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There are more than 10,000 unsolved crimes in Southern California, most of which are homicides. Unsolved with Steve Gregory highlights some of the cases that have gone cold, hit a brick wall or just needs that one piece of evidence or witness to surface. The program also features challenging cases, the most wanted, and the investigators who work behind the scenes. Unsolved with Steve Gregory is a production of the KFI News Department for iHeartMedia Los Angeles. The series is produced by Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez.
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Anthony Velasquez and his father, Manuel, are arrested by the LA County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit in connection with the deaths of 3 people over a 4-year period in the East LA area. Also in this episode, a tragic case from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Cold Case unit – the discovery of a newborn at a trash sorting facility. Detectives are trying to find the identity of Baby Jane Doe #45 and the mother who dumped her into a trash bin.
Steve speaks with DEA Agent Kyle Mori about 'El Mencho', the Kingpin behind one of the largest drug cartels in North America, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG. The cartel is behind most of the drug trafficking in Southern California. Detective Eric Ogaz with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department talks to Steve about Scott Echols, an 8-year-old boy who, in 1992, answered the door at his home late one night and was never seen again.
‘Man in a Box’ is a case from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Detective Art Alvarado tells us about the challenge to identify the ‘Man in a Box’ and try to figure out how the man ended up buried alive in a metal container along a dirt road. Also, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Theo Baljet tells us about the shooting death of a young man in 2020. No clues, no witnesses, no apparent motive.
For at least 16 years a man had been terrorizing girls and women in the city of Los Angeles. He would target them, rape or assault them, and then disappear. We speak with detectives Sharlene Johnson and Danetta Menifee from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division. They tell us about efforts past and present to find the man they say could have attacked at least 39 women, the youngest being 14 years old.
In 2010, Minerva Gonzalez walked her kids to school as usual. But, by the time her kids got home from school, Gonzalez had been beaten beyond recognition. Gonzalez’ home had been broken into twice before and Fontana Police say there had been a rash of ‘panty thefts’ from homes in the area. Also, we explore the tragic death of Diego Reza, an 18-year-old who was shot and killed while driving home from a 4th of July Party – it’s a case from the LA County Sheriff’s Department. And an update on the case of El Mencho, the head of the largest cartel in North America. Our first profile of El Mencho prompted a spike in calls to the DEA.
19-year-old Cesar Rodriguez had been an LA County Sheriff’s Explorer since he was 15 years old. On August 28th, 2011, Rodriguez and his friend Larry Villegas were gunned down following a party in Whittier – 2 weeks prior, Rodriguez had just applied to become a deputy. We also highlight the shooting death of Jason Cortez, a photographer who was visiting LA from Virginia when he was shot in the back while hiking in Debs Park in Montecito Heights.
In 2019, 19-year-old Erin Lavender and 17-year-old Dalelaja Hearn were in the city of Carson attending the memorial of a friend who had died from a drug overdose. They, along with 3 other friends, were sitting in the front of a car across the street from the memorial when 2 people in hoodies walked up and opened fire. Hearn and Lavender later died at a hospital. We also speak with the Fontana Police Department about the murder of Angel Martinez, an apartment building owner from Cypress who was killed in Southern California and buried in Arizona. The case from 1988 has a lot of players and no suspects.
In 2008, Mark Leonard was shot and killed in the parking lot of the car wash he and his wife owned in Compton, California. Detectives say it’s a possible drug cartel revenge hit. But Leonard had been out of the drug dealing business for years. His wife, who was pregnant with their child, helped him clean up his life, buy his own business, and welcome God into his life. Detectives say they know the ‘what and the ‘why’’, now they need to grab the ‘who’. Leonard was killed just a few hours before he was to watch his son, Kawhi, play in a high school basketball tournament. Kawhi would go on to play for the LA Clippers and become one of the finest players in the NBA.
January 15th, 1947, the body of Elizabeth Short was found mutilated. Someone had performed an hemicorporectomy, the act of cutting a body in half at a specific point of the body. The woman who first spotted the body in a vacant lot thought it was a mannequin, mostly because the skin color was so pale, a result of Short’s fluids and blood being completely drained from her body. In this episode we speak with Steve Hodel, a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Not only is Hodel fascinated by the case, he also has a personal connection.
We speak with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Claudia Apolinar. In September of 2020, Apolinar and her partner were shot point blank range as they sat in their patrol SUV at a Metro station in Compton. While they were rushed to a hospital, the department’s homicide bureau immediately began working to find the shooter. It was one of the largest manhunts in the department’s history. We’ll talk about the investigation, and for the first time ever, deputy Apolinar speaks publicly about the shooting and about her road to recovery.
1Steve does a recap of cases covered in Season 1 and previews Season 2 which begins April 2nd, 2022. Steve also takes phone calls.
Case #1: On November 4th, 1969 at 7:40 AM, 14-year-old Janasul ‘Jan’ Roseana Marsh was found face down near a home in Lynwood. Detectives say she was strangled with a polo shirt. Jan had a reputation of hanging with the wrong crowd, including older men. At one point there were more than 20 persons of interest, including a few women. What made this case even more complicated is the Lynwood Police Department disbanded in 1977 and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department picked up the case, forcing a transfer of boxes of evidence and files, a lot of which were misplaced. Case #2: 19-year-old Michelle Diaz had 2 jobs and had applied to Arizona State University to pursue a medical career. On November 21, 2020, Diaz was shot and killed in front of a home on 106th Street in Unincorporated Los Angeles. Investigators say there were many witnesses, but none are willing to come forward.
Nemesio Osegura-Cervantes, also known as, “El Mencho” is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), considered the largest drug cartel in the world. Officials say the CJNG is responsible for more than one third of all the illegal drugs entering the United States and has a huge footprint on illicit drugs coming into Southern California. DEA Agent Kyle Mori has been tracking El Mencho for years and gives us an update on the progress his team has made. He also tells us about the connection between El Mencho and the LA-area. Plus, we recap the bizarre moment when Unsolved was on the radar of people in El Mencho’s hometown of Zapopan in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.
As part of our Crime Fighter Series, we talk with United States Forest Service Captain and Arson Investigator Russel Tuttle. Tuttle is a 16-year veteran of the United States Forest Service, who has received numerous awards for his work and outstanding performance. Captain Tuttle walks us through the 2014 “Colby Fire” that burned 2,000+ acres in the Angeles National Forest. Tuttle talks about how they were able to determine the cause and origin of the fire, and eventually how they found the people responsible for igniting it. Tuttle also made it possible for Steve to attend the annual Wildfire Arson Investigation School at an undisclosed location in Riverside County – a first for a journalist. The federal program teaches forensic techniques to the next generation of arson investigators. Keep an eye out for that future episode.
Sergeant Pete Hish joins the show to discuss efforts to prevent and stop cybercrime. Hish works in the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraud and Cybercrimes Bureau. Hish not only outlines some interesting cases he also offers some advice on how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of cybercrime. Hish also talks about the tools he uses to track hackers and those who target the vulnerable. He also talks about Satoshi, the black Labrador trained to sniff out electronics. Toshi, as he’s known, was sworn in as a deputy with the department and Sgt. Hish is his handler.
In this episode we revisit all the cases from the fourth season including that of a 14-year-old girl who was murdered inside her home in East Los Angeles, the young woman found inside a trunk in Pomona, and a case out of Lynwood dating back to 1969. We also welcomed some new detectives to the program from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Pomona Police Department. If you have a case for us to consider, email the team at: unsolved@iheartmedia.com. All of the episodes of Unsolved with Steve Gregory are available on the iheartradio app.
In this season opener we speak with Mike Fratantoni of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau. Fratantoni is also the curator of the department’s museum housed in the ground floor of the historic Hall of Justice. Fratantoni tells us about the beginning of the department in 1850 and walks us through the history of the department including the creation of the Homicide Detail in 1921, which became the Bureau of Investigation in 1934, and eventually evolved into the Homicide Bureau in 1950. Fratantoni also tells us about the ‘Vigilance Committee’ which was made up of townspeople who held secret court and carried out private executions.
On May 4th, 2006, at around 10:00 PM 60-year-old Security Guard Frutoso Anguiano was on duty at the Northgate Gonzalez Market on 831 Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente, CA. As the store was about to close Anguiano went to the rear of the store and up to a second floor break room where he was met by four Hispanic men. Anguiano was handcuffed and stabbed fifty-two times. Surveillance video shows the four men mingling around the store prior to closing and then disappearing into the back. The video didn’t show the murder but caught the men coming down the stairs wearing masks and holding the gun they had taken from Anguiano. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Cold Case Detective Shaun McCarthy tells us his working theory on the attack and how DNA might lead him to one of the men who lives in another state.
Terry Rasmussen’s killing spree has been widely covered by news media outlets and true crime shows but they leave out an unsolved piece to a sick and twisted puzzle. Pete Headley recently retired from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department where he was an investigator with the Crimes Against Children Unit. Headley breaks down Rasmussen’s path but also gives insight on a case of a missing mother and children from the Anaheim, CA area. When you hear Headley’s theory about Rasmussen you can tell why he thinks the Killer Con Man probably had something to do with the family’s disappearance and probable murder. Click on the bonus episode to learn about the forensic science involved in tracking and identifying Rasmussen and his innocent victims.
Retired San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Headley worked as an investigator with the department’s Crimes Against Children Unit. He was closely involved in the ongoing case of ‘Lisa’, the girl who was abducted, abused, and victimized by Terry Rasmussen. In the previous episode, #503, Headley gives an overview of Rasmussen’s killing spree across the country, including Southern California. In this bonus episode, Headley talks about forensic science, genealogy, and groundbreaking advancements in DNA that helped to not only identify victims but get some answers to questions asked long ago.
Case #1: Two guys were sitting in a car in Compton, CA watching a street takeover. Officials say they were not participants and had no apparent connection to the takeover, but on November 14th, 2021, someone pulled up, got out of a vehicle and opened fire on the two young men killing them on the spot. Dozens of casings were recovered from the scene but ‘no one saw anything’. Officials have offered a $40,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the shooter. Case #2: An 8-year Army veteran returns from three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan only to be gunned down on April 21st, 2021, in front his brother’s home in Lancaster, CA. At first, investigators thought there was a gang connection, but the 30-year-old veteran was about to graduate from college, marry his high school sweetheart and start a new life. Officials have offered a $20,000 reward in this case.
On February 9th Maria Del Carmen Lopez was taken from the front yard of her home in Pueblo Nuevo, Colima, Mexico. Lopez is a US Citizen and retired to Pueblo Nuevo ten years ago. Lopez’ daughter, Zonia ‘Zoe’ Lopez, tells us about the day her family got a ransom call, and the subsequent calls for money, only to be ignored and ghosted. She also speaks about her family's frustration with the FBI and Mexican authorities. We also speak with the FBI about the case and how the agency handles the abductions of US Citizens in foreign countries. After you hear both sides of this mystery, you’ll be left with way more questions than answers.
Case #1 begins in the city of Redondo Beach where a bag of dry bones was discovered in 2001 by plumbers working at a residential construction site. Workers initially thought the bones were not human, but someone decided to call 911, which sparked a multi-year journey that led investigators from a Jane Doe to recently identifying Catherine Parker-Johnson. Now, if investigators could only find who killed Catherine and why. Case #2 involves a 20-year-old man who was killed for no apparent reason. How does a gaming nerd with a spotless record, loving family, and a fulltime job, get shot in cold blood at a cul-de-sac in an industrial part of El Monte, California?
