How We Got Started
And Then They Were Gone is the brainchild of Kona Gallagher. A Realtor in Loudoun County, Virginia by day, Kona has long held an obsession with true crime. In fifth grade, she adapted the true crime story, “Missy’s Murder” into a play, much to the chagrin of her teacher and the other students.
A few years later, Victor “J.R.” Shoemaker, Jr. disappeared in Leesburg, Virginia. J.R. was the son of the maintenance man at the apartment complex where Kona lived with her family. J.R. was never found. The case always stuck in her head and eventually became the catalyst to starting this podcast and the subject of the first episode.
Ethan Flick is a law enforcement officer and is an exceedingly patient husband who goes along with almost all of Kona’s crazy ideas. He doesn’t know anything about the cases prior to recording, but offers his thoughts based on his law enforcement career and prior experience working for Child Protective Services.