Halfway2sane

Sierah was born on february 11th, 1996 in sylvania, ohio to shiela vaculik and tom joughin and they later moved to metamora, ohio. she graduated from evergreen high school in 2014. after graduation she enrolled at the university of toledo’s junior college of business, studying resource management and was interning at her uncle’s metal stampting business.

twenty year old sierah, better known as cece to her friends and family was on a summer break from college when she vanished while riding her bike home from her boyfriend josh kolasinski’s house on the evening of july 19th, 2016 at about 6:45p.m. josh had rode his mototcycle slowly next to her while she rode her bike. they weren’t quite at her home but at her request the two of them parted ways. he gave her a kiss and told her he loved her and he told her to text him when she got home. but he never heard from her. sierah never made it home and that was the last time she was ever seen alive by those that knew her. between 11:00 and 11:30p.m. when serah didn’t return home that night and they couldn’t reach her, her parents called the police. and later that nigtht police found her purple bike in a cornfield just 1/2 mile from her home. investigator’s combed the area and found more clues in the cornfield. they found a screwdriver, mens sunglasses, a sock, a set of fuse boxes, motorcycle tracks and evidence of a struggle, indicated by broken cornstalks and cornstalks that had blood on them.

so, after authorities found all these items in the field, the next morning they alerted the family of the discovery so they immediately knew something was wrong. the community rallied around and launched a massive search, walking through the cornfields and scanning for any signs of her. a passing motorist found a helmet with a bloody handprint on it, on the side of the road on the night sierah went missing. and when he seen the news story about her missing, he turned the helmet into police. so, based on this evidence, investigators believed someone riding a motorcycle was involved. and since sierah’s boyfriend josh had a motorcycle and was riding said motorcycle while following her on the night she went missing, as expected police first looked at him as a suspect. but josh cooperated with authorities. he drew a map for them indicating sierah’s route and showing them where the two of them departed and he consented to searches of his home, his motorcycle and his truck.

now, a witness passing through the area around the time of the abduction told authorities they seen a passenger van driving at a high rate of speed through that area and he had even retrieved the license plate number and gave that to police. and that plate was discovered to belong to a man by the name of james worley.

a break in the case came while investigators were knocking on nearby residence’s. and one of these homes belonged to none other than james worley. he had lived on the same road as sierah. while the investigators were there james began acting suspicious and even made self-incriminating statements placing himself at the scene of the suspected abduction. he told investigators he was riding his motorcycle and it was having issues. he said it sputtered out and went into a cornfield. he said he lost his helmet, his fuses, his screwdriver and his sunglasses. and guess what? none of that information had been released to the media yet at that point. he also stated he found two bibybles in the cornfield, one of which he took and it would have his fingerprints on it. and he said, “but i didn’t kill anyone or steal anything.” Police executed a search warrant on his barn and they found a green chest filled with women’s underwear, one of which had blood on it, restraints, a skimask, and an empty bloodstained carpet lined freezer buried underground. they also found blood on his motorcycle and sierah’s dna was found on a piece of duct tape and on an inflatable mattress in his barn. and to top it off they found recordig devices all over the property and concluded from cell phone records that he was at the scene of the abduction for nearly two hours during the time sierha was missing. they also found out later he told a court mandated therapist, after his previous conviction he had, that he learned from each abduction he had done and the next one hewas going to bury. a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office suggested that he fit the profile of a serial offender and that he could potentially have additional unkown victim’s, possible kept at the property. but, despite exhaustive searches no human remains were found there.

but, three days after sierah’s disappearance, authorities were able to locate sierah’s body by using her fitbit tracker and smartphone data. her body was found in a shallow grave, dug two feet down. she was hogtied and gagged with a large plastic toy in her mouth that was put there with such force she had a broken tooth and she was wearing an adult diaper. james worley was arrested and charged with her abduction and murder. his charges included aggravated murder, kidnapping and felonious assault, abduction, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

following his arrest, the community organized a “take back the roads” memorial walk in honor of sierah, taking place along the road where her bo=ike was found. on september 18th, 2016, a sierah memorial motorcycle ride was organized and hosted by non-profit “keeping our girls safe”, which was created in memory of sierah, by her mother and the josh kolasinski family. over 700 people mounted for the ride to support the mission and raise funds for the non-profit. on october 2nd, 2016, evergreen school district hosted a “joggin 4 joughin” 5k run to raise money for a scholarship fund and to ask for support for a violent offender registry bill being constructed by ohio legislators.

