The Skeleton Key Chronicles

14 hours ago

Nobody knows how Brittany Ritter, 37, ended up on top of a freight train nearly 130 miles from home. She was last seen in her hometown of Holland, Ohio, in the early morning hours of September 2nd. Authorities said she may have been traveling by bicycle.

By lunchtime the following day, she was in Indiana. Just before noon on September 3rd, a Norfolk Southern employee was at a rail yard in Elkhart when they discovered a woman on top of one of the stopped train cars. No one knew who she was at first.

Investigators eventually identified her as Brittany. They were also able to trace the train's direction. It had come from the east and traveled west before stopping in Elkhart.

And that's where we get to the part no one can explain yet. Somewhere between her home in Holland and that rail yard in Indiana, Brittany ended up on that train. Authorities haven't said where she may have gotten on, how she ended up on top of the car, or what happened along the way.

An autopsy has been completed, but the results have not been publicly released. The Elkhart County Homicide Unit has since turned the investigation over to the Lucas County Sheriff's Office in Ohio.

For now, investigators are asking anyone who may have seen Brittany or knows anything about her movements during those hours to contact the Lucas County Sheriff's Office.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

On September 11th, 2001, another pretty incredible story was already unfolding in America. It involved McDonald’s Monopoly, the FBI and a game millions of us had been playing for years. If you were around in the 1990s, you most definitely remember McDonald’s Monopoly. You peeled those little game pieces off your fries and drinks, collected properties and hoped that maybe, just maybe, you’d finally find one of those ridiculously rare pieces.

By the summer of 2001, the FBI was investigating the game. They even had a fancy name, Operation Final Answer. At the center of it was Jerome “Jerry” Jacobson, director of security for the outside company that helped run McDonald’s promotions.

Now, there is a really excellent six-part HBO documentary called McMillions and if you haven’t seen it and want to watch the story unfold for yourself, stop reading here because major spoilers ahead.

So apparently Jerry’s job gave him access to the rarest pieces before they ever made their way out to McDonald’s restaurants. Investigators soon discovered that he had been diverting some of them and passing them into a growing network of recruiters, friends, relatives and other people brought into the scheme.

Those people could then show up looking like perfectly ordinary winners who had gotten incredibly lucky. But behind the scenes, they seemed to be "in the know". And Jerry apparently kept this going for years. Eventually, a tip reached the FBI, and investigators began following the pieces and the people connected to them. By August 2001, they were ready to move.

On August 21st, Jacobson and seven others were arrested.
Then, on September 10th, a federal grand jury indicted 21 people connected to the scheme.

The following morning was September 11th and, understandably, the McDonald’s case received very little attention in the days that followed. Years later, the six-part HBO documentary McMillions finally put the whole wild story back out there. If you've not seen it, it's definitely worth a watch. … See MoreSee Less

The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

Last Saturday morning, 53-year-old Antoinette Forbes was on FaceTime with her sister. They were laughing, talking about their weekend and making plans to visit their mother in Florida over Christmas.

Antoinette had last been seen in person the afternoon before, Friday, September 4th, around 3 p.m. near her home on Nebraska Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C. But her sister talked to her the next morning, and everything seemed completely normal.
Then nobody could get ahold of her.

By Monday, friends who lived nearby went over to Antoinette's house to check on her. The front door was unlocked. Her car was sitting in the driveway. Her wallet and laptop were inside, along with both of her phones, including the one she used for work. Her dog, Max, was there too.

But there was no sign of Antoinette. And we're talking about a woman with a whole life firmly planted in Washington. She is a successful public affairs executive with Eli Lilly and the single mother of a 10-year-old son. Her sister says her son is her world.

D.C. police have now classified Antoinette as critically missing. Her sister says investigators are still working at the house, and family members haven't been allowed back inside.

If you have seen Antoinette or know anything that could help her family locate her, please contact D.C. Metropolitan Police.

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