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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
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those of the individuals participating in the show and do
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not represent those of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate Recordings. All
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individuals described or mentioned in the podcast should be considered
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innocent until found guilty in a court of law. This
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podcast contains subject matter such as violence and graphic descriptions,
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which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion
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is advised.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The purpose of this episode is
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very similar to what we did in our first bonus episode.
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And that is ultimately just to give more insight into
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what it's been like working on this case and making
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a podcast on it. In that first bonus episode, I
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interviewed our producer, Jessica, who's been a tremendous help in
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investigating and making this podcast. And as a reminder, she's
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a local to Brown County, Ohio. has spent most of
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her life in that area. So I felt it important
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to talk with her and get her insight on the
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case as someone who's been around it and known about
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it for some time now. And in this episode, I
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want to flip the script on that. Now we're much
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further into our investigation. We're much further into the podcast.
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And so I thought it'd be nice to have Jessica
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instead interview me for this one so that you all
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can learn more about what it's looked like from my perspective.
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Okay, Dennis, so you had a very, very successful season
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one of Culpable. I've got to know, what are some
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of the challenges you faced in doing a second season
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of such a successful podcast?
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Well, first of all, thanks for the kind words. Yeah, obviously,
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season one, as you said, was a great success in
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a lot of different ways. But Season one was, let
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me think of the best word, exhausting. And I'll try
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and connect it to this as best I can. So
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season one, for the most part, we didn't know what
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the heck we were doing. But I think we did
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our best with that and learned and grew along the
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way and ultimately did help make a difference in that case.
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And that's ultimately the goal here. But at the end
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of it all, there was also a lawsuit. And, yeah,
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I talked about that in an episode that we did
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after the season one completion. Just that is very much
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a learning process. And, you know, fortunately, we won that
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case and it's over and done with. And so that's good.
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But in the moment itself, it was very draining. It's
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not something I'd experienced before. And making an investigative podcast
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wasn't something I'd experienced before. So, you know, it wrapped up.
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And I had just been so heavily involved in this podcast. And,
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you know, that puts a strain on things like your
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home life and family. Like my family had to sacrifice
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a lot for me to be able to do that.
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And then, you know, when it's all said and done
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and you kind of start to kick your feet up
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and relax and think, okay, let's take some time off.
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And I'm burnt out. There's no way I'm doing a
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season two anytime soon. Like, let's just take some time away.
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And then bam, And then you're slapped with a lawsuit
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over it. And then, so that's some long drawn out
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process too, and just adds more stress. So it kind
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of felt like it took a long time to get
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out from underneath that cloud from season one. But at
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the same time, deep down, I was, I was itching
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to do it again. And I knew that we would
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want to do a season two of Cold Bull. I
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enjoy doing this. So it's just one of those things
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that just everything needed to align, like needed to get
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that stuff off the plate, needed to spend some time
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away from podcasting and more time with family and come
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back rejuvenated. And the stars aligned in a way that,
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you know, as soon as I'm kind of starting to
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think about producing another podcast, you came along and along
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with you came this story that you wanted to cover.
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And so it was just kind of perfect timing. You know,
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I felt like I was ready to do this. And
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then this case just sort of fell in my lap,
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sort of same way that season one did. And it
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was like, I got to do this one. And then
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there's challenges beyond that too, because like in season one,
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the victim, Christian, his girlfriend, for example, did not want
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to talk to us. It's understandable. In this case, Brittany's husband, Shane,
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was more than happy to talk to us. But on
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top of that, in season one, the Meridian police didn't
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want to talk to us. Again, understandable. But in this case,
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the Brown County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Quinn Carlson, he did
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want to. You know, he said he'd be foolish to
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not talk to us. Like, why not accept, you know,
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an offer from somebody wanting to do a story on
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this and put it out there for the world? So,
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you know, I wouldn't say that those were challenges we
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faced this season, but I would say that, like, it
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was nice to not have to face some of those challenges,
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especially coming on the tail end of such an exhausting process.
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It really made this whole process a lot easier to
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get behind and get excited about and a sense of
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feeling like people were willing to talk and having a
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producer who lives there and knows so much about it
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and those types of things. So it's really given a
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huge boost and it's really reaffirmed the whole podcasting thing
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and being a creator of Culpable. It feels like we're
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on the right track. I take a lot of pride
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in the work that we've done on this season and
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I'm excited to see how everything wraps up and excited
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to see what's next.
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So Dennis, as an outsider, I want to know what
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it was like for you stepping into another small town,
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another small county like you did in the first season.
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I would say it was eerily similar. Obviously, Brown County,
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Ohio and Meridian, Mississippi are very different in a lot
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of ways, but they also have their similarities. Feels like
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most people know everybody and you hear a lot through
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the rumor mill. in these types of places. And so
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in a lot of ways, it was similar and I
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felt surprisingly comfortable going into Brown County, Ohio and working
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on the story. Okay.
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To kind of further that a little bit, I got
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to know, what was your first thought when you stepped
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into Brown County and what do you feel like about
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it now?
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Being from Kentucky myself, I didn't feel like I was
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stepping into too foreign of an area, I guess you
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could say. But again, it has its uniqueness. And Brown
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County obviously spans many different villages and towns, but you
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brought this story to us and you live in Georgetown.
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If I remember correctly, that's where things kind of started.
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We met you at the Jesus mural, which is a
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staple of that area, which is Probably one of the
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biggest murals I've ever stood next to and 100% the
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biggest Jesus mural I've ever stood next to. And so
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that kind of just set the tone for things. And
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I remember sort of debriefing with you. And the reason
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we were there was, of course, to go meet the Dodsons,
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Brittany's parents, Dave and Mary. I'm a firm believer that
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in doing these types of podcasts, you know, if you
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have the ability to speak with the victim's family, there's
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just not really a better place to start. And of course,
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if you listen to the podcast, you know how unique
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and how special that time was. Even something as simple
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as just walking onto their property felt like we kind
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of had something special here because they live on what's
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called Red Oak Creek Farm. And as we pull up
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and we talk about this in the podcast, there's just
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like tons of vintage vehicles and there's a bunch of
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grandkids running around. So it feels wholesome. And there's you know,
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ducks walking up and you can see all these animals
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off to the side. And it's just kind of like,
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where the heck are we? Like I said, it didn't,
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I didn't feel out of place or anything. If anything,
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it was more excitement of like, oh, well now I
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got to meet these people. And now I got to
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learn more about Brittany.
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I feel this when I'm here, even though we're talking
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to them, we're sitting down and talking to them about
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such a tragic event in their life and their emotional
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and they're still the most welcoming, wholesome people that you'll
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ever meet. Yeah.
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There's definitely another parallel there to season one and a
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sense of, you know, just couldn't feel more welcome walking
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into the place. You know, they're just clearly appreciative that
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we even want to sit down and talk with them
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about this. There's kind of this feeling of like a
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level of trust there that usually you got to earn
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with people. So just, just very great people. And, and
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very gracious for their time and being as welcome as
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they were.
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You know, you now have talked to locals and we've
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interviewed folks here and you know just as well as
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anyone now how many rumors and theories swirl around this county.
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How do you feel about the theory? that that we've
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heard around town and now those theories are swirling on
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social media so it's not just in the this bubble
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of brown county anymore this is worldwide.
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Well as you know there's been an abundance my understanding
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is there always has been and here we are now,
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and there's still a lot you hear, and there's still
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a lot that we are considering and weighing out and
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digging into on a day-to-day basis. And I think that's
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one of the things that drew me to this case
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early on was that when we spoke with Sergeant Quinn Carlson,
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who's the lead detective on this case, he likened this
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case to a whodunit. And it was actually probably around
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that moment that I started to get this feeling that like,
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maybe that's what culpable is. You know, we didn't really
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quite have an identity, I felt like. And in our
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first season, we covered a, you know, a case of,
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is it, you know, homicide versus suicide. And I knew
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I didn't want to take it that route in terms
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of just covering cases like that. But all I have
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to say, when the lead detective told us early on
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that this is a whodunit, you know, they've had avenues
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that they've explored and gone down. It seems like something
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that just falls apart. And they've had new things come
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up as of recently that they're a lot of optimism in.
