Vanished Voices, The Overlooked

Not Today Studios
Not Today Studios
  • 5.0 (11)
  • True Crime

Silence can be louder than any scream. Vanished Voices is a true crime podcast that dives into the cases of the missing and the murdered whose stories were buried or ignored. They are echoes, whispers, and warnings from those who can no longer speak for themselves. Through deep research and heartfelt storytelling, this is where the silence is broken, and the vanished are finally heard.

  1. 2d ago

    Every Like, Deleted - The Disappearance of Nakyla Williams

    A doorbell camera catches the last confirmed image of Nakyla Williams: 24 years old, a hairstylist with her own basement salon, getting into a loud-engine pickup truck outside her mother's Indianapolis home on the evening of November 8th, 2021. She never comes home. What follows is a case built almost entirely out of absences. It takes IMPD three weeks to issue a public alert. The last person seen with her deletes every trace of their online history together and leaves the state. Her mother postpones a scheduled surgery to search fields near her own neighborhood instead. And a year later, police quietly walk back their own language — from "foul play not suspected" to "I can't say that." Nakyla's family is split on what actually happened to her — one theory points toward trafficking, another toward addiction and a fatal mistake — and neither has ever been confirmed. What has been confirmed is the silence since: no public update on this case since the summer of 2023. This episode traces the three-week gap before police went public, the confrontation with the last person to see her, the community search effort that may have been aimed at the wrong kind of disappearance entirely, and the national conversation about missing Black women that Nakyla's case became a part of without ever finding its own resolution. If you know anything about what happened to Nakyla Williams, contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 317-327-6160, or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  2. Aug 13

    Waiting in the Hallway - The Murder of Kanika Powell

    Kanika Powell did everything right. She refused to open her door to a stranger claiming to be with the FBI. She called the Bureau directly to check his story. She called the police. She emailed her friends and family, warning them, days before it happened. When two more strangers showed up at her door posing as delivery men, she refused them too, and confirmed with the carriers that no packages were ever coming. None of it saved her. On August 28th, 2008, Kanika returned home from running errands and was shot multiple times in the hallway of her Laurel, Maryland apartment building. She died the next day. She was twenty-eight years old — an Army veteran, a security specialist with a top-secret clearance, a devoted daughter and best friend, days away from a trip to Atlanta Pride with a woman she'd just started falling for. There was no eyewitness. No weapon was ever recovered. And despite a ballistics trail checked against every gun recovered in the county — and nationally — in the years since, Kanika's killer has never been identified. This week on Vanished Voices, we walk through the week of warnings that preceded Kanika's murder, sit down with the theories her family and investigators have chased for nearly two decades, and ask the question Prince George's County Cold Case Squad is still asking today: who wanted Kanika Powell dead, and why? If you have any information about the murder of Kanika Powell, call the Prince George's County Police Department at 301-352-1200, or PG County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  3. Aug 6

    Does She Feel Safer? A Conversation with SafeNest's Liz Ortenburger

    For decades, the domestic violence movement has operated on a familiar script: abuser is bad, survivor should leave, and the system's job is to punish after the fact. Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest — Nevada's largest domestic and sexual violence nonprofit, serving Clark County since 1977 — has spent the last ten years challenging that script from the inside. In this conversation, Liz walks us through the real, layered reasons abuse gets passed down through generations, and why SafeNest made the controversial decision to work directly with abusers alongside survivors. We talk about the DALE lethality assessment and the 4,300 people SafeNest had to turn away from shelter last year alone. We talk about "hope planning" — Liz's data-driven framework for helping at-risk kids see a future that doesn't repeat their past. And we talk candidly about where thirty years of well-intentioned policy — mandatory arrest, no-drop prosecution, VAWA — has and hasn't delivered for the people it was built to protect. Liz's core question threads through all of it: not "did the system punish him," but "does she feel safer." It's a reframe that has real implications for how we fund, measure, and talk about this work going forward. In this episode: Why abuse is often a generational, learned pattern — and what breaking that cycle actually requires The DALE lethality assessment and the resource gap in domestic violence shelters SafeNest's "hope planning" model and Camp HOPE The history and unintended consequences of mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution Why funding for abuser intervention programs is controversial — and why Liz thinks it shouldn't be What VAWA does and doesn't fund, and what's at stake in its 2027 reauthorization What listeners can actually do — for survivors, for policy, and in their own communities You can contact SafeNest, even if you aren't a resident of Nevada at: safenest.org Hotline: 702-646-4981 If you are in a situation where you don't feel safe, you can also reach out to: The National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) | Text START to 88788 | Live chat and 24/7 AI-assisted chat at thehotline.org — available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, offering free, confidential support with crisis intervention, safety planning, and referrals in more than 200 languages. This includes a quick exit option for browsers, and suggests clearing your browser history after visiting, with instructions on how to do just that. National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) — 1-800-656-4673 National Human Trafficking Hotline — 1-800-373-7888 StrongHearts Native Helpline (for American Indian and Alaska Native survivors) — 1-844-762-8483 | Live chat and text support, offering culturally appropriate services NNEDV Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women — 1-888-7HELPLINE (743-5754) National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline — 866-331-9474 | TTY 866-331-8453 — for young people experiencing abuse or curious about healthy relationships NNEDV The Deaf Hotline — Video phone: 855-812-1001 To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  4. Jul 30

    Nobody Came - The Disappearance of Ella Mae Begay

    In the early hours of June 15, 2021, Ella Mae Begay's daughter called 911 to report a break-in at her own home. No one came. Minutes later, she watched her mother's truck pull out of the driveway — a truck Ella Mae, a cautious woman who never drove after dark, would never have taken out herself. By the time officers finally responded to a second call, Ella Mae was gone. Her truck has never been found. Neither has she. Ella Mae was a master weaver known throughout the Navajo Nation, a grandmother of nine, and a mother whose son still texts her on her birthday. Her case would go on to become one of the most widely covered instances of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples in recent memory — not because law enforcement moved quickly, but because her niece, Seraphine Warren, walked 2,400 miles from Sweetwater, Arizona to Washington, D.C. to make sure the country couldn't look away. A suspect was identified within days, but not charged for two years. There was a confession thrown out by federal appeals judges, a plea deal a judge himself called too lenient, and a release from prison that came exactly five years — to the day — after Ella Mae vanished. No one has ever been charged with her disappearance. No homicide charge was ever filed. And Ella Mae Begay has never come home. If you know anything about the disappearance of Ella Mae Begay please contact any of the following: FBI FBI Phoenix Field Office: (623) 466-1999 National FBI tip line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) BIA Missing & Murdered Unit Call: 1-833-560-2065 Text: BIAMMU and your tip to 847411 Email: OJS_MMU@bia.gov Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety: 928-871-6111 or 928-871-6112 To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  5. Jul 23

    The Last Known Video - Paola Marie Miranda Rosa

    In December 2021, a Florida woman heading to visit her sister never arrives. Days later, her car turns up with a wallet, phone, sandals, shopping list, and lunch bag at a state park. And then, a brief, grainy piece of hiker footage becomes the last confirmed trace of her, ever. Is this is because there was no effort to dust for fingerprints or get into her cell phone? Maybe.  In this episode, we trace what's known, what isn't, and what her family has spent four plus years trying to get answered. This is Paola Marie Miranda-Rosa's story. If you know anything — anything at all — about what happened to Paola Marie Miranda-Rosa, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office wants to hear from you. Their number is 407-348-2222. Crimeline is also offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts, and you can report anonymously if that's what makes it possible for you to come forward. Somebody knows something. It's not too late for that to matter. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  6. Jul 16

    No Coat, No Phone: What Happened to Jasmine Moody?

