Vanished

You know what’s really wild? I recorded the intro for this episode six times - and not because I kept flubbing the wording. But because that’s how many times this case has changed directions on us since we started our investigation. In the short time we’ve been working on this case, I’ve learned facts, heard some amazing stories, which you’ll all get to hear soon, and continually been in awe of just how misunderstood this man has become. 

Jesse James was a lot of things. Much more than an outlaw, as you’ll hear later. Tonight, we’re joined by a world class guest list from all over the James case to help us dissect his story, one of the most incredible stories we’ve ever heard. If Vanished ever had a campfire episode, tonight would be it.

As you’ll soon discover, Jesse James was a lot of things. In fact, Jesse James, was a lot of people. Thomas Howard. John D. Howard. William Campbell. And even a self proclaimed Englishman named Charles Lawson. You’ll also learn that Jesse was so good at staging vanishing acts and assuming identities that he’d be able to live full on lives with everyone around him never suspecting a thing. Tonight we’re gonna do two things. One, we’re gonna tear down a legend, and second, we’re going to ask you to answer a single question, really. Did Jesse James stage one final vanishing act? One that enabled him to live another 70 years?  

Exit Jesse James. Enter J. Frank Dalton. 

Welcome back to Vanished This is our conclusion on the outlaw Jesse James.

LINKS

Our Website 

Vanished on Twitter 

Vanished on Instagram 

Vanished on TikTok

Vanished Facebook Discussion Group

Opening Theme "Tattoos & Bad Booze" by Caleb Morris Feat. Dane

Bryan Shibley Appears Courtesy of Clay County, Missouri and the Jesse James Farm

Mark Lee Gardner Appears Courtesy of Simon & Schuster 

Daniel Duke Appears Courtesy of Simon & Schuster 

Bill Markley Appears Courtesy of Rowman & Littlefield 

Kellen Cutsforth Appears Courtesy of Rowman & Littlefield 

With a special cameo appearance by Bill Jacobson as J. Frank Dalton. 

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

Jesse James @ Wikipedia 

Old West Showdown: Two Authors Wrangle over the Truth about the Mythic Old West by Bill Markley & Kellen Cutsforth @ Amazon 

Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape by Mark Lee Gardner @ Amazon

Jesse James and the Lost Templar Treasure: Secret Diaries, Coded Maps, and the Knights of the Golden Circle by Daniel Duke @ Amazon

The Mysterious Life and Faked Death of Jesse James: Based on Family Records, Forensic Evidence, and His Personal Journals by Daniel Duke & Teresa F. Duke @ Amazon

Victorio's Peak Treasure @ Unsolved Mysteries 

Otterville Train Robbery by James Gang Recalled - Boonville Advertiser December 15th 1939

The Lawrence Massacre @ Wikipedia 

Identity Performance - Brushy Bill Roberts & J. Frank Dalton @ Glasstire

A legend shrouded in mystery: Former forensic anthropologist recounts the 2000 exhumation of Jesse James' grave @ Hood County News 

DNA Solves Jesse James Mystery @ Your DNA Guide 

Fradulent DNA Results? @ Outlaw Jesse James

Some of the stories we cover for this show take a toll. You get into something, and you think it’s for a little while, and you end up being swallowed by your fascination and taken down rabbit holes you never thought you’d be in. Over the years, we’ve received a ton of requests for us to cover one story in particular. Ever since we took that pit stop in 1865 to visit the story of John Wilkes Booth, the fever has been burning. Our next story is a monster with so many twists and turns, that theory and fact seem to have become transparent. What a fun place to begin.

It's important to us to convey the history of our subjects in a way that allows our audience a deeper understanding of their historical significance. Perhaps no other case will convey that better than our next subject. We’re about to explore the life, legacy, infamy and history of perhaps the biggest outlaw in all of history. 

This is the story of what happened (or didn’t) on April 3rd, 1882 in St. Joseph, Missouri and how a figure clouded in polarization could become even more polarizing after his death, when in 1951, another man arrives on the scene in Granbury Texas, far from where he made his name, claiming to be the real Jesse James. What happens when theory casts a shadow on history?

He’s known by many names. Icon. Outlaw. Legend. Robinhood. Murderer. But who was Jesse James, really? And could his story have lasted far longer than history officially records? 

Oh, and one more thing. If Jesse James was ever in Granbury, maybe he ran into a certain other figure that we’ve discussed extensively on this show. You’d be surprised at what you uncover when you follow the evidence, wherever it leads. 

Welcome back to Vanished and our multi part series on the outlaw Jesse James. 

LINKS

Our Website 

Vanished on Twitter 

Vanished on Instagram 

Vanished on TikTok

Vanished Facebook Discussion Group

Opening Theme "Tattoos & Bad Booze" by Caleb Morris Feat. Dane 

Adam Ballinger Appears Courtesy of Graveyard Tales 

Dr. Scott & Dr. Shiloh Appear Courtesy of L.A. Not So Confidential 

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

Jesse James @ Wikipedia 

Pinkertons maim Frank and Jesse James’ mother @ History 

Jesse James Timeline of Terror @ The History Junkie 

Bloody Bill Anderson @ Wikipedia 

William Quantrill @ Wikipedia 

Quantrill’s Bones @ American Heritage

On July 5th 2020, we walked away from the Amelia Earhart case as a team. After over a year of recording and almost two years in production, we ended what I thought was the final conversation we’d have on this show regarding Amelia Earhart. 

