Transcription
In today's episode, we'll be exploring three videos with chilling backstories. Though the mysteries surrounding the last two have been resolved, I particularly want to highlight the first case, which remains unsolved. Not just because it's received so little media attention, but because I'm sure that someone out there must know who the person of interest in the footage is. Hopefully, that's one of you.
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Grand Prairie, Texas, is a densely suburban and diverse city of about 200,000 people, nestled evenly between Fort Worth and Dallas, with a violent crime rate 45% lower than the national average. When it comes to settling down, it's considered one of the safer built-up areas in the Lone Star State.
One man who fell on the wrong side of that statistic was Hop Van Win, a single 32-year-old Vietnamese American who lived alone on the 2400 block of Lancaster Drive. Described by those who knew him as a guy who lived in the moment, Hop was a fan of travel, fishing, fitness, and winter sports. Little else about his personal life has been revealed to the public.
In the summer of 2017, Hop suddenly stopped responding to calls and messages from family and friends. Unable to reach him, his concerned loved ones contacted Grand Prairie PD and reported him missing. An investigation was quickly launched.
Law enforcement asked local residents to be on the lookout for a 5'7" Asian male with short black hair, brown eyes, a scar behind his right ear, a half-sleeve dragon tattoo on his right arm, and a tattoo on his right inner arm with the letters TFT. They also noted that he was missing the tip of his right index finger.
According to NamUs, Hop was last seen at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 17th, driving his white Nissan 350Z convertible on State Highway 61. Just as he exited Lower Tarrant Road, his car was found abandoned and empty thereafter. Grand Prairie PD haven't shared exactly when or where it was discovered. In fact, the only clue they have released is a short video clip, one recorded by Hop's very own ring doorbell camera.
It was captured the same night he was last seen and features a person of interest, or POI, whom law enforcement believes played a role in Hop's disappearance.
As you can see, the ring camera detects movement and activates. An unidentified subject is seen backing up towards Hop's door and covers the camera with a sheet of paper or a Post-it note. The figure then sets about gaining access to the residence. We can hear the sound of rustling as he passes with the door.
Though some people believe this noise is the POI inserting a key into the lock, others have pointed out that it could be the sound of a lock-picking rake. After the initial sound of the pins, which sounded like a key being inserted, you don't hear the cylinder turn or the lock click. You just hear more pins being manipulated.
Then, after 5 seconds or so, he gets the locks, and the door opens. After finishing with the lock, a faint beep can be heard. The door opens with a creak, and we hear the intruder speak with someone. It's not clear whether Hop was home at the time or who the POI was addressing.
Following this exchange, someone steps outside and fiddles with the camera just before the video cuts to black. A digital chime or screech can be heard. Did you catch that? There, right at the very end, another separate sound can just about be made out. Focus on that very last sound.
This is the Roger beep, a tone often added automatically to the end of radio transmissions to indicate that the operator has finished speaking. Chillingly, it's identical to the sound heard in the ring footage, which strongly suggests that the POI was communicating with an accomplice over a two-way radio and not calmly chatting with Hop inside.
Rewinding a bit, another beep or screech can be heard just before the POI hops front door. Some believe this to be the sound of a keypad, but going through Lancaster Drive on Google Street View, all of the homes appear to be modest single-story buildings with conventional doors.
As such, I believe that sound was more likely from a communication device brought by the intruder. In my opinion, this was a well-planned, well-orchestrated invasion of Hop's home. The POI knew about his ring doorbell camera and came prepared with a paper covering. He approached the door with the confidence of a professional.
He knew to use a radio device so he couldn't be GPS tracked, and he almost certainly wasn't working alone. As you can see, this video lacks a timestamp, and the authorities haven't confirmed whether it was captured before or after Hop was last seen.
It's worth reminding everyone that ring doorbell cameras are motion-activated, and no footage of Hop returning home has been mentioned in any press releases. Based on that and how confidently the POI acts, as if he wasn't expecting any resistance, if I had to make a judgment call, I'd say that the clip was filmed at some point after 10:30 p.m. and that Hop didn't make it home on August 17th.
With that said, it's best to keep an open mind as we explore this case in more detail. As mentioned, Hop was last seen at 10:30 p.m., exiting Lower Tarrant, a thin stretch of road approximately a 10-minute drive from his home. Again, the authorities haven't told us why he was there in the first place, whether he was meeting a friend there or attending an event, for example.
So let's get on Google Street View and take a look around. Near the entrance, we have some greenery, lots of trees, and a small field. A little further, we have an unusual house with statues of zoo animals in the yard. This small house here seems to be abandoned.
As we go a little further, we reach the Grand Prairie Gun Club, a gated shooting range. The route continues a little further and leads to an obstacle course and a dead end. Here we have a third house. Beyond that is Johnson Creek. In all, it's about a half mile of fields, woodland, and shooting lawns.
It seems like an odd place for Hop to have found himself late on a weeknight. So why was he last seen exiting Lower Tarrant that night? Was he there visiting one of the frankly odd houses? Had he gone to the shooting range, which is closed on Thursdays and never open after 6 p.m.?
Was he doing a spot of late-night fishing in the creek or nearby river? Had he taken the wrong turn so close to home, or was he meeting someone in a secluded area for some unknown reason?
The next question I have is where did Hop go missing? For reasons already covered, I think on the balance of probability, Hop didn't make it home that night. We know his vehicle left Lower Tarrant Road, but did he head straight in the direction of his home, or did he drive elsewhere to meet someone?
How confident are the police that Hop was the person behind the wheel of his vehicle as it left Lower Tarrant Road? Is it possible that he went missing in this confined area somewhere, and then someone else drove his car out onto State Highway 161? Just food for thought.
Naturally, we also need to ask why. Why target Hop Van Win of all people? Well, looking through Hop's now inactive Facebook page, it's clear he appreciated the finer things in life, particularly expensive cars and watches.
As such, I've seen a few people suggest that he may have been targeted for his wealth, or at least for his perceived wealth. But I have to stress that Hop lived in a modest house on Lancaster Drive, whose residents are predominantly low-income.
In fact, the neighborhood is one of the most poverty-stricken in the entire U.S., with an income lower than 94.8% of the country. The police haven't confirmed what Hop did for work or how much he earned, but I think it's safe to say that although he fantasized about luxury purchases, he wasn't actually a rich guy himself.
As far as I can tell, no material items were reported stolen from the property either. That leaves us with two possibilities: that Hop was home when this footage was captured and the POI came to target him, or the POI had already dispatched Hop and went there to get something—something specific, something that even Hop's family, maybe even the authorities, don't know about.
What that item could be is the subject of much speculation. My final question then is who? It's clear that Hop wasn't randomly targeted and that someone out there had a reason to make him disappear—this figure, to be precise.
But who are they? Based on their physique and clothes, they appear to be a young male. You can make out the outline of his nose in this still frame, and from another angle, when he presses himself up into the corner of the entrance, it looks like his dark jacket is zipped up over his mouth.
The subject also wore dark trousers, a white and black baseball cap, and possibly white gloves. Aside from that, it's hard to build much of a profile from this footage. The POI did a good job of concealing his face.
With so little information to work with, some have questioned whether this could have been a gang hit. Proponents of that idea have latched onto Hop's TFT tattoo and his missing fingertip, questioning whether he was affiliated in some way with a Vietnamese syndicate, be that as a former member or someone who owed them a debt.
Though I want to stress that's all speculative. For all we know, the letters TFT were the initials of a loved one, and his fingertip could have easily been lost in an accident. All that's to say, this figure's motive remains shrouded in mystery.
Despite releasing this video to the public, law enforcement received little in the way of new leads. They continue to seek information that could bring closure to the Van Win family, who all believe that Hop was either abducted or otherwise met with foul play.
Hop Van Win hasn't been seen or heard from since August 17th, 2017. If still alive, he'd be 39 years old today. If you have any information pertaining to his whereabouts or if you recognize the person of interest in this footage, please contact the Grand Prairie PD immediately. You can even do so anonymously. All the information you need is on screen now.
This was Christina Yuna Lee, a 35-year-old Korean-American originally from New Jersey, a creative producer by trade who had worked on campaigns for the likes of Google, Twix, and Equinox. Christina relocated to New York in 2021 to work for the online music platform Splice.
There, she rented an apartment in the 111 Christie Street building, a 23-unit complex situated in the Big Apple's Chinatown district. In the early hours of February 13th, 2022, Christina caught a cab back to her apartment after a night on the town. She was dropped off right in front of the main entrance.
What happened next was caught on the building's internal surveillance cameras. This chilling footage shows Christina in her final moments. As can be seen, she enters the complex at 4:23 a.m. An unknown male grabbed the door just before it closed and stalked Christina up six flights of stairs, staying one floor behind her all the way.
There's no indication she noticed him following her. Christina opened her front door and stepped into her apartment, and the man forced his way inside with her, sealing the poor girl's fate. Minutes later, two other residents were awoken by the sound of high-pitched screams coming from Christina's apartment.
"Help me!" cried the voice. "Somebody call 911!" The neighbors did just that, and officers arrived within 3 minutes. They rushed upstairs and could still hear Miss Lee's desperate cries from the other side of the wall. But frustratingly, they couldn't break down the reinforced door; the intruder had barricaded it.
As they negotiated with the man inside, the screams coming from within the apartment slowly melted away and were replaced by a disturbing silence. A silence broken by a shrill voice from inside: "We don't need the police here! Go away!" The voice was clearly that of a male imitating a female.
Following this, the intruder attempted to escape the apartment via the fire escape but was scared back inside when he noticed officers on the roof above him. A tactical team arrived 80 minutes later and finally managed to force an entry inside. They found Christina in her bathtub, completely unresponsive and disrobed from the waist up.
She was pronounced dead at 5:55 a.m. Her killer was discovered hiding under her bed. He was immediately taken into custody and identified as 25-year-old Aamad Nash, a homeless man who had never met his victim. Yet, in the brief window between Christina exiting her taxi and entering her apartment building, Nash had noticed her and made the split-second decision to butcher her.
And butcher her he most certainly did. She had been stabbed more than 40 times with a yellow-handled blade, which Nash had taken from her kitchen. "There was so much blood," said the owner of Christina's apartment building, Brian Chin. "My wife said I should call someone to clean it all up, but I'm going to do it myself. It's the least I can do for that poor girl."
Brian knew Christina well; they had both been undergraduates at Rutgers and would often talk about their university days together. He described her as a wonderful human being whose smile lit up the room. In honor of her memory, he set up a modest altar outside her apartment door—an orange set up on a metal stool. A memorial made of candles and flowers was also set up outside the building, one which was vandalized several times by frankly sick weirdos.
The perpetrator, Nash, was a so-called transit swiper who let people through the subway turnstiles for a fee. A career criminal, he had been arrested at least seven times since 2015 and was out on supervised release for three open cases when he took Christina's life, including for an unprovoked assault.
He's also said to have an extensive record in New Jersey and had admitted to selling and using dust and K2, synthetic substances known to cause unpredictable behavior. He was under their influence when he first saw Christina at the station.
Nash claimed he was trying to help her. He believed that since he was only caught on camera following his victim, he couldn't actually be charged with her death. "She called me," Nash told them. "She was having a party, and she invited me over for a drink."
During his interview, he repeatedly yawned and laughed, making light of the situation. Since then, Nash has pled guilty to ending Miss Lee's life. His sentencing is scheduled for the 30th of this month, and according to the DA's office, he's expected to receive 30 years to life.
"Christina did nothing wrong," said the president of the CCB Association, Justin Yu. "The only mistake she made was to move to New York City. Our city allowed her life to be taken away. Crime has no consequence here."
Unfortunately, incidents like this are far from unheard of. I'm reminded of the Sillan Stalker case, which I mentioned in my last overview. The potential victim was extremely fortunate; her door automatically locked just before an opportunistic stranger could force his way inside. Sadly, Christina wasn't so lucky.
