Small Town Mysteries

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College student Brooke Wilberger goes missing one day while at work. The crime scene? Just a pair of flip flops and some cleaning supplies off of a parking lot. Brooke’s wallet/purse, cell phone, and car were also left behind. A break in the case comes several months later, when another young woman is kidnapped - but manages to escape. 
Brooke's murder case was one of the most publicized in Oregon's history. 

Sources: 
1) https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/full-episode--bringing-brooke-home-515002435992 
2) https://abcnews.go.com/US/remains-brooke-wilberger-found-years-disappearance/story?id=8632233
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Brooke_Wilberger
4) https://www.kgw.com/article/news/new-wilberger-revelations-air-on-dateline/283-73536048

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This week, Rachael takes us back in time to the early U.S. to discuss a case involving a loooot of dead bodies, a trap door, a tiny "cabin", and one murderous family. 

Sources:
1) https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1871?amount=4600
2) https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/
3) https://crimereads.com/the-bloody-benders-americas-first-family-of-serial-killers/
4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherryvale,_Kansas
5)https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/civil_war/Homestead_Act.htm#:~:text=To%20help%20develop%20the%20American,western%20land%20to%20individual%20settlers.

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This week, Kate covers the case of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph. Maria was taken off of the street by a stranger in the 1950s. This case was presumed to be solved not once, but TWICE, with the convictions being overturned both times. 
Twice solved, but never closed, this case is as cold as ever.

Sources: 
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore,_Illinois
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Maria_Ridulph
3) https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/08/us/oldest-cold-case/ch3.html
4) https://www.ranker.com/list/maria-ridulph-case/amandasedlakhevener
5) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maria-ridulph-murder-will-the-nations-oldest-cold-case-to-go-to-trial-ever-get-solved/
6) https://www.wcbu.org/tags/maria-ridulph
7) https://militaryjusticeforall.com/1957/12/03/cold-case-maria-ridolph-of-illinois-reported-missing-and-months-later-fatally-stabbed-air-force-veteran-john-tessier-wrongfully-convicted-of-homicide-1957/
8) https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/us/maria-ridulphs-killer-gets-life-55-years-after-her-death.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes
9) https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-jack-mccullough-1957-sycamore-murder-hearing-20160422-story.html
10)https://web.archive.org/web/20130311143836/http://www.thonline.com/news/iowa-illinois-wisconsin/article_be60ade4-46f0-534c-8971-747f696dcbae.html
11) https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/
12) https://www.northernpublicradio.org/illinois/2012-09-11/half-sisters-testify-for-prosecution-in-trials-second-day
13) https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/17/us/jack-mccullough-freed-exclusive-interview/

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In this case, we bring it allll the way back to the 1830s/40s to talk about the unsolved case of Mary Rogers. This case was a major catalyst for the start of the True Crime genre. Mary herself was a sort of a "reality celebrity" in town, with many people traveling to the tobacco store she worked at for the sole purpose of getting to see her. Mary had a suspicious disappearance in 1838, though this was only for several days. Three years later, though, Mary's body is found near Sybil's Cave in Hoboken, New Jersey. 
The case spread so wildly that Edgar Allen Poe even wrote a short story about it, and attempted to crack the case himself. 
There's some twists and turns in this one, so buckle up!

Sources:
1) https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Epidemiology-and-Emerging-Infections/A-Brief-History-of-Lyme-Disease-in-Connecticut 
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rogers
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moon_Hoax 
4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Jqp7xVStE 
5) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edgar-allan-poe-tried-and-failed-to-crack-the-mysterious-murder-case-of-mary-rogers-7493607/ 

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A family disappears one day in 2009, and their skeletal remains are found several years later. In their car is 32,000 dollars, and videos show the family seemingly packing up in the days leading up to their disappearance. Theories range from murder or a drug deal gone wrong, to witchcraft and possession. 

Sources:
1)https://allthatsinteresting.com/jamison-family
2)https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/jamison-family-mystery
3)https://buzzfeedunsolved.fandom.com/wiki/The_Disturbing_Mystery_of_the_Jamison_Family
4)https://original.newsbreak.com/@herbie-j-pilato-1590342/2952980405969-the-strange-case-of-the-jamison-family-disappearance

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For the episode this week, Kate tackles a VERY complicated topic: Salman Rushdie’s book THE SATANIC VERSES and the controversy that surrounds it. Spoiler alert: the last section of this episode will be about an assassination attempt on Rushdie’s life that occurred in New York on August 12, 2022

Sources:
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_Verses
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie
4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitoshi_Igarashi
5) https://medium.com/feedium/banned-books-list-2649e56db929
6) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/looking-at-salman-rushdies-satanic-verses?INTCMP=SRCH
7) https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/25/world/iran-drops-rushdie-death-threat-and-britain-renews-teheran-ties.html
8) https://books.google.com/books?id=wYkQXO4sEoAC&q=From+fatwa+to+jihad+:
9) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/12/salman-rushdie-reveals-fatwa-memoir
10) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/11/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses
11) https://www.proquest.com/docview/1866754374
12) https://www.nyspnews.com/state-police-are-investigating-an-attack-on-author-salman-rushdie.htm
13)https://web.archive.org/web/20120512105406/http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2009/02/21/freedom-of-speech-wilders-orwell-and-the-%E2%80%9Ckoran-ban%E2%80%9D/

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How does one woman manage to steal an estimated 5,000 babies from their parents, then sell them to the rich? 
In this episode, Christine goes over the atrocities committed at the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an orphanage ran by a woman named Georgia Tann. 
Tann committed everything from fraud to abuse, and even murder.
Learn how Tann got away with committing these crimes for over 20 years, and discover how adoption law (and adoption in general) was forever changed as a result.

*As a warning, this episode does involve (minor and non-detailed) discussion surrounding child abuse and some mention of child loss*

Sources: 
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Wingate 
2) https://www.insider.com/georgia-tann-tennessee-children-home-society-survivors-speak-out-2019-12 
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Tann 
4) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/daughter-origins-adoption-america/ 
5) https://adoption.org/what-is-the-history-of-adoption 
6) https://consideringadoption.com/adopted/search-and-reunion/how-to-open-adoption-records/ 
7) https://lisawingate.com/ 
8) https://nypost.com/2017/06/17/this-woman-stole-children-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-rich/ 
9) https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-36/chapter-1/part-1/36-1-127 

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One day in June 2015, Nicholas Godejohn stabs Dee Dee Blanchard 17 times, murdering her. His girlfriend, Gypsy Rose Blanchard (and Dee Dee's daughter), listens as her mom screams for help. 
Later, it is discovered that Gypsy Rose was the one who requested that Nicholas commit the murder. But why? What was the motive? And where are they now?

Keep an ear out for some facts and stats about Munchausen by Proxy, now known as Factitious Disorder. 

Sources:
1) https://www.biography.com/crime/gypsy-rose-blanchard-mother-dee-dee-murder
2) https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/crime-history/5-disturbing-bizarre-facts-about-dee-dee-blanchard-gypsy-rose
3) https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/mommy-dead-and-dearest-doc-on-gypsy-blanchard-what-we-learned-109542/
4) https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/2017/05/10/gypsy-blanchard-everything-you-need-know-case/101499166/
5) https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy
6) https://now.aapmr.org/munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy/
7) https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/factitious-disorder-dsm--5-300.19-(f68.10)
8) https://psychcentral.com/disorders/munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy
9) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28750264/
10) https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-act/
11) https://allthatsinteresting.com/nicholas-godejohn#:~:text=Soon%20after%20their%20first%20few,his%20first%20and%20only%20murder.
12) https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/04/228627/how-gypsy-rose-nick-boyfriend-met-online-relationship
13) https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a26887708/the-act-dee-dee-gypsy-blanchard-murder-trial-timeline/
14) https://www.etonline.com/gypsy-rose-blanchard-marries-ryan-scott-anderson-amid-prison-sentence-188138

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There are many theories about the body that was discovered in a Wych Elm tree in Worcestershire, England. Who was the woman in the tree, and how did she die? Who wrote the graffiti saying: "WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM", and were they connected to the case? 
This may just be a case that is never solved.

Sources:
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_put_Bella_in_the_Wych_Elm%3F
2) https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/who-put-bella-in-the-wych-elm/
3) https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/revealed-after-75-years-face-14329271
4) https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-mysterious-murder-of-bella-the-wych-elm-lady-bfb8c135272
5) https://crimereads.com/who-put-bella-in-the-wych-elm/

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On the evening of May 12, 2001, a 16-year-old girl named Timeka Pridgen vanished from the small town of La Grange, North Carolina. Timeka's mom had fallen asleep while waiting for her boyfriend to get to the house, and upon waking up, Timeka is just...gone. 

Sources:
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Banks 
2) https://charleyproject.org/case/timeka-donyale-pridgen 
3) https://www.witn.com/2022/05/12/25-years-reporting-enc-biggest-mystery-i-have-covered-disappearance-timeka-pridgen/ 
4) https://ncmissingpersons.org/timeka-pridgen/ 
5) https://original.newsbreak.com/@the-vivid-faces-of-the-vanished-1590506/2915659739237-authorities-accused-missing-north-carolina-girl-of-running-away-now-they-realize-she-was-abducted 
6) https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/violent-crime-strangers-and-nonstrangers 
7) https://letsfindthem.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/timeka-pridgen-then-16-vanished-from-her-la-grange-nc-home-in-the-spring-of-2001/ 
8) https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvcs9310.pdf 

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