SEASON 1

In 1998, a woman goes missing shortly after her 35th birthday. A man she’s dating is the last known person to see Marla Ware before she’s found almost 2 months later, decomposing in her bedroom. But in the days before the discovery of her body, witnesses see someone lurking around her apartment. Who is… the Man on the Stairs?

In the 1970’s and 80’s, one-man terrorized residents of California in a terrifying, 13-year crime spree. His atrocities included murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery. For years, he eluded law enforcement… until 2018 when he was caught. In this special Spotlight episode, we examine the WAY in which a dangerous predator was ultimately identified and how it changed the way we look at DNA as a crime fighting tool. 

An Oregon woman disappears without a trace in 1999. The investigation by police turns up a person of interest, but there’s a problem. Find out how a determined detective and a devoted daughter continue their quest to answer the question… Where is Leona Kinsey?

In 1999, a 45-year-old Oregon woman disappears without a trace. Her purse, pager, eyeglasses and beloved dog are left behind, but her vehicle is missing. Did she leave on her own? Was she abducted? Could she have been targeted by the Mexican drug cartel? This intriguing story is told by a daughter who is a passionate advocate in search of her mother, and by an undaunted cop who said this is the case that nags at him – a “loose end” that demands an answer.

In Part 5 of this multi-part episode, you’ll hear from a listener who called us with an answer to a mystery that we talked about in Part 1. And another who told us about some disturbing circumstances that occurred around the time the girls went missing. Are we getting closer to an answer? Someone knows what happened. If that person is you, it’s time to answer the question…Where are the girls who went Missing in the Keys?

In Part 4 of this multi-part episode, we examine the possibility that Terry and Cindy met with foul play at the hands of a killer, but which one? Shockingly, for almost every theory, we can draw something relevant to the circumstances of this case. Join us as we search for answers about the two girls who went…. Missing in the Keys.

In Part 3 of this multi-part episode, we delve deeper into the people, places and circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Terry Alfonso and Cindy Gooding from the Florida Keys. We look into a promising lead about a party, but witnesses share conflicting details. And we explore several dangerous predators who were in and around the area in 1974. Join us as we continue the search for two teens…. Missing in the Keys.

In Part 2 of this multi-part episode, we’re continuing the story of two teenage girls, who suddenly vanish in 1974. Where did they go that night and why? Through interviews with the people who saw them 50 years ago, we explore their last known movements – and a curious picture begins to emerge… Join us as we look for the girls who went… Missing in the Keys 

In Part 1 of this multi-part episode, we’re bringing you the story of two teenage girls, who, in 1974, are enjoying the end of summer in sunny Florida, when they mysteriously disappear. We delve into their last known movements and uncover a puzzling timeline, haunting memories from family and friends, and a disturbing number of dangerous people who were in the area at the time. And after 50 years, we’re still searching for the girls who went Missing in the Keys…

With the collapse of the first tower at Ground Zero in New York City, a plainclothes police sergeant finds himself in the street, blinded by debris and fighting to breathe. A high school student is watching the horror unfold from inside a church when he sees that the sergeant is in trouble and rushes to his aid. Join us for this inspiring “Behind the Badge” episode of APB Cold Case – the story of two men whose bravery and determination saved lives, their chance encounter resulting in a friendship that continues today.

On a cold December morning in 2012, a vengeful man with a disturbing motive sets a trap for firefighters just outside of Rochester, NY. As first responders arrive on the scene of a rapidly spreading fire, they are met with a barrage of bullets. In this special ‘’Behind the Badge” episode of APB Cold Case we take you inside this incredible story of heroism, courage under fire, and fighting back. 

In part two of this 2-part episode, 17-year-old Holly Branagan has been found dead, lying on her kitchen floor with a knife in her back in March 1979. Who killed her and why? We explore theories that have been raised in an investigation that has spanned more than 45 years. Did Holly let her killer in the house? Here’s part 2 of… Someone’s at the Door.

In Part 1 of this 2-part episode, teenager Holly Branagan is alone in her Pennsylvania home on a Wednesday afternoon in March 1979 – She’s talking on the phone to a friend when the call is interrupted by a knock on the door. This sweet, 17-year-old girl doesn’t recognize the danger when she tells her friend… Someone’s at the Door…

On a hot summer night in 1918, Dr. William Dean goes out to the barn to milk his cow - but he never returns to the house. The next morning Dean’s frantic wife and several others begin searching for him only to find his mutilated body dumped in a cistern near the barn – he had been strangled, beaten and bound. The suspects include his wife; a former tenant thought to be a German spy; and a prominent banker who was supposedly Dr. Dean’s close friend.

