The Vanished Podcast

Wondery
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Jan 8, 2024 • 1h 18min

Mary Badaracco

38-year-old Mary Badaracco disappeared from Sherman, Connecticut, in August of 1984. At the time, Mary had been married to her husband, Dominic, for 14 years. According to Dominic, Mary left him and took almost all of her belongings and $100,000 in cash that he had stashed inside their home. Dominic didn't report Mary missing; according to Mary's daughters, he discouraged them from reporting their mother missing to local authorities. The last time that one of Mary's daughters had heard from her was on August 19. Dominic said he saw Mary on August 20, but she was gone when he returned from work. Following Mary's disappearance, one of Mary's daughters went to Mary and Dominic's home and found Mary's car parked in the driveway. How had she left without her car? Even more disturbing, the windshield was shattered. Just as Mary had, the vehicle later disappeared, too. In the months that followed, Dominic divorced Mary and moved on to a new relationship. Years later, the case heated up when a member of the Hell's Angels came forward with a tip about what happened to Mary, which may just be the closest they have ever come to finding answers. However, this is a case that many people seem too afraid to speak about. For four decades, rumors have swirled about what happened to Mary Badaracco. The truth has always been just out of reach and clouded by dangerous people. The story of Mary's disappearance spans the spectrum from motorcycle gang members with ties to organized crime to threats against a local politician and even bribery of a judge.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Mary Badaracco, please call the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad Troop A at 800-376-1554.Listen to The Vanished on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/the-vanished-podcast/ now.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Jan 1, 2024 • 40min

Replay: Mikelle Biggs

On January 2, 1999, 11-year-old Mikelle Biggs was playing outside with her 9-year-old sister, Kimber. Mikelle was on Kimber's bike while Kimber walked the dog on a leash. The girls could hear an ice cream truck in the distance, but Kimber got while cold waiting and went inside. When Kimber got back to the house, her mom told her to go back and tell Mikelle it was time to come in. Investigators estimate that Kimber was only gone for 90 seconds. In those 90 seconds, Mikelle vanished. In this episode, I'm joined by Kimber to discuss her sister's case.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Mikelle Biggs, please call the Mesa Police Department at 480-644-2211.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Dec 25, 2023 • 40min

Replay: Brandy Myers

This episode originally aired on March 24, 2018. On May 26, 1992, 13-year-old Brandy Myers disappeared after she had left her apartment to go door-to-door for a school fundraiser. Many years went by with no good leads until the Canal Killer was apprehended for two murders. Is Bryan Patrick Miller also responsible for Brandy's disappearance?If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Dec 18, 2023 • 1h 17min

Lauren Willhoit

Guest Lauren Willhoit, a 30-year-old who disappeared from the suburbs of Chicago, is discussed. Topics include her last known whereabouts, her family's search for answers, the possibility of abuse in her relationship, and the challenges faced in finding information about her disappearance.
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Dec 11, 2023 • 1h 28min

Daniel Maleska

On Friday, May 15, 1987, 32-year-old Daniel Maleska left his home in Princeton, Minnesota, to travel about three hours north to Gunn Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota. That weekend, Dan, his brother Mike, and several other longtime friends planned a camping trip for the opening of fishing season. Dan and Mike were raised as avid outdoorsmen, and opening weekend was a big deal. While this was their first time visiting Gunn Lake, this annual trip was something they looked forward to all year. The area where the men were camping was very rural and densely wooded. It wasn't a campground with amenities; they were roughing it, but that was how Dan and his buddies liked it. The men set up camp, spent many hours fishing on the lake, drank some beers, and seemed to be having a great time. However, by Sunday morning, Dan had vanished. They found a canoe in the water with some of his fishing supplies still inside. It looked like he had been plucked from that boat, leaving his items undisturbed. Despite extensive searches of the lake and surrounding wilderness, no trace of Dan Maleska has ever surfaced. The circumstances have left his loved ones to wonder if the scene was staged and Dan planned to disappear.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Dan Maleska, please call the Itasca County Sheriff's Office at (218) 326-3477.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Dec 4, 2023 • 1h 3min

Nanci Britner

On June 28, 2023, 45-year-old Nanci Britner went to a motel in Winchester, VA, to visit her sister. She spent time at the motel that evening, and around midnight, Nanci contacted several people looking for a ride home. Nanci’s sister said that she fell asleep while Nanci was still there, but when she awoke, Nanci was gone, and she assumed that she had found a ride home. Nanci has four adult children, and they became concerned when a couple of days passed with no word from their mother. That wasn’t like Nanci, who was a devoted mother and grandmother. Nanci’s children began piecing together information about the day Nanci disappeared, but things weren’t adding up. When the dust settled, a few unconnected people were acting suspiciously. However, law enforcement hasn’t been able to gather concrete evidence, and today, Nanci’s case remains unsolved.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Nanci Britner, please call the Winchester Police Department at 540-662-4131.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 27, 2023 • 1h 12min

Margaret "Kay-Alana" Turner Part 2: The Shattered Window

On March 9, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner left a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas, and headed toward Austin, about four hours away, apparently to see a friend. In the days leading up to March 9, Kay-Alana had not been sleeping well, and she didn’t seem quite like herself. Witnesses in the towns of Hockley and Tomball, Texas, interacted with Kay-Alana in the early morning hours of March 10. She had been asking people if she could sleep in their driveways. By this time, Kay-Alana’s phone had died. Around 6 AM, a homeowner in the Holly Creek Estates subdivision in Tomball, Texas, noticed Kay-Alana’s car in their driveway, and she was asleep inside. The homeowner decided to call someone from their homeowner’s association and other neighbors. They gathered around Kay-Alana’s car and attempted to wake her. Kay-Alana was scared and decided to drive her car away, but they blocked her. Then, an officer from Harris County broke Kay-Alana’s driver-side window. She bolted, first by driving her car through the yard, out through some farmland, and eventually into the woods, where the vehicle got stuck. With deputies behind her on foot, she decided to run. Kay-Alana dropped her phone along the way and later removed her shoes, full of glass from the broken window. In the days that followed, Kay-Alana’s loved ones began to compare notes and came to believe that she was suffering a mental health crisis that night. Despite extensive searches of the area where Kay-Alana was last seen, no trace of her, other than her phone and shoes, has ever been found.If you have any information about Kay-Alana’s disappearance, please contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-755-7427.Update- In April 2024, Kay-Alana’s skeletal remains were recovered by Texas EquuSearch not far from where she disappeared. Photo Credit: James Blaign RamboIf you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 20, 2023 • 1h 3min

Margaret "Kay-Alana" Turner Part 1: Lost

On March 8, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner stayed at a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas. Kay-Alana’s friend, Brittany, noticed that she hadn’t been sleeping well, and something appeared to be troubling Kay-Alana. The following morning, Brittany left for work, believing Kay-Alana was asleep. As the day wore on, Brittany kept trying to contact Kay-Alana, but something was off with the way that her text messages were going through. She attempted to reach Kay-Alana via phone and Facetime video calls. She eventually reached Kay-Alana, but something still wasn’t quite right, and she didn’t know where her friend was. Brittany enlisted the help of Kay-Alana’s boyfriend, James, who went out searching for her that night. He stopped at all of Kay-Alana’s familiar places with no luck. They later learned that Kay-Alana had planned to visit a friend in Austin, about a four-hour drive from Brittany’s home. Where along that 245-mile trip could something have gone wrong? Did Kay-Alana get into an accident? Had she run out of gas? They searched frantically throughout the night, and by the next morning, stories began to emerge about Kay-Alana that seemed so out of character for her. Kay-Alana’s loved ones couldn’t believe what they were hearing. One thing they knew for sure was that they needed to find Kay-Alana.If you have any information about Kay-Alana’s disappearance, please contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-755-7427.Photo Credit: James Blaign RamboUpdate- In April 2024, Kay-Alana’s skeletal remains were recovered by Texas EquuSearch not far from where she disappeared. If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 13, 2023 • 1h 10min

William "Arlin" Bynum

On August 14, 2003, 40-year-old William "Arlin" Bynum was at a bar and grill in Big Spring, Texas. Big Spring is where Arlin was born, but he was a stranger, having lived his entire life outside of the small town. Arlin enjoyed the evening having drinks with friends. He was last seen walking toward his truck on the morning of August 15, shortly before the bar closed. After that, the trail ends. The next day, Arlin didn't show up for lunch with a relative, and from there, his family knew something was wrong. They found his truck still parked outside the restaurant, and the search began. Twenty years later, Arlin has never been seen or heard from again. The story of his disappearance spans the spectrum from questionable friends, to abandoned wells, to the possibility of cartel involvement. Today, there are many complicated factors that make solving the mystery of what happened to Arlin Bynum seem nearly impossible, but his loved ones aren't giving up.If you have any information about Arlin's disappearance, please call the Big Spring Police Department at 432-264-2559 or the Texas Rangers Division Company "E" at 915-834-7664. Crimestoppers is offering a cash reward. To submit an anonymous tip, call 432-263-8477 (TIPS) or use P3tips.com and reference case #20303930.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 6, 2023 • 1h 20min

Kevin Bass

29-year-old Kevin Bass disappeared from Milledgeville, Georgia, in the early morning hours of May 27, 2020. Kevin had last spoken to a friend around 5 AM and then disappeared. Someone thought they may have seen him on foot that morning around 5:30 AM, but they couldn’t be sure that it was actually Kevin. A couple of friends said that Kevin had been at their house the night before and left early that morning. Stories would later change, and rumors of an affair surfaced, which divided those who knew Kevin into two camps. Three years later, what happened to Kevin remains a mystery.If you have any information about the disappearance of Kevin Bass, please contact the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office at (478) 445-4891.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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