In 2017, a mom calls 911 to report that her eldest daughter - 15 yo Ellie - and her ex-husband, Aaron are missing. A welfare check at the house reveals a gruesome crime scene... but no victims. Detectives have to work quickly find the person or persons responsible if there is any chance of saving a life.

Frances Choy was just weeks away from graduating from high school when her whole world came crashing to the ground. In a matter of minutes, her parents perished in a house fire and she and her nephew barely escaped with their lives. And if that wasn't enough of a shock... within a matter of hours Frances was arrested for murder.

In 2010, family man Rusty Sneiderman had just dropped his young son off at pre-school when a stranger walked up to him and shot him at point-blank range. Eyewitness reports enabled detectives to get the make and model of the car the perpetrator used, which led them to a very unlikely suspect. Just one lingering question remained… did he act alone?

In 2018, the Farris family was well-known in Alpharetta, GA, sometimes more for the internal family strife that earned them the nickname “The Farris Wheel.” But when family patriarch Gary’s remains were found in a burn pit, investigators knew the perpetrator might be someone close to him.

In 2009, a graduate student at Yale University was reported as missing. Her roommates alerted police – and her fiancé, who was living in New York – within hours of not hearing from her. But despite a building covered by more than 75 cameras, and key card entry required into most of the rooms, 24-year-old Annie Le seemed to just vanish into thin air.

In 2009, for a new generation of tweens, teens and young adults, the boogeyman was given a face… sort of… and a name… Slenderman. By 2014, it was part of the public lexicon, but tragically, although it had been debunked, two young girls in Wisconsin believed this fictional horror story to be true. And the outcome was devastating for everyone involved.

This is Part 2 of our three-part series that delves into the challenges and risks facing females in the foster care system. We continue to speak with Monique, who is the founder of Arise for Girls, a non-profit that was established to provide girls in foster care with the skills and resources needed to become successful and productive adults. We also continue speaking with Marina, who was a teenager in foster care and became a victim of the trafficking that is so prevalent among these girls. In this episode, she’ll finish her story.

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month and this week we are releasing three special episodes about the challenges facing females in the foster care system. Abuse and trafficking are very real experiences, and we speak with two women who are bravely sharing their stories. We also talk with a woman who founded a nonprofit called Arise for Girls, which was established to provide a safe place, loving homes and promising futures for abused and neglected children, teens and young adults.