This story unfolds during the final days of World War I, and tensions were high. Could the Dr. have been killed by a German spy? Was there a cover-up by prominent officials? Did Dr. Dean possess sensitive information he was about to reveal to the government? Theories abound - and shockingly, much of the actual physical evidence from the murder is found in the 1980’s and still exists today. Could DNA answer the question? Who killed Dr. William Dean? 

In 1984, a woman waits by her broken down car on highway in Massachusetts when a man stops to offer assistance. Neither the Samaritan’s charming demeanor nor his handsome appearance cause the woman any alarm, so when he offers to drive her to her destination, she accepts. She has no idea that she’s just accepted a ride from a serial killer. His evil intentions become apparent at the next exit when he turns the car in the wrong direction. In this special ‘’Behind the Badge” episode of APB Cold Case, a former police chief of Wenham, Massachusetts shares the story of how a brave young woman helped police bring a vicious killer to his last stop.

In this special APB Cold Case Preview episode, we highlight several cases that we're working on for this season including the savage murder of two Marines on a tropical island; the unsolved homicide of a high school girl stabbed 18 times while in her own home; a gentleman farmer, who’s brutalized body is found in a well; and finally, two teenage girls who mysteriously vanish in the Florida Keys. These are just a few of the cold cases we have coming up this season.

After celebrating the 4th of July holiday in Saratoga Springs, NY, a young woman leaves Gaffney’s bar in the early morning hours. She’s alone as she heads down the sidewalk towards her nearby apartment. But within 30 hours, her badly beaten body is found in a ditch along a country road 10 miles away. What happened after she left that downtown bar? We are looking for her killer, as we retrace her Final Footsteps.

What began as an exciting adventure for 19-year-old Tracy Onawa Jones, became a nightmare when she vanished from a truck stop in 2006 while selling magazine subscriptions. Did she leave on her own or did someone take her? We retrace the last movements of a young woman with a competitive spirit and infectious personality who was on her way to winning a top sales competition… Was danger lurking in her Blind Spot? 

When tourists discover a body in the Arizona desert in 1989, it sets off a chain of events beginning with the investigation of the brutal murder of a young woman known only as Jane Doe. 30 years later a dedicated Sheriff’s investigator named Lori Miller takes on the case and is able to identify the victim as Marina Ramos. When notified of her death, Marina’s family asks Inv. Miller a question that hits her like a ton of bricks. This is no longer just a murder investigation... Learn more in Murder in the Mohave: Who Killed Marina Ramos?

In June of 1978, the violent death of one of the most beloved Hollywood actors of the 60’s and 70’s shocked the world. Forever known by his portrayal of Col. Hogan in the widely popular television series, Hogan’s Heroes, Bob Crane was hiding a big secret. That is, until his untimely death at the hands of an unknown killer. Bob’s career is punctuated by his remarkable talent and charisma in radio, television and on the stage. But the last episode of his life was Unscripted.

On Mother’s Day, 1993, the Stabb family gathered at their parent’s rural home outside of Canastota, New York to honor their matriarch Jessie. But the celebration was short-lived because less than 24 hours later, Jessie and Carl, her husband of almost 50 years, were found dead. As the couple spent the evening watching television together in the comfort of their home, they were both shot in the head by a killer who stood just outside their living room window. Who would have a motive to kill the Stabb’s? A New York State Police Investigator and family members share their insights on this perplexing case that has spanned more than 30 years. 

A young mother is found brutally murdered in her 2nd floor apartment. The investigation reveals several oddities including post-mortem stabbing, a strange mark on the victim’s face, and a crime scene that has been staged. Is the killer sending a message or trying to throw off investigators? Questions linger in this decades old cold case, but new technologies may help uncover the killer whose victim was Slain in Saratoga Springs.

Police Week 2024 Re-Release - God Help Me, I’m Shot! – The Sherrill Incident.

In honor of National Police Week, we’re re-releasing this special Behind the Badge episode about two police officers from a small community. Their story represents the commitment and sacrifice of law enforcement officers throughout the nation.

A callous gunman who wreaked havoc upon several unsuspecting victims in 1969 could not shake the resilience of this tight-knit community, nor the legacy of the heroes who lost their lives that fateful night. 

The story of tragedy and terror in and around Sherrill, New York is remembered vividly more than 50 years later by those who lived it.

While America was still reeling from the terror attacks of 9/11, another potentially catastrophic but invisible threat followed just days later. Letters laced with anthrax and sent through the mail to targeted individuals became the first biological attack in U.S. history.

While many remember the frightening headlines warning of dangerous white powder letters which resulted in 5 deaths and many more sickened, the circumstances of how the attack was discovered and the harrowing events that followed, has gone largely unreported.

In this special APB Behind the Badge episode, we learn how the attack was carried out and how vital preparations by the U.S. Capitol Police for such an event, likely saved thousands of lives. The episode – Declassified: Inside the Anthrax Attack on America delves into declassified FBI documents and an exclusive interview with Inspector Edward Bailor (U.S. Capitol Police/Retired) who shares some never-before-heard details to give you a glimpse inside one of the largest investigations in U.S. history.

For timeline and photos, go to:

https://apbcoldcase.com/declassified-anthrax

A notorious and cut-throat, gangster is brazenly shot dead in his Albany, NY apartment on December 18th, 1931. And his provocative lifestyle suggests a number of suspects for the murder. There were many who wanted Jack “Legs” Diamond dead including his bootlegging competition, political rivals, and the police. And maybe even a jealous wife? This is the roller-coaster story of the often dark and violent side of underground crime during the era of Prohibition. No one was ever charged with Diamond’s slaying, but if there had ever been a trial, there would have been a lot of Reasonable Doubt.

Two teenage girls go missing from the same small town in Saratoga County, New York, about a year and a half apart. Jennifer Hammond was last seen on an evening in 2003 heading into a trailer park to sell magazines.  Christina White had gone out for a late-night walk in 2005 when she mysteriously disappeared. Their skeletal remains are later found about 10 miles apart in dense forest, both ruled as homicide. In this episode we examine the details and similarities between both cases – are these two girls Connected by Evil? 

 A fun, family night out turns into a living nightmare when 2-year-old Teekah Lewis vanishes from a crowded Tacoma, WA bowling alley in 1999. The investigation has uncovered several leads but detectives are faced with a number of challenges and layers of suspicion leading to more than one person of interest: What about the lady's strange reaction while in the back of a police car after being questioned by authorities that same night? What about the Pontiac Grand Am seen racing away from the scene? Or the previous incidents of child luring at the same bowling alley? Or the concerned woman who calls police when her son asks her about getting out of Tacoma fast? And earlier the same day, there’s an attempted abduction one mile away in a public park – the suspect flees in a Grand Am. And if that’s not enough, a few weeks earlier, a woman asks Teekah’s mom if she could just have her little daughter. Who took Teekah and where is she now? 

Someone knows the answer – Do you have a piece of the puzzle that can help bring Teekah home?

In August 1986 a couple building a new home in rural New Jersey make a startling discovery during a weekend visit to their remote property – a mutilated female body. The young victim had been bound, stabbed, and burned with acid. No identification is found at the scene, so she is classified as Jane Doe. Decades pass with no leads to her identity or her murder until 2011 when a dogged detective working on another cold case gets a hit on Jane Doe’s DNA profile. 24 years after her body was discovered she has a name: Jeanette Tambe. But who killed her and why? It doesn’t appear that her murder was a random act of violence. Was it someone she knew? The brutality of the crime speaks to a cold-blooded and sadistic killer.

In 1981 a farmer finds a dead body laying at the edge of his field not far from the town of Bethlehem, New York. The body is so badly decomposed that the coroner cannot determine the cause of death. So, without any clue as to the man’s identity, the case goes cold. Years later, a Bethlehem police sergeant is asked about the case. He is unable to find the file as the original records were destroyed by a flood. So, he starts to reconstruct the investigation from scratch – not an easy task more than 20 years later. The detective slowly makes progress, overcoming a series of obstacles as he builds his case, locates evidence, and leverages modern DNA technology. His perseverance will pay off, changing the name of the unidentified man from John (Doe) to Franklin (Feldman). How did it happen, and what is the status of the case today?

One of New York State’s most notorious serial killers, Lemuel Smith, is currently incarcerated at the Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County for several horrific crimes. But Smith was never arrested or prosecuted for what many agree was his first homicide, the vicious murder of Dorothy Waterstreet, the mother of one of his high school classmates. Smith was described by one judge as “the poster child for the death penalty” and the story of his years-long rampage paralyzed the Capital District of New York State in the 1970’s, and continued even while in prison. We recount the story of this “monster” with the help of several people including, the two cops who arrested Smith on his last day of freedom with his kidnap victim next to him in the car, rescuing her from certain death. That rescue would not have happened if not for the circumstance of a concerned citizen and his CB radio. 

In January 1988, a couple out for a walk discover skeletal remains lying at the bottom of an old industrial well at an abandoned distillery in Pennsylvania. For years detectives chase down leads from missing persons cases trying to identify the body to no avail. The autopsy indicates that this Jane Doe, probably in her teens, had been 6-months pregnant at the time of her death. Why was there no missing person report matching her description? Someone had to be looking for this girl. With a fresh set of eyes on the cold case and through the utilization of advances in DNA science, the girl is finally identified as Lisa Todd. But we still don’t know how she died or who put her there. The case remains unsolved. Maybe you can help solve the mystery of the Girl in the Well. 

