On a warm June morning in nineteen ninety two, a quiet Springfield neighborhood awoke to find three women missing, without a trace, without a sound, and without a single clue. Inside their home sat untouched purses, sleeping beds, and a flickering TV playing static as if time had paused mid moment. What began as a simple missed call would unravel into one of the most haunting and enduring mysteries in American true crime history. This is the baffling mystery of the Springfield Three.
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.
The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience listener. You might be listening to Wicked and Graham, but you're also listening to Nicole being really sick.
I said that intro so quick. I think I was trying to hide the fact that my voice didn't sound quite proper.
You know, just get it out there.
You're listening to Wicked and Grip like that. It was really quick, quick.
Yeah, but yeah, today's episode is delayed to day so you could get a little bit more rest timing. You napped for like three hours. This afternoon.
Yeah, it was like amazing. That was one of the best naps I've ever had. But we were traveling too, and when you're under the weather weather, I don't think flying and stuff does anything good.
For you, you know, No, I don't think so so so I think that little extra time did you some good. But yeah, that's why we're a little bit late on uploading this episode. Got to take care of ourselves sometimes.
Right, totally. And I do apologize. My voice always gets so affected any sickness I have, so sorry about that.
It's all good. Just just let me do the heavy lifting. I can do a little more talking and you can just sit back and relax and drink your tea.
Yeah. Right, And if you don't get like your immune system is unbelievable. It is so good. The fact that you haven't gotten this set is like remarkable, very impressed.
I had a tickle in my throat yesterday, but I coughed and then it was gone.
Yeah. Well, I mean I guess you still could time could tell.
Yeah, we'll find out. Maybe next time we go to upload an episode. We'll be putting a thing out on our stories on Instagram, Facebook. Yeah, another delay because Ben's sick now and he needs some time.
Fingers crossed the knock on wood that doesn't happen.
Well, we'll take it day by day. Whether it's your recovery or mine, we'll we'll take it and we'll keep the balls balls.
The ball rolling is rolling. Yeah, day by day. I feel like that's just how you have to take life. Sometimes.
Ah too, Chet, It's actually funny. We had an Instagram post go I don't want to say viral. It's at like fifty thousand views right now. Well, one of the cases you know where it was like, oh, the true crime person you know, obsessive and goes in and kills someone, and then right the irony of the post, it's the discussion is going wild on people being like, oh my god, like true Crime's not that bad, and people just like on both sides of the fence and they're arguing, like
it's not bad. Do you not see it? This is exactly the breakdown of what we're talking about. Why it's like controversial. Sometimes you guys are literally doing what the post is saying. It's anyways, my point was, yeah, we'll take it, roll by the take it with the punches and sometimes in a situation where you kind of just do that. Yeah, because true crimes like that.
Yeah, life is like that, you know.
I feel like I really over explained that very simple.
Thing I think you did. I was trying to see you at some point, but I'm like, you're in a way too deep. I can't I don't even know what to take you out of it.
So how don't we just move on to patrons? How about we do that? Just shut up except that I'll thank our patrons. Shout out to Jaden Jones, Britney Stapleton, Tara Banks, d Cindy, Deborah Missey, Brenda w Aaron or not Aaron, Sorry, Airvin, there's a v in there, and Amanda Woolsey. Thank you so much for signing up over on Patreon this week.
Nice, yeah, thank you.
Yeah. We appreciate you, guys, we sure do. But are you ready for this story? The Springfield three?
Yeah? I think this is like a more known one, right a little bit.
It is it is, and it's it is a mystery. I'll tell you guys this right now.
Oh wow, real nice?
Well, I mean I even said it in the beginning. This is the baffling mystery of the Springfield three. But I just want to clarify. This is a mystery. It's unsolved.
So I don't love that, of.
Course you don't. I love mysteries though personally because it gets the mind thinking it when it's just here's the information and the story told for you. I don't know, it seems like it's an easy ride if you have to do some thinking, you know, it puts your brain to work, and I like that sometimes.
Yeah, and it's nice. I mean, I don't know how this one ends. I know I've heard of it, but to know that people are still working on things too, right, So like there's also the optimism. Is that the right word that you know it maybe could get solved still or something right exactly?
So let's dive into it before your voice breaks on us and you can't talk for the rest of the episode. How does that sound?
Sounds good? Midea?
It's all good. My bad for throwing back to you when you're having a sip. Okay, let's get going. In the early nineteen nineties, Springfield, Missouri, was a growing community nestled in the heart of the Ozarks, a place where people raised families, open small businesses, and left their doors unlocked. At night. Known as the Queen City of the Ozarks, Springfield balanced to charm of a small town with the
infrastructure of a regional hub. With a population nearing one hundred and forty thousand at the time, it was a large enough place to support universities, medical centers, and a lively town, but small enough that most residents felt like they knew like their neighbor's sort of situation, right, you know who's living next to you, and you're comfortable with your surroundings.
See, I still feel like that's a fairly large city. One hundred and forty thousand. That's like not small in my opinion.
It's not, but you still get that there's still pockets of that, you know, that small town feel in it.
Yeah.
I guess like we're we're not in a city that large. We're in a city of eighty thousand, ninety thousand somewhere in there. And there's a lot of small town vibes here.
True. Okay, yeah, true, But I mean that's like double the size, but still.
Still you can imagine there would be some small town vibes and that's it's not going to be everywhere for sure, but there's going to be places like that.
Now.
Crime existed, of course, but violent incidents we're seen as rare and isolated occurrence. The city had a reputation for being a relatively safe place to live, particularly in its more residential and suburban areas like the Southeast Corridor, where there were modest homes, quiet streets, and community pride painted a picture of everyday normalcy. In the spring of nineteen ninety two, the city was busy with high school graduations,
weekend outings, and the anticipation of summer now. For Suzanne or Susie Streeter and Stacy McCall, June sixth, nineteen ninety two was meant to be one of the most memorable days, memorable days of their lives. Both had just graduated from Kickapoo High School, a major milestone, you know, marking the end of their teenage years and beginning of their adult independence.
