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- [00:07]
Vanessa Richardson
This is Crime House. During the week of February 17, 1977, a wealthy reclusive widow named Helen Voorhees Brock seemingly vanished into thin air after a doctor's appointment. Almost eight years later to the day, another strange case gripped the nation when 8 year old cherry Mahan went missing somewhere between her bus stop and her home just a few steps away, making this episode's theme Disappearances. Welcome to Crime House the Show. I'm Vanessa Richardson. Every Monday we'll be revisiting notorious crimes from this week in history. From serial killers to mysterious disappearances or murders. Every episode will explore two true crime cases that share a common theme here at Crime House. We know none of this would be possible without you, our community. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Crime House the Show wherever you get your podcasts and for ad free and early access to Crime the Show plus exciting bonus content, subscribe to Crime House on Apple Podcasts. Once again, this episode's theme is Disappearances. Today's story begins in 1977 with the day 65 year old millionaire Helen Brock went missing. We'll discuss how her disappearance stunned the Chicago area and why her case still haunts so many people. Then we'll jump forward almost a decade to 1985 when 8 year old Cherry Mahan disappeared somewhere in the hundred yard stretch between her bus stop and her house. There are many reasons why these two cases have stuck with us. When it comes to Helen Brock, it seems inconceivable that someone so high profile could vanish without a trace. Cherry's case stands out because she was within steps of her home when she disappeared. But what makes both of these cases so haunting is the fact that somewhere out there, someone knows what happened to them.
- [02:47]
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- [03:18]
Rosetta Stone
In the New Year as you set resolutions for 2024, consider how learning a new language can enrich your life, whether through travel, career advancement, or cultural appreciation. Keeping in mind everything you've learned over the last year, it's time to build on that and learning a new language can help you connect with others and explore new cultures. With that in mind, there's no better tool than Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program available on desktop and mobile. Rosetta Stone immerses you in the language so you truly learn to think, speak and understand it naturally. With Rosetta Stone's intuitive approach, there are no English translations, you're fully immersed, and the built in Truaccent feature acts like a personal accent coach, giving you real time feedback to make sure you sound just right. Don't put off learning that language. There's no better time than right now to get started. Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach today. Listeners can take advantage of this Rosetta Stones lifetime membership for 50% off, visit rosettastone.com Rs10 that's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your Life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com RS10today.
- [04:29]
Vanessa Richardson
On February 17, 1977, 65 year old Helen Voorhees Brock was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for her yearly physical. The hospital was hundreds of miles from her home in the Chicago suburbs, but for Helen, the plane ticket to Minnesota was little more than pocket change. With a fortune worth over $20 million, she could afford to pay for the best of the best and the Mayo Clinic was world renowned. But Helen's life wasn't always first class flights and chauffeurs. She came from a working class family and didn't leave her home state of Ohio until 1951 when she was 38. She decided to seek greener pastures in Florida and got a job as a coat check girl at a country club in Palm Beach. Helen was confidently beautiful, eager to use her good looks to find a suitable partner. It wasn't long before she caught the eye of 59 year old Frank Brock one night at work. Helen wanted a successful husband and Frank certainly fit the bill. He was the owner of a successful candy business and was worth millions. Helen gladly gave him her phone number and the two began a whirlwind romance. They spent their year long courtship in Florida, then moved to Chicago once they were married. Their marriage lasted almost 20 years and by all accounts Helen and Frank were very happy together. But in 1970 Frank passed away at 80 years old. He left 58 year old Helen over $20 million and their 18 room estate in the Chicago suburb of Glenview. The mansion came with a longtime staff member, Jack Matlick. 38 year old Jack had been with the Brocks for 13 years. But right after Frank died, Helen apparently fired Jack. His presence around the house must have been crucial though, because Helen rehired him six months later. After that, she relied on Jack for a lot. He was married and lived at another one of Helen's nearby properties, but seemed to spend a lot of time at the house. Not only was Jack her chauffeur and houseman, he. He also appeared to be her confidante and someone she really trusted. Helen probably appreciated the company. After her husband's death, she became a bit reclusive, choosing to keep the lights off and the shades drawn. She didn't seem to have many people over, so it was usually just her, Jack and her many dogs in the house. Apparently, she loved animals more than people. But eventually Helen decided to seek more human companionship. In 1973, three years after her husband's death, 61 year old Helen expanded her social circle to include 43 year old Richard Bailey. Richard was a stable owner and sold racehorses around Chicago. He also had a reputation for romancing wealthy women, then defrauding them by selling them overpriced, poorly bred racehorses. Helen didn't seem to know this though, because the year after they met, she fell for Richard's trap. She started buying horses from him and at some point they allegedly began dating. The relationship went on for years with dinner dates and horse rides. They even attended a gala together at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan sometime in 1976, about three years after they met. The whole time, Richard was conning Helen out of thousands of dollars. By the end of it, Helen had given him an estimated $250,000 for low quality racehorses. It's not clear if Helen knew about Richard's scheme. Either way, Helen could afford the loss. By 1977, her fortune was estimated at 24 million million. That's roughly more than $124 million today. Helen's money allowed her to have the best of everything, including medical care. So when it came time for her annual physical, she insisted on going to the world renowned Mayo Center. The fact that it was hundreds of miles from her home in Chicago didn't seem to bother her. On February 9, 1977, she hopped on a flight to Rochester, Minnesota, where the Mayo Clinic is located. Helen must have had other business in town because her appointment wasn't until the following week, on Thursday, February 17th. The next few days were uneventful and the checkup on the 17th went smoothly. Helen left the hospital around 9am then walked back to her hotel. She had five hours to kill before her flight. So at some point, she popped into a store and picked up some beauty items and towels. She apparently told the clerk she was in a hurry because, quote, my houseman is waiting. She seemed to imply that Jack Matlick had come with her to Rochester. But there might have been a misunderstanding because according to Jack, he was in Chicago waiting to pick her up. He would later say that Helen flew into O'Hare that day and he drove her back to her mansion in Glenview. Jack said they spent the weekend together once she got back. During this time, no one else saw or spoke to Helen, not even her boyfriend, slash horse salesman Richard Bailey. Then, four days after Helen got home from Rochester, Jack claimed he drove her back to the airport for an early morning flight. According to him, she was bound for Florida and was planning to spend some time in Palm Beach. However, Helen never made it to Florida. It's not clear when it became obvious something was wrong, but Jack was the only one who reported reported her missing on March 4, over two weeks after she supposedly left for Palm Beach. That day, Jack went to the Glenview police. But they told Jack he wasn't allowed to file a report. According to them, a family member had to do that. Helen had a brother named Charles Voorhees who still lived in their home state of Ohio. After working in the railroad industry for years, Charles had retired. It seemed like he was Helen's only living relative, or at least the one she was closest to, because that's who Jack called. Charles got to Chicago a couple days later. Once he filed his police report, the authorities finally began investigating Helen's disappearance. It didn't take long for them to zero in on a suspect. One who had the opportunity, the means and possibly the motive to get rid of Helen Brock. Her loyal houseman, Jack Matlick. What if there were a medicine that could heal almost anything? That would be great, but they didn't want you to know about it.
- [12:28]
Rosetta Stone
Sorry, who's they?
- [12:29]
Vanessa Richardson
Some people are following me and I brought my tortoise.
- [12:32]
Mike Judge
From executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and co creators Joe Bennett and Steve Healy comes an animated comedy thriller about what it takes to change the world. Common side Effects New episodes Sundays at 11:30pm on Adult Swim. Now streaming on Max.
- [12:54]
Vanessa Richardson
After 65 year old Helen Brock was reported missing In March of 1977, one of the first people Glenview police talked to was her household employee, 45 year old Jack Matlick. He told them he picked her up on February 17 after she returned from her physical in Minnesota. He said Helen spent the weekend at home in Glenview before he drove her to the airport again on February 21st to go to Florida. It seemed straightforward enough, but the more investigators looked into his story, the more holes they found. The flight Helen allegedly took to Florida had been at around 7am however, that would have been out of character for her, since she liked to sleep in. Helen was also an over packer, and Jack mentioned she barely took any luggage with her. Plus, there wasn't a reservation or ticket issued under her name. So the only evidence that she'd actually bought tickets or flown at all was Jack's word. Beyond that, investigators found it suspicious that no one besides Jack had spoken to or seen Helen the entire weekend she'd been home. Apparently, she loved to chat with friends on the phone. One friend even said they'd tried to call the house that weekend, but. But Jack answered and said Helen was already in Florida. Whether or not Helen was with Jack that weekend, he was keeping busy. The police discovered that Jack did some work on Helen's house during that time. Mostly, he did some pretty extreme cleaning. He replaced the carpeting in a room and repainted some walls. Then he did a deep clean of Helen's pink Cadillac. Later on in the investigation, a private investigator would uncover that Jack had made a strange purchase that weekend. He bought a new attachment for their meat grinder. The question was, were these chores long overdue housework or was Jack getting rid of evidence? The suspicious activity didn't stop there. Investigators discovered that Jack had taken a lot of money from Helen's accounts in the days after she went missing. After supposedly driving her to the airport, he went to her bank and withdrew thousands of dollars from her safety deposit box. He was apparently authorized on her account, so he signed for the money himself. Helen's accountant also informed the police that Jack had cashed a series of checks in the days following her disappearance. The accountant thought it was suspicious because the signature on the checks wasn't Helen's. At some point, Jack's own wife cast further doubt on him. She said that Jack told her Helen never came back from the Mayo Clinic at all. In fact, he'd claimed she spent the weekend at Glenview because he was waiting for her. But for the moment, there was no actual proof that Jack had done anything to Helen. Investigators had no choice but to keep looking until they found something more concrete. In April 1978, over a year after Helen disappeared, some lawyers and investigators did another search of her house. They managed to find her will and learned that Jack matlick was bequeathed $50,000. It wasn't an enormous fortune even back then, but between that, the safety deposit box withdrawal and the checks, it was clear he financially benefited from her disappearance. It was enough for authorities to keep him on the suspect list and hope they'd find more evidence soon. And they did. But it led to another suspect. Sometime during this period, an attorney named John Menk had been appointed by the court to look after Helen's enormous estate until she was found or declared dead. In order to untangle Helen's complicated affairs, John decided to perform his own investigation. He questioned a few people, including Helen's accountant. This time, the accountant told them about another suspicious person in Helen's life. Her boyfriend, Richard Bailey, who'd sold her all those overpriced horses. This information didn't immediately lead anywhere. But in May 1979, over two years after Helen had gone missing, someone spray painted messages on the road near her mansion. These messages claimed Richard had killed Helen. It's unclear if the person who wrote the messages was ever found, but John menk formally interviewed 49 year old Richard Bailey a month later. Except when Richard was questioned, he pleaded the Fifth over and over, even for basic questions like whether or not he knew Helen. With Richard refusing to talk, John couldn't do anything but move on and look for another suspect. By 1984, Helen had been missing for seven years. Long enough for her to be legally declared dead. After that, as dictated by her will, a huge chunk of her money went to an animal welfare charity she ran. Her brother, Charles Voorhees, received a couple hundred thousand while her houseman Jack got the 50,000 he'd been promised. As the years passed, the lack of answers surrounding Helen's disappearance continued to be a source of frustration for the people of Chicago. By this point, she'd become something of a legend. And plenty of rumors swirled about what had really happened to her. Some believed she'd run off with a lover or was hiding after a botched beauty procedure. But in 1989, 12 years after her disappearance, authorities got closer to the truth. That year, an assistant U.S. attorney uncovered a huge amount of fraud and organized crime in Chicago's horse industry. Someone who was heavily associated with this industry was Richard Bailey. Authorities ultimately developed a theory. Helen had realized Richard was defrauding her and threatened to go to the authorities. The police wondered if Richard had gotten someone to kill Helen in order to keep her quiet. While they looked into this possibility, investigators dug deeper into Chicago's horse fraud ring. And they ended up solving a host of other offenses. Ultimately Richard bailey and over 30 other people were charged with crimes, including another homicide. And in 1994, Richard was finally charged with conspiracy to murder Helen Brock. Since Helen's body hadn't been found, it seemed like the conspiracy charge was the best authorities could do. And it worked. Richard was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. It seemed like at long last, someone was being held accountable for Helen's disappearance. Although officially her case remains unsolved, almost all of the people that were in Helen's life are gone now. Jack Matlick passed away in 2011 at age 79. Richard Bailey was released from prison in 2019 and died four years later at 93 years old. It's not clear what became of her brother Charles, but it's likely he passed too. Helen's body has never been found. And until it is, many still yearn for answers. It's been 47 years, but local police remain open to tips and leads about Helen. They hope one day there'll be no more theories or claims or lies. One day there will just be the truth. Up next, the story of another tragic disappearance. In 1985, an eight year old girl from Pennsylvania stepped off her school bus and died. Disappeared, leaving hardly any clues behind. It was a tragedy that sent her family and law enforcement on a decades long search for answers. One that continues to this day.
