True Crime Recaps

Bonus episode! We’re revisiting four unforgettable cold cases previously covered on True Crime Recaps, now compiled into one longer episode with new narration and case updates. Two young women are murdered years apart, with both cases eventually cracked through advances in DNA technology. A mother is found murdered inside her Maryland home, and more than two decades pass before DNA finally exposes someone who had once been close to her family. And a little boy remains unidentified for more than 60 years, known only as “The Boy in the Box,” until forensic genealogy finally gives him back his name. These are the cases of Mandy Stavik, Lisa Ziegert, Leslie Preer, and Joseph Augustus Zarelli, four investigations separated by decades but connected by evidence that refused to disappear. For some families, advances in forensic science finally led investigators to the people responsible. For another, DNA answered one of the biggest questions while leaving another mystery still unsolved. This bonus compilation brings together our previous coverage of all four cases in one extended True Crime Recaps episode, with new narration exploring how DNA transformed investigations that once seemed impossible to crack. #TrueCrimeRecaps #ColdCases #DNA #ForensicGenealogy #TrueCrime #UnsolvedMysteries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2013, a Vanderbilt student woke up after a night she could not remember and was told by the man she was dating that he had spent the night taking care of her. What she didn’t know was that while she was unconscious, several Vanderbilt football players had brought her into a dorm room, where prosecutors said she was sexually assaulted. And unlike most cases where investigators have to reconstruct what happened from conflicting memories, these men had documented parts of the night themselves. The case began with a damaged dorm-room door, but surveillance footage showed an unconscious woman being carried through the building. Investigators eventually recovered deleted videos, photographs, messages and other digital evidence, including material sent to people outside Tennessee. Four football players were indicted. Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey were ultimately convicted at retrials and sentenced to 17 and 15 years, respectively, while Brandon Banks received 15 years. Jaborian “Tip” McKenzie cooperated with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and received probation. More than a decade later, the Vanderbilt case is being discussed alongside allegations in a separate Cornell University case. A Cornell student who reported an alleged sexual assault at a fraternity house in 2024 has filed a civil lawsuit, prompting renewed scrutiny and a reopened investigation. No criminal charges have been filed against the men named in that lawsuit, and the allegations remain disputed. But the Vanderbilt case shows how surveillance footage and digital evidence can completely change the course of an investigation. #TrueCrimeRecaps #Cornell #Cornell7 #Vanderbilt #CollegeScandal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike and her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp were involved in the brutal killing of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Both were later convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy, but their sentences sent them down very different paths. Christa was sentenced to death, while Tadaryl received life with the possibility of parole. More than 30 years later, Tennessee attempted to execute Christa by lethal injection. After two doses failed to stop her heart, she was taken to hospital alive, prompting the governor to halt the state's remaining executions and order an independent review. Meanwhile, Tadaryl remains in prison and could eventually be released on parole. How did two teenagers convicted in the same case end up facing such different futures? #TrueCrimeRecaps #ChristaPike #TadarylShipp #ColleenSlemmer #TrueCrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August 1990, 22-year-old Cheryl Henry and 21-year-old Andy Atkinson drove out to a secluded Houston area known as "Lovers Lane." They were never seen alive again. When a security guard found their abandoned white Honda with the keys still in the ignition, search dogs were brought in to scour the nearby woods. What they discovered was a horrific and incredibly bizarre crime scene involving deflated balloons, strategically placed golf balls, and a twenty-dollar bill left near the victims. Police collected DNA, but for nearly four decades, the identity of the monster responsible remained a complete mystery. The case sat cold for 36 years until a shocking breakthrough finally linked the crime scene DNA to another surviving victim. That survivor told police her attacker carried a long-barreled gun and acted exactly like law enforcement. This chilling detail eventually led investigators straight to Floyd William Parrott, a serial police impersonator who had a documented history of pulling people over with fake badges and lights. Records even showed he was out on bond for impersonating an officer at the exact time Cheryl and Andy were targeted, leaving investigators to strongly suspect he used a fake badge to gain their trust that night. In March 2026, police finally tracked the 64-year-old down in Nebraska and charged him with capital murder. But the families of Cheryl and Andy would never get their day in court. Just one month after his highly publicized arrest, Parrott took his own life inside his jail cell before he could even be extradited to Texas. Now investigators are pulling his timeline across multiple states, terrified that the man who hid behind a fake badge for decades might be responsible for many more unsolved tragedies. #TrueCrimeRecaps #LoversLaneMurders #CherylHenry #AndyAtkinson #ColdCaseSolved  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18-year-old Nolan Wells disappeared during a Fourth of July boat outing on Horn Island, Mississippi. Two days later, his body was found in the water. After reviewing testimony from 43 witnesses, phone records, GPS data, videos and forensic evidence, a grand jury declined to indict anyone, finding no credible evidence that a crime had been committed. The circumstances were considered consistent with drowning. But questions remain. Both the state medical examiner and an independent pathologist listed Nolan’s cause and manner of death as undetermined, and bruising was documented on his body. His family is continuing to seek answers and has called for an independent federal investigation. Pasted markdown In this episode of True Crime Recaps, Chris breaks down what the grand jury found, the claims it rejected, and why Nolan’s family says the case still leaves important questions unanswered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices