Witches, Magic, Murder, & Mystery · Megan and Kara

358. MYSTERY: Where is Lydia Perkins?

·25 min·1 clip

For two years, Lydia Perkins is treated as a runaway before the case is reclassified as endangered missing.

The episode opens with a local lead that reaches the hosts through Lexington chatter and Facebook groups. They quickly realize the case feels close to home, both geographically and in age. The focus settles on Sherry Thompson, who lights a candle every December for her daughter Lydia. Lydia was 14 when she disappeared in Cardinal Valley in Lexington, Kentucky. The hosts frame that ritual as the emotional center of the story. They treat it as an ongoing vigil, not just a symbolic detail. From there, the episode moves into the few facts that are publicly available. The hosts do not have a full police timeline to work from. They say that some people may have seen Lydia on the walk home. They mention that there may have been a phone call. They also note that Lydia’s younger brother remembers the panic around her disappearance. Those fragments become the structure of the discussion. The story is built from absence as much as from evidence. The hosts spend time on what kind of kid Lydia was. They say she was not someone who stayed gone. They describe her as the sort of teenager who would let her parents know where she was headed. That makes the disappearance harder to understand. It also pushes back against the idea that she simply ran away and started over. The conversation keeps returning to the sense that something interrupted an ordinary evening. The hosts do not let the listener drift away from that possibility. They walk through a few plausible scenarios. Lydia may have accepted a ride from someone. She may have taken a shortcut behind a building. She may have crossed paths with someone dangerous near Londonderry Drive, Rugby Road, or the corner of Rugby and Piccadilly. The hosts are careful not to pretend certainty where there is none. They keep the speculation grounded in place and behavior. That makes the uncertainty feel sharper, not softer. The episode also acknowledges how little of the investigation is available to the public. The hosts say they do not have the kind of day-by-day police records they usually like to work from. They note that some information may exist elsewhere. Even so, they work with what they can confirm. That limited record gives the episode an unfinished feeling. It mirrors the case itself. The story stays open because the facts stay thin. The tone remains warm, sad, and conversational throughout. The hosts react in real time to the gaps and contradictions. They sound frustrated by how little can be pinned down. They also sound protective of Lydia’s family. The conversation keeps returning to the mother standing watch, which gives the episode a steady emotional line. The grief is not treated as background. It is the point. Near the end, the hosts shift from recounting to urging action. They name the Lexington Police Department. They mention Bluegrass Crime Stoppers. They also point listeners toward the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the NamUs file. The final appeal is simple: say her name out loud, and tell someone if you know even a small detail. The episode closes on that plea, with the case still unresolved and the family still waiting.

As heard by us

A Lexington missing-person story shaped by grief, place, and a mother's yearly candle for Lydia.

This episode follows a Kentucky missing-person case through a local lens, with December in Lexington, a mother lighting a candle each year for Lydia, and the search tied to Cardinal Valley and nearby streets.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a Lexington missing-person case that feels painfully close to home.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Witches, Magic, Murder, & Mystery