On November 17th, 1978, four young employees reported for their shift at a Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana.

They never made it home.

At first, it looked like a simple robbery—an open cash register, missing money, and no immediate signs of violence. But what investigators did next would become one of the most controversial decisions in true crime history.

Before it was even clear that anything more serious had occurred… The crime scene was cleaned.

Three days later, the bodies of all four teenagers were discovered in a wooded area miles away.

Nearly half a century later, the case remains unsolved.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we take a deep dive into the Burger Chef murders—reconstructing the timeline, examining the investigation, and exploring the theories that continue to haunt this case.

Was it a robbery gone wrong? Was one of the victims targeted? Or did critical mistakes in the earliest hours cost investigators their only chance at solving it?

This is a story about more than what happened that night.

It’s about what may have been lost… before anyone realized it mattered.

🎧 The Pine Grove Briar is a single-host true crime podcast exploring the cases that stay with you—the ones that don’t sit right, and the ones that refuse to be forgotten.

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In April of 2006, Brian Shaffer, a 27-year-old Ohio State medical student, went out for a night in Columbus, Ohio. What should have been an ordinary evening would become one of the most baffling disappearances in modern true crime.

Security cameras clearly captured Brian entering a crowded building late that night. Friends, staff, and dozens of patrons moved in and out of the area throughout the evening.

But Brian Shaffer was never seen leaving.

Despite extensive police investigations, searches, and years of speculation, no trace of Brian has ever been found. No confirmed sightings. No body. No clear explanation.

How can someone enter a busy public place… and seemingly vanish without a trace?

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we examine the timeline of that night, the surveillance footage investigators analyzed, the strange details that still trouble detectives, and the theories that continue to surround one of the most haunting unsolved mysteries in recent memory.

More than eighteen years later, one question still lingers:

What really happened to Brian Shaffer?

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In February 1959, nine experienced hikers set out into the remote Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union. Led by Igor Dyatlov, the group was well trained and properly equipped for the harsh winter expedition ahead.

They never made it home.

Weeks later, search teams discovered their abandoned tent on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl — a mountain whose name loosely translates to Dead Mountain. The tent had been cut open from the inside, and footprints in the snow showed the hikers had fled into the night, many of them barefoot and without proper clothing.

What followed only deepened the mystery.

Some of the hikers died from hypothermia. Others suffered catastrophic internal injuries. One victim was found missing her tongue. Investigators were left with more questions than answers, and the official Soviet conclusion offered only a vague explanation: an “unknown compelling force.”

More than sixty years later, the Dyatlov Pass Incident remains one of the most unsettling and debated mysteries in modern history.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we examine the final expedition of Igor Dyatlov and his team, the strange discoveries made on that frozen mountainside, and the theories that continue to surround what may have happened that night.

What could have driven nine experienced hikers to abandon their shelter and run into the freezing darkness?

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On February 24, 1978, five young men left a college basketball game in Chico, California. They stopped at a convenience store, bought snacks, and began the drive home.

They never made it.

Days later, their car was found abandoned in the mountains of Plumas National Forest. It wasn’t wrecked. It wasn’t out of gas. There were no signs of a struggle.

So why did they leave it?

Months later, four of the five men would be found dead from exposure. One — Gary Mathias — has never been located. Inside a nearby Forest Service trailer, investigators discovered food, blankets, and supplies that could have sustained them. Much of it was untouched.

The Yuba County Five remains one of the most baffling unsolved mysteries in modern American true crime history — a case defined not by violence, but by decisions that still don’t make sense.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we examine the timeline, the abandoned car, the mountain trek, the trailer discovery, and the unanswered question that continues to haunt this case:

Why did they leave the car?

Pine Grove Briar is an independent show focused on cases that still don’t sit right. If you believe these stories deserve continued attention and careful research, you can support the show below. Every contribution goes directly back into research, production, and growing this work.

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In April 1981, three people were brutally murdered inside Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort in Northern California. Three children slept in the next room and survived. By morning, a quiet mountain community was shaken — and a case that would haunt investigators for decades had begun.

Sue Sharp, her son John Sharp, and family friend Dana Wingate were found bound and murdered inside the small cabin. Sue’s daughter, Tina Sharp, vanished that night and was later discovered miles away. Despite early suspects, reported confessions, missing evidence, and renewed investigative efforts years later, no one has ever been convicted.

The Keddie Cabin Murders remain one of California’s most unsettling unsolved cases — marked by alleged investigative missteps, lost recordings, and lingering questions about whether the truth was mishandled from the start.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we examine the timeline, the crime scene, the surviving children, the suspects, and the unanswered questions that still surround Cabin 28.

What happened inside that small mountain cabin — and why has justice never come?

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

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On February 2, 2008, a gunman walked into a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois. He wasn’t wearing a mask. He calmly ordered employees and a customer to the back room, bound them with duct tape, and opened fire. Five women were shot. Four were killed.

Despite eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, a composite sketch, and DNA collected at the scene, the case remains unsolved.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we examine the timeline of the crime, the survivor’s account, the investigation that followed, and the unanswered questions that still linger more than a decade later.

Who was the man who walked into that store in broad daylight? And how has he never been identified?

This is one of the most haunting unsolved mass shootings in modern true crime history.

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

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In June 1992, Suzie Streeter (19), Stacy McCall (18), and Sherrill Levitt (47) vanished from a quiet home in Springfield, Missouri.

No forced entry. No signs of a struggle. Three purses left behind.

More than three decades later, the disappearance of the Springfield Three remains one of America’s most haunting unsolved cases.

In this episode of The Pine Grove Briar, we walk through the final hours before they vanished, the evidence found inside the house, and the theories that still divide investigators and locals alike.

Some mysteries don’t fade.

They settle in.

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

Go check out these fine folks as well:

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On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia went up in flames.

By morning, five children were gone.

Officials ruled the case simple: the children perished in the fire.

But no remains were ever conclusively identified.

The phone line had been cut. The ladder was missing. The trucks wouldn’t start. Witnesses claimed to see the children alive in the days that followed. And the parents never stopped searching.

In this episode of THE PINE GROVE BRIAR, we examine one of America’s most enduring mysteries — the disappearance of the Sodder children. Through period newspaper accounts, conflicting fire science, eyewitness claims, and decades of unanswered questions, this story refuses to settle into a single explanation.

Did five children die in a tragic Christmas fire?

Or did five children leave that house alive?

Both arguments have evidence. Both arguments have weaknesses. And neither side has ever truly gone away.

Sit with the contradictions. Look at the details. Then decide which version feels more believable.

Because this case doesn’t end with certainty.

It ends with a choice.

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

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On June 9th, 1912, the Moore family walked home from church in the quiet railroad town of Villisca, Iowa. Nothing seemed unusual. Neighbors waved. Oil lamps flickered. The children were laughing.

By morning, eight people lay dead inside the house.

Bludgeoned in their beds. The mirrors covered. The lamp chimneys removed. The axe left behind.

In this episode, the Pine Grove Briar slows down the story of one of America’s most haunting unsolved murders. Not just the violence — but the stillness inside the house. The order. The strange details. The hurried investigation. The suspects who divided a town. And the trial that never delivered certainty.

This isn’t a sensational retelling.

It’s a careful walk through a house that never quite closed.

Because sometimes the most unsettling crimes aren’t the loud ones.

They’re the ones where no one remembers hearing a single scream.

Listen slow.

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

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In the early 1920s, during the height of the Coal Wars in the Tug River Valley, a man tied to union activity was found dead near a rail line outside Matewan.

The official ruling was simple: accident.

He had fallen. The train hadn’t seen him. Case closed.

But locals didn’t believe it.

In this of the Pine Grove Briar, we return to coal country to examine one of the lesser-known deaths connected to the tensions surrounding Matewan. Through company control, private detectives, hurried verdicts, and the quiet power of silence in Appalachian towns, this story explores what happens when the same forces that own the mines help shape the narrative.

This isn’t a retelling of the famous Matewan shootout.

It’s something quieter.

And perhaps more unsettling.

Because sometimes the most important stories in coal country aren’t the ones carved into monuments…

They’re the ones ruled accidental and left to settle like dust.

Listen slow.

Also, don't forget to leave us a rating or review and like and subscribe to our podcast. If you would like to support the Pine Grove Briar, drop us a line at [email protected] or you can send a donation directly to paypal.me/chrissewell623 and that will be a great help to keep the mics on and the pipes lit! We greatly appreciate it!

Go check out these fine folks as well:

• www.gatlinburlier.com
• www.etsy.com/shop/SewellWoodworksCo
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