dispatcher(s) not following standard protocols for something reported as an overdose. Basic questions like "Have you performed CPR?", "Do you know what pills they took?", etc.

Pay close attention to the peculiarities of how the Coroner's Inquest was run by the Jackson County Coroner, Dr. Kupferer. Pay attention to how clearly these first hand witnesses to the Inquest viewed the slanted nature of the evidentiary presentation. Even then, they knew that reading from journals that were last dated 9 months prior to Molly's death was suspect. Pay attention to the fact that the Coroner's jury was told there was no sign of a struggle despite multiple bruises on Molly's hands, legs and feet. You think the jury would have found it pertinent that Minton had two fresh six-inch scratches on back... and that Romack had unexplained scratches? Why would this evidence not have been presented to a jury who were tasked with determining the manner of death?

It's also interesting to hear the half-jest made about someone having their computer seized by local law enforcement. This somewhat innocuous sounding comment actually speaks to how people view the father of the Suspect. It could very well be pure coincidence, but it is interesting that a local couple who were close friends with Molly and were very vocal in their belief that Molly's death was not suicide, The couple were ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing but were never as vocal regarding the circumstances of Molly's death thereafter.

Thanks for reading and considering.

Justice for Molly!

This is a must watch for understanding Molly's case. Once the layers start getting peeled back it becomes very obvious this was not a self-harm event. None of the story told makes sense. Not the ridiculous overdose narrative, not the presence and perfect placement of the unopened antibiotic pill bottle, not the text that Romack doesn't recall getting, not the sleeping through the shot, not the calling in to work late while you coworker swears this one individual wasn't scheduled until 8, not the lack of police chatter on comms from 5:30 - 7am, not the 6 neighborhood witnesses who all tell various versions of CPD being in the parking lot before 8am, not him and his roommate having scratches on their backs, not the likely drag marks on the concrete beside Molly's car, not the upstairs neighbor who broke his lease and disappeared a week after Molly's death, not the claims of using an off hand to fire a weapon she'd never handled...

NONE of it make sense. And it will come to light.

[Note: The link to this Crime Watch Daily episode is being reposted as Reddit's Filters removed an original post from one of our community members from 2024. The reasons why Reddit's Filters flagged and removed it are not immediately clear.]

Thank you for supporting the sub and our efforts to keep visibility on Molly's case.

We wanted to pause quickly and request a little feedback. It would be very helpful, and we would be very thankful, if you would add a comment below to help ensure that the content remains relevant and helpful.

We welcome any of the following:

1. What questions can we help answer for you?

2. Any topic(s) or aspects of the case that you would like to see covered next?

3. What aspect of the content has been most most helpful thus far?

4. Any (polite) constructive criticism or areas for improvement?

Again, thank you!

Minton's story is that Molly helped him into bed before he quickly passed out. He then woke up to to the death scene shortly after 9am. Based on three unsuccessful phone calls from Molly's phone to Minton at shortly after 3:45am, it is generally assumed that this is roughly the time she arrived at his apartment and was trying to gain entry.

Romack's story is that he worked until around 5:30am and went straight home. He acknowledges seeing Molly's shoes and purse, but claims never to have seen Molly's body on Minton's floor, despite acknowledging that he peeked in on Minton sleeping before himself going to bed.

The Coroner's Inquest indicates the time of death as approximately 4:45am, based on several evidential factors.

An independent, highly-credentialed, medicolegal death investigator and forensic pathologist concluded that multiple findings suggest that Molly was moved "probably within seconds" of the fatal GSW.

Ignoring Minton's scratches and ignoring Romack's scratches... if Minton was asleep, and Romack wasn't home yet, and Molly died sometime between those two events and was immediately moved... then who moved her?

She didn't move herself. She was killed instantly. So who moved her?

Why will ISP and JSCA not acknowledge this proves foul-play?

On January 31, 2013, a Coroner's Inquest was held to give a jury of six the opportunity to try to determine the manner of death (MOD) following, what is supposed to be, an unbiased presentation of the evidence and facts as they are known. What actually occurred was a slanted presentation by the Jackson County Coroner that was very clearly designed to underemphasize incriminating evidence while emphasizing Molly's mental health struggles. Despite the slanted presentation, the jury still managed to recognize that they were not given sufficient evidence to support the original MOD of suicide. They were also given insufficient evidence to arrive at a decision of homicide. I contend that a more balanced hearing, with a full presentation of the evidence, inclusive of the omitted incriminating evidence, would have allowed the jury to arrive at a MOD determination of homicide.

The excerpts and screenshots above show only one of numerous examples of inaccurate or misrepresented information the Coroner's jury was given. After reading 11 pages directly from Molly's journals, the lead case agent, Special Agent Cooper, under oath, misrepresented the experience and credentials of Molly's counselor. He directly and FALSELY informs the jury that the therapist was a certified counselor, but not a licensed psychologist. Why would Cooper make a direct, designed effort to call out that the therapist was not a licensed psychologist? A simple, 1 minute Google search confirms she is, and has been for over 20 years.

It is easy to understand why many of Molly's supporters view this misrepresentation as an intentional attempt to undermine the credibility of the therapist, who Cooper later acknowledges had no recorded documentation or suggestions of suicidality. Clearly the therapist's records did not further the suicide narrative, so it is not difficult to see how some would interpret Cooper's misrepresentation as intentional.

Romack's initial statement was that he worked from around 9pm Friday night until shortly after 5am on Saturday morning. When he arrived home, he noticed a purse on the ottoman and female shoes in the living room floor, though he did not immediately assume they were Molly's. (?) He went on to peek into Minton's room and saw Minton's head sticking out from under a comforter. When asked if Molly could have been in the bed, he stated, "it was too large to be Molly or anybody else that might have been there."

When someone new learns of Molly's case and begins asking questions, almost inevitably, I get asked, "If Wes supposedly got a series of texts that made him worry for both Molly and Minton's well-being, then why did he just walk over the purse and shoes on his way to the bedroom. Why did he not once stop to ask where the owner of the shoes might be? It's a simple question question and a logical one. It's also one that ISP never asked Wesley Romack.

Personally, I'd have lots of follow up questions regarding his account and his explanation. Questions like who else might you think the shoes belonged to? Who else might you have "expected" to be in bed with Minton, if not Molly? Who else was Minton sleeping with at the time?

But the most basic question is why, at 5:30am on at 45-50 degree night, do you think any female would leave their purse on the ottoman and their shoes on the floor? Forgetting a purse is one thing, but who leaves in the middle of the night without taking their shoes?

What if the answer is as simple as Romack didn't worry about where the owner of the shoes was because he knew where the owner was? Was Molly still alive when Wes Romack got home from work?

Let's hear what he had to say, in his own words (from the Dec 2013 interview).

Edit - spelling.

Wesley Romack claimed in his initial interview with ISP that Molly had sent him several texts while he was at work overnight (3/23/2012 - 3/24/2012) but at some point during the night, his phone went dead. He claimed that when he arrived home from work after 5:30am, he plugged his phone back in and immediately received 3 text messages from Molly's phone number. However, newly obtained text records from Romack's UFED report show that the final 3 text messages came in at 3:55:12 am, 3:56:35 am, and 4:41:22 am.

A member of the JFM Facebook page conducted an experiment that involved sending several texts to a powered off phone over a half hour and then turning the powered down device back on to see how the texts came through on the second device. They demonstrated that all 4 sent texts came through with the exact same timestamp: which would align with Romack's story. It would not however, align with Romack's UFED results. If the theory holds, then all of these texts from Molly's phone would have landed on Romack's phone around 5:32-5:50 am but they clearly did not. The results seem to indicate Romack's cell battery never died nor was his phone ever turned off, at least during the 3:30am - 5:00am timeframe he indicated.

I do find these results interesting and credible but would like to see additional insights given to whether this actually confirms that this aspect of Romack's statement was fabricated. I make no claims of being an expert in mobile device forensics, but it makes sense to me that the UFED (Universal Forensic Extraction Device) would only pull the data as they present locally on the connected device, not any system-stored data. In other words, while the receiving party's cell carrier records may reflect actual time a text was received on their network servers, the time the text was received by the phone would be static with the individual receiving device. If this is the case, then it does seem to indicate Romack lied.

