Going West: True Crime

In July of 2013, three friends wound up in the woods of rural Oklahoma after a high-speed police chase - but only one of them emerged. Following a flurry of frantic phone calls asking for help, the pair who were left behind in the woods disappeared, and have never been seen again. As weeks turned to years, the secrets surrounding that strange night began to slip out in the town of just over a thousand people. Whispers of corruption...

In 1974, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl disappeared after meeting up with a man regarding a babysitting job. She had placed an ad in the paper, and the man in question had a 5-year-old son he allegedly needed care for. But when she went missing from their meeting spot, a bus stop, she was never seen again. And then, a horrifying ransom call came in to her family residence followed by a disturbingly poetic letter. This is the disappe...

In September, we're going on our first-ever tour! Find us in Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago alongside Love Murder for five mysteriously fun evenings! We really hope to expand this tour, so get your tickets THIS WEEK! Pre-sale begins Wed June 18, using code LOVEWEST. And public on-sale begins Friday June 20! Get your tickets at goingwestpod.com/tour

Thursday, September 11, 2025 The Oriental Theater Denver, CO
Satur...

In April of 1981, a mother and her children -along with two of her children's friends- were spending a quiet Saturday night in their rural California cabin. But by morning, the scene inside Cabin 28 was anything but peaceful. What investigators found was a blood-soaked mystery involving multiple victims, a missing child, and no trace of who—or what—had come in the night. With few answers and a town cloaked in silence, this case wou...

In June of 2002, a 20-year-old woman vanished after a swim by Lake Erie. Last seen with her boyfriend’s friend, she was reportedly dropped off safely at a movie theater, but no one saw whether she actually made it there or not. As investigators probed deeper, they uncovered conflicting stories, dubious alibis, and a suspect with a troubling past. So what happened to her, and is someone still hiding a sinister truth? This is the dis...

In July of 2008, a 53-year-old mother, artist, and counselor was found bludgeoned to death in her Arizona home, just 35 days after finalizing her divorce. At first, it appeared to be the tragic result of a random home invasion. But as investigators dug deeper into the victim’s life, they uncovered a tangled web of obsession and deception, as well as a trail of evidence that led to a conclusion some still find hard to believe. This ...

In August of 2014, a 62-year-old American woman was found brutally murdered and stuffed inside a suitcase at a luxury resort in Bali. What began as a baffling international mystery soon turned into a media frenzy as investigators sifted through surveillance footage, hotel records, and text exchanges - where they uncovered a chilling tale of privilege, power struggles, and a family dynamic more twisted than anyone could have imagine...

In June of 1999, a brilliant entomologist vanished into the night after walking home in Idaho Falls. And when police looked into his vanishing, they found many suspicious angles. In a strangely familiar situation from three years earlier, he was assaulted while walking home from a bar. And the last person to see him before he went missing left town that same night, with a troubling discovery in his car coming up in police’s search....

In May of 2016, a 31-year-old woman went out for a night of music and drinks in Green Bay, Wisconsin. But the next morning, her body was found in a farmer’s field, miles from home, and brutally beaten. Investigators soon uncovered a tangled timeline of jealousy and digital footprints that pointed back to the man she had trusted most. But with evidence from a fitness tracker, the entire case against the most likely suspect would be ...

In June of 1995, a 27-year-old morning news anchor vanished outside her Iowa apartment complex as she rushed to go to work in the dark, early morning hours. When police came upon the scene, they found her high heeled shoe, and various other items like a hairdryer strewn next to her car door - proving that she likely been abducted. As evidence of a stalker came into light, with her reporting being followed months earlier, and tellin...

Tensions were high during the summer of 1983 in Saint Petersburg, Florida, leading it to become known as the “summer of hell” after a rash of murders plagued the city. Two years prior, Playboy had opened the Suncoast Club, the first of its kind in the area. And now, as the city grappled with a potential serial killer, the Suncoast Club’s “Bunny of the Year” contest would result in both the winner and the photographer turning up dea...

In May of 2009, the 31-year-old wife of a televangelist’s security guard was murdered in her Illinois home alongside her two sons. For months prior, her husband had been receiving threatening messages via email, and he told police that he feared his anonymous stalker had finally acted on their warnings. But as the investigation into the tragic murders unfolded, a shocking scheme, and sinister cause, was revealed, and it was closer ...

In February of 1985, two teenage girls headed out for an unofficial tour of a historic abandoned mansion outside of San Francisco. But once they arrived, the security officer outside - who had a bad reputation in the area - took the opportunity to prey on the girls, and what followed was a night of horror that only one of the girls would survive. This is the murder at the Carolands Chateau.

Sources:

1. “Carolands Foundation.” Carola...

In January of 2025, a 14-year-old Indigenous girl went missing without a trace from her home in Mesa, Arizona. Just weeks later, her dismembered remains were discovered on the side of a highway a few hours away. Investigators began to dive into a devastating homicide investigation, but it is still very much underway. This is the murder of Emily Pike.

Sources:

1. Blasius, Melissa, et al. “What Led up to Emily Pike’s Placement in Fost...