Trace Evidence

Coe Paisley had been putting things together. After opening her own law practice she'd finally purchased a home; her first home all for herself. Over the course of several weeks the twenty-nine year old had construction crews in and out making repairs to the seventy year old structure. Now, all that was left, was painting. Coe took the challenge upon herself, spending free time between work and fa...

Charles and Catherine Romer had spent their winter in Florida, but were preparing to head home to New York. For the next few days they planned to cover 1,400 miles in four days. It was a trip they'd made dozens of times before but this time would be different. Just one day in and they would mysteriously vanish. After checking into a hotel room in Brunswick, Georgia, the couple seemingly disappeare...

On a chilly, fall afternoon in 1969 a red armored car moved quickly through the busy streets of Brooklyn. Pulling over for an impromptu lunch break, three guards began their rotation. One after the next they'd go to a nearby deli, grab a sandwich and head back to the truck. Then, as the last guard approached, three armed men appeared and forced him inside. Cuffing the guards together and disarming...

Five year old Justin Turner vanished on a Friday morning in March of 1989. Two days of searches organized and led by the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department turned up no trace of the missing child. Investigators began to theorize that the boy had been abducted while making his way to the bus stop until, early on the third day, his body was discovered in a location that was supposed to have alread...

Five year old Justin Turner said goodbye to his stepmother and headed off for the bus stop. It wouldn't be until hours later that she discovered the little boy never made it to the bus that day. As investigators arrived to begin searching for the child, it seemed like he'd been abducted sometime after leaving the house. However, on the third day of searching, a grisly discovery was made. Justin's...

Seventy-nine year old Iva Tice was worried about her husband after he suffered a stroke. Staying alone in their Allentown home, Iva made sure to visit the hospital every afternoon to be with him. Then, one afternoon, she never showed up. When no one could reach Iva, the Allentown police performed a welfare check and made a grisly discovery. Iva had been killed in the bedroom of her home sometime d...

Two days after Christmas a family, vacationing in St. Petersburg, FL, made the grisly discovery of a human leg washed up on the shore. Investigators conducted searches of the bay as well as the coastline but never located any other remains or evidence. For more than three months, that leg would remain unidentified until investigators began making ties across county lines. Thirty-eight year old Kel...

All of his life Stephen Sandlin wanted to be a police officer. Growing up the son of a cop, Stephen looked up to his father and wanted to follow in his footsteps. At the age of twenty-one one Stephen realized his dream, but less than two months later, he would be violent killed in the line of duty. On the evening of Saturday, May 7th, 1988, Officer Sandlin was found lying in a pool of blood on the...

Thirty-five year old Regina Brown put her youngest child on a plan to Texas, to stay with her family. She was setting a plan in motion, one which would allow her follow her child, to escape the constant fear and worry she suffered under. Moments later, Regina stepped out of the airport and vanished. Over the next thirty-four years the investigation would stop and start as phone calls initiated a m...

In the Winter of 1986 the world was captivated by the disappearance of Danish flight attendant Helle Crafts. Police would eventually arrest and charge her husband, pilot Richard Crafts for her grisly murder in what became known as the "Wood Chipper Murder." However, while all eyes were fixed on the Crafts, an eerily similar case was developing just down the road. Thirty-five year old Regina Brown...

In the Fall of 1978, twenty-five year old Russell Bean mysteriously vanished from a small New Hampshire town. He left behind a wife, children, siblings and a mother. For a long, dark decade, Russell's fate remained a mystery until a dramatic confession changed everything. In early March of 1988, a woman went to the police and relayed a story told by her father less than a week before his death. He...

James William "Bill" Wood Kaidena Lozelle "Kay" Wood had just celebrated their third wedding anniversary. Each had lived long, good lives building their own families and only united them when Bill was 77 and Kay was 60. For three long years they were in love and spent time with their families and enjoying their hobbies of antiquing and country music. Just two weeks later a massive fire broke out a...

Due to laryngitis, this is a previously recorded Patreon exclusive episode. Famed author Edgar Allan Poe was a master of mystery and fear. He wrote suspense stories, beautiful poems and created the modern detective story along the way. His mysteries were compelling and captivating, but perhaps none so much as the circumstances surrounding his death. In today's episode we examine Poe's life, love,...

In this week's conclusion we pick up with investigators turning their attention towards known killers who were active in Florida during the time that Mary Opitz vanished. After a brutal and violent spree ending with his death, Christopher Wilder becomes a prime focus for police and the possibility of his involvement is weighed. Forty years later, questions remain without answers. Are the disappear...

It was a chilly Friday night, by Florida standards, when seventeen year old Mary Opitz took a trip to the Edison Mall with her mother and brother. Less than an hour later she would mysteriously vanish from the parking lot, leaving no trace behind. Investigators at the time believed she had runaway, and would soon return. One month later, when eighteen year old Mary Hare vanished from the same park...

Seventy-one year old Shirley McKeown left home early on the morning of Saturday, August 24th, 2002. Her destination was just seven miles across town, her daughter's new house, where painters were working. It should have been a quick trip, but Shirley never arrived. Within twenty-four hours she was reported missing, but she had seemingly vanished without a trace. It wouldn't be until ten days later...

Four high school friends decide to a Friday afternoon doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Kenneth Dungee, Levern Allen III, Darius Bannerman and Kenneth Newkirk were excited about the 90 minute trip, never imagining that only three of them would make it home. Driving along I-40, an unknown man emerged in a blue, Monte Carlo. After aggressively tailgating the teens, he began ramming their ca...

Regina Marie Bos' life was beginning to come around. After struggling for several years and an exceptionally difficult Summer she'd gotten a promotion, had a house in the works and was dating a new guy. One cool, October night, the talented singer went out to a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in an open mic night and never made it home. Her car was left exactly where she'd parked, directly...

One homecoming weekend at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, everyone was looking to party and have a good time, including nineteen year old Donnie Farrell. However, while most students weekends went off without a hitch, Donnie would find himself the target of a sudden, violent and unprovoked assault and within hours he would pass away. Investigators managed to find surveillance footage of the sus...

On a sunny, summer afternoon, forty-one year old mother of six Audrey Groat left home with a family friend and never returned. For nearly three decades now, the mystery of her disappearance and the search for Audrey has haunted both the children she left behind and the investigators who tried to find the answers. What initially appeared to be the case of a stranger abduction took on a very differe...

Thirty-year old Traci Kegley was about to begin a new life. The recently divorced mother of a two year old daughter had faced some setbacks, but she was moving forward. She had just gotten a new job and was excited for her first day... but she'd never make it. On the afternoon of Sunday, April 26th, 1998, Traci set off with her two year old to run errands. She stopped to fill up her gas tank and t...

GoFundMe for Evelyn Colon: https://gofund.me/7862f1a4 For forty-five years the mystery of the Carbon County Beth Doe haunted Pennsylvania. Who was she, how did she end up in Carbon County and who murdered the pregnant woman before dismembering her remains and throwing her off an overpass bridge. Now, thanks to genetic genealogy, she has been positively identified as fifteen year old Evelyn Colon o...

Thirteen year old Alexandra Anaya vanished without a trace from her home in Hammond, Indiana. Her mother, Sandra was baffled. No signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle. It was almost as if she had disappeared from the face of the earth. While Sandra, her family and police were trying to track down the missing teen, the Chicago Police were responding to a call about a body discovered in the...

Sixteen year old Jennifer Persia had everything going for her. She played saxophone in the school band, was on the color guard and was becoming a breakout athlete. As a freshman, she was on the varsity track team and medaled in a competition against mostly seniors. Then one quiet, Monday night, someone stole away everything she hoped to be, shattered a family and rocked a small town. On April 4th,...

Twelve year old Mark Degner and his best friend, thirteen year old Bryan Hayes had told several friends they planned to run away. On a cool, Thursday afternoon, they wandered out of their Special Education classrooms and walked off campus, seemingly vanishing. From the first moment there should have been tremendous concern, the boys suffered from several different issues, both psychological and ph...