EPISODE 421: Daniel Maleska

On Friday, May 15, 1987, 32-year-old Daniel Maleska left his home in Princeton, Minnesota, to travel about three hours north to Gunn Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota. That weekend, Dan, his brother Mike, and several other longtime friends planned a camping trip for the opening of fishing season. Dan and Mike were raised as avid outdoorsmen, and opening weekend was a big deal. While this was their first time visiting Gunn Lake, this annual trip was something they looked forward to all year. The area where the men were camping was very rural and densely wooded. It wasn't a campground with amenities; they were roughing it, but that was how Dan and his buddies liked it. The men set up camp, spent many hours fishing on the lake, drank some beers, and seemed to be having a great time. However, by Sunday morning, Dan had vanished. They found a canoe in the water with some of his fishing supplies still inside. It looked like he had been plucked from that boat, leaving his items undisturbed. Despite extensive searches of the lake and surrounding wilderness, no trace of Dan Maleska has ever surfaced. The circumstances have left his loved ones to wonder if the scene was staged and Dan planned to disappear.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Dan Maleska, please call the Itasca County Sheriff's Office at (218) 326-3477.

EPISODE 420: Nanci Britner

On June 28, 2023, 45-year-old Nanci Britner went to a motel in Winchester, VA, to visit her sister. She spent time at the motel that evening, and around midnight, Nanci contacted several people looking for a ride home. Nanci’s sister said that she fell asleep while Nanci was still there, but when she awoke, Nanci was gone, and she assumed that she had found a ride home. Nanci has four adult children, and they became concerned when a couple of days passed with no word from their mother. That wasn’t like Nanci, who was a devoted mother and grandmother. Nanci’s children began piecing together information about the day Nanci disappeared, but things weren’t adding up. When the dust settled, a few unconnected people were acting suspiciously. However, law enforcement hasn’t been able to gather concrete evidence, and today, Nanci’s case remains unsolved.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Nanci Britner, please call the Winchester Police Department at 540-662-4131.

EPISODE 419: Margaret "Kay-Alana" Turner Part 2 - The Shattered Window

Photo Credit: James Blaign Rambo

On March 9, 2023, 27-year-old Kay-Alana Turner left a friend’s home in Silsbee, Texas, and headed toward Austin, about four hours away, apparently to see a friend. In the days leading up to March 9, Kay-Alana had not been sleeping well, and she didn’t seem quite like herself. Witnesses in the towns of Hockley and Tomball, Texas, interacted with Kay-Alana in the early morning hours of March 10. She had been asking people if she could sleep in their driveways. By this time, Kay-Alana’s phone had died. Around 6 AM, a homeowner in the Holly Creek Estates subdivision in Tomball, Texas, noticed Kay-Alana’s car in their driveway, and she was asleep inside. The homeowner decided to call someone from their homeowner’s association and other neighbors. They gathered around Kay-Alana’s car and attempted to wake her. Kay-Alana was scared and decided to drive her car away, but they blocked her. Then, an officer from Harris County broke Kay-Alana’s driver-side window. She bolted, first by driving her car through the yard, out through some farmland, and eventually into the woods, where the vehicle got stuck. With deputies behind her on foot, she decided to run. Kay-Alana dropped her phone along the way and later removed her shoes, full of glass from the broken window. In the days that followed, Kay-Alana’s loved ones began to compare notes and came to believe that she was suffering a mental health crisis that night. Despite extensive searches of the area where Kay-Alana was last seen, no trace of her, other than her phone and shoes, has ever been found.

If you have any information about Kay-Alana’s disappearance, please contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-755-7427.

Update- In April 2024, Kay-Alana’s skeletal remains were recovered by Texas EquuSearch not far from where she disappeared.