Showing results for "Disappearances" in Murder

On July 13, 2011, Laura Jean Ackerson of Kinston, North Carolina, went to pick up her two toddler sons. It would be the last time she was seen alive. Laura's ex, Grant Hayes - the father of her two sons - and his wife, Amanda, the mother of his newborn daughter, both pointed the finger at each other as the one guilty of murdering Laura, cutting up her body, and then transporting and disposing of the remains on the shores of Oyster Creek, Texas.

The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the Jon Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When the pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story - with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm.

The crisp, predawn hours of December 16, 2000, began much as they had many Saturdays for avid duck hunter Mike Williams — on Lake Seminole, where he’d go to relax after a stressful work week. The Florida State grad was juggling fatherhood with a thriving real estate appraisal career. And that very evening? He and his high school sweetheart, Denise, planned to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. But Mike Williams never returned home.

In 1981, detective Kay Schucker was the lead investigator in the high-profile missing persons case of Old Dominion University student Janice Starr. The beautiful co-ed disappeared without a trace from ODU's Norfolk, Virginia campus. Among the only leads was Janice's diary, which included detailed journal entries about her daily activities. As Kay studied the diary—going several years back—she learned that Janice, a US Army veteran, had faced the same challenges in the military that Kay did in law enforcement. They were both women trying to succeed in a man's world.

Hundreds have disappeared. So many that we've lost count. Once Search and Rescue teams pull out and the news cameras switch off, the spotlight on these individuals dim and the cases turn cold. What's more, hundreds of human remains are discovered every year and lie waiting to be identified in drawers, boxes, and unmarked graves scattered across Canada.

It takes just seconds for someone to die. Sometimes questions remain: was it an accident, suicide, or something more sinister?

True crime is about humanity. We are hardwired to pay attention to things that could harm us, and that’s why so many of us are captivated by the genre. It’s not a reflection of something dark within us - it’s a reflection of human nature. True crime has become more than a source of entertainment, and it plays a critical role in giving forgotten victims a voice they never had the chance to share. Indeed, reading and sharing true crime stories is an act of social responsibility.

The disappearance of a twenty-one-year-old woman from a Massachusetts suburb became one of the most discussed crimes of the twentieth century.

When Troy and his family are forced to move, they take a spot on an old deserted farmhouse. The field out back is barren except The Tree that is in the middle of the field. Strange things start to happen and the family is forced to find out the macabre history of The Tree.

April is a gorgeous time be in Washington, DC. Temperatures across America's capital city steadily rise as Spring arrives and the streets become lined with blooming Cherry Blossom trees. But in 1999, April brought news of a tragedy to Washington, DC, and to the family of Joyce Chiang. Joyce was an American attorney who worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She had been missing for three months, and now, her badly decomposed body was being dragged from the Potomac River.

On December 11, 1998, Lynsey Quy called her mother and asked if she could visit for tea. She got to her parents’ home in the afternoon, and the two spent the afternoon talking about various topics, with Christmas the main focus of Lynsey’s attention. Lynsey was always excited about holidays, and she was looking forward to the festive season. They discussed gifts for the kids and activities Lynsey was planning. As Lynsey left, she promised to keep in touch with her mother. That was the last time Linda saw her daughter alive.

The story of Tara Calico is one of confusion, uncertainty, and sadness. The events of her disappearance are one of the least understood of any crime over the past 50 years. A single Polaroid showing what is widely believed to be Tara ultimately gives her disappearance its most notable name: The Polaroid Mystery.

Helen was just 17 - she would be 67 at the time of writing - when she was last seen. The teenager was not having a good time. Her open face, late-'60s blond bob, and slightly prominent front teeth made her look younger than her youth. She had a slightly drooping eye which made her face particularly notable. At around five feet five inches tall and weighing in close to 125 pounds, in other respects, she was a typical teen.

The Unsolved Disappearance of Lauren Spierer Lauren Spierer was a 20-year college student at Indiana University at the time of her disappearance in June 2011. Her disappearance, subsequent police manhunt and investigation, generated widespread coverage in the national news. There has been tons of speculation and gossip as to what happened that night and the notable reluctance of the Bloomington Police Department to release further footage of the surveillance cameras of her walking outside the bar.

The tragic story of Natalee Holloway still remains a mystery to this day. The events prior to her disappearance are centered on unreliable witnesses, investigators not following proper procedures, and friends who had left her alone with local patrons. To say that a school trip is never supposed to turn out this way is a monumental understatement.

On Monday, December 4, 1933, attractive New York attorney Agnes Colonia Tufverson, 43, and Ivan Poderjay, a captain in the Yugoslav army, 10 years her junior, got married at the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City. What promised to be a storybook romance for Agnes, with a bright future of travel and adventure, turned out to be anything but for the newlywed.

August 8, 2001, Vincennes, Indiana: A small town is shocked and stunned as a young married couple, just sitting back watching TV and following their nightly routine, are suddenly and viciously murdered - by one of their own relation for no apparent reason; May 31, 2000, Bloomington, Indiana: A pretty young woman, popular, happy, and carefree and looking forward to the future suddenly vanishes into thin air, only to be found later dead, a possible victim of murder by jealous classmates.

Dolores Oliver, fondly nicknamed "Lert" by her friends as a term of endearment, was out an outgoing and friendly woman who was well liked by all who knew her. Yet, on September 7, 1974, while on a visit to a local bar to chat with friends, she simply vanished without a trace. Foul play was immediately suspected by her family, who knew in their hearts that they could think of absolutely no one who would want to do her any harm. Yet her lifeless body was found at the end of October in a bean field by a farmer in Illinois.