Episode 176: The Murder of Denise Ramsey
Denise and her daughter Danielle
Denise Lynn Ramsey was born in Portland, Maine on September 8th, 1967 to parents Douglas Scott and Carol Bernier. She grew up in Windham with her parents and two older brothers, Douglas Scott Jr. and Dan Scott, and eventually got two little brothers when her dad remarried. Their names were Travis and Shaun, and Denise absolutely adored being a big sister when she had always been the youngest. Travis and Shaun were extremely close with Denise while she had what was described as a turbulent relationship with her older brothers. Denise spent a good chunk of her childhood in and out of foster care and endured both physical and sexual abuse during this time. While in foster care she met Tara Johnson, her new foster sister who was close to her in age, and the two became best friends and were inseparable ever since. While in her early teens, Denise began running away, and she eventually made her way down to Florida at the age of 17 and met the man who she would have her daughter with a year later. Denise gave birth to her daughter Danielle and moved back to Maine shortly after she was born when the relationship with Danielle’s father didn’t work out.
Once settled back in Maine, Denise unfortunately suffered an injury to her foot that required surgery and a podiatrist for management of her care. This doctor was later sentenced and put in federal prison for charges of unlawful distribution of Oxycodone, conspiracy and healthcare fraud. It’s estimated that he sold or traded over 18,000 Oxycodone pills in just one year. Denise was overprescribed Oxycodone during her surgery recovery and soon found herself facing a difficult path suffering from addiction. In 2019, Denise was living in a home in Sangerville, Maine, that she was renting, however her daughter Danielle said that the home “was in disrepair” and lacked a fridge, a stove and even heat, which was uninhabitable in the winter in Maine. Her father offered to have Denise move in with him, and while their relationship had grown very strained, Denise accepted this offer as her aging father had COPD and was needing a lot more help.
By December of 2019, 53-year-old Denise had moved in with her father Douglas Sr. at 196 Poland Spring Road in Casco, Maine. She helped cook, clean and fix up areas around the home that he wasn’t able to manage anymore, and even began to take part in Bible study with her father and grew to really enjoy this. Despite there being no landline or internet, Denise found some spots where she got cell phone service so she could talk to Danielle and keep in touch. They talked often and Denise would keep Danielle updated on how everything was going with her and Danielle’s grandfather.
Danielle last spoke to her mom the day after Christmas in 2019. Danielle’s 33rd birthday, on January 2nd, 2020, was met with radio silence as opposed to the usual spree of texts, calls, voicemails, balloons, flowers, and presents for Danielle and even Danielle’s children. She immediately knew that something was wrong. Two days later while scrolling on Facebook, Danielle came across an account that seemed like it was Denise’s. There was a comment to Danielle that was about two paragraphs in length that said horrific things about Danielle. The comment called her a wretched child, stated that she hated her, and contained horrible things that were uncharacteristic of Denise to say, let alone post on Facebook. Danielle was stunned by this and took some time to cool off, but when she attempted to call her mom she didn’t get an answer.
She then called her grandfather’s cellphone, and someone on the other end who she wasn’t 100% sure was her grandfather answered and said that Denise was out running errands. Danielle thought that maybe her mom was upset with her over something, but she didn’t have time to dwell on this too much as March of 2020 came and the entire world stopped. Tara Johnson had moved to Arkansas with her husband in 2018, but even then she and Denise stayed in touch and talked at least a few times a day. All of a sudden, the communication stopped. Old fears of Denise relapsing crept in but were brushed aside as Denise had been clean for over a year and Tara had always been kept in the loop with any struggles she was having. Danielle reached out to her mom’s friends and anyone she thought could have seen or heard from her, even one of Denise’s exes, but no one had any leads.
Private investigator Toby Tiner Jr., who had been a licensed PI in Maine for over 25 years, was playing in a softball league with Denise’s little brother Shaun in April of 2021 and learned about his sister’s disappearance. Toby immediately volunteered to help, and what started as a simple search led to him not being able to think about anything else other than where Denise could be. He contacted cell phone companies, Social Security to see if Denise was collecting her checks, and the storage unit companies that Denise used for her extra belongings since she moved in with her dad. None of these leads panned out and only supported the timeline of when Denise disappeared. Toby decided to start at what he called “Square One”, which was Douglas Sr.’s home. Douglas Sr. had tragically died of COVID on March 4th, 2021, at the age of 82.
On May 8th, 2021 at around 1:00 p.m., Shaun talked to Toby over the phone and said that he would text his brother Doug Jr. and let him know that they were going to Douglas Sr.’s home at some point over the next few days to look around and see if they could find any documents or additional information. A little over two hours later at 3:26 p.m., police received a 911 call to alert them that a body had been found at 196 Poland Springs Road in Casco, Maine. Doug Jr. had already been at the home cleaning things out and tearing down the boat shed in the backyard. He had gone into the shed where he found skeletal remains partially under a blanket.
An empty bottle of bleach was also found near the skeletal remains, and part of the pair of pants the victim had been wearing were still on the lower half of the body with bleach stains. Shaun also said that he feels bleach might have been used on the ground in the upper level of the home after he found a large stain, and he stated “When I say large, I'm talking like, five or six square-foot area or bigger and you can see what's bleached. And all around all the bleach stains on the floor, you can clearly see the blood stains. They can’t figure out a cause of death, but there was a lot of blood.” Medical examiners determined that the partially skeletal and mummified remains were brought into the shed after decomposition had already began, and that the ankles had been bound and tied together.
The remains were later determined to be Denise after Danielle identified the body after recognizing a distinctive tattoo of a snake on her ankle. She had been missing for almost a year and a half before her body was found.
A portion of the medical examiner’s report stated “She was reported to have been homeless and a drug user who sometimes stayed at her father’s house.” Danielle stated in response “They couldn’t even make sure everything was accurate. They’re labeling my mother a drug-addicted transient. But if she was some young little 20-something rich girl, you bet your ass they’d be all over it.”
Doug Jr. feels that his father is responsible for the murder of Denise. He recalls that in November of 2020, about 10-11 months after anyone had heard from Denise, he had gone into his dad’s home after a late shift at Home Depot and his dad smiled and told him “Your sister’s in the shed.” Douglas Sr. stated that Denise was in the shed at least one other time, and when Doug Jr. was cleaning the home after his father’s death he had found the bodies of Denise’s cats that his father had killed and disposed of around the property.
The lead investigator on Denise’s case, Detective Corey Pike of the Maine State Police, told Danielle in an August 2021 email “Because your grandfather is deceased, we will not be charging anyone with a crime.” Douglas Sr. was elderly and frail and was unable to tolerate even carrying groceries into the home, and if he was responsible for Denise’s murder, he did not act alone.
Danielle remains unrelenting in her pursuit of justice for her mom. She stated “She was bright, she was intelligent, she was quick-witted, she was funny. There wasn't anyone or anything that she loved more in this world than me and her grandkids.”
Anyone with any information on the murder of Denise Ramsey is asked to please call the Maine State Police at (207) 973-3700.
Image sources:
bostonglobe.com - “Skeletal remains discovered in a Maine shed could hold key to solving mystery involving missing woman”
people.com - “Skeletal Remains Found in Maine Shed Identified as Homeowner’s Daughter - Last Heard from in 2019”