Persons Unknown
92 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsA true crime podcast dedicated to unsolved murders and disappearances. Based in Wales, UK. Covering cases from Wales, the rest of the UK and the wider world.
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Episodes
Phillip Saunders (Unsolved Murder)
September 19, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBSend us a Text Message. 52 year old Phillip Saunders owned several newsagent kiosks around Cardiff city centre. On the evening of October 12th 1987 he completed his daily routine by collecting the takings from his kiosk near the Central Bus Station. After a quick drink in a local pub he headed by car back to his home in nearby Canton. As he walked from the car into his garden Phillip was brutally attacked and robbed. He died from his injuries five days later. The next month three teenaged m...
Marilyn Wallman (Unsolved Murder)
September 05, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBSend us a Text Message. 21st March 1972, in hot rural Queensland it was sports day at North Mackay High. 14 year old Marilyn Wallman set off on her push bike just before 7.45am to catch the bus to school. The teenager never made it to the stop. Her two younger brothers, who had left the house 10 minutes later, found her bike discarded on the side of the road, 800m from home, its front wheel still spinning. Marilyn was nowhere to be seen and a grieving family’s decades-long quest for answers...
Kayo Matsuzawa (Unsolved Murder)
August 22, 2022 04:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBSend us a Text Message. Kayo Matsuzawa had always wanted to travel overseas. In November 1997 she finally got her wish and left her home in Japan for a year-long visit to Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island. Ten months into her stay, on 11th September 1998, the 29 year old flew to Auckland on the North Island for a short break. Kayo booked into a hostel and set out to discover what the country’s largest city had to offer. CCTV footage shows Kayo walking through the city centre just ...
Dennis Martin (Missing Person)
August 08, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBSend us a Text Message. Every Father’s Day the males in the Martin family would head to the Smoky Mountains National Park for a weekend of camping and hiking. The weekend of the 14th June 1969 was to be the first such trip for 6 year old Dennis, who was very excited about the little adventure. At the campsite Dennis, together with his older brother Douglas and two friends, decided to play a prank on the grown-ups. Dennis disappeared into the bushes, while the other boys went in the opposite...
Iris Watkins (Unsolved Murder)
July 25, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBSend us a Text Message. It was a damp August evening in 1925 when 21 year old Iris Watkins made her way to the post box at the end of the lane. The two letters that she posted made it to their destination the next day, but Iris never returned home. The small South Wales town of Blackwood became a hive of activity, with many locals joining in the search and the community full of rumours regarding what had happened to the young shop assistant. A little over a month later Iris’s body was found...
Yvonne Fitt (Unsolved Murder)
July 11, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 33 MBSend us a Text Message. The last official sighting of Yvonne Fitt was on 16th January 1992 when she signed on for benefits at the Bradford DSS offices. Following this the 33 year old single mother seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Over the late spring and summer of that year a few sporadic sightings of Yvonne were reported around Leeds and Bradford, sometimes in the company of an unidentified man. Then in September 1992 her body was found in woodland in the Yorkshire Dales, a half h...
Elsie Frost (Unsolved Murder)
June 27, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.6 MBSend us a Text Message. It was a Saturday afternoon in October 1965 and 14 year old Elsie Frost spent it as she had many others before; sailing on Horbury Lagoon in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. At around four o’clock in the afternoon she moored the boat and said goodbye to her instructor to make her way home on foot. The teenager hadn’t gone far when she was attacked and murdered in a tunnel that passed under a railway line. For decades the case lay dormant but Elsie’s siblings never gave up ...
Lily Volpert (Unsolved Murder)
June 13, 2022 04:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBSend us a Text Message. It was a rainy March evening in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff. 41 year old Lily Volpert was sitting down to her evening meal when there was a knock at the shop door. It had been a long day serving customers but she didn’t like letting people down and besides, 1952 had been a tough year so far and every penny counted. She headed back into the front of her shop to see what was wanted. Twenty minutes later the well-loved and respected shopkeeper was found dead; her thro...
Danilovsky Murders (Unsolved Serial Murders)
May 30, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Svetlana Stepanova was enjoying a leisurely walk to the beach with her sister and friend when in the blink of an eye the trio found themselves in a living nightmare. In a matter of seconds Svetlana was attacked and murdered, after lagging just a short distance behind her companions. The death of the 19 year old would would expose further crimes and bring to attention a terrifyingly bold serial killer who stalked the desolate waste grounds of the Russian city of Chere...
Katrice Lee (Missing Person)
May 16, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutes - 25.5 MBSend us a Text Message. It should have been a happy day. The 28th November 1981 saw the Lee family, celebrating the second birthday of their youngest daughter, Katrice. The Lees lived in West Germany as Richard, Katrice’s Father, was stationed there with the British Army. A party was planned later that day but first they needed some supplies from the British Forces supermarket. During the short trip the toddler was out of sight for a matter of seconds, but it was long enough for Katrice to...
John Gill (Unsolved Murder)
May 02, 2022 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBSend us a Text Message. A couple of days after Christmas 1888, seven year old John Gill got up early, as he did most mornings, to assist local milk man William Barrett with his deliveries around the area of Manningham in Bradford. It was an icy morning so John was wrapped up warm as the horse and cart trundled off and he waved goodbye to his mother. John was never to return. 48 hours later his mutilated remains were discovered in a stable close to his home. The young man who had stumbled up...
Emilie Meng (Unsolved Murder)
April 04, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.6 MBSend us a Text Message. It was approaching 4.00am when a train pulled into Korsor station on the island of Zealand in Denmark. 17 year old Emilie Meng and her friends had been on a night out in a neighbouring town to celebrate the end of their 2016 summer exams. The two friends got into a taxi but Emilie decided to walk the short distance from the station back to her home. She never made it back and for the next six months her disappearance gripped the nation, with dozens of sightings of he...
Lee Boxell and Kevin Hicks (Missing Persons)
March 21, 2022 05:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBSend us a Text Message. 16 year old Kevin Hicks vanished on a Sunday evening in March 1986 after going on an errand to the local corner shop. Two and a half years later 15 year old Lee Boxell disappeared on a Saturday afternoon, he was thought to be on his way to watch a football match. Both boys lived relatively close to each other in neighbouring boroughs of South London. Neither of the boys have been seen since and their families continue to search for the truth. In the last decade polic...
Alexander Men (Unsolved Murder)
March 07, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBSend us a Text Message. The murder of Father Alexander Men was one of the defining moments of the last years of the Soviet Union. One Sunday morning in September 1990 on his journey to lead Mass the 55 year old priest was struck down with an axe by unidentified assailants. Father Men was a much-loved parish priest, an influential theologian and somewhat of of a celebrity, but he had many detractors. The KGB, Russian Nationalists and conservative elements within the Orthodox Church have all ...
Vera Page (Unsolved Murder)
February 21, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MBSend us a Text Message. This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen. There was nothing that Vera Page loved more in the world than swimming at the Lancaster Road Baths, in Notting Hill, West London. The 10 year old was proud of her achievements in the pool, especially of the two certificates she had just been awarded. On Monday the 14th of December 1931, Vera got home from school and headed two minutes down the road to her...
Mary Phagan (Open Investigation)
February 07, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBSend us a Text Message. Like many children living in Atlanta, Georgia in the early twentieth century, thirteen year old Mary Phagan no longer went to school. Instead she regularly worked ten hour days to help put food on her family’s table. Life was tough but the morning of 26th April 1913 Mary awoke excited; it was a holiday and she was looking forward to the parade later that afternoon. First she had to run an errand and collect her pay from the National Pencil Factory where she worked. M...
Anne Noblett (Unsolved Murder)
January 24, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Anne Noblett was last seen alive at 6.03pm on 30th December 1957. The 17 year old had just returned from a rock and roll dance class in a neighbouring village. She vanished on the short walk from the bus stop to her family's home on Marshall Heath Lane in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. A month later, her body was found in a secluded woodland around 17km away. Anne was fully clothed and her arms had been placed across her chest. Silver and gold coins adorned the groun...
Richey Edwards (Missing Person)
January 10, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBSend us a Text Message. This episode deals with issues including suicide, self-harm and anorexia. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen. When the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers walked off stage at the London Astoria on 21st December 1994, they left in their wake a mangled mess of guitars and amps. The band had signed off their last date on tour by smashing their instruments, which, in hindsight, signaled the end of an era. 6 weeks later, troubled lyricist and driving f...
Sandra Phillips (Unsolved Murder)
December 27, 2021 05:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBSend us a Text Message. A crowd quickly gathered outside the Private Shop on Dilwyn Street, Swansea, following news of the horrific and shocking events of the morning. The body of 38 year old shop manager Sandra Phillips had been found inside in a pool of blood. The mother of four had been sexually assaulted, bludgeoned and strangled. Two homeless brothers, Wayne and Paul Darvell were among the onlookers in the crowd and were quickly arrested for the crime. This was the beginning of a dark...
Vishal Mehrotra (Unsolved Murder)
December 13, 2021 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBSend us a Text Message. This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen. The Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in July 1981 brought two million people to the streets of London. It was a day of street parties and celebration for many in the UK but for the Mehrotra family, it was the start of a nightmare that has never ended. 8 year old Vishal disappeared shortly after returning to Putney from the family excursion into...
Alistair Wilson (Unsolved Murder)
November 29, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Nairn is a small Highland town situated on the North East coast of Scotland. In 2004 it was the home of Alistair and Veronica Wilson and their two young boys. At the end of November that year, 30 year old Alistair was about to begin his last week working for the Bank of Scotland before starting a new job. It was a Sunday evening, the Wilson children had just been bathed and Alistair was reading them a bedtime story when the front doorbell rang. Veronica went downstai...
Rose Harsent (Unsolved Murder)
November 15, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBSend us a Text Message. Providence House lay in the picturesque village of Peasenhall in East Suffolk. The large property was owned by Mr and Mrs Crisp and in 1900 Rose Harsent, a young local woman, came to live and work as their domestic servant. Rose was a colourful character with a love of music and she attracted a fair amount of male attention. The night of the 31st May 1902 witnessed a fierce storm, and as the wind howled and thunder roared Rose sat on her bed waiting for a visitor. Th...
Billie-Jo Jenkins (Unsolved Murder)
November 01, 2021 02:00 - 47 minutes - 32.8 MBSend us a Text Message. A move from London to the South Coast seemed like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start for Billie-Jo. The 9 year old had not had the easiest start to life and found herself placed into foster care with Lois and Sion Jenkins and their four daughters in London. Coincidentally Billie -Jo shared her foster family's last name. The family relocated to Hastings for Sion's new job as a deputy head teacher and Billie-Jo was happy go with them and leave the capital behin...
Redhead Murders (Unsolved Serial Murders)
October 18, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 25.8 MBSend us a Text Message. In the mid 1980’s the bodies of numerous murdered women and girls were found alongside Interstates across the Bible Belt. Many of the victims remained Jane Does for decades, and even today some are unidentified. Most were vulnerable individuals, hitchhiking far from home. The most striking commonality was that they all had red hair. There has been much debate over whether this may be coincidence or if it is the work of an unknown serial killer. Thirty years later, a...
The Frog Boys (Unsolved Multiple Murder)
October 04, 2021 04:00 - 31 minutes - 21.8 MBSend us a Text Message. March 26th 1991 witnessed the first local elections in South Korea for three decades. The country was a hive of activity and five school friends, all boys aged between 9 and 13, decided to take advantage of the day off from school and go on an adventure together. U Cheol Won, Jo Ho-Yeon, Kim Yeong-Gyu, Park Chan-In, and Kim Jong-Sik set off at 9am and headed towards the wooded slopes of Mount Waryong, which lay just a couple of kilometres from their homes on the wes...
BONUS MINISODE: Joyce Cox (Unsolved Murder)
September 27, 2021 04:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBSend us a Text Message. Just a few weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War, 4 year old Joyce Cox was found murdered near a disused railway station in Cardiff, South Wales. Joyce had disappeared on her usual lunch time walk home from school on the 28th September 1939. Her body was found the following day. For decades the case has been shrouded in mystery, and there has been talk of a cover up, but in 2017 the police finally broke their silence on the case. Follow Persons Unknown o...
Muriel Drinkwater (Unsolved Murder)
September 20, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBSend us a Text Message. The school bus dropped Muriel Drinkwater at her usual stop, leaving her to walk the last part of her journey home to the family farm in Penllergaer, West Wales. The 12 year old loved to sing and there was a skip in her step as she started on the winding path through the forest. Just before she entered the woods she looked up to see the farm in the distance. Her mother was in the kitchen and they exchanged a wave before Muriel disappeared from view. Muriel never made...
Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy (Unsolved Multiple Murder)
September 06, 2021 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Three siblings: Michael, 29, Norah, 27, and Ellen, 18, set off for a Boxing Day dance at the small Queensland town of Gatton. The year was 1898 and their mode of transport was a sulky, a small horse-drawn carriage. They arrived at the hall to find the dance cancelled and, feeling disappointed, began to make their way back to the family farm. The following morning, when they failed to return, their brother-in-law was sent to search for them. He found the three sibling...
April Fabb (Missing Person)
August 23, 2021 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBSend us a Text Message. April chatted with some friends as she fussed over Judy the Donkey in a field in the hamlet of Metton, Norfolk. It was a couple of days after Easter 1969 and the 13 year old had stopped at “Donkey Field” on her way to her eldest sister’s house in the neighbouring village of Roughton. After a short time April was back on her bicycle and on her way. April never made it to her sister’s house and she has not been seen or heard from since that day. Sources British ne...
MINISODE: Clocaenog Forest Man (Unidentified Murder Victim)
August 16, 2021 04:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MBTwo brothers travelled to the Clocaenog forest in North Wales in 2015 to watch a stage of the Wales rally GB event. Although it was well into November they decided to brave the wintry Welsh weather and wild camp in the forest rather than stay in a hotel or hostel. On their first night, whilst searching for firewood amongst the trees, they stumbled upon some bones that were very obviously human remains. So began the mystery of the Clocaenog Forest Man. Sources https://locate.internatio...
BONUS MINISODE: Clocaenog Forest Man (Unidentified Murder Victim)
August 16, 2021 04:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBSend us a Text Message. Two brothers travelled to the Clocaenog forest in North Wales in 2015 to watch a stage of the Wales rally GB event. Although it was well into November they decided to brave the wintry Welsh weather and wild camp in the forest rather than stay in a hotel or hostel. On their first night, whilst searching for firewood amongst the trees, they stumbled upon some bones that were very obviously human remains. So began the mystery of the Clocaenog Forest Man. Sources ...
Cheri Jo Bates (Unsolved Murder)
August 09, 2021 04:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBSend us a Text Message. On Halloween 1966, Joseph Bates awoke early in the morning to find that his 18 year old daughter, Cheri Jo, had not slept in her bed the previous night. Cheri had been studying in the River City College library and it was completely out of character for her to stay out all night, so Joseph contacted the police. A short time later Cheri’s body was found face-down in an alleyway on the college campus. There was evidence of a struggle and Cheri had been stabbed multi...
Gareth Williams (Mysterious Death)
July 26, 2021 04:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MBSend us a Text Message. GCHQ, the UK government’s intelligence and cyber agency, recruited Welsh-born Gareth Williams in 2000 when he was still at university completing a PHD. He had come to their attention due to his extraordinary intellect, problem solving abilities and computer wizardry. By the time Gareth was 31 he had spent a decade protecting the national security of the UK and had been involved in several projects and missions of global importance. In August 2010 whilst he was on sec...
Gareth Williams
July 26, 2021 04:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBGCHQ, the UK government’s intelligence and cyber agency, recruited Welsh-born Gareth Williams in 2000 when he was still at university completing a PHD. He had come to their attention due to his extraordinary intellect, problem solving abilities and computer wizardry. By the time Gareth was 31 he had spent a decade protecting the national security of the UK and had been involved in several projects and missions of global importance. In August 2010 whilst he was on secondment with MI6, the sec...
Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza
July 12, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBOver an 18 month period between 1971 and 1973 three girls aged 10 and 11 years old were abducted and murdered in the City of Rochester upstate New York, USA. Their names were Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza. They all had first and second names that began with the same initial, and each girl’s body was found in a town which began with the same initial as their name. Sources: amp.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/26/alphabet-murderer www.unsolvedcasebook.com/the-alpha...
Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza (Unsolved Serial Murders)
July 12, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBSend us a Text Message. Over an 18 month period between 1971 and 1973 three girls aged 10 and 11 years old were abducted and murdered in the City of Rochester upstate New York, USA. Their names were Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz and Michelle Maenza. They all had first and second names that began with the same initial, and each girl’s body was found in a town which began with the same initial as their name. Sources: amp.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/26/alphabet-murderer www.unsol...
Carol Stephens (Unsolved Murder)
June 28, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBSend us a Text Message. It was the school holidays in April 1959 when the bubbly and confident 6 year old Carol Stephens was sent by her mum on an errand to the local shop in the Cathays area of Cardiff. When she returned she quickly dropped off the shopping and hurried back out of the front door determined not to let the rainy Welsh weather stifle her fun. Carol never came home and two weeks later her tiny body was found in a remote area of West Wales 90 km from her home. Sources: https...
Carol Stephens
June 28, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBIt was the school holidays in April 1959 when the bubbly and confident 6 year old Carol Stephens was sent by her mum on an errand to the local shop in the Cathays area of Cardiff. When she returned she quickly dropped off the shopping and hurried back out of the front door determined not to let the rainy Welsh weather stifle her fun. Carol never came home and two weeks later her tiny body was found in a remote area of West Wales 90 km from her home. Sources: https://www.britishnewspaperar...
Trevaline Evans (Missing Person)
June 14, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MBSend us a Text Message. During the summer of 1990, in Llangollen, North Wales, 52 year old antiques dealer Trevaline Evans put a sign on her shop door which read “back in 2 minutes”. She popped across to a local market stall and purchased some fruit for her lunch. Around an hour and a half later a witness saw Trevaline walking near her home, a short distance from her shop. There have been no confirmed sightings of Trevaline since then. Did she choose to disappear? Was there an unfortunate a...
Trevaline Evans
June 14, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBDuring the summer of 1990, in Llangollen, North Wales, 52 year old antiques dealer Trevaline Evans put a sign on her shop door which read “back in 2 minutes”. She popped across to a local market stall and purchased some fruit for her lunch. Around an hour and a half later a witness saw Trevaline walking near her home, a short distance from her shop. There have been no confirmed sightings of Trevaline since then. Did she choose to disappear? Was there an unfortunate accident? Or was she the v...
Jean Chalinder (Unsolved Murder)
June 04, 2021 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBSend us a Text Message. On a Saturday afternoon in September 1956 Jean Chalinder took advantage of her day off from work and headed out on her bicycle. She had decided to make her way to some farmland just a half-hours ride away from her home in the Penylan area of Cardiff. It should have been a pleasant time picking blackberries in the beautiful Welsh countryside and enjoying the autumnal sights and fresh air. What actually transpired was one of the most brutal murders the Welsh capital ...
Jean Chalinder
June 04, 2021 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBOn a Saturday afternoon in September 1956 Jean Chalinder took advantage of her day off from work and headed out on her bicycle. She had decided to make her way to some farmland just a half-hours ride away from her home in the Penylan area of Cardiff. It should have been a pleasant time picking blackberries in the beautiful Welsh countryside and enjoying the autumnal sights and fresh air. What actually transpired was one of the most brutal murders the Welsh capital had ever witnessed and a ...