26/06/2025
š Anyone else all about true crime??
Iād love to think I could be a good enough citizen sleuth to solve a missing person case!
Barbara King Ladd was lying in bed one night in Marion County, Tennessee, after putting her kids to sleep, when she read a local article that would change everything. Within an hour, using only her phone, she connected the dots between an unidentified body found near a creek in 1985 and a missing persons case in Georgia. That body belonged to Donald Boardman, a 36-year-old man who vanished after buying a new Camaro. For 37 years, his family had no answers until Ladd, a stay-at-home mom and elementary school life coach with no law enforcement experience, solved the mystery that had stumped two police departments and the FBI. Her tip, sent to a police departmentās page, was picked up by civilian crime analyst Lori Bradburn, who helped confirm the identity through DNA. While Boardmanās family finally has closure, many questions remain: who killed him, and why? As the details resurface, so do decades-old theories, missed connections between agencies, and a troubling lack of answers. But thanks to Laddās curiosity and persistence, one long-lost name was finally returned to a grieving family, proving how powerful one determined voice can be.
