ABC Revisits Putnam County School Girls Cases

A two-hour 20/20 episode examines two unsolved disappearances and the convictions later overturned in related cases.

Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Secondary Education

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a distant courthouse facade and flagpole against rolling hills under a muted navy and cream sky, evoking a quiet institutional stillness. — ABC's two-hour 20/20 episode revisits the unsolved 1990s disappearances of Josette Wright and Robin Murphy in Putnam County, New York, and the overturned convictions that followed. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

ABC's two-hour 20/20 episode, titled 'Hiding Beneath the Surface: The Putnam County School Girls,' examines the disappearances of Josette Wright and Robin Murphy, both of whom remain unsolved. The episode airs from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday and is also available on Disney+ and Hulu.

Why it matters

Two men convicted in the 1997 trials spent years in prison before their convictions were overturned and they were acquitted. The episode revisits witness testimony that later witnesses said had been shaped by investigator pressure, raising questions about the original investigations.

The episode runs two hours, from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday, and is also available on Disney+ and Hulu. Josette Wright, 12, disappeared in October 1994 and her remains were found 13 months later, while Robin Murphy, 17, was last seen in April 1995.

The players

ABC

ABC is a major American broadcast television network owned by The Walt Disney Company, known for its long-running newsmagazine 20/20.

The details

The episode examines the original investigations, disputed witness testimony, and allegations of coerced confessions. Witnesses who implicated the two men later said they had been pressured by investigators.

October 1994: Josette Wright disappears from Carmel.
April 1995: Robin Murphy is last seen at the Route 52 plaza.
1997: Two men are convicted in separate trials and sentenced to 25 years to life.
2016: One of the men is acquitted at his third trial.
February 2023: The other man is acquitted following a retrial.

Legal Context

The case echoes a pattern seen in later reviews of coerced witness testimony, in which convictions resting on pressured accounts were reversed years after sentencing. Such reversals have prompted scrutiny of how investigations in upstate New York were conducted during that era.

The episode airs Friday from 9 to 11 p.m. and can be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu. Viewers in New York and beyond can watch the full broadcast without a separate ticket or purchase.

The takeaway

Convictions built on witness accounts can be fragile, and reviewing how testimony was obtained matters for anyone following criminal cases. Readers interested in the case can watch the episode on Disney+ or Hulu to see the evidence presented.