Murder She Told is an award-winning true crime podcast that dives into the lesser-known crime stories from New England and beyond.

Rooted in deep research and the victims at the center of every story, Murder She Told will speak to any listener no matter where they call home.

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From CBC Podcasts. I'm David Ritten and this is the next call.

In September 1996, Melanie Ethie disappeared from Northeastern Ontario. Her mother's saline is still searching for answers.

I can't let it go. I need to find her. She deserves that much.

I follow every tip and every theory, investigations that could break wide open with the next call.

Available now on the CBC Listen app and everywhere you get your podcasts.

The opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect those of the Murderish Podcast.

Sensitive topics are discussed. Listener discretion is advised.

The Chicago area weather on Friday, January 8, 1993 was typical for that time of year. It was cold in the windy city.

The temperature had been between 6 to 26 degrees with snow falling off and on late in the evening. As businesses began to close and employees prepared to go home for the night, the workers in one particular restaurant did not know at the time that they would not be going home that night.

Hours after they began their closing routine, seven dead bodies would be discovered inside of Brown's chicken, a popular restaurant chain.

Upon entering the bloody scene, officer Ron Conley dispatched back up saying five in the cooler.

This tragedy was the worst mass murder in the Chicago area since 1966 when Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses in their dorm.

It would take nine long years for authorities to receive a break in this horrendous case.

This is Janie and you're listening to Murderish. Join me as I walk you through the case widely known as the Brown's Chicken Massacre.

The village of Palatine, Illinois is a suburb of about 30 miles northwest of Chicago. Founded in 1866, the village's motto is a real hometown.

In 1993, the Palatine Police Department had a stellar reputation and consisted of about 80 officers.

Good housekeeping magazine listed it as one of the top 10 police departments in the country. Prior to January 1993, there had only been one murder in Palatine within the previous four years.

On Friday, January 8, 1993, just a few minutes after the Brown's chicken restaurant in Palatine closed at 9 p.m., two customers knocked on the door, asking to be let in.

The owners of the franchise, Richard Ellen Felt, who went by Dick, along with his wife Lynn, and the five employees with them that evening were cleaning the store, preparing to go home.

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