Show Notes
In February 2022, 32-year-old Irene Gakwa vanished from Gillette, Wyoming. A nursing student who had moved from Kenya to pursue her dreams, Irene was deeply connected to her family—speaking with them almost every day. Then the calls suddenly stopped. Strange text messages appeared, written in a way that didn’t sound like her. Her accounts were deleted. Her phone was deactivated. She was never heard from again. Investigators believe Irene may have been taken to a remote area, but searches have brought no answers. A 55-gallon burn barrel, a gray Subaru Crosstrek, and a fiancé with disturbing actions are at the center of this unsolved case. Irene’s family continues to fight for justice and to keep her story alive. If you have information about the disappearance of Irene Gakwa, contact the Gillette Police Department.📍 Gillette, Wyoming | February 2022 📖 Featuring an original poem written in her honor, read by Kim Roberts. ➡️ Help shine light on stories like Irene’s—subscribe and share this episode. 📍 Find us on Instagram & Facebook. 📚 Get Aimee’s book, Doe, now available via University of Akron Press, Bookshop.org, and Amazon. 📰 For more women-centered true crime content, subscribe to Aimee’s newsletter, GIRLHUNT.More About Kim Roberts: Kim Roberts is an internationally known Canadian actor with over 200 film, television, theatre and voice credits. Most recently seen as “Nancy” in All The Lost Ones, you have also enjoyed Kim as “Ms. Patty“ in Alert: Missing Persons Unit, “Maggie”, in Workin’ Moms, “Alice” in The Changeling and “Nina Fields” in The Good Doctor. Kim’s most memorable roles include “Marnie” in Schitts Creek, ”Christine” in The Handmaid’s Tale,,“Greta” in “The Sinner”, “Neeva” in The Strain, “Mazz” in The Doodlebops, “Deborah” in SAW III and SAW IV, “Mrs. Bosco” in The Cheetah Girls and her continuing role as “Mayor Goodway” in Paw Patrol , Paw Patrol the Movie, Paw Patrol the Mighty Movie and A Paw Patrol Christmas. Kim is a pioneer in her industry. Not only has she represented Canada on domestic and international screens for the past 35 years, she is one of the first to have paved the way for artists of colour right here at home. Kim was the first Black Woman to speak in a nationally televised Canadian commercial. The spot was for Benalyn cough syrup. She is one of the co-founders of Obsidian Theatre, Canada’s most prominent Black and Diverse theatre company. And she has remained a mentor to emerging actors throughout her career. Kim has worked alongside the best in the business, from producers and directors like Stephen Spielberg, Zack Snyder, Maya Angelou, Sydney Lumet and Atom Egoyen to actors and musicians like Drake, Robin Williams, Jackie Chan,, Mariah Carey, Lakeith Stanfield, Lindsay Lohan, Bill Pullman, Jeffrey Wight and Helen Mirren. In 2024, Kim was invited to join The Stratford Festival Theatre as a lead performer in the world premiere of “Get That Hope”. Kim’s stellar performance as Margaret Whyte received numerous accolades, and is still being lauded by theatre-goers to this day. Upcoming roles for Kim include playing “Theresa” in THE SNAKE. Shot on Prince Edward Island and set to debut at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival. You can follow Kim on:Instagram: @mskimrobertsX: @kimroberts1Facebook @kimrobertspageThreads: @mskimroberts LinkedIn: Kim Roberts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from She Goes by Jane: A True Crime Podcast
“If something happens to me, don’t give up until you find out what happened," Pamela Butler told her brother. He could never have guessed he would need to do just that.
For years, Steven Sherer had called his wife, Jami Hagel Sherer, over and over whenever she was away from him. It was a way for him to constantly monitor where she was, who she was with, and to control her actions. On September 30, 1990, he called Jami’s parents’ house twice. And then the phone stopped ringing.Jami had told her mother that morning that she was leaving Steven. Jami told her mother she just wanted to gather a few belongings, grab her favorite lunch, and then return to her parents’ house. It should have taken minutes.Jami never arrived.When Jami didn’t arrive and Steven didn’t call, her mother worried the two had reconciled. But when Steven showed up without Jami claiming he hadn’t seen her, her mother knew something was very wrong. Jami Hagel has been missing since that day in 1990. Listen to Part 2.📍 Redmond, Washington | September 30, 1990
In 1986, 22-year-old Jami Hagel met Steven Sherer at a bar in Redmond, Washington. He was charming, persistent, and was soon sending her a dozen roses. Within months, the relationship that started with romance would become something far more frightening.
On a June night in 1950, seventeen-year-old Barbara Kelley left home for a date with Henry Baird, a 28-year-old World War II veteran she had been seeing for several months. Barbara told her parents she would spend the night at a friend’s house in nearby Eureka. There was no reason for them to worry. The next morning, Henry was found nude on a remote beach along the Northern California coast. He had been shot to death. His companion, Barbara, was nowhere to be found.Henry had been shot in the back of the head. Nearby, his clothes were found neatly stacked. With them were Barbara’s clothes. But there was no sign of Barbara. Within hours, police began to investigate the theory the teenager had been involved in Henry’s death. In the years since the murder and disappearance, speculation has run rampant including false confessions, searches through the woods, and a connection to an eerily similar case in another county.But at the heart of it all is Barbara Kelley, a seventeen-year-old girl who went on a date and never came home.📍 Humboldt County, California | June 17, 1950
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