"That's when we found out our suicide victim was alive. It looks like he placed the body in the trailer to cover his disappearance."

Early on the morning of 3 February 1994, authorities responded to a fire at a campground roughly thirty miles east of Las Vegas, Nevada. There, they discovered that a trailer had been set on fire, and the trailer's occupant - a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps named Arthur Bennett - had seemingly perished in the flames.

Years later, however, an arrest in southwestern Utah would cast doubt on the original assumption, when a man named "Joseph Benson" was arrested...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"I think this man's record and conviction do not fully apprise the court of this man's threat to society."

Following his 1983 arrest, Mike DeBardeleben would stand trial for various offenses. First came a series of counterfeiting trials in Tennessee and North Carolina, which were then followed by a number of trials related to the violent crimes, abductions and assaults that DeBardeleben had carried out in Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. After receiving an almost-comical amount of time - 375 years plus two additional life sentences - DeBardeleben would slowly rot behind bars, before dying of pneumonia in January of 2011.

Yet, despite so many of his secrets becoming known to the world, the mystery of Mike DeBardeleben's crime spree endures to this day...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"... Mike DeBardeleben is the best-documented sexual sadist since the Marquis de Sade. He's the one I used as the standard for all others."

Awaiting trial for the litany of crimes he'd committed over several years, Mike DeBardeleben couldn't do anything as authorities continued to dig around in his background. They'd learned about all of his failures - his familial relationships, his schooling, his marriages, his business - but now began trying to figure out how that resulted in this career criminal, who stood accused of not just counterfeiting, but assault, rape, kidnapping, and murder.

As investigators around the country began linking DeBardeleben to more than a dozen unsolved crimes, members of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit began analyzing the strange counterfeiter. What they learned was that this was not just a run-of-the-mill criminal. Rather, he was one of the most sadistic individuals they'd ever observed...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"I'll tell you what's going down. I had an ex-old lady who really pissed me off and f***ed me over. I just want to get back at women."

After his arrest in May 1983, the Secret Service began looking into the background of 43-year-old Mike DeBardeleben to determine what he had been up to. Agents knew that the "Mall Passer" had been counterfeiting and distributing his own bogus $20 bills, but evidence indicated he had been up to much more than that over many years, stretching back to over a decade beforehand.

As investigators nationwide began charting DeBardeleben's path through the country, they discovered that it happened to correlate with a number of other crimes. And coincidentally, Mike DeBardeleben managed to match suspect descriptions in not only unsolved rape cases, but even homicides...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"I feel that I have been unjustly tormented, degraded and shit upon by society... In order to regain an adequate self-image, I feel compelled to somehow restore my self-respect..."

Shortly after his stint at Western State Hospital in Virginia, Mike DeBardeleben would begin a series of relationships with young women. All followed a series of repeated steps, centered around breaking down the women in question and making them dependent entirely upon Mike. This was usually accomplished through typical emotional abuser techniques, but also contained a significant element of physical and sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, Mike's criminal behavior began to take shape in other troubling ways. First came simple schemes meant to take money from elderly women. After that came complex bank robberies. Then more violent crime followed. The women ensnared in Mike's life would become not only his wives, but also his captives. And in another sense, his accomplices...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"From an early age, I can recall wanting to please my parents but being frustrated by some of their unrealistic demands..."

Following the end of the lengthy "Mall Passer" investigation, the Secret Service attempted to unlock the secrets of the man they'd arrested, 43-year-old Mike DeBardeleben. However, as they attempted to track down the machine he'd used to print his counterfeit bills, investigators ended up uncovering evidence of even more heinous crimes.

As they learned more about the man they'd arrested, federal agents discovered that there had been ample warning signs for years. Dating back to his childhood, DeBardeleben had been abused and neglected by both of his parents, and had grown up in an environment that left him (and his siblings) emotionally scarred. In adulthood, he'd even been diagnosed as sociopathic and antisocial...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"His technique was to go from shopping center to shopping center, passing phony notes at malls. You can pass $20 bills in a real hurry that way."

In August 1979, a prominent counterfeiter attracted the attention of the U.S. Secret Service. Having created his own bogus $20 bills, this individual would begin to distribute them throughout the continental United States, using them in at least 44 states and netting more than $130,000 in the process.

Over roughly four years, federal investigators attempted to determine who this individual was and whether he was part of a larger network. Dubbed the "Mall Passer" for his propensity to launder his counterfeit cash through shopping centers and malls, Secret Service agents finally saw their chance to capture this mysterious individual in May of 1983. But when the opportunity came, these agents discovered that there was much more to this counterfeiter than they ever could have imagined...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"For us not to hear anything from her, we feel like something is definitely wrong. This has been a nightmare that won't end."

On the evening of 29 July 2020, a silver Chevy Impala was found engulfed in flame in a Tacoma, Washington alleyway. This was a street that didn't receive much thru-traffic, so there weren't any security or surveillance cameras, making it the perfect place to torch a car and get away without being seen.

Investigators would attempt to track down the owner of the vehicle, 50-year-old Diana Davis from nearby Auburn, but were unable to find her. Friends and family hadn't seen or heard from her since July 27th. As police would learn, Diana had last been seen in Tacoma, but had seemingly driven up to Seattle before going dark. Then, a week after her vehicle was discovered burning in an alleyway, Diana's remains were found roughly 70 miles to the east...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

This is a brief preview for the newest episode of my Patreon-exclusive show, Resolved, available now for all $5+ supporters. To learn more about this series and how you can listen, consider heading to:

https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod



This episode can be found at the following link:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/96624633

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

"It seems as if the suspect committed the crime and then made sure to be gone as quickly as possible."

On the evening of 4 November 2015, police were called out to a crime scene in Sharpstown, a neighborhood located in southwest Houston. The person who'd called 9-1-1 that night, identified as the victim's boyfriend, had discovered her nude body laying deceased in her bed just after 10:00 PM.

As police would soon learn, the victim was 20-year-old Shelbey Thornburgh-Crocker, a young Texas native who lived at the Conquistador apartment complex where her body was found. As they dug deeper into her story, however, they discovered a link between her line of work and a potential serial killer...



To view the footage of the unknown subject, please check out the link at the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81JQ4Urhh5Y

To learn more about this case and see screenshots of the unsub, please check out the FBI's website at the following link:

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/homicides-and-sexual-assaults/unknown-suspect---houston-texas



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.