Podcasts about hell and gone

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.

It was a few minutes before midnight on Saturday July 5, 1997. 21-year-old Marty LeBouef was working behind the counter as a cashier at KK’s Corner convenience store on Highway 14 in Calcasieu Parish, a few miles from Lake Charles, Louisiana. Marty and his co-worker, 26-year-old Stacie Reeves, were working together that night. There was someone else there too. Stacie had a friend, 14-year-old Nicole Guidry, there with her. Nicole sometimes babysat for Stacie’s twin daughters, who were 23 months old, and was keeping Stacie company until the store closed. Then the plan was for her to ride home with Stacie and spend the night with her kids while Stacie went crabbing. Nicole was turning fifteen later that summer and was about to start the ninth grade. Marty hadn’t been scheduled to work that night, but one of his coworkers had called in sick, so Marty stepped in. Closing time was midnight. That time came and went. And Marty, Stacie and Nicole never made it home. Around 5 a.m. on July 6, one of Marty and Stacie’s coworkers showed up to open the store, and she immediately noticed that something was very wrong. The cash register was open. Money was missing from the drawer. The alarm was off. And Marty and Stacy were nowhere to be found. The employee went to the office to use the phone there and called the police. Once the deputy got to the store, he noticed Stacie and Marty’s cars in the parking lot. Inside, he found the door to the back office had been kicked in, and the safe was open. At first he thought that this had been a robbery and that Stacie and Marty may be restrained in the back of the store, locked in the cooler. But once he opened the door to the cooler, he saw the bloodbath. There were three bodies - Marty, Stacie and Nicole lying on the floor. All three had been shot multiple times, execution style. 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, 56-year-old James Escalante, who also went by Blackhawk, left home on a red mountain bike to help Dee, a friend of his and his girlfriend Sherry’s, whose truck had gotten stuck in the desert. But he never made it back home, and no one reported him missing until September 7th. Heather Escalante and her husband Jon, James’ son, began their own search. After Heather started posting on social media and looking for information, she heard that remains were found in the desert on August 8th by a hiker. The body was a John Doe. Half his face was missing, he had long black hair and there was no ID found. Heather contacted the detective working the case to say that she believed that the body could be James, and on December 15th, the family’s worst fears were confirmed. They got a call from the coroner. James Escalante was dead. His cause and manner of his death were undetermined. What happened out there in the desert? 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.

From iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans comes Hell and Gone Murder Line. 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.More episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line are available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hell-and-gone/id1437808691

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.

On January 17, 2023, 53-year-old William Vick was recovering at home in Clarksville, Arkansas. William was in good health. He loved making videos for his YouTube channel. But William had gone in for tonsillectomy operation the week before, and had been experiencing some complications. He had texted his daughter, Ashley to say that he believed that something inside him was broken and that he was throwing up a large amount of blood in the sink.  Ashley was worried, and told her dad that this didn't seem normal to her - she encouraged him to go see the doctor. But LaRenda had worked as an ER nurse and Ashley believed that her stepmother was taking care of her father. A lot of what we know is pieced together after the fact from coroner's reports and case notes. We do know that  at 11: 22  PM, the Johnson County deputy coroner Dave Cogan arrived at 1954 County Road responding to an unexpected death.  They spoke to LaRenda who, according to the coroner's report, told the deputy coroner that she had been staying in a separate room because she had been sick recently and was worried about COVID.  The deputy coroner noted that William was already in full rigor mortis; meaning that he had been dead, lying on that floor, for a long time. William Vick was fifty three years old. He went in for what was supposed to be a routine operation, and a few days later, he was dead. And this  was just the beginning of an investigation that involves charges of insurance fraud, two mysterious deaths, and a family torn apart.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, we talked about the mystery regarding whether or not Deputy Blake Hassell ever went out to the area in Kingston where on August 5th at 12:34 AM, a 911 caller reported that she heard a woman screaming - that it sounded like she was being raped or tortured.  The dispatch report reads, "A caller advised she believes that she heard a woman in the woods behind her house yelling. Stated she believes at one point the woman screamed for help. Caller advised there is not a physical address but it is in area where a bunch of homeless people were camped out.”  We know that the caller waited all night for the Madison County's Sheriff's Office to respond, but no one ever came.  And that a few weeks later on September 9, Taylor Barksdale's remains were found just a few hundred feet from where that 911 call was placed. Her death was labeled a homicide. The Madison County Sheriff's Department said that only one deputy, Blake Hassell was working the overnight shift from August 4 to August 5. And Sheriff Ronnie Boyd said that Blake Hassell  told dispatch that he responded to the call when he didn't.  Later that same day, August 5 when his supervisor Sergeant Drew Scott questioned him, he said that he didn't respond to the call because he ‘had just been out to that area 30 minutes or an hour earlier.”  But is that true?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.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office got a 911 call in the early morning hours of August 5, 2024 from caller who heard sounds that she believed could be from a  woman being raped or tortured.  But the police never came. Then a few weeks later, people were expressing concern about Taylor Barksdale, a 30-year-old woman who had been living in Huntsville and who had gone missing. When police finally went to the area of the 911 call to investigate on September 9, they went out to a residence in Kingston, and they found Taylor's remains. Taylor was a mother of two young children, someone who was loved by her friends and family and someone who was vulnerable. Someone who died screaming in a dark field, desperately waiting for help that never came.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.

