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348: The Missing Six & The Monster of Malherbe Street

·1 hr 8 min·4 clips
The magistrate called him a psychopath and a pathological liar — then sentenced him to four years, of which he only served three.
Hosts Jen and Cam detail the South African cold case of Gert van Rooyen and Joey Harhoff, a predatory couple who abducted at least six girls from the Pretoria area between 1988 and 1990. The case broke when 16-year-old Joan Boyson escaped their house using a MacGyver-inspired cooler-handle trick, leading to a high-speed police chase that ended in a murder-suicide. Despite dismantling the couple's house brick by brick and extensive forensic searches, the fates of the missing girls remain unknown.

As heard by us

A grim, conversational disappearance case with steady suspense and a wary eye toward suspicious behavior.

The episode sits on a string of disappearances in the Pretoria suburbs and keeps returning to the same uneasy fact: two women are gone. That simple turn gives the story its weight.

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Why you'd press play

A South Africa disappearance case where a familiar uncle and a few quiet weeks precede the vanishing.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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