More than a year after Asha Degree vanished from Shelby, North Carolina, one of the most important pieces of evidence was found far from her home: her backpack, buried along North Carolina Highway 18 in Burke County.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we follow the discovery of the backpack, why its location mattered, and how a buried school bag changed the direction of the case without answering the central question.

A child’s bag was found. But Asha was not.

After Asha Degree vanished from Shelby, North Carolina, on February 14, 2000, searchers began looking along the route where motorists had reported seeing a young girl walking near Highway 18. The search quickly turned from a missing child report into one of North Carolina’s most haunting cold cases.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we follow the first days of the search, the items reportedly found in a shed near where Asha was last seen, and the painful problem at the center of the case: the clues proved she may have passed through, but they did not reveal where she went next.

A few small objects were found. But the child who owned them was still gone.

On February 14, 2000, 9-year-old Asha Degree disappeared from Shelby, North Carolina. She had last been seen by her family sleeping in her bed, but hours later, motorists reported seeing a young girl walking alone along North Carolina Highway 18.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we begin with Asha’s final known morning: the quiet house, the stormy road, the reported sightings, and the question that still sits at the center of the case.

Before there was a search, before there were theories, there was one impossible question: why was Asha outside in the dark?

On May 14, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson was last seen after leaving a friend’s house in Minnesota. His car was later found abandoned in a ditch, with the doors open and the keys missing.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we follow the final known moments of Brandon’s disappearance, the late-night phone call to his parents, the abandoned car, and the questions that still surround the case.

A crash. A call for help. Then silence.

On February 17, 2018, 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka was last seen leaving a house party on Burfield Drive in Sun Peaks, British Columbia. The walk back home should have taken only minutes, but Ryan never arrived.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we follow Ryan’s final known timeline, the snowy mountain resort where he vanished, the searches that found no clear trace, and the questions that still surround his disappearance.

A short walk. A winter night. And a young man who never came home.

AI chatbots are moving closer to one of the most sensitive parts of daily life: money. A new UK financial regulator review says artificial intelligence could reshape retail financial services by 2030, from personal finance tools to customer support and autonomous money management.

In this episode of Today, But Stranger, we explain what the FCA’s Mills Review actually says, why AI financial advice is so hard to regulate, and why the real issue is not whether chatbots sound confident, but whether people know when they are receiving regulated advice.

The future of finance may not arrive as a bank branch or a trading floor. It may arrive as a friendly box of text asking what you want to do next.

On June 10, 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard was walking toward her school bus stop in Meyers, California. A car pulled up beside her. Moments later, she was gone.

For more than 18 years, Jaycee remained missing while the world moved on around her. She was hidden in a backyard compound in Antioch, California, held by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, until a strange visit to a college campus finally raised suspicion.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we revisit the abduction, the years no one found her, and the moment Jaycee Dugard came home alive.

On the night of December 30, 2000, a family of four was murdered inside their home in Setagaya, Tokyo. Mikio Miyazawa, his wife Yasuko, their daughter Niina, and their young son Rei were found dead the next morning.

The killer left behind an almost impossible amount of evidence: clothing, fingerprints, blood, and DNA. But instead of fleeing immediately, he appears to have stayed inside the house for hours after the murders.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we revisit one of Japan’s most haunting cold cases, the clues left behind, and the question that still chills investigators: how can a killer leave so much evidence, and still disappear?

On August 2, 2006, 32-year-old attorney Robert Wone stayed overnight at a friend’s house in Washington, DC after working late. Less than two hours later, police were called to the home for a stabbing.

Robert was found with multiple stab wounds. The men inside the house said an unknown intruder must have come in, attacked him, and escaped. But investigators found details that made the story difficult to accept.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we revisit the night on Swann Street, the strange timeline, and the question that still remains unanswered: who killed Robert Wone?

On February 9, 2004, 21-year-old nursing student Maura Murray drove away from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and headed north. That night, her black Saturn crashed on a snowy road in Haverhill, New Hampshire.

A witness saw Maura alive near the car. Minutes later, police arrived. The car was still there. Her belongings were still there. But Maura was gone.

In this episode of Unsolved and Missing, we revisit the final confirmed timeline, the crash on Route 112, and the missing minutes that still leave one question unanswered: what happened to Maura Murray?