The Ongoing Search for Answers — A 'Missing in America' Panel

Dateline: Missing In America

NBC News

True Crime

4.4 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For years, Dateline’s 'Missing in America' series has highlighted the stories of the missing and the families who won’t stop searching for their loved ones. Now, four seasons into the podcast — and for the 12th anniversary of the digital series — we’ve brought together some of the people we’ve met along the way for a candid, emotional conversation. You’ll hear from family members like Travis Ware and Sue Quackenbush, from loved ones-turned-advocates like Rachel Barth and Colleen Nick, from retired detective Nan Trogdon, and from MMIWP advocate Raven Payment. Together, they share what they’ve learned in their ongoing fight for answers and offer guidance for others walking the same difficult path. Learn more about the cases mentioned in this podcast. The Disappearance of Alexis Ware: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/dateline-missing-america-podcast-covers-january-2022-disappearance-alexis-ware-n1297966 The Disappearance of Danielle Lopez: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/dateline-missing-in-america-podcast/danielle-lopez-disappearance-new-jersey-rcna211887 The Morgan Nick Case: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/mother-missing-morgan-nick-still-fighting-bring-her-home-fbi-n1283729 The Disappearance of Kent Jacobs: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/dateline-missing-in-america-podcast/dateline-missing-america-podcast-covers-march-2002-disappearance-kent-rcna87155 The Tyler Goodrich Case: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/dateline-missing-in-america-podcast/dateline-missing-america-podcast-covers-november-2023-disappearance-ty-rcna163022

Transcript

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0:00.0	12 years ago this week, we at Dateline posed a simple question on social media.
0:07.8	Have you ever known someone who has gone missing? We did not expect that the response would be
0:14.8	overwhelming. Since then, Dateline has covered hundreds of missing persons cases for our online digital series,
0:22.9	and for the podcast, it spawned, both called Missing in America.
0:29.0	I need answers.
0:30.7	I'm her only voice.
0:32.4	Each story is different.
0:34.5	However, when you speak with the people involved, the parents, the siblings,
0:40.0	the friends, you will hear some common threads, heartbreak, confusion, and often a determination
0:48.3	that does not fade with time. Somebody somewhere knows what happened.
0:53.6	Missing in America began as a way to shine a light on the stories of the missing.
0:59.0	Now four seasons in, we gathered some of the people we met along the way to find out what they
1:05.0	have learned in an often agonizing search for answers, and what advice they have for others walking the same difficult
1:14.2	path. I'm Josh Mancoitz, and this is After the Verdict, a series for our Dateline premium subscribers.
1:23.8	I want to welcome all of you to this special panel. This is family members.
1:29.4	This is advocates.
1:30.8	This is a former detective.
1:33.0	So just to get everybody up to speed, Sue Quackenbush is the mother of Danielle Lopez.
1:38.5	She disappeared last year in central New Jersey.
1:42.5	It was agonizing and overwhelming, tragic, unfair.
1:49.3	Dan Trogden is a retired detective in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and she investigated
1:55.6	the disappearance of a guy named Kent Jacobs.
	...

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