The Skeleton Key Chronicles

Back in 2022, 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez disappeared from Everman, Texas, and for nearly four years one question has continued to hang over the case, where is Noel?

This week, investigators returned to the property where Noel once lived, with authorities excavating the yard outside the home as the search for answers continues. Neighbors watched as crews dug through the area, hoping the latest search might finally uncover evidence connected to the little boy’s disappearance.

Noel’s mother, Cindy Rodriguez Singh, was taken into custody in India after leaving the United States while investigators were trying to locate her. She now faces charges in connection with Noel’s presumed death, although a court recently ruled her incompetent to stand trial at this time.

What continues to make the case especially difficult is that Noel has never been found. Investigators have long said they believe the 6-year-old is no longer alive, but despite years of searching, his remains have still not been located.

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Alex Murdaugh is getting a new trial after South Carolina’s Supreme Court overturned his convictions this morning in the cases involving the 2021 deaths of his wife Maggie and son Paul.

The ruling centers around former Colleton County clerk Becky Hill improperly influencing jurors during the original 2023 proceedings, she even wrote a book about the trial. The court also said the trial judge went too far in allowing in evidence related to Murdaugh’s financial dealings, concluding that the combination of those issues prevented him from receiving a fair trial.

The original trial drew enormous public attention, especially after the video recorded by Paul at the kennels which placed Murdaugh with Maggie and Paul shortly before their deaths. The case also pulled in renewed attention toward the Murdaugh family itself, including the growing number of allegations and investigations surrounding the once-prominent South Carolina legal dynasty.

In the meantime, Murdaugh remains in prison on separate financial cases as prosecutors prepare to move forward with the case again. No word yet on when that will happen.

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Some of the most revealing stories connected to Jim Jones have nothing to do with Jonestown itself. They come from people who knew him as a child in rural Indiana long before the name ever became tied to one of the most infamous cases of the 20th century.

Jones was born on May 13, 1931, in the tiny community of Crete, Indiana. People who knew him growing up often described him as unusually intense and deeply preoccupied with religion and death from an early age. Stories from his childhood included rescuing stray animals, stepping in when other kids were bullied, and even organizing small funeral services for dead animals in the neighborhood.

At the time, nobody could have imagined that the Indiana boy who once called himself a “hellion” would eventually create the Peoples Temple and gather thousands of followers around him. Years later, he would convince hundreds of members to relocate to a remote settlement in Guyana known as Jonestown.

That story reached its breaking point in November 1978, when more than 900 people were lost at the settlement in an event that permanently tied the name “Jonestown” to one of the most widely discussed tragedies of the modern era. Nearly fifty years later, the case is still studied as an example of how influence, isolation, and absolute control can reshape an entire community from the inside out.

A new kind of tour is heading through the Midwest this summer with people connected to some of the biggest cases of the last few decades. The panel will travel to four cities for live audience conversations. John Ramsey is part of the lineup, along with Gabby Petito’s mother and stepmother, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn from American Nightmare, Sean Ellis from Trial 4, and Shawn Licari and Melissa Perry from Unknown Number.

The tour will stop in Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and the Detroit area beginning in June, with Purdue University Northwest professor Dr. Nicky Ali Jackson serving as host.

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I just saw that Betty Broderick passed away, and it immediately brought me back to how massive that case was in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Her trial became one of those stories that completely took over television for awhile and people across the country were following every development, myself included.

If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s quite a rabbit hole. Betty met Dan Broderick at a dance at Notre Dame in the 1960s and supported him through medical school and law school while raising their four children. By the time Dan became a wealthy medical malpractice attorney in California, their marriage had started falling apart and he eventually left Betty for a younger woman, former flight attendant Linda Kolkena, who had worked in his office.

By the late 1980s, the affair and the divorce between Betty and Dan Broderick had consumed nearly every aspect of Betty’s life. Then in 1989, just months after Dan Broderick and Linda Kolkena married, Betty entered their San Diego home and took the matter into her own hands.

Her first trial ended with a hung jury, but after a second highly publicized trial, Betty Broderick was sentenced to prison where she remained for the rest of her life. She was denied parole multiple times over the years, with officials often pointing to what they described as a lack of remorse. Betty passed away on May 8th, she was 78.

Through the years there have been books, television movies, documentaries, interviews... you name it. But honestly, if you really wanted to understand Betty Broderick, the interviews were probably where you got the clearest picture. She definitely never seemed to have much trouble telling people exactly how she felt.

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It was June 1836 when five boys exploring the slopes of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland uncovered something hidden in a small cave that would puzzle historians for generations.

Carefully arranged there were 17 miniature coffins, each less than four inches long. Every tiny coffin contained a small wooden figure with painted faces, detailed clothing, and hand-sewn fabric that had clearly taken time to create.

The figures were all slightly different from one another, with some appearing more worn than others. No note, markings, or explanation were ever found alongside them. Only eight of the original coffins still survive today.

Nearly 190 years later, nobody knows who placed them in the hillside cave or what the original 17 figures were meant to represent. Theories over the years have connected them to a shipwreck, symbolic burials for people allegedly disinterred by Burke and Hare, or even old folk rituals tied to death and mourning.

