Crime Connections

In the spring of 2014, eight-year-old Relisha Rudd vanished from Washington, D.C. She was a child of color, she was poor, and she was living in a homeless shelter. In this episode, we trace the layers of institutional failure that kept anyone from intervening in time, the nineteen-day gap before an Amber Alert was ever issued, and the harder questions about who this country decides to look for, an...

In the summer of 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh walked into a Sears store in Hollywood with his mother and never came home. What began as a frantic search for a missing little boy quickly became one of the most heartbreaking and infamous child abduction cases in America. The tragedy not only devastated a family, but forever changed the way missing children cases are investigated, turning Adam’s fathe...

In this episode, we break down the brutal and unsolved murder of Elena Sanchez Hawkins. What began as a normal morning in Elizabethtown, Kentucky quickly turned into a devastating crime scene. We walk through the timeline, the disturbing details, and the key evidence, including the mysterious truck seen in the driveway and the lack of forced entry. We also explore a possible connection to a later...

Michele Hundley Smith’s disappearance initially raised serious concerns, as the devoted mother vanished under circumstances that didn’t quite add up. Investigators quickly noted inconsistencies and began to question whether more was happening behind the scenes than anyone realized. But in a surprising turn, Michele was later found alive, shifting the focus of the case from a potential tragedy to t...

In Part Two, we wrap up the Zodiac Killer case. In this episode, we explore the suspects who have been investigated over the years, break down the psychology behind serial killers, and discuss what type of offender the Zodiac may have been. We also dive into the many theories surrounding the case and share our thoughts. And most importantly, we take a moment to remember the victims and acknowledge...

In this two-part series, in Part One we break down the chilling beginnings of the Zodiac Killer case. We cover the known crimes, the victims whose lives were taken far too soon, and the letters that turned this case into a national obsession. From cryptic ciphers to taunting messages sent directly to the media, we walk through how one unidentified killer was able to spread fear across California a...

In the New Mexico desert, a man named David Parker Ray hid a nightmare behind closed doors—a place he chillingly called his “toy box.” What happened inside that trailer remains one of the most disturbing mysteries in true crime, with stories so dark they still unsettle investigators today. With the help of Cindy Hendy, Ray is believed to have preyed on countless victims, many of whom may never be...

In this episode, we cover the long awaited capture of the Golden State Killer and the decades long investigation that led to his identification. From the use of genetic genealogy to finally put a name to the crimes, to the ethical questions surrounding that method, we break down how this case was ultimately solved. We also walk through the emotional courtroom moments where victims were given the o...

In this episode, we break down the horrific timeline of the Golden State Killer’s crimes and the victims whose lives were forever changed. From burglaries to brutal assaults and murders across California in the 1970s and 1980s, we walk through how the crimes unfolded, how investigators began connecting the cases, and the growing fear that spread through entire communities. Before the killer had a...

For years, Israel Keyes traveled quietly across the United States, hiding a terrifying secret. He buried “kill kits” in remote locations, chose victims at random, and vanished without leaving patterns for investigators to follow. His carefully controlled double life finally collapsed in 2012 after the abduction and murder of Samantha Koenig —revealing a methodical predator whose full list of victi...

On September 1990. Sixteen-year-old Colleen Walker-Craig disappears after a party in Bowraville, Australia. Police tell her family she probably "ran away." Three weeks later, her 4-year-old cousin Evelyn vanishes from the same street. Police ask, "What do you want me to do about it?" Four months later, 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux is gone. Three Aboriginal children. Same street. Five months....

On a snowy January morning in 2022, Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found dead outside a fellow officer’s home and his girlfriend, Karen Read, was charged with hitting him with her SUV and leaving him to die. Prosecutors say it was a drunken hit-and-run. The defense claims a cover-up inside the house and a rush to frame her. What happened in those early morning hours has divided a community...

Leanne was 14 years old when she vanished from Brooklyn, New York on March 18, 1999. She was last seen waiting on a street corner and never made it to school. She has never been seen again. Her case was quickly labeled a “runaway,” delaying the investigation for years and leaving her family to search for answers alone. This episode looks at what was missed, what was ignored, and how Leanne’s story...

In 2014, a quiet Wisconsin town was rocked by a stabbing so disturbing it seemed unreal—one tied to belief in the fictional online figure known as Slender Man. What began as an internet myth spilled into real life, blurring the line between fantasy and violence. The case unsettled the public not just because of the crime itself, but because of the ages involved and the haunting question it left be...

In this episode of Crime Connections, we examine the unsolved murder of Lisa Pruett, a 16-year-old girl whose death shattered the quiet, affluent community of Shaker Heights, Ohio. On September 14, 1990, Lisa was found just outside her boyfriend’s family property, less than 100 feet from where he slept. What followed was an investigation plagued by questionable decisions, conflicting timelines, an...

In 2014, around Thanksgiving, 25-year-old Amy Lynn Hanson disappeared from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, and just two days later her body was found in an arroyo in Red Rock. Investigators ruled her death a homicide, but no arrests have ever been made. Despite FBI involvement and a reward for information, Amy’s case remains unsolved. This is another heartbreaking example of an Indigenous woman w...

In North Carolina, Indigenous women are disappearing and being murdered at alarming rates and their families still have no answers. In 2017, Rhonda Jones, Christina “Kristin” Bennett, and Megan Oxendine were found dead within blocks of each other in Lumberton. Two more women, Cynthia Jacobs and Abby Patterson, vanished soon after. None of these cases have been solved. These women mattered. Their s...

Jermain Charlo is a 23-year-old Indigenous woman, vanished from Missoula, Montana, in June 2018 after a night out with friends. Surveillance footage captured her leaving a downtown bar, but she never made it home, and her phone soon went dark. Despite years of searching, countless interviews, and community efforts, Jermain’s case remains unsolved, highlighting the ongoing crisis of Missing and Mur...

On January 13th, 2024, 25-year-old Marissa Carmichael, a mother of five from High Point, North Carolina, called off work at Waffle House to enjoy a rare night out with a friend. By early morning on January 14th, she was gone. After an argument with a man she met that night, Marissa was dropped at an Exxon gas station. He threw out her belongings, kept her phone, and drove off. Marissa called 911 f...

Happy Halloween!  In today’s episode we cover the case of Cassie Jo Stoddart. She was responsible, caring, and only 16 years old. She was house-sitting for her family when she was betrayed and murdered by people she trusted, friends from school. This case isn’t about movies or infamy. It’s about Cassie and the life she should still be living.  We honor her story in this Halloween episode.

This week’s episode is an update special! We’re revisiting several of our past cases including: Tom Philips, the University of Idaho Murders, JonBenét Ramsey, the Skelton Brothers, Toyah Cordingley, and Crystal Rogers, to share new developments, court updates, and where each case stands today.

In this episode, we uncover the haunting secrets of Johnson’s Island, once a Civil War prison, now a quiet island shrouded in eerie legends. Locals tell of ghostly soldiers, echoing footsteps, and whispers that drift through the night air. Some say the past never left… it just learned how to haunt.

On June 3rd, 2011, 20-year-old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer vanished after a night out with friends in Bloomington, Indiana. Seen leaving a downtown bar barefoot and visibly intoxicated, Lauren’s final known movements were captured on surveillance footage and through the accounts of those she was last with, but after that, she seemingly disappeared without a trace. Despite extensive s...

When we reached out to our local community for real-life ghost stories, one listener shared something unforgettable. Behind the University of Toledo sits an ordinary-looking house hiding a terrifying past: voices in the dark, shadows under doors, and an attic no one dared to enter...

Jason Jolkowski, 19, vanished on his short walk to meet a coworker for a ride to work in Omaha, Nebraska. He was last seen outside his home, just eight blocks from where he was headed. He never arrived… and has never been seen again.