Voices for the Victims
Dark Downeast: Maine and New England's True Crime Podcast digs into the decades-old and modern day cases that prickle the history of Vacationland and beyond – the unsolved homicides, undetermined deaths, unexplained disappearances and other dark stories of New England.
Investigative journalist and storyteller Kylie Low gets straight to the story with a mix of narrated episodes and documentary style production featuring interviews with surviving family and friends and insight on the investigatio
265 most recent episodes
Visit website →Regina Brown disappeared under troubling circumstances in April of 1987. She was a former flight attendant, a devoted mother of three young children, and a woman whose life had become increasingly defined by fear, control, and violence inside her mar
On a Saturday night in late June of 1986, a 20-year-old college student went out with friends in a familiar place, celebrating her softball team’s big win. But in a narrow window of opportunity just after she was dropped off in the shadows outside he
In the fall of 1976, a woman vanished from her home in rural Vermont sometime between a cup of morning coffee and the end of an ordinary workday. What followed was years of suspicion, rumor, and silence until a witness with questionable credibility s
Fifty years after James Cassidy’s death, there is still no simple explanation for his brutal murder. The evidence left behind in the Maine woods raised questions investigators have never fully answered. And the deeper the investigation went, the more
In April of 1976, an anonymous call to a sheriff’s department in Maine alerted investigators to something almost impossible to imagine: a burning station wagon hidden off a remote road, and what looked like a body inside. What they found would open a
On a fall morning in 1988, police in Nashua, New Hampshire walked into an apartment and found two women murdered in their bed. What followed seemed, at first, like a case that would never truly reach an ending.
There were suspects, confessions, tria
On a rainy night in late May 1989, a fire was spotted in a Westport, Connecticut parking lot. Within minutes, first responders realized the impossible: a body was burning in the open. Not long after and just a few miles away, a husband called police
On an August evening in 1982, children playing in Boston’s Franklin Park stumbled onto a scene that would quietly become one of the city’s most troubling unsolved cases.
The victim was a 16-year-old girl who had already endured instability, displace
On a quiet Saturday night in 1931, a 19-year-old cattle dealer sat at his desk to write a check that he never got the chance to finish signing.
Investigators were left with more questions than answers – a missing revolver, a name on a check no one c
Before she vanished, April Grisanti was a young woman trying to find her footing. Then, over the course of one winter night in 1985, she disappeared in plain sight. Witnesses saw her struggle. Police heard her voice asking for help. And yet, April wa
In November of 1979, a man was found beaten to death along a quiet trail in a New Hampshire college town. Within a day, police had a suspect, but the case was hardly open and shut.
The college student convicted of the murder – and the family who sto
For more than forty years, Debra Stone’s murder lingered in the uneasy space between knowing and proving.
An informant came forward early on with a story that, in hindsight, mapped almost every detail of what happened to her, yet the case drifted th
In December of 2024, I shared an episode about a 24-year-old musician whose life was cut short in New Haven, Connecticut in 1990. More than three decades later, the murder of John Evers Robinson remains unsolved and the questions surrounding what hap
When Mark Knapp’s routine commute home from work one February night in 1984 ended with his car abandoned and his body at the bottom of an old marble quarry, the shock rippled far beyond one family.
What followed was not a straight line from crime to
Cam Lyman vanished in the summer of 1987, leaving behind a forty-acre estate, dozens of prizewinning dogs, and a silence that would stretch on for more than a decade.
Friends and family disagreed on whether Cam had walked away or been taken or worse
17-year-old Brandi “Amy” Sullivan was used to coming and going. She was restless, independent, and always in motion. So when she didn’t come home in the summer of 1996, her family tried not to panic. But this time was different.
Weeks later, Amy was
Every now and then I uncover a case buried deep in the archives with circumstances that prove truth is stranger than fiction. This story is one of them.
When a prominent Bridgeport, Connecticut woman failed to show up for lunch with a friend, it led
In late summer of 1990, a mother in central Maine seemed to slip quietly out of her own life. Shirley McAvoy had been navigating a painful separation, leaning on friends and trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy. Then, shortly before a scheduled cour
More than a century ago during the winter of 1923, a quiet Christmas in East Hartford, Connecticut took a devastating turn that would echo far beyond that holiday. Mrs. Mary Monsell never arrived for the dinner she’d been warmly invited to, and withi
Some cases linger for years not because the truth is hidden, but because the tools needed to prove it aren’t yet strong enough. Evidence waits on shelves, memories shift, and flawed forensic science can steer an investigation away from the person who
On a winter night in early February of 1992, John E. Volungis Jr. was standing on the edge of a brand-new life. After years of working toward a career in law enforcement, John was about to take off for his next step in that pursuit.
It was supposed
It was early January in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, when a discovery in a quiet stretch of woods changed a family forever. A young woman had crossed paths with a violent killer close to home. The investigation led to a swift arrest and a convictio
November 26th marks three years since Reina Carolina Morales Rojas disappeared after getting into a car in East Boston, Massachusetts. She was later dropped off in nearby Somerville and that was the last time anyone saw or heard from her.
Despite be
One ordinary day during August of 1983, in a quiet patch of parkland just off the road in Penacook, New Hampshire, a teenager found something that didn’t belong. What followed rippled through the small community for years.
Interviews, rumors, and ti
In the spring of 2017, the phone calls came almost every day. Tina Stadig always stayed in touch with her twin sister, no matter where life had taken her. The last time they spoke, Tina talked about what was next in her life. She mentioned finding a
In late July 2004, 20-year-old Christina Lunceford walked into her parents’ home beaming with excitement. She had just signed the lease on a new apartment with her boyfriend and was ready to begin a new chapter of her life. But only days later, Chris
The murder of Eugenio DeLeon Vega marked the beginning of a three-decade legal odyssey that exposed flaws in Connecticut’s criminal justice system and raised enduring questions about who really killed the popular grocer.
Police initially suspected r
On a winter night in 1981, a teenager stepped out of his Essex Junction home and never returned. His disappearance unsettled the quiet Vermont town, leaving his family searching for answers that never came.
Years later, a hunter in the woods made a
It should have been a routine school night in Somerville, Massachusetts for 17-year-old Deanna Cremin. Homework, TV, and a walk home with her boyfriend before curfew. But by morning, Deanna was gone. Her body was discovered just a few hundred feet fr
After spending an early Friday evening hunting in the woods behind his home in Vermont, Wilfred “Butch” King III left his home on two crutches, driving off into the fall night never to be seen alive again.