To this day no one knows how these amazing works of art ended up there.

For the last several days, the community around Moberly, Missouri has been searching for 16-year-old Kayla Huff, with much of that effort now centered around the Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area.

Kayla was last seen around 7 that Wednesday morning along County Road 2345 wearing a Nirvana shirt. Her family later said she never made it home, and her car was eventually found abandoned on Rollins Street.

By Friday, hundreds of volunteers, law enforcement officers, and service members had joined the search. Investigators said tips from the public led them toward the Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area, a large wooded region where search crews have continued focusing their efforts. Now the case has taken another turn.

Investigators say a 17-year-old was taken into custody Friday in connection with Kayla’s disappearance. Randolph County Sheriff Andy Boggs said no additional details are being released right now in order to protect the integrity of the investigation. Meanwhile, the search for Kayla is still ongoing.

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Well, this feels like one of the biggest developments yet in the Lynette Ho**er case.

The U.S. Coast Guard has now taken possession of Soulmate, the sailboat Lynette Ho**er, 55, had been staying on before she disappeared in the Bahamas back on April 4th. For weeks, the boat reportedly remained docked while investigators continued trying to sort out exactly what happened in the days leading up to her disappearance.

According to her husband, Brian Ho**er, 58, the two were heading back to the sailboat on an 8-foot dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands when Lynette fell into the water during rough conditions and was never seen again. A search was launched, but before long investigators also began focusing on the details surrounding what happened that night. Brian was later questioned by investigators for several days before returning to the United States.

The development comes less than a week after the Coast Guard Investigative Service in Miami publicly asked for help identifying and speaking with the owner of another vessel that had reportedly been moored near Soulmate around the time Lynette disappeared.

A lot of people have been aboard Soulmate since Lynette disappeared, including members of her own family, and nothing has pointed to any obvious discovery on the boat itself. But now that investigators officially have custody of the vessel, you do start to wonder what forensic testing could potentially uncover.

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Back on February 16th, a woman was found deceased near train tracks in Port Costa, California. Nearly three months later, and investigators still haven’t been able to figure out who she was.

Now, Amtrak Police and the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Division are hoping one small detail might finally lead to answers, a tiny broken-heart tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. Authorities recently released a photo of the tattoo in case someone recognizes it.

The woman is described as white, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She stood about 5'4" and weighed roughly 171 pounds. She was wearing a black pullover top, black-and-gray plaid pants, and red-and-white Nike athletic shoes, but had no identification with her.

Anyone who recognizes the tattoo or thinks they may know who the woman is is being asked to contact the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Division. Surely someone is missing her.

What happened to Natalie Wood aboard the yacht Splendour in 1981 still perplexes people to this day, myself included. It’s a real-life Hollywood whodunit that played out off the coast of Catalina Island when the 43-year-old actress was onboard the yacht with Christopher Walken, her husband Robert Wagner, and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern. Around 11 p.m. on November 28th, Wagner noticed that both Natalie and the yacht’s small inflatable dinghy were missing.

By 8 a.m. the following morning, Natalie was found about a mile from the yacht, and the dinghy later turned up along a nearby beach. The case was reopened in 2011 after boat captain Dennis Davern admitted he had lied during initial questioning and also claimed Robert Wagner had argued with Wood before her disappearance and delayed calling for help that night before Natalie disappeared.

After he came forward with that detail Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced they were taking another look at the case. In 2012, the coroner amended Natalie Wood’s death certificate from “accidental drowning” to include "other undetermined factors,” noting unexplained bruising and uncertainty surrounding exactly how she entered the water. Robert Wagner was later named a “person of interest” in the investigation, but no charges were ever filed.

Over the years, theories have continued to circulate about what happened onboard, especially after the new information from Davern. One of the details that has always fascinated me is how intertwined that old Hollywood circle once was. Wagner had actually known Natalie since childhood, back when he, Natalie Wood, Stefanie Powers, and Jill St. John were all taking ballet lessons around Hollywood as kids. Years later, Wagner would marry Natalie and, after her death, eventually marry Jill St. John, while also starring alongside Stefanie Powers in Hart to Hart. Looking back on it now, that entire circle almost feels like its own old Hollywood universe.

Another interesting aspect of this case is the fact that Natalie reportedly had a deep fear of open water dating back to her childhood work on a film called The Green Promise. Once you know that detail, the idea that she took the dinghy out on her own that night seems a little far fetched and adds another layer entirely.

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Two cases out of Washington state were solved after detectives posed as workers for a chewing gum company promoting different flavors, convincing a man named Mitchell Gaff to take part in a taste test, unknowingly giving investigators the DNA sample they had reportedly been trying to obtain for years.

Gaff, now 68, later admitted to being responsible for the deaths of both Judy Weaver and Susan Vesey. Vesey was found inside her Everett home on July 12, 1980, just one day after her 21st birthday. Four years later, on June 2, 1984, Judy Weaver was also found deceased in Everett. At the time, the two cases were treated as unrelated before investigators eventually connected the evidence through modern DNA testing.

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