True Crime in the 50

At the time of his disappearance on November 10, 2002, Joshua Guimond was a sophomore at St. John's College in Collegeville, Minnesota. Even though he had broken up with his girlfriend, Katie, of five years only two months before, Josh was thriving at his school. He had lots of friends and was involved with many extracurricular activities and academic clubs. His plan after college was to go to law school and then go into politics. But late on Saturday night, November 9th, 2002, Joshua left a poker party at a dorm on campus and seemingly made the walk back to his own dorm, less than 10 minutes away. He was seen passing a female friend on a bridge and then simply vanished. No one has seen or heard from Josh Guimond since then.  Show Notes: https://www.simplyvanished.com/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22000942/

Christmas Around the World: Asia Show Notes: Japanesefoodguide.com Japanguide.com ChinaHighlights.com China-admissions.com TheWorldofChinese.com

Christmas Around the World: The Middle East Show Notes: The Three Wise Men: The History and Legacy of the Biblical Magi by Charles River Editors Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saud The Magi: Who They Were, How They've Been Remembered and Why They Still Fascinate by Eric Vanden Eykel Embraceme.org Natakallamblog.com

The Stalking Case of Samantha Stites is discussed. Show Notes: https://www.hulu.com/series/stalking-samantha-13-years-of-terror-4f4280ca-ad11-46d2-ac17-efd6c8c79e2c

Christmas Around the World: India Show Notes: The Little Book of Diwali: The Festival of Lights Experiencing India's Navaratri NatGeo.com Lid & Ladle Sur la Table WhyChristmas.com COHNA.org TimesofIndia.com

Pia from Crimes From the East Podcast is interviewed about her Indian heritage and how she celebrates the holiday. 

Christmas Around the World: Africa Show Notes: Volunteerencounter.com NPR Dancing Devils Is Christmas Christian Colonialfamilies.wordpress.com From Holiday to Everyday

Justina Pelletier was born very premature with a slew of health problems. She mostly kept them at bay throughout her formative years, until the summer of 2010 when she was 12. That summer she complained of stomaches so bad she needed a number of surgeries. By February 2013, when Justina was 15, she was ordered to go to Boston Children's Hospital because something was very wrong. Justina was admitted to the hospital and was there for a few days until her parents wanted to take her home. But, they couldn't. Boston Children's Hospital had filed a 51A report to the Department of Children and Family Services, saying that they suspected a case of Medical Abuse by her parents and that now Justina should be a ward of the state. A judge agreed and Justina would remain in the hospital and, ultimately, in a psych ward for the coming years. Legal battles ensued, but that wasn't all. A hacking group called Anonymous led by a man named Marty Gottesfeld began a campaign that insisted Justina be returned to her family or BCH would "suffer retaliation the likes of which they had never seen." They did hack their system for a week to the tune of $300 million in damages. What came next was a battle for legal and parental guardianship, a hacker who fled to Cuba and all in all general mayhem. In the middle of which was a young girl whose very life was slipping away before everyone's eyes. Show Notes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24072584/

Christmas Around the World: The Nordic Countries Show Notes: The Fright Before Christmas: Surviving Krampus and Other Yuletide Monsters by Jeff Belanger NordicVisitor.com

Christmas Around the World: Western Europe

Just before 2020, Troy Hoggle, 36, was working at a bar as a bouncer in Rockville, Maryland, and met Catherine, a pretty waitress who was only 22. The two started dating, and within four or five months, Catherine was pregnant. They had a son, and then had a girl, Sarah, and another son, Jacob, in quick succession. The five moved into an apartment outside of Rockville but money was tight.  And there was another issue: Catherine was extremely mentally ill and had been since middle school. She had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Her mental issues were only exacerbated by having children so close together. By Christmas of 2013, she was committed involuntarily to a psych ward.  But she checked herself out, and, over the next few months, was in and out of mental facilities. Her family decided that she was not allowed to be with her children alone. Until September 8, 2014, when Sarah Hoggle was three years old and Jacob Hoggle was only two, did the unthinkable happen. Catherine was able to be with them alone, and to this day, no one has seen or heard from the children ever since.  Show Notes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unrestorable/id1709321174

Hey there Holiday fans: Have you ever wondered what Christmas was like, not just in your neck of the woods, but in Western Europe, the Nordic countries, Africa, the Middle East, even India? Introducing Christmas Around the World, a new podcast coming this holiday season. With Christmas Around the World, I take a look at not just how Christmas is celebrated everywhere, but other holidays like Kwanza, Hannukah, Navaratri, Diwali and many more. Did you know that the movie Krampus from 2015 was based on a real Austro-Bavarian devil monster character from the 1500s? He came to collect all the naughty children to take back to his mountain lair to kill and eat. A kind of anti-Santa Claus that the modern day character of the Grinch was based off of? Or that during Diwali, the Hindu harvest festival of lights that is celebrated around the globe, more than $300 million dollars per year is spent on fireworks alone? Imagine celebrating Christmas on the sand with a barbeque and a picnic playing beach volleyball like they do in South Africa. Did you know while most Biblical scholars agree that at least one of the Three Wise Men came from the Middle East to worship Jesus, that one or more of them could have been from China or India ? There also is no consensus that they were three in number, some debate there could have been 2, 4, 8 or even 12 Kings who made the journey. And Did you know that instead of a jolly, Santa Claus type being the figure representative of the season, both Italy and Iceland revere a good and an evil witch, respectively ? Learn about all of this and so much more like decor, food, religions and the holiday traditions that make the world go round during the very best time of the year. I will also be featuring interviews with special guests from around the globe who can tell us, in their own words, what special Christmas, religious, solstice and harvest festival holidays are like for them. Christmas Around the World premieres Tuesday, November 4th with a new episode every Tuesday. Available wherever you get your podcasts. And for more holiday mystery fun don’t forget to check out all three seasons of The Evergreen Murders with The Evergreen Murders: A Mackenzie Monroe Christmas Mystery, Murder at Mistletoe Manor and Return to Evergreen. Trilogy available wherever you get your podcasts.

By the age of 17, Krystal Lee Higgins of Harrington, Maine, had been through more than most kids. She and her brother and sister were put into foster care when they were young and Krystal had been emancipated from her parents at only 16 years old. In August of 2004, right before she was due to start her senior year of High School, was living with a friend and was holding down two jobs. But on August 7, 2004, when she was supposed to have a fun night out with friends, her life was cut tragically short.  Krystal's car was found submerged by a boat dock 5 days later and Krystal was found floating facedown in the same river one week after she disappeared. While the coroner pronounced her death an accidental drowning, others weren't so sure. Years later, two mysterious letters would turn up in the town, asking its residents to re-think everything they knew about the case. Show Notes:  https://darkdowneast.com/krystalleehiggins-pt1/ https://darkdowneast.com/krystalleehiggins-pt2/

On April 13, 1999 at around 9 pm, Danny Schneider Jr., 20, told his parents and sister he was going to study at a friend's house in Chalmette, Louisiana, about a 20 minute drive from New Orleans. In reality, Danny was actually going to buy drugs in the seedy 9th Ward. On April 14, at around 2 am, Dan and Annie Schneider were awakened by a knock at their door telling them their son was dead. He had been shot in the head.  Dan Schneider would take on his son's case, relentlessly seeking justice for him. His quest would lead him down a long, dark and winding road full of drug dealers, drug addicts, a false informant, a real eyewitness, illegal pill mills and a pediatrician-turned narcotics dealer doctor who was almost single-handedly helping along the country's opioid crisis.  Show Notes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11600174/

The Murders of Bill and Peggy Stephenson are discussed. Show Notes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cincinnatis-crime-vault-beyond-the-broadcast/id1641626489 https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-cincinnatis-crime-vault-be-101295692/episode/5-the-brutal-stephenson-murders-and-111015211/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-the-tip-sters-true-crime-podcast/id1335317858

On June 2nd, 2007, at 6:30 p.m.,18-year-old Kelsey Smith went to the local Target in Overland Park, Kansas, to buy a gift for her boyfriend, John. Kelsey had just graduated from High School days earlier, was planning on going to Kansas State University in the fall, and was planning on studying veterinary medicine. She and John had been dating for about six months. Once inside the Target store, she called her mom, Missy to ask where she might find gift wrap. Missy told her and Kelsey hung up the phone. At 7:30 John showed up at her house to take Kelsey on a date but Kelsey still was not home. Concerned, her father Greg and sister Lindsay set out to look for her. Eventually, at around 10 p.m. that evening, the worried father and sister found her car parked across the street from the Target at a Macy's store. There was still no sign of Kelsey. Until June 6th, in a wooded area some 20 miles away in Grandview, Missouri, two hikers found her body. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with her own belt. What transpired to determine her killer would involve a non-cooperative phone company, more than 40 surveillance cameras, and one incredible citizen tipster.  Show Notes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4219070/

On Friday, July 13th, 2012, in the tiny town of Evansdale, Iowa, two cousins and best friends, Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10 set off on their bikes. Their grandmother told them to be back in an hour for lunch, but by late afternoon, the girls still had not returned. Concerned, family members called police who searched a nearby lake, where they found the girls' discarded bikes, but there was still no sign of the girls.  The case went cold until almost six months later, in December of that year, a hunter found the remains of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook. The girls had been abducted and murdered. The police had a few suspects, but the case remains cold to this day. If you have any information on the murders of Collins and Cook please call the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6010 or email them at dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us. Show Notes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33035689/

The cases of David Camm and Richard Hoagland are discussed.  Show Notes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mystery-on-lockhart-road/id1464919521?i=1000463343241 https://www.andthentheyweregone.com/episodes/episode-514-re-release-richard-hoagland

The disappearance of Timmothy Pitzen and the suicide of Amy Frye Pitzen in Rockford, Illinois is discussed. Show Notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sJqFMVT-S8

On September 14, 2001, Amber Hoopes, a 20-year-old native of Idaho Falls, Idaho left her grandparents house where she was living, and went out to their auto body shop on the premises to check her email around midnight. Amber's grandmother woke up a few hours later and noticed Amber's TV and lights were on in her room. Her grandmother went out to check the auto body shop, but Amber was nowhere to be found.  What followed her disappearance in the middle of the night led police to a man named Keith Hascock, who was a former employee of Amber's family's business. Keith Hascock had abducted a 14-year-old girl in a neighboring town, but the girl had escaped. As police narrowed in on Keith Hascock, another young girl in Challis, Idaho, 9-year-old Stephanie Crane, was also kidnapped and never seen again. Was Keith Hascock responsible for all of these abductions and possible murders? Or was it the work of other child kidnappers and killers in Idaho? Show Notes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/without-a-trace/id1766011211 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8350730/