The ceremony was held at the hem and Student Center in the Missouri State University campus, drawing hundreds of family members, friends, and classmates alike. There was an air of celebration, pride, and relief emotions typical of of course, any graduation. Susie was nineteen and had long been known for her bright, bold personality. She had a creative streak, a love of fashion, and a rebellious edge that led her to explore independence
at quite a young age. Had five foot two and one hundred and two pounds, her shoulder length, bleach blonde hair, and a scar in her right forearm. She stood out rather easily when you were looking for her. Though she had had some turbulent moments in her late teens, including a few strained relationships and move ins in and out of her mother's house. She had plans she was set to attend cosmetology cosmetology school and the fall following in her mother's footsteps.
That's awesome.
Stacy McCall eighteen was more reserved than Susie, often described as sweet, funny, and little spacey, earning her the affectionate nickname Spacey Stacy.
Oh my gosh, almost feel like that's kind of mean.
I think it was a little bit more on the affectionate end when like, I bug you about being a little ditzy blonde sometimes, right, and it's the same sort of thing. It's done with love.
Yeah, And I guess she's like, yeah, that's me.
Yeah, exactly own your flaws, right, nobody's perfect, with long, dark blonde hair, blue eyes in a sunny smile. She had recently started modeling, modeling wedding gowns, be more more specific, at a local bridle shop. She was planning to start college in Southwest Missouri State University in the fall, rooming with her longtime friend Janelle Kirby and pledging to a
sorority now. She and Susie had once been close in grade school, but they had drifted in their different social circle sort of thing, but they'd recently reconnected in their final year of high school. Susie's mother, Cheryl Levitt, was forty seven years old and attended her daughter's graduation with quite a bit of pride. She was a petite, hard working woman at five foot tall and one hundred and ten pounds, with bleached blonde hair and an eye for detail.
Cheryl worked as a hairdresser at a local salon. She recently purchased a small home on East Delmer Street, a modest, cozy place that she was fixing up all on her own. Enjoying a sense of independency after divorce and raising her children largely by herself, Cheryl and Susie had a close bond despite the occasional tension you know, common between mother and daughter sort of thing, navigating, you know that onset from a teenage years into adulthood.
Oh yeah, it happens.
After the excitement of graduation, Susie and Stacy headed into the night with plans typical of any teen marking the end of high school. You know, parties, laughter, the comfort of close friends, whether it's bonfires or whatever you find yourself heading to. Right. Initially, the girls intended to spend the night at their friend Janelle Kirby's house in Battlefield. Not an actual battlefield, the place is called Battlefield. It's
a quiet suburb southwest of Springfield. Janelle was part of Stacy's close circle, and her home had become a gathering place for classmates celebrating their final moments together before summer, and the looming changes.
Came on such a time that I don't know, it's so precious, really, it really is. It's like just a moment in time that stands still for like a brief moment, but and then yeah, literally everything changes after that, pretty much.
Yeah, like I remember, and luckily enough you and I got to experience that together, going to to graduation parties and prom together and everything. And I remember packing like air mattresses and like sleeping bags and sleeping the back of the vehicle after a bonfire party and that sort of stuff. Like it was a good time and memories made for sure.
Because I don't know high school and stuff, I feel like is kind of shitty, but from my experience anyway, grade twelve was was more was more entertaining or fun or whatever than previous grades. And because everyone sort of it gets the end, and everyone, I feel like came together a little bit more than they did in previous grades, so it was kind of nice.
Yeah, that just shows our Canadian citizenship right there, because grade twelve in the States its senior year, right, you know, Okay, yeah yeah, grade twelve senior year whatever, your final year in high school before graduation.
Yeah.
Now. Susie arrived at Janelle's house at around eight fifteen PM, and Stacy followed shortly after. At eight thirty, The girls and headed out to a series of parties, including one hosted by a classmate named Brian Joy. Spirits were, of course high. There was music, there was drinks, chatter and lightness of you know, the whole situation. Though Susie reportedly complained of a mild stomach ache during the night, possibly from pizza she'd eaten earlier, she didn't let this dampen
her mood, though. By ten thirty PM, Stacy phoned her mother, Janis McCall to let her know that the plans had changed. See instead of driving to Branson as originally planned, they were going to stay the night in Springfield instead. Stacy promised to call again in the morning before heading to Whitewater Water Park. Janis, who had been concerned about the idea of her daughter driving late at night after the party, was quite relieved at this idea and this new plan.
Around that same time, Susie also called home to update her mother, Cheryl, about the changes. Cheryl herself had spoken to a friend that evening at eleven fifteen PM, chatting casually about her ongoing and ongoing improvements in her new home and her projects. Nothing unusual was noted in her demeanor. She seemed relaxed and at ease, spending the evening varnishing some furniture and winding down with her day. At around one thirty in the morning, Susie and Stacy, along with
Janelle and others arrived at another party on East Hanover Street. However, this one was a bit short lived. Apparently Springfield police broke it up quite early on, shortly after the group arrived, due to a noise complaint.
Yeah, well, it's getting real pretty late at that point.
Yeah, so I guess I shouldn't say early on, because yeah, one thirty, but early on for them, as they just recently arrived. Now, with the night winding down and options limited, the girls returned back to Janelle's house, but it was packed with out of town relatives who had come for the graduation celebrations. Despite Janelle's mother setting out the betting for them, Susie and Stacy decided they would rather sleep
somewhere a little quieter. That decision would prove fateful. Oh no, Susie invited Stacy to spend the night at her house, a suggestion sweetened by the recent arrival of a graduation gift, a brand new king sized waterbed that she was eager to show off. Yeah.
Oh, that's amazing, right.
It was some time around two am when they left Janelle's house, each in their own car. According to Janelle's mother, Kathy Kirby, she heard the girl say goodbye and walk out the front door. That was the last time anyone would hear their voices. On the morning of June seventh, nineteen ninety two, it started like any other early summer morning. It was a Sunday in Springfield. The skies were mostly cloudy,
the air was cool and breezy. Across town, graduations party had faded intil late night, and they were now quiet. I'm sure there was a few with hangovers as well stumbling around yep. But for those expecting to meet Susie
and Stacey in the morning, something that felt off. By nine am, Janelle Kirby and her boyfriend Mike Henson, they had grown concerned Susie and Stacy hadn't called or arrived at her house as planned, because they were supposed to arrive, give us a call and let her let them know, Hey,
we got here safe, right. That never happened. Now, As I had mentioned, there were plans to go to a water park the next day, and the trio were supposed to drive over to the water park in Branson for that post graduation tradition meant to cap off the weekend sort of thing. Now, at first, Janelle assumed that they were simply just running late, maybe you know, sleeping in after a long night, But when repeated phone calls to Susie's home when unanswered, she and Mike decided to check
in in person. They arrived at one seven one seven East Delmer Street, the home Susie shared with her mother, Cheryl Levitt. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, nothing appeared out of place. Nothing was immediately a miss. All three vehicles were parked outside, Cheryl's blue Mitsubishi Eclipse, Susie's red Ford Escort with personalized license plates to go with it That's say Susie on the back, and Stacy's
read Toyota Corolla. The presence of all three cars suggested the women were home, but the sense of normalcy was short lived. As they approached the front door, Janelle and Mike noticed broken glass sitting there on the front porch, the globe covering the porch light. It was broken. The bulb itself remained intact and still burning, but this glass globe that was the cover it was shattered. Without thinking twice, Mike swept up the glass and threw it away in
a trash can across the street. An act of helpfulness that would later actually be seen as a critical camp contamination of a crime.
I'm seeing Damn.
The front door was unlocked, and Janelle cautiously stepped inside. The house was quiet and dark. The television in the living room was on, but only static flickered across the screen. She called out, Susie, Stacy, Cheryl, but there was no answer. Then from the shadows, Cinnamon, the family's dog, a small little Yorky terrier, came rushing forward. The dog was quite happy to see them, in fact, a little bit frantic barking and even a little bit of whimpering. Allegedly a
little bundle of anxiety, Let's put it that way. Janelle would later recall how strange it was. Cinnamon had clearly been left alone, and she was distressed in a way that felt out of place. They looked through the home, nothing appeared to be disturbed. Beds had been slept in, but made or left only slightly rumpled from being slept in. Cheryl's glasses and book were still in her nightstand. In the bathroom, there were makeup wipes in the trash, and
signs that the women had gotten ready for bed. Stacy's close from the night before had been neatly folded on a chair, and inside Susie's room, their purses sat lined up on the floor. Everything, money, cigarettes, car keys, jewelry. It was all there, all the little items someone might take with them if they were leaving, even just for a short errand but still here they are, sitting inside
the house. Then the phone rang. Janelle picked it up, hopefully it was going to be one of them, but instead on the other end of the line was an unknown male voice that responded. The caller immediately launched into sexual innuendos and crude language, using profane and explicit terms, including repeated use of the F words, saying fuck or whatever.
It's unsure exactly what was said because there was no quotes I could find, only saying the type of language and type of things that were being said well.
Pretty alarming and pretty unexpected, probably from her answering the phone.
Exactly, and Janelle was quite unsettled by the call. She immediately hung up, thinking that this was just some sort of weird prank, possibly left over from hey, graduation parties and stuff, the big weekend that was going on, right, But the phone rang again.
Oh gosh, she picked up.
And the same man continued with more obscene language, offering no name, no context, just straight vulgarity. In the context of the empty house, it added an intense uneasy feeling that was growing in the sense that something was wrong.
Well, yeah, everything aligned right, Maybe just one thing isn't off, but all of these it's like, oh gosh, yeah.
Now. By late afternoon that day on June seventh, Janice McCall was growing uneasy too. Her daughter Stacy had promised to call that morning before leaving for the water park, and Janis hadn't heard a single word. At first, she chalked it up to a bu morning dead phone battery, you know, common teenage oversight, whatever it may be. But after checking in which Nell Kirby and learning that the girls hadn't spent the night there as planned and hadn't shown up for the trip to the water park, her
concern turned to dread. With a growing sense of something being wrong, Janice also drove to the house at East Delmer Street herself. What she found inside was the tidy home, you know, it was quiet. Their Cinnamon the dog, still alone, greeted her anxiously, and Janis noticed the strange details that
had unsettled Janelle earlier that morning. The lined up purses, the cash still in Cheryl's wallet, keys in the counter, cigarettes left untouched, which for both Cheryl and Susie, who were heavy smokers, leaving without their cigarettes was something they would not do. In Stacy's case, there was an even more telling sign. The only clothes she had with her were still there, neatly folded.
Oh okay.
Stacy was known to be contentious about her appearance, often modeling wedding dresses. As I mentioned at that local bridle shop, if she left the house voluntarily, she wouldn't have gone out without getting dressed. She would have made sure that she was looking maybe not her best, but she was going to ensure that she did something to ensure she looked and felt good.
Like she wasn't going out in her pajamas kind of thing exactly.
And I don't even know she had pajamas.
Well, she's probably borrowing her friends or something.
Potentially, Hey, she might have just taken off her jeans and T shirt and went to bed, you know, like people sleep in their underwear all the time. That might have been the case. Then the morning wake up throw these on go about your day again. I can't count how many times I've gone to parties and woke up in the morning rather hungover and still wearing the party clothes in the night before.
It's our partial of them.
Yeah, exactly, so she I don't know if she had pj's, but her clothes that she had were still there now in the bathroom. Damp washed clots and cloths, and recently discarded makeup wipe suggested the girls washed up before bed. Jewelry was taken off. It was left behind. In Susie's bedroom, an unfinished can of coke sat next to a cigarette. Her TV was still on broadcasting nothing but that white static, and most haunting of all, there was no sign of
a struggle. In a situation like this, you know what you might be thinking, Hey, someone could break in, someone you know, forced them out, whatever the situation, But there was no sign of any of this. Everything seemed like it was in its place as it should be.
It like it did, just seem like they went out for an errand but then they didn't because all their vehicles and purses and stuff were there.
Exactly. Janice moved instinctively to the answering machine in the home, hoping it might contain a message that would explain what happened. What she heard was reported as a strange message, something unsettling enough to alarm her, but as she replayed it to try and really listen to what was said in it, the message was accidentally erased.
Oh no, yeah, what I see.
In the nineteen nineties, many answering machines auto deleted messages after you played them, and if you didn't like save them a specific way, right, they were just gone.
Right, because you think, you kind of think about our technology, even if it was erased, you could probably still go about finding it, but back then not so much.
Yeah, so that sucks.
Yeah, that does suck. It's like these two people now have gone in there, they're trying to help, but then they have you know, made things a bit more difficult, I guess for investigators later, which is not their intention whatsoever. So it kind of sucks.
Yeah, And you mentioned two people.
Well, the boyfriend in cleaning up the glass and shit.