In this summer we covered the case of Shannon Lee Collins, the 48-year-old veteran who vanished without a trace from his family home in Pottsville Arkansas.  I am thrilled to report that we have a major update in this case: federal fraud charges have been filed against Shannon's wife Treasa and her daughter, Brittany. And now that the fraud has been uncovered could murder charges come next? 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

We're in Sabine County, Texas, investigating the area where Doug Janis was murdered. We've talked a lot about April and Doug's relationship - one that went on for years - but what I wonder is, if April did kill Doug, why did she choose that moment? What was her motive?  I think that solving Doug Janis murder starts with figuring out what really happened to April's mother, Anna, on the night she was fatally shot, September 3, 2004. That's the same night when Anna told her friend Yvonne that she found out that April was being molested by Doug Janis.  Last week, we heard from April's father's book, which gave his version of what happened the night his wife was fatally shot. But Yvonne has a very different version of what went down that night.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SOURCES: Homicidal Trooper. His life seemed perfect, but then the… | by Robin BarefieldAmazon.com: Ghost: The True Story of One Man's Descent into Madness and Murder eBook

Catherine and Amy head to Sabine County, Texas, where on December 13, 2020, there was a massive explosion on Toledo Bend lake. The houseboat belonging to 64-year-old Doug Janis, a well known commercial catfisherman, went up in flames. Doug Janis was found dead inside the boat. At first, police assumed that it had been a propane leak, but then the medical examiner found the two bullets in the back of Doug's head.  Doug Janis had been murdered. And his much younger wife, 30-year-old April Mae Janis was nowhere to be found. A witness told police that they saw April leaving the scene shortly before it blew up.  And as we said last week we found out that April's mother, Anna, had also died of a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Another a mysterious death that was never fully explained.  April's dad Bob Thompson wrote a book which he self published called A Different Ballgame. In that book, he described in detail what happened the night Anna was shot and his version of events. And we've talked to some of the other people who were around that night, and let's just say that we will be taking everything that Bob says with a very large grain of salt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Friday, December 12, 1980 at approximately 6: 45 in the morning, the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department got a call about a female body lying on the side of Highway 181, just south of Highway 158.  The woman was dressed in a striped red colored dress and velveteen jacket and was five foot five. She weighed around 115 pounds.  It wasn't hard to figure out the cause of death - Barbara had massive holes blown into her body by a shotgun. The shots were so violent that pieces of her hair and skull were found 20 feet away.  And just like in Amanda Tusing's case, there were suspicions that a police officer may have been involved - and the murder is still unsolved. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Tuesday July 25 1989, 18 year old Dana Stidham went home to do some laundry. She drove from her home in Centerton to where her parents Lawrence and Georgia lived in Hiwasse, Arkansas.  After she put her clothes in the wash cycle, she headed out to run an errand for her dad. His stomach was upset and he needed some medicine.  She left the Phillips food store - which is now a Harp's grocery - in Bella Vista at 3:17 pm.  We know this because the receipt was later found in her car, and the cashier and a lot of other people working in the store confirmed that she was there that day - she knew them because she worked there for three years in high school. We're going to explore some theories that have come up over the years and ask - was  this someone Dana knew, or a stranger, maybe even a serial killer? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 25, 1989, 18-year-old Dana Stidham had just graduated from high school in Gravette, Arkansas and had her whole life in front of her. Dana had moved out on her own for the first time to Centerton where she was living with her older brother Larry and a cousin. She was starting her life and excited about the future, but on that day, she had to do some laundry and like a lot of kids that age, she was going to do her laundry at home. And she was a little homesick; she wanted to spend some time with her dad.  Her parents Lawrence and Georgia Stidham lived in Hiwasse, an unincorporated area in Benton County about a ten minute drive to where she liveD. So Dana drove home. She started doing a big pile of laundry with her dad. And then her dad said he was not feeling well, so he asked Dana to run some errands for him and she said yes. She was planning on coming right back. She had clothes in the wash cycle, and her dad said that he would put them in the dryer if she wasn't back by then. There has been a lot of publicity about this case, but no real answers.  We're going to try to relive the last day of Dana Stidham's life and see if there's anything that was missed that can help get us closer to finding out what happened to her and who killed her.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 January 18 2012, a contractor was walking along a road In Dover Township Pennsylvania, called Schoolhouse road in York County when he noticed a plastic bag there.   It was heavy and had a weird kind of liquidy consistency.  At first he said he thought it might be a dead animal but then he saw the blood and what looked like long, gray human hair and skin he called the police…he realized what he was looking at was a human scalp. The lab confirmed that this was human but they ran the DNA and could not find a match to anyone in the system. So the head became a John Doe officially but unofficially, the Foodsaver bag case.  So that bag and that strip of skin remained in that crime lab. Until five years later. This would lead them to a 67 year old diminutive grandmother who looked like a sweet little lady  - and who was guilty of pathological lies, horrific murder - and who some believe could even be a black widow. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Sunday June 17, 2024, Jay Slater, a 19 year old bricklayer's apprentice who lived in Lancashire, England was on his first ever foreign holiday - and he seemed to be having a blast.   He had gone to the island of Tenerife in Spain with a female friend named Lucy and a guy named Brad. That night he and Lucy went out to a music festival called New Rave Generation. It was held at Papagayo Beach Club, along a strip called Veronica's Strip that has a ton of nightclubs and neon signs. It was there he met two British men and somehow they made a plan to go on to their airbnb.  The next morning Lucy got one last frantic call from Jay just after 8 am - saying he was lost, didn't know where he was, and was panicked. He never showed up again.  So was Jay kidnapped and murdered, did he wander off into the wilderness or did something else happen to him?  This case is wild- it has exposed the seedy underside of this island and the criminal underworld that are operating there -including drug lords and mobsters dubbed the timeshare killers - and everyone from police detectives to psychics and TikTok stars have descended on this tiny island in the Canaries to find a young man who was partying and vanished without a trace right in the middle of an island full of tourists. 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 November 30, 1963, just eight days after president John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas - across the country in  Los Angeles, friends of a 23-year-old actress named Karyn Kupcinet were getting concerned. She was supposed to get to their house to eat at 6:30 PM but arrived an hour late at 730 PM. When she did arrive, she was acting strangely. She barely touched her food and was acting like she was under the influence. At 8:30 PM that night, they sent her home in a taxi. A few days later when they went to check on her, they found her dead on her couch.   What happened after hours in that West Hollywood apartment? This case has a broken relationship, stalking, Hollywood glamour and even a suggested connection to the assassination of JFK - but really after you get through the conspiracy theories and all of the Hollywood stuff, at heart ,it's a story about a young woman who went out to Hollywood in search of her dreams and ended up dead.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 20, 1999, in Gainesville, Georgia, 18 year old Elaine Nix disappeared from Zack's food rack gas station and convenience store, the Candler Highway, where she had gone to talk to her boyfriend Billy Millwood.  They spoke for an hour on that payphone between around 1110 pm and just after midnight - phone records confirmed this - and then Elaine hung up with Billy and according to him, she was heading back home.  She never arrived.  Nine days after she disappeared, her body was found. Twenty five years later, her case is still unsolved.  Last week we were able to get access to Elaine's autopsy report - we went to CrimeCon this week so this episode will be a bit shorter than usual but I wanted to update you all on what's going on with this confession letter supposedly written by a local businessman named James A. Walters - aka Big Jim Walters - and what we're doing to track down the origins of that mysterious letter.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 20, 1999, in Gainesville, Georgia, 18 year old Elaine Nix pulled into a roadside convenience store off highway 60 south - the Candler Highway - called Zack's Food Rack.  Elaine had been arguing with her boyfriend Billy Millwood and she was at Zach's so that she could make a thirty five cent phone call to Billy without relying on her family's long distance plan, because back then long distance cost money.  Nine days later, she was found dead.  Twenty five years later, Elaine Nix's case is still unsolved.  We've had some major breakthroughs since last week. We were able to help Elaine's parents get access to her autopsy report - so we are going to see what we can learn from that report - plus  we have letters from potential witnesses - and a confession letter supposedly written by a local businessman that has never been revealed - until now.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 20, 1999, in Gainesville, Georgia, 18-year-old Elaine Nix pulled into Zack's Food Rack, a gas station and convenience store, just after 11 pm. Zack's was located just off highway sixty south, also known as Candler Highway and had two booths on the side of the building, where Elaine parked her 1986 blue Toyota Celica. Elaine was there to place a late night phone call to her boyfriend, Billy Millwood.  Elaine's mom Becky remembers that Elaine left home to go to the gas station to call Billy at around 11 pm. Becky said that her daughter had been fighting. He would later tell the police that he believed that she was lying about using birth control.  But, Elaine didn't come home. At first her mom wasn't overly worried because she assumed that she and Billy had made up and that Elaine had stayed at his house.  But she never came home. And Becky never heard from her daughter again.   Twenty five years later, her case is still unsolved.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.