130: The Girls Who Never Came Home: Mary Rodermund, Bertha Gould, and the Morgan City Murders

In the spring of 1978, a series of disappearances shook the small town of Morgan City, Louisiana.

Sixteen-year-old Mary Rodermund vanished after leaving home to run a simple errand. Hours later, her parents received a phone call—it was her kidnapper. He put Mary on the line, and she assured them she was okay. It would be the last time anyone ever heard from her.

Weeks later, nineteen-year-old Bridget Cantrell Sons disappeared from the grocery store where she worked. When police arrived, her cigarette was still burning. Seventeen-year-old Gordon Canella Jr., who had been with her, was also missing. 

Then, in May, fourteen-year-old Bertha Gould and fifteen-year-old Judy Ann Adams left a school fair together. A witness saw the girls get into a car with a man.

Authorities would eventually connect these cases to Robert Carl Hohenberger, a former California sheriff’s deputy who had a history of violent assaults and was living in Louisiana under an alias. Investigators believe he used his position and perceived authority to gain the trust of his victims.

In this episode, we examine the disappearances of Mary Rodermund and Bertha Gould, the murders of Judy Adams, Bridget Cantrell Sons and Gordon Canella Jr., and the unanswered questions that remain decades later.

📍 Morgan City, Louisiana  | 1975

📖 Featuring an original poem written in their honor, read by our host, Aimee Baker

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