Dial M for Missing: What Happened to Diane Augat

04/04/25 • 25 min

A desperate voice pleads from an answering machine: "Help, help, help, let me out!" For Mildred Young, this haunting recording of her daughter Diane would become the soundtrack to decades of anguish and unanswered questions.
Diane Augat's story reveals how mental illness creates vulnerability that predators exploit with devastating consequences. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s, Diane experienced a cascading series of losses—her children, her marriage, and ultimately her freedom through 32 involuntary commitments to mental health facilities. When she disappeared from Hudson, Florida in April 1998, few could have predicted the macabre discoveries that would follow.
What distinguishes this case is the apparent psychological game played by whoever took Diane. First came the desperate phone call to her mother's answering machine, then the discovery of Diane's severed finger along a highway, followed by her neatly folded clothes in a convenience store freezer. Two years later, a bag with her name containing personal items appeared at another store. These weren't just clues—they were taunts, deliberately placed to torment her family and baffle investigators.
The investigation revealed potential connections to Gary Roberts Evers, a local motel manager later imprisoned for murder, along with reports that troubled juveniles had taken advantage of Diane's trust. Witness sightings flooded in but led nowhere. Now cold for two decades, Diane's case exemplifies how those battling mental illness can fall through society's cracks, becoming perfect targets for those with the darkest intentions.
Do you have theories about what happened to Diane? We'd love to hear them. Subscribe to hear more stories of mysterious disappearances and help us bring attention to cases that deserve resolution.

Sources:

https://unresolved.me/diane-augat

https://charleyproject.org/case/diane-louise-augat

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/11/24/mother-clings-to-hope-for-missing-daughter/

https://morbidology.com/the-severed-finger-the-disappearance-of-diane-augat/

Music:

Crime Trap by Muza Production

Tense Dark Atmosphere by Universfield

Dark Ambient Emotions Music by Deus Lower

Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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Sources:

https://unresolved.me/diane-augat

https://charleyproject.org/case/diane-louise-augat

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/11/24/mother-clings-to-hope-for-missing-daughter/

https://morbidology.com/the-severed-finger-the-disappearance-of-diane-augat/

Music:

Crime Trap by Muza Production

Tense Dark Atmosphere by Universfield

Dark Ambient Emotions Music by Deus Lower

Previous Episode

Somewhere in the Dark: The Unexplained Disappearance of Laureen Rahn

A 14-year-old girl vanishes into the night after someone methodically unscrews every hallway light bulb in her apartment building. Her purse, clothes, and money remain behind. For years afterward, her mother receives haunting silent phone calls at exactly 3:45am.
Welcome to one of New Hampshire's most disturbing unsolved mysteries. Laureen Rahn disappeared from her Manchester apartment in April 1980 under circumstances that have baffled investigators for over four decades. What started as a possible runaway case quickly evolved into something far more sinister when mysterious phone charges appeared on her mother's bill months later—calls to California motels linked to a teen sexual assistance hotline and potentially to individuals connected with adult entertainment and child exploitation.
The eerie similarities to other disappearances in the area raise disturbing questions. Was there a predator targeting young women in Manchester? Suspected serial killer Terry Rasmussen lived just blocks away. Four other young women vanished within a short time and geographic radius. The phone calls that continued for years—silent callers using nicknames only Lorene would know—suggest she might have been alive somewhere, perhaps trying to reach out but unable to speak freely. Was she trafficked? Kidnapped? Or did something even worse happen that night when the hallways were plunged into darkness?
Join us as we examine the evidence, explore the theories, and shine light on this haunting cold case that continues to echo through the decades. Lorene would be approaching 59 today, and her mother still hopes for answers. If you recognize details from this case or have information that might help solve this mystery, please contact authorities. One tip could finally bring closure to a family that has waited far too long for answers.

Sources:

https://charleyproject.org/case/laureen-ann-rahn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Laureen_Rahn

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/601873/1

https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/the-disturbing-disappearance-of-laureenrahn

Music:

Crime Trap by Muza Production

Dark Music by Black Rose in Hell

Depression by Mood Mode

Gone in a Blink - Dial M for Missing: What Happened to Diane Augat

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:16.234

Mental illness is like a double-edged sword .

Speaker 100:00:20.060

On one end , it can manipulate you into believing things that simply are not true , creating a suffocating blanket of paranoia and delusion that completely alters a normal state of reality .

Speaker 100:00:37.301

On the other end , individuals with ill intention are draw