Episode description
‘TWAS THE MYSTERY BEFORE CHRISTMAS: Unsolved True Crime Cases From Christmases Past #WeirdDarkness #HolidayHorrors
Episode description
From an inexplicable force that turned a woman to ashes in her farmhouse, to strange phenomena that transformed a quiet English town into a UFO hotspot, these nine chilling Christmas mysteries continue to baffle investigators and haunt communities long after the holiday decorations were packed away.Darkness Syndicate members get the ad-free version. https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate
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IN THIS EPISODE: A nurse was found dead in her bed - and her boyfriend and his nine-year-old son vanished, leaving behind only a truck full of bloodstained presents. (Christmas Murder in Lockhart) *** A little girl vanishes on a winter road trip to Las Vegas, and twenty Christmases later, a detective's search for answers leads to a desperate couple's final confession - but not to the truth about what really happened to two-year-old Nikole Betterson. (Nikole’s Christmas Farewell) *** Behind one of the most beloved Christmas poems ever written lies a centuries-old mystery: was "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" penned by a scholarly professor for his children, or did someone else create the story that shaped how we see Santa Claus? (‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas) *** When Patty Vaughan left her home on Christmas Day 1996, she left behind three children and a trail of mysterious clues - including an abandoned van, suspicious blood stains, and a red work uniform that would puzzle investigators for decades to come. (The Patty Vaughan Vanishing) *** When farmhand John Larson awoke to find soot on his pillow on Christmas morning 1885, he never imagined he'd discover his employer Patrick Rooney dead from smoke inhalation and his wife Matilda mysteriously burned to ash in a perfectly circular hole in their kitchen floor - with no other fire damage to the house. (Matilda Rooney’s Christmas Combustion) *** In the quiet town of New London, Connecticut, what began as a simple flat tire on Christmas Eve 1973 turned into one of the community's darkest mysteries when twenty-year-old Kevin Showalter was struck and killed by a driver who vanished into the night - leaving behind a grieving mother, whispers of a cover-up, and questions that would haunt the town for decades. (The Hit And Run Death of Kevin Showalter) *** A teenage girl's first office Christmas party should have been a celebration of new beginnings, but for Rhonda Hinson, it became her last night alive - and the start of a mystery that would puzzle investigators for over forty years. (Rhonda Hinson’s Only Office Christmas Party) *** A mother's quick errand turns into a decades-old mystery when Tracy Mertens vanishes from her Birmingham flat days before Christmas, leaving investigators with a yellow Ford Escort, two mysterious men, and questions that remain unanswered to this day. (The Tracy Mertens Mystery) *** On Christmas morning 1964, the quiet town of Warminster, England woke up to strange sounds that would mark the beginning of one of history's most puzzling mysteries - a series of unexplained events that would become known worldwide as 'The Thing. (The Warminster Christmas Thing)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Disclaimer and Cold Open
00:02:56.281 = Show Intro
00:07:05.727 = The Warminster Christmas Thing
00:14:09.612 = The Tracy Mertens Mystery
00:18:03.950 = The Mystery of Matilda Rooney’s Christmas Combustion
00:22:29.914 = Rhonda Hinson’s Only Office Christmas Party
00:29:00.119 = Christmas Murder in Lockhart
00:31:49.973 = The Holiday Hit-And-Run of Kevin Showalter
00:35:21.077 = Nikole’s Christmas Farewell
00:42:04.732 = The Patty Vaughan Vanishing
00:45:28.112 = ‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas
00:51:31.637 = Show Close
Originally aired: December 21, 2024
SOURCES PAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/ChristmasMysteries