Breaking News: Local College Students Remains Found
Lilia’s heart raced as she read the notification, the letters blurring together for a moment as the weight of the words settled over her.Local college student’s remains found.The world seemed to tilt on its axis, the ground beneath her feet suddenly unstable. Augustus was watching her closely, his expression unreadable, but she could see the tension in his jaw,the way his hands tightened around his cup. He didn’t have to ask what she was thinking—they both knew. The dark, terrible secret they shared was threatening to unravel, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
“Lilia,” Augustus said quietly, his voice breaking through her thoughts. “We need to go somewhere private.”
She merely nodded, allowing him to guide her away from the bustling campus, down a quieter path that led to a secluded corner of the quad. The air was cold, biting against her skin, but she hardly even noticed. All she could think about was that night—how the headlights caught Jacob’s figure in the darkness, the sickening thud as Willow’s car hit him, the way his body crumpled to the ground.
They had panicked. All of them. They had buried Jacob’s body near the turnoff by Henderson Road, praying that no one would find him. But they were wrong.
“His parents identified his remains,” she whispered. “They’re having the funeral this Sunday.”
His face was pale, his eyes darkened with guilt. “We didn’t have a choice. He was dead, Lilia. There was nothing we could do.”
“But we left him there,” she said, shaking her head in disgust at herself—at her actions. “We just left him there, and we didn’t tell anyone. We let his parents think that he was missing all this time. How could we . . . ?”
He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me. We had no other option. If we had called the police, we would all be in jail right now. Willow would’ve gone to prison. Her life would’ve been ruined.”
“Maybe that’s what we all deserve, Gus. We deserve to be in jail, not finishing exams. Or going to parties, breathing. We took someone’s life, we did that. And yet, we get to walk around every day in this town like nothing happened. We are horrible people.Nothing that you say is ever going to change that. We deserve hell for what we did.”
Augustus said nothing because she was right.
They were horrible people—murderers.
It didn’t matter how much they told themselves they were searching for . In the end, they were only running from guilt.
No matter how much they tried to bury it, the weight of what they had done was suffocating, the guilt eating away at them like a slow poison. And now, with Jacob’s body found, it was only a matter of time before someone figured out the truth of what they’d done.
The camera lens focused on them, capturing a moment that felt too intimate for the bustling quad. The way Augustus leaned in, his hand grazing Lilia’s shoulder, and how she tilted her head just slightly toward him, spoke volumes to the stranger behind the lens. They seemed wrapped in a conversation that excluded the world, their expressions serious. The photographer hesitated for a second before snapping the photo—preserving the fleeting connection.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:Whispers of Deception—Episode 4: “The Unraveling of the Secrets of Mills Creek”
Host 1:Maggie Warren
Host 2:Noah Thompson
Guest:Detective Maria Chambers, former investigator on the Willow Montgomery case.
[INTRO MUSIC: EERIE, SUSPENSEFUL TONES]
Maggie:Welcome back, true crime enthusiasts. I’m Maggie Warren and with me is Noah Thompson. Today’s episode is one we’ve all been waiting for—the latest developments in the Willow Montgomery case. Noah, it feels like Mills Creek has been at the center of a whirlwind lately, don’t you think?
Noah:Absolutely, Maggie. Just when you thought this case couldn’t get any more twisted, a new discovery shakes things up. For those of you just tuning in, we’re diving into the recent uncovering of Jacob Finley’s body and its potential connection to Willow Montgomery’s murder.
Maggie:Jacob Finley was a student at Hawthorne University, reported missing in March earlier this year. His disappearance was a mystery, with no leads, no suspects. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. That was until a few days ago when his remains were discovered near Henderson Road. And get this—the location is just a few miles from where Willow Montgomery’s body was found.
Noah:The proximity of these two crime scenes has led many to speculate that the same person or persons may be involved. We’re not talking about a random coincidence here. There’s something tying these cases together, something dark and dangerous.
Maggie:And who better to help us unravel these connections than our guest today, Detective Maria Chambers, who worked on the Willow Montgomery case. Welcome, Detective.
Detective Chambers:Thank you, Maggie. It’s a pleasure to be here, though the circumstances are far from ideal.
Maggie:Let’s dive right in. Detective, when Jacob Finley’s body was found, did it send shockwaves through your department? What were the initial reactions?
Chambers:Shockwaves might be an understatement. Jacob’s disappearance was a case that haunted many of us. We had no leads, and no evidence pointing in any direction. And then, to find his body so close to where Willow’s was discovered—it was a chilling moment for everyone involved.
Noah:Chilling is an understatement. Do you believe there is a direct link between the two cases? Is it possible that Mills Creek has a killer on the loose who’s been flying under the radar?
Chambers:It’s too early to say definitely, but the circumstantial evidence is compelling. Both victims were students at the same university, and their bodies were found inrelative proximity. We’re looking at a range of possibilities, but we can’t rule out the idea of a connection between the two.
