A Date That Turned Into A Nightmare. The Morgan Bauer Case
A young and ambitious girl challenges fate. She leaves her dull provincial life and flies to Atlanta, blinded by the bright city lights and the dream of a better future. But instead of a red carpet, she is met by the harsh underbelly of the metropolis. Questionable jobs in nightclubs, the dim light of cheap motels, and a constant fear of tomorrow.
Then, on one quiet, unremarkable evening, she simply vanishes. As if she never existed at all. Seven long years of silence. For 7 years, she was just a line in a missing person’s archive. A ghost sought only by her grief-stricken mother. But the truth, as they say, knows how to wait. Nearly a decade later, the earth spoke.
Her bones were found in the backyard of an ordinary house. Who was the cold-blooded killer hiding behind the mask of an ordinary neighbor? What horrifying details were uncovered when investigators began piecing together the final hours of her life? And how did this shocking case rewrite the laws of an entire state to ensure such a nightmare never happens again? We are beginning our investigation.
But before we dive into this abyss, subscribe to the channel right now, hit the like button, and make sure to watch this video to the end. Your support is the only thing that gives us the strength to tell these stories. Subscribed? Then let’s begin. 19-year-old Morgan Bauer was the kind of person whose presence filled any room.
In her hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota, she was known for her indomitable character, bold style, and passion for life. Her body bore many tattoos, each with its own meaning, but one of them seems like an ominous prophecy today. On Morgan’s wrist was the phrase, “Everything you love can be taken away, so live like it’s your last day.
” In February 2016, Morgan decided that Aberdeen had become too small for her. She dreamed of big cities, a new stage, and total independence. Her choice fell on Atlanta, Georgia, a city that promised opportunity, but hid something monstrous in its shadows. On February 12th, 2016, Morgan Bauer boarded a plane.
In her backpack were just a few personal items. In her pocket, a symbolic $20 and a copper penny that her mother, Sherry Keenan, had given her for luck. Her mother believed this talisman would protect her daughter until she found her footing. Morgan was full of optimism. She had found housing in advance through Craigslist.
The plan was simple. She would help the homeowner with cleaning and chores in exchange for a free room until she found a steady job as a waitress and could pay rent. It seemed like the perfect start for an ambitious girl, but Atlanta was not going to welcome her with open arms. The trouble began almost on the very first night.
Morgan, who had arrived in Georgia with an open heart, was confronted with the harsh reality of Craigslist. The homeowner, whose identity still raises many questions for investigators, turned out to be extremely unstable. After a minor verbal altercation, the reasons for which remain unclear, some reports suggest a dispute over household rules, he simply threw Morgan’s belongings onto the street.
Literally 24 hours after arriving in her city of dreams, the 19-year-old girl found herself effectively homeless on the sidewalk of a metropolis 2,000 km away from home. Morgan was proud and stubborn. She didn’t call her mother to ask for a return ticket. Instead, she gathered the remains of her meager savings and checked into a cheap roadside motel called The Budgetel Inn.
During those days, she messaged friends, assuring them that while the situation was difficult, she would manage. She was waiting for a tax refund, a sum of about a thousand dollars due to hit her account at the end of the month. It was her final safety net, but until the money arrived, she needed any job she could get.
Morgan was an experienced waitress, but in Georgia, she hit an unexpected bureaucratic barrier. Most reputable establishments required original identification for employment, and she only had copies. Every job rejection hit her wallet and her confidence in tomorrow. Despair and an emptying wallet led her to Gainesville, a city 80 km north of Atlanta.
There sat a nightclub called Top of Gainesville. It was a specific kind of establishment, a strip club where management looked the other way regarding documents, and where one could earn cash right then and there. Morgan began to dance. It wasn’t her dream job, but it was the only fast way to survive in a strange state.
It was at this club that she met Kaitlin Gooch, a fellow performer. Kaitlin was a few years older and had a long-term boyfriend, 33-year-old Jonathan Warren. At first glance, they seemed like ordinary young people who had taken a liking to the newcomer. They offered Morgan help and friendship. This chance encounter became a death sentence for Morgan Bauer, one that would be carried out in just a few days.
