What Happened to Libby Caswell — TRAILER

In 2017, Libby Caswell was found dead in a motel room in Independence, Missouri. In Season Two of "What Happened To...", investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen exposes the web of failures that left Libby vulnerable, and explores how her story fits into one of America’s most deadly epidemics.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
I was like, promise me, you're going to call me back,
and she said I promise and click.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
That was it.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
That was the last I spoke to her.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
In twenty seventeen, Libby Caswell was found dead in a
motel room in Independence, Missouri. She was twenty one years old,
a young mom working hard to get by. The police investigation.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Was brief, this is not a promicide. This is a suicide.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
But Libby's mom doesn't believe the official story.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
I thought, well, they must have missed this fingernail. It
wasn't till much later, and I thought, why would they
not search the car.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
She assembled a team of experts who looked at the
evidence and think Libby was murdered. We have a term
called JDLR, which means just don't look right. Libby's case
stands out in my mind and keeps you awake at night.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Sooner or later, somebody talks.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
My name is Melissa Jelson. I'm a reporter who covers
violence against women. On season two of my podcast What
Happened To I take a closer look at Libby Caswell's
life and death. She was just like a gright happy person.
Libby don't get me and said Nathan, I don't know.
Something just seems off right now. I've spent the last

(01:23):
year talking to Libby's friends and family, uncovering details of
her life and the secrets that may have endangered it.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
I knew she was doing something, but she just wouldn't
admit it to me at Birst and so I was like,
you know, kind of like what did he just hit her?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
She told me like she was done, Like she's done
going back and forth, and now she's finally going to
do what she needed to do for her. This is
a podcast about the systems that are supposed to help women,
but don't. We have very strong stereotypes about the ways
that victims of domestic violence are supposed to act.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
I think the law is set out to punish families.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Those agencies are failing to do the right thing, And
it's about one mom's search for justice.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
She started advising me, get your records, get your stuff together,
because this is going to be the fight of your life.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Join me on a journey to uncover what really happened
to Libby Caswell. Everyone deserves to know the truth and
if there was something that was not right and someone
should be held accountable, Somebody dropped the ball. The medical
examiner ruled Libby's death undetermined. They go, what do you
mean they undetermined? I wish I could go back in

(02:50):
time and go stay with her at that hotel. It
was crying, and I said, and I was like, man,
what happened.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
If this was a powerful woman with status, this case
would have been resolved by now and the killer would
be in jail.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
But Libby Caswell didn't have status.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
What happened to her is unknown, and it's something that
I need to know.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Listen to What Happened to Libby Caswell starting November two
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts