Who was Jennifer Servo? What dreams did she hold, and what secrets lay behind her innocent eyes? Join us as we unravel the captivating yet tragic journey of this young, aspiring news anchor whose life was brutally cut short in 2002. From her humble beginnings in Montana, her audacious pursuit of a national TV news anchor position, to her final steps in her new apartment in Texas, we relive Jennifer's life and dreams.
Brace yourself as we traverse through the spine-chilling unsolved murder case in the second half. Despite several leads and suspects, including her ex-boyfriend and a colleague, the lack of definitive evidence has left this case unresolved. We'll also shed light on the Memorial Award named in her honor and echo a plea for any information that could lead to closure. Listen as we try to make sense of the senseless, navigate through this poignant narrative, and hopefully, spark a flicker of justice for Jennifer Servo.
Who was Jennifer Servo? What dreams did she hold, and what secrets lay behind her innocent eyes? Join us as we unravel the captivating yet tragic journey of this young, aspiring news anchor whose life was brutally cut short in 2002. From her humble beginnings in Montana, her audacious pursuit of a national TV news anchor position, to her final steps in her new apartment in Texas, we relive Jennifer's life and dreams.
Brace yourself as we traverse through the spine-chilling unsolved murder case in the second half. Despite several leads and suspects, including her ex-boyfriend and a colleague, the lack of definitive evidence has left this case unresolved. We'll also shed light on the Memorial Award named in her honor and echo a plea for any information that could lead to closure. Listen as we try to make sense of the senseless, navigate through this poignant narrative, and hopefully, spark a flicker of justice for Jennifer Servo.
Welcome back crime connoisseurs. I'm your host, grace D, and right off the bat I want to let you guys know that today's case will leave you wanting to scream. I've been going down the rabbit hole in this case for so long. We're going back to 2002. A bright young woman with a promising future moves from her home state of Montana to Texas to start her career as a news anchor. As she quickly settles in and begins the life of her dreams, tragedy strikes. The gruesome scene that first responders walked into left them with more questions than answers. Now, 21 years later, her case still remains unsolved. This is the case of Jennifer Servo.
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Jennifer Lin Servo was born on September 23, 1979 to Sherri Servo Olson and Norman Olson in Whitefish, montana. Jennifer was raised in Columbia Falls, where she was involved in the Columbia Falls swim and volleyball teams. She was manager for the boys basketball team and was a cheerleader all throughout high school. Her teacher, dan Fairbank, nominated Jennifer to the United States Achievement Academy as United States National Winner in History and Government. The criteria for selection were a student's academic performance, interest and aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation to learn and improve citizenship, attitude and cooperative spirit, dependability and recommendation from a teacher. Her family and friends were incredibly proud of this award. Jennifer worked at the Big Sky Water Slides in Columbia Falls and Gary and Leo's grocery store during high school.
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In 1996, when she turned 17, jennifer decided to join the Army Reserves, much against her mother, sherri's wishes. Jennifer said it would help pay for her college, be an adventure and allow her to travel to places she wouldn't have seen otherwise Knowing. Once Jen made up her mind, there was no changing it, so Sherri unwillingly signed the enlistment papers Later, realizing this would mold Jennifer into a very confident, mature young woman. In the summer of 1997, she went to basic training. Jennifer attended her monthly training sessions in Missoula and was a specialist in the 347th quartermaster for almost six years. She was trained in water purification and later accepted the duties of retention officer for her unit.
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Jennifer graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1998. She left on graduation night to go to her Army IT training and could not attend her graduation party. Her mother tried to get her to push the date back on the training so she could share the memories of the party with her friends, but Jennifer said it would not fit in her schedule for college. She wanted to move forward to the next step that would take her to her goal of reporting. During IT training, jennifer was made the squad leader in her barracks. She was proud of how she could handle the machine guns and learned how to throw grenades. The Army taught her everything that helped make her a very confident, mature young woman, knowing she could do anything she set her mind to.
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Jennifer attended the University of Montana from 1998 to 2002 and was accepted into the School of Journalism during her junior year. During her freshman year of college, her Army Reserve unit was sent to El Salvador to purify water for the people after her hurricane destroyed half of the country. She was so excited about doing what she was trained to do and to help those in need. She also got her first television job her freshman year at K-Pax TV in Missoula. Jen accepted the position at K-Pax TV despite the early hours and a full course load at school. She was willing to do anything to get her foot in the door and it wasn't long before she did a few stories for the evening news.
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In her junior year, jennifer went to work for KECI TV, where she gained experience in reporting. She completed her internship for the station in the summer of 2001. While at KECI-TV, jennifer balanced a full university workload and reported news on the weekend newscasts. She tackled the news business with integrity and ambition. She also worked as a news anchor for KUFM Public Radio Station during her senior year, where she was heard daily on the 5 o'clock news. Only the best journalism students get this opportunity. Jennifer was involved in the station, winning the regional Edward R Murrow Award. Her goal was to follow in the footsteps of Katie Couric and become a national TV news anchor woman. With Jennifer's determination and toughness of spirit, there was no doubt from anyone who knew her that she would reach her goals.
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Jennifer graduated from the University of Montana in May of 2002. A month later, around mid-June, jennifer met a man named Ralph Sipilveda during her Army Reserve training. Ralph was 34, 12 years older than Jennifer. He was a former Army Ranger and became an instructor, meaning he was Jennifer's superior. The two were crazy about each other instantly, though. Jennifer was offered her first full-time news reporter job near the end of June at KRBC Television News in Abilene, texas. She was so excited to be on her way to her new career. Knowing this was a stepping stone to the bigger markets, jennifer introduced Ralph to her family over the 4th of July holiday weekend. Her family could tell how smitten they were with each other, but there was just something about him that they didn't like. She told her family how Ralph would be moving down there with her when she moved to Abilene, texas. Now, even though there was something about him that they didn't like, it slightly eased them knowing that she would have someone down there that she knew. Her mother helped her move to Texas an adventure for the both of them, as they were Montana girls not experienced in driving in the big cities.
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On July 16, 2002, jennifer and her mother started their road trip from Montana to her new home in Abilene, texas. Ralph stayed behind in Montana for a few extra days Along the way, jennifer and her mother stayed overnight in a hotel in Wyoming on their way to Abilene. Two days later, on July 18, jennifer and her mother arrived in Abilene early in the morning. Later that day, jennifer placed a deposit on the apartment at Hunter's Ridge and she and her mother began unpacking. Ralph arrived in Abilene in a rental truck with Jennifer's cat, mr Banks, on July 20. Later that day, sherry flew back home to Montana, leaving her car behind for Jennifer to use in Abilene. The next day, jennifer's sister, krista, gave birth to a baby girl, becoming an aunt for the first time when her niece was born. As much as Jennifer would have loved to be there to meet her new niece, she started her first day at KRBC-TV as a field reporter. The very next day, on the 22nd.
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It was apparent to those she worked with that Jennifer wouldn't be sticking around permanently. She had so much talent and it would be no time before she was making moves in the industry. She was beautiful, intelligent and talented. She quickly made friends with her new coworkers and settled into her new life in Abilene. Everything was going well for Jennifer. She was succeeding at her new job, her boyfriend had moved in with her and things were good.
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However, sometime around August 10, 2002, jennifer discovered two disturbing secrets that Ralph had been keeping from her. She learned that he had a fiance whom he had promptly broken up with when they first met. She also found out that he had a child whom he never saw. Her sister, krista, said quote. That was really upsetting to her. That was pretty much a deal breaker for her end quote. Jennifer broke up with Ralph and asked him to move out of her apartment, and he did. The two decided that they would remain friends. Ralph moved out of Jennifer's apartment, but he didn't go far. He remained in Abilene and moved to an apartment complex near Jennifer's.
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Jennifer tried to move on from the breakup with Ralph by focusing on her career and having fun with friends. A week after the breakup she went with friends to the Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington, texas, one of whom was a co-worker, 23-year-old Brian Travers, who was the weatherman for KRBC TV the day after the baseball game. Ralph emotionally asked Jennifer to get back together, but she refused. She told him it's just not going to work out with them. He tried again a week later, but Jennifer's answer remained the same no. Another week later, around August 24, 2002, ralph and Jennifer talked again. He tries again to convince her to give him another chance, but she sticks to her guns and refuses. Jennifer was really bothered by the fact that Ralph had kept the engagement from her and that he had had a child that he never saw or communicated with. This is around the last time. Friends and family believe that Jennifer and Ralph had contact with one another. However, it's unclear whether Jennifer saw him in person or spoke to him over the phone, according to Brian Travers in a news article from CBS News quote A whole new world was being opened up for her and a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She was just so exuberant about him being out of there. End quote.
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On September 15, 2002, jennifer left work after the 10 pm news had aired and ran errands with Brian. They picked up a coffee table from a friend's apartment and then stopped at a Walmart for a late night shopping run, where security cameras captured them at around 10.45 pm. After the errands, jennifer dropped Brian off at his home before heading back to her apartment. Three days later, on September 18, 2002, toby Dagenhart, the news director at the NBC affiliate KRBC TV, grew concerned when he didn't hear from Jennifer. Jennifer loved her job so much and wanted to advance her career that she would take any opportunity they had offered to her for reporting. So it was odd that when he tried to call her over the days that she was off to come in due to a short staffing, that he never heard back from her. A fellow KRBC TV reporter who was friends with Jennifer stopped by her apartment and noticed that the blinds on her front door were down, which was also odd. You see, jennifer's cat, mr Banks, liked to look outside and she always left the blinds open a little bit for him.
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Toby decided to call the maintenance department of Jennifer's apartment complex, thinking maybe she had fallen, and wasn't able to reach the phone. While waiting for a call back from the maintenance department, toby heard on KRBC's police scanner about police activity at Jennifer's complex for a possible DOA. Toby decided to head over to the apartment complex and meet with maintenance about the welfare check in person. An assignment manager in the newsroom fell to her knees, covered her head and loudly screamed. Upon hearing this information, fellow KRBC reporter Downey Bowles, now County Judge of Taylor County, texas, tried to calm the assignment manager by saying quote maybe it's not her, maybe that's another call that they're going out to. We've got to listen to it and see what it is. End quote.
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Shortly after Toby, dagenhart called the newsroom and confirmed it was Jennifer's apartment, and then he gave the tragic news that Jennifer had been murdered. When police entered the apartment, they were met with a grueling sight. There were blood stains all throughout the home. Jennifer was found in the bathtub strangled with blunt force trauma to her head. There was bruising consistent with sexual assault. Yet she was found fully clothed. Police discovered Jennifer's car in the parking lot and found that there was no forced entry, leading them to believe that Jennifer knew her attacker and that the degree of violence indicated rage. Police believed that the crime, at the very least, was sexually motivated. They were unable to locate a murder weapon, but it was also determined that several items were missing from Jennifer's apartment. The items included a guest purse, square tote with an Eva model on it, a Kyosara brand cell phone, model 2135, three seasons of the series Sex and the City on DVD, saving Private Ryan on DVD and keys.
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Detectives David Atkins and Jeff Bell of the Abilene Police Department were assigned to Jennifer's case. They told CBS News quote when we first got in, we noticed that there were obvious signs that an assault had occurred. End quote. Detective Atkins explained that the medical examiner determined Jennifer was strangled and had blunt force trauma and how either or both actions could have killed her. The detectives collected evidence from the crime scene, including DNA, hair and fingerprints.
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The investigation quickly went underway and first up for questioning was the last person to have seen her alive, brian Travers. Brian told the police that after grocery shopping, jennifer helped him unload his groceries into his home and then drove away, which was the last time that he had seen her. Brian and Jennifer had briefly hooked up and Brian had developed feelings for Jennifer, but she just didn't feel the same. Instead, she just wanted to be friends and Brian agreed. He seemed upset about Jennifer's murder and asked about the family. After his initial interaction with the police, brian's parents hired an attorney To Jennifer's family. This was suspicious, but given what we know now about the justice system and how things can be twisted, it's always a good idea to have an attorney when you are a suspect of a crime, especially that of a murder, even if you're innocent.
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The next time the detectives and Brian spoke, brian recounted the events of the night that he last saw Jennifer. Everything was the same as before, until he mentioned Jennifer feeling like she was being followed. He told detectives that after Jennifer talked about being followed, he offered to walk her back to the car at the end of the night, but she declined. Now this makes my spidey senses tingle as a woman, if I feel like I'm being followed, I note it with someone and I will certainly avoid going alone somewhere. If I feel like that and someone offers to walk me to my car so I'm not alone, you bet your bottom dollar. I am saying yes, please, and then thanking them afterwards. Ladies, am I alone on this? Or do you feel me? Because I feel like 99.9% of women would feel this way, if they're feeling like they're being followed. Well, my spidey senses weren't the only ones going off, because Brian's story didn't add up.
