And Then They Were Gone

The last time anyone heard from Nepali nurse Mamta Kafle was July 29, 2024. On October 5, 2026, her husband, Naresh Bhatt went on trial in Prince William County, Virginia, for her murder. 

In our last episode, we began to document the trial, which is scheduled to last for seven weeks. We went through opening arguments, and talked about the first time law enforcement went and visited Naresh– on August 2, after her job called the police for a wellness check. We heard the story Naresh told him, and how that story quickly began to change. 

This week, we’re going...

In July 2024, 28-year-old Mamta Kafle had a baby who was about to have her first birthday, a new job as a Med-Surg Nurse, an upcoming appointment to become a U.S. citizen, and a husband who was ready to move on with his life. 

It is that desire, prosecutors contend, that led Naresh Bhatt to murder his wife, Mamta Kafle. After telling friends, family, police, and the public that his wife simply decided to run off, Bhatt was arrested in connection with her murder on August 22, 2024.

Since then, there have been multiple hearings and multiple d...

This episode was originally released on December 15, 2024

The last time Mamta Kafle spoke to anyone outside of her home was the evening July 29, 2024, when she had a video call with her mother in Nepal. When her mom called Mamta back the next morning at around 11 am, her call went unanswered. According to prosecutors in Prince William County, Virginia, that is because Mamta was dead.

Mamta’s husband, Naresh Bhatt, claimed she had taken off, leaving both him and their 11-month-old daughter behind. After weeks of public outcry, and multiple search warrants, Naresh Bhatt was arrested on...

This episode was originally released on August 30, 2024

Today’s story is one about intimate partner violence. According to her family, friends, and police and court records, Mamta Kafle’s husband, Naresh Bhatt, was abusing her. He hid her documents, destroyed her phone, threatened to give their baby to social services, and physically abused her. Throughout it all, Mamta remained a kind, caring friend and a mother whose baby was her entire world. But then, sometime between July 29 and July 30, 2024, she disappeared.

Now, her husband is sitting in jail awaiting trial on the charge of concealing a de...

This episode originally aired on August 16, 2024

On August 2, 2024, Manassas Park Police visited the Virginia home that Mamta Kafle shared with her husband, Naresh Bhatt. They were there to perform a welfare check because Mamta didn’t show up to work at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center on August 1, and her colleagues were concerned.

Naresh allegedly told police that Mamta had disappeared before, and that he didn’t want to file a missing persons report. Three days later, on August 5, Naresh reported his wife missing, but Manassas Park Police didn’t make this public until August...

When Ron Lieberman couldn’t find his wife, 31-year-old Sneha Philip on September 11, 2001, he didn’t think that her disappearance had anything to do with the attacks. After all, he had been home the night before, and she wasn’t there. But their apartment was just a seven-minute walk from the World Trade Center, and Sneha was a doctor. Could she have been nearby that morning and rushed in to help the victims?

This question became the basis of a years-long legal battle to get Sneha recognized as one of the victims of 9/11. Will new technology finally be abl...

On Monday, September 10, 2001, Sneha Anne Philip, a 31-year-old doctor, was seen on CCTV shopping at Century 21, a discount department store near the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. She paid for her purchases using a credit card, left the store, and has never been seen again.

The next morning, the world changed when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 terror attacks. For years, Sneha’s family battled New York City to have her name added to the list of victims. Sneha Philip has been given two different dates of death, but no trace of her has ev...

On March 21, 2023, 41-year-old attorney Steve Cozzi was seen on CCTV entering his office at The Blanchard Law Firm. He was never seen leaving. When he missed a hearing and co-workers couldn’t locate him, they called 911. When police arrived, they found evidence of a violent scene in the men’s bathroom. Suspicion quickly fell on an unlikely suspect: Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, a successful plastic surgeon who was embroiled in a tense lawsuit with one of Steve’s clients. 

Though Steve Cozzi’s body was never located, investigators found enough evidence to arrest Kosowski for Steve’s murder just days l...

On March 21, 2023, 41-year-old attorney Steve Cozzi kissed his husband goodbye and went to work. There was nothing special about that day. He had a telephonic hearing for one of his cases scheduled for later that morning, and he had a frozen chicken thawing in the sink for dinner. He got to the office, put on some music, and started writing emails. At 9:50, he left his office to go to the bathroom. None of his co-workers, friends, or family ever saw him again.

Five days later, Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, the plaintiff in the case that had the hearing...

This episode was originally released on March 17, 2023. New intro was recorded on September 24, 2026.

“This is a tragedy, but it’s not a crime.” This quote is from Captain Jeff Ferry, the lead investigator searching for missing Texas college student, Jason Landry. Jason, a student at Texas State University, left his apartment late in the evening on December 13, 2020, to return home to Missouri City, Texas for a quick visit. But Jason never made it home.

Shortly after midnight, his car was found crashed and abandoned on a desolate road near Luling, a small town only about 30 minute...

New intro recorded on 9/17/26. This episode originally aired on 4/7/23.

Steve Cozzi went missing from his Largo, Florida law office on March 21, 2023. On March 26, plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski was arrested for his murder. In this week's episode, we're exploring the history between Cozzi and Kosowski, and going over the timeline of the case. We're also delving into the evidence that led to his arrest. Steve Cozzi has still not been found, and his family desperately wants to bring him home.

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Just after midnight on August 4, 1992, 23-year-old Tara Breckenridge clocked out early from her waitressing shift at The Men’s Club in Houston, Texas. She changed into her street clothes and the security guard carried her tote bag out and walked her to her red Pontiac Fiero. Tara got into her car and drove away.

About seven hours later, that Fiero was found sitting locked and empty on the shoulder of a major freeway three miles from the club, right on her route home. The car was locked, there was no sign of a struggle, but Tara was go...

On Friday, June 15, 2018, 23-year-old Jermain Charlo went out in Missoula, Montana. She visited a few bars with her ex-boyfriend, and right around midnight on June 16, CCTV footage shows Jermain talking with a few guys she knew outside of a bar. Her ex-boyfriend, Michael DeFrance, is in the background. The camera shows Jermain and Michael walking down the street. According to him, he dropped her off at a friend’s house. According to her family, that friend didn’t exist. Jermain Charlo has never been seen again.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jermain Charlo, plea...

On the morning of Friday, September 14, 2007, a fourteen-year-old boy in Doncaster, England put on his school uniform, told his family "see you later," and walked out the front door, but he never got on his school bus. Instead, he waited until everyone had left his house, then went back inside. He changed out of his school uniform, grabbed a few items, and headed to the Doncaster railway station where he bought a one-way ticket to London.

At 11:25 that morning, a CCTV camera watched him walk out of King's Cross station and into a city of eight million...

On the night of July 14, 2016, a sixteen-year-old girl in Aurora, Colorado told her mother goodnight. She then went to her room and went out the window. She was picked up on surveillance video near a bus stop in the 1600 block of North Peoria Street. But Lashaya Stine never made it home.

Police wrote Lashaya off as a runaway at first, but she wasn’t a troubled kid. She was an honors student. She wanted to be a nurse, and had just been selected for an internship at the University of Colorado Hospital. She even had a job in...

Three bones, some clothing, a lighter, and a pocketknife. Those were the items found by a duck hunter checking his blinds on July 25, 2021. It took almost exactly five years to put the pieces together, but on July 23, 2026, those bones were identified as belonging to Shane Workman, who had been missing from Lewistown, Pennsylvania since 2017. 

Shane’s disappearance was met with rumors of set-ups, murder, or a voluntary disappearance. Despite an influx of tips, his case went cold. Shane’s family never gave up on him though, and while they now know that he’s never coming home, they’re...

We originally covered the case of Shane Workman in November 2024. In August 2026, his body was found. We have published a short update episode right after this re-release.

That was a comment that Mike Hewitt made on a Facebook post about his missing son, Shane Workman. Not only does Mike have to deal with the constant pain of having a missing son, but he does this while believing that no one cares. Mike is not alone. Many family members of missing people who don’t...

CW: This episode contains discussions of child sexual assault. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, help is available. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24 hours/day. Call 1-800-656-4673.

13-year-old Leigh Occhi was left alone for an hour on the morning of August 27, 1992. In that short window of time, something violent happened in her Tupelo, Mississippi home. Blood, hair, and clothing were all left behind, but Leigh was gone.

The remnants of Hurricane Andrew washed away potential clues, and no trace of Leigh w...

On the morning of August 27, 1992, the remnants of Hurricane Andrew were heading toward Tupelo, Mississippi. Inside a small house on Honey Locust Drive, a thirteen-year-old girl named Leigh Occhi was home alone, still in her nightgown. She had an open house at her middle school later that day, and her mom had just left for work. 

Around 8:30, her mother was worried about the storm, so called home to check on Leigh, but there was no answer. She called again. Still no answer. So she made the mile and a half drive home. She'd been gone less than a...

Sometime in the early morning hours of April 6, 1986, someone knocked on the door of a small home just off Route 66 in Gallup, New Mexico. A nine-year-old girl named Anthonette Cayedito got out of bed. By the time the sun rose, she was gone. There have been many versions of what happened between the knock and when Anthonette’s family realized she was missing, but what we do know is that there was no forced entry, no struggle, and nothing was taken– except for Anthonette. A three-day search of Gallup and the land around it turned up nothing at all.