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And so, That's just kind of been the history of it.
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And as I sit here now talking about this, it
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doesn't feel like we're at square one, but in a
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lot of ways, there's just a lot of stuff to
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weigh out on this. And overall, a lot of things
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to consider and a lot of things that you can
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connect dots on and make sense of. Everybody who's kind
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of come up in this and all the theories that
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have come up make sense in a lot of ways,
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but then also like you can poke holes in them
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and we kind of get into that. in the podcast.
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And at the end of the day, like, that's what
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I've learned in this is this really is a whodunit
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type of case. And I guess I'm drawn to those.
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And I think a lot of people are, you know,
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that's why a lot of people listen to these. And
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that's why a lot of people really appreciate like on
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the ground, live investigative podcasts is because you feel like
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you're taking a part in it too. You know, we
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want to get past the theories and actually find out
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what exactly happened and everybody's pouring effort into trying to
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figure that out. And so, yeah, I mean, I feel
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like we've made some headway. But at the end of
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the day, this is still very much a whodunit.
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You know, whodunits have so many challenges to them for
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law enforcement. So I want to ask you, someone who's
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not in law enforcement, what's been the biggest challenge for
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you looking into Brittany's case?
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It's just been the tug of war, the back and forth,
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the thinking you know something and then realizing, oh, maybe
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I don't. Maybe I'm wrong on that. It's taken some time,
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but it does feel like there's a sense of direction.
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And that's an exciting and a good feeling. And that's
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how I know that like the biggest frustration would have
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been the flip side of that, which is just the
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normal challenge of working a whodunit case and not really
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feeling too confident in any one direction.
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I feel like the tug of war you're referring to
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is when you and I have discussions about the theories
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and different theories. evidence or people that we're talking about
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in this case and what we think could be a possibility.
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You know, police haven't figured it out in nine years.
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So I think the challenge of us trying to piece
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together this story without a resolution to the case itself
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is definitely a challenge. But the conversations we have behind
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the scenes are so fascinating because we We're going through
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all those theories and then we go through what we've
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uncovered or who we've spoken to and does that line
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up with this? And then the way we're able to
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present that for the listener in a very digestible episode
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is pretty incredible for this case.
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I think you just kind of hit on it. It's
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now a nine going on 10 year unsolved case. And
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so it's a long time. People remember things differently over time.
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This case has gone through numerous investigators' hands. It's had
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its highs. It's had its lows. There's a lot of
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digging and a lot of connecting of dots that has
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to go on when you're trying to dissect a case
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that's that old.
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A lot of the things that we're covering in this
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have never been made public. Folks who've never spoken before
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about this case. And at the end of the day...
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That's the end game is that this podcast and Brittany's
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story is going to compel the person who knows the
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right information to come forward to talk to law enforcement
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so that they can finally solve this case and bring
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some justice to Brittany and Aubrey and the whole Dotson family.
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Yeah. The Brown County Sheriff's Office has pertinent information. That's
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been made clear. And they're currently... working with some newer
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technology to try and piece some of the information they
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have together. As you know, he talked to us about that.
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And he says, you know, while he's optimistic about that,
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at the end of the day, what he knows will
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solve it is somebody coming forward with information that ties
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to information that they already know. And yeah, you can't
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say that better. That'd be true for, I think, most
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any case, but especially in one like this, where you
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just don't have a ton of physical evidence. But at
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the end of the day, they have information. And obviously
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one thing that could break this thing open is somebody
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coming forward and validating or matching some of that information.
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And the way you typically do that is to put
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the story out there and get not just Brown County,
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but the world talking about it, you know, light that fire.
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If you have the best chance of having somebody come forward,
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I would imagine it's probably that way. It's somebody, whether
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they're linked to this in a good way or a
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bad way, whether they were just some person driving down
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the highway that night, it could be somebody who was
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with or knows valuable information specific to her murder and
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has been afraid to come forward. And so you kind
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of just hope that, that hearing this story one way
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or another will propel that person to come forward. So
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I think Quinn is right in a sense of like, that's,
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that's the best way to put this thing to rest.
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And that's why we do these types of things. It's,
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If we can help break it wide open, fantastic. If
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we can find a piece of new information, that's great.
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But the biggest thing you can do is get the
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story out there and get the world listening to it
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and talking about it.
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I want to switch gears a minute and ask you
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my final question. Obviously, my connection to this case stems
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from a geographic standpoint, as well as mutual acquaintances and
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friends in my community compounded by this empathy that I
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feel for my neighbors, which is how I feel about
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Brittany and her family. What is it for you that
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you feel connects you to this case and to Brittany?
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I think the first thing that draws me to this case,
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not just in terms of story, but like an emotional
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element to it, is I have kids of my own.
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And I did when we covered Christian's case in Meridian
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as well. And so hearing about a family losing their
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child is hard enough information itself to process. You know,
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you just feel so much compassion for those people and
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I want to help them and I feel for them.
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And so, you know, this is the Brittany Stikes case,
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but at the end of the day, she lost an
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unborn child. You know, she didn't even get to meet
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her second child who she knew she was pregnant with
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when the murder happened. And so, On top of that,
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her one-year-old daughter is in the vehicle next to her,
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and she didn't get to experience life with her mom.
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And vice versa, Brittany didn't get to do all the
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things that a mom should be able to do with
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her daughter. When you start to get into this type
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of thing, you see that sort of trickle-down effect, and
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you really start to think about those emotional details in
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it of what this must be like. for these people.
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And again, like, I can't put myself in your shoes,
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but I feel for you. And let me just, you know,
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let me try my best to understand where you're coming from.
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And more than anything, just let you tell that to
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the world.
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You nailed that as far as a connection to this case,
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because the connection that you build with those people in
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this story is what creates the story. As we've said before,
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this is Brittany's story. She's not just a case number.
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She was a mother and a daughter and a sister
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and all these things, and she was lost. That immediate
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connection with her loved ones is what not only connects
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you and I to this story, but then it connects
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the audience in a way that all the investigation and
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all the case file information we can get our hands
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on is never going to do justice.
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Culpable is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV.
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in conjunction with Cadence 13, written and hosted by me,
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00:19:54.470 --> 00:19:59.670
Dennis Cooper, and produced by Jessica Knoll. Executive producers are myself,
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00:20:00.170 --> 00:20:05.390
Mark Minery, Jacob Bozarth, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsey. Our
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senior producer is John Street. Additional production by Todd McComas. Editing, mixing, mastering,
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and sound design by Dayton Cole, Pat Kicklighter, Adam Townsend,
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00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.740
and Caleb Melcher of the Resonate Recordings team. If you
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have a podcast or are looking to start one, check
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00:20:24.250 --> 00:20:29.049
us out at resonate recordings.com. Our theme song and original
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00:20:29.089 --> 00:20:32.609
score is by Dirt Poor Robbins with additional scoring by
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Dayton Cole. Our cover art is by Drew Bardana. You
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can follow us on social media at culpable podcasts, show notes,
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as well as bonus content can be found on our website,
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culpable podcast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time
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to subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
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And lastly, if you have any information about the murder
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of Brittany Stikes, we urge you to contact the Brown
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County Sheriff's Office by visiting their website, browncountyohiosheriff.us, where you
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can anonymously submit your information. Or, you can contact Sergeant
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Quinn Carlson directly at 937-378-4444 extension 126 or by email
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at quincarlson at bcoso.com you can also submit your information
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through our website culpablepodcast.com thank you for listening
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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely
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those of the individuals participating in the show and do
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not represent those of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate Recordings. All
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individuals described or mentioned in the podcast should be considered
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innocent until found guilty in a court of law. This
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podcast contains subject matter such as violence and graphic descriptions,
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which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion
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is advised.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The purpose of this episode is
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very similar to what we did in our first bonus episode.
