Podcast appearances and mentions of catherine townsend

On February 15, 2024, 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, a fifth grade student at Creekside Elementary in Livingstone, Texas, never made it to the bus stop. And when she didn’t come home after school, her family knew that something was very wrong. Audrii lived with her dad, and on that property, there was someone else living there: a 42-year-old friend of the family’s who lived in a camper. And even though he had a very disturbing criminal record, this man was allowed to babysit for Audrii. Once Audrii went missing, people started taking a look at what was really going on behind the closed doors of this house in rural Texas. We talk about stranger danger, but with this case, sometimes the most terrifying people can be living inside our home. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On April 12, 1971, a 27-year-old woman named Pauline Storment was walking down South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She didn't know someone was following her in the darkness. And then, while she was walking and just a few blocks from her apartment, someone attacked her, stabbing her eight times in a frenzy that lasted several minutes. When Pauline started screaming, a lot of people in the area heard her, and there were several witnesses. But her killer escaped into the night, and despite the police questioning tons of people, lots of theories being explored over the years an arrest, Pauline’s killer has never been found. If you have a case you’d like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October of 1995, something strange was going on inside the Flick home at 302 McNabb Street in Rector, Arkansas. This family was made up of 36-year-old David Flick, his wife 34-year-old Barbara, their daughter 11-year-old Andria Flick, and Barbara’s son 17-year-old Aaron Michael Hodge, who she had from a previous relationship. Barbara was a nurse, and her husband David had a transmission shop that specialized in fixing transmissions. Friends and family said that they were a happy couple. Andria played basketball and did beauty pageants. Aaron was well liked by his friends as well, and both Andria and Aaron were popular at school. Andria, Barbara and David were planning on going to Florida to visit relatives, leaving Aaron at home. And like many teens at home alone, he threw a party. This seems perfectly normal… except that David, Barbara and Andria never arrived in Florida. And several days laters, the police discovered their bodies, all shot to death in their house. On the surface, this appeared to be a perfect family, but detectives quickly discovered that things behind closed doors were far from what they seemed. What happened to turn the seemingly perfect family into a house of horrors? If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Saturday, November 2, 2024 15-year-old Tripp Brazeale headed out of his house in Forrest City, Arkansas on a four-wheeler. After dark and into the early morning hours of Sunday November 3, Tripp, two family members, and a friend were hanging out in a part of the woods called Crow Creek, riding ATVs. Now it’s mostly illegal to ride four-wheelers on paved roads in Arkansas and in many other places, but out there in the country, it’s a common mode of transportation for teens. There were police officers nearby that night. Deputy Trey Bynum and Sgt. David Kinney from the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a call regarding with a missing girl and boy from Cross County. Deputy Bynum wrote in his report that while they were checking out a residence in the woods, they heard ATVs driving around erratically. When they finished up and got back into their vehicles, Sgt. Kinney went to go find them. He was the first one to make contact; he was talking to the people on one of the four-wheelers, basically telling everyone to slow down. As Deputy Bynum approached, he saw one of the four-wheelers slow down like he was about to stop but then, he said, take off and pass him at “a high rate of speed.” The driver of that ATV was Tripp Brazeale. At that point Deputy Bynum started his pursuit, trying to pull Tripp over. The high speed chase went on up a hill and back down a hill, and that’s when something happened...something that caused Tripp to abruptly stop and jump off his four wheeler at 12:42 AM and run into the woods. He didn't come back after Deputy Bynum called after him. He fled into the woods and kept running. And then, he disappeared. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Kevin Abel died, and his death was ruled a suicide, Stacie Reeves was scared. Kevin’s friend Jordan said that Stacie told her that Kevin was in serious trouble - that he owed a lot of drug money to people - and that she was planning on talking to police officers about what she knew. One of the officers she spoke with was Jerome LaStraps, an officer Jordan didn't trust. There’s no evidence that Jerome LaStraps did anything wrong, but police did later call him in for questioning about KK’s Corner, asking what he knew, and when he knew it. We’re trying to understand all these relationships, because in Calcasieu Parish, they run deep. Jordan told us about one of her last conversations with Stacie: "Stacie goes, 'Hey, do you know a Jerome LaStraps?' And I looked at her and I said, 'Yes, I do.' And she said, 'Because I've been talking to him about Kevin's case.' And I said, 'Stacey, you don't need to do that. He's dirty.' She said, 'Well, I know who killed Kevin.' And I said, 'Who?'" If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 6, 1997 in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Marty LeBouef, Stacie Reeves and Nicole Guidry were all shot execution style in the head. Their bodies were left in the cooler at KK’s Corner. Thedr murders were shocking. And soon, people were talking about another death. One that some people in the community thought could be linked to KK’s Corner’s massacre. On Saturday, May 17, 1997, not even three weeks before the triple homicide at KK’s Corner, Kevin Abel was fatally shot in the head at home. Police ruled Kevin’s death a suicide, but Stacie Reeves, who had been dating Kevin, believed that he had been murdered and that his murder could be tied to law enforcement, and possibly to alleged drug deals at KK’s Corner. Stacie Reeves arrived at that crime scene with her young twin daughters only minutes after police showed up there. She told police that she and Kevin were going on a date that night and that she had been planning to pick him up with her girls. And she said that he owed a LOT of money to drug dealers, who had been taking his truck as collateral. What really happened to Kevin Abel. Did he kill himself? Who were the drug dealers that he owed money to? And did Kevin’s death have anything to do with the KK’s Corner killings? If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just after midnight on July 6, 1997, 21-year-old Marty LeBouef, 26-year-old Stacie Reeves and 14-year-old Nicole Guidry were fatally shot in a triple homicide at KK’s Corner convenience store near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The killings shocked the community. For months police struggled to find answers. No one seemed to have seen anything, and there was no real physical evidence. Eventually, a suspect was arrested: Thomas Cisco. Police questioned Cisco. He confessed that he had been at KK’s Corner on the night of the murders and said that he was involved. But as we explained last week, Thomas told a lot of conflicting stories, and a lot of the details that he gave to detectives trying to confirm his stories didn’t make sense. Was it Thomas or something else? Was he even there that night? And if he was there, who was the second man? And could the killers or killers still be out there? If you have a case you’d Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 12, 2017, somewhere in the tiny town of Oil Trough, Arkansas, a 37-year-old mother of three named Brooke Allensworth vanished. Two weeks later, the police found Brooke’s car. The car was near a boat ramp and looked like it had been abandoned there for days or possibly weeks. The tire was flat, the doors were locked, and the keys were missing. And so was Brooke. Her family, including her three children and a father and half sister, never saw her alive again and are still searching for answers. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 5, 2005, a jogger found the body of 32-year-old mother of three Brandy Dyson floating in a lake behind the Lake Charles Civic Center. Brandy had been struggling with mental health issues and with addition. For a while she was doing well, and settled into an apartment. But then she lost her apartment after taking refugees in from Hurricane Katrina. She then moved to the Civic Center in Lake Charles with a lot of other evacuees from the storm. After that, Brandy was caught drinking, which broke the rules of the Red Cross, the organization that was running things at the Civic Center, so she was asked to leave. This seemed to start what would turn out to be her final downward spiral. Police believe she set up camp on a pier nearby and had been living there for a few weekends when the next massive hurricane, Hurricane Rita, hit and devastated the state. Sometime in the midst of the storm chaos, Brandy was brutally murdered. The bruising on her neck was so bad that her father said that she had to be buried in a turtleneck sweater. It’s been almost 20 years. The person arrested and at first charged with her murder has been released, and no new suspects have come forward. But the unsolved case is still on the minds of the detectives at the Lake Charles police department. Down there, Brandy’s family tells me, they have a nickname for her. They call her The Lady in the Lake. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 5, 2005 a jogger was out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind the Civic Center, when he saw something floating in the water. When he took a closer look, he realized it was the body of a woman. Police identified the body as 32-year-old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita, which devastated the state. It’s been almost 20 years, there’s been one arrest and a lot of controversy, but her case is still unsolved. There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but we do know that it was violent. Her father Adley Dyson told a local news station, "We had to bury her in a turtleneck sweater because she was strangled and she was thrown in the lake." If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was July 29, 2022, just another quiet summer night in Atlanta, Texas. The sun had just gone down when 28-year-old Shommaonique Oliver got a panicked phone call. That’s when her nightmare began. Three of her children- her middle daughters, nine-year-old Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, eight-year-old A’Miyah Hughes, and little five-year-old Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver were missing. Law enforcement found them a few hours later. Divers dragged their lifeless little bodies out of a neighboring pond. Initially this was described as a drowning in the local media, but months later, law enforcement said that these three little girls had been murdered. The cause was strangulation. And this person could strike again at any time. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 30, 2020, in Starke County, Indiana, a 911 call came from North County Road 1025 East just before 3:30 a.m. The caller, a man named Zachary, had worked late that night and had gotten home and climbed into bed when he said that he and fiancé were woken up by someone pounding on their door. The man was 27-year-old Nicholas Rudd. Nick said that he had been shot, but neither Zachary nor his fiancé had heard gunshots. What he didn’t know was that Nick had not been shot, he had been attacked with a hammer, and stabbed in the neck. He was bleeding to death on their doorstep, and the killer was still outside. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six bodies were found in Wonder Valley between December of 2019 and January of 2021. Some of the bodies in the desert, including the disappearance of 37 year old single mother Erika Lloyd, started making local, then national, news. But there were no national news reports about James Escalante. We’re going to dive into the missing persons report and compare accounts from the last people who saw James to see if we can shed more light into what really happened out there in the desert on June 25, 2020. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On June 25, 2020, a 56-year-old named James Escalante, who had Native American heritage and was also known by his nickname, Blackhawk, left his home in Wonder Valley, California on his mountain bike James lived with a girlfriend, Sherry, and she told law enforcement that he left the home that day to head down the road about 10 minutes from their place to help a friend of theirs named Dee whose car had gotten stuck in sugar sand, which is almost like dry desert quicksand. It’s hot out there; the average temperature for that part of the desert in July and August is 89 degrees and highs regularly top out over 100, or even 105. And out there in the desert it’s dry heat so it feels like you’re baking in an oven. It happens every year - hikers go missing or people just wander off and get lost and don’t come back. But the terrain also means that when people do go missing under mysterious circumstances it can be easier for local law enforcement to write it off as just an accident. Now supposedly the friend, Dee, had been out looking for rocks near Highway 62 and Shelton Road east of Twentynine Palms. And James had lived in that desert for a long time, and knew the area well. So the plan was for James to meet her at a specific intersection to rescue her. But once he got out there, according to Sherry, he couldn’t find Dee. So James called Sherry on his cell phone to figure out what was going on. At that point, Sherry called Dee on a three way call, and James told Dee to honk her horn so that he could find her. He seemed to think he could hear her, so he hung up. But he never got to Dee’s car. And no one ever saw James Escalante alive again. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 29, 2023, just over nine months after William Vick was found dead on his bedroom floor in Clarksville Arkansas, his house caught on fire and burned down under very suspicious circumstances. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 23, 2023, just six days after William Vick was found dead on his bedroom floor at 1954 County Road 3259 in Clarksville Arkansas, police did a welfare check on his wife Larenda’s mother, 72-year-old Martha McLean, who lived in a detached house on the property with William and Larenda. They found Martha struggling to breathe with drugs including lorazepam and morphine around her. Martha had overdosed and was close to death, but paramedics administered Narcan, a drug that blocks opioids. So Martha's breathing improved, and she survived. Matt Foster with the Arkansas State Police wrote that Martha had a pen and a partially handwritten note in her hand when he found her. The note stated that Martha didn’t want to hurt anyone. And after he found her, he executed a search warrant for the property, and he found a second handwritten note where Martha confessed to tampering with William’s medication and to killing him. But why did Martha kill William, and what really happened to her? If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 17 2023 at 11: 22 PM the Johnson County deputy coroner arrived at 1954 County Road in Clarksville Arkansas and found the body of 53-year-old William Vick. The case of death on William’s autopsy was listed as a combined mixed prescription and illicit drug toxicity. Manner of death: homicide. William’s family was suspicious of his wife, LaRenda, but someone else confessed: LaRenda's mother, Martha McLean. She was in her late seventies, terminally ill with throat cancer, and lived in a separate structure on William and LaRenda's property. And she had written a letter confessing to the murder. So why would LaRenda’s 72 year old mother want to hurt William. And with her supposedly being frail and ill, would she even be physically capable of something like that? If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've been trying to figure out what happened to Taylor Barksdale in the last few weeks of her life that led her to Kingston, Arkansas At 12:34 on August 5, a 911 caller reported that it a woman was screaming on a rural property in Kingston  and that she sounded like she was being raped or tortured.  Just over a month later, on September 9, Taylor's remains were found in a field near where the 911 call was made.  We have made some headway in finding out what was going on in Taylor Barksdale's life during the last few weeks of her life. We know that she had been staying on and off with her ex-boyfriend, Kenny.  Apparently, Taylor and Kenny got into an argument. After that, Kenny's neighbors say that they didn't see her come back to Kenny's residence. After July 20th, Taylor was staying on and off with different friends, and two of those friends who she was hanging out with were men. Men who were also, and two of those friends who she was hanging out with were mutual friends of hers and Kenny's. One of the men lived in a camper on a piece of land near where the 911 call originated from.  So who are these men? How do they know Taylor, and what happened to Taylor on that last day of her life that ended with her remains being found in a field?  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 9, 2024, searchers on a property in Madison County in the area of Kingston, Arkansas, broke open a hay bale and found a body.  Police have shared almost no information about this investigation. And while Sheriff Ronnie Boyd at the Madison County Sheriff's office has publicly denied this, some people in Madison County think this body was discovered while the police were searching for Jason Lierl.   We did several episodes about that case: 41-year-old Jason Lierl was going through a tough time. His 14-year relationship with his wife Jamaica had deteriorated and they were divorcing. Jason had had issues with drugs in the past and then sometime in the winter of 2022, it seems he relapsed. In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County. He was last seen at various residences in Huntsville and then...Jason disappeared. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri, but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. And some people a serial killer is on the loose.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Doug Janis was murdered in 2020, police were focused on one suspect: his wife, 31-year-old April Mae Janis.  Was April a loving wife who adored Doug or a master manipulator who orchestrated his murder? In Hemphill, Texas, it depends on who you ask. Half the town thinks that April was this vixen who has murdered multiple people, while the other half see her as a victim of sexual abuse.  This week, we finally got in touch with April Janis. And we learned about an alternative suspect...someone the police apparently never considered.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SOURCES: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-torture-killers-help-cops-28244328https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/lynda-spence-murder-trialhttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/lynda-spence-murder-trial-albanian-1750492https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=086e9ba6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-11476364

On December 13, 2020, in Hemphill, Texas, police in Sabine County got a call about a houseboat on fire.  The houseboat was docked behind 322 Echo Ridge, off of Cedar Grove Road on Highway 21 in the Pendleton area of Toledo Bend. And the scene very quickly descended into total chaos.  The firefighters had trouble getting out to the remote location, and by the time they got there the boat was engulfed in flames. Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the boat but it was too late. By the time they got there the walls had caved in. And then, when they dug through the remains of the boat, they found the body of 64-year-old Doug Janis.  At first, they thought that the fire had been some kind of accident and that Doug had died as a result of a propane leak. But then, they took Doug's body in for an autopsy, and they found two bullets in his head.  Doug Janis had been murdered. And his much younger wife April Mae Janis was nowhere to be found. But Doug's death was just the beginning of a story that goes back twenty years and involves sex, allegations of corruption, and multiple murders. If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line start September 26th! In the meantime, if you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend and her team to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On June 14, 2000, there was a huge storm brewing in northeast Arkansas. It had been raining heavily all day and according to local weather data, tornados had hit. Over 100 trees were downed, power lines were down and homes were destroyed.  Twenty year old Amanda Tusing was hanging out with her fiancé, Matt Ervin, at his apartment in Jonesboro. Amanda lived 40 miles away in Dell, Arkansas, which is in Mississippi County, with her father Ed, her mother Susan and her twin brother, Andy. She also had an older brother who worked out of state.  Matt didn't want her to go home that night. It was about a 45-minute drive on a good day, and the weather was bad, but Amanda wanted to get home. So she left Jonesboro at around 11:30 pm and should have gotten home around 12:30 at the latest. Amanda told Matt that she would call him from her parents landline as soon as she got home. She did have a cell phone but never kept it charged. But Matt never got that call and by 1:30 he was concerned. Matt called Amanda's mother, Susan Tusing, and woke her up. She went to check to see if Amanda was in bed, and when she went into her bedroom, she saw that the bed had not been slept in and that Amanda was not home.  This was totally unlike her, and they knew something happened. So her dad and brother drove toward Dell, and Matt left his house in Jonesboro and started driving down Highway 18 in the opposite direction. Their plan was that they would meet in the middle and hopefully see her or her car along the route.   Matt saw her 1992 Pontiac Grand Am parked under a streetlight on the shoulder of AR Highway 18 about a mile west of the small town of Monette. It was on the side of the road and looked like it was parked there intentionally - not like she randomly swerved over. Matt got out of his car, walked over and looked inside.