Melissa Wolfenbarger // 553

In late 1998, a 21-year-old mother vanished from Atlanta after a phone call home on Thanksgiving Day. Months later, her remains were found scattered between multiple garbage bags near her home, but it wasn’t until years later that the remains were linked to a local missing woman. When her cold case was reopened as a homicide investigation, police were shocked to discover that her father was a serial killer, and even more perplexed when it appeared that someone else had murdered her. This is the murder of Melissa Wolfenbarger. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 2009, a family of three set out for the Oklahoma mountains in search of a fresh start. Days later, their pickup truck was found abandoned on a remote dirt road, containing their wallets, IDs, cell phones, and even their dog...but the family was nowhere to be found. Theories swirled of cult ties, paranormal activity, and marital troubles, all bolstered by unsettling recordings from the family’s own home security cameras. And a shocking discovery four years later raised more questions than it answered. This is the story of the Jamison family. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1981, a 25-year-old graduate student at Harvard vanished after arriving at Boston’s Logan Airport after being with family for Thanksgiving. For years, investigators chased down connections to an alleged serial killer, and yet no answers emerged. When her remains were discovered nearly a decade later in a secluded Massachusetts wood, the mystery only deepened, with two completely different disturbing ideas as to what happened to her. This is the murder of Joan Webster. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 1982, a rising young actress from a prominent Hollywood family was preparing for her next big role, fresh off a breakout performance in one of the year’s biggest horror films. But just months after the movie’s release, her promising future was cut short in a shocking act of violence outside her West Hollywood home. Strangely, it was the first event linked to a string of tragedies connected to the very blockbuster she appeared in that year… This is the murder of Dominique Dunne. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In October of 2011, a 44-year-old mother of four vanished after returning home from a Halloween party in Tennessee. Her abandoned vehicle was discovered near her house with a flat tire, but Karen herself was nowhere to be found. But only weeks later, her body was recovered near a cemetery, hidden beneath invasive vines, confirming the darkest fears of her family and community… This is the murder of Karen Swift. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September of 1977, a 30-year-old woman vanished after a break-up with her eccentric, famous boyfriend. Over a year passed before her decomposing body was found stuffed inside a trunk. So; what drove this once-celebrated socialite to her violent end, and how did her killer manage to hide her in plain sight? This is the murder of Holly Maddux. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In November of 1996, two parents were brutally murdered inside their home - but the killers weren’t total strangers, and more intriguingly, they were a group of teenagers from Kentucky who called themselves vampires, heading for New Orleans. This cult traveled across state lines, leaving behind a scene of ritualistic violence that shocked the nation. These are the murders of Naoma and Richard Wendorf, also known as The Teen Vampire Murders. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The day before Halloween, 1966, an 18-year-old college student spent the afternoon at her campus library in Riverside, California, but she never made it home. The next morning, her body was discovered in a nearby alley, brutally stabbed and beaten, with her car found disabled just steps away. Who killed Cheri Jo Bates that night, and could her murder be the first known strike of the Zodiac Killer? Or, was it unrelated like Riverside police think - instead the doing of another student? This is the murder of Cheri Jo Bates. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September of 2019, a phone was stolen from an Anchorage, Alaska man, and found to contain videos and images of the brutal murder of an Indigenous woman in a hotel room. As police zeroed in on their suspect, one question remained: did he have more victims? This is the case of Homicide at Midtown Marriott, also known as The Memory Card Murders... The murders of Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On a quiet September morning in 1922, two bodies; one, a respected minister, the other, a singer in his choir, were found beneath a crabapple tree in New Jersey. Both had been thoughtfully posed under that tree, surrounded by carefully placed items, igniting rumors of romance, betrayal, and scandal throughout the town, and begging questions that still remain today. These are the murders of Eleanor Mills and Edward Hall, otherwise known as the Hall-Mills murders. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.