The Vault

This episode provides the full hour-long interview with Timothy Crosby, the main suspect in the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith. The in-person interview is conducted by Forum reporter Trisha Taurinskas at the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility in January 2024. 

Trisha Taurinskas can be reached at [email protected]

Questions related to this interview can be directed to Trisha -- or left as a review in Apple Podcasts.

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

This is part 7, the final episode in the series on the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

In this episode, we explore new information brought to light through listener contributions, including potential suspects and insight into the day Belinda went missing. 

We also discuss Belinda's troll necklace, which contained a white stone. A white jewelry stone was recovered from Timothy Crosby's home during the 2009 search warrant execution. Is there a connection? Find out in this episode. 

Finally, we hear from Belinda's siblings about who Belinda was, and the impact her disappearance had on the entire family. 

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

This is part 6 in an ongoing series on the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

In part 6 of this series, reporter and host Trisha Taurinskas sits down to interview the main suspect, Timothy Crosby, at the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Treatment Program facility, where he is locked up indefinately. 

This episode we examine how Belinda's investigation led to Timothy Crosby's involuntarily commitment as a dangerous sexual offender and a danger to society. 

To learn more about what was discovered during Belinda's investigation, listen to this episode. 

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

This is part 5 in an ongoing series on the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

In this part of the series, we explore the cold case review of Belinda's case, which took place from 2008 to 2014. During that time, investigators with the Wright County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota BCA and the FBI conducted a number of thorough searches in their effort to find Belinda. 

Those searches included the execution of multiple search warrants, the use of cadaver dogs, excavations and more. 

To find out what they discovered, listen to this episode. 

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

This is part 4 in an ongoing series on the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

In part 4 of this series, we explore an alleged confession related to Belinda's disappearance. 

In January 2002, the Wright County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota received a call from a woman who claimed she had information about a confession in Belinda’s case. 

The woman told investigators her sister was riding in the back of a truck one to two years prior when she heard their aunt say Belinda’s distant cousin confessed to the crime at some point between 1987 and 1989 while drunk.

The distant cousin arrived at the aunt’s house and allegedly told her that he and a friend forced Belinda into their car while she was walking down the road on a dark and foggy night. Then, he claimed things “got out of hand,” according to the case file.

To learn more about what investigators did next, listen to this episode. 

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

This is part 3 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

In part 3 of this series, we explore the criminal history of Timothy Crosby, the main suspect in the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith. 

After being released from a state insitution for sexually violent individuals for the December 1974 kidnapping and sexual assault of a young woman, two more women escaped from Timothy Crosby. 

In 1983, a young woman escaped from his vehicle after being held at knifepoint. In 1987, Timothy Crosby held a young woman captive in his St. Paul apartment for 16 hours. The young woman, who endured hours of violent sexual assault, threw herself out of Timothy Crosby's apartment window. Two men witnessed her escape, and authorities were called in. 

For the full details on Timothy Crosby's criminal history, listen to this episode. 

You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

We had originally planned to produce four episodes in this series. But, because we continue to uncover and receive new information and insight, we are expanding the series. This episodes includes a preview of what's to come. 

We will be picking up this series with a new, extended episode next week. Until then, you can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series. 

If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at [email protected] 

This is part 2 in an ongoing series on the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.

Six months after Belinda went missing, Timothy Crosby, the last known person to see her was arrested for abducting a young woman in St. Paul and taking her to his family's cabin on Eagle Lake, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

The victim escaped to tell investigators her story — and provide insight into the mind and capabilities of Timothy Crosby.

What did investigators do when they discovered the last person to see Belinda carried out such a henious attack at the very location where Belinda was last seen? Listen to find out.

This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. To read the full story, with images related to the case file, go here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/he-was-the-last-to-see-belinda-van-lith-alive-when-he-later-attacked-a-woman-he-finally-became-a-suspect

Belinda Van Lith (also referred to in various media outlets as Belinda VanLith) was 17 years old when she went missing from a home she was house sitting on Eagle Lake, just outside of Monticello, Minnesota. 

Over the past several months, Forum News Service has worked with the Van Lith family, delved into the roughly 1,200-page police file and conducted an exclusive interview with the main suspect in the case. The investigation reveals the details and impact of a thorough yet stalled investigation that spanned decades and included multiple detectives, investigative agencies, search warrants, detailed interviews and land excavations.

This series is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. 

For the full story, including images related to the case, visit this link: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/belinda-van-lith-vanished-in-1974-her-family-assumed-the-case-was-cold-then-they-got-her-1-200-page-file

Kevin Mahoney vanished from a known party house in Fargo on Oct. 2, 1993. Some party-goers told investigators that he left on foot for his brother's house in nearby Moorhead. His brother wasn't home that night, and there's no indication he made it to his destination. 

Others believe Kevin never left the party house. 

Kevin's sisters are dogged advocates for their brother's case. They, along with the Fargo Police Department, believe foul play was involved. 

In part 2 of this series, find out what Kevin's sisters believe happened to their brother that night -- and why Fargo investigators dug up the party home's basement in search of Kevin. 

Will someone finally come forward with what really happened the night Kevin Mahoney vanished? 

Click here for the full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/this-missing-mans-sisters-wont-rest-until-someone-speaks-up-what-happened-to-kevin-mahoney

This episode is narrated, produced and written by Trisha Taurinskas