In episodes 35 and 36, back in late 2020, I told you the story of 9-month-old Jacob Landin, a tiny boy with a big laugh and an even bigger personality. Jacob died in April 1987 from a severe traumatic brain injury. When the injury occurred, he was in the care of his mom’s boyfriend, Steven Chavez, who told several different stories to Brenda Landin…

In the last episode, I told you the first part of the story of three-year-old Arabella Parker, who was rushed to the hospital on October 10, 2019, reportedly suffering from a seizure. Because medical staff wasn’t told that the seizure resulted from severe head trauma, the damage was irreparable, and Arabella died on November 22, 2019. In this episo…

Four years ago, in episodes 16 and 17, I told you the tragic story of 3-year-old Arabella Parker. Because that was so early in my podcasting journey, I’m not satisfied with my coverage of her story, so I’m revisiting it in an all-new, comprehensive re-telling as I’ve never told it before: with the help of her family and others. On October 10, 2019,…

(This episode was originally released in April 2022.) On the morning of Wednesday, March 18, 2020, police in Bakersfield, California responded to an apartment on a report of an eight-year-old child not breathing. Although Ger’Mya Alexander was rushed to the hospital, she died of her injuries the same day. Her mother’s boyfriend, 37-year-old Clint M…

In episodes 87 and 88, I told you the story of four-year-old Judah Morgan. Judah lived for most of his life in a foster care kinship placement with the family of his second cousin, Jenna Hullett. In April of 2021, Judah was returned to his biological parents, Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder, despite multiple red flags and warnings to DCS. Six months lat…

On this podcast, I’ve told you the stories of many children whose deaths came at the hands of parents or guardians after extended periods of what can only be described as torture. Intra-familial child torture is a disturbingly common occurrence, and it has a 36% fatality rate for the children affected. In this episode, you’ll hear my conversation w…

On February 17, 2020, police in Fort Myers, Florida responded to a horrific single-vehicle accident in which a minivan carrying two women and a three-year-old girl veered off the road, hit several palm trees, and flipped over. The little girl, Serenity Robinson, was not in a car seat and was unrestrained. Her mother, Leslie Joe Zeagler, was found t…

Last week, I told you about the abduction and murder of seven-year-old Joan D’Alessandro. On April 19, 1973, Joan was delivering Girl Scout cookies when her neighbor, Joseph McGowan, a high school science teacher, lured her into his basement, sexually assaulted her, and brutally beat and strangled the helpless little girl. McGowan pleaded guilty to…

On April 19, 1973, seven-year-old Joan D’Alessandro left her family’s home in Hillsdale, New Jersey to deliver her last two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. She never returned. After a massive search and an intensive investigation, police zeroed in on the family’s neighbor, 27-year-old high school science teacher Joseph McGowan, who soon confessed that…

**This episode was originally released in June of 2021. I am re-releasing it due to the recent arrest of Lisa Jo Vanderlinden, the woman who spent less than a year in jail for Lucas's murder, on charges of abusing another child.** In 2017, Lucas Call and his baby sister were removed from their biological mother’s custody, in part because she had a …

As a child, Antonia Deignan believed that her father’s nighttime visits to her bedroom showed the special love he had for her. Still, some part of her knew that what he was doing to her was wrong. She began to create fantasy worlds in her mind to escape. As Tuni grew up, she traded her fantasies for dancing, but her inner turmoil also manifested in…

*Fallon Fridley should have turned 5 yesterday. I'm re-releasing this episode in her honor.* On December 9, 2020, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, two-year-old Fallon Fridley was spending the night at the home of her babysitter, who was also a good friend of Fallon’s mom, Kristin. The babysitter, Kirstie Flood, called 911 that evening to report little Fa…

Since I started making this podcast, I’ve told the stories of a number of children that have involved the failures of the family court system. So many names pop into my head when I think about it: Thomas Valva. Nakota Kelly. Averylee Hobbs. James Biel. Corey Micciolo. Since 2008, over 900 American children have died at the hands of a parent or guar…

For fifteen years you could call a private number in Manhattan and anonymously apologize for anything. It was called The Apology Line. This is the story of the phone line and the man at the other end who became consumed by his own creation. He was known as “Mr. Apology.” As thousands of callers flooded the line, confessing to everything from shopli…

In 1997, a pair of sisters in Elk Grove, California endured the unthinkable. Their mother and stepfather, Barbara and Larry Carrasco, abused methamphetamine and somehow became certain that Barbara’s daughters, 13-year-old Jessica and five-year-old Alexia, were possessed by demons and vampires. To exorcise the unwanted beings, Barbara and Larry bega…

Christian Crossland spent most of his short life in the care of family friends, Brittany and Trevor Easton, who took Christian into their Indiana home and loved him like their own. In January of 2022, Christian’s biological mother, Chelsea Crossland, took him back from the family who doted on and adored him. In under three months, Christian was dea…

In episode 7, I told you the first part of the story of 12-year-old Alex Hurley. I provided updates on Alex’s case throughout the next three years. This past week, the last family member charged in Alex’s death was finally sentenced, so I’m revisiting Alex’s story in an all-new, comprehensive episode like I’ve never told it before. On February 3, 2…

