And Then They Were Gone

Seventeen-year-old Kianna Galvin had just celebrated earning her GED and had plans to attend art school in Atlanta. But on May 6, 2016, she left her family’s home in South Elgin, Illinois, to visit someone in her neighborhood—and vanished without a trace. As hours turned into days, critical evidence began pointing investigators toward a dark possibility: that something terrible happened just blocks from her home. 

Though police init...

This episode originally aired on June 16, 2021

19-year-old Logan Schiendelman went for a drive early one morning. When he returned home, he told his grandmother, Ginnie, that he had an epiphany about his life. Logan had been floundering for the past year, so Ginnie hoped this meant that he was turning a corner. He had been struggling with his mixed-race identity, and his freshman year at Washington State University had not gone as p...

On the morning of January 28, 2017, 20-year-old Elaine Park left her boyfriend’s home in Calabasas, California. Security footage captured her calmly walking to her car, but after that, Elaine was never seen again. Five days later, her car was found abandoned along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, with all of her personal items still inside.

As investigators retraced Elaine’s last known steps, they discovered that Elaine had a lo...

Pearl Pinson was just 15 years old when she was violently abducted from a pedestrian bridge in Vallejo, California, on the morning of May 25, 2016. Despite witnesses, immediate police response, and a quickly identified suspect, Fernando Castro, Pearl vanished without a trace.

In this episode, we explore Pearl’s life, the terrifying details of her abduction, the investigation and pursuit of her abductor, and the enduring mystery of ...

This episode explores the chilling Icebox Murders case from 1965, where police discovered the dismembered bodies of Fred and Edwina Rogers in their home in Houston, Texas. Their son, Charles Rogers, became the prime suspect after he vanished without a trace. The episode delves into the details of the crime, the background of Charles, and the various theories surrounding his disappearance, leaving listeners with a haunting mystery t...

On October 4, 1988, 11-year-old Annette Sagers stood at her bus stop in rural South Carolina, with her dog by her side. The bus driver spotted her around 7:00 AM, but by the time he circled back to pick her up, she was gone. This event would be terrifying on its own, but eleven months earlier, Annett’s mother, Korrina Malinoski had also disappeared from the very same property, a sprawling 6,000-acre plantation tucked away in the sw...

This episode explores the mysterious disappearance of three women from Springfield, Missouri, known as the Springfield Three. On June 7, 1992, Cheryl Levitt, Susie Streeter, and Stacy McCall vanished without a trace after a night of celebration. Despite extensive investigations and numerous theories, the case remains unsolved over three decades later. The podcast delves into the events leading up to their disappearance, the investi...

This episode explores the tragic disappearance of Lauren Spierer, a 20-year-old student from Indiana University, who went missing on June 3, 2011. The podcast delves into her final hours, the subsequent investigation, and the ongoing search for answers by her family and the community. Despite numerous tips and theories, Lauren's case remains unsolved, highlighting the impact of her disappearance on her loved ones and the import...

This episode originally aired in May 2021

No one in Kristine Kupka’s life was a fan of her ex-boyfriend, Rudy Persaud. But on October 24, 1998, when she told her roommate she was going to meet up with him so he could show her his new apartment, she understood why Kristine was trying to maintain a friendly relationship— Kristine was five months pregnant with their child. But what was supposed to be a pleasant afternoon followed by br...

On the night of May 13, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson was driving home from a party after finishing his first year of college. Just after midnight, he called his parents. He’d driven into a ditch, he said. He wasn’t hurt—just frustrated, and he needed a ride.

What followed was a 47-minute phone call—nearly an hour of confusion and missed turns. Brandon’s parents tried desperately to find him in the dark, rural backroads of south...

A new episode of And Then They Were Gone is coming soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share today's episode of Day by Day: True Crime Stories, on the disappearance of Shapammala Buckner. Her case has clear suspects, yet interest in her case died out quickly. It's been nearly eight years since she's been seen, and the investigation seems to be going nowhere.

This episode of Day by Day True Crime Stories delves into the...

In this episode, And Then They Were Gone host Kona Gallagher sits down with Director Michael Bayer to discuss the Heather Elvis case, a missing persons investigation that remains unsolved. The conversation delves into the complexities of the case, including the impact of online harassment, the role of social media in investigations, and the ongoing struggles of the Elvis family. Bayer shares insights into the making of the document...

In December 2013, 20-year-old Heather Elvis was going through a transitional period in her life. After an ill-advised relationship with a married man, she had just gone on a first date, and was getting ready to start a new job. She was trying to make a fresh start and had plenty to look forward to in life.

But in the early morning hours of December 18, Heather’s car was found abandoned at a remote boat landing in her home town of My...

At 10:45 am on June 13, 2001, 19-year-old Jason Jolkowski was seen outside his family’s home in Omaha, Nebraska, helping his younger brother bring in the trash cans.

He was scheduled to work that day at a local Fazoli’s restaurant. But because his car was in the shop, Jason had arranged for a coworker to pick him up at his old high school—just eight blocks away. He told his family he was heading out. He never made it to the school. ...

This episode originally aired on February 2, 2022

Mary Johnson hadn’t been acting like herself for months. She and her husband were having marital problems, and she was thinking about next steps. The 39-year-old was staying with friends, only returning home to shower and pick up more clothes. On Friday, November 25, 2020, Mary started walking toward a church in Tulalip, Washington. She never arrived. It would be nearly two weeks bef...

October 24, 1953 was a typical fall Friday night in La Crosse, Wisconsin. La Crosse State College was playing their homecoming game, and families and students filled the stands.

Fifteen-year-old Evelyn Hartley was supposed to be at that game too, but at the last minute, she agreed to help a family friend and babysit their toddler so the parents could go to the game themselves. She brought her schoolbooks and planned to spend the nig...

On August 27, 2006, two-year-old Trenton Duckett was tucked safely into bed at his home in Leesburg, Florida. But when his mother, Melinda Duckett, went to check on him, she said she found an open window, a sliced screen, and an empty bed. She immediately called 911, launching a frantic search for the missing toddler. But as investigators dug deeper, Melinda's story began to fall apart, and in its place was deception, a bitter ...

This episode was originally released in 2022.

In 2015, 19-year-old Katelin Akens was getting ready to start a new life. The teenager fell in love, and left her small Virginia town to move across the country to Arizona with her fiancee. She was living her life and making changes, but when her sister gave birth to a son that December, Katelin immediately flew home to meet her new nephew. The trip was a short one, only about four days....

Though our podcast focuses on unsolved missing persons cases, over the course of the last five years, we’ve seen movement on many of the cases we’ve covered, including some resolutions. This week, we’re going to revisit a few of the missing people whose stories we’ve told on this podcast and give you updates on what’s going on in their cases today. 

This week, we're updating you on the stories of Tyler Goodrich, Aubrey Dameron, ...