True Crime Vanished

Obomedia Network

Some people disappear and the world moves on. But the truth doesn't vanish — it just waits to be found. True Crime Vanished is a podcast dedicated to unsolved disappearances and cold cases that the justice system left behind. Every episode digs into the real criminal investigations, missing persons files, and evidence that detectives, families, and journalists spent years piecing together. The angle here is different: instead of just retelling what happened, we follow the investigative thread — the overlooked witness, the mishandled evidence, the question nobody asked. Your host, Isabella, spent years working alongside investigative journalists and victim advocacy organizations before bringing those skills into audio storytelling. She reads the case files, interviews the people closest to the investigations, and refuses to treat real cases as entertainment. These are real cases, real people, and real consequences. This show is built for true crime listeners who are tired of surface-level retellings. If you want context, depth, and honest analysis of criminal investigation failures and breakthroughs — you are in the right place. New episodes drop every day. Each case is covered in 18 to 25 minutes, giving you enough time to go deep without losing the thread. Follow True Crime Vanished on your preferred platform and never miss a case.

  1. Ciro Castillo Rojo: the body found in the Colca with evidence that never fit an accidental fall

    4h ago

    Ciro Castillo Rojo: the body found in the Colca with evidence that never fit an accidental fall

    The night Montse did not return for dinner: The homicide of Monserrat Vendimes Roldán A 20-year-old young woman left a family gathering on April 17, 2021, promising to return for dinner. Her mother found her hours later in a coma, with fractures in her skull, neck, and arms. Her boyfriend was already fleeing, protected by a wealthy family willing to do anything. In this episode, we explore how the negligent transfer to a private clinic worsened the fatal injuries, how her parents were arrested for complicity, and how the video where Marlon tries to negotiate his freedom in exchange for releasing his family exposes a judicial system paralyzed by economic influence. Victim: Monserrat Vendimes Roldán Date: April 17, 2021 Location: Boca del Río, Veracruz, Mexico Status: Ongoing investigation; homicide without conviction - Marlon brutally beat Monserrat and fled before the police arrived, disappearing for 13 months. - Her parents transferred the victim to a clinic without emergency services, worsening injuries that would cause brain death. - The attacker was captured in Mérida thanks to viral banners and national pressure, but remains in a preventive module designed for 72 hours, not for homicide proceedings. - Three consecutive hearings were suspended without public explanation, while the defense advances in systematic delays. Monserrat Vendimes Roldán, Boca del Río Veracruz murder, 2021, domestic violence, forensic investigation, family cover-up, slow justice, criminal minds, judicial corruption, Spanish true crime If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    21 min
  2. The Killer Who Announced He Would Kill and No One Stopped Him

    4h ago

    The Killer Who Announced He Would Kill and No One Stopped Him

    Twelve Days After Release, He Started to Kill: The Murders of Jorge Cajiga Ruiz, Juan Uribe Peña, Curtis Bradford, and Andrea Krueger On August eleventh, two thousand thirteen, Omaha police found two men dead in an alley, shot with a twelve-gauge shotgun. Eight days later, a third victim appeared-connected by a single photograph on Facebook to a man released from prison just twelve days before. Then a fourth body. Four murders in ten days, and a system that had documented every warning. This episode explores the impossible contradiction at the heart of the case: Niko Jenkins had told the parole board he heard dangerous voices. His wife warned authorities. Prison guards knew his stated intentions. Yet Nebraska released him without treatment, without adequate supervision, without explanation. The forensic evidence was absolute-ballistics, DNA, security cameras, confession-but the context surrounding those four deaths raises a question the state has never publicly answered. Victim: Jorge Cajiga Ruiz, Juan Uribe Peña, Curtis Bradford, Andrea Krueger Date: August 2013 Location: Omaha, Nebraska Status: Death sentence imposed May 2017 - Released from prison July 30, 2013, despite documented warnings of imminent harm - Formal psychiatric diagnoses dating to age eight: bipolar schizoaffective disorder with severe psychosis - IQ decline of nineteen points documented between evaluations; served ten years in solitary confinement - Four victims killed in ten days using two different weapons; full confession within thirty days of release Niko Jenkins, Omaha Nebraska murders 2013, Niko Jenkins crimes, parole board negligence, solitary confinement mental health, criminal justice system failure, homicide investigation, death penalty case, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    21 min
  3. Monserrat Vendimes: the crime followed by a thirteen-month escape and an attempt at public negotiation

    1d ago

    Monserrat Vendimes: the crime followed by a thirteen-month escape and an attempt at public negotiation

    The Jachachiran Sisters: 35 Stabs to a Tyrant: The murder of Mikail Jachachiran in Moscow. Three sisters stabbed their father 35 times while he slept, then called the police and confessed everything. The same act that should close the case opens it: why did these confessed murderers never escape? Why did the system ignore their cries for years? In this episode, we explore the tension between premeditation and survival: hidden cameras proving captivity, medical examinations confirming systematic sexual abuse, and a petition of 300,000 signatures that divided Russia. Were they calculated criminals or victims with no other way out? Victim: Kristina, Angelina, and María Jachachiran Date: July 27, 2018 Location: Moscow, Russia Status: Open trial; sisters officially recognized as victims; sentencing pending - Three sisters coordinated a lethal attack against their father while he slept, but confessed without a plan for escape or subsequent resistance. - Social services were formally alerted by the school; they never visited the home despite systematic class absences. - Medical examinations document sexual abuse of minors, scars from prolonged mistreatment, and psychological damage sufficient to declare the youngest sister unaccountable. - The paternal family of the father denies having witnessed violence, even though they lived in the same home where Mikail installed hidden cameras in his daughters' bedrooms. Mikail Jachachiran, Moscow 2018, murder, sexual abuse, self-defense, premeditated homicide, criminal investigation, criminal minds, failed justice, Spanish true crime If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    23 min
  4. The Impossible Confession of the Boston Strangler

    1d ago

    The Impossible Confession of the Boston Strangler

    Killer Confesses to Thirteen Murders from Prison Before He's Stabbed to Death: The Boston Strangler case of Albert De Salvo In the early hours of November 25, 1973, Albert De Salvo was stabbed six times in his maximum-security cell while he slept. Hours earlier, he had requested an urgent meeting because he claimed he had something to reveal about the Boston Strangler-the man he had confessed to being. But the confession that paralyzed Boston was never proven in court, and the killer died just before changing the story. In this episode, we explore the thirteen murders that terrorized Boston between 1962 and 1964, the contradictions in De Salvo's detailed confessions, and the witnesses who pointed to a different man entirely. We examine the biological evidence, the mysterious details left at crime scenes, and the unsolved question: was the right person ever identified for these homicides? Victim: Mary Sullivan, Joan Graff, Beverly Simmons, Evelyn Corbin, Patricia Bissette, Sophie Clark, Aida Irga, Jane Sullivan, Helen Blake, Nina Nichols, Anna Lessers, and others Date: June 1962 - January 1964 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Status: Unresolved - Thirteen women strangled with signatures-knots, positioned objects, no forced entry-across five jurisdictions in less than two years - De Salvo confessed to all thirteen murders but was tried only for sexual assaults; the strangler murders never went to trial - Two independent witnesses identified George Nazar-not De Salvo-in a lineup as the man seen entering victim Sophie Clark's building - De Salvo demanded the reward be paid to Nazar and sought psychiatric hospital transfer rather than prison, structuring his confession as a financial transaction Albert De Salvo, Boston Strangler, 1962, 1963, 1964, homicide investigation, serial killers, unsolved mysteries, forensic science, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    21 min
  5. Marichuy: the case closed as a suicide that ended up being evidence of ignored violence

    2d ago

    Marichuy: the case closed as a suicide that ended up being evidence of ignored violence

    Marichuy: the fall that the State wanted to hide: The femicide of María de Jesús Jaime Samudio A university student falls from the fifth floor of an apartment in the early morning of January 16, 2016. Within hours, the police close the case as a suicide. The impossible: four years later, DNA under her nails proves she was thrown by two men while struggling and calling for help. In this episode, we explore how an educational institution supports the official version, how the incomplete autopsy and the unsecured scene allow for a cover-up, and why the reclassification as femicide only comes when a mother goes viral with the truth on social media. An investigation into state omission and the impunity that persists. Victim: María de Jesús Jaime Samudio (Marichuy) Date: January 16, 2016 Location: Iztacalco, Mexico City Status: Arrest warrants issued; suspects at large since 2022 - The DNA under Marichuy's nails directly links the attackers, dismantling the suicide hypothesis after four years. - The forensic injury mechanics demonstrate that she fell on her feet while clinging to her attackers, incompatible with a voluntary jump. - Neighbors heard struggles, banging on doors, and cries for help in the hallway minutes before the fall. - The case was closed without securing the scene, without an intimate autopsy, and without notifying the prosecutorial authority, facilitating any manipulation of evidence. María de Jesús Jaime Samudio, Iztacalco femicide 2016, IPN, Julio Iván Ruiz Guerrero, Gabriel Galván Figueroa, state cover-up, criminal minds, justice, Spanish true crime If you want to listen to this podcast without ads and have access to premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use in whole or in part without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licenses, and business inquiries, write to: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    19 min
  6. The Lipstick Message and the Killer Who Was Never Tried

    2d ago

    The Lipstick Message and the Killer Who Was Never Tried

    Girl Vanishes from Her Bed as Lipstick Message Warns Stop Me Before I Kill: The Lipstick Killer murders of Chicago, 1945-1946 Chicago, June 1945. A woman is found stabbed and washed clean in her apartment with no witnesses and no leads. Six months later, another woman dies with a knife in her neck-and this time, a desperate message scrawled in her own lipstick appears on the wall: "For the love of God, catch me before I kill more. I can't control myself." The city descends into panic. Then a six-year-old girl vanishes from her bedroom. This episode reconstructs the three violent homicides that gripped Chicago during the final months of World War II and examines the chain of events that led police to William Heirens, a seventeen-year-old college student with no history of violence. Over six days of interrogation without legal representation, under documented coercion including forced sodium pentothal injection, and with no solid food, Heirens signed a confession to all three murders. Yet the physical evidence tells a different story-one of twenty-nine documented inconsistencies, fingerprints that failed FBI standards, and an alternative suspect never formally investigated. Victim: Susan Degnan, Josephine Ross, Frances Brown Date: June 1945-January 1946 Location: Chicago, Illinois Status: Heirens convicted without trial; died in prison 2012 - The lipstick message was presented as definitive proof, yet graphologists who analyzed it reached conflicting conclusions about authorship - Frances Brown's fingerprint, publicized as irrefutable, matched only six points when FBI standards required twelve for validity - The dismemberment showed anatomical precision, yet Heirens was an engineering student with no registered medical training or dissection experience - The psychiatrist who administered the truth serum later testified under oath that Heirens confessed to nothing-only mentioned an alter ego called "George" Susan Degnan, Josephine Ross, Frances Brown, Chicago 1945, Lipstick Killer, William Heirens, coerced confession, unsolved mysteries, forensic evidence, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    26 min
  7. Guadalupe “Lupita” Medina: the girl without an identity that the system took nine months to recognize

    3d ago

    Guadalupe “Lupita” Medina: the girl without an identity that the system took nine months to recognize

    Lupita: Nine months without a name in Nezahualcoyotl: The murder of Guadalupe Medina Pichardo A small girl's corpse lies in a vacant lot in Nezahualcoyotl, wearing red shoelaces. Nine months later, no institution knows who she was. The central question: how does a minor disappear without the State knowing her identity? In this episode, we explore the investigation that connected a citizen video, a forensic portrait, and a police report ignored one day before the discovery. We unravel why Lupita's empty civil registry allowed the prosecutor's office to archive the case, and how an activist and a forensic expert returned a name to a homicide victim that the system never registered. Victim: Guadalupe Medina Pichardo "Lupita" Date: March 18, 2017 Location: Colonia El Sol, Nezahualcoyotl, State of Mexico Status: Sentenced to 88 years in prison (sentence September 4, 2019) - She was never registered in the civil registry; the system had no record of her name in databases. - The report of child abuse was filed on March 17, one day before her death, but it was not cross-referenced with the discovery. - A citizen witness recognized Lupita alive in a video, showing the same red shoelaces found on the corpse. - The formal identification took 243 days; it only occurred when her aunt Marina contacted activist Verónica Villalvazo. Guadalupe Medina Pichardo, Nezahualcoyotl, child murder, 2017, abuse, investigation, forensic, justice, criminal minds, unregistered crime, true crime Spanish If you want to listen to this podcast without ads and have access to premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use in whole or in part is prohibited without prior written authorization from OBOMEDIA. For permissions, licenses, and business inquiries, write to: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    19 min
  8. The “Cannibal” the System Set Free to Kill Again

