On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days later, investigators discovered Melissa’s car abandoned in the Bowling World parking lot, a trail of blood leading away from the vehicle. Six weeks later, animal trackers located Melissa’s nude body in an isolated part of the Ozark National Forest and the hunt was on to find her killer.

In the thirty years since Melissa Witt’s murder, a number of strong suspects have popped up on investigators’ radars, including serial killer Charles Ray Vines, yet to this date no one has been charged with her death. After three decades of unanswered questions, Witt’s family are desperate to know, what happened to Melissa on the night she went missing, and will detectives ever be able to hold her killer responsible for her tragic death?

If you have information regarding the murder of Melissa Witt, please call the Fort Smith Police Department at 479-709-5116 or email them at info@fortsmithpd.org.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Alvey, Tina. 1995. "Fort Smith teen's body found near Turner Bend." Madison County Record, Janaury 19: 4.

Associated Press. 1995. "Man questioned about girl; police say he's not a suspect." Batesville Guard, June 14: 6.

Cavallier, Andrea. 2024. "A teenager was snatched from the parking lot of a bowling." The Independent, August 10.

Kilby, Brenda. 1996. "Long-sought man awaits questioning ." Tulsa World , May 6: 29.

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On October 13, 1972, a chartered aircraft carrying forty-five passengers, including 19 members of the Old Christians’ Club rugby team, departed from Montevideo, Uruguay bound for Santiago, Chile. About an hour into the flight, the copilot incorrectly believed the plane had gotten off course and requested permission from air traffic control in Santiago to begin his descent and course correct. However, when the plane began descending out of the cloud cover, the copilot realized he’d been wrong about their position and were in fact dangerous close to the Andes mountains. The pilots attempted to pull the plane back up, but they were unsuccessful and the crashed directly into the mountain.

Ultimately, sixteen of the forty-five passengers survived the crash of flight 571, spending seventy-two days in an isolated, untraveled part of the Andes. They endured extremely harsh conditions including sub-zero temperatures, exposure to freezing wind, and most significantly, starvation. The survivors were eventually rescued after two passengers hiked three days out of the mountains, using only materials from the wreckage to aid in the trek, where they eventually found help.

In the years since the crash, the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 has become one of the most famous tales of survival and human endurance.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Associated Press. 1972. "16 survive 2 months in Andes after crash." Boston Globe, December 23: 2.

—. 1972. "Crash survivors resorted to cannibalism." Boston Globe, December 27: 2.

—. 1972. "16 Air crash survivors found after 69 days in icy Andes." Los Angeles Times, December 23: 1.

Benales, Carlos. 1972. "Andes survivors solved problem of food, shelter." Chicago Tribune, December 31: 9.

Campbell, Matthew. 2022. "Fifty years on, 'Alive' team say eating flesh was awful but they got used to it." Sunday Times, October 16.

Godfrey, Chris. 2023. "My plane crashed in the Andes. Only the unthinkable kept me and the other starving survivirs alive." The Guardian, December 4.

Lilliston, Lynn. 1974. "Andes crash survivors tell their story." Los Angeles Times, May 5: 179.

Read, Piers Paul. 1974. Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. New York, NY: J.B. Lippincott Company.

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In the winter of 1924, the boroughs of New York City were plagued by a series of robberies ostensibly committed by a young couple. This was not the first time a woman had been involved in armed robberies; however, rather than be a reluctant participant in the crimes, it appeared as though the traditional roles were reversed and the young woman was the mastermind behind the hold-ups. The press quickly caught on and soon the “Bobbed Haired Bandit,” as she came to be known in the papers, was grabbing headlines across the country.

Starting with the robbery of grocery store in early January, the Bandit’s crimes got bigger as weeks passed, as did her personality. Not only did the criminal pair become famous for their exploits and fashion, but also for the ways in which she taunted the police with notes daring them to come after her. In time, the NYPD’s inability to catch the bandit began to reflect very poorly on Mayor Richard Enright, who was ridiculed by both the bandit and the public.

Finally, in late April, the Bobbed Haired Bandit and her partner were arrested in Florida, having fled New York earlier in the month after a robbery in which someone was shot. To everyone’s surprise, the couple wasn’t quite the Jazz Age antiheros everyone was expecting, but a young newly married couple who were desperately in need of money at a time when employment was hard to come by.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Brooklyn Daily Times. 1924. "Bob Hair Bandit and man shoot National Biscuit Co. cashier." Brooklyn Daily Times, April 1: 3.

Brooklyn Eagle. 1924. "Bobbed-haired girl held as boro bandit in crime roundup ." Brooklyn Eagle , February 6: 1.

—. 1924. "Bobbed Haired Bandit may be a boy; cusses like sailor but has feminine feet." Brooklyn Eagle, February 3: 5.

—. 1924. "Girls let their hair grow fearing they'll be taken for Bobbed-Hair Bandit." Brooklyn Eagle, February 24: 78.

—. 1924. "Hold bob-haired girl as pal of alleged bandits." Brooklyn Eagle, February 7: 2.

—. 1924. "New gunwoman defies police to catch her." Brooklyn Eagle, January 16: 1.

Dorman, Marjorie. 1924. "The Bobbed-Hair Bandit is a revolt." Brooklyn Eagle, March 16: 95.

Duncombe, Stephen, and Andrew Mattson. 2006. The Bobbed Haired Bandit: A True Story of Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Getty, Frank. 1924. "'Fish peddling bums" victims of Bobbed-Haired Bandit." Buffalo Enquirer, January 24: 1.

Johnson, Nunnally. 1924. "One word after another." Brooklyn Eagle, February 21: 16.

New York Times. 1924. "2-gun girl bandit holds up a grocery." New York Times, February 24: 1.

—. 1924. "Alienists to test Cooney for sanity." New York Times, April 25: 19.

—. 1924. "Bobbed Bandit gets ten years in prison; warns other girls." New York Times, May 7: 1.

—. 1924. "Bob-Haired Bandit attempts a murder." New York Times, April 2: 21.

—. 1924. "Girl bandit proudly describes 10 crimes." New York Times, April 23: 1.

—. 1924. "Hold-up girl gets $600 from grocer." New York Times, January 23: 10.

Times Union. 1924. ""Bobbed Haired Bandit" annoucnes her "getaway" for neighboring state." Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), January 22: 1.

—. 1924. "200 police fail to trap bobbed haired girl bandit." Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), January 27: 1.

—. 1924. "Enright may try himself to nab Bobbed-Hair Bandit." Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), March 23: 1.

—. 1924. "Ex-chorus girl arrested as chain store bandit." Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), January 15: 1.

—. 1924. "Note writers want Helen Quigley freed." Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), January 22: 3.

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