The Dark Oak
Attention all shiver-seekers! The Dark Oak is a weekly thrill and chill inducing mystery podcast. Every Wednesday, Stefanie and Cynthia will present to you a true tale of the supernatural, the macabre, historical crimes, cryptids, the unexplained and the downright spooky. To help ease your fears, we also include The Branch of Hope Foundation, which connects you to the human side of our cases by giving back to non-profit organizations related to the first episode of the month. If you enjoy guilt free listening and your interest falls somewhere between Bigfoot and Jack the Ripper, The Dark Oak has you...
Episodes
Episode 120: The Death of Dr Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler
In 1963 Chatswood, Sydney, Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler, both married to others, were found dead near the Lane Cove River after a New Year's Eve party. Their partially nude bodies suggested a romantic encounter, but no cause…
Episode 119: What Happened to Mateusz Kawecki?
When 30 year old Mateusz Kawecki left his home in Germany to witness the birth of his first child, he checked in with his father and advised him he had been delayed due to bad traffic. Unfortunately, days went by and Mateusz never arrived a…
Episode 118: Christina Whittaker (Part 2 of 2)
In 2009, 21-year-old Christina Whittaker, a new mother from Hannibal, Missouri, disappeared after a night out with friends on November 13. She was last seen after being escorted out of Rookie’s Sports Bar around 11:45 p.m. for disruptive be…
Episode 117: Christina Whittaker (Part 1 of 2)
In 2009, 21-year-old Christina Whittaker, a new mother from Hannibal, Missouri, disappeared after a night out with friends on November 13. She was last seen after being escorted out of Rookie’s Sports Bar around 11:45 p.m. for disruptive be…
Episode 116: Where is Phoenix Coldon?
Phoenix Coldon, a 23-year-old African American woman, disappeared on December 18, 2011, after driving away from her parents’ home in Spanish Lake, Missouri. Her 1998 black Chevy Blazer was found abandoned two weeks later in East St. Louis, …
Episode 115: The Mandela Effect
The Mandela Effect, named by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome in 2010, refers to collective false memories where groups misremember events or details, like Nelson Mandela dying in the 1980s (he died in 2013). Psychological studies, such a…
Episode 114: The Challenger Tragedy
In an effort to reinvigorate interest in the Space program, NASA launched the "Teacher in Space" program, in 1984. The beautiful, brilliant and charismatic high school social studies teacher, Christa McAuliffe, was selected out of 11,000 ap…
Episode 113: Cindy James - The Unknown Event
After separating from her husband of 15 years, Cindy James, a nurse in Vancouver, Canada, was brutally stalked and harassed. Despite nearly seven years of reported incidents of harassment, threatening calls, physical and sexual assaults, an…
Rerun: The Unsolved Murder of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley
Who killed Athalia Ponsell Lindsley? The logical suspect was a man who had previously threatened her life. A man, that, conveniently, borrowed a machete from the county and never returned it. A man that had been called out by name by the on…
Episode 112: Brandon Swanson
On May 14, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson vanished near Canby, Minnesota, after his car got stuck in a ditch on a rural field road. Earlier that night, he had been celebrating the end of his college semester, consuming alcohol at two par…
Episode 111: The Boca Raton Mall Murders
The Town Center at Boca Raton should conjure up images of luxury designers and expensive restaurants but unfortunately for those local to the high-end mall, it is a string of abductions and brutal murders that remains in the forefront of ma…
Episode 110: The Strange Disappearance of Mother and Daughter - Korrina Malinoski and Annette Sagers
Korrina Malinoski, 26, disappeared from South Carolina’s Mount Holly Plantation on November 21, 1987, after arguing with her abusive husband, Stephen. Her car was found locked on the property, but she was never located. On October 4, 1988, …
Episode 109: Reincarnation - The Shanti Devi Story
Shanti Devi’s reincarnation case, one of the most compelling and well-documented in modern studies, unfolded in 1920s and 1930s India, a period of cultural revival and anti-colonial resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. Born in Delhi on Decembe…
Episode 108: The Disappearance of Ben McDaniel
30-year-old Ben McDaniel had been through a lot by the time he reached the age of 30; He had lost his brother, his business and his home. In 2010, Ben was in the middle of a year-long sabbatical when he went scuba diving in a dangerous unde…
Episode 107: The Murder of Penny Bell
On June 6, 1991, Penny Bell, a 43-year-old businesswoman and mother of two, was brutally stabbed over 50 times in her Jaguar in the busy Gurnell Leisure Center parking lot in Greenford, London, in a frenzied attack that left no witnesses de…
Episode 106: The Disappearance of Shane Fell
On June 10, 2011, 36-year-old Shane Fell vanished after a car accident in Marrero, Louisiana. After a night at a bar watching his brother Brett’s pool tournament, Shane, who had some beer but wasn’t visibly drunk, took a backroad home, poss…
Episode 105: The Yuba County Five
Described as "America's Dyatlov Pass Incident," the disappearance of five young men has baffled the world for decades. When their vehicle is found abandoned on a rough mountain road, authorities are suddenly filled with more questions than…
Episode 104: Emanuela Orlandi - The Vatican Girl Disappearance
When 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi failed to come home after her music lesson on a hot summer day in Rome, her family immediately knew something was wrong. Fear grew to absolute dread when a man known only as "The American" claimed to have a…
Episode 103: The Sleeping Girl of Turville
Ellen Sadler, born in 1859 in Turville, England, became known as the "Sleeping Girl" after falling into a mysterious nine-year sleep starting March 17, 1871, at age 11. Living in poverty with her mother Ann and stepfather Thomas Frewen, El…
Episode 102: Amber Hagerman and The Amber Alert System
Amber Hagerman is a 9-year-old little girl whose legacy has helped change the lives of thousands of people in the last three decades. Unfortunately, Amber Hagerman’s story has a tragic ending, but out of the tragedy a new system was born th…
Episode 101: The Disappearance and Undetermined Death of Mitrice Richardson
Mitrice Richardson, a 24-year-old psychology graduate, disappeared on September 17, 2009, after being released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in Los Angeles, following her arrest for failing to pay an $89 restaurant bill and p…
Episode 100: The Redhead Murders/The Bible Belt Strangler
The Redhead Murders, spanning 1978 to 1992, involve a series of unsolved homicides of white women found along highways in Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with victim counts ranging from 5 to 14. …
Episode 99: Where is Sherry Lynn Marler?
