Digging In - The Background Check

On August 24, 2021, 25-year-old Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day was last seen on campus. Eleven days later, his body was recovered from the Illinois River, sixty miles away from where his concealed car was found without license plates or keys. While a multi-agency task force ultimately ruled his cause of death as undetermined drowning, his family has fought tirelessly from day one to challenge that finding and uncover what happened during his final hours. --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two dumb criminals on a Friday! A man that forgets a background check actually...checks things. Another digs his way right into a jail cell. --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How long can someone survive while being stuck inside a wall? Long enough to steal $80,000 worth of mac & cheese, apparently.  --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

While millions of people across the globe spent the late 1980s and 1990s fitting falling blocks together in Tetris, one of the key figures behind its rise was living a very different reality. In September 1998, Vladimir Pokhilko, his wife Elena, and their 12-year-old son Peter were found dead inside their Palo Alto home in what officials officially ruled a brutal murder-suicide. But the crime scene investigators who walked into that Palo Alto house have spent over twenty years insisting the physical evidence didn't add up. --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the night of June 9, 1979, thirty-five people boarded the Ghost Train at Sydney’s historic Luna Park for a routine two-and-a-half-minute ride into the dark. Seven of them never came out. While authorities initially blamed a tragic electrical accident or a discarded cigarette, decades of suspicion, ignored fire safety warnings, and explosive claims from former police have pointed toward arson and a massive cover-up.For the rest of the episode, join us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/truecrimecast --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Tennessee goes up against Alabama, the real battle is getting in the doors. Or getting away with your Pokemon cards. Either way, it's a battle.  --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The worst game of hide and seek ever leads to an arrest for obstruction, and a getaway car doesn't do a great job of getting away. --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In January 1984, a brutal intruder armed with a hammer struck four separate households across Denver in a twelve-day span. The attacks left three adults severely injured and four people dead, including a seven-year-old girl, while a three-year-old survivor was left to be found in a scene investigators would never forget. With no apparent connection between the victims and virtually no physical leads, the cases turned ice-cold for over three decades.  --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A copper thief gets desperate and orders off menu. And a burglar uses the ever-popular sandwich alibi to get away with his crime.  --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why would you drive a riding lawnmower into a Target? Or take a leaf blower into a Culvers? Or repeatedly use the same mask to commit robberies? The world may never know. --For early, ad free episodes and monthly exclusive bonus content, join our Patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.