In 1988, eight-year-old April Tinsley disappeared during a short walk through her Fort Wayne neighborhood. Days later, she was found murdered.

For decades, the killer taunted investigators in various ways. Despite DNA evidence, witness sketches, FBI profilers, and hundreds of leads, the man responsible remained hidden in plain sight.

Thirty years later, this horrific monster was finally brought to justice.

This is the story of April Tinsley.

SOURCES

• Wikipedia — Murder of April Tinsley
• FBI.gov — Tinsley Killer Profile (primary BAU profile, May 19, 2009)
• FBI.gov — April Tinsley Murder, Parts 1, 2 & 3 (archived, 2009)
• Time Magazine — probable cause affidavit reporting, July 2018
• CNN — case coverage, June 2009 & July 2018
• NBC News — sentencing coverage, December 2018
• WANE-TV (Fort Wayne) — detective interview, January 2019; sentencing coverage, December 2018; Miller death, September 2025
• WTHR (Indianapolis) — genealogy break reporting, July 2018
• ABC News — arrest coverage, July 2018
• CBS News — case coverage
• Inside Edition — abduction and arrest coverage
• The Burr Magazine (Kent State) — Everett Shull sourcing, citing Crime Junkie interview with Janet Tinsley
• Casefile True Crime Podcast — Everett Shull detail, Miller post-confession statements
• True Crime Edition — FBI profile excerpt, case timeline
• Parabon NanoLabs — DNA Snapshot composite releases, 2015 & 2016
• America's Most Wanted — Season 22, Episode 29 (2009 segment)

In 1978, 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich disappeared over Australia's Bass Strait after reporting a mysterious object circling his plane. His final transmission has become one of the most debated recordings in aviation history. Was it spatial disorientation, a staged disappearance, or something truly unexplained?

What do you think?

Sources

• Australian Department of Transport. Investigation into the Disappearance of VH-DSJ (Frederick Valentich), October 21, 1978.
• National Archives of Australia. Melbourne Flight Service Radio Communications Transcript – VH-DSJ, October 21, 1978.
• Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (Australia). Analysis of Cowl Flap Recovered on Flinders Island (1983).
• McGaha, James & Nickell, Joe. "The Valentich Disappearance: Another UFO Cold Case Solved." Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 2013.
• Brian Dunning. "The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich." Skeptoid Podcast.
• Snopes. "Frederick Valentich's UFO Sighting and Disappearance." November 2024.
• National Library of Australia (Trove Newspaper Archive). Contemporary newspaper coverage of Frederick Valentich's disappearance, October 1978.
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News Archive. Coverage of the Frederick Valentich disappearance and subsequent investigations.
• Civil Aviation Historical Society of Australia. Historical records relating to the disappearance of VH-DSJ and Bass Strait aviation incidents.

A respected doctor. A troubled marriage. An "undetermined" death that still raises questions over a decade later.

This week, we dive into the mysterious death of Dr. Laura Sweetman and the disturbing events leading up to her final days including a husband who would later find himself connected to the unsolved death of Nick Cordova.

The similarities seem impossible to ignore.

Coincidence? You tell us.

Sources

• Crime Junkie Podcast: Mysterious Death of Laura Sweetman
• Crime Junkie Podcast: UPDATE: Laura Sweetman
• Legacy obituary for Laura Sweetman
• San Diego Union-Tribune obituary for Laura Sweetman
• User research and compiled script

When Nick Cordova was murdered inside his own business in Gilbert, Arizona, detectives said two masked men were responsible. But six years later, those men have never been identified, hundreds of pages of the case file remain redacted, and the victim's family is still searching for answers. Today, we're diving into one of Arizona's most frustrating unsolved murders.

Sources

• Crime Junkie Podcast
• KTAR News / Silent Witness
• Silent Witness Arizona
• Reddit (r/Gilbert)
• YouTube: HCViIMwuDO0
• YouTube: EOy0yxCuBcE
• Gilbert Police Department records and publicly released case materials

This episode is a a little different.

Two stories.
Two victims.
Two reveals you may not see coming.

Story 1

• WBIR (Knoxville): Kenny Chesney’s father charged in assault
• Knoxville News Sentinel (Claiborne County Sheriff statements)
• WREG Memphis
• NewsChannel 5 Nashville
• People Magazine coverage

Story 2

• North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission case materials
• The Assembly NC (Winston-Salem Five coverage)
• WFMY News 2 (hearing + appeal updates)
• NC Center on Actual Innocence
• Winston-Salem Journal
• Wake Forest OGB / UNC Media Hub

An 81-year-old farmer.

A phone call about a loved one in danger.

And a woman in a black Acura looking for the package.

What happens next leaves two families shattered—and one question that still doesn’t have a clear answer.

This is the devastating case of William Brock and Lo-Letha Toland-Hall.

Thank you for supporting the show!

Sources

• Court TV / Vinnie Politan Investigates — broadcast transcript + case coverage
• Springfield News-Sun — pretrial filings, scam sequence detail, sentencing coverage
• CNN — Lo-Letha Hall profile, Mario Hall interviews, verdict and sentencing reports
• WKBN — William Brock trial testimony coverage
• WDTN — trial day three, verdict report
• WHIO / News Center 7 — indictment, jury selection, sentencing
• Dayton 24/7 Now (WKEF/ABC6) — arrest, arraignment, dashcam release
• WOSU Public Media — post-indictment case summary
• CBS News — verdict and deliberation time
• AP / Springfield News-Sun wire — indictment and charge details
• 10TV Columbus — case coverage
• Clark County Sheriff's Office — incident report, press releases
• Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll — public statements
• Uber — public statement re: banned account
• FBI — confirmed awareness of case (no further comment per DOJ policy)

In the fall of 1986, five women disappeared from Perth, Australia within just five weeks. With no clear connection between them, police struggled to understand what was happening—until a 17-year-old girl escaped from captivity and led investigators straight to a suburban home hiding unimaginable crimes.

This is the story of Mary Neilson, Susannah Candy, Noelene Patterson Parr, Denise Keren Brown and Kate Moir.

Sources

• Wikipedia — "David and Catherine Birnie"
• The West Australian — "Survivor wants Birnie forgotten"
• ABC News Australia — "Serial killer refused parole"
• Yahoo News Australia — "'Monster' serial killer could get parole"
• Yahoo News Australia — "How a young girl and rookie cop caught serial killers David and Catherine Birnie"
• The Line-Up — "Moorhouse Murders: The Killers May Have Inspired 'Hounds…'"

After a week-long vacation, Lars Mittank should have boarded a flight home to Germany.

Instead, he ran.

What followed was a decade-long mystery filled with paranoia, unanswered questions, and four competing theories, none of which fully explain what happened.

This is the missing persons case of Lars Mittank.

Sources

Wikipedia — Disappearance of Lars Mittank
Crime & Investigation — The Disappearance of Lars Mittank: Overview & Analysis
People — All About Lars Mittank’s Mysterious Disappearance
All That’s Interesting — The Disappearance of Lars Mittank And The Haunting Case
Mirror — Chilling Mystery of the ‘Most Famous Missing Person’
AOL — Lars Mittank Was Last Seen Sprinting Toward a ForestDark Tales — The Disappearance of Lars Mittank
True Crime Society — Lars Mittank Case Overview
Reddit — Lars Mittank Disappearance Discussion (compiled timeline)