Hell and Gone - podcast cover

Hell and Gone

iHeartPodcastswww.iheart.com

Hell And Gone is a true crime podcast from iHeartPodcasts and School of Humans that follows journalist and private investigator Catherine Townsend as she investigates unsolved deaths. 

Now in its fifth season, Hell and Gone is going weekly. 

Over the past five years of making true crime podcast Hell and Gone, host Catherine Townsend has received hundreds of messages from people all around the country asking for help with an unsolved murder that’s affected them, their families and their communities. 

In past seasons of the show, she’s only been able to focus on one case. But now, she’s hosting a new weekly show called Hell and Gone Murder Line. Every Thursday, Catherine features a new case, adds updates to old ones, and helps as much as she can to get the word out about unsolved murders. 

If you have a case you’d like Catherine and her team to look into, you can call the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. 

Download Metacast podcast app
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Hell and Gone Murder Line: William Vick Part 1

On January 17, 2023, 53-year-old William Vick was recovering at home in Clarksville, Arkansas. William was in good health. He loved making videos for his YouTube channel. But William had gone in for tonsillectomy operation the week before, and had been experiencing some complications. He had texted his daughter, Ashley to say that he believed that something inside him was broken and that he was throwing up a large amount of blood in the sink. Ashley was worried, and told her dad that this didn't...

Dec 05, 202425 minSeason 6Ep. 10

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 4

Last week, we talked about the mystery regarding whether or not Deputy Blake Hassell ever went out to the area in Kingston where on August 5th at 12:34 AM, a 911 caller reported that she heard a woman screaming - that it sounded like she was being raped or tortured. The dispatch report reads, "A caller advised she believes that she heard a woman in the woods behind her house yelling. Stated she believes at one point the woman screamed for help. Caller advised there is not a physical address but ...

Nov 28, 202424 minSeason 6Ep. 9

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 3

We’ve been trying to figure out what happened to Taylor Barksdale in the last few weeks of her life that led her to Kingston, Arkansas At 12:34 on August 5, a 911 caller reported that it a woman was screaming on a rural property in Kingston and that she sounded like she was being raped or tortured. Just over a month later, on September 9, Taylor’s remains were found in a field near where the 911 call was made. We have made some headway in finding out what was going on in Taylor Barksdale’s life ...

Nov 21, 202429 minSeason 6Ep. 8

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 2

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call in the early morning hours of August 5, 2024 from caller who heard sounds that she believed could be from a woman being raped or tortured. But the police never came. Then a few weeks later, people were expressing concern about Taylor Barksdale, a 30-year-old woman who had been living in Huntsville and who had gone missing. When police finally went to the area of the 911 call to investigate on September 9, they went out to a residence in Kingston...

Nov 07, 202426 minSeason 6Ep. 7

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Taylor Barksdale Part 1

On September 9, 2024, searchers on a property in Madison County in the area of Kingston, Arkansas, broke open a hay bale and found a body. Police have shared almost no information about this investigation. And while Sheriff Ronnie Boyd at the Madison County Sheriff’s office has publicly denied this, some people in Madison County think this body was discovered while the police were searching for Jason Lierl. We did several episodes about that case: 41-year-old Jason Lierl was going through a toug...

Oct 31, 202427 minSeason 6Ep. 6

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Shannon Lee Collins Update

In this summer we covered the case of Shannon Lee Collins, the 48-year-old veteran who vanished without a trace from his family home in Pottsville Arkansas. I am thrilled to report that we have a major update in this case: federal fraud charges have been filed against Shannon’s wife Treasa and her daughter, Brittany. And now that the fraud has been uncovered could murder charges come next? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Oct 24, 202417 minSeason 6Ep. 5

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Doug Janis Part 4

After Doug Janis was murdered in 2020, police were focused on one suspect: his wife, 31-year-old April Mae Janis. Was April a loving wife who adored Doug or a master manipulator who orchestrated his murder? In Hemphill, Texas, it depends on who you ask. Half the town thinks that April was this vixen who has murdered multiple people, while the other half see her as a victim of sexual abuse. This week, we finally got in touch with April Janis. And we learned about an alternative suspect...someone ...

Oct 17, 202432 minSeason 6Ep. 4

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Doug Janis Part 3

We’re in Sabine County, Texas, investigating the area where Doug Janis was murdered. We’ve talked a lot about April and Doug’s relationship - one that went on for years - but what I wonder is, if April did kill Doug, why did she choose that moment? What was her motive? I think that solving Doug Janis murder starts with figuring out what really happened to April’s mother, Anna, on the night she was fatally shot, September 3, 2004. That's the same night when Anna told her friend Yvonne that she fo...

