WINCHESTER, Ky. (WDRB) — Nearly a year after Reacheal Dawson was found dead inside a Kentucky hotel room, her family is demanding answers about why three women died before anyone stopped the man connected to all three cases — and why he has not been charged with murder in all of them.
Reacheal Dawson disappeared in June 2025 after going on a walk from her home in rural Kentucky, where she lived with her longtime partner and helped raise two children she loved like her own.
Reacheal Dawson (family photo)
Kay Dawson, Reacheal Dawson's sister, said she received a frantic call from Dawson's boyfriend, Kaylieb Thompson, saying Dawson had left for a walk and never returned.
Kay Dawson traced her sister's phone to a Red Roof Inn in Winchester, about 30 minutes from Dawson's home.
Hours later, detectives told the family Reacheal Dawson was dead.
A toxicology report found a large amount of methamphetamine in her system, but her family insists she was not a drug user.
Family members said investigators told them a drug capsule was lodged in Dawson’s esophagus. They also said her arms were positioned as if she had been resisting, and that she had been sexually assaulted.
The room was rented by Brian Epperson, a man Dawson's family said they did not know. Two other women had already died in similar circumstances before Dawson. Kristen Morris died the month before Dawson, and Hilory Davis died the previous year. Both women were found dead of overdoses in rooms Epperson had booked.
Court documents show detectives found the same kind of drug capsules in the cases of Dawson and Davis. Investigators were already aware of Epperson at the time of Dawson's death.
"Had this been addressed, he wouldn't have even been in the presence of my sister," said Dominique Dawson, Reacheal's brother.
Kay Dawson said law enforcement also offered little comfort after her sister's death.
"I'm sorry this had to happen, but this is the only way we could get all the evidence that we needed to arrest him," she said an officer told her.
Epperson is now federally charged with distributing drugs that resulted in the overdose deaths of Morris and Dawson. If convicted, he faces 20 years to life in prison.
Dawson's family, however, said those charges are not enough. They want to know why Epperson has not been charged with murder or rape, and why he is not facing charges in connection with Davis' death. Those questions went unanswered by prosecutors.
"It's a spit in our face to charge us with such a petty charge when they have more than enough proof, more than enough evidence," Thompson said.
Thompson is raising their two children on the property where he and Dawson lived together.
"If I could have her back, there's not nothing I wouldn't give, including my last breath," Thompson said.
After several delays, Epperson's federal trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 3. Dawson's family said there will not be justice until they receive answers about why three women died before anyone stopped him.
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