So you have Janelle and her boyfriend, and now you have a mother. Maybe she's potentially with someone too, who knows. So, right, there's a minimum of four right there already yeah, but I have an approximate number for you, which i'll get to you in just a moment.
Oh no, so I'm assuming it's more than that.
Despite her raising panic, Jennie hesitated to call nine on one right away. Part of her still hope the girls would walk through the door, brushing off the worry yet any moment things being nonchalant. It was just a misunderstanding, right But by eight forty eight pm, that hope had begun to fade, and she picked up the phone and finally made the call to Springfield Police Department, reporting all three of the women, her daughter, Susie, and Cheryl, as missing.
Officer Rick book Out was the first to arrive. The scene was unusual but gave no obvious sign of foul play. Still, it was immediately clear that something was very wrong when additional officers arrived, including Officer Brian. I'm going to get this name so wrong. We're going to truma my my best at reading names here, so I'm going to put my name reading hat on Officer Brian Geting Hegen.
Okay, that sounds like a good last name.
I think that's how you say Geting Hegen. Officer Brian Geting hegen, they began to treat the home as a potential crime scene. However, it was already too late. Over the course of the day, as many as eighteen people had entered the house.
What the shit? Why?
Friends, relatives, neighbors, all concerned, all searching, all well intentioned, but had unknowingly compromised a possible crime scene.
That seems like so many people. Yeah, I thought that there would be the Maxill's, you know, four at the most. I don't know if the if the one mom came with anyone, but that seems crazy.
Well, maybe a neighbor was out in there watering their flowers or something, and then it's like, oh seese, you know, like the mom sitting in there, panckicing. Oh is everything all right?
Oh?
I'm just worried. And then come on in and we'll make you tea real quick and we'll talk about what's going on, Like you know, he knows, right, yeah, because there was even ashtrays that had been emptied, dishes were washed, there was a bent window blind that was straightened.
Out, oh gosh.
And it was to the point where any physical evidence like fingerprints, hair, footprints, they were likely gone or just contaminated. Beyond being usable.
Oh that's so shitty right there. It's kind of just okay, Well, I guess this is why this is a mystery.
Possibly, So there were no signs of forced entry. As I mentioned, There's no blood, no scrawled message, no overturned furniture, no obvious struggle whatsoever. The only anominally anomaly aside from the missing women themselves was the shattered porch light, which had already been swept away. So when Springfield Police officially launched their investigation into the disappearance of Cheryl Levitt, Susie Streeter, and Stacy McCall, they were all already at a disadvantage.
The initial response to the missing person's report had been so or not been so slow, but it been slow, and by the time the detectives began examining the home, the crime scene was basically just compromised beyond repair. So it's kind of in a situation of good luck.
Well, and honestly, one of those eighteen people who came in and like looked around or whatever could have like known more, but they made themselves just look like they were, you know, just trying to be helpful.
That's true. Maybe the neighbor was involved. Maybe the uhbor came in on purpose, you know, cover tracks. Who knows.
Because the fact that there wasn't any signs of what's it called, like struggle distress or whatever struggle, it kind of shows that they might have known the person.
Yeah, that's that's true, unless they had a way of accessing the home. I mean, if you think about it this way, this home was just recently purchased. What if it's a previous homeowner if locks weren't changed. Yeah, what if it's not a previous homeowner. But maybe it's like the homeowner who had someone babysit or home or watched their home five years ago. Who knows at that point?
Honestly, Yeah, I know they do say every time you buy a house to change the locks. But you wonder how many people should do that.
Yeah, and that's just pure speculation on my point, but hey, I mean it, honestly, I wonder if it's worth even looking into. Really. Now, the officers we were now left to try and find anything they could in the home that was honestly just too neat and too tidy. There was Yeah, where do you start? Is basically what I'm trying to get out there's no broken locks, no visible blood, no sin of struggle. Nothing is just where do you start with a clean, almost too clean of a home.
So what they did note was that Cheryl's bed had appeared to be slept in reading glasses, we're resting in the nightstand book open, she'd been interrupted mid page. Susie and Stave Stacey had makeup wipes and bathing routines, suggested that they had returned home, gotten ready for bed, and settled in. Stacy's clothes were neatly folded, jewelry placed in pockets, and Susie's room was largely untouched and outside from the two bent slats on the window blines that were previously fixed,
that was about it. But those window blines almost look like someone had peeked through the window.
Okay, from like the inside or the outside, the inside them looking out, Yes, someone looking out.
So, despite the absence of the struggle, police immediately suspected foul play. The sheer improbability of three women voluntarily disappearing without taking a single item with them, even items of importance purse, keys, cigarettes, nothing like that. It made them running off or the idea of it just implausible. So called to Janie McCall had heard the call Janie McCall had heard on the answering machine, The one that was
accellententally erased, was a particular interest to detectctives. They believed it might have contained a possible clue, possibly even a message from someone involved, but the message unfortunately lost. It became just one of those more frustrating details on a growing list of what ifs now. The obscene phone calls received by Janelle Kirby earlier that morning were also noted, though authorities were uncertain if they were actually even connected
at all. Susie had reported complaints of about prank calls in the week prior, though no one knew if it was an escalating pattern or simply just high school harassment regardless. Within days, the Springfield Police Department assigned thirty officers to the case, dividing them into two twelve hour shifts to maintain a round the clock effort. On June ninth, just two days after the women's disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, signaling how serious the case was being taken and how
unusual it are already was. Investigators began to build a timeline, narrowing the window of disappearance to somewhere between two teen am and eight am on June seventh. That six hour gap became the focal point. During that time, no neighbor reported screams, strange vehicles, or any sounds of a disturbance. It was as if within those hours someone had entered the house, coerced or forced all three women out, and vanished into the early morning darkness, leaving behind nothing but
silence and a whole lot of questions. As news of the disappearance spread, Springfield changed overnight. The tight knit Ozark city had just been celebrating high school graduations, and it was now suddenly just pushed into a missing persons situation. There's flyers, press conferences, and a growing unease all across town. For a place that rarely dealt with violent crimes, let alone when involving three missing persons, the community was stunned.
Within days, thousands of flyers were distributed across the city and the surrounding county. They bore the names of the end faces of Sheryl Levitt, Susie Streeter, and Stacy McCall, now collectively referred to by both police and media as the Springfield Three. Local news stations ran daily updates. National outlets began picking up the story, and people locked their doors for the first time in years. Springfield PD, bolstered by FBI agents, ramped up their efforts. Detectives and volunteers
conducted extensive searches of the surrounding areas. They combed through wooded trails, creeks, abandoned building, sewer systems, and rural farms. Divers explored parts of Lake Springfield and the James River, hoping for any clue, any item, any trace. Yet nothing was found. The lack of physical evidence at the home made things worse. With no crime scene, no witness, and no real directions, investigators were left with little more than tips to go on, and the tips came in by
the hundreds. By mid June, police were chasing down every single possible lead, no matter how far fetched they seemed. Some tips appeared more promising than others. Of course, Several people across Being Springfield reported seeing a strange van, specifically a green Dodge panel van, older model with no rear or side windows. One witness said that they saw Susie Streeter driving such a van around six thirty am on the morning of June seventh, over a mile from her home.
What the According to her, Susie looked distressed and a man in the back seat was yelling at her, warning her not to do anything stupid.
Okay.
Another witness, a store clerk, said he saw a young blonde girl resembling Susie or Stacy in a similar van parked in a lot where the driver appeared nervous and out of place. The man jotted down part of the license plate, but later threw it away. Yeah dang realized its importance only after the news broke and searching for it and being like, oh shit, it's in the trash.
It's like they're having no luck at all.
Police talked with this individual and even attempted hypnosis to try and recover those digits from the license plate, but the trail went cold. Another sighting came from a waitress at George George's Steakhouse, one of Cheryl's favorite late night spots. She claimed that between two and three am on the night of the disappearance, she saw the three women at the diner, visibly intoxicated and accompanied by three unknown men.
According to her, Cheryl was trying to calm Susie down, but no other diner employee or patron could confirm the story, and police were a bit skeptical. Other calls described screeching tires and faint screams heard in the early hours near Delmar Street, but no hard details ever emerged from them. Some of the leads came from anonymous callers who claimed insider knowledge, only to vanish just as quickly, including one tip that came into America's Most Wanted that was disconnected
mid transfer, which I'll talk about that later. As the days turned into weeks, aniaes gave way to fear. Parents kept tighter watch on their children. Women in Springfield began carrying pepper spray and locking their doors once they left.
Rumors spread fast, some believable, others not so much. Police were inundated with theories, even from serial killers to human trafficking to occult rituals, especially after it was discovered that Susie had books on the occult in her room, though friends said she never showed serious interest in them, And regardless, honestly, if you have serious interest in the occult, that doesn't mean you're going to go and perform massachist type rituals.
Honestly, well and I think too, if you did, like have serious interest, you would bring it up in conversation at times they want to talk about it, right, or something you read or whatever exactly.
Now, the investigation ballooned, and by the end of the summer, over five thousand tips had been submitted. I AM investigators pursued leads in twenty one different states. But despite the national attention, the door to door searches, the media coverage, and a reward that eventually grew to forty two thousand dollars, the women remained missing, and with each passing day, the
chances of finding them alive or otherwise seemed to shrink. Now, as the investigation dragged into the summer of nineteen ninety two, police began to look beyond the timeline and the physical searches, focusing their attention on people those close to the victims. Of course, you know, we always look at hey, if it's a wife, go to the husband. If it's a husband,
it's that sort of thing, right, yep. But they also looked into whoever they could find a connection to, those with personal grudges and those with criminal pass that could fit the bill for someone that orchestrated something this clean. At the top of this early suspect list was an individual by the name of Barrett. Streeter recognized that last name.
Oh yeah, is that the dad.
That's Susie's older brother and Cheryl's son.
Okay, okay, so.
At twenty seven years old. Barrett was living in Springfield at the time of the disappearance, and his relationship with his mother and sister were reportedly strained and the spring of nineteen ninety two, just weeks before the disappearance, Susie had moved in briefly with Barrett after an argument with her mother, but that arrangement hadn't lasted. Susie moved back home after a fight over Barrett's drinking and partying habits.
The family had a complicated dynamic, and investigators initially wondered whether some kind of confrontation had spiraled out of control, but Barrett had a confirmed alibi. Both his girlfriend and a neighbor backed up his whereabouts the night of the women when the women went missing, and he also passed a polygraph, though as we know, those not the most reliable.
But still that kind of seems far fetch like he wouldn't have known that all the girls were gonna be there and stuff unless whoever, someone was like attacking the mom or there for the mom and then the girls you know, came.
Home and it caught in the crossway.
Yeah, I don't know.
Regardless, he had two solid alibis, passed the polygraph, and eventually he was cleared and ruled out by police. Another set of names that came and quickly rose up in suspicion were Dustin Recla, Susie's ex boyfriend, and his friend Michael Clay. A few months before the disappearance, the two had been charged with vandalism at a mausoleum. You know, they basically they into a tomb and stole gold fittings from human skulls.
Ah the kind of d bags just saying that, Yeah, that is like super assholes.
Yep. Susie had provided a statement to police about this incident and was expected to testify in court. She was reportedly disgusted by what her ex boyfriend had done and it cut ties with them completely. The theory was straightforward, had Dustin or his friend targeted Susie for you know, keeping her silent, and that others are involved because of collateral damage? Right, Yeah, go there for Susie, friends there,
moms there, like, and so be it. We got to kill or take whoever is all in this room right now or in this house.
Huh okay.
But he and his accomplice had alibis. They claimed that they were at a concert the night of the disappearance, and the nature of the grave robbing case seemed pretty how do you say, pretty small in compared to persons disappearing. Yeah, douchebag for sure, But it's it's harmless to the living, I'll put it that way.
Like, Yeah, they would have got a slap on the hand for sure, But I don't think it's not enough to like go about murdering or something three individuals.
No, Because I mean, if you look at it on the legal level, you're basically going for a misdemeanor charge to kidnapping and or murder.
Yeah, So that it would have escalated things real bad for them extremely.
Still, they remained persons of interest for a time, especially when one of their associates, Steve Garrison, came forward in nineteen ninety three facing his own criminal charges. Garrison told police that he overheard a confession at a party about the women's disappearance. He led authorities to two properties in Webster County, including one linked to Francis Robbs Senior, a convicted double murderer. Searches were conducted, but nothing was found.
Dang yeah. Now.