    Jasmine Moody was 19, an honor-roll freshman with plans to become a nurse, when she flew from  Texas to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with a woman she'd met online.  On the night before she was scheduled to fly home, an argument broke out — and Jasmine walked out of the house into a windchill near zero, without her coat, her phone, her ID, or her purse. She has never been seen again. More than ten years later, no arrests have ever been made. In this episode, we walk through the night of December 4th, 2014, the competing accounts of what happened, the physical evidence that's never added up, and the questions about timing, urgency, and circumstance that still don't sit comfortably no matter how you look at them.  We also talk about why a case with this much unresolved tension barely made headlines outside of Detroit — and why that matters. If anything in this episode stood out to you — a name, a detail, a timeline that didn't sit right — please don't sit on it. You can contact: The Detroit Police Department's Criminal Investigations unit directly at 313-596-5752 You can also report anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 1-800-SPEAK-UP You don't need to be certain. You don't need proof. Somebody out there has known something for over a decade — if that's you, this is your sign to say it. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Learn more about Vanished Voices at VanishedVoicesPodcast.com or find on us on socials, @VanishedVoicesPod. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  7. Jul 9

    Unidentified: The Murder of Shantieya Smith

    This episode contains significant updates from three cases Vanished Voices has covered. Anna Marie Scott from Nevada, Phylicia Barnes from North Carolina and Baltimore, and Sara Nicole Graham from North Carolina. You can find links to the coverage on the updates here. Every morning, Shantieya Smith slung her seven-year-old daughter's backpack over her shoulder and walked her to school. Family called her "Nay Nay." She was the one you called when there was trouble, the one who'd teach you the newest dance in the middle of the living room. On May 25th, 2018, she left her North Lawndale home for what should have been a quick errand — she didn't even take her phone. She never came back. When her mother, Latonya Moore, went to police, she was told to wait 48 hours before filing a report. Even though it had already been three days that she waited. She refused to leave without one. Four days of silence followed. So Latonya searched for her daughter herself — organizing her own search parties, going through Shantieya's phone records, even exchanging messages with the man she believed was responsible. Shantieya wasn't the only one. That same spring, at least four women and girls disappeared from the same few square miles of Chicago's West Side. Two — Shantieya and 15-year-old Sadaria Davis — were found dead within weeks of each other, and importantly, both last seen with the same man. He has never been charged in either death, even after being charged with a stabbing soon after in Garfield Park and a rape and shooting 3 days after the stabbing, in Memphis. What followed was years of institutional failure: a missing person case quietly closed as "non-criminal," DNA evidence that simply disappeared from the system, and a police superintendent who publicly speculated about “lifestyle choices” before later apologizing years later (kind of apologizing anyways). Shantieya's case is still unsolved, her family needs answers and she deserves justice. If you have any information about the murders of Shantieya Smith or Sadaria Davis, please come forward. You can submit an anonymous tip to the Chicago Police Department by calling (312) 746-6000 or texting CPDTip to 738477 to receive a link to their anonymous tip form, or by submitting a tip directly at cpdtip.org. Tips that lead to an arrest and felony charges are eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 through Cook County Crime Stoppers. No piece of information is too small — Shantieya and Sadaria's families are still waiting. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  8. Jul 2

    The Disappearance of Ricarda Tillman-Lockett in Memphis

    Ricarda Tillman-Lockett was 22 years old, a mother, and an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. She had left an abusive marriage, moved into a shelter, and made a plan to start over. On February 19th, 2007, she left work in Memphis, got into her estranged husband's car, and vanished. Her purse, her wallet, and her cell phone were left behind. Her son was waiting at the babysitter's. She never came back. Nineteen years later, Ricarda Tillman-Lockett has not been found. No one has ever been charged. Her family is still waiting. Her name was Rica. This is her story. If you have information about the disappearance of Ricarda Tillman-Lockett, contact the Memphis Police Department at 901-373-3883 or CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH. Her NamUs case number is MP179. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Silence can be louder than any scream. Vanished Voices is a true crime podcast that dives into the cases of the missing and the murdered whose stories were buried or ignored. They are echoes, whispers, and warnings from those who can no longer speak for themselves. Through deep research and heartfelt storytelling, this is where the silence is broken, and the vanished are finally heard.

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