The Vanished Podcast

In the early days of the show, I came across a website called haveyouseenandy.com. The website focused on the case of Andy Puglisi, a 10-year-old boy who disappeared from a pool in Lawrence, MA, in August 1976. Andy's friend, Melanie Perkins McLaughlin, created and maintained the website. Melanie had previously directed an HBO documentary about Andy's case, which won an Emmy in 2008 for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.When I contacted Melanie to inquire about featuring Andy on the show, I was surprised that she responded and agreed, given my limited experience in podcasting at the time. After Andy's original episode aired, Melanie and I stayed in touch, and she even provided her expertise when we covered similar cases from that era. Through her research, Melanie discovered that there were more missing and murdered children with stories similar to Andy's. This realization led her to shift her focus from Andy's individual case to a broader perspective, uncovering shocking new information along the way