Burned Alive with His Dog: The 9-Year Hunt for Eric Cates' Brutal Killers in Alabama's Backwoods

Send us Fan MailIn this heart-pounding episode of Hidden Threads: True Crime’s Untold Stories, hosts [Your Name] and Jus pull back the curtain on one of Alabama's most haunting cold cases—the savage 2015 murder of 32-year-old Eric Cates and his loyal bulldog mix, Gypsy. Discovered by hunters in a torched 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup behind the abandoned Empire School in remote Walker County, Eric's charred body revealed a nightmare: soot-filled lungs proving he was alive and screaming as flames consumed him, beaten with a blunt object in a vicious attack that screamed setup by people he knew.For nine agonizing years, Eric's fierce mom Tobbie Stover battled botched local investigations, a $25,000 family reward, and whispers of a cover-up—until the Alabama AG's cold case unit cracked it wide open. Now, with indictments against Joshua Franklin Hill (35), Cyrena Cheyenne Styles (28), and Luke Williams Jr. (34) for capital murder and kidnapping, we dive into the explosive timeline: a late-night lure gone deadly, accelerant-fueled arson, and the shocking ties that turned "friends" into monsters. Was it a drug deal gone wrong, a grudge-fueled ambush, or something even darker in the shadows of small-town secrets?Packed with exclusive court filings, Stover's raw firsthand account, and the breakthrough tips that finally brought justice—plus a chilling look at why Gypsy's necropsy was lost to the fire—this episode exposes the hidden threads of betrayal that kept a family in hell. If you love cases like Making a Murderer meets rural horror, hit play now. Justice delayed... but not denied.Stream it today—before the next twist buries the truth forever. Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube • Amazon Music#TrueCrime #EricCates #WalkerCountyMurder #ColdCaseCracked #HiddenThreadsSupport the show866.910.7499 [email protected]