Around the time time of the disappearance, several neighbors recalled seeing a strange man described as transient, disheveled with shoulder length brown hair and a beard, lurking in the neighborhood in the days prior. He was never identified, but despite police's police circulating a sketch, it just seemed to go nowhere. No one could confirm whether he had any connection to the women, and eventually the lead on that one just evaporated.
Of all the suspects considered, the one by the name of Robert Craig Cox was the one with the most focus. Robert was a highly trained army ranger, once named Soldier of the Year, but his military discipline masked something much darker. In nineteen seventy eight, he was arrested and eventually convicted for the murder of nineteen year old Sharon Zellers in Florida, a brutal killing that left the young woman raped and beaten. The conviction was overturned years later due to insufficient evidence,
and he walked free in nineteen ninety two. At the time of the Springfield three's disappearance, guests who was living in Springfield, Oh, Robert Cox. However, not only that was he just living in Springfield, but he was working as a mechanic at a car dealership, the very same one where Stacy McCall's father was employed. This guy had a history of abduction, assault and murder.
But also, I feel like you'd be kind of hard for like one individual to go about doing this to three.
Well, if you threaten one with the life.
Of another, yeah, I guess it's possible. Yeah, So one question. Robert said that he spent the night of June sixth at home with his parents, and the next morning attended church with his girlfriend and her child. At first, the girlfriend corroborated this ally, but years later she recanted it, stating that Robert had asked her.
To lie hmmm, and she was probably also a little.
Bit afraid of him, potentially. In nineteen ninety seven, now incarcerated in Texas for a separate aggravated robbery, Robert gave a chilling interview with a journalist. In it he claimed that he knew the three women had been murdered and that their bodies would never.
Be found, and how did he know this? Well.
He also said that he wouldn't provide details until after his mother passed away.
Oh gosh, what a disgusting piece of shit.
So to quote him, I just know that they're dead. That's not a theory, that's just what I know. Okay, he refused to elaborate. He wouldn't say who did it, why, and to this day he has never been officially charged in connection with the case.
Okay, Well, did his mom like not die?
I'm assuming his brothers he died before her. Well, he's in prison right now. Oh still, Well, I'm assuming. I mean I didn't look up exactly if he was still but I mean at the time in nineteen ninety seven he was in charge. By then, I guess he's probably still probably out walking. I guess at the time in nineteen ninety seven he was aggravated robbery, so he would be out by then.
Oh okay, and yeah, so then if he's admitted to something like this, like yeah, he's knocketting out of jail, So why the fuck would he admit to it? Exactly there's Yeah, there's no reason for him too. I guess if he's gotten away with it this long.
Yeah. Now, some investigators believe that he was simply seeking attention. Others felt that he might have firsthand knowledge or even involvement in it. But what's certain is that all of the people police interviewed, out of all of them, Robert Craig Cox came the closest to sounding like an actual confession.
You know, that's so gross, just to play with people like that.
It is. It's disgusting. So with no crime scene, no bodies, and no clear suspect, investigators and the public were left to construct possibilities from what little there was. A broken porch light, three untouched cars, and an eerie absence of three women who seemingly vanished mid routine, leaving everything behind. Over time, a handful of theories theories began to form.
One theory came to light early in the investigation, and it's the idea that the perpetrator was posing as a utility worker, perhaps claiming to check for a gas leak in the neighborhood. The thought was chilling in its simplicity, So all it would take is, you know, a knock the door in the early morning, a uniform, a bad, calm voice assuring that that's just a routine check. Cheryl, being cautious but hospitable, lets him in, especially considering, hey,
she's doing some work in renovations in her house. She might even be concerned that she caused a problem herself, or who knows what right.
But still, that's such an odd time.
It is. If that man was armed, it would have taken little effort to gain control, and if Susie and Stacy were already in their pajamas their night clothes, they may have been startled to wake or caught off guard unable to react. This theory grew incredibility when it was discovered that Robert Craig Cox as I mentioned that most important individual, had worked for a utility location company in
Springfield at the time of the disappearance. In a letter sent years later, Robert claimed he had performed jobs near the area of East Delmer Street. Still, police could never place him at the house, and there was no physical evidence to support that idea, but it remained a very compelling scenario, especially given how clean the scene was and how unlikely it would be for three women to just
be overpowered without any sign of a struggle. Now a small detail, but one investigators kept coming back to was Susie's car. It was not parked in its usual spot. According to her close friend and coworker Nigel Kenny, Susie was meticulous, almost obsessive about where she parked in the driveway that morning. Her car was slightly askew, not in its usual place. To Nigel, this suggested that someone else may have arrived first, possibly blocking her in her spot,
prompting her to maybe park somewhere else. If that someone was already in the house or waiting for them to arrive, it would lend weight to the theory that this wasn't a random crime but something planned entirely Outside of that, though, there's nothing else to really go on for that theory.
Okay, but then would they have They wouldn't have gone about like taken their makeup off.
And shit, unless the individual wanted to stage a scene. It is far fetched, but it is a possibility.
Yeah.
Another theory involves a grim line of thought amongst some investigators, and it's that Cheryl Levitt may have been the target. Perhaps someone had a grudge something from her personal life, her past relationships, even a client from the salon for whatever reason. If that were true, Susie and Stacy could have simply been at the wrong place at.
The wrong time, yeah, like if they would have stayed at their friends.
Yeah, But there's little evidence to support this beyond speculation. Cheryl led a quiet, focused life. She was close to her daughter. There were no known romantic entanglements or disputes that pointed to motives. But still the idea has persisted, especially considering that Susie and Stacy weren't even supposed to be at the house that night. They only changed plans at the last moment, hey being caught the crossfires.
I feel like it's more likely though, that they would have brought, you know, a follower of sorts home with them. Though what do you mean, sorry, someone might have been following the girls something, right, So I feel like it's more likely in my thoughts, that it would have been like the girls kind of it. Well, it's not caused this, like I don't mean that, but you know, rather than like the mom, you know, bringing this in or well, if you.
Look at it in the light that the mom is supposed to be home alone when she always has her daughter with her. She's the one who generally had raised the kids right, like the father wasn't as much in the picture. So she has her daughter with her like all the time. So this night she's supposed to be home alone, this is a good night to target her.
Yeah, yeah, I guess.
And then the girls show up at home and are caught in the crossfires. But you are right, it's just as easy that someone saw these girls and followed them home, and now the mother's caught in the cross crossairs.
