55 episodes

It’s the dead of summer, 1989, in the heart of the Ozarks. An 18-year-old woman goes missing from Bella Vista, Arkansas. As the search moves forward, several suspects emerge. Then… a body is found not far from the Missouri border, and a homicide investigation begins. Soon, a second body is discovered nearby. What was a mystery transforms into the hunt for a possible serial killer stalking young women throughout the Ozarks. M. William Phelps digs in nearly 35 years later and begins to understand that things aren’t always what they seem. 

Paper Ghosts: The Ozarks iHeart True Crime

    • True Crime
    • 4.4 • 5.6K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

It’s the dead of summer, 1989, in the heart of the Ozarks. An 18-year-old woman goes missing from Bella Vista, Arkansas. As the search moves forward, several suspects emerge. Then… a body is found not far from the Missouri border, and a homicide investigation begins. Soon, a second body is discovered nearby. What was a mystery transforms into the hunt for a possible serial killer stalking young women throughout the Ozarks. M. William Phelps digs in nearly 35 years later and begins to understand that things aren’t always what they seem. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    Episode 1: “Forever Pain”

    Episode 1: “Forever Pain”

    In the heat of the Ozarks summer, 1989, an 18-year-old woman goes missing.  Dana Stidham vanishes in the middle of the day, from the parking lot of a local supermarket. Everyone in the small town of Bella Vista, Arkansas, is seemingly searching for her. Law enforcement receives scores of sightings and potential leads. Dana’s family is frantic, concerned, but also hopeful… that is, until her car and clothing are found, several early suspects emerge, and a mystery 34 years in the making begins.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 44 min
    Episode 2: “The Evidence of Things Not Seen”

    Episode 2: “The Evidence of Things Not Seen”

    As the search for Dana Stidham continues, her sudden disappearance baffles family, friends, and police, as everyone grows increasingly alarmed that Dana has met with foul play. Then, a break in the case comes as Paper Ghosts executive producer, host and investigative journalist M. William Phelps heads to Bella Vista to meet with a source who helps him unravel several potential new threads—including, perhaps, a secret life Dana lived that no one knew about.  New suspects emerge.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 47 min
    Episode 3: “The Skull in the Creek Bed”

    Episode 3: “The Skull in the Creek Bed”

    As the 1989 holiday season looms, Dana Stidham’s body is discovered by a local hunter in a Bella Vista creek bed. Law enforcement shifts its focus from missing person to murder… and begins to zero in on a suspect after he is arrested for a bizarre theft. Phelps’s contemporary, real-time investigation branches out and he questions whether the evidence against the chief suspect supports law enforcement’s push to arrest him – and whether Dana’s case is part of a more widespread series of murders by a serial killer targeting victims throughout the Ozarks during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 47 min
    Episode 4: “The Cave”

    Episode 4: “The Cave”

    The investigation by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office heats up in Dana Stidham’s gruesome murder, zeroing in on one particular suspect.  Phelps digs deeper, speaking to the suspect and wonders if law enforcement has been chasing the wrong man. Just over the Missouri border, not far from the Dana Stidham crime scene, a second young woman’s body is discovered. Are the cases linked? Phelps uncovers several exclusive, recorded interviews never-before-heard, speaks to several sources who claim that not only are the cases the work of one killer, but the suspect has been hiding in plain sight, taunting police, all along.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 38 min
    Episode 5: “Grace Doe: Shauna Garber”

    Episode 5: “Grace Doe: Shauna Garber”

    With the discovery of a second young female murder victim just over the Missouri border, 20 minutes away from where Dana Stidham’s body was found, a new suspect seems to be playing cat-and-mouse with law enforcement. Phelps drills down and compares the similarities in the cases—as infamous serial killer Dennis “BTK” Rader enters the narrative as a major suspect in both homicides.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 48 min
    Episode 6: “Spawn of Hell”

    Episode 6: “Spawn of Hell”

    The second female victim, known only as “Grace Doe” for nearly 30 years, is identified as Shauna Garber. Phelps’s investigation turns toward a new suspect in the murder of Dana Stidham (and possibly Shauna), while uncovering a revealing, lost recording of a new suspect - unheard until now. Phelps teams up with the detectives investigating the Shauna Garber case, evaluating similarities between her and Dana Stidham’s death. All of it leads Phelps to the doorstep of a potential killer walking the streets a free man, confronting the man some think is a prolific serial killer who has eluded law enforcement for some 34 years.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 47 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
5.6K Ratings

5.6K Ratings

AddsP ,

Love this and the Host!

But the commercials and making us pay for the last episode??? Such a downer. This has happened before and I should have known better. It’s not worth signing up for a subscription I can’t afford and forget to cancel. Goodbye🫵🏻

StepSue87 ,

Amazing, top notch investigative journalism!

This is refreshing journalism in a realm where people seem to be getting all of their information from Wiki and Facebook.🙄 Really easy to listen to. Paying to get rid of the adds is definitely worth it, as other PC's on this channel are thoughtful, well written and produced.

KeithMorrison97015 ,

M William Phelps

So annoying. Thinks he knows way more about the criminal justice system than he does. Never again.

Top Podcasts In True Crime

Murder in the Hollywood Hills
NBC News
Three
Wavland
Dateline NBC
NBC News
Crime Junkie
audiochuck
Morbid
Morbid Network | Wondery
Up and Vanished
Tenderfoot TV

You Might Also Like

Up and Vanished
Tenderfoot TV
Hell and Gone
iHeartPodcasts
Crossing the Line with M. William Phelps
M. William Phelps
Three
Wavland
What Happened to Libby Caswell
iHeartPodcasts
Hello, John Doe
iHeartPodcasts

More by iHeartRadio

Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Money News Network
Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media
The Breakfast Club
iHeartPodcasts
The Dan Patrick Show
iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network
Help Wanted
Money News Network