INFAMOUS: Indiana Dunes Disappearances

Summary

Crime Junkie Podcast Summary

Episode: INFAMOUS: Indiana Dunes Disappearances
Release Date: March 17, 2025
Host: Ashley Flowers
Co-Host: Britt Prawat

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of Crime Junkie, hosts Ashley Flowers and Britt Prawat delve into the mysterious disappearance of three young women from Indiana Dunes State Park on July 4, 1966. The case remains one of Indiana's most infamous unsolved mysteries, intertwining elements of potential foul play, organized crime, and conspiracy theories.

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The Disappearances

On the morning of Monday, July 4, 1966, Superintendent William Svetic received a distressing phone call from Harold Blough. Harold reported that his daughter, Patricia Ireland, and her friends, Ann Miller and Renee Brule, had been at Indiana Dunes State Park on the previous Saturday and had not returned home. Ashley Flowers sets the scene:

"[00:01] Ashley Flowers: ...this story, we're telling you in the new season of three hosted by Amanda Knox."

The three women were all around the ages of 19 to 21, and Patricia was known for her reliability, having assured her parents she would be home for dinner. The trio's disappearance was particularly baffling given their backgrounds and the lack of prior indications they might vanish without notice.

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Initial Clues and Investigation

Detective First Sergeant Edward Burke was brought in to lead the investigation. Early evidence included personal items found abandoned on the beach by a park ranger:

"[06:00] Britt Prawat: How did they know that?"

Ashley explains that teenagers witnessed the women boarding a small white boat with a blue interior, described as having an outboard motor. Despite these clues, initial searches by the Indiana State Police (ISP) were extensive but fruitless, covering vast areas of Lake Michigan without locating the missing women.

As further investigations unfolded, Sergeant Burke discovered more about the women's personal lives, including a troubling letter found in Renee's purse addressed to her husband, expressing marital discord:

"[09:20] Britt Prawat: Is he like away somewhere?"

"[09:22] Ashley Flowers: No. So they live together... she even threatens to split up over this."

Despite these personal issues, the possibility of foul play began to overshadow theories of a voluntary disappearance.

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Emergence of Broader Crimes: The Richard Speck Connection

Just two weeks after the women's disappearance, a brutal mass murder occurred in Chicago, where Richard Speck killed eight student nurses. This coincidence led some to wonder if there was a connection between the two cases. However, investigators quickly dismissed the link:

"[17:07] Britt Prawat: The boat stuff too. Like they blew it up or that's unrelated. Still."

Detective Burke and ISP Superintendent Robert O'Neill maintained that there was no evidence connecting Speck to the Indiana Dunes disappearances, emphasizing that Speck lacked the resources and motive to orchestrate such a crime in Lake Michigan.

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The Abortion Boat Theory

A controversial theory presented by Dick Wiley, a former reporter and law enforcement officer, suggests that the women may have fallen victim to an illicit abortion operation on Lake Michigan. Wiley posits that:

"[29:22] Britt Prawat: Oh."

"[29:23] Ashley Flowers: What? Wiley is absolutely certain that the disappearances can be traced back to an abortion boat."

According to Wiley, a married couple operated an illegal abortion clinic boat in Gary, Indiana, and one or both women may have sought services, leading to their deaths when complications arose or foul play was involved. However, this theory lacks substantial evidence:

"[31:07] Britt Prawat: Can we prove that that part is real? This duo and their clinic?"

"[31:11] Ashley Flowers: ...the couple he's talking about was a real couple. Their names are known by police. But as far as the whole illicit abortion operation, part of it goes, police don't know."

Efforts to contact Wiley for further details were unsuccessful, and his claims remain unverified, casting doubt on the credibility of this theory.

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The Horse Syndicate Connection

A more compelling theory connects the disappearances to the Horse Syndicate, a dominant and ruthless faction within Chicago's equestrian community. Patricia had been involved with these individuals, particularly Silas Jain, a notorious figure known for his unscrupulous methods in the horse racing industry.

Silas's rivalry with his half-brother, George, owner of Tricolor Riding Stables, had escalated to violent confrontations, including car bombings and sabotage of stables. In March 1966, only a few months before the disappearances, Patricia reportedly had personal issues linked to these syndicate activities:

"[45:46] Ashley Flowers: ...Silas Jain...has been playing fast and loose in the industry since the late 1930s...he opened a place called the Green Tree Stables..."

Patricia had been acting strangely before her disappearance, expressing fears of being in trouble with "syndicate people." This connection suggests that the women might have been targeted due to their associations or knowledge of the Horse Syndicate's illicit activities.

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Reevaluation of the Boat Wreckage

Initially dismissed as unrelated, the discovery of a metal rowboat wreckage with signs of deliberate destruction raised suspicions that it might be linked to the women's disappearance. The wreckage contained oil and gasoline, indicating intentional damage:

"[14:13] Britt Prawat: Between work, home and school... [16:04] Britt Prawat: All the more reason to be suspicious."

As investigation lingered, ISP eventually reconsidered the wreckage's relevance:

"[47:45] Britt Prawat: Did they find this supposed boat?"

"[47:47] Ashley Flowers: No, they wish. Like the Kai's wife told them that that boat got destroyed in a fire."

By December 2024, ISP no longer dismissed the wreckage as unrelated, suggesting potential ties to the disappearances:

"[47:55] Ashley Flowers: As of December 2024... they no longer dismiss the possibility that the boat wreckage... was related to the women's disappearances."

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Current Status and Ongoing Investigation

Despite decades passing, the case remains unsolved, leaving family members desperate for answers. Patricia's sister, Janice, continues to seek the truth, while ISP remains open to new evidence and witness information:

"[40:14] Ashley Flowers: ...Patricia wasn't pregnant... the women's families don't agree and they are just more convinced by the day that the disappearances weren't by Choice."

"[48:59] Ashley Flowers: ...if you have information about what happened that day on the shores of Lake Michigan, please contact the Westchester Police Department at 708-345-0060."

The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to come forward with any information that might shed light on this enduring mystery.

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Conclusion

INFAMOUS: Indiana Dunes Disappearances explores a complex web of personal issues, organized crime, and potential cover-ups that have left three women missing for over half a century. While various theories emerge—from illicit abortion operations to mob-related retribution—the truth remains elusive. As ISP reopens avenues of investigation, the hope for closure persists, underscoring the unresolved nature of this poignant case.

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Notable Quotes

• Ashley Flowers [09:22]: "But it looks like, I mean, maybe she had second thoughts about giving this to him because according to the date scribbled on this letter, it's like two weeks old by that point..."
• Britt Prawat [09:20]: "Is he like away somewhere?"
• Ashley Flowers [16:34]: "They blew it up or that's unrelated. Still."
• Ashley Flowers [29:23]: "What? Wiley is absolutely certain that the disappearances can be traced back to an abortion boat."
• Ashley Flowers [40:12]: "So remember how I told you to put a pin in the women's personal problems?"

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Resources

For more information and to review all source materials discussed in this episode, visit crimejunkiepodcast.com.

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This summary is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the episode for those who have not listened to it. All quotes are attributed to the speakers with corresponding timestamps for reference.

Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

Hi Crime Junkies, it's Ashley. Six years ago when we did our very first Crime Junkie tour, we told a story about a young girl who was murdered. Well within that story, the killer had googled Dana Ireland autopsy photos. That small piece of the larger story sent me on a years long spiral, picking apart the murder of a young woman on Christmas Eve. Three men were convicted of her murder, but it was clear that the real killer had never been identified. But how that happened is a wild story, one that we're telling you in the new season of three hosted by Amanda Knox. Hear the full story in season two of three. You can listen to three now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Britt Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Britt Prawat]

And I'm Britt.

[Ashley Flowers]

And we actually have a special guest today. If you hear a little whimpers or tippy taps or anything, or snores for the first time since like early days, crime junkie old man Chuck is in the room while we're recording. So please forgive us, but our 14 year old man wanted to cuddle today. And I'm allowing it totally. And it's not gonna keep me from telling you an incredible story. And that story is a mystery right out of our home state of Indiana. But listen, Brit, the circumstances of this are so foreign that I've heard this story, but it always felt so far away to me. We're talking horse mobsters, illegal medical boats operating out in open waters. There has been no case like this before or since. And that's why it's one of Indiana's most infamous cases. The workday has barely started on Monday, July 4, 1966, when Indiana Dunes State park, which today is surrounded by Indiana Dunes national park, like, it's like a whole thing. Anyways, Superintendent William Svetic is getting a panicked call on his office phone. The caller IDs himself as Harold Blough. And he's like, look, my daughter and her friends were at your park on Saturday. It's Monday now and they haven't come home. My wife and I are super worried. Now, all of these are, you know, these are three young women. Harold's daughter, Patricia, she's 19. Her friends Ann Miller and Renee Brule are around the same age, like 21 and 19, respectively. Okay, but Patricia still lives at home and she wouldn't leave for days without giving her parents a heads up. And Patricia had even told her mom Saturday that morning when she left that she would be home that night for dinner. And the other girls were supposed to be home too, but none of them returned to their Chicago homes. Just over the state line, Svedek tells Harold, okay, listen, I'll look into it. But this uneasy feeling starts to creep in his belly because he might already know something about the missing girls. And it could be bad. You see, two days before, on Saturday, a park ranger had brought a bunch of random items into his office Saying that there were things that had been left on the beach of Lake Michigan by three women who went into the water and boarded a boat around noon that day, but then never returned.

[Britt Prawat]

How did they know that?

[Ashley Flowers]

Because there were witnesses. There were some teenagers nearby that had seen them get onto the boat. They saw them leave their stuff, and then they alerted the ranger when they were like those teenagers were getting ready to go and the stuff was still there because it seemed like this is the kind of stuff that you like, wouldn't. You would leave only if you were planning to come back, right? Like there's like the thermos, some sunglasses, lotion, those kind of things. Even more significant items too, like cash, a purse, clothes, a pair of shoes. Like they should have been back right now. At the time, the ranger wasn't especially concerned when he collected these things, though the Chicago Tribune reports that he did get a description of the boat at least, which they said was a small boat with white exterior and a blue interior, maybe turquoise, ish blue, and it had an outboard motor. They even gave the ranger a description of the driver, which they say was a tan, dark haired young man. But listen, people leave stuff on the beach all the time, especially on crowded days like the Saturday before the 4th of July. So at the time he just gathered the things up and dropped them in Zvedyk's office. But no one was like out manning a massive search or trying to find the owners of these items at the time. Now everyone kind of thought that whoever it was that owned these things would eventually come looking for this stuff at some point. But now with this phone call, a darker thought washes over Svedic. Lake Michigan is notorious for its strong, unpredictable currents. Like it is not outside the realm of possibility that the women, maybe even their captain too, had gone for a swim or gotten into an accident and found themselves outmatched by Mother Nature. Like, we live here. So many people underestimate Lake Michigan. Yeah, yeah. So once he hangs up with Harold, Svetic, starts rifling through the items, he's looking for clues. And I mean, to be fair, he doesn't even know that the women who left these things were Patricia Ann and Renee. It just like to him feels too much like of a coincidence not to be. But that's the first order of business right now. When he finds a keychain with car keys and a miniature Illinois license plate and realizes that the plate has what looks like a pretty legitimate plate number, he gets this idea. He calls a few employees, sends them out to check the parking Lot near the dunes. And sure enough, there is a car with that exact plate in the lot. And sure enough, when they run down the plate number with Chicago pd, Svedek gets the confirmation he needs. The car in the parking lot is registered to Ann Miller from the Chicago suburb of Westchester, which makes this official. He has got a triple disappearance on his hands and something of that magnitude is above his pay grade. So that's when seasoned Indiana State Police investigator, Detective First Sergeant Edward Burke steps in to help the investigation. And he doesn't waste any time. One of his first moves is to go through the purse that had been left on the beach. And it turns out that purse belonged to Renee. And he knows it's hers because inside he finds this rather intriguing letter. Now, Ann and Patricia lived at home with their parents, but 19 year old Renee is actually married and lives with her husband at the time. And this letter that they find was addressed to him.

[Britt Prawat]

Is he like away somewhere?

[Ashley Flowers]

No. So they live together. I mean, I assume they see each other like on the daily, but it seems like maybe they were a couple that liked to get thoughts down on paper when they were like big things. Which I think is what this was. Because basically in this letter there are some issues that she brings up, like her husband spending way too much time with his buddies tinkering with hot rods, which, like, sounds light and almost cute, but it wasn't either of those things to Rene. She even threatens to split up over this.

[Britt Prawat]

Oh, wow.

[Ashley Flowers]

But it looks like, I mean, maybe she had second thoughts about giving this to him because according to the date scribbled on this letter, it's like two weeks old by that point, like when he's seeing it. So Sergeant Burke isn't quite sure what to make of it, but he also doesn't have time to really ponder this. Feeling like Svedic might be right about the woman's fate. He calls the US Coast Guard to search the lake near the park way at the southern end. And boy, does the Coast Guard have their work cut out for them. Because Lake Michigan is enormous. I said, you guys, everyone underestimates it. Lake is like not even the right word. Over 22,000 square miles. Enormous is how big we're talking about. And even if you've seen the lakes on like a map in school or geography or whatever, like it doesn't give you a sense for it. No.

[Britt Prawat]

Like standing on the shore, it honestly looks like an ocean.

[Ashley Flowers]

An ocean. I mean, you can get out there at some point and literally not see land on any side of you. It is huge. So it's not all that surprising when they end the day empty handed. So first thing next morning, Sergeant Burke gets a huge ground search going to complement the Coast Guard's efforts. He wants every last square inch of the park covered and also a good stretch of shoreline beyond the park. It's a hell of a task. And for it, he assembles a hell of a search party. A bunch of troopers and park rangers, obviously, and even soldiers from a nearby base, deputies from Porter County Sheriff's Office, citizen volunteers who will eventually be joined by their bloodhounds. And with the Coast Guard still at it, they're searching literally plane, train and automobile here. And maybe not literally, but almost. You get what I'm saying? And by the end of the day, the searches have covered 40% of the park, almost. And still there is just nothing. Now, the Chicago Tribune reports that while the search is put on hold overnight, Sergeant Burke orders a patrol to man the shore until sunrise. The thinking being that, like, if the women maybe drowned, their bodies could wash up soon. And while drowning from a boating accident is only one theory, it's not at all out of the question that they also could have met with foul play. So they got to find this boat, like if they're going to know either way, right? And while there are some sightings of white boats with blue interiors, they don't find a boat that could have been in the area. Like the boat when the girls went missing.

[Britt Prawat]

Are they sure they even got on a boat in the first place? I know we have that one sighting of the three girls getting on the boat, but did anyone else see that happen?

[Ashley Flowers]

They're not sure of anything. I mean, you're right. All they have to back up, even this boat story, like from the beginning, is just the word from those teenagers who alerted the ranger. But I will say over the first couple of days, as this goes on, like when the story starts making news, people start coming forward, they start getting some more witness tips. And that does seem to support the boat story. More people who say they saw the women climb onto a white boat with a dark haired, well tanned man that day. And actually there are even a few reports of them being seen on a larger boat, like this time with three men. And that was at some point as well, like that same afternoon. But for some reason I think that, like, those are mostly discounted. So a few days into the search, the idea of some sort of fatality causing boat accidents starts to gain traction. But according to more reporting in the Chicago Tribune, random boat debris starts washing up on shore not far from the park. Pieces of seats, Styrofoam, scraps of metal, plywood, turquoise plywood. And they can tell that this wreckage came from what the reporting refers to as a quote unquote outboard motorboat. And like I said, this stuff isn't washing up hours away. It's washing up like three miles away near some sort of power plant. Now, at this time, there haven't been any reports of a missing boat, no reports of a crash or of missing or injured boaters, which some find kind of strange.

[Britt Prawat]

But it also might just mean that the guy who owned the boat isn't around to report it missing, or couldn't call it in before something happens, right?

[Ashley Flowers]

Or destroying the boat was intentional because they find something weird among the wreckage. The debris is strewn with cans of oil and gasoline. Some of the plywood is even doused in it.

[Britt Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Britt Prawat]

All the more reason to be suspicious. I mean, something clearly happened here. The boat didn't douse itself in gasoline.

[Ashley Flowers]

And it only gets worse from there because the Terre Haute Star reports that soon authorities announced that the wreckage is from a rowboat. A metal rowboat.

[Britt Prawat]

A metal rowboat that was also made of turquoise plywood and collided with something with enough force to just completely disintegrate it into pieces.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yes. Right. Like, it feels like there's some tunnel vision going on here because the Terre Haute Tribune reports that when investigators are asked about three different possibilities, right, so like drowning, foul play, or a planned disappearance, their response is telling. They say that there is no evidence of drowning or foul play.

[Britt Prawat]

So now they think the women peaced out on purpose.

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, at first they play it coy, but by the one week mark, Sergeant Burke is like, yeah, we're pretty sure this was all orchestrated.

[Britt Prawat]

The boat stuff too. Like they blew it up or that's unrelated. Still.

[Ashley Flowers]

Still unrelated. They're not even trying to make sense of the wreckage. And I get why they start doubting the drowning theory. Like, maybe a little premature, but, I mean, they've devoted so much manpower to searching the southern end of Lake Michigan. And from like, every angle, too. They've got those ground searches, boat search, whatever. Like divers are even in there. And with everything they're thinking, like, if the women did drown, like, someone should have found something by now that indicated that.

[Britt Prawat]

Okay, so not drowning, but no evidence of foul play. Based on what?

[Ashley Flowers]

On the fact that there's no evidence.

[Britt Prawat]

But there's also no evidence that it wasn't foul play.

[Ashley Flowers]

I know. I feel like we've done this, like, dance before.

[Britt Prawat]

Yeah.

[Ashley Flowers]

Anyways, the whole idea of it not being foul play because there's no evidence of foul play, like, to me, that's bananas. Especially when the one thing that might have been the evidence of foul play has been discounted. Right.

[Britt Prawat]

Yeah. And listen, I get that walked off on their own is always a theory when you have a person go missing. But to me, it seems super far fetched to think about three women with three different lives, three different sets of circumstances, all committing to disappearing at once on purpose. It's not. Not possible. It's just.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's like it's way less likely.

[Britt Prawat]

Yeah.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah. I think mostly they think this because there start to be some supposed sightings, I guess, like near and far. One like on a bus or like in a bar or a club or whatever. And these Are, like, miles and miles away with strange men. Sometimes they're even seen, like, hitchhiking, according to the Chicago Tribune. And all of these, like, they never turn out to be legit. But investigators run each one down and they keep coming in. So I'm sure that's playing a role here. But I also suspect that it has a lot to do with the letter that they found in Renee's purse. The one to her husband.

[Britt Prawat]

The one about the hot rods.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah. So they decided basically that she may have wanted to just skip town on account of her marital discord.

[Britt Prawat]

She didn't even give him the letter, though. And that does nothing to explain the other two disappearing with her.

[Ashley Flowers]

I know. And they obviously questioned the husband, by the way. Like, he's in the clear. So her loved one ones are like, okay, we hear you. But also, are you serious right now? Like, she's 19 years old and her feelings were hurt over, like, something you can probably work through.

[Britt Prawat]

Right.

[Ashley Flowers]

And that was weeks ago.

[Britt Prawat]

And again, I say it has nothing to do with why Anne and Patricia would have left. Like, they're not giving up their lives in, what, solidarity? Over a husband's hobby? Yeah.

[Ashley Flowers]

Not maybe in solidarity. The Chicago Tribune reports that according to Sergeant Burke, all three, Ann and Patricia included, have quote, unquote, personal problems. But he wouldn't say what those are. Which isn't to say, like, we don't know what he's getting at, because, long story short, what we know is that Patricia's sister Janice tells Dateline in a recent interview. So, like, we find this out way later that Patricia had been canoodling with a married man, and Ann had supposedly told friends that she was three months pregnant and might enter a quote, unquote, home for unwed mothers, which is very much a thing in 1966. But it is such an antiquated concept in, like, the year of our Lord 2025. Well, at least for now that I asked you to do some digging and give the crime junkies a quick explainer for the young folk listening. Can't know where you're going unless you know where you been. Right. So being a pregnant, unwed woman in the 60s. Give it to us.

[Britt Prawat]

Obviously, like you said, like, I knew about the concept, but I wanted to read up a little bit before this episode. So I found an article on Scary Mommy, which I'll link to if you want to go deeper. There's even, like, a book on this. But basically, there were these homes where families of unmarried pregnant girls and women hid their daughters away while they were pregnant so no one would have to see them because God forbid, God forbid. What a shame.

[Ashley Flowers]

And where were the men who got these women and girls pregnant?

[Britt Prawat]

Obviously they were out there living their lives. The women were the ones forced to wear the scarlet letter in the form of that baby bump. Then once they gave birth and their babies were adopted out, voluntarily or otherwise, then and only then could the women and girls be returned to polite society.

[Ashley Flowers]

Love it. So these are supposedly some of the personal problems that Sergeant Burke is referring to, although put a pin in that because we're going to circle back to it later. But personal problems or not, the women's families don't agree and they are just more convinced by the day that the disappearances weren't by Choice. And on July 14, this is just 12 days in, that fear starts to gain traction when a brutal crime captures the attention of, well, everyone. Now it's very different, but it involves multiple young women being held and killed at a single time by a single person and from the same area where the women are from Chicago. So it at the time does feel worth looking into. And let me just give you a little like the spark notes on this case. Corky Shimasko reports for NBC news that around 11pm on the night of July 13, a man armed with a gun and a hunting knife climbed through the first floor window of a Chicago townhouse where six student nurses were sleeping in two upstairs bedrooms. He crept up the stairs, woke up all six and corralled them into a third bedroom, binding their hands behind their back. And he spent the next few hours walking them out of the room one by one and killing them one after another, some of them by stabbing, some by strangulation, and some by a combination of the two. And I don't know why this next detail bothers me so much. But his victims weren't even just the six women in the house when he broke in because three more residents had the great fortune of being gone when the bloodshed started and the even greater misfortune of coming home while it was unfolding. Chamashko writes that eight women were tortured and killed over like four and a half long hours that night. At least one victim was sexually assaulted, although I would wager that she probably wasn't the only one.

[Britt Prawat]

Wouldn't it be nine victims if six were already there and then three came home?

[Ashley Flowers]

It would have if one woman didn't have the right combination of courage, quick thinking, and honestly, maybe sheer luck to survive. Her name was Corazon Amaral, and seeing her last chance At Survival, she actually crawled under one of the beds while the killer was out of the room. And from her hiding spot, she heard each of her roommates get marched out of the room, followed by what Shamashko describes as muffled cries and then silence. And somehow he just didn't notice. Like, there were so many victims that this dude lost count. And so when Corazon crawled back out at around 6 o'clock in the morning, it was just carnage. Shamashko writes that she was so traumatized and so terrified that she climbed onto the ledge of a second story window and just started screaming. I mean, for all she knew, the killer was still inside somewhere. So once she was safe, she gave police a pretty damn detailed description of the perp, right down to his Born to raise hell tattoo. And that ends up being the key, because just two days later, a Chicago physician feels his blood go cold when he sees the same four words on a patient's forearm. This patient was 24 year old Richard Speck. Having grown up in Texas, Speck is new to the Chicago area, where he's been staying with his sister and her husband. And like so many killers before him, he's like, no, officers, I swear to you, you have the wrong guy. Absolutely not. Which, like, they absolutely do not because his prints are all over the crime scene. Shimasko reports that the assistant DA who eventually prosecutes him for eight counts of capital murder gives him the dubious distinction of being the country's first random mass murderer. Random being the operative word, since organized crime was definitely a thing in Chicago before this guy, but you get what I'm saying. So this random massacre happens to a group of women from the same area just two weeks after the Indiana Dunes women go missing. And everyone's like, hey, maybe you should look at this, because you got truly, at this point, nothing else other than they walked away. And Nobody's buying that. ISP Superintendent Robert O'Neill is like, yeah, listen, we're checking on it, but like, don't get your hopes up. And Sergeant Burke is even blunter saying, like, there is no suggestion Speck was near, let alone at Lake Lake Michigan the day that the women went missing. And even if he was, let's just say that in addition to not being a criminal mastermind, Speck isn't tall, dark or handsome. And he doesn't have resources to get his hands on a boat or even to charm or lure three victims aboard a boat. I will admit that it's a little intriguing that he worked as what the Chicago History Museum calls a quote Unquote, apprentice seaman. But I won't waste any of your time on him. Like, at the end of the day, it is decided by all that this is just an intriguing coincidence and nothing more.

[Britt Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

T mobile home Internet is all about speed, value. What you doing, Zach? First thing, there are so many benefits, you gotta talk fast. T Mobile Home Internet ranks number one in customer satisfaction for home Wireless Internet by JD Power. Wow, you are good. Try singing it. T Mobile has prize luck. They won't raise your rate on Internet. Hulu and Paramount. Plus on on them get T Mobile Home Internet all in for just 55 bucks a month with autopay and any postpaid voice line. Additional terms apply for J.D. power 2024 award information. Visit J.D. power.com awards so the next theory that comes up, it's. It might even be more of a stretch, I guess is what I should say. And it all starts with this guy named Dick Wiley, who, according to the New York Daily News, was supposedly the first reporter on the scene the morning that the women were reported missing. Now, he only covered the case briefly. It's not like he was deeply involved. And within a few years of the disappearances, he quit journalism altogether and jumped into a career in law enforcement down in Florida. But he couldn't get the disappearances out of his mind, like they became his own personal Roman Empire, if you will. So Dick Wiley believes. Are you ready for this? I'll answer it for you. No, you're not. He believes that the Women died aboard an abortion boat.

[Britt Prawat]

Oh.

[Ashley Flowers]

What? Wiley is absolutely certain that the disappearances can be traced back to an abortion boat.

[Britt Prawat]

You just keep repeating that like it's going to make more sense the second time around. What the is an abortion boat?

[Ashley Flowers]

It's exactly what it sounds like. He says it's a boat on Lake Michigan where illicit abortions are performed.

[Britt Prawat]

Is that a real thing?

[Ashley Flowers]

If you ask Dick Wiley, yes. And the theory he has behind this abortion boat is wild. Now, we know that Ann may have been pregnant and that Patricia may have been seeing a married guy, right?

[Britt Prawat]

Mm.

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, Wiley posits, what if Anne and Patricia were both pregnant by married men?

[Britt Prawat]

Nothing to back this up, I assume. Just kind of a combining of their two possible scenarios.

[Ashley Flowers]

It seems that way. Like, he doesn't give any explanation other than like, a what if. Okay, I'm not sure how or why, but basically he just says that in the course of his personal investigation, he learns that that's the situation. Now, he says that puts them both in a pickle because it was 1960, whatever, and years before Roe v. Wade gave us, you know, brief bodily autonomy, before controlling women became everyone's top priority again. And we've already talked about what a moral stain out of wedlock pregnancies were back then. And in all seriousness, back alley abortions absolutely were a thing in 1966. Botched back alley abortions were, too. So, basically, Wiley believes that there was this married couple operating an illicit abortion clinic in Gary, Indiana. For those of you who don't know, that's, like, on the coast of Lake Michigan, near Chicago and the Indiana Dunes. So, like, right in that area.

[Britt Prawat]

Can we prove that that part is real? This duo and their clinic?

