For years, some law enforcement agencies have replaced the faces of traditional playing card decks with images of missing and murdered people and distributed those cards in prisons hoping inmates would come forward with information needed to crack these cold cases wide open. Now, audiochuck is dealing you in. Each week, we will be working with investigators and family members to bring you the details of some of the coldest cases from around the country in hopes that someone listening can finally bring these victims the justice they deserve.
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Loni Kai Okaruru (5 of Hearts, Oregon)
Our card this week is Loni Kai Okaruru, the 5 of Hearts from Oregon.
Loni Kai Okaruru made several stops on the morning of August 26, 2001, and interacted with several people, before she was beaten to death, her body left on a farm in Washington County, Oregon. Loni Kai’s murder was quickly labeled by police as a hate crime, but decades later her killer is still unknown.
- If you know anything about the murder of Loni Kai Okaruru in August 2001 in northwest Oregon, please call the Washington County Sheriff’s Investigations Division at 503-846-2500, and ask for Detective Shannon Wilde.
- To learn more about Basic Rights Oregon, please visit their website by clicking here.
- audiochuck is proud to support the Trans Journalists Association, an organization whose mission is to promote accurate, nuanced coverage of trans issues and communities in the media. To explore resources, learn more about their work, and join us in supporting them, please visit https://www.transjournalists.org/
Thank you to author and activist Raquel Willis, who helped us by reviewing and editing this episode. Visit her website to learn more about her work!
View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/loni-kai-okaruru
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- To apply for a Cold Case Playing Card grant through Season of Justice, please visit www.seasonofjustice.org.
The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers.
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