The Springfield Three: Vanished Without a Trace

The Springfield Three vanished from a Missouri home in 1992 without struggle, evidence, or explanation. This haunting disappearance became one of the most chilling unsolved true-crime cases in U.S. history.

This Tales of the Twisted true crime podcast episode blends mysterious disappearances, creepy real stories, and dark history to explore how an entire family vanished without a trace.

From an erased answering machine message to a suspicious green van, police faced a maze of clues with no clear answers. Decades later, strange sightings, cryptic calls, and untouched anomalies beneath a hospital parking garage keep the mystery alive.

🔗 Related Episodes:
• Sodder Children – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-sodder-children-the-true-story-of-the-christmas-eve-fire-that-erased-a-family--68535045
• Daniel Robinson – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-disappearance-of-daniel-robinson-the-arizona-desert-mystery-that-still-has-no-answers--68564851



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Tales of the Twisted true stories of the strange, weird, bizarre,
and eerie. Each episode uncovers the stories that leave more
questions than answers, you know, the ones that linger long
after the last word. Today's episode is the Springfield Three.

(00:32):
It was June sixth, nineteen ninety two, the night of
celebration for the graduates of Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri.
Eighteen year old Stacy McCall and nineteen year old Susie
Streeter had spent the day at a pool party, then
hopped from one graduation gathering to another, laughing, taking photos,

(00:54):
and making plans for the summer ahead. By two am,
the fun was winding down. They'd planned to stay at
a friend's house, Janelle Kirby, but when they arrived, it
was overcrowded with guests who had decided to crash there
for the night. So the girls decided to drive just
a few miles away to Susie's house on East Delmar Street,

(01:17):
where Susie lived with her mother, forty seven year old
Cheryl Leavitt. There was a short, safe drive. They promised
their friend Janelle that they'd call her in the morning
before heading to Whitewater, a local amusement park. They never did.
When morning came, Stacy's mother, Janis McCall, grew concerned. She'd

(01:38):
expected her daughter home early to go shopping right before
the water park trip, but Stacy wasn't answering any calls.
By late morning, Janis drove to the Levitt home. What
she found would become one of the most chilling mysteries
in American history. The front door was unlocked. All three

(02:00):
women's cars were still in the driveway, Stacy's red Ford Escort,
Susie's white Ford Escort, and Cheryl's new black Corsica. Inside
the house was spucks, no overturned furniture, no side of struggle.
Susie and Stacy's purses were lined neatly on the living

(02:22):
room floor, their jewelry still inside. Stacy's makeup and clothing
were placed carefully on the dresser. Cheryl's bed looked as
if she had just gotten up for a moment. Even
the family dog, Cinnamon was there, small, nervous, barking anxiously,
but completely fine. But the women were gone. Then Janis

(02:47):
noticed something odd. The porch light was broken, its glass
globe shattered on the ground. Neighbors later reported hearing strange
noises and seeing a suspicion car around three thirty or
four am, but no one thought much of it at
the time. Inside the house, the phone's answering machine held

(03:09):
an eerie clue. A message had been recorded overnight, but
it was accidentally erased by one of the many people
who had entered the house that morning. Police later said
the message may have contained some vital information, but it
was never recovered. By afternoon, police recalled, but by then

(03:30):
nearly eighteen people had already been through the home. Friends, family, neighbors,
all unknowingly contaminated the crime scene. When detectives arrived, they
found no forced entry, no fingerprints, and no struggle. There
were no bloodstains. There were no signs that anyone had

(03:51):
left unwillingly. It was as if the three women had
been erased. Within days, Springfield became ripped by fear. Poster
showing the faces of Sheryl, Susie, and Stacy appeared on
nearly every window downtown. Billboards went up across the state.

(04:12):
Police received hundreds of tips, but few made sense. Then
came the infamous Grain Van. Several witnesses reported seeing an
older green Dodge van in the neighborhood in the early
morning hours. One woman said she saw a man sitting
in the van watching the Levett house, staring intently as

(04:35):
if waiting. Another claimed to have seen a similar van
speeding away later that night. Police publicly appealed for information
about the van, but no credible leads emerged. Over time,
a new chilling theories surfaced, one centered around a convicted
felon named Robert Craig Cox. Cox was a former army

(04:59):
ranger and a known kidnapper who had previously been convicted
of murdering a young woman in Florida, although his conviction
was later overturned. At the time of the disappearances, Cox
was working in Springfield as a utilities technician. Years later,
from prison, Cox told journalists he knew that all three

(05:21):
women were dead and that their bodies would never be found.
When questioned by police, he refused to elaborate. Authorities never
found evidence linking him to the case, but his cryptic
comments have haunted the investigation ever since. Then came a
new tip, one that sparked hope. A caller boned the

(05:45):
America's Most Wanted hotline, claiming to know where the women's
bodies were buried, but before police could trace the call,
the line disconnected. They never heard from that person again.
In two thousand and two, another lead reignited the case.
A crime reporter named Kathy Baird received information suggesting that

(06:07):
the bodies were buried beneath a parking garage at Cox Hospital,
just two miles from the Levit home. Using ground penetrating radar,
investigators found three anomalies consistent with the size of human graves,
but the police refused to excavate the site, citing the

(06:29):
cost and disruption to the hospital. To this day, those
anomalies remain untouched beneath the concrete. More than thirty years later,
the fate of the Springfield three remains one of the
most haunting mysteries in America. Detectives have chased leads as
far as Oklahoma, Arkansas, and even Texas. Psychics, private investigators,

(06:55):
and even clairvoyants have offered theories, but none have led
to the truth. The house at seventeen seventeen East Delmar
still stands. It's changed owners, painted over, remodeled, yet neighbors
say it never feels like a normal home. Something about
it stays heavy. Still waiting. Every year, the families gather

(07:22):
in Springfield's Phelps Grove Park to hold a candlelight vigil.
Three names are spoken aloud, Cheryl Levitt, Susie Streeter, Stacy McCall.
And though decades have passed, one simple question remains unanswered.
How does an entire family vanish from their home without

(07:47):
leaving even a whisper behind? You've been listening to tales
of the twisted, true stories of the strange, weird, bizarre
and eerie. If this story unsettled, you follow the show
wherever you listen to podcasts and share it with someone
who loves the mysterious and unexplained. Because sometimes the truth

(08:12):
doesn't disappear, it just hides, waiting to be found.