Thin Air Podcast

Darwyn Hope went missing on July 12th, 2016 from Boise, Idaho. Darwyn was 92 years old at the time, and was suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts brought on by a painful medical condition. He had scheduled a surgery to fix the condition, but when it was unexpectedly cancelled on July 11th, Darwyn became despondent.

The night before he went missing, his son Dale went visit him after Mike, his brother, asked him to visit their dad and try to lift his spirits, and keep him focused on getting better. Dale spent some time with Darwyn, who spoke of his suicidal thoughts. But Dale left feeling convinced that his father would carry on, and that everything would be okay.

But the next day, Darwyn and his car, a silver Pontiac Bonneville, were nowhere to be found. Mike arrived at Darwyn's house around 2:30 that day to check on him, and found him missing. Darwyn had left his hearing aids, which he needed to communicate with others, his cane, which he used to walk with his condition, and cash - around 300-400 dollars, fanned out on top of his washer. Police were called shortly after, and Darwyn has been missing ever since.

In early 2017, investigators turned their focus on the brothers, and began to accuse them of having something to do with Darwyn's disappearance. In the episode, we speak with Dale Hope, his wife Lonnie, Mike Hope, and Detective Monte Iverson with Boise PD to uncover all the theories for where Darwyn could be and where he could have gone that day.

On the morning of September 14th, 2007, 14 year old Andrew Gosden left his home in Doncaster, England. His parents believed he was on his way to school, but Andrew had other plans. Instead, he returned home, changed his clothes, and caught a train to London. CCTV footage captured Andrew leaving Kings Cross Station. This is the last time Andrew Gosden was ever seen, and his family has had few answers since.

Today, we speak with Andrew's father, Kevin Gosden, Andrew's sister Charlotte, and Josie Allen from the UK organization Missing People. As the ten year anniversary of Andrew's disappearance is just days from the release of today's episode, we hope that someone comes forward with new information.

On September 17th, 2001, police were called to a suicide at the Lake Quinault Hotel in Amanda Park, Washington. The man, who had checked into the hotel with the name Lyle Stevik, had hanged himself. Police assumed an open and shut case. But Lyle was a fake name, and since his death, no missing persons case has matched him, and no family has come forward to claim him, and his true identity remains unknown.

Jose Ricardo Garay, who went by Rick, was last seen on or around July 30th, 2009. Rick’s case is complicated and controversial because he went missing while attempting to enter the country illegally through the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. In this episode, we talk with Anne, Rick’s fiancee, and Chelsea Halstead from The Colibri Center for Human Rights, one of the few resources that family members of undocumented migrants have when looking for their missing loved one.

In the early morning hours of October 10th, 2010, Unique Harris went missing from her Washington D.C. apartment while her two sons and great niece slept in the next room. She has never been seen or heard from again. In this episode we speak to Unique's mom, Valencia Harris, and Cpt. Michelle Caron from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department about the details of Unique's case. We also speak to Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, about the social and systemic issues that are brought to light when a person of color goes missing.

David Ezell Blockett went missing on December 11th, 1980 in Newport News, Virginia. He was only 15 days old.

Today's episode examines David's case with his brother, Frederick, and reporter Jessica Larche. We also discuss the issue of infant abductions as a whole: the type of perpetrator likely to commit this crime, locations these abductions take place, and specific cases that have led to shocking discoveries.

David Ezell Blockett remains missing.

James Rowe went missing from the small community of Crestone, Colorado on July 30th, 2004. On that day, James drove his Jeep 17-miles outside of the city limits, parked his car along the side of the road, walked back to town, had a short conversation with a close friend, and was never seen or heard from again. In this episode, we speak to James’ sister, Laura, and his best friend from Crestone, Jeremiah, as they share with us details about the case and theories about what might have happened to James Rowe.

In Part 2 of our coverage of David Sneddon, a 24 year old American student who went missing in Yunnan Province, China in 2004, we discuss the evidence that David Sneddon was abducted by North Korea. We return to our conversations with David’s brother, James, and David’s former roommate in China, George Bailey. We also speak to Greg Scarlatoiu, the Executive Director of The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Robert Boynton, author of The Invitation Only Zone: North Korea’s Abduction Project, and Congressman Chris Stewart from Utah.

24-year-old David Sneddon went missing in August, 2004 from Yunnan Province, China, near an area called the Tiger Leaping Gorge. David had been studying in Beijing, and was traveling around Southern China before returning home. In this episode, part one of a two-part series, we speak with both George Bailey, the last person who knew him to see him before he disappeared, and his brother, James, who travelled to China to hike the trail in search of his lost brother.

Cameron Remmer disappeared from San Francisco in October, 2011. Since his disappearance many questions have remained about the time he spent in San Francisco. On this episode, we speak to Adrienne, a woman he had met on his stay in San Francisco, and Zach, his business partner back in San Diego--someone who was depending greatly on Cameron to return with the product he had set out to get. What happened to Cameron Remmer still remains a mystery, but join us as we hope to get a little bit closer to the truth of what happened to him.