The Last Trip

It was a quiet spring morning in Idyllwild, California - April 7, 2017 - when 25 year old David O’Sullivan put on his backpack, stepped onto the Pacific Crest Trail, and vanished. The Irish hiker had come to America chasing a dream: to walk from Mexico to Canada, alone, through some of the country’s wildest landscapes. The day before, he’d sent a brief email from the town’s small library - his las...

She was known as “Shark Girl” - a fearless underwater photographer who swam with predators most of us only dare to watch on TV.  At 48, Valerie de la Valdene had it all: a career that earned her a spot in the Women Divers Hall of Fame, features on Shark Week, a culinary education under a world-renowned chef, and the kind of wealth that came with a prestigious family name. But in June 2014, Valerie...

On April 15, 2005, District Attorney Ray Gricar took the day off, got in his car, and set out on a quiet road trip—just a short drive to clear his head. But he never came home. His car was later found abandoned, his wallet and phone missing, and his laptop destroyed and dumped in a river. And then... nothing. In this episode, we explore the mysterious disappearance of Ray Gricar—a seasoned prosecu...

In September 2019, a yellow Jeep Wrangler was found abandoned at a remote trailhead on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Everything inside looked normal—except the woman who rented it, Lucy Schuhmann, was missing. The 48-year-old traveler from Louisville, Kentucky, had come to the island alone, seeking peace and nature. She checked into a rental near Coral Bay, unpacked, and then vanished. Her...

A 62-year-old man boards a plane—but his travel path makes no sense. Charlotte. Austin. Dallas. And finally… Cancun. When Robert Cantrell lands in Mexico, he clears customs—but never makes it to baggage claim. Days later, he reappears—shoeless, confused, and unable to remember his own name. A journalist finds him. Then he disappears again. Was he lost, drugged, or targeted? A voicemail, a detentio...

Money, power, and mystery—three ingredients for a disappearance that still haunts the Pacific. Larry Hillblom, co-founder of DHL, built a shipping empire and amassed a fortune. Yet, he chose to live in secrecy on a remote Pacific island, surrounded by scandal and whispers of something darker. In 1995, his small plane crashed near Saipan. Wreckage was found. Bodies recovered. But Hillblom? Gone. No...

Annie and Robin Korkki set out on the trip of a lifetime - a luxurious island getaway in paradise. But on the morning of September 22, 2016, their dream vacation came to a chilling end.  After a day of drinking and laughter at an exclusive resort in Seychelles, the sisters were escorted back to their villa by their personal butler. But they never stepped outside again. When hotel staff finally ent...

A yoga retreat in paradise turned into a chilling mystery when Taylor Casey, 41, vanished from the Sivananda Ashram on Paradise Island on June 19, 2024. Last seen that evening, she was gone by morning—leaving behind only one clue: her phone, later found in the ocean. In this follow-up to Episode 45, we speak with Taylor’s mother, Colette Seymore, and her close friend, Emily, who are still searchin...

One moment, 66 year old Raymond Ashcroft was walking through the legendary ruins of Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site deep in the Guatemalan rainforest.  The next? He was gone.  No struggle. No witnesses. Just… silence. Authorities launched a desperate search within a half hour of his disappearance.  But Raymond? He had disappeared into the shadows of history, just like the ancient Maya who once...

In early 1959, nine hikers set out on a skiing expedition across the northern Ural Mountains—Igor Dyatlov, Yuri Doroshenko, Lyudmila Dubinina, Georgiy Krivonishenko, Alexander Kolevatov, Zinaida Kolmogorova, Rustem Slobodin, Nikolai Thibeaux-Brignolles, and Semyon Zolotaryov. Their journey would end in one of the most chilling and perplexing mysteries in modern history. On the night of February 1s...

In Episode 56, we walked through the timeline of Skye Budnick’s disappearance, sharing the details made public by investigators and her family. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, or need a refresher, we recommend going back before diving into this one. In this episode, I’m joined by Skye’s sister, Megan Lebron, for a deeper look into who Skye was, the challenges her family has faced in t...

In November 2024, what started as a fun night out in the party town of Vang Vieng turned into a horrifying nightmare.  Six tourists from around the world never woke up. Others barely escaped with their lives.  At first it seemed like a tragic accident, a case of tainted alcohol, poisoning unsuspecting travelers in the party town of Vang Vieng, Laos. But as the details emerged, the story took a dar...

On August 21st, 2024, we released Episode 41, the case of Ryan Roth. In that episode, I walked you through the timeline of events and shared the details investigators made to the public.  In this episode, I’m joined by Ryan’s uncle, Sean Flynn, as we take a deeper look at who Ryan was before his alleged suicide, why Sean is searching for him, any new updates in the case - and where Ryan might be n...

Sarah Papenheim was young, talented, and full of life - a gifted blues drummer from Minnesota with dreams of making a difference.  She traveled halfway across the world to study psychology in the Netherlands, never imagining that the person she shared an apartment with would become her worst nightmare. It was a quiet December afternoon in 2018 when everything changed. There was a brutal attack, a...

Antoine Herran was 28 years old when he left France for what was meant to be a 3 week vacation in Australia in April of 1998.  On the day he was supposed to return home,he reportedly jumped off The Gap, a series of towering cliffs near Sydney. Authorities later recovered a body they believed to be his. However, when Antoine’s family arrived in Australia, they were stunned to find out the body did...

On March 20, 2024, we released Episode 19, which covered the tragic case of Jason Cortez. In that episode, I guided you through the timeline of events and shared the publicly available details from investigators. In this episode, I’m joined by Jason’s father, Candelario Cortez, to delve deeper into Jason’s life, the challenges his family has endured since his heartbreaking murder, and any new deve...

Travis Sackett was an experienced traveler with a passion for service.  He dedicated years to volunteering with AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, working in Peru and Guatemala, and most recently, lending a hand in Ecuador. In February 2021, just two months into his stay in Ecuador, Travis set out on what should have been a routine hike. The trail wasn’t particularly challenging, and witnesses report...

Michal Krowczynski was a math teacher and Polish tourist who set out to explore Arizona and California during his winter break.  Tragically, he vanished under mysterious circumstances on January 17th, 2019, while in San Diego, California. Since that day, Michal has not been seen or heard from, and investigators describe his disappearance as highly unusual. Nearly 6 years later, his family remains...

Hello fellow travelers and true crime enthusiasts! I wanted to share a quick update to keep you all in the loop on what’s been happening behind the scenes with The Last Trip Podcast .   Looking ahead, I’m really excited about what’s coming in 2025. I’ve been working on updates for some previous cases and lining up interviews with family members of those cases. These upcoming episodes are close to...

The case of Barbara Jean Monaco is a mystery that time cannot erase.  On August 20th, 1978, Barbara Jean hit the road with her sister and 2 friends.  Their destination? Virginia Beach - a sunny getaway to celebrate Barbara’s milestone 18th birthday.  The trio checked into the Aloha motel, ready for a week of fun and freedom.  But that celebration took a dark turn.  When Barbara Jean left the motel...

This week’s episode takes a wild turn into the unbelievable.  Our missing person didn’t just vanish - he faked his own death, traveled halfway around the globe, and ultimately got caught. It all started when Ryan Borgwardt told his family he was going kayaking.  When he didn’t return, his wife reported him missing. Authorities found his overturned kayak and life preserver, shifting the mission fro...

In 2008, 21-year-old Skye Budnick boarded a one-way flight from Connecticut to Japan without informing anyone of her plans. Upon arriving, she was last seen at an inn in northern Japan. After that, her trail vanished, leaving behind a growing mystery. Why did Skye go to Japan? What happened to her after she arrived? And where is she now? More than 16 years later, her family continues their relentl...

Why are so many people disappearing and turning up murdered on Tenerife, the popular vacation island? Could a serial killer be responsible? Since the start of 2024, at least 12 people have vanished from Tenerife and the nearby island of La Gomera. In total, 28 individuals have gone missing under mysterious circumstances on Tenerife since 2015 — many of them tourists. Are these disappearances the r...

Justin Booska was 27 years old when he traveled to Guatemala for a vacation with his college roommate’s family in early 2018.  On January 6th, they stopped at Laguna de Ayarza.  It was here that Justin, who was an experienced athlete, decided to swim from one side of the lake to the other.  The lake was calm and it should have been an easy swim, but Justin somehow vanished without a trace. His fri...

Dana Rishpy, only 24 years old, was last seen on March 30, 2007, at a beach party in Tulum, Mexico. She had arrived in Tulum a few days earlier and met an American man who offered her a place to stay at his hotel. Later, he was named a person of interest, as he was the last person known to have seen her. In the 17 years since Dana’s disappearance, few clues have emerged, but many rumors have circu...