Background

In February 2000, 9-year-old Asha Degree vanished after leaving her home in Shelby, North Carolina, before dawn on a cold, stormy night. More than 26 years later, her disappearance remains one of the most haunting unsolved missing child cases in America.

In the early hours of February 14, 2000, something happened that no one has ever been able to fully explain.

February 14, 2000

Asha Degree was a 9-year-old girl living with her parents, Harold and Iquilla Degree, and her older brother in Shelby, North Carolina. According to investigators, Asha was last known to be in her bedroom at around 2:30 a.m.

But by 6:30 that morning, when her mother went to wake the children for school, Asha was gone. There was no sign of forced entry, and search dogs were unable to produce a useful trail.

Investigators later received separate reports from motorists who said they had seen a young girl walking alone along North Carolina Highway 18 at around 4:00 a.m. She was moving away from her home, into the darkness, despite the rainstorm and the fact that she was only nine years old.

One witness later said that when he turned around to check on her, she ran off the road and disappeared into the woods. That would become the last confirmed sighting of Asha Degree.

The Degree Family

By all accounts, Asha came from a close and loving family. The FBI has described her as shy but spirited, and over the years, she came to be known in her community as “Shelby’s Sweetheart.” Her disappearance deeply shook the town and has never been forgotten.

The weekend before she vanished had seemed ordinary. Investigators later noted that Asha had been upset after fouling out of a basketball game in which her team lost by one point, but by the next day, the family had gone to church and Sunday school together as usual. Nothing appeared to suggest that only hours later, Asha would leave home in the middle of the night and disappear forever.

For her parents, Harold and Iquilla Degree, the years that followed became an unimaginable nightmare. Even decades later, they continued to speak publicly about Asha, holding on to hope and asking the public not to forget her.

Investigation and Search

When Asha’s family realized she was missing, authorities were contacted quickly, and a search began almost immediately. In addition to the police, family friends, and neighbors also joined in the search. The search focused along the area of Highway 18 where witnesses had reported last seeing Asha. Inside a shed near the side of the highway, searchers discovered candy wrappers, a marker, a pencil, and a yellow hairbow that was confirmed by Asha’s parents as belonging to her.

Additionally, a wallet-sized photograph of a girl was also found with the items. Although the Degrees did not recognize the girl, a 2001 Charlotte Observer article reported that she was a friend of Asha’s. These were the only items found during the initial search.

After a week of intense searching that included over 9,000 man-hours, the search was called off. However, flyers continued to be posted throughout the area, and numerous tips poured in. Unfortunately, these efforts did not yield results.

Then, on August 3, 2001, construction workers in Burke County, roughly 30 miles north of where Asha was last seen, discovered her bookbag buried near Highway 18. Inside were a Dr. Seuss library book from Asha’s school and a New Kids on the Block concert T-shirt, neither of which belonged to her. Investigators have long said that the items packed inside the bag appeared to be the kind of things a child might choose for herself.

The discovery gave investigators one of the biggest breaks in the case, but it still did not explain what had happened to Asha. To this day, one of the greatest mysteries in the case is why she left home at all.

Years later, investigators announced another important lead. After a re-examination of the case, the FBI said Asha may have been seen getting into a dark green early-1970s Lincoln Mark IV, or possibly a Ford Thunderbird, with rust around the wheel wells. The information was released publicly in 2016 in the hope that someone would recognize the vehicle and come forward.

Even with that development, the central question remains: Why did Asha leave her home that night? To this day, there has never been a clear answer.

Current Status

Asha Degree’s case remains open, and investigators have continued to review old evidence, pursue new leads, and apply newer technology to a case that began long before cell phones, home cameras, and digital trails became common in missing-person investigations.

The FBI, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation have all remained involved. In 2025, search warrants were executed on several properties believed to be connected to the case. However, no arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed as of early 2026. Chillingly, information within the search warrant confirms that authorities believe that Asha was the victim of a homicide and that her remains have been concealed.

In June 2025, North Carolina’s governor announced a state reward of up to $25,000, and local reporting later noted that updated billboards showed a combined reward of $100,000 for information in the case.

More than two decades after she vanished, Asha’s disappearance still stands as one of North Carolina’s most heartbreaking mysteries. A little girl left her home before sunrise, walked into the storm, and was never seen again. The following years have brought searches, evidence, and theories, but not the thing her family has always wanted most: the truth.

Most people who have followed the case believe the answer lies not in why Asha walked out of her house that night, but in who crossed her path after she did. And somewhere, someone likely still knows exactly what happened to Asha Degree.

Sources:

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Looking for Asha.” 14 Feb. 2020, https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/20th-anniversary-of-asha-degree-disappearance-021420

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Field Office. “Investigators Seek Public Assistance in 20-Year Missing Girl Investigation.” 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/charlotte/news/press-releases/investigators-seek-public-assistance-in-20-year-missing-girl-investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Field Office. “FBI Seeking Tips on Vehicle Possibly Connected to Asha Degree Disappearance.” 25 May 2016, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/charlotte/news/press-releases/fbi-seeking-tips-on-vehicle-possibly-connected-to-asha-degree-disappearance

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “The Search Continues for Asha Degree.” 14 Feb. 2020, https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2020/search-continues-for-asha-degree

Office of the Governor of North Carolina. “Governor Offers Up to $25,000 Reward in Missing Persons Case in Cleveland County.” 25 June 2025, https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/06/25/governor-offers-25000-reward-missing-persons-case-cleveland-county

WBTV. “Asha Degree’s Disappearance Stretches Into 26th Year: Here’s Where the Investigation Stands.” 12 Feb. 2026, https://www.wbtv.com/2026/02/12/asha-degrees-disappearance-stretches-into-26th-year-heres-where-investigation-stands/

Background

On January 26, 1966, three siblings disappeared from a crowded, popular beach near their home in Somerton Park, South Australia. It was Australia Day, and the Beaumont children had been given permission by their mother to go play on the family-friendly beach.

However, when the children did not return home that afternoon, a massive search was launched. Despite the enormous investigation, Jane, Anna, and Grant Beaumont have never been located.

The Beaumont Family

Grant “Jim” Beaumont, a retired serviceman and taxi driver, and Nancy Beaumont, a homemaker, were married in 1955. They settled in Somerton Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide. Shortly after they were married, Jim and Nancy welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Jane.

Two years later, a second daughter, Arnna, was born. Three years after that, the Beaumont family was completed with the birth of their son, Grant. Somerton Park was a safe area, and the children enjoyed playing at nearby Glenelg Beach, only three kilometers from the family’s home.

On January 25, 1966, as the summer holidays were winding down, Jim Beaumont was preparing for a three-day business trip out of town. Before leaving, he dropped off his three children, Jane (9), Anna (7), and Grant (4), at Glenelg Beach to get some relief from the heatwave gripping South Australia at the time.

On the following morning, Australia Day, the children wanted to return to the beach. They asked their mother if they could go, and she said yes, but told them to be back home by noon for lunch. The three Beaumont children boarded the 8:45 a.m. bus that would take them from their neighborhood to the beach.

Disappearance

The children arrived at the beach, which was packed with people and families celebrating the national holiday. Nancy waited at home for them to return for lunch. When the 12 p.m. bus came and went with no sign of the children, Nancy was a bit worried, but not yet panicked.

But when her children were not on the 2 p.m. bus either, Nancy became extremely concerned. Jim, who was due to be out of town for at least another day, arrived home around 3 p.m., his business trip having concluded earlier than expected. Upon arriving home and realizing his children were missing, and his wife was panicked, Jim immediately drove to Glenelg Beach.

Jim searched the crowded beach for any sign of his three children, but he came up empty-handed. He returned to the family home, hoping that the children had simply lost track of time and would be there waiting for him, but they were not.

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On the night of August 1, 1989, 26-year-old Ronnie Jack was at the First Litre Pub near his home in Prince George, British Columbia, when he met a man who offered him what sounded like an incredible opportunity.

At the time, Ronnie had lost his job at a sawmill due to a back injury, which strained his family’s finances. Ronnie, his wife Doreen, and their two sons were surviving on welfare checks. So, when the stranger offered Ronnie a short-term job at a logging camp near Cluculz Lake, about 40km west of Prince George, it sounded like a lifeline.

When Ronne informed the man that he also had a wife and two young children, the man told him there would be a role for Doreen too - she would work in the kitchen as the cook’s helper, and best of all, the camp also had daycare for their two young children, Russell, who was 9, and Ryan, who was 4.

The only problem was that the Jack family did not own a car; however, the mysterious man also offered to drive them to the camp, but they would need to leave that very night. The man was later described as a white male between 35 and 40 years old, around 6ft to 6ft 6” tall, and 200-275lbs, with reddish-brown hair and a full beard; the man wore a baseball cap, a red checkered shirt, faded blue jeans, and distinctive work boots that had leather fringes over the toe area.

Excited by this new opportunity, Ronnie rushed home to his wife and told her all about it. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., he called his brother and told him about his new job. Ronnie later called his mother and told her about it as well. He informed his mother that they would be gone for about 10 days and would be back in plenty of time for the start of Russell’s school in September.

Ronnie’s phone call to his mother would be the last confirmed contact anyone had with the Jack family.

The Jack Family

Ronnie and Doreen Jack met and began dating while in high school. Doreen later moved in with Ronnie’s family in Southbank. Ronnie’s mother, Mabel, described her son and Doreen as a happy couple. Doreen had a difficult childhood and was estranged from her mother, but she had support from Mabel, who described Doreen as nice, kind, and helpful.

The Jack family was part of the Indigenous Community and were members of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, a First Nation located near Burns Lake, British Columbia. During the 1980s, the family had relocated to Prince George, hoping to find better work and a better living situation.

Ronnie and Doreen were raising their two young boys, Russell and Ryan, in a rented home on Strathcona Avenue in Prince George. By the late 1980s, the family's living situation was in dire straits due to Ronnie's back injury, as it severely limited his ability to find and hold down regular work.

Disappearance

Local reports at the time portrayed Ronnie and Doreen as a “Young couple doing their best in a period of economic difficulty,” and their decision to take a chance on a job that would help them immensely was probably a lifeline they had longed for - even if it was offered to them by a stranger.

The last sighting of the family was witnessed by neighbors as Ronnie, Doreen, Russell, and Ryan climbed into a dark coloured pickup truck in the early hours of August 2, 1989, with a handful of their belongings.

After that, they were never heard from again.

Two weeks after the Jack family left home, family members had still not heard from them. Ronnie’s family became concerned, and on August 25, 1989, they reported the Jacks as missing. Authorities and family members searched the home, and they found that most of the family’s belongings were still there, including their children's school records.

At first, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believed that the Jack family may have decided to relocate. However, both Ronnie and Doreen’s family members insisted that they would not just move without telling anyone. Also, the state of the family’s home suggested that they had only intended to be away temporarily.

On September 7, 1989, the RCMP mistakenly announced that the family had been found, but this was entirely false. This grave error caused the case to be closed for a period of time before the search was resumed - it is unclear why the RCMP incorrectly determined that the family was found “safe and sound.”

The search for the Jack family dragged on for years, and despite numerous searches and interviews, no evidence was ever found.

Then, on January 28, 1996, a man called the police and left a brief, 10-second muffled message: “The Jack family are buried in the south end of [inaudible] ranch.” The caller hung up before dispatch could ask any questions. Investigators published several appeals in local newspapers, urging the caller to call back, even threatening to release the recording of the man's voice, but the individual never called back.

In March of 1996, the voice recording was analyzed, and it seemed that the call originated from Stoney Creek, British Columbia. The police traced the call to a property in Vanderhoof and confirmed that a house party was underway at the time. Although the authorities deemed this tip credible, the ranch in question has never been located, and the caller has never been identified.

Current Status

The case remains open and active, and the RCMP’s Serious Crimes Unit continues to review tips and encourages assistance from the public. The most recent police search for the Jack family took place in 2019 on the Saik’uz First Nation Reserve, south of Vanderhoof. Investigators used ground-penetrating radar; however, nothing was found.

Authorities and those who follow the case agree that the mystery of what happened to the Jack family lies with the unidentified man who Ronnie met in the pub that August night in 1989. Most believe that the logging camp the man described likely did not exist, and that it was a disturbing lie to lure a desperate man and his family to their deaths.

In 2020, non-profit groups, such as Unidentified Human Remains Canada, released age-progressed photos depicting what the family may look like today. The human toll of this case can’t be overlooked; Marleen, Doreen’s sister, and Mabel, Ronnie’s mother, have spent decades trying to keep the case alive in the hope of finding their family and finally getting some sort of closure.

In 2024, the family organized a community-led search within the Willow River area, situated east of Prince George. Family and supporters also held a vigil at Strathcona Park, with over 120 people attending, hoping to keep the case at the forefront of people’s minds and calling on anyone with information to come forward.

Sources:

Jack, Mabel, Reay, Kerrie, Hendrickson, Caitlin, “National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls”, Sept 26, 2017, https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20170926_MMIWG_Smithers_M._Jack_Statement_Vol_9_Public-15.pdf

Neumann, Sean, “An Entire Family Vanished After Mother and Father Were Offered Jobs. What Happened to the Jack Family?”, February 16, 2025 https://people.com/jack-family-missing-meeting-stranger-offered-odd-jobs-11679595

LeRoy, K.C., “Smoke on the Asphalt”, Jun 5 2023, https://www.evaporatethemissing.com/missing-persons/smoke-on-the-asphalt

M,Serena, “MISSING: The Jack Family” June 5, 2020, updated August 23, 2020 https://www.canadaunsolved.com/cases/missing-jack-family-1989-bc

Nielsen, Mark, “Mystery remains around disappearance of Jack family”, Sep 10, 2019 https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/mystery-remains-around-disappearance-of-jack-family-3737801

Background

On the night of June 29, 2002, 21-year-old Lisa Marie Young was out celebrating a friend’s birthday in Nanaimo, British Columbia. After leaving a nightclub and visiting two house parties, she got into a car with a man to go get some food, and was never seen again.

Despite dozens of tips, extensive searches by the Police, and community vigils held year after year, no physical sign of Lisa has ever been found, and no one has been charged in connection with her disappearance.

Lisa Marie Young

Lisa Marie Young was born on May 5, 1981, in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. She and her family are members of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, a Nuu-chah-nulth Indigenous community on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Lisa was the eldest child and only daughter of Don Young and Marlene “Joanne” Young (née Martin). She grew up with two younger brothers, Brian and Robin. Family was central to Lisa’s life. She saw her parents and siblings often, visiting daily for coffee or just to talk.

Lisa enjoyed socializing, meeting new people, and spending time with friends. She was known for her laugh, her sense of style, and her ability to hold her own in any conversation. She lived an active lifestyle and loved rollerblading along the waterfront and spending time outdoors.

In June 2002, Lisa was looking forward to some exciting changes in her life. Her father was helping her move into her own apartment in northern Nanaimo, and she was also preparing to start a new job at a call center, with her first day scheduled just two days after she disappeared.

Beyond that, Lisa had bigger dreams for her future. She was thinking about going back to school and eventually becoming a television sports broadcaster. This was something she was passionate about since she loved sports and was a big fan of the Vancouver Canucks.

Her friends remember her talking about these plans with genuine excitement, which made her sudden disappearance all the more inexplicable.

Disappearance

On Saturday night, June 29, 2002, Lisa Marie Young met up with several friends in downtown Nanaimo to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They attended a local nightclub called The Jungle Cabaret (today known as Evolve Nightclub). Witnesses later said Lisa appeared relaxed, social, and happy.

Around 2:30 a.m., as the club began to close, Lisa and her friends gathered outside to talk about where they should go next. That’s when a man they didn’t know, later identified as Christopher William Adair, walked up to them. He was driving an older red Jaguar and offered to give them a lift to a house party out in southern Nanaimo.

Lisa and her friends accepted Adair’s offer, and they were soon on their way. The ride took them to the first house party, where they stayed for a while, talking, listening to music, and catching up. After some time, they went with the same driver to a second house party. By then, it was close to 3:00 a.m.

Soon after arriving, Lisa began to feel hungry. She was a vegetarian, and there wasn’t anything she could eat at the party, so she mentioned it to the others. That’s when Adair offered to take her to a nearby sandwich shop. Lisa accepted the offer, thinking she’d be back after a quick bite to eat. She got into the red Jaguar with him, leaving her friends behind at the party.

Minutes turned into hours, and Lisa didn’t return. Around 4:30 a.m., Lisa managed to make brief contact with her friend Dallas Hulley, the friend whose birthday they had been celebrating that night. Dallas answered, and heard Lisa’s voice, one filled with confusion and worry.

She told him something didn’t feel right. She said Adair hadn’t taken her for food as she expected. Instead, they were sitting in a driveway on Bowen Road, at or near another house party, and she didn’t know the people there.

Then came a short text saying, “Come get me, they won’t let me leave.” That message became the last known contact anyone had with Lisa. After that, her friends tried calling her back, but she did not answer. Her phone soon went silent.

Her signal was later traced to the Departure Bay area of Nanaimo, but no further trace of her was ever found.

Family Concern

By Monday, July 1st, her parents, Joanne and Don Young, began to worry. Their daughter had never failed to check in. If she planned to be late or was stuck somewhere, she would always call.

By mid-morning, when her former roommate showed up to tell them that Lisa hadn’t moved her belongings into her new apartment, the uneasiness turned into fear. She never left her phone off for this long, and Lisa was not the kind of person who would stay away without letting someone know.

Desperate, Joanne and Don began calling the numbers in Lisa’s phone book, reaching out to anyone who might know where she was. Friends from the birthday celebration were contacted. When the Youngs were told that Lisa had left a party around 3:00 a.m. with a man to get food and never returned, the worry deepened.

Contacting the RCMP

By the end of the day, Lisa’s family knew they could not wait any longer. They contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Nanaimo and explained that Lisa hadn’t returned home and that no one knew where she was.

At first, the response was confusing and frustrating. The officer they spoke to mentioned that in some cases, families are advised to wait, even suggesting a 48-hour period before formally reporting an adult missing. In reality, there is no required waiting period in Canada, especially when an adult’s behavior is out of character.

Later that day, which happened to be Canada Day, a federal holiday, an RCMP officer went to the Young family’s house. He asked questions about Lisa and took a recent photograph of her. It was a small gesture, but one that confirmed that the police now believed a young woman was missing.

Still, in those first hours, the investigation barely moved. The sense that time was slipping away fast weighed heavily on the Youngs. Criminology experts often say the first 72 hours are the most critical in a missing person case when leads are freshest, and memories are sharpest.

Investigation

When Lisa’s mother attempted to contact the officer who had visited their home, she was informed that he was off work until July 5th, and the investigation would have to wait until then. Only after persistent calls to the RCMP was the case handed over to another investigator on July 3rd.

Although the family was originally told by the RCMP that they did not believe foul play was involved in Lisa’s disappearance, that soon changed.

Over the next few days, the RCMP would tell Lisa’s family that her case had been taken up by their Serious Crime Unit (a division normally called in when foul play is suspected), and that investigators were following leads and tips.

By July 10, 2002, the RCMP made it clear to the public and the media that they were no longer treating this as a simple missing person’s case. They believed Lisa had likely come to harm, and they said so openly. The word “suspicious” began to appear in official statements, and phrases like “we believe foul play was involved” were used to describe the investigation.

Incredibly, the RCMP did not conduct its first groundsearch in the case until September 18th, more than two and a half months after Lisa Young disappeared. However, despite the seeming lack of urgency by the RCMP, Lisa’s family and members of the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation conducted independent searches in early July. They also contacted the media, had missing-persons posters printed, and offered a cash reward for information about Lisa’s disappearance.

In late July, police questioned the driver of the red Jaguar, Christopher Adair, extensively. Though he admitted to spending time with Lisa that night, he claimed he later dropped her off at a different location.

In a strange scene, Young’s mother was allowed to sit in during an interrogation of Adair, during which he was asked to tell her where Lisa was. He replied to the effect that “I can’t…I’m sorry, I don’t mean to disrespect your family.” Then, even more strangely, she was asked to give Adair a hug, which she reluctantly did.

Though the police considered Adair a person of interest, they lacked sufficient evidence to arrest him, and he was released without charges. The RCMP later learned that the Jaguar had been sold, and though they eventually found and seized it, by then it had already been steam-cleaned. Reports suggest Adair has lived outside Canada in recent years, including in Türkiye and the Philippines, making it harder for police to keep track of him.

Unfortunately, relations between the Young family and the RCMP became increasingly strained as the family has understandably expressed their frustration with how their daughter’s case was handled. The tensions came to a head when the family was “cut off” from further details about the case by the RCMP.

The RCMP’s handling of the case has also been criticized by journalists, bloggers, and politicians, including Member of Parliament Paul Manly during a House of Commons debate in October 2020.

Renewed Attention Online

As time passed, Lisa’s story began reaching people far beyond Nanaimo. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, her disappearance became the focus of true-crime podcasts, investigative articles, and national media coverage. These stories retold the details of her last night, her final message asking for help, and the unanswered questions that still surround her case.

Shows such as Island Crime, hosted by Canadian researcher Laura Palmer, have featured her story in episodes that explore the details of what happened that night in 2002 and the years of investigation that have followed.

Coverage from outlets such as CBC, Nanaimo Bulletin, and Indigenous-focused media also helped bring renewed attention to Lisa’s disappearance. These reports placed her case within the larger crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Canada.

Social media has played a role, too. Facebook groups, Instagram pages, and online forums have allowed supporters to talk about Lisa, share memories, and post updates year after year. For Lisa’s family, seeing her face and story shared by strangers who care has been a reminder that she hasn’t been forgotten.

Alongside the media attention, public appeals for information never stopped. In February 2022, nearly 20 years after Lisa’s disappearance, an anonymous donor stepped forward with a $50,000 USD reward for information that leads to the recovery of Lisa’s remains. This was a major moment for the family, as the offer, arranged through a lawyer and tied directly to locating her remains, was intended to motivate someone with hidden knowledge to come forward.

Community Response and Legacy

As the years passed with no answers, Lisa Marie Young’s family and community refused to let her be forgotten. Beginning in 2003, every year on June 30, family, friends, and supporters have gathered in Nanaimo to remember Lisa Marie Young and keep her story alive.

The City of Nanaimo has also encouraged symbolic events, such as “Lights on for Lisa” on June 30, when residents are urged to leave porch lights burning in her honor. In October 2024, the community saw another meaningful moment of recognition when the City of Nanaimo worked with Lisa’s family and supporters to plant a memorial cherry tree along the Departure Bay waterfront walkway.

Nanaimo’s mayor spoke about how the tree should be a place not only for mourning but also for comfort and solidarity with other families who have lost loved ones in similar ways. By placing a permanent marker in a public space, the city recognized not only Lisa’s disappearance but also the broader problem of violence against Indigenous women.

Her disappearance has helped fuel awareness efforts that connect local advocacy with national movements like Red Dress Day and Sisters in Spirit events that honor missing Indigenous women and press for meaningful action.

Current Status of the Case

More than two decades later, the disappearance of Lisa Marie Young remains unsolved. As of 2026, the RCMP in Nanaimo confirms that Lisa’s case is still open and active, and it continues to be investigated as a suspected homicide.

Over the years, the case has been reviewed multiple times by different investigators. New detectives have gone back through old files, re-listened to interviews, and re-examined tips that may have seemed insignificant at the time. Investigators have told the public that this is done deliberately because, in cold cases, even a small detail can matter years later.

Yet, despite these efforts, no arrests have ever been made in connection with Lisa’s disappearance, and no physical evidence has been found. Police have told the media that they have identified suspects over the years, yet they cannot share specifics and have not brought any charges.

Officially, the RCMP continues to treat Lisa’s disappearance as a homicide investigation. For Lisa’s family, the passage of time has not brought closure. Her mother, Joanne Young, passed away in 2017, never knowing what happened to her daughter. But other family members have taken on the responsibility of keeping Lisa’s name alive each year.

Over the years, Lisa’s case has been included in discussions about national awareness campaigns and educational efforts aimed at shining a light on the broader crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Sources:

“The Disappearance of Lisa Marie Young - Nanaimo, BC - June 30, 2002.” Missing People Canada, 28 July 2025, https://missingpeople.ca/the-disappearance-of-lisa-marie-young-nanaimo-bc-june-30-2002/

Denise, Titian. “Lisa Marie Young – Memorial March Marks 23 Years since Young Tla-o-Qui-Aht Woman Disappeared.” O, 30 June 2025, https://hashilthsa.com/news/2025-06-30/lisa-marie-young-memorial-march-marks-23-years-young-tla-o-qui-aht-woman

“Lisa Marie Young.” International Missing Persons Wiki, https://int-missing.fandom.com/wiki/Lisa_Marie_Young

Metelsky, Stephen. “Disappearance of Nanaimo Woman Remains Unsolved [RCMP].” Blue Line, 18 Oct. 2023, https://www.blueline.ca/disappearance-of-nanaimo-woman-remains-unsolved-rcmp/

Background

On the night of March 2, 1998, 19-year-old Suzanne Lyall finished her shift at work, boarded the bus back to her campus, and stepped off just minutes from her dorm room. It was a short walk she had taken many times before. But that night, Suzanne never made it home.

There were no screams, no signs of a struggle, and no witnesses. Nearly 30 years later, Suzanne Lyall's disappearance remains a mystery.

Suzanne Lyall

Suzanne “Suzy” Gloria Lyall was born on April 6, 1978, in Saratoga Springs, New York. She was the youngest of three children in the Lyall family and grew up in the nearby town of Ballston Spa. Her parents, Doug and Mary Lyall, raised their children in a close, supportive home where education, communication, and responsibility were taken seriously.

Suzanne’s parents described her as the quiet heart of their family, someone who listened more than she spoke and chose her words carefully. She enjoyed reading and demonstrated an interest in computers, sometimes assembling parts and building her own, while chatting with people online long before social media was a thing.

Outside of computers, Suzy also had a creative side. Family members said she enjoyed writing poetry whenever inspiration struck, once even running out of the shower with wet hair just to jot a line down. Though it made her family laugh, it also showed how deeply connected she was to her thoughts and feelings.

Academically, Suzanne was a strong student. After graduating with honors from Ballston Spa High School in 1996, Suzy began her college journey studying computer science. She initially enrolled in the State University of New York at Oneonta, but after a year, she decided the computer courses there weren’t challenging enough.

So, in the fall of 1997, she transferred to the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany) to continue her studies, believing it would offer better academic opportunities in her field and also place her closer to home and closer to her high school boyfriend, Richard Condon, with whom she shared a deep connection.

Richard and Suzy had met in high school through their shared love of computers, and their relationship grew deeper over time. They stayed connected through college, often chatting online and helping each other with projects.

Life as a college student was a balancing act for Suzy. Alongside her studies, she worked two part-time jobs to support herself. One was at a computer company in Troy, New York. The other was at Babbage’s, a computer software store in Crossgates Mall just west of the Albany campus.

During her time at SUNY Albany, Suzanne stayed in frequent contact with her parents, often calling home to check in. Her parents later stressed that Suzanne was not the type to disappear without telling someone. She kept a strict routine and, despite the stress of classes and exams, she took comfort in regular phone calls and emails with her parents and with Richard.

March 2, 1998

On Monday, March 2, 1998, Suzy Lyall woke up early to prepare for the day ahead. That day, she had a mid-term test, followed by several more classes, with the last one ending around 4 p.m. After her classes were finished, she returned to her dormitory to pick up a few things before heading to work, which was about seven miles away in the nearby town of Guilderland.

When she arrived at Babbage’s that afternoon, the mall was still buzzing with shoppers. Suzy clocked in and stepped behind the register, ready for her evening shift. That evening, her shift was uneventful, and as 9:00 p.m. approached, the staff began preparing to close. At about 9:20 p.m., Suzy finished her shift and said goodnight to her coworkers. She punched out, gathered her things, and stepped out into the cool air.

As she walked out of the mall, she headed to the bus stop nearby to catch the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) bus that would take her back to the university campus. The driver on duty later told investigators that he remembered seeing her board his bus that night.

The bus ride took about 20 to 25 minutes. A classmate waiting at the Collins Circle stop on the SUNY Albany Uptown Campus later reported seeing Suzy step off the bus around 9:45 p.m. From Collins Circle, Suzy only had a short walk to her dorm room at the Colonial Quad. It was a path she had taken many times before, but that night, she never made it back to her room.

