Jan Manders can’t accept the finding that her daughter’s death was an accident. She walks away on her daughter Jennifer’s fifth birthday and declines into substance abuse and mental illness. Jennifer and her older brother, Christopher, are pretty much left to raise themselves. Jan hires a private detective, Norbert Kurczewski, to investigate Michelle’s disappearance. Kurczewski tracks down a waitress and several patrons at a restaurant in Black Earth, about 70 miles away, who say they saw Michelle there during the time she was missing.

S2 Ep4: Missing mom

More often than we’d like to believe, people get away with murder. As cases grow cold, cops retire. Witnesses die. Evidence disappears. Unsolved, a true crime podcast series from USA TODAY and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, guides listeners through these real-life mysteries, uncovering new clues along the way.

Season four of Unsolved delves into the disappearance of Alexis Patterson, a 7-year-old girl who disappeared on her way to school in 2002. At first, there was a massive search and sympathy for her family, but that quickly changed as her parents became suspects. Over the years, there have been conspiracy theories and false leads and cases of mistaken identity. Still, her mom has never given up hope that Alexis will come home again someday.

Season three of Unsolved tells the story of Father Alfred Kunz, whose throat was slit inside St. Michael School in 1998. Some believe his death was linked to his battles against evil. Others believe his all-too-human flaws were to blame.

Season two of Unsolved, released in 2017, examines the case of toddler Michelle Manders, who vanished from her bedroom in the middle of the night in 1981. Did she wander alone into the darkness? Or was she kidnapped?

Season one of Unsolved, released in 2015, explores the circumstances surrounding the death of 14-year-old John Zera, who disappeared from Franklin High School in 1976. The seven episodes follow investigators through decades of dead ends as they hold on to hope of finding the killer.

Subscribe to Unsolved on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio or wherever you get your podcasts. For more information on the series, visit http://usatoday.com/unsolved.

True crime

After more than 20 years of turning us down, the Milwaukee Police finally release more than 10,000 pages of records on their investigation of Alexis’ case. Some of the contents are completely unexpected.

S4 Ep8: Be careful what you wish for

After a three-year delay in reporting due to the pandemic, we ask the experts to evaluate the DNA profiles of Alexis' mother and the woman in Ohio to figure out, once and for all, whether the two are related.

S4 Ep7: A DNA discovery

Two reporters travel to Ohio to see if they can get to the bottom of the claims that a young woman there is Alexis Patterson.

S4 Ep6: The road trip

Fourteen years after Alexis disappeared, a man from Ohio comes forward to say he believes his estranged wife might be the missing girl.

S4 Ep5: A package from Ohio

Some witnesses say they saw a red truck outside Alexis' school around the time she vanished. Could it have belonged to a serial killer?

S2 Ep4: Missing mom

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