The Darker Side of Life Podcast

On December 2, 2010, Phoebe Handsjuk spent a day home at the apartment she shared with her boyfriend in Melbourne, Australia. It had been a rough week for her. By the end of the day, Phoebe's body would be found in a lower level garbage room of the apartment building, where investigators say she managed to fit down an extremely narrow garbage chute from the 12th floor. Officials ruled her death a suicide, but Phoebe's family has questions regarding the suspicious nature of her death and the lack of policework done to investigate properly.

You might think the only thing going on at Denver International Airport is people heading out on vacation. Think again. Because when it comes to DIA, there might be more going on than meets the eye.

In May of 2014, Georgia couple Russell and Shirley Dermond were invited to a party at a friend's house, but failed to show up. Days later, friends became worried after no contact was made with the couple, both in their 80s, since then. When someone went to check on them, they found Russell's decapitated body in the garage and Shirley was missing. What happened on that day is still a mystery and one of Putnam County's most baffling cold cases.

It's a cold, desolate place. Not many people go there. But it's natural beauty and potential for science make it an almost haven for some people. However, for the lucky few that get to go, rigorous physical and psychological testing is often required. They sometimes spend months on end in darkness and isolation, with only a few other humans around for thousands of miles. And sometimes mysterious things happen, or crime - this week were talking about what it's like living on Antarctica.

On December 9, 2019, Whakaari, an active volcano off the coast of New Zealand, erupted. This was not like other eruptions from Whakaari. A popular tourist destination for adventurers, 47 people were on the volcano at the time of eruption. The aftermath was devastating to all involved.

It was supposed to be a fun spring break trip - in 1989, Mark Kilroy and his friends from college went to South Padre Island, Texas, to party and have fun. During a short trip across the border into Mexico one night, Mark got separated from his friends - and was never seen alive again. His family and friends suffered an excruciating 4-week search for Mark, until his body was found on a Mexican ranch - along with evidence of a cult that practiced human sacrifice.

Welcome to Helltown, Ohio! It's now your average ghost town from the Wild West. Boston, Ohio was once home to a thriving community until they were told they no longer owned their homes and were forced to leave. What moved in to what became known as Helltown would give anyone chills.

As one of the first luxury apartment buildings on New York City's Upper West Side, the building now known as the Dakota has had a long history. Many know of the Dakota's most recent history, most famously the site of the murder of John Lennon, who lived there at the time - but as with many older historical, unique buildings, the Dakota soon gained a reputation of being haunted. In this episode, we'll talk about some of the spirits of the Dakota.

It was a story that only Agatha Christie could write. But in this mystery, she was the main character.

In the early 1930s, things were tough for many Americans. The Great Depression was underway, prohibition was going strong, and people found themselves struggling to keep jobs and desperate for money. In New York City, a group of men - later dubbed the Murder Trust - decided on a get rich quick scheme that involved taking out an expensive life insurance policy on an alcoholic man they knew, killing him, and collecting on the policy. Except their victim, Michael Malloy, was MUCH tougher than they thought. The Murder Trust tried some pretty crazy ways of murdering someone to make it look accidental - but there's a reason their victim was nicknamed Iron Man Mike.

This is not your mama's dance party. Or at least we hope not. The dancing plague of 1518 involved bloodied feet, broken ribs and even death. What started as one woman's mysterious dancing through the streets quickly escalated to something that baffled church officials and physicians in Strasbourg, France and over the course of two months grew out of control. What would cause people to dance until they literally dropped?

In 1968, college student Barbara Mackle was kidnapped from an Atlanta hotel when two armed individuals came into her room, tied her up, drugged her and forced her into a car. The kidnappers intended to get a ransom - $500,000 - from her wealthy family, but they also imposed a strict set of rules regarding the ransom drop and how they would find Barbara afterward. However, a carefully planned kidnapping soon turned terrifying after the ransom money drop was bungled, leaving the kidnappers anxious, police frustrated and Barbara's parents worried beyond belief. Barbara herself however, was in the most precocious position of all - she had been hidden away in an underground capsule, buried alive.

Sixteen year old Karlie Guse disappeared from her home in October 2018. She had returned to her family home the night before after being out at a house party and her behavior was frantic and erratic. Her dad and stepmom did what they could through the night to keep her calm, but when they woke up the next morning, Karlie was nowhere to be found.

In 1958, the Hermann family of Seaford, NY, began to experience strange things in their house. It began with bottle lids suddenly and collectively popping off at the same time. What began as a mild annoyance became more extreme, as small objects started moving on their own, and larger pieces of furniture gradually started falling over by themselves. Police, paranormal investigators, priests, friends and neighbors - from around the country - came by to offer an explanation, or help to the Hermann family. But no one knew for sure what was happening, and the general consensus seemed to be that the family was dealing with a poltergeist.

Moll Dyer lived on the outskirts of Leonardtown, Maryland in the late 1600s. Maryland was said to be more tolerant than other neighboring New England states. Many people thought Moll was a witch because of her knowledge of herbalism and ability to heal with her "potions." People in town accepted Moll for who she was as long as it helped them. But in the winter of 1697, the tides turned and the enduring legend of Moll Dyer was born.

In summer of 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay went missing. He was playing basketball with some friends, and never returned home. Three years later, his family received a phone call that Nicholas had been finally found - in Europe, as a victim of an international sex trafficking ring. When Nicholas came home, he was...different. He looked the same, acted the same, and was "glad to have his family back." But soon his family learned an unbelievable secret about Nicholas...

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the world's largest known cave system. It's known for many things: soaring passages, ancient artifacts left behind by its first explorers and some of the most breathtaking underground scenery you could imagine. No one would expect to find a tuberculosis hospital. But for several people in the mid 1800s suffering from tuberculosis, they were willing to try anything to find a cure for an incurable disease. Even if it meant living in the depths of Mammoth Cave.

In 1987, Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911. She told the dispatcher that someone was "trying to tear the cabinet down" and to please send help. Police came, but left. A few days later she was found dead in her apartment in one of Chicago's ABLA housing projects. Her murder illustrates a problem that plagued ABLA Homes - that people climbed between apartments and broke into units via tunnels built behind bathroom medicine cabinets. Even moreso, her death highlights issues that poor people still face today, and her life was on track to become an example of the societal benefits of stopping the cycle of poverty.

Hy Brasil: The mysterious island where you can have riches of gold and silver, possible immortality and hang time with the gods and giant bunnies. All you have to do is find it! Believe us, it's harder than it sounds.