Erased: The Murder of Elma Sands
Jun 10, 2026 · 8 min · 6 segments
In the woods outside Carmel, New York, a hunter finds the bones of a twelve-year-old girl. She had been missing. The people meant to protect her had looked the other way. Police set their sights on…
Paul SolotaroffHost
Peter EricksonGuestNo entities detected.
[instrumental music plays] On November 22nd, 1995, a hunter named Peter Erickson walked the woods of Carmel, New York, 50 or so yards in from Fields Lane.
It was the first day of hunting season in Putnam County, and the two friends were setting up a tree stand that morning.
He's afraid of heights, so he was handing me stuff, and I was up in this tree.
And all of a sudden, I look out in the road, and there's, like, 20 cop cars pull up, you know, all at once.
Though Carmel's the county seat of Putnam, it's still a pretty small town, enough so that Peter knew some of the cops who swarmed the woods that morning.
Pat Castaldo, a detective for the Putnam County Sheriff, was straight out of a drugstore novel.
He slicked his hair back in a tight pompadour and wore a top coat even when it was warm.
Oh, and he moonlighted on weekends as an Elvis impersonator in several of the local dives.
It was, like, an acquaintance that we knew from working there in the jail periodically doing electrical work.
So as they were coming in, I say, "Hey, Pat, how you doing? What's going on?" And he goes, "Well, somebody found something in the woods."
Earlier that morning, another hunter had stumbled over something in those woods.
[instrumental music plays] On November 22nd, 1995, a hunter named Peter Erickson walked the woods of Carmel, New York, 50 or so yards in from Fields Lane.
It was the first day of hunting season in Putnam County, and the two friends were setting up a tree stand that morning.
He's afraid of heights, so he was handing me stuff, and I was up in this tree.
And all of a sudden, I look out in the road, and there's, like, 20 cop cars pull up, you know, all at once.
Though Carmel's the county seat of Putnam, it's still a pretty small town, enough so that Peter knew some of the cops who swarmed the woods that morning.
Pat Castaldo, a detective for the Putnam County Sheriff, was straight out of a drugstore novel.
He slicked his hair back in a tight pompadour and wore a top coat even when it was warm.
Oh, and he moonlighted on weekends as an Elvis impersonator in several of the local dives.
It was, like, an acquaintance that we knew from working there in the jail periodically doing electrical work.
So as they were coming in, I say, "Hey, Pat, how you doing? What's going on?" And he goes, "Well, somebody found something in the woods."
Earlier that morning, another hunter had stumbled over something in those woods.
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