Naman Shrestha
In early 2005, a bright and talented 16-year-old teen named Adrianne Reynolds met her unfortunate and untimely demise in Illinois. As the entire community was left shell-shocked, her family and friends were devastated by the news. The investigation uncovered some dark secrets about her high school and how a devoted group of Insane Clown Posse followers were linked to the brutal killing. The entire case is explored in an episode titled ‘Tears of a Clown’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Mean Girl Murders.’
Adrianne Reynolds Hailed From a Loving Blended Family
On September 12, 1988, in El Dorado in Union County, Arkansas, Carolyn welcomed Adrianne Leigh Reynolds into this world. Since the former was just 16 at the time, the latter was soon adopted by her grandparents, Beverly and Tony Reynolds, who enveloped her in their warm and loving embrace. However, she later relocated to Kilgore, Texas, to be with her birth mother. Over the years, Beverly and Tony separated; while Beverly went on to marry Bill Graham, Tony found love again with Joanna. Despite the changes in the family dynamics, Adrianne never faced a shortage of love. Her childhood was packed with joy, affection, and support, courtesy of her blended family that also included her sister, Courtney Huffman, as well as stepbrothers, Josh and Justin.
A gifted singer, Adrianne loved entertaining her family and friends during gatherings. Her singing lit up the spirits of her loved ones and brought smiles to their faces. According to Carolyn, she was so passionate about singing that she even wished to audition for ‘American Idol.’ She didn’t hold much interest in academics and decided not to follow the traditional high school path. Instead, she decided to pursue a GED and ultimately serve her country by enlisting in the Marines. In November 2004, shortly after turning 16, Adrianne moved in with Tony and Joanna in East Moline, Illinois.
Adrianne Reynolds’ Remains Were Found a Few Days After Her Disappearance
Soon after her move, Adrianne enrolled in the GED course at Black Hawk College Outreach Center, determined to work towards her dream. She had also taken up a job as a clerk at a local Checkers restaurant. In her downtime, the young girl would sing, play her guitar and sketch. Both Tony and Joanna loved having the 16-year-old around. Her energy and laughter filled their lives with happiness. Thus, they were naturally quite shocked when she suddenly went missing in January 2005. On January 21, Adrianne didn’t turn up at work and wouldn’t pick up her phone. Alarmed by it, Tony and Joanna frantically began looking for her, asking around if anyone had seen her.
When they couldn’t figure out Adrianne’s whereabouts, her adoptive father/grandfather reported her missing. The police launched a search for the teen. Fliers were put up around the area by her loved ones who just wanted their beloved Adrianne to come home to them. According to reports, about five days after her disappearance, Adrianne’s remains were discovered in multiple spots. The police noted that the 16-year-old was strangled, beaten, and set on fire, and her remains were later dismembered and thrown in a storm drain across Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island, as well as a farm on the outskirts of Millersburg in Mercer County.
The Killers Turned Out to be Adrianne Reynolds’ Classmates
While the officials were searching for Adrianne Reynolds, they learned that she was last seen with two of her classmates — Sarah Anne Kolb and Cory Gregory. When they were brought in for questioning, the latter ended up confessing to the crimes. The authorities learned that on the afternoon of January 21, 2005, Adrianne met with Sarah, Cory, and another friend named Sean McKitrick at a Moline Taco Bell for lunch. Soon, the two women got into a heated argument. When Sean tried to intervene, he was told to leave by Sarah.
The altercation turned physical and ended with Sarah reportedly strangling Adrianne with a belt while Cory held her arms in the back of the car in the parking lot of Taco Bell. After committing the crime, Sarah and Cory drove her remains to the former’s grandparents’ farm house in Aledo, Illinois. After their attempts to burn the remains failed, they turned to a 16-year-old friend named Nathan Gaudet, who helped them dismember the remains and placed them in a trash bag. Later, the three teenagers disposed of the garbage bag at the Black Hawk State Historic Site.
Apart from admitting to the murder and confessing how he and Sarah committed the crime, on January 26, Cory also led the authorities to the site where they had disposed of the remains. Thus, on February 1, 2005, both Sarah Kolb and Cory Gregory were officially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide in connection with the killing of Adrianne Reynolds. Later, Nathan was also charged with concealment for helping to dismember Adrianne.
Sarah and Cory Are Currently Incarcerated at Separate Illinois Prison Facilities
While Sarah Kolb and Cory Gregory pleaded not guilty to Adrianne’s murder, Nathan Gaudet pleaded guilty to his involvement in the crime. At first, Sarah’s murder trial commenced on October 31, 2005, and continued for about a couple of weeks. However, despite deliberating for 15 hours, the jury was not able to reach a unanimous decision, resulting in a mistrial. A few months later, her second trial got underway and this time, she was found guilty on all counts on February 6, 2006.
Finally, she was sentenced to a total of 53 years years in prison — 48 years for the murder charge and an additional five years for concealing the crime. On the other hand, Cory later pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, before his trial was supposed to begin. On July 10, 2006, he received a 45-year imprisonment sentence — 40 years for murder and five years for concealment of the same. Meanwhile, Nathan was sentenced to five years in juvenile detention, of which he served nearly four years before getting released.
However, he met with a fatal accident on April 16, 2012, in Indiana. In the following years, Cory filed an appeal to withdraw his confession and have his sentencing dismissed. However, the Illinois Third District Appellate Court denied his request in April 2008. As of today, 37-year-old Sarah, now Shane Kolb, is serving her sentence at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois, while 37-year-old Cory, now Harley Quinn, is incarcerated at Pontiac Correctional Center in Pontiac, Illinois.
Read More: Kay Parsons Murder: Where Are Becky Sears and Christopher Bowers Now?