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Police pulled Jennifer's phone records and determined that shortly after she got home, around 12.30 am on September 16, 2002. There was a phone call from her ex-boyfriend, dave Warren, who she was still friends with, who lived in Montana. When the police spoke with Dave, he said that Jennifer seemed completely normal and unbothered and that she never mentioned feeling like she was being followed. Because of Jennifer and Dave's phone call, it was determined that Jennifer's killer arrived after 1.30 am. A neighbor later reported hearing a few loud noises coming from Jennifer's apartment around 3 am. Jennifer had lived in Abilene, texas, for exactly 61 days and died just one week before her 23rd birthday. Now, in a bizarre coincidence, this was the second murder at the same apartment complex in the same year. There was also a KRBC connection with the other murder. Alan Wayne Brubaker was charged with killing his roommate Russell Crowley with a hammer in the same apartment complex. After the murder, alan bicycled to KRBC and confessed to the murder to the employees. Such a wild coincidence On September 26, 2002, around 300 people shuffled into the Northridge Lutheran Church to say their final goodbyes to a young, vibrant soul.
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The lobby of the church was filled with photographs depicting Jennifer's life. It included photos of Jennifer as a cheerleader at Columbia Falls High School and one as a graduating senior from the University of Montana. On a nearby rack, her blue high school letter jacket and her green Army Reserves jacket hung proudly. During his eulogy, um Radio television professor Bill Knowles said quote she was known and loved by everyone around her and everyone who taught her. End quote.
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Jennifer was remembered throughout the service for her endless energy and desire to succeed as a television reporter. Her sister, krista Slayton, also provided a eulogy. She said. The last words they said during a phone call were I love you. She continued in her eulogy quote thank you for being my sister, jen. I know you are with God now and I know I will see you again. End quote. The service was led by Reverend Dan Haskett, who read aloud a tribute from Jennifer's father, norman Olson, quote I will never understand why my daughter was taken away from me. Jennifer was murdered. That weighs heavy on us. A person filled with sickness or evil took her life. End quote. Following the service, jennifer was cremated and her ashes were scattered over Flathead Lake.
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As we know, when Jennifer moved to Abilene, she had moved with a boyfriend, ralph Sepulveda. Rumors began to circulate that he was involved in her murder. He was the ex-boyfriend who had tried getting Jennifer to give him another chance, but she wouldn't. So it only makes sense that Ralph was next up on police's radar. When Ralph was told that Jennifer was dead, he didn't seem phased and he never asked how she died. He had started to cooperate with the police, but that was short-lived. According to Detective Bell, ralph didn't cry, didn't seem shocked nor devastated at the news of Jennifer's death. Granted, everyone reacts and grieves differently, but something about his nothingness was odd to detectives. Ralph told detectives that he hadn't seen Jennifer in three weeks, which also matched what Jennifer's family and friends have told them. A red flag here is that Ralph, who was so crazy about Jennifer that he uprooted his life only after a few weeks of dating her, did not go to her funeral or call her family with his condolences.
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Ralph quickly stopped cooperating with the police and refused to have any more contact with them. He also refused to take a polygraph test. Now, I don't really take much stock in this, though, because polygraphs are inadmissible in court, and, like my girls from Crimejunk, you say Always ask for a lawyer, even when you're innocent, and never take a polygraph. When they asked Ralph for an alibi, he said he was alone in his apartment. In an interview with CBS News friend and former KRBC TV anchor woman, jennifer Lauren, talked about her conversation with Jennifer. According to Lauren, jennifer confided in her about what Ralph liked to do in bed. She said quote she did tell me one time that she did not like the way he treated her when they were together intimately, that he liked to choke her while they were having sex, and she did not like that. End quote. Now, no kink shame here. As long as it is consensual between both parties, cool, get your thing on, but given that Jennifer told her friend she didn't like it, and you add that, together with the fact that she was strangled and sexually assaulted, that's another red flag.
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The Amaline Police Department has perpetually pursued Ralph as the prime suspect. They claim that they've nearly cleared Brian Travers of all suspicion and have a circumstantial case against Ralph, but not enough physical evidence to get a conviction. Remember, the police collected DNA, hair and fingerprints from the crime scene. There were two matches of male DNA found inside Jennifer's apartment. The DNA belonged to Brian Travers and Ralph Sipple Beta. Both men had admitted and were known to have been inside Jennifer's apartment and there was no way to determine how long the DNA had been there. The case went cold. After this, the months continued to pass by with no new developments in the case, and in September 2003, it was the first anniversary of Jennifer's murder. Travers had followed up on a handful of leads and tips, but there needed to be more concrete evidence to file any charges. On September 18, 2003, detective Jeff Bell implied that they had a main suspect but lacked evidence. He stated quote I know a lot, but the hard part is being able to prove it in court.
