In my thirteenth episode, I shared the story of 10-month-old Marion Jester-Montoya, an adorable and joyful little girl with a head full of dark hair and an ever-present smile. Marion died on January 7, 2020, after her mother’s boyfriend, Trevor Rowe, decided that instead of leaving Marion with his mother for the day like he usually did, he would st…

(FYI: I'm still here, and new episodes are coming! See today's Facebook post.) Stacey Schuchart was nine months pregnant with her seventh child. None of her previous six children were legally in her custody, although at least some of them had been illegally staying with Stacey and her partner, Sean Buttery, for about a month when, on August 16, 201…

Around 6:00 PM on Friday, May 1, 2020, a woman named Maranda Alford burst into a police station in Little Rock, Arkansas, to notify authorities that her 11-year-old son, Jordan Roberts, had been taken hostage in their home by her fiancé, 32-year-old Brent Martin. Police rushed to the scene, soon followed by a swarm of upwards of 40 SWAT team member…

In this bonus minisode, which was originally released for Patrons only in February 2022, you’ll hear the story of 18-month-old Kendall Lynn Doss, a precious little girl with blonde hair, her daddy’s brown eyes, and the chubbiest, most adorable cheeks you might ever see, who fell prey to the temper and disgusting urges of her mother’s fiancé. This s…

Research has long shown that child abuse and neglect can and often do lead to a wide range of negative effects on a person’s life, including mental, physical, and behavioral problems. This kind of treatment during childhood causes stress that alters the way the child’s brain develops, affects gene expression, and changes the body’s stress response …

If you’ve listened to this show for any length of time, and most likely even if you haven’t, you know the US legal system all too often fails domestic abuse survivors, especially women, children, and adolescents. My guest, Professor Dale Margolin Cecka, knows it all too well. Professor Cecka is an advocate for women, children, and teens who have su…

Over the last two episodes, I’ve told you the story of five-year-old Dennis Vaughan Jr., known affectionately as “Boo,” who died in his grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve, 2019. Boo’s mom, Danielle Vaughan, fought to regain custody of her five kids, all of whom were under the guardianship of Danielle’s mother, Sherry Conner. Despite dozens of rep…

Young mother Danielle Vaughan knew her children were being abused in the home of her mother, Sherry Connor. She spent years pleading for someone to intervene before it was too late. No one listened, and Danielle’s worst nightmare became reality when her five-year-old son, Dennis “Boo” Vaughan Jr., was pronounced dead on Christmas Eve, 2019. Boo’s b…

Get your favorite Magic Mind formula (like my favorite, MAXX) at www.magicmind.com/lainemf, and use code LAINE60 for 60% off your subscription! In 2016, toddler Dennis “Boo” Vaughan Jr. and his three siblings were removed from their parents’ custody due to concerns of substance abuse and domestic violence. They were ultimately placed in the Laconia…

Lawrence Swift Noxon was born in March 1943. At five months old, he was diagnosed with what we now call Down syndrome. Three weeks later, on September 22, 1943, baby Lawrence died from electrocution under highly suspicious circumstances. His father, John Franklin Noxon Jr., was soon charged with murdering his infant son in what many considered a “m…

My guest in this episode, Morrene Hauser, spent decades repressing traumatic memories from her childhood. When she finally cracked open that vault, her life all but fell apart. Morrene speaks with raw honesty about surviving a childhood marked by relentless abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfathers. Morrene is driven by a fierce desire to he…

Back in 2021, both episode 49 and minisode #3 featured the story of 20-month-old Quortney Kley. On February 25, 1997, Quortney was sexually abused and murdered by her mom’s boyfriend, Cayce Williams. It took nine years for the legal case to end with Williams accepting a plea agreement in 2006, and he was released in 2021 after spending only 24 year…

*Supporting my sponsors keeps the show going! Get your Magic Mind subscription at 60% off through my link (https://magicmind.com/lainemf) and using my code (LAINE60) at checkout. On August 24, 2020, 23-year-old Luis Luna ran into the living room of his shared Houston apartment in a panic, holding his unresponsive 8-month-old daughter, Savayah Mason…

The Innocent is a nonprofit organization made up of active or retired law enforcement. Their mission is to train law enforcement agencies across the country about preventing and investigating child sex crimes. In this episode, my guest is Nate Lewis, CEO and founder of The Innocent, whose passion and dedication to the mission are inspiring. You’ll …

In the last episode, I told you the story of ten-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens, a smart, creative, charming kid who was dealt a bad hand in life and died at the hands of a foster mother and longtime family friend. Jennifer Wilson is now serving a regrettably short sentence in the Indiana prison system for crushing 91-pound Levi to death with her 341…

Get your Magic Mind here: https://magicmind.com/BYLAINE20 You get 20% off for a one-time purchase and up to 48% off for subscriptions with my code: BYLAINE20 On April 25, 2024, 10-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens was rushed to the hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, unresponsive. He was placed on life support, but his brain had been deprived of oxygen for…

*This formerly Patreon-exclusive bonus minisode was originally released on August 19, 2021. In January 2020, a Tennessee mom stepped away for ten minutes of "me time," leaving her two young children alone in the bathtub, and returned to find her 11-month-old son, Aidan Leonardo, floating in the water, unresponsive. Photos related to today's episode…

*This formerly Patreon-exclusive bonus minisode was originally released on September 28, 2021. A young North Carolina couple lost a baby in what appeared to be a tragic case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). When their second infant died less than two years later with multiple suspicious injuries, authorities began looking harder at father Za…

Get 25% off the Magic Mind gummies here: magicmind.com/LAINEGM You can also use my code, LAINE25, directly on their website. #magicmind #gummies In 2022, 15-month-old Isabella Kuykendall attended the United States Navy’s Ford Island Child Development Center, a daycare at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for three days. During those three days, Bella went from…

Get up to 48% off your Magic Mind subscription by visiting magicmind.com/LAINE20 and using my code, LAINE20. **Live chat with me on Discord when the episode drops! I'll be live chatting from 6:00-8:30 PM Eastern on February 19, 2025 here: https://discord.gg/JRvW3FYw?event=1341862349870600303 Over the last three episodes, I’ve told you the story of …

*This minisode was formerly available only to patrons. To help support the show, you can visit https://patreon.com/STLCpod. A Virginia family is shattered, a precious five-month-old baby dead, a mother permanently injured, and a husband to blame for their vicious attack. This is the horrific story of Emmy Chambers. Photos related to today's episode…

Get Magic Mind’s “24-hour bundle” for 45% off using my link! https://www.magicmind.com/LAINEJAN In parts 1 and 2, I told you about Raylee Browning, a sweet, gentle, loving 8-year-old girl whose father, his girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s sister made Raylee their scapegoat for years, putting her through horrific abuse and neglect, all because she h…

This minisode was formerly available only to patrons. To help support the show, you can visit https://patreon.com/STLCpod. On June 8, 2019, police in Muncie, Indiana responded to the YWCA women's shelter on Charles Street on a report of an unresponsive child. There, they found 3-month-old Shae Anna Marie Styhl covered in bruises, burns, and blister…

Get Magic Mind’s “24-hour bundle” for 45% off using my link! https://www.magicmind.com/LAINEJAN Last week, I started telling you the story of eight-year-old Raylee Browning, who died in the home of her father, his girlfriend, and the woman’s sister after years of unthinkable abuse. Raylee’s death was infuriatingly preventable if only CPS and the fa…

Get your Magic Mind here: https://magicmind.com/LAINE20 You get 20% off for a one-time purchase and up to 48% off for subscriptions with my code: LAINE20 In Episode 4, I told you about Raylee Browning: a little girl who died on December 26, 2018. Although she was covered with injuries from head to toe, her cause of death was a septic infection from…

*This minisode, formerly available only to Patreon subscribers, was originally released on June 12, 2021. Since I'm no longer creating these, I’ll occasionally release them to the public for all my listeners to enjoy. I didn’t realize until I re-listened how fast I talked back then; sorry about that!* On the morning of February 28, 2020, a young mo…

Last week, I told you the story of two-year-old Arianna Starkey, whose father, Austin Starkey, failed to protect her from his homicidal girlfriend, Destani Neel. Both Austin and Destani were sentenced to prison for their roles in Arianna’s brutal death. Arianna’s death hit her family hard, and it’s taken some time for her maternal grandmother, Chri…

Note: I'm honored to release this episode on what would be Arianna's sixth birthday. On January 8, 2021, 27-year-old Destani Neel called 911, reporting that her boyfriend’s daughter was having trouble breathing. Although two-year-old Arianna Starkey was rushed to the hospital, she never regained consciousness, and she took her last breath two days …

From time to time, instead of covering an individual child’s story, I tackle a broader topic, such as my past episodes about hot car deaths and medical child abuse. While the topic of today’s episode doesn’t necessarily intersect with that of child abuse and neglect, it definitely intersects with this podcast’s purpose: to protect children. For thi…

When Indianapolis police responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive child on April 9, 2024, they couldn’t have guessed the horrific circumstances of the victim’s life and death. 5-year-old Kinsleigh Welty, who weighed only 21 pounds, was clearly malnourished. She had a bruise on her face and fecal matter on her body and matted into her hair, which…

In Episode 102, I told you the story of two-year-old Fallon Fridley, a precious little girl in Georgia whose babysitter, a close family friend, tortured and killed her in December 2020. The attack was caught on the babysitter’s in-home video surveillance system, and police found incriminating search terms on Kirstie Flood’s phone, such as “What doe…

*This minisode, formerly available only to Patreon subscribers, was originally released on May 27, 2021. Since I'm no longer creating these, I thought I'd release them once in a while for all my listeners to enjoy. I apologize for talking so fast back then!* An adorable two-year-old boy described by loved ones as a “cheeky monkey” is dead, murdered…

The National Children's Alliance (or NCA) is a Washington, D.C.-based network of almost 1,000 Children’s Advocacy Centers (or CACs) across the United States. These centers offer crucial services to children affected by abuse, providing them with a safe space to share their stories and access a diverse team of professionals, from health practitioner…

(Today would be Cali's 12th birthday, so I'm re-releasing this episode in her honor.) On May 15, 2018, police responded to a self-storage facility in Sacramento, California, where, in one of the storage units, sat a box containing a blue plastic barrel, inside which was a duffel bag. In that bag were the remains of a small child who appeared to hav…

When Vayda Vasquez was a month away from turning two, her custodial maternal grandma trusted her overnight with a long-time family friend, Kellie Barthel. The following morning, after several 911 calls from Kellie’s residence in Stanton, Michigan, police responded and found little Vayda unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene. This is th…

On the evening of May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. The next day, in a nearby wooded area, the boys were found brutally murdered, bound, and submerged in a drainage ditch. The horrific nature of the crime shocked the community, and police quickly arrest…

Over the past two episodes, I told you the story of non-verbal, autistic 13-year-old Jonathan Carey, who was smothered to death in 2007. His killer was a care worker from a facility for people with developmental disabilities. How could something like this happen? In this episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Jonathan’s father, Michael Carey, wh…

In the last episode, I told you the story of Jonathan Carey, a non-verbal, autistic boy whose parents had no choice but to send him to a second residential program after he suffered abuse and torture at the first one he attended. At age 13, Jonathan was restrained and suffocated to death by Developmental Aide Edwin Tirado. In this episode, I’ll con…

(Laine here! This is part 2/2 of a collab I participated in. I hope you'll give it a listen!) Welcome to Hot Pursuit, a summer true-crime collaboration, where we dive deep into the world of true crime. We’ve gathered many incredible true-crime podcasters to bring you a multi-part series that’s all about the heat of the chase. We'll explore cases wh…

(Laine here! This is a collab I participated in. I hope you'll give it a listen!) Welcome to Hot Pursuit, a summer true-crime collaboration, where we dive deep into the world of true crime. We’ve gathered many incredible true-crime podcasters to bring you a multi-part series that’s all about the heat of the chase. We'll explore cases where justice …

Jonathan Carey was autistic and nonverbal. Because he needed more care than they could provide in their home, when Jonathan was nine, his parents sent him to a highly recommended residential program at the Anderson School in Staatsburg, New York, where young Jonathan was starved, isolated, and physically abused. Due to the PTSD Jonathan suffered fr…

In 2003, an East Texas couple adopted three young Russian children. Over the years, there were countless red flags for child abuse, especially against the oldest child, Alexey, who began running away when he was 12. He ended up on the doorstep of the Roosevelt House, an emergency shelter, assessment center, and residential care facility for childre…

For this episode, I had the privilege of talking to forensic psychologists Dr. Shiloh and Dr. Scott, the hosts of the L.A. Not So Confidential podcast. With years of expertise under their belts, the doctors had plenty of insight for us into the topic of child abuse, why it happens, and much more. This is Episode 175: The Psychology of Child Abuse (…

Last week, I told you the story of two-year-old Macy Grace Ditty, who arrived at the hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina on December 2, 2015, covered in bruises. Macy’s mother, Jeanie Ditty, went to trial for murder, but that ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury, and now, over eight years after Macy’s death, justice still hasn’t been served.…

On December 2, 2015, 23-year-old U.S. Army specialist Jeanie Ditty called 911 and calmly requested an ambulance for her two-year-old daughter, Macy Grace, who she said had thrown up in her sleep and aspirated. As soon as Macy Grace arrived at the hospital, medical staff took one look at the bruises covering her from head to toe and called the Fayet…

Three years ago, in episode 69, I told you the story of six-year-old Corey Micciolo, whose mother fought for months to save her son from his abusive father. Despite her pleas to New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency and the family court system, Christopher Gregor retained primary custody of Corey. On March 20, 2021, surveillance …

Over the last two episodes, I’ve told you the story of three-year-old Arabella Parker, who died in November 2019 after severe abuse at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend, Jahrid Burgess. For this episode, I was honored to speak with three people close to Arabella’s case. First, you’ll hear my recent conversation with the Sunbury Daily Item’s crime…

In episodes 35 and 36, back in late 2020, I told you the story of 9-month-old Jacob Landin, a tiny boy with a big laugh and an even bigger personality. Jacob died in April 1987 from a severe traumatic brain injury. When the injury occurred, he was in the care of his mom’s boyfriend, Steven Chavez, who told several different stories to Brenda Landin…

In the last episode, I told you the first part of the story of three-year-old Arabella Parker, who was rushed to the hospital on October 10, 2019, reportedly suffering from a seizure. Because medical staff wasn’t told that the seizure resulted from severe head trauma, the damage was irreparable, and Arabella died on November 22, 2019. In this episo…

Four years ago, in episodes 16 and 17, I told you the tragic story of 3-year-old Arabella Parker. Because that was so early in my podcasting journey, I’m not satisfied with my coverage of her story, so I’m revisiting it in an all-new, comprehensive re-telling as I’ve never told it before: with the help of her family and others. On October 10, 2019,…