I love to see real journalism and this is a great example! Raguse is masterful not only in his pursuit of truth in this case but his method of presenting it to us.

Pam and Sherri vanished into thin air in 1971 on their way to a party. They weren't party girls so they were having trouble finding the place, stopped to ask a schoolmate, and were never seen alive again.

It was heartbreaking for friends and family but much like still happens today, the cops didn't take it seriously until it was far too late and then they just wanted to get it out of their hair.

What follows is a tale of persistence and pain. I actually hadn't known the later developments in the case so I was pleasantly surprised by that too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

When two teenage girls go missing, it is assumed by many, including law enforcement that they just left town and ran away. But decades will pass before the shocking conclusion of this story will be reached.

Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller were ordinary teens, just looking for a party that was going on outside of town. After stopping to visit one of the girls relatives in the hospital, they headed out to find the party but were unable to locate it. They asked directions, and began following another car toward where the party was, but the other car lost sight of them, assuming that they had either taken a wrong turn, or turned around.
As the years passed, there were many suspects, and the police went to drastic lengths to find who was responsible, and their methods were later critiqued heavily.

This was a riveting story, with several twists and turns that kept the reader engaged and waiting to see what was going to happen next. This was a heartbreaking story, and while I am glad it was able to be solved, the decades that it took caused the family a lot of grief and uncertainty.

This nonfiction book is a little different than your typical true crime book. Lou Raguse takes a look at a South Dakota missing persons cold case through the investigation, trial of an accused murderer, and the fall out when the truth is finally discovered. It is really difficult to describe this book without giving away the twists in this real life investigation. It left me shaking my head at the investigation and prosecution in the trial. I would definitely recommend, especially if you like your true crime books well researched and with a solid ending.

Thank you @tantoraudio and @netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

This book is more about the failures of the justice system than anything else. (So beware if you are looking for true "true crime"- it may disappoint)

This case is rare in that it shows both ways the justice system can epically fail. At first, the police literally do NOTHING. Decades later, while reviewing the cold case, they develop tunnel vision and do too much. It makes this story doubly infuriating.

My heart breaks for all the victims- and there are many in this tale. But there is closure for some of them, which is relieving.

The book is very well researched. The audiobook is narrated by the author, who does a good job.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

My true crime heart is exploding! I want the nitty gritty dirt. I want to feel like I’m on a couch with my best friend telling me some crazy, you won’t believe this story. Best friends never leave out the good stuff.
That is definitely the case with Vanished In Vermillion. I loved that I went in blind. Other than reading the book description i didn’t google the case so I had no idea what adventure I was on.
I listened to the audiobook which is also narrated by the author, Lou Raguse. He does an incredible job weaving together the story of what truly happened to Pam Jackson & Sherri Miller when they disappeared in 1971. Raguse’s research in the investigation uncovered how it failed from the beginning and an over eager cold case unit jeopardized the case over 30 years later. I won’t do spoilers but I did want to pull my hair out when it came to some of the suspects/informants.
I wanted and needed to know what happened to these two girls. I felt for the families who had to wait over 40 years for answers. This book was so well written and put together it made me feel like a close friend was telling me a story. No cliffhangers, no loose ends, all of my curiosities were answered with time. The writing style reminded me a little bit of Gregg Olsen’s true crime books. Which I’m a fan of. I really hope we get more true crime books from Lou Raguse.

TW- minor mention of rape/assault.

Thank you NetGalley, Lou Raguse, and Tantor Audio for providing me with an ARC audiobook for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I wish NetGalley allowed partial stars because this was definitely higher than a 4 but I try to reserve 5 stars for those lifechanging books that completely blew me away. I really enjoyed that the narrator was the author. You could tell he was invested in the story and particularly at the end could feel his emotion. I don’t want to spoil anything because I listened to this without knowing anything previously about the cold case and think it might be enjoyed best that way. It was not what I expected in a true crime book but I mean that in a good way! There was an unexpected “twist” to it that you don’t typically get with nonfiction. I would definitely recommend this to true crime fans.

I really enjoyed Vanished In Vermillion. Growing up in Northwest Iowa, I had never heard of this story. It was incredibly well researched and well written. The author has clearly spent a significant amount of time researching this disappearance from all angles. The narration was fantastic. The absolute incompetence and deception by law enforcement was shocking. The lives they ruined to fulfill an agenda made my stomach turn. It was horrible. The one negative criticism I would have is this - at times there was too much detail and the story got bogged down in various details that didn’t make a difference to the story.

I am a true fan junkie who grew up reading my mom's library books by crime queen Ann Rule. Finding a netgalley true crime book is an automatic request for me, and Vanished in Vermillion did not disappoint.

This book features a decades old disappearance of two high school girls in the 1970s from a small, safe town. Author Lou Raguse is a reporter who understood the assignment. He lays out the case in an informative, interesting manner pulling the reader in and making you want to know more.

My favorite part of this audio book was having the author narrate this story. A professional narrator wasn't needed to differentiate characters - we just needed someone to explain it to us. I love when the author narrates (looking at you Stephen King) because these are his words. Who best to emphasize the importance of some words, or comments, than the researcher who lived the case. Additionally, Raguse has a young sounding, everyday man voice who transports the listener back to the carefree 70s and kept my attention.

I'm now looking for more of his non-fiction work and can easily recommend Vanished in Vermillion.

And I'm not going into the story details because I went into this case cold and that's the best way to enjoy the journey. And, yes, as usual, I question what is wrong with me as a human that I like true crime.

I enjoyed listening to this on behalf of NetGalley, Lou Raguse, and Tantor Audio. I'm a big fan of true crime podcasts, especially ones that cover the behind-the-scenes sequences of cold cases. It's been known for some time that this case in Vermillion, South Dakota, was one of law enforcement's biggest upset embarrassments because of how little effort they put into looking for these missing girls.

For the first time, we get internal thoughts, feelings, and opinions from family members and descendants of Pamela Jackson and Cheryl Miller centered around this infamous night. Raguse sets the scene for the cultural climate during the mid to late seventies, setting up a prime example of what NOT to do in a missing persons case.

If you're a fan of solving true crime cases, Vanished in Vermillion is for you!