logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
37m 55s

Courtney Holden // 315

Dark West Productions
About this episode

In July of 2018, a 26-year-old Washington woman attempted to flee her adoptive mother’s house, but was carried back inside by her brother. She hasn’t been seen by friends or neighbors since, and her family claims she ran away. Strangely, it would be nearly a year-and-a-half until she was reported missing. And as police dove into the lives of her adoptive family, suspicions against them grew. This is the story of Courtney Holden.


BONUS EPISODES

Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398

Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast


CASE SOURCES

1. Uncovered: https://uncovered.com/cases/courtney-holden#timeline

2. The Spokesman-Review: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jan/21/warning-signs-were-there-for-spokane-woman-missing/

3. Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/t5t58a/courtney_holden_was_reported_missing_by_her/

4. The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/courtney-corrinna-holden

5. Stories of the Unsolved: https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2020/06/12/the-disappearance-of-courtney-holden/

6. Websleuths: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/wa-courtney-holden-27-not-reported-missing-was-living-with-adoptive-family-spokane-apr-2018.497670/page-2?utm_content=cmp-true

7. KXLY: https://www.kxly.com/i-couldve-dug-deeper-friends-regret-not-reporting-missing-spokane-mom-sooner/

8. King 5: https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/one-foster-child-cost-washington-state-37000-per-month-for-his-care-records-show/281-db00198b-fcbb-4773-a858-363002214614#:~:text=Right%20now%2C%20a%20foster%20parent,best%20environment%20for%20each%20child.

9. Stories of the Unsolved: https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2020/06/12/the-disappearance-of-courtney-holden/

10. Courtney's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shortney.holden.7

11. KHQ: https://www.khq.com/news/i-know-courtney-was-murdered-spokane-man-details-life-in-the-holden-home/article_c2a56760-4170-11ea-afba-17196c0fca0d.html

12. Fox 41: https://www.fox41yakima.com/ive-seen-no-evidence-that-courtney-holden-is-alive-twists-and-turns-in-missing-womans-case-lead-spd-to-believe-shes-dead/

13. National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9216342/#:~:text=Estimates%20suggest%20that%2060%E2%80%9370,Increasing%20Adoptions%20Act%2C%202008).

Up next
Oct 7
The Hall-Mills Murders // 544
On a quiet September morning in 1922, two bodies; one, a respected minister, the other, a singer in his choir, were found beneath a crabapple tree in New Jersey. Both had been thoughtfully posed under that tree, surrounded by carefully placed items, igniting rumors of romance, be ... Show More
54m 10s
Oct 3
Joanna Simpson // 543
On Halloween, 2010, the quiet English village of Ascot was shaken when a bloody scene was found in the charming home of a local, 46-year-old bed and breakfast owner. At first, the brutal scene raised questions of a home invasion gone wrong. But upon finding her body in a garden b ... Show More
52m 50s
Sep 30
Tracy Gilpin // 542
In October of 1986, a 15-year-old girl attended a friend’s house party in the coastal town of Kingston, Massachusetts after babysitting. After dark, she left the party on foot, heading to pick up cigarettes from the store. But the following day, she was nowhere to be found… For w ... Show More
1h 2m
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
Bethany Collins Buckles Part 2: Targeted
Last week, you heard Part 1 of Bethany Collins Buckles’ story. You learned about her life, struggles, and sudden disappearance just as she planned for her mother’s Thanksgiving visit. Jolinda had expected to hear from Bethany, but she grew concerned when the call didn’t come. At ... Show More
1h 17m
Nov 2024
66: MISSING: Jodi Huisentruit
On the early morning of June 27, 1995, 27-year-old Jodi Huisentruit, a news anchor in Mason City, Iowa, overslept and rushed out the door to head to work. But she never made it in. Concerned coworkers called the police, who found Jodi’s red Mazda Miata in her apartment’s parking ... Show More
46m 43s
Oct 2023
232 - The Murder of Little Christmas Doe
On Wednesday, December 21st, 1988, a timber truck driver making his way through rural Georgia made a horrifying discovery. Just off US Route 82, down at the end of a long dirt road, in a dusty turn out which doubled as an illegal dumping ground, he found the remains of an unident ... Show More
1h 1m
Jul 2024
WOMAN CLAIMS TO BE MISSING CHERRIE MAHAN, 8, WHO VANISHED AT BUS STOP;MISSING BOY’S FAMILY SCARED OF IMPOSTER POSING AS TIMMOTHY
Two family grapple with individuals who claim to be long lost missing children.  A woman comes forward claiming to be Cherrie Ann Mahan. The little girl was just  8-years-old when she went missing, after getting off her school bus. just feet away from her home.  A blue or green v ... Show More
39m 45s
Jul 28
98: MURDER: Trish Haynes
In January 2018, 25-year-old Trish Haynes returned to New Hampshire for a court date. She planned to stay just a few months and then head back to Florida, where her grandparents were waiting for her. But that return trip never happened. After moving in with an old classmate and h ... Show More
42m 2s
Aug 2024
243- The Murder of Shirley McAvoy
When thirty-two year old Shirley McAvoy didn't show up for her youngest daughter's birthday everyone knew something was wrong.  After being unable to reach her, Shirley's estranged husband, Brian, reported her missing to the Pittsfield Police Department in Maine. Initially, inves ... Show More
1h 14m
Feb 2024
2 | Man On West Beach
Florence Okpealuk is not the first Alaska Native to go missing from Nome. Seventeen years prior, Sonya Ivanoff was reported missing by her roommates and was found murdered. The crime has forever left a mark on the relationship between the community and the local police department ... Show More
48m 25s
Jul 2024
Randa Jawhari Part 2: Ten of Spades
Last week, we brought you the first installment of Randa Jawhari’s story. You learned about Randa’s life, her strengths and challenges, her disappearance, and the early investigative efforts to find her. Randa was last seen on the evening of February 10, 2009. Her parents stopped ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 2025
Roberta Michels-Hopkins
In February of 1981, Roberta Michels-Hopkins, a 29-year-old mother of two, disappeared from Camden, New Jersey, without a trace. The story goes that she left her home, heading out to buy a pack of cigarettes, and never returned. Roberta's sister said she received a phone call fro ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 18
The Murder of Lena Bruce (Massachusetts)
Lena Bruce had a bright future ahead of her. She’d just graduated from a top university and landed a great job, and she was settling into a new apartment in the heart of Boston’s South End neighborhood, already living the life she’d worked for since she was a child. But one night ... Show More
34m 58s