    3d ago

    The “Cannibal” the System Set Free to Kill Again

    Two Young Men Find a Severed Hand and Discover What Lies Beneath the Bridge: The cannibal case of José Dorcel Vargas Gómez On a February morning in 1999, two young men walking along the Torbes River in Tariba, Táchira state, discovered a severed hand and foot on the riverbank. What they found inside the shack beneath Libertador Bridge defied explanation: human heads, seasoned organs in containers, and evidence of systematic consumption. The man arrested had confessed to the exact same crimes four years earlier-and the state had released him anyway. In this episode, we trace how a documented confession to murder and cannibalism in 1995, a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and a signed psychiatric order somehow resulted in the suspect walking free for two years without supervision or follow-up. Between 1997 and 1999, men disappeared from Tariba and San Cristóbal-young, homeless, marginal-matching the profile Dorcel described. The investigation uncovers not just the crimes of one disturbed man, but the bureaucratic collapse that allowed them to continue. Victim: Cruz Baltazar Moreno (confirmed); multiple additional victims identified between 1995-1999 Date: January 26, 1995 (first disappearance); February 12, 1999 (discovery and second arrest) Location: Under Libertador Bridge, Tariba, Táchira state, Venezuela; Torbes River Status: Convicted; unresolved victim count and unanswered questions regarding potential accomplices - A man confessed to killing and eating another person in 1995, was hospitalized with a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis, and received a psychiatric placement order-which was issued one week after he was already released and lost to the system. - Two years passed with zero supervision or follow-up before his second arrest, during which an estimated twenty to forty people disappeared from the region matching his victim profile. - The forensic evidence showed anatomically precise cuts that raised questions about whether one homeless man with a machete could have produced them, yet no formal investigation into possible accomplices was completed. - Among the possible victims during the period of impunity was Antonio López, the same homeless witness who had reported the first crime in 1995 and triggered the initial arrest. José Dorcel Vargas Gómez, Tariba Táchira Venezuela, 1995 cannibalism murder case, 1999 arrest, serial killer, missing persons, forensic evidence gaps, psychiatric system failure, true crime English To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com. If you'd like to listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, we invite you to try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 Created with OBOMEDIA technology. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and associated materials) are the property of their respective creator and are distributed under the OBOMEDIA name on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or total or partial commercial use is prohibited without prior written authorization. For permissions, licenses, and commercial inquiries: business@obomedia.com

    21 min

About

Some people disappear and the world moves on. But the truth doesn't vanish — it just waits to be found. True Crime Vanished is a podcast dedicated to unsolved disappearances and cold cases that the justice system left behind. Every episode digs into the real criminal investigations, missing persons files, and evidence that detectives, families, and journalists spent years piecing together. The angle here is different: instead of just retelling what happened, we follow the investigative thread — the overlooked witness, the mishandled evidence, the question nobody asked. Your host, Isabella, spent years working alongside investigative journalists and victim advocacy organizations before bringing those skills into audio storytelling. She reads the case files, interviews the people closest to the investigations, and refuses to treat real cases as entertainment. These are real cases, real people, and real consequences. This show is built for true crime listeners who are tired of surface-level retellings. If you want context, depth, and honest analysis of criminal investigation failures and breakthroughs — you are in the right place. New episodes drop every day. Each case is covered in 18 to 25 minutes, giving you enough time to go deep without losing the thread. Follow True Crime Vanished on your preferred platform and never miss a case.