True Kidnapping

Although the 1932 kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby was a worldwide sensation, it was only one of an estimated 3,000 ransom kidnappings that occurred in the United States that year. The epidemic hit America during the Great Depression and the last days of Prohibition as criminal gangs turned kidnapping into the highly lucrative “snatch racket". Wealthy families and celebrities purchased kidnap insurance, hired armed chauffeurs and bodyguards, and carried loaded handguns. Some sent their children to school or summer camp in Europe to get them out of harm’s way.

In 1935, nine-year-old George Weyerhaeuser, heir to one of the wealthiest families in America, is snatched off the streets two blocks from his home. The boy is kept manacled in a pit, chained to a tree, and locked in a closet. The perps - a career bank robber, a petty thief, and his 19-year-old never-been-in-trouble Mormon wife - quickly become the targets of the biggest manhunt in Northwest history. The caper plays out like a Hollywood thriller with countless twists and improbable developments. Perhaps the most astonishing thing of all, though, is how it all ends.

Raised an aristocrat in Colombia and educated in European schools, Pilar transfixes everyone with her charm and her guile. She also falls for dangerous men and finds herself drawn into the highest levels of the cocaine trade. After two failed marriages and a harrowing escape from the drug life, she settles down to a quiet existence in Florida with her children - until her second husband tries to cut short his prison term by giving her name over to members of a new task force being formed by the DEA.

Australia's most prolific serial sexual killers met in prison. They were a complete contrast: Christopher Worrell, the charismatic psychopathic youngster; and James Miller, the older and socially awkward loner. For Miller, it was love at first sight. They developed an ominous sexual bond–proving that opposites can attract–and then kill. Once free, the inseparable tag team slayed as many people as notorious Australian serial killer Ivan Milat. Whereas Milat took a year to murder seven victims, the duo achieved the same in seven short weeks … the last four killed in only six days.

One second he was there; the next, gone. Taken, forever, without any clue as to how or why - until a family friend developed their vacation photos. These tales aren’t the dramatic reenactments of kidnappings, pieced together from sloppy clues that you’d hear about on the news or Unsolved Mysteries. Be it human, alien, ghost, or monster perpetrator, this collection of weird and frightening disappearances, assembled from true reports, proves unexplainable kidnappings happen more than we like to admit - and no one knows what really happened.

Four Years in a Cave documents a painful, real life-experience of an elementary school teacher who survives a brutal, barbaric, and tribally-charged military purge of the 1980s in Zimbabwe. A secretly selected and specially trained brigade abducts the teacher from a minority tribe, falsely accusing him of collaborating with dissidents seeking to destabilize the regime dominated by the majority tribe. The teacher is savagely tortured but he manages to escape and hide in a remote cave for four years.

Janine ist zarte 6 Jahre alt, als sie das erste Mal von ihrer Stiefmutter als Sexsklavin an einen Pädophilenring, einem organisierten Verbrechen der Reichen und Mächtigen eines gewaltigen, sogenannten "Unterweltimperiums", verkauft wird. Bis zu ihrem vierzehnten Lebensjahr wird sie an Männer mit unterschiedlich ausgeprägten, sexuellen Neigungen vermittelt und auf Orgien herumgereicht wie ein Stück Vieh, das ihre Peiniger ebenso niederträchtig behandeln. Schließlich soll sie ihre letzte Reise antreten.

Left is the true story of a million-dollar kidnapping gone wrong and the elusive hunt for the criminal mastermind behind it all. From murdering his best friend to high-speed chases, breaking out of prison, and cold-blooded guile, this is the story of international fugitive Hossein Nayeri, as told by Lieutenant Ryan Peters of Orange County.

Detrás de la desaparición de Marcela Basteri, la madre del cantante Luis Miguel, existe una historia que, tras muchos años, finalmente es contada desde su Lado B: una historia de violencia de género que, como muchos otros casos, quedó impune. Escrito y narrado por Shanik Berman, escucharemos el tránsito gradual que llevó a Marcela Basteri a desaparecer silenciosamente en medio de un mundo rodeado por reflectores.

Dividing Ridge is based on a true story of an unsolved crime that took place along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Alleghany, NC, in 1937. After a young woman goes missing on her way to school, a community is left on edge. With news spreading quickly of her disappearance and gossip swirling, it is up to local law enforcement to restore a sense of safety and one determined sheriff to bring justice to her family.

Under litet drygt 16 timmar - med början på kvällen den 8 juni 1995 - förövade tre unga män en serie grova brott som i flera avseenden saknar motstycke. Trion genomförde en vettlös "bärsärkargång" som startade i Göteborg och drabbade sammanlagt 28 personer. Händelserna döptes till "gisslandramat i Hallsberg", eftersom de tre gärningsmännen greps där sedan polisen tvingats oskadliggöra en av dem med verkningseld - inför TV-kameror i direktsändning.

Den 29. maj 1998 kom 10-årige Susan ikke hjem om aftenen til sin bopæl i Tranumparken i Brøndby Strand. Når børn bliver borte, udløser det stor aktivitet hos politiet, og det var også tilfældet denne gang. Hvor er barnet, er der sket en forbrydelse, og hvis det er tilfældet, hvor er det sket og af hvem? På ugedagen for Susans forsvinden blev hun fundet død i et kælderrum tæt ved sin bopæl, og herefter kunne politiet gå i gang med at finde løsningen på de andre spørgsmål.

Lørdag den 8. november 1986 blev en ikke helt almindelig lørdag for politiet i Randers. Ligesom det formentlig blev den værste lørdag fro familien Hansen. Lørdag den 8. November 1986 ca. kl. 08.15 var nemlig det tidspunkt, hvor den 6-årige Jens Gunnar Hansen forsvandt, da han var på vej fra sin bopæl til bageren.

When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his three sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare....

True crime stories are everywhere - from our screens to podcasts, capturing our imaginations and haunting our dreams. It's raw, it's real, and it's a deep dive into humanity's dark side. Whether you think you've heard it all or are just getting started, "The Ultimate True Crime Trivia Book" is your next must-listen.

They’re here one second, and then they’re gone. Without rhyme or reason, people going about their mundane day-to-day affairs vanish without a trace. Sure, missing person cases may be a dime a dozen, but some are just a little stranger than others. Because there are disappearances—and then there are mind-bogglingly mysterious disappearances.

Terror on the Prairie is an account of rape and abuse in rural America. Elizabeth is a survivor of sexual assault and finds out that her deepest secret isn’t as uncommon as she thought. She finds the courage to step up and report the corruption and greed that surrounds the rape and abuse of small children to find that the pedophiles are protected and will murder to keep their secret.

I den här samlingen får du ta del av fem brott som har fängslat, chockat och förfärat världen. Josef Fritzl lurade ner sin tonåriga dotter till ett rum källaren, där han låste in henne. I 24 långa år var hon fast där, fånge till sin egen far. Två små pojkar i Storbritannien kidnappade och mördade den tvååriga James Bulger, och blev därmed Englands yngsta mördare någonsin. En japansk domedagssekt spred nervgas i tunnelbanan i Japans huvudstad, vilket ledde till tolv människors död.

Letters to the Pope: One Man’s Quest for the Truth is a true story of one man’s decades long struggle to discover the truth of his own origin. Stolen as a baby and then sold as part of a fraudulent adoption, Enrique Vila Torres, now an adult, learned of this deception through accident. Shocked but determined to find his biological mother, he began a lifelong commitment on behalf of himself and victims just like him to get the answers to questions many of us take for granted-Who am I? Where did I come from?

Though her name was not divulged, viewers would learn that she was hit over the head near the entrance of her home, abducted, sexually assaulted, and forced into the trunk of her own car. News cameras would capture footage of Michelle’s personal items strewn across the lawn around her home and along the wooded area behind a local restaurant. The community would breathe a sigh of relief after learning that she had somehow survived and that the assailants had been caught, ending a string of similar crimes. But there is so much more to the story.