Hell and Gone

On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. The next day, he was due to report for drills. But he never showed up. And twelve hours later, his body was found in the Cedar Fork Creek area, just two blocks from where he was last seen the night before. Since then, Tyler's family has been trying to find out what happened to him: did he fall, did he drown, or was he murdered? And after lingering questions about his autopsy, Tyler Smith's body was exhumed for a second opinion. 

If you have a case you’d like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. 

Tyler had dreams of becoming a police officer. He was super athletic, played football in high school, and after graduating from Western Illinois University, he applied to and was accepted into the police academy in San Jose, California.

Tyler hoped to eventually possibly become a DEA agent or working with a K9 unit. He was starting his life and chasing his dream and it was happening. But Tyler also had been in the Army National Guard since 2013 and came back to Illinois to fulfill his commitment. 

Tyler and his friends went out drinking that night, and the next day, he was due to report for drills. But he never showed up. And twelve hours later, his body was found in the Cedar Fork Creek area, just two blocks from where he was last seen the night before. Since then, Tyler's family has been trying to find out what happened to him: did he fall, did he drown, or was he murdered?

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It was April 12, 1971, a 27-year-old woman named Pauline Storment was walking down South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a few blocks from her apartment. She didn't know someone was following her in the darkness. 

And then, while she was walking and just a few blocks from her apartment, her attacker came out of the darkness and attacked her, stabbing her eight times in a frenzied attack that lasted several minutes. 

It was a hot night so at 9:45 pm when Pauline started screaming a lot of people in the area heard her, and there were several witnesses. But her killer escaped into the night - and despite the police questioning tons of people, lots of theories being explored over the years an arrest, Pauline’s killer has never been found. 

If you have a case you’d like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Sunday October 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, a 39-year-old mother of one named Heidi Planck went to watch her 11-year-old son Bond play football. When Heidi left the game, she said that she would call her son later, but even though she ALWAYS talked to him every day she never called him. In fact  Bond never talked to his mother again. Because that day, Heidi Planck vanished. 

If you have a case you’d like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been covering two cases in Arkansas: the murder of Gail Vaught, whose body was found on March 17, 1980, and Dennis Flowers.

Police believe that Dennis was responsible for the execution style murders of Lee Dickson, a pharmacist who had become addicted to cocaine and started dealing it with Dennis, and Lee’s wife Karen Dickson who was eight months pregnant. A few days after the brutal double homicide, Dennis’ body was found under extremely mysterious circumstances, cause of death was listed as drowning in less than three feet of water and his manner death was ruled suicide.  

One of the questions that have come up in these cases and so many others is were these crime scenes as they appeared to be, or could they have been staged?

This week Catherine Townsend speaks with investigator Arthur Steve Chancellor. who runs a company called Second Look Training and Forensic Consulting that provides investigative and forensic case consultation and training.You can find the company online at secondlooktraining.com or reach them at 919 360 3518. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the morning of March 22, 1984, at around 6:30 am, police came to the one-story nondescript home in Fayetteville, Arkansas that belonged to a quiet unassuming 33-year-old pharmacist named Lee Dickson and his wife Karen. 

When police came to the Dickson home, they knocked, but Lee and Karen didn’t answer. Finally, their young son came to the door. He told the police that his mother was sleeping and that daddy went out. 

Police entered the home looking for his parents, and it didn’t take long to find their bodies. Lee was in the garage, lying face down. He had been shot point blank.

Then the killer came for Karen. Police found her in the living room Police later discovered that she had also been shot multiple times, execution style. Karen was pregnant. 

What started as a family massacre turned out to have ties to another mysterious death of a man who drowned in under three feet of water. Later there would be allegations that Lee, this quiet local pharmacist, had been making backdoor deals with local criminals to provide the power players of Fayetteville with pharmaceutical grade cocaine.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

Here is the link to the Coroner Talk podcast episode. 

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Catherine Townsend continues her investigation into the death of Gail Vaught. 

On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Searcy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye down a small dirt road.

It looked like a person lying in the road. The driver doubled back and saw to his horror that it was the body of a young woman, lying rolled over on her right side with her head and shoulders face down. She was very tall and had a flannel shirt on and a blue Michelin jacket that had been pulled over her face, her legs were slightly open, and she was naked from the waist down except for a pair of torn and filthy white socks.  

She started out being a Jane Doe. But soon, police ID’d the victim as 21-year-old Gail Vaught.    

Was she sexually assaulted? Could that crime scene have been staged? Could her death have connections to drug dealing or domestic violence or something else?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Searcy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye down a small dirt road.

It looked like a person lying in the road. The driver doubled back and saw to his horror that it was the body of a young woman, lying rolled over on her right side with her head and shoulders face down. She was very tall and had a flannel shirt on and a blue Michelin jacket that had been pulled over her face, her legs were slightly open, and she was naked from the waist down except for a pair of torn and filthy white socks.  

She started out being a Jane Doe. But soon, police ID’d the victim as 21-year-old Gail Vaught.    

Was she sexually assaulted? Could that crime scene have been staged? Could her death have connections to drug dealing or domestic violence or something else?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 21, 2023, Dr. John Forsyth, a 49-year-old ER doctor, was due to work the evening shift at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri. He had already worked the overnight shift the day before and finished up at 7 am. After that he went to crash for a few hours before starting his next shift that night. 

This was a normal day for John. He had a habit of pulling long shifts and working between 80 and 100 hours per week. But John never showed up for work that night, and it wasn’t long before his family and colleagues realized that he had disappeared.

John Forsyth was a hard working, well respected doctor and a father of eight children, but he also had a complicated personal life, one that he kept compartmentalized. One that involved an expensive divorce, a new fiancée, and a crypto company that he co-founded with his brother that had been involved in some shady dealings.

What happened to Dr. Forsyth? Was he kidnapped by someone with bad intentions? Did he walk away on his own? Could he have been living a double life?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was Thursday night, November 1, 2007, and 18-year-old Justin Gaines was getting ready for a night out with his friends at Wild Bill’s, a club in Duluth, Georgia.  

Justin was a freshman in college. He had just started at Gainesville State college, which was about an hour away from where his family was. Justin was 5 '11, 210 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair in a buzz cut. He was a handsome, clean cut, preppy guy. 

Justin didn’t take a wallet out with him that night, so he had no credit cards, just cash, a couple fake IDs, and his cell phone. He caught a ride with his friends to the club. But when they arrived, his friends didn’t want to pay the cover charge and left. Justin saw someone in line who he knew and was able to get in for free and went into the club on his own. He said that it was no problem. He would find a ride. This was something he did often.

A while later, in the early morning hours of November 2, 2007, Justin walked out into that parking lot in Duluth, and no one ever saw him again.  

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the evening of Sunday, September 14, 2014, 15-year-old Cassie Kay Compton went out for a pack of cigarettes down the road from her small white house in Stuttgart, Arkansas...and never came back. At least that’s the official story. 

We know a few things for sure: Cassie had been spending the weekend with a friend of hers named Hunter, and Cassie slept over there on Saturday night.  

Hunter’s mother has said that this was not out of the ordinary. In fact, Cassie spent a lot of time at her house because, she said, things were chaotic at Cassie’s house.

Hunter drove her home on Sunday early evening and an hour later, she vanished. 

What really happened to Cassie Compton? And was she running from something at home? 

If you have a case for Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On February 15, 2024, 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, a fifth grade student at Creekside Elementary in Livingstone, Texas, never made it to the bus stop.  And when she didn’t come home after school, her family knew that something was very wrong.

Audrii lived with her dad, and on that property, there was someone else living there: a 42-year-old friend of the family’s who lived in a camper. And even though he had a very disturbing criminal record, this man was allowed to babysit for Audrii. 

Once Audrii went missing, people started taking a look at what was really going on behind the closed doors of this house in rural Texas. We talk about stranger danger, but with this case, sometimes the most terrifying people can be living inside our home.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode continues the investigation into the disappearance of Ieshia Jackson. 

