Don't Talk to Strangers Vol. 1

January 26, 2026·37 min·3 clips

Officers found Judy Farrow face down in the snow, with boot prints leading to an empty lot and no clear suspect in sight.

The warning comes first. The host says plainly that this account involves the murder and sexual assault of children, then brings the listener into a Detroit area still living with fear. Nine children were murdered over 15 months. Three cases were resolved. Six were not, and the lack of answers still sits heavy. The first part feels close to home. The host remembers being a young girl during the killings, catching headlines and adult whispers while the whole community tightened up. That memory gives the episode its frame. This is case work, yes, but it is also about what fear does to families and neighborhoods. Judy's story carries the first weight. She is described as responsible, studious, smiling, and familiar, the kind of girl people call the girl next door. Then the episode turns to the investigation. Evidence at the Lott home and Lola Valley Park leads investigators toward Gary Perwinkler. His family cannot square that accusation with the person they knew. They believe Gary is a victim too, while law enforcement pursues kidnapping and capital charges against the missing 19-year-old. The search spreads beyond the area. On April 7, 1976, Gary's remains are found in mid-Michigan near a handgun matching the caliber taken from home. His death appears to be suicide. The host walks through the official reconstruction with care: entry into the Lott home, an attack, a forced walk through snow, and Judy found face down in the park. That answer does not settle much. Gary's background, his Air Force plans, and the absence of known criminal behavior or mental illness leave both families with awful questions. January becomes the hinge. A brutal, cold month opens into a longer horror for Metro Detroit, with younger victims still ahead and years of misinformation to come.

As heard by us

A measured, devastating look at a community still living with unanswered child murders.

Metro Detroit's 1976 child-murder cases give the episode its weight, and it makes that scale clear early: nine children killed in fifteen months, three cases resolved, and six still unanswered.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a grave Detroit true-crime opening with a listener-discretion warning.

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