True Crime in the 50

On October 6, 2002, 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck asked his mom if he could go bike riding in his hometown of Richwoods, Missouri. His mom said yes, because Shawn had ridden his bike alone hundreds of times before. She told him to be home by dinner. But, when he wasn't, and it got dark out, the Hornbecks were extremely worried. Shawn was always home for dinner and was deathly afraid of the dark. Turned out it was something much worse than the dark. Shawn had been kidnapped just a mile from his home. Years went by and there was no trace of Shawn. Until January of 2007, almost 5 years later, another boy named Ben Ownby disappeared after he got off the school bus and never made it home in Beuford, Missouri. That set off a chain of events in which an exceptional 15-year-old eyewitness, a pizza restaurant owner and the FBI would do something remarkable. Something still referred to as "The Missouri Miracle."Show Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/kidnapped-shawn-hornbecks-incredible-story/id965818306?i=1000630276030

Mississippi: The Murder of Presh CampbellShow Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/devil-in-the-ditch/id1715007204

At the time of his disappearance on November 10, 2002, Joshua Guimond was a sophomore at St. John's College in Collegeville, Minnesota. Even though he had broken up with his girlfriend, Katie, of five years only two months before, Josh was thriving at his school. He had lots of friends and was involved with many extracurricular activities and academic clubs. His plan after college was to go to law school and then go into politics.But late on Saturday night, November 9th, 2002, Joshua left a poker party at a dorm on campus and seemingly made the walk back to his own dorm, less than 10 minutes away. He was seen passing a female friend on a bridge and then simply vanished. No one has seen or heard from Josh Guimond since then. Show Notes:https://www.simplyvanished.com/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22000942/

The Stalking Case of Samantha Stites is discussed.Show Notes:https://www.hulu.com/series/stalking-samantha-13-years-of-terror-4f4280ca-ad11-46d2-ac17-efd6c8c79e2c

Justina Pelletier was born very premature with a slew of health problems. She mostly kept them at bay throughout her formative years, until the summer of 2010 when she was 12. That summer she complained of stomaches so bad she needed a number of surgeries. By February 2013, when Justina was 15, she was ordered to go to Boston Children's Hospital because something was very wrong. Justina was admitted to the hospital and was there for a few days until her parents wanted to take her home. But, they couldn't. Boston Children's Hospital had filed a 51A report to the Department of Children and Family Services, saying that they suspected a case of Medical Abuse by her parents and that now Justina should be a ward of the state. A judge agreed and Justina would remain in the hospital and, ultimately, in a psych ward for the coming years.Legal battles ensued, but that wasn't all. A hacking group called Anonymous led by a man named Marty Gottesfeld began a campaign that insisted Justina be returned to her family or BCH would "suffer retaliation the likes of which they had never seen." They did hack their system for a week to the tune of $300 million in damages. What came next was a battle for legal and parental guardianship, a hacker who fled to Cuba and all in all general mayhem. In the middle of which was a young girl whose very life was slipping away before everyone's eyes.Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24072584/

Just before 2020, Troy Hoggle, 36, was working at a bar as a bouncer in Rockville, Maryland, and met Catherine, a pretty waitress who was only 22. The two started dating, and within four or five months, Catherine was pregnant. They had a son, and then had a girl, Sarah, and another son, Jacob, in quick succession. The five moved into an apartment outside of Rockville but money was tight. And there was another issue: Catherine was extremely mentally ill and had been since middle school. She had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Her mental issues were only exacerbated by having children so close together. By Christmas of 2013, she was committed involuntarily to a psych ward. But she checked herself out, and, over the next few months, was in and out of mental facilities. Her family decided that she was not allowed to be with her children alone. Until September 8, 2014, when Sarah Hoggle was three years old and Jacob Hoggle was only two, did the unthinkable happen. Catherine was able to be with them alone, and to this day, no one has seen or heard from the children ever since. Show Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unrestorable/id1709321174

By the age of 17, Krystal Lee Higgins of Harrington, Maine, had been through more than most kids. She and her brother and sister were put into foster care when they were young and Krystal had been emancipated from her parents at only 16 years old. In August of 2004, right before she was due to start her senior year of High School, was living with a friend and was holding down two jobs. But on August 7, 2004, when she was supposed to have a fun night out with friends, her life was cut tragically short. Krystal's car was found submerged by a boat dock 5 days later and Krystal was found floating facedown in the same river one week after she disappeared. While the coroner pronounced her death an accidental drowning, others weren't so sure. Years later, two mysterious letters would turn up in the town, asking its residents to re-think everything they knew about the case.Show Notes: https://darkdowneast.com/krystalleehiggins-pt1/https://darkdowneast.com/krystalleehiggins-pt2/

On April 13, 1999 at around 9 pm, Danny Schneider Jr., 20, told his parents and sister he was going to study at a friend's house in Chalmette, Louisiana, about a 20 minute drive from New Orleans. In reality, Danny was actually going to buy drugs in the seedy 9th Ward. On April 14, at around 2 am, Dan and Annie Schneider were awakened by a knock at their door telling them their son was dead. He had been shot in the head. Dan Schneider would take on his son's case, relentlessly seeking justice for him. His quest would lead him down a long, dark and winding road full of drug dealers, drug addicts, a false informant, a real eyewitness, illegal pill mills and a pediatrician-turned narcotics dealer doctor who was almost single-handedly helping along the country's opioid crisis. Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11600174/

The Murders of Bill and Peggy Stephenson are discussed.Show Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cincinnatis-crime-vault-beyond-the-broadcast/id1641626489https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-cincinnatis-crime-vault-be-101295692/episode/5-the-brutal-stephenson-murders-and-111015211/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-the-tip-sters-true-crime-podcast/id1335317858

On June 2nd, 2007, at 6:30 p.m.,18-year-old Kelsey Smith went to the local Target in Overland Park, Kansas, to buy a gift for her boyfriend, John. Kelsey had just graduated from High School days earlier, was planning on going to Kansas State University in the fall, and was planning on studying veterinary medicine. She and John had been dating for about six months.Once inside the Target store, she called her mom, Missy to ask where she might find gift wrap. Missy told her and Kelsey hung up the phone. At 7:30 John showed up at her house to take Kelsey on a date but Kelsey still was not home. Concerned, her father Greg and sister Lindsay set out to look for her. Eventually, at around 10 p.m. that evening, the worried father and sister found her car parked across the street from the Target at a Macy's store. There was still no sign of Kelsey.Until June 6th, in a wooded area some 20 miles away in Grandview, Missouri, two hikers found her body. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with her own belt. What transpired to determine her killer would involve a non-cooperative phone company, more than 40 surveillance cameras, and one incredible citizen tipster. Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4219070/

On Friday, July 13th, 2012, in the tiny town of Evansdale, Iowa, two cousins and best friends, Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10 set off on their bikes. Their grandmother told them to be back in an hour for lunch, but by late afternoon, the girls still had not returned. Concerned, family members called police who searched a nearby lake, where they found the girls' discarded bikes, but there was still no sign of the girls. The case went cold until almost six months later, in December of that year, a hunter found the remains of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook. The girls had been abducted and murdered. The police had a few suspects, but the case remains cold to this day. If you have any information on the murders of Collins and Cook please call the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6010 or email them at dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us.Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33035689/

The cases of David Camm and Richard Hoagland are discussed. Show Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mystery-on-lockhart-road/id1464919521?i=1000463343241https://www.andthentheyweregone.com/episodes/episode-514-re-release-richard-hoagland

The disappearance of Timmothy Pitzen and the suicide of Amy Frye Pitzen in Rockford, Illinois is discussed.Show Notes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJqFMVT-S8

On September 14, 2001, Amber Hoopes, a 20-year-old native of Idaho Falls, Idaho left her grandparents house where she was living, and went out to their auto body shop on the premises to check her email around midnight. Amber's grandmother woke up a few hours later and noticed Amber's TV and lights were on in her room. Her grandmother went out to check the auto body shop, but Amber was nowhere to be found. What followed her disappearance in the middle of the night led police to a man named Keith Hascock, who was a former employee of Amber's family's business. Keith Hascock had abducted a 14-year-old girl in a neighboring town, but the girl had escaped. As police narrowed in on Keith Hascock, another young girl in Challis, Idaho, 9-year-old Stephanie Crane, was also kidnapped and never seen again. Was Keith Hascock responsible for all of these abductions and possible murders? Or was it the work of other child kidnappers and killers in Idaho?Show Notes:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/without-a-trace/id1766011211https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8350730/

On Monday, March 20th, 1977, 16-year-old Dawn Momohara received a call at the home she shared with her mother in Honolulu. It was an unknown male who asked to meet her at the local Ala Mohana shopping center. Telling her mother she would be back later, Dawn left without another word. When she hadn't returned home by midnight, her mother called the police. Dawn was found the next morning, dead, at her nearby High School. She had been raped and strangled. The case soon went cold. Nancy Anderson was born in Michigan, but, after High School, in 1971, wanted adventure. She soon moved to Oahu in Hawaii and found a roommate and a job at the local McDonald's, also at the Ala Mohana shopping center. Things were going well until the end of January 1972, a mere four months after moving to Hawaii, Nancy was found dead in her bathroom by her roommate. She had been stabbed. Her case also went cold. Two cases, 6 years apart that went cold, but, miraculously, and with the help of forensics, science, DNA and geneaology, were solved more than four decades later.Show Notes:https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Y23FBwSO1a9UwZpssESCvhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt34912793/

