Going West: True Crime

In November of 2002, a 19-year-old woman went missing after telling her mom she was visiting a friend’s apartment in West Virginia. When her car was found the next morning aflame in a remote area, her family and police feared the worst. This is the story of Samantha Burns. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES  1. Find A Grave:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207758061/sam...

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a masked man began snatching children from their homes in Melbourne, Australia. With crimes similar to that of a fictional boogeyman, the area was petrified with fear, and to this day, police have never identified him. This is the story of Mr. Cruel. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Real Crime:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArIl4189j...

On Halloween day in 2005, a 25-year-old photographer headed to a Wisconsin Salvage Yard and was never seen again. When her car was found a few days later on the same property, a man was arrested for her murder. But did he do it? With theories of the man being framed and other persons of interests sneaking into the story, many are left wondering if police have the right man behind bars. This is the...

In October of 1988, an 18-year-old man in Massachusetts dressed as Jason Voorhees and set off to kill a young woman. Obsessed with the horror franchise Friday the 13th, he wanted to impersonate his favorite character and commit a murder. So he did. This is the murder of Sharon Gregory, and the story of the Friday the 13th Copycat Killer. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES  1...

In October of 2008, a young woman threw a Halloween party along with the rest of her apartment complex with countless attendees. But three days later, her body was found in her apartment, and the scene was not only gruesome, but incredibly confusing. With multiple partygoers as potential suspects, it was unclear to police from the start who was actually behind this tragedy. This is the story of Ar...

In October of 2019, a 19-year-old college student vanished after stopping at a Chevron gas station late one night in Alabama. Shortly after she was reported missing, her blood-stained, damaged car was located in an apartment parking lot almost an hour away. But thanks to surveillance footage, an eyewitness testimony, and DNA evidence, a suspect was charged. This is the story of Aniah Blanchard. BO...

In October of 2007, a 22-year-old tennis player was supposed to meet up with a friend before heading to a party, but he never showed up. After leaving strange voicemails for his parents and telling his sister that “important” people were after him, he vanished. Even though his car and backpack were soon found, they only brought more questions than answers. This is the story of Charlie Allen Jr. BO...

In 2013, a 19-year-old Arizona college student went missing after being involved in a single-car accident. When it was discovered that she took a ride from a suspicious cab driver and her whereabouts were unknown, police began investigating her disappearance with numerous persons of interest. Months later, her remains were found in a nearby desert, and theories spread of a “Zombie Hunter” and pote...

In October of 2012, a 30-year-old woman in Illinois who was being stalked by an unknown male went missing. She had been scared in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, and when her body was found in a river, police looked into numerous people in her circle until damning evidence brought her killer to justice. This is the story of Katrina Smith. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE...

In October of 2016, a 23-year-old woman in Indianapolis headed to a private party and was never seen again. Just hours before she disappeared, she sent the address of the party to her best friend in case she went missing. Months later, she would be found murdered, and thanks to surveillance footage, police came up with a theory. This is the story of Angie Barlow. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwe...

Starting back in 1997, dozens of men have been found killed under eerily similar circumstances. Almost all of them were dubbed accidents fueled by a night out drinking with friends. But when investigators started noticing a similar calling card left by each body, graffiti paint of a smiley face, they began to suspect these seemingly random deaths were connected by one or more serial killers. This...

In October of 2018, a 16-year-old girl disappeared from California after a party. Her stepmother picked her up from the side of the road after finding her running in the dark. When they got home, they went to sleep side by side for safety since she was agitated, but the next morning, she was gone. Blame began to shift within the family as inconsistencies in the story emerged, and all the family’s...

In April of 2003, a psychologist was found dead in his car from a car crash. But shortly before his death, he had received threatening letters, and the day he died, he was seen driving erratically before crashing into a tree. Though police ruled his death a suicide, his autopsy revealed unsettling details indicating that he had potentially been tortured and held captive before he crashed his car....

In August of 2022, a 22-year-old woman headed out for a late night snack with the promise that she would be right back, but she never returned. Since then, her family, police, various organizations, and locals have been scouring the area looking for evidence. And with cell phone pings and surveillance footage, they’re hoping to find answers as soon as possible. This is the story of Jolissa Fuentes...

In August of 1993, a 22-year-old college student in Illinois was found dead in her apartment, strangled and stabbed with a pair of scissors. With numerous potential suspects in the realm of possibly, one was convicted. But was he really behind it? Or was it someone else all along? This is the story of Jennifer Lockmiller. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Herald Review: ...

In August of 2017, a 22-year-old film student in Philadelphia was murdered after a night out. What started as a missing persons case quickly evolved into a murder investigation after her remains were found in a storage shed. And it was soon discovered that her killer had transported her body over 100 miles in a Lyft before disposing of her. This is the story of Jenna Burleigh. BONUS EPISODES patre...

In October of 2018, a 26-year-old postal worker went missing in Chicago after leaving her apartment to run errands. But suspicious surveillance footage and a thought-to-be fake sick call made into her work the next day have led her family and investigators to believe something sinister happened to her. This is the story of Kierra Coles. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES  1....

In April of 2022, a 12-year-old boy was found dead in his backyard, and the police ruled it a suicide despite the baffling and bizarre details associated with the crime scene. His family is desperate for help in re-opening the investigation, fully believing that their son was murdered. This is the story of Sean Daugherty. Also known, as What Happened to Sean? PETITION https://www.change.org/p/what...

In 2011, a 22-year-old graduate student in Idaho was baking cookies with friends when she stepped out for a cigarette and was murdered on her porch. Police would soon uncover that an obsessed professor who referred to himself as a “psychopathic killer” had been behind it all. This is the story of Katy Benoit. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Spokesman:  https://www.spoke...

In August of 1993, a 16-year-old Indigenous girl went missing in Hawaii after going out with a friend. Earlier that day, she and her friend had been picked up by a hitchhiker who asked them to hang out later, but despite this detail, Police initially believed she had run away. Years later, they would finally received a confession that detailed the horrible truth about what happened to her the nigh...

In September of 2006, a grisly murder scene was uncovered in a picturesque farmhouse bed & breakfast in rural Maine. Four people, including the innkeeper and her daughter, were murdered and dismembered by the young cook who lived there, shocking the small town and the entire region. This is the story Julie Bullard, Selby Bullard, Cynthia Beatson, and Jimmy Whitehurst, and it’s also the story of th...

In August of 2009, a 15-year-old girl left home to hang out with friends in a neighboring Wisconsin town, and never returned. Her brother's 24-year-old friend had actually been the last person to see her, claiming to have dropped her off at the home of her ex-boyfriend. But her ex-boyfriend claims they didn’t even have plans to see each other. So which of these men is lying? Or was it someone else...

In August of 1983, a 20-year-old woman working as a cocktail waitress and a DJ was found strangled to death in a vacant field in Texas. When police began investigating her murder, they released the sketch of a mystery man they called “the cowboy”, hoping someone could identify him. Then, her mother began receiving threatening calls from an unknown man, but police had no idea if they were coming fr...

FIRST HALF OF OUR NEW PATREON BONUS EPISODE ON Debanhi Escobar. LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast In April of 2022, an 18-year-old woman went to some house parties with her friends in Mexico. But after she began acting erratically, her friends sent her home in a car service. During her ride home, she excited the vehicle and stood in the highway before wandering off. Her fath...

On August 5, 2022, a 16-year-old girl went to a campground party near her home and never returned. When records showed her phone last pinged at the campground before turning off minutes after she supposedly left, her family feared for the worst. Both she and her car are both still missing, with few clues as to what could have happened to her. This is the ongoing story of Kiely Rodni. KIELY GOFUNDM...