Secrets, Lies, and a Cold Case That Won't Die: The Unsolved Murder of Dana Bradley

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[00:01:18] The case featured in this episode has been researched using police records, court documents, witness statements and the news. Listener discretion is advised. All parties mentioned are innocent until proven guilty, and all opinions are my own.

[00:01:55] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young and this is Serial Napper, the true crime podcast for naps. I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep or perhaps to give you nightmares. It's December 14th, 1981, in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. 14-year-old Dana Bradley says goodbye to her friend and heads home to celebrate her mother's birthday, but she never makes it.

[00:02:21] Eyewitnesses report seeing her hitchhiking, climbing into a car with an unknown man. Four days later, Dana's lifeless body is discovered in a remote wooded area, brutally struck multiple times in the head with a blunt instrument. Her face has been cleaned up, and her school books, they've been left tucked underneath her arm. For over 40 years, investigators followed countless leads.

[00:02:47] There's a confession later retracted, a witness who claims he was there when Dana was murdered. But no matter how many twists and turns taken, the truth remains elusive. This is a case that continues to haunt, a case that remains open, still waiting for its final chapter. So, dim the lights, put your phone down, and listen to the haunting story of Dana Bradley,

[00:03:13] the chilling details of her unsolved murder, the search for justice, and the mysterious killer who's never been found. So let's jump right in. On July 24, 1967, in the vibrant city of St. John's, Newfoundland, a girl was born who would grow up to leave a lasting impression on everyone she met. Her name was Dana Bradley, a name that many people now know for its tragic backstory.

[00:03:39] Living on Patrick Street with her mother Dawn and her stepfather Jeff Levitz, Dana was loved for her bright smile, sharp mind, and incredible talent. As a ninth grader at I.J. Sampson Junior High School, Dana was the type of student who stood out. Not for her grades per se, but because of her love of art. She wasn't just good at it, she was passionate. Her sketchbooks were filled with creativity.

[00:04:07] Her world painted in shades of inspiration. But Dana wasn't just defined by her talent. She was also warm, outgoing, and had a wide circle of friends who adored her. But as with too many stories of life cut short, Dana's future was stolen from her. At just 14 years old, her life was tragically taken, and the city of St. John's was forever changed.

[00:04:32] The date was December 14, 1981, a cold afternoon in St. John's, Newfoundland. Dana had just finished her day at I.J. Sampson Junior High School. Around 2.50 p.m., she stepped out of school, eager to see her friends. At a nearby convenience store, she bumped into some familiar faces. Among them was her friend, Penny, who invited Dana and a few others to come over to her house. Dana wasn't able to stay long that evening.

[00:05:01] It was her mother Dawn's birthday, and Dana was excited to celebrate with her family. She called home to let them know that she would be there by 5.30 p.m., and then she set off towards the bus stop to make her way back. It would be the last time that anyone would hear her voice. Around that time, Dana arrived at the Top Sale Road bus stop, waiting for the bus to take her home. Two brothers, Harry and John Smeaton, they were taking a break from work nearby.

[00:05:31] The siblings, originally from Gander, were selling Christmas trees at an empty lot by the bus stop. Business had been kind of slow that day, and the brothers had passed the time people-watching from their truck. As they sat there, Harry Smeaton noticed Dana. They would later tell police that Dana, as she often did, got tired of waiting for the bus, and instead, she stuck out her thumb and hitchhiked for a ride.

[00:05:58] The car that pulled over was a light-colored vehicle, either a Dodge Dart or a Plymouth Valiant, likely from the mid-70s. The driver was a man, and the car had noticeable signs of wear, a broken driver's side door that had to be opened from the inside, and rust covering the entire body. The brothers didn't think much of it at the time. Hitchhiking was common in those days, and they never thought to get the car's license plate number.

[00:06:27] Again, this was the last time that anyone saw Dana Bradley alive. As the hours passed, and Dana didn't arrive home for her mother's birthday celebration, concern began to grow. Her family knew that something was wrong when she didn't show up. Panic set in, and they decided to contact the Newfoundland police, filing a missing persons report. The search for Dana Bradley was about to begin, but no one could have predicted how long it would take,

[00:06:56] or the tragic outcome that would follow. The disappearance of 14-year-old Dana Bradley captivated the city of St. John's, Newfoundland, and soon, the entire province. News outlets plastered her face across newspapers and TV screens, hoping to spark a lead. Along with her photograph, descriptions of the clothes that she was wearing, a pair of distinctive boots and blue pants, were widely circulated.

[00:07:25] But the most chilling detail was the composite sketch of the man last seen with Dana, a face that would come to haunt the search for her. The police launched a massive investigation, scouring the city and surrounding areas for any trace of the missing teen. Despite their efforts, Dana remained elusive. The clock was ticking, and as the hours turned into days, the hope of finding her alive began to fade.

[00:07:53] Four days later, on December 18th, the unthinkable happened. Dana's body was discovered on Maddox Cove Road, a remote, heavily wooded area south of St. John's. It was a place miles away from where Dana had been seen getting into that car on Top Sale Road, a place so isolated that it was often used as an unofficial dump site. The discovery came by chance.

[00:08:20] Dale Smith was out with his family in search of a Christmas tree that day. The afternoon had been typical, his young twins excitedly pointing out discarded toys dumped in the woods by others, remnants of holiday waste. There was fresh snow on the ground, and footprints left by people who had recently walked the same path. But then, something caught his eye deeper in the woods. What he thought might be a mannequin or perhaps a doll

[00:08:50] was something far more disturbing. As Dale ventured closer, he saw the unmistakable outline of a body. At first, he couldn't tell if it was a person or just a lifeless object. It was only when he got closer that he saw the boots, Dana's distinctive boots, and the blue pants that she had been wearing. His heart sank. Dale Smith wasn't sure if the girl was alive or dead,

[00:09:19] but he wasn't about to take any chances. He left to find his wife, bringing her to the scene. When she saw the body, her face went pale, and she whispered that she thought it was Dana Bradley, the missing girl. They quickly decided to protect their young daughters from the horrific sight, leading them back to the truck. Dale, panic rising, flagged down a nearby man chopping wood

[00:09:45] and asked if he would watch the area just to ensure its integrity while he rushed home to call the police. When the authorities arrived, it was confirmed. Dana Bradley was dead. Her body had been dumped in the woods, miles away from where she had last been seen. The crime scene was unusual. Dana's body was laid out in a way that police described as burial fashion, with her school books tucked under her arm,

[00:10:14] which made investigators think that perhaps her killer was remorseful. She had suffered multiple skull fractures, injuries that had been made with some kind of blunt object. It was also confirmed that whoever had killed her likely did so on the very same day that she disappeared. There was evidence that she may have been sexually assaulted, as there was male DNA found at the scene. The discovery of Dana Bradley's body in the woods

[00:10:42] marked a tragic and horrifying turn in the case, but it also marked the beginning of a relentless search for her killer, one that would involve hundreds of investigators, countless leads, and years of frustration. After Dana's body was found on Maddox Cove Road, two key witnesses came forward. They claimed to have seen a car and a man just off that same road on the night that Dana had disappeared. These descriptions,

[00:11:10] combined with the account from the Smeaton brothers, they helped police to piece together a rough image of the suspect. They believed that the man was in his mid-twenties, but little else about him could be confirmed. A composite sketch was created and distributed widely, but the man's identity, it remained a mystery. The car he drove, described as light-colored, either a Dodge Dart or Plymouth Valiant, was also elusive.

[00:11:38] Over 2,000 cars matching this description were examined by police, and more than 1,000 men were questioned. Even hypnosis was used in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the suspect, but the killer still remained unidentified. The investigation into Dana's death quickly became one of the largest and most expensive murder investigations all in Canadian history. Hundreds of interviews were conducted, and thousands of tips flooded in.

[00:12:08] The RCMP, along with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, formed a special task force that included 35 full-time investigators. But the break that everyone was hoping for never came. Over the years, there have been a lot of strange twists and turns in Dana Bradley's case. In 1982, just a year after her tragic death, a man began making cruel and harassing phone calls to the Bradley family.

[00:12:37] These calls, filled with taunts about Dana's murder, added to the family's pain and grief. The man, whose identity was never publicly disclosed, was eventually tracked down and sentenced to nine months in prison for his actions. But while this small measure of justice brought some relief, it didn't bring them any closer to finding Dana's killer. The case would remain closed for years, until 1986, when the public's attention shifted

[00:13:06] to a new suspect, David Somerton, a man from Mount Pearl. The police chief had received an unmarked note naming Somerton as the killer. With nothing else to really go on, they brought him in for questioning and received a shocking confession. Somerton claimed that the letter was true. He had killed Dana Bradley. According to Somerton, the car used in the crime was buried at Robin Hood Bay, and he led the police

[00:13:36] on an extensive search of the area, hoping to uncover the vehicle. Excavations at the site were conducted, with teams digging through the earth in search of evidence, but no car was ever found. Despite the dramatic confession, doubts about Somerton's guilt quickly emerged. He later recanted his statement, telling police that, after being relentlessly interrogated, he had admitted to the crime just to end the intense questioning.

[00:14:07] Somerton's confession, it seemed, had been coerced. And it's true, he had been interrogated for 18 consecutive hours, and false confessions can happen. They do happen. We've seen it happen. There were also mitigating factors, like Somerton having a history of substance abuse and mental illness. While the police interviewers claimed that he had given them information that was only known to them, in reality, they had released a ton of information

[00:14:36] pertaining to Dana's death to the public. And it's possible that he could have just been repeating things that he had heard on the news and spread throughout the community. The RCMP later confirmed that evidence did not support the charge of murder against him. Instead, Somerton was charged with public mischief for falsely confessing to the crime. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for his actions. But the real killer of Dana Bradley

[00:15:05] remained at large, and the investigation once again hit a dead end. For over 30 years, the murder of Dana Bradley haunted St. John's, Newfoundland, as the search for her killer seemed to stall at every turn. But in 2014, a man who has only been named as Robert, a pseudonym used to protect his identity, came forward with an astonishing claim that would reignite the investigation. It's time for a quick break

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[00:17:02] that you've been waiting for. For a limited time, you can get 15% off on your entire first order at happymammoth.com. Just use the code SERIALNAPPER at checkout. That's happymammoth.com and use the code SERIALNAPPER for 15% off today. Now back to our story. Robert, now an adult, said that he had witnessed Dana's death

[00:17:31] when he was just a young child. The memory had been buried for years, but now, desperate to speak the truth, he felt compelled to share what he knew. Robert's story was chilling. He said that on December 14, 1981, he was in a car with his 4-year-old brother and a family friend named Thomas Carey who was also a pedophile. Tragically, Robert happened to be one of his younger victims at one point in his life.

[00:18:01] That's how he knew he was a pedophile. The car, Robert claimed, belonged to his father, a 1972 Dodge Dart, but Carey had borrowed it and was the one driving that day. Now, on this day, Robert's parents were out and Carey had offered to take the kids to McDonald's on Top Sale Road. After enjoying their meal, as they were leaving the parking lot, Robert recalled, Carey spotted Dana trying to hitch a ride. Dana,

[00:18:31] feeling at ease with the two young children in the back seat, felt comfortable to take it. On the way, Robert said Dana was chatty and she even gave Carey her home address during the ride. Robert would say, quote, When she got in, she turned around. I remember her asking what our names were and what grades we were in. And, the younger child, was being really quiet and I had to explain to her that he wasn't yet going to school. But as the drive continued,

[00:19:01] something shifted. Dana's demeanor changed and she became increasingly uncomfortable because Carey was driving further away from her home. He eventually stopped in a remote wooded area. According to Robert, Dana rejected Carey's advances, which led him to become violent. Robert would say, She tried to jump out of the car going up a couple of sections of those hills and he'd grab a hold of her and he'd speed up

[00:19:30] and he kept telling her he was going to turn around and eventually, he pulled off up there into some kind of pit. He kept saying that he just wanted a kiss. She was crying and fighting him and eventually, and it wasn't very long, she scratched him on the face, pinched him or something because he jumped up and she grabbed at the door and got out and bolted. He got out. One of the things I remember is how quickly he got out of the car and bolted after her.

