Hooked

In June of 2015, Rachel Dolezal was found to be a white woman pretending to be Black. The discovery imploded her life, a life that she is still having trouble putting back together. But lying about her race wasn't the first big lie she'd told. Claiming to be Black followed a lifetime of little lies... a pattern she has yet to break.    SOURCES: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-spokane-naacp-ra...

Belle Gunness has a reputation as one of the first female serial killers. By placing personal ads in newspaper, protraying herself as a successful farmer, she lured men to her with promises of marriage. But as soon as the men arrived, they were never heard from again.   SOURCES: https://www.historynet.com/belle-gunness-poisonous-pen/ https://murderpedia.org/female. G/g/gunness-belle.htm https://en...

In 1917, cousins Elsie and Frances used the excuse of fairies to get out of trouble with their mothers, and even presented photo evidence. To them, it was all a bit of fun, but when the adults around them- including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle- became obsessed with the photos, the girls realized they may have gotten in over their heads. 

On September 11th, 2001, the United States experienced a terrorist attack. One of the victims was Tania Head; not only did she nearly lose her life in the collapse of the World Trade Center, but her fiance Dave died that day. Despite her grief, she became the leader of the Survivor's Network, a group that was created to connect those who had made it out of 9/11 alive. Through Tania's efforts, Netw...

Tomi Masters was excited when she found the Snapchat of rapper Mac Miller and he answered her DM, telling her she was beautiful. After a few weeks of chatting, the two arranged to meet. When Tomi found out that the person behind the account was not Miller, but a young man named TJ Woody, she decided to continue the date to see what happened...

CW: Child abuse, suicidal ideation, sexual assault JT Leroy became famous almost overnight for his novel SARAH, a fictionalized version of his upbringing with his sex worker mother who later forced him into sex work. But as he published more and his fame grew, people started to wonder who JT Leroy really was.

After Klara Maurovna and her two sons moved in with her sister Katerina, Katerina suggested they foster a child. Anicka was 13 years old and the sisters worked hard to get her the medical attention she needed, as well as give her a good home. But Klara noticed that sometimes, Anicka acted like an adult. What she'd discover later was that Anicka had ties to a cannibalistic cult and had a history of...

Manti Te'o was a college football star, which makes this story of catfishing all the more embarassing for those involved. After mentioning online girlfriend Lennay in an interview, the football community kept an eye on the relationship. When Lennay died from leukemia, they raised money for cancer research and mourned with Manti.  Then, Lennay came back from the dead. 

TW: Sexual assault When Jess moved to a new town at the age of 15, she was relieved to quickly make friends with two other girls, Alice and Gemma. Gemma being two years older and out of school, Jess and Alice spent more of their time together. This included online in MSN chatrooms, where Gemma introduced them to her boyfriend's brother, Aaron. Aaron and Alice started seriously dating, and later, J...

TW: Suicide, domestic violence, stalking When Renae Marsden and Camilla Zeidan met at the age of 14, Renae's life took a downward turn. Camilla was a bad influence, but as the teens got older, Camilla became and abuser and a stalker. She made it clear that she was in love with Renae, despite Renae having no interest in her, or women in general. Renae, trusting as she was, happily linked up with on...

When 17 year old Jessie reacted poorly in the chatroom when Tommy told her he was 46 years old, he said he was just joking and was 18. The two spent almost a year chatting online, talking on the phone, and having virtual sex. In addition to Tommy, Jessie was also talking to a college student named Brian, which incensed Tommy. Eventually, Tommy decided that Brian had to be taken out of the picture.

Chris, a CIA agent, is sent to Mountain City, Tennessee to keep 30 year old Jenelle Potter safe from some mean girls in town who have been hacking her Facebook. As time goes on and the Potter parents worry about their daughter's safety, they tell Chris that they want him to kill one of Jenelle's alleged tormentors, Billie Jean Hayworth. When Billie Jean actually IS murdered, the police discover th...

Despite growing up lower middle-class in Bavaria, Germany, Christian Gerhartsreiter found himself living high life on both coasts of the United States in his adulthood. He managed this by lying his way through everything- and if he was caught, he just threw that life away and began another one.

Cecilie Fjelloy met Simon Leviev on Tinder in January 2018. A month into dating Simon asked her to link her American Express to his because his business "enemies" were tracking his movements. By May 2018, he had convinced Cecilie to take out ten more loans. When Cecilie finally cut him off, she found out that she was hardly his only victim. SOURCES: https://www.vg.no/spesial/2019/tindersvindleren/...

CW: Suicide, stalking   In Australia, three women- Emma, Jess, and Catherine- were being stalked and manipulated by the same man. It would take concrete threats toward the women and their families to convince the police that their lives were in danger.   SOURCES: https://www.mamamia.com.au/lydia-abdelmalek-catfish/ https://www.mamamia.com.au/lydia-abdelmalek/ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-11...

After Mark meets Rachel West in an MSN chatroom, he is devastated when she is kidnapped and murdered by another MSN chat group member. Luckily, Mark has Rachel's stepbrother John to lean on.  

#MeTooSTEM, a Twitter movement created by Dr. BethAnn McLaughlin, was an internet gathering place for all the STEM women online to congregate and support one another. BethAnn's right-hand woman, known only by her Twitter handle, @Sciencing_bi, was always there to retweet and support BethAnn's latest project. But when COVID hit in March of 2020, Sciencing_bi blamed her getting it on her employer, A...

13 year old Megan Meier had just started a new school after being bullied at her previous one. Missing her friends, she created a MySpace. Megan's parents took all the right precautions: only they had the password, they had to be in the room while Megan was signed on, and they had to approve all friend requests. But even with all their safety precautions, a boy named Josh Evans slid into Megan's D...

Treva Throneberry was 25 when she enrolled at Evergreen High School, saying that her name was Brianna Stewart and she was 17. Over the past few years, Treva had bounced from city to city using different names and staying with foster families, always claiming to be a teenager. She told tall tales of Satanic ritual abuse, murder, and sexual assault. People believed her, but for how long? www.patreon...

In 2015, a new singer called Lucia Cole released her debut album. She had allegedly worked with famous singers and claimed her godfather was Shaquille O'Neal. After people realized that Lucia's music was actually repurposed Jessica Simpson songs, one would think she'd step out of the spotlight... but Lucia did just the opposite. www.patreon.com/hookedthepod https://www.popculturediedin2009.com/pos...

CW: Childhood sexual abuse, suicidal ideation Known as the Lonely Hearts Killers, Raymond Martinez Fernandez and Martha Beck traveled around the US fleecing hardworking women of their money and valuables. Eventually, when a few of them gave them too much trouble, the couple turned to murder.   www.patreon.com/hookedthepod

CW: This episode contains discussion of suicide Mark Drybrough and Nadia Kajouji both completed suicide after being sent instructions on how by a friend on the internet. But who was this friend really, and why did they encourage dozens of people online to kill themselves?   www.patreon.com/hookedthepod   SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Francis_Melchert-Dinkel https://www.gq.com/story...

In a preview of what patrons will receive as bonus episodes, Rachel tells the story of the murder of Cynthia Hoffman.  On June 2, 2019, Cynthia Hoffman was found dead in a popular park in Anchorage, Alaska. Her best friend Denali seemed upset, but soon it would be revealed that she was being blackmailed into murder by her online boyfriend. Tyler. Want more bonus episodes? Become a patron at www.pa...

When documentarian and journalist David Farrier discovered Competitive Endurance Tickling by accident, he contacted the organizer about doing a piece on them. Instead of declining politely, Jane O'Brien Media began a harassment campaign full of intimidation and homophobic slurs.  Undeterred, Farrier and his crew set out to make a documentary about Competitive Endurance Tickling, only to discover a...

On May 15 2001, one of the most beloved bloggers of the early internet died from a brain aneurysm after battling leukemia.  On May 19, 2001, the internet learned that Kaycee Nicole Swenson had not, in fact, died. She had never existed.   www.patreon.com/hookedthepod SOURCES: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/31/technology/a-beautiful-life-an-early-death-a-fraud-exposed.html https://en.wikipedia.org/...