The Skeleton Key Chronicles

5 hours ago

Detectives in Albany, New York, returned to a house on Marlborough Court yesterday, November 13th, with another search warrant in the case of Ashley Carroll, a young mother who disappeared more than sixteen years ago. Ashley's remains were found in a backyard shed at that same property last month, and according to the Times Union, investigators are now looking for at least one missing cellphone. What's particularly interesting is that police had already searched this property shortly after Ashley disappeared in 2010.

Ashley was 24 years old and living in Troy, New York, with her one-year-old daughter when she vanished on May 6th, 2010, just days before Mother's Day. According to accounts of her disappearance, she'd been dropped off in Albany to meet her boyfriend after the two had been arguing through text messages.

He later told investigators that he never saw her that day. Ashley had also mentioned plans to visit New York City, but there was never confirmation that she made the trip. She didn't return to her apartment, where her clothing and jewelry were still waiting for her.
One of the more interesting details from that original investigation involved Ashley's cellphone.

According to a missing-person case summary, it last connected to the area around Marlborough Court, where a friend of hers lived. Police searched the property early in the investigation but found nothing. Over the years, investigators followed leads and searched other locations around Albany, while Ashley's family continued looking for her. Her daughter grew up, her photograph appeared on missing-person billboards, and eventually more than sixteen years had passed without an answer.

Then, on October 20th, 2026, new information brought investigators back to 7 Marlborough Court. They arrived with a search warrant, police dogs, and ground-penetrating radar, and discovered human remains inside a shed behind the house. Three days later, an autopsy confirmed they belonged to Ashley. Some of her relatives knew the family living at the property, and neighbors have said the same family has lived there for years.

Investigators have returned to the property several times since October, including yesterday's search for additional evidence. Police haven't explained what they examined during their original visit in 2010 or what new information brought them back after all these years. Ashley's cause of death is still under investigation, and no arrests have been announced.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

19 hours ago

On November 13th, 1974, Karen Silkwood got into her car and headed down a highway in Oklahoma to meet a reporter from The New York Times. She had been collecting information about safety problems at the nuclear facility where she worked, and she was finally going to tell someone outside the company what she'd found. But Karen never made it to that meeting.

Karen was 28 and worked at Kerr-McGee's Cimarron facility near Crescent, Oklahoma, where plutonium was processed for nuclear fuel. She had become concerned about how radioactive materials were being handled and whether employees were being properly protected. She was also involved with the union and had been documenting problems at the plant. Just days before her death, tests had found radioactive contamination on Karen and in her apartment, raising even more questions about what was happening at work.

That evening, Karen was supposed to meet journalist David Burnham and a union representative. Instead, her car was found off the road after apparently leaving the highway. Investigators believed she had fallen asleep at the wheel, but damage to the back of her car led to questions about whether another vehicle had been involved. The documents she was expected to bring to the meeting were never found.

Karen's family later took Kerr-McGee to court over the contamination she had experienced. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the company eventually agreed to a settlement. In 1983, her story became the film Silkwood, starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher. The movie received five Academy Award nominations and introduced millions of people to Karen and what had happened at the plant.

Today marks 52 years since Karen Silkwood set out for that meeting. She never got the chance to tell the reporter what she had been working on, and nobody has ever established exactly what happened during her final drive.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

24 hours ago

On Friday the 13th in June of 1980, Candy Montgomery stopped by her friend Betty Gore's house in Wylie, Texas, to pick up a swimsuit for Betty's oldest daughter. The two women knew each other through church, their families were close, and Betty's little girl was staying with Candy while her husband was away on business. But there was something else connecting these families. Candy had been having a secret relationship with Betty's husband, Allan, and by the end of that Friday, Betty would be found lifeless inside her home with her youngest daughter still in her crib.

Candy and Allan had begun their affair in December 1978, meeting at a motel during his lunch breaks. They ended the relationship in 1979, and the families continued spending time together. According to Candy's later testimony, Betty confronted her about the affair that Friday morning and picked up an ax. Candy claimed she managed to take it away from Betty and acted in self-defense. After leaving the house, she continued with her plans for the day, including teaching a children's Bible class at church.

Meanwhile, Allan was in Minnesota on business and couldn't get Betty to answer the telephone. He even called Candy, who told him she'd seen Betty earlier that day. As the evening went on, Allan became increasingly worried and asked neighbors to check the house. They eventually went inside and found Betty in the utility room. Her youngest daughter, Bethany, was still in her crib and had been alone for hours.

When investigators learned about Candy's relationship with Allan, she became a suspect. During her October 1980 trial, Candy admitted she was responsible for Betty's death but maintained that she had acted in self-defense. Her attorneys introduced testimony from a psychiatrist who suggested that something Betty said during the confrontation had triggered a dissociative reaction connected to Candy's childhood. On October 29th, the jury found her not guilty.

Candy eventually left Texas and later worked as a therapist. The case inspired the 1984 book Evidence of Love and, more recently, two television series. Jessica Biel portrayed Candy in Hulu's Candy in 2022, while Elizabeth Olsen took on the role in HBO's Love & Death in 2023.

On the heels of those two series, interest in Candy Montgomery's story continues more than four decades after what happened at Betty Gore's home on Dogwood Drive.

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