MISSING: Jennifer, Sidney, & Monique
When a young mom and her two small daughters disappear without a trace from Topeka, Kansas, in May 2000, her family goes on a decades-long hunt for answers. But right in the middle of our reporting, the family gets a huge tip that could change everything.
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From left to right: Jennifer Lancaster, Sidney and Monique Smith.
Credit: Lancaster family photo
Jennifer Lancaster.
Credit: Lancaster family photo
Sidney and Monique Smith.
Credit: Lancaster family photo
Vicki and Jessica Lancaster.
Courtesy: Vicki Lancaster
Missing person’s poster for Jennifer, Sidney, and Monique.
Courtesy: Vicki Lancaster
Steak ‘n Shake thank-you card and coupons.
Courtesy: Vicki Lancaster
John Robinson.
Credit: Kansas City Police Department
Timeline:
Jennifer Lancaster and her daughters, Sidney and Monique Smith, are reported missing.
Jennifer’s car is found abandoned, and all personal property belonging to her had been removed.
Misty Glen Apartments
Where Jennifer and her daughters were last seen by her mother, Vicki Lancaster.
Apartment Complex
Where Jennifer’s abandoned car is found.
Please contact the authorities if you have any information:
Topeka PD
If you have any information about the disappearances of Jennifer Lancaster or Sidney and Monique Smith, please reach out to Topeka PD at 785-368-9551.
KBI
You can also submit a tip to KBI directly online or by calling 1-800-572-7463.
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Taylor Day.
- Courthouse News Service (Kansas City, MO): Death Penalty Upheld for Kansas Serial Killer by Emma Gannon. Published November 9, 2015. Accessed May 10, 2025. https://www.courthousenews.com/death-penalty-upheld-for-kansas-serial-killer/
- Investigation Discovery Crimefeed: The Internet’s First Serial Killer: John Edward Robinson, The ‘Internet Slavemaster’ by Catherine Townsend. Accessed May 10, 2025. https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/serial-killer/the-internets-first-serial-killer-john-edward-robinson-the-internet-slavemaster
- The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO): Two murder charges presented by Richard Espinoza and Tony Rizzo. Published June 16, 2000. Accessed May 10, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/686437561/?match=1&terms=john%20edward%20robinson
- The Topeka Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS): KBI says these 40 people remain unaccounted for after going missing from Shawnee County, by Tim Hrenchir. Published October 2, 2021. Updated October 4, 2021. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/2021/10/02/missing-persons-topeka-area-among-those-listed-kansas-bureau-investigation-website/5932760001/?fbclid=IwAR3BxlrErVhttCAjbMv1OI7HvsNKrx1F7t9cpQJDWTxLktAZ8WMT7AyhKk0
- The Topeka Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS): After daughter and babies disappeared 23 years ago, Vicki Lancaster still doesn’t know what happened by Tim Hrenchir. Published April 10, 2023. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2023/04/10/topeka-police-still-seek-tips-in-2000-disappearance-of-jennifer-lancaster/70075896007/
Suggested Episodes
MISSING: Gregory ‘Keith’ Mann Jr.
It’s the kind of detail that lingers: a meeting, just after midnight… that no one can explain.
In May 1997, 20-year-old Keith Mann was building a future—new apartment, new job, new fiancée. But sometime after being dropped off at home late that night, Keith stepped back out into the dark to meet someone. By morning, he was gone. The only thing left behind was a borrowed car from the dealership he’d been working at. Found abandoned in a church parking lot right next to his parent’s home.
Decades later, that midnight meeting is still a mystery. No one has ever come forward. If you remember Keith or anything about his life in Wichita Falls in 1997, his family is still searching for answers. You can share information or memories through the Missing Mann Project website or connect with them on the Missing Mann Project Facebook page, where they continue to keep Keith’s story alive – and hope that one day, the person he went to meet will finally be known.
MISSING: Melissa Casias
In June 2025, Melissa Casias dropped her husband off at work in Los Alamos, New Mexico… then did something nobody expected. She turned around and drove home. By that afternoon, she had vanished, leaving behind her wallet, her keys, both of her personal phones wiped to factory settings, and a family already splitting in two over what to believe. Her husband, Mark, insists she walked away on her own. Her parents and siblings are certain something far worse happened to her. Surveillance video proves she was alive walking along Highway 518 that day. But where she went next – and why – is a question that only deepens the further you pull at it.
MISSING: Darrel “Bubba” Johnson Sr.
At a busy campsite one summer night, Darrel “Bubba” Johnson Sr. says goodnight and zips up his tent. By sunrise, he’s gone.
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