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And that is ultimately just to give more insight into
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what it's been like working on this case and making
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a podcast on it. In that first bonus episode, I
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interviewed our producer, Jessica, who's been a tremendous help in
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investigating and making this podcast. And as a reminder, she's
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a local to Brown County, Ohio. has spent most of
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her life in that area. So I felt it important
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to talk with her and get her insight on the
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case as someone who's been around it and known about
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it for some time now. And in this episode, I
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want to flip the script on that. Now we're much
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further into our investigation. We're much further into the podcast.
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And so I thought it'd be nice to have Jessica
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instead interview me for this one so that you all
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can learn more about what it's looked like from my perspective.
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Okay, Dennis, so you had a very, very successful season
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one of Culpable. I've got to know, what are some
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of the challenges you faced in doing a second season
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of such a successful podcast?
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Well, first of all, thanks for the kind words. Yeah, obviously,
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season one, as you said, was a great success in
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a lot of different ways. But Season one was, let
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me think of the best word, exhausting. And I'll try
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and connect it to this as best I can. So
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season one, for the most part, we didn't know what
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the heck we were doing. But I think we did
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our best with that and learned and grew along the
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way and ultimately did help make a difference in that case.
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And that's ultimately the goal here. But at the end
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of it all, there was also a lawsuit. And, yeah,
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I talked about that in an episode that we did
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after the season one completion. Just that is very much
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a learning process. And, you know, fortunately, we won that
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case and it's over and done with. And so that's good.
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But in the moment itself, it was very draining. It's
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not something I'd experienced before. And making an investigative podcast
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wasn't something I'd experienced before. So, you know, it wrapped up.
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And I had just been so heavily involved in this podcast. And,
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you know, that puts a strain on things like your
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home life and family. Like my family had to sacrifice
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a lot for me to be able to do that.
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And then, you know, when it's all said and done
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and you kind of start to kick your feet up
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and relax and think, okay, let's take some time off.
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And I'm burnt out. There's no way I'm doing a
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season two anytime soon. Like, let's just take some time away.
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And then bam, And then you're slapped with a lawsuit
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over it. And then, so that's some long drawn out
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process too, and just adds more stress. So it kind
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of felt like it took a long time to get
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out from underneath that cloud from season one. But at
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the same time, deep down, I was, I was itching
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to do it again. And I knew that we would
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want to do a season two of Cold Bull. I
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enjoy doing this. So it's just one of those things
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that just everything needed to align, like needed to get
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that stuff off the plate, needed to spend some time
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away from podcasting and more time with family and come
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back rejuvenated. And the stars aligned in a way that,
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you know, as soon as I'm kind of starting to
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think about producing another podcast, you came along and along
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with you came this story that you wanted to cover.
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And so it was just kind of perfect timing. You know,
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I felt like I was ready to do this. And
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then this case just sort of fell in my lap,
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sort of same way that season one did. And it
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was like, I got to do this one. And then
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there's challenges beyond that too, because like in season one,
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the victim, Christian, his girlfriend, for example, did not want
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to talk to us. It's understandable. In this case, Brittany's husband, Shane,
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was more than happy to talk to us. But on
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top of that, in season one, the Meridian police didn't
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want to talk to us. Again, understandable. But in this case,
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the Brown County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Quinn Carlson, he did
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want to. You know, he said he'd be foolish to
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not talk to us. Like, why not accept, you know,
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an offer from somebody wanting to do a story on
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this and put it out there for the world? So,
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you know, I wouldn't say that those were challenges we
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faced this season, but I would say that, like, it
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was nice to not have to face some of those challenges,
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especially coming on the tail end of such an exhausting process.