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 11, 2021, Shannon Lee Collins, a 48-year-old veteran, came back from a work trip to his home in Pottsville, Arkansas. Then, he seemed to vanish into thin air.  Catherine continues her investigation from last week, focusing on two things: one, what angles are the police investigating, and are they making any progress in finding out what really happened to Shannon? And two, what do you do if you suspect foul play but there is no body or sign of a struggle?  And what will happen to the family who will not let him go and NOT stop asking questions? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 11, 2021, Shannon Lee Collins, a 48-year-old veteran, came back from a work trip to his home in Pottsville, Arkansas. He was working a part time job delivering packages, which sometimes took him on the road out of state. He had been married to his wife Treasa for more than 20 years, and they raised their family together. They had their son Josh, who was in his early twenties, and Shannon's step daughter Brittany, who was in her early thirties. But Shannon had raised Brittany since she was very young, and been a father figure to her. They were a close family - they attended a local church Russellville First Assembly, and were very active in their church community. And yet, after March 11, 2021, when Shannon Collins walked into his family home in Pottsville that he shared with his wife, son and stepdaughter, he seemed to vanish into thin air. There has been no sign of him since then. How could a veteran disappear? And why did no one report him missing for nine months? If you have a case for Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the night of Saturday, November 21, 2015, Victor Collins, a 47-year-old former police officer who worked in loss prevention at Walmart, was hanging  out with some friends, Owen McDonald and Sean Henry, who all also worked at Walmart, and 31-year-old James Bates. The four friends went back to James' house in Bentonville, Arkansas to watch a Razorbacks football game. According to court documents, these four guys were drinking. At some point, the guys went out to the back patio to have some beers in the hot tub. Sean left first then Owen sometime shortly after midnight, leaving Victor and James alone at the house.   Now James claimed that after that at around 1 AM he went to bed to crash and left Victor in the hot tub. But in the morning, Victor was floating face down in the hot tub. Now what happened next depended on who you asked this began a multi-year ordeal that involved allegations of murder, police corruption and what devices in our houses are listening when you think you're alone.   If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. The next day, he was due to report for drills. But he never showed up. And twelve hours later, his body was found in the Cedar Fork Creek area, just two blocks from where he was last seen the night before. Since then, Tyler's family has been trying to find out what happened to him: did he fall, did he drown, or was he murdered? And after lingering questions about his autopsy, Tyler Smith's body was exhumed for a second opinion.  If you have a case you'd like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was April 12, 1971, a 27-year-old woman named Pauline Storment was walking down South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a few blocks from her apartment. She didn't know someone was following her in the darkness.  And then, while she was walking and just a few blocks from her apartment, her attacker came out of the darkness and attacked her, stabbing her eight times in a frenzied attack that lasted several minutes.  It was a hot night so at 9:45 pm when Pauline started screaming a lot of people in the area heard her, and there were several witnesses. But her killer escaped into the night - and despite the police questioning tons of people, lots of theories being explored over the years an arrest, Pauline's killer has never been found.  If you have a case you'd like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past few weeks, we've been covering two cases in Arkansas: the murder of Gail Vaught, whose body was found on March 17, 1980, and Dennis Flowers. Police believe that Dennis was responsible for the execution style murders of Lee Dickson, a pharmacist who had become addicted to cocaine and started dealing it with Dennis, and Lee's wife Karen Dickson who was eight months pregnant. A few days after the brutal double homicide, Dennis' body was found under extremely mysterious circumstances, cause of death was listed as drowning in less than three feet of water and his manner death was ruled suicide.   One of the questions that have come up in these cases and so many others is were these crime scenes as they appeared to be, or could they have been staged? This week Catherine Townsend speaks with investigator Arthur Steve Chancellor. who runs a company called Second Look Training and Forensic Consulting that provides investigative and forensic case consultation and training.You can find the company online at secondlooktraining.com or reach them at 919 360 3518.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the morning of March 22, 1984, at around 6:30 am, police came to the one-story nondescript home in Fayetteville, Arkansas that belonged to a quiet unassuming 33-year-old pharmacist named Lee Dickson and his wife Karen.  When police came to the Dickson home, they knocked, but Lee and Karen didn't answer. Finally, their young son came to the door. He told the police that his mother was sleeping and that daddy went out.  Police entered the home looking for his parents, and it didn't take long to find their bodies. Lee was in the garage, lying face down. He had been shot point blank. Then the killer came for Karen. Police found her in the living room Police later discovered that she had also been shot multiple times, execution style. Karen was pregnant.  What started as a family massacre turned out to have ties to another mysterious death of a man who drowned in under three feet of water. Later there would be allegations that Lee, this quiet local pharmacist, had been making backdoor deals with local criminals to provide the power players of Fayetteville with pharmaceutical grade cocaine. If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine Townsend continues her investigation into the death of Gail Vaught.  On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Searcy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye down a small dirt road. It looked like a person lying in the road. The driver doubled back and saw to his horror that it was the body of a young woman, lying rolled over on her right side with her head and shoulders face down. She was very tall and had a flannel shirt on and a blue Michelin jacket that had been pulled over her face, her legs were slightly open, and she was naked from the waist down except for a pair of torn and filthy white socks.   She started out being a Jane Doe. But soon, police ID'd the victim as 21-year-old Gail Vaught.     Was she sexually assaulted? Could that crime scene have been staged? Could her death have connections to drug dealing or domestic violence or something else? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Searcy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye down a small dirt road. It looked like a person lying in the road. The driver doubled back and saw to his horror that it was the body of a young woman, lying rolled over on her right side with her head and shoulders face down. She was very tall and had a flannel shirt on and a blue Michelin jacket that had been pulled over her face, her legs were slightly open, and she was naked from the waist down except for a pair of torn and filthy white socks.   She started out being a Jane Doe. But soon, police ID'd the victim as 21-year-old Gail Vaught.     Was she sexually assaulted? Could that crime scene have been staged? Could her death have connections to drug dealing or domestic violence or something else? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 21, 2023, Dr. John Forsyth, a 49-year-old ER doctor, was due to work the evening shift at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri. He had already worked the overnight shift the day before and finished up at 7 am. After that he went to crash for a few hours before starting his next shift that night.  This was a normal day for John. He had a habit of pulling long shifts and working between 80 and 100 hours per week. But John never showed up for work that night, and it wasn't long before his family and colleagues realized that he had disappeared. John Forsyth was a hard working, well respected doctor and a father of eight children, but he also had a complicated personal life, one that he kept compartmentalized. One that involved an expensive divorce, a new fiancée, and a crypto company that he co-founded with his brother that had been involved in some shady dealings. What happened to Dr. Forsyth? Was he kidnapped by someone with bad intentions? Did he walk away on his own? Could he have been living a double life? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was Thursday night, November 1, 2007, and 18-year-old Justin Gaines was getting ready for a night out with his friends at Wild Bill's, a club in Duluth, Georgia.   Justin was a freshman in college. He had just started at Gainesville State college, which was about an hour away from where his family was. Justin was 5 '11, 210 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair in a buzz cut. He was a handsome, clean cut, preppy guy.  Justin didn't take a wallet out with him that night, so he had no credit cards, just cash, a couple fake IDs, and his cell phone. He caught a ride with his friends to the club. But when they arrived, his friends didn't want to pay the cover charge and left. Justin saw someone in line who he knew and was able to get in for free and went into the club on his own. He said that it was no problem. He would find a ride. This was something he did often. A while later, in the early morning hours of November 2, 2007, Justin walked out into that parking lot in Duluth, and no one ever saw him again.   If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the evening of Sunday, September 14, 2014, 15-year-old Cassie Kay Compton went out for a pack of cigarettes down the road from her small white house in Stuttgart, Arkansas...and never came back. At least that's the official story.  We know a few things for sure: Cassie had been spending the weekend with a friend of hers named Hunter, and Cassie slept over there on Saturday night.   Hunter's mother has said that this was not out of the ordinary. In fact, Cassie spent a lot of time at her house because, she said, things were chaotic at Cassie's house. Hunter drove her home on Sunday early evening and an hour later, she vanished.  What really happened to Cassie Compton? And was she running from something at home?  If you have a case for Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On February 15, 2024, 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, a fifth grade student at Creekside Elementary in Livingstone, Texas, never made it to the bus stop.  