Replay: Joan Bernal Part 2

Joan Bernal's episodes originally aired in October 2020. In December of 1988, Joan Bernal, her husband, and their children had plans to leave their home in Joliet, Illinois, and head to Texas to visit her husband’s family for the holidays. Things didn’t go as planned, and they weren’t able to bring Joan’s children from a previous marriage due to custody issues. According to Joan’s husband, Gil, they decided to make the trip anyway. He later told investigators that Joan became upset during the drive and that he dropped her off near a bus stop in McAlester, Oklahoma, and gave her cash so she could return to Illinois. The plan, he said, was for Joan to pick up her other children and then fly to Texas to meet them. Joan Bernal has never been seen or heard from again.

Over the years, this case has been marked by conflicting accounts, unanswered questions, and lingering uncertainty about what truly happened to Joan. Investigators and Joan’s loved ones have wrestled with whether she could still be alive, whether foul play was involved, and why no verified trace of her has ever surfaced.

Update:

In December 2025, 37 years after Joan Bernal was last seen, the case took a significant turn. A Will County grand jury returned a sealed indictment charging Joan’s husband, Gilbert Bernal, with first-degree murder in connection with her disappearance. Stay tuned through the end of Part 2 for more details on the recent developments in this case.

If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.

Follow The Vanished on social media at:

Facebook

Instagram

Patreon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(555)

Gabriel Cordova Tejada

On February 22, 2018, 20-year-old Gabriel Cordova Tejada disappeared from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Gabriel was a mechanical engineering major at the University of South Florida and had a m...

26 Nov 201856min

Jacob Boyd

36-year-old Jake Boyd disappeared from his Columbus, Ohio apartment in January of 2017. The last time he spoke to family was on January 5th but his roommate claims to have seen Jake leave on the 11th....

19 Nov 201834min

Katelin Akens

On December 1, 2015, Katelin Michelle Akens flew across the country from her home in Arizona to visit her family in Virginia. She had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of her nephew, and wanted to...

12 Nov 201850min

Thomas Profitt

On May 3, 2006, 45-year-old Thomas Profitt disappeared from Winchester, Kentucky. He had told his daughter, Amanda, that he was going to come visit her and his newborn granddaughter in the hospital. T...

5 Nov 201848min

Michele Lyn Hundley Smith

At 8:30 PM on December 9th, 2001, 38 year-old mother of three, Michele Lyn Hundley Smith, told her family that she was going Christmas shopping. She left the home in Stoneville, North Carolina in her ...

29 Okt 201844min

Brookley Chantille Louks

On June 24, 2002, 19-year-old Brookley Louks arrived home and realized that her Greenwood, Indiana apartment had been burglarized. She called 911 and police came to take a report. After that, she left...

22 Okt 201848min

Khadijah Britton

On the evening of February 7th 2018, 23-year-old tribal member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Khadijah Rose Britton was visiting a friend. She lived in the small Mendocino County community of Cove...

15 Okt 201837min

Dan Jarski

62-year-old Dan Jarski disappeared from Grant Park, Illinois on September 9, 2018. That morning, he fed his dog, took the key to his van and his driver’s license and left. Dan left his wallet and cell...

8 Okt 201839min