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It really made this whole process a lot easier to
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get behind and get excited about and a sense of
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feeling like people were willing to talk and having a
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producer who lives there and knows so much about it
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and those types of things. So it's really given a
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huge boost and it's really reaffirmed the whole podcasting thing
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and being a creator of Culpable. It feels like we're
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on the right track. I take a lot of pride
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in the work that we've done on this season and
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I'm excited to see how everything wraps up and excited
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to see what's next.
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So Dennis, as an outsider, I want to know what
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it was like for you stepping into another small town,
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another small county like you did in the first season.
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I would say it was eerily similar. Obviously, Brown County,
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Ohio and Meridian, Mississippi are very different in a lot
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of ways, but they also have their similarities. Feels like
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most people know everybody and you hear a lot through
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the rumor mill. in these types of places. And so
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in a lot of ways, it was similar and I
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felt surprisingly comfortable going into Brown County, Ohio and working
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on the story. Okay.
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To kind of further that a little bit, I got
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to know, what was your first thought when you stepped
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into Brown County and what do you feel like about
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it now?
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Being from Kentucky myself, I didn't feel like I was
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stepping into too foreign of an area, I guess you
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could say. But again, it has its uniqueness. And Brown
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County obviously spans many different villages and towns, but you
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brought this story to us and you live in Georgetown.
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If I remember correctly, that's where things kind of started.
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We met you at the Jesus mural, which is a
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staple of that area, which is Probably one of the
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biggest murals I've ever stood next to and 100% the
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biggest Jesus mural I've ever stood next to. And so
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that kind of just set the tone for things. And
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I remember sort of debriefing with you. And the reason
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we were there was, of course, to go meet the Dodsons,
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Brittany's parents, Dave and Mary. I'm a firm believer that
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in doing these types of podcasts, you know, if you
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have the ability to speak with the victim's family, there's
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just not really a better place to start. And of course,
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if you listen to the podcast, you know how unique
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and how special that time was. Even something as simple
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as just walking onto their property felt like we kind
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of had something special here because they live on what's
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called Red Oak Creek Farm. And as we pull up
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and we talk about this in the podcast, there's just
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like tons of vintage vehicles and there's a bunch of
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grandkids running around. So it feels wholesome. And there's you know,
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ducks walking up and you can see all these animals
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off to the side. And it's just kind of like,
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where the heck are we? Like I said, it didn't,
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I didn't feel out of place or anything. If anything,
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it was more excitement of like, oh, well now I
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got to meet these people. And now I got to
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learn more about Brittany.
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I feel this when I'm here, even though we're talking
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to them, we're sitting down and talking to them about
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such a tragic event in their life and their emotional
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and they're still the most welcoming, wholesome people that you'll
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ever meet. Yeah.
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There's definitely another parallel there to season one and a
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sense of, you know, just couldn't feel more welcome walking
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into the place. You know, they're just clearly appreciative that
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we even want to sit down and talk with them
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about this. There's kind of this feeling of like a
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level of trust there that usually you got to earn
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with people. So just, just very great people. And, and
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very gracious for their time and being as welcome as
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they were.
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You know, you now have talked to locals and we've
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interviewed folks here and you know just as well as
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anyone now how many rumors and theories swirl around this county.
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How do you feel about the theory? that that we've
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heard around town and now those theories are swirling on
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social media so it's not just in the this bubble
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of brown county anymore this is worldwide.
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Well as you know there's been an abundance my understanding
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is there always has been and here we are now,
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and there's still a lot you hear, and there's still
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a lot that we are considering and weighing out and
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digging into on a day-to-day basis. And I think that's
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one of the things that drew me to this case
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early on was that when we spoke with Sergeant Quinn Carlson,
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who's the lead detective on this case, he likened this
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case to a whodunit. And it was actually probably around
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that moment that I started to get this feeling that like,
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maybe that's what culpable is. You know, we didn't really
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quite have an identity, I felt like. And in our
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first season, we covered a, you know, a case of,
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is it, you know, homicide versus suicide. And I knew
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I didn't want to take it that route in terms
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of just covering cases like that. But all I have
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to say, when the lead detective told us early on
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that this is a whodunit, you know, they've had avenues
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that they've explored and gone down. It seems like something
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that just falls apart. And they've had new things come
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up as of recently that they're a lot of optimism in.
