152: The Volusia County John Doe

In 2019, Liz Barraza was setting up a garage sale on her driveway whilst neighbours got up and ready for the day. And then a car pulls up, someone gets out, and shoots her. Who was this mysterious person? Was it a random attack? Mistaken identity? Had someone taken out a hit on her?

In 2002 authorities in Eastlake, Ohio were called to a suicide in an apartment and it looked like it was going to be an open and shut case... until it turned out that the man, who they thought was Joseph Chandler Newton III, had been living under a false identity for YEARS. Recently he was identified, but no-one knows why he went on the run, abandoning his family forever.

One night in 1994, Bob and Bunny Lehton arrived home from church to find a masked intruder in their home, pacing back and forth, saying they were just there to rob them and was waiting for a lift. Despite all offers for him to take what he wished, the man refused to leave... until the couple's daughter Amy Gellert came home. Amy was brutally attacked and died from her wounds, with the perpetrator escaping on foot. He's never been found. 

In 1972, a male body was found in a secluded area in Volusia County, Florida. At the time it was thought that the remains were that of an adult, but testing decades later showed that it was more than likely a child, a pre-teen boy. For decades, investigators have been looking in the wrong places, but could he be found now?

32 years ago, much-loved mum Vera Anderson received a phone call that resulted in her leaving her home at 10pm on a Saturday night and driving to a quiet, deserted area. Hours later, she would be found murdered in her car, in what appeared to be a hit. Despite extensive investigation, authorities have never found any motive, any reason as to why someone might want Vera dead.

FROM THE VAULT: In November 2010, 13 year old Yara Gambirasio disappeared after gymnastics in Lombardy, Italy. What followed was one of the most intensive police investigations ever seen in Italy, and eventually, her killer was captured. 

In 2015, 21 year old Lauren Agee went to a weekend festival with her friends but little did she know she wouldn't be returning home. There's been lots of speculation over the years as to what happened to Lauren, law enforcement wrote it off as an accident but her family has never accepted that, because as you'll come to see they didn't actually investigate the case...

FROM THE VAULT: From 1974-1975, a number of murders and assaults took place in San Fransisco, all targeted at gay men. The police took little to no interest in investigating the plights of the queer community, so to this day, the so-called Doodler killer goes unidentified.

Today's episode is featuring a number of updates on cases I've covered in the past, small and big! We have a murderer being found in the Colonial Parkway case, movements in the Redhead murders, the Amelia Earhart plane potentially being found, and as always, plenty of Doe identifications and updates.

FROM THE VAULT: Rebecca Schaeffer was an up-and-coming American actress with a bright life ahead of her, when it was tragically ripped away at age 21. Her murder would bring to light gaps in the law around stalking, leading to questions as to how this was allowed to happen in the first place.