The Pine Grove Briar

On October 8th, 2009, the Jamison family—Bobby, Sherilynn, and their six-year-old daughter Madyson—drove into a remote area of Oklahoma. They never came back. Days later, their truck was found abandoned. Inside, investigators discovered something that made the case even more unsettling. Their phones were still there. Their wallets were still there. Their dog was still alive. And $32,000 in cash… w...

On the night of December 30th, 2000, in Setagaya, Tokyo, a family of four was murdered inside their home. What followed is one of the most baffling and unsettling investigations in modern criminal history. Because the killer didn’t flee. He stayed. For hours, he moved through the Miyazawa home—eating food from the kitchen, using the bathroom, accessing the family computer, and even tending to his...

There are some stories that feel like they were always going to end one way. This is one of them. In 1910, in the mountains of Scott County, Tennessee, former sheriff Frank Hughett became a marked man. What started as law enforcement quickly turned into something more personal—something that wouldn’t be settled in a courtroom. He was shot in broad daylight. He survived. Days later, his whiskey was...

On November 17th, 1978, four young employees reported for their shift at a Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana. They never made it home. At first, it looked like a simple robbery—an open cash register, missing money, and no immediate signs of violence. But what investigators did next would become one of the most controversial decisions in true crime history. Before it was even clear that anything mor...

In April of 2006, Brian Shaffer , a 27-year-old Ohio State medical student, went out for a night in Columbus, Ohio. What should have been an ordinary evening would become one of the most baffling disappearances in modern true crime. Security cameras clearly captured Brian entering a crowded building late that night. Friends, staff, and dozens of patrons moved in and out of the area throughout the...

In February 1959, nine experienced hikers set out into the remote Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union. Led by Igor Dyatlov, the group was well trained and properly equipped for the harsh winter expedition ahead. They never made it home. Weeks later, search teams discovered their abandoned tent on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl — a mountain whose name loosely translates to Dead Mountain . The tent had...

On February 24, 1978, five young men left a college basketball game in Chico, California. They stopped at a convenience store, bought snacks, and began the drive home. They never made it. Days later, their car was found abandoned in the mountains of Plumas National Forest. It wasn’t wrecked. It wasn’t out of gas. There were no signs of a struggle. So why did they leave it? Months later, four of th...

In April 1981, three people were brutally murdered inside Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort in Northern California. Three children slept in the next room and survived. By morning, a quiet mountain community was shaken — and a case that would haunt investigators for decades had begun. Sue Sharp, her son John Sharp, and family friend Dana Wingate were found bound and murdered inside the small cabin. Sue...

On February 2, 2008, a gunman walked into a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois. He wasn’t wearing a mask. He calmly ordered employees and a customer to the back room, bound them with duct tape, and opened fire. Five women were shot. Four were killed. Despite eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, a composite sketch, and DNA collected at the scene, the case remains unsolved. In this episo...

In June 1992, Suzie Streeter (19), Stacy McCall (18), and Sherrill Levitt (47) vanished from a quiet home in Springfield, Missouri. No forced entry. No signs of a struggle. Three purses left behind. More than three decades later, the disappearance of the Springfield Three remains one of America’s most haunting unsolved cases. In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar , we walk through the final hour...

On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia went up in flames. By morning, five children were gone. Officials ruled the case simple: the children perished in the fire. But no remains were ever conclusively identified. The phone line had been cut. The ladder was missing. The trucks wouldn’t start. Witnesses claimed to see the children alive in the days that followe...

On June 9th, 1912, the Moore family walked home from church in the quiet railroad town of Villisca, Iowa. Nothing seemed unusual. Neighbors waved. Oil lamps flickered. The children were laughing. By morning, eight people lay dead inside the house. Bludgeoned in their beds. The mirrors covered. The lamp chimneys removed. The axe left behind. In this episode, the Pine Grove Briar slows down the stor...

In the early 1920s, during the height of the Coal Wars in the Tug River Valley, a man tied to union activity was found dead near a rail line outside Matewan. The official ruling was simple: accident. He had fallen. The train hadn’t seen him. Case closed. But locals didn’t believe it. In this of the Pine Grove Briar , we return to coal country to examine one of the lesser-known deaths connected to...

In the early decades of the 20th century, a family living deep in Appalachia appeared in public records like anyone else—census rolls, school logs, tax books. Then, without warning, every one of their names stopped appearing. No death certificates. No relocation records. No official explanation. In this extended fireside episode of The Pine Grove Briar , we follow the paper trail until it goes qui...

Deep in the Appalachian mountains, there are places where silence isn’t empty—it’s intentional. Tonight on Pine Grove Briar , we settle in beside the fire and drift into a forgotten hollow where a man vanished without a sound… and no one seemed eager to ask why. Through creeping fog, half-spoken memories, and the kind of quiet that only exists in the mountains, this episode explores how Appalachia...

In the winter of 1897, a young woman was found dead at the foot of the stairs in a quiet West Virginia home. The official explanation was simple. Convenient. And wrong. In tonight’s episode of Pine Grove Briar , we travel into the Appalachian fog to examine one of the strangest criminal cases in American history— The Greenbrier Ghost . A murder disguised as a natural death, a husband whose grief d...

The Hinterkaifeck Horror In this chilling episode, we travel far from the Appalachian foothills to a secluded farm in Germany, the site of one of the most baffling unsolved true crimes in history: the Hinterkaifeck murders. We delve into the sinister events that unfolded in the weeks before the brutal crime, from mysterious footprints in the snow to unsettling noises in the attic. Join us as we ex...

Echoes in November: The Lincoln-Kennedy Curse In this chilling episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we pull back the veil on the uncanny parallels between the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. A century apart, yet linked by a web of unsettling coincidences, these two tragedies continue to haunt American history. We'll delve into the strange similarities and then dive deep into the...

In this chilling, immersive episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we journey into one of the most haunting true crime cases in American history—the 1993 murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, and the controversial convictions of three teenagers that followed. Known as the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were thrust into a national spotlight fu...

What if the internet died years ago, and we're just talking to its ghost? In this chilling episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we unpack the "Dead Internet Theory," a viral concept suggesting that a vast majority of online content and engagement is now generated by AI and bots, not actual people. From strangely generic comments to the eerie silence of old forums, we examine the "symptoms" of a decayi...

It's 1872, and there's gonna be a hangin'... the last one in Jamestown, Tennessee. Join us as we find out what happened to James Calvin "Cal" Logsdon (or Logston) depending on who you talk to. An axe murder had taken place in the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf River in Pall Mall, Tennessee. That place might ring a bell if you're familiar with the story of Sergeant Alvin C. York. Cal Logsdon...

In the summer of 1969, a six-year-old boy named Dennis Martin vanished without a trace in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. What was supposed to be a joyful Father’s Day camping trip turned into one of the largest and most haunting search efforts in U.S. history. In this episode of Pine Grove Briar , we sift through the facts, rumors, and theories surrounding the disappearance—...

Join us as we talk about the one, the only, Judge Roy Bean - saloonkeeper and well, sort of a lawman, in his own way. The Old West wasn't ever the same after Judge Bean arrived on the scene and we are exploring his life on the Pine Grove Briar. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, you can do so via PayPal at paypal.me/chrissewell623 - every little bit helps us to keep the lights on a...

In this episode, we ride through the incredible life of Annie Oakley — from a hardscrabble childhood to the world stage with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Discover how she became one of the most iconic figures of the American frontier, outshooting men, challenging norms, and earning the nickname “Little Sure Shot” from Sitting Bull himself. We’ll mix sharp historical insight with a touch of front...

This episode on The Pine Grove Briar , we ride alongside Tom Tobin — one of the most hardened scouts and bounty hunters of the American frontier. From battling guerrillas to personally bringing in the severed heads of the Espinosa brothers, Tobin lived a life few could dream up and even fewer could survive. We unpack Tobin’s blood-streaked legacy with equal parts history and humor — tracing his da...