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And so, That's just kind of been the history of it.
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And as I sit here now talking about this, it
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doesn't feel like we're at square one, but in a
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lot of ways, there's just a lot of stuff to
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weigh out on this. And overall, a lot of things
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to consider and a lot of things that you can
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connect dots on and make sense of. Everybody who's kind
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of come up in this and all the theories that
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have come up make sense in a lot of ways,
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but then also like you can poke holes in them
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and we kind of get into that. in the podcast.
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And at the end of the day, like, that's what
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I've learned in this is this really is a whodunit
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type of case. And I guess I'm drawn to those.
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And I think a lot of people are, you know,
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that's why a lot of people listen to these. And
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that's why a lot of people really appreciate like on
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the ground, live investigative podcasts is because you feel like
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you're taking a part in it too. You know, we
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want to get past the theories and actually find out
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what exactly happened and everybody's pouring effort into trying to
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figure that out. And so, yeah, I mean, I feel
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like we've made some headway. But at the end of
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the day, this is still very much a whodunit.
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You know, whodunits have so many challenges to them for
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law enforcement. So I want to ask you, someone who's
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not in law enforcement, what's been the biggest challenge for
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you looking into Brittany's case?
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It's just been the tug of war, the back and forth,
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the thinking you know something and then realizing, oh, maybe
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I don't. Maybe I'm wrong on that. It's taken some time,
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but it does feel like there's a sense of direction.
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And that's an exciting and a good feeling. And that's
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how I know that like the biggest frustration would have
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been the flip side of that, which is just the
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normal challenge of working a whodunit case and not really
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feeling too confident in any one direction.
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I feel like the tug of war you're referring to
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is when you and I have discussions about the theories
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and different theories. evidence or people that we're talking about
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in this case and what we think could be a possibility.
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You know, police haven't figured it out in nine years.
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So I think the challenge of us trying to piece
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together this story without a resolution to the case itself
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is definitely a challenge. But the conversations we have behind
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the scenes are so fascinating because we We're going through
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all those theories and then we go through what we've
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uncovered or who we've spoken to and does that line
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up with this? And then the way we're able to
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present that for the listener in a very digestible episode
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is pretty incredible for this case.
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I think you just kind of hit on it. It's
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now a nine going on 10 year unsolved case. And
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so it's a long time. People remember things differently over time.
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This case has gone through numerous investigators' hands. It's had
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its highs. It's had its lows. There's a lot of
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digging and a lot of connecting of dots that has
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to go on when you're trying to dissect a case
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that's that old.
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A lot of the things that we're covering in this
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have never been made public. Folks who've never spoken before
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about this case. And at the end of the day...
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That's the end game is that this podcast and Brittany's
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story is going to compel the person who knows the
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right information to come forward to talk to law enforcement
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so that they can finally solve this case and bring
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some justice to Brittany and Aubrey and the whole Dotson family.
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Yeah. The Brown County Sheriff's Office has pertinent information. That's
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been made clear. And they're currently... working with some newer
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technology to try and piece some of the information they
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have together. As you know, he talked to us about that.
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And he says, you know, while he's optimistic about that,
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at the end of the day, what he knows will
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solve it is somebody coming forward with information that ties
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to information that they already know. And yeah, you can't
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say that better. That'd be true for, I think, most
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any case, but especially in one like this, where you
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just don't have a ton of physical evidence. But at
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the end of the day, they have information. And obviously
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one thing that could break this thing open is somebody
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coming forward and validating or matching some of that information.
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And the way you typically do that is to put
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the story out there and get not just Brown County,
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but the world talking about it, you know, light that fire.
