Patricia Viola was a devoted wife, mother, and volunteer librarian living in Bogota, New Jersey. On February 13, 2001, she seemingly vanished without a trace after returning home from work. She left behind her purse, wallet, identification, seizure medication, and nearly every indication that she planned to return.

As investigators worked to reconstruct Patricia's final known movements, they uncovered a series of puzzling clues: a home security alarm that had been triggered earlier in the day, a concerning conversation Patricia had with her best friend the night before she disappeared, and a timeline that raised more questions than answers.

For years, Patricia's family searched for answers while investigators explored multiple theories, including foul play, suicide, and a medical emergency related to her epilepsy.

Then, more than a decade later, forensic DNA analysis finally provided a breakthrough.

In this episode of Forensic Tales, we examine the disappearance of Patricia Viola, the investigation that followed, the creation of New Jersey's Patricia's Law, and how a single foot bone discovered on a beach in Queens became one of the only pieces of evidence ever recovered in this baffling missing persons case.

Topics discussed:
• Patricia Viola disappearance
• Bogota, New Jersey missing person case
• Unsolved mystery
• Missing persons investigations
• Patricia's Law
• Forensic DNA identification
• Human remains identification
• Epilepsy and missing persons
• Cold cases
• Unsolved disappearance cases

Follow Forensic Tales:
Instagram: @forensictales
TikTok: @forensictales
Website: https://forensictales.com

Want even more Forensic Tales? Join our Patreon community for ad-free episodes, bonus content, behind-the-scenes updates, and exclusive case discussions you won't hear anywhere else. Visit Patreon.com/ForensicTales and become part of the Forensic Tales family.

Have a case suggestion or feedback?
Email: [email protected]

Sources for this episode are available at:
https://forensictales.com/patricia-viola-disappearance

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Fox Hollow Farm Murders remain one of the most chilling serial killer cases in American history.

For years, young men disappeared from the Indianapolis area after being seen at local gay bars and nightlife districts. Many were later found strangled and abandoned in rural areas throughout Indiana and Ohio, leading investigators to suspect the existence of the so-called I-70 Strangler.

Everything changed when police searched Fox Hollow Farm, the 18-acre estate owned by successful businessman Herb Baumeister. Hidden within the woods behind the family home, investigators discovered thousands of human bone fragments belonging to multiple victims.

In this episode of Forensic Tales, we examine:

• The life and background of Herb Baumeister • Early warning signs and troubling behavior • The disappearances of young men throughout Indiana • The possible connection to the I-70 Strangler • Survivor Tony Harris and the tip that helped break the case • The discovery of human remains at Fox Hollow Farm • Forensic anthropology and the challenge of identifying victims • Modern DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy • Newly identified victims and ongoing efforts to identify the remaining unknown victims • The unanswered questions that remain nearly 30 years later

Despite Herb Baumeister's death in 1996, investigators continue working to identify victims recovered from Fox Hollow Farm. As advances in forensic science continue, families may finally receive answers after decades of uncertainty.

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio Production. The show is written & produced by Courtney Fretwell, M.S. Forensic Psychology. To submit a case or get in touch, please email [email protected].

Follow Forensic Tales: Instagram: @ForensicTales Facebook: Forensic Tales Podcast TikTok: @ForensicTales

Support the show: Patreon.com/ForensicTales

Sources and additional information: ForensicTales.com

Remember... Not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On July 26, 2009, 36-year-old Diane Schuler drove the wrong way down New York's Taconic State Parkway, causing a devastating head-on collision that killed eight people, including herself, her daughter, and three young nieces. The crash shocked the nation and sparked years of debate, speculation, and investigation.

Toxicology reports revealed shocking findings, but Diane's family strongly disputed the official conclusions. Was this a tragic case of impaired driving, a hidden medical emergency, or something else entirely?

In this episode of Forensic Tales, we examine the forensic evidence, toxicology results, accident reconstruction findings, and competing theories surrounding one of the most infamous highway crashes in American history.

From the Forensic Tales Archive, we're revisiting one of the most downloaded and talked-about episodes in the show's history.

Topics Covered: • Diane Schuler • Taconic State Parkway crash • Wrong-way driver investigation • Toxicology and forensic evidence • Accident reconstruction • True crime mysteries • New York crash investigation

New episodes of Forensic Tales are released every Monday.

Follow Forensic Tales: Instagram: @forensictales Facebook: Forensic Tales Website: ForensicTales.com

Hosted by Courtney Fretwell, M.S. Forensic Psychology. To submit a case or get in touch, send me a message [email protected].

If you'd like to support the show, get early ad-free access to new episodes & monthly full-length bonus episodes, consider joining the show's Patreon. Learn more: patreon.com/forensictales

Remember... Not all stories have happy endings. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#335 - When 53-year-old Oakey Kite, who went by Al, failed to show up for work on May 24th, 2004, his coworkers immediately knew something was wrong. Concerned, they went to his townhouse in Aurora to check on him where they discovered a crime scene so brutal, investigators would never forget it.

Al had been restrained, tortured for hours, and ultimately murdered inside his own home by a man posing as a prospective tenant.

The killer meticulously cleaned the scene, erased much of the evidence, and vanished without a trace leaving behind only fragments of forensic evidence and a fake identity that would send investigators across multiple countries.

More than two decades later, the murder of Al Kite remains one of Colorado’s most disturbing unsolved cases.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content. You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week. Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#334 - In April 1991, 20-year-old Angela Hammond stood alone outside a grocery store in Clinton, Missouri, talking to her fiancé on a payphone late at night. She mentioned seeing a strange truck circling the parking lot, but they both shrugged it off. 

