She Goes by Jane: A True Crime Podcast4 Marras 2025

108: Missing in Portland: Yolanda Panek

Yolanda Panek was a rising star—a record-breaking athlete, Rose Festival Court representative, and mentor to dozens of middle school girls in Portland’s science and math programs. But in July 1995, the 21-year-old mother vanished without a trace. The next morning, her car was found abandoned with her two-year-old son inside, unharmed, and evidence pointed to a shocking case of intimate partner violence.

In this episode, we examine the investigation into Panek’s disappearance, the evidence that led to her killer’s conviction despite her body never being recovered, and the lasting legacy she left through programs supporting survivors of domestic violence.

📍 Portland, Oregon | July 1995

📖 Featuring an original poem written in her honor, read by Milcania Diaz-Rojas (40 acres Homekilling Queen)

➡️ Help bring attention to missing women like Yolanda—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 Milcania Diaz-Rojas:

Milcania Diaz-Rojas is a rising Dominican-Canadian actor and writer based in Toronto. Milcania secured her debut role in the HBO feature film SHARE. Since then, she has starred in several notable film and television productions, including HOMEKILLING QUEEN (Lifetime), THE BOLD TYPE (Freeform), and SLIP (Roku).

As a 2023-2024 alumna of the prestigious CBC Actors Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre, Milcania made her writing debut with the short film ZURY. Her performance in the film has garnered significant attention, winning several awards and nominations.

Most recently, Milcania can be seen in her leading role in the post-apocalyptic thriller 40 ACRES, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, and is now streaming on HULU. She has also taken on a leading role in the indie film FAT LADY SRIRACHA that has yet to be released.

With her dedication to her craft, Milcania Diaz-Rojas is establishing herself as a dynamic force in the entertainment industry.

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Jaksot(148)

148: Hernando County Jane Doe: The Women Who Vanished Before Her, Part 1

In 1980, Pam Sherrell escaped a violent attack by a man who abducted her and tried to kill her. He evaded capture, but her escape would set off a chain of events that revealed a much darker story unfo...

18 Elo 34min

147: The Missing Women of Pinellas County, Pt 2: Margaret Dash, Retha Hiers, and Donyelle Johnson

He was finally caught. Just not for the women.For years, Cleveland Hill Jr. was connected to the disappearances of Margaret Dash, Retha Hiers, and Donyelle Johnson, three women who vanished from Pinel...

11 Elo 31min

146: The Missing Women of Pinellas County, Pt 1: Margaret Dash, Retha Hiers, and Donyelle Johnson

Three women disappeared from Pinellas County, Florida over the course of fifteen years.They came from different backgrounds. Their lives followed different paths. But their disappearances would eventu...

4 Elo 40min

145: San Diego’s Lost Women, Episode 3: The Jane Does

Law enforcement called some of San Diego's missing and murdered women "NHIs," short for No Humans Involved. It was police slang used to describe victims they believed didn't matter.By 1988, the number...

28 Heinä 59min

144: San Diego’s Lost Women, Episode 2: Mary Colette Rawlinson

In October 1985, 19-year-old Mary Colette Rawlinson walked out of a home in San Diego, California, telling her boyfriend she'd be right back. She was never seen again.As more women disappeared from El...

21 Heinä 44min

143: San Diego’s Lost Women, Episode 1: Cynthia Maine

In the 1980s, dozens of women disappeared from San Diego, California. One of them was 26-year-old Cynthia Maine.Cynthia was a daughter, sister, mother, and woman trying to survive addiction while work...

14 Heinä 58min

142: The Only Missing WASP: The Disappearance of Gertrude Tompkins Silver

On October 26, 1944, Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins Silver took off from Mines Field in Los Angeles in a P-51 Mustang on what should have been a routine ferry flight.She never arrived.Gertrude was one of t...

7 Heinä 44min

141: The Disappearance of Ilonka Cann: A Coroner’s Jury Speaks

On May 26, 1970, twenty-six-year-old Ilonka Cann vanished from the rural Pennsylvania farmhouse she shared with her husband and fifteen-month-old son.The day before, she had spoken with her parents in...

30 Kesä 49min