Revelations in new Max documentary shed light on cold case of teen missing for 32 years

Screengrab via YouTube

Of all the unsolved missing teen cases over the years, the one involving Jenny Lynn Pandos is one of the strangest. Pandos disappeared from her bedroom in her home in Williamsburg 32 years ago, and there are still no leads or clues after all these years. A new documentary is coming out that may change that. It’s called Burden of Proof.

Before we get into that, here’s a quick refresher on the case: Pandos was 15 and lived at home with her parents Margie and Ronald Pandos. She had an older brother who was away at college named Steven. On the morning of February 10, 1987, Margie Pandos didn’t hear the shower running, which was strange because it was something her daughter did every morning.

Jenny’s door was locked and when her parents opened it both their daughter and her purse were missing. There was a note on the pillow as well. The note started in the third person: “Your daughter’s with me. She’s fine. She’s having some problems and needs time away.”

Then it switched to first person: ”I’m fine, I just need time to think. Both of you please go to work tomorrow ‘cause I will try to call you. I won’t call you at home, only at one of y’all’s work. Do not call the police. I can easily find out if you do. I may never come back home. Don’t tell my friends about this. Just tell them that I’m sick.”

The parents waited three days, which is very shady, and then called police. Deputy Chief Steve Rubino told Dateline NBC that Jenny was left-handed and may have written the note with her left hand. Foul play was not suspected, and she remains missing to this day.

The new documentary follows her brother as he searches for the truth of what happened. His main suspects: his parents. He thinks they did something and aren’t telling anyone what really happened.

“I’m Jennifer’s brother,” he says in the trailer for the doc. “I’ve reached out to an attorney about whether I could sue my parents for the death of my sister.”

Steven Pandos goes on to say that “everything I’ve been told was a lie” about Jenny’s disappearance. “I think my mother knows what happened and my father scared her to keep this a secret.”

What may be the weirdest thing in a very personal documentary is that Steve also talks to his parents about the whole thing and tells them on camera that he thinks they are involved. Heavy.

“You really think I did it,” Steve’s father says. “Yes,” he replies. If you’re a true crime fan, I imagine you’re going to like this one. Check out the trailer below.

The four-part Burden of Proof premieres June 6 on Max.

About the author

Jon Silman

Jon Silman is a stand-up comic and hard-nosed newspaper reporter (wait, that was the old me). Now he mostly writes about Brie Larson and how the MCU is nose diving faster than that ‘Black Adam’ movie did. He has a Zelda tattoo (well, Link) and an insatiable love of the show ‘Below Deck.’