A Normal Disappearance
In 1939, James F. Sarsfield, a plumber at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School in Normal, Illinois, left for the New York World’s Fair and never returned. In this first episode of A Normal Disappearance, hosts Andrea Munday — “Aunt Sissy” — and her teenage nieces, Finley and Piper, introduce James’s case and their family’s connection to the orphanage, beginning a journey that’s part mystery, part family history, and part small-town storytelling.
Episodes
The Last Sarsfield
After months of searching for documentation on James’s missing persons case with no luck, the team finally hits the information jackpot. They’re also joined by Irish immigration historian Dr. Kevin Kenny, who helps uncover the story of how …
What's Normal, Anyway?
We travel back to 1939 to uncover what life was like in Normal, Illinois—the town James Sarsfield called home before his disappearance. From walking the orphanage grounds to digging through museum archives and family graves, we begin to pie…
Alone
In 1939, James F. Sarsfield, a plumber at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School in Normal, Illinois, left for the New York World’s Fair and never returned. In this episode of A Normal Disappearance, hosts Andrea Munday, “Aun…