On the morning of August 27th 1992, Vickie Felton left for work, leaving her 13 year old daughter Leigh home alone for the first time. There was a tornado warning that morning, and when by 8.30am Leigh wasn't answering the phone, Vickie rushed home - only when she arrived, Leigh was gone and has never been seen since. What happened to Leigh Occhi?

In 2009, Paula Hounslea told her daughter she was going to visit a friend. She told the friend she was going away for a few days. And then she never came home. 3 years later, her remains would be found in a fire pit by an abandoned railway. What happened to Paula?

Today we’re going to explore a historic case that changed the course of criminal investigations forever: the first-ever case solved by DNA fingerprinting. This groundbreaking technique was used to catch Colin Pitchfork, a man responsible for the brutal murders of two young girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, in the 1980s. What started as a complex investigation, with dead end after dead end, took a revolutionary turn when DNA evidence exposed the killer in a way that had never been done before.

Every few months I like to take a look back over the cases I've covered in the past and share any new updates with you... and today I have a LOT of very interesting things to share, with updates in the cases of the Menendez brothers, Asha Degree, Sandy Irvine, Julie Doe, the Bear Brook Jane Doe and much more.

One night in September 1973, 18 year old Peter Reilly returned home to find his mother dead on their bedroom floor, brutally murdered. He called the police and within just minutes, became was their one and only suspect. After a long night and day, Peter eventually confessed to Barbara's murder... but did he do it?

In 1900, a reform school opened up in Mariana, Florida, with the intention of helping wayward boys go on to become productive members of society. What happened instead was of pain, abuse and suffering for the children forced to attend. 

In 1959, 16 year old Mary Flanagan waved bye to her family as she headed to work and then to her work's annual New Year's Eve party. But little did her parents know that Mary hadn't actually gone to work for two weeks, and she likely had no intentions of going to the party. And then she never came home. Where is Mary?-0

Siblings Chloie and Daniel were living with their grandparents in Unionville, Tennessee, when a fire broke out on 23rd September 2012. The bodies of their grandparents and pets were all found in the ashes, but there's never been any sign of Chloie or Daniel.

In 1964, 15 year old Reed Jeppson got back from a morning at church and went out to feed his beloved dogs in their backyard kennel whilst his sister prepped lunch for the family. She warned him not to take too long, that food would be ready soon... but he never came back. Both Reed and both of his dogs seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, with no clue as to their whereabouts.

On April 19th 1953, Ron Tammen came back to his dorm room at Miami University, Ohio, to discover a dead fish in his bed. Assuming it was a prank by a peer, he went to change his bedsheets and got back to his studying. And then, he just disappeared. What happened to Ron Tammen?

Today we're taking a look at some of the craziest cults the world has ever seen, including a cult in which a man worshipped coconuts... and convinced others to do the same. 

In 1992, Rachel Nickell was out for a walk with her dog and 2 year old son on Wimbledon Common in London, when a man came out of the blue and stabbed her to death. She was found with her son by her side, holding her hand. What followed was a shambles of an investigation by the Met Police, in which they decided to focus all their efforts on one (innocent) man, as the true perpetrator went on to kill others.

From the late 1970s through to the early 90s, there were a number of of victims, all young women, who disappeared along the same highway, running through Oregon in the US. It was highway 20, connecting the whole state, from west to east and running through the Cascade Mountains. It runs through cities and some of the most remote areas of the state; there are plenty of areas in which someone could run into trouble. Several stretches of the highway runs through thick, thick forest, so heavily wooded that you can walk into it and immediately find yourself lost and disorientated. Any body hidden in there would be near-on impossible to find. 

This week we're covering the cases of two Jane Does, both of whom are currently in the process of forensic genetic testing, but there's something standing in the way: it seems neither of them are from the country in which they were found, which complicates things somewhat. Who are the Bowmanville Jane Doe and Kilgore Jane Doe?

On New Years Day 1963, two teenagers come across a man lying face down next to the Lane Cover River in Sydney, Australia. At first they assume he's drunk but soon realise that's not the case. Police later find a second body, that of a woman, located just metres away, but an autopsy was unable to find a cause of death for either... all they know, is that they died from the same, mysterious cause.

In June 1980, 56 year old Zigmund Adamski left his home on home to go and grab some food shopping, and then he never came home - his body would later be found under baffling circumstances, that to this day, no one has ever been able to make sense of. The strange, strange situation around Zigmund’s death has led to countless theories over the years, none of which quite make sense but there is one theory that people seem to focus on more than the rest: alien abduction. 

In September 1890, French inventor Louis Le Prince was supposed to be travelling back to New York City to see his family for the first time in three years after finally completing his invention: the motion picture camera. His brother waved goodbye as he dropped Louis off at Dijon train station, to travel to Paris and begin his long journey home. But somewhere along the way, Louis disappeared, never to be seen again.