So either way, like, so are you almost thinking that the girls could have walked in and the mom was like already in danger.
Of sorts potentially, or the perpetrator goes there at like three in the morning or something when everyone's sleep, yeah, and is like, shit, well now I got to deal with more people.
But he's still going to do it.
Yeah. Now, then there's the Dodge panel van, the green van reported in multiple tips across town. One witness sitting on her porch at around six thirty am on June seventh, claimed to see a distressed blonde woman driving such a van with a man in the backseat shouting threats. Another man said he saw a suspicious van parked at a grocery store, jotted down the license plate the one that
threw it out. Unfortunately, the descriptions varied, but the van itself became symbolic, a rolling ghost, kind of down the highway sort of thing, possibly carrying the last known location of the Springfield three. Police even parked a similar van outside the station for weeks, hoping to trigger someone's memory, but the lead went nowhere. But still that is a highlight that many people associate with this case.
Yeah, well that does seem something that you know, you can kind of understand that they were kidnapped.
Right well for sure. And finally the parking garage theory. Years later, a reporter named Kathy Baird received multiple anonymous tips pointing to an unlikely burial site beneath the South parking garage at Cox Hospital, roughly four miles from the house. In two thousand and seven, she brought a medical engineer with ground penetrating radar. They checked the spot. The scan revealed three anomalies, shaped and spaced in a way very
consistent with grave sites, two parallel and one perpendicular. It was intriguing, but the hospital parking structure wasn't built until over a year after the disappearance, and police argued that if the women had been buried there beforehand, the construction would have unearthed the remains, and unfortunately, the cost of exit excavation was deemed unjustifiable without stronger evidence.
Okay, well, honestly, that one makes so much sense, but the timing is way off. Like if it was being constructed or whatever at the time, I'd be like, holy shit, yeaheah. But if the fact that it wasn't really built for a year later doesn't I don't know that one. I don't know. I have trouble believing that one.
Then I feel you too. But it's like, okay, it's it depends on how deep these footings are, right, Like how deep are we going? Did this person really do their job and they're like, I'm going to bury these these bodies ten feet down and the footings and you know, the concrete perimeter poor. Did it only go eight feet down.
To dig three graves that deep in a fricking couple hours?
Touchet? I mean, who knows what was on that that site beforehand?
Yeah, I don't know.
Maybe it was easy. Maybe hey, maybe there was a cont ptruction worker who had these bodies in their backyard and were like, I'm going to just do a double shift tonight and bury these bodies under the concrete of this slab. Important right now?
Huh huh, I don't know.
By the end of the first year, investigators had received over five thousand tips from across the country. Some were well meaning, others were bizarre. Many came from psychics offering visions and dreams. Others led to dig sites and surrounding countries. A set of bones pulled from Lake Springfield turned out to be animal remains. A pair of large women's underwear floating in the lake, so big that all three women
could have fit inside, was examined and dismissed. Every tip was logged, every call was followed up, but nothing led to the missing three women. One of the most maddening missed opportunities, though, came on December thirty first, nineteen ninety two, when an anonymous man called the hotline for America's Most Wanted, shortly after the show featured the Springfield three. He claimed to have vital information quote vital information. The operator attempted
to transfer him to investigators. However, the line was disconnected mid transfer. The man never called back. Police publicly pleaded for him to come forward, stating that if he had prime knowledge for the case, please let us know. But the man never called back.
Well that's just like a hope, though, like who knows. It could have been completely shit or something like really not that vital.
I believe it was either a someone who did know something and was just fucking with police, or b it was a hoax, because if someone truly knew something like that and they were attempting to call, they would call back.
Well not necessarily because what if they were, you know, really stewing on if they were gonna phone, So then they finally are like, fuck, I'm going to just phone, and then it disconnects, and it's like, okay, well that's my sign. Yeah maybe, I mean right, true true for some people that are kind of like superstitious or whatever.
Yeah, no, you got a point. In nineteen ninety three, police followed tips from an inmate named Steve Garrison. They searched a farm in Northview, Missouri, as well as a forty acre property in Webster County connected to convicted killer Francis rob Senior. Garrison hid claimed to overhear a confession involving the Springfield three and a green van allegedly tied to a party involving Dustin Recla, that same boyfriend who broke into the grave sites and others as well. Search
teams descended on the area. At least one search involved digging and using cadaver dogs, and what they found, though was never revealed to the public. You just gave me the biggest squinty eyes, narrowed stare I've ever seen you do.
If it wasn't revealed to the public, I don't think it would be these three, right, because they would reveal the shit.
Well, let me go on a little, just a little bit further here. The search records remain sealed under court order, which have of course sparked decades of speculation. However, no arrests were followed up on, no suspects emerged. If leeds did turn up or anything, it was clearly not enough. Oh okay, but doesn't say that there's it wasn't anything. Whatever it was is protected by.
Authorities, okay.
Over the years, strange story surfaced online, usually anonymously. One such post detailed to terrifying encounter in the wood in the woods near Camp Winoka, where a teenager claimed he and his friend had witnessed three women being pulled from a van and attacked. It read like fiction, honestly, and there's no confirm about it or anything like that. But even more chilling, there were reports of threats received by those investigating the case. Kathy Baird, the reporter who pursued
the parking garage theory. She claimed that she was once boxed in by cars and they warned her, quote people I work for make people like you disappear.
Oh gosh, yeah, okay, it.
Seems a deeper anyone, Doug the murcier things got, and unfortunately, to this day, the case has yet to been solved. Some of the most heartbreaking evidence that we have of the women's the women vanishing, lies in what was left behind, indicating that they never really intended to disappear. Cheryl had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday after she had vanished. Susie was due to start cosmetology school that fall. Stacy planned to attend Missouri State and join a sorority with
their childhood best friend. They all left money, makeup, cigarettes, IDs, cars, They were untouched. The house was clean, too clean. Even the family dog Cinnamon had been left behind. To those who knew the women, that alone ruled out the idea of them leaving well.
And they all had like stuff that they like, they had their lives were good, Like the one, you know, she had just kind of had this house and was renovating it. And the other ones had school and they just finished high school and stuff.
Right, and they just celebrated graduation.
Yeah, So it's like they all had things that were good and they were looking forward to and stuff.
