JAMES PHELPS AND TIMOTHY NORTON MURDERED CASSIDY RAINWATER AND POSTED PICTURES TO THE DARK WEB
Lebanon,Missouri, sits near to the majestic Ozark mountains and the world-famous Route 66. Its stunning landscape has long been home to a multitude of native American tribes, including the family of Cassidy Rainwater. But, like so many indigenous families who suffer unreported and unprosecuted crimes, hers was to be beset by tragedy. On 13 April 2007, Cassidy’s mother Tracy Wahwassuck disappeared. She had last been seen in Lebanon, where it’s believed that she was out searching for arrowheads. Just over a year later, in May 2008, a farmer fertilising his field discovered human bones, and police would later identify the skeletal remains as belonging to Tracy. Cassidy was just 18 years old when her mother vanished, and the case into her death remains open and unsolved. While there is scant information about the rest of her life, it’s understood Cassidy struggled greatly with the loss of her mother. It was perhaps this that led her to befriend a man who would betray her in the most horrific way.
MISSING
On 25 August 2021, Cassidy, 33, was reported missing by her family. She had disappeared in late July and the last person she was known to have contact with was a man called James
Phelps. Phelps, 58, owned a sprawling farm located on Moon Valley Road in the Ozarks, and Cassidy was understood to have gone to stay with him while she was getting herself back on her feet after a hard few years. Her family informed investigators that Phelps’ farm was her last known location, but when they visited, Phelps told police that, one night, he had seen her walk to the end of the driveway and get in a car, and he had not seen or heard from her since. He also said Cassidy had mentioned wanting to go to Colorado, and that’s what he assumed she had done. The police visited the farm several more times, but failed to find any evidence of Cassidy ever having been there. They did note that on one of their visits, a loft area appeared to have been cleaned, but with nothing concrete to go on, they were unable to take their suspicions further. Still, they remained quietly watchful of Phelps.
A month later, on 16 September 2021, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office were contacted by the FBI with news relating to Cassidy’s disappearance. The agency had received a disturbing tip that photos of Cassidy had been posted to the dark web, and the contents were dreadful. A sheriff’s officer would later tell reporters, “They depicted a partially clothed female who we recognised as Cassidy.” She was in a cage that was used to butcher animals, and the photos appeared to have been taken on Phelps’ farm. The sheriff’s office immediately issued a search warrant for Phelps’ property and his mobi
