The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Melissa's Apology

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   January 18, 2022·6min
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   Number 2: 209 Kim Simon Still Needs Justice

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   December 08, 2021·1h 24min
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   Number 3: 208. Looks Like It's Good To Volunteer - The Missing Persons Cases Of Dane Elkins, John Stivers And Ron Brown

   Over the course of these first three-and-a-half seasons of this podcast, Melissa has been presented with a wide array of missing persons cases from Tip-Sters from around the world. Melissa has followed up, done her research, and presented many of them as episodes. The inspiration for “Just The Tip-Sters” itself was inspired by Melissa’s deep devotion to solving the 2017 disappearance of Will Cierzan – an ongoing mission that could be culminating soon with the trial of Will’s nephew Daniel. But hovering over every such case are questions – about the nature of the case itself – and how to actually help when help is needed. What makes one missing persons case more compelling or worthy of attention than another? How can one tell if a reported vanishing is evidence of wrongdoing or someone walking away from their life or a hoax? And if one is motivated to help the family and friends of a missing person, how does one do so without getting in the way or actually hindering the investigation? And what, in fact, are one’s motivations to help in the first place? In this episode Melissa touches on all of the above by focusing on three recent missing persons cases – two of which are now closed (with the missing persons in question now known to be alive and well) and one of which is still open (with the missing person still missing and actively being sought)… Dane Elkins, a 23-time world champion professional racquetball player, disappeared in mid-December 2020 after visiting friends in Northern California. His brand-new car – with four flat tires and his wallet and cell phone inside – was found abandoned near a rural exit off Interstate 5 between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. All indications are that the then-21 year-old had become delusional and paranoid for reasons that are still unclear. His family believes he has gone “off the grid” and is slowly working his way up to Oregon – and is seeking help from anyone who thinks they’ve spotted him. John Stivers is the owner of an RV campground and marina in Jamestown, California in tiny Tuolumne County. On August 2, 2021 Stivers left his wife and daughter to run some errands and did not return. His van was found abandoned on a nearby road. Local residents, friends and family rushed to social media to find him – and started a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $20,000 to help the family conduct the search. On September 4, 2021, just over one month since his disappearance, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement that Stivers was located; that he has been removed from the missing person database; that foul play was not indicated; and that all other information will remain confidential. As word has spread, outrage by some of the volunteers who helped search for him has grown – many believing that the entire case was a fraud, and that they are owed payback for the time they devoted in the search. Others – Melissa being one – believe that sometimes people just walk away from their lives – for whatever reason – and that if one volunteers to help find someone before anything else is known, that should be the end of the discussion – that volunteering means letting go of pride or any sense of being “owed.” Ron Brown, a 62 year-old resident of the small mountain community of Sierra Madre in Southern California, is a part-time golf instructor and longtime server at a well-known high end restaurant in next-door Pasadena. He went missing on August 9, 2021 after his car was found – engine running – in the parking lot of a Pasadena fast-food restaurant. Melissa relates her personal investment in getting involved in the search for Brown – the frustration of a day in the field – and the joy she felt when she learned, just after arriving home from the field trip, that Brown had been found alive and well. All three of these cases demonstrate the varying but equally important considerations that must be taken when getting involved in missing persons cases. Melissa doesn’t hold back on her opinions – and she also offers kudos to those who are helping find the missing – and some helpful hints from her own experience on how to be prepared when going into the field to help search. During her search for Ron Brown, Melissa discovered the AWARE Foundation – a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit made up completely of volunteers dedicated to locating those who have gone missing, wherever their help is needed. AWARE can be contacted by phone at (540) 357-5135. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

   September 07, 2021·1h 1min
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   Number 4: 204. Looks Like Melissa Witt Has A Champion - With Special Guest LaDonna Humphrey

   On the morning of December 1, 1994, Melissa Witt (her friends and family called her “Missy”) had a small tiff with her mom over money. The 19 year-old college student, who was studying to become a dental hygienist at a local college, was out of cash, and she wouldn’t get paid at her part-time job until the next day. When she asked her mom for a loan, mom – in a lesson to her daughter about money management – told her no. And young Missy was not happy. She left to start her day in a huff. When Missy got home later in the day, she found a conciliatory note from her mom – with an invitation to meet at a local bowling alley later in the evening – where mom would buy dinner. And Melissa Witt drove to the bowling alley. But she never made it out of the parking lot. From there the details get skimpy. All we know for certain is that Melissa Witt’s keys were found in the parking lot, as were two pools of blood in two parking spaces, with a blood trail leading from one parking space to the other. And that her decomposing body was found a month later, 60 miles away from the bowling alley – strangled to death by a murderer who has, as of now, some 27 years later, never been identified. That’s where this episode’s guest comes in – and a very special person she is. LaDonna Humphrey is a dedicated wife and mother of seven children (five of whom are adopted). She is Executive Director of Oasis of Northwest Arkansas, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and a safe space for women in recovery and their kids. And those two things right there would be more than enough to handle for anyone. But not for LaDonna. Back in 2015, while searching for a case to be the focus of a documentary on missing women, LaDonna came across Melissa Witt’s story – and solving the mystery of the young woman’s murder became more than an interest – it became a mission. The documentary – “Uneven Ground: The Melissa Witt Story” (which LaDonna is Executive Producing) – is nearing completion and will be making the rounds on the film festival circuit this coming year. LaDonna has created a website and a Facebook page dedicated to the Witt investigation. And she has written a book about the case, “The Girl I Never Knew,” which will publish in the spring of 2022. Join host Melissa Morgan for an intensive, and intense, interview with LaDonna Humphrey – we guarantee that you will be moved and inspired. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

   August 10, 2021·1h 19min
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   Number 5: 203. Looks Like Sorrento Jane Doe Is Still Trying To Find Her Way Home

   December 7, 1991 was the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor – but while America was busy commemorating that momentous date in history, another day that should live in infamy was unfolding in the woods of the town of Sorrento in Lake County, Florida. It was there that a hiker discovered the brutally beaten body of a woman who has become known as the “Sorrento Jane Doe,” who had been tortured, raped, beaten and strangled to death. Many – many – lucky breaks eventually helped law enforcement find and convict the serial rapist responsible for the crime – including a DNA hit at a time when DNA technology was at its infancy and there were only 10,000 DNA samples in Florida’s criminal DNA database. By an incredible stroke of luck, Joseph Rolle’s DNA was in that database, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Strangely, that life sentence was not for the murder of Sorrento Jane Doe. Rather, Rolle was convicted solely on the charge of sexual battery. He has denied murdering the victim and to this day denies knowing her identity. So Sorrento Jane Doe remains anonymous – unknown – and buried in an obscure cemetery in the Ocala National Forest, waiting for someone to identify her. The good news? Forensic artist Carl Koppelman – whose almost psychic reconstructions of unidentified murder victims have helped solve so many John and Jane Doe mysteries – recreated a picture of Sorrento Jane Doe that should make it possible for anyone who knew her to identify her. The sad news? As of mid 2021 – nearly 30 years after her death – no one has claimed her. This despite the fact that her autopsy revealed she likely had at least one child – and possibly two. In this episode, Melissa relates not only the story of this awful murder, but implores Tip-Sters everywhere to search their memories and their hearts – Do you recognize her? Do you know anyone who lived in, or was visiting, Lake County Florida in December 1991 who might recognize her? Put on your thinking caps and listen in. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

   August 03, 2021·46min
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