She Goes by Jane: A True Crime Podcast

Just before midnight on September 27, 1957, a quiet neighborhood in Joliet, Illinois, was jolted awake by the sound of a woman’s scream, a car door slamming, and tires screeching into the night. By morning, 47-year-old journalist and co-owner of The Joliet Spectator , Amelia Zelko, was gone. Known for her fearless reporting on organized crime and political corruption, Amelia had powerful enemies a...

Sixteen-year-old Nicole Russo loved poetry, dreamed of becoming an auto mechanic, and had just started preparing for her GED. In March 1995, she left her Brick, New Jersey home to visit her new boyfriend’s mother on Long Island. She never came home. What followed was a deeply troubling investigation that would uncover bloodstains, a chilling confession, and a desperate attempt to cover up the trut...

When 23-year-old Arrilla Webb-Vaul vanished from Bossier, Louisiana in 1979, all she left behind was a slashed tire and a silent car on a quiet road. Authorities said she walked away. Her family never believed it. In this episode, we investigate the unsolved disappearance of Arrilla Webb-Vaul, exploring the overlooked evidence, the eerily similar case of another missing woman, and the patterns of...

On December 4, 1974, 17-year-old Laurie Partridge left school early, saying she wasn’t feeling well. She never made it home. Missing with her were the pair of Beach Boys concert tickets her dad had purchased for her for a show scheduled a week later. The night of the concert, police watched for her, but in the sea of 4000 people, Laurie was nowhere to be found. And though Laurie never showed, her...

For years, they were known only by nicknames—Peaches and Baby Doe. A woman and her toddler, found miles apart in Long Island, unidentified and unnamed. But investigators never gave up hope. They believed that science would one day provide the answers they needed. And now, it has. This episode shares the story of Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes—their lives, their loss, and the long fight to return...

When 32-year-old Yeda "Dede" Rosenthal vanished without a trace, it shocked everyone who knew her. A dedicated professional at New Jersey’s Elywn Institute, Dede was known for her unwavering commitment to her work with autistic clients. But when she failed to show up for work one day, her coworkers grew immediately concerned. A visit to her apartment revealed unsettling clues—an unlocked door, a p...

Barbara Ann Bockwith was just 20 years old when she vanished from her college campus in Pensacola, Florida. The University of West Florida student arrived early for her final exam, exhausted after an all-night study session. Realizing she’d left her notes in the car, she rushed out to retrieve them—just ten minutes before class. She never returned. In this episode, we trace Barbara’s final known s...

At 21 years old, Masumi Watanabe traveled from Japan to Hawaii to gain independence and confidence while staying with family friends. By all accounts, she was thriving. Just one week before she was scheduled to return home, Masumi disappeared. Her case quickly became a tragedy that deeply impacted the community on Oahu , raising difficult questions about safety, accountability, and what might have...

In 1972, Jeannette Kamahele left her home near Santa Rosa Junior College and was last seen hitchhiking near a freeway onramp. She never made it to class. By 1979, hikers discovered the remains of the Sonoma County Jane Doe in rural California. Were these women connected? Both cases unfolded during a decade of violence in Sonoma County, when multiple young women—often hitchhikers—were murdered and...

A Flight Attendant’s Fears, a Controlling Husband, and a Disappearance Ignored In 1987, Regina Brown—a devoted mother and flight attendant—was doing everything she could to escape. She had already sent two of her children to Texas for safety, and on March 26th, she put the last of her three on a plane. That was the last time anyone saw her. Before she vanished, Regina had confided in a friend: If...

A Mother’s Grief, a Missing Daughter, and a Legacy of Remembrance When 19-year-old Joanna Otto vanished after a party in Pensacola, Florida, the world barely noticed. Police dismissed her case, assuming she left on her own. But her loved ones knew better. Joanna had last been seen getting a ride from a man later convicted of kidnapping and assaulting another young woman. And yet—decades later—ther...

The 1958 Christmas holiday was quickly approaching, and the Martin family of five set out on a quiet Sunday drive to collect greenery for their holiday decorations. They waved goodbye to their neighbors, never to return. Months later, the bodies of two of the children, Susan and her older sister Virginia, were found in Oregon’s Columbia River, but the rest of the family was never found. Their sudd...

