In the quiet, pre-dawn hours of a Kentucky summer morning, a cell phone screen lights up. It's a text from 18-year-old Brookelyn Farthing, and it's short and chilling: “I’m scared.” A few moments later, another message follows: “Please hurry.” Then, about an hour later, a final, bewildering text comes through that completely contradicts the fear from before. It just says, “Never mind.” After that message, Brookelyn Farthing was gone. She vanished from a remote house, leaving behind her purse, her shoes, and a fire that investigators would later call suspicious. Her story is a tangled mess of confusing timelines, questionable stories, and a family's decade-long search for answers that just won't come.

We thank you for your support! Become a member of our Patreon for just $1.99. Click HERE to join.


Disclaimer: The content in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. This channel is not affiliated with any law enforcement entity nor any court system.

Music: Hard to Beat (OCAAT Theme) and Investigations Inc by Artist Musical Logos

Sources:

Official Sources

1. Kentucky State Police – Missing Persons Database
   ➤ https://kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov/missing-persons
   • Brookelyn’s case is officially listed with details and case number.
   • Contact info for tips.
2. NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System)
   ➤ https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/24013
   • Federal case file with identifiers, dental/DNA info, and last known circumstance

News Outlets

• Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky)
  ➤ Article Example:
  “Berea family continues search for Brookelyn Farthing years after disappearance”
  ➤ https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/article44532894.html
• WKYT News (CBS Lexington Affiliate)
  ➤ https://www.wkyt.com
  • Coverage on yearly anniversaries, interviews with family.
  • Example Search: "Brookelyn Farthing disappearance"
• WLEX 18 News (NBC Affiliate – Lexington)
  ➤ https://www.lex18.com
  • Featured local reports and video news packages.

Digital Resources & Advocacy

1. The Charley Project – Brookelyn Farthing
   ➤ http://charleyproject.org/case/brookelyn-shae-farthing
   • In-depth case write-up with timeline and media links.
2. Justice for Brookelyn Facebook Page (run by family)
   ➤ https://www.facebook.com/justiceforbrookelynfarthing
   • Updates, tips, anniversaries, memorials, and comments from the public.

Television / Documentary

1. Disappeared – Investigation Discovery (Season 9, Episode: “The Last Summer”)
   ➤ https://www.investigationdiscovery.com
   • Aired August 2016.
   • Includes interviews with family, investigators, and re-enactments.

• True Crime Podcast
• Unsolved Mystery
• Cold Case Files
• Real Crime Story
• Missing Persons Case
• Brookelyn Farthing
• Brookelyn Shae Farthing
• Brookelyn Farthing Missing
• Brookelyn Farthing Disappearance
• Brookelyn Farthing Case
• Missing Woman Kentucky

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/one-crime-at-a-time--4661577/support.

In the summer of 2017, a peaceful stretch of farmland in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, became the backdrop to one of the most disturbing and tragic missing persons cases in recent history. Four young men vanished—without a trace. What followed was a frantic search, a family's nightmare, and the unearthing of a horror hidden beneath the surface.

We thank you for your support! Become a member of our Patreon for just $1.99. Click HERE to join.


Disclaimer: The content in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. This channel is not affiliated with any law enforcement entity nor any court system.


Sources:

Time magazine provides concise coverage of the missing men, their ages, and the fact that investigators were led to the DiNardo family’s 90-acre property by Finocchiaro’s cell phone ping .

Patch (NewHope-Lambertville) offers a detailed chronology—times of last sightings, location of vehicle finds, timeline of neighbor reports, and mounting suspicion around DiNardo’s license-plate activity .

NBC10 timeline article traces significant case milestones—including when detectives named DiNardo a person of interest, launched farm searches, and announced human remains recovery and confession .

Bucks County Missing Boys

Cosmo DiNardo case

Bucks County murders 2017

Dean Finocchiaro disappearance

Jimi Patrick Bucks County

Tom Meo and Mark Sturgis

Solebury Township murders

DiNardo farm investigation

Missing boys Bucks County timeline

Bucks County true crime

Pennsylvania true crime case

Cosmo DiNardo confession

Bucks County mystery 2017

Bucks County murder trial

Real crime cases PA

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/one-crime-at-a-time--4661577/support.

