On the morning of May 26, 1990, 40-year-old Marlene Warren was preparing breakfast for her son and his friends when she heard the door bell ring. Upon answering the door, she was greeted by a person dressed in a clown costume holding two foil balloons and a basket of carnations for her. When she reached for the gifts, the clown shot Marlene in the face and fled in their white Chrysler LeBaron. For 27 years, Marlene's case remained unsolved, despite having obvious suspects. With the advancements in DNA technology, Marlene's killer finally faced justice in 2017. Sources CBS News (2023) CBS News (2023) Chilling Crimes (2021) WPTV (2017) The US Sun (2023) Killer Queens Podcast

During 1989, three unrelated African American baby boys went missing under mysterious circumstances from New York. Andre Bryant, a one month old baby boy disappeared from Brooklyn, and his mother, Monique Rivera was found murdered the next day. He has never been located. Christopher Dansby, a 2-year-old baby boy went missing from a park located near the Martin Luther King, Jr. apartment complex in May 1989. Three months after Christopher went missing, 18-month-old Shane Walker went missing from this same park under eerily similar circumstances. Sources International Missing Persons Wiki The Charley Project Uncovered Unsolved Mysteries Wiki Uncovered Unsolved Mysteries Wiki Uncovered

In 2016, John Coltharp and his best friend founded a doomsday cult loosely based on the teachings of the FLDS. It is important to note that the FLDS had no idea about this cult nor did it condone their behavior. In September of 2017, John’s estranged wife, Micha Coltharp went to the Utah police department to report that John had taken their children and she could not locate him nor contact him. Thinking this would be a routine domestic dispute that could easily be resolved, police started to investigate but what they discovered was far worse than they initially imagined as the children along with John Coltharp, his parents Catherine and Keith Coltharp, and his second-in-command in the cult, Samuel Shaffer had packed up and left to create a commune in the deserts of Lund, Utah.

Drama is a normal part of the teenage years, but sometimes, this drama is taken too far. On July 5, 2012, 16-year-old Skylar Neese snuck out of her Morgantown, West Virginia home to go joyriding with her two "best friends", Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, but these two girls had other plans for how the night would unfold. After six long months of searching for Skylar ever since she snuck out in July, her remains were located in a wooded area in Greene County, Pennsylvania after Rachel Shoaf had a breakdown and confessed to the gruesome crime her and Shelia had committed. Sources Tuko (2022) Sportskeeda (2023) Unilad (2022) Ranker (2021) All That's Interesting (2023) Dateline NBC: Season 22 Episode 25: Something Wicked (2014) Audio WBOY 12 News-One of Skylar Neese's killers denied parole (May 9, 2023) Blue Light Diaries-Betrayed: The Tragic Fate of Skylar Neese

On February 23, 2022 dispatchers in Green Bay Wisconsin received a 911 call at 3:28 AM from a woman and her boyfriend who had just discovered her 24-year-old son, Shad Thyrion’s severed head in a bucket at the bottom of their basement stairs. The woman was awakened by noises of her front door slamming and what she thought was a running car in her driveway. Upon waking, she noticed the basement light on and went to investigate. This is when she made the gruesome discovery. The last person known to have contact with Shad was 24-year-old, Taylor Schabusiness (Coronado). Sources CourtTV (2023) AP News (2023) New York Post (2023) News Week (2023) Document Cloud- Taylor Denise Schabusiness Criminal Complaint (2022) Law&Crime Network: 'Is This Blood?' Bodycam shows Arrest of Taylor Schabusiness After Lover's Murder-Video (2023) Audio Law&Crime Network-'Fake Head or Something?': Mother Dials 911 After Finding Son's Severed Head- Video (2023)

In November of 2016, the Guy parents had announced they sold their home in Knoxville, Tennessee to retire and move to Joel Sr.'s late mother's home in Surgoinsville, TN. They were holding their last family dinner at their home on Thanksgiving where the entire family would be attending before they all looked forward to having Christmas dinner in Joel and Lisa's new home. Their son, Joel Guy, Jr. had attended this dinner. He had been financially reliant on his parents, never having a job but living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 600 miles from his parents' home for the past decade. When he found out he was to be financially cut-off by his parents after their retirement, rage ensued and the most gruesome crime scene was left in his parents' home that the officers on the case had ever seen. Sources Medium (2021) The Crime Wire (2023) Criminal (2021) Knoxville News Sentinel (2023) All That's Interesting (2022) Audio: YouTube- Law and Crime Network (2020): Joel Guy Jr Trial- Proffer of Victims' Family Members-Family Members Testify, 911 Call is Played

