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A Normal Disappearance

A Normal Disappearance

By: Andrea Munday
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When James F. Sarsfield, a plumber at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School, left Normal, Illinois, for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, he was never seen again. Produced and hosted by an aunt and her two teenage nieces, A Normal Disappearance blends family history, detective work, and small-town storytelling to uncover what happened to James — and why his mystery still matters today.

Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. True Crime
Episodes
  • What's Normal, Anyway?

    What's Normal, Anyway?
    Sep 9 2025

    We travel back to 1939 to uncover what life was like in Normal, Illinois—the town James Sarsfield called home before his disappearance. From walking the orphanage grounds to digging through museum archives and family graves, we begin to piece together the world James lived in and the community he left behind.
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    30 mins
  • Alone

    Alone
    Aug 19 2025

    In 1939, James F. Sarsfield, a plumber at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School in Normal, Illinois, left for the New York World’s Fair and never returned. In this episode of A Normal Disappearance, hosts Andrea Munday, “Aunt Sissy", and her teenage nieces, Finley & Piper, introduce James’s case and their family’s special connection to the orphanage.
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    24 mins
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