Cold Cases

What happens when a teenager goes missing in the world’s smallest, and supposedly safest, country? Emanuela Orlandi’s sudden disappearance remains the only missing person’s case in Vatican City, yet more than 40 years later we still have no idea what really happened behind the papal state’s walls. After the story, stick around for an exclusive interview with the director of The First Omen, Arkasha Stevenson! This episode is brought to you by Twentieth Century Studios' the First Omen. Experience the most terrifying movie of the year, and what critics are calling “deliciously disturbing” only in theaters April 5th. Conspiracy Theories is now on Instagram @theconspiracypod and TikTok @conspiracy.pod! Follow us to keep up with the show and get behind-the-scenes updates from Carter and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Short’s gruesome murder is the LAPD’s most infamous unsolved case. But there’s one person who thinks he’s cracked it — the alleged killer’s own son. Today, we reopen the case against George Hodel, a certified genius and once-celebrated doctor who rubbed elbows with noted surrealists… and had a vile history of abuse and terror, even against his own family. This episode originally aired August 2022 - to hear more of Vanessa and Carter check out Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile. The investigation takes police into the hidden sides of the city — illicit romances and gang-related crimes. But when another mutilated body is found weeks later, the hunt is on for a possible serial killer. This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at the murder of Elizabeth Short and other unsolved cases surrounding it. This episode originally aired August 2022 - to hear more of Vanessa and Carter check out Serial Killers and Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the body of media mogul Robert Maxwell was pulled from the water, rumors began to swirl about the cause of death. It's entirely possible that it was only an accident. But some believe the crew killed him on his yacht. While others wonder if he may have been the target of Israeli assassins. This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was a controversial media mogul in Britain accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his employees. Then in November 1991, Robert Maxwell mysteriously disappeared from his yacht while vacationing near the Canary Islands. His body was recovered later from the water, but the circumstances surrounding his death left many wondering what really happened that fateful night. This episode originally aired on Conspiracy Theories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harvey Miguel Robinson committed his first murder when he was just 17. As the son of a convicted murderer and violent abuser, did he ever have a chance?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1969, a 23-year-old law student at the University of Michigan was found murdered in a cemetery outside of Ann Arbor. Jane Mixer’s death was considered part of a string of violent killings known as the Michigan murders, thought to be the work of a serial killer. That changed when new evidence came to light. But more than 50 years later, doubt remains. Was the right person sent to prison? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, taunting them for their inability to catch him. Fifty years later, there is still no confirmed suspect as to the identity of the murderer. This episode originally aired in February 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s. This episode originally aired on Serial Killers in February 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For decades, family members and sleuths have tried to determine what really happened the night of the fire. As of yet, they have been unsuccessful. But the clues remain, the questions linger, and the case unofficially stays open… This episode originally aired in December 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of the fire, a startling number of tips, twists, and witnesses came forward regarding the fate of the Sodder children. Their father, George, followed the clues for decades, driven by a suspicion of the “official” story and a belief that the blaze was no accident. This episode originally aired in December 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early Christmas day in 1945, Jennie Sodder woke up to her house on fire. The blaze consumed her home, and five of her children. Or did it? A series of strange events before, during and after the incident leave room for more nefarious — though no less tragic — possibilities. This episode originally aired in December 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a lengthy appeals process, Sam Sheppard was set free in 1964, ten years after his wife Marilyn’s murder. Two years later, he would be retried on second degree murder charges. New evidence would surface, but would it be enough to convict him? This episode originally aired in July 2018.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prestigious doctor Sam Sheppard woke up in the middle of the night to find his wife Marilyn dead from a gruesome murder. His account of what happened early that morning was shaky, and it was no secret that Sam had been sleeping around. Did the murderer break into the house to steal prescription drugs, or did Sam kill his wife in order to end the marriage? This episode originally aired on Unsolved Murders in June 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the spring of 1971, a killer begins kidnapping young Black girls off the streets in Washington, D.C. He taunts their families and the police in a grim game of cat-and-mouse—then, just when it seems he’s gone for good, he returns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cold Cases is coming to an end.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over a span of nearly four years, five people — the youngest only 12 — vanish from towns along the Idaho-Washington border. When their bodies start turning up, their missing persons cases become murder investigations that have everyone wondering whether there’s a serial killer in their midst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just a mile off Interstate 45 in League City, Texas, an abandoned oil field holds the weight of a community’s grief. This is where the remains of four young women were found over the course of seven years. Today we follow the disappearance of 16-year-old Laura Miller to its gruesome end, and trace her father’s crusade to catch an elusive killer. This episode originally aired in September 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the mid-1980s in Hawaii, and police don’t want to cause a panic — but they’re at a loss. All they know is that women are turning up bound, assaulted, and strangled to death in or near the Ke’ehi Lagoon on the island of O’ahu. It will take decades for a clue to surface that, had it been found earlier, could have changed everything. This episode originally aired in January 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Nejdra “Netty” Nance couldn't find her birth certificate, her mother had to come clean: Netty was adopted. Unable to find any adoption records, she called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's hotline in 2010. And that's when she learned she hadn't actually been adopted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices