In 1980, a memoir titled “Michelle Remembers” chronicled a woman’s experience of childhood torture inflicted by a satanic cult. Canadian resident Michelle Smith recovered these memories, which allegedly occurred over a 14-month period when she was five years old, while working with her psychiatrist Larry Pazder. Michelle and Larry did an extensive media and book tour where they talked about the memories Michelle had uncovered after hours...
My family recently returned from a vacation in the High Country area of North Carolina. The High Country includes a wide array of places such as Beech Mountain, Boone, Blowing Rock, Linville Falls, West Jefferson, Sparta, Wilkesboro. We had a fantastic time and made sure to fill our days with outdoor activities. We did a relaxing trip down the New River on inner tubes, visited Grandfather Mountain, and hiked several different local trails. My...
Doris Duke was born into an extreme amount of wealth. Her grandfather, Washington Duke, helped establish a thriving tobacco business in North Carolina with other farmers following the Civil War. When he died, the business was passed on to his son, James Buchanan, who formed the American Tobacco Company in 1890. James also founded the Duke Power Company. He married a woman named Nanaline Holt Inman, who was a widow with one son, in 1907....
On July 25,1990, 41-year-old Pamela Hoy had dinner with her husband Fred Hoy at a Burlington restaurant, and then went home and packed her gray Dodge van with her clothes and grooming tables, exercise runs, and crates. Pam raised and showed Italian greyhounds and was preparing for a trip that would take her to South Carolina the next day to a competition. Pam had plans to take her 11-year-old daughter on that trip. She went back inside the...
Today marks a monumental day in the life of this podcast. Missing in the Carolinas officially has 100 episodes! Sometimes I still find it hard to believe I’ve been able to keep it going for so long. Yes, I’ve changed up the format a few times and taken a few hiatuses. But I am very proud of myself in that I’ve continued to write and produce episodes. Here’s something you might not know about me—I enjoy creating things but have trouble...
It’s no secret that children and young people are a vulnerable sector of the population when it comes to crime and missing persons cases. We’ve profiled several different children on “Missing in the Carolinas.” In fact, this week there was news related to the case of Madalina Cojocari, an 11-year-old girl who went missing from my community in November of 2022. I talked about Madalina’s disappearance in Episode 52: Not Reported...
Carrie Wikerson and Jean Fewel On February 22, 1984, 7-year-old Carrie Wilkerson failed to report to school at Frank Porter Graham Elementary in Carrboro. That morning, firefighters investigating a fire at the Rocky Brook Trailer Park off South Greensboro Street discovered the body of Carrie in the bedroom closet of her stepmother Norma Shivers’ home. Carrie was the birth daughter of Shivers’ first husband, and she had stayed with her...
Twenty-three-year-old Andy Sigmon was last seen on April 5, 2016, and while his family knows he is probably not still alive, they remain determined to bring their son home. Here is what we know about the circumstances surrounding Andy’s disappearance. He left his place of work at Renwood Mills in Newton, North Carolina on April 4, 2016 on or around 11 p.m., when his shift was supposed to end. Between 5 to 5:30 a.m., an officer with the Davie...
Over the years, there have been several different murders that have taken place involving students and staff at the University of North Carolina. In January of 1995, Wendell Williamson, a student at the UNC Law School, wounded a police officer and killed two bystanders when he opened fire on Henderson Street. In March of 2008, Student Body President Eve Carson was abducted, robbed, and murdered by two local men with extensive criminal...
On the morning of Sunday, April 15, 1973, Virginia Olson, known as “Ginger” to her friends, awoke on a chilly morning in the Craig Dormitory, located on the campus of UNCA, nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina. A sophomore dramatics major, Ginger was known for enjoying her alone time. She liked to read, go on long walks, paint and sketch, and play her guitar. Ginger had grown up in McLean, Virginia, but graduated from high...