Despite years of investigation, what happe
When two women known to spend time in Manchester, New Hampshire’s inner city both dropped out of contact with their families in the late 1990s, it wasn’t entirely out of character from the lives they once led. But for Mindy West’s father, who had wat
Stefanie Damron’s parents say that their 13-year-old daughter walked out the door and into the woods one September afternoon in 2024, and she hasn’t been seen or heard from since. They have their own suspicions about what happened to her, but so far,
In early 2023, pleas for help reached the small Aroostook County town of Washburn, Maine from across the world in Indonesia. Family members and friends of Attiin Rachmawati Shaw hadn’t heard from her in over a year and the stories they were told abou
Lena Bruce had a bright future ahead of her. She’d just graduated from a top university and landed a great job, and she was settling into a new apartment in the heart of Boston’s South End neighborhood, already living the life she’d worked for since
When we first covered the case of Charline Rosemond on Dark Downeast back in January of 2025, her murder was still unsolved. But a few months after the release of the episode, that finally changed. A suspect has since been indicted. So, we’re rerelea
From the moment investigators stepped foot into the home of Leslie and Charlie Buck in the spring of 2002 following a 9-1-1 call, there was something off about the circumstances of Leslie’s untimely death. Leslie had just survived a violent kidnappin
In the spring of 2002, several urgent 9-1-1 calls came into the Stonington, Connecticut, police department from the same caller just two days apart. First, there was a report of a violent kidnapping, and then, the untimely death of the very same vict
When Michael Madore vanished almost 30 years ago, the first theories of his disappearance were pulled from letters found at his house: he was supposedly leaving behind his home and belongings and dogs to start a new life in Alaska. That’s the story p
She was out on her usual Sunday night walk when an unknown killer pulled up and shot her, leaving her mortally wounded in the street of what locals considered a safe neighborhood. Why someone would target Denise Robert and take her life still doesn’t
When Christine Grega and her husband, John Grega, set off for a family vacation to Vermont with their young son, it was a trip meant to mend their relationship. Instead, the weekend ended in devastation when Christine was found in their borrowed ski
Almost 38 years later, the truth about what happened to Kara Laczynski and who is responsible for her death still has yet to be revealed. Two suspects were arrested and charged in the case, but after three trials with three separate juries and weeks
Starlette Vining disappeared in 1998 and has never been found, yet 15 years after she was last seen in the small town of Presque Isle, Maine, a suspect was convicted of her murder.
This is a wide-open look at how a cold missing persons case was succ
For almost three years, the case of Katharina Reitz Brow languished without information or evidence that could bring a true ending to the search for answers. And then when someone was finally arrested, charged, and convicted of her murder, a hard-fou
For years, the murders of Rhonda Travers and Kathy Perry sat stagnant without any promise of justice, but when an informant surfaced with a story about a suspect who had never before been investigated, it changed everything.
“There's always names th
In a nine-month span between 1986 and 1987, two women were found brutally slain in the same Rhode Island city. Investigators believed that the first was abducted from the side of the road on her way home from work in the middle of the night, while th
Walter Page was a longtime member of the Freemasons in Manchester, New Hampshire. As treasurer of his local lodge, Walter had overseen the philanthropic efforts of their chapter for years, and he had also helped sort out the mess following more than
On this date two years ago, I released an episode about the disappearance of Kristopher Bryan Lewis. Kris was just 13 years old when he seemingly vanished after school one day. In February of 2025, marking the 11-year anniversary of his disappearance
Kenneth Jerome got up that summer morning in 2005 and said goodbye to his girlfriend and children, just like he did every day. He set about his usual chores on the farm, just like he always did, and he expected to feed the cows, like he had for years
It was a Saturday night, and she’d just clocked out of work to join a group of friends down the street for drinks at a favorite local watering hole. Later, when Holly Jean Cote left that bar in the early hours of March 4, 1984, she was expected to me
When Pamela Webb left her home in Winthrop, Maine, on the first Saturday of July in 1989, her dog and Bible beside her, she could not have anticipated that her road trip would be interrupted by a still unknown predator. There was no shortage of poten
From the very beginning of the investigation into the disappearance of Iris Brown, everyone suspected the same person had something to do with it. She left home with the suspect on the night she was last seen alive, the suspect’s behavior in the days
The mother and son had just gotten home from a trip to the store and had no sooner brought their bags into their Bridgeport, Connecticut home when they heard the doorbell ring. As Karen Clarke turned the doorknob to see who was on the other side, she
Jane Boroski was seven months pregnant when she was stabbed 27 times by an unknown man. Miraculously, she survived. But Jane later finds out she is the only survivor of a serial killer who prowled the Connecticut River Valley in the 1980s and killed
Just before midnight on May 10, 1986, 17-year-old Kimberly Moreau walked out the door of her home in Jay, Maine, never to be seen again.
She moved from Florida to New Hampshire on the promise of a job and a place to live, but just a few months later, Eddy Segall disappeared without a trace. When the vehicle Eddy was driving on the day she was last seen alive turned up abandoned in the
Since the moment her death was discovered in April of 1993, the family of Valarie Fiorenza has doubted that she got a fair and thorough investigation. Her boyfriend was a cop, their relationship was tumultuous, and Valarie had even made claims of abu
What started with a call to police for a domestic disturbance ended with a four-day manhunt in search of a suspected killer. When that suspect, the victim’s husband, was finally apprehended, it seemed on the surface like an open-and-shut case. All si
When a wealthy socialite was found face down and unresponsive on her bathroom floor, she soon slipped into her second coma in a year. This time, she would never wake up. Suspicion surrounded the cause of the woman’s condition from the very beginning,
For more than two years, the family of Brittany Tee along with the Brookfield, Massachusetts, community and multiple law enforcement agencies have been searching for answers to her unexplained disappearance. It’s as if she simply vanished that Januar
She was ready to reinvent her life and just one flight stood between her and a new beginning… But when that plane took off, the 19-year-old expectant mother wasn’t on board. Three months later, her family learned the devastating truth. A suspect conf
It wasn’t unusual for months or even years to pass without contact between Marilyn Lehan and her family, but when her brother decided to make a spontaneous visit to Marilyn’s home in Maine one summer, it set off alarm bells. The stories about her las
When 38-year-old Ralph “Rizz” Jean-Marie was reported missing from a motel where he was living in Barre, Vermont, the story was that he up and left after an argument, leaving behind his personal belongings and everything you’d think someone might tak
When a 17-year-old girl left work one night in March of 2004, it began what would become one of the most well-known missing persons cases in New England. Her father and a duo of private investigators have dedicated years in their own pursuit of answe
When a new manager was gunned down at work during a narrow window of time when most of the staff should have been on lunch break, investigators honed in on two possible suspects among the victim’s employees. To this day, the convicted killer and his
The last time Katrina McVeigh’s loved ones heard from her, she was making plans to attend a family wedding. But when the big day rolled around, Katrina was a no-show. Now more than three decades later, Katrina’s disappearance remains unsolved, and th
Ian Vance was just a kid when he lost his mother, Valerie Carr. Her death was ruled an accident, but now as an adult, he questions everything. Details unearthed from decades of court records reveal the circumstances of Valerie’s life leading up to he
Ashley Erin Ouellette was just 15 years old when her body was found placed in the middle of Pine Point Road in Scarborough, Maine, just before dawn on February 10, 1999. The investigation led police to the place Ashley was last known to be alive, but
Carol Caswell, Lisa Snyder, and Sheila Holmes were forever connected when their names surfaced during the interrogation of a suspect who would later be charged and convicted in one of their murders. That same individual remains the primary suspect in
It was one of the most confounding unsolved crimes that the town of West Springfield, Massachusetts, had ever seen. Two young people, shot and killed in their car without any conceivable motive. This seemingly random double murder remained unsolved f
When a 12-year-old girl disappeared from her home on a summer night in 1988, police took her father’s word that she’d run away just as she had more than once before. But more than 30 years later, there’s still no sign of the missing girl and her fath
A 19-year old South Royalton, Vermont resident was missing under suspicious circumstances for over four months before his remains were found in an old barn miles from home. Investigators have named a strong suspect for his murder, but as the seven ye
Charline Rosemond left home in Everett, Massachusetts one day in April of 2009 excited to buy a new car, but the evening took a deadly turn. Now for more than fifteen years, her family has waited for justice and answers in the still unsolved homicide
He was an 80-year-old fruit farmer who had resurrected a local apple orchard for the enjoyment of his entire community, but in the late fall of 1999, the farmstead became the unexpected epicenter of a terrible tragedy that remains unsolved today.
