Disappearances

Over the ages, arsenic has had many lives — beauty fad, household product, medical prescription… and weapon of choice wielded by killers everywhere from Alabama to ancient Rome. Brine your turkey, knead your dough, and listen to our Thanksgiving Special on the regime-changing, assassination-aiding King of Poisons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Australia, a 24-year-old woman left on a road trip with three friends — and never came home. It took years for an official inquest to state what her family already knew: when it came to Monique Clubb’s disappearance, police gave up too soon.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A leading climate scientist, once renowned internationally for his work on nuclear winter theory, vanished in Madrid in the mid-1980s. Vladimir Alexandrov made friends everywhere he went; his name was, at the very least, known by some of the most powerful figures in the American and Soviet governments. Yet his disappearance wasn’t officially looked into for months. When a clue to his fate does publically surface, it forces the world to ask: Was Vladimir actually kidnapped by the CIA?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a case that defied expectation at every turn, and with each new development, the stakes never felt higher. In 1981, a 13-year-old girl vanished from her home in Seaside, California, after her step-father physically assaulted her. Her mother claimed for decades afterward that Mary ran away that night. Her siblings believed she was murdered. Uncovering the truth would mean putting the whole family — including Mary herself — under the microscope.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Around 3pm on a February afternoon in 2017, Derrick German drove to a trailhead in Delphi, Indiana. He was there to pick up his 14-year-old daughter Libby and her best friend, Abby Williams, after their hike. But the girls never showed. This is a two-part episode from your host Sarah Turney’s other podcast, Voices for Justice. Listen to part 1 here, then find part 2 on Voices for Justice. We’ll be back with a new episode of Disappearances next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the summer of 1992, Suzie Streeter and Stacy McCall have just graduated high school. They spend the night celebrating and make plans to go to a water park with a third friend the next day. But when tomorrow comes, Suzie and Stacy are nowhere to be found. And Suzie’s mother, Sherrill Levitt, is gone too. Foul play is suspected immediately. But despite no shortage of suspects — and thousands of tips — their disappearance remains unsolved. This is an episode from Sarah Turney’s other podcast, Voices for Justice. We’ll be back with new episodes of Disappearances in two weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For 19-year-old Tyarra Williams, the Stoneybrook Apartments in Greensboro, North Carolina were truly home. It’s where her mother and brother lived, where her boyfriend lived, and where she finally felt a sense of independence living with her grandmother. But on the evening of January 7th, 2016, it was also the last place any of them would see Tyarra alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1991, Ben Needham is a toddler living with his mom on an island in Greece. They’re surrounded by family and crystal blue waters — a true paradise. But that summer, Ben disappears. In the decades since, and as recently as 2021, reports have come in from people claiming they’ve spotted him, or know where he is. As of yet, none of them have panned out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every year, the beach at Byron Bay in Australia is decorated for a vigil. People gather to honor an 18-year-old boy who was technically never their own. Théo Hayez was a backpacker from Belgium who disappeared in 2019. His last known movements were detailed through GPS data and cell phone records — almost down to the minute. And yet this agonizing mystery remains, for now, unsolved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On May 21 1937, Amelia Earhart was a world-famous pilot about to embark on a record-setting flight. But just a little over a month later, en route to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, she vanished. The mystery of her fate, and that of her co-pilot Fred Noonan, endured for decades — until a constellation of credible information formed a picture of their tragic final days.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices