EPISODE 363: James "Jamie" Valdez

In early June of 2021, 47-year-old Jamie Valdez and his wife, Anna, had just moved to Booneville, Arkansas, from Texas. Their relationship was on the rocks, and Jamie’s wife said that Jamie left their home on June 9, 2021. An old coworker claims that she saw Jamie 30 miles north of Booneville in Ozark several days later, and the coworker invited him over for dinner with her family. She said he planned to go home and patch things up with his wife. Jamie Valdez has never been seen again. His disappearance is filled with many gaps in time, strange coincidences, conflicting stories, and lapses in memory that have turned the search for him into a bizarre obstacle course with very few concrete facts. 

If you have any information about the disappearance of Jamie Valdez, please call the Booneville, Arkansas Police Department at (479) 675-3508.

If you would like to follow Jamie’s story and updates on social media, you can join the group dedicated to finding him at JAMES “JAMIE” VALDEZ MISSING.

EPISODE 362: Barbara Cotton Part 2 - A Tangled Web

On April 11, 1981, 15-year-old Barbara Cotton disappeared from Williston, North Dakota. Barbara was a bright young woman with plans for her future. She was saving for her first apartment that she planned to rent when she turned 16 in the fall. Barb’s dreams came to a screeching halt on that chilly spring evening when she seemingly disappeared into the night. Piecing together even the most basic clues today is difficult. Who last saw Barb, and at what time? And how can we even confirm these things now? There are conflicting stories and big puzzle pieces missing. Now more than ever, people are invested in finding out what happened to Barbara Cotton. They might be getting closer to the truth. 

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Barbara Cotton, please contact the Williston Police Department at 701-577-1212.

You can follow Barb’s story on social media at Find Barb Cotton. You can find more information at FindBarbCotton.com, and check out Dakota Spotlight wherever you get your podcasts.

EPISODE 361: Barbara Cotton Part 1 - A Lost Girl

On April 11, 1981, a 15-year-old girl named Barbara Cotton disappeared from Williston, North Dakota. Barbara's mother, Louise, called around to her friends to see if they had seen her, but no one said they had. Louise reported her daughter missing to the Williston Police Department and sent any tips she heard their way. The weeks and months passed with no sign of Barbara, and her case went ice cold. It didn't seem like much was being done to find Barb, at least to her loved ones; that is how it appeared. Perhaps she had run away? As with many missing teens in that era, that was often the assumption. Decades later, there is now a renewed effort to find Barbara Cotton and answer the many questions that linger today.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Barbara Cotton, please contact the Williston Police Department at 701-577-1212.

You can follow Barb’s story on social media at Find Barb Cotton. You can find more information at FindBarbCotton.com, and check out Dakota Spotlight wherever you get your podcasts.