S3 Ep1: Vanished: Judge Crater "The Missingest Man in New York"

09/19/22 • 38 min

2 Listeners

August 25th, 1930, was the first day of the New York Supreme Court's fall term. But its newest judge didn't show up for court. Justice Joseph Crater's lifelong ambition was to be a judge. By all accounts, he was ecstatic at his recent appointment to the bench by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. But his seat on the bench this day was inexplicably empty. In fact, no one had seen justice crater in 19 days, when he cleaned out his office, cashed a couple of checks for a fairly large sum of money, had dinner with a friend then got into a taxi, never to be seen again.
He left behind a frantic wife, a veritable harem of mistresses, and a brewing political scandal, but no solid evidence as to where he might have gone, or what might have happened to him. Could justice Crater have been the victim of the political machine, blackmail, or his own hubris? Was this the work of organized crime or a random act of violence? Or did he simply walk away of his own volition and start a new life in Chicago, California, or Canada?
Season 3 has arrived.
Welcome to Vanished: Judge Crater.
Links

Our Website
Vanished on Twitter
Vanished on Instagram
Vanished on Facebook
Vanished Facebook Discussion Group
Vanished on TikTok
Jennifer Taylor on Twitter
Chris Williamson on Twitter
Music by Dane Gerous Schmidt
Opening Theme Lost by Tony Ann

Show Notes & Further Reading

Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York by Stephen J. Riegel
Joseph Force Crater Becomes the Missingest Man in New York @ History
Vanishing Point: The Disappearance of Judge Crater, and the New York He Left Behind by Richard J. Tofel
Joseph Force Crater @ Wikipedia

Our Website
Vanished on Twitter
Vanished on Instagram
Vanished on Facebook
Vanished Facebook Discussion Group
Vanished on TikTok
Jennifer Taylor on Twitter
Chris Williamson on Twitter
Music by Dane Gerous Schmidt
Opening Theme Lost by Tony Ann

Show Notes & Further Reading

Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York by Stephen J. Riegel
Joseph Force Crater Becomes the Missingest Man in New York @ History
Vanishing Point: The Disappearance of Judge Crater, and the New York He Left Behind by Richard J. Tofel
Joseph Force Crater @ Wikipedia

Previous Episode

S2 Ep14: Vanished: Henry Every "All Hail the Pirate King"

1 Recommendations

When we were last together, we spoke of DB Cooper, and the only unsolved case of air piracy in US history. Tonight, we take piracy to a whole new level. In the late 1600’s, in just a two year period, a single man would lead a mutiny aboard a ship named Charles the second, become the captain elect of that ship, and go on to have the most successful pirate career of anyone that ever lived. Like Cooper, he has no beginning. In fact, modern day scholars can’t even agree on when he was born. After the most successful raid of his short career, this man would vanish into thin air, leading to the first worldwide manhunt and a trial that would have an absolutely shocking ending. You really gotta hand it to those pirates boy. They don’t stand on ceremony, especially Henry Every. No this guy disappears into the vast oceans with a treasure that today could be worth north of hundreds of millions of dollars. Legend says that Every became so successful that he lived out his days in a legendary pirate city on Madagascar where the streets were paved in gold, and the riches were so vast, he need never be concerned with money again. Others, tell a different story. One thing’s for certain. No one ever found him. Maybe more importantly, no one ever found the treasure. The end of season 2 is upon us. Finally, it’s time to set sail. This is Vanished: Henry Every.
[Stay till the end of the show for a very special treat from Technofunkboy]
LINKS

Our Website
Vanished on Twitter
Vanished on Instagram
Vanished on Facebook
Vanished Facebook Discussion Group
Vanished on TikTok
Jennifer Taylor on Twitter
Chris Williamson on Twitter
Music by Dane Gerous Schmidt
Opening Theme “A Thief’s End” by Henry Jackman
Technofunkboy on Twitch
Colin Woodard appears courtesy of Mariner Books
Dr. Rebecca Simon appears courtesy of Mango Media
Eric Jay Dolin appears courtesy of W.W. Norton & Company

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

“Enemy of All Mankind” by Steven Johnson @ Amazon
Henry Every @ Wikipedia
“The Most Successful Pirate You’ve Never Heard Of” @ History
“The Elusive Henry Every” @ The History Press
Henry Every @ The Pirate King
Proclamation for Apprehending Henry Every Alias Bridgeman
“Silver Coins Unearthed in New England May Be Loot From One of The Greatest Crimes in History” @ Livescience

Next Episode

S3 Ep2: Vanished: Judge Crater "Judge Crater, Call Your Office"

2 Recommendations

Disappearances are always hard to understand.
Most of the time, we’re looking for someone that was taken from us against their will. Sometimes, they’re a mystery that we can’t explain. Every once in a while though, the disappearance is voluntary, and maybe that’s what we’re dealing with here.
Was Judge Joe Crater murdered? Or did he stage an elaborate exit leaving his wife, friends, and colleagues scratching their heads in frustration? On the night of August the 6th 1930, Crater stepped out of a well-known steak house and into a cab on the streets of New York never to be seen again. Or, maybe not.
In part two of our series, we’ll dig deeper into those questions, and we’ll try to make sense of the timeline leading up to August the 6th. Season 3 continues as we welcome you back to Vanished: Judge Crater.
Links