Carma Purpura
In this episode, we shine light on the story of Carma Purpura who went missing in 2007 from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Introduction
It’s important to know this episode deals with issues of substance abuse and we urge all listeners to approach this with compassion. Like many who face drug addiction, Carma was well-loved by her family and friends.
Personal History
Carma faced many life challenges including a drug addiction. While this doesn’t excuse any of her actions, it provides important context for some of her actions. In 1999, Carma, along with her boyfriend at the time, were arrested for improper disposal of a body and auto theft in connection to the death of Gregory Reed. Reed, along with Carma, her boyfriend, and acquaintance had used drugs at Carma’s residence resulting in Reed’s death. The three surviving individuals left Reed’s body by an observation tower where he wasn’t found for several months. Hoping to take her case to trial, Carma delayed while the other two took a plea deal. She ended up being arrested two times while awaiting trial in a series of drug-related offenses.
It seems that none of Carma’s interactions with the court systems resulted in efforts to get her clear interventions for her drug addictions. By 2007, it was apparent that Carma had begun to work as a sex worker frequenting truck stops.
Encounter with Alleged Killer
Carma was last seen near the cab of a truck driver. The next day the man was stopped in Nashville, Tennessee as police sought to interview him in the murder of Sara Nicole Hulbert the month before. When investigators searched his cab, they found some of Carma’s belongings and what turned out to be her blood. The blood of at least ten individuals were found in the cab.
The man, a married father, implicated himself in several other murders. He also claimed, though, that he was a victim of two men who kept using his truck cab to commit crimes. He has since been convicted of two of these murders and is awaiting trial in Carma’s case.
Missing Person
Despite authorities finding evidence that Carma was in the truck cab, they were unable to locate her body. The truck driver suggested that he left her body in a car near a Hardee’s in Indianapolis. Police, though, theorized he may have placed her inside a dumpster and that it was unlikely that her body would be found. They were confident they could still move forward with a murder case given the amount of blood and evidence in the case.
Unidentified Woman
In 2011, 4 years after Carma disappeared, the skull of a woman was found alongside a parkway in Kentucky. In total, investigators were only able to locate around 30 of her bones. It was theorized at the time that these skeletal remains belonged to a Native American woman who had been shot in the head. It was also believed that she may have been scalped as part of a hate crime.
Identification
In 2016 after a second DNA extraction, the Jane Doe found in Kentucky was identified as Carma Purpura.
Remembrance
Despite her complicated history, it’s important to know that Carma was loved. As her mother told reporters, “Despite her troubled life, we know Carma as a beautiful, talented and sweet young woman.”
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People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Carma Purpura (solved missing persons/Unidentified persons case)
Gregory Reed (solved missing person case)
Buffie Brawley (solved murder)
Sara Nicole Hulbert (solved murder)
Lucille “Gretna” Carter (solved murder)
Symantha Winters (solved murder)
Guest reader
Jann Karam
Winsome comic’s comic Jann Karam – whose blithe and incisive standup work has long brightened national television screens and top-tier comedy stages - found her comedy career footing while attending Arizona State University performing in an improv group and regularly turning up on open mic nights at Macayo’s Mexican Food Restaurant in Scottsdale. She was paid one chimichanga per joke. After developing her act (and gaining 13 pounds), she moved to New York City, where she began working as a professional comedian. Her numerous TV credits -- stand up performances and series acting roles -- include repeat appearances on both The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, HBO’s legendary 13th Annual Young Comedians’ Show, How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life), Comics Unleashed, The Arsenio Hall Show, Norm, Mad About You, Politically Incorrect, Dr. Katz, and many others. She was a regular sketch player in the last incarnation of The Carol Burnett Show and, in the now classic Seinfeld episode “The Switch,” Jann played Sandy (the one who never laughed)—rated #1 all-time inamorata by UPROXX in the 2014 feature, “A Very Important and Scientific Ranking of Jerry’s Girlfriends on ‘Seinfeld.’” Her latest claim to fame—bantering with comedy genius Larry David during her two co-starring roles on both season 11 and 12 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Jann’s critically acclaimed handpainted solo show, Reclining Nude on La Cienega (special intro by Dana Carvey), was recently produced and recorded for broadcast by legendary comedy icon and Laugh-In creator George Schlatter: https://youtu.be/vh3oIyMeB5U. As a filmmaker, her inimitably mischievous perspective is quite naturally enhanced in Under the Big Muu-Muu, Jann’s half-hour short that quirkily explores the universal agonies of seeking motherly approval. The Castle Rock Entertainment produced 35mm film earned multiple laurels on the festival circuit, as well as the deep admiration of the famously unsentimental Jerry Seinfeld: "Funny and original. If you have a mother, when you get to the end, you can’t not cry.”
As a stand-up comedian (“a woman blessed with looks, talent and the gift of restraint,” declared the LA Times early on), Jann headlines nationwide and regularly tours with Dana Carvey and, incidentally, just played a role in Dana’s latest film project. She’s released three successful comedy albums—Live at the Blue Loon and Same Guy, DifferentShirt, most recently, Live at the Wren Theater, and taped her own documentary special, Beyond the Set, a jarringly intimate behind-the-scenes look at the emotional thrill-ride of stand-up comedy through her unique lens. In addition to theatre studies at Arizona State University (Jann graduated cum laude), she studied Improv at Chicago’s Second City with Del Close and was a longtime student of renowned acting teacher, Sanford Meisner (himself) in both New York and L.A. Jann currently resides with her two kitties, Julie and Harlow, in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.