Echoes of the Unknown: The Unresolved Mysteries of Justine Gross and Tony Turner

As the shadows of uncertainty linger over the unsolved mysteries of Justine Gross and Tony Turner, we shed light on their stories in a heartfelt exploration of hope and perseverance. Feel the weight of unanswered questions as we recount the chilling details of Justine's fall from a Penn State university building and delve into the enigma surrounding the vanishing of Tony, an artist whose spirit deeply intertwined with her community. The silence of these cases speaks volumes, urging us to keep searching for the truths that are hidden just out of sight.

We share our appreciation for your unwavering support, which fuels our journey through the eerie and otherworldly. Your stories, darkly whimsical or lightheartedly strange, are the essence of Dark Crossroads, and we invite even more of your intriguing encounters. We are committed to embracing the peculiarities that define us, and we remind you to treasure the rare and delicate threads of trust in our bewildering world. Until we meet again at the next crossroads, remember to stay true to your own unique path.

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Chapters

• 1:37 Unsolved Cases
• 15:37 Gratitude and Engagement for Dark Podcast

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:37

unserer own control realize. And Welcome to Dark Crossroads podcast, hosted by Roxanne Fletcher. This is your stop for all things true crime and paranormal. From the infamous story of the New Bedford Highway Killer to the chilling tale of the Black Eyed Children, dark Crossroads podcast is a truly deep dive into the stories that frighten and fascinate you All. Links to the show will be provided in this episode's description, and don't forget to let us know what you think of today's episode. Wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 1: 2:47

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Speaker 1: 4:00

Justine Groves was described by friends and family as a ray of sunshine and a beautiful person inside and out. Justine was a scholar throughout her high school years, a member of the National Honor Society, a lifelong member of Q-Men, and also attended the UCLA summer programs. Justine went on to attend Penn State University after high school and was a member of the dance organization there, and also completed two summer internships at BNY Mellon when she was just a sophomore. Justine absolutely loved music, dancing and learning about fashion and makeup, and when she was not cruising around in her Jeep, you could find her in her room, obviously having a dance party. Justine described her as having a laugh and a smile that could absolutely brighten anybody's day.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Justine lived in the Beaver Terrace Apartments, about a block from the Penn State University campus. On the night of November 10th 2021, so this is very recently Justine decided to leave her 10th floor apartment and head down to the 7th floor to hang out with a man that she had met two days before, on November 8th. While in the apartment, the man offered Justine to smoke marijuana with him and she obliged. However, justine had a bad reaction to the marijuana and quickly started having a panic attack. Security footage that was obtained shows Justine leaving this man's apartment, swaying and unable to walk straight or steadily. The man claims that he was attempting to bring Justine back to her 10th floor apartment, but she ran away from him A few minutes later. Security footage catches Justine running toward the trash room on the 11th floor At 11, 22 pm. Justine sends an alarming text on Snapchat to a friend and this snap reads something just happened. Justine leaves her shoes and cell phone in a nearby stairwell and enters the trash room. This is the last time that Justine was ever seen on camera, while there are no cameras in the trash room itself. It is known that just a few minutes after Justine sent that text, she plunged 11 stories down the trash chute and into the connecting dumpster. Justine's roommates became concerned when she failed to return home that night and stopped answering all of her text messages. They reported her missing at 5 pm the next day, on November 11. After watching the security footage, authorities searched the recycling and transportation where the trash from her apartment building was relocated and Justine's body was found at 2.45 am on November 12.

Speaker 1: 6:35

The Center County Coroner's Office determined that the cause of death for Justine was an accident caused by multiple acute blunt force traumas due to a fall. Autopsy results revealed that marijuana and alcohol were present in her liver at the time of her death. Police rollout foul play once the results from the medical examiner are confirmed, seizing the investigation altogether. Police also did not interview the man that she was with the hour before she fell to her death and he refuses to answer any questions from Justine's family about those crucial minutes before she died. Justine's family is not convinced that her death was an accident and cannot believe that she was so under the influence that she would voluntarily throw herself down a garbage chute. Her parents asked for a copy of the medical examiner's report but were told that it would cost $700. And they have released to the public that her autopsy did not include a rape kit to swap her for any DNA or to check for signs of any essay. Her mother was found stating why would anybody in their right mind jump into a trash chute. I don't want them to close this case. I feel worse than I did before. While her case was closed, her family and many other people on social media believed that the circumstances around Justine's death were suspicious and worth reinvestigating. Justine's family started a petition to reopen Justine's case and to fill in the gaps not accounted for during the original investigation. A link to this petition will be included in today's show notes. If you take just 30 seconds out of your day to go sign this petition, you could help this family on the steps to getting the justice and answers that they are so desperately looking for. As of right now, investigators are not aware of any new information that would change the rolling of her death being an accident.