[00:20:00] Robert described how Carrie struck Dana over the head with a tire iron, then placed her body in the trunk of the car. Robert, who was just six years old at the time, had witnessed the entire thing. First, her horrific murder and then her sexual assault, both of which he did not understand. He was just far too young to comprehend what was happening in front of him, but he knew it was wrong, so he tried to scream for Carrie

[00:20:29] to stop. Carrie did not listen. Robert would say, When he got back in the car, I jumped out of the seat and said, No, you can't leave her there. I don't know if it spooked him into thinking it wasn't a great spot. He worked hard to get her up out of that. At one point, he took off his jacket and he finally got her up. One of her boots had come off, but he put that back on when he got her back in the trunk. I thought then he was going to take her home,

[00:20:59] but instead he turned up that road. Robert claimed that Carrie used car cables to drag Dana's body from the trunk into the bushes. Robert followed closely behind. He said, And he was trying to get me to leave because he said her mom and dad would be looking for her, and he told me that she was going to go to school the next morning, and I said she needed her books, so he went up to the car and got her books. He put them under her arm. The reason

[00:21:29] she was left that way was somebody was there who cared about her, another human being, an innocent child who didn't understand this stuff. Robert also claimed the car was then taken to a property owned by the Carey family in Whitless Bay and then buried in the ground with all potential evidence still inside. At first, the RCMP refused to dig up the supposed buried vehicles because they didn't put much weight into what

[00:21:58] vehicle. However, a group of citizens operating a Facebook community that was dedicated to seeking justice for Dana, they pushed for the excavation of these vehicles. Eventually, the RCMP conceded and decided to dig them up, but they said that there wasn't anything of value found in the cars. This answer just simply wasn't good enough for most. So after receiving financial support from the public, admins from this Facebook group hired their own forensic team

[00:22:28] to look at the vehicles. Sadly, the vehicles were so deteriorated that any evidence found was deemed inadmissible. Despite Robert's detailed account, the RCMP remained deeply skeptical about his story. Robert stated that he had tried to come forward to RCMP back in 2011, but the police had refused to believe his story. When he came forward again in 2014, they were still suspicious of his version of events.

[00:22:57] He claimed that he had repressed the memories for so many years through drinking, but when he became sober, some of those traumatic memories began to resurface, both of him being sexually abused by Carrie and then of the murder that he claims to have witnessed. Robert had a wealth of information, yet the police insisted that his account didn't align with the evidence that they had collected over the years. And again, they didn't find anything in the

[00:23:27] excavated vehicles. In March 2013, the RCMP requested that Robert meet with Dr. Peter Collins, a respected expert in forensic psychiatry. Following the meeting, Dr. Collins informed Robert that his symptoms were not the result of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. They weren't even recovered memories. Rather, they were a condition known as false memory syndrome. Frustrated by the handling

[00:23:56] of his case, Robert filed a formal complaint with the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP. He argued that the RCMP's decision to dismiss his complaint was based on the unsupported concept of false memory syndrome. It's a condition that isn't even recognized by the medical community. That's when they started to listen a little bit closer to him in 2014. This new development, like so many others before it, added layers of complexity to the

[00:24:26] case. Why would Robert, after all of these years, suddenly remember such a detailed account of that day? Was this a case of repressed memories, or was it false memory syndrome where he was just sort of making things up? And why were the police so determined to dismiss his story when it was so detailed? After all, he was able to point them to a location where there was a buried car, two buried cars actually, even if there was no evidence found inside of it.

[00:24:56] The buried vehicle was a 1972 Dodge Dart, similar to the one that witnesses said they saw Dana getting into. Why would a car ever even be buried if not to hide something? It's all very bizarre. But could it all just be some kind of coincidence? In May of 2016, the RCMP made a public statement revealing that new DNA evidence had been discovered in this case. The RCMP announced that they had

[00:25:26] retested the DNA samples that were collected back in 1981, a process that was made possible by advances in forensic technology. The original evidence collected at the crime scene had been limited by the available technology at the time, but with new methods at their disposal, the RCMP were able to isolate a DNA sample that pointed to an unknown male suspect. The DNA didn't lead to any immediate identification because whoever

[00:25:55] the suspect was, they weren't in any of the national databases, but it was still a significant step forward. For the first time in years, the case seemed to be making progress. The new evidence also allowed the RCMP to eliminate two previous suspects from the investigation, which would narrow the field and give investigators a new direction to go on. One of the people eliminated from suspicion was Thomas Carey. While Robert had claimed that he

[00:26:25] witnessed Dana being killed by Carey, DNA evidence ultimately ruled him out as her killer. Despite the troubling details of Robert's testimony, the RCMP's findings suggested that Carey was not the man they had been searching for all these years. This new DNA profile would have also ruled out David Somerton, who had given that false confession all those years ago. In today's world of genetic genealogy, the possibilities

[00:26:54] seem endless. One such tool that could prove invaluable is GED Match. This is a service that allows authorities to use public DNA databases to find distant relatives and trace family lines. This technology has been credited with solving over 500 cold cases across the U.S. and Canada, including the case of nine-year-old Christine Jessup from Ontario, who was murdered back in 1984.