But why lie about the phone going dead at work? Would this manipulate the overall timeline in some way? Panera Bread timesheet records indicate Romack was signed out at 5:32 am. Unless someone clocked Romack out, his alibi would seem to be more tied to the timesheet than the texts, so there would be no logical reason to lie about the phone dying.

Thoughts and input, public or via DM, welcome.

*Note/Credit - Images obtained from JFM Facebook Page

This 20-minute episode covers a lot of ground and, in my opinion, addresses the background leading to Molly’s death and the following investigation in a fair and balanced manner. Kudos to the presenter, Joy, for the extensive research, effort, and compassion to which she approached Molly’s case. While this episode did a commendable job researching and presenting the facts, and is ABSOLUTELY worth the listen, Joy was unlikely privy to some of the more contested aspects of the evidence and critical context. I wanted to provide those where I believe necessary.

I also want to mention that Joy did an exceptionally good job reporting on the case of Pravin Varughese in Episode 77 as well. Pravin’s murder occurred roughly two years after Molly’s death, also under very suspicious circumstances. Those not familiar with social, political and law enforcement environment in Southern Illinois (especially Jackson County) at that time would do well to listen to Episode 77 as well. I will link in the comments below.

Reposting this in response to the 911: Did the Killer Call S1:E6 hatchet job that aired last week. Did the show's producers possibly edit the original 911 call footage to intentionally mislead viewers?

Things to know about the original 911 call:

- Wes Romack claims in his 3/24/12 interview that after waking to Richie Minton banging on Romack's door, Romack grabbed his phone, dialed 911 and walked to Minton's room (6-8 feet away) to see Minton on the floor, shaking Molly, supposedly saying "Wake up baby, you've got to wake up."

- Wes Romack claims that the only lights in the room were the green Christmas lights hanging on wall, which is why he supposed that neither he nor Minton noticed the gunshot wound. Wes Romack was definitive and adamant in his interviews that it was too dark in the room and that's likely why they did not make the wound out for what it was.

- Sunrise in Carbondale that day was around 6:54am. The original 911 call was made at 9:02am. The scene photo on the right was taken around 9:30am. Between the light coming in from the South window and the green lights, it was NOT dark in that room at 9:02am, but even if it was, what reasonable person would not just reach through the doorway to flip on the overhead light? The switch was just inside Minton's door and reachable from the hallway. The only people who believe this are those who have never seen the scene and who don't know the supposed timing of it all.

- Wes Romack says, "We have a person in my living facility who we believe to be dead." Why did the producers of the 911: Did the Killer Call episode edit this to say "We have a person uh, uh, who we believe to be dead."?

Ask yourself, when Minton takes the phone, does it sound like he's just been upset and frantically shaking someone trying to rouse them, crying for them to wake up?

Romack stated in his interview that Minton was covered in blood when first responders arrived. If Minton was just shaking a very bloodied person and then is handed Romack's phone, how is it that there was no blood on said phone when it was collected from the scene?

[Edit - spelling]

There can never be enough said in a public forum to adequately acknowledge the depth of the burgeoning artistic talent Molly Young possessed, but the Mile Higher podcast probably touched on it more than any other. The comments made and the images briefly shown during the podcast reminded me of recent thoughts shared with me from a dear friend of Molly's.

(Paraphrased) 'One of the most tragic things, the most egregious of injustices, is how the circumstances of Molly's death overshadow the life she lived and how the resulting investigations, media coverage, and comments from Minton's supporters robbed Molly of her personhood.'

Molly was the baby girl to Larry and Kathy, the adorably chubby-cheeked baby sister (as a toddler) to Shana and Holly, the stubbornly loyal friend to so many, an observant student of life, a Van Gogh lover, and a talented artist in any medium she touched (even the human canvases she imprinted upon through the lives she touched). To those lucky enough to have known her, these words obviously fall short of your many wonderful definitions and memories and I grieve that for you. Thank you for indulging me.

Many conversations held with Molly's family lament that they and the rest of the world will never see her full potential realized. I thought it fitting to share some of the works of Molly Young, the artist.

• "Timeout" - award winning photo mentioned in the podcast.

• "Unknown Title" (angel) - sketch (colored pencil)

• "Unknown Title" (James Dean) (pencil) - .............. for VT

(Forgive the quality, they're low-res images, taken by Molly herself, of some of her work)

Edit=spelling