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Wondery

The Vanished is a true crime podcast that explores the stories of those who have gone missing. The Vanished goes beyond conventional news reports to take a deep dive into the story of a different missing person each week. Host Marissa Jones brings you exclusive interviews with family members, friends, law enforcement and experts. What will The Vanished uncover next?

Listen to The Vanished on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/the-vanished-podcast/ now.

The Vanished Podcast

On the morning of January 24, 2025, 39-year-old Heather Caras disappeared from her home in Linton, North Dakota. When she stepped outside, her two teenage sons were still at home. One of her sons later recalled that Heather said she was going to start her vehicle, but she never came back. This was out of character for Heather, who was known to be a devoted and protective mother, given that both of her boys have special needs. When she didn’t return, one of the boys walked to school to sound the alarm that something was wrong. 

The next day, Heather’s truck was found at Beaver Bay, about fifteen miles west of Linton. The scene there was strange: a set of footprints leading away from the vehicle, then abruptly ending, and a pair of shoes neatly placed in the snow.

In the days that followed, few clues emerged. Then came a statement from law enforcement claiming that Heather had “left her family and the area willingly with the assistance of an unknown acquaintance and was not known to be in any danger.” To those who knew Heather best, that theory wasn’t just out of character; it was unthinkable.

As we were preparing to cover Heather’s disappearance, news broke in late May that human remains had been found not far from Beaver Bay. They were later confirmed to be Heather’s remains, but the autopsy results left those who knew and loved her with even more questions than answers. 

If you have any information about the disappearance or death of Heather Caras, please contact the Emmons County Sheriff’s Office at 701-254-4411.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Heather Caras Part 1: Footprints in the Snow

This episode first aired on November 7, 2022. Last week, we shared the first part of Jarrod Green’s story. In September 1994, 20-year-old Jarrod disappeared from Searcy, Arkansas. In the days leading up to his disappearance, he seemed increasingly anxious and worried about his safety. During a call with his girlfriend, he was emotional but wouldn’t say what was wrong. Around the same time, he retrieved a gun from a friend, telling them he needed it for protection. Jarrod told his family he had plans to meet someone that night, but he never returned home. His car was found days later in a store parking lot in Searcy.

In this episode, we will explore the people in Jarrod’s circle before he went missing and the possible roles they may have played in his disappearance.

If you want to get involved, please join Shannon's group, Justice for Jarrod, on Facebook. 

If you have any information regarding Jarrod Green’s disappearance, please contact the Searcy Police Department at (501) 268-3531.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Replay: Jarrod Green Part 2 - Above the Law

This episode first aired on October 31, 2022. On September 30, 1994, 20-year-old Jarrod Green disappeared from Searcy, Arkansas. That night, he told his family he had plans to meet someone. During a phone call with his girlfriend, he sounded upset but refused to explain what was wrong. Earlier that week, Jarrod had retrieved a gun he had previously loaned to a friend, saying he needed it for protection. He never made it home and was never seen or heard from again.

A few days later, Jarrod’s car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a local store. The doors were unlocked, the windows were rolled down, and the keys were on the floor. His disappearance quickly went cold. His family heard little from law enforcement and felt as though the case had been forgotten.

Over time, disturbing stories began to circulate. Less than a year later, another person connected to Jarrod vanished. Another reportedly took his own life after confessing to being involved in Jarrod’s death. Years later, a group of new detectives decided to reexamine the case, and for the first time in decades, there was movement.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jarrod Green, please contact the Searcy Police Department at (501) 268-3531.

You can follow developments in Jarrod's case on Facebook at Justice for Jarrod. 

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Replay: Jarrod Green Part 1 - Retribution

Whitney Wilken had always been known as a free spirit to those who loved her. She grew up in South Dakota but later moved west to Olympia, Washington. Life in Olympia wasn’t always easy for Whitney, and the distance made it hard for her family to know what was going on in her day-to-day life. Still, they stayed connected, and her family could always count on hearing from her.

Then, in October of 2019, the calls from Whitney stopped. Her family reached out to friends in Olympia who went to look for her, but it was as if Whitney had vanished without a trace. No one seemed to know where she had gone or why. When Whitney was reported missing to the Olympia Police Department, their search yielded few answers, and the questions only grew heavier with time. In the years that followed, new information surfaced that raised even more concern. Other women in the same area, with circumstances similar to Whitney’s, had been victimized, leading investigators to consider whether her disappearance might be connected to something much darker.

Six years later, Whitney’s loved ones are still waiting for answers. They hope that by sharing her story, someone out there might remember seeing or hearing something that could finally bring them closer to finding her.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Whitney Wilken, please contact the Olympia Police Department. For urgent or time-sensitive tips, call 911 or the non-emergency line at (360) 704-2740. For other information, please call (360) 753-8300 and ask to speak with the detective sergeant assigned to Whitney’s case.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Whitney Wilken

On January 23, 1999, 2-year-old Teekah Lewis vanished from New Frontier Lanes bowling alley in Tacoma, Washington. That night, Teekah was there with her mother, Theresa, and several other relatives. She was playing in the arcade when her mother briefly looked away to bowl. When Theresa turned back, Teekah was gone. Panic set in as family members searched every corner of the building, hoping she had simply wandered out of sight, but Teekah was nowhere to be found. Police were called, and despite extensive searches, no trace of Teekah surfaced.

Witnesses offered only fragments of clues. One recalled a maroon Pontiac speeding out of the parking lot around the time Teekah disappeared. Another described a suspicious man inside the bowling alley who had followed a child toward an exit that evening. He was able to give a detailed description of the man, including that he had a pockmarked face. Then, more accounts emerged of unsettling incidents involving children at or around New Frontier Lanes, raising the possibility that the bowling alley and the surrounding neighborhood may have been used as a hunting ground by a predator or predators. For decades, those scraps of information were all investigators and Teekah’s family had to go on, but in 2025, Teekah's case finally began to gain momentum. 

Through it all, Teekah’s mother has never stopped searching for answers. Theresa has worked tirelessly to keep her daughter’s story alive for nearly 27 years, clinging to the hope that someone may have taken Teekah to raise as their own, a far easier thought than the darker alternatives. Today, she wants what any mother in her position would: the truth about what happened to her little girl, and the chance to bring her home.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Teekah Lewis, please contact the Tacoma Police Department at 253-287-4455 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Teekah Lewis

In late February of 2024, 46-year-old Samantha Tolbert vanished from Carroll County, Georgia, a rural area in western Georgia, along the Alabama state line. At first, Samantha’s absence didn’t raise an alarm. She kept in touch with her daughter, but it wasn’t unusual for some time to pass between calls. 

That all changed on March 7, 2024, when deputies from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call in Tyus, a small community in Carroll County. There, they discovered Samantha’s ex-husband was deceased. What stood out immediately was that the vehicle he had driven to the scene wasn’t his; it was Samantha’s truck, but she was nowhere to be found.

Investigators attempted to contact Samantha because she was the registered owner of the vehicle, but all efforts to reach her were unsuccessful. Friends and family they contacted said they hadn’t heard from her either. In that moment, the troubling truth came into focus: not only was Samantha’s ex-husband dead, but Samantha herself was missing. Suddenly, two stories collided, one ending in death, the other vanished. With Samantha’s ex-husband no longer alive, investigators were left with a haunting mystery: what really happened in those final days, and what secrets did he take with him?

If you have any information about the disappearance of Samantha Tolbert, please contact Investigator Amber Cardell with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office at 770-830-5916 or email acardell@carrollsheriffga.gov.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Samantha Tolbert

In the northern Alberta town of Slave Lake, the nights in late December are long and unforgiving. On December 28, 2019, 27-year-old Joel Judd was staying with a relative in town. By the end of that evening, he had set out for a night out. By the next morning, he was gone, and no one ever saw or heard from Joel again.

That night in Slave Lake, Joel went to a local bar where he spent time with other patrons. As the night wore on, Joel left with a few of them. On their way to one person’s home, they stopped at a local inn to purchase alcohol. Joel phoned his uncle and told him he was with a friend. Eventually, the group arrived at the home, where the party continued late into the night. At some point in the early morning hours, according to those present, Joel got up and walked out. No one saw where he went, and he never came back.

When Joel failed to return to his uncle's, his family grew concerned and later reported him missing. Investigators traced his steps, using banking records to confirm who he had been with that night, which led them to a house on Whitetail Way, a few miles west of Slave Lake’s city limits. Despite extensive searches of the property and the surrounding area, no sign of Joel has ever been found.

Nearly six years later, his family is still searching for answers. Why did Joel leave that home in the middle of the night? Did something happen after he stepped outside? Is it even true that he walked out on his own? Or did something occur at that house party that has never been revealed? 

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Joel Judd, please contact Slave Lake RCMP at 780-849-3045 and reference case#202015563. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joel Judd

In northern Alberta, long roads cut through forest and farmland, connecting small, close-knit communities. It was along these highways in the summer of 2016 that 43-year-old Conrad Jason Ducharme, known to family and friends simply as Jason, was last seen.

Jason was believed to be traveling on foot to Dixonville for a tent meeting. He made it there and was later spotted in Manning. But after that, his trail went cold. Known for walking long distances and sometimes catching rides, Jason often stayed with friends or relatives scattered along his route. At first, his family assumed he was with someone else. Only later did they realize no one had seen him, and by then, his trail was already fading.

What alarmed them most was that Jason missed his son’s birthday at the end of July, something completely out of character. Nearly a decade later, no trace of Jason has ever been found. His family continues to hold onto hope that answers may still come, and that by sharing Jason's story, someone who remembers something might step forward.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Conrad Jason Ducharme, please contact the Manning RCMP at 780-836-3769 and reference case#: 2016-1416531. Or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at canadiancrimestoppers.org.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Conrad Jason Ducharme

Last week, we introduced you to the story of Blake Nex, who vanished from his home in Claremont, California, in March of 1993. At his house in Palmer Canyon, his family found groceries still sitting on the counter, his cats left inside, and no sign of Blake. Weeks later, his truck was discovered parked at Ontario International Airport, which led some to believe he had left willingly. But with no investigation opened by law enforcement at the time, the case quickly went cold and his family was left to search for answers on their own.

In Part 2, we pick up decades later, when Blake’s brother Royse connected online with Andrea, a woman halfway across the world who had stumbled upon Blake’s case. Their connection reignited the search, and together they began piecing together fragments of memory, long-circulating rumors, and theories that had lingered for years. In this episode, we follow those threads to explore what people close to Blake remember, what they suspect, and the whispers of activities he may have been involved in before he disappeared.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Blake Nex, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500.

For more information, visit findblakenex.com.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Blake Nex Part 2: Unraveling the Threads

In March of 1993, 37-year-old Blake Nex vanished from his home in Claremont, California. Blake’s family grew concerned when they couldn’t reach him, so a relative went to check his house. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. There were no signs of a struggle or forced entry, but the scene inside Blake’s home told an even stranger story. Groceries were still sitting on the counter, as if Blake had just come home from the store and been plucked out of his life in the middle of an ordinary day. His cats were left behind to fend for themselves, along with five hundred dollars in cash, but Blake himself was nowhere to be found.

A couple of weeks later, Blake’s truck turned up in the parking lot of a local airport. No one could say when it had been left there or by whom. Then, after his disappearance, Blake’s home was broken into. An answering machine, toolbox, and several expensive bicycles were stolen, only adding to the mystery.

When Blake’s family reported him missing, they felt the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department brushed off their concerns. At the time, department policies didn’t require them to take reports for missing adults, and they considered Blake to be voluntarily missing. Nearly two decades would slip by before law enforcement finally took up the case. By then, Blake’s trail had gone ice cold. Any evidence that could have revealed what happened to Blake was already gone, swallowed by time and by the investigation that never began.

Now, decades later, Blake's loved ones are determined to reignite the search for answers, holding onto the hope that the truth about his disappearance can still be uncovered.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Blake Nex, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500. 

For more information, visit https://www.findblakenex.com, where you can learn more about his case and reach out to his loved ones who are still searching for answers.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Blake Nex Part 1: The Spark

Kelsie Schelling has been missing since February of 2013. She had recently found out that she was expecting and while she was excited to become a mom, the father of her child, Donthe Lucas, was not so thrilled. She texted an ultrasound picture to Donthe shortly before she vanished. Upon seeing the photo, he encouraged her to travel from Denver down to Pueblo to visit him. Supposedly, he had a surprise that he wanted to show her. Kelsie made the trip to Pueblo but she never made it home. She left behind a trail of text messages and her car was seen on multiple surveillance videos in the Pueblo area. Where is Kelsie and why has no one been prosecuted?

December 2017 Update: Donthe Lucas has been charged with Kelsie's murder. Read more here: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/donthe-lucas-charged-with-first-degree-murder-in-kelsie-schelling-disappearance

March 2021 Update: On March 8, 2021, Donthe Lucas was found guilty of first degree murder.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kelsie Schelling

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