On June 14, 1969, six-year-old Dennis Lloyd Martin vanished during a Father’s Day weekend camping trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Dennis was only six days away from his seventh birthday when he disappeared near Spence Field, a remote mountain meadow located along the Appalachian Trail. More than five decades later, no confirmed trace of him has ever been found.Dennis had traveled into the mountains with his father, grandfather, older brother, and other family members. Camping in the Smokies had become a family tradition, and there was nothing unusual about the outing until a playful plan among the children turned into one of the most enduring missing-child mysteries in American history. Dennis and several other boys intended to hide and surprise the adults. The other children returned, but Dennis did not.His father began looking for him almost immediately. What began as a family search quickly expanded into a massive operation involving park rangers, law-enforcement agencies, volunteers, military personnel, trackers, and experienced outdoorsmen. Approximately 1,400 people ultimately participated, making it the largest search effort in the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.The search was complicated by heavy rain, fog, steep terrain, dense vegetation, swollen streams, and the sheer number of people moving through the area. Searchers covered miles of unforgiving wilderness, yet they found no definitive clothing, remains, or physical evidence explaining what happened to Dennis. The unsuccessful operation later influenced changes in the National Park Service’s approach to missing-person searches.In this episode, we examine the circumstances surrounding Dennis’s disappearance, the immediate response from his family, and the enormous search that followed. We also consider the questions that have persisted for decades, including whether Dennis became lost in the wilderness, suffered an accident or animal encounter, or was taken from the park.One of the most debated elements of the case involves a family visiting another area of the park who reportedly heard a disturbing scream and later saw a rough-looking man moving through the woods with something draped over his shoulder. The sighting occurred several miles from Spence Field, and investigators were never able to establish that it was connected to Dennis. Nevertheless, it has continued to fuel the possibility that Dennis may have encountered another person after leaving his family’s sight.Dennis’s father reportedly believed his son had been abducted. Others involved in the search believed that Dennis may have become disoriented and succumbed to exposure in the vast wilderness. Neither explanation has ever been proven, and the lack of physical evidence has allowed speculation and competing theories to surround the case for more than 57 years.Dennis remains listed as missing through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. His age-progressed image shows what he might look like as an adult, but behind that image remains the little boy last seen wearing a red shirt, green trousers, and low-cut shoes during what should have been a joyful family weekend. Anyone with information is asked to contact the National Park Service or submit a tip through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Dennis Lloyd Martin was a child, a son, a brother, and a deeply loved member of his family. His disappearance is more than a wilderness mystery or a piece of national park history. It is the story of a family that left the mountains without one of its children and never received a definitive answer about where he went.Listen as we revisit the disappearance of Dennis Lloyd Martin, the search that mobilized more than a thousand people, the theories that continue to divide those familiar with the case, and the unanswered questions still lingering in the Great Smoky Mountains.If you have information concerning the disappearance of Dennis Lloyd Martin, contact the National Park Service at 865-436-1230 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.Please follow, subscribe, rate, and share this episode. Sharing missing-person cases keeps their names and faces in front of the public and may reach someone who has information they have never previously reported.Episode topics: Dennis Lloyd Martin, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Spence Field, missing children, national park disappearances, unsolved disappearances, cold cases, search and rescue, missing-person investigations, Appalachian Trail mysteries, Tennessee missing persons, and wilderness cases.