The evening of February 25th, 2016, began like any other shift. Morgan worked at the club, collected her tips, and prepared to head back to her motel. She didn’t have her own car and often relied on rides, taxis, or new acquaintances. That night, Kaitlin and Jonathan offered her a lift.
Surveillance cameras in the club’s parking lot captured Morgan Bauer leaving the establishment with them. She looked calm. She trusted these people, considering them her friends in this cold city. She didn’t know that Jonathan Warren already had a history with the law, or that Kaitlin Gooch harbored an unhealthy, almost pathological interest in death, dismemberment, and forensic pathology.
The next morning, February 26th, Sherry Keenan checked her daughter’s social media as usual. Morgan was a fan of Snapchat and Instagram. She posted updates every few hours, sharing details of her new life. But that day, her feed was empty. The last message from Morgan had been received by her best friend, Taryn, shortly before leaving the club.
After that, total radio silence. The phone was switched off. Messages remained unread. For a mother, this was a signal of catastrophe. She knew Morgan could be impulsive, but she would never leave her loved ones in the dark for so long. Sherry immediately contacted the Atlanta police.
The response was standard and disappointing. Detectives stated, “Your daughter is 19 years old. She is an adult. Perhaps she just decided to start fresh and doesn’t want to be bothered.” But Sherry did not give up. She launched her own media campaign. Within days, she created the Facebook group Missing Morgan, which drew the attention of 13,000 people across the country.
She flew to Atlanta, checked into the same cheap motels where her daughter had stayed, plastered flyers on every pole, and literally begged the police to start an active search. Exclusive new details in the search for a missing South Dakota teenager last seen in metro Atlanta. 19-year-old Morgan Bauer vanished more than a month ago.
Tonight, we’ve learned a big-name private investigator is on the case. Just hours ago, he spoke with CBS 46 investigative reporter Karen Greer. We just keep going, keep praying that she’ll be found sooner than later. The family of 19-year-old Morgan Bauer has set up temporary residence at a cheap motel in Atlanta. Coming here last month from South Dakota, her mother, Sherry, is pulling out all the stops to find her.
These donated billboards show the small-town teen’s innocence. Photos online from the Gainesville strip club where she was last seen publicly tell a much different story of a teenager looking for a new life in the big city. Private investigator T.J. Ward, perhaps well-known for his work in the case of missing high school student Natalie Holloway in Aruba, now hired to help find Morgan.
There’s a lot of Facebook activity, whether it’s her or friends, or friends that know where she is. But, um, there’s things that’s changed as late as last night on her Facebook, and we’re looking into that right now. The page Ward is referring to is not Morgan’s personal page, which hasn’t been updated since she disappeared, but rather a public site with thousands of people posting comments and alleged sightings.
Morgan was last seen and on social media February 25th. There was a lot of pressure on her, and in this day and time, kids, when they get pressure, they run. And they think the grass is greener on the other side, which it isn’t. And a short-term fix of making money is not the answer. This is Top of Gainesville.
She came to work here that night and left in has not been heard from since. >> That same night. The latest Facebook posts have sightings of Morgan in the Canton and Woodstock area. Ward is checking into it and adds nothing can be assumed. This is a serious criminal investigation and the secret Atlanta homicide unit is responsible for this and these people online need to be very serious about what is going on. This is not a joke.
Ward says social media may be a blessing or curse in this case with so many postings and so many people claiming to have seen Morgan, it keeps them busy, but they have to check into every lead because you never know which one will help them solve this case. When the police finally deigned to question the last people to see Morgan alive, Jonathan Warren and Kaitlin Gooch, they delivered a pre-packaged legend.
They told detectives, “Yes, we did give Morgan a ride after her shift, but she asked to be dropped off at a Citgo gas station in Covington. She said some guy in a green Mitsubishi Eclipse was waiting for her there. We saw her get into that car and drive off in an unknown direction.” This lie was masterful. It created a phantom suspect in a phantom car.
Atlanta police spent hundreds of man-hours checking gas station cameras and searching for a green Mitsubishi across the state. Naturally, the search yielded nothing. Warren and Gooch acted confidently. They didn’t trip over their statements and gave the impression of ordinary young people who had simply done a favor for an acquaintance.
Meanwhile, Sherry Keenan hired private investigator T.J. Ward. Together, they tried to find any lead. They interviewed taxi drivers, hotel staff, and nightclub regulars. Morgan Bowers’ name appeared constantly in crime logs as missing, but her body was never found. Years passed. 2017, 2018, 2019. This month marks 3 and 1/2 years since a woman moved from South Dakota to Atlanta and then suddenly disappeared.
She hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Today, Morgan Bowers’ mother came to downtown Atlanta to let people know about her daughter’s case. At a community event in downtown Atlanta, This is my daughter, Morgan. She’s been missing in Atlanta for 3 and 1/2 years. Sherry Keenan is handing out photos and missing persons flyers today of her daughter, Morgan Bauer.
Um there isn’t a lot of information out there. Morgan is a cold case, but an active cold case with the Atlanta Police Department. Keenan remains hopeful her daughter is somewhere in town or elsewhere and is safe. >> We hope that somehow she sees this on the news and she knows that we’re still searching for her and we’ll never stop looking.
>> Atlanta police still have Bowers’ case listed online, but new leads are needed. Morgan is described as having her ears gauged, lips pierced twice, and has several tattoos. Keenan says a $10,000 reward is being offered in her daughter’s case. Anybody who knows anything or has seen anything, please just reach out.
It just takes one moment. In downtown Atlanta, I’m Joe Henke, 11 Alive News. The case officially moved into the cold category. Jonathan Warren eventually moved to Los Angeles trying to start a new life in California. Kaitlin Gooch moved to Illinois. They were absolutely certain that their secret was securely hidden beneath the soil of Porterdale.
The breakthrough didn’t come until early 2023. Newton County law enforcement working with FBI agents decided to conduct a full audit of all digital data in the Morgan Bauer case. Metadata analysis technology had advanced significantly in 7 years. Detectives began re-examining Morgan’s social media and her cloud storage archives and they found what had been lying on the surface all those years.
They discovered a short Instagram video posted by Morgan on the morning of February 26th, 2016, well after the time Warren and Gooch claimed she had supposedly switched into another person’s car. The video was filmed at Yellow River Park in Porterdale. In the footage, Morgan is walking along a forest path and behind her at a distance of several meters, a male figure is clearly visible.
Geolocation analysis and cell tower pings finally put an end to the suspects’ 7-year lie. Morgan Bauer had never been to the Citgo station in Covington. Her entire route that morning led directly to the house in Porterdale where Jonathan Warren lived with his girlfriend at the time. The suspects’ lies crumbled to dust.
Police obtained a search warrant for the property at 2 South Broad Street. By this time, the house had changed owners several times. The new residents were in deep shock when their yard was cordoned off by federal agents with ground penetrating radar and K9 units specifically trained to detect the scent of human remains.
July 27th, 2023 became the day of truth. FBI specialists began methodical excavations in the backyard. The K9 units alerted to a specific patch of earth near the property line. After hours of painstaking work, fragments of human bone began to emerge from beneath the soil. These were not just remains.
They were undeniable evidence of an attempt to completely destroy the body. The bones were heavily fragmented indicating the use of mechanical tools and exposure to high temperatures. DNA testing conducted in FBI laboratories confirmed the horrific suspicion. It was Morgan Bauer. After 7 years and 5 months, Morgan’s mother finally received the answer that would forever break her heart.
Shortly after the discovery of the remains, Jonathan Warren was detained in Los Angeles and Kaitlin Gooch was arrested in Illinois. Michael Anthony Walden with the Porterdale Police Department. Today, we’ve executed a search warrant, currently executing search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation into missing person, Morgan Bauer at number 2 South Broad Street.
So far, the search has located items of evidentiary interest. We don’t know if it’s Morgan or if it’s something else that they recovered. They’re not really sharing that information publicly and of course, Morgan is still considered a missing person. Morgan’s mother, Sherry, says authorities have kept her in the loop as much as they can.
They’ve made it very comfortable for me to be able to feel um very much a part of what’s happening even though there’s not a lot of information that they can give me. They’ve They’ve been very inclusive. And within the whirlwind of emotions that came from yesterday’s breakthrough is sympathy for the owners of the property who authorities say have been cooperative.
My heart just goes out to that family and they must be going through a lot, you know, also. And it must be very upsetting for them and so my my heart just goes out to to everyone involved. At this point, after 7 years, I feel like, you know, in my heart I already kind of know if they found something.
I’m going to do what I said I would. I’m going to go to Atlanta and I’m going to bring my daughter home. What the detainees revealed during their interrogations made even the most seasoned homicide detectives shudder. This was not an accidental killing due to an argument or an overdose. It was an act of extreme calculated cruelty.
Jonathan Warren confessed that on that fatal night, they brought Morgan to his house. A conflict arose during which he strangled the girl. But the details of what happened in that house over the next few days go beyond human understanding. Investigators reconstructed a ghastly picture.
After Morgan Bowers’ death, Warren and Gooch were in no hurry to dispose of the body. Jonathan confessed to acts of necrophilia committed against the victim’s body over an extended period. Kaitlin Gooch, according to the prosecution, not only knew about this, but actively assisted in the process of destroying the evidence. According to Warren’s testimony, Kaitlin was literally obsessed with the idea of finding out how the human body works from the inside.
Morgan had been professionally dismembered. They attempted to burn part of her remains in a metal barrel in the yard and what did not succumb to the fire was buried in a deep pit and hidden under a layer of trash. Breaking news at 9:00, we just learned two people arrested in connection to a metro Atlanta cold case from 7 years ago.
Well, Tori, we’ve been reporting on this since a little over a week ago and this is a major break in a case that her loved ones feared was cold. Newton County prosecutors presented the court with shocking evidence from Kaitlin Gooch’s social media. Videos were found on her accounts where she enthusiastically discussed famous serial killers and bragged about her collection of surgical knives.
One of the recordings, according to investigative sources, was so graphic and disturbing that the judge prohibited its public display during open hearings. The investigation reached a definitive conclusion. For this couple, the murder of Morgan Bauer had been something of a horrific biological experiment.
In early 2024, Jonathan Warren stood trial in the state of Georgia. The list of charges against him included first-degree murder, aggravated assault, necrophilia, concealing a death, and tampering with evidence. To avoid the death penalty, which is still practiced in the state, Warren entered into a plea deal and fully admitted his guilt.
During the court proceedings, he sat with a completely stone-cold face, expressing not a single drop of remorse while Sherry Keenan read her victim impact statement describing 7 years of unbearable pain. Jonathan Alexander Warren was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of any parole. Kaitlyn Gooch is currently in custody awaiting her final sentencing.
The list of charges against her is no less severe, complicity in murder, desecration of human remains, and obstruction of justice. Jonathan Warren has agreed to serve as the lead prosecution witness against his former girlfriend, claiming that she was the primary ideologue and inspiration behind all the horrors they inflicted upon Morgan’s body.
For Sherry Keenan, 7 long years of hell finally concluded with the discovery of the bitter truth. She was able to reclaim her daughter’s remains and transport them back to South Dakota. “I promised her that I wouldn’t leave her in that foreign soil,” Sherry said at the final press conference. Morgan Bauer’s story is a dark reminder that absolute evil can hide behind the mask of an ordinary neighbor or a chance acquaintance from a bar.
It is a story of a mother’s love that proved stronger than time, bureaucracy, and the professional lies of cold-blooded killers. Morgan Bauer will forever remain 19. Her dreams of Atlanta were trampled in Porterdale, but her name has now become a symbol of the fact that the truth always finds its way out, even if it is buried 2 m deep and hidden for 7 long years.
Justice prevailed, but the price proved to be immeasurably high.
