Georgia podcaster Sean Kipe has released a true crime story that focuses on the death of a young woman who died under mysterious circumstances in 2020 after she left a July 4th party in Alabama.
Kipe, the Marietta resident who aired the nationally popular "Red Clay" podcast about the life of notorious outlaw Billy Sunday Birt of Winder, said this week in a telephone interview that he would like to see answers arise from the podcast on the death of Natalie Jones, 27, whose body was found in a Heard County field 92 days after her disappearance in Alabama.
Murder Suspect Caught: Florida deputies capture murder suspect with alleged ties to Athens
"What really happened?" he asked. "It's a big question mark for everyone, including law enforcement."
Two episodes of "The Truth About Natalie" have been posted, and subsequent episodes come out on Mondays in the following weeks.
Kipe explained that while there are a lot of unsolved crimes in Georgia, this podcast was suggested by a person who is an advocate for Natalie Jones' family.
"I realized pretty quickly after speaking with that person, there is a large group of advocates for Natalie and for her case," said Kipe, who is a former guitarist for the rock band The Calling, a group known particularly for the 2001 hit "Wherever You Will Go."
Telephone records from Natalie's phone show she was driving "sort of aimlessly" around Heard County between midnight and 5 a.m., according to Kipe. That phone is missing. Strangely, there was no evidence of foul play found at the death scene, but Kipe said there are indications someone was in the car with the woman.
In completing the podcast, Kipe had the cooperation of the victim's mother and the investigator, Lt. Dan Boswell of the Heard County Sheriff's Office, who has since retired.
The Natalie case is one of four other podcasts that Kipe based on Georgia crimes. Three of the others focused on the 1990 slaying of Rhonda Sue Coleman of Hazlehurst; the 2007 disappearance of Justin Gaines, last seen leaving a nightclub in Atlanta; and the 1993 murder conviction of Georgia police officer Michael Chapel in Gwinnett County.
But it was the "Red Clay" podcast that caught the fancy of people across the nation as it zeroed in on the Dixie Mafia and the notorious Billy Sunday Birt.
"I think as a podcaster, it put me on the map. It hasn't died out. It's been seven years since I started working on that and it's still as strong as it had been in the last five years," he said about "Red Clay." "We still get messages from people who say how special it was and how it affected their relationships with their own kids and parents."
But fans of the "Red Clay" podcast can savor another story in the future.
"I would say 'Red Clay' is not finished yet. I think there will be more to come," he hinted, adding that he is currently working on another podcast story based in Texas, his first case outside the state of Georgia, where he has lived for almost 11 years.
Listen to the whole show crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia podcaster probes Natalie Jones' unsolved death | Exclusive