Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders

Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders takes you back to 1983, when two teenagers were found murdered, execution-style, on a quiet Texas hill. What followed was decades of rumors, false leads, and a case that law enforcement could never seem to close.

Now, veteran investigative journalist M. William Phelps reopens the file — uncovering new witnesses, hidden evidence, and a shocking web of deaths that may all be connected.

Over nine gripping episodes, Paper Ghosts: The Texas Teen Murders unravels a story 42 years in the making… and asks the question: who’s really been hiding the truth?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Hunting 4 Answers: In January 1999, Daphne Jones — a 22-year-old pregnant college student — vanished from her New Orleans apartment just days before heading home to D.C. The scene she left behind raised more questions than answers. The lights were off—but the TV, heater, and iron were still on. Food sat out and her suitcase was packed. Anyone with information about this case should contact the New Orleans Police Department at 504-244-4600. 

This is the story of Daphne Jones. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this final episode of season 4, Phelps interviews a suspected serial killer, who he believes could be responsible for Dana Stidham’s murder—the first time anyone has spoken to the suspect about the case in 33 years.  After confronting him with the evidence, Phelps implores law enforcement to knock on the suspect’s door and interview him. A final call is made about the connection between the two murders - and who, ultimately, is to blame. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With investigative pressure mounting on the Benton County Sheriff’s Office’s suspect in Dana Stidham’s murder, Phelps uncovers a disturbing phone call made to a local woman in charge of Dana’s tip-line. Meanwhile, Phelps continues to make connections to his new suspect. Phelps uncovers an old tape of a revealing interview with the man’s ex-wife. 

Armed with new evidence, Phelps finally convinces the suspect to agree to an interview, a man he now believes is likely behind Dana Stidham’s murder, with jaw-dropping revelations made.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The second female victim, known only as “Grace Doe” for nearly 30 years, is identified as Shauna Garber. Phelps’s investigation turns toward a new suspect in the murder of Dana Stidham (and possibly Shauna), while uncovering a revealing, lost recording of a new suspect - unheard until now. Phelps teams up with the detectives investigating the Shauna Garber case, evaluating similarities between her and Dana Stidham’s death. All of it leads Phelps to the doorstep of a potential killer walking the streets a free man, confronting the man some think is a prolific serial killer who has eluded law enforcement for some 34 years.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the discovery of a second young female murder victim just over the Missouri border, 20 minutes away from where Dana Stidham’s body was found, a new suspect seems to be playing cat-and-mouse with law enforcement. Phelps drills down and compares the similarities in the cases—as infamous serial killer Dennis “BTK” Rader enters the narrative as a major suspect in both homicides.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The investigation by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office heats up in Dana Stidham’s gruesome murder, zeroing in on one particular suspect.  Phelps digs deeper, speaking to the suspect and wonders if law enforcement has been chasing the wrong man. Just over the Missouri border, not far from the Dana Stidham crime scene, a second young woman’s body is discovered. Are the cases linked? Phelps uncovers several exclusive, recorded interviews never-before-heard, speaks to several sources who claim that not only are the cases the work of one killer, but the suspect has been hiding in plain sight, taunting police, all along.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the 1989 holiday season looms, Dana Stidham’s body is discovered by a local hunter in a Bella Vista creek bed. Law enforcement shifts its focus from missing person to murder… and begins to zero in on a suspect after he is arrested for a bizarre theft. Phelps’s contemporary, real-time investigation branches out and he questions whether the evidence against the chief suspect supports law enforcement’s push to arrest him – and whether Dana’s case is part of a more widespread series of murders by a serial killer targeting victims throughout the Ozarks during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the search for Dana Stidham continues, her sudden disappearance baffles family, friends, and police, as everyone grows increasingly alarmed that Dana has met with foul play. Then, a break in the case comes as Paper Ghosts executive producer, host and investigative journalist M. William Phelps heads to Bella Vista to meet with a source who helps him unravel several potential new threads—including, perhaps, a secret life Dana lived that no one knew about.  New suspects emerge.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the heat of the Ozarks summer, 1989, an 18-year-old woman goes missing.  Dana Stidham vanishes in the middle of the day, from the parking lot of a local supermarket. Everyone in the small town of Bella Vista, Arkansas, is seemingly searching for her. Law enforcement receives scores of sightings and potential leads. Dana’s family is frantic, concerned, but also hopeful… that is, until her car and clothing are found, several early suspects emerge, and a mystery 34 years in the making begins.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.