Long Buried

In the final episode of Long Buried, we look at the suspicious real estate document signed more than a year after Karen Ramsey vanished. Did someone impersonate her to help cover up what happened? We also examine the fragile stories families and loved ones tell themselves to survive, and what it means when the truth surfaces too late for justice — but not too late to change how a life is remembered.

By most accounts, John Ramsey lived an unremarkable life. He grew up in Maryland, fought in the Vietnam War and sold insurance in Washington, D.C. and upstate New York. Through conversations with his first wife, his brother and others who knew him, reporter Phillip Pantuso pieces together a past that doesn’t neatly align with the suspicions now surrounding him. But one piece of evidence raises a disturbing question about Karen’s disappearance.

For years, Karen Angelillo Ramsey was defined by her absence: a woman who vanished and was quietly forgotten. In this episode, we piece together who she was before she was a victim: a shy girl, a restless young woman, a mother caught in a marriage that may have been unraveling long before she was killed. The memories are incomplete, but certain details linger. A scream in the night. Possessions discarded. Stories that don’t quite line up. Was the truth hiding in plain sight all along?

After finally identifying the victim as Karen Ramsey, our story turns to the life she left behind. Reporter Phillip Pantuso uncovers clues in old records, a deleted obituary, and the memories of those who knew her. Neighbors at the quiet suburban condo complex where she lived describe a tangled web of affairs, volatile relationships and a marriage that may not have been what it seemed. As that past comes into focus, unsettling questions emerge about what was really happening behind closed doors in the months before Karen disappeared.

As investigators struggle to identify the woman found buried in concrete, they chase a series of tantalizing leads, from notorious serial killers to one of America’s most infamous missing persons cases. Just when the trail goes cold, an unexpected phone call surfaces a name no one has been looking for and sets off a race to confirm a truth that could upend a family’s understanding of the past.

A construction worker’s routine dig in a quiet corner of the Hudson Valley uncovers something unthinkable: a body buried in concrete, hidden for decades. At first, investigators believe they’ve finally cracked one of the region’s most infamous cold cases. But the truth proves far more unsettling. Listen to more Times Union podcasts here.

After human remains were found during the construction of a new home in the Hudson Valley in April 2024, it took investigators nearly two months to identify them. When they did, the mystery only deepened. Through newly unearthed records, exclusive interviews and a meticulous examination of the evidence, Times Union reporter Phillip Pantuso confronts a haunting question: How does a woman disappear for 44 years, without anyone asking why?