The Dark Oak

Brittany Murphy, the talented actress known for Clueless, Girl, Interrupted, 8 Mile, and Uptown Girls, died at age 32 on December 20, 2009, in her Hollywood Hills home from accidental pneumonia, severe anemia, and prescription drug intoxication. Five months later, her husband Simon Monjack died in the same house from nearly identical causes. Official investigations...

When billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey were found dead in their mansion, bodies staged in a bizarre manner, police initially believed the deaths were the result of a murder/suicide. After pushback from the Sherman family Toronto police came to the conclusion that the couple had been brutally murdered.  The investigation into their deaths...

On Christmas Day 1996, 32-year-old Patty Inez Brightwell Vaughan, a devoted mother of three from La Vernia, Texas, vanished after a tumultuous separation from her allegedly abusive husband, J.R. Vaughan. Amid mounting evidence of domestic strife, Patty had begun a new relationship and planned a fresh start, but that day turned violent: her estranged husband...

In February 2015, 22-year-old Asia LaRose Brown, a dedicated single mother and security guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, and her 2-year-old son Ashton were brutally murdered in a case that remains unsolved more than a decade later. On February 20, Asia bought a used 2005 Buick LaCrosse in High Point, registered it at the DMV...

When 9-year-old Asha Degree went missing in the middle of the night, those close to her were baffled. Asha was a rule follower and sneaking out of her home during the early morning hours was completely out of character. Asha’s case has remained a mystery for more than 25 years; however, her case may serve...

On July 13, 2012, 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins vanished while riding bikes in Evansdale, Iowa; their bikes and Elizabeth’s purse were found hours later at Meyers Lake. Five months later, their remains were discovered 25 miles away in the secluded, locals-only Seven Bridges Wildlife Area, and both deaths were ruled homicides (specific...

In this podcast episode, we delve into the heartbreaking 2012 disappearance of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and her 8-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins from Evansdale, Iowa, a small, tight-knit community. On July 13, the girls, who were inseparable, vanished while biking near Meyers Lake. Their abandoned bikes and Elizabeth’s purse were soon discovered, triggering a massive search...

When a beautiful 24-year-old intern living in Washington, DC goes missing, attention turns to the US congressman who has been accused of having an affair with her. After a series of police mishaps, the case grows cold until her remains are found a year later in a location that was erroneously never searched. A convicted...

Wes Craven’s 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced Freddy Krueger, a dream-stalking slasher who kills teens in their sleep—kills that become real—and was inspired by a chilling true epidemic of Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) among Southeast Asian refugees in the late 1970s–80s. A young Cambodian survivor of the Khmer Rouge...

40-year-old Diane Augat left her sister’s Hudson, Florida home the morning of April 10, 1998, and never returned. Just a few days later, Diane’s mother received a disturbing voicemail with Diane screaming for help before the call disconnected. Diane’s family became even more terrified when Diane’s severed finger was found alongside a Florida highway.  Strangely,...