Robert and Benjamin Moore were best friends and brothers who spent most of their time together. They were smart and good-looking and both were naturally funny. In fact, it was rare to see either of them without a smile on his face. Like most boys their age, they liked to tease their little sister, play video games, and ride their bikes.

When Robert and Ben disappeared on the morning of August 30, 1993, their mother Roberta had left the house to care for her elderly father who lived nearby. The boys’ father, John Moore, was home with their three children. When John called Roberta to tell her that the two boys were missing, she rushed home. From that day forward, her life was a daily struggle with the deep visceral pain of loss and confusion.

Join us at the quiet end for Close to Home: The Disappearance of Robert and Benjamin Moore. John Moore’s behavior that day and his recollections of what happened should have been a cause for concern and suspicion by investigators, but they somehow accepted implausible conclusions. Today we’ll analyze the religious obsessions and small-town politics that led to a botched investigation. In doing so, we’ll search for reasons why two innocent brothers were taken from their mother and their young, promising lives were ended so close to home.