Case 286: The Survivors' Network

[Part 2 of 3]*** Content warning: Gun violence, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse ***In 1992, a chance discovery by a UPS delivery driver would lead to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – commonly known as the ATF – launching an investigation int ...  Show more

[Part 1 of 3]*** Content warning: Gun violence, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse ***In 1981, a 20-year-old named Vernon Howell drove more than two hours from his hometown in east Texas to visit a church near Waco that was home to a group known as the Branch Davidians ...  Show more

Etta Place (c. 1880s) is a mystery. The rifle-toting bandit of the Old West ran with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as part of the notorious train-robbing Wild Bunch. But who was she before she joined the gang? The legends and theories that chase Etta Place through time paint ...  Show more

Marsha “Mudd” Ferber (1941-unknown) was a hippie, a back-to-the-lander, a revolutionary, and an outlaw. She was also the owner of The Underground Railroad, an alternative music haven in Morgantown, West Virginia that hosted the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Grateful ...  Show more

Eliza Donnithorne (1821-1886) was an infamous recluse. Legend has it she was abandoned on her wedding day, and she never recovered. Her story may have inspired one of literature’s most famous scorned brides: Miss Havisham of Dickens' Great Expectations. This month, we're talking ...  Show more

In September of 1978, 15 year old Mary Vincent was hitchhiking the California roads to return to her home in Las Vegas. Mary had run away from her mother and father and lived on the streets for a period of time, often sleeping in unlocked cars. Eventually she went to her grandfat ...  Show more