Nearly 35 years have passed since John Evers Robinson was found dead in his New Haven, Connecticut music studio. The original investigation generated several leads and theories of the killing, but the case remains unsolved. Now, John’s sister is doin
On October 7, 1966, the wealthy heiress Doris Duke hit and killed her friend Eduardo Tirella while behind the wheel of a rented car. Whether his death was an accident or an intentional act of murder, is still up for debate nearly 60 years later.
It wasn’t unusual for Celeste Doghmi to go long stretches of time without talking to her friends and family. She’d lost touch with her mother and many of her close friends, but as far as they could tell by posts on social media, her life was busy wit
When Linda Rayner left for a walk in Hammonasset Beach State Park in the summer of 1992, she was seeking the beauty and peace that only the ocean can bring. Instead, she was brutally attacked by an unknown assailant and her case has remained unsolved
When a woman was found murdered in her Springfield, Massachusetts apartment during the spring of 1984, it only took a matter of days to zero in on a suspect and secure an arrest. And then at trial, a jury decided Edward Wright was guilty beyond a rea
Homelessness, substance use disorder, and mental health challenges create significant barriers in missing persons cases, often causing individuals to fall through the cracks and their families fighting to get their names and stories heard.
Ryan Blag
Lyda Jameson was 73 years old when her son found her lying in bed without a pulse one morning in March of 1976. First responders at the scene believed she died of natural causes… until they noticed signs of a possible homicide. Decades later, DNA evi
After a fire in a Brockton, Massachusetts neighborhood killed a man and woman in their own home, the investigation zeroed in on two people – two children – who had escaped the blaze unharmed.
Park Predators is back and Delia D’Ambra is staying in the parks all year long, making Park Predators now a WEEKLY audiochuck podcast with new episodes every Tuesday!
In May 2008 a woman's lifeless body is found in a mess of holly bushes in Queen's
When 16-year-old Rosa Maria Valentin didn’t return home from work in Hartford, Connecticut one July night in 1986, her family jumped into action to try and find her. But at every turn, the family’s fears were dismissed and Rosa was regarded as a runa
For almost fifty years, the murders of two people in the tiny northern Vermont village of Hardwick have gone unsolved. The rumors in town ran almost as rampant as the fear, but whether any of the chatter about what happened to the victims is true rem
Over 30 years have gone by without answers for the violent death of David Pickett on a quiet New England beach. When an investigation by police failed to get justice, David’s sister decided to seek justice on her own terms… Even if the suspect was he
For over 20 years, the Smolinski Family has been searching for their son and brother, Billy, who one afternoon in August of 2004 asked his neighbor to watch his dog and then was never seen again. The case is not without leads or suspects, but the big
40 years have passed since 14-year-old Terry Duran left her home in Gorham, Maine for some fun on one of the last weekends of summer before she started high school. She told her parents she’d be home Sunday night, but Terry never returned. When her b
Investigators who first worked the 1971 homicide case of Natalie Scheublin in Bedford, Massachusetts considered every possible theory for her death – kidnapping for ransom, burglary gone wrong, a random attack in an otherwise quiet community – and ye
When friends Cynthia Kane-Clark and Dawn Shippee both turned up the victims of homicide, one after the other, in the same two month span, investigators were faced with a complex investigation. It’s now been over 20 years since the two women were kill
When a teenager disappeared from Brattleboro, Vermont, hours before the wind, rain, and damaging floods of a major natural disaster devastated the state, it took days before he was finally reported missing and initial search efforts were hindered by
From the location of her car, to the condition of her body, to the timeline of disappearance until discovery, Krystal Lee Higgins’ sister feels that so much of the case doesn't quite add up to an accidental death. So, we’re peeling back the layers of
It’s been 20 years since 17-year old Krystal Lee Higgins disappeared from her downeast Maine town only to be found dead a week later. Her death was ruled an accident, but her sister has questioned that ruling since day one.
This is Part 1 of Krystal
During the late 80s and early 90s, multiple women from Hartford, Connecticut were found dead in remote areas of the city and surrounding towns. After identifying a suspect in one of the cases and bringing it all the way to trial, police thought they
In the last episode of Dark Downeast, you heard the story of Denise Hart and her still unsolved homicide in Vermont. I mentioned in that episode the case of another woman who grew up in the same city and around the same people as Denise. So, that’s t
Whenever Denise Lynette Hart was away from her young son, she called home every day, multiple times a day to check on him. But then one January night in 2015 those calls stopped. When Denise's family tried to report her missing, they got the runaroun
For months, Frank Bowen's daughters complained of strange noises and odd happenings in their Pepperell, Massachusetts home. Frank was sure it was just their imaginations, until an intruder took the entire family hostage one night in December of 1986.
It’s been more than 45 years since John Donaldson was killed while sitting in his parked car just yards away from the safety of his own home in Harvard, Massachusetts. It took years for investigators to build a case and arrest a suspect, but it would
During the winter of 1941, the death of Philip Wendel Boyce found in a downtown Portland, Maine alleyway left investigators divided by two very different theories: Was it an accident or was it murder?
Every once in a while, I like to go way, way bac
During a nearly 18-month span beginning the winter of 2003, Audrey Lynn Harris, Christine Dumont, and Stacie Goulet disappeared without a trace from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, leaving their families and investigators searching for answers. It wasn’t u
When Shari Lynn Roth left her apartment in North Conway, New Hampshire for a short afternoon hike to one of her favorite spots among the White Mountain National Forest, what should’ve been a peaceful retreat turned into a fateful encounter with a sti
Sarah Hunter was only 15 minutes late for work when her coworker called police to report her missing, but despite his swift action, Sarah’s case would go cold and stay that way for years.
Decades later, an individual known to the case from the earli
When a 15-year-old girl snuck out of her bedroom window one night in May of 1996, it was like she vanished right into thin air with no leads. Years later unsealed court documents revealed that police had a theory and a suspect from the earliest days
In a one month span during the winter of 1969, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts was set on edge after two violent attacks on women while they slept in their beds challenged the very sense of safety residents thought they had in their own homes.
When investigators in Alachua County, Florida discovered the remains of two people among the charred ruins of a burned down shack and a letter in a nearby car that seemed to explain the entire scene, police in two states thought they were on the brin
When a fire destroyed the home of respected local innkeepers, leaving it in ruins and revealing the horrifying aftermath of a double murder, the close-knit community of Jackson, New Hampshire faced an unthinkable tragedy. As detectives looked into th
When an elderly couple was found murdered inside their Danby, Vermont home in the fall of 1989, it had residents of the small town looking over their shoulders and double-checking their door locks at night.
