Courtney Corrine Holden was born on February 28, 1992, and, as a little girl, she entered the foster care system for some reason. Eventually, she was adopted by a woman named Judy Holden, and with her, her son Joshua, and several other adoptive children, she settled in Spokane, Washington. In 2011, Courtney's son was born, but she was not in a relationship with her child's father and she continued to live with her son in Judah's house.
Living in the adoption house was a real hell for the girl. People visiting the Holden house have often heard both Judy and Joshua mock Courtney and refer to her as Cinderella. Like this fairy-tale character, Courtney was a slave girl forced to do all kinds of household chores. Courtney once confided to a neighbor that she was not allowed to have a cell phone, a Facebook account, talk to anyone outside her family, drive a car, or leave the house without Joshua's permission. Several of the neighbors saw the bruises on Courtney's face and hands, and when asked about their origins, she said, "Joshua beats me." Eventually, she was even deprived of the "privilege" of talking to her neighbors. The neighbors only saw her outside in the evenings, because she was not allowed to leave the house during the day.
As for Joshua himself, his family and friends describe him as paranoid, violent and unpredictable. He used to boast publicly that killing someone was easy for him, as well as effectively disposing of a body. The man was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a long history of conflicts with the law. In 2005, he was charged with rape, but the charges against him were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence, and the victim no longer wanted to cooperate with the police. The man is also suspected of another rape in 2003. Joshua had previously been arrested for unlawful incarceration, domestic violence and convicted of burglary. Joshua moved out of the family home for a while, but returned to it in 2014. Upon his return, he installed cameras in the house to control Courtney.
The relationship in the Holden house is described as strange. For Courtney's child was expected to call Judy "mom" and Joshua "dad." It was the son of Judah who was in full control of the home.
Courtney, 26, was last seen in August 2018 (some sources mention April). One day, one of the neighbors noticed her walking away from her home with a large travel bag. There was also a scream of angry Judy: "Come home!" to which Courtney replied, "I'm not staying here any longer!" Suddenly Joshua ran out of the house, catching up with Courtney and forcing her to go back inside. No one has seen her since then, nor has she contacted anyone. Interestingly, her social welfare allowance was regularly paid from her bank account and her food stamps were used regularly.
In October 2019, Courtney's son's father filed with the police notice of Courtney's disappearance, arguing that he had not seen or heard her in over 2 years. On October 24, 2019, the police armed with a search warrant went to the Holden home and to their surprise found Courtney is actually not there and neither Joshua nor Judy want to cooperate. Judy allowed the detectives to look into Courtney's room but then asked them to leave her property. Body search dogs were brought to the site, but to no avail. Courtney's relatives said the woman would not voluntarily leave her son for such a long time.
On the same day the missing person report was filed, Judy and Joshua withdrew $ 600 from Courtney's bank account. Later that day, a woman called the Crime Tip Line who claimed to be Courtney was safe and did not want to be looked for. Police quickly determined that the caller was in fact one of Courtney's adoptive sisters.
Joshua and Judy told many conflicting stories about Courtney's absence. One day they claimed that the woman ran away with the truck driver; another that she ran away with her fiancé whom they did not know.
In late October 2019, Joshua and Judy Holden left Spokane. Detectives tracked them down in Texas, at the home of one of Judy's daughters. Investigators found them thanks to illegal payments of benefits from Courtney Holden's account. The couple were then charged with identity theft, arrested and imprisoned in a Texas prisons. While they were not accused of being part of Courtney's disappearance, they remain the prime suspects in the case to date. Both Jody and Joshua have not admitted having anything to do with Courtney's disappearance, but the police are pretty sure they are dealing with a homicide.
Courtney was 26 years old, 5'5 ″ tall and weighed 160 pounds at the time of disappearance. Anyone with information regarding her missing can contact the Spokane Police Department at 509-755-2489.
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