the prosecution alleged that james worley watched pornagraphy up until the crime was committed, as evidenced by his web browsing history. and, based on forensic evidence collected at the abduction site and at james worley’s barn, investigators believe he passed sierah on his motorcycle, hid in a cornfield further up the road, then attacked her as she rode by on her bike, hitting her in the head with his helmet. they believe he called his brother while at the cornfield to tell him his motorcycle broke down and then he left the scene and returned with his van, abducted her and took her to his barn where he kept her until she asphyxicated on the gag and then disposed of her body. there was no evidence of sexual assault. investigators say each crime scene was linked to james worley and sierah through dna found on the items obtained as evidence.

before james worley killed sierah, he had abducted a worman by the name of robin gardner in 1990, under similar circumstances, but thankfully she lived to tell her story. robin was riding her bike in whitehouse, ohio when james worley struck her with his truck, got out of the vehicle, struck her on the head and put her in handcuffs. he then held a screwdriver to her throat and said,”i’ll kill you if you don’t stop screaming,” and attempted to force her into the truck. thankfully, she was able to escape and was picked up by a passing motorist. he served three years in prison for this.

robin testified at james worley

s murder trial stating she felt very strongly she had to be sierah’s voice. she knew the fear and needed to speak for her.

james worley pleaded not guilty to all charges. his defense argued that the lack of his dna on some of the evidence meant there was reasonable doubt he kidnapped and murdered sierah. his defense argued for a life sentence describing him as a damaged man. he denied ever having encountered or assaulting sierah. his defense argued that the evidence obtained from the barn, including the underwear, handcuffs and bdsm related items, were part of a pornagraphy studio that he had intended to start. he claimed he left the helmet and other evidence behind before the disappearance took place when his motorcycle broke down on the side of the road. they alleged because of the low concentration of his dna on the helmet it might have been someone else who used it to assault sierah. a witness seen a man crouched in a field wearing red shorts, but no red shorts were recovered at his property, therefore, his defense argued it could not have been him. his defense also suggested the attack was motivated by sexual sadism connected with a fetish disorder. they said he had multiple mental health issues and he was diagnosed with sexual paraphilia disorder. during their closing statement, they suggested he may have had an unnamed accomplice and had an incestuaous relationship with his mother before her death.

the prosecution, however dismissed this saying he gravesite was dug hastily, basically showing it was done by just one person and there was little evidence to support an inappropriate relationship between him and his mother. they argued that because he had an average upbringing and knew the difference between right and wrong, the aggravating factors of his crimes outweighed any disorders he may have. prosecutors also presented at trial audio recordings between his sister and a private investigator that james worley had been suspected of killing a prostitute in 2000 but was never charged because no remains were found, as well as another worman in the 1970’s he once described as the love of his life.

the jury however, found him guilty on all counts against him. additionally, he was sentenced to eleven years for kidnapping, eight years for feloneous assault, eleven months for possessing criminal tools and thirty-six months each for tempering with evidence and having weapons under disability. march 28th, 2018 he was sentenced to death and is on death row awaiting execution. his execution was originally scheduled for may 20th, 2025, but it did not take place due to a stay issued by the ohio supreme court in 2021, which remains in effect pending the resolution of all state-level post conviction proceddings, including appeals. he is currently held at the chillicothe correctional institure as inmate number a743593 and no new execution date has been set. the delay is also influenced by ohio governor mike dewines declaration that lethal injection is no longer a viable methos for executions. ohio has not carried out any executions since 2018.

in july 2018 james worley’s property was awarded to sierah’s estate and her family had the barn demolished. a monetary settlement of $3.6 million was also reached, but her family agreed not to execute on he judgement unless he would receive a windfall sum of money such as winning the lottery or receiving a book or movie rights or royalties.

after the murder trial, sierah’s family and other activists argued that not enough information was available to law enforcement and residents regarding convicted felons residing in their communities. if a system had been in place to warn the public of offenders in their area, her murder might have been prevented. law enforcement had stated to the family during the investigation that james worley was not on any local, state or federal database that tracks offenders and the family argued that such a database being available might have resulted in her being rescued alive. so, long story short, sierah’s law was passed on december 6th, 2018 and went into effect on march 20th, 2019.

after sierah’s death two separate non-profit organizations’s were established to honor her. they are: “keeping our girls safe” which was created within a month of her death by her mother. and it provides advocacy against violence towards women by offering educational programs to the community through partnerships with local police departments. and second “justice for sierah” was established after the trial, which provides self-defense training courses for schools and communities.