April 29th, 1999. A skull is found in a trash bag outside Action Glass in Atlanta, Georgia. Soon after, in different trash bags, various other body parts are found. The remains are identified as the remains of Melissa Wolfenbarger, a 21-year-old married mother of two who is reported missing several months prior. In a remarkable twist, Melissa’s remains are verified only after her Father is arrested in connection to an unrelated murder.

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, is joined by Psychiatrist, Dr. Angela Arnold who has worked on Melissa’s unsolved case. Dr. Arnold and Sheryl discuss their perspectives on trauma bonds, domestic violence and what realtionship imbalances look like in families.  They also discuss how childhood trauma can ultimately lead you to exactly what you were trying to get away from.  In this case, they discuss how Melissa’s childhood and experience shaped how she ended up with a guy like Christopher.  Dr. Arnold also gives her advice on how to detect a narcissist and signs of domestic violence, and more.    

Show Notes:

• [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum. Sheryl sets the scene of exactly why Dr. Angela Arnold is part of her zone 7
• [2:25] If you missed the beginning of Melissa Wolfenbarger’s case check out those episodes here: Melissa Wolfenbarger: Norma and Tina Patton | Part 1, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Karyn Greer | Part 2, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Trace Sargent | Part 3, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Letters From Carl Patton | Part 4, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Victims of Carl Patton - Liddie Evans Children Speak | Part 5, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Joseph Scott Morgan’s Insight on Melissa’s case | Part 6, and Melissa Wolfenbarger: Continued - Joseph Scott Morgan’s Insight on Melissa’s Case | Part 7
• [2:30] Dr. Angela Arnold has expertise in a lot of different areas such as anxiety and depression, attention deficit disorder, work-life balance, cold cases, and criminal behavior issues leading to crime suspect and victim-centered criminological review
• [4:20] “Families develop their own identities as a whole.”
• [8:50] What it means to love bomb someone 
• [10:24] Signs of devaluing a person
• [15:43] The enormous bond between Norma and Carl
• [20:00] Sheryl weighs in on her perspective of Chris and Carl's affiliation 
• [27:58] Dr. Angela weighs in on Melissa’s missing torso 
• [30:50] Motives as to why a husband would kill his wife
• [32:33] Red flags in domestic violence 
• [37:54] “Melissa had this funny back and forth where she loved Chris and she was scared of him, and he would, he would make her fearful, but then the next day he would do something that made her feel that love again. And it's a bond. It's, it's, that's why it's called a trauma bond.”
• [38:36] Question: Dr. Arnold, do you have any advice that you wanna give right now to everybody listening?
• [39:55] “People change based on what they feel more than what they know.” 
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

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