October 24, 1953 was a typical fall Friday night in La Crosse, Wisconsin. La Crosse State College was playing their homecoming game, and families and students filled the stands.

Fifteen-year-old Evelyn Hartley was supposed to be at that game too, but at the last minute, she agreed to help a family friend and babysit their toddler so the parents could go to the game themselves. She brought her schoolbooks and planned to spend the night studying after the baby went to bed. It was supposed to be a quiet evening, and an opportunity for Evelyn to make some extra money.

But when Evelyn’s father tried to call her later that night and didn’t get an answer, something didn’t sit right with him. He got in his car and drove over to the house where she was babysitting. What he found wasn’t just unsettling—it was a scene that would spark one of the most intense missing persons investigations in Wisconsin's history.

Anyone with any information about Evelyn Hartley’s disappearance is urged to call the La Crosse Police Department at 608-785-5962.

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On August 27, 2006, two-year-old Trenton Duckett was tucked safely into bed at his home in Leesburg, Florida. But when his mother, Melinda Duckett, went to check on him, she said she found an open window, a sliced screen, and an empty bed. She immediately called 911, launching a frantic search for the missing toddler. But as investigators dug deeper, Melinda's story began to fall apart, and in its place was deception, a bitter custody dispute, and a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

Anyone with information related to the disappearance of Trenton Duckett is urged to call the Leesburg, Florida police department at 352-787-2121.

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This episode was originally released in 2022.

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, but she never made it to the airport. Six years later, Katelin still hasn’t been found, but her family believes they know exactly who knows the full story.

If you have any information on Katelin Akens’s whereabouts, please contact the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office at 540-582-7115.

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Buy the ebook! - And Then They Were Gone: True Stories of Those Who Went Missing and Never Came Home

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