In this season opener we speak with Mike Fratantoni of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau. Fratantoni is also the curator of the department’s museum housed in the ground floor of the historic Hall of Justice. Fratantoni tells us about the beginning of the department in 1850 and walks us through the history of the department including the creation of the Homicide Detail in 1921, which became the Bureau of Investigation in 1934, and eventually evolved into the Homicide Bureau in 1950. Fratantoni also tells us about the ‘Vigilance Committee’ which was made up of townspeople who held secret court and carried out private executions.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recently added an accelerant-sniffing K-9 to its arson unit. The specially trained dog can detect gasoline, diesel, lighter fluid, and many other accelerants. This segment is part of our ongoing Crime Fighter Series that features a behind the scenes look at the work to help solve cases. Also in this episode, 13-year-old Miguel Perez and 19-year-old Jose Merlos were janitors at a laundromat in Lynwood. On March 8th, 1992, after closing the business for the night, someone entered the laundromat and forced the two to the rear of the building; they were shot execution style. While robbery was the strongest motive, detectives now believe there may have been something more to it. And how will a conversation overheard at a recent party steer the 30-year-old investigation?
On April 8th, 2016, fire crews were sent to a home on Mesarica Road in Covina, California. Smoke was seen coming from the roof and it seemed isolated to one area. When firefighters entered, they found the body of 89-year-old Helen Lambert. Her heavily charred body was on a bed and her wrists tied up. Investigators determined that Lambert didn’t die from the fire but most likely died from a very unusual circumstance. The woman lived with her teenage grandson who was at school when the fire happened. A neighbor who was also Lambert’s caregiver is the one who called 911. Who would tie up a grandmother, ignite a fire in her bedroom, and leave her for dead? And what was the motive? Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detectives Shaun McCarthy and Rich Tomlin debrief us on the investigation.
In this episode we review the cases from Season 5. We also welcomed two new agencies to the program, the Redondo Beach Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department returns as well as the FBI. We feature an accelerant-sniffing dog in our Crime Fighter Series, and cases about a con-man who preyed on single mothers, a security guard ambushed in a grocery store, a military man gunned down in front of a relative’s home, a missing mother in Mexico, and an 89-year-old woman who may have been ‘scared to death’. Plus, we feature a case where a bag of dry bones from 20 years ago led detectives to the identity of a victim and her possible killer. Unsolved with Steve Gregory is produced by Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez.
In December of 1983 17-year-old Kristina Rosenberger was found stabbed to death under her bed inside her family’s home in Artesia, California. Kristina’s mother inadvertently discovered the body of her daughter while on the phone with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Kristina’s mother thought she might have been hurt in an accident or was missing. Investigators zeroed in on a couple suspects, including the mother’s live-in boyfriend. Eventually, the case went cold and anyone who might have had access or reason to murder Kristina was cleared or, for whatever reason, never investigated further. LA County Sheriff’s Cold Case Detective Shaun McCarthy breaks down the case of the Bloody Bedroom, including new twists and clues in the case
We meet Los Angeles County Firefighter/Paramedics Nick Bartel and Eddie Ruiz who have the additional gruesome task of handling Human Remains Detection K-9’s (aka Cadaver Dogs). The dogs are used both in murder investigations and recovery efforts. Bartel and Ruiz were sent to the island of Maui to help find human remains from that deadly wildfire in August of 2023. The firefighters walk us through how the dogs are trained to focus in on decomposed flesh and even bone marrow. Bartel and Ruiz also give candid first-person accounts of the carnage and devastation they experienced searching for remains around the historic town of Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. This is part of Unsolved’s ‘Crime Fighter Series’.
In this special edition of Unsolved with Steve Gregory we look back at homicides that happened between the traditional holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s – cases from Southern California and around the country. Many experts say the holiday season is a major stressor for people and some of the motivations behind holiday homicides include money, loneliness, and domestic issues. We look at murders as far back as 1881 and as recent as 2022. The cases come from all walks of life, including a poverty-stricken community in Kentucky and an upscale neighborhood in Chicago. The killers include a tobacco sharecropper, a former engineer with JPL, a desperate roommate, and an 18-year-old who didn’t want to pay rent.
Case #1: December 30th, 2018, 46-year-old Demetrius Brackens and a relative had just walked out of the front door of a home in Compton. As they went down the sidewalk a man came up on them and without warning or provocation opened fire fatally hitting Brackens and injuring the relative. Neither of the men were tied to a gang and a doorbell video caught a glimpse of an SUV driving from the scene. UPDATE: The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Compton City Council are offering a combined reward of $20,000 for the capture of the person or persons responsible for Brackens’ death and the attempted murder of his relative. Case #2: 13-year-old Miguel Perez and 19-year-old Jose Merlos were janitors at a laundromat in Lynwood. On March 8th, 1992, after closing the business for the night, someone entered the laundromat and forced the two to the rear of the building; they were shot execution style. While robbery was the strongest motive, detectives now believe there may have been something more to it. And how will a conversation overheard at a recent party steer the 30-year-old investigation?
In this special edition of Unsolved with Steve Gregory we look back at homicides that happened between the traditional holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s – cases from Southern California and around the country. Many experts say the holiday season is a major stressor for people and some of the motivations behind holiday homicides include money, loneliness, and domestic issues. We look at murders as far back as 1881 and as recent as 2022. The cases come from all walks of life, including a poverty-stricken community in Kentucky and an upscale neighborhood in Chicago. The killers include a tobacco sharecropper, a former engineer with JPL, a desperate roommate, and an 18-year-old who didn’t want to pay rent.
Dogs are being trained to detect chemicals used on the memories and hard drives of all digital devices. These dogs can sniff out thumb drives, smartphones, external drives, and other devices used to store illicit content, including child pornography and financial crime data. We go to the inner sanctum of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Fraud & Cybercrimes Bureau located at a secret location in south Los Angeles County – a first for a journalist. Sergeant Pete Hish handles ‘K-9 Satoshi’ and Sergeant Sergio Reyes handles ‘K-9 Zypher’. They tell us how their specially trained Electronics Detection K-9’s are being used to help solve cases and catch the bad guys. It’s part of our ongoing ‘Crime-Fighter Series’.
In this special edition of Unsolved with Steve Gregory we look back at homicides that happened between the traditional holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s – cases from Southern California and around the country. Many experts say the holiday season is a major stressor for people and some of the motivations behind holiday homicides include money, loneliness, and domestic issues. We look at murders as far back as 1881 and as recent as 2022. The cases come from all walks of life, including a poverty-stricken community in Kentucky and an upscale neighborhood in Chicago. The killers include a tobacco sharecropper, a former engineer with JPL, a desperate roommate, and an 18-year-old who didn’t want to pay rent.
Case #1: Anthony Velasquez and his father, Manuel, are arrested by the LA County Sheriff's Department’s Cold Case Unit in connection with the deaths of 3 people over a 4-year period in the East LA area. Manuel is accused of driving his son to some of the murder scenes. Case #2: A tragic case from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Cold Case unit – the discovery of a newborn at a trash sorting facility. Detectives are trying to find the identity of Baby Jane Doe #45 and the mother who dumped her into a trash bin.
On October 28th, 2006, in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, a man was shot and killed at a birthday party over an older, long-standing personal grudge. Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau quickly identified a suspect. A few days later, November 2nd, more than two dozen deputies, along with detectives, were serving a search warrant at a house in the Willowbrook area. A number of men were inside the home and as deputies detained them on the porch to wait, three men appeared from across the street and opened fire. Miraculously, none of the deputies, detectives, or detainees were hit. But a 12-year-old girl watching the commotion from her driveway next door was struck through her chest by a round from an AK-47. She died on scene. Her 15-year-old friend was injured and the shooter(s) are still at large.
On January 15th, 1947, the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short was found in Leimert Park, a public space located in South Los Angeles. Someone had performed an hemicorporectomy, the act of cutting a body in half at a specific point of the body. The woman who first spotted the body out in the open thought it was a mannequin, mostly because the skin color was so pale, a result of Short’s fluids and blood being completely drained from her body. In this Anniversary edition we speak with case expert Steve Hodel, a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Not only is Hodel entrenched in the case, he also has a personal connection.
In 1979 a 19-year-old woman was found brutally beaten and stabbed to death near what was then the old “El Rancho Hotel” near the Las Vegas Strip. For decades she remained a ‘Jane Doe’ or as detectives nicknamed her, ‘Sahara Sue Doe’. In December of 2023 new DNA technology allowed a cold case detective with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department to contact a probable relative in California. The call paid off and Sahara Sue Doe became Gwenn Marie Story, a teenager from Cincinnati, Ohio who had initially planned a trip to California to find her real father. But the stop in Las Vegas with two male friends would prove deadly. Case #2, Detective Eric Ogaz with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department talks about Scott Echols, an 8-year-old boy who, in 1992, answered the door at his home late one night and mysteriously disappeared.
Case #1 – August 30th, 1992, a woman was found hidden under some brush along highway 95 just north of Blythe, CA. Her body was mummified and severely decomposed. In 1994, a long-haul trucker admitted to killing the woman and a number of other women. He was nicknamed the ‘Happy Face Killer’. We speak with an investigator from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office who is asking for help to identify the murdered woman from 1992; Case #2 – The partially clothed body of Sherri Herrera was found near a freeway onramp east of Palm Springs. She was known as a prostitute who frequented truck stops. Investigators use forensic Genealogy to form a suspect profile; Case #3 – On Christmas night of 2016, 3 men approached a car in the city of Riverside and opened fire. Miraculously, the driver and her companion escaped. New surveillance video was released.
Case #1: On July 24th, 2022, Malik McGee had just finished performing at a hookah lounge in Upland, CA. As he drove away someone opened fire hitting Malik twice through the side of his car. Just an hour before that, surveillance video shows a guy scoping out the best positions to shoot from, including methodically practicing how he was going to aim and shoot. Malik had graduated with a degree in biology and was headed to medical school. He performed music, taught dance at his high school alma mater, and gave back to his community. Case #2: On January 27th, 1996, a body of an unidentified woman was found near some trash in a hilly area next to Gilman Springs Road and Highway 60 near the city of Beaumont, CA. A forensic pathologist found the woman had a surgical cesarean scar indicating she had given birth. The woman was wearing jewelry, was well kept, and had undergone expensive dental work. All these years later, detectives have no idea who she is and who wanted her dead.
In this episode we look back at cases featured during season 6. This season had us at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Upland Police Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Each segment includes the introduction to each case followed by the episode number for easy reference to hear the complete case/episode on the iHeartRadio app.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detectives are trying to figure out how and why an up-and-coming film student went missing and is presumed dead. In February of 2015, Ray Collins, Jr. was last seen leaving his parents’ home in Chino, CA to meet a prospective client in Compton, CA. A few days later, Collins’ car was found abandoned in a residential area. We speak with the detectives in charge of this cold case and the parents who simply want answers. Ray Collins was known for producing music videos for both the Crips and Bloods. He also grew up with childhood friends Kendrick Lamar and Jayceon Taylor, aka The Game.
The Major Crimes Bureau is made up of people who do the ‘dirty work’, the ones who sit in their cars for hours at a time to watch one person, the ones who dress like a homeless person to blend in. Steve speaks with Sgt. Mike Maher, a 31-year veteran of the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Maher is a Detective Team Sergeant and oversees task forces and operations that tackle things like Murder for Hire, Bank Robberies, Threats on Public Officials, Kidnap for Ransom, and Organized Crime. This episode is part of the ongoing “Crime Fighter Series” which highlights those people and agencies that help prevent and solve crime.
On September 26th, 2004, 20-year-old Willie Pigram III was cruising with his friends in a Lowe’s parking lot in Hawthorne, CA. As Pigram slowly drove his slick green El Camino a couple guys approached his car and opened fire into the driver's side window – hitting Pigram multiple times at point blank range. LA County Sheriff’s Detectives say it’s most likely a case of mistaken identity. Pigram’s father wants to know why his son, who had a job, was going to college, and was well loved by everyone he knew, was gunned down for no reason at all.
On January 16th, 2014, a wildfire broke out in the San Gabriel Mountains and quickly spread through the Angeles National Forest. The 2,000-acre wildfire destroyed six homes and damaged many others. One of the most challenging crimes to investigate is arson, especially wildfire arson. We speak with Captain Russel Tuttle with the United States Forest Service. Tuttle breaks down the methods of federal arson investigators and their meticulous approach to determining not only the origin and cause of a fire, but also who started it. We get a behind the scenes look at the entire Colby Fire investigation. This is part of our ongoing ‘Crime Fighter Series’ which highlights the people, agencies, and technology responsible for solving crime.
Case #1 - On September 30th, 2017, Andrew Chavez and his girlfriend Clotee Reyes were at a birthday party in Lancaster, CA, and during an argument in the street they were gunned down from a drive-by shooting; Case #2 - Riverside, CA, December 25th 2016, 10:06 PM, 22-year-old Cassey Verrette and her then boyfriend were sitting in a car when 3 men walked up and opened fire. Verrette was hit 3 times and survived – no word on the shooters; Case #3 - October 1st, 2014, Victorville, CA, workers at a trash sorting facility find a newborn on a conveyor belt. Detectives have no leads.
On January 27th, 1996, a body of an unidentified woman was found near some trash in a hilly area next to Gilman Springs Road and Highway 60 near the city of Beaumont. A forensic pathologist found the woman had a surgical cesarean scar indicating she had given birth. The woman was wearing jewelry, was well kept, and had undergone expensive dental work. All these years later, detectives have no idea who she is and who wanted her dead. We also speak with Gene Robinson, an Aerial Forensics Drone Pilot who helps agencies around the world find missing people, mass graves and crimes in progress. He was part of the team who searched for Amber Dubois and Chelsea King, the 2 girls raped and murdered by serial killer John Gardner near San Diego.
Hour #1 - On September 30th, 2017, Andrew Chavez and his girlfriend Clotee Reyes were at a birthday party in Lancaster, CA, and during an argument in the street they were gunned down from a drive-by shooting; Hour #2 – Lancaster, CA May 12, 2022, Shawna Donahue, the mother of Andrew Chavez, contacts us and wants to talk about her son’s death, the controversies, the theories on why he was killed, and the people she thinks are behind her son’s death.
Case #1 – The FBI breaks down the case of 21-year-old musician Kevin Harris. Harris had already sold some of his music to hip-hop artist Ice Cube - singers Rhianna and Britney Spears also showed interest in his music. He was gunned down in front of his recording studio in Inglewood. Case #2 – The partially clothed body of Sherri Herrera was found near a freeway onramp east of Palm Springs. She was known as a prostitute who frequented truck stops. Investigators use forensic Genealogy to form a suspect profile. Case #3 – On Christmas night of 2016, 3 men approached a car in the city of Riverside and opened fire. Miraculously, the driver and her companion escaped. New surveillance video was released.
In this episode Steve talks with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sergeant Peter Hish about the level of cyber risk for the residents of LA County. Hish also breaks down Cyber Security issues and how investigators track down the ‘bad actors’ from other countries. Hish also talks about how to protect yourself from being a target of cybercriminals, phishing scams, and sextortion. This episode is part of our ‘Crime Fighter Series’ which highlights the people, agencies, and technology behind preventing and solving crime. This episode was taped live at the Morton's Steakhouse in Burbank, CA.
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