The Vanished Podcast

Shane Sprenger disappeared from Vida, Oregon, on November 2, 2021. Shane was a contractor, and on that day, he was working at a job site near McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. Around 9:30 am, Shane left the job and returned to his home in Vida. No one ever saw Shane again. In the days following his disappearance, Shane's truck was found abandoned on a logging road near the Blue River Reservoir, about 16 miles away from his home. The area where they found the vehicle was one of Shane's favorite mushroom picking spots. It was suggested by some people close to Shane that maybe he had gone mushroom picking and got lost. However, it was later discovered that Shane planned to return to the job site to meet with a subcontractor. It did not make sense that Shane would have stopped to pick mushrooms because all clues indicated that he was planning to return to work after a quick break. Shane's family in Minnesota had no idea that anything was wrong until they got a phone several days after Shane vanished. They made the tr

In mid-June of 2017, 36-year-old Antonio Vela spent an evening hanging out at a local bar in Victoria, Texas. He left right before closing and told the bartender that he planned to grab some food and head home for the night. Hours later, Antonio’s roommate woke up and was getting ready for the day when he decided to take the trash out. He exited the home through the garage, where he found a strange scene. Antonio’s car wasn’t there, but his snacks and phone were lying on the ground. That was when he realized that Antonio wasn’t home and that something wasn’t right. Antonio’s roommate started calling around and asking on social media if anyone had seen him. As Antonio’s family learned he was missing, they began frantically searching for him. More than four and a half years have passed, and they are still searching for answers.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Antonio Vela Jr., who also goes by TJ or Speshul Ed, please contact the Victoria Police Department at 361-485-3700 or Crimestopp

On December 7, 1971, 16-year-old Jamie Grissim left her home in Vancouver, Washington, to catch the bus to school. Jamie attended classes but got out early because she only had two classes scheduled on that particular day. Jamie had told her foster mother that she would walk home and expected to be there around 1 PM. Jamie never made it home and was never seen or heard from again. Jamie’s family was concerned, but local police assumed she was simply a runaway. Months later, in the spring of 1972, some of Jamie’s belongings turned up strewn alongside a country road in rural Clark County, Washington. Then, as the years wore on, more young women began to disappear from the area, and it became apparent that this was much more serious than a teenager who had run away from home.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Jamie Grissim or the other unsolved cases we discussed in this episode, please contact the Clark County Sheriff’s Office at 564-397-2211.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you

On December 25, 2017, 28-year-old Ever Orozco left his sister's home in Weld County, Colorado, headed for New Mexico with his girlfriend. They had planned to pack up their belongings and move back to Colorado to start a new life away from the shady characters that had surrounded Ever's life for the past few years. But Ever never made it back to start that new life and wouldn't be seen or heard from again. In fact, leads dried up quickly after he vanished. When he was found deceased at the top of a mountain nearly three years later, his family and law enforcement were left with very few clues but no shortage of questions.If you have any information about the disappearance and death of Ever Orozco, please call the Weld County Sheriff's Office at (970) 400-2836 or the Cibola County Sheriff's Office at (505) 876-2040.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.co

Laynee Westbrook disappeared from Anacortes, Washington, on September 10, 2020. She was seen on surveillance video exiting her home shortly after 7 PM that evening. She had her beloved dog, Precious, with her. Laynee got into a white truck with a man, and the two drove off together. Not long after, Laynee was again spotted on video surveillance, this time at a gas station just under 8 miles away. After that, Laynee and her dog, Precious vanished into the night, and more than 16 months later, the search for answers continues.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Laynee Westbrook and her dog, Precious, please contact the Anacortes Police at 360-293-4684 or the APD tip line 360-299-1985.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at

34-year-old Patrick Chapman was last seen on Mother's Day of 2020. He texted his mom, sister, and ex-wife to wish them a happy Mother's Day. Later that day, Patrick stopped by his ex-wife's house in St. Charles, Missouri. Then, Patrick made the nearly 3 hour trip to Mill Spring, Missouri, where he planned to stay with the family of a woman he had recently been dating. They claimed that Patrick seemed to be acting strange that night, and by the following morning, Patrick and his vehicle were gone. It would be several more weeks before Patrick's friends and family learned anything was amiss, after the last people to see Patrick reported him missing. What has occurred since that time has been a bizarre string of events, and Patrick's loved ones have been trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together in order to find him.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Patrick Chapman, please contact Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E at (573) 609-4439 or the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 573-22

On June 18, 1985, a man walked into the Bellevue Police Department in Washington to report his 36-year-old wife, Julianne Jaillet, missing. He couldn't recall exactly when he'd last seen her but thought it might have been at the end of May or the beginning of June. He told police that he and his wife of five months had gotten into an argument, and she said she was leaving him, packed her belongings, and walked out. When asked why he hadn't reported Julianne missing in over two weeks, he said he thought she'd come back, that she'd been known to leave for a few days in the past, but never for this long. Things took a strange twist when some of Julianne's belongings were found in a hotel several states away. More than 36 years later, what happened to Julianne remains a mystery.If you have any information about Julianne's disappearance, please call the Bellevue Police Department at 425-452-6917.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show,

