Rex Heuermann’s Manifesto, Asa Ellerup’s Doubt & Suffolk County’s Corruption Problem | 2025 Year in Review

How does a nine-year-old girl vanish on a cross-country trip with her mother — complete with a disguise, a rental car, a license-plate swap, and a return home without the child — and yet the mother still walks free? Tonight on Hidden Killers, we’re digging into one of the most infuriating mysteries in the country right now: the disappearance of Melodee Buzzard, and the legal loopholes that are letting her mother avoid charges. This isn’t a story about corruption or cover-ups. It’s about how the law actually works — and how a parent can slip right through the cracks even while every red flag is burning. Investigators have surveillance video of Melodee in a wig, a multi-state timeline that makes no sense, and a mother who refuses to give a single verifiable explanation about where the child was left. They have a rental car with mismatched plates, a suspicious cross-country route, and a child whose extended family says they hadn't seen her in years. But what they don’t have is the one thing prosecutors must have before they can file charges: proof of a specific criminal act. In this episode, we break down that painful reality step-by-step. Why returning home without your child isn’t automatically a crime. Why a parent has no legal obligation to cooperate. Why suspicious behavior, evasive answers, and even plate-swapping across state lines doesn’t meet the threshold for arrest unless investigators can link it to a provable offense. And why the one charge they did file — unrelated false imprisonment — just collapsed because of a secret recording found on the mother’s own phone. It’s a breakdown of how a missing-child case can stall in plain sight, how the justice system ties its own hands, and why the search for Melodee is now a race against time — not just to find her, but to gather the evidence needed to hold someone accountable. Subscribe for more breaking updates and expert analysis. #MelodeeBuzzard #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimeNews #MissingChildren #LegalLoopholes #AshleeBuzzard #CrimeAnalysis #JusticeSystem #TrueCrimeCommunity #TonyBrueski Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

25 Nov 202515min

Eighteen-year-old Anna Kepner was found hidden under a bed on a cruise ship — in a cabin she shared with her own family. A younger sibling asleep feet above her. A stepbrother now designated a suspect. A stepmother invoking the Fifth Amendment. And a biological mother recording a viral thirteen-minute meltdown online, blaming everyone but herself. This isn’t one tragedy — it’s the implosion of two families at the exact moment investigators are trying to reconstruct what happened in that tiny cabin. Tonight, we break down what authorities are really dealing with: — What it means when a minor is labeled a suspect. — How keycard logs, cabin cameras, and Wi-Fi tracking narrow the timeline faster than anyone expects. — Why concealment done quietly — while people slept — tells investigators something very specific. — Why a parent invoking the Fifth raises red flags behind the scenes. — And how constant public accusation from family members can contaminate witnesses and confuse the case. To help us cut through the noise, we bring in retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer to walk through interview protocols with child witnesses, the meaning of a Fifth Amendment invocation in a juvenile death, and what investigators truly care about — evidence, not emotion. This case is still evolving, but one thing is clear: the truth inside that cabin is going to come out. Stay with us. #AnnaKepner #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #CruiseShipCase #FBIAnalysis #CrimeUpdate #TonyBrueski #Investigation #CrimePodcast #JusticeForAnna Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

25 Nov 202524min

The trial of Brian Walshe is finally here, and before opening statements begin, we’re breaking down everything you need to know to understand what this case is really about. For nearly three years, the disappearance of Ana Walshe has been a story built on fragments — timelines, surveillance clips, digital searches, and unanswered questions. But now, with a full jury seated and the courtroom ready, we’re entering the phase where all of those pieces will be tested under oath. In this episode, we walk you through the entire case from the beginning: who Brian Walshe is, the troubled backdrop of the federal fraud charges he was facing, and the mounting pressure inside the marriage in the months leading up to Ana’s disappearance. We revisit the last confirmed moments of Ana’s life, the days that followed, and the early investigative red flags that shifted this from a missing-person report to a homicide investigation. We explore the evidence — the digital searches prosecutors say were made in the early morning hours, the timeline inconsistencies, the surveillance footage, and the items recovered from multiple trash locations. We also dig into the defense strategy: what they’re likely to challenge, how they may attack the timeline, and what they might focus on as they argue reasonable doubt in a case without a recovered body. And we unpack the stunning decision by Walshe to plead guilty to misleading investigators and improper disposal, but not to the murder charge — a move that fundamentally reshapes how jurors will hear this case. This is your complete guide to the story behind the trial, the stakes, the unanswered questions, and what may unfold when testimony begins. Subscribe for more in-depth analysis from Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski. #HiddenKillers #BrianWalshe #AnaWalshe #TrueCrime #CourtCase #TrialUpdate #LegalAnalysis #CrimeNews #JusticeSystem #Podcast Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

25 Nov 202518min

Two teenagers. Two families in collapse. Two investigations spiraling into deeper and darker territory with every new detail. Tonight, we break down the cases of Anna Kepner and Celeste Rivas — not because they’re connected, but because they expose something grim about how teens slip through every possible crack before their lives end surrounded by secrecy, confusion, and chaos. On one side, an eighteen-year-old girl hidden under a bed on a cruise ship. A minor stepbrother labeled a suspect. Family members attacking each other online. A stepmother pleading the Fifth. A timeline investigators have to reconstruct down to the minute, inside one small cabin. On the other, a fifteen-year-old whose body was found in a Tesla — with outlets reporting indicators of freezing, long-term concealment, or even dismemberment. A timeline investigators now believe may stretch back months. Surveillance showing someone else driving the vehicle. And the most shocking part: the person tied to that car reportedly hasn’t even been interviewed. To cut through the noise, we bring in retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer to break down the forensics, the timelines, the psychological dynamics, and why both cases expose deeper family fractures long before the final moments. These are two tragedies — but they may also be mirrors of the same systemic failures, the same missed red flags, the same lack of protection, and the same patterns investigators see again and again. We’re covering it all. Stay with us. #AnnaKepner #CelesteRivas #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #CrimeUpdate #FBIAnalysis #TonyBrueski #Investigation #CrimePodcast #TrueCrimeCommunity Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

25 Nov 202550min