PNW Haunts & Homicides

On July 9, 1734, a Native woman named Patience Boston confessed to drowning an eight-year-old boy in a well — then walked two miles to turn herself in. Seventy-two years later, to the day, a respected Maine farmer spent an evening sharpening an axe and reading his Bible by candlelight before murdering nearly his entire family. Two tragedies. Same calendar date. Both set in colonial Maine, centurie...

Deep in eastern Oregon, the historic town of Sumpter is home to one of the Pacific Northwest's most fascinating Gold Rush landmarks: the Sumpter Valley Dredge. Built to recover gold flakes from the Powder River, these massive gold dredges operated around the clock, reshaping the landscape and leaving behind towering tailings that are still visible today. Now preserved as the Sumpter Valley Dredge...

In October 2023, Kristil Krug began receiving threatening messages she believed were coming from an ex-boyfriend she hadn't spoken to in years. She filed police reports, kept a detailed log, installed cameras, obtained a concealed carry permit, and ran home defense drills with her children. She told her father: "Someone's going to die. It's either me or him." She was right. She just didn't know th...

In honor of Pride Month, we're resharing this very important unsolved murder. 🌈  We'll see you next Thursday! Loni Kai was a vibrant, friendly, well-liked young woman. She has also graced the  5 of Hearts  in a  cold case deck of cards.  Loni was born Lorenzo Okoruru in the  Mariana islands , but by 2001 she was living in the Hillsboro/Aloha area of  Oregon  with some of her extended family that...

In November 1988, Deborah "Debe" Atrops left a hair appointment in Tigard, Oregon and never came home. When she was found — what investigators discovered would haunt Washington County for decades. Debe was 30 years old. She was a mother to an eight-month-old daughter. She had told a friend: "If anything happens to me, Bob did it." It would take decades, a new cold case unit, and a trial that raise...

Step into haunted Port Gamble, Washington, a historic mill town founded in 1851 and home to the infamous Walker-Ames House, known as the most haunted house in Washington. From ghostly women in the windows and children's voices in the attic to mysterious EVPs, shadow figures, and unexplained apparitions, this abandoned home has become a legendary paranormal hotspot. In this episode, we explore the...

On May 20, 2016, multiple 911 calls reported a black Chrysler Sebring drifting across multiple lanes of Interstate 5 south of Tumwater, Washington — with no one at the wheel. When authorities searched the car, they found a wallet, phone, keys, cash, and curiously a bag of snacks still sitting upright in the center console. What they didn't find was 19-year-old Logan Schiendelman. Ten years later,...

Explore the haunted history of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse on the Oregon coast. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was abandoned after only three years and nearly demolished before locals fought to save it. Today, it’s famous for chilling ghost stories, including the legend of Muriel, a teenage girl who mysteriously vanished inside the lighthouse in the tale The Haunted Lighthouse . Along with eerie legends of...

On the evening of March 6, 2009, Nancy Moyer stopped at a grocery store in Tenino, Washington, paid by check, and drove home.  After that night, she was never seen again. She left behind her purse, her keys, her car, and two wine glasses on the coffee table.   When Bill, her husband from whom she had separated, brought their daughters back two days later, he found the front door ajar, the lights s...

On the evening of June 26, 2009, ten-year-old Lindsey Baum left a friend's house in McCleary, Washington for the short walk home, but she never arrived. McCleary is the kind of town where everyone knows each other - fewer than 2,000 residents, two dozen streets, one major employer. It was exactly the kind of place Melissa Baum thought was perfect for a fresh start with her two kids after relocatin...

This episode dives into the immersive Titanic Artifact Exhibit at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), blending haunting history, real-life tragedy, and eerie modern-day coincidences. The exhibit’s emotional weight builds through authentic artifacts, heartbreaking survivor and victim stories. The episode also explores Pacific Northwest connections, including Herman Klaber and the Warrens...

What happens when a city decides kindness is better than cruelty? In this special crossover episode, we're teaming up with the wonderful folks over at Rainy Day Rabbit Holes to explore one of the strangest — and most unexpectedly heartwarming — stories in American history: Joshua Abraham Norton, the self-declared Emperor of the United States. Born into loss, shaped by fortune, and broken by ruin,...