It was Halloween night 2020, and 22-year-old Ieshia was getting ready to go to a party. She lived in El Dorado, Arkansas just a short distance away from her mother, her younger brother, and the rest of her family, but because she had had a couple of break-ins at her new home, she was staying at her uncle’s.

Ieshia and her mother were very close and normally spoke a few times per day. So by November 2, 2020 when Laquita had not heard from her daughter, she was getting worried. Laquita, her boyfriend, and her son jumped in the car and headed to Ieshia’s. 

When the family got there they could see immediately that something was very wrong. Laquita went in and found her daughter’s stuff there, including her wallet and cell phone. The place looked like she had just stepped out for five minutes. But Ieshia never came back home. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was Halloween night 2020, and 22-year-old Ieshia Jackson was getting ready to go to a party. She lived in El Dorado, Arkansas just a short distance away from her mother, her younger brother, and the rest of her family, but because she had had a couple of break-ins at her new home, she was staying at her uncle’s.

Ieshia and her mother were very close and normally spoke a few times per day. So by November 2, 2020 when Laquita had not heard from her daughter, she was getting worried. Laquita, her boyfriend, and her son jumped in the car and headed to Ieshia’s. 

When the family got there they could see immediately that something was very wrong. Laquita went in and found her daughter’s stuff there, including her wallet and cell phone. The place looked like she had just stepped out for five minutes. But Ieshia never came back home. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catherine continues her investigation into the disappearance of Jason Lierl.

In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County Arkansas when he disappeared off the face of the earth. 

Jason was last seen in Madison County, Arkansas. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri  - but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. What happened to Jason Lierl?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In January of 2022, Jason Lierl was visiting friends in Madison County Arkansas when he disappeared off the face of the earth. 

Jason was last seen in Madison County, Arkansas. His abandoned car was found in the parking lot of a mall in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

His car keys, motorcycle and other belongings were found in different places, spread across Arkansas and Missouri  - but to this day, no trace of Jason has ever been found. What happened to Jason Lierl?

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometime between the evening of September 2 in the early morning hours of September 3, 1994, 35-year-old Billie Jean Phillips was brutally beaten to death at her home in Alabam, Arkansas.

The case soon became the biggest story in Madison County, and there was a long list of potential suspects. 

But in 2002, there was an arrest in the Billie Jean Phillips murder case. One that would shock the community. 

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On Saturday September 3, 1994, a federal poultry inspector named Chic Philips was taking his seven-year-old son MacKenzie back to the home of his mother and Chic’s ex-wife, 35-year-old Billie Jean Philips. 

When they arrived, Billie Jean’s son ran inside the house and walked back to the bedroom he saw his mom lying on the floor a few feet from the bed with her head kind of propped up against a wall. She wasn’t moving. So the little boy ran outside to the car and told his dad, “Mommy fell painting”.  

Chic put his son back in his truck and walked in to see what he was talking about and that’s when he found his former wife’s body and realized his son thought the blood spattered all over her bedroom were paint. 

Of course, the house became a crime scene, and it wasn’t long before the whole town heard what happened. Billie Jean had been brutally murdered. 

There was a long list of suspects including a sheriff living a double life, the prosecutor and his son who were sleeping with the victim, and a tale of conspiracy theories, arson, meth, and murder in Arkansas. So what really happened to Billie Jean Phillips?

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In this season of Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows, we travel back to a pivotal moment in the history of this country, and we trace how, decades before Covid-19, a virus tore through some of our most vulnerable communities while the wider world looked away. We go to a pediatric ward in Harlem, a women’s prison in upstate New York, a drug market in the South Bronx, and the inner sanctum of the National Institutes of Health. And we meet people who demanded that they, and their illness, be seen: mothers and children, doctors and nurses, nuns and sex workers, and a woman who literally helped change the definition of AIDS.

The first episode comes out on Jan. 18.