So to all of my audience, please stay vigilant when moving through transitional spaces, even in the perceived safety of your own apartment buildings.
This final entry takes us just over the Canadian border into tranquil Halton Hills, a small vibrant town about 45 km outside of Toronto, renowned for its picturesque downtown, green spaces, and overall livability. With plenty of art galleries, some of the best regional shops and restaurants in the country, and an extremely low crime rate, the primary population center of Georgetown is a magnet for wealthier folks looking for a peaceful life away from the bustle of the big city.
Yet homeowners on one of the community's sleepiest residential streets were awoken in the early hours of February 17th, 2021, by an ear-shattering sound—an explosion that occurred at 76 Hidden Lake Trail. Firefighters arrived to fight the blaze, and while doing so, they made a grim discovery.
In the garage were the smoldering remains of the homeowners, 56-year-old Christina Rak and 59-year-old Andre Rak, a well-liked, hardworking couple. Christina was the Vice President of Operations at Rogue Transportation, and Andre was a manager at the Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada. They had both been making retirement plans and were preparing for the next chapter of their lives together—a chapter that they would never get to enjoy.
While inspecting the charred ruins of the home, the Ontario Fire Marshal quickly realized that the explosion hadn't occurred accidentally, as everyone assumed. Someone had intentionally set the house ablaze. Prompted by the UFMS findings, the coroner conducted their own investigation and determined that Christina and Andre had both been killed before the fire began.
On February 19th, Halton Regional Police's homicide squad took over the case and shortly thereafter released images of a vehicle of interest—one seen fleeing the scene in the early hours. The authorities also appealed to local residents, asking them to come forward with any dash cam or surveillance footage captured along Hidden Lake Trail.
The homeowners opposite the Raks just so happened to have a security camera on the front of their property, and when they heard about that appeal, they decided to examine the footage. In the video, which was captured the evening before the fire, Christina is seen pulling into a garage at 6:24 p.m. A shadowy figure emerges from the darkness and crouches beside her car.
Christina exits the vehicle, oblivious to the intruder watching her. The garage door closes, trapping the Raks inside their own home with their soon-to-be killer. Neither Christina nor her husband were ever seen alive again.
The camera didn't pick up anything else suspicious until 5:27 a.m., when the garage suddenly exploded. It wouldn't be until March 26, 2021, that they finally tracked down the man in this footage—27-year-old Harrison Brown, a man with no prior record.
Brown was an employee of Rogue Transportation, the company where Christina worked as Vice President of Operations. In the weeks leading up to the slayings, Brown had allegedly gotten into several conflicts at work, and Christina had instructed him to work from home. Her reprimand is cited as the catalyst for Brown's murderous rage.
Brown began tracking Christina's movements using a GPS device, which he covertly placed on her vehicle. As such, he knew exactly when she had arrived at her 76 Hidden Lake Trail home on February 16th. Brown was there waiting as early as 4:36 p.m. that afternoon and was ready to strike at 6:24 p.m. when she pulled into the garage.
He then snuck in behind her vehicle, and once the garage doors closed, confronted Christina and took her life using a blade. He then bludgeoned and killed Andre, who was already inside the home. Brown remained at the residence until 9:04 p.m.
He then returned to his vehicle, which was parked a few streets away, and drove to his Mississauga home. Brown would return to the Rak home in the early hours and cause an explosion. A broken knife covered in the Raks' DNA was found in Brown's garage.
Police also discovered the GPS software Brown had used to track Christina's vehicle on his laptop and phone, along with satellite images of the Raks' house. Additional evidence placed Brown's cell phone in the Hidden Lake Trail area at the time of the murders and again when the fire was set.
In the face of mounting evidence, Brown pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson. Justice Clayton Conlan took that as proof of Brown's remorse but also acknowledged that his actions were horrific and pre-planned.
On December 1st, 2023, the judge sentenced him to life in prison. He'll be eligible for parole in 25 years.
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