And when she didn't come home after school, her family knew that something was very wrong. Audrii lived with her dad, and on that property, there was someone else living there: a 42-year-old friend of the family's who lived in a camper. And even though he had a very disturbing criminal record, this man was allowed to babysit for Audrii.  Once Audrii went missing, people started taking a look at what was really going on behind the closed doors of this house in rural Texas. We talk about stranger danger, but with this case, sometimes the most terrifying people can be living inside our home. If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode continues the investigation into the disappearance of Ieshia Jackson.  It was Halloween night 2020, and 22-year-old Ieshia was getting ready to go to a party. She lived in El Dorado, Arkansas just a short distance away from her mother, her younger brother, and the rest of her family, but because she had had a couple of break-ins at her new home, she was staying at her uncle's. Ieshia and her mother were very close and normally spoke a few times per day. So by November 2, 2020 when Laquita had not heard from her daughter, she was getting worried. Laquita, her boyfriend, and her son jumped in the car and headed to Ieshia's.  When the family got there they could see immediately that something was very wrong. Laquita went in and found her daughter's stuff there, including her wallet and cell phone. The place looked like she had just stepped out for five minutes. But Ieshia never came back home.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was Halloween night 2020, and 22-year-old Ieshia Jackson was getting ready to go to a party. She lived in El Dorado, Arkansas just a short distance away from her mother, her younger brother, and the rest of her family, but because she had had a couple of break-ins at her new home, she was staying at her uncle's. Ieshia and her mother were very close and normally spoke a few times per day. So by November 2, 2020 when Laquita had not heard from her daughter, she was getting worried. Laquita, her boyfriend, and her son jumped in the car and headed to Ieshia's.  When the family got there they could see immediately that something was very wrong. Laquita went in and found her daughter's stuff there, including her wallet and cell phone. The place looked like she had just stepped out for five minutes. But Ieshia never came back home.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine continues her investigation into the disappearance of Jason Lierl. In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County Arkansas when he disappeared off the face of the earth.  Jason was last seen in Madison County, Arkansas. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri  - but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. What happened to Jason Lierl? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County Arkansas when he disappeared off the face of the earth.  Jason was last seen in Madison County, Arkansas. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri  - but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. What happened to Jason Lierl? If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elderly couple David and Mina Swan lived in a quiet neighborhood in Clearwater, Florida. But on Saturday September 29, 2018, a neighbor of theirs was concerned when their newspapers started piling up outside. The neighbor called Mina's daughter, and the pair of them went inside the house. What they found was horrific. David and Mina were at the kitchen table slumped over in pools of blood. The police have admitted that they are stumped, and over three years later the case is still unsolved. Who would have killed David and Mina Swan?  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell jewelry for her school fundraiser. But she never made it back home. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin? Catherine Townsend tracks down other witnesses who saw Christina the night she disappeared and identifies inconsistencies in the case file.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell jewelry for her school fundraiser. But she never made it back home. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin? Catherine Townsend continues her investigation in Arkansas.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell costume jewelry for her school fundraiser. Her father gave her strict instructions: Stay on your side of the railroad tracks, and be home by dark. But Christina didn't make it back home before dark. And she never made it home alive. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin? And could her death be connected to other dead children found in East Arkansas?   If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was May 10, 2005 when police in the tiny town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, a sleepy picturesque little town on Cape Cod, got a horrifying phone call. Fifty-one-year-old Shirley Reine had been found, slumped on the garage floor, hanging out of her Nissan Maxima in a pool of blood.  Police rushed to the scene and later said that she had been shot twice, once in the chest, and then when she fell out of the car, police believed that the killer shot her a second time in the head. There was no sign of forced entry, and it seemed that the killer had been lying in wait for Shirley in that dark garage. But who would stalk and kill a fifty-something woman execution style in her garage? And why? It turns out that there were a lot of suspects.  If you have a case you'd like Catherine Townsend and her team to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.