Well, you know how that goes…..

2 weeks ago, on January 26th, a very intriguing sonar image of what appears to be an aircraft 16,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific was revealed by Tony Romeo and Deep Sea Vision - a team that had been searching in that area for any remnants they could find of the holy grail of aviation. Sometimes, when you’re searching for a needle in the biggest haystack on the face of the earth, you produce a miracle. 

Tonight, for one night only, we return to our audience and re-open the case that we left over 4 years ago. 

Suddenly, it’s the summer of 2019 again. And Jen Taylor hasn't missed a step. 

This is a line I never thought I’d say again. Welcome back to Vanished. This is Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan.

LINKS

Our Website 

Vanished on Twitter 

Vanished on Instagram 

Vanished on TikTok

Vanished on Facebook 

Vanished Facebook Discussion Group

Opening Audio News Clip  

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

Is This Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane? @ The Wall Street Journal

Liz Smith’s Dateline Theory Blog 

Tantalizing Theories About the Earhart Disappearance @ History

It’s December 5th, 1872. The waters of the Atlantic are cold and desolate. Unforgiving. 

A British brigantine, the Dei Gratia sits about 400 miles east of the Azores when crew members spot a ship that seems to just be bobbing on the endless waves -  lifeless in an ocean that seems to never end.   

The Captain of the Dei Gratia, David Morehouse was surprised when he discovered that the ship his men were seeing, was none other than the Mary Celeste - a brigantine that left New York City eight days earlier bound for Genoa, Italy. Surely, they should have made it by now, he thought. Something must be wrong. 

Under the order of Captain Morehouse, the Dei Gratia changes course in an attempt to investigate the seemingly abandoned ship. 

Upon arrival at the Celeste, Morehouse sends a search party that includes first mate Oliver Deveau and second mate John Wright to board the brigantine and begin a search. Among the many strange things that the De Gratia crew discovered upon boarding the ship, was that her vessels were set, her cargo intact, but her crew of ten, including Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife, and their two-year- old daughter was nowhere to be found. Below deck, the ship’s charts and maps were a mess, but present. It’s only lifeboat was missing, and one of it’s two pumps had been strangely disassembled. There was over a 6 month supply of both food and water, but no one aboard the ship to consume it. 

The absence of life aboard the Celeste immediately fueled rumors and speculation, that still send shivers down the spines of some of modern day’s most seasoned nautical investigators.

Again, under orders of Captain Morehouse, the crew of the Dei Gratia took control of the abandoned ship and sailed it 800 miles to Gibraltar where a British court convened a salvage hearing to determine if the spoils of the Mary Celeste would be divided up amongst the crew of the Dei Gratia under maritime salvage insurance law. 

The case wouldn’t be so cut and dry though, as the attorney general in charge of the inquiry, Frederick Solly - Flood, suspected that foul play may have played a part in the mysterious vanishing of the ship’s crew. That is where tonight’s story begins. 

Welcome back to Vanished. This is the Mary Celeste. 

LINKS

Our Website 

Vanished on Twitter 

Vanished on Instagram 

Vanished on TikTok

Vanished on Facebook 

Vanished Facebook Discussion Group

A Very Special Thank You to the True Crime Podcast Festival for Hosting Us

Bob Motta, Alison Motta and Darren Wood Appear Courtesy of Defense Diaries

Jason Usry Appears Courtesy of Santa Maybe 

Angela and John Appear Courtesy of The Bravo Docket 

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

What Happened to the Mary Celeste? @ History

The Chilling Mystery Of The Mary Celeste, The Ghost Ship Found Empty In The Atlantic In 1872 @ All Things Interesting

The Incredible and Chilling Story of the Mary Celeste @ Modeler's Central

It’s January 5th 1941, the skies are gray and filled with water, ready at any minute to pour down to the Earth below. Amy Johnson, whom many people referred to as the British Amelia Earhart, is soaring through the air, her eyes fixed on the horizon, her heart beating with excitement and trepidation. Little does she know that she’s about to live the final moments of her life. 

Up to this point, the flight has been uneventful, but as Johnson approaches the Thames Estuary, she begins to encounter poor weather conditions. This is, as they say, where story ends and theory begins.

The exact cause of the accident that led to Johnson's death is still unclear. But in recent years, an alternate explanation to what history says happened that day has been offered. And it’s one that calls to a more tragic ending to one of aviation’s biggest icon’s. A woman’s name you’ve likely never heard of….until now. 

Welcome back to Vanished. This is Amy Johnson.

LINKS

Our Website 

Vanished on Twitter 

Vanished on Instagram 

Vanished on TikTok

Vanished on Facebook 

Vanished Facebook Discussion Group

Opening Theme by Krale Memoirs of the Forgotten 

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING 

Mysterious demise of pioneering aviator Amy @ London News Online 

The Distinguished Career Of Pioneering British Aviator Amy Johnson @ Simple Flying

The ongoing mystery of Hull pilot Amy Johnson who died 81 years ago today @ Hull Daily Mail 

Amy Johnson: Death of pioneering aviator 'may have been covered up' @ Independent