Dark Downeast

Imagine your son, imagine any person you love, just disappears. No viable leads, no physical evidence, nothing to direct your search beyond unreliable or uncooperative witnesses with ever changing stories. That ambiguous loss is like a cloud over the lives of Ramona and Narciso Torres. Until they have closure and can bring their son, Angel Antonio Torres, home, that cloud follows them around. In P...

MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1999: It's been 22 years, and Ramona and Narciso Torres are still waiting for the answers that will bring their son Angel Antonio "Tony" Torres home. Through their memories and stories, we get to know Angel and who he was before he disappeared, and the earliest circumstances of the days after he called his parents for the last time. This is the story of Angel Torres, Part 1,...

DISAPPEARANCE/HOMICIDE, 1978: Grace Reapp was a devoted mother of three children, but one June afternoon, she left a note for her husband, Michael Reapp. She and their daughter, Gracie Noel, were gone. It took Michael five days to report his wife and daughter missing, and that's just the start of the suspicion against him. This is the case of Grace and Little Gracie Reapp. If you have any informat...

BRIDGTON, MAINE: 12-year old Sarah Perry was asleep in bed when an attacker took her mother's life. It took over a decade for DNA evidence to bring Crystal Perry's killer to justice. Sarah Perry is now the author of “ After the Eclipse ”, a memoir that documents her early life in Bridgton, Maine with her mother, as well as the details and aftermath of her murder in 1994. From her own memories and...

A special conversation with Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan, authors of The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer. This special companion episode of Dark Downeast is different from what you’re used to hearing on the show. This interview explores the work that went into researching Tony Costa, the process of digging into Liza’s often challenging and traumatic childhood, what they learned abou...

CAPE COD, 1969: It was supposed to be a fun and relaxing girl's weekend in Provincetown for Patricia Walsh and Mary Anne Wysocki. They couldn't have known that helping a friendly stranger in their boarding house would put them into the orbit of a killer. These are the stories of Pat Walsh, Mary Anne Wysocki, Sydney Monzon, and Susan Perry. The Babysitter by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan   View s...

His fresh start was cut short. Robert Joyal’s life ended in the middle of a chaotic scene. Though dozens of witnesses stood watching, some even participating in the violence that April night in 1998, Rob’s case remains unsolved. His family is still waiting. In part 2, Marc Joyal-Myers describes the frustrations of the narrowly focused investigation and what he’s doing to support not only his own f...

UNSOLVED MAINE HOMICIDE, 1998: Marc Joyal-Myers was 11-years old when he lost his big brother, 18-year old Robert Joyal. More than two decades have passed since that night in April 1998 when someone ended Rob’s life in a Portland, Maine parking lot. Now, Marc is a voice for the brother he lost who can no longer speak for himself. Marc is also a voice for the hundreds of other victims and families...

EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: 8-year old Tammy Lynn Belanger was skipping down the road to Lincoln Street School, right on time as she did every day. Except on November 13, 1984, something or someone intercepted her usual route. Tammy Lynn never made it home. She didn't even make it to school. One suspect emerged as the likely perpetrator, but despite his long history of offenses against young girls, inv...

Since that night in January 2010 when a masked intruder fired several rounds into Darien Richardson’s bedroom, Judi Richardson and her family have waited for the call that would bring them closure and justice in Darien’s still unsolved murder. In Part 1, we got to know Darien through the eyes of her mother, and we heard about the painful, emotional road to recovery after suffering two gunshot woun...

PORTLAND HOMICIDE, 2010: An unknown gunman fired several rounds into Darien Richardson's bedroom at her Portland, Maine apartment as she and her then-boyfriend lay sleeping. While Darien initially survived, complications from her gunshot woulds would ultimately claim her life just two short months later. Darien's case remains unsolved. In this two-part series, you’ll get to know Darien Richardson...

At Readfield Corner Cemetery in quiet Readfield, Maine, a gleaming granite headstone marks the final resting place of Mattie Hackett, born January 29, 1888, died August 17, 1905. Mattie was just 17 years old when she was murdered just outside her home on Kents Hill. Though more than a century has passed since that August evening when her life was stolen, the answer to Mattie’s mysterious killing w...

UNSOLVED MAINE MURDER: Just before 10 p.m. on the night of October 13, 1984, an unknown man pulled into the emergency room drop-off at Eastern Maine Medical Center. The man didn’t identify himself, or the badly injured woman sitting in his front seat. The driver told hospital staff that she was hit by a car. As they placed the woman in a wheelchair and brought her inside, the driver sped off witho...

SPECIAL EDITION: On Christmas Eve in 1886, the Annie C. Maguire ran aground on the rocky shoreline of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, just below the iconic Portland Head Light. If you’ve visited the famous beacon, you’ve likely seen for yourself the simple but ever present tribute on those very rocks that’s been painted and repainted for over a century, the original letters inscribed there by the son of th...

NH COLD CASES, 1969: Are the cases of Susan Randall, Luella Blakeslee and Debra Lee Horn connected? This episode examines the cases of Luella Blakeslee of Hooksett and Debra Lee Horn of Allenstown. If you haven't listened to The Case of Susan Randall on Dark Downeast, start there. If you have information regarding this case, contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-2663, coldcaseunit@...

NEW HAMPSHIRE MURDER, 1971: DNA evidence is one of the most critical developments in the history of criminal investigations ever. Cold cases from the pre-DNA era are reviewed with new testing and analysis in the hopes that the advanced science will reveal new information in a long-standing unsolved murder. But that’s not the only way DNA evidence is used in criminal cases. According to the Innocen...

MURDER & COLD CASE ARREST: You’ve heard pieces of Geraldine Ann Finn’s story on Dark Downeast before. Her case seemed undoubtedly linked to an over 3-decades old cold case that I covered on the show in January of this year. It’s time to tell Geraldine's whole story. Plus, in a special interview with Lt. Jeffery Love, commanding officer of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit, you’ll hear an up...

MAINE MURDER, 2012: When anyone asked where Richard Bellittieri was, the carpenter he hired on Craigslist said that Richard had a death in the family and went back to New York. A year later, Richard still hadn't returned to his beloved home in the Downeast region of Maine. When police pulled that carpenter over under suspicion of drunk driving, they uncovered a lot more than an OUI.   View source...

MAINE MURDER, 1973: When a passing driver discovered 18-year old Debra Dill's car on the side of a rural back road near Litchfield, Maine on September 16, 1973, it began a fifteen year search for answers and a journey to justice in the random, violent killing of a beloved young woman. This is the story of a woman’s life stolen, a bizarre confession and imperfect investigation, and the complex crim...

MAINE MISSING PERSON, 2019: A passing driver caught only a glimpse as the woman, wearing all black from her shoes to her hat, walked away from a black SUV parked on the side of 295 in Falmouth, Maine. That was the final sighting of 37-year old Anneliese Heinig. It was November 26, 2019. Though her family is still waiting for her to return, you won’t find Anneliese’s case on a Maine Missing Persons...

MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1975: It was November 25, 1975 in Washington, Maine and Ludger Belanger stepped out into the freshly fallen snow, leaving deep boot prints as he disappeared into the woods in search of a buck. That was the last time his young wife Linda saw him, 46 years ago this year. But as the investigation revealed, it’s not the last time anyone saw him. His name remains on the Maine Miss...

MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1975: It was Labor Day weekend 1975 at Natanis Point Campground in Chain of Ponds Township, and the Newton family was celebrating the end of another classic New England summer. For the first few hours, it seemed as though all was right—the biggest concern of the day being who would catch the first trout. But that picture-perfect morning, set in the deep, green, remote North W...

What you're about to hear, the details of the night Kim Moreau disappeared, it’s all been pieced together through the family’s own investigation, leads they’ve independently checked, interviews they’ve conducted themselves, combined with information uncovered by detectives and other local and state law enforcement. Still 35 years later, no one has been charged with any crime as it relates to the d...

MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1986: If you’ve driven through the western counties of Maine anytime over the last 35 years, you’ve likely seen Kimberly Moreau’s face. Each year, her father hangs posters with the photo of his smiling daughter on telephone poles, hoping someday, someone will dial his number with the answers he’s been seeking since the day his 17-year old daughter went missing in 1986. In thi...

Élan School was founded as a drug treatment program in 1970, pairing controversial confrontational attack therapies with education, all in the wooded setting of Poland, Maine. It's founders, Joe Ricci and Dr. Gerald Davidson, promised rehabilitation, reform, and a future for many children of wealthy and well-known parents. When outside state officials took a closer look at what really went on behi...