State Police identified a suspect early on
When a 10-year-old girl didn’t come back from a quick trip to the store on a cold January night in 1988, her family and the Pawtucket, Rhode Island community searching for her feared the worst. Then weeks later when her body was found miles away, tho
On the night of July 4, 1980, an evening of celebrations in the rural town of Anson, Maine ended in the murder investigation of a young local mother. Tire tracks at the scene raised suspicion and rumor, but despite the evidence and apparent confidenc
16-year-old Ashley Turniak died on the side of the highway in Massachusetts during a busy weekday morning commute. Was it a terrible accident or an intentional act?
Despite the numerous drivers passing by who likely witnessed the final moments of he
When a young mother and her 6-month-old son were found dead in their car one September night in 1996, no one could fathom the senselessness of ending two young lives with still so much ahead of them.
When Ralph Robbins went missing in 1993, his disappearance seemed to be forgotten almost as soon as it was reported. Now over 30 years later, his daughter is searching for answers, but more than anything, she wants closure.
In March of 1978, the small town of Warren, Rhode Island was sent into a tailspin after a well-known member of their community was shot to death just days after his business burned to the ground. Who would have it out for a man so beloved?
The deepe
Nearly four decades after a Connecticut flight attendant and mother disappeared without a trace, investigators don’t seem any closer to solving the mystery. But ask anyone who knows anything about Regina Brown’s life, and they’ll tell you exactly wha
On a crisp fall day in October of 1991, Patricia Scoville set out for a bike ride on the scenic Moss Glen Falls trails in Stowe, Vermont. When she hadn’t returned home more than two days later, Patty’s roommate reported her missing, triggering a sear
When 54-year-old Bobbie Miller and her dog were found dead in their Gilford, New Hampshire home one November afternoon in 2010, it didn’t take long for the public to point the finger at her former husband.
The circumstances might be convincing, but
On January 1, 1988, 17-year-old John Lango walked out the front door of his home in Pottsville, Pennsylvania never to return. He was treated as a runaway, but now more than three decades later, all signs indicate John never meant to disappear on his
It has been more than three decades since the day 41-year-old Audrey Groat left her Northfield, Vermont home supposedly for an afternoon of shopping only to vanish without a trace.
The initial search for the missing mother had just a few details to
On a chilly December night in 1972 just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, what might have been just a routine traffic stop took an unexpected turn when two police officers trailed a mysterious man in a dark Cadillac and their pursuit spiraled into a
On the night Gwendolyn Taylor was attacked just outside her apartment building in Dorchester, Massachusetts, witnesses watched helplessly as an unknown man grabbed the 18-year old, demanded money, and told everyone within earshot not to call the poli
It was early afternoon of September 29, 1971 and 11-year old Barbara Ann Ripley should’ve been getting off the bus at home in North Yarmouth, Maine like she did every Wednesday. When she didn’t walk through the front door on schedule, her mother went
When 25-year old Nadine Mendonça went to her favorite hang out in downtown Fall River, Massachusetts for a casual night out, neither she nor her family could’ve expected it would end the way it did.
To this day, Nadine’s family is still trying to f
When 13-year old Matthew Margolies didn’t come home for supper on the night of August 31, 1984, police in Greenwich, Connecticut launched a full scale search scouring the Pemberwick woods and waters of the Byram River for any sign of the young fisher
MAINE, 1973: Just months into production of a new and exciting project, film director Jon Pownall was found dead at his Monument Square office in Portland, Maine. Why would anyone want to kill him? As the investigation into his murder began, a motive
MAINE, 1987: On the night of June 8, 1987, David Nixon had just hung up the phone with his father. He called back home to let his folks know that he was staying over at their family beach house in Kennebunkport, Maine for one more night. That phone c
CONNECTICUT, 2018: On the night of May 18, 2018, 36-year old James “Jimmy” Stone Jr. was loading up his belongings from the trailer where he once lived on the Golden Hill Paugussett Reservation in Colchester, Connecticut to take them to his new apart
MASSACHUSETTS, 1991: On July 20th, 1991, 17-year-old Patricia Moreno sat on the fire escape at her foster family’s apartment building. She often used the fire escape for solace – the apartment was crowded and hot and loud – but in the early morning h
VERMONT, 2020: On April 15, 2020, 38-year old Ralph “Rizz” Jean-Marie was reported missing from a motel where he was living in Barre, Vermont. The story was that he up and left after an argument, leaving behind his personal belongings, never to be se
NEW YORK CITY, 1990s: On May 28, 2001, after an eight year long investigation spanning three states, New York police officers finally closed in on their target: a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital. Advancements in fingerprinting technology had finally id
MAINE, 1973: In April of 1973, the vibrant college town of Orono, Maine was shattered by a shocking murder that sent tremors through the University of Maine community. The victim was Frederic Alan Spencer, a promising UMaine graduate student with a b
PORTSMOUTH, 1981 & 1982: In just over a year span during the early 1980s in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the lives of two young women were ended by an assailant who broke into their apartments, violently attacked and beat them, and somehow managed to e
MAINE, 2003: On the night of December 23, 2003, two friends dropping off Christmas gifts at the home of 40-year old Raymond “Butch” Weed were shocked to find that their friend, a well-known and beloved member of the Wilton, Maine community, was dead.
