On April 18, 2005, Tina Raye Wilson called her local rental store to tell them they could come to pick up the TV she had rented from them.
Tina, 43 years old at the time, was living in Whitehall, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
Tina had some interesting things going on in her life at the time, as Tina was a practicing Wiccan. Wiccans are individuals that practice a Pagan religion and usually identify as ‘witches’. But I don’t want the Halloween image of a witch in your mind, as that’s not the case.
When the store representative showed up at her apartment later that day, Tina wasn’t there…and neither was the TV.
When Tina didn’t show up for her shift at work, and she was a reliable employee, her co-workers began to worry. But it would be three weeks before she was officially reported as missing when her mother couldn’t reach her.
Upon a check of her apartment, it was noted that she left behind all personal belongings. The only things missing seemed to be her TV and her pet cat.
It was a mysterious case- where was the TV? Where was her cat?
And most importantly,
Where is Tina Raye Wilson?
In 2005, 43-year-old Tina was living in Whitehall, Ohio.
Whitehall is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, located just about 6 miles east of the city. Columbus, Ohio is the capital of the state, so fairly populated. The Whitehall population is just over 20,000 residents. Despite the big-city feel of the area, there are a lot of parks and recreation areas in and around the Columbus area.
Tina was living in an apartment in Whitehall, and working at a local Wendy’s restaurant. She was a good worker and a loyal employee.
It was mentioned that she did have some health issues, but it isn’t specified what those may have been. It is believed that she lived alone and took care of herself.
On the morning of Monday, April 18, 2005, Tina called her local rental store that she was renting a television from and told them they could come to pick up the TV. Other than being able to confirm that this happened through the store, we aren’t sure why she made this decision.
Was she planning on moving? Did she want to get rid of the payment?
The strange thing about this is, that when the employees from that store showed up at her apartment, no one was home.
Tina also missed her next shift at work. Tina worked at a local Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. Those that knew her well at work, said she never missed work and was very reliable and trustworthy. They believed that if she had intended to leave her job, and quit, for whatever reason, she would have told them and alerted management.
But no one heard from her at all.
Meanwhile, Tina’s mother had been trying to reach her, to no avail. It isn’t sure how close they were, but her mother kept trying for three weeks to reach her daughter.
Finally, on May 6, 2005, with still no word from her and no sign of Tina anywhere, her mother calls the police and reports her daughter as missing.
When the police start to investigate and retrace any activity they can find on Tina, they are able to determine the last contact she had with anyone seemed to be that call to the rental store on April 18. That had been three weeks prior to anyone reporting her missing, putting authorities at a big disadvantage.
Law enforcement did gain access to the apartment. There were no signs of a break-in and no signs of any foul play. They did note that although the rental store didn’t pick up the TV that day because no one was home, the TV was missing from the apartment.
Detectives also learned that Tina’s cat was missing. However, all her personal belongings were in the apartment, including her purse and wallet. They also learned that Tina didn’t pick up her last paycheck at Wendy’s either.
A thorough search of the apartment did lead detectives to some other interesting things about Tina.
It was clear that she was a practicing Wiccan.
When police checked her home, they found a clean knife lying on the bed, several witchcraft books, and cards around a used candle.
Some people that knew Tina also confirmed that she was a practicing Wiccan.
Wicca is a modern-day Pagan religion, whose followers identify as Wiccans, or Witches. NBC News did a story on Wiccans and the Pagan religions this past Halloween and identified it as the fastest-growing spiritual religion in the world.
The religious practice known as Wicca involves many different beliefs and sub-beliefs. Not knowing what exactly Tina was practicing, we can’t really dive into how that may or may not have impacted her habits and movements at that time.
Was there a special place she went to worship or practice her religion? Did she belong to a group of Wiccans in the area?
A lot of Wiccans do practice magic, or witchcraft, but not all. However, with the books and items found in Tina’s apartment, it seems that she did indeed dabble somewhat in witchcraft.
But, does that have anything to do with her disappearance?
We know surprisingly very little about Tina’s life at the time she vanished.
There were few clues pointing anyone to where Tina may have gone. No signs of a struggle, or foul play, and everything Tina had seemed to be left behind.
And the other odd clue, where was this TV? Why would she call to have the TV picked up and then take the TV and leave? But, leave behind everything else she had?
Family, friends, and law enforcement had zero clues to go on, that is, until 2017. A man by the name of Shawn Grate confessed to stabbing a woman to death in 2005 and discarding her remains. And in fact, the skeleton remains had been found right where he said he disposed of the body in Marion County. Marion County, Ohio is just north of Whitehall, Ohio where Tina lived.
The remains were found in 2007 but were unable to be identified at that time.
Shawn Grate said he couldn’t remember the woman’s name, that it was possibly Dana or Diane, and he knew details that law enforcement hadn’t released, leading them to believe that Grate was telling the truth.
Grate also helped authorities with a composite sketch of the woman. Upon further investigation, a detective looking through missing person files released that the sketch was a good match for Tina Raye Wilson and that the timeline matched.
Shawn Grate said that he had kidnapped and mur*dered this woman in 2005.
While the tip seemed very promising in the beginning, eventually DNA results were able to rule out Tina Raye Wilson as the victim that was found.
Shawn had been accused, tried, and convicted of murd*ering at least 4 women. He had finally been caught when one of the victims he was holding captive, was able to call 911 while he was asleep.
She whispered to the 911 operator while inside a house, and had to work to lead authorities to her while he was asleep in the next room. I can’t imagine how terrifying all of that must have been, but thankfully, she was brave enough and Shawn Grate was finally arrested.
Shawn pled guilty to his crimes and never showed any remorse.
To date, there have been no hits on Tina’s social security number or driver’s license.
Obviously, we have very little information here to even form an opinion or theory. I think what really stuck out to me, is that she left everything behind, except the TV and her cat. Why did she call the rental store to pick up her TV, and then leave with the TV?
If something happened to her, or someone else was involved, isn’t it odd that the only thing they took was the TV?
If she sold it for money, why didn’t she take her last paycheck or any of her other belongings?
She also left no clues that something might be going on causing her to leave or even be in some kind of trouble.
Her disappearance is just completely baffling.
Tina Raye Wilson is described as a caucasian woman, about 5’8” tall and weighing around 140 pounds when she was last seen.
Tina has red hair and blue eyes.
Tina was 43 years old in March of 2005 and would today be 62 years old.
Tina has a tattoo of a flower on each breast and a tattoo of a black panther on her right shoulder.
Anyone with any information on Tina Raye Wilson is asked to call the Whitehall Police Department at 614–237–6333.
