Within days of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, her mother suspected Joran van der Sloot was involved. What she couldn’t have known was just how much, and for how long, Joran would manipulate the truth. For nearly two decades, he cycled through lies, near-confessions, and sensational claims that kept Natalee’s story in the headlines while dragging her family through hell.

In Part 2, we follow the Holloways through the maze of shifting stories, the scams and false leads, a shocking murder in Peru, and finally, after eighteen years, the shocking revelation that broke the case wide open.

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Eighteen-year-old Natalee Holloway vanished during a senior trip to Aruba, a disappearance that captured international attention and reshaped the island overnight. Her family fought for answers with a level of visibility most grieving families could only dream of. But more attention doesn’t always mean more truth.

In Part 1 of our two-part deep dive, we revisit the night Natalee went missing, the investigation that unraveled almost immediately, and the media storm that turned her case into a global spectacle. This episode examines what the spotlight illuminated, and what it obscured, in a family’s desperate search for their daughter.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at ⁠tenderfootplus.com⁠.

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In this bonus episode, I sit down with investigative reporter Jennifer Mayerle, the journalist behind the WCCO documentary Footprint to Murder. Jennifer spent years following Jeanie Childs’ case, building trust with Jeanie’s family and navigating the emotional and ethical challenges of reporting a story this complex.

We talk about what it was like to cover this case from the inside: the relationships behind the reporting, the tensions around forensic genetic genealogy, and how the footprint evidence shaped the investigation. We also get into the questions that still linger, and what it means to center a victim’s humanity in a story often flattened by headlines.

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For more than 25 years, Jeanie’s case stayed unsolved. Investigators had fragments—a DNA profile appearing across key items, a set of bloody footprints—but not a name. Then, a new technology entered the picture with the potential to blow the whole case wide open. In Part 2, we follow the quiet breakthrough that put a suspect in focus, the messy, very human work of proving it, and the questions that still remain about privacy, power, and what “justice” really means for a grieving family.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at ⁠tenderfootplus.com⁠.

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In the Summer of 1993, a leak in a south Minneapolis high-rise led a caretaker to a horrifying discovery: 35-year-old Jeanie Childs, murdered inside her apartment. On the floor beside her, a haunting clue: a trail of bloody bare footprints. Today we start at the beginning of a decades-long search for answers, tracing Jeanie’s story, the evidence left behind, and the first threads investigators followed as they tried to uncover what really happened that night.

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I’m going off the record with my co-producer, Olivia, to break down our Menendez Brothers series, from how the story evolved during production to what it reveals about our culture’s fascination with crime and punishment. We talk about the ethics of telling familiar stories, the lasting impact of media coverage, and the newest developments in the brothers’ case more than 30 years later.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.

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Broadcast into millions of homes, the Menendez trial became something bigger than a murder case. It was television. Tabloid fodder. Even comedy material. But when trauma turns into spectacle, what gets lost? In Part Three, we trace how the case was flattened into a punchline, and why, 35 years later, it demands a different look.

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At just 18 and 21, Erik and Lyle Menendez stood trial for killing their parents. To many, it seemed unfathomable: how could two privileged kids from Beverly Hills do something like this? When they finally spoke, the picture that emerged was darker and more complicated than anyone expected. In Part Two, we follow the trial that gripped the country, and the stories the brothers had kept hidden for years.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.

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In the summer of 1989, wealthy media executive José Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were found dead inside their Beverly Hills home. The brutality of the crime was shocking enough, until the truth came out. Their killers weren’t intruders. They were their sons, Lyle and Erik. In Part One, we begin unraveling the story of a family that looked perfect on the outside, but was breaking apart from within.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.

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Keith LaMar has spent more than 30 years on death row for crimes he says he did not commit. With his execution date set for January 13, 2027, and his final legal options dwindling, Keith speaks candidly about betrayal by his own attorneys, the indifference of the courts, and why he believes the public may be his last chance at justice. But this is also a conversation about life—about what it means to hold onto your humanity, to love, and to create, even in a place designed to strip all of that away.

Referenced:

The Cross of Redemption by James BaldwinY

ou can find photos of Keith on our Instagram ⁠@truercrimepod⁠

Find the complete list of action items, sources, and resources for our Keith LaMar coverage in the show notes at ⁠truercrimepodcast.com⁠.

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In many true crime stories, the ending comes with the verdict: guilty, condemned, case closed. But for Keith LaMar, that moment marked the beginning of another story. For three decades, he has fought to keep living inside a system determined to end his life. This episode explores what survival looks like on death row, and what it means to keep resisting in the shadow of an execution date.

Want early access to every episode, all at once? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at tenderfootplus.com.

Find all action items, sources, and resources in the show notes at truercrimepodcast.com.

Follow @truercrimepod on Instagram and X.

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Sign up for my weekly Substack newsletter, Sincerely, Celisia.

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