Podcast
PNW Haunts & Homicides
Hosted by PNW Haunts and Homicides · EN
Join Caitlyn and Cassie as they chat about true crime, the paranormal, and all kinds of spooky sh*t in the Pacific Northwest. Just two "normal-ish" friends who wanted more local, creepy stories so they never sleep or leave their houses again.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pnw-haunts-homicides--5955451/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pnw-haunts-homicides--5955451/support.
41episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Two Girls, Two Parks, Two Killers: Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian | Tacoma, Washington
1w ago00:58:25Tap to summarizeIn 1986 the North and West End neighborhoods of Tacoma trusted their parks. That was, until two girls disappeared from public parks in Tacoma, Washington within a few miles and a few months of each other, both stories ending in tragedy. Twelve-year-old Michella Welch disappeared from Puget Park on a bright Wednesday afternoon in March. Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Bastian vanished from Point Defiance Park while riding her brand-new Schwinn bike that same year in August.For nearly three decades, investigators believed the girls had been killed by the same man. The circumstances were too similar to imagine otherwise. As Jennifer's mother Pattie put it, there couldn't possibly be two monsters in Tacoma. And yet – there were. In this episode we walk through what happened to Michella and Jenni, the assumption that shaped multiple decades of the investigation, the evidence that finally broke that assumption apart, and the two very different paths that led to justice.Their cases also led to Jennifer & Michella's Law – the 2019 Washington legislation that expanded mandatory DNA collection for convicted felons and now stands as a legislative legacy for both girls. Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian were just little girls who should have had the chance to grow up. Both were blonde, blue-eyed girls on their bikes, doing exactly what kids had always been trusted to do – enjoying their local park. If the story moves you, we'd love it if you shared the episode - it helps the show, and most importantly these two girls deserve to be remembered by name.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. SourcesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pnw-haunts-homicides--5955451/support.
Transcribe →Leah Roberts: The Crash That Wasn't an Accident | Unsolved, Bellingham, Washington
2w ago01:18:59Tap to summarizeOn March 9, 2000, Leah Roberts left her home in Durham, North Carolina, on a Kerouac-inspired cross-country road trip in search of something she couldn’t quite name, telling no one exactly where she was going. At 23, in the wake of multiple personal tragedies she had recently dropped out of college just as graduation was nearly in sight. Days later, she reached Bellingham, Washington. Five days later her Jeep was found wrecked at the bottom of an embankment, where many important and prized possessions remained but there was no sign of Leah. What investigators would eventually uncover about that crash site would take years to come to light – and it would change everything they thought they knew about the case.Twenty-six years later, her case remains open. Her family and friends are still searching, hopeful for her eventual recovery – or at least answers.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. SourcesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pnw-haunts-homicides--5955451/support.
Transcribe →Pacific Northwest Reddit Stories: Hiking Horrors
3w ago00:53:30Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we dive into chilling Reddit true stories from across the Pacific Northwest, featuring creepy encounters, unexplained mysteries, and possible paranormal activity in Oregon and Washington. First, a couple hiking Hobbit Beach on the Oregon Coast discovers a disturbing forest altar made of candles, feathers, eggs, and animal bones before crossing paths with two suspicious strangers. Then, we explore a terrifying encounter on the Pacific Crest Trail near White Pass, Washington, where a solo female thru-hiker is stalked by a man obsessed with missing hikers and bodies disappearing in the surrounding bogs. Next, we examine a sighting of mysterious glowing green orbs witnessed by people in western Washington during the late 1990s, an unexplained phenomenon that some believe could be UFOs or something even stranger. Finally, we end with one of the oddest stories yet, as two friends hiking outside Eugene, Oregon, repeatedly encounter nearly identical cyclists wearing black hoodies, knee-high socks, and nothing but thongs deep in the forest. Whether these are true crime close calls, paranormal encounters, or simply bizarre moments in the wilderness, these Reddit stories prove that the forests of the Pacific Northwest still hold plenty of mysteries.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →Two Deaths, One Date: Patience Boston & the Purrinton Family | York & Augusta, Maine
4w ago01:24:04Tap to summarizeOn July 9, 1734, a Native woman named Patience Boston confessed to drowning an eight-year-old boy in a well — then walked two miles to turn herself in. Seventy-two years later, to the day, a respected Maine farmer spent an evening sharpening an axe and reading his Bible by candlelight before murdering nearly his entire family.Two tragedies. Same calendar date. Both set in colonial Maine, centuries ago.Two documents, centuries-old that survive only because someone who knew the people involved decided to write down what happened — a pair of Puritan ministers shaping one woman's last words into a lesson for their congregation; a midwife, recording only what she witnessed, with no agenda at all, though her heartbreak is apparent. This episode pairs both cases – set in York and Augusta, Maine – tracing the unlikely survival of their stories throughout history, and asking who gets to tell the story of the dead, and why it matters.This episode exists because July 9 is our cohost Cassie's birthday — and when that date flagged two colonial Maine tragedies separated by exactly seventy-two years, it felt like too strange a pairing to pass up. I had no idea quite how dark it would get when I picked up the mantle of telling these stories – sorry, Cassie.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts.
Transcribe →Ghost of the Gold Dredge
Jul 200:49:44Tap to summarizeDeep in eastern Oregon, the historic town of Sumpter is home to one of the Pacific Northwest's most fascinating Gold Rush landmarks: the Sumpter Valley Dredge. Built to recover gold flakes from the Powder River, these massive gold dredges operated around the clock, reshaping the landscape and leaving behind towering tailings that are still visible today. Now preserved as the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area, visitors can tour one of the largest surviving gold dredges in the United States, explore its mining history, and even try gold panning.But the dredge isn't just famous for its gold. It's also known as one of Oregon's most unusual haunted locations. For decades, workers, park rangers, paranormal investigators, and visitors have reported eerie footsteps, cold spots, phantom laughter, disappearing tools, flickering lights, and the ghostly figure of a miner known as "Joe Bush." Though no historical records confirm his identity, many believe the friendly spirit watches over the old machinery, sometimes even preventing accidents. Join us as we uncover the true history of Sumpter's legendary gold dredge, the haunting tale of Joe Bush, and one of Oregon's most unique paranormal legends.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →Kristil Krug: She Did Everything Right | Broomfield, Colorado
Jun 2501:16:58Tap to summarizeIn October 2023, Kristil Krug began receiving threatening messages she believed were coming from an ex-boyfriend she hadn't spoken to in years. She filed police reports, kept a detailed log, installed cameras, obtained a concealed carry permit, and ran home defense drills with her children. She told her father: "Someone's going to die. It's either me or him."She was right. She just didn't know the threat was already inside her house.On December 14, 2023, eleven days before Christmas, Kristil's husband Daniel was waiting for her when she came home. What investigators discovered in the hours that followed would redefine everything the people who loved her thought they knew — and expose a level of premeditation that shocked even seasoned law enforcement.What followed — the digital trail he left behind, the innocent man he spent months trying to frame, and the landmark pieces of legislation her family fought to pass in her name — is the story of a woman who did everything right, the system that wasn't fast enough to save her, and a cousin who refused to let her death be the end of the story.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →Loni Kai Okaruru: Washington County's Unsolved Hate Crime
Jun 1801:20:40Tap to summarizeIn honor of Pride Month, we're resharing this very important unsolved murder. 🌈 We'll see you next Thursday!Loni Kai was a vibrant, friendly, well-liked young woman. She has also graced the 5 of Hearts in a cold case deck of cards. Loni was born Lorenzo Okoruru in the Mariana islands, but by 2001 she was living in the Hillsboro/Aloha area of Oregon with some of her extended family that lovingly supported her whole heartedly. This one hits close to home, quite literally. On August 26th as she tried to make her way home in the early morning hours after a fun night out on the town the unthinkable would happen. Across the country, tragedy would strike again just a few days later and though she’s not been forgotten by those that loved her, Loni’s case made very little progress. All these years later Loni’s family still have no answers and have yet to see justice done for the heinous crime. We may not have solved the case but we have to believe that it’s never too late. If you have any information about this case, please reach out to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at (503) 846-2500 or call Crime Stoppers Oregon (503) 823-4357.In loving memory of Kate Wallinga, the host of Ignorance was Bliss. We were so lucky to have her unique perspective as a forensic psychologist. Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →Deborah "Debe" Atrops: If Anything Happens to Me | Beaverton, Oregon
Jun 1101:28:13Tap to summarizeIn November 1988, Deborah "Debe" Atrops left a hair appointment in Tigard, Oregon and never came home. When she was found — what investigators discovered would haunt Washington County for decades.Debe was 30 years old. She was a mother to an eight-month-old daughter. She had told a friend: "If anything happens to me, Bob did it."It would take decades, a new cold case unit, and a trial that raised as many questions as it answered to bring this case into a courtroom.But the Washington County Sheriff's Office still lists her case as unsolved on their website. The conviction is under appeal. And the forensic evidence at the center of the trial has left observers, legal experts, and at least one investigative reporter wondering whether Washington County may find itself litigating this case again.Whether justice was served is something you'll have to decide for yourself.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →The Most Haunted House in Washington
Jun 401:00:16Tap to summarizeStep into haunted Port Gamble, Washington, a historic mill town founded in 1851 and home to the infamous Walker-Ames House, known as the most haunted house in Washington. From ghostly women in the windows and children's voices in the attic to mysterious EVPs, shadow figures, and unexplained apparitions, this abandoned home has become a legendary paranormal hotspot.In this episode, we explore the haunted history of Port Gamble, chilling ghost tour encounters, paranormal investigations, and firsthand accounts from former residents. We also uncover eerie stories from the town's other haunted landmarks, making this a must-listen for fans of ghost stories, haunted places, and Pacific Northwest paranormal mysteries. 👻🏚️✨ Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →Logan Schiendelman - I Hope to Survive This Week | Tumwater, WA
May 2801:09:30Tap to summarizeOn May 20, 2016, multiple 911 calls reported a black Chrysler Sebring drifting across multiple lanes of Interstate 5 south of Tumwater, Washington — with no one at the wheel. When authorities searched the car, they found a wallet, phone, keys, cash, and curiously a bag of snacks still sitting upright in the center console. What they didn't find was 19-year-old Logan Schiendelman. Ten years later, no one knows what happened to him.The week he disappeared, Logan sent a text to a young woman he'd met on a dating app. It read: "I hope to survive this week." Those six haunting words are as unexplained as the disappearance that followed.In this episode we cover over ten years of questions in one of Thurston County's most baffling unsolved disappearances - a young man navigating identity, a cryptic message in the days prior, and a mystery that has never been resolved. The community gathered just this month to mark a decade without answers - but not without hope. If you have information about Logan's disappearance, contact the Thurston County Sheriff's Office at 360-786-5500. A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to his recovery.Visit our website! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, & more! There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Spreaker, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts. Sources
Transcribe →