The Vanished Podcast

In mid-June of 2017, 36-year-old Antonio Vela spent an evening hanging out at a local bar in Victoria, Texas. He left right before closing and told the bartender that he planned to grab some food and head home for the night. Hours later, Antonio’s roommate woke up and was getting ready for the day when he decided to take the trash out. He exited the home through the garage, where he found a strange scene. Antonio’s car wasn’t there, but his snacks and phone were lying on the ground. That was when he realized that Antonio wasn’t home and that something wasn’t right. Antonio’s roommate started calling around and asking on social media if anyone had seen him. As Antonio’s family learned he was missing, they began frantically searching for him. More than four and a half years have passed, and they are still searching for answers.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Antonio Vela Jr., who also goes by TJ or Speshul Ed, please contact the Victoria Police Department at 361-485-3700 or Crimestoppers at (361) 572-4200.

To find Claudia Rivero's coverage of Antonio's case, please check out her website and YouTube channel.

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On December 7, 1971, 16-year-old Jamie Grissim left her home in Vancouver, Washington, to catch the bus to school. Jamie attended classes but got out early because she only had two classes scheduled on that particular day. Jamie had told her foster mother that she would walk home and expected to be there around 1 PM. Jamie never made it home and was never seen or heard from again. Jamie’s family was concerned, but local police assumed she was simply a runaway. Months later, in the spring of 1972, some of Jamie’s belongings turned up strewn alongside a country road in rural Clark County, Washington. Then, as the years wore on, more young women began to disappear from the area, and it became apparent that this was much more serious than a teenager who had run away from home.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Jamie Grissim or the other unsolved cases we discussed in this episode, please contact the Clark County Sheriff’s Office at 564-397-2211.

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On December 25, 2017, 28-year-old Ever Orozco left his sister's home in Weld County, Colorado, headed for New Mexico with his girlfriend. They had planned to pack up their belongings and move back to Colorado to start a new life away from the shady characters that had surrounded Ever's life for the past few years. But Ever never made it back to start that new life and wouldn't be seen or heard from again. In fact, leads dried up quickly after he vanished. When he was found deceased at the top of a mountain nearly three years later, his family and law enforcement were left with very few clues but no shortage of questions.

If you have any information about the disappearance and death of Ever Orozco, please call the Weld County Sheriff's Office at (970) 400-2836 or the Cibola County Sheriff's Office at (505) 876-2040.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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Laynee Westbrook disappeared from Anacortes, Washington, on September 10, 2020. She was seen on surveillance video exiting her home shortly after 7 PM that evening. She had her beloved dog, Precious, with her. Laynee got into a white truck with a man, and the two drove off together. Not long after, Laynee was again spotted on video surveillance, this time at a gas station just under 8 miles away. After that, Laynee and her dog, Precious vanished into the night, and more than 16 months later, the search for answers continues.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Laynee Westbrook and her dog, Precious, please contact the Anacortes Police at 360-293-4684 or the APD tip line 360-299-1985.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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34-year-old Patrick Chapman was last seen on Mother's Day of 2020. He texted his mom, sister, and ex-wife to wish them a happy Mother's Day. Later that day, Patrick stopped by his ex-wife's house in St. Charles, Missouri. Then, Patrick made the nearly 3 hour trip to Mill Spring, Missouri, where he planned to stay with the family of a woman he had recently been dating. They claimed that Patrick seemed to be acting strange that night, and by the following morning, Patrick and his vehicle were gone. It would be several more weeks before Patrick's friends and family learned anything was amiss, after the last people to see Patrick reported him missing. What has occurred since that time has been a bizarre string of events, and Patrick's loved ones have been trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together in order to find him.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Patrick Chapman, please contact Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E at (573) 609-4439 or the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 573-224-3219.

Update: In October 2023, Patrick Chapman's remains were recovered in Wayne County, Missouri.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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On June 18, 1985, a man walked into the Bellevue Police Department in Washington to report his 36-year-old wife, Julianne Jaillet, missing. He couldn't recall exactly when he'd last seen her but thought it might have been at the end of May or the beginning of June. He told police that he and his wife of five months had gotten into an argument, and she said she was leaving him, packed her belongings, and walked out. When asked why he hadn't reported Julianne missing in over two weeks, he said he thought she'd come back, that she'd been known to leave for a few days in the past, but never for this long. Things took a strange twist when some of Julianne's belongings were found in a hotel several states away. More than 36 years later, what happened to Julianne remains a mystery.

