Traciy Curry-Reyes

When Love Kills movie was based on Falicia Blakely.

My true crime library with some original documentaries featuring stories you've never heard

Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC9c-ltZhIA&t=5s

Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mf5zNUp9G0&t=143s

RIP, Dolly Parton. You were quite a lady. She was 80.

From Husband to Hitman—A mother and her disabled little boy were murdered in their own home. The person who wanted them dead was the boy’s own father, handsome Motown recording engineer Lawrence T. “L.T.” Horn.

His former wife, Millie, an American Airlines flight attendant, was absolutely gorgeous when she met him in the ’70s. How did it all go wrong? How did he go from once being her husband to hiring a hitman to end them?

Prosecutors said Horn arranged the murders for money. His son’s nurse was also killed in the brutal ambush. The Mildred Horn-Lawrence Horn murder-for-hire case later became part of the story behind the 2000 television movie Deliberate Intent. It was also featured on Investigation Discovery’s true-crime series Shattered.

May this type of love never find ANY woman. This was a true fatal attraction case.
Loved to Death movie was based on this case.

N***y IS Idgie! Fried Green Tomatoes True Story—We’re talking the movie version only.

If you need to cry today, rewatch Fried Green Tomatoes. Now…nothing has to be wrong; sometimes you just need an emotional purge, okay? And I’ll say it today like I said years ago… that IS Idgie at the end of the movie.

The movie’s ending was one of the best in movie history.

Evelyn: “Idgie’s alive?”

N***y: “Oh yes, she’s still out and about, charming bees and selling honey. Sometimes I think I catch a glimpse of her over there.”

Evelyn: “Maybe we’ll see her today.”

N***y: “Maybe.”

Whew… cinematic gold. Get your tissue.

I’ve eaten at the real Whistle Stop Cafe—the Irondale Cafe—several times over the years since the 1990s.

It was in the 2000s when I visited the Irondale library to research the movie and the true story. By then, most people knew who the real people were. Still, I wanted to see a photo of the real Bess.

At the Irondale library, the nice ladies handed me an archive of old newspaper clippings, local magazine articles, and a scattering of black-and-white pictures of the real people in a binder.

It was the first time I got to see Bess Fortenberry, the real-life inspiration for Idgie.

I brought those real photos and a few true story details to the internet in 2009. We had a wonderful discussion about the story in groups.

The Fortenberry family was well-known. Their home was located just around the corner. To be honest, I can’t remember if the house was close to the library or the cafe, but I remember riding by the house during my trip.

Fannie Flagg’s book that inspired the movie was a fantastic read, and I’ve learned there is a sequel to it.

Fried Green Tomatoes, the movie, was a beautiful film, not only cinematically, but also for the historical accuracy in this period piece and the incredible detail that went into the making of the movie.

If you have time, take a look at my article.

How far would you go to protect your child? Movie: A Mother’s Right The
Elizabeth Morgan Story
[Shattered Silence]

This is another movie classic you might remember. A Mother’s Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story, also known as Shattered Silence, first aired on ABC in 1992.
The television movie starred Bonnie Bedelia as Elizabeth Morgan, with Terence Knox, Kenneth Welsh and Pam Grier also starring.

Plot: A woman takes her daughter on the run when she is forced to allow her ex-husband visitation.

Reality: This movie is based on the case of Elizabeth Morgan. Morgan accused her ex-husband of abuse. After a judge demanded that she allow her ex-husband unsupervised visits with the child, she refused and was found in contempt of court. Her daughter was taken to New Zealand by her grandparents, and Elizabeth was released in 1989. She later went to live with her parents and daughter in New Zealand. They have since returned to the U.S. Her daughter is an adult now. The Elizabeth Morgan Act was passed in 1996.

There is a book on the case. It's called Hilary's Trial.
Tidbits

Both of the parents were doctors at the time.

The daughter has since changed her name.

A Killer Among Friends, based on Missy Avila, was the first true crime movie I ever watched. I stopped trusting females after that. Viewers were horrified by the movie, and seeing the real photos of the people involved back then was a big deal. The internet was still new, and being able to connect a movie with the real people behind the story was something that stood out.

I would say this case inspired my entire movie blogging and true crime writing career. It was also the first true crime story I brought to the internet after matching the movie’s events to the real case.

I discovered the real case through research at the library, court records, and newspaper databases in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Once I found the real names, I searched online and found one site: the Avila family's website dedicated to Missy Avila. However, in 2000, there was nothing about the movie’s connection to her case, as I recall.

I started the Movies Based on True Stories Database in 1998-1999 and published it online in 2000.

A Killer Among Friends is a 1992 fact-based movie chronicling the tragic death of Michele "Missy" Avila, who was murdered by her friends Karen Severson and Laura Doyle in Arleta, California. Tiffani Amber Thiessen and Patty Duke starred in the TV film.

This movie touched the hearts of many people back in the day. It is a film and a true crime story that has stayed with those of us who watched it when it aired in the 1990s.

What happened to Missy Avila could have happened to anyone.

I had a similar situation almost happen to me in the mid-1990s after I was accused of liking another girl's boyfriend at the local skating rink and later approached by a female holding a barbell during a party I was invited to.

I told that story in my YouTube series, How I Started in True Crime, which premiered on June 28, 2026.

Needless to say, Missy's story resonated with me. It was the first time I understood that having the wrong friends and getting involved with the wrong people could lead to tragic consequences.

The Michele Avila case and the movie A Killer Among Friends were also what inspired me to remove myself from the adult skate scene and distance myself from some of the jealous females I met.

Missy Avila’s case gained national attention after she disappeared following a day out with friends in 1985. Her body was later discovered in a body of water with a log placed over her.

For a long while, it was a whodunit. The case took a shocking turn after police arrested her two friends, Karen Severson and Laura Doyle, for the killing.

Prosecutors said the teens planned to lure Missy away from her home and take her to a secluded location, where she was murdered.

The murder was brutal enough, but the betrayal by childhood friends was what shocked many people who followed the case.

Karen later moved into Missy’s home to help console the family, something that became one of the most shocking aspects of the case.

Karen Severson and Laura Doyle were convicted of the crime and sent to prison. Both women were released many years ago.

TV producers changed the names of the people involved and altered some of the locations in the true story film.

Listen, the case captured the attention of people both young and old. The story developed a sort of cult following over the years as people gathered in online groups to share details, updates, and even argue about the case.

My site, The Movies Based on True Stories Database and Movies Based on True Stories Archives, was shut down years ago. Since then, I have found many pages that still exist online.

I have created a timeline for you to go back down memory lane and experience the case the way many of us did back in the early 2000s, before true crime podcasts and YouTube channels became popular.

One of the earliest and most detailed accounts of the entire case comes from the book Missy’s Murder by Karen Kingsbury. Karen Severson also later wrote her own account of the events in her book.

I was asked to be on a show about the case some years ago, but producers did not move forward with the project at that time. Today, there are many true crime shows and podcasts dedicated to the story.

The Avilas have continued to keep the case in the public eye through social media. I have not updated this case in many years.