Crime and Conjure

There are currently more than 26,000 active long-term missing person cases in the U.S. Approximately 40% of those are children and teenagers under the age 18. The most common circumstances that lead to long term missing children cases are endangered runaways and family abductions stemming from custody disputes. Those statistics are devastatingly high. While today’s case is included in those numbers, there is one unique aspect that sets it apart. The last person to see the victim alive, insists that bigfoot is to blame.

Some cases are terrifying because of the violence involved. Others are terrifying because of how long someone can hide in plain sight. Sometimes, the most dangerous people aren’t the ones drawing attention to themselves. They’re the ones who know how to blend in. The ones who move through everyday life unnoticed. This case is about someone who managed to do exactly that for years. Whose crimes stretched across the early 1980s, leaving families searching for answers while pieces of the truth remained buried beneath silence, fear and time.

We have all been through the idiodic teenage years fueled by hormones and a lack of real life experience. Most of us can look back and laugh at the poor decisions we made as angsty, insecure teens. Some let their underdeveloped brains lead them down a path with far more serious consequences. However, being young and stupid is no excuse to ignore the difference between right and wrong entirely, like the two young men in today's case did.

There are certain crimes where, once you know what happened, it feels obvious in hindsight. You can trace the warning signs, connect the dots, and point to the moment everything should have been questioned. This is not one of those cases because in this story, nothing looked urgent. Nothing felt immediate. There was no single moment where everything suddenly shifted. Instead, it unfolded slowly, in pieces, hidden inside routines that felt completely normal. And that’s what makes this case so unsettling, because by the time anyone realized something was wrong…it was too late.

As mothers, today's story is a mystery that keeps us up at night. It would take a truly horrifying event to cause us to leave our child alone on the side of the road. Likely nothing short of abduction or death could drag us away from our babies. I have no doubt that the young mother we are about to tell you about felt the same.

This case did not unfold in dark alleys or abandoned buildings. It didn’t involve forced entry, masked attackers, or dramatic crime scenes. Instead, it unfolded quietly, behind closed doors, in places meant to represent safety, dignity, and care... This is the story of how silence became a weapon, and how one of the most prolific serial killers in modern American history was allowed to operate in plain sight.

This case is a wild ride full of conspiracy, a bank heist, and murder. Even crazier is they almost got away with it. However there is one mystery in this case that still hasn’t been solved. After we lay out all of the facts, we want to hear from you on what you think really happened.

Tonight’s case is one that captured global attention, not because of the crime itself, but because it unfolded in one of the most unexpected places imaginable: aboard a homemade submarine in the middle of the sea. Denmark is often ranked as one of the safest countries in the world. Violent crime is rare, trust in institutions is high, and the justice system is generally seen as transparent and fair. However, what began as a routine professional interview turned into one of the most horrifying crimes in modern European history. This is the story of a brilliant journalist whose life was cut short, and the man who believed he could literally sink the truth beneath the waves.

Negligence, bias, corruption, it’s all running rampant in the American justice system and many choose to turn a blind eye. It’s easy to ignore when it doesn’t affect you personally, but what happens when it’s you or your loved one whose murder isn’t being diligently investigated? What happens when it’s you or your loved one who gets railroaded for something they didn’t do? By the time it touches your life, it’s often times too late to change anything. This case highlights just how long it can take when loved ones are the only ones fighting for justice.

Today, we're bringing you a story about absolute control, isolation, and abuse hidden behind closed doors. It did not happen suddenly, nor was it without warning. It unfolded over the course of years, marked by manipulation and fear, inside a quiet home in Fresno, California. This case forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth. Sometimes the most dangerous threats are not strangers. They are the people who demand obedience, loyalty, and silence from those closest to them.