The Gray Area

Murder In The Rain

True Crime

4.2 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of today’s stories was a request sent in by a listener who was curious to know what happened to their childhood babysitter. The second case is making local headlines for offering a local council chair to a murderer. So let’s get into 2026 with the same damn stories, the same damn outrage and the same damn themes. Teenage girls, disposed of like trash, their killers usually facing the smallest of consequences. Today I’ll be telling you the stories of Robyn Johns and Nikki Thrasher. For an extended version of the episode, join our Patreon for just $1! To get started on your own newspapers.com journey, Go to Newspapers.com/Crime. When you sign up, use discount code MurderInTheRain to get 20% off! Visit justaddBUOY.com/MITR to get started with some Buoy drops focused on Hydration, digestion, brain health, Immunity, rescue, or energy! Accidental Autoerotic Deaths and Mental Disorder: A Scoping Review - PMC - Classmates.com 1984 Pendleton High - BeenVerified.com Report Richard Russell Meyer - Robyn Johns (1978-1996) - Find a Grave Memorial - Statesman Journal Dec 29 1996- Obituaries - Oregon Judicial Department- Online Records Search A99984 - History of Toledo - Corvallis Gazette Times- December 3 1996- Toledo police look for leads to missing woman - Oregon Judical Department Online Records Search, Meyer, Richard Russell - East Oregonian July 15 1985- Dispositions - Corvallis Gazette Times December 25 1996- Man charged in death of Toledo woman - The Oregonian October 8 1997- Toledo man goes on trial in death of woman, 18 - The Observer October 9 1997 Murder Trial Heats Up - The Register Guard October 10 1997- Trial begins in death of 18 year old woman - The Oregonian October 14 1997- Toledo man found guilty of intentionally killing teen - Visor.com Victim Information System in Oregon - The Observer October 14 1997- Jury convicts man in slaying - Corvallis Gazette-Times December 3 1996- Toledo police look for leads to missing woman - The Oregonian, December 24, 1996- Autopsy due on body of young woman - Statesman Journal, December 24, 1996 Newport: Body found may be missing teen - Corvallis Gazette Times, December 24, 1996- Body found may be that of Toledo woman - Statesman Journal December 27 1996- Obituaries - Convicted killer speaks out after controversy over police oversight board selection - Correspondence Press Release - The Oregonian Nov 29 1994- Woman's death a possible homicide - The Register Guard Nov. 29 1994- Equestrian finds body of woman - The Oregonian Nov 30 1994- Police Skeptical of Victim's Crime Report - The Oregonian December 1 1994- Roseburg teen held in slaying of woman - The Register Guard December 1 1994- Teen-ager arrested in woman's slaying - Statesman Journal Dec 2 1994- High School Senior Charged in Girl's Death - Albany Democrat Herald December 2 1994 - Murder part of coverup - The Register Guard November 18 1995- Killer pleads guilty, gets life sentence - Albandy Democrat Herald November 18 1995- Killer Sentenced - The Register Guard Oct 30 1999- Life Without - The Oregonian April 28 2022- Wyden: Brown's decision to free killer 'grossly irresponsible' - Statesman Journal, November 2,6 2025- Man's murder conviction puts future on police review board in question - Nikki Ranee Thrasher (1975-1994) - Find a Grave Memorial - The Register Guard Oct. 30 1999- Restoring Humanity - Convicted killer speaks out after controversy over police oversight board selection - Statesman Journal Dece 3 2001- Educating inmates about AIDS - The Oregonian May 6 2023- A swift shift from prison to politics Our Sponsors: * Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The One of today's stories was a request sent in by a listener who was curious to know what had
0:33.1	happened to their childhood babysitter. The second case is making local headlines for offering a local
0:38.5	council chair to a murderer. So let's get into 2026 with the same damn stories, the same damn
0:45.4	outrage, and the same damn themes. Teenaged girls disposed of like trash, their killers
0:51.3	facing the smallest of consequences. Today, I'll be telling you the stories of
0:56.0	Robin Jones and Nikki Thrasher. We often ask listeners to write us, sometimes with tips,
1:03.1	questions, or cases. Friend of the show, Corey, did just that, sending an email that said,
1:08.9	Hi, my name is Corey. I grew up in Waldport, Oregon, and when I was a kid, my family babysitter was murdered in Lincoln County in the 90s. Her name was Robin. She was around 17 when she was murdered. She lived in Waldport, Oregon, and her mom worked at the post office. I want to find out what happened to her killer and the case. I think it went cold for a while, but I was told by my cousin that her killer was caught,
1:30.8	and it was an ex-boyfriend.
1:32.6	There is no information online, but I would like to find out what the killer's name was,
1:37.0	and just more information.
1:38.9	Can you help me?
1:40.6	When someone asks for help, and it just so happens to require one of my few superpowers, such as deep online research, I'm on it.
1:48.5	So I got to digging and I found information about Robin and her killer.
1:53.6	Robin Sue Johns had a devastatingly short life, bookended by holidays.
1:58.5	Born just before Valentine's Day on February 12, 1978, she spent the first
2:03.4	nine years of her life in her birthplace of Riverside, California, a city nestled in Southern California
2:09.3	between Anaheim to the west and Big Bear to the east. When she was nine, Robin and her parents,
2:15.1	and younger brother Robert moved from California to the Oregon coast.
2:19.3	It appears the family started their new lives in Oregon, living in Waldport, a coastal town with a
2:24.3	population of just about 2,500, and it lies about 100 highway miles southwest of Oregon's capital, Salem.
	...

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