Around noon on July 16, 1996, a 36-year-old writer named Susan Walsh told her family that she was going to run out to the pay phone down the block and make a call. She left behind her purse. She left behind her beeper. She left behind her medication and even her cigarettes.

No one ever saw her again. 

Susan wasn’t just anyone who vanished. She was a journalist who wrote about things like the Russian mob’s grip on the go-go bars where she herself had danced, and the strange world of people in New York City...

On the night of August 31, 1976, a three-year-old girl crept out of bed and witnessed her father wrap his hands around her mother's throat, push her against the wall, and drag her out of sight. The next morning, her father, Ralph Otto, told her and her sister that their mother, 24-year-old Patty Otto, wasn’t coming back.

For years, Suzanne wasn’t sure what she had seen that night, but as she became an adult, she started questioning it more and more. Then, in 2021 a Facebook post turned everything she thought she knew about her mother’s disappearance comple...

This episode originally aired in 2024

When 13-year-old Bianca Piper got into an argument with her mother, Shannon Tanner, over doing the dishes, Shannon put her in the car, drove her a mile up the road, and told her to walk home. While this may seem like an odd form of punishment, it was actually something that had been recommended by Bianca’s therapist. But on March 10, 2005, Bianca never made it home. 

Investigators in Foley, Missouri performed an extensive search but uncovered almost no clues regarding the missing girl. Over the years, they’ve investigated many theor...

In the early morning hours of December 10, 1999, an 18-year-old UCLA freshman finished playing a computer game in his dorm room, stepped into the hallway to high-five the friend he'd been playing against, and walked back toward his own room. 

When his roommate woke up the next morning, Michael Negrete was gone.

Bloodhounds traced his scent to a bus stop a few blocks away, but then the trail just stopped. Michael hadn’t been in trouble; he hadn’t been depressed; he hadn’t been running with a bad crowd. There were absolutely no red flags in his...

On the evening of January 2, 1999, two sisters stood on their street in Mesa, Arizona, waiting for the ice cream truck. The older girl, who was 11, had two quarters clutched in her hand. Her little sister, who was 9, got cold and ran inside — just for a minute. When she came back out, the bike her sister had been sitting on was lying in the road, one wheel still slowly spinning. The two quarters were on the pavement nearby.

And Mikelle Biggs was gone. 

The whole thing happened in about ninety seconds. Search dogs would later follow her...

Sometime in the pre-dawn hours of October 13, 2018, a 16-year-old girl walked out of her family's home in Chalfont, California and into the dark. It was a cold morning, but she wasn't wearing a jacket. She didn’t take her glasses, and she left her phone and money behind. She left everything.

The last person to see her inside the house was her stepmother, who says she watched Karlie Gusé lying in bed at 5:48 in the morning. But less than two hours later, Karlie was gone. This is a case that has torn a family in half because som...

December 12, 1990 was the night before Norine Brown’s 32nd birthday. Late that night, the mother of two told her husband she was running out to the grocery store to buy ingredients for Christmas cookies. She grabbed some cash and got into her station wagon.

The following morning, her car was found in the Pathmark parking lot a mile from her home. It was locked and there were Christmas presents wrapped inside, but Norine Higuchi Brown was never seen again. Her case quickly went cold, but the people who loved Norine never gave up searching for answers, even wh...

On May 15, 2026, news broke that Gretchen Fleming's remains had been positively identified. That same day, it was also announced that Preston Pierce had been arrested on charges related to her murder. This story is developing, so this week we have a mini update on the charges and what is happening next on the case.

What follows is our original episode on Gretchen Fleming from February 23, 2024.

After dealing with a breakup and the sudden loss of her mother, Gretchen Fleming found herself back in her hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia. She was staying with family as...

On the night of February 2, 2006, Ali Gilmore came home from a late shift, got into bed, and started reading a prenatal book. She was four months pregnant. Ali had a complicated life: an estranged husband and a boyfriend. Did one of them lure her out of her home that night?

The Tallahassee Police Department has called this the largest case file it has ever accumulated. There have been twenty years of interviews, searches, billboards, and vigils. Yet still no answers.

If you have any information regarding Dwight Aldrige or the case, please call the Tallahassee...

On the night of February 7, 2018, 23-year-old Khadijah Britton was at a friend's house in Covelo, California. Just eight days earlier, she had escaped from her boyfriend's home after he assaulted her, causing serious injuries. Khadijah reported the attack to police, but she was scared of what he would do to her if she followed through. That night, he showed up with a gun. 

Witnesses reported that she was forced into the back of a black Mercedes sedan, and Khadijah Britton was never seen again. Her alleged abductor, Negie Fallis IV, was arrested and charged with attempted murder a...

On the night of March 7, 2021, 41-year-old Sarm Heslop had dinner with her boyfriend on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands. It was a relaxed evening at a local bar, and afterwards, they took a short dinghy ride back to the 47-foot catamaran they lived on together, and went to bed. But by sunrise, Sarm was gone.

Her phone, wallet and passport were still on the boat, but she was not. And the man who was the last person to see her refused to talk. To this day, Ryan Bane maintains that Sarm must...

In 2015, 19-year-old Kately Akens was visiting her family in Spotsylvania, Virginia and celebrating her new nephew. On December 5, she was supposed to board a flight back home to her fiancee in Arizona, but she never made it to the airport. 

A suspect quickly emerged in her case, but police were never able to find enough evidence to make an arrest. Then, in April 2026, 10 years after she failed to board that plane, The Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office announced that they had arrested Katelin’s ex-stepfather, James Branton. Though Katelin was named as a victim, the arrest wasn’t related...

This episode was originally released in 2022. Update episode can be found right above this one (Released 5/1/26).

In 2015, 19-year-old Katelin Akens was getting ready to start a new life. The teenager fell in love, and left her small Virginia town to move across the country to Arizona with her fiancee. She was living her life and making changes, but when her sister gave birth to a son that December, Katelin immediately flew home to meet her new nephew. The trip was a short one, only about four days. She had a plane ticket back to Arizona on December 5...

On the morning of October 14, 2003, 23-year-old Felipe Santos was heading to work at a concrete and masonry company in North Naples, Florida. He was riding with two of his brothers when his white Ford Tempo collided with another car on Immokalee Road. It was a minor fender-bender, and no one was hurt. What happened next would depend on who you ask. But after that morning, Felipe was never seen again. 

Three months later, on January 12, 2004, 27-year-old Terrance Williams kissed his mother goodbye, handed her some gas money, and said, "I'll see you later, momma." He drove his w...

On the morning of April 15, 2005, a well-respected district attorney in central Pennsylvania took a day off work, climbed into his beloved red Mini Cooper, and called his girlfriend to tell her he was going for a drive. That was the last anyone heard from him.

Ray Gricar had spent twenty years prosecuting murderers and rapists in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and was on the cusp of retirement. What made him leave his house that day, and did he know that he was never coming home? Now, over twenty years later, Ray Gricar remains missing, and the questions just...

Late in the evening of September 13, 2010, 19-year-old Samantha Clarke was dressed in her pajamas and watching TV with her younger brother in their Orange, Virginia home. But after receiving a call, she told her brother she was going out and would be back in the morning. Samantha left her home, and has never been seen again.

Police had few clues to work with, but did zero in on a person of interest almost immediately. However, a lack of evidence made the case go cold. Then, 3 years later, another teenager disappeared just miles away, and police were certain...

On Thursday, September 22, 2022, a 25-year-old woman left her apartment building in Salinas, California. She looked like anyone else going to work that morning. But she wasn’t wearing the right clothes, and she wasn’t leaving at the right time. Arelie Garcia never made it to her job that morning.

Later that same day, her car was found more than an hour away, with her phone, keys, and wallet left behind. When police arrived, there was no indication of anything. Not foul play, not self-harm, and not a voluntary disappearance. Just a car that was miles away from w...

Disappearing is something “all boys do at the age of 16.” That’s what police told Valerie Nettles when she discovered her 16-year-old son, Damien, hadn’t come home the night before. The teenager had been at a party with friends on November 2, 1996, but missed his midnight curfew, and couldn’t be found the next day. The Nettles family was frantic, but police treated Damien as a runaway. 

This early misstep, one that we see so often in missing persons cases, meant that potential witnesses were missed, evidence was lost, and now, nearly thirty years on, no concrete answers hav...

On September 12, 1987, 50-year-old Dale Kerstetter clocked into his overnight security shift at Corning Glassworks in Bradford, Pennsylvania. It was supposed to be an ordinary night at a place he’d worked for years, but by the time morning came, Dale was gone– and so was over $250,000 in platinum. 

Now, almost forty years later, Dale has never been found, and what happened that night remains a subject of debate. Was Dale the victim of a robbery? Was he forced to help? Or, was he involved… and then double-crossed?

If you have information about Dale Kerstetter’s disappear...

Fiona Pender was seven months pregnant and ready for her baby. On August 22, 1996, she went shopping for baby clothes with her mother and brother. It was a period of joy and nesting for the 25-year-old hairdresser and part-time model. According to her partner, John Thompson, Fiona was asleep the next morning when he left for work. He kissed her goodbye, left their flat on Church Street in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland, and never saw her again. 

When friends and family couldn’t reach Fiona that day or the next, they panicked. There was no reason for Fiona to...