Disappearance

The following morning, Suzanne’s roommates were surprised to see that she had not returned. By the morning of Tuesday, March 3, 1998, when Richard still hadn’t heard from her, he began to worry. He called Suzy repeatedly, but each time the call went unanswered. When he still couldn’t reach her hours later, he contacted Suzanne’s parents to ask if they had heard from her. They had not.

Normally, Suzy was reliable to a fault. She checked in often, especially with her boyfriend and with her parents. Even when she was tired or busy, she usually sent a short message or made a quick call to let them know she was home.

Soon, Doug and Mary were in the car, driving straight to Albany.

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Background

On August 16, 1980, 17-year-old Randy Sellers disappeared near his home in Visalia, Kentucky, just two weeks shy of his 18th birthday. There has been debate as to what may have happened to Randy that night. Two police officers picked Randy up at a nearby county fair for being intoxicated in public.

According to the two officers' account, Randy became aggressive toward them and refused to give them his address, so they dropped him off at a railway overpass near his home. After that, Randy Lee Sellers was never seen again.

45 years have passed since that night, and Randy’s case remains open. His story inspired national action that resulted in the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Yet, the mystery surrounding Randy’s disappearance remains as unsolved as the day he vanished.

Randy Sellers

Randy Lee Sellers was born on September 6th, 1962. He grew up in Visalia, a small community in Kenton County, Kentucky. There, he lived with his mother, Wanda Cotton, and his stepfather, John. In 1967, the Sellers welcomed Randy’s younger brother, Tyran.

Visalia was a very small town in northern Kentucky, only 12 miles south of Covington, which borders Ohio. Though Visalia was once a thriving community and the former seat of Campbell County, by 2000, the town’s population was only 111. In 2006, the local government was dissolved.

As a teenager, Randy had expressed interest in following in his stepfather’s footsteps and becoming an ironworker.

Disappearance

On August 16th, 1980, Randy attended the Kenton County Fair with friends. He was two weeks shy of his 18th birthday. What started out as a fun night at the fair took a turn when Randy became intoxicated.

Some sources indicate that Randy may also have used drugs, likely marijuana, and was drinking during the course of the evening. After becoming intoxicated, Randy got into a physical altercation with another individual at the fairgrounds. At this point, police officers intervened.

The Kenton County police officers on the scene determined that Randy was under the influence. Randy was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct, but after police learned he was a minor, they decided to drive him home.

Allegedly, an officer reported being struck by Randy after taking him into custody. Randy lived only a short distance from the fairgrounds, approximately a 10-15 minute drive at most. The officers claim they dropped Randy off between a half-mile and a mile away from his home. The exact reason why they chose to drop him off rather than take him all the way home has been a subject of debate.

According to Randy’s mother, Wanda Cotton’s biography for The Surviving Parents Coalition, Randy had been dropped off in an area only a short distance from the Licking River, which at the time was nearly flooding.

Her biography also states that an eyewitness saw Randy staggering in the roadway and two police cars parked nearby. The eyewitness claims to have seen Randy walking down the road, but this was the last time he would ever be seen. Randy never returned home that night.

Investigation and Search

The next day, after Randy did not return to his parents’ home, the search began. Initially, investigators presumed that Randy had drowned. During the search, a disturbance was noted on the bank of the Licking River, and the impression in the mud suggested someone had slipped and potentially fallen into the water.

The river was searched extensively, and authorities even dragged the bottom in an effort to recover any evidence, but nothing was found. Eventually, they concluded that the disturbance on the riverbank was likely caused by someone searching for Randy, and not by Randy.

The search efforts continued, scouring the area near where Randy was last seen, but after extensive efforts, no evidence was recovered to aid in locating Randy. Eventually, the trail went cold. Wanda and John kept pushing local media to share Randy’s photo and his story, but he had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Potential Lead

A potential lead in the case came in the early 1990s. Serial killer Donald Leroy Evans, who was convicted of murdering two women in early 1985 and one young girl in 1991, confessed to numerous other murders across 22 states.

Although most of these confessions were believed to be false, two of them aligned perfectly with two unsolved cases in Florida. Additionally, Evans confessed to murdering Randy Sellers, and this confession could not be written off as entirely false.

According to Evans, he picked up Randy after spotting him hitchhiking on Decoursey Pike near Randy’s home. After that, Evans drove them to Kincaid Lake State Park, where they shared beers and talked before Evans shot him in the back of the head and buried him in a shallow grave.

Evans’ confession was deemed “credible” because he provided a map of the park alongside his story. Although the supposed gravesite was searched and did not yield any evidence, the details Evans provided indicated he had at least visited the park at some point.

Unfortunately, any further information Evans may have held onto was lost when he was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate in 1999.

Ongoing Mystery

The tragedy left Randy’s family shattered. Wanda and John continued searching for clues about what may have happened to their son, but they were met only with unanswered questions. Randy’s brother, Tyran, was 13 at the time of Randy’s disappearance. Tyran went on to graduate from Conner High School, and he found work as a millwright, following his father into trade work.

He had married and still resided in northern Kentucky. The ten-year anniversary of Randy’s disappearance took a toll on Tyran. On December 10th, he jumped from the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge into the Ohio River and drowned. Following Tyran’s tragic death, Wanda and John elected to honor both sons with a joint memorial service, presuming Randy to also be deceased.

Wanda remained suspicious of the officers who drove Randy home on the night of his disappearance. Her suspicions are rooted in seemingly conflicting details of the officers’ accounts of what happened that night. One of the officers, Jay Seifried, defended their decision to drop Randy off a distance from his home, saying, “The young man was to turn 18 in two weeks, it was not yet 10 p.m., and I felt there was absolutely no danger in releasing him in a familiar neighborhood.”

Yet, 20 years later, Robert Wehner, the other officer, said during a police interview that Seifried had hit Randy in the face at some point- this shocking new detail only further fueled suspicion that the officers may have been involved in Randy’s disappearance.

Detective Brian Jones, who took over Randy’s case in 2018, was not quick to rule out the possibility of police involvement. He stated in 2021 that any lead involving Kenton County Police officers is immediately forwarded to the Kentucky State Police to keep investigative efforts transparent.

Detective Jones refers to Randy’s disappearance as a missing persons case, which he will maintain until facts prove otherwise. He also indicated in 2021 that there was an additional theory, aside from drowning, murder, or police involvement, that he could not speak openly about at that time. Investigators are not ruling out any theories, and even with more than 45 years since Randy vanished, the case remains open, and the search for answers continues.

Legacy and Closing Thoughts

Randy Lee Sellers may have accidentally stumbled into a river and drowned. He may have been the victim of a serial killer known to target individuals in public parks and at rest stops. He may have been involved in some sort of incident with police officers that has been covered up for decades. Or, something else entirely may have happened to him. There is little information available about Randy’s case, and many unanswered questions remain.

Through it all, Randy’s parents never gave up hope in finding answers, even as the decades passed. Wanda Cotton went on to become a champion for missing children, organizing a conference that led to a national effort and legislation which eventually resulted in the establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Wanda was also a founding member of Kentucky’s Exploited Children Help Organization (ECHO) and trained to provide peer support to other parents facing similar circumstances.

In 1985, Wanda told a congressional subcommittee, “Since my son’s disappearance, I have made missing children my life.” Although Randy’s disappearance devastated his family in unspeakable ways, Wanda’s determination has made an impact on the lives of countless children throughout the country. Even if no answers are ever found in Randy’s case, his legacy will live on.

Sources:

Johnson, John. “New Wrinkles Emerge in Case of Teen Missing Since 1980.” https://www.newser.com/story/346195/new-wrinkles-emerge-in-case-of-teen-missing-since-1980.html

Schmidt, Jessica. “‘They’re Still Desperate for Answers:’ Search for Randy Sellers Continues Nearly 41 Years Later.” https://www.fox19.com/2021/07/29/theyre-still-desperate-answers-search-randy-sellers-continues-nearly-41-years-later/

The Surviving Parents Coalition: Wanda Cotton. http://www.spcoalition.org/cotton.html

“WCPO 9 Cincinnati.” WCPO 9 Cincinnati, 4 June 2019, https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/kenton-county/police-renew-search-for-randy-sellers-in-1980-missing-person-case

Weathers, William. “Tyran Cotton, Randy Sellers: Combined Service Set for Brothers Who Died 10 Years Apart.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 17 Apr. 1991. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-obituary-for-tyr/55706605/?locale=en-US

Background

Shanghai, China, is one of the most monitored cities on Earth. Millions of CCTV cameras observe every street, transport system, bar, home, restaurant, and public space, making violent crimes and public attacks very rare.

Yet, somehow, in a city that watches everyone, Darya Bulba, a 21-year-old Ukrainian model, vanished in Shanghai in August 2016 and has never been seen or heard from since.

Who was Darya Bulba?

Darya Bulba was born on September 25th, 1995, in Odesa, Ukraine. She was born into a tight-knit and supportive family with her parents and sister. Darya was creative and loved music so much that she sang and learned to play the guitar, but it seems her true passion was modeling, and it is modeling that she decided to pursue.

Besides being creative, Darya was also described as practical and responsible, and after high school, she studied at the Odessa College of Hotel Management whilst training to be a model, and was eventually able to turn modeling into a career.

Move to Shanghai

By her early twenties, Darya had travelled to several countries for modeling work, as opportunities were scarce at home. In 2016, she moved to China to work for a Shanghai-based modeling agency.

"Dasha went to Shanghai three times. Twice she had three-month contracts, and then she was lucky enough to sign a year-long one. She loved Shanghai, loved the exotic atmosphere. My sister even learned to speak Chinese and spoke perfect English. We talked almost every day. Dasha talked about her life and seemed pleased with everything," - Dasha's sister, Ekaterina Lishchinskaya

Although modeling was her passion, her life in Shanghai was somewhat modest; she shared living quarters with other models and lived paycheck to paycheck, but she always remained in touch with her family, frequently keeping them updated concerning her work and personal plans. Friends described Darya as warm, friendly, and sociable.

Disappearance

On Friday, August 5, 2016, a severe storm hit Shanghai, and Darya spoke with her mother, reassuring her that she was okay; Darya told her mother about her work plans, and how she would be travelling for a photoshoot over the coming weekend, and that she might be out of contact for a while due to the roaming charges.

Because of this, her family did not initially become concerned when they were unable to reach her the following day. However, when they were unable to make contact with her on Sunday, August 7, they began to worry.

When they contacted her roommates, one of them said she hadn't returned home, and, more disturbingly, it was revealed that Darya hadn’t left that weekend for work; instead, she had left to meet someone.

Hours turned into days of no contact, so her family contacted the Ukrainian consulate, which then alerted the local police.

One of the last confirmed sightings of Darya was in the early hours of August 6th. CCTV cameras recorded Darya walking near the Oriental Pearl Tower along the embankment between 5 and 6 a.m.

The cameras captured her lightly dancing as she walked, wearing a pink dress, carrying a black bag, and wearing headphones. Her demeanor seemed calm, even happy; she was then seen entering a short walkway - one of the few areas not covered by surveillance.

After that, she was never seen again.

Investigation

Darya's last online activity was on the morning of her disappearance, on her social media account, but after that, all digital traces stopped. Shanghai police confirmed that Darya had not left China, as trains and airports were checked; they also checked hospitals and even morgues, but Darya was nowhere to be found.

According to Darya’s relatives, the Shanghai police did not initially make an effort to investigate the disappearance. It was only when Darya’s father arrived in Shanghai and contacted Ukrainian diplomats, who issued a Note of Protest, that the Shanghai authorities began searching for her.

Darya’s father, after insistence from the Ukrainian diplomats, was allowed to view the CCTV footage of Darya's last movements. The CCTV apparently clearly showed Darya walking down the street and along the embankment, where she boarded a Shanghai public transport boat.

She is then seen departing the boat on the other side and walking towards her home. The next shot showed an empty street. Darya had found herself in one of the few blind spots, away from CCTV, and it was there that her trail stopped.

Theories

The authorities suggest that if Darya were alive, the millions of CCTV cameras (equipped with facial recognition technology) would have detected her, but no alerts or recognition were found. One theory was that Darya had accidentally drowned - this is mainly due to her behavior captured on CCTV before she disappeared.

Investigators theorized that Darya may have been under the influence, due to her dancing along the street, and the location, which was near a body of water. Police were aware of Darya and some substance issues, with some friends and colleagues confirming that she had struggled with these types of issues previously.

There were a few videos showing her being intoxicated, but her family rejected the idea that she was under the influence of anything that would have caused her to fall in the water and drown. Darya loved her life, and though modeling was a bit of a struggle financially, she loved her chosen career and was even awaiting payment for one of her modeling gigs.

Divers searched nearby waterways, but nothing was found, not a body, not an item of clothing, or any of her personal belongings - her sister acknowledged that if Darya did fall into the water and drown, something would have surfaced to prove this theory, but nothing ever did.

There have been several theories as to why Darya disappeared, and many people who have followed the case believe she was kidnapped; Shanghai does have a history of human trafficking, which has fueled speculation that she may have been abducted and forced into exploitation.

Darya is said to have been spotted in a nightclub a few months after her disappearance by a fellow model, according to online sources - it’s claimed that the woman (thought to be Darya) appeared disorientated before being quickly escorted away by two men, however there is no evidence that this was a confirmed sighting, and the police did not pursue or verify the claim.

Mysterious Caller

In the days leading up to her disappearance, Darya’s phone records showed regular calls from an unknown number. Friend and roommate Alexandra Morozova told police that an unknown person had repeatedly called and arranged meetings with Darya at a hotel, but never showed up.

Online speculation has named some supposed acquaintances and possible romantic partners, but none of these claims, or the people involved, have ever been confirmed by the police, nor has any specific individual been identified as a suspect.

The same online speculation references CCTV clips of Darya in a hotel lobby before she disappeared, but no mainstream news outlets or official investigators have ever confirmed that this footage exists - the only verified footage is from the cameras that show Darya walking along the embankment before entering a blind spot.

Darya, who was tall and slender with long brown hair, had many admirers, according to her family, but she didn't have a boyfriend due to her desire to be independent. According to one theory, a former boyfriend may have called her the night before her disappearance on August 5th, but the police didn’t attempt to verify the area or the phone number from which the call came.

According to one online source that cites Darya’s sister, she believed whoever was calling Darya to meet up at the hotel was actually doing so in order to see how long it would take her to arrive at a certain place, perhaps the place where no CCTV was available - but this person has never been identified, nor the theory confirmed.

Where is Darya?

The vanishing of their daughter prompted Darya’s parents to travel to Shanghai to push for answers, but despite the cooperation between Chinese authorities and the Ukrainian embassy, more questions than answers remained. A decade later, and still no one - not friends, family, or investigators knows if Darya is alive or dead.

To this day, what happened to Darya Bulba remains a mystery.

Sources:

“Where Is Daria? Ukrainian Model Vanished Without A Trace In Shanghai.” Evil Is Near, Uploaded 18 October 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meoEeB5sZfQ

Yu, Ran. “Report of missing model investigated.” China Daily, 16 August 2016, https://covid-19.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-08/16/content_26488094.htm

”A Ukrainian model has disappeared under strange circumstances in Shanghai.” Info Resist, 27 December 2016, https://inforesist.org/v-shanhae-pri-strannyih-obstoyatelstvah-propala-ukrainskaya-model/

Glacheva, Galina. “Who is Daria Bulba, who disappeared in broad daylight in Shanghai?”16 June 2023, https://lady.mail.ru/article/527222-darya-bulba/

Background

On July 1, 1874, Four-year-old Charley Ross and his six-year-old brother, Walter, went out to play in the front yard of their home in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Two men approached in a buggy and offered to take the boys to buy firecrackers and candy. An hour later, Charley Ross vanished forever. To this date, Charley’s fate remains unknown and is one of the most famous disappearances in U.S. history.

Abduction of Charley Ross

In 1874, the Christian K. Ross family lived on East Washington Lane in Germantown, a wealthy section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Ross and his wife had seven children, including Walter, aged six, and his younger brother Charley, aged four. The two brothers were constant companions and often played together in the front yard of their spacious home.

On June 27, as the boys played outside, two men in a buggy pulled up to talk to them. They asked the boys if they liked candy. Both Walter and Charley said they loved candy.

The men offered them some, talked a little more, and then left. Over the next few days, the men returned, gave the boys a treat, and talked in a friendly fashion. Walter and Charley began to look forward to the men’s visit. They were no longer “strangers” offering candy, but trusted friends.

On the morning of July 1st, Charley and Walter were playing outside. The boys were eagerly awaiting the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. To their delight, their friends in the buggy stopped to talk.

They offered to take the boys to a nearby store to buy candy and firecrackers. Walter and Charley climbed into the buggy. The men drove to a neighborhood store, where one of them gave Walter twenty-five cents to go inside and buy firecrackers.

A few minutes after making his purchase, Walter walked outside. To his shock, the carriage, with Charley inside, was gone. Frightened, Walter ran to a stranger for help. The man took him home to share the terrible news with his family.

Christian Ross was beside himself. He couldn’t understand why someone would take his son. Although he owned a dry goods store and people might have assumed he was a wealthy man, that was not the case. The truth was, Mr. Ross had lost almost all his money in the stock market crash of 1873. He had no money to pay a ransom.

Over the next few days, people offered several theories about Charley’s abduction. One suggested that Mr. Ross himself had arranged the kidnapping for notoriety, although no one could say exactly why he would do such a thing. Christian Ross did his best to keep the tragic event from his wife, who was recuperating from an illness in Atlantic City. She would later learn the tragic tale when her husband began advertising in newspapers for the safe return of their son.

Another theory put forward seemed equally unlikely: gypsies had stolen the child. Walter Ross, who was old enough to describe the men, put this theory to rest by saying the men were not gypsies. Others thought a relative might have taken Charley to play a “joke” or to “gift a childless couple with a son.”

Ransom Notes

Two days later, on July 3, the first ransom note arrived. The first few ransom notes were mailed from post offices in Philadelphia and nearby towns. Each one was written in a semi-literate style, with many spelling errors and coarse language. The first note read as follows:

July 3 – Mr. Ros be not uneasy you son charly be all writ we is got him and no powers on earth can deliver out of our hand. You will hav two pay us before you git him from us and pay us a big cent to. If you put the cops hunting for him you is only deefeting you own end.

The note told Mr. Ross he would be hearing from them in a few days. On July 7, he received a ransom demand for $20,000 (roughly $400,000 in today’s money). Even though the notes cautioned against going to the police, Mr. Ross had no choice. He didn’t have the ability to pay any of the ransom on his own. Someone had Charley, and he needed help finding him.

Over the next several months, Mr. Ross received twenty-three letters, assuring the family that Charley would be safe if their demands were met. Mr. Ross was instructed to put personal ads in the Philadelphia Ledger to respond to the kidnapper’s demands. Unable to raise the money, he kept trying to stall the kidnappers.

On July 22, after days of excruciating fear, Mr. Ross finally agreed to meet the kidnapper’s demands. On July 30, the kidnappers told Mr. Ross to paint a valise white, put the $20,000 inside, and take a certain train to New York. If he saw a given signal, he was to drop the valise on the tracks. Although he did as instructed, he saw no signal. The kidnappers later accused him of not taking the train.

On another occasion, Ross posted an ad requesting a simultaneous exchange of money for Charley. His request was denied.

Response

Unable to raise the money on his own, Mr. Ross made the decision to seek help from the Philadelphia police. The police began an intensive search for the missing boy. They found witnesses who had seen both boys in a buggy and watched Walter enter the store alone. However, no one had seen the buggy leave or knew what direction it had gone.

In their efforts to find Charley, the police set aside any lawful considerations in their search of private property. They scoured the city, continuing even when people grew angry and didn’t want them to search. This resulted in the police finding and recovering plenty of stolen merchandise. Several criminals were arrested and jailed, but there was still no sign of Charley.

Other wealthy families began to keep their children shut inside, fearful of becoming victim to a similar crime. The case soon became national news and received widespread media coverage from coast to coast.

Several other agencies—such as Pinkertons—were also on the lookout for Charley. Even Barnum, of Barnum and Bailey Circus fame, offered to help find the kidnappers. He had only one condition: If he found the boy, Mr. Ross must allow Charley to travel with the famous circus as a sideshow attraction.

Although Mr. Ross agreed, even the widespread abilities of the great Barnum could find no leads to the kidnapped little boy.

A Suspect Emerges

It wasn’t until August 2 that there was a break in the case. Chief of Police George Walling of New York asked to see one of the original ransom notes. He had been involved in a similar case when someone tried to kidnap one of the Vanderbilt children. The handwriting appeared to resemble that of a man named William Mosher, a fugitive convict.

The Pinkertons tried their best to find Mosher, and although they had several leads, they weren’t able to pin him down. The trail went cold until November 22, when Mr. Ross received the final note from the kidnappers.

He was instructed to take a room at a hotel in New York. He was to bring the money, and someone would come to his room to pick it up. The kidnappers insisted that the person picking up the money would have no involvement with the crime, so there would be no use in following him. Once the kidnappers had the money, Charley would be released. However, no one showed up. Mr. Ross went home with the money, but without Charley.

Then, on December 14, 1874, a large unoccupied summer home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, belonging to Judge Charles Van Brunt, was broken into. Unbeknownst to the would-be robbers, the home had a burglar alarm connected to the home next door, which belonged to Charles’ brother, Holmes Van Brunt.

When Holmes heard the alarm bells ringing, he at first believed the wind might have blown a window open, triggering the alarm. He sent his son Albert to investigate. As Albert proceeded towards his uncle’s mansion, he saw movement from inside. He quickly returned and alerted his father.

Holmes, Albert, and two of their hired men quickly armed themselves and made their way next door. Albert and one man stood guard at the front door, while Holmes VanBrunt and the other man went to the rear. Shortly afterward, two men came out of the cellar. Holmes VanBrunt yelled, “Halt!” Suddenly, the men fired at him and his hired man. Holmes fired back, injuring one of the men.

The second burglar fled and ran around to the front of the house. Albert, alerted to the danger by his father, fired. The burglar returned fire, and Albert shot him in the chest and killed him. At the rear door, Holmes and the hired hand were also in a gun battle. The second burglar seemed determined not to go down without a fight.

A Startling Confession

The burglar was hit multiple times, and as he lay dying, he made a startling confession. He confessed to Holmes that his name was Joseph Douglas. The other man with him was William Mosher. “We kidnapped a boy named Charley Ross for the money,” he said. Holmes had read the newspapers and was familiar with the case. He asked the obvious question. “Where is Charley?”

Douglas said that only Mosher knew the boy’s whereabouts. No one else. When the men told him Mosher was dead, Douglas demanded to see the body. Albert and the hired man dragged William Mosher’s body to the backyard.

Douglas insisted that with Mosher dead, Charley would be returned safely within a few days. He asked the men to see that he was buried with the last $40 in his pockets, money he had earned legitimately. Minutes after his confession, Douglas died.

Young Walter Ross, Charley’s brother, was taken to identify the bodies. He positively stated these were the “friends” who had taken them for a ride in the buggy. Walter especially remembered the “monkey nose” of Mosher, who had a cancer-related deformity.

Other witnesses also identified them as the men in the buggy on that fateful day. Mosher’s wife, when questioned by police, said she knew her husband had kidnapped Charley but did not know where he had taken the boy or even if he was still alive.

The kidnappers had been identified, but Charley was still missing.

Aftermath

In an effort to reunite Charley Ross with his family—if he was still alive— on February 25, 1875, the Pennsylvania legislature added a special provision to the law defining kidnapping. If anyone currently had a kidnapped child within their care, they would not be prosecuted if they returned the child to a sheriff or magistrate by March 25, 1875.

Mr. Ross also offered a $5,000 reward for information. The reward was never claimed, and despite the case's high profile, Charley was never returned.

A former Philadelphia policeman, William Westervelt, was later arrested and held in connection with the case. He had been a friend and confidant of William Mosher. Hoping to find Charley, police charged Westervelt in 1875 and tried him for kidnapping.

However, the police found no evidence linking him to Charley’s disappearance. Charley’s brother, Walter, insisted he had never seen Westervelt in the buggy or anywhere near their “friends.” Westervelt was found not guilty of kidnapping but charged with a lesser crime of conspiracy. He served six years in prison and always maintained his innocence.

Two years after Charley’s kidnapping, Christian Ross published a book, The Father’s Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child. He hoped to raise money to continue the search for Charley. In 1878, to renew interest in Charley’s fate, Mr. Ross reprinted his book and gave lectures in Boston.

Until Christian’s death in 1897 and his wife's death in 1912, the couple continued to search for Charley. Through the years, they interviewed over 570 boys and—eventually—men who claimed to be Charley. All were impostors. The Rosses printed posters, followed every lead, and spent over $60,000 to find Charley.

The 50th anniversary of Charley’s kidnapping in 1924 brought a new crop of newspaper stories. Walter, then an adult, said he and his sisters still received letters from men who claimed to be their long-lost brother.

In 1939, a court in Arizona declared a man named Gustave Blair to be the real Charley Ross. The remaining members of the Ross family refused to acknowledge him, and in the era before DNA, it was impossible to definitively prove or disprove the claim.

Despite the sad ending to Charley’s story, his kidnapping became national news, with thousands of people invested in the outcome. This case had a profound impact on how kidnapping cases are handled to this day. Charley Ross was never found, but his memory lives on.

Sources:

23 letters: A Child Lost Forever. (n.d.). Pennsylvania Center for the Book. https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/feature-articles/23-letters-child-lost-forever

Duke, Thomas. “The Kidnapping of Little Charley Ross 1874.” HistoricalCrimeDetective.com. (n.d.). https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/the-kidnapping-charley-ross-

Thomas, Heather. “The Kidnapping of Little Charley Ross.” Headlines & Heroes, 23 April 2013, The Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/04/the-kidnapping-of-little-charley-ross/

In May 2023, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced a major update in the case of Madison “Maddy” Scott, a 20-year-old woman from Vanderhoof, British Columbia, who had disappeared in 2011 while camping at Hogsback Lake, just outside Vanderhoof.

The announcement confirmed that human remains discovered on a property several kilometers from Hogsback Lake were identified as Scott’s. Although details about the discovery were limited due to the ongoing investigation, it is the first significant breakthrough in the case since Scott’s disappearance.

Madison Scott

Madison Scott, known as ‘Maddy’ to her friends, was born on April 29th, 1991. Maddy, her parents, Eldon and Dawn Scott, and siblings, Ben and Georgia, lived in Vanderhoof, British Columbia.

Maddy graduated from Nechako Valley Secondary School in 2009 and began working as an apprentice alongside her father, a heavy-duty mechanic at the family logging company. Described as social, outgoing, and energetic, Maddy loved being around people, riding dirt bikes, horseback riding, and spending time outdoors.

The town of Vanderhoof is quiet, surrounded by vast stretches of wilderness, which suited Maddy’s outdoor activities. However, just outside the town lies Highway 16, also known as The Highway of Tears. The 450km stretch of road has been given this name due to the staggering number of murders and disappearances that have taken place along that route since the 1970s.

Vanderhoof and The highway of Tears have been tragically linked due to numerous murders and disappearances thought to be connected with Highway 16, a long, desolate, and isolated area.

Party at Hogsback Lake

On Friday, May 27, 2011, Maddy and her friend, Jordi Bolduc, headed to Hogsback Lake, just outside Vanderhoof, British Columbia. The pair were attending a birthday party and had decided to camp at the lake so they could enjoy the night without having to drive home that night.

The lake has long been a spot for families during the day, with younger crowds gathering at night for parties, and that night was no different: around 50 people had also arrived with their camping gear, most of them locals between 18 and 25.

Madison and Jordi began to set up their tents when Madison realized she had forgotten some items, such as tent poles, and drove back home to collect them. The drive home was only 25km, and when she arrived, she briefly spoke with her mother. This would be the last time her family would ever see her.

At around 8:30 p.m., Maddy returned to Hogsback Lake with the items, set up her tent, and began to settle in. People continued to arrive at the lake for the party, whilst others began drinking. Around midnight, a fight at the party broke out, prompting many guests to leave. Maddy sent her dad a few text messages between 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., reassuring him she was safe and well.

At 1:30 a.m., Jordi decided to leave with her boyfriend and entered Maddy’s tent to ask if she wanted to leave as well. Maddy apparently didn’t want to leave her truck and tent behind; it is said that several other people offered Maddy a ride home, but she declined.

Eventually, even the party organizers left, leaving Maddy alone at the lake, though it is not clear if Maddy was aware of this at the time. The last confirmed sighting of Maddy was in her tent at around 2:45 a.m., and she was described as coherent and not intoxicated.

Disappearance

The next morning, around 8:30 a.m., Jordi returned to the lake to collect the belongings she had left behind before setting off for work. When she arrived, she noticed Maddy’s tent and truck nearby. The tent flap was open, and inside her sleeping bag had been pushed aside, but nothing else seemed to be disturbed.

Assuming Maddy had wandered off somewhere, Jordi left the campsite and went to work. Later that morning, other partygoers returned to clean up and also noticed Maddy’s tent and truck, but saw no sign of Maddy.

That evening, another party took place, one much larger than the first, that drew around 150 people, and conflicting witness statements say Maddy was seen at the party, though others, like her sister, say she wasn’t there.

Worry began to set in when Maddy did not respond to messages or calls, and her phone eventually ran out of battery. On May 29th, after two days without hearing from their daughter, Maddy’s parents headed out to the lake. Upon arriving at the lake, Eldon and Dawn found Maddy’s truck, which was unlocked and packed with her belongings; her tent was still at the site, only now it had been flattened.

Several of her belongings were still in the tent; however, her phone, truck keys, and the clothes she had been wearing that night were all missing. Eldon and Dawn searched the campsite, asking attendees if anyone had seen Maddy, but no one had.

On May 29th, Maddy’s parents filed a missing persons report with the police.

Search for Answers

The Scott family was well known in Vanderhoof, and Maddy was not someone who would disappear without first telling someone, so the police took the report seriously. The search began around Hogsback Lake, but there were no signs of a struggle in or around the tent, and witnesses reported nothing unusual about the night in question, noting that Maddy was acting normal and not intoxicated.

The search for Madison Scott became one of the most extensive searches for a missing person in British Columbia’s history, employing cadaver dogs, search teams, dive teams with infrared cameras, boats, helicopters, police horses, and scores of volunteers who scoured the forest.

Months and eventually years passed with investigators pursuing every lead. Partygoers were interviewed, with some taking polygraph tests. All tips were followed up on. Posters, billboards, websites, and social media campaigns helped to keep Maddy’s case in the media and public eye. Her family, along with the community, helped to organize fundraisers and annual events to keep her in the forefront of everyone's minds.

However, there were no real clues for investigators to follow; leads turned into dead ends; there were no viable suspects, material evidence, or even any real sightings. There have been many theories about what may have happened to Maddy, with police confirming that they believe foul play was involved.

A Grim Discovery

Twelve years after Maddy vanished, in May 2023, human remains were discovered on a rural property several kilometers from Hogback Lake. The remains were analyzed, and a coroner confirmed they belonged to Madison Scott.

The discovery, although painful, was a significant development in the case, and a search warrant at the property was granted. The family released a statement expressing a mixture of relief, but also a need for answers, and urged anyone with any information to come forward, offering a reward of $100,000 for any information leading to an arrest. As of 2025, the investigation is active and ongoing.

The investigation, as it remains open and active, is unable to divulge certain information to the public, as it may hinder the investigative efforts, so not much is known about the remains, such as how they were found or if a cause of death has been determined. We will continue to follow and update the case as information is made available.

Sources:

Judd, Amy. “B.C. woman’s family finds ‘some relief’ as remains found 12 years after disappearance.” Global News, 31 May 2023, https://globalnews.ca/news/9736286/madison-scott-family-statement/

“The Vanishing of Madison Scott.” faithlovehope findmaddy, Uploaded 8 January 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn0ROcjh7ys

“The Disappearance of Madison Scott | UNRESOLVED.” Dark Curiosities, Uploaded 6 June 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou3wt_ImUcA

“Missing Teen was HUNTED in the Canadian Woods.” That Chapter, Uploaded 1 March 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMU0AItmefI

Background

At just 18 years old, Tammy Lynn Leppert had beauty crowns, movie roles, and big dreams. But on a summer day in 1983, she disappeared near Cocoa Beach, Florida, leaving behind no evidence and no clear explanation. Over the years, her case has been linked to serial killers, psychological breakdowns, and dangerous secrets. Decades later, the truth behind her disappearance is still waiting to be uncovered.

Tammy Lynn Leppert

Tammy Lynn Leppert was born on February 5, 1965, in Rockledge, Florida, a quiet town along the state’s Space Coast. From a very young age, she carried herself with a confidence and poise that was rare in someone so young. By age four, Tammy began competing in beauty pageants, encouraged by her mother, Linda Curtis, who worked as her theatrical and modeling agent.

As a teen, she had competed in hundreds of pageants, winning about 280 crowns. She became a familiar face in pageant circles across Florida and beyond, known for her confidence and camera-ready smile.

Her success in pageants naturally flowed into modeling. In October 1978, one of her photos appeared on the cover of CoverGirl magazine. This was such a rare achievement for someone so young. By her mid-teens, Tammy’s dream was to be seen and heard by a larger audience, so she began moving toward acting.

Acting Career

Her first taste of Hollywood came in 1980, when she got a small part in Little Darlings, a teen comedy-drama where she blended into an energetic crowd of young actors. It wasn’t a starring role, but it was a foot in the door.

In 1983, she landed small parts in two films: Spring Break, a light-hearted comedy in which she appeared briefly as one of the young people in a boxing scene, and her most notable role as the bikini-clad distraction in the crime drama Scarface, starring Al Pacino.

Tammy told her friends and family she planned to leave Florida for Hollywood to pursue her acting career.

Change in Behavior

In 1983, shortly after she had wrapped filming for Spring Break, Tammy attended a weekend party in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She went to the party alone. When she returned home, her mother noticed immediately that something was wrong. Tammy was shaken, quiet, and visibly frightened.

She would not say exactly what she had seen or experienced, only that something terrible had happened. According to her family, she repeatedly said she had seen something she “wasn’t supposed to see.” When someone asked how her weekend was, she often changed the subject or gave a half-hearted joke before quickly turning away. From that moment on, Tammy believed her life was in danger.

As June 1983 progressed, Tammy’s fear grew worse, and she became deeply paranoid. She became convinced that someone was out to poison her food or drink. She refused to eat from open containers, sometimes asking friends to taste food first just to make sure it wasn’t tainted. She avoided answering the phone or letting others handle it for her. She began keeping to herself, spending long stretches of time alone in her room.

During the filming of Scarface, Tammy had a moment that unnerved everyone who witnessed it. On the fourth day of shooting, in a scene where a character was shot and fake blood splattered, Tammy reportedly began to cry uncontrollably, overwhelmed by what she was seeing. The cast and crew had no choice but to escort her away from the set into a trailer, where she was described as extremely frightened and anxious. Her role in the film ended there, and she packed up and went home.

Then came the violent outburst that shocked even those closest to her. On July 1, 1983, she grabbed a baseball bat and smashed the front window of her home. Her behavior was so alarming that her mother feared Tammy might hurt herself or someone else. With no other options, Linda Curtis had her daughter admitted to the Brevard County Mental Health Center for a psychological evaluation.

For 72 hours, doctors observed Tammy, ran tests, and interviewed her. But despite the strange and troubling behavior, there were no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system, and doctors found nothing physically wrong that could explain what was happening to her. She was described as emotionally distressed but not legally considered a danger. After three days, she was released back to her family.

Disappearance

On the morning of July 6, 1983, Tammy Lynn Leppert woke up in her family home in Rockledge, Florida, just days after being released from a mental health facility. Though her fear had not disappeared, she seemed calmer than she had been in the days before. To her mother, it looked like Tammy might finally be finding her footing again.

That morning, Tammy told her mother she was going out and would be back. She left sometime after 11:00 a.m., climbing into the car of her friend, Keith Roberts, who had driven out from Lakeland to pick her up for a short drive to the beach.

They drove south toward Cocoa Beach. According to Roberts’ statement to the police, the two of them argued in the car. The exact reason for the fight has never been fully explained, but since Tammy was already on edge in those days, it likely didn’t take much for tension to rise. Eventually, Tammy demanded to be let out of the car.

Roberts told investigators he dropped Tammy off in a parking lot near the old Glass Bank building in Cocoa Beach after the argument and drove away. That became the last confirmed sighting the police could document.

People who remember that day say they saw her walking barefoot along the road. She walked away from the car and toward the stretch of Florida State Road A1A that hugs the beach, vanished into the crowd, and was never seen again. Tammy Lynn Leppert was 18 years old when she disappeared.

Investigation

When Tammy didn’t come home on July 6, 1983, her family knew something was wrong. Tammy had been frightened in the weeks leading up to that day, so her mother felt the danger immediately. By that evening, the family contacted the authorities in the Cocoa Beach Police Department, and a missing persons report was filed.

At first, the police treated Tammy’s disappearance as a possible runaway case. Missing persons investigations often begin by asking whether someone might have left on their own, and in Tammy’s case, officers considered that possibility.

Tammy’s mother, Linda, however, believed Tammy would never just leave without contacting her. She also told police that her daughter had been afraid of the male friend who had picked her up that morning. Officers questioned Roberts, and while his account raised questions, there was not enough evidence at the time to hold him or charge him with any crime.

Not long after Tammy vanished, detectives began receiving strange phone calls. Cocoa Beach Detective Harold Lewis got calls from a woman who claimed that Tammy was still alive. In the first call, the woman said Tammy would reach out when the time was right. During the second call, she said Tammy was fulfilling her dream of going to nursing school somewhere out of state.

These calls troubled investigators as they offered no way to verify the caller or her claims. Police traced what they could, but the calls either led nowhere or came from pay phones, which were common in the 1980s and nearly impossible to trace accurately.

Investigators later stated they believed the calls were crank calls or cruel hoaxes. However, they could never completely rule out the possibility that someone was trying to mislead the family or law enforcement.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), The Doe Network, and other agencies created age-progressed images showing what Tammy might look like years after her disappearance. Those images were shared through law enforcement agencies and missing persons organizations.

Possible Suspects and Theories

One of the earliest and most unsettling theories involved serial killers active in Florida during the early 1980s. At that time, it sparked early speculation that she might have encountered one of them.

One of the first names mentioned was Christopher Wilder, a serial killer later known as the “Beauty Queen Killer.” Wilder was known for luring young women with promises of modeling opportunities. This made some people wonder whether he and Tammy could have crossed paths, as he often gained victims’ trust by pretending to be a photographer or talent scout. Her family even filed a lawsuit against Wilder’s estate in connection with her disappearance, hoping it might force out information.

However, that lawsuit was later dropped, and police never found any evidence directly linking him to Tammy’s case. Wilder himself was later killed in a shootout with police in 1984.

Another figure who drew attention was John Brennan Crutchley, sometimes called the Vampire Rapist. Crutchley was active in Florida around the same time and was convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault. While he was considered a person of interest in several unsolved cases, police again found no proof connecting him to Tammy. By the mid-1980s, both men were effectively ruled out as suspects.

Another theory focuses not on an attacker, but on Tammy’s state of mind in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. By late June and early July 1983, Tammy had clearly been struggling. She was fearful, paranoid, and convinced someone was trying to harm her. She had just been released from a 72-hour mental health evaluation only days before she vanished. Because of this, some investigators believed Tammy may have experienced a psychological break and left on her own.

However, this idea has always been difficult for her family to accept. Tammy left behind her purse, money, identification, and never contacted anyone she loved, something those closest to her say she would never do willingly.

The troubling theory Tammy’s mother most strongly believed is that Tammy may have learned or witnessed something she wasn’t supposed to see at the party she attended in 1983. According to Linda, Tammy had once told her that a friend had boasted about a large-scale drug-money laundering operation in Brevard County, involving people with power and influence in the community.

Linda believed this knowledge placed Tammy in danger and that her fear was based on something real rather than imagined. She later claimed Tammy even tried to make a police report about what she knew, although there is no official record of such a report.

Media Coverage and Public Interest

As the years passed with no answers, Tammy Lynn Leppert’s disappearance refused to fade away. Instead, it found a second life in the media, moving from police files to television screens, newspapers, and eventually the internet.

Her case was featured on the popular television show Unsolved Mysteries, which aired throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. The program was known for bringing national attention to cold cases, and Tammy’s story fit its format perfectly.

Local and regional Florida news outlets also revisited the case over the years. Anniversaries of her disappearance, especially the 10th anniversary in 1993, the 25th anniversary in 2008, and the 40th anniversary in 2023, often brought renewed coverage.

By the early 2000s, her disappearance was being discussed on forums, blogs, and later on social media platforms. True-crime communities on websites like Reddit, dedicated cold-case blogs, and YouTube channels began revisiting her story in detail. These discussions didn’t solve the case, but they kept it active to ensure Tammy wasn’t forgotten in a system crowded with thousands of missing-person files.

Current Status

More than four decades have passed since Tammy Lynn Leppert vanished on July 6, 1983, and her case remains officially unsolved. As of 2025, there has been no confirmed sighting of Tammy, no discovery of remains linked to her, and no arrest connected to her disappearance.

Law enforcement agencies in Florida, including the Cocoa Beach Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, still list Tammy as a missing person. Her case is also maintained in national databases such as The Charley Project, The Doe Network, and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

These listings ensure that Tammy’s information remains accessible to investigators, medical examiners, and the public if new evidence surfaces. To this day, her case remains open, and until the truth is known, her story remains unfinished.

Sources:

Lamoureux, Aimee. “The Chilling Disappearance of Tammy Lynn Leppert, the 18-Year-Old Beauty Queen Who Vanished in 1983.” All That’s Interesting, All That’s Interesting, 10 Feb. 2025, https://allthatsinteresting.com/tammy-lynn-leppert

Christopher, Wilder. “Tammy Lynn Leppert.” The Charley Project, 2019, https://charleyproject.org/case/tammy-lynn-leppert

Background

For the Walker family of Nashville, Tennessee, tragedy struck twice. In November 1999, Laresha Walker left her home and was never seen again. In October 2016, Laresha’s mother, Wanda, also disappeared while on her way to work.

Both cases remain unsolved, despite searches, flyers, news reports, and years of seeking answers.

Laresha Walker

Laresha Deana Walker was born on January 2, 1976, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time of her disappearance, in late 1999, she was a 23-year-old young mother.

At the time she vanished, she was working through a temporary agency (the Nashville Career Advancement Center), at a company called Peterbilt Motor. She had recently moved into a small duplex on Edwards Avenue in Nashville, where she hoped to build a better life for herself and her son.

Her family described her as responsible, protective of her son, and someone who took her obligations seriously.

1999 Disappearance

On November 19, 1999, Laresha Deana Walker dropped her two-year-old son at her sister’s house in Nashville and told her family she planned to have her car appraised the next morning in Murfreesboro.

That night, Laresha phoned her father between about 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. for a routine call. Around 10:00 p.m., a neighbor reported hearing Laresha arguing with an unidentified man outside her duplex. It is unknown who that man was or what the argument was about.

When Laresha didn’t show up the next day, her sister went to check on her and found the apartment in a state that didn’t make sense. The lights were on, the music was still playing, and the clothes she had been wearing the night before were still there, along with her purse and other personal items, including her heart medicine.

However, one item that was noticeably missing was her 1995 maroon Oldsmobile Achieva. The same car she was going to have appraised. When hours became days, and her family had still not heard from Laresha, they reported her missing, and the Metro Nashville Police opened a missing-person case.

Investigation

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood, talked to neighbors, and collected the little physical evidence they could find. They started taking tips from anyone who might have seen Laresha or her maroon 1995 Oldsmobile Achieva.

The combination of a missing car and a missing person made investigators treat the case seriously. It led to flyers, public notices, and entries in national missing-person databases such as NamUs. Despite this, there was little to go on.

The reported argument that Laresha had with an unidentified man on the night of her disappearance was of interest to investigators; however, without a name or description, there was little to follow up on.

As weeks turned into months and then years, the case went cold. The missing car was never found. There were no arrests, no confirmed sightings, and no new physical evidence that pointed to a suspect.

Wanda Walker

Laresha’s mother, Wanda Faye Walker, was born on June 24, 1956, and at the time of her disappearance in 2016, she was 60 years old. In 2016, Wanda lived on the 1400 block of 11th Avenue South, Nashville, with a cousin. She had a part-time job at a local Dollar Tree. Family and friends remember her as someone grounded, caring, and dependable.

2016 Disappearance

On October 4, 2016, Wanda left for work. That morning, she ran into car trouble. According to reports, her car, a silver Nissan Maxima, had overheated somewhere near Wedgewood Avenue, close to a railroad trestle.

She called her boyfriend for help. He came over, added oil, and checked under the hood till he got the car running again. After that, the two parted ways as Wanda planned to head to work once the car cooled off. That was reportedly the last time Wanda was ever seen.

Wanda never made it to work, and when she failed to show up for her next shift, it was clear that something was wrong. Friends tried calling her phone, stopping by the house, and asking around about her, but there was no sign of her. After three days with no contact or sign of Wanda, her family filed a missing-person report.

Investigation

Roughly a week later, on October 13, 2016, Wanda’s car was found abandoned in an alley in the 1000 block of Wade Avenue. That location was only a few blocks from her home. The car was locked, but inside were many of her personal belongings.

Investigators also found a “significant amount” of blood on the back seat. Forensics later confirmed that the blood belonged to Wanda. As there were signs of a struggle, the police believe Wanda may have had a physical confrontation with someone she knew.

Additionally, some plant material, specifically a type of flowering shrubbery known as privet, was found inside the car, which was unusual. Because of these findings, foul play was strongly suspected.

The disappearance quickly became a missing-person and possible homicide investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Missing Persons unit. The FBI joined the search effort, and crime scene investigators carefully processed the vehicle.

Investigators interviewed neighbors, family, coworkers, and the boyfriend who had helped her that morning. None of these interviews led to a suspect. Community groups and local news stations picked up the story, holding interviews with family members who asked the public for help. Weeks became months, and months turned into years. Despite the public appeals, no suspect was ever identified or charged.

Speculation and Theories

The mystery surrounding the disappearances of Laresha and Wanda Walker has led to speculation and several theories as to what may have happened. These are some of the more commonly discussed theories.

Foul Play by Different Individuals - One of the more common and likely theories is that the disappearances of Laresha and Wanda Walker were committed by different, unrelated individuals. The fact that Laresha’s vehicle was never recovered gives weight to the idea that someone may have taken her car deliberately to hide evidence or transport her.

While Wanda’s car was found locked and abandoned in an alley, with her personal belongings inside and a significant amount of blood in the back seat, police publicly stated they believe foul play is likely in Wanda’s disappearance.

Because of the significant time between the disappearances, it is likely that the two disappearances were carried out by unrelated people, for unrelated motives.

A Connection Between the Cases - Despite the differences, there are also reasons why the public and even investigators have wondered if the cases might be connected. First, there is a Family link. It is extremely rare for a mother and daughter to both go missing in separate events, years apart, in the same city.

The women lived in Nashville, and both disappearances occurred within a few miles of each other. In both cases, they disappeared suddenly without explanation and any confirmed sightings afterward.

However, this theory has no official confirmation. While the MNPD has never officially stated the cases are connected, they have said they cannot rule it out.

Unknown Threats Within Their Personal Circles - Another theory speculates that both women may have been threatened or harmed by someone within their personal lives. This could be someone the family might not have fully known about, or someone who stayed under the radar.

Over the years, some family or community members have speculated that there may have been “unsavory characters,” unresolved disputes, or even unpaid debts or personal problems associated with the family.

This theory has no confirmed evidence, but it remains one of the most commonly discussed possibilities among detectives and community members familiar with the cases.

Crimes of Opportunity - Another possibility is that both disappearances might have resulted from random, tragic events, where Laresha and Wanda ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wrong-place/wrong-time cases are sadly common in missing persons or violent crime stories, and this theory reflects the possibility that neither disappearance was planned or connected, just tragic.

Recent Developments

In 2021, Metro Nashville Police and the FBI held a joint press conference urging the public to help solve Laresha and Wanda’s disappearances. They offered a reward of up to US $11,000 (with an added FBI incentive) for information leading to a conviction. Family members stood beside detectives, holding framed pictures of them and wearing shirts with their faces printed on them.

News stations reported the event widely. News Channel 5 Nashville interviewed the family on October 5, 2021. CBS News aired a segment showing the blood found in Wanda’s car and the theory that she was harmed by someone she knew.

In 2023, community volunteers and family members organized another physical search after receiving a possible tip. Relatives joined the search despite knowing that what they might find could be painful.

As of today, Laresha’s 1999 disappearance and Wanda’s 2016 disappearance are still listed as open missing-person investigations with Metro Nashville Police. Neither woman has ever been found, and no arrests have ever been made in connection with their cases.

Sources:

Roppolo, Michael. “Nashville Police and FBI Push to Solve Case of Missing Grandmother Wanda Faye Walker.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wanda-faye-walker-missing-nashville-grandmother-police-fbi-search/

“Laresha Deana Walker.” The Charley Project, 2024,https://charleyproject.org/case/laresha-deana-walker

“24 Years after Nashville Mother Disappeared, Her Family Waits for Answers.” News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF), News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF), 21 Nov. 2023, https://www.newschannel5.com/news/24-years-after-nashville-mother-disappeared-her-family-waits-for-answers

Johnson, Constance. “Search Continues for Missing Nashville Grandmother, Five Years after Her Disappearance.” Oxygen, Oxygen, 20 Dec. 2023, https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/fbi-nashville-police-continue-search-for-wanda-faye-walker

Background

On Halloween night 2001, Korean-American college student Cindy Song was partying with friends at a nightclub near the campus of Penn State University. In the early morning hours, Cindy returned home to her apartment. After that, she was never seen again.

Over the years and decades, there have been theories and speculation as to what happened to Cindy. However, none of them has ever proved conclusive. To this day, the disappearance of Cindy Song remains a strange and haunting mystery.

Cindy Song

Cindy Song or Hyun-Jong Song was born on February 25, 1980, in Seoul, South Korea, to a loving family that recognized her potential from an early age. Not only was she academically gifted, but she also had an affinity for sports.

Also, according to her mother, Cindy was fascinated by the United States, and from an early age she studied American culture. It was due to this affinity for the United States that, in 1995, a teenage Cindy moved across the world to live with her aunt and uncle in Springfield, Virginia.

Despite having to assimilate into a new culture and language, by all accounts, Cindy thrived. She attended Hayfield Secondary School for a time before transferring to Randolph-Macon Academy.

During her high school years, Cindy developed a keen interest in the arts, particularly film, writing, and photography. After graduating in 1998, she was accepted into the prestigious Penn State University to pursue a degree in the arts.

College Life

While at Penn State, Cindy maintained her grades while also participating in various activities and student groups, including the Korean Undergraduate Student Association. She was personable, bubbly, likable, and had a supportive group of friends with whom she studied and socialized with.

In addition to her studies, Cindy worked two part-time jobs. She worked as a waitress at a nearby restaurant called Seoul Garden. She also worked the overnight shift from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays at Penn State’s Pollock Library.

Cindy reportedly fell hard for a young man in her friend group named Richard Chae, and the two began dating and moved in together in an off-campus apartment. However, the relationship reportedly ended abruptly in September 2001, and he moved out.

Cindy seemed to have had a hard time recovering from the loss, resulting in her going to counselling to process this difficult life shift. She tried her best to look forward to the future, pouring everything she had into her studies and friends.

She soon found a new roommate, and the two became close. She also posted her thoughts and feelings online to her Penn State profile. She used this as an outlet to process her emotions.

Halloween Night 2001

On Halloween night 2001, Cindy and two friends went to a costume party at the Player’s Night Club near campus. They dressed up for the Halloween-themed night. Cindy opted for a costume as a Playboy Bunny, comprising a short white skirt with a cotton ball tail, a pink t-shirt with a bunny cartoon on it, brown knee-high boots, and a rabbit-ear headband.

She and her friends danced and drank well into the night, enjoying themselves and socializing with others at the party. After the club closed at 2 a.m., the three of them went to a friend’s apartment, where they hung out and played video games.

Around 3:30 a.m., Cindy got a ride back to her apartment from her friend Stacey Paik. According to Stacey, she dropped Cindy off at her apartment shortly before 4 a.m. This was the last ever confirmed sighting of her.

Disappearance

When Cindy’s roommate, Youngjoo Kim, also known by her English name as Catherine, returned to their apartment the following day after a family holiday, there was no sign of Cindy. Because nothing was out of the ordinary, Catherine did not worry at first.

However, as the hours passed, she grew increasingly uneasy. Over the next two days, no one had heard from or was able to reach Cindy. When it was learned that she had missed her classes and not shown up for work, her friends knew that something was terribly wrong.

On Saturday, November 3rd, Stacey Paik reported Cindy missing to the Ferguson Township Police Department. However, since detectives were not working that weekend, Cindy’s case was initially handled by patrol officers who mistakenly believed that she had disappeared on her own accord and would return soon.

On Monday, November 5, the case was assigned to Detective Brian Sprinkle. The investigation began with a search of Cindy’s apartment. At first glance, the police had little to go on. There were no eyewitnesses or signs of breaking and entering.

When Cindy’s roommate, Catherine, came home from her short holiday, the doors were locked from the outside. However, evidence indicated that Cindy had been inside at some point.

Her fake eyelashes were on the sink. Her backpack and cell phone were there. However, her purse, wallet, and keys were missing. Her Halloween costume was also absent. Authorities checked her phone records and found that no calls had gone in or out since she had been dropped off.

Investigation

As is typical, the investigation focused on Cindy’s immediate circle, her friends and family. Investigators tried to find a possible connection with her recent breakup, which could have led her to harm herself. However, this was unlike her. She had many hopes for the future and was set to graduate in 2002. She had also just ordered a new computer and was planning on attending a Britney Spears concert that week.

None of Cindy’s family or friends had heard from her since she was dropped off in the early morning hours of November 1st. Several searches were conducted in the areas surrounding Cindy’s apartment and the Penn State campus, including bike paths and wooded areas. However, these searches yielded no results.

Investigators believed that Cindy was likely abducted either on the way to or returning from the GIANT grocery store, which was open 24 hours and located across the street from Cindy’s apartment complex.

According to her friends, it was not unusual for Cindy to sometimes go to the store in the middle of the night. However, there were no purchases made on her credit card that night, and no video surveillance footage of her in the store.

Eventually, the relationship between law enforcement and Cindy’s family became contentious. They were understandably frustrated by the lack of progress in the investigation. There was heavy criticism and allegations of racial bias as “police were focusing too much on due process, and too little on finding Cindy.”

Finally, the Ferguson Township Police refused to deal with the family any further. Despite the frustrations, the family leaned on the school and local community, who set up The Coalition for the Search of Cindy Song, working tirelessly to plaster posters of her all over campus and raise awareness of her case.

Possible Leads

There were several promising leads. A few days after Cindy disappeared, a witness claims to have seen her or someone looking like her being dragged into a car, kicking and screaming, by an aggressive olive-skinned Asian male in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

Despite sketching out the suspect, the police were unable to locate him. According to Detective Sprinkle, “We were able to determine that it wasn’t Cindy.” Though he did not elaborate further.

In August 2002, an unlikely development emerged. At the behest of the Penn State Paranormal Research Society, a renowned medium named Carla Baron was brought in to assist the police in determining what had happened to Cindy.

Carla claimed that she sensed a small group of men had abducted her, and she died shortly after. This “revelation” did not seem to bear any fruit.

In June 2003, a potential breakthrough in the case occurred when a felon named Paul Weakley came forward and offered the police information on Cindy in exchange for time shaved off his burglary sentence.

He claimed that Hugo Selenski, a convicted killer, and his accomplice, Michael Kerkowski, mistook Cindy for a prostitute, abducted her, raped her, and kept her inside a safe where she died.

Weakley claimed to have heard this information firsthand and that Kerkowsi had kept Cindy’s bunny ears as a “souvenir.” Weakley also informed police that Selenski had later murdered Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fasset, and buried them on his property.

With this information, police began digging on Selenski’s property, eventually unearthing several bodies, including Kerkowski and Fasset, two local drug dealers, and a fifth unidentified body. This body was ultimately determined not to be Cindy.

According to Weakley, Cindy was just one of more than a dozen bodies that Selenski had disposed of within the area. Though his claim may be dubious, Weakley’s information on the location of the bodies of Kerkowski and Fasset turned out to be accurate.

Though he was acquitted of the murders of the two drug dealers found on his property, in 2015, Hugo Selenski was found guilty of the murders of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fasset. He was sentenced to life in prison.

It was later learned that Paul Weakley had searched for information about Cindy Song’s disappearance online prior to giving information to the police. It is thought that he may have been trying to muddy the waters and merge the cases in order to help himself.

Since then, there have not been any further credible leads.

The case is currently in the hands of Jonathan Mayer at the Ferguson Township Police. If you have any information regarding this case, please call 814-237-1172.

Sources:

Engel, James. “‘A light should burn’ | 21 years on, Penn State student Cindy Song remains missing.” The Daily Collegian, 17 January 2022, https://www.psucollegian.com/features/a-light-should-burn-21-years-on-penn-state-student-cindy-song-remains-missing/article

“Cindy Song.” Unsolved Mysteries, https://unsolved.com/gallery/cindy-song/

Whelan, Michael. “Cindy Song.” Unresolved, 27 October 2024, https://unresolved.me/cindy-song

“Have You Seen Me? Case #2 – Cindy Song.” WTAJ, 22 November 2019, Updated 16 September 2020, https://www.wtaj.com/wtaj-plus/have-you-seen-me/have-you-seen-me-case-2-cindy-song/

Background

In his 2013 book “The Skies Belong to Us,” author Brendan Koerner refers to the years between 1961 and 1973 as the “golden age of aircraft hijacking,” with the November 1971 hijacking and subsequent disappearance of D.B. Cooper being the most well-known case.

Between 1968 and 1972, more than 130 planes were hijacked in the United States alone. Some hijackers wanted money, others wanted to make political statements, and many simply demanded flights to Cuba. Airports at the time had almost no security, as passengers could walk straight to the gate without passing through metal detectors or undergoing ID checks.

On June 2, 1972, the longest-distance skyjacking in American history occurred when 20-year-old Catherine Marie Kerkow and her 23-year-old Vietnam vet boyfriend hijacked Western Airlines Flight 701 from Los Angeles to Seattle and flew to Algeria.

Kerkow went from being a free-spirited hippie to one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives. More than fifty years later, she has never been found. So, how did an ordinary young woman become part of one of the most daring hijackings of the 1970s and then disappear?

Early Years

Catherine “Cathy” Marie Kerkow was born on October 6, 1951, in the quiet coastal town of Coos Bay, Oregon. At the time, Coos Bay was riding a post-war economic boom, having been known mostly for its timber industry and working-class roots.

The oldest of four children, Cathy, as friends and classmates called her, attended Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. Kerkow was a gifted track star and was a classmate of the famous long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine.

A former teacher described her as “quiet and unobtrusive,” with others remembering her as an “all-American girl” who regularly attended church. However, when her father Bruce left the family, the trajectory of her life seemed to change. By early 1972, not long after high school, she left Coos Bay behind and headed to San Diego.

The Counterculture

In San Diego, Cathy took a job at a massage parlor and seemed to thrive in the new environment of freedom and adventure. She began to embrace the cultural changes of that time, which included the Vietnam War protests, the civil rights movement, and the rise of counterculture.

One day in January 1972, she received a knock on the door while she was taking a shower. She quickly put on a robe and answered the door, where she was met with a tall, slim Black man with short hair and neat sideburns.

The man asked if her roommate, Beth Newhouse, lived there. Cathy told him yes and that Beth was probably out shopping at the drugstore. He then left without saying anything. After the man left, Cathy had a strange feeling that she had met him before, but couldn’t remember where.

About twenty minutes later, Beth returned with the same man. This time, he was more polite. He introduced himself as Roger Holder. After introducing himself, Kerkow didn't want Holder to leave just yet, not while she was still trying to piece together why he looked so familiar. After the three of them shared a joint, Holder invited Cathy to join him for breakfast a few days later.

During that first date, Holder mentioned he recognized her from somewhere. Cathy remarked that she had thought the same thing. Eventually, they realized that they had met years earlier as children in Coos Bay, back when Holder’s family briefly lived there. That realization sealed a strange sense of fate between them as meeting Cathy in San Diego gave Holder an anchor.

Willie Roger Holder was born in 1949 in Jacksonville, Florida. The son of a career Navy man, Holder’s father was posted to Coos Head Naval Facility in 1959, and the family briefly lived in Coos Bay. However, at the time, the Holders were one of the only black families in the area, and were subjected to severe hostility and racial discrimination, eventually forcing them to move.

Roger would follow his father into the military, enlisting in the U.S. Army and being sent to Vietnam. While there, he encountered disciplinary issues and was eventually discharged from the Army. The psychological trauma of war and the resentment he harbored left him disillusioned and bitter toward the government he had once served.

The early 1970s were a time when the U.S. was deeply fractured. The Vietnam War had reached a boiling point, filling the nightly news with casualty numbers and sparking massive protests on college campuses. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s had given way to a louder, angrier wave of Black activism, with groups like the Black Panther Party demanding systemic change and often being portrayed by the government as enemies of the state.

Cathy and Roger found themselves swept up in this mix. Together, they began to see themselves not just as lovers but as potential revolutionaries in a world that felt like it was cracking apart. Holder found in Cathy not just a companion, but a co-conspirator for something bigger.

“Operation Sisyphus”

.By the spring of 1972, Cathy and Roger had become more radicalized in their beliefs, and Roger had concocted a plan that he called “Operation Sisyphus.” The plan was to hijack a plane, demand the release of activist Angela Davis, a UCLA professor and black militant who was in jail facing conspiracy charges, fly her to North Vietnam, then escape.

By June 1972, Roger Holder’s big idea was no longer just talk. Holder felt freeing Davis meant striking a blow against what he saw as a corrupt system. To Cathy, it meant standing by the man she'd fallen for and maybe living a life bigger than the small-town Oregon roots she’d left behind.

On the morning of June 2, 1972, Cathy Kerkow and Willie Roger Holder boarded Western Airlines Flight 701. The flight was scheduled to leave Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for Seattle, Washington, with a stopover in San Francisco. At the gate, Cathy and Holder blended in with the other 97 passengers. Holder carried a black Samsonite briefcase. Cathy smiled and kept calm, looking like any other traveler.

Inside the cabin, Holder chatted with a seatmate, an auto-salesman from Seattle. As the plane climbed, Holder became tense. He ripped out a half-written note on yellow legal paper.

With shaky hands, Holder swapped his briefcase for a smaller case, then ducked under the curtain and stepped into the galley. The flight attendants were in the middle of their lunch when he said, “I need to show you something.” He placed two index cards on the counter for one of them to read. Then he opened the briefcase.

Inside sat an alarm clock wired to what looked like explosives, but in reality, it was a carefully arranged set of fake components. To the crew, though, it looked real enough to blow the plane out of the sky. The flight attendants froze. Holder stayed calm with his voice steady, saying, “I don’t want to hurt anyone. But this is a bomb. There’s a concussion grenade in here and eight slabs of C-4."

Holder was escorted into the cockpit. Captain Jerry Owen, First Officer Fred Jones, and Flight Engineer Gerry Tinker turned to face him. Holder introduced himself politely, even shaking the captain’s hand. He explained that he was working under orders, that the Weather Underground had kidnapped his children, and that this hijacking wasn’t his idea. It was a story he’d rehearsed to make himself seem less like a criminal and more like a pawn in someone else’s game.

Cathy, sitting close by, quietly backed him up, making it clear that she wasn’t just a passenger caught up in this but part of it. Over the radio, Holder relayed his terms. He wanted the plane diverted to San Francisco International Airport. He demanded $500,000 in cash to be delivered immediately on the tarmac. But that wasn’t all. Holder insisted that Angela Davis be freed from jail and flown with them to Hanoi, North Vietnam. He insisted that once they had the money, the plane would be flown overseas.

The airline and authorities knew they had little choice but to comply with at least part of the request. When the plane landed in San Francisco, Western Airlines delivered the half-million dollars in cash -without Davis- and placed it on the steps of the jet. In exchange, the hijackers released half the passengers in San Francisco, then crossed the country and released the other half in New York, where the plane was refueled.

Now, with only the crew, the cash, and their false bomb, Holder and Kerkow ordered the plane to take off again. However, their new destination was now Algiers, Algeria, a country with a reputation for offering political asylum to radicals and revolutionaries.

By the time the African coast came into view, the hijacking had stretched nearly 24 hours.

Life in Exile

Algiers had recently gained independence from France and was carving out a reputation as a safe haven for political dissidents, Black Panthers, and other radicals from around the world. After stepping onto Algerian soil, officials detained the pair briefly, quarantined them, and secured the $500,000 ransom that had accompanied their arrival.

The state held the cash while the couple was separated for interviews. Eventually, they were processed through official channels, grilled by security services, and released to Black Panther representatives. The International Section of the Black Panther Party was headquartered in Algeria and led by Eldridge Cleaver.

The Algerian government decided to return $488,000 of the ransom to U.S. officials, while granting the couple political asylum. They were surrounded by other Americans who had fled the States, caught in the global swirl of radical politics. Cathy was now living halfway across the world as an international fugitive.

However, in a phone interview that Holder did with an Oregon newspaper, he confided that he and Kerkow feared that they would be killed by “shadowy establishment forces” targeting the revolutionaries.

By January 25, 1975, Holder and Kerkow had quietly left Algeria and surfaced in Paris, France. However, France's welcome wasn’t as warm. The pair tried to enter the country using fake passports, adopting the names Leavy Forte and Janice Ann Forte. But it didn’t work. French police arrested them almost immediately on charges of illegal entry.

When the U.S. demanded extradition, the French courts were faced with a thorny decision. After months of legal back-and-forth, the French judges ruled in April 1975 that hijacking was a “political offense” and, under French law, political crimes weren't grounds for extradition.

Holder and Kerkow parted ways sometime in 1977 after she told him that she was going to Switzerland to acquire fake documents. After that, he never saw her again. Reportedly, Holder’s mental state began to decline, and finally, in 1986, he returned to the United States and spent two years in prison. He died in 2012 at the age of 62.

Possible Whereabouts of Cathy Kerkow

Since that day in April 1975, when a French court denied the U.S. request to extradite Cathy Kerkow, she became, in the eyes of the American justice system, an official fugitive. A federal arrest warrant was issued by the Eastern District of New York on June 5, 1972, charging her with air piracy, the crime of hijacking a plane.

That warrant remains active to this day. As far as the FBI is concerned, she’s been on the run for over 50 years. Over the decades, investigators believed she might have established connections stretching across continents.

They speculated that she could be in either Oregon, her birthplace and early home, or France, her last known legal haven. Switzerland, Algeria, Jordan, and Cuba were also possible locations where she might have fled to, according to the bureau.

In 2022, to mark the 50th anniversary of the hijacking, the FBI renewed its appeal on social media, posting her wanted notice once again and asking the public for any tips that could help locate her.

Closing Thoughts

Catherine Kerkow’s case stands as one of the longest unsolved fugitive stories in modern history. It shows how a single decision made in youth can chart the course of an entire life. To some, she remains a dangerous criminal who has escaped justice. To others, she is a symbol of how easily ordinary people can get swept up in radical times and extraordinary events.

What cannot be denied is that her absence leaves a shadow. A plane was hijacked, lives were put at risk, and justice has never been served.

Sources:

Oregonian/OregonLive, Douglas Perry | The. “How Coos Bay’s ‘all-American Girl’ Became a Daring Skyjacker, Then Disappeared into 1970s Underground.” Oregonlive, 16 Sept. 2019, www.oregonlive.com/history/2019/09/how-coos-bays-all-american-girl-became-a-daring-skyjacker-then-disappeared-into-1970s-underground.html

Field Office. “Catherine Marie Kerkow | Federal Bureau of Investigation.” CATHERINE MARIE KERKOW, 1972, www.fbi.gov/wanted/dt/catherine-marie-kerkow.

Heard, Alex. “The Skies Belonged to Them.” Outside Online, 12 May 2022, www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/skies-belonged-them/

Wolfgang, Saxon. “EX-BLACK Panther Extradited to U.S. - The New York Times.” EX-BLACK PANTHER EXTRADITED TO U.S., 1986, www.nytimes.com/1986/07/27/nyregion/ex-black-panther-extradited-to-us.html

Aaron, Mesh. “Steal This Plane.” Willamette Week, 2013, www.wweek.com/portland/article-21107-steal-this-plane.html

Khalid, Elhassan. “Quirky Founding Fathers and Other Bonkers Bits of American History.” History Collection, 2020, historycollection.com/maniac-founding-fathers-and-other-bonkers-bits-of-american-history-and-war/

Update

On May 20, 2025, the family of Jennifer Kesse celebrated what would have been her 44th birthday. For the past 19 years, they have been left to wonder what happened to Jennifer and have had few, if any, answers.

However, there may be reason for hope. On that same day, May 20th, there was an announcement by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) that Jennifer’s case was no longer considered cold.

After interviewing 45 people since 2022, they had several “persons of interest.” They believe new evidence might shed light on what happened to Jennifer that morning. According to Jennifer’s father, Drew, after conversations with law enforcement, he was told that the list of potential suspects is a “very short list at this point.”

He was also told that they had found additional evidence that had never been tested. Drew Kesse called the announcement “Huge.” He added, “Who knows where that could lead?”

The FDLE first took over Jennifer’s case in December 2022. After which, witnesses were reinterviewed, and the unit announced they had found several “persons of interest” that needed a second look. They were hopeful that the use of AI might provide new identification tools to enhance the existing surveillance footage.

The team had obtained assistance from NASA to enhance the security footage from Jennifer’s complex parking lot, which revealed that her car was missing on the day of her disappearance and was located in another condo parking lot three days later.

Security footage shows an individual parking her car in the lot and then getting out and walking away. However, their face is obscured by a gate, and thus far it has been impossible to identify this person.

Disappearance of Jennifer Kesse

In September 2024, we covered the disappearance of Jennifer Kesse. Her 2006 disappearance made national news due to the strange and baffling circumstances surrounding it.

On January 24, 2006, 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse disappeared from her Orlando, Florida, apartment complex. The last known person to hear from Jennifer was her boyfriend, Rob Allen, who spoke to her on the phone about 10 p.m. the night before. The two had just recently returned from a vacation in Saint Croix.

Rob became concerned when he hadn’t heard from Jennifer that day. Meanwhile, Central Florida Investments Timeshare Company, where Jennifer worked, also became concerned. It wasn’t like Jennifer not to show up or even call. After repeated attempts to phone her, a co-worker finally alerted Jennifer’s parents, Drew and Joyce.

Jennifer’s parents made the two-hour drive from Tampa to Orlando. Upon their arrival, they discovered that Jennifer was nowhere to be found and that her personal belongings, as well as her car, were noticeably missing.

They also noticed that clothes were laid out, as well as a wet towel, suggesting that Jennifer had been there that morning.

The Kesse’s contacted the police, who were hesitant to begin an investigation. As Jennifer was an adult and could have driven away willingly. Meanwhile, her family contacted the media, spoke to neighbors in the complex, and tried everything they could think of to locate their daughter.

Finally, convinced Jennifer might have been the victim of foul play, the police sent a detective to help scour the area. They soon reached the same conclusion as the Kesse family: something was definitely wrong.

Evidence of Foul Play

In the days immediately following her disappearance, detectives stumbled upon a handful of clues, yet none of them yielded any absolute answers. The authorities faced difficulty in establishing whether Jennifer was potentially abducted from inside her residence or while en route to her workplace.

On January 26, 2006, investigators found the first clue to Jennifer’s disappearance. Her car, a 2004 Chevy Malibu, was discovered parked in another complex less than a mile from her home.

Hoping surveillance footage from nearby buildings would offer them some clues, investigators examined the footage. The grainy footage showed a person parking Jennifer’s car around noon on the day she disappeared.

Though the individual was captured on camera, their face was obscured by a gate, making it impossible to positively identify them. The blurry CCTV footage of the “person of interest” became a primary focus of the investigation.

Though their identity remains unknown, several theories have surfaced about this individual. However, none have resulted in a definitive identification. The FBI, after intensive scrutiny of the tape, could only conclude the person was probably male, and between 5’3” and 5’5”.

When NASA was asked to enhance the video, they came to the same conclusions. The person appears to wear clothes that suggest they are a workman or painter.

After Jennifer’s car was searched, only a small fiber and a fingerprint were found, leading to the conclusion that it had been wiped clean. The only unusual marks were in the dust on the hood of the Malibu and scuff marks that seemed to indicate a struggle of some type.

“It looked like someone was thrown down on the top of the hood — arms spread out and then dragged back almost like off the hood to the point where you can almost see fingers scribbling down the hood,” Drew, Jennifer’s father, told one news reporter.

Theories

While investigating Jennifer's disappearance, authorities explored various theories and potential leads. One prominent lead centered around the construction workers working at Jennifer's condominium complex.

There were reports that Jennifer had expressed discomfort around some of these workers due to their harassment. Given their unrestricted access to the property, some investigators considered the possibility that she might have been targeted by one of them.

This possibility was followed up on by both authorities and Jennifer’s family. However, the language barrier proved difficult, even for the detectives assigned to the case, and no information was forthcoming.

One witness came forward to say they’d seen Jennifer’s car leaving the complex, driving erratically, but the lead did not pan out. Another person reported seeing Jennifer and an unknown male arguing in her Chevy Malibu. Again, the clue led nowhere.

Jennifer’s phone never pinged, leading to the conclusion that it had been turned off. Her bank card was never used. Her keys, phone, iPad, and the clothes she wore that day have never been found.

Although no one knows for sure what happened to Jennifer, the prevailing theory is that she might have been abducted by one of the workmen at her condo complex. Many other women had complained about the cat calls, leering glances, and inappropriate remarks of the laborers.

The construction dust found on the hood of Jennifer’s car, as well as the clothing worn by the person of interest in the surveillance footage, seems to point to this theory.

Status of the Investigation

In 2010, Jennifer’s case was taken over by the FBI at the request of the Orlando Police Department. In 2014, a new investigation began while the FBI followed up on leads and tips.

The state of Florida declared Jennifer Kesse legally dead in 2016. Kesse’s family filed suit against the Orlando Police Department in 2018 to gain access to the records relating to her case. They won a ruling the following year and were given over 16,000 pages of records.

In December 2022, her case was officially handed over to the FDLE -Florida Department of Law Enforcement cold case unit.

The recent announcement that the case has gone from cold to active has given hope to Jennifer’s family and friends that they may one day have some closure and know what happened to her.

“I’m driven to find my daughter.” Her father, Drew, stated. “There’s nothing else in my life, I have to be honest with you, more important than finding Jennifer.”

Sources:

Bonavita, J. “Father’s pursuit for missing daughter heats up with new evidence in case that’s no longer cold.” Fox News. 6 July 2025, https://www.foxnews.com/us/fathers-pursuit-missing-daughter-heats-up-new-evidence-case-thats-no-longer-cold?msockid=16be08b1b51961eb02781bbfb46760c9

“Disappearance of Jennifer Kesse.” Crime Timeline. 30 June 2025, https://crimetimelines.com/missing-persons/disappearance-of-jennifer-kesse/

Jennifer Kesse Left for Work in 2006 and Never Returned Home. Here’s What Her Family Thinks Happened — and Why NASA Got Involved in the Case. People.com. https://people.com/jennifer-kesse-disappearance-missing-case-8774071

Whiteside, S. “Jennifer Kesse case no longer cold after nearly 20 years, family says.” NewsNation, 26 June 2025, https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/jennifer-kesse-case-new-evidence/

Background

In April 2008, 42-year-old Elisabeth Fritzl stepped into the sunlight for the first time in 24 years. Her horrific ordeal known only to her, her children, and their captor, the man who also happened to be her biological father.

For more than two decades, Elisabeth suffered unspeakable physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of the man who should have been her protector. This is the tragic tale of Elisabeth Fritzl.

Early Life

Elisabeth Fritzl was born on April 6th, 1966, in the small town of Amstetten, Austria. She was the fourth child of Josef and Rosemarie Fritzl. After Elisabeth, Josef and Rosemarie had three more children, bringing the total to seven.

Josef Fritzl held various jobs during his career, but around the time of Elisabeth and her younger siblings’ births, he had moved into property and real estate sales. In 1972, Josef bought a campsite and guesthouse at Lake Mondsee, which he and Rosemarie jointly managed.

A Disturbed Individual

Josef, however, was a deeply disturbed individual. The extent of his depravity would not be fully uncovered for many years, but in 1967, Josef broke into the home of a nurse whose husband was out of town.

Josef raped this 24-year-old woman at knifepoint, threatening to murder her if she screamed. That same year, Josef was also listed as a suspect in the attempted rape of a 21-year-old woman. Josef was arrested for his crime, and he was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, though he only served twelve.

After being released from prison, there is no evidence that Josef attacked or assaulted any additional local women. However, offenders like Josef do not usually change their ways, and this case was no different.

Abuse of Elisabeth

Instead, Josef turned his focus even closer to home. In 1977, Josep began sexually abusing 11-year-old Elisabeth, his own daughter; this abuse was ongoing and frequent.

Elisabeth completed her required education course by age 15 and began a trade course to become a waitress. Unsurprisingly, in January of 1983, Elisabeth ran away from home with a friend from work.

She escaped to Vienna, where she attempted to hide to evade discovery. Unfortunately, authorities located Elisabeth within the month and brought her back to her parents.

Elisabeth resumed her waitress course, completing it in the middle of 1984, and was quickly offered a job working in a nearby town.

Disappearance

In late August of 1984, shortly after beginning her new waitressing job, Elisabeth Fritzl mysteriously vanished. Her mother, Rosemarie, was worried for her daughter, knowing that Elisabeth had run away the year prior. Rosemarie quickly filed a missing person’s report, and authorities began to search for Elisabeth. Josef, however, did not share his wife’s concern for Elisabeth.

Josef was adamant that Elisabeth had run away and joined a cult somewhere. Then, a letter came to the family home, claiming to be written by Elisabeth, telling her parents not to look for her.

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Background

Bardstown, Kentucky, is an idyllic town nestled in the heart of the Bluegrass state, a mere hour away from the hustle and bustle of Lexington. Bardstown is known for being a bourbon powerhouse, with many of the state’s most prestigious distilleries located in and around the city. One local resident, Crystal Rogers, had called Bardstown home for her entire life.

Crystal was a 35-year-old mother of five who was very family-oriented and rarely seen without at least one of her children. Crystal lived in a home with her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, who was the father of her youngest son, 2-year-old Eli.

Crystal was described as a caring person, always willing to help a friend in any way she could. She loved being a mother more than anything, and her children were her world.

Missing

On July 3rd, 2015, Crystal was seen spending time with her boyfriend. According to Brooks Houck’s later testimony, he, Crystal, and Eli had visited the Houck’s family farm that evening before returning home. Nothing is known of Crystal’s whereabouts on July 4th.

Then, on July 5th, everything turned upside down.

Sherry Ballard, Crystal’s mother, had been trying to contact her daughter and was unable to reach her. Crystal’s daughter had also attempted to call her and informed her grandmother, Sherry, when she could not reach her mother.

This was unlike Crystal, who was very family-centered and would never intentionally ignore calls from her mother or daughter. Concerned, Sherry went to the local police station to file a missing person’s report.

On her way, she encountered Brooks and asked him if he knew where Crystal was. Brooks said that Crystal had left during the night, and he hadn’t heard from her since.

Disturbing Discovery

The same day, just after Sherry reported Crystal missing, Crystal’s father and Sherry’s husband, Tommy Ballard, made a chilling discovery. While driving along the Bluegrass Parkway, he noticed a car with a flat tire parked along the roadside. He immediately recognized the red Chevrolet Impala as his daughter’s car and pulled over to investigate.

Tommy promptly called the police, and they joined him near mile marker 14 to search the vehicle for clues.

As they searched the car, the circumstances of Crystal’s disappearance rapidly became more puzzling. Her keys were still in the ignition, and her phone and purse had been left behind. At first glance, it appeared Crystal had gotten a flat tire, pulled over, exited her vehicle, and either been picked up or wandered into the woods.

With the 48-hour mark rapidly approaching since Crystal had last been seen alive, authorities, along with her family, scrambled to make progress as quickly as possible before all hope of solving the case disappeared.

Interviewing Brooks

Naturally, authorities turned their suspicion to Brooks, as he was Crystal’s boyfriend and the last known person to have seen Crystal alive. On July 8th, 2015, Brooks was asked to come to the Bardstown Police Department for questioning. Detective Jon Snow interviewed Brooks, and the interview only raised further questions.

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On December 14th, 1952, Beverly and Donald Burr welcomed their first child, Ann Marie Burr. Ann was the first of four children, and she and her younger siblings, Julie, Greg, and Mary, lived happily in their family home on North 14th Street in Tacoma, Washington.

The children spent most of their free time playing with friends in the neighborhood, and Beverly raised them with the belief that the world was a safe place full of good people. Ann took her mother’s teachings to heart. “Ann was so trusting,” Beverly said in a later interview with the Seattle Times.

In the late summer of 1961, Ann and her siblings were about to begin a new school year. Ann was starting third grade at nearby Grant Elementary. On August 30th, Ann asked her mother if she could spend the night at a friend’s house. Beverly told her daughter no because she wanted the children to focus on preparing for school.

Don and Beverly prepared their children for bed, put the family dog outside, and locked up the house. A thunderstorm had begun outside as the Burr family drifted off to sleep; none of them were aware that they were about to lose a member of their family that very night.

Disappearance

Sometime in the middle of the night, Ann woke her parents. She shared a bedroom with her youngest sister, Mary, who was only three. Mary had broken her arm during the summer and had it in a cast at the time. Mary complained that her arm hurt, so Ann brought her to their mother. Beverly did her best to comfort Mary and then sent the two girls back to bed. This was the last time she would ever see Ann.

According to Beverly’s account, she awoke just after 5 a.m. with a gut feeling that something was wrong. In the way that mothers often know, Beverly knew something was wrong.

She went to Ann and Mary’s upstairs bedroom and found Mary alone and crying. There was no sign of Ann. Beverly immediately began frantically searching the house, and she noticed that the front door was cracked ever so slightly open.

Beverly was certain that they’d locked the door before bed. Strangely, one of the windows in the living room was also wide open, and outside, a garden bench had been flipped and placed beneath the window up against the house.

Beverly went into a panic, desperately searching for her missing daughter. She went door to door in their neighborhood, waking neighbors to ask if they had seen Ann; none had.

Terrified, Beverly rushed home and woke her husband. Together, they called the police. When police arrived, they began sweeping the home for evidence.

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In January 2006, 24-year-old Jennifer Kesse disappeared from her Orlando, Florida apartment complex. Over the years, there have been rumors and speculation surrounding her case. To this day, many unsettling questions remain.

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Background

On the morning of June 24, 1974, 14-year-old Margaret Ellen Fox left her home and made her way to a bus stop near her family’s house in Burlington, New Jersey. Margaret was accompanied by her younger brother, Joe, who waved goodbye as she boarded the 8:40 a.m. bus to take the seven-mile trip to nearby Mount Holly.

Margaret was in good spirits that day, as she had just recently begun her summer vacation after finishing 8th grade at St. Paul School in Burlington.

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Early Years

Born in Paris around 1431, François Villon was orphaned as a young boy. Fortunately for him, a man named Guillaume de Villon took him in and provided him with an education.

This ultimately led to Villon earning a Master of Arts degree from the University of Paris. With the support of his benefactor, Villon appeared to be on a path towards a life filled with learning and security. However, his bright future was quickly eclipsed by a string of incidents that forever altered the course of his life.

In 1455, Villon got into a fight that led to the death of a priest named Philippe Sermoise. Though he argued that he acted in self-defense, he chose to leave Paris.

This incident forever altered his future and pushed him towards a criminal life, which would define his later years as a fugitive and outlaw.

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