MISSING: Ben Smart and Olivia Hope (Patreon)

On New Year’s Eve 1997, Olivia Hope and Ben Smart were celebrating the new year at a party in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. But when the bunk on their rental yacht was taken over by other party-goers, they accepted an offer to sleep aboard a neighboring boat. They climbed aboard that stranger’s boat between 4 and 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day -- and were never seen again. Police are confident they got the man responsible for Ben and Olivia’s disappearance and likely murder, but even two decades later, the mystery around this case remains.    

Sources for this episode:

New Zealand Herald: Chasing Ghosts: Murder in the Sounds

CrimeCo: Sounds like murder 

Investigate Magazine: The Scott Watson Case: What Really Happened to Ben and Olivia?

NZ Herald: Lone drifter seethed with resentment

NZ Herald: Bright lights, young love

TVNZ: Olivia Hope’s dad says of resurfaced photo, “It’s a long shot”

Stuff.co.nz: New claims emerge but no trace of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope has ever been found

The full interview: Gerald Hope and Scott Watson

The Big Read: The case that gripped the nation