In December 1965, an armed gang abducted a 17-year-old girl from her home in a premeditated raid. Their ringleader had been stalking and intimidating the girl and her family for months before striking. He intended to abuse and humiliate her, breaking her down, until she agreed to marry him. The law was on his side, and if she refused, she would be shunned by her community. Instead, Franca Viola courageously took her attacker to court, in a trial that sent shockwaves through Italian society. This is her story.

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In July 1984, a 22-year-old athlete was abducted from a Montana mountain trail during a training run. Her abductors, father and son survivalists living off-grid in the wilderness had decided to steal a bride to establish and grow their very own mountain colony. When the woman didn’t return, her friends alerted authorities and inadvertently set off a tragic chain of events that not everyone would walk away from. This episode covers the abduction of Kari Swenson.

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In August 1982, three generations of a single family disappeared from a camping trip in British Columbia. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began an investigation but diverted resources to chase down a phantom theory of the crime. When a burnt-out vehicle was found in the wilderness, they realised that the true perpetrator had been hiding in plain sight all along. This is the story of the Bentley and Johnson family murders.

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In May 2018, a 24-year-old woman was making her way home from a bus stop in Enniskerry, Country Wicklow, when she was brazenly snatched from the street and bundled into a car. Authorities soon traced the vehicle to a 40-year-old man and initiated a manhunt to apprehend him. This episode covers the case of Jastine Valdez.

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This episode gives a behind the scenes look at how the podcast came to be, and some insights into the host, and how the podcast is put together. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

This episode follows on from The Darkest Hour: The Tragedy of the Stardust Fire, and explores the stories of the victims who lost their lives in the devastating nightclub fire on the 14th of February 1981. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

On Valentine’s Day 1981, several Dublin families were woken in the early hours of the morning by frantic neighbours searching for their children. They had left hours earlier on Friday evening to attend a Valentine’s Day disco at a local nightclub. Some of the parents had heard rumours of a fire or other disaster. For many of those families, they would never see their children again. By morning, 44 people would be dead, with four more dying from their injuries within several weeks, and a further 214 injured. This is the story of the Stardust Fire, the worst tragedy of its kind in Irish history. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

In February 1984, an 11-year-old boy was abducted from his Baton Rouge home by a trusted family friend. To authorities, it seemed that the pair had vanished without a trace. A week later, a phone call provided a vital clue to the boy’s whereabouts. No one could have predicted the extraordinary circumstances that would lead one father to exact his own brand of vigilante justice. This episode covers the case of the abduction of Jody Plauché. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

As the 19th of February 1979 approached, the loyal disciples of the Ant Hill Kids cult anxiously awaited the end of the world. From their remote commune in Eastern Québec, their messiah, Roch Thériault or Moses, as he called himself, preached of fire and brimstone, and that he alone could provide salvation from the coming apocalypse.

Only it wasn’t salvation he offered his followers, but cruelty and systematic dehumanisation. As each year passed, he became more and more unhinged and inflicted unbelievable violence on those around him. This is the story of the Ant Hill Kids Cult. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

In August 2012, a Dublin woman drove to an isolated cemetery, parked her car, and seemingly vanished. Based on her complicated history, authorities at first believed that her disappearance may have been intentional. Soon, mounting evidence led investigators to conclude that foul play had been involved, and as they closed in on their suspect, uncovered a web of lies and deceit. This is the story of Elaine O’Hara. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

In February 1986, a 26-year-old nurse was abducted from the street by a sadistic gang, prowling for a victim. What unfolded was one of the most infamous criminal cases in Australian law that is forever etched into the psyche of the Australian public. This episode tells the story of Anita Cobby. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

In November 1970, a woman accompanied by her young child accidentally stumbled into the wrong building, setting off an unprecedented chain of events. What followed was the discovery of one of the worst cases of neglect and abuse in living history. This episode covers the case of Genie Wiley. Listen to the episode now. Available wherever you get podcasts.

In the 1920s, Indiana was at the centre of a KKK revival. The 1925 abduction and murder of Madge Oberholtzer set in motion a series of events that would cripple their growth forever.
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On a freezing morning in 1973, a teenage boy was abducted by a serial sex offender and kept chained in a subterranean box buried in the woods. Police and his family searched frantically for him, but it was as if he had vanished into thin air. Unbeknownst to those investigating his disappearance, the boy was in fact alive and being forced to endure the unthinkable to survive his violent captor. This is the story of Paul Martin Andrews, the ‘boy in the box’.
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In 1978, a 15-year-old girl was hitchhiking through California when she was abducted by a violent and sadistic offender. Taken to a desolate canyon, she was attacked, maimed and discarded in a concrete culvert, left to slowly bleed out and die. But she was far from dead. This is the harrowing survival story of Mary Vincent.
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An 11-year-old girl is abducted in broad daylight, metres from her front door and in full view of multiple witnesses. Her abductor is not working alone. This is the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard.
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In the 19th and early 20th centuries, captive individuals were bought, sold and displayed in human zoos. This episode looks at the dark history of human zoos and specifically, the story of Sarah Baartman.

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Stephanie Slater was abducted and held for ransom by Michael Sams. Bound, gagged and handcuffed in a makeshift coffin, Stephanie survived the unimaginable. But she was not his first victim.

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In 1968, an extraordinary case unfolded in Atlanta, Georgia, involving the kidnapping for ransom of a wealthy property development heiress. The kidnap had been planned right down to the very last detail. The victim, 20-year-old Barbara Mackle was taken to a rural pine forest and placed in a pre-made fiberglass coffin. She was then buried alive. Her abductor was not working alone and would lead police on a convoluted game of cat and mouse, as Barbara’s time and air supply were rapidly dwindling.

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An anonymous letter alerts authorities to a peculiar case. An accusation that a wealthy family have imprisoned their only daughter for decades. This is the story of Blanche Monnier.