On August 2, 1998, a United Airlines flight arrived at Washington Dulles Airport from Paris, France. A man emerged from the gate with a young girl who appeared to be in her young teens. The man, a Thai citizen, told immigration officials that the young girl was his niece, and that she was a “Manger in the silk area of his business”. But authorities quickly realized the girl could not communicate in Thai. 

The young girl was eventually identified as Wang Yuanxia, and she was being smuggled into the country illegally from Fujian, China. While her smuggler was arrested for his crime, young Yuanxia was sent to a foster home temporarily while the courts figured out how to handle her situation.

Perhaps as mysteriously as she arrived in the United States, less than two months later, Yuanxia would disappear on her way home from school. As of today, the 24th anniversary of her vanishing, she has never been seen or heard from again. 

There are many questions surrounding the life and journey of Wang Yuanxia. Join returning guest Joann Li and I for episode 33, where we discuss the circumstances of Yuanxia’s disappearance and whether what happened to her was in any way related to her illegal entry into the country, or a bizarre coincidence.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

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One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

In August of 1989, an entire family of four vanished from Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. 

Things were not easy for 26-year old Ronnie Jack or his wife Doreen. The couple was poor and living on government assistance, and Doreen had an incredibly difficult upbringing. 

Jack, Doreen, and sons Russell and Ryan were indigenous and living in Prince George in 1989. Ronnie had been out of work due to a back injury, but when he visited the First Litre Pub on the night of August 1, his luck appeared to have changed. A man offered him a job bucking logs, and said there was work available for his wife as well: assisting as a cook in the kitchen on the ranch. What's more is that there was supposedly a daycare on site so the boys would be taken care of while their parents worked. 

The Jack family packed their belongings in the middle of the night and promised family members they'd be back in about ten days--just enough time before their older son, Russell was due to go back to school.

Those ten days came and went, and nearly three decades later, the Jack Family has never been seen or heard from again. 

What happened to this family of four? Were they involved in an accident on the rural roads of Canada that somehow concealed their fate, or was there something much more sinister going on? The man who allegedly offered the Jacks a job has never been identified, and many have speculated that the Jacks were lured into something that ended in their demise.

Join Elaine and I as we try to piece together the events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Jack family.

WARNING: Some of the subject matter discussed in this episode may be upsetting or disturbing to some  (Trigger warning: Rape and sexual assault, Domestic Violence, Alcoholism). Listener discretion is advised.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

Around 4,400 unidentified bodies are discovered in the United States every year, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Of these, around 1,000 remain unidentified a year after discovery.

Today, Elaine and I discuss the case of a a woman who is missing her identity, but she is alive. China Black is approximately 50 years old and has no memory of her life. She has been living in an adult foster care facility for about eight years and had previously been homeless, but other than that no one knows who she is. She thinks she might have a husband and a son, and may have lost her memory as the result of being hit by a drunk driver. 

Someone out there knows who China is and can help put together the missing pieces of her life. With a little investigative work, we're confident we can find the answers that China deserves.

Please share China's photo and her story to spread the word, and if you know who China Black is, you're asked to contact the Michigan State Police. Please note that if you are a relative of China's, you will not incur any costs related to her care.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

MH370 is perhaps one of the world's most compelling mysteries. It is one that has boggled the minds of the public, garnered the opinions of experts and armchair detectives alike, and served as a catalyst for a number of wild conspiracy theories.

A common consensus amongst those mildly familiar with the case is that the disappearance of MH370 was the result of the actions of the captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah. After all, Occam's Razor tells us that the simplest explanation for something is oftentimes the truth.

But the mystery of MH370 is not a simple one. For years, aviation expert and journalist Jeff Wise has been researching the events surrounding MH370, and beyond proposing an alternate theory, one that does not fit the common consensus, he explores the overall significance of MH370 as it relates to the world and its history.

I am honored to have been joined by Jeff for this episode to discuss his extensive research on MH370 and just how complex of a case it really is.

Note: To fully understand the concepts discussed in this episode, it is necessary to have a familiarity of the disappearance of MH370 on March 8, 2014. Please refer to episode 1 of this podcast for a breakdown of the facts.

To purchase Jeff's book, "The Taking of MH370": https://amzn.to/2XxboX4

To read more of Jeff's work: http://jeffwise.net/

To read the piece in the Atlantic by William Langewiesche, referenced in this episode: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/mh370-malaysia-airlines/590653/

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

This week's episode tells the stories of young people who's lives were tragically cut short--but it was no accident. It was cold-blooded murder. 

Kanika Powell was a smart, successful, and career-driven young woman. She had no criminal record and had a deep connection with her family and friends. When mysterious men began showing up at Kanika's apartment, trying to trick her into letting them inside, it was just the beginning. Despite taking all the correct steps in attempting to keep herself safe, she was  ultimately unable to escape whoever was after her. Three months later, a man by the name of Sean Green would be brazenly shot to death at a traffic light 25 miles from where Kanika was killed. Neither case made any sense to their families-could they be related?

Chad Maurer was an attractive teen who had recently graduated high school and was trying to save up for college by taking up a job at a local bike shop. He left his parents' house to go back to work after lunch one Saturday, then disappeared. Strangely, Chad would be found dead in his vehicle over 150 miles away from his home on the southside of Chicago--leaving his grieving parents with more questions than answers.

Elizabeth "Liz" Barraza was a self-proclaimed "geek" who loved Star Wars and Harry Potter. She was also a gifted costume designer and would often spend her free time volunteering at a local children's hospital, dressing up as various characters for the entertainment of kids. By all accounts, Liz had no problems with her marriage, her job, or her life at all. So why did someone drive into her neighborhood, approach her as she was setting up for a rummage sale, and shoot her at point blank range?

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

31-year old Blair Adams had some struggles in his life, but  in 1996, he was, generally speaking in a good place. He had been sober for two years and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly. By all accounts, he was on the right track. 

But things would not be alright for Blair in the weeks leading up to his mysterious death in a city he had no ties to. He started acting strangely, making mistakes at work, and seemed incredibly uneasy and paranoid. He confided in a few people that he was afraid for his life. 

The days leading up to Blair's ultimate demise would be so perplexing as a paper trail revealed a bizarre and nonsensical sequence of events, including a journey between two countries. Each clue in this story is more baffling than the last, and 26 years later, no one knows who was out to get Blair Adams, or why he ended up dead in a strange location thousands of miles from his home. 

Join returning guest Elaine Erickson and I as we try to make sense of this confounding case.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

If you have information regarding the death of Blair Adams, you can submit an anonymous tip to the Knox County Sheriff's Office here: https://knoxsheriff.org/contact-us-now/

The case of Amber Aiaz and her daughter Melissa Fu is one that sounds like it came straight out of the pages of a suspensful thriller novel, but it is 100% true. The story starts in Irvine, California in November of 2019. Amber's third husband and Melissa's stepdad, Cheng Zhang, tells police a wild story of being knocked out by some kind of mysterious sedative in mist form, only to wake up and find his stepdaughter and wife nowhere to be found.

Police were obviously skeptical of his story, but after scrutinizing it and interrogating him for hours including an analysis by a behaviorist from the FBI, they could not connect him to any crime. Zhang's story never wavered.

Details about Amber's past would eventually emerge that made authorities believe she was possibly a target. Did she skip town to avoid someone? Was she harmed by persons she wronged in the past? Or did her husband have something to do with her and her daughter's disappearance, inventing a wild tale in the process?

Join returning guest Joann Li and I as we outline the known facts of this crazy case and try to make sense of what happened to Amber Aiaz and her daughter, Melissa Fu.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

If you have any information on the disappearance of Amber Aiaz and Melissa Fu, please call (310) 477-6565. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online at tips.fbi.gov.

September 12, 1987 seemed to start off normally for 50-year old Dale Kerstetter. He was a maintenance man and security guard working the overnight shift at Corning Glass Works. He had worked at the plant for 27 years. 

When another employee showed up to relieve Dale at 7 AM the next morning, he was puzzled to find the seat which Dale normally occupied empty. When Dale's truck was found in the parking lot with the keys inside, and his lunch pail still filled with food was found in the cafeteria, police were called and came out to investigate. 

A review of the plant's security tapes would reveal a disturbing occurrence. Shortly after Dale's shift, a masked intruder appeared walking through the plant. Dale is seen speaking to this personal briefly, then they are seen walking down the corridor together. Dale glances directly into the camera, and the vanishes, never to be seen again. 

That night, a quarter of a million dollars of platinum was stolen from the plant. Family, colleagues, friend's and Dale's employers have disputed the same question for years--Was Dale an innocent victim who was coerced by an unwanted intruder, or was he an accomplice to a brazen heist? 

Returning guest Elaine Erickson joins Megan to discuss the events of September 12, 1987 and the fate of Dale Kerstetter.

For sources and episode information: http://143mysteries.com

For photos: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/143PODCAST

One Minute and Forty-Three Seconds is dedicated to my number one fan. Thank you, Dad. I love you, and I miss you.

On January 14, 1989, NBC affiliate TV station WMAQ in Chicago was broadcasting their regular sign-off for the evening. This included a number of Public Services announcements, followed by the nightly playing of the National Anthem. After the station signed off for the early moring hours, a missing child poster was displayed. But there was something incredibly unnerving about this particular broadcast. 

The first was the lack of information. An extremely poor quality photo (you can barely make out the person's face, it's that bad) was displayed along with the text "Missing-Joanna Lopez" alongside a Chicago phone number. No other information accompanied the image. 

Two years later on the same station, the same obscure posted appeared again after the station signed off--this time the image remained for 10 seconds before switching to the familiar colored bars that anyone familiar with TV in the early 1990's likely remembers seeing.

All this would lead you to the conclusion that Joanna Lopez, whoever she was, was still missing in 1991. But there was just one problem--there is no record of anyone by the name Joanna Lopez going missing in the late 1980's in Chicago.

Armchair detectives have spent hours combing the Internet for any record, any article, any evidence that a person by the name of Joanna Lopez ever existed and was missing in 1989.

Today's episode features returning guest Joann Li and together we discuss all the questions around this bizarre and incredibly obscure situation. 

NOTE: This episode discusses a television broadcast and an image-which unfortunately cannot be displayed in a podcast format. For this reason, we encourage you to visit http://143mysteries.com or our Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/

Images associated with this case and our discussion will be posted on both platforms. 

It was a summer night in San Francisco, California in 2007. 36-year-old Hugues de la Plaza spent the night out with friends at a nightclub, drinking and dancing. All seemed well and Hugues seemed happy. He was, after all, celebrating a promotion he had just received. 

So when Hugues de la Plaza was found dead in his apartment the next morning, friends and family were baffled to learn that the San Francisco police department was treating his death as a suicide. While the door was dead-bolted from the inside, Hugues was found with three stab wounds--to the abdomen, the chest, and the neck. Even more puzzling is that there was no weapon found near his body. 

What happened to Hugues de la Plaza in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 2, 2007? Was he the target of someone's anger? He did love to date and often didn't care if the women he flirted with had a husband or boyfriend. Or, like the San Francisco Police Department suggests, was this a case of a spontaneous and bizarre suicide? 

Elaine Erickson is back with me for this episode to discuss the disputed death of Hugues de la Plaza, a man full of life taken too soon.

To watch the 48 Hours Mystery Episode of this case: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-mystery-a-case-for-murder/

Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/143mysteries/