83: Tosho Handa

The podcast episode tells the heartbreaking story of Toshiro Hander, a three-year-old who went missing from his home in Fairfield, California, in 1984. Toshiro was raised in a large blended family, known for being active and friendly. One day, his mother, Linda, left the children in the care of his older sister and her boyfriend while a relative, Hank, stayed illegally in the home. After waking up the next morning, Linda discovered Toshiro was missing. She found the window open, raising alarms.

Initially, the police dismissed her concerns, speculating that Toshiro must have wandered outside. However, a ransom note quickly changed the narrative. The note demanded $25,000 for Toshiro's safe return and prompted the police and the FBI to become involved. After a failed attempt to collect the ransom, the investigation faced multiple dead ends, even as suspicions grew around the last adult to see Toshiro, Michael Ferheran, who had a troubling past.

Thirty years later, amidst new investigative approaches, Ferheran was linked to the abduction and ultimately confessed to Toshiro's murder, claiming it was an accident after kidnapping him for ransom. Despite being sentenced, Toshiro's body was never found, leaving the family devastated yet working through their grief by helping others and seeking closure about what happened to him.