In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, we look at two very recent cases that highlight the severe consequences of toxic relationships and senseless violence. First, we'll explore the tragic story of the missing Georgia firefighters who were found dead after trying to end a toxic relationship. The details of their disappearance and subsequent discovery reveal the dark side of relationships gone horribly wrong. Then, we’ll shift our focus to Florence, Kentucky, where a 21st birthday party turned deadly, resulting in five lives lost. We’ll discuss the events leading up to the shooting, the aftermath, and the impact on the community. Join me as we navigate these harrowing tales, examining the circumstances, the forensic evidence, and the human stories behind these tragic events. * Listener discretion is advised.
CONNECT WITH JULIE MATTSON:
• Website: https://pushinguplilies.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pushinguplilies
0:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies.
0:08 I'm your host, Julie Mattson.
0:10 Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly True Crime podcast with spine tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
0:24 Do I have some stories for you?
0:26 Are you ready?
0:30 Hey, guys.
0:31 What a crazy week it's been already.
0:33 Finally, the weather has gotten really nice in Texas.
0:38 Gosh, it was cool yesterday.
0:40 I was kind of surprised for the first day.
0:42 I like did not sweat, but I tell you what, it's crazy that everyone has been dying outside when it's been like over 100 degrees.
0:54 We've had so many people, I think I told you all this last week, but we've had so many people found in their vehicles, people found outside, people committing suicide outside.
1:05 I had a guy last week who was working on an air conditioning unit and was found by the homeowner outside.
1:13 It's just been crazy.
1:15 Our body surface temperatures have been, gosh, I don't know, 109, 114, 122.
1:23 And we use the laser thermometers.
1:27 I know back in the day they used to like, literally stab the thermometer in the liver.
1:33 We don't do that anymore.
1:34 We just do a body surface temperature, but it's been so hot, so hot.
1:40 It's like almost to the point where you don't want to do your hair or your makeup or even wear anything cute or try to look good because you will not look good at the end of the day.
1:51 Trust me, it has just been a scorcher.
1:54 Yesterday was a great break.
1:56 We had a little bit overcast.
1:58 The sun really wasn't out, and I will take that any day.
2:02 I would love it to be like in the seventies every day.
2:07 We've been busy in the office doing a lot of follow up talking to a lot of doctors and talking to a lot of family and that's kind of part of our job.
2:17 And I think I've told you all that before.
2:18 We are not always out in the field.
2:21 There's just a lot of behind the scenes work to do getting medical records and those types of things.
2:30 But I found a couple of recent stories that I wanted to talk to y'all about because to me, they're really interesting.
2:36 And in this first one, I think with the mother of this victim.
2:40 And also what I want to relay is that victims are not always female, males can be victims.
2:51 Many times when I was doing sexual assault exams, I had male sexual assault victims.
2:59 And I think maybe the reason that we don't see it as much is because they are less likely to come forward.
3:08 I feel like they're embarrassed because they feel like they shouldn't be victimized or shouldn't be able to be victimized.
3:17 And that's kind of what I think a majority of them think.
3:21 And that's not true at all.
3:23 Anybody can be victimized just because you're male doesn't mean that you're not subject to kidnapping and murder by a female.
3:35 I mean, someone can slip something into your drink or whatever and weaken you and take advantage of that situation.
3:45 So please, please, please don't, I mean, I know it's easy for me to say, don't be embarrassed but don't let the fact that you're a male keep you from reporting a crime if you feel like you've been victimized, it's so important.
4:03 Number one, I mean, you need that support and then emotionally you need that too and it's ok.
4:10 It's ok to say that you need help and to say that you've been taken advantage of and that's what it amounts to.
4:19 Don't be afraid to speak up and get the help that you need if that's the case.
4:25 Chandler Kuhbander was a Georgia firefighter, and he lost his life recently.
4:32 He and his former girlfriend were found dead in a car in Cork County, Tennessee after a weeklong search.
4:41 They had been missing since June 24th of 24.
4:45 This is a very, very recent story and some of you may have heard about it.
4:48 I know it's been all over Facebook.
4:51 He was a senior firefighter with Liberty County Fire Services, and she was also a firefighter there.
4:59 The two were found on June 30th and they were found in her vehicle, and I'll go over that here in just a minute.
5:06 But they had been dating apparently since high school and they continued their relationship for seven years until they broke up.
5:16 There's conflicted stories about when they broke up.
5:19 But the point is they were no longer together as a couple on June 22nd, his ex-girlfriend Raegan Anderson confronted him at an Olive Garden in Pooler Georgia while he was on a date.
5:35 Apparently, she went inside the restaurant and again, correct me if I'm wrong place because I've heard multiple different stories.
5:44 But I'm only recording like what I have seen on, on the internet.
5:49 She went in, I guess caused a scene.
5:53 They went out to the parking lot.
5:55 She followed him outside the restaurant.
5:58 She keyed his car; she broke the gas cap off and then tore off the rear windshield wiper.
6:07 So tore it off.
6:09 Police found her later in a nearby parking lot where she said that she vandalized his car because he made hurtful remarks towards her.
6:19 She was arrested for criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct.
6:26 She posted bond and was later seen driving around a mall parking lot near where his gym was located and he was at the gym, his mom had last heard from him that morning, which was June 24th when he called her in distress.
6:43 And he basically told mom that Anderson was blowing up his phone and threatening to commit suicide.
6:51 Now, I didn't know this young man, but I can tell you from everything I've heard.
6:57 He sounds like he was very caring, and he did still care about her, but he knew that they just weren't good together and sometimes that happens, but it's not always easy to get that other person to leave you alone.
7:12 And I've been in that situation myself where you find yourself stopped.
7:18 I was in a situation where I had broken up with a boyfriend and thought he got the message that things were over and we weren't going to continue being a couple and I tried to move on with my life, went on a date and my date brought me home one night and my ex was hiding in the woods behind our house.
7:43 True story.
7:45 I got out of the car, and I just heard yelling and he came running towards me.
7:51 I think my dad heard me screaming.
7:55 He came out of the house, out the back door and stood on the porch to see what was going on.
8:03 My ex took his shoes off and threw them at my dad.
8:08 Honestly, I don't even remember what happened after that I just remember, you know, going in the house and not believing that that had actually happened to me.
8:20 It's scary to think that someone is going to follow you and basically stalk you and make it so hard to break up and so hard to cut ties.
8:34 I think that's the reason a lot of people try to remain friends because they think it might like, make that break a little bit easier and whether or not that happened in this case, we don't know, there are stories that it did and I totally get it.
8:49 I mean, sometimes it's easier just to try to stay friends with somebody and keep kind of a light friendly relationship because if you are a little bit scared of them or you feel like, you know, their capabilities and you're threatened, I get it.
9:06 I mean, because you kind of know what that person is capable of and Anderson in this situation was blowing up his phone and threatening to commit suicide.
9:20 Keep in mind that this was after the Olive Garden incident, and she was obviously upset that he had gone out on a date.
9:30 They've been together for seven years and you know, breakups are hard, and some people deal with them better than others. Anyway, they were actually found inside Anderson's Black 2017 Ford Focus. About, again, conflicting stories, 300 - 350 miles away from where they lived. Both of their bodies were found. Apparently, I guess the fire chief had called asking for a welfare check for her.
10:05 I'm assuming it's because she didn't show up for work or something.
10:10 I'm not quite sure, but he went to her house and there was actually a note found, I guess the note indicated that she was going to hurt herself.
10:21 She was obviously still very upset about the breakup.
10:25 And again, I've said this before, like, women can be really mean.
10:32 It's just such a sad story because there's not anything in the news now or I, I haven't seen if you have, please let me know any reports of how she killed him.
10:46 The only thing I have read is that she apparently owned a gun and may have in quotes had it with her, but there are no specifics on exactly what happened.
10:59 There apparently was a report of her being seen at a gas station after he got in the car with her.
11:05 And by the way, his mom says he was probably somehow coerced to get into the car with her outside of the gym when he saw her driving around.
11:14 Apparently between then and the time they were found deceased in the car, she had been seen on camera at a gas station and had stopped to get gas, but you couldn't see him in the video.
11:27 But I guess they pinged his phone there.
11:30 They're thinking that maybe she had already killed him and that he was in her vehicle at that time.
11:36 And so she got gas and then drove further away before she shot or whatever did she did herself?
11:43 I'm following this story.
11:44 I'll definitely keep you updated.
11:46 I know there are a lot of other people that are following it as well.
11:50 I'm going to assume because of the stories I heard about her owning a gun and having it with her that she shot him and then herself.
11:57 But again, there is nothing about that in any of the stories that I found other than the fact that she may have had the gun with her.
12:07 An autopsy has been done apparently on both of them.
12:12 And yeah, we're waiting to find out what happened.
12:17 Obviously, you know, she killed him and then herself, I do feel like he was probably dead in the car because I feel like he probably would, if he was alive at the gas station, he would have tried to get out at that point.
12:32 So sad story, really sad story.
12:35 And again, and I had read that the mom really wants to remind people, I think that men can be victims.
12:46 And again, don't be ashamed if you are, it's easy to be overpowered by medications or someone's pointing a weapon at you.
12:55 And it's nothing to be ashamed of.
12:57 I know that a lot of men like to be looked at as macho and they think that that makes them less of a man if a woman overtakes them or overpowers them.
13:07 And that is not true at all.
13:09 Coming from a former sexual assault nurse, y'all, I've seen it and I was always so happy when the guys would come forward because you just don't see it that often.
13:19 And so that was always kind of, I guess, refreshing to know that they were comfortable going to the police and telling their story as upset as it may make their family members or anyone else involved.
13:33 It's what needed to happen.
13:35 Yeah, kinda.
13:36 It's scary.
13:37 I mean, the world is a scary place.
13:38 We all know that that's why I'm talking about crime, and I don't run out of stories because it's a scary place.
13:47 Now, this next story is, I want to say very what is similar.
13:52 Chase Garvey fled the scene after he shot four people at a party in Florence, Kentucky on Saturday.
14:00 And then this just happened too, this past Saturday, July 6th at about three in the morning.
14:06 Apparently, Chase went to a party that he was not invited to and just walked in.
14:14 He shot seven people.
14:16 He killed four and injured, three officers pursued him, and he eventually crashed into a ditch.
14:24 And then when the police went to the vehicle, the 20-year-old was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was transported to Saint Elizabeth Florence Hospital where he was pronounced, he knew it was not going to turn out good if the police had arrested him.
14:45 And so he took the easy way out which, you know, in, in a lot of ways, like, I'm always like, good, good riddance he's gone.
14:52 But then sometimes you're like, I want to talk to this person like I want to see what is going through your mind.
14:59 And I would love to pick the mind of criminals just because they just obviously think differently than most of us.
15:05 But again, four people were killed, three were injured but are expected to recover.
15:13 I don't even like saying his name because, I don't ever want to, want anybody to think that that person deserves the attention that they're getting.
15:26 But he killed Shane Miller who was 20, Hayden Rybicki, who was 20, Delaney Eary who was only 19, and Melissa Parrett who was 44.
15:42 Claire Smith is one of the victims.
15:45 She is expected to take months to recover, but she will recover.
15:50 Thank goodness, I don't know what her injuries were.
15:53 But according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, we don't know how reliable of a source that is.
16:00 But according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Eary was an ex-girlfriend of Garvey's and Garvey was not invited to the party and this guy was not a good guy.
16:13 First of all, let me just say he had been arrested in 2021 and charged with raping a 13-year-old girl.
16:21 He pled guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
16:24 I believe he broke his probation.
16:27 Yeah, so not an upstanding and not somebody you'd want to invite to your party.
16:32 I mean, I wouldn't have invited him to my party either.
16:35 Parrett, one of the deceased victims, Melissa Parrett was throwing a birthday party for her son who was turning 21.
16:45 The shooting took place at around 2:51 a.m. when officers were called to the scene at a home on Ridgecrest drive again, all seven people had been shot.
16:57 Could you just imagine being at a party enjoying yourself?
17:00 Someone walks in the front door and just starts shooting.
17:03 I just don't know how you get over that, especially getting shot and then having friends that are killed or a parent that is killed 19-year-old Chloe Parrett was shot in the chest and she would not have made it if it weren't for her mother's bravery.
17:20 Her mom was protecting her and saved her life.
17:26 I'm guessing that maybe after she was shot, the mom got on top of her to protect her and then ended up taking a bullet and dying, which you know, we all say, you know, I take a bullet for my kids who wouldn't and what a great woman for protecting her daughter.
17:46 I hope that her daughter does not feel guilty for that because that's what moms do.
17:52 This story just breaks my heart because you know what that mom was feeling when her daughter was shot.
17:58 Its horrifying Chloe Parrett's dad got the call from Brandon whose party?
18:06 It was so poor, Brandon.
18:07 He's turning 21 and trying to celebrate his birthday.
