📍Lake Worth, Texas.

🎧 Chapter 23: The Final Trace of The Blount Family

A briefcase.
A knock at the door.
A Thanksgiving night turned to fire and chaos.

The 1985 bombing of the Blount family remains one of Texas’s most haunting unsolved mysteries — a case built on rumors, shattered evidence, and a suspect who walked free after ten years on death row.

Was it revenge? A mistake? Or something darker?
The truth still hides in the smoke.

Sources & Readings:

• “12-year probe into briefcase blast at Texas home finally yields an arrest” — Deseret News. Deseret News
  https://www.deseret.com/1997/12/6/19349732/12-year-probe-into-briefcase-blast-at-texas-home-finally-yields-an-arrest/

• “Michael Roy Toney” — Wikipedia entry. Wikipedia
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Roy_Toney

• “Inmate on death row for Fort Worth bombing freed” — Chron.com / Associated Press. Chron
  https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Inmate-on-death-row-for-Fort-Worth-bombing-freed-1737069.php

• “Death penalty news — Texas” — TCADP (Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty). TCADP
  https://tcadp.org/2008/11/24/death-penalty-news-texas-252/

📍Herdon, Virginia.

🎧 Chapter 22: The Final Trace of Tommy Burkett

When 21-year-old Tommy Burkett was found dead, police told his parents the story was simple: suicide.

But nothing about the scene felt simple.

Or believable.

His sweater was torn.

His ear was bruised and bloody.

There were signs of a struggle, blood on the stairs, and footprints leading toward a ravine where witnesses saw an ambulance stop before responders ever arrived at the house.

Even the gun in Tommy's lap was in a position that shouldn't have fired.

Crucial evidence disappeared - piece by piece.

Autopsy photos went missing.

Clothing was destroyed.

Reports conflicted.

And every attempt by the family to ask questions was met with silence or resistance.

For years, Tommy's parents tried to uncover what really happened inside their home that day... and why so many details were ignored, erased, or rewritten.

This is the story of a case that never made sense - and a family who refused to let their son vanish into a narrative that didn't belong to him.

Sources

• The Roanoke Times — “Was It Suicide — Or Murder?” (1993)

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1993/rt9306/930614/06140290.htm

• The Washington Post — “Piecing Together the Truth” (2002)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/08/04/piecing-together-the-truth/68eb06e6-4b74-45f8-a10b-ca371c5b1ed8/

• CG Crime – Substack Investigation (2021)

https://cgcrime.substack.com/p/why-hasnt-this-case-been-reopened-the-death-of-tommy-burkett-a453330da581

• Unsolved Mysteries Wiki – Case Summary

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Burkett

• Find A Grave – Thomas Calvin “Tommy” Burkett

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71179584/thomas_calvin-burkett

📍Terre Haute, Indiana.

🎧 Chapter 21: The Final Trace or Erika Case

August 1993 — Eighteen-year-old Erika Case was house-sitting for a friend when she was found brutally murdered in her sleep.

For fifteen years, the case remained unsolved.
Rumors spread. Two teenage boys were accused. Fear gripped the town.
But the real killer was much closer than anyone imagined.

A confession years later revealed a story of guilt, silence, and betrayal —
and a haunting question that lingers to this day:
why did he do it?

🕯️ The Final Trace: Erika Case — now streaming.

Spoilers:

Sources and Readings:

• “He Said, She Said – Cold Justice S02E05 (Erika Case, Vigo County, IN)” – Atlanta Black Star Atlanta Black Star

• “Cold Justice – He Said, He Said (TV Episode 2014)” – IMDb IMDb

• “Mackey pleads guilty to 1998 Indiana ‘cold case’ murder” – Vinton Today vintontoday.com

• “Vinton man jailed for ’98 murder in Indiana; authorities say …” – Vinton Today vintontoday.com

• “List of Cold Justice episodes – Wikipedia” (shows episode listing including Erika Case) en.wikipedia.org

  • Vinton Man Jailed for ’98 Murder in Indiana; Authorities Say … (Vinton Today) — covers the arrest of Clinton Bryan Mackey in January 2014. Vinton Today

  • Vinton Man Charged in 1998 Indiana Homicide (The Gazette) — details the murder charge stemming from the 1998 killing of Erika Case. The Gazette

  • Iowa Man Turns Himself in for 1998 Murder (Scripps News) — reports on Mackey’s self-turn in and extradition to Indiana. Scripps News

  • Mackey Pleads Guilty to 1998 Indiana ‘Cold Case’ Murder (Vinton Today) — covers Mackey’s guilty plea and sentencing in 2015. Vinton Today

  
  

📍Edmonds, Washington.

🎧 Chapter 20: The Final Trace of Tyler Christensen
Not all disappearances are accidental.

🗓️ April 19, 2016 — 16-year-old Tyler Christensen walked out of his family’s home in Washington and vanished into the night. No phone. No note. Just the clothes on his back.

Eight days later, a driver came forward: he’d picked up a teenage hitchhiker—one who looked exactly like Tyler—who said he was headed to Olympic National Forest.

Weeks later, searchers found a backpack near the edge of the High Steel Bridge—a 420-foot drop into the gorge below. Inside? Sweatpants. Rations. Emergency blankets.
But no Tyler.

Despite search dogs, helicopters, and ground teams combing the forest, no trace of him was ever found.

This episode follows the eerie clues, the questions left behind, and the devastating aftermath—including a second heartbreaking loss in the family. Was Tyler trying to escape, meet someone, or leave a breadcrumb trail no one was meant to follow?

Sources & Readings:

• Vanished: The Tyler Christensen Story – Synova Ink synovaink.com

• No sign of missing Mukilteo teen three years after he disappeared – FOX 13 Seattle FOX 13 Seattle

• The Disappearance of Tyler Christensen – The Disappeared Blog Disappeared

• Tyler Joel Christensen – The Charley Project The Charley Project

• Help Find Tyler (Facebook Page) facebook.com

It’s Halloween night… and the Darkcast Network is turning out the lights.

The shows you love have gathered ’round the mic to share haunting tales, eerie encounters, and the mysteries that still keep us awake.

Grab your blanket, pour the cider—because on the dark side of podcasts… the stories never sleep. 👻

🎧 Featuring: The Final Trace, Day by Day, Book of the Dead, Pod of Terror, Missing in the PNW, Mythical True Crime, Tragedy with a View, Rainbow Crimes, The Bell Witch, Murder in the PNW and Rogue Darkness

📍New York, New York.

🎧 Chapter 19: The Final Trace of Dear David - The Haunting of Adam Ellis

Not all secrets stay buried… some crawl out of dreams.

In 2017, cartoonist Adam Ellis tweeted something that sent the internet into a frenzy:
“My apartment is being haunted by the ghost of a dead child, and he’s trying to kill me.”

What followed was a months-long digital haunting—documented in real time. Distorted photos. Cats staring at unseen forces. Footsteps in the hall. And one rule: ask him two questions, never a third.

Was it all a hoax? A viral art project?
Or… something worse?

This week, The Final Trace steps into the story that blurred the line between social media and the supernatural—and left millions wondering what was real.

• Here’s Every Creepy Tweet Adam Ellis Has Posted About “Dear David” — Bustle
  A full chronological archive of Adam Ellis’s tweets documenting the haunting from start to finish.

• “Dear David” Writer Who Scored Film Deal Says His Ghost Story Is True (Exclusive) — The Wrap
  Interview with Adam Ellis following his film deal, discussing his belief that the haunting was real.

• The Unnerving Real Twitter Thread That ‘Dear David’ Is Based On — Collider
  A detailed breakdown of the thread’s timeline and its adaptation into a feature film.

• The Bit Too Tidy Ghost Story of “Dear David” — The Awl
  A skeptical take analyzing how the thread’s structure mirrors classic horror storytelling.

• Dear David (Wikipedia)
  Summary of the Dear David case, its viral spread, and the later film adaptation.

🧾 Source Material – The Final Trace of Dear David

📍Long Beach, New York.

🎧 Chapter 18: The Final Trace of Chaim Weiss ✨

On Halloween night, 1986, the real horror wasn’t outside… it was in his room.
When 15-year-old yeshiva student Chaim Weiss was found dead in his dorm, the scene looked less like a crime—and more like a ritual.
No forced entry. No screams. Just a body moved with care, a window opened to the cold, and a candle burning for a soul.
Decades later, the mystery still lingers inside the walls of the school… and the silence that followed says everything.