Oct 10, 202442 minSeason 6Ep. 3

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Doug Janis Part 2

Catherine and Amy head to Sabine County, Texas, where on December 13, 2020, there was a massive explosion on Toledo Bend lake. The houseboat belonging to 64-year-old Doug Janis, a well known commercial catfisherman, went up in flames. Doug Janis was found dead inside the boat. At first, police assumed that it had been a propane leak, but then the medical examiner found the two bullets in the back of Doug’s head. Doug Janis had been murdered. And his much younger wife, 30-year-old April Mae Janis...

Oct 03, 202441 minSeason 6Ep. 2

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Doug Janis Part 1

On December 13, 2020, in Hemphill, Texas, police in Sabine County got a call about a houseboat on fire. The houseboat was docked behind 322 Echo Ridge, off of Cedar Grove Road on Highway 21 in the Pendleton area of Toledo Bend. And the scene very quickly descended into total chaos. The firefighters had trouble getting out to the remote location, and by the time they got there the boat was engulfed in flames. Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the boat but it was too late. By the time they got...

Sep 26, 202427 minSeason 6Ep. 1

RERUN Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christina Pipkin Part 4

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 19, 202440 minSeason 5Ep. 52

RERUN Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christina Pipkin Part 3

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 12, 202441 minSeason 5Ep. 51

RERUN Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christina Pipkin Part 2

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 05, 202441 minSeason 5Ep. 50

Hell and Gone Murder Line Season 2 Trailer

New episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line start September 26th! In the meantime, if you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend and her team to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 30, 20242 min

RERUN Hell and Gone Murder Line: Christina Pipkin Part 1

Hello Hell and Gone listeners! We'll be back on September 26th with brand new episodes of Hell and Gone Murder Line. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to the Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 29, 202451 minSeason 5Ep. 49

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Barbara Bryan

On Friday, December 12, 1980 at approximately 6: 45 in the morning, the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Department got a call about a female body lying on the side of Highway 181, just south of Highway 158. The woman was dressed in a striped red colored dress and velveteen jacket and was five foot five. She weighed around 115 pounds. It wasn’t hard to figure out the cause of death - Barbara had massive holes blown into her body by a shotgun. The shots were so violent that pieces of her hair and sku...

Aug 22, 202429 minSeason 5Ep. 48

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Dana Stidham Part 2

On Tuesday July 25 1989, 18 year old Dana Stidham went home to do some laundry. She drove from her home in Centerton to where her parents Lawrence and Georgia lived in Hiwasse, Arkansas. After she put her clothes in the wash cycle, she headed out to run an errand for her dad. His stomach was upset and he needed some medicine. She left the Phillips food store - which is now a Harp’s grocery - in Bella Vista at 3:17 pm. We know this because the receipt was later found in her car, and the cashier a...

Aug 15, 202429 minSeason 5Ep. 47

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Dana Stidham Part 1

On July 25, 1989, 18-year-old Dana Stidham had just graduated from high school in Gravette, Arkansas and had her whole life in front of her. Dana had moved out on her own for the first time to Centerton where she was living with her older brother Larry and a cousin. She was starting her life and excited about the future, but on that day, she had to do some laundry and like a lot of kids that age, she was going to do her laundry at home. And she was a little homesick; she wanted to spend some tim...

Aug 08, 202438 minSeason 5Ep. 46

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Amanda Tusing

On June 14, 2000, there was a huge storm brewing in northeast Arkansas. It had been raining heavily all day and according to local weather data, tornados had hit. Over 100 trees were downed, power lines were down and homes were destroyed. Twenty year old Amanda Tusing was hanging out with her fiancé, Matt Ervin, at his apartment in Jonesboro. Amanda lived 40 miles away in Dell, Arkansas, which is in Mississippi County, with her father Ed, her mother Susan and her twin brother, Andy. She also had...

Aug 01, 202432 minSeason 5Ep. 45

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Shannon Lee Collins Part 2

On March 11, 2021, Shannon Lee Collins, a 48-year-old veteran, came back from a work trip to his home in Pottsville, Arkansas. Then, he seemed to vanish into thin air. Catherine continues her investigation from last week, focusing on two things: one, what angles are the police investigating, and are they making any progress in finding out what really happened to Shannon? And two, what do you do if you suspect foul play but there is no body or sign of a struggle? And what will happen to the famil...

Jul 25, 202431 minSeason 5Ep. 44

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Shannon Lee Collins Part 1

On March 11, 2021, Shannon Lee Collins, a 48-year-old veteran, came back from a work trip to his home in Pottsville, Arkansas. He was working a part time job delivering packages, which sometimes took him on the road out of state. He had been married to his wife Treasa for more than 20 years, and they raised their family together. They had their son Josh, who was in his early twenties, and Shannon’s step daughter Brittany, who was in her early thirties. But Shannon had raised Brittany since she w...

Jul 18, 202431 minSeason 5Ep. 43

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Thomas Hayden

On January 18 2012, a contractor was walking along a road In Dover Township Pennsylvania, called Schoolhouse road in York County when he noticed a plastic bag there. It was heavy and had a weird kind of liquidy consistency. At first he said he thought it might be a dead animal but then he saw the blood and what looked like long, gray human hair and skin he called the police…he realized what he was looking at was a human scalp. The lab confirmed that this was human but they ran the DNA and could ...

Jul 11, 202434 minSeason 5Ep. 42

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Jay Slater

On Sunday June 17, 2024, Jay Slater, a 19 year old bricklayer’s apprentice who lived in Lancashire, England was on his first ever foreign holiday - and he seemed to be having a blast. He had gone to the island of Tenerife in Spain with a female friend named Lucy and a guy named Brad. That night he and Lucy went out to a music festival called New Rave Generation. It was held at Papagayo Beach Club, along a strip called Veronica’s Strip that has a ton of nightclubs and neon signs. It was there he ...

Jul 04, 202440 minSeason 5Ep. 41

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Victor Collins

On the night of Saturday, November 21, 2015, Victor Collins, a 47-year-old former police officer who worked in loss prevention at Walmart, was hanging out with some friends, Owen McDonald and Sean Henry, who all also worked at Walmart, and 31-year-old James Bates. The four friends went back to James' house in Bentonville, Arkansas to watch a Razorbacks football game. According to court documents, these four guys were drinking. At some point, the guys went out to the back patio to have some beers...

Jun 20, 202429 minSeason 5Ep. 40

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Karyn Kupcinet

On November 30, 1963, just eight days after president John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas - across the country in Los Angeles, friends of a 23-year-old actress named Karyn Kupcinet were getting concerned. She was supposed to get to their house to eat at 6:30 PM but arrived an hour late at 730 PM. When she did arrive, she was acting strangely. She barely touched her food and was acting like she was under the influence. At 8:30 PM that night, they sent her home in a taxi. A few days ...

Jun 13, 202434 minSeason 5Ep. 39

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Tyler Smith Part 2

On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. The next day, he was due to report for drills. But he never showed up. And twelve hours later, his body was found in the Cedar Fork Creek area, just two blocks from where he was last seen the night before. Since then, Tyler's family has been trying to find out what happened to him: did he fall, did he drown, or was he murdered? And after li...

May 16, 202439 minSeason 5Ep. 35

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Tyler Smith Part 1

On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. Tyler had dreams of becoming a police officer. He was super athletic, played football in high school, and after graduating from Western Illinois University, he applied to and was accepted into the police academy in San Jose, California. Tyler hoped to eventually possibly become a DEA agent or working with a K9 unit. He was starting his life...

May 09, 202442 minSeason 5Ep. 34

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Pauline Storment

It was April 12, 1971, a 27-year-old woman named Pauline Storment was walking down South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a few blocks from her apartment. She didn't know someone was following her in the darkness. And then, while she was walking and just a few blocks from her apartment, her attacker came out of the darkness and attacked her, stabbing her eight times in a frenzied attack that lasted several minutes. It was a hot night so at 9:45 pm when Pauline started screaming a lo...

May 02, 202437 minSeason 5Ep. 33

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Heidi Planck

On Sunday October 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, a 39-year-old mother of one named Heidi Planck went to watch her 11-year-old son Bond play football. When Heidi left the game, she said that she would call her son later, but even though she ALWAYS talked to him every day she never called him. In fact Bond never talked to his mother again. Because that day, Heidi Planck vanished. If you have a case you’d like the Hell and Gone team to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line a...

Apr 25, 202432 minSeason 5Ep. 32

Hell and Gone Murder Line: Interview with Crime Scene Expert

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been covering two cases in Arkansas: the murder of Gail Vaught, whose body was found on March 17, 1980, and Dennis Flowers. Police believe that Dennis was responsible for the execution style murders of Lee Dickson, a pharmacist who had become addicted to cocaine and started dealing it with Dennis, and Lee’s wife Karen Dickson who was eight months pregnant. A few days after the brutal double homicide, Dennis’ body was found under extremely mysterious circumstances, ...

Apr 18, 202435 minSeason 5Ep. 31
Hosted on Omny Studio
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast