In July 1995, 15-year-old Elyse Pahler vanished from her quiet neighborhood in Nipomo Mesa, California. At first, authorities assumed she had run away. But the truth was far darker.

Lured into a eucalyptus grove by three teenage boys she thought she could trust, Elyse became the center of a crime that shocked the nation — a killing the perpetrators claimed was a “sacrifice” meant to empower their death metal band. For nine months, her family searched. Flyers were printed. Tips poured in. But Elyse was never far from home.

In this episode of The Ritual Rewind, we examine the disturbing case of Royce Casey, Jacob Delashmutt, and Joseph Fiorella — teenagers obsessed with Satanic imagery, violent lyrics, and occult symbolism during the height of America’s lingering Satanic Panic era. We explore h ...