Forgotten Mysteries

The Glove and Badge: Why Megan Vanished That Night A deliberate, inverted latex glove threaded with a hospital badge sat face-up on a stranger’s welcome mat - the only clue left when charge nurse Megan Chambers vanished between a library parking lot and her front door. For twenty-two years that unsettling image sat in a cold case file: why a glove and a badge, and who wanted Megan to be remembered that way? In this episode, we tell what the case file contains and how investigators followed two small anomalies that didn’t fit the initial theory: a white panel van seen near Megan’s house and a late-night badge swipe at the hospital. How did those details, a retired detective’s note, and a timeline across two counties finally lead to an answer? Person: Megan Chambers Age: 48 Occupation: Charge nurse, cardiac unit at Braden County Regional Hospital Event: Disappearance and homicide on the night of August eighth Location: Body found in drainage ditch off Calloway Mill Road, five miles from Megan’s house - The glove was surgical-grade latex, turned inside out with the badge threaded through the cuff and face-up on the porch. - Megan’s gray Honda Civic was found locked in the driveway the next morning with no signs of disturbance. - Megan’s body was discovered 61 hours after her disappearance and the medical examiner ruled the death occurred the night she vanished. - Megan’s hospital badge registered a card-reader entry and exit at a medication storage room at 11:14 PM, over 90 minutes after colleagues said she left her shift. - A neighbor reported seeing a white panel van parked in front of Megan’s house between 8:30 and 9:00 PM the evening she disappeared.

The Badge in the Culvert: Proof That Shouldn't Exist A battered laminated employee ID found in a cracked wallet at the mouth of a culvert should not have existed - it belonged to Neil Hughes and records say he surrendered it at termination years before Laura Henderson was found strangled. The badge surfaced twelve feet from the spot where Laura’s body was discovered, and a sealed folder in a courthouse basement held an answer that had been hidden for almost two decades; what does that wallet finally prove? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning the badge was found to the original investigation, outlining the possessions, records, and missed evidence that connected Stratton Cold Storage to Laura Henderson’s death - and we follow the single thread that raises the unresolved question at the center of the case. Person: Laura Henderson Date: July 19, 1994 (time of death estimated between 8:00 and 11:00 PM) Location: Drainage culvert beneath Old Hollow Road, two miles north of Stratton Cold Storage Person: Neil Hughes (name on recovered badge) Event: Wallet and laminated ID badge found March 3, 2013 by county grader operator Harvey Powell - Laura Henderson was 31 years old and worked as the bookkeeper at Stratton Cold Storage. - Laura left Stratton at approximately 7:45 PM on July 19, 1994 after closing a mid-cycle payroll run. - Colin Marsh called Laura at 7:52 PM on July 19, 1994; the call lasted four minutes and she never arrived home. - Laura’s body was found on July 21, 1994; the medical examiner determined strangulation and estimated time of death between 8:00 and 11:00 PM on July 19. - A Polaroid taken July 22, 1994 showed a handwritten yellow note taped to Stratton’s rear service door reading “N.H. - Thurs/Fri only - use east door.”

The Mug That Reopened a 20-Year Murder Mystery A single white coffee mug, upright and unworn, was found on the back porch of a padlocked, vacant house that had been empty for nearly twenty years - someone had been there recently and wanted to be noticed. That mug reopened a file untouched for eleven years and led investigators from a kitchen notepad to a dry creek bed three miles away; who left it, and why now? In this episode, we follow the chain of discoveries triggered by that mug and the documents it resurrected, tracking what details were already in the files and what new evidence shifted focus back onto a contractor and his vehicle - could the person who worked on the gutters be the key to what happened the week Jennifer Schmidt disappeared? Person: Jennifer Schmidt Date: June 11, 2002 (last confirmed call) Location: Calloway Road, Parlin, Indiana Case: Missing person turned homicide investigation Event: Gutter work by Holt Home Services in May 2002 - Jennifer Schmidt called her sister every Tuesday at 10:30 PM without fail; June 11, 2002 was the last call. - Jennifer’s car was found in the garage and her purse on the kitchen counter when Patrice checked the house on June 19, 2002. - Detective Vic Lorenz spent eight months on Dennis Schmidt as a suspect before the investigation stalled by 2004. - A phone number for Holt Home Services was written on Jennifer’s kitchen notepad and logged in the original file. - A June 20, 2002 garage photo showed a faint tire track later classed as consistent with a utility van or light truck.

The Two Right Shoes: Who Placed the Marker at Crestfield Reservoir? A dry, right leather shoe was found balanced, heel against the inner wall and toe pointing at the water, on the wet spillway above Crestfield Reservoir the night Susan Baker disappeared - and four days later her body was pulled from the same reservoir wearing another right shoe. Who would place a single right shoe upright like a deliberate marker, and why was no left shoe ever found? In this episode, we walk through the timeline of the night of May 9, 2001, the original investigation that closed as an accidental drowning, and the file reopened twenty-two years later when an investigator could not ignore the photograph of that shoe. What does the placement of a dry right shoe on a dew-wet spillway tell us about that night? Person: Susan Baker Date: May 9, 2001 Location: Crestfield Reservoir (Crestfield, Virginia) Status: Case closed as accidental drowning in 2001; file reexamined in 2023 Age: 44 - At 9:58 PM on May 9, 2001, a tan leather size 7 right shoe was found balanced upright on the concrete spillway lip, heel flush against the inner wall, toe pointing at the water. - Susan Baker made a less-than-one-minute call at 9:58 PM to a prepaid number that 2001 investigators could not trace. - Susan left choir rehearsal at approximately 9:45 PM after arriving eight minutes late due to a flat tire and reported she was fine. - Her body was recovered on May 13, 2001, still wearing a right shoe on her right foot and her left foot was bare; both shoes on record were right-footed. - Detective Lou Parrish recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.12% and noted abrasions on her forearms consistent with the spillway edge, leading him to close the case as an accidental fall.

The Hand in the Lattice: How One Mug Hid a Killer's Trace A weathered coffee mug and a hand reaching through a lattice led to one of Tillett County's coldest mysteries: a woman missing for eleven days, a body placed six feet into a shared crawlspace, and a small pool of coffee that baffled investigators for decades. What single piece of evidence hidden in that coffee finally reframed the case after twenty-eight years? In this episode, we walk through the timeline, the overlooked work order, and the evidence reexamined years later to show how routine records and a single domestic object can change everything - could a broken mug really point to a killer? Person: Diane Morgan Date: April 9, 1991 (body discovery) and March 28, 1991 (last confirmed sighting) Location: 414 Selby Court, Ridgecroft, Tillett County Investigator: Detective Phil Marsh (original), Keith Hunter (cold-case review, pulled file in spring 2016) Company: Harmon Fabrications (employer, 43 employees) - Diane Morgan was 28 years old and had been missing for 11 days when her right hand was found extending through the loosened lattice. - The apartment showed one tipped chair, one broken coffee mug, and a small pool of coffee beneath the shards with no other disturbance. - Time of death was estimated between March 28 and April 1, 1991, with manual strangulation as cause. - A legitimate work order dated March 26, 1991, from Renner Facilities Group requested a gas appliance inspection for Unit Two (Diane's unit). - Keith Hunter, age 37, joined Tillett County Sheriff's Office in 2015 and pulled the Morgan file in spring 2016, finding patterns overlooked for years.

The Dry Notebook in the Rain: How a Cold Case Waited 22 Years A single impossible detail-an open green spiral notebook four inches from a two-inch window gap that stayed completely dry after more than one inch of rain-should have cracked this case open immediately. That dry notebook sat unexamined in an evidence archive for twenty-two years while a staged scene, a wrongful arrest, and a second death added layers of confusion; who placed the notebook after the storm and why was that choice never questioned? In this episode, we walk through the timeline of events, the physical evidence, and the investigative decisions that allowed a key fact about the rain to be overlooked for over two decades, asking whether the answer was ignored or simply never asked. Person: Michelle Carter Date: March 12-14, 2002 Location: kitchen windowsill with a two-inch open window gap Status: cold case reopened after 22 years in archive Toxicology: diphenhydramine present below therapeutic level but enough to sedate - The rain event produced more than one inch of precipitation between 10:00 PM and 3:00 AM. - The notebook was found open on the windowsill four inches from a two-inch-wide gap in the cracked window. - Time of death was estimated at approximately forty hours before discovery, placing death in the early hours of March 12. - Michelle Carter’s husband died on January 9, 2002, roughly nine weeks before her death. - Lead detective Hank Morse kept the notebook in a banker's box under his desk until his retirement in 2009.

The Dry Boot on Highway Nine: Who Laid It Upright? Cold, precise, and deliberately placed: a single dry work boot stood upright on a frozen concrete abutment after five nights below freezing, while the owner lay dead sixty yards away. Why was the boot clean, laced with a square knot, and carrying a folded pay stub when Chad Turner never laced his boots and kept pay stubs flat? In this episode, we lay out the sequence of discoveries, the habits Chad's family knew, and the investigative gaps that left a name and a maintenance log unnoticed for nineteen years. How did a detail as small as a boot knot point investigators away from the personal circle and toward something else on Highway Nine? Person: Chad Turner Date: February 7-9, 2003 Location: Highway Nine service road, concrete drainage abutment Status: Case went cold; gap in maintenance logs discovered nineteen years later Cause: Blunt force trauma to the head - The boot was found upright at 9:47 AM on February 9, 2003, by a man walking his dog. - Chad Turner's body was found about 60 yards east in a shallow depression before noon on February 9, 2003. - The medical examiner estimated time of death between 7:00 PM and 11:00 PM on February 7, 2003. - The boot was dry with no condensation despite five consecutive nights below freezing. - A Halloran Supply pay stub for $214 was folded and pressed flat inside the toe box.

