Shadow of the Past

We've presented a lot of fun and challenging cases since our launch in 1995 — so many, fact, that some of our favorite ones have been unavailable online for years.

Now, we're proud to bring you this classic case from 1998. Can you solve it as efficiently as our early viewers did?

What happened?

On April 11, 1958, Richard and Lisa Izard were found murdered outside their Yoknapatawpha County residence.

Their young children — Ricky, age 6, and LeAnne, age 2 — were missing.

The murders were never solved, and Ricky and LeAnne were never found.

In 1998, Doris Hammack of Detroit, Michigan, came forward claiming to be LeAnne Izard.

Can Ms. Hammack shed new light on this long‑cold investigation or is she up to something else?

Help investigate the case

The Shadow of the Past case documents are presented in chronological order in the Case Files.

• Click the Evidence, Interview, Biography, or Press tag at the top of the Case Files page to filter by document type.
• Click the Day tags at the top of the Case Files page to filter case documents by the day they happened in the investigation.

Want more info? Check out the Crime Scene FAQ

Where do you start?

If this is your first look at the investigation, you may want to start with the Case Recap or one of these case documents:

• Press coverage of Doris Hammack's claim
• 1958 sheriff's department incident report
• Biographies of the Izard family — Richard, Lisa, and Ricky & LeAnne
• Interview with the postman who found the bodies

Want access to all of the case documents as soon as they're available? Become a Case Detective today.