Crime Junkie

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 at all? What if her brother Steven 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.

Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of source...

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 our Crime Junkie YouTube channel to WA...

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

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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 anonymously through Crimestoppers at ...

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/

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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/

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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” McCown, please contact the Ric...

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 death in mystery. Years later, ther...

Before dawn on July 4, 1997, Bonnie Lee Schultz was driving home after a late night out with friends. She was never seen again. For nearly 30 years, Indianapolis investigators suspected her husband’s involvement in her disappearance, but with no sign of Bonnie or her car, the case went cold. Could detectives have overlooked an unidentified predator who targeted her? 

• If you have any information about Bonnie’s disappearance or he...

Before dawn on July 4, 1997, Bonnie Lee Schultz was driving home after a late night out with friends. She was never seen again. For nearly 30 years, Indianapolis investigators suspected her husband’s involvement in her disappearance, but with no sign of Bonnie or her car, the case went cold. Could detectives have overlooked an unidentified predator who targeted her? 

• If you have any information about Bonnie’s disappearance or he...

In August 2008, a woman in rural Kentucky survived one of the most brutal assaults we have ever reported, but her strength that night ensured her attacker was identified and arrested. Years later, he is a free man living in the community. As we examined his past, we uncovered unsettling similarities to another case that has haunted a family for decades. Now, two families are searching for answers — and they need your help.

• If yo...

When 20-year-old Amanda Wienckowski vanished one night in Buffalo, her mom, Leslie, refused to sit back and wait for answers. She begged police to listen and even parked outside the house where Amanda was last seen — for weeks — hoping her daughter would walk out the front door. What followed would test every ounce of a mother’s strength: a case full of contradictions, silence from the system, and a fight that would stretch on for ...

In November 2024, Ashley Flowers sat down with John Ramsey at his home for a one-on-one conversation about the murder of his daughter, JonBenét Ramsey.

In the year since that interview, John has met with the Boulder Police Department and appeared in multiple media outlets, pushing for additional testing in his daughter’s case. Ashley has also continued meeting with people connected to the case, and hopes to one day soon have an upda...

Law enforcement Explorer programs were created to mentor teens interested in policing. But decades of weak oversight created an environment where officers could manipulate that trust. Some exploited their roles, using their authority to groom, abuse, and silence the very teens they were entrusted to guide.

Resources:

• RAINN – Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: 24/7 hotline and resources for survivors of sexual assault and abus...

In 2021, 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her apartment. And what Massachusetts investigators quickly called a suicide slowly revealed itself to be something much more sinister. Because out of the woodwork came friends, family, and co-workers with stories that Sandra had told them about her life. Stories of grooming, sexual abuse, and years of misconduct at the hands of several Stoughton Police officers… which began w...

For decades, police said Rowena Wilkinson Zapalac died via suicide by masturbation. But her family always believed there was more to Rowena’s death than met the eye. Could she have been the victim of a serial killer passing through Texas, or could her case be connected to the deaths of two other women in the area?

• If you have any information about the deaths of Rowena Wilkinson Zapalac or Melody Ann Bush, please contact the Faye...

When a couple from Oso, Washington, is discovered missing, it doesn’t take long for detectives to develop a prime suspect. But solving the case, finding their bodies and capturing the killer took approximately 100 days, using a combination of old-school investigative methods and modern forensic tools.

• Click HERE to view the footage from SnoHawk 1’s camera, courtesy of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

Head over to our ...

A rising Broadway star. A mysterious SOS alert. And a car left abandoned at a trailhead wrecked by Hurricane Helene. When 28-year-old Zelig Williams vanishes on October 3rd, 2024, there’s no sign of a crash, his phone, or him. Is this the result of a mental health emergency, a tragic accident or did someone lure Zelig into the woods, never intending to let him leave?

• If you have any information on the disappearance of Zelig Will...