An Almanac of Infamy

On this day in 1989, 5-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from a Christmas party for residents of the Fairfax, Virginia, apartment complex where she lived with her mother Tammy. The two were leaving the party when Melissa went to grab a handful of potato chips and never came back. Over 300 people immediately started searching for her but found no trace of the child. It was then that foul play was suspected and the apartment complex's groundskeeper, Caleb Hughes, became the main focus of investigators. Witnesses told police that he had left the party at around the same time that Melissa had gone missing. Several female attendees also claimed that the married Hughes had propositioned them sexually and that he was paying an unusual amount of attention to the children at the party, including Melissa. When investigators arrived at the home of Caleb Hughes, they found him washing his clothes, shoes, and belt. This was at one in the morning. Hughes' wife Carol told the detectives...

It's been two years since Jesse Leopold was last seen alive. The 23-year-old left work at a meat processing plant in Jewell, Iowa, and a few days later his car was found in Ledges State Park with the keys still in the ignition. Rumors began to fly that Jesse had committed suicide in the park but his father is adamant that his son met with foul play. "There was no suicide in the park," says Jerry Leopold, "because a body surely would`ve turned up by now." Jerry Leopold believes that investigators have been dismissive of possible leads in his son's case because they've come from sources that authorities have deemed as less than credible. This has led him to start a Facebook page, "Finding Jesse Leopold" , that now has 9,000 followers. Jerry hopes that awareness will pressure authorities to act in his son's case and in the meantime, the Leopold family is raising money to hire a private investigator. A "Justice For Jesse" rally is pl...

As Craig LaBell and his wife were out for a drive on August 28, 2013, in Brown County, Ohio, they took a wrong turn down a backroad and noticed a pair of headlights shining in the woods. LaBell knew he had to see for himself why there was a Jeep parked in the woods with the wipers running and the radio blaring. As he approached the vehicle he found the body of Brittany Stykes, who had been shot and killed, in the driver seat. Her 14-month-old daughter Aubree, who had been shot in the head but was still alive, was next to her in the passenger seat. The murder of Brittany Stykes remains unsolved and on June 5, a judge ruled that the Jeep is to be returned to her husband Shane, who had sued for the vehicle to be released along with Aubree's baby seat and Brittany's laptop, which were found in the Jeep. The court declined to return those two items. The Brown County prosecutor's office has appealed the decision to return the Jeep. They have until October 1 to complete any 3D im...

While visiting my family in the Jacksonville, FL area last week, the case of Joleen Cummings was all over the local news. Cummings was reported missing after she failed to pick up her kids to spend time with them on Mother's Day. Her car was found in a Home Depot parking lot, and while surveillance videos did not show Cummings in the parking lot, they did show another woman. That woman was Jennifer Sybert. Sybert worked at Tangles Salon. The same salon where Jolene Cummings worked. Only Jennifer Sybert is not really Jennifer Sybert. According to the Nassau County Sherriff's Office, Jennifer Sybert is actually Kimberly Kessler , a woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances from Butler County, PA in 2004. Kessler has now been charged with theft of Cummings' car and possession of a fake passport. The Sherriff's office has said that there is evidence that Cummings is not alive and the family is pleading for anyone who knows anything to come forward.

On this day in 2007, Madeleine McCann went missing from a Portugal hotel room. Related Reading: 'We couldn't bear for Madeleine to be forgotten': Kate and Gerry McCann mark 11th anniversary What happened to Madeleine McCann? Six key theories Unanswered Prayers