On March 14, 1968, kids playing in the oil fields of Huntington Beach, California discovered the brutally beaten body of a young woman. Investigators scoured the scene for clues, finding shoe imprints, marks from tires, and a cigarette butt, but it h
MAINE, 1976: Anne Payson Holt, better known as Nancy, was almost 80-years old, but not quite yet. Her milestone birthday and the fancy gala planned in her honor was still a few days away in early October of 1976, but Nancy never saw a day past 79. On
BOSTON, 2014: On February 4, 2014, 13-year old Kristopher Bryan Lewis got off the school bus at his usual stop on the corner of West Selden and Morton Street in Boston, Massachusetts. He should've been home just a few minutes later around 5:30 p.m. b
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 2001: It was late fall of 2001 and Louise Chaput was looking forward to her weekend plans of hiking the White Mountains with friends. But when those plans fell through, Louise, who was eager to return to the majestic White Mountains th
ATLANTIC OCEAN, 1896: The chilled, windy air of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded the ship past midnight on July 14, 1896. Nine days into its voyage between Boston, Massachusetts and Rosario, Argentina, a single shriek rang out through the back cabin whe
MAINE, 1971: The quiet of a dark late spring evening in Bangor, Maine was interrupted by frightened screams inside an Otis Street Apartment building. Though several residents would later report hearing the sounds of a woman in distress, no one called
THE DECK: Sylvia Baker, 28, went downstairs on July 17th, 1982 to take out the trash. Sylvia never returned to her apartment, where her two young kids were watching TV. When she was found the next day, nude and bound with pieces of her own clothing,
On February 6, 1997, 18-year old Bryan Nisenfeld sat in his afternoon literature class at Roger Williams University in Providence, Rhode Island. Bryan was acting differently during class that day, almost despondent. Where he went after class, what th
RHODE ISLAND, 2003: On Christmas morning in 2003, a security guard on the Johnson & Wales Harborside campus in Providence, Rhode Island discovered the body of a young man leaning up against a chain link fence. Fingerprints would later identify the ma
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1982: On December 10, 1982, a car sat in a ditch engulfed in a furious blaze. Janet Dow and her son, Stephen Dow, were inside that vehicle that appeared to have skidded off the road just 500 feet from their own home. They were deceased
MASSACHUSETTS, 1982: For over 40 years, the family of 19-year old Brenda LaCombe has wondered what happened to the single mother of a little baby boy after she walked out of her grandmother’s apartment in Lowell, Massachusetts after midnight on May 1
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 2001: On December 27, 2001, a friend arrived at 50-year old George Jodoin’s farmhouse in Auburn, New Hampshire, expecting to get a tutorial on caring for his animals ahead of George’s trip to Thailand. Instead, he found George dead in
MASSACHUSETTS, 1969: It was the morning of January 7, 1969 and 23-year old Harvard University graduate student Jane Britton should have been in class to take her exam. A dedicated and standout student of anthropology, Jane wouldn’t have missed a test
In March of 1976, a young woman was discovered, with no obvious trauma, in the Harpeth River in Nashville; she carried on her a picture of a little boy, and a trail that led to witnesses who said she’d hitchhiked with a mysterious friend, all the way
MASSACHUSETTS, 1979: It was August 20, 1979 and 35-year old Margaret Pizio was clocking into her overnight shift at the Susse Chalet Motor Inn in Seekonk, Massachusetts.
Margaret should have returned home the next morning, but as it got later and la
MASSACHUSETTS, 2022: On November 26, 2022, 41-year old Reina Morales Rojas got into a car in East Boston, MA and some time later was dropped off in nearby Somerville. That’s the last time anyone had seen or heard from the mother of two. Though she wa
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1973: On July 11, 1973, 15-year old Diane Compagna swung her beach bag over her shoulder and headed out the door of her house in Merrimack, New Hampshire. She was off to a nearby lake to swim with her friend, 15-year old Anne Psaradeli
MAINE, 1999: On the night of April 20, 1999, 41-year old Bessie Selek was walking along Route 202 near the Waterboro-Lyman, Maine town line when she was hit and killed by a passing vehicle. The driver fled the scene, leaving Bessie there to die on th
VERMONT, 1971: Rita Curran and her family waited over 50 years for closure in her unsolved homicide, but with a renewed investigation beginning in 2019, detectives turned to advanced DNA analysis to find the answers that had been waiting in evidence
VERMONT, 1971: After more than 50 years, 24-year Rita Curran's murder finally has closure. In this two part series, you'll hear the details of an investigation spanning over half a century and the DNA evidence that finally revealed a suspect in Vermo
MAINE, 2021: On Mother’s Day weekend in 2021, skeletal remains were discovered in a shed on private property belonging to a man who had passed away months earlier. Though it would take months for the identity of the body to be confirmed, Danielle McN
VERMONT, 1981: During the earliest moments of the investigation, the death of 35-year old Angela Belisle was presumed to be the result of dangerous temperatures and extreme winter weather. Instead, the autopsy revealed that Angela was the victim of a
VERMONT, 1971: In a homicide investigation, determining the identity of the victim is an obvious and crucial step in the pursuit of justice. Without knowing whose murder they’re investigating, authorities can’t really bring anyone to trial or even fu
VERMONT, 1971: It was 10:30 p.m. the night before the 4th of July in 1971 when a family returning to their cottage near Killington Ski Resort in Vermont discovered a fire down over an embankment. When the father and son got close enough to douse the
NEW YORK CITY, 1836: In the early morning hours of April 10, 1836, the madam of a New York City brothel awoke to find 22-year old Helen Jewett's bedroom filled with smoke and flames. Helen Jewett, born Dorcas Doyen in Augusta, Maine, was considered a
MAINE, 2010: In January of 2023, yet another year passed without justice for Darien Richardson and her family. You first heard Darien Richardson’s story on Dark Downeast in August of 2021. Since then, I’ve stayed in touch with Darien’s mother, Judi,
LIBERTY, MAINE 1973: As the wind and rain picked up on a dark December night in Liberty, Maine, Joaquin "Jack" Bettencourt closed up his popular secondhand clothing shop and headed home to his wife, Florence. Days later, the Bettencourt's car was fou
When Steve and Renee Patten learned that their daughter, Morgan Patten, was killed in a car accident far away from her home in New England, their immediate response was shock and confusion. Morgan’s final text to her parents said that she was heading
Morgan Renee Patten was supposed to be spending a weekend with her fiancé celebrating their engagement in Jacksonville, North Carolina where he was in the School of Infantry at Camp Geiger. On Friday, November 8, 2019, Morgan left the home they share
Since February 1964, rumors have swirled across New Hampshire about the death of Rena Paquette. It has been almost sixty years and still the truth remains unknown. But Rena Paquette’s story actually begins with two other deaths — 18-year old Sandra V
On July 25, 1989, 14-year old Carrie Moss, wearing a one-piece swimsuit, stone-washed jeans, and a white t-shirt, hopped on her bike and pedaled off to meet friends for an afternoon at a popular Goffstown, New Hampshire swimming hole. That was the la
Police first thought Susan Taraskiewicz’s murder to be a random act of violence, but soon the investigation revealed a much deeper conspiracy. Was Susan a target? It’s been nearly 30 years since Susan’s murder and nobody has been held responsible, bu
As beautiful as they are, lighthouses have a dark side, too. The legend and lore surrounding the light stations of New England date back hundreds of years. Hauntings. Ghost sightings. Paranormal experiences. When you stand in the presence of a lighth
FAYETTE, 1983: When Ted Flagg returned home from work on a cold day in January 1983, he was not warmly greeted by his wife as usual. Instead, he found 23-year old Judith Flagg dead. Evidence was scattered across the house. There were boot prints in t
In February of 2001, the calm in small town Chesterfield, New Hampshire was disrupted by an investigation carried out by New Hampshire State Police. Mother and daughter Tina and Bethany Sinclair were nowhere to be found.
Though the two missing Sincl
SOUTH PORTLAND, 1994: 22-year old Tammy Dickson was preparing for a new start in life. She was a recently divorced young mother and was looking ahead to a new beginning. But Tammy would never get to fully realize the dreams she had for herself. A tri
Robert "Bobby" Desmond's case is the oldest on the Maine State Police Unsolved Missing Persons case list but his story has never been told. Detective Steve Borst of the Kennebunk Police Department is reigniting the decades-old investigation for an 11
You’ve heard Leslie Spellman’s story on Dark Downeast before. I was initially compelled to tell Leslie Spellman’s story because I couldn’t believe a homicide on the perimeter of Maine’s most well-known national park could go unsolved for over four de
Ashley Flowers is the creator and host of the Crime Junkie podcast and founder and CEO of audiochuck, the podcast network behind even more chart-topping shows like The Deck, Counterclock, Strangeland, and more. In this conversation, Ashley shares the
Would you know how to spot a scam in your life before it was too late?