At the time of her death, Eva Kay Wenal, who went by Kay, was 60 years old and living with her millionaire fourth husband, Hal, in a large rental home in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Kay had been a former beauty queen, playboy bunny and showgirl and had been married four times before. On Thursday, May 1st, 2008, Kay was home from work because she was not feeling well, and reading a book when she went to open the door for a mysterious stranger. A few minutes after that, Kay was brutally murdered in broad daylight.Police interviewed everyone they knew to be associated with Kay, and even Hal, her husband was ruled out. They also released a sketch of the assumed murderer, which a neighbor had seen on two occasions. Nothing. Kay's murder remains unsolved to this day.Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13440300/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-help-solve-this-case-who-killed-kay-wenal/Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta: 404-577-TIPS

Lois and Dave Reiss lived in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota and raised a family. Lois ran a daycare business for awhile out of the couple's home and Dave ran a successful wax worm farm. Everything was good, from the outside. From the inside, the couple was plagued by mental illness and abuse. Lois was also suicidal and addicted to gambling. On March 12, 2018, Lois came down to the wax worm farm to ask another employee to run payroll, something Dave always did. This strange request would set off a chain of events that included evading the law, a fugitive from justice, multiple murders and complete mayhem in The Great State of Florida. Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33481557/

Charles Robert "Bobby" Steele had not had the best childhood. He got into a serious accident when he was 13 and became addicted to drugs not long after. But he was finally trying to turn his life around when he went to stay with his sister in Claymont, Delaware. Until April 11, 2014, he left to run a few errands, made a strange phone call to his sister and was never seen again.Benjamin Archer grew up in New Jersey and traveled out West for years. He got into a bad car accident and wanted to go live with his mother in Delaware City, Delaware. On March 2nd, 2016, Ben walked to nearby DuPont park in just a t-shirt and pants. Shivering, his family found him by a lake talking to himself. While they couldn't convince him to come home, they left some warmer clothes for him by the lake. When they returned to check on him, Ben had vanished and was never seen or heard from again.Show Notes:https://www.audible.com/podcast/Charles-Robert-Bobby-Steele/B0CSWH593Hhttps://www.audible.com/podcast/Episode-234-Benjamin-Morse-Archer-Vision-Quest/B08TGK9HH3

Robert "Hoagy" Hoagland lived in Newtown, Connecticut, with his wife, Laurie, and one young adult son. The couple had two other sons. Hoagy was a part-time paralegal, former chef and had his real estate appraiser's license. He was your all-around, average and average-looking 50-something-year-old guy. Until Sunday, July 28, 2013. Hoagy got up early, went to get bagels for him and his son and then paid some bills. He went out to mow the lawn and was seen by a neighbor around 11 am. At noon, his son Max asked to use the car and Hoagy let him. When Max returned a few hours later, his Dad was gone.Hoagy was supposed to pick up his wife at JFK airport the next day, Monday, July 29th, but he never showed. When he still wasn't back by Tuesday, Laurie reported him as a missing person. All of the family vehicles were accounted for, and Hoagy had left behind his keys, wallet, thousands of dollars in cash in a home safe and his daily medication. Hoagy's family never heard from him again. It was as if he literally just disappeared. Until 10 years later, when his wife, his sons and investigators would get the shock of their lives.Show Notes: https://podtail.com/en/podcast/wicked-deeds/

On Mother's Day, 2020, a mother of two, Suzanne Morphew, received texts from her daughters and husband wishing her a happy holiday. Suzanne, who lived in Salida, Colorado, never responded. Soon, her husband Barry had put out a reward for her safe return and all of her loved ones were searching for her, but to no avail. What would come from her disappearance was a story of betrayal and lies. Kelsey Berreth lived in Woodland Park, Colorado with her one-year-old daughter, Kaylee. Kaylee's Dad and Kelsey's boyfriend, Patrick Frazee lived in nearby Fluorescent, Colorado. Kelsey was a flight instructor and was looking in to finally moving in with Patrick. But on Thanksgiving Day, 2018, Kelsey suddenly vanished. Show Notes:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17507508/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11673730/