48 Hours Correspondent Peter Van Sant and Producer Lauren Clark discuss the case of Danni Houchins, who was found dead in Montana near the Gallatin River in 1996. The team discusses why the sheriff’s department told the public Danni accidentally drowned, the decades-long fight for justice from her family, and DNA evidence that eventually led investigators to the killer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the case of Danni Houchins about?
Welcome to Postmortem. I'm your host, Anne-Marie Green. And today we're discussing the case of Danny Houchens. In September 1996, Danny was found dead near the Gallatin River that's just outside of Bozeman, Montana. After an autopsy declared the manner of death undetermined, the sheriff's department said it could have been an accidental drowning.
In the following years, though, Danny's family tried to move on, but always suspected that her death was no accident. And almost 28 years later, her killer was found. So with me now to discuss this case is 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant and producer Lauren Clark. Welcome.
Hey, good to see you again, Anne-Marie.
Thanks for having us, Anne-Marie. All right, guys. As usual, remember, if you haven't listened to this episode of 48 Hours, head on over to your podcast feed. You can find the full episode of this case right underneath this podcast that you're listening to right now. Go listen and then come on back so we can have this conversation. All right, let's get into this.
One of the things that really stood out to me about this case is the fact that in 1996, the sheriff's department publicly said that there was actually no indication of foul play here with Danny's death. They withheld details from the coroner's report that said that Danny had inhaled water and mud, that she had cuts and bruises on her body, and there were signs of a possible sexual assault.
Why did investigators originally not release this information?
Well, it all depends on who you talk to. And we spoke with a lot of people involved in this investigation. And I have to admit, I remain baffled to this day. Why not say that this was a murder? The killer knew it was a murder, right? I understand details of the investigation. You may not want a suspect to know, right? But just the basic fact as to whether or not it's a murder is
That still baffles me to this day. And it baffled people back in the day in 1996 in Montana. Deputy Farquhar could not believe what his sheriff's department was putting out there. He still can't explain. He's still baffled. And Deputy Farquhar, who today is a veterinarian, ended up leaving eventually the sheriff's department out of frustration in all of this. So
It is one of these things that is baffling to me. But some of our people ended up speaking to the sheriff back in the day.
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Chapter 2: Why did the sheriff's department withhold information?
Really, really well put. Peter, Lauren, thank you so much.
Thanks, Anne-Marie.
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