Episode 259

When Virgil and Shirley Best were found dead in their home, investigators expected a familiar explanation. What followed instead was an investigation defined by uncertainty and a motive that challenged the idea that violence always comes from clear intent.Get instant access to al ...  Show more

In 2022, when 57-year-old Harold Allen was found dead in his Indiana home, the case was ruled natural. Nearly a year later, a brazen burglary and a string of buried messages bring detectives back to the same address and to Marsha Allen, the woman who said she loved him. What star ...  Show more

In this Dateline classic, Patricia Esparza believed she had escaped poverty and abuse, attending elite schools and becoming a respected psychology professor. But a dark secret comes back to haunt her when a determined investigator and prosecutor in Orange County work to solve ...

A twelve-year-old girl claimed she had been abducted and sexually assaulted. She recounted what happened in such a flat, unemotional voice that police found it difficult to believe her. Fibers on her clothing would prove she was telling the truth, and help police to find her atta ...  Show more

When an 11-year-old girl disappeared from a small town in a remote area of Alaska, investigators wondered if she’d been attacked by a bear or become lost in the dense woods. It turned out neither was true. Her body was discovered 10 days later; she’d been shot twice at close rang ...  Show more

In this Dateline classic, a sheriff detective's daughter -- who'd been kidnapped -- did what she'd been taught. She called 911. So did her husband. So did horrified witnesses. They all thought help would be on the way. They were wrong. Dennis Murphy reports. Originally aired o ...