Melodee Buzzard & The Great Vanishing: How California Lost 150,000 Kids-WEEK IN REVIEW
Melodee Buzzard’s disappearance isn’t an anomaly — it’s the warning sign of a statewide collapse. Between 2019 and 2022, California’s public-school rolls dropped by 270,000 students. Roughly 150,000 of them remain unaccounted for in any school, private affidavit, or relocation record. They didn’t all move — many simply vanished from the data, the same way Melodee vanished from oversight. In this episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski and the panel connect the dots between one missing-child case and the larger crisis of invisible minors. We’ll analyze state education reports, CPS workload numbers, and how “independent study” loopholes became a hiding place for abuse and neglect. We’ll also ask the uncomfortable question: If a state can lose track of 150,000 children on paper, how many are in real danger off the record? This is not fear-mongering — it’s a forensic look at bureaucratic blindness and the cultural apathy that lets it continue. #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #MelodeeBuzzard #GreatVanishing #MissingKids #CaliforniaCPS #EducationCrisis #SystemFailure #TrueCrimeToday #LawAndCrime #GroupDiscussion #PostCovid #DataInvestigation #ChildSafety 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
8 Nov 57min
Inside the Search for Missing 7-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard — Investigators Speak Out
Authorities in California are urgently searching for 7-year-old Melodee Buzzard, a young girl who vanished under deeply troubling and suspicious circumstances. Melodee was last seen in early October near Lompoc, California, and has not been seen publicly since October 11, when law enforcement confirmed surveillance footage of her traveling with her mother, Ashley Buzzard, near the Utah-Colorado border. Since that sighting, there has been no verifiable proof of life. According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Ashley has provided “no verifiable explanation” for her daughter’s whereabouts. Investigators say she’s been evasive, uncooperative, and unwilling to answer direct questions — drawing alarming comparisons to the Casey Anthony case. Despite multiple search warrants on her home, storage unit, and vehicle, investigators remain without solid leads on where Melodee could be. What’s most haunting is the growing pattern that echoes other infamous missing child cases like Harmony Montgomery and Oakley Carlson — cases where a child vanished, unnoticed for far too long, and the guardian’s story simply didn’t add up. In this case, reports indicate Ashley changed her license plates just before Melodee disappeared, traveled out of state, and may have manipulated her timeline to mislead authorities. Investigators have worked with the FBI, securing warrants for Ashley’s electronics and financial records, hoping to uncover new evidence. Yet despite these efforts, Melodee remains missing, and her mother continues to dodge accountability. As the case gains traction on Court TV and NewsNation, the public’s outrage grows — how long can this silence last before justice catches up? This is more than just another missing person’s case. It’s a chilling reminder of how easily a child can vanish, and how bureaucracy, silence, and deception can delay the truth. #MelodeeBuzzard #AshleyBuzzard #MissingChild #TrueCrime #BreakingNews #CaliforniaCrime #JusticeForMelodee #ChildEndangerment #InvestigativeNews #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
8 Nov 1h 29min
Jake Haro: The Father Who Proved “Second Chances” Can Kill
It didn’t have to happen. Seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro should still be alive — but the system that was supposed to protect him chose mercy over logic. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we pull apart the case of Jake Haro — the California father who once cried on camera for his “kidnapped” baby and is now serving at least 30 years in prison for killing him. What makes this story unbearable is how preventable it was. Years earlier, Jake Haro was convicted of nearly killing his infant daughter — leaving her permanently disabled and bedridden with cerebral palsy. Yet instead of a lifetime ban from fatherhood or meaningful prison time, he was handed probation, therapy, and a clean slate. The result? A new baby. Another victim. Another grave. Tony exposes the systemic rot that let this happen — judges obsessed with “second chances,” probation officers drowning in caseloads, child-protection agencies paralyzed by paperwork, and a justice system that treats redemption as more sacred than a child’s safety. This isn’t about one family. It’s about every institution that keeps gambling on compassion at the expense of children’s lives. 👉 Why Jake Haro’s previous abuse case should have triggered a lifetime ban 👉 How California’s courts ignored every red flag 👉 Why “rehabilitation theater” is killing our kids 👉 What needs to change — and why it probably won’t This is the story of a monster the system built, released, and pretended not to see coming. Watch. Listen. Share. Because until the public demands accountability, the next Emmanuel is already in danger. #JakeHaro #EmmanuelHaro #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #ChildAbuse #JusticeSystemFailure #TonyBrueski #ChildProtection #TrueCrimeNews #CaliforniaCrime 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
8 Nov 16min
“Ethical Non-Monogamy”: The Pastor’s Lie That Ended in Murder
A pastor preaching virtue. A mistress promised “truth.” A wife who knew nothing. And a murder that ripped the mask off a so-called “ethical non-monogamy.” In 2019, Executive Pastor Brodes Perry of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church was shot to death inside his Tennessee apartment by Latoshia Daniels, a woman who believed she was part of a consensual “open” relationship — one the pastor insisted his wife had approved. Except… she hadn’t. Now, years later, Daniels is on trial for first-degree murder and attempted murder of Perry’s wife Tabatha, who survived the attack and took the stand to tell a very different story. Jurors have seen videos of Perry himself describing “ethical non-monogamy” — claiming transparency, honesty, and divine understanding — while prosecutors say those same words expose the lies that fueled the killing. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down how a pastor’s moral branding turned into manipulation, how a so-called modern “ethic” became a weapon of deceit, and why this trial isn’t just about one shooting — it’s about the danger of self-righteous hypocrisy hiding behind the language of enlightenment. This is not about alternative lifestyles. This is about control, delusion, and the rot that grows when a man of God decides the rules no longer apply to him. 📺 Watch now and join the conversation — because some sermons end in salvation… and others end in a crime scene. #HiddenKillers #BrodesPerry #LatoshiaDaniels #TrueCrimePodcast #EthicalNonMonogamy #PastorMurder #CourtTV #TonyBrueski #TrueCrimeNews #MemphisCrime 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
7 Nov 14min
She Killed Their Mother—Now "The Perfect Neighbor” Threatens to Sue the Kids
She killed their mother—and now she wants to sue them. Convicted shooter Susan Lorincz, the woman who fired through a locked door and killed Ajike “AJ” Owens in Ocala, Florida, is back in the headlines. From her prison cell, Lorincz penned a four-page handwritten letter threatening to sue Owens’s children and mother for defamation—accusing them of lying, trespassing, and “ruining her reputation.” In this episode of Hidden Killers, host Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels sit down with defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis to unpack the legal and moral insanity behind this letter. Could Lorincz actually file a lawsuit from prison? What’s her endgame—justice or control? And how does a system even allow a convicted killer to weaponize paperwork against the very family she destroyed? Eric Faddis breaks down the reality: why this “defamation threat” has no legal ground, how narcissism and denial often drive post-conviction behavior, and what reforms could stop offenders from re-victimizing families through civil filings. Tony and Eric go beyond the law—into the psychology of entitlement, the trauma inflicted on AJ Owens’s children, and the failure of a justice system that still lets a killer’s words reach the people she hurt most. 👉 Watch the full conversation for the legal truth, the human cost, and the moral bottom line of Susan Lorincz’s latest attempt to rewrite reality. 🕊️ AJ Owens’s family deserves peace—not another letter. #HiddenKillers #SusanLorincz #AjikeOwens #TrueCrimePodcast #EricFaddis #TonyBrueski #CourtTV #JusticeForAJ #FloridaCrime #PrisonLetter #VictimBlaming #TrueCrimeToday #LegalAnalysis #Manslaughter #Ocala #HiddenKillersLive 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
7 Nov 13min
Wendi Adelson’s Children: Exposing Donna’s Lifetime Of Damage
When a murder destroys a family, the world often focuses on the killers, the trials, and the endless courtroom drama. But in the case of Dan Markel and the Adelson family, the most important victims aren’t in prison or on TV — they’re two children quietly living in the wreckage. In this episode, Tony Brueski takes a deep dive into the psychological trauma faced by the children of Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel — the victims of a murder-for-hire plot that shattered two families and left the kids trapped between love and truth. Imagine growing up knowing your father was murdered — and the people accused of orchestrating it are your own family. Your grandmother, your uncle… now convicted. Your mother… testifying under immunity. And you, stuck in the middle — surrounded by people trying to convince you that what the world says is true… is actually a lie. This episode explores how children process trauma in these impossible circumstances: Loyalty conflicts — the psychological tug-of-war between love for caregivers and love for a lost parent. Protective dissonance — the brain’s survival mechanism that rewrites reality to preserve attachment. Ambiguous loss — mourning people who are still alive but emotionally gone. Identity trauma — how kids in these situations struggle to trust, attach, and build a sense of self. It’s not just grief — it’s fragmentation. And while the trials may be over, the emotional sentence for these kids has only begun. This isn’t about guilt or innocence anymore — it’s about the long-term scars of murder within a family, and what happens to the children who have to live in the echo. 🎧 Listen to Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski for full coverage of the Adelson case, expert interviews, and deep psychological insight into the real victims of true crime. #DanMarkel #WendiAdelson #AdelsonFamily #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #Trauma #ChildPsychology #FamilyMurder #Justice #TrueCrime 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
7 Nov 17min
Exposing Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Loophole: The Jesse Butler Breakdown
When an admitted violent offender walks free after 11 felony charges, something in the system is broken. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we expose how Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act was used to spare 18-year-old Jesse Mack Butler from prison time after pleading no contest to multiple felony charges — including rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and strangulation. Police say they found partial phone video of one attack. Medical reports confirmed that one victim required neck surgery after being choked to the edge of death. Despite the brutality, Butler’s case was reclassified from adult felony to Youthful Offender — effectively suspending a 78-year sentence and replacing it with a single year of supervision. Joined by Ret. FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke, Tony breaks down: The timeline of failures that let it happen. The family and community privilege surrounding the case. The behavioral patterns of predators — and those who protect them. Why “no-contest” pleas let defendants avoid public accountability. This is a story about systems that choose reputation over justice, mercy over morality, and silence over truth. 🎙️ New episodes every week — subscribe and turn on notifications for the stories others won’t touch. #HiddenKillers #JesseButler #YouthfulOffender #StillwaterCase #TrueCrime #JusticeForSurvivors #TonyBrueski #RobinDreeke #SystemFailure #LegalLoophole 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
7 Nov 53min
Justice on Trial: How Jesse Butler Turned 11 Felonies Into a Year of Freedom | Eric Faddis Breaks It Down
Eleven felony charges. Two teenage victims. One nearly strangled to death. And somehow—no prison time. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins Tony, Stacy, and Todd to unpack how Stillwater, Oklahoma’s justice system transformed one of the state’s most brutal sexual-assault cases into a single year of “rehabilitation.” Eighteen-year-old Jesse Mack Butler was originally charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and assault and battery by strangulation after attacking two 16-year-old girls. Police recovered partial phone-video evidence of the assault; one victim required neck surgery after nearly dying. Because Butler was 17 at the time, his defense argued for Youthful Offender status. The court agreed. A potential 78-year sentence vanished, replaced with one year of supervision. Tony and Eric break down: How a no-contest plea erased accountability. Why prosecutors accepted leniency despite overwhelming evidence. The legal loopholes in Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender statute. Whether empathy or privilege decided the outcome. From both sides of the courtroom—prosecutor and defense—Eric Faddis explains how mercy became protection, how the law failed its victims, and what reforms could stop it from happening again. 🎧 Subscribe for new deep-dive true-crime analysis every week. 💬 Join the discussion: #HiddenKillers #JesseButler #EricFaddis #YouthfulOffender #TrueCrimePodcast 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
7 Nov 32min