[Ashley Flowers]

I actually had the same question. Google couldn't tell me. So I reached out to the Indiana State Police. They were super duper helpful, and they confirmed that the couple he's talking about was a real couple. Their names are known by police. But as far as the whole illicit abortion operation, part of it goes, police don't know. They say that they have never been able to substantiate that part of Wiley's story. But the story goes that one of the women's procedures went south. Either Ann or Patricia, they died. And with this being an illegal enterprise, the other two had to just be disposed of.

[Britt Prawat]

Is he saying that they did this procedure on the boat, like, or like the boat that picked them up and was supposed to take them to where the abortion would happen?

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, okay, so supposedly that young, dark, handsome captain was actually this couple's relative. And the thought is that he escorted them to a larger boat. And remember, if you like, a couple of witnesses saw them on a larger boat. And the thinking is maybe, like, that's where the procedures happened or were supposed to have happened.

[Britt Prawat]

Where is Wylie getting all this from?

[Ashley Flowers]

This is the thing we don't know. And we tried to get to the bottom of it, believe me, because all you gotta do is spend a few minutes on Google to realize, like, how wide this theory has spread. Not so much in traditional reporting, more like in blogs and on web forums and all of that stuff. And so of course we thought, like, okay, what better way to evaluate these claims than to go straight to the source? I mean, Dick Wiley is still alive and kicking. So we did our damnedest to talk to him about this case. Our reporter Courtney was like, straight up giddy at the prospect of interviewing him. And she reached out to him on Facebook. She called every number she could find. No dice. Like, there was one person she even got on the phone. We got like a very, like, gruff wrong number before they hang up. So all we know is that he claims to have interviewed more people more times and with more tenacity than the actual investigators. He says, and based on those interviews, this is what he has uncovered. But the more we dug in, the more it seems like all roads on the abortion theory just lead back to Wiley himself. Like, this man talks a big game, there is no doubt about that. But I don't know if he actually has the work to show, like, show your math, right? Like, how did you get the answer? And I don't think he's been able to do that. And he supposedly had plans to publish a book on this case, like, since the early aughts. There's even an Amazon listing for it still. It's called Life and Death through the Lens, which. And it had like a publication date way back in 2004, I think. Except the book is not available. Not on Amazon, not anywhere else in the World Wide Web that we could find. And there's a 2012 New York Daily News interview with Wiley that references a quote, like, I think it was like 120,000 word manuscript. But here we are like 13 years later and that manuscript has yet to see the light of day. So if you're going to believe this theory, you just have to, like, take him at his word. And like, I don't know. I think it bears emphasizing that Wiley seems to be blessed with a very active imagination. His Facebook Persona, for example, is like, very much conspiracy obsessed. Angry grandpa who posts, like, in all caps.

[Britt Prawat]

Cool.

[Ashley Flowers]

And you know, your girl loves, like, a good conspiracy theory. Like, that's my jam. It's who I intend on being a little bit when I'm older. But I also don't want to sugarcoat the fact that his posts get really ugly at times, to put it mildly. And the man specifically seems to have a mild fixation on reproductive rights in general, which I think is relevant considering his theory. And I. I have to give you just a little bit of context. So I printed out one of his posts. This is one of his public posts that he made on May 9, 2021.

[Britt Prawat]

Okay, this post is in all caps. Literally. Want to wish all mothers a last Mother's Day? Yes, I said last Mother's Day. Just now over tv. The name has been changed to Birthing Person Day. I hope all you women mothers see the respect the Democrats have for your kind of devotion to America's youth. Let me be one of the first to announce support for renaming all abortion centers, abortion doctors and Planned Parenthood groups killing centers from this day forward as a last vestige of true patriotic Americanism. Our mothers. Yesterday, my dear Aunt Shirley was buried at 90 years old, the devoted mother to four wonderful children and the surrogate mother of more than 30 foster children. In her busy lifetime, she was more than a birthing person. She was God's angel sent to Earth to become a mother, not to be a murderer of children are killing centers where confused women go who don't have the ability to be a mother. Thank God she was already in heaven today and didn't have to bear being demoted from a truly loving mother to just another person the Democrats can add to their voter rolls as a person. Sort of like changing the name applied to an illegal criminal alien to a poor undocumented person. Wow. Ashley. What?

[Ashley Flowers]

Mm. And listen, not to make this episode about Wiley or getting, like, to extreme ends of, like, either side, or getting people fired up, like, I don't know, I'm having a hard time holding my tongue these days, you guys. I gotta say, like, this inflammatory. Like, I think we're all over it, right? Like, everyone's working to divide us as a people because the truth is, we're stronger together. And if we're distracted by issues like what things are called, like, we can't come together on issues that matter. Like, who gives a flying what the day is called? It's not hurting anybody. It doesn't take away from me. I'm a mom. Like, live your own life. Worry about your Own damn self. Like, it makes someone, like, feel included. Great. Why would I care? I care about things that actually affect my life, my daughter's life. Like the fact that insurance companies are like us over right and left, and basic health care isn't considered a human right. I also don't care if it's called the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of America or the Gulf of Whatever. And while we're on the topic of meaningless rhetoric intended to do, like, pit people against each other, there is even a proposed resolution in the House right now that expresses support for pro women's health centers. Like, I posted about this. I don't know if you saw it.

[Britt Prawat]

I did.

[Ashley Flowers]

And I you not. It says that, like, these healthcare centers are supposed to address the needs of men. Like, women's healthcare should address the needs of men. Who, by the way, is Wiley is, like, that's who we're worried about.

[Britt Prawat]

Right?

[Ashley Flowers]

Anyways, so I know I got a little sidetracked, but I wanted to show you who Wiley is while also saying.

