A local judge, Melanie Andress-Tobiasson, befriended Connie Land over shared concerns about sex trafficking in Las Vegas, but later the two friends had a falling out.
Although a number of people allegedly involved in local sex trafficking were declared either persons of interest or suspects in the case, as of January 2023[update] no arrests had been made in the killings of Land and Kauffman.
Sarah noticed illegal activity in and around the shop involving sex trafficking, and reported it to her mother, a Las Vegas judge.
Andress-Tobiasson, suspecting that her daughter was in danger of being entrapped by pimps at the shop, handed over this information to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as Metro).
After a meeting with Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo came to naught,[13] she forced her way into Valentine's home in order to confront him about his illicit activities and warn him off of her daughter.
[19] This pronouncement stemmed from events that occurred on October 8 when, during a heated exchange of texts, Kauffman accused Valentine of being a police informant.
[11] She compelled Connie to hand over confidential text messages relevant to the investigation the latter had received from a Metro homicide detective who was handling the case.
[29] Andress-Tobiasson later claimed that an acquaintance in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with whom she was conversing via burner phone in order to ensure confidentiality of the discussions,[7][8][31] would soon be contacting Connie in regards to the case, although this never came to pass.
[29] With a belief that Metro was dragging its feet in regard to the investigation, the Land family began to publicize the case via digital billboards.
[32] Connie tried to keep the public's attention focused on the case by posting about it frequently on social media, and by appearing periodically at press conferences.
[13] She maintained that Metro was not interested in targeting shops serving as fronts for prostitution, adding that she was more afraid of the police than the sex traffickers themselves.
[29] Metro officers began submitting complaints about Andress-Tobiasson to Lombardo, accusing her of ethics violations in regard to her personal interest in the investigation of the goings-on at Top Knotch.
[8] In May 2021, after making a deal with prosecutors, she resigned her judgeship in return for the NCJD dropping the ongoing ethics inquiry surrounding her interest in the double-murder investigation.
[16] On January 20, 2023, Andress-Tobiasson, who had only recently settled a divorce with her husband, died from a gunshot wound in her Las Vegas home at age 55.