Inside Stephen Smith’s Death — Beyond the Murdaugh Rumors

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 15min

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 24min

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 18min

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 50min

The Slender Man case is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — and the questions raised this time are even more unsettling than the original crime. Morgan Geyser, one of the two girls responsible for the near-fatal 2014 Slender Man stabbing, walked out of a Wisconsin group home after cutting off her GPS monitor… and made it all the way to Illinois before anyone finally put a stop to it. Tonight, we break down how this even happened. Because if you think the system learned its lesson after the horror of that attack, think again. We trace the full timeline — from the original case, to the insanity rulings, to the step-downs from secure psychiatric care, to the judge’s continued leniency despite red flags about violent material and questionable outside contacts. Then we examine the part that has people furious: how someone with this history was placed in a low-security setting with nothing more than a strap of plastic around her ankle standing between the public and another potential tragedy. This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s a real look at what happens when the legal system bends over backward to “treat” a violent offender while forgetting that protection of the public is supposed to come first. It’s also a look at why the more extreme the delusions behind a violent act, the faster the system seems to nudge toward reintegration — instead of building genuine safeguards. Morgan Geyser is back in custody. But this is a wake-up call for Wisconsin, and honestly, for the entire country. When someone who committed one of the most disturbing attacks of the last decade can just walk out of supervised care and vanish across state lines, the problem isn’t the individual — it’s the system that allowed it. Join us as we break down what went wrong, how it could’ve been prevented, and why this case feels far too close to a real-life horror movie. #SlenderManCase #MorganGeyser #TrueCrimeNews #HiddenKillers #Wisconsin #JusticeSystem #CrimeAnalysis #PublicSafety #CrimeStories #TrueCrimeToday 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 25min

In this developing true crime investigation, the disappearance of nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard has sparked nationwide concern as authorities uncover troubling details surrounding her mother, Ashlee Buzzard. Investigators say Melodee had been isolated for years, kept away from both her maternal and paternal families, with Ashlee withdrawing her from school under the claim of homeschooling. When the school district reported months of failed check-ins, the situation escalated into a full-scale missing person case. The last confirmed sighting of Melodee traces back to early October, at the same time Ashlee embarked on a cross-country trip documented through phone footage and rental car records, forming a critical piece of the investigative timeline.  As the case gained momentum, authorities learned that Melodee’s paternal family had not seen her in over four years, and Ashlee’s own mother had almost two years without contact, raising immediate red flags for a potential long-term concealment situation. The case shifted dramatically when a longtime friend of Ashlee’s, known publicly as Tyler, claimed she confined him inside her home during a November visit, leading to Ashlee’s arrest on false imprisonment charges. But those charges collapsed in court after Ashlee produced a secretly recorded audio clip that contradicted much of Tyler’s account, prompting the judge to dismiss the case entirely.  Despite that courtroom twist, the most urgent question remains: where is Melodee? Authorities executed multiple search warrants on Ashlee’s residence, a storage unit, and the rented Malibu used on the trip, but no major breakthrough has been announced. The FBI has confirmed both surveillance and active involvement, mirroring strategies seen in high-profile missing child cases such as Gabby Petito and Harmony Montgomery. With dependency court proceedings sealed from public access and investigators cautious about what they release, the search for Melodee continues under intense scrutiny as the public waits for the next critical development in this unsettling case. #truecrime #breakingnews #melodeebuzzard #ashleebuzzard #missingperson #justice #FBIinvestigation #crimewatch #newsupdate #investigation  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

24 Nov 28min

In this episode, I’m pulling back every layer of the Delphi murders investigation — the layers the public was never supposed to see. The depositions. The affidavits. The early FBI involvement. The abandoned suspects. The suppressed evidence. The symbolic crime-scene elements no one wanted to touch. The Ron Logan raid the state now pretends never happened. The entire fractured internal world that led to one outcome: an investigation that didn’t point to Richard Allen… but collapsed into him. This is not the sanitized version of the Delphi story. This is what happens when leadership breaks down, when agencies contradict each other under oath, when key behavioral assessments vanish from the record, and when major suspects — including the closest neighbor to the crime scene — are aggressively pursued and then quietly erased once they become inconvenient. I walk you through the FBI’s raid on Ron Logan’s home and why the affidavit said there was probable cause he was involved. Why Odinist suspects were ignored. Why symbolic indicators were buried. Why the BAU’s ritual assessment disappeared. Why the bullet had no field documentation. Why investigators contradicted each other about the timeline, about the FBI’s involvement, about who was actually running the case. This isn’t about guilt or innocence. This is about an investigation so fractured, so disorganized, and so unwilling to face its own failures that it needed an answer — any answer — after years of pressure. And that answer became Richard Allen. This is Delphi without the PR spin. And it’s long past time the public saw it. #Delphi #DelphiMurders #TrueCrime #RichardAllen #JusticeSystem #LegalAnalysis #PoliceInvestigation #RonLogan #HiddenKillers #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

24 Nov 16min

The case of Celeste Rivas Hernandez has become one of the most shocking true crime stories emerging from Los Angeles, especially as breaking news continues to link disturbing new evidence to music artist D4vd. Celeste, a young woman who had been seen at least once at her home on video, was initially reported missing under confusing circumstances due to her ongoing connection with D4vd, whose music has generated millions of downloads. The investigation shifted dramatically when her dismembered and partially frozen remains were discovered in the front trunk of a Tesla that had been parked near D4vd’s residence before being towed, where a horrific odor triggered the final discovery. Investigators revealed Celeste had been decapitated, her limbs removed and sliced into multiple pieces, her torso intact, and her body sealed in plastic bags. The timeline raises chilling questions, with the vehicle parked on July 29 and Celeste not found until September 8, strongly suggesting she was kept frozen elsewhere for months before being moved.  Multiple outlets now confirm that authorities tracked D4vd to a remote area of San Bernardino late at night in the spring, a detail considered highly significant as investigators analyze potential disposal routes. Experts note that California law requires proper reporting and handling of human remains, making desecration a crime even if homicide cannot yet be conclusively proven. A chest freezer seen in the background of D4vd’s social media, still in the box and large enough to hold a body, has fueled growing concerns about long-term storage, freezer burn indicators, and why Celeste was still partially frozen despite sitting in a Tesla trunk during warm Los Angeles weather. Investigators also found farming equipment at a related rental property, raising questions about whether additional steps were planned to destroy evidence but interrupted by the condition of the frozen remains. As law enforcement confirms the involvement of at least one additional suspect, the case has evolved into a grim examination of dismemberment, concealment, forensic timelines, and the expanding circle of individuals tied to Celeste’s disappearance and death. This true crime case continues to deepen as authorities work to uncover the full truth and determine the extent of D4vd’s involvement alongside other suspects. #celesterivas #truecrime #breakingnews #justice #d4vd #losangelescrime #investigation #missingperson #crimenews #forensics 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

24 Nov 1h 1min