Skip straight to the case: (6:00)

In the fall of 1998, a tight-knit Florida neighborhood came together with a single mission: find missing eight-year-old Madelyn Clifton. Flyers covered telephone poles, search parties combed the streets, and worried neighbors opened their homes to help. A chilling truth was hiding in plain sight. The person who knew exactly what had happened to Maddie wasn't a stranger lurking in the shadows - it was a boy from just down the street.

Almost thirty years later, this case is still making headlines. In May 2026, Josh withdrew his resentencing application in a bid to work on and prove his rehabilitation after being incarcerated. Do you think Josh Phillips should ever be freed?

Read our blog for this case

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Timestamps:
(9:02) - Mackenzie / The crash
(29:20) - Matthew Hertgen Update
(34:13) - Sam Nelson
* Note - Timestamps may slightly vary due to dynamic ads

The AI tool ChatGPT is used by over 800 million people per week. In a recent poll, a majority of 13- to 17-year-olds said they use AI chatbots, with 28% saying they use them daily.

Sam Nelson (19) started using ChatGPT when he was in high school. He began initially using it for general questions and homework help.

Over time, it is alleged that Sam began to use the chatbot to get information about taking illicit drugs. In the early morning hours of May 31, 2025, Sam told the chatbot about drugs he had ingested and asked for help with the side effects that he was experiencing. ChatGPT’s last alleged message to Sam was “If you’re still nauseous after an hour, I can help troubleshoot further (Benadryl combo, timing, food intake, etc.). Just let me know your symptoms and how intense the nausea is right now.” Sam’s mother would find him dead in his bedroom hours later.

In May 2026, Sam’s parents filed a lawsuit against OpenAI. They allege wrongful death and the unauthorized practice of medicine. Sam’s family are asking for financial damages and for the court to pause the operation of ChatGPT Health.

In this episode of the True Crime Society Podcast, we discuss the case of Sam Nelson - did AI contribute to his death?

Read our blog for Sam - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2026/05/20/did-ai-contribute-to-the-death-of-sam-nelson/

In this episode, we also discuss the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, subject of the new Netflix documentary The Crash. We first covered this case on our podcast in 2023 and we will be re-releasing that episode this week. Be sure to check it out before listening to this episode for context!

Be sure to check the timestamps to get straight to the episode section that you want to listen to.

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Ohio teen Mackenzie Shirilla had been dating Dominic Russo for years and their relationship was described as tumultuous. A friend overheard an argument between the two in July 2022 where Mackenzie threatened to crash the car she was driving, with both of them in it.

A few weeks later, Mackenzie did exactly that. Early one morning, after a night of partying, she crashed her vehicle into a wall at 100mph. Dominic died along with a friend of the pair, Davion Flanagan. Mackenzie was injured and taken to hospital, where she recovered.

By October 2022, Mackenzie was well enough to dress up as a corpse for Halloween, despite just losing two of her closest friends.

Mackenzie was eventually arrested and her case has just gone to court. She was convicted and is currently serving a minimum of 15 years in prison.

This episode of the True Crime Society Podcast was first released in 2023. We are re-releasing the episode due to renewed interest in the case following the release of the Netflix documentary ‘The Crash’.

Be sure to check the timestamps if you want to get straight to the case:

TIMESTAMPS:
Mackenzie Shirilla - (6:04)
BTK Updates - (50:56)

Read our blogs for these cases - Mackenzie Shirilla & BTK Updates

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Skip straight to the case: (13:40)

In 1978, five friends from Yuba County, California vanished after a basketball game. Their abandoned vehicle was found deep in the snowy mountains, miles away from their intended route. Why the men went there and what happened next remains one of America’s strangest unsolved mysteries.

Read our blog for this case

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Skip straight to the case --> (5:24)

On a rainy morning in October 2023, a police officer in a small Arkansas town approached a parked SUV to check on a family inside.

In the passenger seat, a tired mother in a red T-shirt smiled politely as she folded baby clothes. Her toddler climbed between the seats. A baby cried in the back. Her boyfriend was in the driver's seat.

She told the officer they were just passing through - trying to get back to Wyoming.

That officer would become the last confirmed person to ever see Katheryn “Katie” Ferguson alive.

Days later, her boyfriend would continue the trip without her.

And when investigators finally searched the vehicle they had been traveling in, they found something chilling — blood, bullet holes, and a missing passenger seat.

Katie Ferguson has never been seen again.

Read our blog for Katie - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2026/03/08/katie-ferguson-vanished-on-a-road-trip/

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If you'd like to skip straight to the case: (5:15)

In February 2026, Tawnia McGeehan (34) and her daughter Addi Smith (11) traveled from their home in Utah to Las Vegas to attend a cheer competition.

When they did not show up for the competition as scheduled, Addi’s father Brad called 911 and requested a welfare check.

Authorities would eventually enter their room at the Rio Hotel and find the bodies of the mother and daughter. Tawnia allegedly shot Addi before taking her own life.

Tawnia and Brad had been going through a contentious custody battle for years. There are also rumors of bullying amongst Addi’s cheer community members.

Read our blog for this case

Remember to check the timestamp to get straight to the case.

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Skip straight to the case discussion: (7:50)

In this episode of the True Crime Society we discuss the 2023 murder of Texas father Austin Kanuch.

This episode was originally released in January 2026 as a Patreon exclusive and we have chosen to release it as a main episode following a request by a friend of Austin’s.

Austin was a father-of-three. On Thursday September 21, 2023, Austin and his wife Mary closed on the purchase of a new home.

During the early morning of September 22, an unidentified person was seen riding a bike to the Kanuch’s rental home. The person was at the property for around an hour before they carried out a brutal and fatal attack on Austin. Mary called 911 before the perpetrator had even left the home.

Over two years later, Austin’s murder remains unsolved. Police believe the attack was targeted and not random. No public suspects have been named.

Read our blog for Austin’s case - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2026/01/01/who-killed-texas-father-austin-kanuch/

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Timestamp to skip the intro chat: (7:55)

In April 2011, realtor Ashley Okland (27) was hosting an open house in West Des Moines, Iowa, when she was shot twice and killed. For more than a decade the case remained a cold mystery: there were no clear motives, no signs of robbery or struggle, and investigators followed nearly a thousand leads without identifying a suspect.

In March 2026, nearly 15 years after the murder, authorities announced a breakthrough: Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey (53) was charged with first‑degree murder in the case. No clear motive has been made public.

Just a few years after Ashley’s death, another tragic realtor killing occurred in September 2014, when Beverly Carter (50) disappeared while showing a property in Scott, Arkansas. Investigators soon learned that Beverly had been lured to the appointment under false pretenses by a suspect, Arron Michael Lewis, and his wife Crystal Lowery, who were attempting to execute a ransom plot. Beverly’s body was found buried in a shallow grave. Arron would tell the media that he picked Beverly as a target because she was "a woman that worked alone — a rich broker."

In this episode of the True Crime Society Podcast, we discuss the separate cases of two murdered realtors - Ashley Okland and Beverly Carter.

Read our blog for these cases -

https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2026/03/26/open-house-hidden-threats-the-murders-of-two-realtors/

Remember to check the timestamp to get straight to the case.

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