Departed in Pennsyltucky

Andrea Dudeck
  • 4.2 (12)
  • TRUE CRIME
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Departed in Pennsyltucky is a true-crime narrative podcast that takes you down the back roads of Pennsylvania, into small towns and forgotten headlines.   From unsolved disappearances to chilling murders, each episode uncovers the secrets still haunting the Keystone State.   Some stories were whispered for years.  Others almost faded into obscurity—until now.  True-crime talk without the valley-girl squawk.

  1. The Silence of Kathleen: The Cold Case of Kathleen Mohn

    6D AGO

    The Silence of Kathleen: The Cold Case of Kathleen Mohn

    On the night of December 3, 1999, 48-year-old Kathleen Mohn walked out of her home in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and vanished. She told no one she was afraid.  She packed nothing unusual.  She was simply leaving for the weekend — a drive she had made many times before. After more than 20 years of marriage, Kathleen and her husband, Thomas Mohn, were living separate lives under the same roof.  Their relationship had grown distant, and both had begun seeing other people.  Kathleen often spent her weekends with her boyfriend in Levittown, about forty minutes away. But that night, she never made it. Days later, her car was discovered abandoned in a KFC parking lot in Tullytown, Pennsylvania.  Inside were some of her personal belongings.  Kathleen herself was gone. For more than two decades, investigators have believed one thing: Kathleen didn't leave her life behind — someone took it from her.  Police have long suspected who is responsible, but the case has remained just out of reach, built on circumstantial evidence and unanswered questions. Somewhere, the truth about what happened that night still exists. And after 19 years of silence, it may only take one person to finally break it. Support the show

    46 min
  2. 45.15.8.29. Part 2: The Case of Denise Merhi, Dennis Marsh, Alvin Marsh and Steve Zernhelt

    MAR 21

    45.15.8.29. Part 2: The Case of Denise Merhi, Dennis Marsh, Alvin Marsh and Steve Zernhelt

    On June 26, 2010, a quiet home in Northampton, Pennsylvania, became the center of a nightmare. Inside lived three generations of the same family—thirty-nine-year-old Denise Merhi, her father Dennis Marsh, and her eighty-seven-year-old grandfather, Alvin Marsh Jr., who spent much of his time in a wheelchair. It was an ordinary house on an ordinary street. But that morning, something violent entered their lives. Inside those walls, a brutal stabbing attack unfolded. Denise was attacked with relentless force. Her father was killed as the violence moved through the home. Alvin Marsh Jr., elderly and defenseless, had no way to escape what was coming. Then a neighbor, fifty-three-year-old Steven Zernhelt, heard the disturbance and came to help. He never walked back out. When police arrived, four people were dead. In a town where violent crime was almost unheard of, the brutality of what happened that morning left the community shaken. Investigators would soon discover the killings were not random, but the terrifying end of a deeply personal conflict. Four lives lost in one morning. Inside a home that should have been the safest place of all. Support the show

    53 min
  3. 45.15.8.29. Part 1: The Case of Denise Merhi, Dennis Marsh, Alvin Marsh and Steve Zernhelt

    MAR 18

    45.15.8.29. Part 1: The Case of Denise Merhi, Dennis Marsh, Alvin Marsh and Steve Zernhelt

    On June 26, 2010, a quiet home in Northampton, Pennsylvania, became the center of a nightmare. Inside lived three generations of the same family—thirty-nine-year-old Denise Merhi, her father Dennis Marsh, and her eighty-seven-year-old grandfather, Alvin Marsh Jr., who spent much of his time in a wheelchair.  It was an ordinary house on an ordinary street. But that morning, something violent entered their lives. Inside those walls, a brutal stabbing attack unfolded.  Denise was attacked with relentless force.  Her father, Dennis, was killed as the violence moved through the home.  Alvin Marsh Jr., elderly and defenseless, had no way to escape what was coming. Then a neighbor, fifty-three-year-old Steven Zernhelt, heard the disturbance and came to help. He never walked back out. When police arrived, four people were dead. In a town where violent crime was almost unheard of, the brutality of what happened that morning left the community shaken.  Investigators would soon discover the killings were not random, but the terrifying end of a deeply personal conflict. Four lives lost in one summer afternoon. Inside a home that should have been the safest place of all. Support the show

