Carina Saunders and the Last People to Fail Her

 October 13th, 2011 fell on a Thursday. The weather was fair enough a small group of people--at the time described as animal control officers--were moving through an over grown empty lot behind a Homeland grocery store at NW 23rd and Rockwell in the Oklahoma City suburb of Bethany. The lot was large and weedy, situated between the building and a line of trees to the north and west. The animal control crew, later called a rescue group, were looking to gather up feral cats who were prowling behind the store, foraging for meals in the establishment's garbage dumpsters.

During the sweep someone came across two bags lying next to each other. Apparently, other than dumping them in the lot, there had been no real attempt to hide their location. No one was willing to see what was in them because of an awful stench. In fact the stink was so wretched and ominous the cat posse immediately called the police.

What was inside was as bad as could be imagined. The smaller of the two, a laundry bag, contained the head of a young female. The larger, a black duffel bag, held her torso and dismembered legs and arms minus feet and hands.

Thus began the horrific mystery of 19 year old Carina Saunders. Over the next couple of years the names of both witnesses and suspects would be leaked to the media and lurid headlines would appear in the local paper, The Oklahoman. During that time two men would be charged with the gruesome murder, then released, and wild tales of drug and human sex trafficking rings, torture and forced prostitution would swirl. The entire smug assumption that this sort of nightmare happened only in places on the west coast and the bowels of New York City would be obliterated. The reality that true evil was present in Oklahoma City came crashing home.

The first and biggest mistake happened immediately. Because the body was found in their jurisdiction the Bethany police took charge. Only 30 plus strong the department's main claim to fame was the number of traffic tickets it issued and some minor league drug busts of users who were too stupid to keep their habits on the down low.

They were in over their head from the very beginning. To make things worse, for reasons known only to themselves, they were more than willing to keep the press and therefore the perpetrators, advised of their investigation. In fact all you had to do to see where they were at and who they were talking to was either read the paper, or watch the evening TV news.

It turned out the witnesses they were depending on were, almost to a person, willing to say anything in order to cut deals on drug, or prostitution charges. Ultimately when push came to shove they collectively had all the credibility of the wankers who claim Tom Hanks is a pedophile/cannibal. Even the witness who said she saw part of a phone video showing Carina Saunders' torture and murder later admitted she had only heard the story from another person.

In July of 2012, based on what amounted to hearsay, rumors, and outright bullshit, the Bethany cops arrested, Luis Ruiz, Jimmy Massey, and Francisco Gomez for the crime. Gomez was let go almost immediately. After six months of not receiving any solid evidence the Oklahoma County D.A. David Prater let Ruiz walk, while Massey stayed in jail on unrelated drug charges. Ruiz later sued the Bethany Police Department and settled for $50,000.

The case was turned over to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation which had to begin it's investigation from scratch. The rumored video of the killing has never been found. Neither have Carina Saunders' feet and hands. 

Nine years later the murder is still unsolved and Saunders' reputation has been rehabilitated almost to the point of myth. If you see the couple of YouTube videos addressing the killing she is described as a sweet young girl who not only filled everyone with joy, but once aspired to singing opera.

She might have been that person once. However by the time she was killed she was homeless, hungry for the next high, and telling people one of her friends, Kenny Richards, was going to make her a porn star. The only way her family could keep up with her was through her social media account. In the end, that's why they reported her missing just three days before her body was found--she had stopped posting for several days.

If Carina Saunders were alive today she would be 28 years old. That whole being alive thing is problematic though. She was adrift in dark waters long before her murder. It was and is a lifestyle that doesn't lend itself to longevity.

That, however, doesn't mean she didn't deserve better, at least from the people looking for her killers. Tragically they weren't the first to fail her, but they were the last.

10-12-20