River City Mystery - Investigating mysteries in southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky
Investigating mysteries in southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky.
Episodes
On Halloween night in 1925, an Evansville couple returned home to a nightmare. They found a stranger hanging from a plum tree in their front yard.
The victim was a 35-year-old factory worker and World War I veteran who had vanished 400 miles away just days earlier. The investigation resulted in more questions than answers.
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The Disappearance of Debra Ann Wilhite
On October 14, 1974, 19-year-old Debra Ann "Debbie" (Pfettscher) Wilhite finished her shift as a waitress at the Windmill Restaurant on Highway 41 in Evansville, Indiana. She was supposed to pick up her husband after work, but she never made it. Debbie and her green 1966 Ford Galaxie disappeared without a trace, leaving behind her husband and t...
The Timber Lake Murder: Who Killed Arthur Denton?
In this episode, we look into the August 1991 murder of Arthur Denton, a case out of Posey County, Indiana, that has sat cold for decades. Arthur was a respected figure in the local legal community. He was a 78-year-old retired attorney, former state legislator, and three-time deputy prosecutor for Vanderburgh County. For fifty years, he lived a remarkably predictable life, bu...
The Burrows Cave Mystery
In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most polarizing archaeological claims in the tri-state area: the Burrows Cave mystery. Back in April 1982, a highly decorated Korean War veteran named Russell Burrows was hiking through a quiet valley in southern Illinois near Olney when the ground gave way beneath him. What he fell into, according to his lifelong account, was far more than just a pit. Burrows c...
Wildman Joe
Every now and then you run across a piece of local history that feels too wild to be real. In this episode, I look into the wild, unbelievable collision of two totally different lives right here in Evansville back in the late 1800s.
First, there's Jeremiah "Doc" Kohler, a former St. Louis saloon keeper with a criminal record who turned to the circus world. He became famous for running a trained flea circus where his per...
Who Killed Jean Cook?
In this episode, we revisit a painful local cold case: the murder of Georgia "Jean" Cook. On October 6, 2005, Jean, a 56-year-old mother of two, was working her shift as a manager at the former Busler's gas station on Highway 41 North in Evansville, Indiana. Three hours before the end of her shift, an armed intruder walked into the store, shot Jean twice, and fled after taking money from the register. Despite ...
Interview with a Forest Witch
In this episode, I speak with Crystal Folz, who reached out to me as a practicing forest witch from the tri-state area. I had no idea what a forest witch was until we talked, but Crystal cleared things up fast. She has been practicing since the 1990s, and her approach is rooted in animism, Kentucky folklore, and good old-fashioned common sense.
We talk about what it actually means to be a witch today, ...
Who Killed Elizabeth?
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the January 2000 murder of 18-year-old Elizabeth Bannister in Evansville, Indiana. It is a strange, tragic case that plays out like a demented real-life game of Clue. Elizabeth was brutally stabbed inside her Washington Avenue apartment in a house filled with people, yet nobody claimed to see or hear a single thing. Between a housemate watching Matlock reruns, someone ...
Where is Zac? Interview with his best friend, Chris
UPDATE 11/3/2025:
14 WFIE NEWS:
WARRICK CO., Ind. (WFIE) - The Warrick County Sheriff says a the body of a missing man was discovered on Friday in the Lynnville area
He says a hunter discovered the remains and called authorities.
Detectives say the remains were taken to the morgue in...
Where is Zac?
UPDATE 11/3/2025:
14 WFIE NEWS:
WARRICK CO., Ind. (WFIE) - The Warrick County Sheriff says a the body of a missing man was discovered on Friday in the Lynnville area
He says a hunter discovered the remains and called authorities.
Detectives say the remains were taken to the morgue in Vanderburgh County and positively identifie...
Bigfoot Encounters in the Hoosier National Forest
Could Bigfoot actually be roaming around southern Indiana? It sounds wild at first given how populated the state is, but anyone who has spent real time out on the trails knows just how vast and isolated some of these woods really are.
In this episode, I speak with two local witnesses from Indiana who shared their eyewitness accounts right here in our backyard.
First, Angela recalls ...
The Murder of Troy DeWayne Smith
On May 24, 2020, 50-year-old Troy DeWayne Smith was found dead inside his apartment on South New York Avenue in Evansville, Indiana. Troy was a quiet guy who had studied mechanical engineering at ITT Tech and was working locally at Tri-State Resource Recovery.
Initially, authorities treated his death as an overdose or natural causes. Because of that initial call, weeks went by before an autopsy reve...
Buried Treasure in the Tri-State?
When most people picture buried treasure, they think of pirates on a tropical beach or old West gold prospectors out in California. But buried loot might be a lot closer to home than you think. Before the FDIC came along to insure bank accounts, plenty of folks simply didn't trust banks with their hard-earned cash. It was pretty common to bury savings in a field or hide them somewhere safe. When pe...
Where is Andi?
In August 2022, 24-year-old Andi Wagner disappeared from Evansville, Indiana. She was last heard from around August 5th or 6th, and her family officially reported her missing a few days later. Ever since, her loved ones have been fighting to keep her name out there so her case doesn't just fade into the background.
In this episode, we focus on the ongoing efforts to bring Andi home. I share a clip from an interview b...
Phantom Train
In this episode, I dive into a bizarre paranormal phenomenon that I had almost completely forgotten about until a news story brought it all rushing back: phantom trains.
It started with a recent report out of England where two police officers heard the deafening roar and whistle of a locomotive rolling right past their station, even though the tracks there had been torn up over 70 years ago. Reading that reminded me o...
The Kelly-Hopkinsville "Little Green Men" Encounter
On August 21, 1955, eleven people at a farmhouse in Kelly, Kentucky, experienced one of the most famous and unsettling close encounters in UAP history.
In this episode, I speak with Geraldine Sutton Stith, author and daughter of Elmer "Lucky" Sutton, one of the main witnesses to the events of that wild night. Geraldine shares what it was like growing up in the aftermath of a legen...
Interview with Joni Mayhan
In this episode, I speak with local author, medium, and paranormal investigator Joni Mayhan about the weird and ghostly side of Posey County, Indiana. Joni has written books like Haunted New Harmony and Haunted Posey County, and she has plenty of wild stories to share about investigating hauntings right here in our backyard.
We get into what makes New Harmony, Indiana, feel so different from surrounding t...
The Murder of Doris McDonough
In this episode, I dive into a tragic cold case from right here in Evansville, Indiana: the October 3, 1968 murder of Doris McDonough. Doris was a 36-year-old mother of two who was brutally beaten to death in her own kitchen in the middle of the day. Decades later, her killer has never been named, and the case remains completely unsolved.
The day started like any normal Thursday for the McDonough famil...
Interview with Joe Weigant
In this episode, I speak with Joe Weigant, a retired Evansville police detective who turned his background in law enforcement into founding Evansville Paranormal Investigations and Consulting (EPIC).
He hosted “The World Beyond Radio Show” where he interviewed other paranormal investigators, psychics, tarot readers, and others in the field.
The Murder of Blake Crews
In this episode, we step away from the supernatural to cover a heartbreaking local case that hits way too close to home. Back on the night of January 16, 2015, 20-year-old Blake Crews was shot and killed inside a house in Henderson, Kentucky. It has been over a decade, and his murder is still officially unsolved.
If you read the initial headlines about the case, it would be easy to jump to conclusions. The...
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