Re-Release: Kristine Kupka

And Then They Were Gone

Little Monster Productions

Documentary, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.6 • 747 Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2025

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode originally aired in May 2021

No one in Kristine Kupka’s life was a fan of her ex-boyfriend, Rudy Persaud. But on October 24, 1998, when she told her roommate she was going to meet up with him so he could show her his new apartment, she understood why Kristine was trying to maintain a friendly relationship— Kristine was five months pregnant with their child. But what was supposed to be a pleasant afternoon followed by brunch turned into a 20+ year nightmare for the Kupka family, because Kristine never returned home. And despite a contentious relationship and the fact that he was the last person seen with Kristine, Rudy Persaud has only given a single interview to police since 1998, and Kristine’s case remains unsolved.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	October 24th, 1998 was an unseasonably warm day in Brooklyn, New York.
0:06.3	28-year-old Christine Cupca was going out with her ex-boyfriend.
0:10.1	The pair had barely begun dating when their relationship ended suddenly.
0:14.5	But they had recently started talking again, and on this day, he told Christine that he was
0:18.8	going to show her his new apartment in Queens.
0:21.4	He was talking reconciliation, and while Christine didn't seem to be too interested in that,
0:27.1	she did want to stand good terms with them. After all, she was five months pregnant with their child.
0:33.2	What was supposed to be an afternoon out and a possible new beginning turned into a mystery
0:37.9	that has lasted over 20 years. Christine never returned home that day and the last person who
0:43.9	was with her, Rudy Persad, isn't talking. When a person goes missing, there's a special kind of
0:50.6	pain in the not knowing. I want to tell the stories of those who never came home.
0:55.2	I want to tell you the story of Christine Cupca. I'm Conan Gallagher. And I'm Ethan Flick. And this is
1:01.5	And then they were gone. Okay, so right away, I just wanted to say that I feel like this story is pretty close to you for several reasons.
1:35.4	A, 28, five months pregnant, you were 27 when you had your first child.
1:42.1	You are also living in New York at the time, not in 1998,
1:45.6	obviously, but at the same age.
1:47.8	That's really creepy that you already brought that up because there are so many more
1:53.8	similarities that really freaked me out as I was doing this.
2:00.2	Yeah, and those are just like the two, you know, main ones, but no, there are more Okay. As I was doing this. Yeah.
2:04.0	And those are just like the two, you know, main ones.
2:05.0	But no, there are more.
2:05.7	It goes on.
	...

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