Crime Junkie

On Black Friday 2016, 22-year-old Christopher “Cole” Thomas was driving through rural North Carolina with two coworkers. Hours later, the coworkers approached police and said Cole had suddenly panicked, pulled over, and ran into the dark, never to be seen again. But their story later changed. Surveillance footage showed Cole was not alone. Phone data appeared to place the group at the scene of a l...

Spencer Irwin was just 30 years old when he vanished one Sunday morning in July 2024. Days later, his body was found in a way that raised questions – naked, alone and quickly dismissed by authorities. But their assumptions about Spencer were wrong. As his mother began asking questions, the answers she received only raised more red flags: no autopsy, missing belongings and a timeline full of gaps n...

On May 4, 2007, 19-year-old Brittany McGlone did something she rarely did. Instead of going home after work, she went to her boyfriend’s house. By that afternoon, she was found dead in his bed, brutally beaten. She was naked, and her underwear was missing from the scene. In the home’s only bathroom, investigators found signs the killer may have showered before leaving. There were no signs of force...

The Melissa Casias case keeps unraveling, and the more we learn, the less anything makes sense. New details have emerged about the strange woman who showed up at Sierra's job to deliver $50 in graduation money, and the trail leads to a confusing tangle of mismatched names. Meanwhile, the family fracture has only widened, with a private investigator turning up the heat and the FBI now stepping in....

In June 2025, Melissa Casias dropped her husband off at work in Los Alamos, New Mexico… then did something nobody expected. She turned around and drove home. By that afternoon, she had vanished, leaving behind her wallet, her keys, both of her personal phones wiped to factory settings, and a family already splitting in two over what to believe. Her husband, Mark, insists she walked away on her own...

In 1976, a 22-year-old nursing student was murdered in her Los Angeles apartment, leaving behind just one clue: a bloody fingerprint. Decades later, that print was matched—and the case was quietly marked solved. But no one ever publicly announced who did it. So we set out to find the answer… and to uncover what else he may have done.   Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to...

In the summer of 1969, Stephanie Casberg walked out the front door of a Milwaukee restaurant after her waitressing shift — and was never seen alive again. Days later, her dismembered remains were found near a condemned bridge along the Root River, leaving investigators with a chilling conclusion: the work of someone methodical, skilled and patient. More than five decades later, the case has led de...

On the heels of our investigation into Laura Sweetman’s death, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office fulfilled our FOIA request, providing new audio files—including recordings of Laura arguing with her estranged husband, Dave, and deputies’ interview with him. Laura was found dead in her Gilbert, Arizona bathtub in December 2013, and despite early red flags, her case was ruled undetermined and quie...

In December 2013, 42-year-old Laura Sweetman was found dead in the bathtub of her home in Gilbert, Arizona. Despite numerous red flags identified during early interviews, her death was ruled undetermined and the case was quietly closed. More than a decade later, our team has uncovered critical details that were overlooked, raising questions about whether the investigation was prematurely closed. ...

In May 2020, Nick Cordova was shot in the head while on FaceTime with his children. Suspicion initially focused on one man, but surveillance video showed he was not the shooter.. Nearly six years later, Cordova’s family is still pleading for answers.  If you have any information about the death of Nicholas “Nick” Cordova in Gilbert, Arizona, contact the Gilbert Police Department at 480-503-6500. T...

An arrest has been made in the 1990 Lovers' Lane murders of Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson. More than 30 years after the killings, a DNA match led investigators to a suspect. Listen for the full update and to learn what investigators need your help with.  Already familiar with this case? You can skip to 32:23 to hear the latest update.  If you had any contact with Floyd William Parrott or you thin...

At a busy campsite one summer night, Darrel “Bubba” Johnson Sr. says goodnight and zips up his tent. By sunrise, he’s gone. No Bubba. Just a borrowed flashlight, a phone that pings but is never found, and stories that don’t make much sense. Did Bubba wander off…or did something more sinister happen in the dark?   Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations....

In July 2015, Mary Yoder, a healthy 60-year-old chiropractor, went to work as usual. Later that day, she began feeling sick. Within 48 hours, she was dead. At first, her sudden decline seemed like a medical mystery. But investigators soon uncovered evidence of poisoning, launching a murder investigation that divided her family and the community. What appeared to be a clear path forward quickly gre...

In the summer of 2015, Mary Yoder, a healthy 60-year-old chiropractor, went to work as usual. Later that day, she began feeling sick. Within two days, she was dead. At first, her sudden decline seemed like a medical mystery. But investigators soon uncovered evidence of poisoning, launching a murder investigation that divided her family and the community. As questions mounted, grief quickly gave wa...

In the 1980s and early 1990s, a serial predator targeted young girls in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. He wore a mask and left little evidence behind. Investigators described him as calm and calculating, earning him the nickname, “Mr. Cruel.” More than three decades later, he has never been caught. But continued reporting by crime journalists and renewed hope from crime junkies have kept the...

In 1981, a Harvard graduate student vanished after stepping out of Logan Airport the night after Thanksgiving. As investigators searched for answers, they focused on a suspect connected to another murder – a woman who was killed just two years earlier. He was convicted in one case and widely believed responsible for the other. But after reviewing thousands of pages of records, we found gaps that r...

In 1984, when Robin Altman was just 22 years old, her brother Steven was found hanging by his neck in an apparent suicide. 12 years later, tragedy struck this family again when Robin's mother Mary Ann took her own life by self-strangulation. But Robin had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. There was one question she could not get out of her head: what if these deaths weren't suicides a...

On June 2, 2022, Rachel Hansen opened her eyes to a dark figure standing over her bed, staring at her. She screamed, and the person took off. But the very next night — just after 2 a.m. — a dark figure entered her Gilbert, Arizona, apartment again, kicked down her bedroom door and shot her in the abdomen before fleeing.   Head over to our Crime Junkie YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https:/...

The 1986 shooting of 16-year-old twin sisters Jill and Julie Hansen stunned the small town of Willow Creek, California. The investigation into who shot the girls and set fire to the Hansen family home is marked by twists and turns, with evidence ultimately pointing back to a suspect close to the family. Did tunnel vision cause investigators to overlook critical pieces of evidence?   Head over to o...

A Chicago house fire killed a firefighter’s wife and their three children. The city called it a tragic accident. But as we pulled records and spoke with those who knew the family best, the story began to unravel. This is the untold story of the Day-Stewart family fire.   Head over to our Crime Junkie YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOQTToywl1Y Source material...

What began as a whirlwind romance in the midst of a murder in 1970s DC, ended in a mysterious tragedy in small-town Indiana. Separated by five months, the deaths of Bobby and his wife, Barbara Moore, tore a town and a family apart. If you know anything about the death of Bobby Moore, please reach out to the Indiana State Police Cold Case Investigations at: 1-800-453-4756 or you can reach out anony...

This is the full sit-down interview between Ashley and Elizabeth Smart -- a powerful 90 minutes of raw, unedited conversation with one of the most real and honest and deep-down GOOD human beings we've ever had the privilege of knowing.  To learn more about the programs and services the Elizabeth Smart Foundation offers please visit  https://www.elizabethsmartfoundation.org/   Source materials for...

R&B radio fans in Dayton, Ohio, knew Kelly Dee Wilson as her on air name Nikki Brooks. When Wilson turned up murdered in her apartment after her show in March 2000, the community was shocked.   Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit:  https://thedeckpodcast.com/kelly-dee-wilson/ Did you know you can listen to t...

Marilyn “Niqui” McCown was the first missing person’s case covered on Crime Junkie. Now, nearly 25 years after she vanished, fresh reporting uncovers never-before-heard details from police files that challenge everything we thought we knew. What if Niqui’s story never truly ended — and the answers are still closer than anyone realized? If you know anything about the disappearance of Marilyn “Niqui...

A luxury vacation to Mexico with college friends ended in tragedy when Shanquella Robinson died of what her friends said was alcohol poisoning. But Shanquella’s family always believed there was more to the story, especially when a video surfaced of her being brutally beaten just hours before she died. That video and a pair of autopsies coming to two different conclusions has shrouded Shanquella’s...