I'd like to share a warning before we get into today's story.

This episode talks about the abduction, assault, and murder of a little girl.

By now you know me well enough to know that I do not share the more difficult details about cases like this.

Nonetheless, at times it is a difficult story to hear,

and I wanted to make sure that you were fully aware before we get too deep into the episode.

About an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

there's a town that all but banned Halloween.

In 1992, the town of Oil City, which sits west of the Allegheny National Forest, experienced

a horrific tragedy a few days before Halloween.

For many children in the United States, Halloween starts before October 31st. There are

Halloween parades at school, at least in the younger grades and elementary or primary

schools. If you're a boy scout or a girl scout there are often

Halloween events for your troops. Friends have Halloween parties. Dance and

karate classes often have special days where children attend classes in their costumes.

Churches and other organizations host events called Trunk or Treat, where instead of going door to door dressed as a princess or a goblin, children go car

to car in a designated parking lot where participating families decorated the trunks of their

car and those open crevices are filled with sugary treats.

It's not uncommon anywhere in the United States to find children celebrating Halloween a few days early.

Those events could be found 20 years ago

and you'll still find them today.

On October 27, 1992, 11-year-old Shauna Howe

had a Halloween event with her Girl Scout Troop after school.

...