Detectives and investigators around the world dedicate their lives to solving crimes,
whether those are homicides, missing person cases or something else entirely.
Those who have worked in the investigative field will agree that some cases stick with you for life
and other cases that are just so mysterious and baffling, they may never be solved.
5 - John Gordon Iverson The case of John Gordon
Iverson sounds like it could be a plot for a major Hollywood blockbuster film,
his mysterious disappearance is filled with twists, turns and conflicting witness reports.
Iverson was last seen on January 4th 1991 and his last known movements are questionable at best.
On the evening of January 4th, 51-year old Jack Weber who was working as a machinist
turned up at the home that Iverson and his girlfriend Kathy Munro shared in
Arizona. Weber and Iverson had previously worked together and had a solid friendship.
After the two no longer worked together and had their own respective workshops,
they still kept in regular contact and Weber did odd jobs for Iverson here and there.
Weber had shown up at the home at around 5 pm but Iverson wasn’t home, instead he spoke to Munro
and passed along a project he had been working on for him. In return, Munro wrote him a cheque for
$1,000 and told Weber that she would let Iverson know that he had been there and to contact him.
Weber explained to Munro that the only reason he had turned up to the property
was because he had tried to reach Iverson at his workshop but there was no sign of him.
Munro was confused as to where her boyfriend could be if it wasn’t at his workshop or wasn’t at home,
nonetheless, she brushed it off believing that he had probably gone out to run some errands.
Later that evening, Munro was relieved to see Iverson’s car
pull into the driveway of 1700 South Palo Verde, according to her
she told him about Weber stopping by the house before she headed off to bed.
According to the Charley Project, Munro awoke at around 9:30 pm, dazed and confused;
she believed that she was simply imagining the bright light she saw coming from the hallway.
She quickly snapped into consciousness and realised that the light was from a flashlight
and that it was slowly moving towards her. Weber burst into the bedroom and demanded money,
claiming that he had Iverson captive.
In a state of shock, Munro scrambled to find any money that the two had around the house
and was able to give him $4,000 in cash. That wasn’t enough for Weber
though and he demanded that she write him a cheque for an additional $2,500.
Luckily, Munro was able to escape and alert the neighbours that her boyfriend had been kidnapped.
This version of events come directly from Munro, however as we will see,
the mysterious disappearance of John Gordon Iverson is anything but straightforward.
According to Weber, the events of that chilly January evening transpired as follows. He claims
that he and Iverson had been working on what they called “a super gun” and that this invention would
revolutionise the way weapons were made. He told police that the gun wouldn’t need live ammunition
and that he had been brought into the project by Iverson’s request in exchange for payment.
On January 4th, Weber claims he turned up at Iverson’s home to collect $8,400,
an amount he claims that he was owed for his work. Upon Iverson returning home, he
and Weber allegedly talked for a few hours about the new “super gun” they were making with Weber
excitedly telling Iverson that he had a potential buyer. Iverson sat in Weber’s van, inspecting
their new creation whilst Weber went inside to obtain the rest of the money that he was owed.
This is where things take a strange turn, Weber claims that Munro seemed nervous
about handing over the cheque to him but there was no other indication that anything else was wrong.
After a seemingly normal exchange between Munro and Weber, Weber claims
that Munro snapped and ran out of the house screaming and begging neighbours to help her.
Weber was instructed by Iverson to get into the van and drive away,
Iverson even comforted Weber telling him that she would calm down in her own time.
Iverson asked Weber to drive him to Bullhead City which is around 65 miles away from his home.
The next morning Weber was shocked when he received a call from his wife telling him to
get home right away because the FBI was looking for him, believing that he had kidnapped Iverson.
Iverson appeared shaken at the news and told Weber that under no circumstances would he
be returning home as he had broken his parole terms and feared the consequences of his actions.
Instead of turning himself in and explaining the entire situation,
Weber went into hiding for 4 months and spent most of his time in Las Vegas. After 4 months,
Weber knew that he couldn’t hide forever and finally returned home to face the music.
The case against him was eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence.
With two conflicting stories and little evidence to go off,
we are left with a missing person case that seems too strange to be true, the details presented here
are only the key elements and this case warrants a deep dive of its own. The prevailing theory is
that his kidnapping and disappearance was an elaborately staged ploy so that he could
disappear into the shadows and relinquish his responsibilities. In 1990, he had been
found guilty of stealing telegraph wire and was also under investigation for tax fraud/evasion.
John Gordon Iverson was last seen on January 4th 1991 and is described as a white male
with grey hair and brown eyes. He is 5’8”, 190lbs and has a previous fracture to his left hand.
