This Doesn’t Happen Here

On March 2, 1996, Sadie Showalter waited at Fashion Square Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, for her daughter Alicia. They had plans to shop for dresses for Alicia’s twin brother’s upcoming wedding.

Alicia was driving from her home in Baltimore, Maryland—a trip she had likely made many times before. She was known for being early, never late. So when hours passed with no sign of her, Sadie knew something was wrong...

In November of 2012 19-year-old Sage Smith vanished after leaving her apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sage was confident, vibrant, and full of life. A young black transgender woman navigating her truth in a world that often refused to see her fully. 

In this episode, we explore the final hours before Sage's disappearance, the mysterious connection to Erik McFadden, and the frustrating years that followed as her family ...

In this episode of This Doesn't Happen Here, we continue our Route 29 series with Part 4. The disappearance of Hannah Graham in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Hannah's life was full of promise: a brilliant student, a talented athlete, a devoted friend. But on a September night in 2014, she vanished after a night out with friends. Her disappearance set off an urgent search that exposed predators lurking in plain sight and led inve...

In the 3rd part of our Route 29 series, we cover the heartbreaking case of Morgan Dana Harrington- a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who vanished during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, VA, in 2009. What begins as a fun night out with friends quickly turns into a chilling mystery filled with bizarre witness account, strange behavior, and unsettling evidence. 

We explore Morgan's final hours, the search efforts led by ...

In this second part of the Route 29 series, we will share the heartbreaking and mysterious case of Samantha Clarke, who vanished without a trace from her home in Orange, VA, in 2010.  

Samantha, a bright and loving 19-year-old, was last seen after a tangled few days involving new acquaintances. Questions remain to this day. Was Samantha lured by Randy Taylor? Was she one of his first victims? Has he been targeting women l...

On August 3, 2013, 17-year-old Alexis Murphy vanished after stopping at a gas station in Nelson County, VA. Known for her bright personality, ambition, and social media presence, Alexis' sudden disappearance left her family and community reeling. 

In this first episode of our Route 29 Series, we walk through the early hours of Alexis' case-- from frantic search efforts to the shocking surveillance footage that led investigator...

Tyrone, Missouri, is a small, no-stoplight town 90 miles east of Springfield. With a population of about 50, there are no restaurants, stores, or even a school. The remote area, consisting mainly of mobile homes and small houses, was rocked to its core in February 2015. 

At 10:15 p.m. on February 27, 2015, a 15-year-old Tyrone resident called 911 from a neighbor's house. The neighbor (who wished not to be named) said she was b...

2:27 am on June 18, 1982, Martha Yankee a 911 dispatcher received a call from the Imperial Gas Station on south main street in Harrisonburg, Va. 

The young lady calling was 20 year old Kelly Bergh Dove who was working the night shift alone at the gas station.

When Officer Sam Yankee arrived she was gone without a trace. Her cigarette was in the ashtray burned down to the butt, the magazine she was reading was still open on th...

March 1, 1983, in McCarthy, Alaska an old mining town at the base of the Wrangell Mountains.

It was a Tuesday, which in this town of about 20 people was mail day. Because this town was so remote, residents received mail and necessities such as groceries only once a week from what they called the mail plane. 

Yall This town was so remote and small that one resident said “Around here there are so few of us we know each oth...

On February 5th, 1997, around 8:35 pm employees at a Stuarts Draft pizza place heard the back door close that was shared with the next-door floral shop. At first, they thought it was the co-owner Dawn Snyder leaving. It wasn’t until they noticed she had left the lights on that they felt something wasn’t right. 

Once they realized her van was still outside with her keys and purse inside they KNEW something wasn&rsqu...

Over the years while listening to and watching these stories I noticed a running theme. When cases in small towns were covered people would say “things like this don’t happen around here” or “this doesn’t happen here” as if being in a small town kept the evil at bay. I knew the false sense of security we feel in small towns is just that, false. 

I know this because my grandfather was that e...