The Shelldrake Files

Alaska disappearances don't make the news the way they should. The state logs more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the country — and a significant number share conditions that standard search and rescue cannot account for.  In this podcast, we investigate three Alaska missing persons cases that have never been adequately explained. Each carries the hallmarks of a Missing 411...

Crater Lake in Oregon has been linked to missing-person cases that often come up in Missing 411 discussions. The Crater Lake region is steep, remote, and fast-changing, and those conditions shape what happens when someone disappears and a search begins. Terrain, weather, visibility, and distance are a big reason Crater Lake keeps showing up in debates about wilderness disappearances and the patter...

Two wilderness disappearances, years apart, tied to remote public lands and National Parks. This Missing 411 episode looks at cases discussed by David Paulides, where someone can be there one moment and gone the next, and the search and rescue response still can’t put the pieces together. From the Bear Creek Overlook area in Bitterroot National Forest, to the Ozark Mountains near St. Joe, Arkansas...

In June 1977, Charles Morgan—also known as Chuck—was found dead in the Arizona desert wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a cryptic $2 bill. The official ruling? Suicide. But strange clues, mafia connections, and possible government cover-up suggest something far more sinister. This true crime documentary breaks down the Charles Morgan case, one of Arizona’s most haunting cold cases. Was he si...

The only unsolved hijacking in U.S. history: On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself D.B. Cooper pulled off the perfect crime - hijacking a plane, collecting $200,000 ransom, and vanishing into thin air. This true crime documentary explores the cold case that has baffled the FBI for over 50 years. What started as a routine Thanksgiving Eve flight became America's greatest unsolved mystery...

What is the Michigan Dogman? For over 130 years, this terrifying half-man, half-beast creature has haunted the forests of Michigan. From the first recorded sighting in 1887 near the Manistee River to eerie encounters in Big Rapids, Ludington, and the depths of Manistee National Forest, the Dogman legend has grown into one of America’s most chilling cryptid mysteries. In this episode, we explore ey...

On October 21, 1978, 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich took off from Moorabbin Airport in a Cessna 182, heading toward King Island across the Bass Strait. He never arrived. Minutes before vanishing, Valentich made a chilling radio call describing a strange craft with a green light hovering above him—"It’s not an aircraft," he said. Then, silence. No wreckage. No body. No clear answer...

In 1988, journalist and aspiring author Keith Reinhardt arrived in the quiet Colorado town of Silver Plume, searching for inspiration. What he found was a dark mystery—and what happened next shocked everyone. Just months after the remains of local bookstore owner Tom Young and his dog were found on a nearby mountain trail, Reinhardt vanished under nearly identical circumstances… while writing a bo...

The mysterious death of U.S. Army intelligence officer Ralph Sigler remains one of the Cold War’s most disturbing secrets. In April 1976, he was found dead in a Maryland motel—wired to a lamp, electrocuted, and left behind with nothing but a cryptic note and bruises no one could explain. Just hours earlier, he had phoned his wife and said, “I never lied.” Sigler had spent years pretending to betra...

The Cowden Family was celebrating Labor Day Weekend in 1974 when they vanished from their campsite. Seven months later, they were found — one tied to a tree, the others hidden in a cave. Send us Fan Mail

March 1975. Twenty-one-year-old Mark Hanson set out with friends on a spring break hike from Davenport Gap into the Great Smoky Mountains. By afternoon, a sudden storm swept across the ridges — sleet, snow, plunging temperatures. The group split, with Mark and one friend pushing toward Tri-Corner Knob shelter. In the darkness, just yards from safety, Mark collapsed. When morning came, he was gone....

In June 1991, a quiet Ontario rest stop became the scene of a brutal double murder and an unsolved mystery that has haunted Canada for decades. In the dead of night, a stranger with a shotgun shattered the stillness, leaving two dead, one critically injured, and a trail of questions that still demand answers. This is the chilling story of the Blind River killings — the victims, the survivor, and t...

A brand-new season of The Shelldrake Files begins with an inside look at what this show is all about. In this special introduction, Rich shares the origins of the channel, his passion for digging into cases that don’t make sense, and what listeners can expect in upcoming episodes. From unsolved crimes to strange events that challenge the official story, this episode sets the tone for a podcast bui...