Sarah James McLaughlin

At a young age, Sarah James McLaughlin was often left unattended at her grandparents’ house. There, a small bookcase sat in the hall, its library littered with her grandmother’s collection of true crime and tabloid murder tales. Despite her initial aversion to the genre from being terrified of what she read in the books, this core memory turned out to be a formative moment in her life.

Her mother’s side of the family had a penchant for discussing crime, including the WVU Coed Murders, which became a recurring theme in her life, and up until the time her boyfriend (now husband) took a two-week vacation to Spain, the coeds’ murders seemed more like a legend with its nameless victims and a mysterious boogeyman. While he was away, the vague memory of that crime surfaced and she decided to look into it and find out what was legend and what was fact. Soon, the victims no longer remained nameless and the revelation of the Triangle Letters not only deepened the mystery, but hooked her into searching for more. It became an obsession.

Looking to find more answers, McLaughlin published a synopsis of the case on Reddit which was crossposted to Facebook and passed on to author Geoff Fuller. She also shared the story in person with new friend and podcaster, Kendall Perkinson. These two events serendipitously led to the creation of the “WVU Coed Murders” podcast and eventually the book.

McLaughlin currently co-produces with Perkinson the Appalachian Mysteria podcast that examines unresolved murders in the Appalachian region. She also hosts The Opportunist under PodcastOne that presents cases of extreme abuses of power.