On a winter night in early February of 1992, John E. Volungis Jr. was standing on the edge of a brand-new life. After years of working toward a career in law enforcement, John was about to take off for his next step in that pursuit. It was supposed to be a fresh start after navigating a complicated past and an equally complicated marriage. But before he could take that next step, something happened inside the Worcester duplex he shared with his wife. Something no one has ever fully explained.

It was early January in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, when a discovery in a quiet stretch of woods changed a family forever. A young woman had crossed paths with a violent killer close to home. The investigation led to a swift arrest and a conviction that should’ve brought some measure of justice and safety, but what came next defied reason. The man convicted of her murder was given chance after chance to walk free – opportunities that no one could ever justify to the people who loved her. Each time he reentered the world, he proved exactly who he was.

November 26th marks three years since Reina Carolina Morales Rojas disappeared after getting into a car in East Boston, Massachusetts. She was later dropped off in nearby Somerville and that was the last time anyone saw or heard from her. Despite being reported missing soon after, information about her disappearance didn’t reach the public for nearly two months. It was only after community advocates spoke out that her story began to get the attention it deserved. Today, Reina Carolina Morales Rojas is still missing. There have been no new developments in her case, and her family – who once spoke to her every day – continue to wait and hope for answers. As we mark the anniversary of her disappearance, we’re re-releasing this episode to renew attention on her story, to keep her name in the public eye, and to remind listeners that she is still out there somewhere.

One ordinary day during August of 1983, in a quiet patch of parkland just off the road in Penacook, New Hampshire, a teenager found something that didn’t belong. What followed rippled through the small community for years. Interviews, rumors, and timelines never quite fit together. Voices clashed over what was seen, what was said, and what couldn’t be proved at all. This is a story about how quickly attention can settle on one person, and how hard it can be to find the truth once it does.

In the spring of 2017, the phone calls came almost every day. Tina Stadig always stayed in touch with her twin sister, no matter where life had taken her. The last time they spoke, Tina talked about what was next in her life. She mentioned finding a new place to land, possibly with her sister, like old times. They never made a plan. And then, one day, the calls stopped. Days passed. Then weeks. And the silence that followed was louder than any conversation they’d ever had. It would take months before anyone realized just how long Tina had been gone… and by then, the search for answers had already become something much more complicated.

In late July 2004, 20-year-old Christina Lunceford walked into her parents’ home beaming with excitement. She had just signed the lease on a new apartment with her boyfriend and was ready to begin a new chapter of her life. But only days later, Chrissy disappeared from that apartment, and the stories her family heard still don’t make sense to them more than 20 years later. Chrissy’s name and face may have faded from public view over the last two decades, but never from her mother’s heart. Using nearly 250 pages of case file documents, we’re going to retrace Chrissy’s final days, the investigation that followed her disappearance in one state and discovery in another, and the questions that still hang in the air…Questions about what really happened to Chrissy, and who may hold the answers.

The murder of Eugenio DeLeon Vega marked the beginning of a three-decade legal odyssey that exposed flaws in Connecticut’s criminal justice system and raised enduring questions about who really killed the popular grocer. Police initially suspected robbery as the motive and two suspects were arrested, charged, and convicted based on the state’s highly circumstantial case against them despite the glaring inconsistencies at the scene and witnesses who couldn’t stick to their story. This case still has not seen a true ending and it continues to develop as we speak.

On a winter night in 1981, a teenager stepped out of his Essex Junction home and never returned. His disappearance unsettled the quiet Vermont town, leaving his family searching for answers that never came. Years later, a hunter in the woods made a discovery that would finally explain what happened to the missing teen, but not why. Whispers of a stolen check, shifting stories, and a courtroom battle followed, yet the truth is still tangled even to this day. This is the story of a teenager whose life ended far too soon, a family’s years-long fight for justice, and a case that still raises questions about trust, betrayal, and the limits of the system meant to deliver answers.

It should have been a routine school night in Somerville, Massachusetts for 17-year-old Deanna Cremin. Homework, TV, and a walk home with her boyfriend before curfew. But by morning, Deanna was gone. Her body was discovered just a few hundred feet from where she was last seen. The community was stunned: who could do this, and why? For three decades, Deanna’s friends and family have waited for answers, holding onto hope as forensic science evolves. DNA and forensic genetic genealogy is now at the center of the conversation. Could the key to solving this case be hidden in a decades-old sample, waiting for the right technology or the right name to match?

After spending an early Friday evening hunting in the woods behind his home in Vermont, Wilfred “Butch” King III left his home on two crutches, driving off into the fall night never to be seen alive again.  Despite years of investigation, what happened on the night of October 24, 1980 remains a mystery. There are many people, from investigators to family, who say they have strong theories about who is behind Butch’s disappearance, yet decades later, police have never even been close to proving those theories right.

When two women known to spend time in Manchester, New Hampshire’s inner city both dropped out of contact with their families in the late 1990s, it wasn’t entirely out of character from the lives they once led. But for Mindy West’s father, who had watched her working to get her life back on track, he just knew that something was wrong. Rosalie Miller’s brother, too, worried as weeks passed without contact from his sister, despite her history of disappearing. The violent predator on the streets of Manchester and surrounding communities at the time of their murders has never been caught for what they did to Rosalie and Mindy. It’s possible there’s even more than one violent predator still at large, because there’s still no conclusive connection between their cases. Yet the similarities cannot be ignored.

In early 2023, pleas for help reached the small Aroostook County town of Washburn, Maine from across the world in Indonesia. Family members and friends of Attiin Rachmawati Shaw hadn’t heard from her in over a year and the stories they were told about her suspicious disappearance didn’t make any sense. If you look at your feed right now, you’ll see two episodes released on the same day. Both of the Maine missing persons cases I’m covering are in need of some major attention because the investigations are active and ongoing. Getting these names and photos circulating in the public could bring in the leads that investigators need to make progress.

Stefanie Damron’s parents say that their 13-year-old daughter walked out the door and into the woods one September afternoon in 2024, and she hasn’t been seen or heard from since. They have their own suspicions about what happened to her, but so far, a multi-agency effort hasn’t been able to prove what happened to Stefanie more than a year later. Active missing persons cases are some of the most challenging cases to cover. At the same time, active missing persons cases, especially when a child is missing under suspicious or concerning circumstances, are the cases that need the most urgent attention. Uncovering information while leads are still warm is critical. That’s why I’m releasing two episodes today. These two missing persons cases out of Maine need a signal boost in a big way. So please, listen, share, and get their names and faces out there. Investigators need more information to bring them home.

Lena Bruce had a bright future ahead of her. She’d just graduated from a top university and landed a great job, and she was settling into a new apartment in the heart of Boston’s South End neighborhood, already living the life she’d worked for since she was a child. But one night in the summer of 1992, an assailant altered the course of Lena’s dreams and stole that bright future from her. That assailant thought he’d gotten away with it… But there’s no hiding from DNA evidence. It took more than two decades, but justice finally landed, and now there’s one less case left unsolved in New England.

When we first covered the case of Charline Rosemond on Dark Downeast back in January of 2025, her murder was still unsolved. But a few months after the release of the episode, that finally changed. A suspect has since been indicted. So, we’re rereleasing the original episode covering Charline’s case with a new ending and an interview with Charline’s sister Rose, who has been Charline’s fiercest advocate since day one. Rose has heard rumors about the suspect and his friend’s alleged involvement in Charline’s murder for years. She knows the suspect. They all grew up together. They were friends. At least, Charline thought so when she planned to meet up with them on the night her life was stolen. Now, one of those so-called friends is facing charges for her death.

From the moment investigators stepped foot into the home of Leslie and Charlie Buck in the spring of 2002 following a 9-1-1 call, there was something off about the circumstances of Leslie’s untimely death. Leslie had just survived a violent kidnapping two days earlier, and autopsy findings left the manner of her death anything but clear-cut. This episode is a continuation of Leslie’s story. Be sure to listen to The Kidnapping of Leslie Buck (Connecticut) first so you’re caught up on everything that’s happened so far. I’m going to take you through the suspicious death case and all of the evidence that amounted to probable cause for an arrest… As well as the bombshell report and supporting expert testimony that attributed Leslie’s death to something that had nothing to do with the prime suspect.

In the spring of 2002, several urgent 9-1-1 calls came into the Stonington, Connecticut, police department from the same caller just two days apart. First, there was a report of a violent kidnapping, and then, the untimely death of the very same victim. When investigators arrived at the scene of Leslie Buck’s suspicious death fresh off the arrest of the person who kidnapped her, the circumstances didn’t quite add up. In the days ahead, questions about what happened to Leslie would grow more complex and far more unsettling. What began as a shocking crime would soon spiral into a mystery with far more questions than answers.

When Michael Madore vanished almost 30 years ago, the first theories of his disappearance were pulled from letters found at his house: he was supposedly leaving behind his home and belongings and dogs to start a new life in Alaska. That’s the story police in Milo, Maine, first heard when Mike was reported missing. But now, without any sign of life for nearly three decades and no indication that Mike made it to the Last Frontier for a fresh start, his sister and brother-in-law want answers. They want the truth. More than anything, they want to bring Mike home where he can finally rest.

She was out on her usual Sunday night walk when an unknown killer pulled up and shot her, leaving her mortally wounded in the street of what locals considered a safe neighborhood. Why someone would target Denise Robert and take her life still doesn’t make any sense to her family and those who knew her best, even 10 years later. This case is not short on theories. Police have fielded questions about everything from a possible gang initiation to serial killers, but we still don’t know what really happened.

When Christine Grega and her husband, John Grega, set off for a family vacation to Vermont with their young son, it was a trip meant to mend their relationship. Instead, the weekend ended in devastation when Christine was found in their borrowed ski condo, the victim of a violent attack. After two decades filled with investigations, prosecutions, an exoneration, and lawsuits, it still isn’t clear what really happened on the night of September 12, 1994.