Unsolved Mysteries Rewind

In this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind, Mark and Lindsay from The Husband Did It Podcast take a deep dive into the haunting disappearance of Christi Jo Nichols. Christi Jo Nichols was a 22-year-old devoted mother of two from the small town of Gothenburg, Nebraska. Married at just 19, she vanished on or around December 11, 1987. What began as a missing-person case quickly raised red flags and has remained an open homicide investigation for decades. No body has ever been found, and no charges have been filed, despite substantial circumstantial evidence that has kept suspicion firmly on one person: her husband, Mark Nichols, who was 24 at the time. Blood was discovered in the family home and in Mark’s car. His statements about the days surrounding her disappearance contained inconsistencies, and his behavior afterward only deepened the questions. The case was later featured on Unsolved Mysteries, bringing national attention to a quiet Nebraska community still searching for answers. Mark and Lindsay examine the known facts, the evidence, the unanswered questions, and the lingering shadow of suspicion that continues to hang over this case. Join them as they unpack one of the more troubling unsolved disappearances of the late 1980s. We are excited for you to listen. Stream the full episode now, subscribe to Unsolved Mysteries Rewind wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review if you enjoy the deep dive. Don’t miss the next one.   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

On Christmas Eve 1945 in Fayetteville, West Virginia, a fire destroyed the Sodder family home. Parents George and Jennie escaped with four of their children, but five others: Maurice, 14; Martha, 12; Louis, 10; Jennie, 8; and Betty, 5 vanished without a trace. No remains were ever found, despite official claims the fire consumed them completely. Suspicious details piled up: a cut phone line, a missing ladder found far from the house, trucks that mysteriously wouldn’t start, and prior threats tied to George’s anti-Mussolini views. The family believed the children were kidnapped, possibly by the Sicilian Mafia, and spent decades seeking answers with a roadside billboard offering a reward. This cold case still haunts true-crime fans. In this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind, Diana guest hosts with Mark to dig into one of America’s most baffling disappearances. Enjoy the show and subscribe if you enjoy it!   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

In this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind I am joined by Diana and we revisit the tragic 1968 death of 18-year-old Leroy Drieth. After leaving a party at his fiancée’s home in Mead, Colorado, his car crashed into a tree. Initially ruled a suicide by the coroner based on hearsay, the case unraveled decades later when his sister Vickie pushed for answers. A 1993 exhumation revealed shocking knife wounds to his neck, pointing to foul play possibly tied to a racially motivated dispute over his interracial relationship. Enjoy this deep dive into a haunting cold case – Subscribe, leave a review, and tell a friend who loves unsettling true crime stories—then listen with the lights low.   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

Vanished at sea. In 1998, 23-year-old Amy Lynn Bradley disappeared from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship near Curaçao, stepping out of her cabin in the early morning hours and seemingly into thin air. Friends and family reported later sightings in tourist areas and even red-light districts, adding a chilling layer of possible trafficking and captivity to this already haunting mystery. On this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind, Mark welcomes Suzann as they do a deep, eerie dive into Amy’s last known movements, the strange delays in the ship’s search, and the disturbing theories that still linger. Was Amy taken, silenced, or swallowed by something far more sinister at sea? Subscribe, leave a review, and tell a friend who loves unsettling true crime stories—then listen with the lights low.   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

On this episode of Unsolved Mysteries Rewind, Mark welcomed Diana to discuss the heartbreaking 1988 abduction and murder of 7-year-old Jaclyn Dowaliby from her Midlothian, Illinois home. What began as a missing child case quickly spiraled into a controversial prosecution of her parents, ending in David Dowaliby’s wrongful conviction and later exoneration. They break down the flawed eyewitness testimony, the collapsed evidence, and why this case remains officially unsolved nearly 38 years later. A tragic story of a bubbly little girl, a rush to judgment, and a family forever changed. Settle in, grab your favorite drink, and enjoy this deep dive with Mark and Diana. You won’t want to miss it.   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

The tragic murder of 16-year-old Joyce McLain shocked the small town of East Millinocket, Maine, in August 1980. A popular honors student, cheerleader, saxophonist, and aspiring soccer player, Joyce vanished during a routine evening jog near Schenck High School. Her partially clothed body was discovered two days later in a wooded area behind the soccer fields—beaten to death with blunt force trauma, hands bound with a blue cloth, and a telephone insulator likely the murder weapon. No sexual assault occurred, and heavy thunderstorms washed away potential evidence, leaving no fingerprints or usable DNA. The case haunted the community for nearly 38 years, featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 1989, spurring tips but no immediate resolution. Philip Scott Fournier, then 19, emerged as the perpetrator through multiple confessions—to family, a pastor, coworkers, and notably a janitor in 1989—revealing non-public details like the weapon and Joyce’s condition. Despite claims of unreliability due to a brain injury from a nearby truck crash (hours after the murder), he was convicted in a 2018 bench trial and sentenced to 45 years. Appeals failed, and he remains incarcerated. In this episode of the Unsolved Mysteries Rewind Podcast, hosts Mark and Catharine delve into the chilling details, the long road to justice, and the hope it brings to other cold cases. Tune in for their thoughtful recap—you can look forward to more gripping revisits in the future!   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

I’m absolutely thrilled to have my amazing co-host from Love, Lies and Alibis, Hannah, joining me for this chilling dive into one of the most haunting cases from the classic Unsolved Mysteries series. Check out our other podcast here https://www.loveliesandalibis.com Be warned that it is a little darker than the stuff on this podcast In June 1988, 23-year-old Philip Innes Fraser—a bright, adventurous young man from Anchorage, Alaska, and the son of two prominent doctors—set out on a solo road trip south to start pre-med studies at Evergreen State College in Washington. Driving his packed black 1983 VW Jetta, Philip was full of promise. After surrendering his handguns at the Canadian border, he stopped at a remote café in the Yukon. That’s where everything went tragically wrong. unsolved.com unsolved.com At the Forty Mile Flats Café, witnesses saw Philip reluctantly pick up a nervous, clean-cut hitchhiker in his early 20s. It was an act of kindness on a lonely highway that would cost him his life. Hours later, that same hitchhiker was spotted driving Philip’s Jetta alone—boldly impersonating him. He shared intimate details of Philip’s life, family, and plans with strangers, even spending the night at a kind couple’s home while they fixed his car. Then, Philip’s burned-out Jetta was found abandoned in Prince George, British Columbia. reddit.com Weeks later, Philip’s body was discovered in a remote gravel pit—shot multiple times. The killer had vanished, taking Philip’s wallet, passport, and identity. substack.com The Unsettling Case of Philip Fraser: Killed by a Hitchhiker Featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 1992, this case of stolen identity and cold-blooded murder on Canada’s desolate highways still grips us today. Despite composites, leads, and speculation about serial killers, the hitchhiker has never been identified. Nearly 38 years later, Philip’s murder remains unsolved. Join Hannah and me as we rewind this heartbreaking mystery—who was the man who stole more than a ride?   Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

Many of you may have heard but if you have not, late December we lost my cohost, Laura Crook. She was a wonderful young woman and I am truly crushed by the loss. With the guidance of her father, Graeme I am releasing her final episode which was recorded 2 weeks before she would pass away.  RIP Laura…. In 1988, Annie Laurie Hearin was a 73-year-old southern socialite who vanished under bizarre circumstances. Hearin’s body has never been found and she was declared legally dead in 1991. No one has officially been charged with her kidnapping. Rogest Cain was a family man & had always hoped to create a better life for his 7 children. In 1958, he moved from Mississippi to Los Angeles, California. There he was able to give his children advantages that he never had. His children stated that he was always a loving, caring father to them. By 1986, Rogest was 62 years old & worked for the Department of Parks and Recreation. On the afternoon of February 18th, 1986, he left his home, telling his sister that he was going to a hardware store. However, he never returned home. Come along as Mark and Laura discuss these shocking and confusing cases. Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

On October 28, 1981, in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, 3 young boys made a gruesome discovery, a young man lying face up in a puddle in a ravine. The body was in a “Christ-like” pose with one leg crossed over the other at the ankle.  It seemed to have been deliberately placed. Apart from some minor scratches & bruises, there were no obvious signs of injury. Hours later, the body was positively identified as 17 year old Kurt Sova. An autopsy revealed that he had died 24 -36 hours before his body was found, he had been missing for 5 days. Come along as Mark and Laura discuss this shocking and confusing case. Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g  

This week, with Mark on hiatus, Laura & her father Graeme look at the case of fugitive Dennis DePue. On Easter Sunday, 1990, DePue gruesomely killed his wife after an argument, then disappeared. After a year on the run, his life came to a sudden & violent end. Thank you to Mat Graham from Artificial Fear for allowing us to use his amazing cover of the Unsolved Mysteries Theme Song! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoQNyGGSIl_ZbEDq-teZDWQ And thank you to Ryan Hughes from Planet H for lending us his spot-on “Stack Voice” and working with us to have such a cool intro and outro! Check out his YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrlNAFRMlWQN1rhWboZh2g