It was a quiet Saturday in Little Rock when a friend unlocked Janie Ballard's garage and knew something was wrong.

Her Cadillac was gone, the house was still, and by sundown, detectives were circling the two names Janie had feared the most.

Her daughter, Leslie, and Leslie's much older husband, Mike.

Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast, a true crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa.

Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? I'm doing good. I'm getting excited that Halloween is right around the corner and I'm like thinking about candy right now. And I should be thinking about recording this episode. But I really want some Halloween candy in my life. Why not both? Maybe not at the same time though. Yeah. I was at Walmart earlier and I saw the giant bags of candy and I'm like, oh, I should have bought that. But then I was like, no, I'll come back and buy it. And then I can sneak some when, you know, my kids aren't with me. So, you know, I can take out all the good stuff and, you know, just have it there for when the trick or treaters who don't come to our house, come to our house. It's such a waste. hit me that that's actually why I have candy on the brain right now is because I just went to Costco this morning and I saw the giant Costco sized bags of Halloween candy and also

did not buy them. But now I'm like, why didn't I buy that? Exactly. I know I'm literally looking at

at them in checkout and I was like, it would be much easier to just grab these right now, but no,

let's make another trip. So anyway, yes, I'm very excited. My kids are excited. And also, it was a little cooler this morning and I'm wearing a sweatshirt because of it in honor of it. Yeah, it was a little bit. But again, I was back to complaining about how, like, I can't believe it's late October and it's still so warm and humid and everything. And I'm just ready for a little bit of cooler weather.

Yeah. Well, January will be here before you know. Yeah, I do. Literally. All right. So let's get into the story for this week.

It was early in the morning in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 13, 2003, when a friend named Mickey Holloway started to get

that gut feeling that something just wasn't right. Mickey wasn't just any friend. He was a crime

scene specialist for the Little Rock Police Department, and every day he checked on 58-year-old

Janie Ballard. This was a woman he cared deeply for, and he would check on her either by phone or in person. But that morning, his calls went unanswered, so he drove to her house himself just to make sure everything was okay. When he pulled into the driveway, Janie's Cadillac was gone, and the door to the home stood slightly open. Mickey walked inside and found Janie lying on the floor with one shoe on and one shoe off,

and her purse was dumped out beside her.

The house was eerily still, but it was clear that Janie had been brutally attacked.

Mickey knew instantly this was more than just a burglary gone wrong.

This was personal.

Janie Ballard wasn't some reclusive lady living in a dangerous part of town. She was actually

very well liked and well respected and deeply involved in the Little Rock community.

She ran a successful family business. She organized the neighborhood watch and she was the kind

of woman who would really give you the shirt off her back. She'd buy you new, and she was the kind of woman who would

really give you the shirt off her back. She'd buy you new tennis shoes if she thought yours

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