Who Murdered Theresa Insana

Episode # 71 Theresa Insana

[Shaun] 

When Theresa Insana decided to move to Las Vegas after college, her family was very happy for her. She was looking forward to being among the excitement and glamor of the Strip and to start a new career at a casino, and it was taking off quickly.

[John] 

She met a man at work, and they had a whirlwind courtship. They were engaged in just a few months but unfortunately, the wedding never happened. A few months later, her family and friends were frantically searching for her after she just vanished.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host John

[Shaun] 

The case we’re covering this week is a bit of a mystery that is still unsolved. Do you want to get us started?

[John]

Sure. Theresa Insana was born on January 20th, 1978, and grew up in Niagara Falls, NY, in the far western part of the state near Buffalo. Her parents are Joe and Ann Marie, and she’s the middle child with an older brother, Christopher, and a younger sister, Marybeth. She had a huge and close extended family with many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Her family is Catholic and that was an important part of her upbringing. Her parents have given many interviews, and you can hear in their voices how close they were with Theresa. She was especially close with her dad

One of the things that we learned was that every year he made her a giant special cake for her birthday, and was always incredibly generous with her. He absolutely adored her.

For all the times we cover cases where there’s little to no information available about the victim, this is not one of those cases. There is SO much information that has been shared about Theresa, her life, and so many aspects of her personality, and we want to share that here.

She was a great listener, and many of her friends went to her for advice and support. Some of the things she loved included Starbucks, Swedish fish, Justin Timberlake, and all the latest pop culture and trends.

She was also into fashion, shopping for clothing and accessories, and her friends often commented that she always looked excellent and so well put together and has a tremendous sense of style.

Theresa attended Niagara Falls High School and was an outstanding student with a long laundry list of interests. She was in the top 10 in her class, a member of the key club, she played varsity tennis, she was on the student council, in the National Honor Society, and she was also an avid dancer for over 7 years and a cheerleader too. 

She was small in stature, only 5’ tall, but by all accounts had the biggest heart imaginable, making lifelong friends in high school, college, at work, and wherever she went because of her kind, compassionate and generous nature.

[Shaun] 

After high school, she went to SUNY Binghamton, where she continued cheerleading and joined the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, eventually getting her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 2000. 

Post graduation, Theresa returned home to Niagara Falls to figure out her next steps. Her father was supportive as always, but told her she had to get out there, because she was meant for something great.

She took a trip to Las Vegas, and when she came home she announced she was moving there. 

In an interview, her college friend and sorority sister said she basically just came home and packed a suitcase or two, then told her family she was moving to Las Vegas and would be starting a career in sales there.

Around 2000, Las Vegas was booming, so it seemed like a reasonable move. Her parents were understandably worried about her since she would be living so far away, but also understood how important it was for her to move out of their house and begin her career and live in a city. 

She moved to Vegas with her childhood friend Melissa Madge, who had lived next door to the Insanas since they were young. 

They both found jobs right away in sales at different casinos, with Theresa finding work at the Rio, and Melissa at Harrah’s (both of those are Harrah’s properties, so they were both roommates and co-workers too). 

Now that they were both employed,. They were able to move into a two-bedroom apartment together at the Valencia Apartments in Summerlin.  

Her parents came to visit her, and were so happy to know that she’d found her place here in Las Vegas. She loved her job and her life here. 

Of course, even though she was thousands of miles away from home, she made it a point to stay in close contact, often sending “thinking of you” cards to her mom, dad, sister, and friends.

In 2002 she met and started dating Jeff Fenton, a co-worker at the Rio who worked in the marketing department. Jeff had been divorced once, and was 30 years old, a few years older than her. 

Theresa’s parents said they liked him and he seemed like a really good guy. They moved in together, and even got a dog, a very cute blue-eyed cocker spaniel named Frankie, who she often described as the love of her life (Frankie, not Jeff).. 

Theresa loved animals.

After only 3 months, the two got engaged, which seemed REALLY fast to everyone in her life, but her dad did comment that Jeff seemed serious, even asking for his permission before proposing.

They were engaged for just over a year and planned to get married back in Niagara Falls in April of 2004. Just weeks before the wedding, in March, Jeff apparently got cold feet and claimed he “wasn't ready to be married”, and Theresa was devastated. 

[John]

Theresa apparently discovered the name of one of their co-workers named Melissa Ball on their caller ID for their home phone one afternoon. 

This isn't really a thing people normally have anymore, but in 2004 it was common to have a land line since cellphones were fairly rare and expensive still, and you could get a “caller id” box that would show you the names and numbers of people who called the land line.

Theresa was definitely suspicious about that name showing up on their caller ID, but they had just broken up, and there wasn't a lot to be done about it. 

She continued working at the Rio with both Jeff and Melissa and just tried to move on.

It turned out that her suspicions were correct, and Jeff started dating Melissa shortly after they broke up.

Regardless though, Theresa and Jeff remained friendly since they worked together and co-parented Frankie together. At one point Jeff even agreed to stay over Theresa’s house where they used to live together to take care of Frankie on a night when Theresa had to work an overnight shift at the Rio.

After the breakup, in May, Theresa’s friend Grace traveled to Las Vegas to visit (which she did every year), and Theresa shared something unsettling with her. She told Grace that she had been getting the feeling that someone had been in her house while she was at work. She said that sometimes the TV would be on a different channel than she left it, or that the DVD player was on when she was sure it was off when she left for work.

She also said at one point to a co-worker that she felt like someone had followed her to her car on at least one occasion, but had backed away.

Theresa didn't have a security system or cameras, which were pretty rare back then, and she lived in Summerlin, which is considered to be a very safe area. Unfortunately, Grace also said that she never ended up changing her locks, likely because it is so safe there generally.

She also didn't have some sort of high risk lifestyle that you would think would invite danger, so the idea that someone had been in her house was odd. 

[Shaun] 

In the summer of 2004, Theresa was in Grace’s wedding, and when she returned to Vegas she started contemplating making a change. 

She was considering going to grad school, and possibly moving back east to be closer to her family. Instead, though, in September she was offered a significant promotion at the Rio to sales manager, which included a significant raise, and she decided to hold off on the grad school plan for the time being, which was very disappointing to friends who wanted to see more of her.

Tuesday, October 26th was a day like any other for Theresa. She left work a bit early to go and vote at a local church, then headed home to walk Frankie and hang out with him on her patio. She called her mom around 630 and they chatted for a few minutes, and nothing seemed wrong. Her mom says she seemed perfectly normal and said she was going to have dinner and turn in early 

Theresa also called Grace, but she missed that call, and when Grace called her back around 7:30, there was no answer, even though Theresa told her mom she’d be at home.

The next day, Theresa didn't show up for work, and by Thursday, October 28th, her coworkers were getting very worried about her and called the security office at the Rio. 

After that, her friend Melissa, along with two of her co-workers, including Jeff, her former fiance, headed to her house to check on her.

As soon as they entered the home, they knew something was very wrong. 

Her beloved dog Frankie was all alone, unattended, which is something Theresa would never do. Her purse, keys, cell phone, and her car were all there in the home, and on the bumper of her car, there was what looked like a spot of blood, so they decided to call Las Vegas Metro.

The officers called in the homicide division, who, as soon as they saw the blood on her car, decided to treat the house like a homicide scene and started analyzing it for clues to help locate Theresa and piece together what might have happened. They brought in two detectives who would take over the search for her.

[John]

What the police investigators found in the house was very confusing. It seemed clear to them that Theresa wouldn't have left her dog alone for two days, or left all of her belongings there if she left, and of course, how would she have left with her car still in the garage.

They started to think that Theresa might have been attacked by an unidentified intruder sometime between 6:30 when she talked to her mom, and 7:30, when Grace called he,r and that call went unanswered. 

They found blood spatters on a downstairs bathroom mirror and on the bathroom floorboard, and noticed that a towel rack was missing, looking like it had been torn out of the wall.

They also found a large footprint that certainly wasn't Theresa’s, and a small metal ring they couldn't identify, about the size of a dime.

They examined the car, and found more blood in the trunk along with the blood on the bumper, which turned out to be Theresa’s, and also noticed that the car’s front seat was pushed all the way back. 

Based on that, they came up with an interesting theory, since Theresa was only 5’ tall, there was no reason the seat would be back that far.

But where was she? There was no evidence of a break in. Could it have been that someone entered through the unlocked sliding door to the patio where she used to hang out with Frankie? 

Another strange aspect is that nothing was stolen or missing, which casts doubt on the robbery theory.

When her family back home in Niagara Falls heard all of this, her parents immediately flew to Las Vegas, and Metro, in their words “turned the zipcode upside down” looking for her. They canvassed the area immediately to ask if anyone had seen anything. Even using dogs to help with the search.

Just a few days later, on November 1st around 11 am, Theresa’s friends and family received the news they were dreading. She had been found by some construction workers, murdered, just 3 and a half miles from where she lived, near the corner of Hualapai Way and Peace Way. 

She was found wrapped in blankets and towels using duct tape and rope, and had been moved down a steep embankment and placed in standing water in a drainage culvert under the road. 

That's in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley, and in 2004 it was very much on the outskirts of the city.

The Coroner determined that she had been murdered by strangulation and blunt force trauma. 

[Shaun]  

Police had very little to go on at that early point in the investigation, but their somehow both wild but also plausible theory was that an intruder entered her home, and attacked Theresa. 

They struggled, resulting in the attacker being injured enough to leave blood evidence, and Theresa being murdered, with that struggle at least partially taking place in that downstairs bathroom, possibly with the missing towel bar being used by one of them as a weapon.

At that point, they think that the attacker wrapped Theresa in blankets and towels from the home, loaded her into the trunk of her own car, and drove her to the site where he left her in that culvert under Hualapai Way in Summerlin. 

Notably, they pointed out that the blankets and towels used came from Theresa’s home, but the duct tape and rope didn't, and their theory on that was that he brought them with him to the home.

But here’s where their theory gets harder to believe. They think he then drove back to her home, parked her car back in the garage and tried to clean up the scene, thankfully not harming Frankie along the way. 

Investigators found evidence of spray bottles with cleaning supplies, trash bags, and used paper towels, so it seems possible, although no one could explain why he might have done that or why she was targeted. 

They described that clean up as “methodical”.

Those blood droplets in the bathroom were identified as having come from a male, but there were no DNA matches in any of the DNA databases 

At the time in 2004, of course, there was limited data to match people using a DNA sample, and no way to match unknown samples.

[John]

Police spoke to Jeff Felton, Theresa’s ex-fiancé and the woman he started dating after he and Theresa had broken up, Melissa Ball. 

The two had an airtight alibi for the night Theresa disappeared, they were at a Honda dealership buying a new car between 6:30 and 7:30 the night she was murdered, which was the window police believe the crime happened within. 

Both the salesperson they worked with and other staff at the dealership confirmed they were there.

Despite that, the police interviewed the pair several times, and at least one of the officers involved seems to believe Jeff, Melissa, or both might know more than they were admitting. I'm not sure why that is though.. We’ll talk a bit more about why we disagree with the police, and think that its incredibly unlikely they were involved, in our Swing Shift overtime episode.

At one point they gave both Jeff and Melissa polygraph tests, but nothing conclusive was learned, and neither one has been charged nor been a serious suspect as far as we can determine.

With no plausible suspects and a completely unprosecutable case against anyone, the case was transferred to the cold case division.

Theresa’s family has been very active in keeping both her case and her memory alive, and they have been working with Metro for over 20 years in the effort to solve the case. 

They’ve said on many occasions that they appreciate how much attention has been given to Theresa’s case over the years. 

[Shaun]  

Yolanda McClary, a now retired Metro crime scene investigator never let this case go, and has kept in touch with the family for over 20 years, and in 2017 she personally funded the testing of the male DNA found at the crime scene using a new technology called “DNA Phenotyping”, which was performed by a company named “Parabon”

DNA Phenotyping is a process which can predict the physical appearance and ancestry of an unknown person using their DNA, 

That’s very different than Genetic Genealogy, which we’ve talked about many times before. That process can identify a subject by searching for relatives in public databases and by building family trees.