Speaker 1: 8:31

The second case I'm going to cover is that of Tony Turner. Tony was described as being a lover of the arts, an educator and a loving young woman who had a creative spirit. Her sister stated that she was irreplaceable, very fun, very loving, very knowledgeable and extremely kind. Tony was a full-time fabricator as Studebaker medals in Braddock, pennsylvania, as well as a ceramics teacher at the Carnegie Library of Braddock. Beyond that, tony is a beloved daughter, sister and friend to many. She loved dancing, studying, nutrition, art and black history. Tony loved going to concerts and and around Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and was described by loved ones as a loving, kind, caring and bubbly young woman. Tony's friend stated if you've gone to concerts in Pittsburgh, you've probably seen Tony in front dancing her little heart away. Whether she was alone or with friends, that didn't matter to her when it came to dancing. Another friend stated that she had such a magnetic personality and something that they always admired about her was that she was able to meet a person and they would instantly love her. They said that she was extremely creative. She was also just a really beautiful person to be around.

Speaker 1: 9:52

On December 30th of 2019, tony visited a local tea shop in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh late on the afternoon. According to an employee of this tea shop, tony was only in the tea shop for a short period of time before leaving. After leaving the tea shop, tony hopped on a city bus down the street, presumably heading home Around this time Tony was last in contact with her sister. Sydney Authorities believe that Tony was in the Homestead area of Pittsburgh around 6pm when she last talked to her sister. Tony was last seen exiting a bus at her usual stop on the corner of Hazelwood Avenue and getting street near her home. Shortly after she was last seen exiting the bus, a firefighter walking across the Homestead Grace Bridge found Tony's purse, shoes and a ceramic pot. Inside her purse were her keys, her cell phone, a water bottle, her diary and her wallet. Tony's family believes that from the Homestead Grace Bridge, tony may have traveled down Interstate 80 near Homestead, pennsylvania, by the following day. Tony's aunt was contacted by the father of the young man who found Tony's belongings. They were returned to her aunt shortly before noon on December 31st of 2020. Tony's family members began realizing that Tony was missing by that evening and she was reported missing shortly after, and a missing persons alert was published by the Pittsburgh Police Department on January 1st of 2021.

Speaker 1: 11:26

The search for Tony then began. In the days and weeks following Tony's disappearance, friends and family began searching the area for any sign of her. Shortly after her disappearance, a tip received by investigators led them to the Hill District of Pittsburgh, approximately 6 miles away from the Homestead Grace Bridge, where Tony's belongings were found in approximately 2.7 miles from the bus stop that she got off at. Nothing was found during any of these searches. Tony's sister then stated for her to be in the Hill District was completely out of character for her. There would be nothing here for Tony and I absolutely know that.

Speaker 1: 12:08

The following September, local Pittsburgh artists installed a mural of Tony on a building on Braddock Avenue in Pittsburgh in her honor. The mural depicted Tony, along with her birthday and the date that she vanished. Along with these details, the following quote was also included the missing finds solace in our hearts until they are found. One of the creators of this mural stated the grief manifested into an irresistible fire inside of me to find her in whatever way she returns. Things became silent and all I wanted to do was scream her name on every street, in every ear, in every neighborhood, in every city, in every country. Since Tony's disappearance, several events have been held in her honor and to raise awareness, including a prayer circle, dance meditations, vigils, silent walks and a dance event called Move Through Grief, a dance party and benefit for Tony.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Despite the massive effort made by Tony's friends, families and members of the Pittsburgh community, tony remains missing without a trace. The mirrorless from before also stated I hope that the city knows that she is loved. We are still searching and we will find her. I want the world to know that Tony is more than just a missing person. At the time of her disappearance, tony was described as an African American Caucasian woman with black hair that fell to her chin and brown eyes. She was 5'3 and weighed approximately 130 pounds. She has piercings in her nose, ears and chin. Underneath her bottom lip, she has a tattoo of a spiral pattern on her left shoulder. She was last seen wearing a black zip-up jacket, a gray shirt with Abla, espanol and orange letters on the back, grayish colored cargo pants and possibly a head wrap.

Speaker 1: 14:06

If you have any information regarding Tony's disappearance or her whereabouts, please contact the Pittsburgh Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 412-323-7141. All right, guys, so thank you so much for hanging out again today. For more details on the podcast or the cases that we covered, then head on over to the website wwwdarkcrossroadspodcastcom, where we have all of the episodes, information about the podcast, merch and also a blog covering every single case and it going into more description, including links to all the places that you need to make phone calls to or resources regarding the case. You can also find us on most social media platforms. Don't forget to like, share, rate, review, subscribe wherever you're listening to us. You can subscribe to the podcast. There is a link in all episodes in the notes that will send you to our subscription page and with that you will get bonus content, discount on future merch and a lot of other extra goodies and kind of behind the scenes information. So every single donation through the subscription and any other place goes straight to the podcast. It helps fund research and it really helps us out to keep this podcast going.

Speaker 1: 15:37

So before I go, I just want to thank all of my listeners for your continued support and for sending in cases that you wanted covered and stories that you wanted read on the podcast. We truly accept all stories scary, paranormal, funny. Anything that you want read or you want me to know, send it in. And any cases that you want covered, please send in. You can email those to darkcrossroadspodcastgmailcom. And with all of this said, please don't forget to be weird, stay different and don't trust anyone.