For years, Johnathan Walton didn’t know that the woman he called his best friend was actually a career con artist, suspected of numerous scams and fraudulent activity across the
When Johnathan Walton hosted a wine and cheese night in his Los Angeles apartment in 2013, he couldn’t have known that the event would invite a shark into his inner circle. Flyers he hung up around the building gave off the scent of a helper, a do-go
He committed his first murder at 15-years old, ending the life of an innocent shopkeeper as he and his buddies made their way around Lawrence, Massachusetts holding up convenience stories “for the thrill of it”. His lawyer would later plead for mercy
Jessica Zernicke Holmes left work on the night of September 24, 2015 to find her phone flooded with missed calls and messages. When she was finally able to call her family member back, they delivered shocking news about her father. 58-year old Kennet
Strung up in the corner of a roadside amusement park fun house was the figure of a man coated so many times with phosphorus paint that it glowed in the dimly lit space. It was alarmingly lifelike, and yet in the several years the figure was on displa
ACTIVE CASE, PART 3: In October of 2016, about a month after he was plucked from a life raft after a week at sea, Nathan Carman walked into the private memorial service he’d organized to honor his mother, Linda Carman. Notably missing from the privat
ACTIVE CASE, PART 2: Nathan Carman was 23-years old when his boat, the Chicken Pox, sank during a fishing trip off the coast of Rhode Island, presumably claiming the life of his mother, Linda Carman, who was also aboard the vessel before it went down
ACTIVE CASE, PART 1: When the daughter of wealthy real estate developer John Chakalos walked into her father’s Connecticut home one morning in December 2013, it set into motion a long-term investigation of not one, but two suspicious deaths in the sa
AUGUSTA, ME 1976: The murder of 70-year old Augusta resident Blanche Kimball remained a cold case for decades until a new tip, advancements in DNA technology, and a clever idea brought all the loose ends together.
The fire horn rang out in Ossipee, New Hampshire around 10 p.m. on September 28, 1916. The blaze at Frederick and Florence Small's cottage on the lake burned fast, even, and hot. The fire department could do nothing to save the structure or anyone wh
When Albert Flick was released from his first prison sentence for killing his wife, he restarted his pattern of threatening and victimizing women. But he’d age out of it, wouldn’t he? Statistics said so. His drooping, wrinkled face and frail body did
NEWPORT, MAINE 1975: Ellen Choate was ready to start her new job. So ready, that she hopped a train from Philadelphia to Boston just hours after she graduated to get a jump start on her journey to Maine.
It was midnight when Ellen took her seat on t
It was just before 4 a.m. on June 20, 1975 in Newport, Maine. The sky was just warming with hints of dawn and the air was quiet save for the buzz of the ice cooler and Coca Cola vending machine sitting in the dim glow of the gas station lights. The f
It was described as one of Vermont’s most frustrating cold cases. A dedicated mother and beloved school teacher disappeared in November of 1979, with nothing but a smashed up vehicle and a strange hand-written note left behind. When her ex-boyfriend
VERMONT, 1979: When the vehicle of Judith Leo-Coneys turned up at a junkyard in Roxbury, Vermont, it was the first big clue in the disappearance of the beloved school teacher and young mother. The case would spiral into an investigation spanning a de
Semper Memento. Always Remember. Those words guide the work of the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit. In this special release episode, I peel back the curtain on the Unsolved Homicide Unit and reveal what goes into re-examining and investigat
STOCKTON SPRINGS, 1984: Nearly four decades is a long time to wait for justice. In the case of Dorthea "Dot" Burke, time proved to be exactly what detectives needed to secure that justice, bringing key witnesses forward to tell their story. You might
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1978: When State Police investigators started digging in March of 1988, it had been 10 years since anyone had seen Russell Bean. An investigation followed his disappearance, but foul play wasn’t suspected. Not until a deathbed confessi
In April 1979, the lives of two teenagers from two very different parts of the country were inextricably linked by murder. In Brewer, Maine, 17-year old Amy Banks awoke one night to learn that her father, Dr. Ronald Banks, had been murdered in New Or
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: After more than two decades of searching for answers in the unsolved homicide of 20-year old Sophie Sergie, DNA evidence led detectives from Alaska to the doorstep of Steven Downs in Auburn, Maine. On Thursday, February 10, 20
MASARDIS, MAINE 1977: The impact that murder has on a family and a community is profound and far-reaching. When a murder goes unsolved, grief is partnered with lasting fear. In a small town like Masardis, Maine, the shock that came after the killing
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS 1996: 6-year old Jesus De La Cruz was out playing with a friend on September 28, 1996 when a man approached the two young boys. His friend later told police that Jesus was lured away by that man who promised him a new bike. It was
DEDHAM, MAINE 1983: For nearly three decades, the family of Kitty Collins Wardwell hoped that the whereabouts of their daughter, sister, and mother would be revealed and the secret of what happened to the smart, beautiful Kitty would come out into th
RHODE ISLAND, 2006: Was it a seizure or did somebody murder Shawn O'Brien? His daughter, Natalia St. Louis, just wants to know the truth, but the details of that July afternoon in 2006 don’t make any sense. It was labeled a medical call, an apparent
26 years is a long time to wait for answers in an unsolved homicide, but in 2019 the family of 20-year old Sophie Sergie finally had a glimmer of hope that closure was possible. Familial DNA evidence led cold case investigators from Alaska all the wa
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA 1993: Sophie Sergie was a first generation college student from a small village in rural Alaska who set her eyes on building a better future for herself and her family. In April of 1993, someone cut that future short. This case play
WALDOBORO, MAINE 1983: Who killed well-known Waldoboro figure Douglas J. Parent? And why? His case has been on the Maine Unsolved Homicide list for decades, and one rumor about what happened the night of October 2, 1983 has circulated nearly as long.
CORNISH, MAINE 1991: Sean Conway's family has been waiting 31 years to learn what happened to their brother and son on January 16, 1991. This long-standing case is still considered an open and active homicide investigation, though it’s been years sin
RHODE ISLAND, 1990: They were sitting in their car eating clam chowder when another vehicle smashed into their rear bumper and took off. Adam Emery pursued the apparent hit and run driver. The ensuing confrontation escalated to homicide -- Adam stabb
WATERVILLE, MAINE 1971: Katherine Murphy was a freshman at Colby College, continuing her family legacy at Maine's mini-Ivy liberal arts school, when someone stole her life. This is the still unsolved homicide of Katherine Murphy.
This episode was co
PORTLAND, 1930: The early morning had been foggy and dark, and the high tide came in at 3:17 a.m. It was the perfect storm for a successful offloading of alcohol—if nobody noticed or got in the way. Had Officer Connolly found himself in the wrong pla
ORONO, MAINE 2018: A young woman in a college town was found dead in the snow. From the first minutes of the investigation, police assumed she must’ve had too much to drink, fell down, and didn’t get back up in the sub-zero temperatures. Her death wa
OGUNQUIT, 1990: When York Police Detectives found the body of John “Jack” Bevins on his bathroom floor surrounded by blood and shell casings, it was obvious they were dealing with a homicide. But what unfolded from that April afternoon was a complex
OGUNQUIT, 1990: This case will challenge you. It will raise questions in your mind about consequence and justice, and what happens when an individual decides, or maybe, is forced to take those things into their own hands.
The Jack and Jackie Bevins
SACO, 1993: Thomas Napier did not have an easy life. His childhood years were plagued with pain and trauma, and then as a teenager his choices landed him in trouble with the law. But by the time he turned 22-years old, Thomas was on a better path. He
MASSACHUSETTS, 1933: When Captain William Costello was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor, the responding doctor assumed he suffered a heart attack. No sooner was the last flower laid at his tomb did the rumors begin to swirl. It seemed no one
On July 4, 1949, the villages of Flagstaff and Dead River came together, with current residents and past, for a celebration that they called Old Home Days. They knew a celebration like this would never happen again, because the little villages of Fla
QUESTIONABLE, 1953: Sally Maynard Moran left for a walk to the far side of Monhegan Island on the evening of July 9, 1953. That side of the island is known for the tallest oceanside cliffs on the Maine coastline. It’s among those cliffs this story un
UNDETERMINED, 1980: She was one day shy of her 15th birthday when Wanda Mitchell ran away from home. Less than a year later, her remains were recovered from the woods in Poland, Maine. To this day, her death is considered undetermined -- not a homici
FROM AWAY, 1979: It took over 10 years for remains found in the woods of Stacyville, Maine to finally be identified. Thanks to a true crime podcast, a listener who trusted her gut, and DNA testing, Mr. Christopher Roof had his identity back.
With a
MAINE JOHN DOE, 2010: For years, he was known only by the name stitched into the blue and white striped knit hat he was wearing. Chris, the Stacyville John Doe. Now, nearly 11 years later, the man known only by his first name has his identity back, t
Imagine your son, imagine any person you love, just disappears. No viable leads, no physical evidence, nothing to direct your search beyond unreliable or uncooperative witnesses with ever changing stories. That ambiguous loss is like a cloud over the
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1999: It's been 22 years, and Ramona and Narciso Torres are still waiting for the answers that will bring their son Angel Antonio "Tony" Torres home. Through their memories and stories, we get to know Angel and who he was before
DISAPPEARANCE/HOMICIDE, 1978: Grace Reapp was a devoted mother of three children, but one June afternoon, she left a note for her husband, Michael Reapp. She and their daughter, Gracie Noel, were gone. It took Michael five days to report his wife and
BRIDGTON, MAINE: 12-year old Sarah Perry was asleep in bed when an attacker took her mother's life. It took over a decade for DNA evidence to bring Crystal Perry's killer to justice. Sarah Perry is now the author of “After the Eclipse”, a memoir that
A special conversation with Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan, authors of The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer. This special companion episode of Dark Downeast is different from what you’re used to hearing on the show. This interview explore
CAPE COD, 1969: It was supposed to be a fun and relaxing girl's weekend in Provincetown for Patricia Walsh and Mary Anne Wysocki. They couldn't have known that helping a friendly stranger in their boarding house would put them into the orbit of a kil
His fresh start was cut short. Robert Joyal’s life ended in the middle of a chaotic scene. Though dozens of witnesses stood watching, some even participating in the violence that April night in 1998, Rob’s case remains unsolved. His family is still w
UNSOLVED MAINE HOMICIDE, 1998: Marc Joyal-Myers was 11-years old when he lost his big brother, 18-year old Robert Joyal. More than two decades have passed since that night in April 1998 when someone ended Rob’s life in a Portland, Maine parking lot.
EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: 8-year old Tammy Lynn Belanger was skipping down the road to Lincoln Street School, right on time as she did every day. Except on November 13, 1984, something or someone intercepted her usual route. Tammy Lynn never made it hom
Since that night in January 2010 when a masked intruder fired several rounds into Darien Richardson’s bedroom, Judi Richardson and her family have waited for the call that would bring them closure and justice in Darien’s still unsolved murder. In Par
PORTLAND HOMICIDE, 2010: An unknown gunman fired several rounds into Darien Richardson's bedroom at her Portland, Maine apartment as she and her then-boyfriend lay sleeping. While Darien initially survived, complications from her gunshot woulds would
At Readfield Corner Cemetery in quiet Readfield, Maine, a gleaming granite headstone marks the final resting place of Mattie Hackett, born January 29, 1888, died August 17, 1905. Mattie was just 17 years old when she was murdered just outside her hom
UNSOLVED MAINE MURDER: Just before 10 p.m. on the night of October 13, 1984, an unknown man pulled into the emergency room drop-off at Eastern Maine Medical Center. The man didn’t identify himself, or the badly injured woman sitting in his front seat
SPECIAL EDITION: On Christmas Eve in 1886, the Annie C. Maguire ran aground on the rocky shoreline of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, just below the iconic Portland Head Light. If you’ve visited the famous beacon, you’ve likely seen for yourself the simple bu
NH COLD CASES, 1969: Are the cases of Susan Randall, Luella Blakeslee and Debra Lee Horn connected? This episode examines the cases of Luella Blakeslee of Hooksett and Debra Lee Horn of Allenstown. If you haven't listened to The Case of Susan Randall
NEW HAMPSHIRE MURDER, 1971: DNA evidence is one of the most critical developments in the history of criminal investigations ever. Cold cases from the pre-DNA era are reviewed with new testing and analysis in the hopes that the advanced science will r
MURDER & COLD CASE ARREST: You’ve heard pieces of Geraldine Ann Finn’s story on Dark Downeast before. Her case seemed undoubtedly linked to an over 3-decades old cold case that I covered on the show in January of this year. It’s time to tell Geraldin
MAINE MURDER, 2012: When anyone asked where Richard Bellittieri was, the carpenter he hired on Craigslist said that Richard had a death in the family and went back to New York. A year later, Richard still hadn't returned to his beloved home in the Do
MAINE MURDER, 1973: When a passing driver discovered 18-year old Debra Dill's car on the side of a rural back road near Litchfield, Maine on September 16, 1973, it began a fifteen year search for answers and a journey to justice in the random, violen
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 2019: A passing driver caught only a glimpse as the woman, wearing all black from her shoes to her hat, walked away from a black SUV parked on the side of 295 in Falmouth, Maine. That was the final sighting of 37-year old Anneli
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1975: It was November 25, 1975 in Washington, Maine and Ludger Belanger stepped out into the freshly fallen snow, leaving deep boot prints as he disappeared into the woods in search of a buck. That was the last time his young wi
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1975: It was Labor Day weekend 1975 at Natanis Point Campground in Chain of Ponds Township, and the Newton family was celebrating the end of another classic New England summer. For the first few hours, it seemed as though all wa
What you're about to hear, the details of the night Kim Moreau disappeared, it’s all been pieced together through the family’s own investigation, leads they’ve independently checked, interviews they’ve conducted themselves, combined with information
