- [Narrator] What is up, EWU Crew.
Today, we're covering three unbelievable cases
of missing people found in secret rooms.
Let's get right into it.
Number three, JoAnn Nichols.
JoAnn Nichols was described by those around her
as a gentle and kind woman,
a first grade teacher in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Deeply religious, she grew up in Louisiana with big dreams,
hoping to one day become an actress.
In the end, she earned her master's of education in 1955
teaching in a Mississippi Delta town,
the same town that would later introduce her
to her future husband.
James Nichols was born into a beloved family.
His father had served in World War I as a medic
before becoming the physician
for the village he was raised in.
At one stage, boasting a population of just over 1000,
it was a quiet place to grow up,
and his father was remembered fondly
by many of the residents.
When his first wife died however,
he married a stylish woman that hid many secrets.
Those that remember the family
speak of how they weren't affectionate.
James in particular,
only ever showing affection towards the cats they saw.
He was described as both intelligent
and strange in equal measure,
avoided by the children of the village.
Like JoAnn, he had a love for education,
majoring in it before graduating with two degrees.
Meeting while she was teaching
in another of the Mississippi Delta towns,
they quickly married in Louisiana
and eventually moved to Missouri.
Here, they welcomed a son,
naming him after his father
before uprooting their lives once more
and moving to Poughkeepsie.
All was well for 11 years, JoAnn teaching first grade,
and their son eventually following in James's footsteps
by majoring in education.
When he graduated in 1980, all should have been well.
But tragedy struck in 1982
while their son studied for a computer science degree.
Falling off an amphibious car, he drowned in Sardis Lake,
something that left the couple grieving their only child.
James seemed to want to free himself
of any and all reminders of what could have been
selling the property he kept for his son.
However, tension arose in the marriage
when he kept the amphibious car in their garden,
something that angered JoAnn.
Despite the grief that came with losing her son,
she continued to teach
and outwardly seemed like the same woman
everybody knew and loved.
She still doted on her students, southern charm intact,
making them feel like stars despite her personal struggles.
At home, she struggled to move through the house,
her husband hoarding clutter
that had spiraled out of control.
Only a few weeks before she disappeared,
she discovered the carcass of their pet cat
as she went through the freezer,
refusing to cook out of horror and disgust.
On December 20th, 1985, all seemed well.
She taught her students,
went out to dinner with her husband and a few friends,
with a hair appointment planned for the morning.
When she didn't show up for her appointment,
detectives quickly got involved.
Her husband involving himself from the very start.
He was the one that directed them
to a note on their computer,
describing her depression over losing their son.
He was the one that found her car,
washing and vacuuming it before it was handed to detectives.
He was also the one that reported a call from her
on Christmas Eve to reassure him
and tell him to say hello to their dogs.
Her mother was suspicious.
Every Sunday, JoAnn would call her
usually in the early afternoon.
Those calls stopping the second she disappeared.
She struggled to understand her behavior
and those that knew the couple felt the same.
Each revelation by James
bringing them more questions than answers,
where he told newspapers he had no idea of where she was,
whether she was alive or dead.
He told detectives she had assumed a new identity
and told him not to search for her.
(mysterious music)
Weeks after Joann had disappeared,
James had started to date another woman.
A year after her disappearance, he filed for divorce.
Unable to get a search warrant,
detectives were left with nothing but questions
for almost 30 years.
When James passed away around Christmas in 2012,
contractors had to be hired to clean the house
before it could be sold.
The freezer held their two pet dogs,
house filled with decaying books and piles of gadgets
that had fallen to the wayside as life went on.
Perhaps the most concerning discovery
was that of a hollow sounding wall in the basement,
pulled down to reveal a barrel.
Inside of that barrel,
there was a black bag tightly bound with a rope
that held skeletal remains.
Dental records identified the woman as JoAnn.
Skull showing blunt-force trauma
had killed her years earlier.
To neighbors, this confirmed what they always knew
JoAnn had never run away,
instead, she had been left to decay
like the clutter filling their house.
Her husband had taken her life,
lying to grieving friends and family for years.
Taking all of the answers to the grave.
(mysterious music)
Number two, Katie Beers.
December 28th, 1992,
Katie Beers is only two days away from her 10th birthday,
but she isn't excited about it.
In her life,
she's experienced at the hands of those
that were supposed to protect her.
The only person she trusts
is her family friend, John Esposito,
the man that takes her and her brother to toy shops,
arcades, and even lets them play at his house.
He gives them gifts, acts as a confidant
and provides an escape from her troubled home life.
Underneath that friendly exterior, lay something sinister.
Esposito tried to convince Katie
to leave her grandmother's house to meet him many times,
sweetening the deal with promises of ice cream and sweets.
Too afraid to break the rules, she never gave in,
but it made her suspicious.
Esposito had visited on the 28th buying her a dollhouse
and promising to return to assemble it later.
When he did show up,
he asked her godmother if he could take her to the arcade
and Katie's nightmare began.
(mysterious music)
He took her to a toy store,
buying a game she could only play at his home.
Taking her there and into a room
filled with everything a child could want,
games and sugary treats.
But instead of playing her new game, a nightmare began.
When he then took her to his office,
she tried to call 911 but was caught.
Phone grabbed from her hands
as she was thrown into a nearby closet.
Using a pulley mechanism,
he began to pull up a slab of concrete,
revealing a dark tunnel underneath the floor,
one that he demanded Katie go down.
When she refused, he dropped her down without hesitation,
forcing her to crawl through the darkness
and towards a cramped room.
The room would become Katie's prison for the next 17 days.
In this time, Esposito would come down once a day
to feed her, her only companion, a television,
surrounded by yellow soundproofing material.
A few days in, she was forced to record a message
for her godmother.
In it, she says she's been kidnapped by a man with a knife,
terrified of what may come next.
This message was later played over a payphone to her
before he reported her missing at the arcade
they were supposed to visit,
hoping to create an alibi for himself.
His plan failed however,
and detectives quickly turned their attention to him.
Looking at his past,
they discovered he'd previously attempted to abduct
a seven year old,
leading to him becoming their main suspect.
Still, Katie was resilient,
finding a loose key one day
and tucking it beneath a pillow.
This key allowed her to unlock the chain around her neck,
the same chain that she'd locked back up as she'd found it
when she heard somebody coming down.
(instrumental music)
For her 10th birthday,
she sang a happy birthday to herself,
something caught on the cameras in the bunker.
She heard footsteps above her and screamed at the police
in the hopes of being found only to earn more punishment.
But the persistence of authorities
kept Esposito away from her for longer and longer,
giving her time to come up with a plan.
On the 14th day, she told Esposito she didn't feel well,
something that concerned him.
In the time she'd spent in the bunker,
he'd expressed a peculiar love for her
instead of a desire to kill her.
So, when faced with the possibility
of her dying in his care, he began to worry.
Three days later, after speaking to his attorneys,
John Esposito came clean.
With authorities close to cracking the case,
and Katie falling ill,
he confessed to knowing where she was the entire time.
The 200 pound concrete slab
was lifted by his pulley mechanism,
revealing the hole beneath it.
In the years since her rescue,
Katie has spoken of the conflicted feeling she had
when she heard voices.
Esposito never came down so early in the day,
and she was worried that the voices were friends of his.
She didn't believe him
when they told her they were the police,
but still rushed through the tunnel.
After 17 days of captivity in a tiny bunker,
Katie Beers was free again.
She was quickly sent to live with a foster family,
something that finally freed her from the
she experienced at home as well.
Though the situation was terrible,
she says it saved her life.
And detectives knew from the beginning
that she was a survivor.
Esposito was sentenced to 15 years to life,
serving almost 20 years before dying after a parole hearing.
In the years that followed her abduction,
Katie was protected from the media
and allowed to live a normal life.
And with the help of extensive therapy,
and a supportive foster family,
she went on to publish a book detailing her ordeal.
These days, she lives a quiet life with her own family,
giving motivational speeches based on her experiences
and helping other missing children.
(mysterious music)
Number one, Richard Chekevdia.
Richard Chekevdia was born in 2002.
His life already troubled by the time he was welcomed
into the world.
His parents Shannon Wilfong and Michael Chekevdia,
never married and were split up before he was born,
creating a custody battle that would go on
for much of his young life.
Things weren't always troubled, of course.
At first, the pair shared custody of him,
despite the irreconcilable differences
that led to their separation.
They could both agree on one thing,
wanting the very best for their son.
This didn't last long with his father being deployed to Iraq
and losing out on precious time with his son.
Whenever he was home,
he would treasure the time he spent with him.
But that time was more limited than he would have liked.
This only got worse
when Shannon began to disappear with their son
when he was supposed to be with him
causing Michael a great deal of pain.
Reaching out to authorities prompted a custody battle,
one that he won after Shannon never showed up.
(sirens wailing)
Granted temporary custody of Richard,
it should have been a victory,
but that was far from the case.
Because Shannon had disappeared,
it meant that nobody could bring his son to him,
something that alarmed him as time went on.
November 2007, came and went,
and Michael was quick to report his son and Ex as missing.
December changed that,
as Shannon became a wanted person
and was no longer just missing.
And as he had done before,
Michael offered as much information
as he could to authorities.
As time went on, he grew more and more concerned
about his son, offering more tips.
He directed authorities to Shannon's mother on a whim.
Diane Dobbs was in constant contact with her daughter,
and he knew that,
hoping that it might point them in the right direction.
When her house was searched, they found nothing suspicious,
but heard several concerning claims.
When questioned, Diane claimed,
that Michael hadn't treated his son well
in a variety of ways causing Shannon to keep him away.
Such strong allegations caused a backlash
and called Michael's parenting into question,
a situation only made worse
by claims that he refused to take a lie detector test.
Denying the claims the focus remained on Diane,
many wondering if perhaps
she was trying to distract them from her.
Michael was sure that his son was inside her house
and only grew more certain when he saw the covered windows.
Always obstructed, it was impossible
to see inside of the home.
But as time passed by, there were no updates.
In interviews, he speaks of the immense distress
the situation caused, unable to sleep,
and his weight fluctuating due to the stress.
His life was anything but peaceful.
He devoted himself to finding his son,
actively involved in the case until 2009.
In 2009, a tip came in.
Once again, they were being told to investigate
Dianne Dobb's house.
And once again, they did so.
This search was more thorough than the last,
covering every nook and cranny of the house.
Finally, finding something that raised questions.
Against one of the walls was a dresser,
nothing too suspicious, positioned in a peculiar way.
Pulling it away from the wall revealed a hole
big enough for a person.
And upon closer inspection,
they discovered two figures hidden in the darkness.
Shannon Wilfong sat in the hole with Richard
finally answering the question so many had.
For two years, Shannon had hidden Richard in a tiny room,
only allowing him outside at night
when there was no chance of him being seen.
Still, his freedom was limited.
He was never allowed to leave the house.
Never allowed to seek medical help,
and never allowed to see natural light.
Shannon claimed she'd hidden him
to protect him from his father.
But the allegations were dismissed
quickly allowing Michael to gain full custody of his son.
After two years of hiding,
Richard acted like many children running around outside
the second he was led out of the police car.
One of the officers said he acted
as though he'd never seen sunlight or the outdoors.
But despite his isolation,
he was still well spoken and polite.
With court oversight,
Michael was finally given his son back.
Resilient as ever, the years of captivity
didn't seem to have dampened his spirits.
And in the years since he was rescued, his spirit only grew.
Almost an adult, his father encouraged him to take up sports
and supported him as he grew from the lanky and pale boy
that had once hidden behind walls.
Well adjusted, and with a thriving social life,
Michael was finally able to treasure the time he spent
with his son once more.
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