George Cecil David’s journey from Neah Bay to Port Angeles along Washington’s rugged coastline should have ended in a somber gathering just days later—family and friends coming together in remembrance. Instead, it became the beginning of a mystery that would remain unsolved for years. In March of 2016, renowned Indigenous artist and master carver George Cecil David was on his way to Vancouver Isla...

This episode features stories of real-life  paranormal encounters , blending eerie roadside sightings with deeply personal ghost experiences that blur the line between reality and perception. One listener recounts a  terrifying shadow figure sighting  on a dark, snowy country road. Describing a human-like silhouette illuminated briefly in oncoming headlights before vanishing without a trace. The u...

A hidden treasure. A cryptic 24-line poem. The hunt that followed blurred the line between adventure and obsession—and in some cases, turned deadly. In this collaborative episode with the Rainy Day Rabbit Holes podcast , we dig into the story of Forrest Fenn and the decade-long mystery that sent thousands into the Rocky Mountains searching for gold. What begins as a story about curiosity and explo...

We’re taking a break this week and using the time to amplify the voices of other creators we love in the true crime space. This week we’re bringing you a fabulous story from the Rainy Day Rabbit Holes podcast hosted by our friends Shea & Jody. This episode delves into the chilling events surrounding the Tylenol murders of 1982 and the subsequent Excedrin poisonings in 1986. It explores the tra...

On a dark September night in 1986, a van sat abandoned on the Sunset Highway outside Portland—with the engine running.  Upon closer inspection there was a purse on the gas pedal, and blood everywhere. What first appeared to be a tragic accident quickly unraveled into something far more disturbing. Cheryl Keeton was a successful attorney, a mother of three, and a woman in the middle of a bitter div...

This week we dive into the strange, fascinating world of superstitions, starting with a few well-known ones before venturing into some truly bizarre beliefs from around the globe. The episode explores classic superstitions like unlucky black cats, knocking on wood, the taboo of walking under ladders, the bad luck of breaking mirrors, and why you shouldn’t open an umbrella indoors.  From there, we...

In the early 1900s, the Hood River Valley was still frontier country. Homesteads were scattered across rugged land, neighbors lived miles apart, and life revolved around routine and survival. When that routine suddenly stopped - others took notice.   Louisa Nesbitt and her daughter Alma vanished from their rural homestead without warning. At first, neighbors assumed the women had simply left the v...

Pack your raincoat and your flannel, we’re heading to Grays Harbor in Washington, the salty gateway to the Pacific and the misty doorstep of the Olympic Peninsula. The most notable town on Grays Harbor is Aberdeen , hometown of Kurt Cobain . The town leans into its legacy with a welcome sign that reads “Come As You Are,” a nod to the iconic Nirvana anthem. Nearby, a humble highway sign became rock...

This episode originally aired in three parts - now conveniently edited down to one for your listening pleasure! Today we’re going to talk about a very mysterious hole, known as Mel’s Hole. Who is Mel, and what is so special about his hole? On Feb 21st 1997, a self described Willie Nelson Doppelgänger named Mel Waters, contacted radio talk show “Coast to Coast with Art Bell.” Five phone interviews...

In this episode we examine the history behind one of the world’s most persistent superstitions. Friday the 13th has long been associated with fear and bad luck—but where did that reputation come from, and why does it keep resurfacing across the centuries? Join us as we delve into the fear of Friday the 13th – known as paraskevidekatriaphobia – tracing the date’s uneasy legacy from medieval power p...

The Oregon Zoo might seem like an unlikely setting for true crime and paranormal history, but beneath its family friendly surface lies a past with some unsettling chapters. In 2013, construction crews working on a new elephant habitat unearthed human remains. These undocumented burials trace back to Hillside Farm — a poor farm and sanatorium for the mentally ill and those with infectious diseases....

On April 21st 1955, a deadly act of violence shattered the quiet grounds of Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club on Marine Drive. After an evening at the club attending a stag party, attorney and WWII veteran Oliver Kermit Smith returned to his car and started the engine. A bomb hidden beneath the driver’s seat detonated, killing him instantly. Investigators quickly determined the explosion...

Join Caitlyn & Cassie as they chat about Reddit AITA stories featuring paranormal nonbelievers! How do you go about telling someone you don't believe in their ghost story? Or that there might be more physical evidence for Bigfoot than Jesus? Tune in for a fun discussion and let us know your verdicts!  Visit our website ! Find us on  Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more ! There are...