Shadows In The Pines

pn7pnpf5dy
  • 3.8 (5)
  • True Crime

True crime podcast focusing on crime in the Pacific Northwest. 

  1. 3d ago

    Mini Pines - Haunted Spokane

    Spokane has plenty of ghost stories. But how much of what gets repeated is actually documented? In this episode of Mini Pines, Bekah explores five of Spokane’s reportedly haunted locations, including the Bing Crosby Theater and the Davenport Hotel. We’re talking historic theaters, grand mansions, and hotel rooms with stories of tragedy and unexplained encounters attached to them. Join us as we look at the history, the folklore, and the real people behind these local legends. Mini Pines is part of Shadows in the Pines. Find more episodes at ShadowsInThePines.com.

  2. Oct 5

    Jay Cook & Tanya Van Cuylenborg - Part 2 - The Outcome

    For more than thirty years, the DNA profile investigators called “Individual A” had no name. In the second half of our investigation into the murders of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, the case finally begins to move. After decades of dead ends, investigators turn to new DNA technology and forensic genetic genealogy. A GEDmatch upload produces distant family connections, genealogist CeCe Moore begins building family trees, and those branches eventually converge on a man investigators had never previously identified as a suspect: William Earl Talbott II. But genealogy could only give investigators a lead. They still had to prove the DNA belonged to him. That proof would come from a discarded paper cup. From there, we examine who Talbott was, the evidence prosecutors brought into the courtroom, the arguments his defense made, and evidence developed during the trial that the jury never heard. We follow the case through Talbott’s conviction and sentencing—and then through a stunning legal reversal involving one of the jurors who convicted him. That reversal wouldn’t be the end. The Washington Supreme Court would eventually reinstate Talbott’s convictions, and years of additional appellate litigation would follow before his convictions for the murders of Jay and Tanya ultimately remained intact. But even after an arrest, a trial, two murder convictions and decades of forensic work, there are pieces of November 1987 that remain unknown. Because solving who murdered Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg is not the same thing as knowing everything that happened to them. And a conviction can provide an answer. It can never give a family back the person they lost. Shadows in the Pines — Jay Cook & Tanya Van Cuylenborg, Part Two

  3. Oct 3

    When The Northwest Goes Dark

    As October approaches, the Pacific Northwest seems to take on a different feeling. The days grow shorter, the shadows stretch longer, and old stories seem to come alive.   Join me for a fireside journey through Northwest folklore, mysterious waters, legendary creatures, haunted places, and the stories woven into the landscape around Spokane.   Because maybe the Northwest isn’t haunted…   Maybe it simply has a very long memory.   Welcome to Mini Pines. 🌲

  4. Sep 28

    Jay Cook & Tanya Van Cuylenborg - Part 1

    In November 1987, 20-year-old Jay Cook and 18-year-old Tanya Van Cuylenborg left Vancouver Island for what was supposed to be a simple overnight trip into Washington. Jay’s father needed materials picked up for the family business, Tanya came along, and they expected to be home the following day. They never made it back. In the first ten parts of this episode, we get to know Jay and Tanya before following their route into Washington, the frantic search after they failed to return, and the discoveries that turned one missing-couple investigation into a multi-county double homicide case. We dig into the physical evidence investigators recovered, the unidentified DNA profile known for decades only as “Individual A,” the cruel anonymous letters sent to the families, and the years investigators spent trying to put a name to the man connected to the evidence. Then, more than thirty years after Jay and Tanya were killed, investigators turned to forensic genetic genealogy. Matches from distant relatives allowed genealogists to begin constructing family trees, eventually leading detectives to a previously unknown name: William Earl Talbott II. But a family tree wasn’t proof. Detectives still needed his DNA. And ultimately, one discarded paper cup would give them the answer they’d been waiting three decades to get. Shadows in the Pines — Jay Cook & Tanya Van Cuylenborg

  5. Sep 23

    Dayton Leroy Rogers - Part 2 - The trials

    We continue with the story of Dayton Leroy Rogers

  6. Sep 13

    Dayton Leroy Rogers - Part 1 - The Crimes

    Dayton Leroy Rogers: The Molalla Forest Killer — Part 1: The Crimes Before Dayton Leroy Rogers became known as the Molalla Forest Killer, women in Oregon had already survived him. In Part One, we follow Rogers from his earliest documented violence through the crimes that eventually exposed what he had been doing. We look at the teenage girls he attacked years before the murders, the women who knew him as “Steve the Gambler,” and the survivors who described bondage, knives, isolation, and escalating violence. Then, on August 7, 1987, 25-year-old mother Jennifer Lisa Smith screamed for help from inside Rogers’s truck in a Denny’s parking lot. Strangers ran toward her. One tried to save her life. Others tried to stop Rogers from escaping. And when he got away, a witness chased him long enough to get his license plate. Within hours, Dayton Rogers was in custody. Twenty-four days later, a bowhunter entered the Molalla Forest and discovered the first of seven women hidden there. This episode is about the crimes, the survivors who lived long enough to tell investigators what Rogers had done to them, the evidence connecting his truck and repair shop to the women in the forest, and—most importantly—the women themselves. Jennifer Lisa Smith. Riatha Marie Gyles. Elizabeth Marie “Lisa” Mock. Nondace “Noni” Kae Cervantes. Christine Lotus Adams. Maureen Ann Hodges. Cynthia Diane “Dee Dee” DeVore. Tawnia Jarie “Tawnie” Johnston. Eight women. Eight names. They deserve to be remembered as more than the reason we know the name Dayton Rogers.

  7. Sep 13

    Mini Pines - The Big Burn

    The Big Burn In August of 1910, three million acres burned in two days. At least eighty-five people died, and nobody can say exactly how many, because most had been hired off barstools without anyone writing down their names. Outside Wallace, Idaho, a forest ranger named Ed Pulaski put forty-some men into an abandoned mine shaft and held the door until his body quit. That’s the part everyone remembers. This one’s about the rest — and about the argument that broke out afterward over what the fire had taught us. We got it wrong, and we’re still paying for it every August.

  8. Sep 8

    Aidan Spear - Found, But No Answers

    Aidan Victoria Spear — Found, But Without Answers In January 2022, 21-year-old Aidan Victoria Spear was supposed to meet her mother, Jessica Brown. After years of struggling with addiction and homelessness on the streets of Tacoma, Aidan had told her mom she was ready for treatment. Jessica began making the arrangements. Aidan never arrived. For more than four years, Jessica searched for her daughter, following leads, digging through messages and trying to understand what happened during Aidan’s final known days in Tacoma. Then, in January 2026, human remains were discovered in an isolated wooded area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Spanaway. In April, authorities announced they had been identified as Aidan. Aidan had finally been found. But what happened to her remains unknown. In this episode of Shadows in the Pines, Dan and Bekah look beyond the missing-person flyer to tell Aidan’s story: the little girl her family adored, her childhood in Washington, the struggles that changed her life, her mother’s attempts to help her, the people surrounding her before she disappeared, the conflicting information Jessica encountered during her search, and the investigation that continues today. We are also beginning a larger commitment with this episode: to bring sustained attention to missing and murdered Indigenous people throughout the Pacific Northwest and to make sure the human beings behind these cases are remembered. If you have information about Aidan’s whereabouts or activities around January 24, 2022—including information that could help investigators better understand the people she was communicating with or where she went after speaking with her mother—please contact the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office at 253-798-7530 and reference case #2205300666. You can also contact Shadows in the Pines with information, corrections, memories of Aidan, or other MMIP cases that deserve attention: Call/Text Dan: 509-844-8036 Email: shadowsinthepinespodcast@gmail.com Website: ShadowsInThePines.com Aidan Victoria Spear was more than a case number. Her story matters, and we’re not letting it go.

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Ratings & Reviews

3.8
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

True crime podcast focusing on crime in the Pacific Northwest. 

Information

  • Creator
    pn7pnpf5dy
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Shadows In The Pines

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