Amber Hunt

ahunt@enquirer.com

Nearly two years passed after 21-year-old Katelyn Markham disappeared before her family would learn her grisly fate – a story of homicide told by bones discovered near a Franklin County creek.

But that was just the beginning of the mystery.

Four years after Markham’s skeleton was discovered, much remains unknown: Officials still don’t know how she died or who’s responsible. A private investigator from Florida hopes to find answers by examining Markham’s case in a multi-part podcast called "Gone at 21" available on platforms such as iTunes.

Coming on the heels of multiple cold-case investigatory podcasts – including The Enquirer’s “Accused: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth Andes,” which to date has nearly 5 million downloads – J. Ryan Green said his will stand out because he’s not a journalist.

“This podcast will be a little different than your overdone-with-voiceover-music and all-inclusive studio production. This is a raw production,” Green said in one intro episode. “This is a raw podcast.”

Green said he began working on the case in October 2014 after an “anonymous benefactor” agreed to pay for his services. Green, who wouldn’t disclose the donor, said the man had learned of the case from television but didn’t know Markham personally.

The benefactor’s money has since dried up, Green said, but he’s continued legwork on the case, resulting in “Gone at 21,” which premiered some introductory episodes this month and is expected to launch properly in early February.

“I want to see if this gets big and there’s enough outcry that maybe someone in the (Butler County) Prosecutor’s Office will take a look at the podcast,” Green told The Enquirer. He said he’ll lay out evidence he’s uncovered that police hadn’t processed and details from witnesses police hadn’t interviewed.

Markham was two days shy of her 22nd birthday when she disappeared. She was last reported seen by her fiancé, John Carter, interviews with whom Green shared in his podcast’s intro episodes.

Carter told police that he’d last seen Markham at nearly midnight Aug. 14, 2011, when he left her alone in her Fairfield townhome. The two exchanged a few texts, he told police and reporters in 2011, but Markham quit responding to messages by morning.

The next day, Markham didn’t show up to her job at David’s Bridal. That evening, Carter said he went to her home, spotted her car and dog but couldn’t find his fiancée or her ever-present cell phone.

The phone has never been recovered, but Markham’s remains were found 20 months later in Cedar Grove, Indiana.

While that discovery provided some answers, it piqued many questions: Officials weren’t able to determine from Markham’s bones how she was killed, nor do they know how her body ended up in Indiana when her car remained in Ohio.

Dave Markham, Katelyn's father, said the investigation has been dragging for years.

"I know somebody knows something," Markham said. "I want somebody to finally come up with an answer or a clue."

Green has been critical about the investigation conducted by Fairfield detectives, calling in 2015 for a new investigator to be chosen to head the case.

Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey told The Enquirer that despite the criticism, he welcomes the podcast and hopes it drums up new leads.

“Continued publicity has the potential of providing or developing information,” Dickey said.

Still, Dickey cautioned that he expects Green will talk about theories in the case that can’t be substantiated.

“I’d hope that people keep that in mind when they listen to what he says: He’s advancing theories and those don’t necessarily produce evidence,” Dickey said.

Dickey said that, despite the public request, a new investigator has not been tapped for the case.

"This case has been reviewed by several law enforcement agencies, not just the Fairfield Police Department," he said. "The info is what the info is, so I don't see how changing out the person who has the most knowledge of the case is going to help with oversight."

Dave Markham said he trusts Green won't present anything that might undermine a potential criminal case.

"Obviously I don't want the investigation to be compromised, but at this point, it can't hurt," he said.

Green said he expects to publish the first full episode of “Gone at 21” Feb. 3. Whether the show is updated weekly or biweekly depends in part on donations raised through a GoFundMe account to cover production costs, he said.

“I’m just looking for help with the case,” he said. “It’s such an old case, and with the condition in which she was found, we need help from the public.”