When 12-year-old Sherry Lynn Marler and her stepfather Raymond went to town on June 6. 1984, they had no way of knowing the tragedy that would be awaiting them. While Raymond handled some business at the bank, Sherry walked to a gas station…
Episode 98: The Probable Abduction of David Sneddon - Part 2 of 2
In August 2004, American student David Sneddon disappeared while hiking in China's Tiger Leaping Gorge. Despite official claims that he fell into the Jinsha River, his family’s investigation uncovered multiple witness accounts suggesting he…
Episode 97: The Probable Abduction of David Sneddon - Part 1 of 2
Part 1 of 2 - David Sneddon, a 24-year-old Brigham Young University student from Logan, Utah, disappeared on August 14, 2004, while hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan, China, after completing Mandarin language classes in Beijing. A devou…
Episode 96: Joshua Maddux - The Boy in the Chimney
Joshua Maddux, an 18-year-old from Woodland Park, Colorado, vanished on May 8, 2008, after going for a walk. A bright, creative teen who loved nature, he seemed happy despite the 2006 suicide of his brother. After five days, his family repo…
Episode 95: Poon Lim - Survival at Sea
Poon Lim, born in 1918 on Hainan Island, China, grew up in a fishing village before moving to Malaysia at age ten. As Japan invaded China in the 1930s, sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War, Lim’s father sent him away to avoid conscription,…
Episode 94: The Lake Oconee Murders
In May 2014, the murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond, a couple in their late eighties, shook the residents of Putnam County, Georgia. The decapitated body of Russell Dermond was found on May 6, 2014, in the garage of the house he owned o…
Episode 93: The Thai Cave Rescue - BONUS
In 2018 a soccer team made up of 12 boys and their coach was trapped inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. All hope seemed lost when the boys had been lost for 10 days with their exact location inside the cave unknown and no sign of l…
Episode 92: What Happened to Mary Day?
Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to The Dark Oak 01:40 100th Episode Celebration and Giveaway 07:10 What Happened to Mary Day? 01:00:30 The Branch of Hope  Mary Louise Day, born in 1968 in Little Falls, New York, grew up in a turbulent household wi…
Episode 91: Where is Hannah Upp?
Hannah Upp, a 32-year-old teacher, disappeared from St. Thomas on September 14, 2017, after a swim, amidst Hurricanes Irma and Maria. She had dissociative fugue, a condition causing identity loss, and had vanished twice before—once in 2008 …
Episode 90: The Death of Ellen Greenberg - Part 2 of 2
When Ellen Greenberg, a first-grade teacher at Juniata Park Academy, was found dead in her locked (from the inside) Manayunk apartment in 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, authorities initially ruled her death a suicide. During her autop…
Episode 89: The Death of Ellen Greenberg - Part 1 of 2
When Ellen Greenberg, a first-grade teacher at Juniata Park Academy, was found dead in her locked (from the inside) Manayunk apartment in 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, authorities initially ruled her death a suicide. During her autop…
Episode 88: The Disappearance of Logan Schiendelman
Logan Schiendelman, a popular and charismatic high school football player, vanished without a trace in May 2016 at the age of 19. Born in 1996 in Tumwater, Washington, Logan was raised by his white grandmother, Ginnie Gebo, after his mixed…
Episode 87: The Mysterious Death of Federal Prosecutor Jonathan Luna
In the late-night hours of December 5, 2003, Jonathan Luna, an Assistant United States Attorney, left the Baltimore courthouse and drove northeast on Interstate 95. After spending the next several hours on a seemingly impromptu multi-state …
Episode 86: The Frog Boys of South Korea
On March 26, 1991, a public holiday in South Korea, five boys from Daegu—aged 9 to 13—went missing while searching for salamander eggs near Mount Waryong. After missing their taekwondo lesson, their parents initially searched for them but e…
Episode 85: What Happened to Olivia Lone Bear?
Please, welcome our special guest, Coffee and Cases! Make sure you give them a follow and a five-star review! linktr.ee/coffeeandcases When Olivia Lone Bear went missing on October 24, 2017, her family was thrust into a search that would sp…
Episode 84: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth Barraza
On the morning of January 25, 2019, 29-year-old Liz Barraza cheerfully set up a garage sale in the driveway of the Tomball, Texas home she shared with her husband Sergio and their beloved dachshund, Diesel. The fun loving, vivacious Liz was…
Episode 83: Where is Paola Miranda Rosa?
Paola Miranda Rosa, 31, vanished from Wekiva Springs State Park on December 18, 2021. Last seen on a video created by an unnamed eyewitness, her car was found in the park despite initial denials by a ranger. The investigation by Osceola Co…
Episode 82: The Bloody Benders
The Bloody Benders were a family of serial killers active in Labette County, Kansas, from 1871 to 1873. Consisting of John Bender Sr., his wife Elvira (or Almira), their son John Jr., and daughter Kate, they operated a small inn and general…