He was also a heavy smoker and was last seen wearing a grey size large
Jerzees brand sweatshirt, matching pants and black trainers with velcro fastenings.
If you have any information you are asked to contact Police at 928-680-5413.
4 - Helen Tucker Helen Irene Tucker,
also known as Helen Irene Cook was last seen on January 20th 1994 in Tacoma, Washington.
At the time of her disappearance, Helen had a 3-year-old son and was working on the streets
to help provide for her son and also fund her addiction. According to her family,
they were completely unaware that she was engaged in street work or was battling addiction
but her mother Freda Gable did comment that she was ‘uncontrollable’.
The details in Helen’s case are sparse and there is a lot of speculation as to the events that led
up to her disappearance. There are only a handful of news reports and most of the information comes
from the Facebook Page ‘Missing Helen’ that is run by her family and various missing persons blogs.
On the evening that she disappeared, Helen contacted the police to report that she had
been assaulted by a male customer but the outcome of this call and the subsequent investigation
is unknown. After this, Helen was never seen or heard from ever again. In a bizarre twist, Helen
was not officially reported missing until 2000, 6 years after she vanished. Her family believed that
she had been reported missing in 1994, but police were unable to find a report under her name.
As so many years had passed, police in Tacoma, Washington went to every effort they could to
track down Helen’s friends and known associates. Some investigators believe that Helen fell victim
to ‘The Green River Killer Aka Gary Ridgway, although Ridgeway has never confessed to being
responsible. Helen’s family have never given up hope and believe that she may be living
amongst the homeless population in Aurora, Colorado as she has ties to this area.
When Helen disappeared, she left behind a 3-year-old son and now her family are desperate
for answers. Helen Irene Tucker/Cook is described as a white female with brown hair and blue eyes,
she is 5’5'' and 115lbs. She has a tattoo of a rose with a snake and a dagger on her upper
right forearm as well as a rose and a gnome on her upper left forearm. She is also missing a tooth in
the upper front and is considered endangered missing. If you have any information you are
asked to contact Detective Lindsey Wade of the Tacoma Police Department on 253-591-5506.
3 - Angela Marie Hammond 20-year-old Angela Marie Hammond was well-liked
by everyone that knew her and was also described as ‘popular’ in her hometown of Clinton, Missouri.
When she wasn’t studying at Central Missouri State University, Angela worked at a local bank and it
seemed that the pieces of her life were slowly coming together. Things were certainly looking
up for the young woman when her boyfriend, Rob Shafer proposed to her in January 1991,
little did the couple know that their engagement bliss would be cut short just 3 months later.
On the evening of April 4th 1991, the newly engaged couple spent some time together
before Angela dropped Rob back at his house and headed to a friend's house. The two had
plans to meet up again later that evening and at 11:15 pm Angela called Rob from a payphone
located at the intersection of Jefferson and 2nd Street. The two chatted for a few minutes
but Angela couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. As she stood on the
phone with her fiance, she saw a man in a green Ford pickup truck circling the block.
She relayed as much information as she could to Rob, telling him that she was getting freaked
out by the strange man driving circles around her. This unknown assailant got out of his car
and pretended as if he was looking for something, Angela politely asked if he needed to use the
phone but he said he would try the other phone once he had found what he was looking for.
The man wasn’t looking for anything, nor did he want to use the phone, he had found
exactly what he was looking for, a victim. The casual conversation between Rob and Angela was
interrupted by Angela’s screams as she was grabbed by the unknown man and thrown into his car. Rob
lunged into action and jumped into his car and drove to the spot where the phone was located, as
he approached the phone he saw a green Ford pickup speeding away and heard Angela screaming his name.
In the process of following the unknown man, Rob
damaged his car and was only able to follow him for around 2 miles before his car broke down.
The Clinton Police Department was immediately called to the scene and Rob relayed all of the
information to them, telling them that Angela had described the man as “bearded and filthy”.
To this day, the unknown man in the green Ford pickup truck has never been identified and Angela
has never been heard from again. Her case has been linked to two other similar crimes in Missouri
but investigators do not have enough evidence to charge anyone for any of these cases.
Angela Marie Hammond was last seen on April 4th 1991 and is described as a white female
with brown hair and brown eyes, she has a scar on her upper lip and wears contact lenses.
There have been reported sightings of Angela in Canada and the U.S,
however, these have never been confirmed. Angela was 4 months pregnant at the time
of her disappearance and stood at 4’11” and was 120-140lbs. If you have any information
you are asked to contact the Clinton Police Department on 660-885-5561.
2 - Frances Groves Frances Groves is officially
listed as last being seen on January 1st 1955 by NAMUS and the Doe Network, however other sources
claim that she went missing in 1954. Frances’ case is yet another missing person case that is plagued
by a lack of information. Most of what we know about Frances and her disappearance comes from her
family and friends and law enforcement have not publicly released a lot of details in her case.