Sources & readings:

• Wikipedia – Murder of Chaim Weiss — Overview and verified timeline of the case.

• Unsolved Mysteries – Chaim Weiss — Details about the ritual elements, timeline, and investigative challenges.

• LI Herald – Nassau County Police Reopens Chaim Weiss Case — Coverage on renewed police efforts and family appeals.

• CBS News – Nassau County Police Seek Clues in Student’s 1986 Murder — Official police statements and case update.

• Crime Immemorial – The Murder of Chaim Weiss — Summary with crime scene and theory analysis.

📍Sun Valley, California.

🎧 Chapter 17: The Final Trace of Peter Fabiano

Halloween night, 1957. A doorbell rings in Los Angeles, and Peter Fabiano answers — expecting a harmless trick-or-treater. Instead, he’s met with a gunshot.What seemed like a random holiday killing soon unraveled into a tangled web of jealousy, betrayal, and a murder plot that still chills decades later.

🔪 A knock at the door.🎭 A disguise in the dark.💔 A secret that turned deadly.

Stream now — The Final Trace of Peter Fabiano.

Sources & readings:

• ​Three’s a Crowd: The Cold-Blooded Halloween Murder of Peter Fabiano (Medium)
• ​The Trick-or-Treat Murder (Deranged LA Crimes)
• ​Trick or Treat Murder (LA Daily Mirror)
• ​Murder on Halloween: The Trick-or-Treat Slaying (Crime + Investigation)
• ​Los Angeles’s Dark, Strange History of Trick-Or-Treat Murders (CrimeReads)
• ​The Bizarre Lesbian Murder Scandal That Rocked 1950s LA (VICE)
• ​Tag: Joan Rabel (Deranged LA Crimes archive)

📍Baltimore, Maryland.

🎧 Chapter 16: The Final Trace of Annie McCann

At just 16 years old, Annie McCann vanished from her safe suburban home in Virginia… only to be found dead in Baltimore days later under circumstances that defy explanation.

A missing car, a toxic substance, and a trail of unanswered questions leave her family—and investigators—wondering what really happened that Halloween weekend. Was it a runaway plan gone wrong? A chance encounter that turned fatal? Or something far darker hiding in the details?

🔗 Clickable Sources

• ABC News – The Mysterious Death of Annie McCann and Her Parents’ Ongoing Fight to Prove What Happened ABC News

• Mount Vernon Gazette – “Clawing Away For Information” in Mount Vernon m.mountvernongazette.com

• Judiciary Senate Document – Letter to Baltimore Police Department about Annie McCann Senate Judiciary Committee

• CBS News – Parents Of Va. Teen Found Dead In Baltimore Nearly A Decade Ago Fight For Answers CBS News

  • Letter from Senator Grassley to Baltimore Police Department (2016) – includes references to Annie’s autopsy report

  • Mount Vernon Gazette – Clawing Away For Information (parents struggling to obtain autopsy report, details reviewed by Dr. Michael Baden)

  • Washington Post – Parents of Annie McCann press Gov. Hogan to intervene (discusses autopsy findings, disputes, and manner of death)

📍Asheville, North Carolina.

🎧 Chapter 15: The Final Trace of Zebb Quinn

An eighteen-year-old leaves work on an ordinary night… and is never seen again. His car is found abandoned—covered in strange markings, filled with items that weren’t his. A page from a family phone line. A story that twists through lies, suspicion, and silence. 25 years later, one man confessed just enough to save himself—but the truth about what happened to Zebb Quinn is still buried.

Sources and Readings:

• Timeline of the disappearance of Zebb Quinn — WLOS

• Owens pleads guilty to accessory-after-the-fact in Zebb Quinn case — WLOS

• Zebb Quinn: Will plea deal provide answers? — WLOS

• Owens indicted in Zebb Quinn killing — WLOS

• Former friend calls Owens “pathological liar” — WPDE

• “A Good Kid: The 22-year Murder Mystery of Zebb Quinn” — WLOS Documentary