For nearly two decades, Joran van der Sloot spun a web of lies surrounding the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway. If you followed this case in real time as it dominated the news, this episode is the perfect way to see how the entire timeline—from Aruba to Peru, and finally to a federal courtroom in 2023—pieces together in one place.

On September 16, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was arrested at a Malibu restaurant after an evening of unusual behavior. She passed a field sobriety test, cooperated with deputies throughout booking, and was released just after midnight with no car and no one to pick her up. Her mother had already called the station to say something was wrong. Nearly a year later, her remains were found in a remote canyon. The cause of death was listed as undetermined. This week we cover the full story of Mitrice Richardson and the questions her family is still asking today.

In March 2010, an ex-convict named Lawrence Ray moved into his daughter's co-ed dormitory at Sarah Lawrence College. Within years, he built a predatory cult of absolute control, extorting some of the brightest students in the country. This week, Melissa and Mandy cover the shocking story of Larry Ray, the psychological manipulation that dismantled his victims' lives, and the federal trial that finally brought him to justice.

In 2021, beloved Iowa farmer Ryan Cooper was found shot twice in the face in his living room recliner. His wife, Karina Cooper, claimed an intruder had killed him while she and their children slept upstairs. But as investigators dug into the quiet community of Traer, they uncovered a secret affair with a much younger man named Huston Danker, a half-million-dollar life insurance motive, and a chilling digital trail of deleted messages that revealed a cold-blooded conspiracy years in the making.

The true story of Corinna Mullen, a 20-year-old mother murdered in Central City, Kentucky in 1987. Her boyfriend was acquitted, evidence went missing, and nearly 20 years passed before a witness named Sandy came forward and accused Lieutenant Billy Fields of orchestrating the crime. Billy was convicted of murder in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison.

Jordan James Parke built a career on bigger lips and dramatic transformations as the "Lip King." But after a mother of five died following a cosmetic treatment linked to his business, he found himself at the center of a manslaughter investigation. Then, before that investigation could reach a conclusion, Jordan was found dead under mysterious circumstances of his own.

The full story of Heaven's Gate, the UFO cult founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, whose 39 members died by mass suicide in a Rancho Santa Fe mansion in March 1997, convinced they were boarding a spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

The devastating story of Yana Huss, a loving mother and future nurse whose life was cut short by her abusive husband, Scott Lee Huss, after years of systemic failures in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Watching the Netflix documentary on Rachel Nickell? Get the full story here, including the wrongful accusation of Colin Stagg and how Robert Napper was finally caught.

Catch up on the shocking verdicts, sentences, and trial updates for the ten major true crime cases we have been watching closely throughout 2026.

On March 13, 2023, 24-year-old Colby Vinson received the news he had been fighting for all year. A judge officially granted him 50/50 custody of his four-year-old daughter, Preslee. But just six days later, on the very first night he brought her home, Colby was executed on his own doorstep while his little girl stood nearby.

On a freezing November night in 2015, 30-year-old nursing student Angila Wilder was stabbed 44 times inside her home in Minot, North Dakota. The brutal attack happened while her two-year-old son slept safely in the very next room. When her fiancé, Christopher Jackson, discovered the scene after returning from an overnight shift, investigators immediately began untangling a web of jealousy, obsession, and domestic violence.

The evidence quickly pointed toward Angila's ex-husband, Ritchie Wilder Jr., and his new wife, Cynthia. What started as a bitter custody dispute had morphed into a calculated, years-long plot to eliminate Angila entirely. The case features one of the most chilling interrogations in true crime history, a failed prison escape, and a stunning undercover recording that finally brought the whole diabolical plan crashing down.

On April 15, 2005, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar left his office for a routine afternoon drive through central Pennsylvania. He was 59 years old, highly respected, and just months away from a planned retirement. But Ray never returned home. Days later, his distinctive red and white Mini Cooper was found abandoned in an antique store parking lot near the Susquehanna River.

The investigation quickly took a bizarre turn when a fisherman pulled Ray's county-issued laptop from the river, only to discover that the hard drive had been intentionally removed and destroyed. With no body, no financial trail, and no clear motive, investigators were left to untangle a web of possibilities. Did Ray take his own life, walk away to start over, or fall victim to someone from his long career as a prosecutor?

In October of 2000, the bodies of Andrew Cataldi and Tricia Nordman were found inside a dumpster behind an Indianapolis Teamsters building. The discovery quickly led police to the home the couple shared with Richard Hull and Sarah Jo Pender. What started as a gruesome double murder investigation soon transformed into a sprawling legal saga filled with recanted testimonies, forged letters, and a stunning prison escape.

Sarah Jo Pender was labeled the "female Charles Manson" by the prosecution and sentenced to 110 years behind bars. But as the years passed, the case against her began to crumble. With the original prosecutor publicly admitting she did not receive a fair trial and the true killer confessing to the crime, Sarah's fight for freedom continues today from the inside of an Indiana prison cell.

Explore the Mackenzie Shirilla case, from the intentional 92 mph car crash that killed Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan to the new Netflix documentary.

On January 7, 2021, Maya Millete was finally ready to leave her toxic marriage. She scheduled a consultation with a divorce attorney and planned to break the news to her husband, Larry, after their daughter's birthday weekend. But Maya never made it to that weekend.

On the evening of September 10, 2001, 31-year-old physician Sneha Philip walked into her Lower Manhattan apartment building carrying shopping bags. It was the last confirmed sighting of her. By the next morning, planes struck the World Trade Center just blocks away, plunging the city into chaos and swallowing the mystery of her disappearance into the tragedy of 9/11.

Explore the shocking true crime story of the Hawthorne Hill shooting, where Olympic coach Michael Barisone's feud with Lauren Kanarek ended in tragedy.

The pursuit of viral fame on TikTok has created a dark undercurrent in the world of true crime. This episode exposes the alarming pattern of TikTok stars hiding violent reality behind their polished online personas, leading to shocking consequences. We examine crimes intertwined with the app, some happening right now in 2025.

We dive into the chilling, developing case of musician DV4D(David Anthony Burke). His rise to fame with the hit song "Romantic Homicide" was shattered when the decomposed body of 15-year-old runaway Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in his Tesla in the Hollywood Hills.

Viral Lives, Violent Ends: Other TikTok True Crimes

D4vd's story is not an isolated incident. The pressure to maintain a perfect online image has driven others to commit unthinkable acts:

Explore the chilling Bennington Triangle disappearances, where five people, including Paula Welden, vanished without a trace in Vermont's remote woods.