The Skeleton Key Chronicles

13 hours ago

Today would have been Karen Silkwood’s birthday. In November 1974, she left her apartment in Crescent, Oklahoma, carrying documents she believed needed to be seen outside the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she worked.

Silkwood was a lab technician and union member who had begun documenting safety concerns inside the facility. She kept detailed notes about contamination incidents and equipment issues that, in her view, did not match official reports. Over time, those notes became more than internal complaints.

With each new detail she became more aware that the information she was gathering was turning into something she needed to share with the right people outside the plant. She chose to bring all the information she'd gathered to New York Times reporter David Burnham, who had been covering nuclear safety concerns throughout the industry. Silkwood arranged to meet him in Oklahoma City, believing he could carry the information to a larger audience.

She never arrived.

Late on November 13, 1974, her white Honda was found off Highway 74. The Oklahoma State Highway Patrol concluded she had fallen asleep at the wheel and struck a concrete culvert. That determination became the official record.

In 1983, the film Silkwood brought her story to a national audience, with Meryl Streep portraying Karen Silkwood, Cher appearing as her close friend Dolly Pelliker, and Kurt Russell playing her boyfriend Drew Stephens. The performances introduced the case to a generation that had not followed the original story in the 1970s, myself included.

As for what happened with Karen's case, the Highway Patrol’s conclusion remains the "formal finding", but for years questions about the missing envelope she was said to be carrying and the circumstances of her drive to Oklahoma City have continued to raise questions. Although more than five decades have passed, the details surrounding what happened to Karen on that November night in 1974 remain a mystery.

Karen Silkwood
Feb 19, 1946 – Nov 13, 1974

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

18 hours ago

In June 2010, police responded to a call at a deteriorating Victorian mansion on South Fourth Street in Louisville’s Old Louisville neighborhood. What they found in the basement was the body of James “Jamie” Carroll, a local drag performer known in Louisville’s nightlife community. The discovery would turn the house into a crime scene that drew attention across the city.

The sprawling home had once been part of one of the largest collections of Victorian architecture in the country. By 2010, the house had fallen into disrepair. At the time, the property was owned by Jeffrey Mundt, who lived there with his boyfriend, Joseph Banis.The two men were eventually charged in connection with the case.

During the legal proceedings, each pointed the finger at the other over who was responsible. The cases were tried separately, with juries hearing sharply different versions of what happened inside the house.

The case later received national attention when it was featured on episodes of The First 48 and Snapped. Now the mansion and what happened there are back in the limelight, with this new documentary inspired by author David Domine’s nonfiction book "A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City".

The two-part show drops today on HBO and tells the story using courtroom footage and fresh interviews to walk back through the investigation and the opposing accounts presented at trial.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

Just days after asking the public to help locate 3-year old Genesis Nova Reid, authorities in Enterprise, Alabama have taken the mother of the missing toddler into custody.

Genesis, who was reported missing earlier this week, has still not been located. Authorities say her mother, Adrienne Reid, is now facing charges of false reporting after investigators determined the circumstances she initially described did not align with their findings.

Enterprise Police Chief Michael Moore said investigators determined within the last 24 hours that the mother’s original account was false. Reid had told police she discovered her daughter missing from her bedroom around 3 a.m. on February 16th after discovering that the front door to their apartment was open. She has since been taken into custody.

For now Genesis has still not been located, and with the original account now ruled out, investigators are working to understand where she was in the days leading up to that early morning call.

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