A 6-year-old girl falls asleep one night on the couch with her siblings. But when morning comes, she is nowhere to be found, launching a massive search and intense police investigation. Two days later, her mother’s boyfriend is found shot in an alley – was it murder or suicide? Is his death connected to the little girl’s disappearance? In recent years police have dug up the yard of the home where she once lived finding no evidence of little Natasha Shanes. But two retired detectives have a theory… Could it finally solve the Mystery on Maple Ave?

On a stormy day in March of 1983, 14-year-old Tracy is dropped off at school by her mom’s boyfriend, Paul Greenwald, but Tracy never returns home. It’s later learned that Tracy had been suspended from school. Where did she go? Rumors circulate that she may have been pregnant. Months pass with no sign of her, but then suddenly her mother Jean goes missing, too. Tragically, Jean’s body is found days later. And her boyfriend, Paul is charged with her murder. But Greenwald evades sentencing for that crime by committing suicide in jail. Who is responsible for Tracy’s disappearance? And where is Tracy Byrd? Perhaps the answers lie in the Family Secrets.

Bullets flying, bombs detonating and shrapnel exploding…it sounds like a scene straight out of an action movie, but this story happened late one night on a sleepy residential street in Watertown, Massachusetts. 

Many of us know about the horrific Boston Marathon bombing on Patriot’s Day in 2013. But the details of how the bombers were ultimately tracked and captured may have eluded the bigger headlines of the day. This is the story of The Shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombers: The 8 ½ Minutes You Never Heard About   …told by the officers who lived it.

In 1972 Patricia Fairbanks runs an errand for her mom to the local drug store but was fifteen cents short. 14-year-old Patricia heads back to the drug store with the fifteen cents but never comes home. Her bludgeoned and strangled body is found a month later, just yards from her home. But there is controversy in what they found at the crime scene. A half century later, cold case detectives are taking a fresh look at the case, focusing on persons of interest and using modern technology on old evidence. Could DNA be the piece of the puzzle they’ve been needing all along?  

 In 2000, a 7-year-old girl with AIDS had mysteriously vanished. When the caregiver she was entrusted to claimed not to know where she was, authorities demanded answers. But since the child's disappearance, there have been no answers.

A passionate Virginia prosecutor charged the caregiver with fraud for stealing benefits intended for the little girl. But he said, “That just can’t be the end of this story” and we agree. Can you help find Brittany Williams?

  A young, deaf woman moves to Reno to escape a troubled relationship. But did trouble follow right behind her? One fateful night she visits a friend at a casino near her apartment – and after leaving alone and on foot, she’s never seen again. Does the answer to her disappearance lie within the estranged relationship she had with a former boyfriend, a man with an allegedly volatile past? Together with Reno police, we delve inside the investigation of the disappearance of Jill Beaty, examining her last known movements, her relationships, and everything she left behind.

  A callous gunman who wreaked havoc upon several unsuspecting victims in 1969 could not shake the resilience of this tight-knit community, nor the legacy of the heroes who lost their lives that fateful night. 

The story of tragedy and terror in and around Sherrill, New York is remembered more than 50 years later by those who lived it.

  In the early 1980’s two men, frequently known for hitchhiking, fell victim to a sadistic killer. Their cases are connected by ballistics and an m.o. - genital mutilation. And although found 2000 miles apart, both bodies are discovered in proximity to Interstate 80 – Wayne Rifendifer in Pennsylvania, and Marty Shook in Utah. And the killer? He may have brazenly called police. 

  A beautiful young woman just starting to celebrate her independence is brutally murdered after reluctantly meeting up with a former boyfriend. Over the course of 2 decades police have meticulously explored evidence in the case and methodically reconstructed a timeline of her final hours, all of which led them to a suspect. During the production of this episode in 2023, police made an arrest. And even though they have identified their suspect, the story of the investigation is so compelling, APB Cold Case wanted to share with our listeners the intriguing details that led police to hone in on one man in this episode.

  A single father is alone at home in his apartment when someone comes to his door. Police say it appears Stephen Spina was ambushed, stabbed repeatedly and left to die in a pool of blood. He is soon discovered by his girlfriend who comes to meet him for lunch. When police arrive on the scene they are shocked – they know the victim! Police have investigated Spina’s murder for 16 years, sifting through interviews, evidence, and motives – their investigation is focused, but they need something more. Listen Now to Death at the Door – Who Killed Stephen Spina?

A young woman leaves home to run a quick errand with a male acquaintance but she never returns home. Less than 6 hours later the man - alone in his truck - is stopped while trying to cross the border into Canada and is detained by authorities on the U.S. side for drug possession and for violating the conditions of his parole. As police launch an investigation into the young woman’s disappearance, they uncover the man’s sordid past; and during their probe, investigators find a receipt for a chemical compound – something that could be used to conceal a body! Eight months into the search for the missing woman, the man does something shocking. What does it all mean? Listen Now to: A Tangled Web – The Search for Josephine Despard.