Gone in a Blink
There are an estimated 8 billion people in the world. In the US, approximately 2,300 people go missing every day. While some of those cases may be of their own accord, others are because of something far more sinister. Gone in a Blink is a true crime podcast that dives head first into the most mysterious and terrifying missing person cases in existence. Hosts Heather and Danielle take a deep look into some of the most horrific missing person cases that will leave you on the edge of your seat and absolutely terrified at just how fast a person can be Gone in a Blink.
Gone in a Blink
Dial M for Missing: What Happened to Diane Augat
A desperate voice pleads from an answering machine: "Help, help, help, let me out!" For Mildred Young, this haunting recording of her daughter Diane would become the soundtrack to decades of anguish and unanswered questions.
Diane Augat's story reveals how mental illness creates vulnerability that predators exploit with devastating consequences. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s, Diane experienced a cascading series of losses—her children, her marriage, and ultimately her freedom through 32 involuntary commitments to mental health facilities. When she disappeared from Hudson, Florida in April 1998, few could have predicted the macabre discoveries that would follow.
What distinguishes this case is the apparent psychological game played by whoever took Diane. First came the desperate phone call to her mother's answering machine, then the discovery of Diane's severed finger along a highway, followed by her neatly folded clothes in a convenience store freezer. Two years later, a bag with her name containing personal items appeared at another store. These weren't just clues—they were taunts, deliberately placed to torment her family and baffle investigators.
The investigation revealed potential connections to Gary Roberts Evers, a local motel manager later imprisoned for murder, along with reports that troubled juveniles had taken advantage of Diane's trust. Witness sightings flooded in but led nowhere. Now cold for two decades, Diane's case exemplifies how those battling mental illness can fall through society's cracks, becoming perfect targets for those with the darkest intentions.
Do you have theories about what happened to Diane? We'd love to hear them. Subscribe to hear more stories of mysterious disappearances and help us bring attention to cases that deserve resolution.
Sources:
https://unresolved.me/diane-augat
https://charleyproject.org/case/diane-louise-augat
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/11/24/mother-clings-to-hope-for-missing-daughter/
https://morbidology.com/the-severed-finger-the-disappearance-of-diane-augat/
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Tense Dark Atmosphere by Universfield
Dark Ambient Emotions Music by Deus Lower
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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Mental illness is like a double-edged sword. On one end, it can manipulate you into believing things that simply are not true, creating a suffocating blanket of paranoia and delusion that completely alters a normal state of reality. On the other end, individuals with ill intention are drawn to this kind of vulnerability. Ill intention are drawn to this kind of vulnerability, using the mental illness in their favor to steal, cheat, torture or even kill. When Mildred Young's phone rang on April 15, 1998, five days after her daughter went missing, she could have never guessed just how important that missed phone call really was. Her answering machine, however, recorded what continues to this day to haunt her and play in her mind, leaving her to wonder what would have happened if she had made it to the phone. This is the case of Diane Agathe, and this is Gone in a Blank. Hey, true crime fans, I'm your host, heather, and welcome to episode 36 of Gone in a Blink. Danielle is off this week, probably enjoying a much-needed break. I'm sure Spring break is finally here and most of the kiddos in our area have already had their spring break. However, we are just now getting started. I think for some reason the Midwest starts theirs earlier than either one of the coasts and I'm not really sure why that is. I know we have a lot of listeners from all over the world, so I'm really curious when do you start your spring break? So today's case is one out of Hudson, florida. Today we are talking about the case of missing mom Diane Augette. So if you're ready, let's jump right in.
Speaker 1:Diane Louise Young was born on February 21st 1958 to parents James and Mildred Young in New York. Diane grew up in New York but ended up relocating to Tampa, florida, with her family. While she was young she built some strong roots in the Tampa area and by the late 1970s she had met whom she believed at the time to be the love of her life, a man by the name of Frederick Agathe. The two became engaged and then soon married, and in the beginning everything was picture perfect. Diane became pregnant with the couple's first child and decided to become a stay-at-home mom. She wanted to take care of her child herself and really be a constant in this child's life. She went on to have two more children with Frederick and in all the couple shared two daughters and one son.
Speaker 1:By the late 1980s, diane's life began to shift, as well as her mental health, and she was soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She was prescribed medication for her disorder. However, she wasn't always compliant with taking her meds and after long periods of neglect her mental health really started to decline. In 1988, diane began seeking medical care for one of her children to an excessive degree, and this was for treatments that were deemed absolutely unnecessary. This is an illness known to many as Munchausen by proxy. So soon after, the children were removed from Diane's custody, and even though she was acquitted of all charges, it was pursued further by the Department of Children and Families, and this was consequently the beginning of the end for Diane. In 1991, frederick filed for divorce from Diane and regained custody of all three of their children, and the love that Diane had for her children was larger than life. So this was pretty much what launched Diane into a downward spiral and really took a toll on her mental health.
