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)

Lisa Irwin

Deborah Bradley put her 10 month-old daughter to bed in their Kansas City, Missouri home on October 3, 2011. When her husband came home in the early morning hours of the 4th, he noticed that the door...

3 Juli 20161h 11min

Evelyn Hartley

Evelyn Hartley was only 15 years old when she disappeared while babysitting. When her father came to check up on her, he found all of the doors locked and an open basement window. Over the next few ...

26 Juni 201620min

Vilet Torrez

Vilet Torrez was a 38 year old, loving mother of three who had recently left a volatile relationship. She was last seen by a surveillance camera at the entrance to her gated community in Miramar, Flor...

20 Juni 201644min

Katherine and Sheila Lyon

On March 25, 1975, Katherine and Sheila Lyon walked to a shopping mall to look at Easter exhibits and eat lunch. They were last seen on the route home that afternoon. Update- In 2017, Lloyd Lee Welch ...

8 Juni 201640min

Louis Mackerley

On June 7th, 1984, 7 year-old Louis Mackerley vanished from Allentown, Pennsylvania. This case is full of bizarre twists but no trace of Louis has ever been found. If you have any information about...

2 Juni 201622min

Ireland's Vanishing Triangle - Part 2

Eight women disappeared without a trace from the eastern part of Ireland between 1993 and 1998. Authorities have gone to great lengths to solve these cases but have not had any luck finding evidence....

12 Maj 201624min

Ireland's Vanishing Triangle - Part 1

11 Maj 201638min

Jhessye Shockley Part 2

Five-year-old Jhessye Shockley was reported missing on October 11, 2011. She was last seen at her home in Glendale, Arizona. This is part two of Jhessye's story. This episode features Brooke, a child ...

29 Jan 201653min