Cynthia "Cindy" Louise Vanderbeek and her husband, Stephen Alfred Vanderbeek were travelling vendors that travelled to boat shows during the 1990s, selling boat cleaning supplies and other items. Cindy gave up her whole life to be with a man she thought was absolutely perfect. In March of 1995, Cindy was to attend the christening of her newborn nephew as she was the godmother, but when she doesn't show up, and Stephen shows up on her family's doorstep alone, they begin to worry. Stephen tells them a story about how she was offered a quick job in Wisconsin and she would be late arriving to Maryland. He then changes his story, saying she will meet him in Florida, withdraws all of their savings from the bank, asks Cindy's mother, Camille, for the money she had been saving for them, and makes his way back home. Her family struggles to report her missing as no department will take her case when finally, the police department in Montgomery county, Maryland takes it on. Detective Robert Nichols doesn't give up or lose hope and investigates this case for ten years before finally solving the mystery of what happened to Cindy Vanderbeek.

Sources:

Snyder, David. (2005, June 21). Montgomery Detective Solves 1995 Disappearance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2005/06/21/montgomery-detective-solves-1995-disappearance/23acabe6-fcdf-4048-8b7c-bd226c147762/

Soundings Editors. (2005, September 26). Husband charged in Vanderbeek murder. https://www.soundingsonline.com/news/husband-charged-in-vanderbeek-murder

Belisle, Richard. (2005, June 21). Man charged with murder in strangling death of wife. Doe Network media. http://www.doenetwork.org/media/news81.html

Porchlight International for the Missing and Unidentified. (2006, June 19.) Vanderbeek Sentenced for Killing Wife. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/usedtobedoe/vanderbeek-sentenced-for-killing-wife-t1926.html

Anatomy of Murder. Sail Away Part 1. https://anatomyofmurder.com/sail-away-part-one/

Anatomy of Murder. Sail Away Part 2. https://anatomyofmurder.com/sail-away-part-2/

Media in this episode:

NPR News. (2008, January 28). FBI Unravels the Stories Skulls Tell. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/18481926