Speaker 1:Over the next several years, diane spent time in and out of jail and mental health facilities. Several years Diane spent time in and out of jail and mental health facilities, and most of her time spent in mental health facilities were from being involuntarily committed. According to an article published by the Unresolved webpage, diane's brother-in-law, al Finkelstein, recalls quote she's constantly talking to herself, you can tell right away she's ill unquote. During this period of time is when Diane began turning to alcohol as well as drugs, in an effort to kind of ease the pain of losing her children. It was reported that Diane had been committed to mental health facilities at least 32 times under the Baker Act, and the Baker Act basically allows a judge or police officer or a doctor to decide whether or not a person is considered mentally ill enough to pose a danger to themselves or others.
Speaker 1:By 1998, diane was faced with yet another involuntary trip to the mental health facility, where she was committed against her will. When she was finally released in the spring of that same year, she was released to her family. However, many of her family members felt that she should never have been released. Diane began staying with her sister in Hudson after her release from the mental health facility and, even though she still had a house located in Odessa, her family felt that it was just best for her to be around her loved ones in the hopes of getting her life back on track and maybe even possibly getting her children back.
Speaker 1:Just two weeks after Diane's release, on the morning of April 10th 1998, diane's sister left the house for a doctor's appointment. This would be the last time she would ever see Diane. When she returned home later that afternoon, Diane was not there. It was later reported that Diane had left her sister's home around 11 am on the morning of April 10th. She was spotted later that day at a bar along Little Road and State Road 52 called the Hayloft Tavern. The bartender recalls Diane being there until she was forced to leave. According to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, diane's mother, mildred, stated quote the bartender cut her off because she was walking in circles. To my knowledge, that was the last anyone saw her, except for the one who took her unquote. The following day, on April 11th, diane's family filed a missing persons report.
Speaker 1:Mildred and her family had grown accustomed to Diane disappearing here and there, and usually for no longer than a couple of days. However, this time was different and Diane had been gone for longer than what she had in the past. Then, on April 15th, five days after Diane was last seen, mildred would discover a haunting phone message on her answering machine. In this recorded call, a woman could be heard on the other end begging for help. She can be heard saying, quote Help, help, help, let me out. Unquote. Help, help, help, let me out. Unquote. The woman sounded scared and it sounded as if she was struggling to keep hold of the phone. Then the woman could be heard saying quote hey, give me that. Unquote. After that, the call is abruptly stopped. There was no doubt in Mildred's mind that the phone call was made by her daughter. Mildred then attempted to call the number back. However, no one ever picked up the phone. The name on the caller ID indicated that the number the woman called from was connected to a business. The name showed up as Starlight on the caller ID.
Speaker 1:Later that same day, around 4 pm, a human finger was found by a woman walking to work along US Route 19 near New York Avenue. The woman couldn't believe her eyes and she questioned whether or not the finger was even real. So the next day, after telling her boyfriend, the couple went back out to the location to locate the finger even real. So the next day after telling her boyfriend, the couple went back out to the location to locate the finger. The fingernail had been painted with red nail polish. The woman's boyfriend immediately called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, who arrived shortly thereafter on the scene. After searching databases authorities were able to quickly match the fingerprints to that of Diane Agat.
Speaker 1:Authorities immediately headed back out to the area where the finger was found to search for any clues that could lead them to Diane. To search for any clues that could lead them to Diane, they conducted a helicopter search of the area and hiked through what felt like miles of terrain. However, their search efforts were unsuccessful at finding any sign of Diane. Pasco County spokesman John Powers was quoted as saying when Diane did not take her medication correctly, her personality would change, and during these bouts she was known to hang out with a pretty rough crowd.
Speaker 1:Then, on Saturday, april 18th 1998, a very bizarre discovery was made at a local convenience store where Diane would often frequent. Convenience store manager Patricia Blendorio happened to come upon a pile of neatly folded clothing inside an outdoor freezer. Patricia knew Diane and therefore she recognized the clothing as being hers. She reached out to Diane's sister who confirmed that the clothing was in fact Diane's. Police had no way of knowing when the clothing had been placed in the freezer due to the fact that the convenience store staff hadn't been in the outdoor freezer in approximately three weeks prior to finding the clothes. So this is really sounding like a game at this point that the abductor is playing with authorities as well as with her family.
Speaker 1:First Diane's mother, mildred, gets a phone call from whom she believes to be Diane. Now, whether or not her abductor put her up to making that phone call in an attempt to tease Mildred, or maybe Diane was able to get access to a phone and then tried to call her mother for help, I feel like that could have gone really either way. But then you have Diane's severed finger that is found alongside the road, and now you have Diane's clothes neatly folded in a pile in an outdoor freezer of a convenience store that she was known to frequent. So I guess my first question is does that freezer have a lock on it allowing maybe only staff to access it? There was nothing that I found that detailed what type of freezer this was, but I would assume if it was the type of freezer that held food and stuff like that, it would have some sort of lock so that the public just you know couldn't go ahead and get in there and access it whenever they wanted to. Or was this an ice freezer where you pay for the ice inside the store and then you go in to the freezer and grab your bag of ice and be on about your way. I mean, those types of freezers are not locked, at least during store hours. So it seems like if this was a freezer that remained locked, it would narrow down the possibilities of who could have placed those clothes in that freezer.
Speaker 1:Also, I was wondering about surveillance cameras. Now, authorities did announce they were going to view security footage. However, nothing further was ever announced after that. So you would certainly think that the store had surveillance cameras facing the freezer, right, I mean. But however, this was back in the 90s, so who knows how well the footage would have been anyway. And what is always the response given when asking any business for surveillance video? The response given when asking any business for surveillance video Our cameras aren't working. That is one of those things that makes me cringe when I hear in any case, that's the one thing, the one thing that could lead investigators to the victim or at least to the person responsible, and it's the one thing that could solve the case. And their cameras are never working, ever. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:So then, another strange discovery was made on November 25th 2000 at another local convenience store frequented by Diane and her family, diane's brother's girlfriend, a woman by the name of Terry Wilson, walked into the local Circle K convenience store on Highway 19 near Hudson, and there, sitting on top of the lottery counter, she spotted some random items inside a plastic bag, and it looked totally out of place, obviously. So she looked closer and saw that written on the bag in black marker was the name Diane. So, realizing that this could have something to do with her boyfriend's missing sister, terry grabbed the bag of items and raced back to her boyfriend's house to show him what she had just discovered. The items found inside the bag consisted of black eyeliner, hot pink lipstick, taboo perfume if anybody remembers that and toothpaste. It was later discovered that the toothpaste was the exact same brand issued to patients by the mental health facility that Diane had been committed to. So yet again, this is just another way for the abductor to toy with authorities in Diane's disappearance.
Speaker 1:But obviously they are not too worried about surveillance cameras catching footage of them. I mean, it's very bold to go into a public place and put a missing woman's possessions out in plain sight or in a freezer. It makes me wonder if there was a reason they weren't too concerned about someone seeing them. I mean, I don't know. Maybe they knew that the cameras weren't working. I actually don't know if the cameras were working or not, but for some reason they weren't concerned with surveillance cameras catching them on tape.
Speaker 1:And I would also like to know more about this business that showed up on the caller ID when Mildred received that call, from whom she believed to be Diane, the name that showed up on that caller ID was Starlight. I find this extremely strange in the sense that it was in fact a business. This raises so many questions. What type of business was this? Did this business have working surveillance cameras? What type of business was this? Did this business have working surveillance cameras? Who had access to this place? As always, there are probably a lot of things that investigators are holding close to the vest, and rightfully so. It just feels like with each question we have 20 more questions that come up up.
Speaker 1:So it was reported that before Diane disappeared, she had been hanging out with a group of individuals who were involved in a lot of criminal activity. It is believed that Diane had allowed these juveniles to hang out and occupy her home at times while she was away, and it didn't take long for these juveniles to invade her trust and begin stealing from her. Investigators believe that it could be these juveniles that were placing her items around town. Investigators did not say, however, if they believe the juveniles were responsible for her disappearance. And maybe they could be responsible for placing her items at the convenience stores in a tasteless attempt to play a cruel joke. I guess you know that is very, very possible.