[00:27:23] Brett Williams, who's CEO of GED Match, publicly stated that the Dana Bradley case could be a perfect fit for their service. He extended an invitation to the RCMP to explore this avenue of solving the case. GED Match's ability to match DNA samples with distant relatives, it could provide a crucial link to the identity of the killer. But despite the offer, the RCMP remained silent about whether

[00:27:53] they had utilized this new technology. They simply stated that they were using everything at their disposal to solve the case. The possibility that GED Match could be the key to unlocking the truth seems kind of promising, but as of now, it remains unclear whether the RCMP has taken advantage of the opportunity or not. The question on many minds remains, who is this unknown man and why has it taken so long to find him? With new

[00:28:22] DNA evidence pointing to this mysterious suspect, and with the advanced technology available now to narrow down possible matches, the hope for justice is still alive, though the investigation continues to be shrouded in secrecy. So what are the theories? When Dana Bradley's body was found in the woods of Maddox Cove in 1981, authorities noticed something chilling. Someone had taken great care in laying her body to rest. Dana was

[00:28:52] found with her school books tucked neatly under her arm, dressed in the clothes she had been wearing earlier that day, with her face cleaned. It was as if the killer had deliberately arranged her body in a way that deep sense of remorse. The careful handling of her body, it seems to contradict the brutality of the crime itself. This led investigators to wonder if Dana knew her killer. It is rare for strangers to commit such a violent act, but it's not impossible.

[00:29:22] The fact that Dana was hitchhiking alone may have made her vulnerable, especially in the late afternoon hours as she waited for a ride at a bus stop. So was she killed in a moment of opportunity by someone who saw her as a target, or was she picked up by someone that she trusted? Witnesses who saw Dana before her disappearance describe the car that she got into. It was a light-colored Dodge Dart or Plymouth Valiant, and it was driven by a man in his mid-twenties.

[00:29:52] But these descriptions, they've never been enough to lead investigators to a solid suspect. It is possible, though, that eyewitness accounts were flawed, and that the descriptions of the vehicle were off-base. As we know, witness testimonies can often be unreliable, and it's easy to misremember details, especially when emotions are high. But then there's the question of location. Maddox Cove was a secluded wooded area,

[00:30:21] a place where Dana's body was hidden away far from where she was last seen. So was it the choice of a random stranger or someone who knew the area more intimately? Could a stranger, unfamiliar with this particular area, have known about this remote spot? Or could the killer have been local, someone who knew exactly where to go to avoid being caught? After more than four decades, the murder of Dana Bradley

[00:30:51] remains an open wound in the city of St. John's, Newfoundland, and the search for justice continues. From the hauntingly careful way her body was placed, to the mysterious DNA evidence that now links to an unknown man to the crime, the case is full of twists and turns that have left more questions than answers. And what are we to make of the story told by Robert? Should this theory be dismissed altogether because it contradicts DNA evidence?

[00:31:20] No matter how many years pass, Dana's story deserves to be heard and justice for her is long overdue. If you have any information that could help solve the murder of Dana Bradley, please contact local authorities. This case is far from over, and with continued persistence, the truth may still come to light. That's it for me tonight. If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at Serial Napper. You can find my audio on Apple

[00:31:49] or Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I post all of my episodes in video format over on YouTube, so go check it out. And if you are watching on YouTube, I would love if you can give me a thumbs up and subscribe. Every little bit helps. I'm also on Patreon. If you'd like to get your Serial Napper episodes early and ad-free, hop on over and check out the details at patreon.com slash Serial Napper. Until next time,

[00:32:20] sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments. Bye. Wir sind Teresa und Nemo und deshalb sind wir zu

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