The Skeleton Key Chronicles

11 hours ago

Nearly four decades after 19-year-old Cassandra Durham disappeared during what was supposed to be a summer trip from Maryland to Northern Michigan, investigators are still searching for answers.

In the summer of 1987, Cassandra and her boyfriend left their Baltimore home to visit his grandparents in Roscommon, Michigan. Investigators believe the couple was traveling in a 1980 Honda Civic station wagon and stopped at Cedar Point in Ohio along the way. According to investigators, the Honda later broke down in the Detroit area, and Cassandra's boyfriend purchased an Oldsmobile Cutlass before continuing the trip. When he eventually returned to Maryland, Cassandra wasn't with him.

Her boyfriend told investigators they had both made it back to Maryland before she disappeared. Cassandra's father, however, has long maintained that his daughter never returned home, leaving investigators with two very different accounts of what happened.
At the time she was last seen, Cassandra was 19 years old, identifying charicteristics include two tattoos on her upper thigh and hip area, including the initials "EB," believed to represent her boyfriend, and another connected to her sorority.

In 2024, Michigan State Police reopened Cassandra's case as part of a renewed effort to review long-standing investigations. Nearly 40 years after she disappeared, investigators are still hoping that someone may remember a detail that could help move the case forward.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

20 hours ago

For nearly 55 years, the Jeannette DePalma case has blurred the line between an unsolved investigation and local folklore. It was late summer, 1972, 16-year-old Jeannette DePalma walked out of her family's home on Clearview Road in Springfield Township, New Jersey, after telling her mother she planned to catch a train to visit a friend. When she didn't come home that later that night, her family reported her missing.

As the days turned into weeks, there was still no sign of Jeannette. Then, six weeks later, the case took a shocking turn when a neighborhood dog returned home carrying what turned out to be a human forearm. That discovery led investigators to a wooded section of Watchung Reservation known to hikers as the "Devil's Teeth." There, on a rocky ledge, they found Jeannette's remains. From the start, the discovery inspired widespread speculation. Much of it stemmed from reports describing small crosses and other objects arranged near the scene, fueling theories that something ritualistic had taken place.

Decades later, researchers with Weird NJ obtained the original police photographs and investigative file and concluded many of the details that had become part of the case's lore weren't supported by the evidence, raising new questions about how the story evolved over time. The mystery later became the subject of "Death on the Devil's Teeth" by Jesse P. Pollack and Mark Moran. After years of researching the case and interviewing Jeannette's family, friends, investigators, and other key figures, the authors released an expanded edition in 2022 after finally obtaining Jeannette's long-withheld case file, which had reportedly been lost for more than 20 years following a 1999 flood. Pollack also interviewed Richard Cottingham in 2021 after he hinted at possible involvement, though nothing ever linked him to Jeannette's case.

To this day, investigators have never been able to determine exactly how Jeannette passed and more than five decades later, no one has ever been charged. The events of that day and what happened to Jeannette DePalma remain one of New Jersey's most enduring unsolved mysteries.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

Seven years ago today, 26-year-old Khiara Henry was nearing the end of a vacation in Maui. She still had plans to return home to San Diego, but instead, the final days of her trip became the beginning of a mystery that has never been explained.

Khiara had arrived on the island a few days earlier and was staying at a hotel in Kihei. On July 21st, 2019, she checked out, rented a car in Kahului, and spent the day driving toward Maui's eastern coastline. Investigators later determined she made her way to Waiʻānapanapa State Park, one of the last places she is known to have visited.

When Khiara didn't return home as expected, her family reported her missing. Two days after she was last seen, her rental car was found parked at Waiʻānapanapa. Her luggage, identification, and credit cards were still inside, but her cell phone, car keys, and a small backpack were gone.

Khiara was scheduled to fly home to San Diego on July 29th, 2019, but she never boarded her flight. Despite searches of the park and surrounding area, no trace of her was found. Over the years, there have been reported sightings of Khiara on the Big Island and in other locations, but none have been confirmed, and no leads have led investigators to her.

Seven years later, Khiara's disappearance remains an active missing person case. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Maui Police Department.

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