There is a category of case that has no name and almost no coverage. Someone disappears. Months or years later, a relative of that person disappears too, or dies in circumstances nobody can explain. Sometimes investigators connect the two. Sometimes they never do. Sometimes the second loss has nothing to do with the first and the family is left to carry both anyway.
This page exists because these cases are almost always reported separately, which means the second event arrives with none of the context of the first.
One rule governs every entry. We state whether investigators linked the two events. When the answer is no, we say no.
Susan Powell, her sons, and her brother-in-law — Utah and Washington
Susan Cox Powell, 28, disappeared from West Valley City, Utah, in December 2009 and has never been found. In February 2012 her sons Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, were killed by their father during a supervised visit in Graham, Washington; he killed himself in the same act. In February 2013 his brother, who had been named a person of interest in Susan's disappearance, died by suicide in Minneapolis.
Were they linked? Yes, explicitly and completely. The father was the sole person of interest in Susan's case, and investigators publicly connected the killings to that investigation.
Crystal Rogers and her father Tommy Ballard — Bardstown, Kentucky
Crystal Rogers, 35, disappeared in July 2015; her car was found on the Bluegrass Parkway with keys, purse and phone inside. In November 2016 her father Tommy Ballard, 54, who had founded the search group Team Crystal, was shot in the chest and killed on family land while preparing for a hunting trip with his grandson. Police ruled out suicide.
Were they linked? Yes. The FBI maintains a Seeking Information poster for Ballard with a reward of up to $10,000: Source ↗ — Rogers's murder was resolved in 2025 with three convictions, and investigative focus publicly shifted to Ballard's still-unsolved killing.
The full story is at Rogers and Ballard
London Deven and Blake Deven — Fayetteville, North Carolina
London Deven was last seen in 2019, Blake Deven in 2022 — three years apart. Both had been adopted by the same woman; they are not biological siblings. Neither disappearance was reported by the family. Police discovered Blake's absence while investigating an unrelated matter, which led them to London. Partial skeletal remains were later recovered during searches. The adoptive mother was arrested in 2024 and indicted on murder charges in both deaths.
Were they linked? Yes. The same defendant is charged in both.
Tips: FBI 1-800-225-5324; Fayetteville Police tipline 910-578-2697.
Ray Gricar and his brother Roy — Pennsylvania and Ohio
Roy Gricar disappeared in Ohio in May 1996 and was recovered from the Great Miami River; his drowning was ruled a suicide. Nine years later, in April 2005, his brother Ray Gricar, 59, the Centre County district attorney, vanished from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His car was found the next day 45 miles away. His laptop was later recovered from a river with the hard drive removed.
Were they linked? Investigators considered it directly — whether Ray had taken his own life in a manner mirroring his brother's — but the Charley Project records that there is no evidence supporting that theory. Ray was declared legally dead in 2011. The case remains open 21 years on.
Tips: Bellefonte Police Department, 814-353-2320.
Suzanne Sevakis and her son Michael Anthony Hughes — Oklahoma
Suzanne Sevakis, who had herself been abducted as a child and raised under another name by her abductor, died in a suspicious hit-and-run in Oklahoma City in April 1990 and remained unidentified until 2014. In September 1994 her six-year-old son Michael Anthony Hughes was abducted at gunpoint from his elementary school in Choctaw by the same man. In 2014 the man told the FBI he had killed Michael the same day and buried him near the Oklahoma and Texas state line. A 2015 search found nothing.
Were they linked? Yes. The same perpetrator, convicted and sentenced to death for Michael's kidnapping and murder. Michael remains an open missing-person case.
Tips: Choctaw Police Department 405-290-7770; FBI 1-800-225-5324.
Cecilia Nikal and Delphine Nikal — Smithers, British Columbia
Cecilia Anne Nikal, 15, was last seen in October 1989. Her cousin Delphine Nikal, also 15, disappeared near Smithers in June 1990 — less than a year later — while hitchhiking on Highway 16. Both are on the RCMP's Highway of Tears caseload.
Were they linked? Not that we can document. The cousin relationship is confirmed, and both fall within the same corridor investigation, but no source states that investigators have connected the two disappearances to each other beyond geography.
Tips: RCMP; Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.
Bonnie Marie Joseph and Immaculate "Mackie" Basil — British Columbia
Bonnie Marie Joseph was last seen in September 2007 hitchhiking from Vanderhoof to Prince George for a court date she had never missed; her wallet and identification were found near a lake. Her cousin Immaculate Basil, 27, disappeared in June 2013 near the Kuz Che reserve after a vehicle became stuck on a forest service road. Extensive searches found nothing.
Were they linked? Not that we can document. Both are counted within the Highway of Tears corridor. No source states that police formally connected them.
Tips: Prince George RCMP 250-561-3300; Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.
Shane Freeman and the Freeman family — Welch, Oklahoma
Shane Freeman, 17, Ashley Freeman's older brother, was shot and killed by a Craig County deputy in January 1999. The shooting was ruled justified and created lasting hostility between the family and local law enforcement. Eleven and a half months later, Danny and Kathy Freeman were murdered and Ashley and Lauria Bible vanished.
Were they linked? Contested. The theory that the murders were retaliation connected to Shane's death was pursued for years and is documented in mainstream coverage and in book-length reporting. The charges eventually filed in 2018 point to a different motive. Treat it as an investigative theory that the charges did not support.
The 1999 case is at Same Incident
Source: Source ↗
Leah Croucher and her brother Haydon — Milton Keynes, England
Leah Croucher, 19, disappeared walking to work in February 2019. Her remains were found in a house loft in October 2022 and a coroner ruled she was unlawfully killed, naming a since-deceased suspect. Nine months after she vanished, in November 2019, her brother Haydon, 24, died. An inquest later found his death avoidable and that he had been, in the coroner's account, begging for help.
Were they linked? Not as crimes. Haydon's inquest addressed the failure of mental health services in the aftermath of his sister's disappearance. It belongs here because the second loss in a family is not always a second crime, and families are rarely told that.
Shannan and Mari Gilbert — New York
Shannan Gilbert, 24, disappeared in Oak Beach, Long Island, in May 2010; the search for her led to the discovery of the Gilgo Beach remains. Her body was found in December 2011, with cause of death disputed between police and her family. In July 2016 her mother Mari Gilbert, 52, the most prominent advocate in the case, was stabbed to death by another of her daughters, who was convicted at trial.
Were they linked? No. Mari Gilbert's murder was solved and has no connection to Shannan's disappearance or to the Gilgo Beach investigation. It appears here only because leaving it out invites readers to fill the gap themselves.