True Crime Kidnapping

As investigators brought out the bagged remains of several dozen young men from a small Chicago ranch home and paraded them in front of a crowd of TV reporters and spectators, attention quickly turned to the owner of the house. John Gacy was an upstanding citizen, active in local politics and charities, famous for his themed parties and appearances as Pogo the Clown. But in the winter of 1978-79, he became known as one of many so-called “sex murderers” who had begun gaining notoriety in the random brutality of the 1970s.

In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker, investigated a woman's claim that, aged four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by the British government. At first incredulous, Margaret discovered that this was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Up to 150,000 children, some as young as three years old, had been deported from children's homes in Britain and shipped off to a 'new life' in distant parts of the Empire, right up until as recently as 1970. Many were told that their parents were dead, and parents were told that their children had been adopted.

Growing up, Rachel Rear knew the story of Stephanie Kupchynsky’s disappearance. The beautiful violinist and teacher had fled an abusive relationship on Martha’s Vineyard and made a new start for herself near Rochester, NY. She was at the height of her life - in a relationship with a man she hoped to marry and close to her students and her family. And then, one morning, she was gone.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, young pregnant women entered the front door of a clinic in a small North Georgia town. Sometimes their babies exited out the back, sold to Northern couples who were desperate to hold a newborn in their arms. But these weren't adoptions - they were transactions. And one unethical doctor was exploiting other people's tragedies. Jane Blasio was one of those babies.

Mit den hier versammelten Fallerzählungen führt Romy Hausmann den Beweis, dass kein Thrillerautor auch nur annähernd so bizarre Verbrechen schreiben kann wie das Leben. In einfühlsamen Gesprächen mit Angehörigen und Opfern, Tätern und Ermittlern, mit renommierten Richtern, Forensikern, Medizinern und Traumaexperten spürt sie den Fragen hinter dem Offensichtlichen nach. Die Ergebnisse dieser Gespräche verdichtet sie zu einer sehr persönlichen Tagebucherzählung über die Macht der Gefühle von Opfern und Hinterbliebenen.

Eine außergewöhnliche Suchaktion: In dieser True Crime-Geschichte, die sich im Norwegen der 1980er Jahre zugetragen hat, geht es um das spurlose Verschwinden des älteren Ehepaars Landli an der norwegischen Westküste und den Einsatz eines Mini-U-Boots, um ihre Leichen in den tiefen Gewässern des Fjords zu suchen. Nie zuvor wurde ein U-Boot für solch eine Suche eingesetzt, und die Tauchgänge waren gewiss nicht ohne Hindernisse.

Dr. Fred Abel ist von seiner lebensgefährlichen Verletzung genesen, und die ersten Fälle halten ihn schon wieder in Atem. Vor allem aber freut er sich darauf, seine Zwillinge aus einer lang vergangenen "karibischen Affäre" in Berlin zu begrüßen. Doch kaum sind die Jugendlichen da, werden sie entführt. Gibt es einen rassistischen Hintergrund? Ein verbrecherisches Komplott in deren Heimat? Oder hat jemand mit Abel noch eine Rechnung offen?

Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story—they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY GIRL IN THE PICTURE Sharon Marshall was a brilliant and beautiful student whose future was filled with promise—until her murderous, fugitive father drew her into a lifetime of deception that became one of the most baffling cases in the annals of...

The year 1969: The hippie scene is vibrant in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Long-haired teenagers roam the streets, strumming guitars and preaching about peace and love...and Tony Costa is at the center of it all. To a certain group of smitten young women, he is known as Sire—the leader of their counterculture movement, the charming man who speaks eloquently and hands out hallucinogenic drugs like candy. But beneath his benign persona lies a twisted and uncontrollable rage that threatens to break loose at any moment. Tony Costa is the most dangerous man on Cape Cod.

In 1978, Steven Kubacki disappeared without a trace near Lake Michigan. Fifteen months later, he reappeared—disoriented, in unfamiliar clothes, and claiming no memory of what had happened. For over four decades, the mystery of his disappearance gripped armchair detectives, Reddit sleuths, and TikTok theorists. Now, for the first time, Kubacki tells his story in his own words.

In 1974, Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband and dumps his body where it will never be found, then slips away and starts a new life. But when her new man's ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alice's help, Gerald fixes the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way...and they live happily ever after...that is, until 2013, almost 40 years later, when somebody finds a dead man's skeleton in a place where Alice thought he'd never be found.

John Edward Robinson was a 56-year-old grandfather from rural Kansas. An entrepreneur and Eagle Scout, he was even honored as "Man of the Year" at a Kansas City charity. To some of the women he met on the internet, he was known as Slavemaster - a sexual deviate with a taste for sadomasochistic rituals of extreme domination and torture...even killing.

In May 1971, Pam Jackson and Sherri Miller were two seventeen-year-olds driving to an end-of-the-school-year party in a rundown Studebaker Lark, when they seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Police back then didn't do enough to try and find them. Investigators thirty years later did too much. Two families endure decades of pain as they await answers of what happened to their girls. When a third family is pulled into the mystery, they quickly learn their nightmare is just beginning.

He was a trusted neighbor, a respected businessman, and a smiling clown who entertained children. But beneath the floorboards of his quiet suburban home, a nightmare festered. When police entered 8213 Summerdale Avenue in 1978, they expected answers about a missing teenage boy. What they found was a house of horrors. One body. Then another. Then another. By the end of the excavation, the remains of twenty-six young men and boys had been pulled from the crawl space.

To the people of Great Falls, Nathaniel Bar-Jonah was just another friendly face. He attended church, hosted barbecues, and was a neighbour you could trust. But inside his freezer were secrets far darker than anyone imagined. Children disappeared. Rumours spread. And when the truth began to thaw, investigators uncovered something unspeakable – recipes that didn’t name the meat, bones buried in the yard, and stories of a man consumed with control who indulged every urge.

North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields held the promise of unimaginable wealth… But for some, the price was paid in blood. James Henrikson was a man driven by greed and a lust for power. A mix of charm and ruthlessness, he carefully concealed his criminal past while rising to oilfield royalty alongside his equally deceptive wife, Sarah Creveling. But their short-lived empire was fragile, a house of cards held together by lies. When it all began to crumble, James was blinded by rage and consumed by a need for revenge.

Saving Abigail is a true story about a little girl taken hostage by Hamas the morning of October 7, 2023, after thousands of terrorists breached Israel by land, sea, and air. That day, Hamas slaughtered 1,200 men, women, and children, and 246 innocent people were dragged across the border into Gaza against their will. Among them was three-year-old Abigail Mor Edan.

Following the assassination of Senator Maybelle, widespread rioting and unrest transform the presidential campaign into a lethal circus. With protests raging over the new bill, the government scrambles to restore peace and order.

Situated in Northern California, Yuba County boasts vast wilderness, rugged terrain, and close-knit communities. However, the families of five local individuals were left to grapple with the heart-wrenching mystery of their sudden disappearance on a cold winter night in 1978. Even now, the mystery remains unsolved. On the night they went missing, Bill Sterling, Jack Madruga, Jack Huett, Ted Weiher, and Gary Mathias were affectionately known as "the boys."