LaVena Johnson was a 19-year-old U.S. Army private from Missouri who died in Balad, Iraq, in July 2005, just days before her 20th birthday. The Army ruled her death a suicide, stating she shot herself in the mouth with her M-16 rifle following emotional distress, including a recent breakup. However, her family strongly disputed this conclusion after noticing severe injuries on her body during her open-casket funeral—such as a broken nose, loose teeth, bruising, and a gunshot wound that appeared to be at her temple, not in her mouth. Released documents and photos later revealed additional disturbing signs, including chemical burns to her genital area and a lack of fingerprints on the rifle, leading the family to believe LaVena had been raped and murdered, with her death staged to look like a suicide. A Cold Case Investigative Research Institute review upheld the Army's original conclusion, citing no new conclusive evidence, but critics have continued to call for a formal reopening of the case. Today’s story has since become a symbol of the broader issues of military sexual assault, lack of transparency, and justice denied for victims—particularly Black women serving in the armed forces. This is the story of LaVena Johnson.


We thank you for your support! Become a member of our Patreon for just $1.99. Click HERE to join.


Disclaimer: The content in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. This channel is not affiliated with any law enforcement entity nor any court system.

Music: Hard to Beat (OCAAT Theme) and Investigations Inc by Artist Musical Logos


Sources:

Army CID Investigation Report (via FOIA) – A formal report by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, expressing condolences but maintaining a suicide ruling The Black Vault+15cid.army.mil+15YouTube+15.

Report of Casualty (DD‑Form) – Military personnel record confirming PFC Johnson's death date and posthumous promotion The Black Vault.

The Black Vault FOIA release – Includes communications and materials concerning the Army's review of her death The Black Vault
Wikipedia – “Death of LaVena Johnson” – Comprehensive summary with timeline, cited media accounts, evidence details, and outcomes River City Charlie+15Wikipedia+15Law Offices of David P. Sheldon+15.

LA Times (March 8, 2009) – “A death with two stories of evidence”: detailed coverage of family vs. Army narratives Los Angeles Times.

Snopes (July 18, 2018) – Analysis of lingering questions more than a decade later Snopes.

Democracy Now! (July 23, 2008) – Coverage featuring interviews with Johnson’s parents and Rep. Ann Wright, outlining discrepancies...

Between nineteen sixty four and nineteen seventy, a ghost haunted the sun-drenched streets of Miami. He left behind a trail of at least nine victims, each one a chilling testament to his brutality. In modern true crime circles, he’s known as The Miami Strangler, but back then, the press didn't have a single, tidy name for him. To the police, he was a baffling series of clues and multiple suspects, with one major problem: the killer didn't seem to exist. He was a phantom, a whisper in the humid Florida air, a force that struck with terrifying randomness and then just… dissolved back into the city's shadows. This is the story of how he got away with it.

We thank you for your support! Become a member of our Patreon for just $1.99. Click HERE to join.



Disclaimer: The content in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. This channel is not affiliated with any law enforcement entity nor any court system.

Music: Hard to Beat (OCAAT Theme) and Investigations Inc by Artist Musical Logos

#crime #unsolved #horrorstories #facts #history #serialkiller #unsolvedmysteries #miami

Sources:

• Wikipedia – “Miami Strangler” (recently updated with core case details and suspect information) Wikipedia
• Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Cold Cases (1960–1969 archive) – Reference to official unsolved homicide listings Miami-Dade County+1CBS News+1
• The Flat Tire Murders: Unsolved Crimes of a South Florida Serial Killer by Michael Burns – comprehensive overview of patterns and methods
• NBC Miami (Jun 5, 2025) – Reporting on a suspected serial killer targeting the homeless (contextual comparison) YouTube+15NBC 6 South Florida+15NBC 6 South Florida+15
• CBS Miami / WFOR (Apr 25, 2025) – Fingerprint match solved a nearly 40-year-old murder in North Miami Beach, showing local cold-case success with modern forensics CBS News
• “Hunt for Strangler Under Way” – The Miami Herald, c. November 1970
  Announcing the multi-victim investigation and seeking public assistance after the ninth killing. Wikipedia
• Report on Mary E. McGreevy’s death – August 1964
  Local coverage of the first known victim, including details of the scene and lack of forced entry. Wikipedia
• Coverage of Sylvia Valdez’s murder – March 1965
  Featuring information about her shooting and strangulation, the last-known sighting with two men, and the police composite sketch. Wikipedia
• Story on Bernadita Gonzalez’s disappearance and discovery – early 1966
  Reports of her missing status, phone calls from distraught family, and recovery of her body in a nearby lake. Show more...