On February 14, 2000, nine-year-old Asha Jaquilla Degree disappeared from her home near Shelby, North Carolina, beginning one of the most haunting missing-child investigations in the United States.Asha shared a bedroom with her older brother. According to the FBI's reconstruction of that night, her father checked on the children at approximately 2:30 a.m. and found them asleep. Around 6:30 that morning, Asha's mother went to wake the children for school and discovered that Asha was gone. There were no obvious signs of forced entry. Investigators would later determine that Asha's book bag and some of her belongings were missing as well, leading authorities to believe she had packed before leaving the house.What happened next has puzzled investigators for more than twenty-six years.Multiple motorists reported seeing a young girl walking south along North Carolina Highway 18 at approximately 4:00 a.m. One witness reportedly became concerned enough to turn around and check on her, but the child left the roadway and disappeared into the woods before the driver could reach her. Investigators have described these sightings as credible and believe the girl was Asha.The circumstances seem almost impossible to understand. Asha was nine years old. It was dark, early on a February morning, and she was walking along a rural highway away from home. Why did she leave? Was she meeting someone? Had someone convinced her to leave? Was the person who ultimately became responsible for her disappearance already waiting for her, or did Asha encounter that person after she was on the road?Investigators have never publicly established why Asha left her home.More than a year later, on August 3, 2001, construction workers approximately thirty miles north of where Asha was last seen discovered her book bag. The discovery created another enduring mystery. Inside the bag were items that did not belong to Asha, including a New Kids on the Block T-shirt and a copy of the Dr. Seuss book McElligot's Pool that had come from the library at Asha's elementary school. Investigators later released information about those objects in hopes that someone would recognize them and explain how they came to be inside Asha's belongings.Another potentially important lead emerged when investigators announced that someone matching Asha's description may have been seen getting into a distinctive older vehicle along Highway 18. Authorities described it as a dark green 1970s-model Lincoln Continental Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird, possibly with rust around the wheel wells.For decades, Asha's family has refused to give up on finding her. Neither have investigators. The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation have continued working the case, and the FBI has emphasized that Asha's disappearance was never simply placed on a shelf and forgotten.Then, in September 2024, the case took a dramatic turn.Law enforcement executed multiple search warrants at properties associated with members of the Dedmon family in Cleveland County and surrounding areas. The warrants revealed previously undisclosed details about the investigation and demonstrated that investigators were pursuing a specific new direction nearly twenty-five years after Asha vanished.Those developments generated enormous public interest, but they also require caution. A search warrant is an investigative tool, not a conviction, and allegations contained within warrant materials should not be confused with proven facts. As of this episode, Asha's disappearance remains unresolved, and the existence of investigative interest in particular people or properties does not establish criminal responsibility.In this episode of Extinguished, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey examine the disappearance of Asha Degree from the beginning: the final hours inside the Degree home, the Highway 18 sightings, the mysterious book bag, the unexplained items found inside it, the possible vehicle sighting, the decades of investigative work and the developments that brought renewed national attention to the case.David and LaDonna also confront the question at the center of everything: what could make a nine-year-old child leave the safety of her home in the middle of a February night?Was Asha planning an adventure known only to her? Had someone been communicating with her without her parents knowing? Was she expecting to meet someone? Did something happen after she began walking Highway 18 that changed the course of the night entirely? And after more than a quarter-century, could the evidence investigators are pursuing finally explain what happened to the little girl known in her community as "Shelby's Sweetheart"?Behind every theory is a family that has spent more than twenty-six years without Asha.Asha was not born to become the subject of a mystery. She was a fourth grader who loved basketball, played with her brother and was remembered by those who knew her as happy, friendly and eager to make others happy. She was nine years old when the world last saw her, and somewhere between her bedroom and Highway 18, something happened that has kept her from coming home ever since.Someone may still know why.If you have information concerning the disappearance of Asha Degree, contact the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 704-484-4822 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Information may also be submitted to the FBI online. Tips can be provided anonymously.Extinguished is hosted by David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey and examines missing-person cases, unsolved murders and the lives behind cases that should never be forgotten.If you have information about Asha Degree, please contact law enforcement rather than approaching or publicly accusing individuals associated with the investigation.
In December 2005, nineteen-year-old college student Nona Dirksmeyer was found brutally murdered inside her apartment in Russellville, Arkansas. What followed was one of the most controversial and debated homicide investigations in Arkansas history.In this episode of Extinguished, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey examine the life of Nona Dirksmeyer, the events leading up to her murder, and the years of investigations, prosecutions, and courtroom battles that failed to deliver justice. Listeners will hear the complicated timeline of the case, the scrutiny surrounding Nona's boyfriend Kevin Jones, the evidence that led to his arrest and eventual acquittal, and the later investigation into Gary Dunn, whose DNA was linked to the crime scene but whose prosecutions ended in mistrials.The case remains unsolved nearly two decades later, leaving behind lingering questions, divided opinions, and a family still searching for answers. Was the wrong suspect targeted in the beginning? Did investigators miss critical opportunities? Or does the truth remain buried somewhere within the evidence that has been debated for years?More importantly, this episode remembers the victim at the center of the story. Nona was more than a headline. She was a daughter, a student, a volunteer, and a young woman with dreams, ambitions, and a future that was stolen from her.Join us as we explore one of Arkansas's most haunting unsolved murders and discuss why the pursuit of truth continues even when the courtroom fails to provide answers.Topics Covered• The life and background of Nona Dirksmeyer• The discovery of the crime scene• The investigation into Kevin Jones• Evidence presented at trial• Kevin Jones' acquittal• The emergence of Gary Dunn as a suspect• DNA evidence and forensic controversies• Multiple mistrials and dismissed charges• Why the case remains unsolved• The lasting impact on Nona's family and communityAbout ExtinguishedExtinguished is hosted by David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey and explores cases involving homicide, missing persons, predators, and unresolved mysteries. Through careful research and victim-centered storytelling, the podcast seeks to keep the focus where it belongs—on the lives that were lost and the families left behind.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast. Every share helps keep these stories alive and honors the victims whose voices can no longer be heard.
On April 20, 1990, seventeen-year-old Christopher Kerze woke up with a headache and asked to stay home from school. His mother agreed, gave him medication, and left for work expecting to see her son later that evening. Instead, when she returned home, Christopher was gone.What began as an ordinary Friday in Eagan, Minnesota, quickly transformed into one of the most baffling missing-person cases in modern American history.Christopher left behind a handwritten note assuring his mother that he would be "back by six." He never returned.The following day, a second letter arrived in the mail. The contents suggested Christopher had planned his disappearance and intended to take his own life. Yet nearly every aspect of his life seemed to contradict that explanation. Christopher was an honor student, a National Merit Scholar semifinalist, a competitive swimmer, a musician, and a young man widely described as intelligent, responsible, and driven.Days later, the family's Dodge Caravan was discovered abandoned near remote wilderness in northern Minnesota. Search teams deployed tracking dogs, volunteers searched the surrounding forests, and investigators pursued every available lead. The trail eventually disappeared, leaving behind more questions than answers.Over the years, reported sightings, strange anonymous phone calls, and conflicting theories have kept the mystery alive. Some believe Christopher died shortly after abandoning the vehicle. Others believe he intentionally started a new life. Still others suspect circumstances investigators have never uncovered.More than three decades later, Christopher Kerze remains missing.In this episode, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey examine the timeline, the letters, the abandoned van, the unexplained phone calls, and the enduring questions that continue to surround one of Minnesota's most perplexing disappearances.In This Episode:Christopher Kerze's background and achievementsThe morning he disappearedThe handwritten note left on the kitchen tableThe troubling letter mailed from DuluthThe disappearance of the family vehicleDiscovery of the abandoned van in northern MinnesotaSearch efforts in the George Washington State ForestThe significance of the missing shotgunReported sightings after Christopher vanishedStrange phone calls received by family and friendsThe emotional toll on Christopher's parentsCompeting theories surrounding the caseWhy the mystery remains unsolved more than 30 years laterIf you have information regarding the disappearance of Christopher Kerze, contact local law enforcement or the appropriate Minnesota authorities.Follow Extinguished for more stories examining unsolved disappearances, crimes against children, cold cases, and the families still searching for answers.#ExtinguishedPodcast #ChristopherKerze #MissingPerson #ColdCase #Minnesota #UnsolvedMystery #DavidMcClam #LaDonnaHumphrey
In August 1976, ten-year-old Angelo “Andy” Puglisi walked into Higgins Memorial Pool in Lawrence, Massachusetts, just like countless other children on a hot summer afternoon. He never came home.Nearly fifty years later, Andy's disappearance remains one of New England's most haunting unsolved mysteries. Despite one of the largest search efforts in Lawrence history involving thousands of volunteers, law enforcement, search dogs, divers, and the National Guard, no trace of Andy was ever found.In this episode of Extinguished, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey examine the events surrounding Andy's final known day, the massive community search that followed, and the decades-long quest for answers. They explore the witness accounts, investigative theories, and controversial individuals whose names have become linked to the case over the years, including Wayne Chapman and Charles Pierce.The episode also highlights the extraordinary work of Melanie Perkins, Andy's childhood friend, who dedicated years of her life to keeping his story alive through research, interviews, and documentary work. Her determination helped ensure that Andy would not become just another forgotten name in an old missing persons file.At its heart, this is not simply a story about suspects or theories. It is a story about a little boy who vanished, a family left without answers, and a community that has refused to forget.Nearly five decades later, the questions remain:What happened to Andy after he left the pool?Who knows the truth?And will the answers ever be found?If you have information regarding the disappearance of Angelo "Andy" Puglisi, please contact law enforcement in Massachusetts.Because every missing child deserves to be remembered, and every family deserves answers.