Thin Air Podcast

In today's part 2 on the disappearance of Darwin Vest, we cover all of the evidence for foul play, as found in police records and conversations with Rebecca Vest, Darwin's sister, and Annie, another member of Darwin's family. We also discuss why police have previously argued that Darwin drowned in the Snake River that night.

Darwin K. Vest was known for his brilliant insight and scientific mind. In the 80's, he conducted a famous study about Hobo Spiders which changed how the arachnid was perceived. But when Darwin went missing in the early morning hours of June 2nd, 1999, his work would forever remain unfinished.

That night, Darwin had been drinking in downtown Idaho Falls, Idaho, where he lived and worked. He was with a friend named Lee Curtis at a bar called The Golden Crown. According to police reports, Lee left to find an ATM, and when he returned, Darwin was gone. Bartenders later reported that Darwin had finished half of his beer and then walked out of a northern entrance. This was the last time he was ever seen.

In part one of our story, we discuss the specifics of Darwin's disappearance with a close family member and Eric Seneff, another friend who was with Darwin the night he went missing.

April 26th, 1964. Dora and Chester Fronczak are at Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital after giving birth to their first child, a son named Paul. Around 9:30 a.m., a woman - who Dora assumed was a nurse, entered the room, looked at Paul and left. 4 hours later, around 1:50 p.m., the same woman entered again, this time claiming that the baby was needed for an examination in the nursery. Dora handed Paul to her, she left, and, shortly after, both Paul and the unknown woman vanished. The trail quickly went cold, and it seemed that baby Paul was gone forever.

But this was only the beginning of the mystery. To hear the full story, listen now on your favorite podcast app!

In January of 2015, 42-year-old Joann Hakes went missing from Afton, Wyoming. She had been living at the Silver Stream Lodge with her boyfriend, a man named Ronald Weerheim. On the night of January 3rd, Joann and Ronald were drinking at the bar on the property of the Silver Stream. According to Ron, Joann was drunk and making a scene, so they left. Once outside, Joann got into a truck with two men and left, never to return.

But much is contested about the details of this story, including from the owner of the Silver Stream and a close family member who saw Ron that night. In addition, Joann's daughter, Laura, thinks Ronald may been the cause of her disappearance.

In today's episode, we speak to Laura about Joann's life and relationships, and try to figure out what could have happened to her that night.

Around 11 a.m. on Dec. 2nd, 2011, 23-year-old Shawn Dickerson left his San Francisco house in a hurry -- his roommate and friend, Anjuli, thought he was late for work at Rolo, a men's clothing store. But rather than going to work, it appears that Shawn went for a walk around town, taking a series of photos to chronicle his day. The photos were uploaded to his Facebook page. These photos are the last trace of Shawn Dickerson.

In today's episode, we speak at length with Shawn's mother, Trisha Brucker. She shares with us the details of Shawn's disappearance -- and the hopes that he may still be alive.

Last week, we discussed the disappearance of Wanda Lemons in the context of the other missing and deceased women of Chillicothe. But Megan, Wanda's daughter, argued that her mother's case was unrelated to the other women - that, despite having a similar past to the women, that her case hits much closer to home. That her disappearance was personal.

In today's episode, Jordan tries to discover more information about key players in Wanda's story. As Wanda was fighting for custody, we try and uncover what her relationship was like with her ex. and how often they saw each other around the time of Wanda's disappearance. We also try and find a man that Wanda was staying with named Marvin - who, as Wanda's mom Diana described, was abusive and may know more than he has said.

This is our last episode of 2017. Thank you all so much for your support and we'll be back on January 29th, 2018! We wish you a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

38-year-old Wanda Lemons went missing in Chillicothe, Ohio on or around November 4th, 2014. Her case is one of six women who either went missing or were found dead in Chillicothe between May of 2014 and June of 2015. These stories quickly gained national attention, and many people thought that their cases were connected. 

In today's episode of Thin Air, we devote the first of two episodes on the disappearance of Wanda Lemons to discussing how Wanda fits within the context of these other cases. All of the women, it was said, had problems with drug addiction and prostitution. They all may have known each other and known a dangerous criminal and drug lord known as Dollar Bill. But, in Wanda's case, these connections aren't always the easiest to verify, making her already mysterious disappearance even more questionable.

19-year-old Jesse Ross was visiting Chicago while attending a model UN conference with teammates from the University of Missouri - Kansas City.  Around 2 am on November 21st, 2006, Jesse is called to an emergency meeting of the UN conference's security council. At this point in the evening, Jesse had been to a dance and a party at the hotel where the conference was being held, the Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

Jesse makes it to this emergency meeting, but leaves around 30 minutes later. He leaves through a rear entrance, and this is the last time anyone ever saw Jesse. Police would posit that Jesse somehow made his way to the Chicago River, immediately behind the hotel, and somehow fell in and was carried out into Lake Michigan. But filmmaker Brian Rose, who has been working on a film about Jesse since 2013, has evidence that this theory has some major problems.

For today's episode, we speak with Brian Rose, creator of the upcoming documentary When I Last Saw Jesse, and Jesse's father, Donald Ross.

Halloween, 1986. 23 year old Steven Allen Davis clocked out of work in downtown San Francisco, California. He has never been seen or heard from since. A year prior to his disappearance, Steve asked his mother Rosetta what she would do if he just vanished one day: this made his family believe he took off on his own, but would show up again when he was ready. But that day never came, and now his family believes he was met with foul play.

On October 15th, 2016, 55 year old Nancy Paulikas visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, with her husband Kirk and some other family members. The year before, Nancy was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. She had severe dementia and had problems communicating, and by October of 2016, caring for her was Kirk's full time job.

The trip to LACMA was going well, and Nancy was having a good day. But when the two got separated, Nancy vanished. After an hour of not finding her around the museum, Kirk called the police. Shockingly, Nancy has never been found.

The last traces of her are surveillance video images of her on Wilshire and McCarthy Vista, an intersection not far from LACMA. Since her disappearance, Kirk, along with an incredible team of friends and family, has mounted an incredible effort to find her. Both Kirk's team and investigators believe it is likely that Nancy is alive, right now, in a medical facility where they cannot get any information about her, and that she may be misidentified with an incorrect social security number.