logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
1h 17m

Bethany Collins Buckles Part 2: Targeted

Wondery
About this episode

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 the time, Jolinda was in Atlanta, hours away from Bethany’s condo in Asheville. She contacted the Asheville Police Department, requesting a welfare check. Officers reported that no one was home, and Bethany’s car was missing.

When Jolinda finally arrived in Asheville, she discovered something even more troubling—Bethany’s dog had been left alone in the apartment for days without food or water, which was out of character for her daughter. Yet, there was no sign of a struggle inside the condo. Jolinda immediately reported Bethany missing, and the investigation began. Authorities traced Bethany’s phone, which appeared to be moving around the Asheville and Swannanoa areas before going radio silent. 

Then, months later, in February 2022, a break in the case came when Bethany’s car was found in a grocery store parking lot not far from her Asheville condo and near where her phone had been pinging in late November. But the mystery deepened; whoever had left the car there managed to avoid detection, and no one had seen anything.

This week, we will dive deeper into the mystery of what happened to Bethany and explore why she may have been targeted. What were the circumstances leading up to her disappearance, and who might have been involved? We’ll examine the details surrounding the car’s discovery and the investigation that followed, as we search for answers to this puzzling case.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Bethany Collins Buckles, please contact Detective Kevin Taylor from the Asheville Police Department at 828-259-5945.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Aug 18
Vickie Carriere
On July 12, 1987, 18-year-old Vickie Carriere was spending time with her boyfriend. Vickie was eight and a half months pregnant and eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby boy. That day, the couple was at his family’s fishing camp before starting the drive back to Vickie’s home ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 11
Aaron Cody Fortner
On February 21, 2022, 25-year-old Aaron Cody Fortner disappeared from Jackson County, North Carolina. At the time, he was staying at a property owned by his grandparents. He made a couple of phone calls to his grandparents in the early morning hours that seemed off, but they were ... Show More
1h 14m
Aug 5
Replay: James Lewis Part 2 - The Airport
This episode originally aired on July 17, 2023. Jim Lewis was a decorated veteran who had recently retired after serving in the United States Army for 25 years. Jim and his wife, Patsy, purchased a home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which was intended to be their forever home, ... Show More
55m 5s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
Police Officer Turned Killer: The Murder of 16-Year-Old Susana Morales
Susana Morales was 16 years old, living in Norcross, Georgia when one night she suddenly disappeared. July 26th, 2022 was a seemingly normal evening, and Susana spent a few hours that night a block away from her house with a friend, at her friend’s apartment. This was something s ... Show More
45m 39s
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
Jul 3
The Murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers (Rhode Island)
In a nine-month span between 1986 and 1987, two women were found brutally slain in the same Rhode Island city. Investigators believed that the first was abducted from the side of the road on her way home from work in the middle of the night, while the second appeared to get into ... Show More
37m 11s
Aug 2024
Michele Harris // 427
On September 11, 2001, amongst the unforgettable terrorist attacks, a 35-year-old mother went missing under suspicious circumstances across the state of New York. When her car was found at the bottom of her winding driveway, the keys still in the ignition, she was reported missin ... Show More
51m 23s
Nov 2024
64: MURDER: Judy Smith
On April 10, 1997, 50-year-old Judy Smith, a beloved nurse and mother, set off on her first trip to Philadelphia, planning to explore historic sites while her husband attended a conference. But when Judy didn’t return to their hotel that evening, her husband grew worried and repo ... Show More
42m 6s
Oct 2023
Davina Buff Jones // 351
In October of 1999, a police officer reported near a lighthouse on a North Carolina island, when she was killed after arrival. With her fellow officers botching the crime scene, years of speculation followed about the circumstances regarding her death. Was it a murder? An acciden ... Show More
40m 53s
Oct 2024
Her Killer Was Caught on Surveillance Moments Before Her Abduction: The Case of Aniah Blanchard
Aniah Blanchard was a 19-year-old college student living in Auburn, Alabama, when on October 23, 2019, she never returned home. Despite dropping off her brother and telling him she was headed back to her apartment, she never arrived. Then, odd messages to her roommate started com ... Show More
59m 25s
Sep 2024
56: MURDER: Cheryl Coker
On the morning of October 2, 2018, Cheryl Coker, a devoted mother of two from Riverside, Ohio, dropped her daughter off at school. Later that day, her car was left in a Kroger parking lot. Surveillance footage captured a mysterious figure, dressed entirely in black, exiting the v ... Show More
44m 20s
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
46m 41s
Jan 2025
Episode 639: The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt
On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days later, investigators discovered Melissa’s car abandoned in the Bowling World parkin ... Show More
52m 11s