Moments later, Angela’s fiancé heard her scream, and the line went dead.

The payphone was only a few blocks away, so he jumped in his car and sped toward the woman he planned to marry. But he was too late. Angela was never seen alive again. 

Over 30 years later, her story remains one of the mysterious disappearances in Missouri history. And despite a vehicle description and a timeline, the case was haunted by one major problem: there was almost no forensic evidence left behind.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon. Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content. You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week. Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#333 - In February 2000, 18-year-old college student Michelle O’Keefe was on her way home from appearing in a Kid Rock music video when she was gunned down inside her car. A security guard named Raymond Jennings was eventually arrested and charged with Michelle’s murder, and after three separate trials, he was sentenced to life in prison. On paper, it seemed like an open-and-shut case. But the deeper you look, the forensic evidence seems to tell a very different story. 

So what really happened to Michelle in that parking lot?

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#332 - In April 1996, a motorist traveling along a rural road in Bastrop County, Texas, made a disturbing discovery. Lying in a grassy ditch along the roadside was the body of a young woman. Her clothing was partially removed, and a belt had been tightened around her neck. She would soon be identified as 19-year-old Stacey Stites.

Just hours earlier, Stacey had been reported missing after she failed to show up for her early morning shift at the local grocery store. 

DNA evidence collected at the scene pointed to a man named Rodney Reed. But nearly three decades later, the question still remains: Did investigators convict the right man?

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#331 - On the early morning of June 3, 2011, 20-year-old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer disappeared after a night out with friends in downtown Bloomington, Indiana.

Investigators were able to reconstruct much of Lauren’s final hours using surveillance footage, witness statements, and digital timelines. But despite knowing many of the places she went and the people she was with that night, Lauren seemingly vanished just blocks from her own apartment.

More than a decade later, her disappearance remains unsolved.

In this episode of Forensic Tales, we examine the timeline of Lauren Spierer’s final night, the key investigative clues, and the unanswered questions that still haunt this case.

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio Production. The show is written & produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For months, Dorothy Jane Scott received anonymous phone calls from a man who said he was watching her.

He knew where she worked. He knew where she went at night. Sometimes he even described the clothes she had worn that day… or the car she was driving.

At first, Dorothy tried to ignore the calls. But they kept coming. Sometimes the caller sounded angry. Other times, almost obsessed. On one occasion, he told her he was going to cut her up into pieces.

Dorothy was terrified. She started taking self-defense classes and even considered buying a gun. But whoever was calling always remained anonymous.

Then, on the night of May 28, 1980, Dorothy drove a coworker to the hospital after he had been bitten by a spider.

After parking her white Toyota station wagon, she went inside with him. A short time later, Dorothy stepped outside to bring the car around to the front entrance.

But instead of pulling up to the hospital doors, her car suddenly sped through the parking lot… and disappeared into the night.

Dorothy Jane Scott was never seen alive again.

And in the years that followed, the phone calls didn’t stop.

But now, they were coming to her family.

Each time, the caller asked the same chilling question:

“Is Dorothy home?”

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, and monthly extra episodes.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#329 - In July of 2015, thousands of people gathered along the river for a weekend of music, camping, and wakeboarding. The annual event known as WakeFest was supposed to be a carefree summer getaway, a place where friends could relax, drink, and enjoy the water.

But by the end of that weekend, one of the campers would be dead.

Twenty-one-year-old Lauren Agee had been camping on a steep cliff overlooking the river with friends she trusted. Sometime during the night, she disappeared from the campsite.

Hours later, her body was discovered hundreds of feet below in the water.

At first, investigators believed it was a tragic accident, that Lauren had fallen from the cliff in the dark.

But when her family began asking questions, they uncovered troubling details that didn’t seem to add up. Injuries that appeared inconsistent with a simple fall. A chaotic campsite. Conflicting witness statements. And a crime scene that many believe was never properly investigated.

More than a decade later, the circumstances surrounding Lauren’s death remain fiercely debated.

Was it truly an accident?

Or did something far more sinister happen on that cliff that night?

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

You can also watch Forensic Tales on YouTube. Just search Forensic Tales Podcast and be sure to subscribe.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#328 - When police in Oklahoma got a call from a woman saying a man wearing only gloves and a pair of underwear broke into her house, killed her boyfriend, and tortured her for hours, it seemed almost too far-fetched to be true. But as detectives combed through the forensic evidence at the scene, it seemed to line up perfectly with her story. What they didn’t realize at the time was that this brutal attack was connected to a predator who had been quietly slipping in and out of homes for years — watching, stalking, and committing crimes no one ever saw coming.

For nearly two decades, he managed to evade capture. And when investigators finally uncovered who he was, the truth revealed a disturbing pattern: a man who had been hiding in plain sight while secretly living a double life as a voyeur, a prowler… and eventually, a killer.

Forensic Tales is a Rockefeller Audio production. The show is written and produced by Courtney Fretwell.

If you’d like to support the show and help fund research, production, and editing, you can do so with a small monthly contribution on Patreon.

Patreon supporters get early access to ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content.

You can learn more at Patreon.com/ForensicTales.

You can also watch Forensic Tales on YouTube. Just search Forensic Tales Podcast and be sure to subscribe.

And if you enjoy the show, leaving a positive rating or review really helps others discover it.

For a full list of sources used in this episode, visit ForensicTales.com.

Thank you for listening. And I’ll see you next week.

Until then… remember: not all stories have happy endings.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.