25-year-old Shelton Sanders had everything going for him. He was about to graduate from the University of South Carolina in the coming months. Shelton had big career aspirations and the talent to match. At the time, Shelton lived with his family in Rembert, SC, and would make the 45-minute commute back and forth to school and work in Columbia each day. On June 19th, 2001, Shelton left home to attend classes and work his part-time job at the university. After work, Shelton and a friend were looking at hotels for a friend’s upcoming bachelor party. Shelton was supposed to be the best man at the wedding. The two went to three different hotels, and the friend said that Shelton dropped him off at his home and then left to drive back home to Rembert. After that, it was like Shelton and the vehicle he was driving vanished into thin air. By the following day, Shelton’s family was alarmed when they realized he hadn’t made it home. This was not like Shelton. Concerns quickly turned to the possibility of an accident dur

29-year-old Lonene Rogers, or Lonnie, spent January 6, 1981, working as a maid at a hotel. Afterward, she stopped by the babysitter's house to pick up her two young children. Lonnie made it back to her house in Hayfield Township, Pennsylvania. That evening, Lonnie's husband claims that the two had argued. His story was that he last saw Lonnie around 12:45 AM when he went to bed. He awoke in the early morning hours of January 7 to find that Lonnie was gone. Missing along with Lonnie was her coat, jeans, and boots. Other essential items were left behind at the house, including her car, keys, and purse. But this wasn't a night that someone would choose to walk away from their home or take a casual stroll around the neighborhood. It was freezing cold, and a storm blanketed the area with snow. What could have happened to Lonnie? Lonnie is still missing more than 40 years later, and her case remains unsolved.Any persons with information regarding Lonnie's disappearance are urged to call Pennsylvania State Police at

26-year-old Keith Roberson worked as an oil field flowback supervisor outside Ozona, Texas. In early September 2018, Keith Roberson's mother received a phone call she wasn't expecting. Keith had not shown up for work, which was out of character. Keith's mom made her way to Ozona to begin searching for her son. She learned that on the evening of September 5, Keith had been driving eastbound on Interstate 10, a long stretch of highway that crosses the entire continental United States. Keith was in a vast, desolate area in between many tiny Texas towns, nearest the city of Sonora, when his car crossed the median to the westbound side, struck an oncoming vehicle, and ended up off the westbound side of the road. But when police arrived, Keith wasn't in his vehicle. No one has seen or heard from Keith since.If you have any information about the disappearance of Steven "Keith" Roberson, please contact the Texas Department of Public Safety. You can reach them online at iwatchtx.org or call them at 1-844-643-2251. Kei

On Thursday, October 11, 2018, Melanie Meleney went out to a nail salon with a girlfriend. Her friend dropped Melanie off, and surveillance cameras at the Chesapeake Glen Apartments in Glen Burnie, Maryland, captured Melanie walking into the building where she shared an apartment with her boyfriend. Melanie was never seen exiting the apartment building. However, the cameras didn’t capture high-quality images, and they couldn’t see people coming and going after dark. Melanie’s friends tried to reach her the following day but were unsuccessful. Melanie failed to show up for work on Friday evening, which was out of character. By Saturday, her friends were alarmed and decided to report Melanie missing. That was just the beginning of this long nightmare for Melanie’s loved ones.If you have any information about the disappearance and death of Melanie Meleney, please contact the Anne Arundel County Police Department at (410) 222-4731, or you can submit an anonymous tip at (410) 222-4700.Support us by supporting our

Mark Brunelle disappeared from Bellingham, Massachusetts, on February 23, 2021. Mark left home to do laundry and never returned. Mark's family quickly jumped into action to try to find him. His truck was later found at a storage facility that Mark rented, and things started to become strange. Nearly three months later, a group of kayakers found Mark's body in the Blackstone River in the nearby town of Uxbridge, several miles west of his home. But finding Mark was not the end of this mystery because the injuries to his body have left his family with more questions than answers. We have followed Mark's story from the time he went missing until now, and it only became more bizarre each step of the way. If you have any information about the death of Mark Brunelle, please call the Massachusetts State Police at 508-820-2300.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanished

We first brought you the story of Johnthan Hall just over two years ago in December 2019. On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 30-year-old Johnthan Hall went to work with his dad. The two worked together at a maintenance job in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the end of the day, his father dropped him off at home. Johnthan then left for his second job at a local billiards club not too far away. Johnthan was seen at the club that night around 7:30 PM. No one knows precisely when Johnthan left or where he may have gone. Missing along with Johnthan were the items he always carried with him in his backpack.Frustratingly, Johnthan is still missing today, but there has been one major turn of events that reignited John's case. In October of 2020, someone very close to John was arrested by Las Vegas police and accused of stabbing three people. Two of those victims died, and one survived. This was a person that some of John's family members had suspicions about in the original episode, but they were under the impression that he had

49-year-old Steve Millis disappeared from Hesperia, Michigan, on January 4, 2019. On the surface, it just seemed that Steve went to the store to buy some cat food and disappeared off of the face of the earth, but things weren't that simple. When investigators began looking into this, they were thrust into the dark underbelly of the drug world. They were trying to build a case, and each person was leading them to someone else. It felt like they were getting closer and closer to the truth, but each story was shaky. The storytellers were unreliable. They all seemed to be lying about something or had something to gain from pointing to the next person in line. Through it all, they did seem to be getting some consistent threads. Sometimes there is a bit of truth in every rumor.If you have any information about the disappearance of Steve Millis, please contact the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office at (231) 689-7303.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Listen ad-free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges

Last week, we brought you the first two installments of Steve Millis’ story. We explored Steve’s life, the night he disappeared, and several people who were rumored to be involved in his disappearance and had some sort of motive. In today’s episode, titled “Family Ties,” we are going to pick up where we left off with Teresa and how her stories tie back to some of Steve’s own family members. You see, there have been consistent stories about one person that you heard from in Part 1, one of the last known people to see Steve alive. If you have any information about the disappearance of Steve Millis, please contact the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office at (231) 689-7303.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Listen ad-free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad-free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/thevanishedIf you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: htt

Yesterday, we brought you Part 1 of Steve Millis’ story. We explored how his family realized that he had disappeared, Steve’s life, and what we know about the evening he was last seen alive. Today, we will take a look at several people who were suspected of being involved in Steve’s disappearance. You will learn that everyone has secrets of their own, making it very difficult to tell who is hiding information about Steve and who is simply hiding their own secrets. Things become murky, and no one seems to be telling the whole truth about where they were and what they were doing when Steve Millis disappeared.If you have any information about the disappearance of Steve Millis, please contact the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office at (231) 689-7303.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagr

On January 4, 2019, Steve Millis spent some time at his nephew's home before making a quick trip to a dollar store in Hesperia, Michigan. Steve was seen on video surveillance entering the store at 6:40 PM. At 6:47, Steve walked up to the counter and purchased a few cans of cat food. He smiled at the clerk, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A minute later, Steve exited the store and disappeared into the night. The Newaygo County Sheriff's Office began investigating Steve's disappearance. What they uncovered was a tangled web of stories about what happened to Steve and why. They conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and executed many search warrants, but what happened to Steve Millis remains a mystery.If you have any information about the disappearance of Steve Millis, please contact the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office at (231) 689-7303.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form:&

At the beginning of 2021, James Foster Chance disappeared from Grapevine, Texas. No one knows exactly when James was last seen. It's believed he disappeared sometime between January and March. During that time, Texas experienced a record setting winter storm, leaving most of the state without power for days. It was during this storm that it appears that James made a mysterious trip. James' family was alerted by his landlord that something was amiss. That was when they began piecing together his last movements. What they discovered left them with more questions than answers. This is a story that will leave you questioning how much you can really ever know someone. Do people only show you the side of themselves that they want you to see? What could even your closest loved ones be hiding from you?If you have any information about the disappearance of James Foster Chance, please call the Grapevine Police Department at 817-470-8127 or send them an email at cidmail@grapevinetexas.gov.Support us by supporting our sp

We first aired Johnathan Hamilton's story in a two-part series in October of 2017. At the time, we left off with Johnathan's case considered suspended. The Bastrop Police Department believed that they had run down all of the leads, and there was nothing else left to investigate. They believed that Johnathan wasn't in Bastrop. Investigators told Angie that Johnathan wanted to leave his life behind, he was capable, and likely getting insulin from charity programs. Johnathan's mother, Angie, persisted and never gave up fighting for her son. Something didn't seem right about this. She didn't think Johnathan would have left for this long without contact, and she didn't have a single shred of proof that he ever left the town of Bastrop. In the end, Angie was right. Jonathan wasn't living on the streets of Austin, he hadn't made it to Mexico, he wasn't getting insulin from a charity. Something did happen to Johnathan Hamilton in Bastrop, Texas. Four years after Johnathan disappeared, a man swimming at a park in Bast

On March 6, 2006, the fire department was called out to the Melrose Apartments in Concord, North Carolina. There was a fire inside one of the units. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they looked to see if anyone was injured or deceased inside. They found no trace of anyone inside the apartment. They learned that the apartment was leased to 43-year-old Pamela Callahan, and no one could find Pamela anywhere. The fire was later determined to be arson. This was just the beginning of the nightmare for Pamela’s family, and more than 15 years later, what happened to Pamela Callahan remains a mystery. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Pamela Callahan, please contact the Concord Police Department at (704) 786-9155.Support us by supporting our sponsors!If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form: http://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission/.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInsta