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On a frigid January night in 2014, 20-year-old Rocelyn Gabriel — Ojibway, bright, full of plans — vanished into the blizzard in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Hours later, she was found behind an industrial recycling depot, barely alive, wearing only a sweater.

Authorities called it death by exposure, hypothermia. But her family insists: Rocelyn didn’t end up there by accident.

In this episode of Vanished Voices, we retrace Rocelyn’s final hours, challenge the gaps in the investigation, and amplify the voices of those still demanding justice.

How did she get to that desolate place? Why didn’t police search for evidence of foul play right away? And who, if anyone, knows the truth?

This is not just a tragedy. This is the story of Rocelyn Gabriel.

Have Information?

If you know anything about what happened to Rocelyn Gabriel on the night of January 25–26, 2014, please come forward.

You can contact:

• RCMP Portage la Prairie Detachment
  204-857-4445
• Manitoba Crime Stoppers (Anonymous Tip Line)
  1-800-222-TIPS (8477)
  www.manitobacrimestoppers.com

Even the smallest detail could help a grieving family find answers after more than a decade of silence.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

On February 22, 2010, 18-year-old Jalesa Chantell Reynolds followed her normal routine in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. She attended class. She visited the local library. She logged into Facebook.

Then she logged off — and never came home.

Hours later, investigators would discover her Facebook account had been accessed again — this time from a private residence outside town on Cemetery Road. The man who lived there admitted Jalesa had been at his home that afternoon. He told investigators she left sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m.

She was never seen again.

In this episode, we examine the timeline of Jalesa’s disappearance, the digital trail that led investigators to a rural property outside town, the multi-agency search efforts that began almost immediately after she was reported missing, and the unanswered questions that remain more than a decade later.

Jalesa was known to be quiet, routine-oriented, and closely connected to her family. She did not have a car. She did not have a cellphone. She rarely traveled outside of her normal daily pattern — making her disappearance deeply concerning from the very beginning.

Despite extensive searches, multiple warrants, and years of investigation, Jalesa Chantell Reynolds remains missing.

Someone knows what happened that afternoon.

And her family is still waiting for answers.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jalesa Chantell Reynolds, please contact:

Scotland Neck Police Department

• (252) 826-4111

Halifax County Sheriff’s Office

• (252) 583-8201

Halifax County Crime Stoppers (Anonymous Tips)

• 252) 583-4444

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Halifax County Crime Stoppers online tip portals.

Case Reference:

National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Case: Jalesa Chantell Reynolds
NamUs #: MP10109

Last Known Details:

Last Seen: February 22, 2010
Location: Scotland Neck, North Carolina
Age at Disappearance: 18
Would Be Today: 34

Remembering Jalesa

Jalesa is described as:

• Black female
• 5’2”
• Approx. 220 lbs at time of disappearance
• Black hair, brown eyes
• Nicknames: J and Lesa
• Distinguishing feature: Dark pigmentation patches on arms

Last known clothing:

• Pink shirt
• Blue denim jacket with flower design on back
• Tan khaki pants
• Black Velcro sneakers
• Black head scarf
• Bobby pins in hair

Vanished Voices Message:

• If you lived in Scotland Neck in 2010…
• If you traveled Cemetery Road that day…
• If you knew Jalesa…
• If you heard something, saw something, or remember something that never felt right…

Please come forward. Even small details matter.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

On August 15, 2019, 39-year-old Cynthia Acevedo was seen walking near a cemetery in Laveen, Arizona, within the Gila River Indian Community. She never made it home.

Two weeks later, when Cynthia’s mother reported her missing, investigators realized this was no ordinary disappearance. Cynthia was a devoted mother, daughter, and community member — someone who stayed in constant contact with her family. Her sudden silence was completely out of character. Law enforcement would later classify her case as suspicious, and the FBI now believes foul play may have been involved.

In this episode of Vanished Voices, we trace Cynthia’s last known steps, explore the timeline of her disappearance, examine the investigation that followed, and ask the difficult questions that still linger years later. Why was she walking near the cemetery that day? Was someone waiting for her? Did critical time slip away before the search began?

Cynthia’s family is still waiting for answers. Her community has not forgotten her. And someone, somewhere, knows what happened.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Cynthia Acevedo — no matter how small it may seem — please contact:

Gila River Police Department
(520) 562-4511

FBI – Phoenix Field Office
1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
Submit a tip online: https://tips.fbi.gov

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Cynthia Acevedo has been missing since August 15, 2019.
Her family deserves answers.
Her community deserves justice.
And Cynthia deserves to be found.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

In January 2015, Rita Janelle Papakee was last seen at the Meskwaki casino in central Iowa. What should have been an ordinary night ended in silence. Days passed. Then weeks. And before urgency ever took hold, a mother, sister, and community member had vanished.

Witnesses would later tell police they saw Rita walking in the cold and snow, visibly angry, when a dark pickup approached her. Others reported seeing her at a man’s home the next day. Then came more disturbing claims — that Rita was dead, that evidence had been hidden, that her body had been moved.

Search warrants were executed. Federal evidence teams were called in. A well on the south side of the reservation — an area investigators refer to as the battleground — became the focus of repeated searches. Cadaver dogs, DNA collection, polygraph exams, and renewed FBI involvement followed. Tips surfaced. Some were withdrawn. Rumors spread. But Rita has never been recovered.

She is still officially listed as a missing person. In practice, investigators have treated her case as a homicide without a body — one caught between information and proof, between community silence and the urgent need for answers.

In this episode of Vanished Voices, we trace Rita’s story: who she was, the last known sightings, the investigation’s turning points, and the lingering questions that refuse to settle. We explore how a close-knit community navigates trust, tradition, and tragedy.

And until Rita is found, her voice — and her family’s — will not be forgotten.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

In May 2018, 51-year-old Kristyn “Krash” Richerson packed her red Toyota pickup for Rocklahoma — a music festival she loved. She never arrived.

What began as a weekend of excitement unraveled into a haunting mystery involving conflicting stories, missing evidence, and roommates who know more than they’ve said.

In this episode of Vanished Voices, we trace Kristyn’s final known steps, explore the tangled investigation, and hear from those still fighting for answers. Kristyn was a drummer, a dog lover, and a fiercely loyal friend — and she deserves justice.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Kristyn Richerson, please contact Muskogee Police at (918) 683-8000. Her voice hasn’t been forgotten — and neither has the silence that followed.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

In the Nevada desert outside Reno, a burned vehicle was discovered. Inside the trunk was the body of Anna Marie Scott.

Anna was a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and her death was both violent and deliberate. Her car had been set on fire in what appeared to be an attempt to destroy evidence — and from the start, the case raised urgent questions about who Anna was with, how she ended up in the trunk of her own vehicle, and why justice has remained out of reach.

Two weeks after Anna was found, authorities identified a person of interest in her murder. Before he could be questioned to find out what he knew about her death, he was killed during a standoff with police while officers attempted to serve an unrelated weapons warrant. With his death, any possibility of answers from him disappeared.

For years, the investigation produced few public answers. Anna Marie Scott’s case remains unsolved.

In this episode of Vanished Voices, we examine Anna’s life, her tribal identity, the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body, and the investigation — including what is known, what remains unclear, and what justice would mean to her loved ones. Her story reflects a broader pattern seen too often in cases involving Indigenous women: delayed answers, limited accountability, and families left waiting.

Anna deserves to be remembered — and her case deserves continued attention.

If you have any information related to the death of Anna Marie Scott, please contact:

• Reno Police Department
  Non-Emergency: (775) 334-2677
• Secret Witness of Northern Nevada
  (775) 322-4900
  secretwitness.com

Anonymous tips are accepted. Even information you believe is minor could matter.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

Emmilee Risling was a college graduate, a traditional dancer, a devoted mother, and a tireless advocate for Native women in crisis. Enrolled in the Hoopa Valley Tribe with deep ties to the Yurok and Karuk peoples, she spent her life giving back to her community — until the system failed her when she needed it most.

In the fall of 2021, during a severe mental health crisis, Emmilee was last seen crossing a remote bridge over the Klamath River on California’s Yurok Reservation. She was naked, distressed, and alone. Days later, she was reported missing. Despite extensive searches, intertribal efforts, cadaver dogs, river patrols, and years of tips, Emmilee has never been found.

Four years later, her case remains active. A $20,000 reward still stands. And her family continues to wait for answers.

This episode examines Emmilee’s life, the warning signs leading up to her disappearance, the haunting clues that surfaced afterward — including an anonymous hand-drawn map — and the jurisdictional and systemic failures that so often leave Indigenous women unprotected and unheard.

Emmilee Risling is not just a missing person. She is a daughter, a mother, a dancer, and one of thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women whose stories risk being lost to silence.

If you have information about Emmilee Risling — a sighting, a conversation, a detail that didn’t seem important at the time — please speak up now.

Contact Cold Case Detective Mike Fridley with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 441-3024, or reach the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police at (530) 625-4202. Tips may be given anonymously. A $20,000 reward remains available.

Even years later, one piece of information can change everything.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!

Send us a text

This week, Vanished Voices is pausing for the holidays.

Instead of a full case, we’re holding space — for the people who are still missing, for the families who continue to wait, and for the stories that deserve patience, care, and continued attention.

This short message is a moment of reflection and gratitude for those who listen, share, and help keep these voices from fading, especially during a season that can be heavy for families still searching for answers.

We’ll return soon with new episodes. Until then, thank you for being here — and for helping ensure that those who are missing are not forgotten.

Thank you so much for listening to Vanished Voices. We truly appreciate you!