Crime Salad steps into Weird History, traveling back to the early 1900s, when a glowing new element promised progress, beauty, and modern life.

What followed was anything but.

In this episode of Weird History by Crime Salad, we explore the rise of radium mania, from the young women who became known as the Radium Girls, to the powerful corporations that insisted radium was safe while workers grew sick and died.

We touch on crumbling jaws, altered death certificates, and why early causes of death were quietly labeled as syphilis instead of radium poisoning. Names like Grace Fryer and Mollie Maggia emerge as whispers of a much larger truth.

But the danger was not limited to factories.

While workers were suffering, wealthy Americans were drinking radium by choice. Products like Radithor promised vitality and youth, until cases like Eben Byers forced the country to pay attention.

From glowing watches and military dials made with Undark, to radium water crocks, cosmetics, alarm clocks, toys, and other everyday items, radioactive products found their way into homes across America.

This episode looks at what happens when science, profit, and blind trust collide, and how the voices of the Radium Girls ultimately changed workplace safety and radiation laws forever.

Sometimes the most dangerous things are the ones that glow.

Radium Girls

Radium poisoning

Syphilis death certificates

U.S. Radium

Undark paint

Radithor

Eben Byers

Revigator

Radium cosmetics

Radioactive consumer products

Workplace safety history

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Twenty-year-old Kaylene Marie Oehling disappeared from Etna, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 2020. What followed were years of confusion, frustration, and heartbreaking silence. At the center of this story is her father, Jason Oehling, whose relentless determination to find answers has never faded. For more than three years, Jason pushed for movement in a case that had stalled almost from the beginning. Then, in March 2023, Kaylene’s remains were unexpectedly discovered in a wooded area miles from where she was last seen. Much of what we share in this episode does not come from detailed police reports or official statements. Instead, it comes from Jason himself, someone who has been outspoken across social media, news interviews, and podcast appearances as he fights for clarity in his daughter’s case. We also spoke directly with Jason to confirm the details discussed in this episode. This is one of those cases where a family carries the weight of telling the story. Public information is limited. The timeline is fragmented. Investigators have not identified a cause or manner of death, and no one has ever been charged. Still, Jason continues to push forward, driven by love and the belief that the truth is still out there. In this episode, we walk through the known timeline of Kaylene’s disappearance, the recovery of her remains, the years of advocacy by her family, and the urgent need for answers. This is a case that has haunted a community and one that deserves far more attention.

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Crime Salad Live Murder Mystery Event!!! Get tickets here: ⁠https://www.pave.live/crimesalad⁠

KMNO – Help for the Missing and Murdered ⁠https://www.facebook.com/people/KMNO-Help-For-The-Missing-Murdered/61563347895168/⁠

Justice for Kaylene – Community Group ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/480311013138270/⁠

Public Petition:⁠ https://www.change.org/p/justiceforkaylene-kaylene-oehling⁠

Submit a Tip

• Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit 412-473-1200

• Anonymous Tip Line ⁠ https://allegheny.crimewatchpa.com⁠

Kaylene’s Memorial Fund

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Thanks for supporting Crime Salad!

Keywords: #JusticeforKayleneOehling true crime podcast, missing persons, cold case, Pennsylvania true crime, Etna PA, Pittsburgh crime story, unsolved homicide, Kaylene Oehling, Crime Salad, justice for Kaylene, family-led investigation, true crime 2024, disappearance case, unresolved cases, Allegheny County, true crime storytelling

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If you know anything about the circumstances surrounding Codie’s death, her family is pleading for you to come forward. Even the smallest detail could matter. Tips can be submitted to Marion County Crime Stoppers at 352-368-7867

Domestic Violence Hotline website at thehotline.org

Please contact 911 if you feel like you are in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation.

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National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or visit thehotline.org.

On a cold December night in 2017, police responded to the Sports Stadium Motel in Independence, Missouri, where 21 year old Libby Caswell was found dead inside Room 319. Her death was quickly ruled a suicide, even as the medical examiner listed the manner of death as undetermined and key surveillance footage from the motel went missing. Libby was a young mother trying to leave a dangerous relationship, and her family has spent years challenging the official findings. In this episode, we look closely at the scene, the inconsistencies in the timeline, the documented history of domestic violence, and the critical evidence that may have been overlooked. This is the case of Libby Caswell and the fight for answers that has never stopped.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or visit thehotline.org. If it’s not safe to use your own phone or device, consider using a public library or another trusted public location to access help.

Support friends and family by following the Justice for Libby Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/libbyca

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Southern Oregon is known for its stunning summer landscapes, remote forests, and quiet mountain towns. But in the beauty of Josephine County, isolation and danger often live side by side. In late June of 2020, 45-year-old Fauna Frey set out on a short drive through Grants Pass and the surrounding mountain roads, a route filled with winding highways, dense forests, and long stretches with no cell service. Somewhere along that journey, Fauna vanished without a trace.

In this episode, Ashley and Ricky explore the rural communities of Southern Oregon, where abandoned mining towns, thinly stretched law enforcement, and high crime rates create the perfect environment for disappearances to go unnoticed. Her car, her belongings, and a series of strange clues left investigators puzzled and her family desperate for answers.

This is the story of a woman who went missing on a warm June afternoon in 2020, a case that blends mystery, isolation, and the harsh realities of searching for a missing person in Oregon’s most rugged terrain. If you follow missing persons cases, unsolved disappearances, rural true crime, or stories centered around Southern Oregon and Josephine County, this episode will take you deep into one of the region’s most haunting mysteries.

Listen as we break down the timeline, the evidence, the environment, and the theories surrounding the disappearance of Fauna Frey.

If you know anything, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 541-359-5638, or email FindFaunaFrey@gmail.com. You can also visit the private community page on Facebook, Help Find Fauna Frey to watch for updates in her case.

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In the summer of 1983, 27-year-old Teresa “Terry” Peroni disappeared from a remote counterculture community in rural Oregon. For years, rumors circulated about communes, drugs, and the controlling man she had last been seen with. Her family searched, asked questions, and followed every lead, but Terry’s trail went cold. Her name slowly faded from public memory.

In 1997, human remains were discovered in the Oregon wilderness, but they were never linked to Terry. It wasn’t until 2024, more than four decades after she vanished, that new forensic technology finally confirmed the truth. Her remains were identified. The case was reopened. And the man long suspected in her disappearance was arrested across state lines.

This episode follows Terry’s journey for independence, the dangerous world she stepped into, the failures that allowed her case to go cold, and the small group of people who refused to let her story be forgotten.

Need help now? Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Support is available 24 hours a day.

Need help now? Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.

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In January 2011, 27-year-old teacher Ellen Greenberg was found dead in her Philadelphia apartment, Unit 603 at the Venice Lofts. The swing-bar lock was secured from the inside, yet Ellen had been stabbed twenty times, including deep wounds to the back of her neck. Her fiancé discovered her body and called 911, but within days investigators changed the medical examiner’s original homicide ruling to suicide. More than a decade later, experts, forensic pathologists, and Ellen’s parents are still fighting to answer the question that has haunted Philadelphia ever since: How could a locked-room suicide look so much like murder?

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If you or someone you know is struggling, you’re not alone. Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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