What Happened to Talina Zar
What Happened to Talina Zar unravels the chilling mystery of a woman who vanished during the COVID-19 lockdown, the internet sleuths who followed her trail , and the dark subcultures and interpersonal betrayals they unearthed.
Episodes
In our season finale, five years have passed since Talina disappeared, but Jess continues to obsess over the details. Meanwhile, Talina’s family searches to define closure as a murder trial remains elusive.
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Uncovering an incident in Wisconsin from 2014 sends Jess chasing a new set of questions. But as COVID stretches into the fall of 2020, the official investigation slows to a standstill…until a momentous discovery.
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New evidence is popping up all over town - all over Oklahoma, in fact. The police seem closer than ever to solving the case when a sudden death throws Jess - and the investigation - for a loop.
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Talina’s family gets involved in the search from afar. Meanwhile, the non-stop investigation starts to take a toll on Jess. And the police turn up evidence that upends the whole timeline of events.
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Weeks pass with no sign of Talina. Her friends, as well as the online sleuths and the local sheriff start to uncover strange clues—a burned mattress, a missing persons poster—all casting suspicion on Talina’s roommate, Kore. As the pressure builds, Kore shares her side of the story.
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Jess discovers Talina Zar isn’t the missing Oklahoma woman’s real name, and the meaning of the moniker unlocks a door to a fantasy world ripped from the pages of 1970s pulp fiction — a fictional world where men reign and women serve and a real-life subculture where people try to live according to the principles in the books. Talina may have found her people in this fringe BDSM community, but was there somethi...
Jess and the sleuths connect with people who knew Talina Zar in real life. As the sleuths begin to formulate a picture of who Talina is, and what might have happened to her, they get the sense that not everyone is telling the truth. At the same time, local police begin their own parallel investigation.
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Jess Trevino lived a quiet life of true crime fandom - until she stumbled upon Talina Zar’s cryptic Facebook post. Isolated because of COVID, Jess assembles an online team of amateur sleuths determined to find out where Talina went. As they get wrapped up in the lives of total strangers, the sleuths discover that the question of What Happened to Talina Zar ? has no easy answers.
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It’s April 2020 and the world is locked down. In Oklahoma, a woman named Talina Zar posts a chilling message on Facebook: she’s sick with COVID and heading to a remote lake, alone — to recover, or to die. Then, she vanishes. As days turn into weeks, strangers online — true crime obsessives with time to kill and nowhere to go — begin digging into her disappearance. What they uncover is something far str...
Libby Caswell is unable to share her experience of domestic violence in her own words. In this bonus episode, four anonymous women tell their stories of domestic abuse- the details they remember, the ones they wish they could forget, and how they eventually got out.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline for help at 1-800-799-7233.
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The nuisance law in Independence, Missouri played a pivotal role in Libby's story. In this bonus episode, hear Melissa's extended conversation with Sandra Park, former ACLU lawyer and current head of the Civil Rights Bureau of the NY State Attorney General’s Office, as they discuss what nuisance laws are, how they're often misused and what's being done about them.
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Go behind the scenes on the making of What Happened to Libby Caswell. Host Melissa Jeltsen talks to fellow journalist and podcaster Emma Gray (MSNBC columnist, host of the Love To See It podcast, and co-author of the Rich Text Substack) about what drew Melissa to Libby's case, what she looks for when considering a new investigative project, why she focuses on stories about violence against women, and what she hopes both seasons of ...
In the final episode, a new witness comes forward with details that raise tantalizing questions. Cindy becomes a national advocate for changes in how domestic violence is handled.
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Family members defend Libby’s boyfriend and help shed light on his actions over the years.
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A forensic expert discovers evidence that upends the official narrative about Libby’s death and points to a coverup. Local police defend their work.
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Libby’s mom Cindy hires a private investigator to uncover new clues. Investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen visits the motel for herself. And Libby’s friends open up about the last week of her life.
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We learn more about the secrets in Libby’s life that threatened to endanger it, and the tumultuous cycle that led Cindy to a difficult decision.
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Investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen explores Libby’s complicated relationship with her boyfriend and their interactions with police. And, a witness comes forward with a harrowing story.
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Libby’s boyfriend is interviewed by police. The medical examiner isn’t sure exactly how Libby died — but the police close the case as a suicide anyway. Libby’s mom, Cindy, questions the official report.
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In 2017, Libby Caswell was found dead in a motel room in Independence, Missouri with her boyfriend’s belt around her neck. Her grieving mom Cindy is left with more questions than answers. Award-winning investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsen digs into the circumstances surrounding Libby’s death.
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