Dry Receipt in a Frozen Glove: How a River Hid a Murder Cold certainty: a frozen brown leather glove pulled from the Aldene River on January 9, 1973 contained a completely dry-cleaning receipt - dated January 7 and issued to Gordon Tate of 14 Aldene Mill Road - an impossibility that sat unnoticed in evidence for 31 years. What did a dry receipt inside a frozen glove mean, and how did it unravel a case otherwise written off as a voluntary disappearance? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning the glove was found through the long dormancy of the case in the sheriff’s basement, tracing the overlooked witness reports, the routine Thursday routines of a small-town man, and the single physical clue that later changed everything. How did routine paperwork and a river’s winter skin hide a crime for decades? Person: Gordon Tate Date: January 9, 1973 Location: Aldene River / 14 Aldene Mill Road Case: Item seven-C (glove with receipt) Status: Evidence stored in sheriff’s basement for 31 years - The glove was found at 7:15 AM on January 9, 1973 by Michelle Simpson while checking her third trotline. - The morning air temperature when the glove was found was eleven degrees. - The dry-cleaning ticket inside the glove was dated January 7 and listed a charcoal wool overcoat for Gordon Tate of 14 Aldene Mill Road. - Detective Raymond Coble logged the glove and receipt as item seven-C and noted “origin of receipt unclear; no body recovered; no further action.” - The case file, including witness Helen Marsh’s sighting of April West on January 3, remained in the sheriff’s department basement through four sheriffs and two building renovations.

The Folded Coat: How a 32-Year Secret Led to a Murder Confession A folded forest-green wool coat with brass buttons sat neatly against a culvert wall for thirty-two years, its breast pocket sealing a church bulletin dated December 7, 1991; beneath it, three feet down, were the skeletal remains of a missing 61-year-old woman. Who returned in the dark to move a coat and what did that act hide - or reveal? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from December 1991 through the coat's discovery on December 11, 2023, describing the people, the timeline, and the unexplained choices that kept the case cold for decades. What can a single folded coat teach us about a long-unsolved disappearance and the confession that followed? Person: Janet Becker Date: December 7, 1991 (church bulletin); December 11, 2023 (coat discovery) Location: Kellerton, Hardin County, Ohio; Fenwick Pike culvert Status: Missing since 1991; skeletal remains found under coat in 2023 Age: 61 - Coat: forest-green wool with brass buttons, folded and placed flat against culvert wall - Bulletin: First Lutheran church bulletin dated December 7, 1991, found inside breast pocket - Discovery time: 9:47 AM on December 11, 2023, by county surveyor Earl Parker - Remains depth: skeletal remains located three feet below the coat under clay-hardened ground - Last known movements: attended Advent service Dec 7, 1991 (5-6 PM), left Dorothy Hess's at ~9:15 PM and never arrived home

The Frozen License: How a Septic Lid Revealed a Killer Cold earth hid a clean Minnesota driver's license face-up in a vinyl sleeve for thirty-seven years - the card belonged to 24-year-old Jessica Ward, who vanished from a locked apartment on November 11, 1982. How did her ID end up sealed inside a septic lid forty feet from a farmhouse foundation under ground no one had disturbed for decades, and who put it there? In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the last confirmed sightings of Jessica to the discovery on Millhaven Road, laying out the people, timelines, and leads that shaped the investigation. What began with a septic technician's probe becomes a question about who could have moved between a locked apartment and a buried septic lid without leaving traces. Person: Jessica Ward Date: November 11, 1982 (disappearance) Location: Crescent Street, Harwick Township; Millhaven Road discovery Person: Wade Bauer (septic technician) Person: Kevin Pruitt (former boyfriend) - A septic technician, Wade Bauer, pushed a probe rod into frozen ground on Millhaven Road on November 9, 2019 and stopped at eight inches. - The object pulled was a Minnesota driver's license, face-up and sealed in a clear vinyl sleeve, that had been in the earth for thirty-seven years. - Jessica Ward was twenty-four years old, worked as an accounts clerk at Elgin Farm Supply, and vanished from a locked one-bedroom apartment where her coat was on the hook and her two rabbits were unfed. - A plumber named Larry Wallace, employed by Bluewater Mechanical from Chaska, was recorded on a legitimate work order at the Crescent Street building on the afternoon before Jessica disappeared, arriving at 2:00 pm and leaving at 4:30 pm. - Two independent witnesses, Bill Koester and Paula Venn, reported seeing Kevin Pruitt's truck near Jessica's apartment on the evening of November 11, 1982, prompting a grand jury proceeding by spring 1983.