From toxic dates to finding love with serial killers, these six cold cases show that unsuspecting dating app users on the quest for romance led them to a clutch of danger.
Dating apps are the latest way for people to connect with potential partners from the comfort of their space, from Tinder to Grindr.
Foster yourself for a story that blurs the line between love and fear. This is Fox News Digital's A list of recent cases where love has not worked.
How to not fall in love with an AI-driven romance con man
Grace Millan backpacked the world, matching Jesse Shane Kempson on Tinder. (istock)
Backpacker fatal crater date
The New Zealand man spends the rest of his life behind the bar due to the horrifying murder of a British backpacker after the pair matched on Tinder in 2018.
Jesse Shane Kempson was convicted of killing Grace Millan after a night of drinking in Auckland.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Kempson strangled Millan during agreed sex in a hotel room and took a photo of her naked body before packing her body into a suitcase. Following the discovery of Mirán's body in Wayakere area in nearby mountainous areas, autopsy revealed that the injury was “consistent with control.”
A year after Millan's death, Kempson was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Tinder did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fox News Digital.
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For catfish couples
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Curtis Engine, a missing Mercer Island resident, 74. (Washington State Patrol)
Curtis England, 74, from Mercer Island, Washington, has been caught up in the elaborate catfish scheme of LGBTQ+ dating app Scruff.
He was reported to have disappeared on February 23, 2024, and his body was found on March 7, 2024. Authorities say Enziland “had a blunt trauma to his face” and he suffered a stab wound to the neck.
Investigators soon learn that Enziland is said to be the target of online criminals who met him on a dating website. Before his death, the engine was stolen thousands of dollars, lured with fentanyl, and was said to have been poisoned.
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Philip J. Brewer, 32, and 47-year-old Christina Hardy face murder, trickery and identity theft.
Scruff did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fox News Digital.
Read the entire story here.
Cold-blooded trance “baby-faced” murderer
Alex Ray Scott will appear in New York Criminal Court on Thursday, September 26, 2024 in Manhattan for his sentence. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
The trance “face to the baby” murderer has been sentenced to brutal murders of two New York City salesmen and two Oklahoma landlords.
Alex Ray Scott used the dating app to meet antique dealer Kenneth Sabinki in 2020. New York Post It has been reported. While in prison, Scott began moving from man to woman and died by stabbing Sabinki in Sabinki's Upper East Side Apartment using decorative plates and a kitchen knife.
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Scott also confirmed the murder in 2019 and the dismantling of Robin Scottpole at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Last year, a Manhattan judge sentenced Scott to 22 years in prison for Savinsky's murder, just months after Scott was sentenced to prison for the death of Scott Cole.
Read the entire story here.
Transteen was killed and torn apart by date
Dashaun Dale Deprey Watkins, 29, of Sharon, Pennsylvania, is in Mercer County Jail after being linked to the dismantling of 14-year-old Paulie's relax. (Mercer County Jail)
Pennsylvania man 14-year-old Paulie is at the back of the bar after being seduced by the forest and is said to have broken up a transgender teenager after meeting her on the LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr.
Likens was at a friend's house before meeting with 29-year-old Deshawn Watkins, according to court documents filed with Mercer Police Station.
Stop these V-Day scams before they break your mind and your bank account
Police used video surveillance and cell phone records to link Watkins to Paulie's death. Criminal charges revealed that the cause of death at the age of 14 was a trauma of sharp-headed forces, and the way of death was He ruled the murder. Watkins was charged with Likens' death.
Grindr did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fox News Digital.
Read the entire story here.
“Shopping Cart Killer” was found guilty
Anthony Robinson was found guilty of using a dating app to kill two women and using a shopping cart to transport bodies in 2021. (Harrisonburg Police/Fox 5 DC (WTTG))
A Virginia man known as a “shopping cart killer” has been found guilty of using social media dating apps to kill two women in 2021.
Anthony Robinson was able to spend the rest of his life behind the bar for the murders of Beth Redmon and Tonia Smith after the ju umpire convicted him last month. Investigators also linked Robinson to two additional deaths in Fairfax County and Washington, D.C., but he has not yet faced trial.
Prosecutors said Robinson, who was staying at the motel while working at a local chicken processing factory, killed Redmon in Room 336 in the Alexandria Motel Room, using a shopping cart and trees were overgrown the next day. It was revealed that she had disposed of her body in the area. A month later, Robinson did the same to Smith.
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During the trial, the ju judge was shown video footage of the body wrapped in a seat of Robinson Wheeling Redmon from the motel. Robinson then pushed the shopping cart towards the wooded area behind the hotel. Police say Redmon's body was later found.
Robinson is expected to be sentenced later this year, court records show.
Read the full story here.
To catch the murderer
Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, 25, arrives in court for a ruling in Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday, October 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, pool)
A New Jersey man was sentenced to 160 years in 2016 for using a dating app, killing three women.
Halil Wheeler Weaver spends the rest of his life behind the bar, following Butler's friends, due to the murders of Johnny Brown, Sarah Butler and Robin West I used social media To help catch the murderer.
The fourth woman, Tiffany Taylor, survived the attack and provided law enforcement with identifiable information to decipher the lawsuit.
At the 2021 trial, prosecutors portrayed how Wheeler-Wever uses a dating app to meet women for sex and dump their bodies all over northern New Jersey. Prosecutors said the attacks were apart for weeks, giving Wheeler-Weaver the opportunity to plan before struggling again.
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Authorities praise Butler's college friends for their work, leveraging Butler's social media accounts, creating fake profiles and seducing Wheeler Weaver in the proposed meeting spot where police are waiting. did.
Read the entire story here.
