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Over the past three weeks, audiences have been stunned by some of America's unexplained and unresolved cases from grisly murders, mysterious disappearances and jaw-dropping supernatural events on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries.
The tragic case of Marie Elizabeth Spannhake, also known as Marliz, is the focus of the eighth episode of Unsolved Mysteries' third season, titled "The Ghost in Apartment 14."
In the episode, audiences are introduced to single mother Jodi Foster who claims that the flat she moved into in 2000 was haunted by the ghost of Spannhake, who has been missing since 1976.
Newsweek has everything you need to know about the case of Marie Elizabeth Spannhake.
What Happened to Marie Elizabeth Spannhake?
In January 1976, 18-year-old Marie Elizabeth Spannhake from Chico, California was reported missing by her then-boyfriend. She was never seen again.
Al Shamblin, a retired police chief of the Red Bluff Police Department, said on Unsolved Mysteries that on the night of her disappearance, Spannhake had argued with her partner, John Baruth after they had visited a flea market. She decided to walk home by herself.
Two days later when Spannhake failed to return to their shared apartment, Baruth filed a missing person's report. At first, Baruth was considered a suspect in Spannake's disappearance but there was no evidence against him. He also passed a polygraph test.
For almost a decade, there was no update on Spannhake's disappearance—until a woman named Janice Hooker contacted the Red Bluff Police Department with startling information.
On November 7, 1984, Janice Hooker told police that her husband, Cameron Hooker, had kidnapped and killed Spannhake on January 31, 1976.
After being granted immunity from prosecution for her cooperation in the investigation into Spannhake's disappearance, Janice Hooker said that she and Cameron had offered Spannhake a lift home. Cameron prevented Spannhake from leaving the vehicle and took her to their house, where he tortured her.
Janice Hooker told police she found Spannhake dead in their basement that evening. She said that she and her husband then took Spannhake's body to Lassen Volcanic National Park and buried her in a shallow grave.
Her remains have never been found.
Cameron Hooker denied any involvement in Spannhake's disappearance, and due to a lack of physical evidence, the District Attorney's office did not pursue a murder charge against him.
But one year after Janice Hooker went to the police, in late 1985, Cameron Hooker was sentenced to 104 years in prison for kidnapping and raping Colleen Stan in 1977.
Stan, 20, had been abducted just a little over a year after Spannhake disappeared.
She had been held captive by Cameron Hooker as a sex slave for seven years and was imprisoned in a box under the couple's bed for up to 23 hours a day. Janice Hooker told police they had kidnapped Stan when she was hitchhiking in 1977.
During captivity, Stan was beaten and raped and was also forced to clean and babysit the Hookers' children. Cameron Hooker told Stan that he was a member of a satanic organization called The Company, who would harm her family if she attempted to escape.
Stan was able to flee the home in August 1984 with Janice Hooker's help. Janice Hooker then went to the police fearing for her and her children's safety.
She was able to support Janice Hooker's claims about Cameron Hooker's involvement in Spannake's disappearance, telling police he had a picture of the 18-year-old in their home.
"Janice's reasoning to come forward was that she was afraid of Cameron and also Janice had a lot of guilt built up from what had occurred over the years at different times," Shamblin said on Unsolved Mysteries.
Today, Janice Hooker has a new identity and her whereabouts are unknown. Cameron Hooker remains in prison, with his parole requests having been denied over the years.
If you have any information regarding Spannake's disappearance, you can send a tip to unsolved.com/tips.
Newsweek reached out to Unsolved Mysteries for comment.
Unsolved Mysteries Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are streaming on Netflix now.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more