18:11 It was obvious that Garvey came to the house with the intent of committing violence.
18:17 I mean, he had the gun with him somehow, despite previous felony convictions, he was able to get a gun.
18:25 And the ironic part is Bruce Parrett apparently was separated from Melissa, and so he lived in a different home.
18:33 He had a party at his home the night before for his 21-year-old son and Garvey was not invited to that either, but he showed up at that party the night before, but he apparently didn't cause any trouble.
18:49 I don't know if he saw something that kind of triggered him and then found out about this other party and decided to go there with his gun, but horrifying, horrifying.
19:03 So that just, it basically kind of, I guess reminds us that, you know, this kind of thing happens to young kids all the time.
19:14 And it's so sad.
19:16 I look back at, you know, my teenage years and I'm sure many of you can as well look back and think of times when you really were in danger, but maybe you just didn't realize it.
19:27 I mean, you could have actually been a victim and just by the grace of God, you were not many times I've been in that situation with exes who became abusive and chased me or, you know, like I said, we're hiding in the bushes, pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot me and locked himself in a closet with a shotgun.
19:53 And I mean, just crazy stuff, you know, back then when I was a teenager, death investigation was not on my mind.
20:02 I mean; to be honest, nursing wasn't even on my mind.
20:06 These things were happening to me, and I guess I kind of thought that I would never be a victim.
20:14 And thank God I was never shot or anything like that.
20:18 But I was in situations where I very well could have been, you know, and no fault of my own.
20:25 Sometimes people, you know, when you're trying to break up with them, which is, was my situation, it just doesn't go well, they don't handle it well.
20:33 And even though, you know, it's the best thing as a couple, I mean, do they really think that becoming violent towards you is going to make you change your mind?
20:44 I mean, if anything you're going to be like, ok, dude, like this obviously is not going to work now, but there's no rationality, there's no clear thinking for these people.
20:56 They become obsessed and yeah, and they become dangerous.
21:01 I know I came so close so many times the domestic violence part of it is so real and I know many police will tell you that those are their most dangerous calls because there's so many emotions involved so just two very new stories.
21:21 You know, I like to go back and cover the older stories, but I also do like to talk a little bit about stuff that's going on now because it's horrifying.
21:30 And again, I know many of us feel very lucky that we weren't victims in situations like that, that we were in when we were younger.
21:39 I mean, we were still victims.
21:40 We just weren't shot and killed or injured, but we were definitely still victims.
21:48 Anyway, I just wanted to remind everybody to also pray for the families of the perpetrators because many, many times they did not see this coming.
22:00 They have to live with the aftermath of what happened.
22:04 Let's pray for all the victims and also for the families of the perpetrators, because they did also lose a child.
22:15 I could only imagine being that parent or that sibling.
22:19 Let's just remember to pray for everyone involved.
22:22 I know that there are a lot of people that lost loved ones and hoping for a quick and speedy recovery for those victims that are still in the hospital.
22:33 I was up late last night studying, my class is still kicking my booty and I just have to say it is over on, I think August 2nd or August 3rd, and I cannot wait for it to be over.
22:47 But it's getting a little bit easier because being a nurse for 30 years of course helps because I've seen a lot and cared for a lot of patients and learned a lot over the years.
22:58 But also being a death investigator has helped me a lot because this week, one of the things that's going to be on my test is head injuries.
23:08 And so of course, I feel very well versed in head injuries because I deal with those almost on a daily basis.
23:15 Subdurals and, you know, little people whose brains get smaller as they get older, and they can be injured quicker and they're on anticoagulants and all that kind of thing is stuff that we deal with.
23:28 That's kind of what this week's studies have been about.
23:31 I do find it a little bit easier.
23:34 Gosh, just pray for me working on our Patreon trying to get that up and running for you guys again.
23:41 I completely am just overwhelmed by the number of people messaging me wanting me to cover stories.
23:49 I love that.
23:49 Please keep doing that.
23:51 I will get back with you.
23:53 I'm just trying to get everybody in line and if I can get email addresses, I can send out a calendar so that you can put yourself on a schedule to do a stream yard guest host, recording with me.
24:06 Anyway, I hope y'all have a great week and that life treats you good, take care and we'll talk to you soon.
24:12 Bye.
24:13 Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies, if you like this podcast and would like to share with others.
24:20 Please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple podcast.
24:24 This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public.
24:28 Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at PushingUpLilies.com for merchandise and past episodes.