“It is also a celebration of her life,” said Crisp of Remix Films based in Georgetown, Ky. “She was such a positive, vibrant woman with a bright future ahead of her.”
Crisp, who is also the author of books examining real-life mysteries, said he was approached by a national victim’s rights group about the Markham case. He has been conducting interviews and collecting information for several months.
“I am drawn to stories that really effect me and stories that have a strong mystery to them,” he said.
Among his past projects are a novel, “Murder in the Mountains: The Muriel Baldridge Story,” that takes a look at the 1949 slaying of Muriel Baldridge, a 17-year old high school cheerleader who was found beaten to death in Prestonsburg, Ky. He also made the 2009 documentary, “The Very Worst Thing,” which details a Floyd County, Ky., school bus crash that killed 27 people in 1957.
Crisp said production on the Markham film is going well, noting he has talked with those investigating the case, including Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey and local private detective Frank Smith, as well as members of Katelyn’s family including her father, Dave Markham.
The goal is to lay out the information and comments in the film and let the viewer decide what they think happened to Markham, Crisp said.
“This is not about taking sides,” he said.
Over the years, many rumors and theories, some fueled by social media, have surfaced as to what happened to Katelyn. One theory is that she died of a drug overdose, and those with her panicked, taking her body to Indiana and dumping it on a rural road in Franklin County.
Others point to friends, including her fiance, John Carter.
Katelyn went missing from her Dorshire Drive residence during the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2011. Police and volunteers looked for months to find the young woman who left behind her purse, keys and her dog.
The case gained national media attention as days turned into months with no news of Katelyn’s whereabouts.
Then on April 7, 2013, skeletal remains were found in remote Indiana woods. Within days, confirmation came that the remains were Katelyn’s, and Franklin County, Ind., Coroner Wanda Lee ruled her death a homicide. However, the exact cause of death could not be determined.
Detective Vance Patton, of the Indiana State Police, told the Journal-News last week that 95 percent of Katelyn’s body was recovered, but there is no indication of how she died or that she died where she was found. There is also no sign of a struggle at her condo.
“We are 99 percent sure she died or was killed in Ohio,” Patton said. He added that a drug overdose does fit with some of the circumstances known about the case, “but there are other theories too.”
J. Ryan Green, a Florida-based private detective, said in April that he had uncovered information that pointed to Katelyn’s death being accidental.
“From what I have learned, I don’t believe her death was intentional,” Green said. “People panicked and she was dumped.”
Green says he interviewed two people, one of which failed a polygraph test, and they have information about what happened to the 22-year-old art student. But Fairfield detectives failed to act in a timely manner to interrogate the individuals themselves, Green said, and may have missed an opportunity to advance the case.
Earlier this month, Green told the Journal-News that he is no longer investigating the case because the person who hired him is no longer paying paying for his services.
“I am very sad to announce, though no fault of J. Ryan Investigations, unfortunate circumstances have come up that are going to force J. Ryan to stop working on the Markham case,” Green posted on his Facebook page July 3.
Dickey said his department did follow up on Green’s lead, “but nothing came of it.”
And the chief said leads in the case have been slow, which prompted the department to participate in the documentary.
“We were approached by the (film) production company to be in the project and agreed to get wider dissemination of information about the case,” Dickey said.
The chief said the department is actively involved in the investigation along with Indiana State Police, who officially have jurisdiction because that is were Katelyn’s remains were found.
Once completed, the film will premiere in Cincinnati and will be available on DVD, according to Crisp, who added that his films are also often shown on cable networks.
Crisp said he would like to talk with anyone who know Katelyn and who may be able to share older pictures or videos of her. He can be reached by email at tvwt.movie@gmail.com
About the Author
