Latest / 3 Crimes That Are Still Unsolved / Episode 22- Roadside Mysteries
Transcript
- Ronan Wolfe: Welcome back to 3 Crimes That Are Still Unsolved – Chilling Cases With No Answers… Yet. I’m Ronan Wolfe, and today’s episode takes us to one of the most unassuming yet chilling locations for unsolved crimes: the roadside. A place meant for travel, for passing through, often becomes the last stop for those who vanish or fall victim to unknown assailants. These crimes happen in plain sight, yet their answers remain obscured by time, distance, and mystery. Today, we examine three haunting roadside cases that remain unsolved to this day. Ronan Wolfe: Our first case begins on Highway 16 in British Columbia, Canada—infamously known as the Highway of Tears. This stretch of road between Prince George and Prince Rupert has been the site of dozens of disappearances and murders of primarily Indigenous women and girls since the 1970s. One of the earliest and most heart-wrenching cases is that of 14-year-old Monica Jack. In 1978, Monica was riding her bike home along a forested road near Nicola Lake. She never made it. Her bike was found abandoned, and her remains weren’t discovered until 1995. Ronan Wolfe: The RCMP eventually charged a man named Garry Handlen in 2014 after he allegedly confessed during a sting operation. But questions linger: Why did it take decades to charge someone? Were there other victims? The Highway of Tears is not a single crime scene—it’s a pattern. A corridor of silence. Many believe systemic neglect, especially toward Indigenous communities, allowed the violence to continue unchecked. Even with Monica’s case technically closed, dozens of others remain wide open. Ronan Wolfe: Next, we shift to the United States and the case of Brandon Swanson, a 19-year-old college student from Minnesota who vanished in 2008. On the night of May 14, Brandon was driving home from a party when he accidentally drove into a ditch on a gravel road near the small town of Taunton. He called his parents for help and said he would walk toward the lights of a nearby town. They stayed on the phone with him for over 45 minutes as he described his surroundings. Then, suddenly, he said, “Oh, sh*t,” and the line went dead. Ronan Wolfe: His car was found exactly where he’d described, but despite massive search efforts, Brandon has never been found. There were no signs of foul play, no confirmed sightings, no physical evidence. Some believe he fell into a nearby river or encountered someone on that isolated road. Others suggest he may have suffered an injury and succumbed to the elements. But what haunts people the most is the end of that phone call—the moment when something clearly went wrong, and yet, no one knows what. His voice was right there. And then, gone. Ronan Wolfe: Our third case is one that’s gone cold despite major media attention: the murder of Faith Hedgepeth in 2012. Faith was a 19-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a night out with friends, she returned to her off-campus apartment. The next morning, her roommate found her brutally beaten to death in her bedroom. A note written on a fast-food bag was found near her body. It read, “I’m not stupid b*tch jealous.” But perhaps the most bizarre clue? A voicemail left on a friend’s phone that seemed to capture an argument—possibly involving Faith—shortly before her death. Ronan Wolfe: The audio is hard to interpret, but voice experts have attempted to clean and analyze it. Some claim they hear multiple voices arguing, including a male and female voice. One interpretation suggests Faith was trying to mediate a fight. Others say it doesn’t match her voice at all. Years passed with no arrest, until 2021, when a man named Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was charged with her murder. DNA matched him to evidence at the crime scene. Still, questions remain. Who else was there? What was the meaning of the note? Was the voicemail real—or a red herring? The roadside aspect comes in not with the murder itself, but with the fact that Salguero-Olivares was stopped for a traffic violation near the scene shortly after the crime—and wasn’t flagged. Ronan Wolfe: These roadside crimes remind us that danger can strike anywhere, even in the places we think are most mundane. A highway. A ditch. A campus parking lot. In some cases, the road itself becomes a silent witness, bearing the memory of the last place someone was seen alive. Ronan Wolfe: There’s something uniquely eerie about these crimes. Maybe it’s the openness of the setting—the way it invites movement, transition, escape. Maybe it’s the fact that roads are supposed to connect us—but in these cases, they seem to disconnect. To sever. And while vehicles can offer escape, they can also carry secrets far away, never to be recovered. Ronan Wolfe: For the families of victims like Monica Jack, Brandon Swanson, and Faith Hedgepeth, the questions keep coming. Who saw what? Who stopped? Who didn’t? Was there a camera? A witness who stayed silent? A sound missed in the night? Each case holds just enough detail to feel solvable—but remains maddeningly just out of reach. Ronan Wolfe: If today’s episode has you glancing at every roadside a little differently, be sure to subscribe to 3 Crimes That Are Still Unsolved – Chilling Cases With No Answers… Yet. Leave a review, share your theories, and remember—some crimes don’t hide in the shadows. They happen out in the open. But that doesn’t make them any easier to solve. I’m Ronan Wolfe. Until next time, drive safe—and stay aware.