In December 1996, 12 year old Celina Mays went off to bed and was never seen again, her younger sister finding her bed stuffed with pillows the next day. But Celina wasn't like your regular 12 year old: she was 9 months pregnant and living in a cult-like church, under the thumb of her aunt. Did Celina run away, or did something darker happen?

In 1974, a decapitated body is found hidden underneath a plastic sheet on a quiet county road in Cockley Cley, Norfolk. Despite a massive investigation, there have been few leads over the years and the Norfolk Headless Doe remains unidentified. Who was she?

In 2010, Lori Erica Ruff ended her own life, leaving her husband to clear through all her belongings. And in doing so, he found out that his wife was not who she claimed to be... but who was she? What was she running from?

In 1966, three people, Vernon Shipman, Charles Glass and Louise Shumate were found dead in a clearing in Henderson County, North Carolina. Vernon and Charles were close friends, but Louise had no known connection to the pair... so why had they spent that afternoon all driving around in a car together? Why were they murdered?

What would you do one day if you woke up dead? You're walking, talking, but you're dead: your brain and skin and organs no longer belong to you. Well, for those with Cotard's Syndrome, that is a terrifying reality.

In August 1995, 23 year old Heather Teague went sunbathing on Newburgh beach in Henderson County, Kentucky. Then someone emerged from the woodland behind, pulled her up by her hair and threatened her with a gun, forcing her back into the trees. And wildly, this was all witnessed by a man and his telescope 25km away, in a different state.

In 2003, workers prepping a building for demolition in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, discovered a body encased in concrete in the basement. After 21 years, the girl was identified at Patricia McGlone, but now the search is on for who killed her. 

Through the 70s and 80s, multiple women were found murdered along the Connecticut River Valley - until one woman, Jane Boroski, survived a brutal attack and the killer seemed to go into hiding. Who is the Connecticut River Valley Killer? UPDATE: as of Tuesday 21st May 2024 (after I recorded this), a search warrant has been enacted in the home of a man in Newport. No more information has been released at this time. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1983 a transient man called Henry Lee Lucas was arrested for the murder of an elderly woman called Kate Rich and as he stood in court for his crimes he asks 'what about the rest of the people I killed?' Beginning a frenzy throughout law enforcement across the country. He would go on to confess to over 600 murders, but how many people did Henry Lee Lucas REALLY kill?

FROM THE VAULT: In 1992, 14 year old Misty Copsey went missing from Puyallup, Washington after visiting a fair with her best friend. Despite many clues pointing in multiple directions, there's never been any trace of her found.

In August 1979, a resident of Tok, Alaska found a decomposed body at the side of a quiet country road. Investigators were soon able to pin down his killer, but One Eyed Jack, as he would come to be known, has never been identified. 

FROM THE VAULT - For centuries we've seen multiple different iterations of women being accused of witchcraft, of having too much power, men screaming how they must be stopped; the most famous of which is the Salem witch trials. But do you know the full story?

In 2014, Lars Mittank travelled to Bulgaria for a week away with friends. An unfortunate encounter means he gets a burst eardrum and is unable to fly back home to Germany, being left alone in a foreign country... what happens next has never been explained.

FROM THE VAULT - in 1917, the Radium Luminous Material Corporation started producing luminous paints called Undark, with companies quickly realising how helpful luminescent watch faces would be for the military. Hordes of women were employed in factories, tasked with the painstaking job of painting the watches... only as we all know, radium and humans do not mix. 

In the 1930s, plans were made to build an institution for intellectually disabled children, sold to parents as a haven, with around the clock care and training programmes. Of course, none of the promises came to fruition and it's soon-to-be 6000 residents would be found living in squalor, ignored by the outside world.

In January 2002, Rachel Cooke was home in Georgetown, Texas for the winter break when she decided to go for a run, as she did every morning. Only on this day, she never arrived home and it's widely believed she was the victim of foul play. What happened to Rachel?

In 2002, Joanna Yeates had just moved in with her boyfriend in Bristol, England. She was just starting her adult life, having graduated university and beginning her first job, before it was cruelly ripped away from her when she was home alone for a weekend. Here is her infuriating story. 

We all know historians often refuse to acknowledge queerness meaning there's a whole beautiful rainbow out there in history that has been missed. There have been 40+ monarchs in British history, so statistics tells us that at least ONE must've been gay right? Let's find out.

In 1946, 18 year old Paula Jean Welden decided to go on a Sunday afternoon hike in the Glastonbury mountain in Vermont. And then she just vanished into thin air, no sign of her has been since. But the strangest thing is, she wasn't the only person in the 1940s to disappear under those circumstances...

In 1988, 17 year old Mark Haines went for a night out with his friends, ending with his body being found on the train tracks the next morning. Police quickly brushed it off as suicide, then misadventure, leaving Mark's family to investigate on their own. Finally in 2024, it looks like justice may be around the corner. 

Today we've got a four-in-one episode, with a number of cases of mass hysteria throughout history: the meowing nuns, the june bug epidemic, the shrinking penis epidemic and the jell-o factory hysteria.