On April 24th, 1994, police respond to a call at a bar in Bangor, Maine. Outside they find Virginia Pictou-Noyes who claims her husband and brother-in-law had just beat her outside the bar. With her husband under arrest and her brother-in-law charged in the assault, Virginia is taken to an area hospital for her injuries. There, around 1am, she quietly slips out of the hospital. The last she is see...

In the summer of 1999, 46-year-old Maria Bozi, a Romanian immigrant living in the United Kingdom, met and married a man after a whirlwind romance. Within months, she would move to the United States to live with him. And soon after, she would disappear.  This week we’re joined by guest reader Ann Pirvu. Ann  is a Romanian-Canadian actress and producer from Toronto, Ontario. She is best known for he...

On the night of December 17, 2013, 20-year-old Heather Elvis goes on a first date with a former high school classmate. The two eat dinner, look at Christmas decorations together, and he tries to teach her to drive a stick shift. And then, after he says goodnight to her, Heather gets a call. It’s her ex. He says he’s leaving his wife and he wants her back. Within hours, Heather goes missing. Join u...

In 1956, the brutal murder of family man Thomas Hotard at a Louisiana lover’s lane leaves a trail of unanswered questions. Investigators quickly discover a mysterious connection to Audrey Moate, a woman whose sudden disappearance raises even more chilling suspicions. Was Audrey a victim, or does her vanishing hide a darker secret? As the investigation unfolds, shocking revelations about Audrey’s l...

Summary In 1946, Paula Welden, a college student at Bennington College, mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a chilling unsolved case that has haunted the region for decades. As her disappearance unfolds, it sparks a dark fascination that even inspired famous writers like Donna Tartt and Shirley Jackson as well as spurred the creation of the Vermont State Police. But who was Paula Welden, and w...

Barbara Newhall Follett had published her first novel at 12, traveled the world by 14, and regularly corresponded with scientists, artists, and sailors. So at age 15, when she ran away for the first time, it was because she couldn’t understand why she would be forced into a life not created wholly on her own. It won’t be the first time, Barbara disappears because in 1939, at the age of 25, she doe...

By age 9, Barbara Newhall Follett had written her first novel draft. By age 12, she’d published it with a major publishing house, selling out of the initial print run before it even made it to stores. By age 14 she left her Connecticut home to travel to Barbados, Tahiti, and Samoa chasing new story ideas and escaping the turmoil of her parents’s divorce. And by age 15, she’d disappear. Barbara New...

In November 1934, new mother Etta Riel mysteriously disappears just hours before she’s set to attend a crucial paternity hearing. Her family believes she was preparing to reconcile with the man she claimed was the father of her baby, and that they were planning to elope to New York for a fresh start. But the man in question insists they were never intimate and that he was ready to expose her suppo...

September 1934, a 21-year-old newlywed, Olga Schultz Mauger, heads to Togwotee Pass in Wyoming to hunt elk on her honeymoon with her new husband. He says he last saw her sitting on a boulder in the mountains when they stopped to rest. Then, she simply vanished. Now, 90 years later, Olga is considered Wyoming’s oldest known missing persons case. This week we’re joined by Susan Ruttan. Known for her...

Memorial Day weekend in 2007 was supposed to be a weekend of celebration for the Henry sisters. They traveled from New York City to Miami to see friends, family and celebrate the younger sister’s birthday. But by the weekend’s end, only one of them would return home. The other, 22-year-old Stepha Henry, an aspiring lawyer, would be missing. Join us on Patreon ! Your support helps us continue to sh...

Special Episode, Behind the poem - Battle Lines from episode 13. Aimee and Vanessa talk about the inspiration and process of writing the poem Battle Lines, about the unidentified person known as Bitter Creek Betty.

Special episode, Vanessa and Aimée discuss God of the woods, by Liz Moore.

In 1978, 22-year-old Kent State University student Judy Martins left a dorm party and began the short walk back to her residence hall--a distance of less than 300 yards. She never arrived. More than four decades later, Judy’s disappearance remains unsolved. In this episode, we examine the final known movements of Judy Martins, the atmosphere surrounding Kent State University in the years after the...