On August 15, 1975, 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington set out alone to walk to the Trinity Christian Reformed Church for vacation bible school which was only 3/4 of a mile from her home in the suburb of Broomall in Pennsylvania when she was kidnapped. 2 months later, her body was found in Ridley Creek State Park 2 1/2 miles from where she was last seen. She had been the victim of a homicide with her cause of death being blunt force injuries to her head. Her murderer eluded police for almost 50 years, until 2023 when he was finally caught. Sources: Websleuths (2023) Newsweek (2023) The Philadelphia Inquirer (2023) Philly Magazine (2023) 11 Alive (2023) Books Marple's Gretchen Harrington Tragedy: Kindapping, Murder, and Innocence Lost in Suburban Philadelphia by Joanne Falcone Sullivan and Mike Mathis (2022) Audio 11Alive- Marietta man accused in 1975 Pennsylvania child murder| Police news conference (YouTube, 2023)

On June 22, 1979, English teacher, Susan Reinert and her two children, 11-year-old Karen and 10-year-old Michael set out to brave a hailstorm to take a trip for the weekend to Allentown, Pennsylvania where she would be holding a presentation for a group she was a member of. Her battered and naked body was found three days later in the trunk of her orange hatchback in a parking lot in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania which was 90 miles from her home. William Bradfield and Jay C. Smith, fellow employees of Susan were suspects due to a tangled web of stories created by Bradfield to his circle of friends. Bradfield had been a lover of Susan's and Jay C. Smith was the principal of the school they all worked at, who somehow got roped into the murder story by Bradfield. The trials set out to untangle the chaotic web created by Bradfield and find the real murder (s) and locate the children, but the bodies of Susan's children, Karen and Michael have never been found. Sources

19-year-old Miranda Barbour was a troubled girl who had a dark past including abuse as a toddler, drug abuse, and satanic cult involvement who seemingly had turned her life around when she moved to North Carolina with her uncle in 2012. She gave birth to a baby girl, got a job, and even began taking college courses, until she met 21-year-old Elytte Barbour. He and Miranda left their lives in North Carolina and moved to Sunbury, Pennsylvania where they made ends meet with the money Miranda earned on Craigslist for providing companionship to lonely men. On November 1, 2013, 42-year-old Troy LaFerrara replied to Miranda Barbour's Craigslist ad claiming she would provide 'companionship' to men for a fee. What he didn't know was that Miranda and her husband, Elytte had been planning to murder someone they met on Craiglist, as they thought the murder would "bring them closer together." With claims she had murdered 21 others, and did so because they were "bad people who didn't deserve to be here, anymore," she has been deemed the "Craiglist Killer" and "Dexter Killer" but none of these claims have been verified aside from the murder of Troy LaFerrara. Sources: Pennlive (2014) Murderpedia Ranker (2021) NY Post The Daily Item (2018) The Cinemaholic (2023) The Daily Item (2018) Audio YouTube- DailyItemVideo- Miranda Barbour records message for her mother

On July 13, 2023, 25-year-old Carlethia Nicole Russell, or simply, Carlee Russell was driving on Interstate 459 when she stopped her red Mercedes Benz along the highway to phone 9-1-1 to report a toddler walking along the highway with only a white t-shirt and diaper on. She placed the call around 9:34 P.M. and this was the last she was seen or heard from for the next 49 hours. A huge search for her went underway involving the use of police helicopters, drones, and volunteers from all over. A vigil was also held for those who wanted to gather and pray for her safe return. Residents of Birmingham feared that someone was using their child as "bait" to lure victims to be kidnapped, and they wanted the kidnappers caught as soon as possible. On Saturday night, July 15th, Carlee returned home to her parents' yard, and soon, the details of her kidnapping unraveled, and it isn't what anyone expected. For those who invested their time and energy into Carlee's case, this was a crushing blow and the ultimate blindside. Sources E-Online (2023) People (2023) TMZ (2023) WDSU (2023) NPR (2023) WVTM (2023) NPR (2023) Audio NBC News- Alabama police announce charges in Carlee Russell kidnapping hoax (2023) ABC 33/40- Carlee Russell 911 call-released from Hoover PD (2023) 11Alive- Police read full statement from Carlee Russell's attorney regarding her disappearance (2023)