What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to going west. Howdy folks. We were literally just dancing while we were saying the intro. We always do. Just so you guys know we're always dancing into the intro. We're always getting it.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in today. Hope everyone's having a good week. He's found today's case for us. I did. Yeah. I was actually looking for cases kind of specific to summer since we are now in. Basically I think the full swing of summer now. Right? Is it officially summer? I think it's like June 20. Yeah. Yeah. It should be officially summer. Yeah. So I was just looking up like cases that involve votes. And I came across this one and I hadn't seen a lot of coverage about it. But the story is really wild.

It seriously is. It really is. It takes place in Georgia. So hopefully it's a new case to a lot of you. It is solved and it is crazy. So looking forward to hearing what you guys think. And again, thank you for tuning in.

Alright guys, this is episode 212 of Going West. So let's get into it.

In August of 2012, a Georgia woman was living on a yacht in St. Mary's after a violent divorce. But when someone crept up to the boat while she was sleeping one night, she was murdered and the boat was set ablaze.

Before her death, she had confided in a close friend about a stalker and her fears of what they made due to her.

This is the story of Karen Barnes.

Karen Shea Barnes was born on May 19, 1959 in Mary at a Georgia and grew up alongside two brothers, Tony Barnes and John White. And then she also had a sister named Alicia White.

We couldn't find very much information about her early life, but there is no mention of a father. I'm sure she had one, but we're not sure his name. And we know that she did never have children. And she has a different last name than two of her siblings, though the same last name as her brother Tony. So her mother Annette may have remarried at some point.

Karen was described as having an adventurous spirit and a passion for life, though Mary at a Georgia is just outside of Atlanta and about a four hour drive from the ocean. Her favorite place was the beach, and for years she collected seashells.

Karen is remembered by friends as kind and charming and for being warm and friendly to everyone who is lucky enough to meet her. Karen eventually made the move to North Mertle Beach South Carolina to live by the sea. And they are she worked at Calla Hands, which was a gift shop for nautical souvenirs in nearby Calla Bash South Carolina for 15 years.

After that, Karen's professional background veered into decorating an interior design. So I think it's really cool that she loved the beach and then she went to go work for like a little nautical gift shop and lived on the ocean like totally live in her truth.

Sounds like a dream. Sounds like something I would do. It does.

So when she was 50 years old, Karen was working as an event manager for a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, which for reference is a four hour drive south of North Mertle Beach. So it appears that she moved back to her home state of Georgia. And of course, picked a coastal city.

So this was a perfect place to be near family because her sister lived in Savannah as well, along with some of Karen's nieces and nephews and their mother Annette in brother John lived just about an hour away on the coast as well.

So it worked out because all of her family is most of her family is nearby. Right. And Savannah is where she met 64 year old David Trauger.

David worked in insurance and hailed from Pennsylvania, but it relocated to the coast of Georgia to fulfill his dream of living on a boat.

And it's clear that both of them were looking for love because the two met on a dating site in September of 2009.

Now Karen's friend Susan Graham said that he swept her off her feet with romantic gestures.

Susan stated, quote, he brought her flowers and candy and wooed her from day one, then painted this picture of the life that they could have together.

And they headed off so well that within three months, they were married and they hosted their wedding celebration on New Year's Eve of that year, which again was 2009.

Susan also said that they were the picture perfect couple inside and out. And David loved that she was such a good, kind person because it made him look good by association.

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