Hell and Gone Murder Line: Tyler Smith Part 1
On September 14, 2018, in Galesburg, Illinois, a 23-year-old graduate of Western Illinois University named Tyler Smith headed out to party with some friends. Tyler had dreams of becoming a police officer. He was super athletic, played football in high school, and after graduating from Western Ill…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Pauline Storment
It was April 12, 1971, a 27-year-old woman named Pauline Storment was walking down South Duncan Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a few blocks from her apartment. She didn't know someone was following her in the darkness. And then, while she was walking and just a few blocks from her apartme…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Heidi Planck
On Sunday October 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, a 39-year-old mother of one named Heidi Planck went to watch her 11-year-old son Bond play football. When Heidi left the game, she said that she would call her son later, but even though she ALWAYS talked to him every day she never called him. In fact Bon…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Interview with Crime Scene Expert
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been covering two cases in Arkansas: the murder of Gail Vaught, whose body was found on March 17, 1980, and Dennis Flowers. Police believe that Dennis was responsible for the execution style murders of Lee Dickson, a pharmacist who had become addicted to cocaine and …
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Lee Dickson, Karen Dickson, and Dennis Flowers
On the morning of March 22, 1984, at around 6:30 am, police came to the one-story nondescript home in Fayetteville, Arkansas that belonged to a quiet unassuming 33-year-old pharmacist named Lee Dickson and his wife Karen. When police came to the Dickson home, they knocked, but Lee and Karen didn’…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Gail Vaught Part 2
Catherine Townsend continues her investigation into the death of Gail Vaught. On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Sear…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Gail Vaught Part 1
On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1980, a man was on his way to work, driving his truck down Highway 16 that runs between Siloam Springs, Arkansas near the Oklahoma border through the Ozark National Forest near Searcy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye down a small dirt road. I…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: John Forsyth
On May 21, 2023, Dr. John Forsyth, a 49-year-old ER doctor, was due to work the evening shift at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Missouri. He had already worked the overnight shift the day before and finished up at 7 am. After that he went to crash for a few hours before starting his next shift that n…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Justin Gaines
It was Thursday night, November 1, 2007, and 18-year-old Justin Gaines was getting ready for a night out with his friends at Wild Bill’s, a club in Duluth, Georgia. Justin was a freshman in college. He had just started at Gainesville State college, which was about an hour away from where his fam…
Hell and Gone Murder Line: Cassie Compton
On the evening of Sunday, September 14, 2014, 15-year-old Cassie Kay Compton went out for a pack of cigarettes down the road from her small white house in Stuttgart, Arkansas...and never came back. At least that’s the official story. We know a few things for sure: Cassie had been spending the wee…