Coffee and Cases Podcast

On February 19, 1994, at Riverside General Hospital in California, 31-year-old Gloria Ramirez—a mother of two battling late-stage cervical cancer—was rushed into the ER struggling to breathe. But what began as a desperate fight to save her life quickly spiraled into one of the most baffling medical mysteries in modern history. What happened inside the trauma bay that night would terrify even the most seasoned medical professionals and leave scientists arguing for decades. Was it mass hysteria, a freak chemical chain reaction, or something no one wanted to admit? In this episode, we unpack the case of Gloria Ramirez—the woman the media would later call “The Toxic Lady”—and explore how one night’s chaos still defies logic and science alike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PART TWO: On January 26, 2011, twenty-seven-year-old first-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment with twenty-three stab wounds and more than thirty bruises. Despite the violence of the scene, her death was ruled a suicide—a ruling that has been challenged for more than a decade by Ellen’s parents, Josh and Sandee Greenberg. The case has since become one of the most hotly debated unsolved deaths in the country, raising questions about investigative integrity, forensic inconsistencies, and what justice really looks like when institutions close ranks. In this two-part episode, we revisit Ellen’s case through the lens of the Hulu documentary Death in Apartment 603 and the newly released 2025 report by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsay Simon, which once again reaffirms suicide as the official manner of death. We unpack the new findings, the conflicting expert opinions, and the haunting contradictions that still surround the case. Join us as we look closer at a case where every answer seems to lead to another question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PART ONE: On January 26, 2011, twenty-seven-year-old first-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment with twenty-three stab wounds and more than thirty bruises. Despite the violence of the scene, her death was ruled a suicide—a ruling that has been challenged for more than a decade by Ellen’s parents, Josh and Sandee Greenberg. The case has since become one of the most hotly debated unsolved deaths in the country, raising questions about investigative integrity, forensic inconsistencies, and what justice really looks like when institutions close ranks. In this two-part episode, we revisit Ellen’s case through the lens of the Hulu documentary Death in Apartment 603 and the newly released 2025 report by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsay Simon, which once again reaffirms suicide as the official manner of death. We unpack the new findings, the conflicting expert opinions, and the haunting contradictions that still surround the case. Join us as we look closer at a case where every answer seems to lead to another question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We first brought you this case in July 2020, when Maggie covered it solo. We’re re-issuing it now because there have been developments—and Maggie and I will be sitting down together to discuss the updates in a new companion episode. On January 26, 2011, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 27-year-old Ellen Greenberg left school early ahead of a snowstorm and headed home to the Venice Lofts. A locked door. A phone that goes unanswered. Plans for the future still sitting on the counter. What happened in that quiet stretch of late afternoon that turned routine into nightmare? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend. On October 24, 2015, in the Castleridge neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta, 31-year-old Amanda Antoni stayed home alone to recover from a migraine while her husband was hundreds of miles away. The two spoke on the phone that evening, sharing the kind of small-talk conversation every couple has—until a strange sound broke through the line. Moments later, the call went dead. When Amanda’s husband returned home two days later, the house was silent… except for the frantic barking of their dog and the eerie evidence that something terrible had happened in the basement. What followed was one of the most perplexing and heartbreaking investigations Calgary police had ever faced. The evidence told two stories—one of a violent attack, the other of an inexplicable accident. Was Amanda the victim of foul play? A tragic fall? Or could something else entirely have happened in those final moments? Nearly a decade later, Amanda’s family is still searching for the truth—and so are we. If you have any information about the mysterious death of Amanda Antoni, please contact the Calgary Police Service at 403-266-1234 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at https://calgarycrimestoppers.org/how-to-submit-a-tip/ If you would like to join Coffee and Cases Patreon to support the show and listen to bonus content, please go to ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When 52-year-old Shannon Lee Collins vanished from his home in Pottsville, Arkansas, on March 12, 2021, there were no tire tracks leading away, no note left behind—just silence. A phone that suddenly went dark. A man who never missed a call simply stopped answering. At first, his loved ones were told he’d left on his own. But as the months passed, the stories about where he’d gone began to shift—and the truth grew harder to ignore. Why hadn’t anyone in his home reported him missing? Why were there so many conflicting explanations about the last time anyone saw him? And what secrets were buried behind those small-town walls? In this two-part series, we follow Shannon’s brother, Blake, and his sister, Holly, as they piece together a puzzle built on contradictions. If you know anything about the disappearance of Shannon Lee Collins, please contact the Pope County Sheriff’s Office at 479-968-2558. To learn more about how you can support Shannon’s family, email ⁠ShareShannonsStory@gmail.com⁠, donate to their GoFundMe at ⁠gofund.me/6362b47⁠, and follow their ongoing efforts on Facebook at ⁠Share Shannon’s Story⁠ If you would like to join Coffee and Cases Patreon to support the show and listen to bonus content, please go to ⁠https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When 52-year-old Shannon Lee Collins vanished from his home in Pottsville, Arkansas, on March 12, 2021, there were no tire tracks leading away, no note left behind—just silence. A phone that suddenly went dark. A man who never missed a call simply stopped answering. At first, his loved ones were told he’d left on his own. But as the months passed, the stories about where he’d gone began to shift—and the truth grew harder to ignore. Why hadn’t anyone in his home reported him missing? Why were there so many conflicting explanations about the last time anyone saw him? And what secrets were buried behind those small-town walls? In this two-part series, we follow Shannon’s brother, Blake, and his sister, Holly, as they piece together a puzzle built on contradictions. If you know anything about the disappearance of Shannon Lee Collins, please contact the Pope County Sheriff’s Office at 479-968-2558. To learn more about how you can support Shannon’s family, email ShareShannonsStory@gmail.com, donate to their GoFundMe at gofund.me/6362b47, and follow their ongoing efforts on Facebook at Share Shannon’s Story If you would like to join Coffee and Cases Patreon to support the show and listen to bonus content, please go to https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 24, 1997, 24-year-old Amy Wroe Bechtel set out for what should have been an ordinary afternoon near Lander, Wyoming. A rising athlete with Olympic dreams, Amy was in the middle of mapping the course for a 10K race she was organizing. By the end of the day, her white Toyota station wagon sat abandoned, her to-do list unfinished, and Amy herself was nowhere to be found. Despite a massive search effort that involved hundreds of people, cadaver dogs, and aircraft, no trace of Amy was ever recovered. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In late August 2016, the Tromp family of Silvan, Victoria—Mark, Jacoba, and their three adult children—suddenly fled their successful berry farm and thriving businesses without phones, wallets, or passports. Over the next week, their strange journey would stretch hundreds of miles across Australia, leaving behind a trail of abandoned cars, disoriented wanderings, and desperate pleas for help. What could drive a close-knit, hardworking family to believe they were being hunted? Was it paranoia, environmental toxins, or a rare psychological condition known as folie à deux—shared psychosis? The case gripped the nation of Australia, making headlines worldwide, and even now it leaves more questions than answers. Why did some family members resist the delusion while others collapsed under its weight? And most haunting of all—could something like this happen to any of us? If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 2, 1996, 25-year-old Alicia Showalter Reynolds set out before breakfast, pointing her white Mercury south from Baltimore toward Charlottesville for a shopping day with her mom. Somewhere along U.S. Route 29 in Central Virginia—near Culpeper—that ordinary drive met an extraordinary danger, the kind that hides in plain sight on the shoulder of a busy highway. By nightfall, Alicia hadn’t arrived. Her car was found on the roadside; witnesses remembered a clean-cut man in a dark pickup offering “help.” In this episode, we walk the Route 29 corridor minute by minute, piecing together what Alicia saw, what bystanders noticed, and how a roadside “good Samaritan” ruse may have masked a predator. Anyone with information is asked to call the Virginia State Police Culpeper Division toll-free at 1-800-572-2260, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation toll-free at 1-888-300-0156, or you can also email them at bci-culpeper@vsp.virginia.gov. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bent bell. A bike tossed six feet into a field. A rush of leads that cancel each other out: a bloody handkerchief, conflicting train sightings, a black Morris, a red-and-gray van. In this episode, we trace April Fabb’s 1969 disappearance minute-by-minute and ask the question residents of Norfolk, England have asked for decades: what happened in the nine minute window during which April disappeared? If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 15, 2005, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar of Pennsylvania left work for what seemed like an ordinary day off. He called his girlfriend while driving his red-and-white Mini Cooper, promised to be home later, and then—he was never seen again. His locked car was found the next day near the Susquehanna River, his phone still inside but his laptop mysteriously missing. Did Gricar walk away from his life voluntarily? Was his disappearance tied to one of his high-profile prosecutions—or to secrets someone wanted buried? Or did tragedy strike by accident along the water’s edge? Nearly twenty years later, the case remains one of the most haunting unsolved disappearances in America. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On November 1, 1986, 51-year-old Morro Bay fisherman Hugh Harlin vanished along Highway 1 between San Simeon and Cambria, California. His truck was discovered roadside under suspicious circumstances—but not a trace of Hugh. Did he flee secrets tied to his wife’s unsolved murder, or did the same hand that strangled Dian Harlin in 1982 come for him, too? For context, you’ll likely want to start with last week’s episode on Dian Harlin first: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e274-dian-harlin/id1492318464?i=1000723044083 If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the fall of 1982, the quiet rhythm of Morro Bay, California was shattered when the body of 43-year-old Dian Harlin was discovered beneath a cluster of cypress trees near the high school. She had been strangled with a dog leash—an eerie detail that raised more questions than answers. Was her stormy marriage to blame? Or was Dian the victim of a predator who struck by chance? And what are we to make of the fact that her husband Hugh, who acted strangely after her death, also vanished without a trace just four years later? More than four decades later, the mysteries remain. Who killed “the Dog Lady” of Morro Bay? Did her husband know more than he admitted? Or was he another casualty of a truth still buried in the fog? Tune in as we unravel the case of Dian Harlin—a story of eccentric lives, whispered rumors, and unanswered questions that continue to echo through the small seaside town. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