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1986: If you’ve driven through the western counties of Maine anytime over the last 35 years, you’ve likely seen Kimberly Moreau’s face. Each year, her father hangs posters with the photo of his smiling daughter on telephone pole
Élan School was founded as a drug treatment program in 1970, pairing controversial confrontational attack therapies with education, all in the wooded setting of Poland, Maine. It's founders, Joe Ricci and Dr. Gerald Davidson, promised rehabilitation,
MAINE MURDERS, 1964: When a cryptic poem landed on the editor's desk at the Fort Fairfield Review in 1984, it would be the beginning of the end of a 20 year saga that cast a dark shadow over the small Aroostook County town. Two highly publicized murd
COLD CASE, 1978: Julie Campbell's sister, Lori Manning, is on Dark Downeast to share memories of her sister, and questions that a remain in this cold case over 43 years later. Why end the life of this beloved woman? How did the attacker take Julie by
MAINE MURDER, 1916: Emma J. Turnbull was the widow of Charles Turnbull and mother of eight children. When Harold Turnbull returned home on August 4, 1916 to an alarming scene and his mother nowhere to be found, the frantic search for Mrs. Turnbull be
MAINE, 1951: When Zenovia Clegg's killer confessed to his crime, he also revealed small scraps of the secrets he’d been keeping throughout the decades. Is Charles E. Terry the serial killer responsible for the murders of two women whose cases are sti
MAINE, 1958: Patricia Wing hadn’t been seen in over 24 hours, not since the afternoon of Tuesday, June 3, 1958. As a 29-year old mother of five, it was highly unusual. Her husband Wendell and her youngest son Harvey were both home sleeping that after
SOUTH BOSTON, 2013: On the night of July 23, 2013, 21-year old Mainer Kayleigh Ballantyne was randomly attacked as she walked into her apartment in Southie. As her attacker made clear his plans, Kayleigh told herself she was going to survive. A survi
MAINE MYSTERY, 1924: When Lottie reported her first husband, William Sanborn, missing from their home in North Gorham, Maine, the Sheriff took her word for it. But when Lottie's second husband Alphonse Cote Jr. disappeared under mysterious circumstan
UNSOLVED MAINE MURDER, 1970: 13-year old Mary Catherine Olenchuk left the beach before her family for a bike ride into town. She was last seen alive just 200 yards from her family's Ogunquit summer home, getting into a maroon car with an unknown man.
NEW HAMPSHIRE COLD CASE, 1991: February 16, 2021, marks 30 years since two beloved figures of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire community were found dead, victims of an attack in their own home. This is the case of Stella Bolton and James ‘JJ’ Moore, a s
HISTORIC SOUTH PARIS MURDERS, 1937: The murders of Dr. James G. Littlefield and his wife, Lydia Littlefield, became one of Maine's most sensational and confounding cases of the early 1900s.
Who really killed the couple, and why? Could the 18-year ol
MAINE MURDER, 1988: 12-year old Sarah Cherry disappeared while babysitting on July 6, 1988. A clue laying in the driveway of the house where she was last seen pointed investigators to their primary suspect. Two days later, Sarah's body was discovered
ACADIA COLD CASE, 1977: Leslie Spellman was just 27-years old when she set off to Bar Harbor in the summer of 1977, hitchhiking from Vermont with her scruffy mutt Taylor by her side. Her beaten body would be found just a day after she left for her ad
MAINE MURDER, 1987: 26-year old Kathy Frost scanned the pages of her Bangor Daily News, concluding with a careful assessment of the personals. One ad caught her eye. An active outdoorsman searching for a lasting relationship. Kathy circled the addres
MAINE COLD CASE, 1987: After she was refused service at a bar in Waterville, Maine on December 23, 1987, 20-year old Janet Brochu accepted a ride home from a guy she'd met at the bowling alley earlier that night. But Janet never made it home. When yo
MAINE COLD CASE, 1954: On July 22nd, 1954, Daniel K. Wood Jr. grabbed his fishing pole and set off on foot down Portland Road in Gray, Maine. Just ten minutes later, the phone rang at the Wood home. It was Danny. He told his mother he got a job with
NEW HAMPSHIRE MURDER, 2012: When Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott left the University of New Hampshire campus for a movie night at a friend's house, she told her aunt and uncle she'd be home by midnight. On Wednesday morning, Becki and Tony noticed their n
MAINE MURDER, 1983: Sonny Grotton lay in his dooryard, blood pooling around him. Norma dialed 9-1-1. Everything happened quickly. When first responders arrived at the scene, Sonny spoke only in gurgled noises, unable to say who pulled the trigger fir
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1977: When Honey kissed her sleeping mother goodbye before school on December 15, 1977, it was the last time Pauline Rourke was ever seen again. But this isn’t just the case of Pauline Rourke’s disappearance. This is also the st
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 2011: The Ayla Reynolds case is both the largest criminal investigation and the third largest search for a missing child in Maine’s history. If you’ve lived in Maine or New England in the last decade, you probably know the high-
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1993: 26-year old Virginia Sue Pictou Noyes disappeared in the early morning hours of April 24, 1993, after she slipped out unnoticed from her Eastern Maine Medical Center hospital room. Nearly 30 years later, her family continu
MAINE MURDER, 1991: On August 11, 1991, Bill and Pearl stood in their kitchen, each taking verbal jabs at the other in another argument over money. As the shouting got louder, Bill grabbed his keys and slammed the door on his way out of the house. Wh
PORTLAND, MAINE MURDER, 2001: Amy St. Laurent was a beautiful, driven woman entertaining a new friend in Portland's Old Port one Saturday night in October 2001, when she met a guy -- a predator. Amy never showed up for work the next week. She never r
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 2006: Two women, one murdered and one missing, connected by one man. When police discovered the badly beaten body of Cheryl Murdoch and arrested her boyfriend Shannon Atwood for the crime, they pinned him with the mysterious dis
INFAMOUS MAINE MURDER, 2006: On Labor Day weekend in 2006, Christian Charles Nielsen spiraled into a killing spree that a would claim the lives of four people -- Julie Bullard, Selby Bullard, Cynthia Beatson, and James Whitehurst. This is the story o
HISTORIC MAINE MURDER, 1873: Smuttynose Island in the Isles of Shoals has become an iconic part of the dark side of Maine and New Hampshire history. This is the historic case of three women attacked in the dead of night, when a robbery turned bloody
MAINE'S OLDEST MISSING PERSON CASE, 1971: Nearly 25 years after Cathy Marie Moulton's disappearance, a new detective was assigned to the case, and he uncovered new details that no one bothered to look into when the 16-year old girl first disappeared
MAINE'S OLDEST MISSING PERSON CASE, 1971: On September 24, 1971, Cathy Marie Moulton stepped out onto Forest Avenue in Portland, Maine heading the direction of home. She had plans to attend the YWCA dance that night... But Cathy never made it. The Po
MAINE MISSING PERSON, 1988: A spontaneous Maine adventure turns dark when Virginia C. Douglas steps into Reny's in Belfast, Maine and is never seen again. Where did Virginia go? This decades-old missing persons cold case spans two New England states,
INFAMOUS MAINE TRUE CRIME, 2003: Walter "Reid" Morrill heard there were leftovers from the bake sale the day before. They would be the perfect pairing for the strong Swedish coffee always served in the fellowship hall after Sunday service. What Reid