Gone in a Blink

When Arelie Garcia disappeared from her apartment in Salinas, California on September 22, 2022, her empty red Honda Accord on Highway 1 became the primary clue. With personal items left behind and no sign of a struggle, authorities and family continue searching for answers. In this episode we discuss the timeline of events, surveillance footage, and theories. For Ad-Free Listening to our Whole Bac...

In December 2015, 19-year-old Katelin Akens traveled from her new home in Arizona back to Spotsylvania County, Virginia to celebrate the birth of her new nephew. Four days later, she was scheduled to board a flight back home - but she never made it to the airport. Instead, a series of bizarre text messages emerged from her phone. For over a decade, her family was left with text pings that didn’t a...

On June 27, 1995, morning news anchor Jodi Huisentruit vanished from her apartment parking lot in Mason City, Iowa. Despite an immediate investigation, decades of searching, and intense media coverage, no one has ever been charged in her abduction. Today, we break down the case from the ground up: the timeline of her final hours, the physical evidence at the scene, the mysterious white van reporte...

In the early morning hours of April 6, 1986, nine-year-old Anthonette Cayedito vanished from her home in Gallup, New Mexico. Affectionately known as “Squirrel,” Anthonette was a deeply devoted fourth-grader who helped take care of her younger sisters. What started as a frantic morning search quickly evolved into one of America’s most baffling and heartbreaking missing child cases. In this episode,...

An experienced hunter walks into his own woods and completely vanishes. In late 2013, Eric Grady Smith was a well-respected coal mine supervisor and a dedicated family man living in Cedar Bluff, Virginia. Battling minor flu-like symptoms, he left his cell phone behind for what was meant to be a short trek to his deer stand. Despite massive search operations, not a single piece of clothing, footpri...

What really happened to Jean Spanger? In October 1949, the young Hollywood starlet went missing after walking out of her apartment for a supposed night shoot. No one on set had any record of her working. Then came the clues: a vandalized purse, a cryptic handwritten note, and whispers connecting her to major film stars and notorious mobsters. We bread down the timeline, the suspect list, and the l...

In October 1989, 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was lured from an Ohio shopping center by a mysterious caller who pretended to be a friend of the family. Her tragic death months later sparked a massive FBI investigation that remains active to this day. In this episode, we break down the suspects, the chilling phone calls made to other local girls, and the modern DNA advancements providing fresh hope f...

On a Spring night in 1998, teenagers Tabitha Brewer and Nicholas Travis stepped into a friend’s car and vanished into the Kansas City darkness. Four months later, a horrific discovery at a house on the East side of KC confirmed their families’ worst fears - but only half of the puzzle was found. Four years later and just a few miles away, 71-year-old grandmother Shirley McKeown pulled out of her d...

In October 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in the town of St. Joseph, Minnesota. It became one of the most notorious child abductions in American history and for 27 years, a porch light stayed on as a beacon of hope for the missing boy. In this episode, we chronicle Jacob’s heartbreaking story. We explore the chilling night of his disappearance, the immense strength of his mother,...

Fifteen-year-old Sierra Lamar vanishes on her way to school in Morgan Hill, California. Investigators find her phone and purse discarded fields away. This episode retraces her final known steps on the morning of March 16, 2012. We explore the initial panic, the massive community volunteer searches, and the chilling realization that Sierra never made it to her school bus. Sources: https://medium.co...

 In 1997, 17-year-old Erica Fraysure was working hard to save up for her first year of college. But a regular night out with friends in Brooksville, KY, ended in a muti-decade mystery when her unlocked car was found hidden by hay bales in a remote field. With her purse still inside but her keys tossed across the road, police rule out a voluntary runaway. Nearly thirty years later, the case re...

One family, two unfathomable tragedies. In 1999, 15-year-old Michael Palmer vanished into the early morning hours while biking home from a party in Wasilla, Alaska. Eleven years later, history would repeat itself in the worst way possible way when his 30-year-old brother, Chucky, disappeared while snowmobiling in the Talkeetna Mountains. Both brothers were riding at the back of their groups. Both...

On a crisp October afternoon in 1999, 10-year-old Pamela Butler was rollerblading outside her home in Kansas City, Kansas. In a matter of seconds, a white pickup truck pulled up beside her and pulled her into the truck as her terrified sister watched. What followed was a desperate multi-state search, a devastating discovery, and a 21-year wait for a mother seeking the ultimate justice. In this epi...

Nine days after Leah Roberts left North Carolina in 2000, her wrecked Jeep was found at the bottom of an embankment in Washington State. Inside were her money, ID, and passport - but Leah was completely gone. This episode explores her sudden cross-country journey, the baffling clues left at the crash site, and the search for answers that continue decades later. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Alyssa Taylor wanted a quick getaway, so she joined a friend on a routine haul to North Carolina for his trucking company. A routine police interaction on the highway confirmed her presence in the vehicle just hours before a horrific, explosive crash on Interstate 85. This episode explores how a young mother could completely vanish from a major highway accident scene, leaving behind only questions...

On February 24, 1978, five young men from Yuba City, California, attended a college basketball game and vanished into the night. Days later, their car was found perfectly operational, abandoned deep in the snowy mountains of Plumas National Forest - miles off their route home. Why did they head into the wilderness, and what drove them to abandon their car? We break down the timeline of America's m...

On a late summer evening in Fruitland, Idaho, five-year-old - Michael Joseph Vaughan - affectionately nicknamed "Monkey" - vanished from his neighborhood without a trace. What began as a frantic search by family and neighbors quickly spiraled into one of the state's most intensive missing person investigations. This episode traces the critical final moments before Michael disappeared, the immediat...

When devoted mother and friend, Summer Shipp vanished from a Kansas City neighborhood while conducting door-to-door research in 2004, a community refused to give up hope. Three years later, a heartbreaking discovery exposed a brutal crime. This is the story of Summer Shipp, the hunt for her killer, and a family’s fight for justice. Sources: https://www.thepitchkc.com/suspicious-minds-2/ https://ww...

A young woman is snatched from a Kentucky beach in broad daylight-witnessed only by a man looking through a telescope from an entirely different state. When prime suspect Marty Dill commits suicide days later, police consider the case essentially closed. But Heather's family believes the real kidnapper is still out there. Thirty years later, dramatic new developments-including a $29 million federa...

In August 1993, 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood vanished while riding her bicycle home from vacation Bible school in Upstate New York. A massive hunt followed, but the breakthrough only came when another child escaped a kidnapping attempt five months later. Serial predator Lewis Lent confessed to Sara's murder but still refuses to reveal the true location of her remains. This episode explores a 30-year...

On a chilly November night in 2002, 20-year-old Josh Guimond walked out of an on-campus poker party at St. John's University and vanished into the darkness. He left behind his car keys, glasses, and wallet, seemingly walking toward a future that would never arrive. Was it a tragic accident in the nearby lakes, or did something far more sinister happen on that short walk home? Tonight, we retrace t...

Cindy Anderson was a young legal secretary with a bright future - until she disappeared in broad daylight from her workplace. Despite an office buzzer, a locked door, and numerous witnesses seeing her that morning, she was gone by lunch, leaving only her purse, keys and the lingering scent of nail polish remover in the air. Join us as we examine one of Ohio’s most enduring cold cases and the haunt...

In the early morning of August 13th, 1995, a nightmare became reality for the Tapia family in Salt Lake City. While they slept just feet away, someone removed a window screen and abducted 6 year old Rosie from her bedroom. Hours later, she was found in a nearby canal. Today, 30 years have passed with no arrests but a $100,000 reward, and new leads are keeping the investigation alive. We dive into...

Jennifer Kesse reported feeling uncomfortable around the workers renovating her apartment complex shortly before she went missing. Did a stranger turn into a stalker? With little to no forensic evidence found in her car, investigators are left with a massive missing piece: the transient construction workers who disappeared from the site. This episode dives into the botched early investigation, the...

How does a 6-foot-tall young man end up in a fetal position inside a chimney, only to have his death ruled an accident? Today we dive deep into the inconsistencies of the Joshua Maddux case. We examine the 'accidental' theory against the unsettling physical evidence: the breakfast bar dragged to block the fireplace from the inside, the bizarre state of Joshua's clothing, and the dark rumors surrou...