On January 21, 2005, the bucolic community of Mount Judea in Newton County was shaken by two interconnected and tragic events that remain unresolved.
The death of one resident and the still missing status of a second, along with a mixture of drug dealing, arson, and family ties makes the entire case seem like an episode of the Netflix series "Ozark".
Joshua Leon Middleton, a 20-year-old resident, was last seen at approximately 9:00 a.m., riding with Rickey Allen Freeman in a red Ford truck on Dry Creek Road, just south of Mount Judea. He has never been heard from again.
On the same day that Josh Middleton vanished, 56-year-old Charles Daniel "Dan" House was found shot to death in his vehicle on Mt. Hershey Road between Mount Judea and Hasty,. . House had been shot approximately five times with a 9mm handgun. Speculation is someone beat up House inside his car before exiting the vehicle and shooting him while standing on the driver's side.
The autopsy showed House had been shot from his left side and at a downward slant.
The grim discovery of House's body was made by a local school bus driver, sending shockwaves through the small community but less than 24-hours later, Josh Middleton went missing to add to the backwoods Mafia legends.
Rickey Freeman, 38 at the time, was arrested on a litany of charges in Harrison, Arkansas, the same day that House was found dead. Freeman was the last person seen with House before his death, and shortly after his arrest, Freeman's house in Newton County was burned down in an act of arson.
Despite the suspicious circumstances, Freeman was never charged with House's murder. However, he is currently serving a prison term for the shooting death of Shannon Ray Middleton, 27, a relative of Josh Middleton. This shooting occurred outside the Middleton's home in Mount Judea in December 2005, shortly after Freeman's release from his initial arrest.
Freeman reportedly shot Shawn Middleton in retaliation for the arson of Freeman's house. Shawn Middleton, when questioned by relatives reportedly told them "You're damn right I burned his house down!"
At least three more houses were destroyed by arson in connection with the case over the years.
Freeman was sentenced on April 13, 2007 for the killing of Shawn Middleton as well as counts of robbery, theft of property, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. His arrest for those crimes also triggered a parole violation on previous drug-related crimes.
In addition, Freeman had done time in the ADC for aggravated assault on his wife and for terroristic threatening after a September , 2020 conviction.
Freeman, who is housed in the ADC's Cummins Unit, has served seven years of a 24-year sentence and his first parole-eligible date passed without a release in 2022.
According to reports, Josh Middleton was clean living until the summer of 2004 when he succumbed to peer pressure and became addicted to drugs. One of Middleton's uncles, a man named Robert Middleton, was the reported ringleader of the drug enterprise that stretched from north-central Arkansas to California. The drugs were reportedly transported from California to Newton County by another member of the Middleton family, who was a long-haul truck driver.
Robert Middleton died in 2009 and he, along with 21 other members of the Middleton clan, is buried at the Smith Cemetery in the Vendor Community, just a few miles from where all the 2005 criminal activities took place.
Josh Middleton and Charles Daniel House were known to be close friends, leading to speculation that Josh may have been with House when he was killed. They both were involved in the meth ring "family business".
However, nothing about the disappearance has been confirmed. Josh's case remained a missing person's case for some time before new information led authorities to treat it as a potential homicide investigation.
Authorities believe House's homicide and Josh's disappearance are linked and that Josh may have been a witness to House's murder. A third individual, the late Cameron Bolin, was also reportedly involved in the affair and probably took critical information on the killing of Dan House and the disappearance of Josh Middleton to the grave.
Bolin claimed, after Freeman went to prison for manslaughter in the death of Shawn Middleton, that Freeman was the last person seen with both House and Middleton on the day in question. Bolin also gave authorities information that led to a search warrant and excavations on the property of Robert Middleton.
The community has dealt with several suspicious deaths and suicides in the ensuing years since the murders and the disappearance of Josh Middleton.
In the beginning, Middleton was thought to have traveled to Missouri or Texas after his disappearance, but in November 2007, authorities announced that he was the likely victim of a drug-related homicide. Investigators believe that Josh was murdered and his body hidden somewhere in Newton County.
The case caught the attention of a true crime podcast and four episodes were posted in 2020. You can access the podcast Cold Case Chronicles by clicking HERE. You can listen to subsequent episodes by changing the last number in the URL address to 2, 3, or 4.
The investigation into these cases has been fraught with challenges. There are multiple possible suspects, each with conflicting alibis.
Additionally, a lack of witnesses willing to speak out due to fear of possible ramifications has hindered progress. Likewise, rumors and wanton speculation have circulated for years and with some of the key characters now either dead or in prison, investigators are hoping that some of the fear of retaliation from those involved has dissipated and will lead to new information.
Anyone with information on either the death of House or the disappearance of Middleton is asked to contact the Newton County Sheriff's Office at 870-446-5124.
