A teenager disappeared on his way to work in Spanaway one morning… leaving behind no clues, no witnesses, and no answers for what would be two very long years. His parents had to turn into detectives to try and find him when no one else would. This tragic case will end in not one, but two shocking and senseless murders. Welcome to Washed Away, a podcast that breathes new life into Washington state’s coldest cases. I’m Ashley Smith and on this episode I’m covering the unsolved murder of Chris Virdell.

On a January night in 1986, a young mother and her daughter were strangled to death in their Bremerton home. Over the years several persons of interests would be looked at for taking their lives and this case would be re-examined each decade that it remained cold. But despite new DNA tests done in 2009, no arrests have ever been made. Welcome to Washed Away, a podcast that breathes new life into Washington state’s coldest cases. I’m Ashley Smith and on this episode I’m covering the unsolved murders of Nikki Anderson and Adrienne Hale.

It’s no secret that nature is one of the things people love most about the Pacific Northwest. And the outdoors are supposed to be a peaceful place, where you can go to clear your head and escape from the real world. So when two avid hikers, who spent a lot of their time outdoors, were seemingly executed on a trail in 2006, it was a harsh reality check for people here in Washington State. And it was a complete nightmare for the victims’ family. On this episode of Washed Away, I’m covering the unsolved murders of mother and daughter, Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden.

1994 was a year that would forever change the city of Seattle. From the suicide of Kurt Cobain to the launch of Amazon dot com, it was a uniquely important year that would go down in the city’s history books and news archives. But something else happened that year that most people haven’t heard about… until now. On this episode of Washed Away, I’m covering the tragic kidnapping and murder of 14 year old Tanya Frazier.

There’s an unsolved murder that took place almost 3,000 miles away from Washington state and yet it remains linked to this part of the country because of a cult TV show from the 90s. This special episode of Washed Away for the North Bend Film Festival is all about Hazel Drew, the woman whose mysterious death was used as inspiration for Twin Peaks.

Gary Ridgway AKA the Green River Killer murdered women in Washington state from 1982 to 1998, but possibly could have continued killing until 2001 when he was finally apprehended. Ridgway confessed to 71 murders but was only prosecuted for 49. So who are these other 22 victims? A local true crime researcher has put together an extensive list of murdered, missing, and unidentified women- to try and figure that out. On this episode of Washed Away we’ll be talking about the unknown victims of the Green River Killer.

Today’s episode is focused on two separate cases and I interview two daughters, who are not related. One is Sam Moyer, who’s mother Nancy went missing in Tenino, Washington in 2009. The other is Karlee Bodine, who’s mother Karen was murdered in Rochester, Washington in 2007. While Nancy and Karen may have never known each other, their children Sam and Karlee have bonded over a shared fight - for justice.

Spooky season is by far my favorite time of year, so I wanted to release a special episode of Washed Away to celebrate. You’ll hear me talking to a paranormal investigator out of Spokane, Amanda Paulson, as she tells me about her experiences at some of Eastern Washington’s most haunted locations. There’s some history, mystery, ghosts, and… even a little bit of murder… consider this your content warning, though truly this episode is much more casual and lighthearted than usual in my opinion. Hope you enjoy it and Happy Halloween!

On this episode of Washed Away I’m gonna tell you about what could possibly be the oldest and coldest, unsolved case in Seattle’s history. It involves dynamite, a widow, and 60 years of mystery. Actually 61 years as of earlier this month. This is the truly bizarre story around the bombing of Pearl Kongsle.

The Lake Stickney John Doe has been a mystery since 1994 when his body was found underwater in Snohomish County. Authorities knew so little about him they couldn’t even be sure he was caucasian … and oddly enough his race would change several times throughout the years as Forensic Artists tried to ID him. DNA recently gave him his name back - it’s Rodney Johnson - but we still don't know how he ended up in that lake in the first place and who killed him? This is Washed Away.

One of the FBI’s major case files is an unsolved murder of Assistant United States Attorney, Thomas Wales, that happened in Seattle back in 2001. This is a case that had all the resources imaginable to solve it, all the press attention, plus A MILLION DOLLAR REWARD, and yet… almost 19 years later… there are still so many unknowns. The Bureau recently charged someone in this case, the first indictment in almost 2 decades, but it wasn’t the murderer. This is Washed Away.

A young mother was murdered in December of 1985 near Mineral, Washington. Her case has remained unsolved for over 3 decades… along with the murders of a couple that took place just four months earlier… these cases have been tied together somewhat by location but mostly because of tube socks found at the crime scenes. Are these cases actually connected? Well, that depends on who you ask. The show Unsolved Mysteries couldn’t even figure this one out, but now in 2020, DNA might finally reveal the truth… about what happened to Diana Robertson. This is Washed Away.