Speaker 1:Since Diane's disappearance, several witnesses have come forward claiming to have seen Diane in the days after she went missing. One of those witnesses was a woman who had claimed to have seen Diane on April 11th between the hours of 3 and 4 pm, walking along New York Avenue. This was the same area in which Diane's severed finger was found. Another witness claimed to have seen Diane on the day that her mother received the anonymous phone call. This witness was a waitress at the Inn on the Gulf in Hudson. Neither one of these sightings have been confirmed by police, and this is so hard too because so many times witness sightings start flooding in after someone goes missing, and while I believe it is so important for police to take every witness sighting seriously, unfortunately so many of them end up being BS, and I don't just mean sightings where people actually think it is the victim and it ends up not being the victim. I'm talking about the people that call in and are just wanting attention or they're just playing a cruel joke and I think that happens far more than we realize and it makes it very hard for police because they have to check those tips and when you have a lot of BS tips that come in it slows down the investigation dramatically.
Speaker 1:So Diane's case is strongly connected to that of another case, a man by the name of Gary Roberts Evers who was convicted of a motel shooting three years after Diane's disappearance. So basically on Wednesday June 27th 2001, around 4 am, two men wearing black ski masks barged into the office of the Coral Sands Motel in Hudson Florida. And basically the Coral Sands Motel in Hudson Florida and basically the Coral Sands Motel was a cheap motel frequented by drifters and those who were troubled. The two men broke into the office and hit Rose Casper, who was the hotel manager, in the face. Rose yelled for her boyfriend, who was Gary, and he came running. But the two men were able to get away. So the motel office was also dubbed as a trailer and Gary and Rose they lived in that trailer.
Speaker 1:So the following evening on June 28th, gary Evers would invite the man that he believed had hit his girlfriend in the face the night before. That man was 26-year-old Todd Cammers, who had a long history of burglary and other criminal offenses. Gary invited him into the office slash trailer and held him at gunpoint with a 9mm pistol. He then proceeded to interrogate Todd on whether or not he was the one who hit Rose the night before, and it is not clarified exactly how Todd responded, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that he probably denied having been there the night before. At that point it didn't even matter what he responded, because Gary then proceeded to open fire, emptying two entire magazines into the body of 26-year-old Todd Cammers. Two days later, 52-year-old Gary Robert Evers was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. So up until then Evers had no prior criminal history. It was later revealed in court that Todd Cammers, the 26-year-old who was brutally murdered by Gary Evers, had nothing to do with the robbery at the Coral Sands Motel. Cammers had actually just gone to the motel that night in an effort to clear his name because he knew that Evers suspected him in the robbery. Evers was sentenced to life in prison and remained there until his death in May of 2012.
Speaker 1:So, as I mentioned, there are links between Diane's case and Gary Evers' case, it seems. Diane's family mentioned that Gary Roberts Evers was one of the suspects that investigators were looking at in Diane's disappearance, and the hotel that he co-managed, the Coral Sands Motel, was one of Diane's last known locations and was located just a short distance from where she was last seen alive seen alive. It was also reported that this location was close to the location where the plastic bag containing Diane's belongings were found just seven months earlier. So that is quite a lot of similarities between the two cases. Now, not saying that Gary Evers had anything to do with Diane's disappearance, but you can't ignore all the similarities that go along with that. So I guess at this point we will never know, since Gary passed away, but it is definitely a possibility.
Speaker 1:Diane's mother, mildred, said that Diane was a very trusting person and liked men with money. She loved camping, fishing and listening to music. Some of her fondest memories before she fell ill were of her time spent camping and boating with her family. She was once a housewife who doted on her three beautiful children and kept an immaculate home. She was a mom, she was a daughter and she was a person whose life had meaning. There has been no activity in Diane's case in almost two decades. No activity in Diane's case in almost two decades, unfortunately adding her case to a long list of cold cases.
Speaker 1:Diane was born on February 21st 1958. She is a Caucasian female with dark hair and blue eyes. She is five foot four inches tall, weighing 130 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white tank top, blue shorts and white sneakers. She has a bipolar disorder and is required to take medication. However, she did not have it with her when she went missing. She may be using her maiden name, young. Her fingernails were painted coral colored at the time of her disappearance and her ears are pierced. She has a scar on her abdomen and tattoos on her back and right shoulder and I am actually just catching this as I am reporting this right now but it was initially reported that the severed finger found on the side of the road was painted red.
Speaker 1:I don't know if any of our listeners caught that. I'm sure you probably did too. However, it's reported that she was last seen wearing coral color nail polish. So I don't know. Could that simply be a mistake? I don't know. True crime sleuths. Tell me what you think. Thank you for listening to another episode of Gone in a Blink. If you like our show, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and we love when you follow us on any of our social media sites and I will post those links in our show notes. And if you have an idea for a show you'd like us to cover, drop us an email at goneinablinkpod at gmailcom. And, last but not least, please remember be safe, be smart and try not to blink.
