Some cases appear straightforward at first glance. A late-night crash on a quiet road, a damaged car,

and a victim who doesn't survive. It's the kind of situation people think they understand,

and the kind that often gets explained quickly and filed away just as fast.

But sometimes there are details that do not quite fit.

They can be easy to overlook in the moment, a position that does not make sense,

damage that does not match the outcome,

and a version of events that works on paper

but feels incomplete when examined more closely.

In 1977, that is exactly what happened in Middletown, Rhode Island.

For years, what followed was accepted as a tragic accident,

until it wasn't.

I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of Carol Ann Barlow on Dark Down East.

It was around 10 p.m. on June 12, 1977, and a husband and wife were driving southbound on West Main Road in Middletown, Rhode Island.

It was dark, with only the occasional set of headlights coming towards them in the opposite lane. As they were about to

pass the car dealership at 70 West Main, they noticed a vehicle coming toward them in the northbound lane.

The car didn't have its headlights on. That was enough to catch their attention. As it got closer,

both of them looked more carefully, trying to get a better sense of what

they were seeing.

And that's when it became something harder to explain.

From where they sat, they couldn't see anyone behind the wheel.

No outline of a driver, no movement, nothing to suggest that someone was actually controlling the vehicle.

The driver's seat looked empty in the darkness.

...