Rachel Timmerman, a 19-year-old woman, vanished on June 3, 1997. At the time, she was residing in Newaygo County, MI. A little over a month later, she was discovered tied to the bottom of a lake. Her post-mortem disclosed that she’d still be alive at the time she entered the lake and that she died after that.

Rachel was scheduled to testify at Marvin Gabrion’s trial. Marvin was the uncle of Mike Gabrion, a friend of Rachel’s. Rachel had accused Marvin of assaulting her, and Marvin was arrested for sexual assault in the third degree. Rachel was scheduled to speak at his initial hearing on June 5, 1997, which was scheduled for June 5. But she never appeared.

On June 3, Rachel was last seen alive. When she returned to her residence to get ready for a date with John Weeks. She was unfamiliar with Weeks. However, he eventually began calling her and asking her out on a date. Rachel initially denied him because she did not recognise him. Rachel reluctantly agreed to go on a date with him after he persisted in calling her. Rachel vanished afterward.

What Rachel didn’t know was that Marvin had hired Weeks to lure Rachel out of her house.

However, karma would soon catch up with John Weeks, as he vanished shortly thereafter. He went missing on June 22, 1997. His body has never been discovered, but it is commonly believed that Marvin murdered him in order to close loose ends.

Wayne Davis, who was also scheduled to testify at the trial, did not attend the hearing. Similarly, he vanished on February 12, 1997. Darlene Lazo investigated by driving to his room, where she discovered a note from Davis. Davis stated in the note that he had decided to relocate to California. Still, Lazo surveyed the room and determined that all of Wayne’s clothes were still present; none had been packed. His military field jacket was surprisingly still in the room. And Lazo recalled that he never left home without it.

It should be pointed out that Marvin Gabrion had been discharged from prison on bond on February 5, about a week before Wayne’s disappearance.

Prior to her disappearance, Rachel had repeatedly expressed her fear of Marvin Gabrion. She had initially been hesitant to accuse him of rape because she feared him. After the rape, Marvin warned her that he would hunt her down and kill her if she ever revealed the truth about what occurred. He also threatened to kill Shannon, Rachel’s daughter. Nonetheless, Rachel’s family encouraged her to file charges.

When Rachel could not be located, her family suspected that she had been murdered by Marvin. However, their fears were allayed when Rachel sent them a message a few days after she vanished. Rachel wrote in the letter that she was eloping with a man she had recently met. She did not reveal the man’s identity, but she did inform them that she would be gone for at least a few weeks because they were planning a wedding in Arkansas. Rachel also admitted that she had never been raped; she had fabricated the entire incident for attention.

The attorney (Crystal Roach) who had been handling Rachel’s case received a letter from Rachel requesting that the charges be dropped. The presiding judge also accepted a letter from Rachel in which she admitted to fabricating the rape allegation and urged him to dismiss the charges against Marvin. The letters were imprinted with holographic stamps depicting a space station that were uncommon.

Strangely, it appears that everyone, including Rachel’s family, has accepted these messages as genuine. Her family did not even file a missing person report because they believed she had fled to Arkansas. Nobody awaited her arrival. Rachel later informed her family in a second letter that she had decided to remain in Arkansas permanently. Still, she refused to reveal the identity of her husband.

On July 5, 1997, two fishers were fishing at Oxford Lake in Oakland County, Michigan. To their terror and horribleness, they discovered the corpse of a woman, tied to cinder blocks at the underside of the lake. She was Rachel Timmerman. Marvin Gabrion was charged with 1st-degree murder.

There is evidence that Rachel and Shannon were held captive for at least a few days prior to their deaths. When police arrived at Marvin’s residence, they discovered diapers, baby jars, and other evidence that Rachel and Shannon had been hidden alive for at least some time. The most alarming thing they discovered was a book about the kidnapping of Colleen Stan, which led them to believe that Marvin had originally intended to keep Rachel as a slave.

When asked about the book, he stated that he ran a Christian bookstore out of his home; however, that was the only book found in the entire residence, so it was a very small bookstore.

Additionally, they discovered stamps similar to those used on the letters; holographic stamps depicting a space site. It appears that Marvin kept her alive in order to coerce her into writing those messages, and then murdered her. In addition, they discovered cinder blocks comparable to those used to weigh down Timmerman’s body, as well as an abundance of other evidence.

Shannon has never been found and is presumed to be deceased.

2002 marked the beginning of Marvin’s trial; his behaviour was unusual and frequently violent. He attempted to fire his attorney because he was a democrat and he preferred to be represented by a republican. The judge denied the defendant’s request, stating that while they have the right to an attorney, they do not have the right to request one from a local political party. The judge also rejected Marvin’s claim that he would prefer to represent himself.

In 2002, canoeists discovered the body of Wayne Davis just days after Marvin was sentenced to death for the murder of Rachel Timmerman. Wayne’s body was discovered in a lake, similarly to Rachel’s, weighed down with cinder blocks.