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The Mysterious Disappearance of the Springfield 3 · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Ready for a deep dive that's equal parts intriguing and unsettling.
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  Let's take a look at the Springfield three. This case
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  has stayed ice cold for over three decades.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's one of those cases that sticks
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  with you. Three women disappear, no trace, Uh huh, makes
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  you wonder what happened for sure.
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  Speaker 1: So June seventh, nineteen ninety two, Springfield, Missouri. It all
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  starts with three women. Cheryl Levitt she was forty seven,
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  her daughter Suzanne Streeter just nineteen, and their friends Stacy
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  McCall only eighteen. All gone seemingly overnight.
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  Speaker 2: And the thing is, their last night was totally normal.
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  Suzanna Stacey had just graduated from Kickapoo High School. They
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  were out celebrating like any teenager would. Hard to imagine
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  that being your last.
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  Speaker 1: Night ever, Yeah, no kidding. They went to some graduation parties,
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  ended up at Suzanne's house late that night or I
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  guess really early morning, around two month five am. Everything
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  just seemed normal and.
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  Speaker 2: Then things get strange. Their stuff was all still there,
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  Perce's keys, everything. It's like they just vanished into thin air.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, this always gets it's me about this case. Their
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  cars were there, untouched, the dog was inside safe. Police
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  found a broken porch light, but no signs of forced entry,
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  no signs of a struggle. It's like they just disappeared.
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  Speaker 2: It's so strange, right, this is that broken porch light
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  always makes me wonder though, was it just random or
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  did someone use it to get closer to the house.
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  Speaker 1: Right, it's such a chilling detail. You can't help but
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  try to put the pieces together.
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  Speaker 2: I know you can't help it. You have to try
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  to figure it out.
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  Speaker 1: And in any missing person's case like this, there are
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  always people the police look at. But for the Springfield three,
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  there was one name that stood out right away. Robert
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  Craig Cox.
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  Speaker 2: Let's just say Cox has passed. Definitely raises some eyebrows.
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  Even before the women went missing, he had been convicted
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  of murder, although it was overturned, but still him being
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  in Springfield at the time made him someone the police
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  had to look at.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. And we're not talking about some small
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  time offender here. Cox had a history of violence against women.
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  He'd serve time for kidnapping, an assault back in California,
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  and then there's the murder case from Florida. He actually
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  was sentenced to death for it, but like the other case,
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  that conviction was overturned. It's unnerving, to say the least.
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  Speaker 2: You can see why the police were interested in him.
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  Of course, he's innocent until proven guilty, but with a
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  past like that and being in Springfield at the time,
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  he had to be investigated.
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  Speaker 1: I agree. And if that wasn't enough, Cox's girlfriend originally
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  gave him an alibi for the night the women disappeared,
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  but and this is a big butt, she later admitted
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  that she lied to protect him.
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  Speaker 2: WHOA. That throws a wrench in things for sure. If
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  she lied about that, what else wasn't she telling the
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  truth about?
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  Speaker 1: It?
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  Speaker 2: Definitely makes you think they might have been.
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  Speaker 1: At cahoots totally. And as if all that wasn't strange enough.
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  In ninety six, Cox did an interview. He said something
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  about the Springfield Three that has stuck with me ever since.
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  When a reporter asked him about them, he looked straight
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  into the camera and said, I know that they are dead.
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  I'll say that, and I know that. I mean, what
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  do you even say to that? Knowing what we know
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  about him, that.
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  Speaker 2: Statement it can mean so many things, you know, It's
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  creepy for sure, But is he confessing? Is he just
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  trying to insert himself into the story, maybe mess with everyone.
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  It's hard to say.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost like he wants to toy with the families
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  and the police, with everyone who wonders what happened.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you might be right. That's how some people operate,
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  especially with his history, like they just want to see
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  people get upset.
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  Speaker 1: Makes you think, and get this, even with everything pointing
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  to him, that creepy statement, they never charged Cox with
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  anything related to the Springfield Three. He's in prison in
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  Texas right now, life sentence for robbery. But get this,
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  he's up for parole in twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow. Yet you could bet people will be watching
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  that closely. If he gets out, people will be worried
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  and wondering, for sure. It's just a reminder that this
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  whole thing, even after all these years, it's still not over.
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  Speaker 1: Not even close. And actually Cox wasn't the only one
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  they looked at early on. Even Bart Streeter's Suzann's brother,
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  Sharil's son was considered a person of interest. Imagine that
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  losing your mom and sister and then the police think
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  you might.
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  Speaker 2: Be involved awful, just awful. Even imagine what the families
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  go through in cases like this. Losing someone like that
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  is hard enough, Yeah, but to have people suspecting you
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  and the media on top of everything, just terrible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Luckily bart Streeter was cleared, but still he had
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  to deal with that, that doubt hanging over him. Just awful.
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  Speaker 2: It shows how important it is for the police to
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  be thorough. They need to follow the evidence and not
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  jump to conclusions for sure.
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  Speaker 1: And talking about families, there's one person in all of
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  this whose strength just blows me away. Jannis McCall, Stacy's mom.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, Jannis McCall is amazing. It's been over thirty
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  years and she's never stopped fighting for her daughter, for
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  all three of them.
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  Speaker 1: She really hasn't, she said once, and this really got me.
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  She said, there is no term for closure in the
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  vocabulary of families who are missing a loved one. My
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  child is gone. We seek justice, powerful words right for her,
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  and I'm sure for a lot of families in this situation,
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  it's not about moving on, it's about getting answers. Justice.
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  Speaker 2: It's true. Anyone who's ever lost someone and not had answers,
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  they know that pain. It never goes away. You always
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  want to know what happened.
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  Speaker 1: And she doesn't just sit around waiting. This woman co
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  founded One Missing Link. It's an organization to help families
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  of missing people. She took something so awful and turned
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  it into something good, helping others going through the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to even imagine, you know, losing a child
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  and then having the strength to do that. She's an inspiration,
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  she really is.
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  Speaker 1: And she still remembers everything about her last conversation with
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  Stacy the night before it happened. She told her daughter,
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  I love you, and Stacy said it back. That was it.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. Makes you realize how quickly things can change. Right
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  one minute, life is normal, the next gone.
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  Speaker 1: It really does make you think, doesn't It makes you
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  want to hold your loved ones a little closer. You
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  never know what tomorrow will bring. I know what you mean.
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  It really does make you think about those everyday moments.
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  In this case, that's all the families have left.
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  Speaker 2: It's true, the memories, the pictures, just trying to hold
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  onto those pieces of them. It's heartbreaking, it really is.
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  Speaker 1: So why hasn't this case been solved after all this time?
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  What's making it so difficult.
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  Speaker 2: It's a lot of things. Unfortunately, they just don't have
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  a lot to go on physically, I mean, and there's
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  always the chance that someone out there knows something but
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  they're too scared to talk. Plus, let's face it, the
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  more time passes, the harder it gets.
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  Speaker 1: It's like trying to solve a puzzle but half the
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  pieces are gone and the ones you do have are
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  all faded exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Frustrating for the police, devastating for the families. But even
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  with all that, there's always hope. We see it with
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  cold cases all the time. A new lead, a new technology,
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  anything's possible.
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  Speaker 1: That's right. Remember the Golden State killer case solved after
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  forty years because of a DNA match.
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  Speaker 2: Crazy, right, And speaking of hope, there's a pretty big
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  reward for information in this case, forty three thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 1: That's a lot of money. It shows that people still
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  care about what happened to Cheryl, Suzanne and Stacy. Someone
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  might know something that could crack this whole thing wide open.
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  That's what I keep thinking about. Someone maybe listening to
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  this right now, Maybe you know something, even if you
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  think it's small. You could be the one to help
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  solve this.
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  Speaker 2: That's so true. Even the tiniest detail could be important.
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  It could be what brings closure to the families, you know,
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  and make sure that whoever did this is held accountable.
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  Speaker 1: It might seem like a long shot, but hey, stranger
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  things have happened. Maybe all it takes is one phone call,
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  one email.
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  Speaker 2: You never know, And even beyond this case, the Springfield Three,
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  it makes you think, you know, we should all look
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  out for each other, never take our safety or the
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  safety of our loved ones for Granted.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good point. That's a hard thing to hear,
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  but important. So as we wrap up this deep dive
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  into the Springfield Three, we're left with one question. How
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  do you think this case will ever be solved? If
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  it ever is?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the million dollar question, isn't it. Will
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  someone finally speak up, Will we get some new technology
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  that can help, or maybe, just maybe they'll be a
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  lucky break. You never know.
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  Speaker 1: We can only hope that one day the truth comes out,
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  that Cheryl, Suzanne, and Stacy finally get the justice they deserve.
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  Until then, their story reminds us that some mysteries stay unsolved,
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  but that doesn't mean we should stop searching for answers.
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  Speaker 2: That's what it comes down to. We have to hold
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  on to hope, keep their memory alive, because someone out
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  there knows what happened. Hopefully, one day they'll find the
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  courage to come forward.
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  Speaker 1: I hope so too. Until next time, everyone, thanks for
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  joining us on this deep dive. Keep asking those questions
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  and never stop searching for answers.