Lori Slesinski, 24, disappeared from her home in Auburn, Alabama, on Saturday, June 10, 2006. Her best friend, Lindsay Braun, knew something was wrong when she found Lori’s front door unlocked and her dog, Peanut, still in his crate. ta.
According to Braun, Lori will never go and leave her beloved Peanut behind.
“The door didn’t lock, unlike her… the air conditioner was running. Her dog, Peanut, was in the crate,” Braun said 48 hours.
The dog’s mother disappeared
Although he hadn’t heard from Lori for several days, Peanut seemed calm and cheerful. His crate was spotlessly clean, as if someone had fed and cared for him in Lori’s absence.
Upon closer inspection, Braun noticed that three kitchen rugs that Lori had spread to help the dog walk through the tiled floor were missing.
“One thing I miss about Peanut is, he wouldn’t walk on tiles, so she had these rugs in her kitchen, and he would jump on the rug, and the rug was gone. I noticed that right away,” she said.
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A new suspect emerges
These unusual pieces of evidence regarding Peanut will lead the police to suspect that someone close to Lori is involved in her disappearance. Their sights quickly turned to Lori’s friend, Derrill Richard “Rick” Ennis. He made inconsistent statements in his interviews and had suspicious scratches on his arm as if he was engaged in a struggle.
Braun told police she heard Ennis’ voice during her last call with Lori the day she disappeared. She also reveals that Ennis recently wrote Lori a love letter expressing his feelings for her. Lori rejected his advances, telling him she wanted to continue “just being friends”.
Chilling even more, the investigators uncovered a dark secret from Ennis’ past. At the age of 12, he brutally murdered his mother and stepfather, lived with their bodies for two days, and even continued to attend school.
When he was arrested, Ennis told police that he was angry at his parents for deciding to move out because he didn’t want to transfer schools. He also compiled a “to-do” list that included a plan to kill his three stepchildren.
Due to his age at the time of the crime, Ennis was released from juvenile detention when he turned 21. He later moved to Auburn, where he met Lori.
Fresh eyes solve crime
Auburn police believe that Ennis murdered Lori, set her car on fire and stayed in her home with Peanut for days after the crime. Unfortunately, they couldn’t gather enough evidence to make an arrest.
A decade later, the case was reopened with a cold case unit. They discovered evidence buried in the files that had previously been ignored. A hand-rolled cigarette butt found in Lori’s burning car was collected in 2006 but never tested. Cold case investigators soon discover that it carries Ennis’ DNA. The suspect’s blood and semen were also collected from Lori’s trailer.
At the time of his arrest in August 2018, Ennis was living in Virginia and engaged to a librarian. He was charged with Lori’s murder and convicted by a jury in March 2022.
Peanut’s Legacy
Lori’s mother, Arlene Slesinski, who adopted Peanut after her daughter went missing, found solace in the little dog’s presence for years to come.
“We took Peanut home with us and he stayed with us, until he died, I guess about 16 years old when he died,” she said.
And Peanut never forgot the young woman who loved him dearly.
“Every time we mentioned Lori’s name, he would, I don’t care where he was in the house, like he just heard her name and he would run in there, like, she’s in there. where?” Slesinski said. “I’m totally amazed that he never forgot her.”
After Peanut died, Lori’s mother adopted another dog named Daisey. Looks like Peanut has turned a dog lover away from her, something that is sure to make Lori smile.
View a summary of 48 hours Lori’s disappearance reports below:
Learn more about the evidence in Lori’s case.
Screenshots featured via 48 hours
