***This episode is sponsored by Stamps.com. Use promo code POD to get a 4 week free trial, free postage and a digital scale*** Halloween dates back over 2000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sown). November 1st, the Celtic new year, marked the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of a long, cold, dark winter for Celts, who inhabited areas that are now known as Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. This time of year in particular was associated...

***This episode is sponsored by PodGo - one of the easiest ways to monetise your podcast*** The idea of being murdered by a complete stranger is a significant fear that has been mentioned several times on this podcast, however, more recently, has been discussed at length in the news and on social media following the murder of Sarah Everard. This horrific murder has solidified women’s fear around walking alone in the dark, and has ignited significant conversations surrounding women’s...

***This episode is sponsored by PodGo - the easiest way to begin monetising your podcast*** A huge thank you to Mel from Mask of Sanity and Bobbie from Killer Stories for their voice over for this episode. If you have any information relating to Cherrie's disappearance, you are urged to contact Pennsylvania police's Missing Person Unit on 724-284-8100. It’s impossible to put an exact number on the amount of stranger abductions in the US in the 1980s. Child Find, a missing children...

***This episode is sponsored by Podcorn, the easiest way to begin monetising your podcast*** DISCLAIMER: I misremembered the facts regarding the Oscar Pistorius case - please accept my sincerest apologies. This is a very special episode featuring our first ever guest, Ellyn Marsh. Ellyn co-hosts the true crime/comedy podcast, Obsessed With Disappeared, alongside Patrick Hinds (from True Crime Obsessed). Join Ellyn and I, as we play Would You Rather, Innocent or Guilty and Ellynism or Not....

***This episode is sponsored, in part, by Away Travel*** ***This episode is sponsored, in part, by Podcorn - the easiest way to monetise your podcast*** Nature vs nurture is a longstanding debate in the world of psychology that discusses the extent to which certain aspects of our behaviour are either inherited via genetics, or the influence of external factors. Approaches vary, with the biological approach focusing on genetics and hormones to explain behaviour, and behaviourism suggesting...

Plan International UK suggests that 63% of women in Britain feel unsafe walking alone in the dark. It’s an innate fear, one that’s reinforced in childhood. Stranger danger dictates that all strangers are dangerous, and that you should never interact with strangers in the street, a child should never accept sweets off of a stranger and you should never walk off or get into a car with a stranger. The occurrence of the Moors Murders, murders committed by Levi Bellfield and the abduction and...

***This episode is sponsored by Clarks. Visit podgo.co/clarks to get up to 30% off on selected items*** If you have any information relating to Brianna's disappearance, you are urged to contact Vermont State Police on 802-524-5993. They say your teenage years are the best years of life. You begin to make long-term friendships and these friends become an important fixture in your life, you start going to parties and school either becomes more or less of a priority. You get your first ever...

***This episode is sponsored, in part, by Podcorn - the easiest way to monetise your podcast. Head over to www.podcorn.com to sign up now.*** ***This episode is sponsored, in part, by Scary Time podcast. Listen now at http://www.dummies.fan/MurderandMore*** Social media has taken the world by storm in the last decade. It’s become a platform to express your thoughts and feelings and a way to connect with old friends you’ve not spoken to for years. You can see what your aunt had for dinner...

***This episode is sponsored by PodGo*** Singapore was considered one of the British Empire’s most impenetrable islands, which is why the Fall of Singapore is described as one of the British Army’s biggest defeats and by far the worst defeat it suffered during World War 2. The Battle of Singapore began on the 8th of February 1942, when Japan, who were experienced in combat after several battles, invaded Singapore. The battle, which was fought fast and violently by Japan, took place over a 7...

Crimestoppers anonymous form: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously Crimestoppers number: 0800 555 111 Missing People's number: 116 000 To provide information: Bruce - West Yorkshire's Homicide and Enquiry team, 101 Patricia - Brierley Hill police, 0345 113 5000 or Dudley Neighbouring Policing Unit, 101 Kenneth - Glenrothes police, 101 Linda - Major Crime Review Team, 101 (reference MP4472/11) Herbert - Kent police, 101 (reference 94-000696) It’s...

***This episode is brought to you, in part, by Podgo, the easiest way to monetise your podcast. Sign up today at podgo.co*** ***This episode is brought to you, in part, by Scary Time podcast. Listen now at http://www.dummies.fan/MurderandMore. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram @scarytimepod*** Credit for this episode goes to Joseph Cusack and his documentary, The Murder of Charlene Downes. The 25th of May is International Missing Children’s Day, first initiated by Ronald Reagan in...

***This episode is brought to you by Podgo, the easiest way to monetise your podcast. Sign up today at podgo.co*** The 25th of May is International Missing Children's Day, first initiated by Ronald Reagan in 1983 and is in place to not only bring awareness to the thousands of missing children worldwide, but to also honour organisations who put up a daily fight for these missing children. Whilst most children run away of their own accord, due to bullying or a poor family life, 1 in 5 are at...

***This episode is brought to you by restaurant.com. Head over to www.restaurant.com/podcast for 50% off your next order*** Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire is a high security psychiatric hospital that houses some of Britain's most notorious and dangerous criminals, including Robert Napper, Peter Sutcliffe and John Straffen. Broadmoor Hospital is run by the NHS and serves to prove that there is a credible link between mental illness and violent crime. In an article for GQ Magazine in June...

***This episode is brought to you by restaurant.com. Head over to www.restaurant.com/podcast for 50% off your next order*** The UK charity Missing People suggests that 1 person is reported missing every 90 seconds and the Government website suggests that around 200,000 people go missing each year. In most cases of a missing adult or child, there may be conflict at home that the individual is trying to escape from, they may have gotten lost or simply wanted to start afresh in a new location...

***This episode is brought to you by Podgo, the easiest way to monetise your podcast. Sign up today at podgo.co*** The police and the CPS have defined a hate crime as "any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived...

As podcasters, we have a platform and duty to speak up and call out injustice. In light of the murder of George Floyd, we have come together in solidarity to use our platform to speak up against racial injustice and amplify the voices of black podcasters that deserve more recognition. Racism is prevalent in all industries; from the media who under-report on black victims to the justice system which routinely fails black victims. In this collaborative episode, we document black history and...

Cannibalism is the act of a human consuming the flesh of another human. The practice of cannibalism, also known as anthropophagy, dates back to early human history but coined it’s name after a West Indies tribe, the Carib, who are well known to have eaten the flesh of their acquaintances. The Spanish name for the Carib, who could be located in Southern America, is Caribales or Canibales, which is where the term cannibalism derived from. Cannibalism is practiced all across the world for...

According to Mencap, a learning disability is “a reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities which affects someone for their whole life.” Typically, it can take a person with a learning disability longer to learn new things and they may need extra help to develop new skills or interact with others. Around 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability and 351,000 of these are children aged between 0-17. There are different conditions that make a person more...

Crimestoppers anonymous form: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously Crimestoppers number: 0800 555 111 NSPCC's online reporting form: https://forms.nspcc.org.uk/content/nspcc---report-abuse-form/?_ga=2.31449407.1220292018.1589663095-288750486.1589290828 NSPCC helpline number: 0808 800 5000 Runaway helpline (call or text): 116 000 Childline number: 0800 1111 In police’s Authorised Professional Practice, the term missing is defined as “anyone whose...

According to an article written by Caralynn Lippo in April 2017 for Redbook magazine, traditional wedding vows can be traced as far back as the Book of Common Prayer written by the Archbishop of Cantebury Thomas Cranmer in 1549. The vows have been adapted significantly over the years, specifically the vow we now know as “til death do us part.” In the original version of the book, this vow was known as “till death us depart” before it was changed in 1662 to “till death us do part.” It was...

According to the Open Society Foundations, sex workers are “adults who receive money or goods in exchange for consensual sexual services or erotic performances, either regularly or occasionally.” The term sex worker is preferred over prostitution, as sex worker recognises that it is work. Prostitution has negative connotations and denotes criminal behaviour. People fall into sex work for a variety of reasons, but the main factor seems to be that they are fighting poverty and sex work is the...

According to the Serious Organised Crime Agency, organised crime related to gangs is focused in larger cities, in places such as London, Manchester and Liverpool. Gang related organised crime also can be found across the West Midlands, the South Coast and generally in Northern England. The Serious Organised Crime Agency reported that London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool have some of the highest rates of gang-related crime, with gangs accounting for 65% of all firearm murders in...

Broken Utopia is a brand new podcast hosted by me, your solo host Kira. Join me every Friday beginning 1/5/2020 as I turn my blog posts about life, grief, love and loss into a podcast. Please head over to wherever you get your podcasts and like/subscribe/follow ready for our launch next week. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@brokenutopiapod). You can also check out the blog posts that are already up at www.brokenutopiapodcast.wordpress.com. Most blog posts will be used but will more than...

According to the NSPCC, grooming is "when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them." Any child is vulnerable to being groomed and any adult can become the groomer, no matter their age, sex or race. In addition to grooming the child, the individual may also become familiar with the child's family, in order to acquire more of the child's trust. With the birth of social media, grooming has become a...