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Another person of interest was publicly identified in September of 2007. Brian Travers had worked with Jennifer at the news station and he and Jennifer had been romantically involved at one point. Investigators announced that Brian had cooperated throughout all of the investigation and they had verified facts from his story. Nevertheless, detective Bell said quote he's still not to where we can say we're sure he had nothing to do with it. End quote. Brian professed his innocence and told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he understood why investigators were looking into him and why they couldn't rule him out. He revealed that he was the last person to see Jennifer alive, other than the person who killed her. Jennifer's family stood by Brian, with Sherry stating quote I'm positive that Brian had nothing to do with Jen's murder. He loved her and he was a good friend to her as she was to him. I know she wouldn't want him to be scrutinized like this end quote. Jennifer's sister echoed the sentiment, revealing that Brian had offered to take a polygraph examination, but the investigators refused.
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In January 2003, investigators were hopeful that the case could be solved when Sherry received three overdue book notices from the library of Jennifer's alma mater, the University of Montana. Four books were checked out of the library in October of 2002, one month after Jennifer was killed. Since Jennifer's purse had been stolen, it was speculated that the books were checked out with her card, which her killer had presumably stolen. Unfortunately, the library had no video surveillance and no employees could remember checking the books out. Investigators had no way of telling whether Jennifer's card was actually used or was it simply an error on the library's part and the trail went cold again. It wouldn't be for another six years before there was any movement on Jennifer's case.
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In 2008, a news anchor named Ann Presley was murdered in an eerily similar manner to Jennifer. Ann was a beautiful young woman with striking similarities to Jennifer. Both were blonde and young and news anchors. Both were sexually assaulted and murdered in their apartments. Police arrested 29-year-old Curtis Vance for Ann's murder. They were able to link him to her by DNA. There were thoughts that he could be responsible for Jennifer's murder too, giving a glimmer of hope to Jennifer's family to get closure. Finally, unfortunately, curtis's DNA did not match any DNA found in Jennifer's apartment.
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Today, ralph and Brian are the two main persons of interest in the murder, and neither of which have been ruled out. Their DNA was found at Jennifer's apartment and both adamantly denied any involvement. There was also a third unidentified person of interest. The day that Jennifer was murdered, she had been shopping with Brian when she supposedly told him she feared she was being followed. Unfortunately, the investigation was hampered by a lack of DNA evidence. At the one-year anniversary, a lab in Fort Worth took a more in-depth look at the crime scene in the hopes that they could uncover a tiny trace of evidence that could lead toward a suspect or even rule a suspect out. Hair evidence had been collected from the crime scene, but this too was hampered by the fact that Jennifer had a cat that had shed all over her apartment.
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The uncertainty has been unbearable for Jennifer's family, who are left with the wave of emotion of grief that comes with an unsolved case. Her mother, sherry, said that she prays each night that the killer of her daughter will one day be caught. She stated quote I won't give up until it's solved. It will be solved, end quote. And now, 21 years later, we're still searching for answers to solve Jennifer's case.
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Since Jennifer's passing, the School of Journalism at the University of Montana has created an award in Memorum of Jennifer. It's the Jennifer Sovo Memorial Award. Preference is given to a female graduating senior without standing professional potential in broadcast journalism who has demonstrated a strong work, ethic, determination and a clear vision of goals in the profession. Jennifer's family deserves closure. So if you or someone you know has information about Jennifer's case, tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 325-676-8477. That's 325-676-TIPS. Or you can call the Abilene Police Department directly at 325-673-8331. That's 325-673-8331. Tips can be made anonymously, and that's the case of Jennifer's Sovo.
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Source material for Jennifer's case can be found in the show notes. Be sure to follow Crime Connoisseurs on Instagram, and you can get Crime Connoisseurs wherever you listen to your podcasts. Be sure to tune in next week for a mind-boggling case and I promise you next week's episode is a solved one. I do understand that the last few episodes have been unsolved cases. I just go down these rabbit holes about them and they are just so compelling to me because of justice needing to be served. But next week's case is a solved one and it is a mind-boggling one at that. In the meantime, keep it classy, connoisseurs, and I'll catch you on the next case.