LANSING, Mich. — Five deaths along Lansing’s River Trail have prompted investigators to examine whether someone is targeting homeless men, raising fears of a serial killer in Michigan’s capital. Police Chief Robert Backus acknowledged the possibility during an October 2 news conference but stopped short of confirming a connected series. Investigators have identified similarities involving the victims, their injuries and the circumstances in which they were found. Authorities

A sharp decline in Houston body recoveries, an unresolved triple homicide and confirmation that the unofficial suspect has relocated to Austin are raising questions. For years, the number of bodies recovered from Houston’s waterways has fueled speculation about a serial killer. City officials have repeatedly rejected that theory. At a September 23, 2025, news conference about bodies recovered from Houston’s bayous, Mayor John Whitmire said, “We do not have any evidence that t

Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power is a book about influence: how people acquire it, defend it and use it in relationships. For someone reading at home, its lessons may seem like advice about work or human nature. Inside a federal prison, officials may view the same lessons through a different lens. They must consider whether a book could be used to intimidate others, encourage disruptive behavior or make criminal activity easier. That concern is the basis on which a federa

CLEARWATER, Fla. — On the morning of March 21, 2023, attorney Steven Cozzi arrived at his Largo law office for what should have been an ordinary workday. At some point that morning, the 41-year-old lawyer walked toward the men's restroom. He never returned. His wallet, keys and cellphone remained at the office. His vehicle was still outside. Investigators say surveillance footage never showed Cozzi leaving the building. More than three years later, his body has never been fou

The mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder case did not end the controversy surrounding the deaths of her three children. Instead, it created a new target for public scrutiny: the lone juror who refused to join the other 11 members of the jury in finding Clancy not criminally responsible because of insanity. After more than seven days of deliberations, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Sept. 4 when the jury remained deadlocked 11-1. The holdout favored convicting C

For decades, El Salvador was synonymous with gang violence. MS-13 and Barrio 18 controlled neighborhoods, extorted businesses, recruited children and enforced territorial boundaries that ordinary citizens crossed at their peril. In 2015, El Salvador recorded roughly 105 homicides per 100,000 residents, one of the highest murder rates in the world. Today, the country looks remarkably different. At the center of that transformation is President Nayib Bukele's aggressive campaig

Few criminal defendants have inspired the kind of public following that surrounded Karen Read. Read was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who was found unresponsive in the snow outside another police officer’s home in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022. Prosecutors alleged Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV after a night of drinking and left him outside. Read maintained that she did not kill him, while her attorneys argued that O’Keefe wa

A Massachusetts courtroom is confronting one of the most difficult questions the criminal justice system can face: What happens when there is little dispute over who killed three children, but enormous disagreement over whether their mother was legally responsible for doing it? Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor-and-delivery nurse from Duxbury, Massachusetts, is on trial for the January 2023 deaths of her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month

The disappearance of an unofficial person of interest, a sudden decline in Houston body recoveries and eight eerily similar deaths in Lady Bird Lake are fueling a disturbing new theory HOUSTON — For nearly a decade, Houston’s bayous produced a grim and seemingly relentless procession of bodies. More than 200 people have been recovered from Houston-area waterways since 2017. Most deaths were eventually attributed to accidents, suicides, overdoses, drownings or other causes, wh

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On a dark stretch of road in Jacksonville Beach, a tire sat directly in the path of Jared Bridegan’s SUV. It appeared to be an ordinary obstruction—something a driver might simply get out and move. Prosecutors say it was anything but accidental. On the evening of Feb. 16, 2022, Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft senior design manager and father of four, had just dropped off the 9-year-old twins he shared with his former wife, Shanna Gardner. His 2-year-old

TAMPA, Fla. — When two University of South Florida graduate students disappeared on April 16, their friends noticed almost immediately. Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon were both 27, both from Bangladesh and both pursuing advanced degrees at USF. They were described as dependable students who attended meetings, answered messages and took their academic responsibilities seriously. Their sudden silence was so out of character that friends quickly feared something was wrong. What b

MINNEAPOLIS — The fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis became a national controversy almost immediately. But according to the Trump administration and federal law-enforcement officials, the circumstances surrounding the shooting were straightforward: Good was interfering with an immigration operation, refused officers' commands and then used her vehicle in a manner federal officials said threatened the life of an ICE o

TAMPA, Fla. — Brandon “Dutch” Mendenhall built his public reputation around an appealing promise: ordinary Americans did not need Wall Street to build wealth. Through real estate, alternative investments and financial education, the Tampa Bay entrepreneur presented himself as a guide to financial independence. Today, Mendenhall and the investment operation he helped build are at the center of a sprawling federal investigation and an SEC lawsuit involving allegations that more

After more than two decades investigating fraud, terrorism and other federal crimes, retired FBI Special Agent Tom Simon has found a second career bringing an insider's perspective to private investigations and the growing world of true crime. Simon spent approximately 26 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. During his career, he worked in FBI field offices including Chicago, Honolulu and Jacksonville, handling cases

HOUSTON — For years, bodies have surfaced in the waterways that wind through America's fourth-largest city. Some were discovered by joggers. Others by fishermen, maintenance workers or people walking along Houston's sprawling network of bayou trails. Since 2017, more than 200 bodies have been recovered from Houston-area waterways, according to figures compiled in The Chronicle investigation. Most of those deaths have ultimately been attributed to drownings, suicides, overdose

Eight men went out for a night in Austin. They were young or middle-aged, several had been drinking, and many spent their final known hours around one of the city's most popular nightlife districts. One by one, they disappeared. Days later, their bodies were recovered from Lady Bird Lake. Austin police have spent years insisting there is no serial killer stalking the city's popular Rainey Street entertainment district. Their conclusion is now supported by a Texas State Univer

On April 3, 2022, inside a luxury high-rise in Miami's Edgewater neighborhood, 27-year-old Christian "Toby" Obumseli was stabbed in the chest with a knife wound a medical examiner determined was three inches deep. His girlfriend, Courtney Clenney — an Instagram and OnlyFans model who at the time boasted more than 2 million followers — called 911 herself, telling dispatchers, "My boyfriend is dying of a stab wound... Baby, I'm so sorry." Obumseli died from the wound; Clenney w

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — What initially appeared to be a father stopping to remove a tire from a dark Florida roadway has become one of the state’s most closely watched murder cases—a sprawling alleged murder-for-hire conspiracy involving a bitter divorce, a custody battle and three people accused in the killing. On the evening of Feb. 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft executive and father of four, had just dropped off the 9-year-old twins he shared with his

Some criminal stories end in prison. Juan Sanchez's ended in a Venezuelan detention cell, a near-miraculous escape, and a second act as a true crime podcast fixture. Sanchez built his reputation as a real estate con man, ultimately serving nearly a decade in prison for orchestrating roughly $40 million in bank fraud. The scheme collapsed in spectacular fashion when the money at the center of it turned out not to be his to lose. During the course of his fraud, Sanchez was entr

For three years, federal investigators say, a Las Vegas woman ran one of the most disturbing romance schemes the FBI has encountered — one that blended catfishing, drugging, and identity theft into what one agent called "a romance scam on steroids." In a February 2025 bulletin, the FBI identified the suspect as Aurora Phelps, a 44-year-old dual U.S.-Mexico citizen who also went by the names Aurora Velasco, Aurora Flores, and Aurora Alvarez. Investigators said Phelps either me