- [22:25]
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- [22:56]
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- [23:25]
Vanessa Richardson
Just over eight years after Helen Brock went missing, another missing person's case shook the nation. When 8 year old Cherry Mahan disappeared on February 22, 1985. Cherry lived in the small Pennsylvania town of Winfield Township with her mother, 24 year old Janice McKinney and Janice's husband Leroy. They had a good life. It hadn't always been easy. Winfield Township was seen as a safe place, but it also had a dark side. One that Janice sadly knew all too well, when she was only 15, she'd been raped and became pregnant with Cherry. Janice decided to embrace motherhood and Cherry became her whole life. Eventually, Janice also found a supportive partner when she met Leroy. The trio became a happy family unit. And for the next few years they settled into their small town, Pennsylvania life. And on that morning of February 22, 1985, everything seemed normal. The only big difference was j. Janice's schedule. She was off work that day. Usually she'd pick up Cherry, who was now eight, from school on her way home at the end of the day. But they agreed Cherry would take the bus instead. They said their goodbyes and Cherry headed to the bus stop. The school day passed without incident, and when class was over, Cherry got on the bus to go home. At 4:10pm the school bus made its regular stop on Corn Planter Road. Cherry hopped out with three other kids. The afternoon was unseasonably warm, but it was still winter in the Northeast, so Cherry was bundled up pretty well. She was wearing a gray coat with blue leg warmers under a jean skirt. She even had on a pair pair of Cabbage Patch Kids earmuffs to keep her ears toasty. As the kids climbed off the bus, they all went their separate ways. Cherry headed to her house, which was only about a hundred yards from the stop. Meanwhile, Janice and her husband Leroy were waiting for Cherry to get home. They lived at the top of a hill which blocked their view of the bus stop on the street below. Below, they couldn't see Cherry, but it was close enough that they could hear all the activity. Leroy was out on the porch when the bus dropped the kids off. He heard it come to a stop and the sound of children disembarking. Janice was making dinner, so Leroy asked if she wanted him to drive down and get Cherry. But Janice thought it might be fun to let her walk since it was such a nice day out. Leroy and Janice waited for Cherry's smiling little face to emerge over the hill. They knew she'd be in a good mood. She was going to a birthday party later that afternoon and she was really excited about it. But Cherry never appeared. Ten minutes passed. Plenty of time for her to cover the distance from the bus stop to their house. Janice asked Leroy to go down and see where Cherry was. But when he got to the bus stop, there was no sign of her. All he could see were some tire prints on the road. It didn't take long for Janice and Leroy to get worried. Within the hour, they contacted the police. Then they went out to search for her Themselves. They drove around the woods of Winfield Township and called around to see if anyone knew where she was. They spoke to some of the kids on the bus and the driver, who all said they saw Cherry get off, but they didn't see where she went after that. Something must have happened between the stop and their driveway. As word got out that Cherry was missing, neighbors pitched in to help look for her. One of Cherry's friends was in the middle of her 10th drive birthday celebration. The party Cherry was supposed to go to. The festivities got cancelled so everyone could help look for Cherry. By the time night fell, multiple volunteer searches were combing over Winfield Township. These types of searches continued in the days after Cherry's disappearance. At one point, 250 people joined a canvas of the area in including Cherry's family, a boy scout troop, volunteer firefighters, and other community members. During this search, some clothes were found, but they weren't cherries. There was no sign of her anywhere. At the same time, the police were trying to gather information. They took statements from Janice and Leroy and talked to everyone who'd seen Cherry that day. Her school bus driver recalled one suspicious detail. He'd noticed a strange van behind the bus when they arrived at Cherry's stop. The vehicle was distinctive, with a mural of a mountain and skier on its side. Some of the other kids told investigators that they'd seen it following the bus as well. One of the children's mothers, Debbie Burke, later told reporters that she saw the van, too. Debbie had been waiting at the stop in her car when the bus arrived. She saw the children get off, Cherry included, and watched them as they played a bit. Then she saw Cherry walk past her. She noticed the blue van when she glanced in her rearview mirror, but didn't think anything of it. She left with her son soon after. Based on the description of the van, investigators determined it was a 1976 Dodge. Police ended up releasing a sketch of the van to the public and asked for anyone who had information about it to come forward. But despite its distinctive mural, it was still tricky to locate the vehicle. None of the witnesses noted a license plate, and there wasn't much else to go on. Even though the van seemed like the only clue, no one had actually seen Cherry get inside it or interact with it in any way. That meant that there was no proof she'd been abducted. So Cherry was actually treated as a missing person rather than a kidnap or homicide victim. Which meant the police were more focused on gathering information than and identifying suspects. But Janice thought there was one person they needed to question. Cherry's biological father.
- [30:50]
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- [31:20]
Vanessa Richardson
After 8 year old Cherry Mahan went missing in February 1985, several witnesses remembered seeing a distinctive blue van at the scene. Nobody knew anything about the vehicle, but Cherry's 24 year old mother, Janice McKinney, thought she knew someone who might. Cherry's biological father Cherry had been conceived by rape and her father still lived in the area. But he and Cherry didn't have a relationship. He wouldn't even acknowledge he was her father. According to Janice, this man was affiliated with a local biker gang. She didn't think he'd kidnapped her, but maybe knew who did. She told the police about her theory and they agreed to speak with him. But Cherry's father said he didn't know where she was or anything about the case, and the police didn't pursue him as a suspect. Janice was left to agonize about other possibilities. She asked herself questions like was it someone who knew Cherry? Did someone take her by force or persuade her to get in their car? So far, the investigation hadn't come close to any answers, so the community pitched in to help however they could. Janice's neighbors raised some money so they could offer a reward for information. Then in May of 1985, about three months after Cherry's disappearance, these efforts expanded when the national center for Missing and Exploited Children got involved. After learning about Cherry's case, they devised a new outreach method where they sent direct mail flyers of missing children to people's homes asking for any tips. It's a common technique now, but at the time, Cherry was the first mailer child. Aside from the center's efforts, TV shows and news networks regularly featured Cherry to increase awareness about her case. In 1986, a year after she disappeared, NBC did a reenactment to compel its audiences to to come forward with information. Apparently, this segment resulted in hundreds of calls about Cherry and the van, but none were significant enough to impact the investigation. But it did make her disappearance a national crisis. It seemed like millions of people across the nation were rallying around Janice to bring cherry home. In 1987, two years after cherry Went missing. A new development in the case made that possibility seem a little more likely. The details are vague, but in a town on the other side of Pennsylvania, two 12 year old girls told police they'd been chased by a van. And not just any van. It had a mirror mural of a skier on its side. Unfortunately, it was too dark out for the girls to see what color it was or get a license plate, which meant the police weren't able to find the van. This incident went on to become one of hundreds of dead end leads that authorities received over the next few years. Finally, in 1992, seven years after cherry got off that school bus, she was officially declared dead. Police continued to get tips over the next two decades, though they eventually slowed down. But then, in January 2011, the authorities finally got a real lead. It was apparently compelling enough that they told CBS News they were looking at a break in the case. According to them, someone had come forward with information that confirmed Cherry was dead. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the lead was ever confirmed, and they haven't given any updates on this supposed break since. Over the next few years, there were a few reported sightings of Cherry. One happened later in 2011, when a woman thought she saw both the skier van and Cherry herself at a high school track meet in Michigan. Police were able to locate the woman, who would have been 35. They even did a DNA test, but it wasn't her. Then, in 2019, 34 years after Cherry went missing, someone else claimed they had information about the case. That year, Cherry's mother, Janice, received an anonymous letter around Cherry's birthday. The author said that Cherry was dead. They told Janice who killed her and where she was buried. According to Janice, the note was graphic and cruel. She gave it to the police. The authorities took the letter seriously. They investigated people who might have written it and took cadaver dogs to the location where it claimed Cherry was buried. Janice went with them. She wanted to be there so she could finally see what had happened to her daughter. But she didn't get her wish. They didn't find anything at the site and weren't able to trace the letter to to its author. After that, Cherry's case continued to get fresh tips and still does. Today, the most frequent calls are about sightings. As recently as June of 2024, a woman claiming to be Cherry posted in a Facebook group dedicated to finding Janice's daughter and she. She's not the only person to say that. Police say they investigate each of these tips and have even fingerprinted some of the potential cherries, there's always the hope that one of them might actually be her. As it stands, Cherry's case is still active, but there is no suspect and productive leads have been few and far between. There is a $5,000 cash reward for information, and loved ones hold out hope that someday someone will give them the answers they seek. When we think about the cases of Helen Brock and Cherry Mahan, it reminds us how devastating it is to lose someone. And when you don't know where they went or or what happened to them, it can be even harder to find a way to properly grieve. In both of today's stories, answers weren't easy to come by. In Helen's case, somebody was loosely held accountable for her disappearance and alleged murder. Richard Bailey's prison time allowed many people involved in the case to feel like Helen's fate, though tragic, was was no longer a complete mystery. But when it comes to Cherry, it's incredible that there's no indication of where she went or what happened to her, and that people capitalize on this tragedy with fake letters and false identifications. We can only hope that one day it will all stop and both of these cases will be definitively solved. The show is a Crime House Original. Powered by Pave Studios At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Crime House the Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback truly matters. And for ad free and early access to Crime House the Show plus exciting bonus content, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. We'll be back next Monday. The show is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original. Powered by by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Crime House the Show team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Sarah Carroll, Kate Murdoch and Sarah Tardif. Thank you for listening.
- [40:48]
Grainger
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