Crime Junkie

When 37-year-old Christine Banfield and 39-year-old Joseph Ryan were found fatally injured inside a Virginia home in 2023, investigators were initially told that Ryan was a violent intruder and that Christine’s husband, Brendan Banfield, a federal agent, had tried to save her. But as investigators examined digital evidence, they uncovered a different possibility: that Ryan had been lured to the home through a fake online persona and that the scene had been staged to conceal a double homicide.

On November 30, 2018, 23-year-old Brittany Wallace Shank showed up barefoot and bleeding at a stranger's door asking for help. She said the man she was with had crashed their car and ran away. Deputies were on the way. But before they arrived, Brittany disappeared into the darkness. She has never been seen again.

Alberta O. Jones was breaking barriers in Louisville, Kentucky. She was the first Black woman prosecutor in the city’s history, she helped register some 6,000 Black citizens to vote, and she was a leader in the city’s civil rights movement. But on Aug. 5, 1965 – before she could make even more changes in the highly segregated city – Alberta was found dead floating in the Ohio River. The night before, she reluctantly went out late to visit a close friend, setting off a 60-year mystery that has led to more questions than answers.

In November 2024, 15-year-old Tripp Brazeale was found hanging from a tree in the middle of the woods of Forrest City, Arkansas. His death was quickly ruled a suicide, but in the weeks and months that followed, details of the case began to emerge that led Tripp's family, friends, and a private investigator to realize things might not be as clear-cut as they were led to believe.

A call from someone you love in crisis is terrifying enough - but what if the voice begging for help isn’t really them? We break down how AI voice cloning is fueling virtual kidnapping scams, why panic is the weapon scammers count on, and the one conversation your family should have before the phone rings.

In the summer of 1973, the Jaeger family wakes at a Montana campground to every parent's nightmare: their young daughter, Susie, is gone. Searches turn up nothing, until a man begins tormenting the family with chilling calls and letters. He has Susie, and he has no intention of giving her back. As investigators race to find her, more victims begin to surface. The case finally breaks when a determined mother joins forces with the FBI’s newly formed behavioral profiling unit. Together, they uncover the truth about what happened to Susie and bring long-awaited answers to three other grieving families.

In February 2008, six women were held hostage in a women’s clothing store in Tinley Park, Illinois.. Rhoda McFarland, Carrie Hudek Chiuso, Connie Woolfolk, Sarah Szafranski, and Jennifer Bishop were executed and the killer escaped leaving only one survivor. In Season 8 of CounterClock, host and investigative journalist Delia D’Ambra covers the Lane Bryant Murders and goes further into the case than any journalist has before. Through firsthand accounts and thousands of documents, Delia reconstructs what happened inside the store, why it may have happened, and who may have been responsible. For nearly twenty years, their families have lived without answers. This season, the search continues.

Bobby, Sherilynn, and 6-year-old Madyson Jamison went to the Sans Bois Mountains in southeastern Oklahoma in search of a fresh start. The family planned to live off the land in a remote, rugged area of Latimer County. But on Oct. 8, 2009, they vanished – leaving behind their truck with all their belongings inside. Their remains were found four years later, less than 3 miles from where the truck was abandoned. Now, more than a decade later, the circumstances surrounding their deaths remain a mystery.

On Black Friday 2016, 22-year-old Christopher “Cole” Thomas was driving through rural North Carolina with two coworkers. Hours later, the coworkers approached police and said Cole had suddenly panicked, pulled over, and ran into the dark, never to be seen again.

Spencer Irwin was just 30 years old when he vanished one Sunday morning in July 2024. Days later, his body was found in a way that raised questions – naked, alone and quickly dismissed by authorities. But their assumptions about Spencer were wrong. As his mother began asking questions, the answers she received only raised more red flags: no autopsy, missing belongings and a timeline full of gaps no one seemed interested in filling. When toxicology results came back, they didn’t just complicate the story, they began to unravel it.

On May 4, 2007, 19-year-old Brittany McGlone did something she rarely did. Instead of going home after work, she went to her boyfriend’s house. By that afternoon, she was found dead in his bed, brutally beaten. She was naked, and her underwear was missing from the scene. In the home’s only bathroom, investigators found signs the killer may have showered before leaving. There were no signs of forced entry or robbery, only a small circle of people who knew she would be there. More than 15 years later, one man was arrested, but he was later released and walked free. Someone still knows what happened in that house.

The Melissa Casias case keeps unraveling, and the more we learn, the less anything makes sense. New details have emerged about the strange woman who showed up at Sierra's job to deliver $50 in graduation money, and the trail leads to a confusing tangle of mismatched names. Meanwhile, the family fracture has only widened, with a private investigator turning up the heat and the FBI now stepping in. Was Mark's theory about a subcontractor closer to the truth than anyone realized? Or is this just another dead end in a case that refuses to stay still?

In June 2025, Melissa Casias dropped her husband off at work in Los Alamos, New Mexico… then did something nobody expected. She turned around and drove home. By that afternoon, she had vanished, leaving behind her wallet, her keys, both of her personal phones wiped to factory settings, and a family already splitting in two over what to believe. Her husband, Mark, insists she walked away on her own. Her parents and siblings are certain something far worse happened to her. Surveillance video proves she was alive walking along Highway 518 that day. But where she went next - and why - is a question that only deepens the further you pull at it.

In 1976, a 22-year-old nursing student was murdered in her Los Angeles apartment, leaving behind just one clue: a bloody fingerprint. Decades later, that print was matched—and the case was quietly marked solved. But no one ever publicly announced who did it. So we set out to find the answer… and to uncover what else he may have done.

In the summer of 1969, Stephanie Casberg walked out the front door of a Milwaukee restaurant after her waitressing shift — and was never seen alive again. Days later, her dismembered remains were found near a condemned bridge along the Root River, leaving investigators with a chilling conclusion: the work of someone methodical, skilled and patient.

On the heels of our investigation into Laura Sweetman’s death, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office fulfilled our FOIA request, providing new audio files—including recordings of Laura arguing with her estranged husband, Dave, and deputies’ interview with him. Laura was found dead in her Gilbert, Arizona bathtub in December 2013, and despite early red flags, her case was ruled undetermined and quietly closed. Now, these newly obtained materials raise fresh questions. Listen to our update on Laura Sweetman now.

In December 2013, 42-year-old Laura Sweetman was found dead in the bathtub of her home in Gilbert, Arizona. Despite numerous red flags identified during early interviews, her death was ruled undetermined and the case was quietly closed. More than a decade later, our team has uncovered critical details that were overlooked, raising questions about whether the investigation was prematurely closed.

In May 2020, Nick Cordova was shot in the head while on FaceTime with his children. Suspicion initially focused on one man, but surveillance video showed he was not the shooter. Nearly six years later, Cordova’s family is still pleading for answers.

On Feb. 23, 2020, 6-year-old Joseph “Jo-Jo” King III was found unresponsive at home with his stepfather. The initial explanation was simple: he had accidentally suffocated inside a toy chest. But the toy chest was not airtight. Parts of the scene were wet. And the autopsy was later amended to include “concern for possible homicidal drowning.” Still, the manner of death remains undetermined.

An arrest has been made in the 1990 Lovers' Lane murders of Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson. More than 30 years after the killings, a DNA match led investigators to a suspect. Listen for the full update and to learn what investigators need your help with.

At a busy campsite one summer night, Darrel “Bubba” Johnson Sr. says goodnight and zips up his tent. By sunrise, he’s gone. No Bubba. Just a borrowed flashlight, a phone that pings but is never found, and stories that don’t make much sense. Did Bubba wander off…or did something more sinister happen in the dark?

In July 2015, Mary Yoder, a healthy 60-year-old chiropractor, went to work as usual. Later that day, she began feeling sick. Within 48 hours, she was dead. At first, her sudden decline seemed like a medical mystery. But investigators soon uncovered evidence of poisoning, launching a murder investigation that divided her family and the community.

In the summer of 2015, Mary Yoder, a healthy 60-year-old chiropractor, went to work as usual. Later that day, she began feeling sick. Within two days, she was dead. At first, her sudden decline seemed like a medical mystery. But investigators soon uncovered evidence of poisoning, launching a murder investigation that divided her family and the community.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, a serial predator targeted young girls in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. He wore a mask and left little evidence behind. Investigators described him as calm and calculating, earning him the nickname, “Mr. Cruel.” More than three decades later, he has never been caught. But continued reporting by crime journalists and renewed hope from crime junkies have kept the case in the spotlight, fueling hope that his identity may one day be revealed.

In 1981, a Harvard graduate student vanished after stepping out of Logan Airport the night after Thanksgiving. As investigators searched for answers, they focused on a suspect connected to another murder – a woman who was killed just two years earlier. He was convicted in one case and widely believed responsible for the other. But after reviewing thousands of pages of records, we found gaps that raise difficult questions: Was the wrong man blamed? And is the real killer still out there?