Blindspot is a co-production of The HISTORY® Channel and WNYC Studios, in collaboration with The Nation Magazine. Cover photo by Donna Binder.

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Elderly couple David and Mina Swan lived in a quiet neighborhood in Clearwater, Florida. But on Saturday September 29, 2018, a neighbor of theirs was concerned when their newspapers started piling up outside. The neighbor called Mina’s daughter, and the pair of them went inside the house. What they found was horrific. David and Mina were at the kitchen table slumped over in pools of blood. The police have admitted that they are stumped, and over three years later the case is still unsolved. Who would have killed David and Mina Swan? 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Arkansas, some people think that a slew of child deaths in the early 1990s are related. Those children are Christina Pipkin, who went missing in May of 1991, Steve Branch, Michael Moore, Christopher Byers, the three eight-year-old boys who were murdered in West Memphis in 1993, and also includes 16-year-old Gardenia Cross Jones and 13-year-old Geneva Smith, whose bodies were both found near Wynne, Arkansas just a few miles from Hickory Ridge shortly after they went missing.

After Catherine’s investigation into these deaths for a few months, there haven't been any obvious connections among the children in east Arkansas. But there are a lot of weird coincidences in these cases. In three of the four cases, suspects were arrested and ultimately released. All of them were found in or near bodies of water. And all of them are unsolved. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 28 2017, 19-year-old Natalie Bollinger was at home in her apartment in Broomfield, Colorado. But when her boyfriend Joey got home from work that afternoon, Natalie was gone. So was his 9mm Glock. Joey tried to call Natalie but noticed that her cellphone was still at home. So he called the police and reported Natalie missing.   

 The next day, December 29, police got a tip that a body had been found on land belonging to the McIntosh Dairy farm in a wooded area north of Denver, Colorado. They confirmed it was Natalie Bollinger. And the killer was someone no one expected. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell jewelry for her school fundraiser. But she never made it back home. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin?

Catherine Townsend tracks down other witnesses who saw Christina the night she disappeared and identifies inconsistencies in the case file. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell jewelry for her school fundraiser. But she never made it back home. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin? Catherine Townsend continues her investigation in Arkansas. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 1991, nine-year-old Christina Pipkin headed out to sell costume jewelry for her school fundraiser. Her father gave her strict instructions: Stay on your side of the railroad tracks, and be home by dark. But Christina didn’t make it back home before dark. And she never made it home alive. Her body was found in a ditch several days later. Who, or what, killed Christina Pipkin? And could her death be connected to other dead children found in East Arkansas?  

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, Hell and Gone listeners! Catherine is headed back to Arkansas this week to investigate a slew of child deaths that have never been solved. We'll be back next week with a full episode of Hell and Gone Murder Line. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was May 10, 2005 when police in the tiny town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, a sleepy picturesque little town on Cape Cod, got a horrifying phone call. Fifty-one-year-old Shirley Reine had been found, slumped on the garage floor, hanging out of her Nissan Maxima in a pool of blood. 

Police rushed to the scene and later said that she had been shot twice, once in the chest, and then when she fell out of the car, police believed that the killer shot her a second time in the head. There was no sign of forced entry, and it seemed that the killer had been lying in wait for Shirley in that dark garage. But who would stalk and kill a fifty-something woman execution style in her garage? And why? It turns out that there were a lot of suspects. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend and her team to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In winter of 2011, something was very wrong with 57-year-old Robert Wayne Cox. 

Robert had always been healthy and athletic, and according to his sister Lydia Cox, he was basically a happy homebody on his property in Havana, Arkansas. He had a son, lived near his father and sister, and had been happily married for over 20 years. 

But then suddenly, he started to decline physically. By November, he could not really walk, he just shuffled with his chin dropped down to his chest. He was nonverbal. His sister Lydia was terrified by what was happening to her brother, and took him to doctor after doctor trying to find answers. Then, on February 19, 2011, Robert Wayne Cox disappeared without a trace. He has never been seen again

If you have a case you’d like Catherine to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was July 29, 2022, just another quiet summer night in Atlanta, Texas. The sun had just gone down when 28-year-old Shommaonique Oliver got a panicked phone call. That’s when her nightmare began. Three of her children- her middle daughters, nine-year-old Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, eight-year-old A’Miyah Hughes, and little five-year-old Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver were missing. Law enforcement found them a few hours later. Divers dragged their lifeless little bodies out of a neighboring pond.  

Initially this was described as a drowning in the local media, but months later, law enforcement said that these three little girls had been murdered. The cause was strangulation. And this person could strike again at any time. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 12, 2017, somewhere in the tiny town of Oil Trough, Arkansas, a 37-year-old mother of three named Brooke Allensworth vanished.  

Two weeks later, the police found Brooke’s car. The car was near a boat ramp and looked like it had been abandoned there for days or possibly weeks. 

The tire was flat, the doors were locked, and the keys were missing. And so was Brooke. Her family, including her three children and a father and half sister, never saw her alive again and are still searching for answers.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On August 3, 2009, police found Shannon Hercutt dead inside her car, which had plunged off a cliff just off of Walker Trail in Sevier County, Tennessee. At first, the Tennessee highway patrol said Shannon had died in a car accident. But a few days later, Shannon Hercutt’s manner of death was changed to homicide. Who killed Shanoon Hercutt? 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just weeks after Jarrod Green was missing, police find out that the people he allegedly owed money to, Brandon Wheeler and Robert Webb, had left town and that their rental house had caught on fire. The woman who cleaned that house presents some revealing information. And a lawsuit is filed against Brandon Wheeler with disastrous consequences. 

Wheeler v. City of Searcy lawsuit: https://casetext.com/case/wheeler-v-city-of-searcy

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

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Shannon Green remembers her baby brother Jarrod as the kid who was always laughing and smiling with a mischievous sense of humor. She said Jarrod was a little bit naive, someone who always trusted others and would do anything for a friend. 

In 1993, Jarrod graduated from Searcy High School in Arkansas. Eventually, he moved out of his parents house, started junior college and got a job at the Walmart distribution center. But then, in 1994, the problems started. Jarrod started getting involved in drugs and using methamphetamines. Within a shockingly short period of time, he was showing signs of addiction. Then, on September 30, 1994, Jarrod Green disappeared. His family continues to search for him. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clea Hall disappeared in 1994 when she was just 18 years old. The night she disappeared, she was only a few blocks away from home at her after-school job. What happened to Clea in those few short blocks between work and home? Did she get into a car with a stranger? Did someone unknown to her family pick her up? Or could something have happened at her job - something that meant that she never left that house alive? 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hell and Gone team has launched a new series, Hell and Gone Murder Line…but investigator Catherine Townsend can’t start something new without returning to the case that started it all, the case that changed her life forever. The murder of Rebekah Gould. 

The case file was finally released in full a few months back, and Catherine spent countless hours reviewing it. In this episode, she goes through the parts of the file that stood out to her and raised more questions. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thursday December 1, 1994 started out as just a normal day for Melissa Witt. She was a 19-year-old college student, who lived at home with her mom, Mary Ann, on a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood in Fort Smith, Arkansas. 

That night, Melissa went to meet her mom at a bowling alley...but she never made it inside. Instead, Melissa disappeared. And Mary Ann never saw her daughter alive again.

If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can call the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past five years of making true crime podcast Hell and Gone, host Catherine Townsend knows that there is no such thing as a small town where murder never happens. She's received hundreds of messages from people, all around the country, asking for help with an unsolved murder that’s affected them, their families and their communities. 

In past seasons of the show, she’s only been able to focus on one case. But now, she’s hosting a new weekly show on the Hell and Gone feed called Hell and Gone Murder Line. Every Thursday, she will feature a new case, add updates to old ones, and help as much as she can to get the word out about unsolved murders. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine and her team to look into, you can call the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Larry Gould was supposed to meet with the prosecutor, but that meeting got postponed...indefinitely. 

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Catherine learns new information about the Arkansas State Police's investigation and explores the concept of contamination in confessions. 

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Catherine talks with Rebekah’s father Larry Gould about his victim statement and meeting Rebekah’s killer.

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A man has finally been convicted for the murder of Rebekah Gould. But his confession leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Catherine Townsend attends a pre-trial hearing, seeing photos of the crime scene and Rebekah’s autopsy for the first time, and talks to investigator Jennifer Bucholtz.

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In the last episode of season 4, Catherine learns a theory about how Ebby's body was discovered and confirms details about Ebby's call with Trevor. 

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Catherine looks into an incident involving Guy Hooper and talks to Ebby's friend who switched phones with her.

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Catherine talks to a toxicology expert and identifies another person Ebby was in contact with in the days, and maybe even hours, leading up to her disappearance. 

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Catherine tries to figure out why there are inconsistencies in the security guard's stories.

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Catherine talks to one of Ebby's close friends and gets some shocking information from the LRPD.  

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Catherine and Mike go down the drain where Ebby was found and track down one of the guys from the party. 

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Ebby's family searches for her everywhere. Catherine talks with private investigator Monty Vickers and former LRPD detective Tommy Hudson. 

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Catherine Townsend heads to Little Rock, Arkansas to investigate the death of 18-year-old Ebby Steppach. 

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On October 30, 2015, the Little Rock Police Department searched an abandoned car in a small residential park. The keys were in the ignition and the car was out of gas as if it had been left running. 

The car belonged to 18-year-old Ebby Steppach, and Ebby had vanished without a trace. 

What really happened to Ebby Steppach?

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This season, private investigator Catherine Townsend and her team investigate the mysterious disappearance and death of Mitrice Richardson. Mitrice was arrested at a seaside restaurant in Malibu, California on September 16, 2009. Later that night, she was released but never seen alive again. Catherine talks with Mitrice’s mentor and family friend Dr. Ronda Hampton and begins to retrace Mitrice’s steps the night she went missing. 

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Catherine follows the trails at the back of the Malibu Canyon Ranch. As season three comes to an end, we reflect on a tumultuous year in Los Angeles and what could have happened to Mitrice.

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Catherine goes back to the trail to look for more access points to Dark Canyon. Catherine also discusses Mitrice’s family’s legal battle against the LASD, Los Angeles County, and the officers on duty the night Mitrice was arrested.

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With the pandemic in mind, Catherine does some cyber sleuthing. She discovers that the area where Mitrice's remains were found has seen a variety of other murders and deaths.

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In an attempt to find out what happened to Mitrice while she was at the police station, the team attempts to track down one of the most crucial pieces of physical evidence...the surveillance videotape. 

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An arrest has been made in the season one case of Rebekah Gould. Catherine has an update.

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Should police have released Mitrice from the police station on the night she disappeared? Her friends and family say she should have been taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, which is known in California as a “5150”. But the police said that she was fine. So, which is it? 

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After Mitrice's remains were found, miscommunication between police and personnel from the coroner's office led to a huge misstep in the extraction of the body. And once her remains were analyzed, there were more questions than answers. 

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As Mitrice's family and friends pressure the police to invigorate their search efforts, Dr. Ronda Hampton works with Tashaka Starwell of REACT LA and documentary filmmaker Chip Croft to follow all leads to track down Mitrice. The police receive a call that Mitrice has been spotted in the bucolic neighborhood of Monte Nido.

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While Catherine and the team investigated the death of Janie Ward for season two, they spent some time looking back into the murder of Rebekah Gould from season one. All of the updates for season one are consolidated in this bonus episodes. 

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 In the final episode of season two, Catherine talks with former a FBI agent, who worked as a consultant on ABC's program about Janie's case. She also explores one last theory of how Janie could have died: rubbing alcohol poisoning. 

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In 2007, a third autopsy is performed on Janie, which comes to yet another conclusion that doesn't make sense to the Ward family. Catherine talks with a pathologist and a neurosurgeon about the results.  

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In 2004, a new investigation into Janie's death is opened. Catherine reviews the investigation and tries to piece together the route from the cabin to the bank parking lot. She talks with the Ward's lawyer and with the special prosecutor on the new investigation. Catherine also gets a call from a woman named Sylvia, who says she witnessed Janie getting hit in the face. 

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Catherine considers whether or not Janie even died at the party. She also talks with a forensic psychologist, who investigated Janie's death and also concluded it was a homicide. 

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Catherine dives into the most talked about theory of all in the Janie Ward case: that someone killed Janie at the party with a baseball bat. 

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Catherine dives into Janie's autopsy report and takes a look at the controversies surrounding the Arkansas State Crime Lab. 

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Catherine reconstructs the day leading up to the party using the Arkansas State Police case file on Janie's case. She ends up with more questions than answers. 

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Catherine returns to Arkansas to investigate the death of Janie Ward. Janie died mysteriously in 1989 at a party at a cabin on the backroads of Marshall, Arkansas. Catherine meets journalist Mike Masterson, who has written over 200 articles about Janie, along with Janie's mom, Mona, and her sister, Krystal. The Ward family gives Catherine a box of materials that Janie's late father Ron collected over the thirty years since her death. 

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Season Two of Hell And Gone, hosted by writer and private investigator Catherine Townsend, launches July 24. After tracking down new leads in the murder of Rebekah Gould in season one, season two focuses on the 1989 death of 16-year-old Janie Ward in Marshall, Arkansas. Janie died mysteriously at a party at a cabin in the woods, and in the 30 years since her death, no one has been able to determine what or who killed her. 

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Catherine's efforts start to pay off in small but significant ways as local investigators begin taking another look at the facts of the case. Catherine meets with Holly Meyer, lead prosecutor, and speaks with journalist, George Jared, who relays some interesting information. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com.

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Catherine hears from some of Casey's closest friends and coworkers at the time of the murder in an effort to compare stories and and see if his timeline, the most important part of this alibi, really does check out. Outreach from an unexpected source provides startling information that could change everything. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com. 

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Even though he was cleared as a suspect, Catherine turns her attention to Casey, Rebekah's boyfriend at the time of her murder. She surveys some of the people closest to Rebekah to get a better idea of the nature of their relationship including Rebekah's sister, Danielle, her father, Larry Gould, and friends and associates of Casey's as well. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com

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Catherine turns to local radio and social media to spread the word about Rebekah's murder - and the tips start to come in. She also investigates an anonymous letter sent to Rebekah's father, Larry Gould, containing details about her possible killer(s). Catherine has a handwriting analyst, Diane Peterson, put together a profile of the person who wrote it and local journalist AK Barnes shares her theories on the murder. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com

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Catherine starts to check suspects off her list and turns her focus to a mysterious woman who may have been involved, as well as a possible motive, She speaks with Rebekah's mother, Shirley, Jame Gorniak, a forensic entomologist, and a convicted double-murderer, Brian Bangs, For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com 

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Catherine and team dig into the nature of the murder weapon, the autopsy report and state of the body to get a clear picture of the injuries that killed Rebekah. They meet with journalist George Jared, Neurologist Adam Webb, and Conservationist Keith Bildstein as the hunt continues for Chris. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com

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Catherine and her team use old-fashioned detective work to uncover more details about the murder and to track down possible suspects. They meet with Rusty, owner and publisher of the local newspaper, and attempt to find Jesse, JB and Chris. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com

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Catherine and her team arrive in the Arkansas Ozarks and retrace Rebekah’s steps on the last day she was seen alive. They meet Rebekah’s sister Danielle, her father Larry, and local journalist George Jared. For more on the case, visit hellandgonepodcast.com

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Hell And Gone is a new podcast launching October 17 that follows writer and private investigator Catherine Townsend as she moves back to the Arkansas Ozarks to solve the 2004 murder of 22-year-old college student Rebekah Gould. 

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