    36 min
  4. Small Hands, Fatal Actions: The Case of Jessica Ann Carr

    MAR 11

    Small Hands, Fatal Actions: The Case of Jessica Ann Carr

    On March 8, 1989, the small town of Kresgeville, Pennsylvania, was filled with panic and disbelief.  Once a scene for winter fun, the snow now framed a tragic event.  Seven-year-old Jessica Ann Carr was playing nearby when a shot rang out, striking her while she rode a yellow snowmobile.  Chaos ensued as parents ran outside and neighbors called for help, turning the neighborhood into a scene of grief. Police arrived quickly, securing the area and investigating a nearby home overlooking the field.  Inside, they found a recently fired .22-caliber rifle and a clear line of sight to the snowmobile path. A child in the home eventually confessed to firing the weapon, a revelation that transformed the incident from a tragedy into a haunting reality: a child had taken a life. The community of Kresgeville was left to grapple with the unimaginable—how the parents of the shooter could be held responsible and how the justice system could respond.  The heavy silence that followed overshadowed the snowy landscape, marking a loss of innocence that would forever change the town. Support the show

    51 min
  5. It's a Shame About Ray: The Cold Case of Ray Gricar

    MAR 4

    It's a Shame About Ray: The Cold Case of Ray Gricar

    On a quiet spring afternoon in 2005, Ray Gricar walked out of his office in Centre County and told no one exactly where he was going — only that he needed a drive. By nightfall, he was gone. The next morning, his red Mini Cooper sat abandoned in a parking lot near the slow-moving waters of the Susquehanna River in Lewisburg.  His phone was inside.  His keys were missing.  And the man who had built a career on solving other people's crimes had seemingly vanished without leaving a single clue behind. Weeks passed.  Then something surfaced from the river — something that raised more questions than it answered. Was this a carefully planned disappearance?  A desperate decision?  Or did someone finally catch up to a prosecutor who had made powerful enemies over decades in court? As rumors swirl and theories collide, one thing remains certain: a seasoned district attorney stepped out for a drive… and never came home. Support the show

    41 min
  6. Deadly Triangle: The Case of Candice Shuey and Derek Henry

    FEB 25

    Deadly Triangle: The Case of Candice Shuey and Derek Henry

    On a quiet September day in 2010, police were called to a property in rural Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania.  What they found there would shatter the calm of this small community. Two people were dead. Twenty-two-year-old Candice Shuey, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her, and thirty-six-year-old Derek Henry had both been brutally murdered.  At first glance, investigators believed the crime might be personal.  There were no signs of a random attack—only the unmistakable feeling that someone close to the victims had a reason to want them dead. As detectives began peeling back the layers of Candice's life, a complicated web of relationships emerged.  Jealousy.  Betrayal.  Possession. And at the center of it all was a man who believed he had been wronged. What started as a relationship dispute would soon reveal something far darker—an obsession that ended in bloodshed. Support the show

    46 min
  7. Ashes on Stephens Street: The Case of Virgina and Rodger Houck

    FEB 18

    Ashes on Stephens Street: The Case of Virgina and Rodger Houck

    It was a quiet night in a neighborhood where nothing ever really happened — until it did. Neighbors first thought it was fireworks.  Then came the blast.  Flames tore through a home on Stephens Street, turning a place filled with faith and devotion into a scene of chaos and smoke. Inside were Virginia and Roger Houck — a couple known for their steady love, their kindness, and the quiet strength that anchored their community.  By morning, the house was gone.  And so were they. What followed was a meticulous investigation layered with questions, shifting suspicions, and the slow uncovering of a calculated act.  But this story is more than evidence and courtroom testimony.  It is about who Virginia and Roger were — the lives they built, the people they loved, and the legacy that could not be burned away. Because even after the flames die down, grief lingers. And so does memory. This is a story of fire — but it is also a story of love, resilience, and what remains in the ashes. Support the show

    33 min
  8. Across the Street: The Case of Stephanie Roof

    FEB 12

    Across the Street: The Case of Stephanie Roof

    On a still September night in 2016, the calm of a suburban Pennsylvania neighborhood was pierced by a single, deliberate shot. Stephanie Roof, 46, had just come home from work when she was killed in her own driveway in Lower Macungie Township. The street was quiet. The houses were dark. There were no signs of a break-in, no immediate suspects, nothing to suggest why violence had found its way there. But as detectives dug deeper, the picture shifted. What first seemed senseless began to reveal intention. What looked random began to look personal. At the heart of the investigation was a former lover, a relationship that had ended, and a digital trail that would take years to fully unravel. It leaves one unsettling question lingering: how well do we ever truly know the people we once trusted? Support the show

    25 min
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Trailer

4.2
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Departed in Pennsyltucky is a true-crime narrative podcast that takes you down the back roads of Pennsylvania, into small towns and forgotten headlines.   From unsolved disappearances to chilling murders, each episode uncovers the secrets still haunting the Keystone State.   Some stories were whispered for years.  Others almost faded into obscurity—until now.  True-crime talk without the valley-girl squawk.

Information

  • Creator
    Andrea Dudeck
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Departed in Pennsyltucky
  • Show Website
    Departed in Pennsyltucky

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