What is a body broker and how do they operate? According to an investigative series by the news organization Reuters, body brokers are also known as non-tissue transplant banks. These banks are different from the organ and tissue industry, which is highly regulated. No federal law currently governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for use in research or education. In 2004, a federal health advisory panel called for regulation of body brokers....
A man from Fayetteville gets a ride from a co-worker and is never seen again, until a religious awakening with a murderer brings the secrets to light. Another young man from Florida takes a job out of state while he figures out his next move, abruptly exits his truck while riding with co-workers he doesn’t know very well in North Carolina in the early hours of the morning, and his never seen again. And a young woman from North Carolina heads...
A young boy dies at the home of his adoptive parents in what is later found to be the result of swaddling. The boy was only four years old, and his parents had been attempting a controversial parenting therapy before his death. A 10-year-old girl from North Carolina is taken out of state by her adoptive mother in another case of attachment therapy, and also dies at the treatment center. Two boys with special needs die in what appears to be...
January is National Stalking Awareness Month. In January 2003, Debbie Riddle learned her sister Peggy had been murdered by her ex-boyfriend after years of controlling behavior and incidents of stalking. In Episode 81, Debbie shares the story of how her sister's death changed her life and motivated her to begin advocating for change in the way law enforcement and communities handle the crime of stalking. Resources: Peggy Klinke articles:...
On January 13, 2021, an incident of workplace violence at a manufacturing plant in Hickory, North Carolina resulted in the shooting death of a 51-year-old woman. The shooter, also a female, then left the premises, along with her husband, and evaded law enforcement for more than six months. Immediately following the murder, the victim’s family was heartbroken and outraged that more was not done to protect their loved one at her place of...
I wanted to do feature an end-of-year analysis this year, because our production schedule has changed and we’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth since December 2021. In this episode I’ll discuss a little bit of the methodology that goes behind creating the episodes, where I get my ideas, and some good old-fashioned stats. I made the decision this fall to go from a bi-weekly production schedule to a weekly schedule. I did this for a few...
A young man shows signs of violence against women at a young age and is sent to a detention center. There he charms an employee who does not realize how dangerous he will later become. This man will eventually murder four women in three different states, and that may not be the full extent of his victims. What was it about this man that was so charming that his victims never realized the depths of his depravity until it was too late? He was...
November is Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, so for this episode I wanted to focus on cases that involve senior citizens. Alzheimer’s is a progressive, deadly brain disease for which there is no cure, and it is not a normal part of healthy aging, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The site explains that researchers are still working to discover the root cause of the disease, but it is widely believed to be due to a buildup of...
When I was researching upcoming book releases on NetGalley this past summer, I noticed Mandy Matney had a memoir coming out about her involvement with the Alex Murdaugh case. I immediately requested the book and was excited to get an advance copy of it. I had listened to her show, “The Murdaugh Murders Podcast” and knew that she had worked in the local media around South Carolina. I wanted to get her take on how she first found out about...
In 2021 I discussed several cold cases involving indigenous women and girls, including the murder of 5-year-old Brittany Locklear, who was kidnapped and later found murdered in Hoke County. If you’d like to learn more about that case and more, check out Episode 29 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in North Carolina, Part 1. Episode 32, Missing Teen Girls in North Carolina, included the story of 13-year-old Native American teen Donna...