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If you have the best chance of having somebody come forward,
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I would imagine it's probably that way. It's somebody, whether
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they're linked to this in a good way or a
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bad way, whether they were just some person driving down
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the highway that night, it could be somebody who was
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with or knows valuable information specific to her murder and
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has been afraid to come forward. And so you kind
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of just hope that, that hearing this story one way
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or another will propel that person to come forward. So
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I think Quinn is right in a sense of like, that's,
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that's the best way to put this thing to rest.
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And that's why we do these types of things. It's,
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If we can help break it wide open, fantastic. If
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we can find a piece of new information, that's great.
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But the biggest thing you can do is get the
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story out there and get the world listening to it
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and talking about it.
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I want to switch gears a minute and ask you
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my final question. Obviously, my connection to this case stems
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from a geographic standpoint, as well as mutual acquaintances and
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friends in my community compounded by this empathy that I
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feel for my neighbors, which is how I feel about
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Brittany and her family. What is it for you that
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you feel connects you to this case and to Brittany?
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I think the first thing that draws me to this case,
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not just in terms of story, but like an emotional
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element to it, is I have kids of my own.
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And I did when we covered Christian's case in Meridian
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as well. And so hearing about a family losing their
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child is hard enough information itself to process. You know,
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you just feel so much compassion for those people and
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I want to help them and I feel for them.
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And so, you know, this is the Brittany Stikes case,
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but at the end of the day, she lost an
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unborn child. You know, she didn't even get to meet
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her second child who she knew she was pregnant with
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when the murder happened. And so, On top of that,
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her one-year-old daughter is in the vehicle next to her,
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and she didn't get to experience life with her mom.
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And vice versa, Brittany didn't get to do all the
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things that a mom should be able to do with
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her daughter. When you start to get into this type
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of thing, you see that sort of trickle-down effect, and
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you really start to think about those emotional details in
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it of what this must be like. for these people.
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And again, like, I can't put myself in your shoes,
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but I feel for you. And let me just, you know,
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let me try my best to understand where you're coming from.
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And more than anything, just let you tell that to
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the world.
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You nailed that as far as a connection to this case,
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because the connection that you build with those people in
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this story is what creates the story. As we've said before,
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this is Brittany's story. She's not just a case number.
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She was a mother and a daughter and a sister
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and all these things, and she was lost. That immediate
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connection with her loved ones is what not only connects
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you and I to this story, but then it connects
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the audience in a way that all the investigation and
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all the case file information we can get our hands
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on is never going to do justice.
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Culpable is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV.
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00:19:50.369 --> 00:19:54.069
in conjunction with Cadence 13, written and hosted by me,
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00:19:54.470 --> 00:19:59.670
Dennis Cooper, and produced by Jessica Knoll. Executive producers are myself,
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00:20:00.170 --> 00:20:05.390
Mark Minery, Jacob Bozarth, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsey. Our
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00:20:05.450 --> 00:20:13.130
senior producer is John Street. Additional production by Todd McComas. Editing, mixing, mastering,
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00:20:13.390 --> 00:20:17.599
and sound design by Dayton Cole, Pat Kicklighter, Adam Townsend,
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00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.740
and Caleb Melcher of the Resonate Recordings team. If you
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have a podcast or are looking to start one, check
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us out at resonate recordings.com. Our theme song and original
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score is by Dirt Poor Robbins with additional scoring by
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00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:36.630
Dayton Cole. Our cover art is by Drew Bardana. You
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00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:40.769
can follow us on social media at culpable podcasts, show notes,
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00:20:41.089 --> 00:20:43.720
as well as bonus content can be found on our website,
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culpable podcast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time
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to subscribe, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
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And lastly, if you have any information about the murder
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of Brittany Stikes, we urge you to contact the Brown
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County Sheriff's Office by visiting their website, browncountyohiosheriff.us, where you
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can anonymously submit your information. Or, you can contact Sergeant
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Quinn Carlson directly at 937-378-4444 extension 126 or by email
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at quincarlson at bcoso.com you can also submit your information
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through our website culpablepodcast.com thank you for listening