When Mike Williams vanishes on a hunting trip, the authorities suspect he was eaten by alligators but the true predators who took Mike may lurk much closer to home. The mystery of Mike’s disappearance might have faded from memory, if it wasn’t for one woman’s tireless crusade. From Wondery, comes a new season of Over My Dead Body; a story about an …

In episodes 47 and 48, I told you the story of 4-year-old Averylee Hobbs. Avery was not even a month old when her mother, Britney Roll Mayes, fractured Avery’s skull and spent time in prison. After Britney was released, she was awarded visitation with Avery, who began returning to her paternal grandparents covered in bruises, burns, bite marks, and…

Since 1990, well over 1,050 children in the United States have died after being left in hot cars. An untold number of additional kids have been left with permanent brain damage and other long-term injuries. The largest percentage of these kids were unknowingly left in a vehicle by a parent or caregiver. No one wants to believe their brain is capabl…

Leon Benson spent 24 years in an Indiana state prison for the 1998 murder of a young man named Kasey Schoen. His conviction hinged on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – but what if their memories turned out to be wrong? And what if the people who knew what really happened had never been allowed to speak? Suspect Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark is…

Baby Jazmine Robin weighed under three pounds when she was born 11 weeks premature, and she spent nine weeks in a Houston hospital’s NICU before being taken home on July 3, 2018 by her parents, Jason Robin Jr. and Kat White. Only 11 days later, Jasmine arrived at the emergency room, suffering from head trauma, brain bleeding, broken bones, and brui…

Over the course of a seven-part miniseries that began last September called Groomed to Die: The Kendzia Children, I told you about the countless alleged crimes committed by Susan Lee, formerly known as Susan Stevenson, Susan Cook, and Susan Kendzia. I told you about Susan’s charges in the 1980s for the murders of her two adopted infant sons, Michae…

In episode 138, I told you the story of two-year-old Stevie Osborn, whose death on December 23, 2019 went all but unreported by the media. Stevie’s mother, Abigail Osborn, and Abbey’s boyfriend, Joseph Chilson, were investigated by the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division, which found by preponderance of evidence that both had…

On May 30, 2015, first responders arrived at a townhouse in Waterloo, Iowa, where they found four-year-old Gracie Buss unresponsive. Gracie’s mother, Kristi Buss, and her boyfriend, Chad Little, told police and medical staff that Gracie suffered a seizure and fell down the stairs. Tragically, Gracie died after three days on life support. Eighteen m…

In episodes 5 and 6 of this podcast, I told you the story of 8-year-old Thomas Valva. Thomas and his two brothers were unjustly taken from their mother’s custody in 2017 and spent the next three years living with their father and his girlfriend, both of whom abused, starved, and tortured the boys. On January 17, 2020, Thomas and his 10-year-old bro…

(This is a re-edit of an episode released in March, which was taken down shortly after release.) On December 23, 2019, two-year-old Stevie Osborn was rushed to the hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, suffering from bruises all over her body, two skull fractures, and massive bleeding on the brain. After Stevie died during life-saving surgery, her dea…

Over the last two episodes, I told you the story of Alexavier Pedrin, whose six years were marred by family turmoil, alleged abuse and neglect, and CPS involvement. On February 11, 2023, Alexavier was found dead in his family’s rented home in Medary, Wisconsin with multiple inflicted injuries and Xanax in his system. Three months later, his father’…

In the last episode, I began telling you the story of six-year-old Alexavier Pedrin, whose short life was filled with constant family turmoil and frequent involvement by various CPS agencies in his home state of Wisconsin and others. After Alexavier’s mom went to prison, his father eventually stopped letting her side of the family see their son, al…

In 2011, 19-year-old Josie Dikeman was accused of child neglect after her boyfriend’s one-year-old daughter suffered a skull fracture and a brain injury in her care. That charge was dropped. Two years later, she was convicted in a separate child neglect case regarding the same little girl, by then age three, who had been returned from foster care o…

For this episode, I asked my listeners for questions they wanted answered about the podcast, about me, or anything else. Across several platforms, I received a lot of great questions! In this episode, I’ll answer those questions with the help of a special guest – my 18-year-old son, Andrew! This is my first-ever episode devoted to answering listene…

Whenever possible, I like to provide updates on as many past cases I’ve covered as possible. In this episode, I will provide updates on the cases of Frankie Gonzales, Marion Jester-Montoya, Damian Sutton, Zaiden Javonovich, Jaxson Love, Tesslynn O’Cull, Moko Rangitoheriri, Kyon Jones, Giovanni Melton, and Emrik Osuna. This is Case Update Special #1…

In the last episode, I told you the first part of the story of 15-year-old Jack Edwards and his 13-year-old sister, Jennifer. I told you about the multiple romantic partners and children their father, John Edwards, abused and manipulated over the years, the various complaints against John of domestic violence and stalking, and how, despite all that…

Note from Laine: Today, I'm proud to bring to you the first episode of an incredibly important podcast called Nobody Should Believe Me. Novelist Andrea Dunlop is looking for answers. When her older sister was first investigated for Munchausen by Proxy abuse more than a decade ago, it tore her family apart. This catastrophic series of events sent Du…

On July 5, 2018, 13-year-old Jennifer Edwards got off the bus and walked eight minutes to get to her home in West Pennant Hills, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Jenny had no idea that her father, 67-year-old John Edwards, was following her in a car he rented so she wouldn’t recognize him. When Jenny arrived at home, John pulled into the driveway and…

On May 15, 2018, police responded to a self-storage facility in Sacramento, California, where, in one of the storage units, sat a box containing a blue plastic barrel, inside which was a duffel bag. In that bag were the remains of a small child who appeared to have been dead for at least two weeks. Police tracked down the couple who left the box in…

In episodes 87 and 88, I told you the story of four-year-old Judah Morgan, who spent the first three-and-a-half years of his life in a foster care kinship placement with his second cousin, Jenna Hullett, and her family. Despite multiple warnings from Jenna and other family members, Judah was returned to his biological parents, Alan Morgan and Mary …

On March 21, 2020, three-year-old Erykah Taylor arrived at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, unresponsive. Shortly after her arrival, she was pronounced dead. Based on her injuries, which included bone fractures and multiple bruises, police did not believe the story they heard from Tonny Manns, the live-in boyfriend of Erykah’s mother …

(This episode was originally released on September 29, 2021.) On January 26, 2020, San Antonio mother Sareh Lang was at work when she received the phone call every parent dreads: her three-year-old son, Christian Paz, was being rushed to the hospital, unresponsive. Two days later, Christian was removed from life support and died in his mommy’s arms…

In last week’s episode, I told you about two-year-old Bradley McGee, who was returned to his biological mother and stepfather, Sheryl and Tom Coe, even though they abandoned him in a shopping mall as an infant and failed to comply with the reunification tasks they were assigned by Florida’s child welfare department, HRS. Bradley died on July 28, 19…

In 1987, four-month-old Bradley McGee was abandoned at a shopping mall and placed into foster care. He spent most of his life thriving and happy in the Lakeland, Florida home of his foster family. In 1989, despite reports of abuse from multiple family members and others, Bradley was placed back into the custody of his mother and stepfather, Sheryl …

In today’s episode, I’ll provide updates on several cases I’ve covered previously on the podcast. The stories I’ll be updating today include those of Keaton Boggs, Kerrigan Rutherford, Maxwell Schollenberger, Nakota Kelly, Scotty McMillan, Caliyah McNabb, and Dawson McKinney. This is Episode 135: Case Update Special #10. Links related to today’s ep…

My guest on the podcast today is highly esteemed Tarrant County Sheriff’s Investigator Michael Weber, who specializes in investigating cases of medical child abuse, also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Detective Weber is also a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s Munchausen by proxy committee alongside inte…

Like I did last week, in this episode, I will provide updates on some of the cases I’ve covered in early episodes of the podcast. The cases discussed in today’s episode include those of AJ Freund, Treyanna Summerville, Sereniti Sutley, Josias Marquez, and Conner and Brinley Snyder, as well as another quick update in the case of Arabella Parker. Thi…

From time to time, I try to provide updates on the stories I’ve covered in the past. In this episode, you’ll hear updates on the cases of Raylee Browning, Thomas Valva, Alex Hurley, Noah Tomlin, Logan Cline, Amari Boone, Eduardo Posso, and Arabella Parker. This is Episode 132: Case Update Special #8. Links related to today’s episode: Episode 4: Ray…

In episodes 76 and 77, I told you the heartbreaking story of two-year-old Dante Mullinix, who died just six days before his third birthday. Tyree Bowie, who was seeing Dante’s mother, Leah Mullinix, told police he thought Dante had choked on animal crackers, but Dante’s death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic brain injury with strangulation …

*This episode was originally released on September 8, 2021.* In episode 76, I told you the story of two-year-old Dante Mullinix of York, Pennsylvania, who died in the hospital on September 15, 2018. Dante’s death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic brain injury with strangulation and chest compression, but Dante’s head and body were also cover…

*This episode was originally released on September 1, 2021.* Two weeks before his third birthday, two-year-old Dante Mullinix was rushed to the hospital, unresponsive. His mother’s boyfriend claimed Dante choked on animal crackers. Several days later, on September 15, 2018, Dante was pronounced dead. His death was ruled a homicide caused by traumat…

Last week, I told you about two-year-old Santina Cawley, a happy little red-haired Irish girl who lit up her family’s lives. I also told you about Santina’s tragic and brutal death and the intensive gardaí investigation that led to the arrest of Karen Harrington, the pregnant girlfriend of Santina’s father, Michael Cawley. In this episode, I’ll con…

In the early morning hours of July 5, 2019, Michael Cawley left his two-year-old daughter, Santina, with his girlfriend, Karen Harrington, at her apartment in Cork, Ireland. Michael and Karen had argued that morning, but Michael had no reason not to trust the woman he knew to be excellent with children. Michael couldn’t have predicted that he would…