December 9 - The Disappearance of Joan Bernal

On this day in 1988, 34-year-old Joan Yarbrough Bernal was supposed to be hitting the road with her husband and children for a holiday trip from Joliet, Illinois, to Texas. Instead, she vanished without a trace—and was never seen again.

Her husband, Gilbert “Gil” Bernal, has long claimed that Joan walked away from her life during the road trip. But Joan’s children and investigators believe the truth is much darker—and that Joan may never have made it out of Joliet.

In this episode, we trace Joan’s story: her life as a devoted mother of five, the troubling history of domestic abuse in her home, and the suspicious timeline of events surrounding her disappearance. We explore the initial 1993 murder charge against Gil that was later dropped, and how, decades later, the case has been revived with new forensic efforts and national attention thanks to Cold Justice.

Thirty-seven years on, Joan’s body has never been found, and no one has been held accountable. But her children—and cold case detectives—still haven’t stopped searching for the truth.

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