Parabon performed the analysis and came back with a profile for the DNA found at the scene, along with a photo of what the possible assailant likely would have looked like. They also age progressed the photo to show what the man would look like in 2017, when the analysis was performed.

They determined that he was likely of southeast asian descent, likely Filipino, with black hair and black or brown eyes. We’ll share the image on social media and post it on our website. You'll be able to find that at sinspod.co/71. 

According to friends and family, the photo didn't look like anyone familiar to any of them or anyone they knew was in Theresa’s life, which adds to the mystery.

Unfortunately, people of Asian descent have been underrepresented in genealogical databases, making performing genetic genealogy searches much more challenging. 

There is some hope that eventually there will be a match on the DNA profile, or that someone will recognize the sketch and come forward with information.

[John]

Theresa’s family is very religious, and they have faith that eventually the mystery of who killed Theresa will be solved, but in the meantime, they are doing an incredible job of keeping her memory alive.

They have a great array of social media presences including a Facebook page where they post updates on the case, and memories of Theresa, an Instagram page which focuses more on photos of Theresa and her family, friends, and her dog Frankie, and a TikTok account which of course had short form videos where you can learn about the case, and about Theresa.. And they’re all named “Justice for Theresa Insana”.

We’ll be sure to share links on the blog post we’ll be putting up so you can find all of these links in one place.

There is also a documentary being made which is funded by a GoFundMe.. You can learn more about that at theresainsanadocumentary.com

The Documentary is taking time to produce because it's funded by contributions, but they are planning to come to Las Vegas in 2025 for the next phase of filming.

The family also created a scholarship fund in Theresa’s name called the Theresa Insana Memorial Scholarship. It’s awarded every year to two graduating seniors in Niagara Falls (not Theresa’s actual High School.. Because that has been turned into a community center now). 

The family hosts a scholarship event every year where they award the scholarship and celebrate Theresa’s memory.

As of 2023 they had gifted over $30,000 in scholarship money.

[Shaun]

Unfortunately, her beloved dad Joe passed away in April of 2021. He died never able to learn the truth of what happened to his daughter or see her murderer brought to justice.

Theresa’s family and friends aren't deterred, and with the Parabon sketch out there and with the use of forensic genetic genealogy, they are hopeful that they’ll some day get answers as to what happened and why, and they’ll finally see justice for Theresa.

As of 2017, cold case detectives Ken Hefner and Dean OKelley from Las Vegas Metro were assigned to the case. These two detectives also tenaciously pursued murderer Thomas Randolph, so it's clear the case is in excellent hands.

There are ways you can help get that justice for Theresa and her friends and family. 

You can share this story and tell people about Theresa’s case, you can contribute to the documentary gofundme which is short of its crowd sourcing goal, you can upload your DNA profile into the DNA Justice database, which is a nonprofit database used by law enforcement to identify unidentified victims and suspects in criminal investigations in homicides and sexual assaults.

You can have your DNA analyzed by 23 and me, FamilyTree DNA, MyHeritage, or any 3rd party DNA company that will allow you to download the raw data.

The details on how to upload to DNA Justice are on the Parabon site, which you can find at https://sinspod.co/parabon. We encourage everyone to do this as soon as possible. There’s no knowing if your DNA could help a family get closure.

Parabon also runs research studies which you can participate in, and you can help them by using their “Snapshot Study iPhone App” as well. 

The details of all that are on that same page on their website.

Lastly, of course, if anyone has information regarding Theresa Insana’s case, they should contact the Las Vegas Metro Police Department at 702-828-3521. 

You can also contact the cold case voicemail line at 702-828-8973 or email coldcasehomicide@lvmpd.com. You can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 702 385 5555 or you can report online at www.CrimeStoppersofNV.com

[John]

Thank you as always for listening. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on whatever platform you’re listening on, that’s a great way to get the word out more widely about important cases like this. 

Until next week, we remind you that what happened here happens everywhere.