The Frozen Hand, the Warm Barrette, and a 28-Year Secret
Items couldn't be added
Sorry, we can't add the item as your basket has reached its capacity.
The title couldn't be added to your basket.
Please try again later.
Couldn't add title to Wish List
Please try again later.
‘Remove from Wish List’ failed
Please try again later.
Adding to library failed
Please try again
‘Follow podcast’ failed
‘Unfollow podcast’ failed
The Frozen Hand, the Warm Barrette, and a 28-Year Secret
-
Narrated by:
-
By:
Cold and intimate: a frozen left hand lay under collapsed vapor barrier for eleven days while the pale yellow plastic butterfly barrette in its open palm showed no frost and stayed warm enough to leave no ice crystals. That barrette was sealed in an envelope for twenty-eight years with a detective's question mark-why was it unfrozen-and that mystery only unraveled after a woman walked into a sheriff’s office in 2017 with what she had never told anyone. What secret did a warm barrette keep that a frozen hand could not speak?
In this episode, we follow the original 1989 investigation and the 2017 cold-case review to trace what the files, the evidence envelope, and handwritten notes reveal. You’ll hear how missing mapping, a marginal forensic comment, and a single unexplained object reframed a homicide file and led investigators to ask: who moved through the Whitmore grain building before Bruce Evans did?
Person: Bruce Evans
Date: January 14, 1989 (body found); January 11, 1989 (last notebook entry)
Location: deactivated Whitmore grain storage building, Dellard, Missouri
Case: Homicide opened January 14, 1989; reviewed by cold case unit January 2017
Investigator: Detective Ray Moffitt (original); Sandra Hensley (cold case review)
- The left hand had been frozen for eleven days when recovered on January 14, 1989.
- The pale yellow butterfly barrette rested perfectly centered in the open palm and showed no ice crystals or frost.
- Bruce Evans was 26 years old, worked morning shifts starting at 5:15 a.m., and lived within two miles of the grain cooperative.
- The last entry in Evans’s green spiral notebook was dated January 11, 1989 with a bowling score of 164.
- Forensic note by Al Ferris recorded two disturbance tracks: one from north hatch toward body and a fainter one indicating movement of the body toward the south wall.
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet