Woman Killed After Meeting Man On Dating Site 'Plenty Of Fish'; Then He Kills Himself Right After
She was just getting her life back.
Getty Images The struggle to free yourself from addiction isn't easy. Many addicts go their entire lives without breaking the cycle and reprogramming their brains and hearts to work a little bit differently. But some addicts do manage to get the help they need and find the support to beat their addictions and get a second chance at life. Juliane Kellner of Las Vegas was one of the lucky ones.
After decades spent as a victim of abuse and violence and and addiction, Juliane Kellner was finally clean and she couldn't have been more excited about where her life was taking her. She was even dating again!
Tragically she had no idea that the man she thought might be her soulmate had other plans for Juliane. Here's what we know about what happened to her.
Who is Juliane Kellner?
For all of her life, Juliane Kellner struggled.
But, now in her 40s, she was looking forward to closing the door on her battles with depression and addiction and to healing from the violence she experienced.
She counted on her religious community for their support.
“Menial jobs, unhealthy relationships … they were all welcomed with open arms believing that even life’s leftovers were more than I deserved,” she shared with the congregation, that is until she found God and started getting her life together. Kellner was eager to start a new chapter in her life, a positive one, and when she turned 42 in October of 2018, she felt like she was finally ready to live the life that she deserved. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing that there were other forces at work, forces that threatened not just her happiness and her new chapter, but her very life itself.
Kellner's second chapter would tragically also be her final one.
She moved to the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada and moved into a modest apartment. But it was at another apartment where the police found Kellner more than two weeks after she was last seen. According to the Clark County Coroner's office, she was killed from a gunshot to the chest. S
he wasn't the only one. In addition to Kellner, there was another body, that of 39-year-old Victor Crisan also found in the apartment.
The police currently believe that Kellner was the victim of a murder-suicide plot. In a moment that now seems haunting, Juliane spoke about her fighting spirit, not knowing just how prescient her words would be: “Now when I look at my life I can do it with my eyes wide open,” she said.
“I know my story is filled with broken pieces, terrible choices and ugly truth, but it also has a major comeback. … I don’t know exactly what God has in store for me. I don’t know how my story will end, but I do know this: Nowhere in the text will it ever read, ‘She gave up,'" she said.
Not much is known about Kellner's relationship with the man who is believed to have taken her life just when she was getting it back.
Her son, 21-year-old Brandon Wilt, knew that his mother was dating. He believes that the man found dead beside his mother was the same person she had told him about meeting about a month earlier on the dating app Plenty of Fish.
The bodies of Kellner and the unidentified man were found last Wednesday, July 10th. The police only started investigating in the first place because a friend had contacted them worried about her. According to the friend Kellner was not seen by anyone who knew her since she left for her date on June 28th.
As the police continued to investigate, they discovered that both Kellner's car and her cell phone were in the parking lot directly behind her apartment building.
For the first portion of the hunt to locate Kellner, her friends were on their own. After they found her phone inside of her car, they found a text message from her date which included his address.
On July 2nd, they decided it was time to officially report her as missing, considering the fact that she didn't show up to work, which was extremely out of character for the new Kellner. After her friend contacted him on July 5th, Kellner's son flew into town from his own home in Florida to help with the hunt and put pressure on the police: “Eight, nine days we were screaming and crying for [police] that something’s not right, something’s wrong.
They need to check that apartment. I called [police] countless times, every single day until I was here, until I finally got answers and until she was found.” Tragically, Brandon was more right than he knew.
The Henderson police, when approached for comment, have stayed mum because the investigation is still ongoing but anticipate releasing details as it becomes appropriate. For now, her family must simply wait for the closure they so desperately need.
According to Kellner's son Brandon, his mother moved to Nevada more than two years ago to attend a year-long treatment program at a place called The Refuge For Women whose website says that they offer help and treatment for victims of “escaped human trafficking or sexual exploitation.”
Kellner completed the program with flying colors and was eagerly embarking on a newer and happier life.
“She was succeeding, she got a great job, she got a car, her license back,” he said. She was also eagerly awaiting a visit from her 15-year-old twin daughters who were slated to arrive on July 5th to see their mother again.
Kellner, who was working as a saleswoman at the Las Vegas Athletic Club, wasn't the only one who was impacted by her newfound faith. “When she got connected with God, she changed a lot of people’s lives,” he said.
“She was very, very outgoing. She loved to be around people, she could talk to anybody. She could make anybody laugh. It could be the hardest times and she was always trying to cheer you up. She was doing so well in life I think that she was trying to still move forward. I think she was trying to find somebody to connect with. She wouldn’t have put herself in this position on purpose, that’s for sure. I think she was just trying to find somebody that she could love and got tied up with the wrong person.”
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on July 17, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.