July 1995. Ada, Oklahoma. A small city with a long memory for tragedy. When 15-year-old Daniel Furr vanished, the search ended in a place that seemed to hold more questions than answers — the bottom of an abandoned brick quarry. What happened to Daniel in the days before a body was found has become the subject of rumor, fear, and conflicting theories that still divide those who knew him. Was it gang retaliation? A robbery gone wrong? Or — as his own mother fears — was it not Daniel in the pit at all? This is the story of a boy, a mystery, and a community still looking for the truth. If you have information about the case of Daniel Furr, please contact OSBI at (800) 522–8017 or email information to tips@osbi.ok.gov. To hear more from our guest Raven Rollins, listen to Sirens: A Southern True Crime Podcast on your favorite podcast platform, and find her books at thesirenspodcast.com. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She was tiny, fierce, and fighting for survival from the moment she was born. On October 4, 1978, Wilma June Nissen’s body was discovered along a quiet country road in Lyon County, Iowa. For decades, no one knew her name—only that someone had brutally taken her life. Today, we explore the haunting questions: Who wanted Wilma gone? What really happened at the parties she attended that summer? And why, all these years later, has no one been held accountable? If you know anything, please contact the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at (712) 472-8326 or amy.stoner@lyoncountyia.com, call the main office at (712) 472-8300, or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. To connect with Wilma’s daughter, Krissi Haas, visit Justice4WilmaJuneNissen.com or email justiceforwilma@aol.com. You can also sign and share her Change.org petition to strengthen transparency for families of cold case victims. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An unregistered ship. A haunting distress signal. A crew found dead, their faces twisted in terror—and then, an explosion that swallowed the vessel forever. This isn’t the plot of a horror movie. This is the real (or is it?) story of the SS Ourang Medan. In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most unsettling maritime mysteries ever recorded—or invented. What really happened aboard the ghost ship that governments have seemingly tried to erase? Why was the CIA still referencing it a decade later? And could it all have been the cover-up of a deadly wartime secret? If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 7, 1958, the Martin family of Portland, Oregon—Kenneth, Barbara, and their three daughters—set off for a Sunday drive to gather Christmas greenery. They were never seen alive again. What began as a cheerful holiday tradition ended in one of the most baffling disappearances in Oregon history. Was it a tragic accident on the winding roads of the Columbia River Gorge? Or was something far more sinister at play—something involving suspicious sightings, ex-convicts, and a stolen gun? Decades later, new discoveries raise even more questions. What really happened to the Martins—and why did the river keep their secrets for so long? For additional information about this case, make sure to read J.B. Fisher’s book Echo of Distant Water, available HERE. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was just two days before Christmas in 1974 in Fort Worth, Texas, a time usually filled with holiday cheer and last-minute shopping rushes. Seventeen-year-old Rachel Trlica, 14-year-old Renee Wilson, and 9-year-old Julie Ann Moseley headed to the bustling Seminary South Shopping Center with plans to pick up gifts and be home in time for holiday parties. They parked the car, ready for an afternoon of shopping. But as the hours ticked by, the girls never returned. When worried family members arrived at the mall that evening, a chilling scene awaited them: the girls' car was found abandoned in the parking lot, but Rachel, Renee, and Julie were gone. Fifty years later, the disappearance of the Fort Worth Trio remains one of Texas's most inexplicable cold cases. How could three girls, ranging in age from a teenager to a young child, vanish without a trace from a public place on a busy day? Despite thousands of leads, extensive searches, and heartbreaking decades of waiting, the mystery endures. Check out Gone Cold Podcast episodes on the case, presented from December 2020 through January 2021. If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the evening of September 16, 1997, six-year-old Brittney Ann Beers vanished just steps away from her Sturgis, Michigan apartment complex. Minutes earlier, neighbors had seen her chatting with a stranger. Then—nothing. Her bike was left behind, her voice gone quiet, and a haunting mystery began. Who was Brittney’s “new friend”? Why did no one see what happened next? And, more importantly, where did she go? In this week’s episode, Allison traces Brittney’s story from her complicated home life to the desperate search that followed—and the disturbing secrets that surfaced along the way. Could a stranger have taken her? Was someone closer to home responsible? And why do some believe her case may be tied to the convicted killer of another Michigan girl nearly a decade later? If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices