Beyond the Ferns

In this week's episode, we are headed to Pennsylvania!

Christmas morning, 2002. As record-breaking snow blanketed Middletown, Pennsylvania, a family gathering that should have happened the night before had never taken place.

When Jean Wholaver and her daughters, 20-year-old Victoria and 15-year-old Elizabeth, failed to show up for their traditional Christmas Eve celebration, concern quickly grew. By the following morning, police were sent to the family's home to check on them.

Inside, they discovered a scene that would forever change Christmas for those who loved the Wholaver family. Jean, Victoria, and Elizabeth had all been murdered. Yet amid the silence of the house, investigators heard something from upstairs—a baby crying.

What initially appeared to be a horrific triple homicide would soon unravel into a much darker story involving the who and why would someone do this...

Join along to hear everything from the murders to the investigation to justice served.

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In the early morning hours of October 29, 1995, 24-year-old Leah Ulbrich was seen struggling with a man inside a dark-colored car.

Minutes later, that same car was speeding through the streets toward the town of Wethersfield—with Leah's body dragging outside the passenger door.

What followed was a horrifying journey that stretched for miles through an area that was already beginning to wake up for the morning. People heard screams. Witnesses caught glimpses of the car. A police officer even crossed paths with the vehicle and attempted to follow it.

By sunrise, police were left with a crime scene spanning miles, pieces of evidence scattered along the roadway, conflicting descriptions of a dark-colored car, and one enormous question:

Who was the person behind the wheel?

More than 30 years later, investigators are still trying to answer it.

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In this week's episode, we are headed to California!

On the morning of March 29, 2011, a man came across something horrifying along a dirt road cutting through a vineyard near the small farming community of Arvin.

The body of a woman had been left among the rows of grapevines. She had no clothing, no identification, and whoever had placed her there had gone to disturbing lengths to make sure identifying her wouldn’t be easy. Even stranger, investigators found remarkably little evidence at the scene, leading them to believe she had been killed somewhere else before being brought to this quiet stretch of farmland.

Police had no name for her. No clear connection to Arvin. And when her DNA was entered into national databases, there were no matches.

For years, she would be known only as a Jane Doe—while investigators were left with two enormous questions: Who was she, and who wanted to make sure no one ever found out?

Tune in to hear all about this cold case, and SPREAD THE WORD about these lesser known cases, so we can get them traction!

P.S. There is one part within the episode where I unfortunately say "are" instead of "is". Just know, I caught it -- but I had already finalized my episode and wasn't able to go back in and correct. :)

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In this week's episode, we are headed to New Jersey!

It was supposed to be an ordinary summer night.

In July 2013, 41-year-old Donna Ongsiako was home alone at her secluded farmhouse in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Her daughter was at a party for the evening, the house was quiet, and Donna was simply going through her normal nighttime routine when she opened her front door.

Standing on the other side was a stranger.

Within moments, Donna found herself fighting for her life inside the place where she should have felt safest. Severely injured and completely alone, with no neighbors close enough to hear her cries for help, her chances of surviving were quickly slipping away.

But Donna wasn’t ready to die.

What followed was an extraordinary fight for survival—and an investigation to uncover who had come to her home that night and why.

And boyyyyyy, it's not what you would expect...

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Hi y'all! I am in the midst of moving -- anyone who has ever moved, knows just how chaotic an event like this can be! Because of this, we are revisiting one of my favorite throwback episodes from the archives of Dark October-- Urban Legends!

For those of you who can't wait for Halloween - this one is for you! All new episodes will resume next week <3 Thank you for listening!

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