So exactly. Now, more than three decades have passed since Cheryl Levitt, Susie Streeter, and Stacy McCall vanished from the quiet home on East Elmer Street, get their absence still looms large over Springfield. The city may have grown, evolved and moved on, but the space they once occupied has
never been filled. In nineteen ninety seven, five years after the disappearance, Cheryl and Susie were declared legally deceased, and June of the same year, a bench was dedicated to Cheryl, Susie and Stacey and Phelps Grove Park within the Victim Memorial go Garden. It stands as a quiet reminder of place to sit, reflect and remember the women who should have grown old here, who should have seen grandchildren, careers,
weddings and life. Stacy's family, however, refused to take that step as far as Janice and Stu McCall are concerned, until there is proof their daughter remains missing, not gone. Despite the years the Springfield the Police Department maintained that the case has never gone cold, not officially. A detective has always been assigned to monitor the flow of tips,
which still trickle in. As of the last public update, the department has amassed over twenty seven thousand documents, thousands of leads, and still files around one hundred tips per year. Yet with no bodies, no arrests, no verification, verified confessions, the case remains one of the most haunting unsolved disappearances in American history. And that's the story of the Springfield three.
Yeah, that's some shit right there. Yeah, the fact that that is not solved, it's it's just gonna fuck with me.
There's nothing, honestly, like, I just read a lot, We just went over a lot. It's almost all theories. Yeah, it's almost all just dead ends. There's no evidence. There is nothing, at least nothing that's been released to the public.
Well, and honestly, I'm not even certain because lots of people, Oh, there are so many people going through the house and stuff, but like, who knows if there was would have even been anything left exactly, Like there's it's I'm sure that there would have been evidence. Like these people who did this, you know, they might have been real good at their jobs.
I guess potentially, But then that begs a question, why would people who are real good at their jobs like this target them? Yeah, what's their motive?
I have no idea.
Yeah, like you can even say, Okay, the obvious one to go to, because you have three women is you know, unfortunately sex trafficking. You have two of them who are just coming out of high school. It's a good thought that we can immediately put a red flag on. Well not good thought, but you know, you know what I mean. Yeah, that still begs the question, Okay, why these women? Because when you're talking about human trafficking, usually you're trying to
find someone in a vulnerable situation. Even if it's just hey, people traveling abroad and they don't know their surroundings, it's a vulnerable situation. These three were in their home. That's not a vulnerable situation.
Yeah yeah, oh man, this one sucks the fact that, yeah, even thinking about is it going to get solved?
You know, because just listening it's they don't have much.
They don't I don't even have anything.
So curious these hunter tips and shit that come in yearly, like what the heck are they?
Most of them are probably bs.
Huh.
I thought I saw someone who looked like this girl. I thought I saw a van. It was green, like you know, it's yeah, I mean, you're talking about a van that was on the road in nineteen ninety two. If that was even a van at all, it ain't the same van out there now, I guarantee you if that one van was running and it is a true tip, by the time that tip was released to the public,
we're looking for a green van. That van is long gone now being burnt down in the woods, being sold, being repainted, being torn apart, being stored in a barn. We don't know, but it certainly isn't on the road.
It's so odd that they just disappeared like with really without a trace, like just gone gone.
Honestly, and this is going to be a very weird suggestion, but it's almost like an alien abduction, like they were just plucked from their home.
And gone, just gone, like they just.
Poof, yeah, poof.
I can only imagine like just being like a close friend or family and just how that would just haunt you for freaking ever really yeah, and like even the mom of the one girl, like, oh, should i've I've phoned earlier, Like you would just be going through things so much in your head, how could I have changed this or that? And like, I mean, it's just human nature and you didn't do anything wrong, but it's just like frick.
Well, that brings up the the what IFFs, the what ifs, right, and hindsight is twenty twenty. Like when you go in the boyfriend comes up and he sweeps up the broken glass.
He was just being nice, right, Like.
Honestly, if if a friend came up to my house and was sweeping up the broken glass, but like, hell, yeah, I'm gonna buy you a beer if they step over the broken glass, and the like, by the way, you got broken glass, it'd be like cool, thanks, I'm gonna go swep some shit now.
Well not necessarily though, because well no, I wouldn't blame that they wouldn't know where the broom and stuff.
No, But it's like I'm just being like, okay, I go sweep some broken glass now. So it's like a good friend is like, hey, looking after you and taking care of you. So it's not a bad thing, you know what I mean? Sorry, when I say cool, thanks, I wasn't saying like, oh, you're a dick for not cleaning my mask. That's not what I was meaning. I was just like, oh, cool, Now I got a shitty situation to deal with.
Thanks, because you almost wonder if that got broken and like the mom heard it while she was in bed or whatever and then went out to investigate that, and that's when they came in, right, because this is just so bizarre, really fucks with you.
It does. Now. What if that broken light had nothing to do with with it?
Though?
Too?
Right?
Yeah, honestly, what if a bird flew into it that morning? Just saying it like you don't know?
Yeah, yeah, that's the thing.
The what ifs, And there are so many what ifs with this. What if a bird flew in and broke that glass, or what if alien subducted them? What if they ran off on their own? Who's to say any of those theories are more or less unlikely than the other because there's zero evidence as far as released to public, to support any of the claims, which that is the biggest and most frustrating part of this case. I love the mysteries. I talked about that at the beginning of this in other.
Episodes, how do you love this?
This one? I don't love. This one bugs the shit out of me because there's nothing to go on.
Well yeah, and the fact too, like the investigators, it probably just they would have just been pulling out their hair right.
Oh definitely, And in all honesty, I could have covered this case in a ten minute podcast. There's three women, they went missing, there's no evidence on there's a ten second podcast. That's the story. That's it.
H jeeze.
So anyways, I'm frustrated because even for me, this case sucks. I like mysterious mystery cases. I didn't like this one.
Yeah, this one is not fun. I mean not saying mysteries are fun. Some I guess can be, but yeah, this is just a pol of shit.
Yeah. Anyways, if you guys have thoughts theories, shoot us a message. We'd love to hear it. All our links are in the description of this podcast, if you want to give us a review means the world. We are an independent podcast, we're owned operated, all of that. On our own reviews go a long way, so we really appreciate that and hopefully Nicole feels better.
Yeah yeah, well, this one I think is going to keep me up at night. My brain is like going wild right now. But anyway, yeah, until next episode, stay wicked.