Nevertheless, Frances’ family deserves closure and her case deserves to be
highlighted. Born on April 20th 1915 in Nebraska and was one of 8 siblings
and her parents certainly had a lot on their hands. When she was just 14 years old she moved
from her family home in Nebraska to Colorado after marrying 55-year-old, Alva Louis Groves.
It is unknown as to whether Frances’ parents approved of their marriage and little is known
about their married life. What we do know is that Frances and Alva had 7 children,
6 girls and 1 boy, Donald. Donald was the apple of his mother's eye and whilst she
loved all of her children equally, she especially doted on her only son. That would soon change
and according to reports, Alva accidentally shot Donald, causing Frances to divorce him.
Their divorce is purely speculative as no records have ever been found to confirm this.
Shortly after the two split, Frances found herself a new boyfriend, Jim Phye. The two left Colorado
and lived between California and Missouri. The two had met whilst Frances was employed at the
Pueblo Ordnance Depot and had immediately hit it off. This is where the waters get murky,
some sources say that Frances was last seen with Phye in 1954 whilst others say 1955.
On the day in question, the two were seen heading out to Palm Springs, California for a picnic date
but only one of them came back. At the time, the couple was working for a wealthy family in the
Palm Springs area and when Frances didn’t show up for work, her employers became concerned.
Her boyfriend at the time, Phye, took his own life in 1996 and left behind a note.
Law enforcement has not disclosed what he had written. It is unknown when the official missing
person report was made, however, she is registered as a missing person on NAMUS and The Doe Network.
Bizarrely, she also left behind a 6 figure sum of money in cash in a safety deposit box.
1 - Evelyn Scott In 1957 Evelyn Scott’s husband, Ewing
was arrested and charged with her murder, this was even though her body had never been found.
The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence but somehow, managed to pull off a conviction.
Whilst Ewing was convicted of her murder, that doesn’t solve the question of what happened to
Evelyn. After all, Ewing constantly proclaimed his innocence and in 1978 he was released from prison.
Evelyn Scott was last seen at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles on May 16th 1955 by her husband, Ewing
Scott. Evelyn had been married 4 times before, making Ewing husband number 5. Her family had no
issue with this, however, they did have an issue with Ewing himself. He claimed to be an investment
banker but after engaging him in conversation about his work, her brother, Raymond quickly
discovered that he was a fraud. He warned his younger sister but his warnings fell on deaf ears.
Her family believes that Ewing’s motivation for marrying Evelyn was money, during their 6 short
years of marriage she had cashed over $223,000 in securities and had withdrawn around $180,000 from
her estate. She was also said to be worth around $1 million and had multiple streams of income that
allowed her to pursue her passion of travelling around the world. As mentioned above, Evelyn did
cash out some money from her estate and left this around the house as well in safe deposit boxes.
On the afternoon of May 16th, 1955 Evelyn and Ewing test drove a new car and Ewing let slip
in casual conversation that they had plans to move to Spain or Portugal very shortly.
Was Ewing planting the seed for Evelyn’s disappearance
or was he telling the truth? This salesman is the last person to have ever seen Evelyn alive
and friends and family became concerned when they were unable to reach her after May 16th 1955.
Ewing brushed them off, telling them that she had likely checked herself into a
mental health facility to deal with her alleged alcoholism or that she had simply run away.
He seemed to be unsympathetic towards their concerns
and was certainly in no rush to report her missing or search for her. It wasn’t
until March 1956 that Evelyn was officially reported missing by her brother, Raymond.
Raymond along with concerned friends and family had pushed the District Attorney’s Office to open
an investigation into her disappearance in 1955 but for some reason, no missing person report was
filed at this time. During their investigation, the District Attorney’s Office found that Ewing
had been forging Evelyn’s signature to withdraw money from her estate.
When Evelyn was finally reported missing, local law enforcement performed a search
of her Bel Air home and found two pairs of glasses, an upper front denture plate
and some of Evelyn’s medication. All of these items were confirmed to belong to Evelyn
and these are items that she would not have left without,
especially since she suffered from diverticulitis and needed her medication.
As the circumstantial evidence against Ewing mounted, he had no intentions of standing trial.
For 5 months he went on the run before he was finally captured and extradited to California.
Throughout the trial, Ewing professed his innocence and said that his beloved wife,
Evelyn wasn’t even dead. Despite this, Ewing was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison,
but was released in 1978. His defence argued that the court had failed to prove “Corpus Delicti”
and the case of what happened to Evelyn Scott remains a mystery.