This week on Betrayed, Claudette Ficik was a popular 19-year-old aspiring student of architecture in Southern Tech, Georgia, when she vanished one day in 1994.
She was due to visit her parents in South Carolina, but she never arrived. Two days after she was reported missing, her pick-up truck was found abandoned in Atlanta, Georgia.
Claudette Ficik was 4-months pregnant
Her boyfriend, Jason Ragland, had supposed to accompany her as he was going to meet her parents for the first time. Claudette was about four months pregnant, and the pair were planning to get married.
However, Ragland told police that they had argued beforehand, which meant he hadn’t accompanied her to South Carolina.
About six weeks after she disappeared, her body was pulled from the Oconee River; her body had two weights tied to it. She had been spotted by two canoeists and was identified by a necklace she was wearing.
Ragland remained a suspect; however, the case went cold after he passed a polygraph test. The disappearance of two other college students around the same time left many residents frightened that there was a serial killer in their midst.
Evidence mounted against Jason Ragland
Eventually, the anchors used to weigh down Claudette’s body were found to have originated from the building site where Ragland worked.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelJason Ragland, in a ploy to avoid the death penalty, finally confessed to murdering his girlfriend. He was sentenced to remain in prison for the rest of his natural life.
Ragland had been an Honors graduate from the University of Georgia and had only been dating Claudette for 8-months when he killed her.
More from Betrayed
Follow the links to read about more crimes of betrayal profiled on Betrayed.
Larry Ashley dumped his wife’s body in the trunk of her car and left it in the parking lot of Little Rock regional airport. He told cops that Debbie Ashley had disappeared after a business trip out of town.
In fact, it was an attempt to cover his tracks after he shot his wife with her pistol.
Dr. Robert Reza strangled and shot his wife, Marilyn Reza, in their Long Island home. He then tried to blame the crime on a home invasion and claimed he was out of town at a medical conference.
Watch Little Shop of Horrors on Betrayed at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.