24 OCT 2026 · Card Buried Nine Feet Deep: The Disappearance of Sharon Richardson
A laminated library card dated 1996 surfaced in a septic trench on April 14, 2022, after spending nearly three decades nine feet underground - and it led to the discovery that Sharon Richardson had been buried four feet down on the same property the whole time. How did evidence collected in 1994 sit in a garage for over twenty years, and what exactly connected that degraded card to the name investigators would eventually focus on?
In this episode, we tell how a routine septic check, a consumer DNA kit, and a retired detective's self-taught forensic genealogy converged to reopen a two-decade-old missing person case. We trace Sharon's last known movements, the early evidence found along the creek, and the chain of events that finally produced the name Carl West - but why did critical biological evidence never reach a laboratory in 1994?
Person: Sharon Richardson
Date: April 9, 1994 (last seen); April 14, 2022 (card found)
Location: Kelso Falls, Carver County, Indiana
Status: Remains discovered four feet down on the vacant property
Evidence: three hairs on fence barb, partial male shoeprint size 10-11, laminated library card dated 1996 found in plastic bag
- The laminated library card recovered on April 14, 2022, bore Sharon Richardson's name and an expiry date of 1996.
- Sharon was twenty-three years old in spring 1994 and worked as a teacher's aide at Pinewood Elementary.
- Initial scene evidence in 1994 included three dark-brown hairs (one with a follicular tag) and a partial male shoeprint in clay.
- The 1994 biological material was bagged, logged, placed in a brown paper envelope, and later stored in a garage inside a fireproof box for over twenty years.
- The breakthrough involved a septic contractor finding the card, ground-penetrating radar confirming remains four feet down, a Tennessee consumer DNA kit, and a retired detective using forensic genealogy to identify the name Carl West. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
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