The Citizen Detective
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🔎 The Citizen Detective connects the dots on cold cases, the latest binge-worthy content, and trending mysteries — so you don't have to. Think of us as your online sleuthing friend obsessed with every true crime topic imaginable because… well, we are.
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Go deeper into the cases and topics that keep us up at night
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Explore the latest in high-profile investigations, trials, and content
Compelling Storytelling
Delve into a case to piece together the truth
Why we do it
There's an endless stream of true crime media — and we know there's no shortage of cold cases. We spent months looking for the one place to get curated, well-rounded criminally good content.
When we couldn't find it, we knew we had to create it.
Spend less time trying to get to the end of the rabbit hole, and spend more of your time being informed, with 🔎 The Citizen Detective.
Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll get in your inbox!
July 16, 2024
Before starting a new job, Chance Englebert, 25, along with his wife Baylee and their 3-month-old baby, went down to Gering, Nebraska, to visit her family for the July 4th holiday. While there, the group was out golfing on July 6, 2019, but Chance became upset by comments her family made about the lower wage of his new position. He ended up going back to the family house before taking a walk to cool off… but that walk never seemed to end. Two new leads place Englebert two miles from where he was last seen on surveillance footage. He allegedly purchased a drink and tobacco before a woman was seen trying to stop traffic in a state of panic. What happened?
TRIAL WATCHERS |
Prosecutors in the Karen Read murder case filed an opposition on July 12, 2024, to the defense's motion to dismiss charges.
This follows the case's mistrial two weeks ago.
Read's defense claimed that jurors had unanimously voted to acquit her of second-degree murder and another charge before the mistrial was declared. The prosecution argues this claim "lacks any merit or legal foundation.
They maintain their intention to retry the case, despite the defense's argument that a retrial would violate double jeopardy protections.
| Learn more here |
BREAKING NEWS
Case Dismissed!
Actor Alec Baldwin's "Rust" involuntary manslaughter trial was dismissed by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Friday, citing prosecutors' suppression of evidence. The case stemmed from the 2021 on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The judge ruled that the state willfully withheld ammunition evidence, calling it "intentional and deliberate."
The case was dismissed with prejudice, preventing further charges against Baldwin in Hutchins' death. Baldwin had faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
TRUE CRIME TRIVIA BREAK
In which famous U.S. true crime case did a man confess to murder after being acquitted, but could not be retried due to double jeopardy protections?
A) The O.J. Simpson case
B) The Melvin Ignatow case
C) The Casey Anthony case
D) The JonBenét Ramsey case
| What do you think? |
CRIMINALLY GOOD CONTENT
To Think Like a Killer
To stop serial killers, psychiatric nurse and professor Dr. Ann Burgess must first learn to think like one.
With unprecedented access to the mastermind behind the development of modern serial-killer profiling, the series tells Burgess’ tenacious story and her compassion for victims which puts her at the center of solving America’s most infamous true-crime cases.
At last year’s CrimeCon, Dr. Ann Burgess shared with Uncovered what it was really like sitting across the table from infamous killers. Read our interview with her, here!
| Watch the trailer |
COLD CASE UPDATE
Justice for Elena Lasswell
Phoenix police announced an arrest in the 20-year-old cold case murder of Elena Lasswell, a 15-year-old girl killed in her home on July 10, 2004. Sergio Reyes, 37, was arrested on July 12, 2024, exactly 20 years after the crime, on suspicion of first-degree murder.
He was extradited from Mexico and is being held on $1.5 million bond.
DNA evidence processed in 2012 and 2013 led to Sergio being identified as the lead suspect. A grand jury indicted him in 2014, but he was living in Mexico at the time.
Elena’s father expressed gratitude to the police for their perseverance in solving the case. “We all continue to miss Elena and we think about what she might have been today,” he told KPNX.
WANT MORE FROM UNCOVERED? Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. Support our work by advertising in this newsletter. Search our database to find and follow cold cases near you.
WHY DO WE EXIST? With more than 200,000 unsolved cases having gone cold since 1980, Uncovered built the nation's largest database of public information and it's powered by our community. It's where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts learn from and teach others while digging deeper into the stories you've heard before in ways that actually help. At some point, compassion causes entertainment to grow into a need for activism, contribution, and community to solve the stories of real people. Join us. Want to change how you receive these emails? |
July 2, 2024
Police activity at a house in Lanesborough, MA had the true crime community buzzing last week. The property once belonged to convicted serial killer Lewis Lent Jr., -- and a joint law enforcement statement said the search was in connection to “unsolved crimes allegedly committed by Lewis Lent in the 1990s.” Shortly after Lewis Lent was arrested for a similar crime, investigators began looking at the victimology and general circumstances — of which closely matched Sara’s abduction.
TRIAL WATCHERS |
The jury in Karen Read's murder trial informed the court yesterday that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Once on Friday and twice on Monday, the jury of six women and six men sent a note to Judge Beverly Cannone indicating they were deadlocked.
"We continue to find ourselves at an impasse," the jurors wrote in their final note. "Our perspectives on the evidence are starkly divided. Some members of the jury firmly believe the evidence surpasses the burden of proof establishing the elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Conversely, others find the evidence fails to meet this standard and does not sufficiently establish the necessary elements of the charges."
The judge declared a mistrial.
After the ruling Karen,In a brief statement, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said it intends to retry the case against Karen. The Judge set a status hearing for 2 p.m. on July 22 to determine next steps.
| Learn more here |
BREAKING NEWS
Crystal Rogers Dig Site?
Investigators may have finally found the location of the body of Kentucky mom of five, Crystal Rogers, who vanished nine years ago.
WAVE News crews spotted authorities digging at the Cox’s Creek site in December, and prosecutors have just now confirmed that they were excavating as part of a “murder investigation,” the outlet said.
The site has strong connections to the case, considering the suspects allegedly told investigators they were instructed to dig there.
| Will they find Crystal? |
TRUE CRIME TRIVIA BREAK
A plea of _____ means that you do not contest the State's charges against you.
A) Not Guilty
B) Guilty
C) Nolo Contendere
C) Nolo Contendere
| What do you think? |
CRIMINALLY GOOD CONTENT
Was Sherri the 'Perfect Wife'?
“I just got home from work, and my wife wasn’t there!”
Sherri Papini appeared to have it all: a loving husband, a beautiful family, and an idyllic life. However, startling revelations about Sherri’s real self emerged when she was “kidnapped” in 2016.
It triggered a frenzied search that was the subject of headlines in national news outlets… but once Sherri is found, a new nightmare begins.
“Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini” is out on Hulu now!
| Watch the trailer |
COLD CASE UPDATE
No Private Property Search: Judge
Fayette County Superior Court Judge granted a motion to dismiss a case pertaining to the search for Denise Pflum’s remains.
The private property owner’s defense team indicated a six-year statute of limitations had long passed since Denise’s family filed their lawsuit earlier this year. They say the clock started running when Denise was deemed legally deceased in 1996.
Unfortunately, the Judge agreed with the argument, and has denied the family’s request to search the property.
Do you think there’s reason to believe Denise’s remains are on the 326-acre property?
| Explore the case |
WANT MORE FROM UNCOVERED? Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. Support our work by advertising in this newsletter. Search our database to find and follow cold cases near you.
WHY DO WE EXIST? With more than 200,000 unsolved cases having gone cold since 1980, Uncovered built the nation's largest database of public information and it's powered by our community. It's where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts learn from and teach others while digging deeper into the stories you've heard before in ways that actually help. At some point, compassion causes entertainment to grow into a need for activism, contribution, and community to solve the stories of real people. Join us. Want to change how you receive these emails? |
June 18, 2024
Through DNA evidence and tracking, local police and the FBI arrested Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, in Tulsa, Oklahoma for killing beloved mother Rachel Morin. "I'm here to tell you Rachel's murderer is no longer a free man. Hopefully, he will never have the opportunity to walk free again," said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler. Martinez-Hernandez, allegedly entered the U.S. illegally in February last year from El Salvador, where he was wanted for murdering a woman the month before, according to the sheriff and the FBI. 🧬 "Our investigative genetic genealogy team in Baltimore worked countless hours to identify the suspect by using crime scene DNA and tracing that DNA to potential family members,” said Bill DelBango with the FBI Baltimore Field Office. “Investigators even traveled to El Salvador as part of their efforts to identify this killer.”
TRIAL WATCHERS |
The jury in the Karen Read murder trial heard from a digital forensic expert last week. The expert, Jessica Hyde, took the stand as the prosecution’s 63rd witness, mainly answering questions about the stangee internet searches.
Hyde said Jennifer McCabe was looking up the “Hockomock Sports” website at 2:27 a.m. and then Googled “Hos [sic] long to die in cold” at 6:23 a.m.
Hyde said records timestamped at 2:27 a.m. do not necessarily mean McCabe made her search at that time. Rather, she said 2:27 a.m. is the time when the tab used by McCabe’s browser was originally opened.
The expert’s testimony comes after a juror chose to be dismissed after a CourtTV pool camera accidentally caught a glimpse of the person. An alternate took their place.
| Learn more here |
BREAKING NEWS
Parkland School Demolition
Six years ago, the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was the scene of devastation when Nikolaz Cruz opened fire in 2018, killing 17 people.
Now, beginning last Friday, demolition has finally begun on the building. Onlookers went to pay their respects, and families of the victims were invited to chip off a piece of the building themselves.
“It’s important for that building to be taken down, so not only can I start to heal but also the community at large,” Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa, 14, died in the shooting, told The New York Times. “That building is a reminder of the horrific tragedy where 17 people were murdered in school.”
TRUE CRIME TRIVIA BREAK
An arraignment is when a criminal defendant…
A) Has arrest photos taken
B) Appears in court to enter a plea
C) Is moved from one jail to another
D) Is formally charged of a serious crime
B) Appears in court to enter a plea
C) Is moved from one jail to another
D) Is formally charged of a serious crime
| What do you think? |
CRIMINALLY GOOD CONTENT
New Episodes Mondays 9/8c
This series has been described as an “authentic, raw and revealing look at Gypsy’s new life on the outside.”
In what is being called a “delayed-coming-of-age story,” Gypsy must reconcile the pop-culture version of herself while trying to forge her brand-new identity in a “normal” world as a sister, daughter and most of all – a free woman.
She has to do all of this while facing her past. The first 3 episodes are out now!
| Watch the trailer |
FEEL GOOD NEWS
Cold Case Solved!
Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on February 14, 2014, police in Port Arthur, Texas, received a call of a “man down”. Then, police found Eric Darnell Noel, 29, with a gunshot wound. He was sent to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, where he later died.
This past week, the case was solved!
Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso said Damond Lewis of Beaumont turned himself in to police. He gave a statement saying he was the shooter.
WANT MORE FROM UNCOVERED? Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. Support our work by advertising in this newsletter. Search our database to find and follow cold cases near you.
WHY DO WE EXIST? With more than 200,000 unsolved cases having gone cold since 1980, Uncovered built the nation's largest database of public information and it's powered by our community. It's where the most passionate true crime enthusiasts learn from and teach others while digging deeper into the stories you've heard before in ways that actually help. At some point, compassion causes entertainment to grow into a need for activism, contribution, and community to solve the stories of real people. Join us. Want to change how you receive these emails? |