If you have any information about Julianne's disappearance, please call the Bellevue Police Department at 425-452-6917.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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25-year-old Shelton Sanders had everything going for him. He was about to graduate from the University of South Carolina in the coming months. Shelton had big career aspirations and the talent to match. At the time, Shelton lived with his family in Rembert, SC, and would make the 45-minute commute back and forth to school and work in Columbia each day. On June 19th, 2001, Shelton left home to attend classes and work his part-time job at the university. After work, Shelton and a friend were looking at hotels for a friend’s upcoming bachelor party. Shelton was supposed to be the best man at the wedding. The two went to three different hotels, and the friend said that Shelton dropped him off at his home and then left to drive back home to Rembert. After that, it was like Shelton and the vehicle he was driving vanished into thin air. By the following day, Shelton’s family was alarmed when they realized he hadn’t made it home. This was not like Shelton. Concerns quickly turned to the possibility of an accident during Shelton’s commute home late at night. But nearly two years later, after discovering the car Shelton was driving, this case took a completely different turn.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Shelton Sanders, please contact the Richland County Sheriff’s Office at (803) 576-3000 or the Shelton Sanders information hotline at (803) 427-4209. There is currently a $25,000 reward being offered.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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29-year-old Lonene Rogers, or Lonnie, spent January 6, 1981, working as a maid at a hotel. Afterward, she stopped by the babysitter's house to pick up her two young children. Lonnie made it back to her house in Hayfield Township, Pennsylvania. That evening, Lonnie's husband claims that the two had argued. His story was that he last saw Lonnie around 12:45 AM when he went to bed. He awoke in the early morning hours of January 7 to find that Lonnie was gone. Missing along with Lonnie was her coat, jeans, and boots. Other essential items were left behind at the house, including her car, keys, and purse. But this wasn't a night that someone would choose to walk away from their home or take a casual stroll around the neighborhood. It was freezing cold, and a storm blanketed the area with snow. What could have happened to Lonnie? Lonnie is still missing more than 40 years later, and her case remains unsolved.

Any persons with information regarding Lonnie's disappearance are urged to call Pennsylvania State Police at (814)-332-6911, TTY/TDD (814)-724-2985, or anonymously contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online at https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=107.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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26-year-old Keith Roberson worked as an oil field flowback supervisor outside Ozona, Texas. In early September 2018, Keith Roberson's mother received a phone call she wasn't expecting. Keith had not shown up for work, which was out of character. Keith's mom made her way to Ozona to begin searching for her son. She learned that on the evening of September 5, Keith had been driving eastbound on Interstate 10, a long stretch of highway that crosses the entire continental United States. Keith was in a vast, desolate area in between many tiny Texas towns, nearest the city of Sonora, when his car crossed the median to the westbound side, struck an oncoming vehicle, and ended up off the westbound side of the road. But when police arrived, Keith wasn't in his vehicle. No one has seen or heard from Keith since.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Steven "Keith" Roberson, please contact the Texas Department of Public Safety. You can reach them online at iwatchtx.org or call them at 1-844-643-2251. Keith's mother, Sharmon, is offering a $15,000 reward to anyone who can find Keith.

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If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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On Thursday, October 11, 2018, Melanie Meleney went out to a nail salon with a girlfriend. Her friend dropped Melanie off, and surveillance cameras at the Chesapeake Glen Apartments in Glen Burnie, Maryland, captured Melanie walking into the building where she shared an apartment with her boyfriend. Melanie was never seen exiting the apartment building. However, the cameras didn’t capture high-quality images, and they couldn’t see people coming and going after dark. Melanie’s friends tried to reach her the following day but were unsuccessful. Melanie failed to show up for work on Friday evening, which was out of character. By Saturday, her friends were alarmed and decided to report Melanie missing. That was just the beginning of this long nightmare for Melanie’s loved ones.

If you have any information about the disappearance and death of Melanie Meleney, please contact the Anne Arundel County Police Department at (410) 222-4731, or you can submit an anonymous tip at (410) 222-4700.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.