[Britt Prawat]

Like, give us some perspective and, like.

[Ashley Flowers]

And I wanted to show you who he was with, but also saying, like, let's not let the thing that Wiley said take over this episode. Like, I swear to God, if all the comments on this episode become about Mother's Day, I'm gonna quit to bring it back to Dick Wiley. That's who he is. He hasn't shown any proof of his findings that could be verified by other journalists or. Or police. While his theory might be one of the loudest ones on the Internet, it is not the only one. Because what if I told you that there is another theory out there, One that is every bit as wild, every bit as fantastical, every bit as conspiratorial, and it is the one that seems the most likely to be true. Now, to explain this theory, I need to tell you a little bit more about Ann, Patricia, and. And Renee and their shared love of horses. I know you're a horse girl.

[Britt Prawat]

I'm in.

[Ashley Flowers]

In fact, the Chicago Tribune reports that while Patricia and Renee had been high school classmates, Patricia met Ann at the Oakbrook Polo Club, where they both boarded their riding horses. And Ann also worked there. In fact, at the time of the disappearances, Patricia owned a racehorse named Hank. And he was one of the biggest reasons that her dad, Harold, never, like, bought into the idea that the women would have, like, gone off on their own, even if all of the other weird shit could be explained away, which it can't. So, like, there's so much that doesn't make sense. Harold knew that his daughter would not abandon Hank. It wasn't possible. It was something that he said over and over and over again, including to Sergeant Burke, like, she would never have left that horse behind. You guys know how much I love Charlie. Charlie's like my mini horse. That's how I feel.

[Britt Prawat]

I was gonna say I am a horse girl. I grew up with a horse that I would have never in a million years left behind for anything. He was my baby.

[Ashley Flowers]

You horse girls are next level, too. So, anyway, so remember how I told you to put a pin in the women's personal problems?

[Britt Prawat]

Yes.

[Ashley Flowers]

Okay. So Renee's were the marital issues that we know. Ann's was this potential pregnancy. And I think Patricia's had to do with the wide world of horse racing. So when her sister Janice sat with Dateline for an interview in 2023, she talked about some weird stuff going on with Patricia at the time leading up to her disappearance. Like how she was acting strangely the day before she disappeared. Scared, even. Although Janice didn't elaborate, she also described this conversation they had had recently or, like, before they went missing. And Patricia was crying, which alone is super out of character. Now, some people are criers, some people aren't. And Patricia was not. And she told Janice that she was in a lot of trouble. Janice's mind immediately went to the married boyfriend we know that she might have had. So she asked if she was pregnant.

[Britt Prawat]

Don't tell Dick Wiley.

[Ashley Flowers]

I know. I'm sure he already knows this, but according to Janice, she wasn't pregnant. That's not it. Whatever it was was worse in her mind than that, because her response was, quote, I wish it was that easy.

[Britt Prawat]

Which is saying a lot in 1966.

[Ashley Flowers]

I know. And Janice wasn't the only person close to Patricia who noticed something was off before she disappeared. A friend of hers had told Sergeant Burke's team way back at the beginning of the investigation about this weird situation in March of that year when Patricia had some sort of, like, bruising on her face and the friend was like, wtf? What actually happened to your face? I mean, it looked like she got straight up clocked. And according to the Chicago Tribune, Patricia said that she was in trouble with some, quote, unquote syndicate people, like the mob. This is where the horse mob comes in. So get this. And I'm going to give you a little backstory for just a sec, but I promise we are, like, coming back around, and you're going to want to know this. So apparently, the 1960s equestrian scene in Chicago was run by a rough crowd known as the Horse Syndicate. And at the center of this horse syndicate was a man by the name of Silas Jain. Silas had been playing fast and loose in the industry since the late 1930s when he opened a place called the Green Tree Stables and embarked on a long and storied career of lying, cheating, cheating and stealing his way to the top and defending his interests by any means necessary, including possibly by ordering a hit on one of the nation's wealthiest heiresses in 1977, by the way. Now, most of his brothers were cut from the same cloth, but one of them wasn't, his much younger half brother, George. And that infuriated Silas. By 1952, according to the Chicago Tribune magazine, George had also joined the stable business. And the thing was, whereas Silas made his money kind of in the shadows, George made his by being a generally competent business owner. And now that the brothers were competitors, that was something Silas just could not have. Which led to poor George having some seriously bad luck. Like in 1952 when his house went up in flames for who knows what reason while he and his family were out of town. Brotherly relations took an especially dark turn after George's horse beat Silas horse at a jumping competition in the early 1960s. And before he knew it, it wasn't just George's property at risk. A hit was carried out on one of his best horses. His stables were being shot up. And George himself was surviving brushes with death damn near on the weekly. Everywhere he went, someone was trying to run him off the road or blow up his house like no joke. One day he and his wife found dynamite affixed to their back door and it had actually fizzled out before it could cause any damage. But clearly a message was trying to be sent, clearly by Silas, and George wasn't getting it. Now, 1965 is when shit really hit the fan. By this point, George owned Tricolor Riding Stables. And one day in June of that year, George asked one of his employees, a 22 year old named Cheryl Lynn Rude, to move his car for him. So she hopped into the driver's seat, turns the key in the ignition, which is when the car exploded in spectacular fashion. It had been rigged with dynamite, which meant that George had just survived his most dramatic brush with death yet. But Cheryl wasn't so fortunate. She was killed instantly. And for once in his life, Silas came so close to paying for it when investigators convinced his hired henchmen to turn state's evidence. But fast forward To March of 1966, on the eve of Silas trial on conspiracy charges. The whole case gets dropped when the prosecution star witness, one of Silas's henchmen, was struck with what the Chicago Tribune magazine reporters called a, quote, baffling attack of amnesia. Now, this is where the women come back in. So March of 66 is when Patricia had a busted face, the one that had to do with the trouble that she was in with some syndicate people. And by the way, no one questions that they, like the women, were acquainted with these guys. We know for a fact all three women rode at George's stables, and Indiana State Police confirmed that for us.

[Britt Prawat]

But is Silas the married man or George? I don't get why the women are made to disappear in July of 66.

[Ashley Flowers]

No. So I don't think that either of them were Patricia's paramour. He seems. Seems to have been. I think the guy she was dating was like another shady character in the horse scene, like, not even related. And we don't know for sure why someone would have hit her or threatened her or whatever. But there is one possible. And like, the prevailing theory that I've seen come from the Chicago Tribune magazine, and it comes from a quote by retired Sergeant Fred Miller of the Westchester pd And basically what he says is that there was always a strong suspicion that their disappearances had something to do with the car bombing, namely that maybe one or more of the women overheard something or knew something about that and that is what led to their deaths.

[Britt Prawat]

But you'd think that something would have happened to them, like, before the trial was set to start in March.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, but I guess it depends on maybe what they knew and why or how they knew it. Like, I think there's a world where their importance, like, as potential witnesses only increased once Silas's conspirators were scared into submission. Maybe, like, I don't quite know. And that's just speculation on my part. But I think it's like, maybe the best theory because look at this. So among all of the belongings left behind, investigators like, and I'm talking about the women's. On the beach, investigators found not only George's phone number, but also a phone number for Silas's wife, Martha. So, like, I mean, clearly, like, they have those for a reason. And by the way, guess who owned a blue and white power boat. Well, actually, I don't know exactly who, but, like, I don't. I don't have a name, which would be really helpful right now. I know, but I know that a man, an unnamed man who was reported to have, like, supposedly once worked for Silas did own one. And supposedly this boat that he supposedly owned, he often took to the Indiana Dunes.

[Britt Prawat]

Did they find this supposed boat?

[Ashley Flowers]

No, they wish. Like the Kai's wife told them that that boat got destroyed in a fire. Which leads me to the last kernel of information that we were able to glean from ISP. They say that as of December 2024. So, like, five minutes ago, yeah. They no longer dismiss the possibility that the boat wreckage that washed ashore way back in 1960 was related to the women's disappearances. So so much for that whole, like, spontaneously combusting rowboat thing. And I wish I could wrap this story up with a pretty bow. But what that leaves us with are family members like Patricia's sister Janice, who are running out of time to learn the truth about what happened to their loved ones way back in 1966. So if you have information about what happened that day on the shores of Lake Michigan, please contact the Westchester Police Department at 708-345-0060. And if you are as offended as I am About House Resolution 7, head over to www.congress.gov. contact us to find your representative's contact information. Tell them that women's health care should be about women. Novel concep. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com.

[Britt Prawat]

You can also follow us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast.

[Ashley Flowers]

We'll be back next week with another episode. Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? Hey, crime junkies, if you have a couple of extra minutes, I want to tell you about this new series on Paramount plus called Happy Face. Happy Face is a unique perspective on the notorious Happy Face Killer through the eyes of his daughter, Melissa reed. Melissa was 15 when she discovered her father's secret. Despite trying to put the past behind her, Melissa's life is upended again when her father tries to re enter her life after decades of silence. I want you to listen to the trailer now and see what you think. Growing up, Melissa had a normal life. Normal family, normal friends. Until one day, everything changed. What do you know about the Happy Face Killer?

[Britt Prawat]

He's my father.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's so good to see you, missy. Don't call me that.

[Britt Prawat]

He said he killed another woman.

[Ashley Flowers]

When I confessed in 95, I held one back.

[Britt Prawat]

What's this victim's name?

[Ashley Flowers]

It can't be that easy. Experience the thrilling new series.

[Britt Prawat]

There's a family out there still wondering what happened to their daughter.

[Ashley Flowers]

Inspired by a true life story story. He wasn't always a monster. He became one about family, the stories we tell ourselves and what it takes to uncover the truth. If I don't deal with him, he will never leave us alone. You think you're so different. You don't see how the word same do you? Annelie Ashford and Dennis Queen Star I.

[Britt Prawat]

Am not responsible for what my dad did.

[Ashley Flowers]

This going how you hoped, this eight part series explores the complicated relationship between a daughter and the monster she once loved. Inspired by a true life story, Happy Face follows Melissa as she grapples with the dark legacy of her father. Starring Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid, Happy Face streams March 20th exclusively on Paramount. Head to paramountplus.com to get started I've been trying to cut back on coffee, so I've been looking for substitutions that I can work in throughout the day. And I give myself one cup of joe in the morning. And then for the afternoon I've been trying Rye's Mushroom Coffee, which sounds wild at least to like my midwest self. It did, but it's been a great find. And for my like, I hate mushroom people. It doesn't taste like mushroom soup or anything. They have a bunch of different products, even hot chocolate. The benefits are awesome. Rise Mushroom Coffee is a custom powerhouse blend of six functional mushrooms crafted to fuel your body and mind all day long. It helps with all day energy, sharper focus, healthy digestion and immune support. It's been a nice little boost for me in the afternoon when I get to that like post lunch 2pm crash. And with over 150,000 5 star reviews, you likely won't be disappointed. Try Rise mushroom coffee with 15% off your first order at risesuperfoods.com crimejunkie. That's R Y Z E superfoods.com crimejunkIE don't just wake up, awaken with Rise.