In 1971, 21-year-old Karen tried hitching a ride to go and meet her husband after work. She never made it and a week later her body was found floating in a canal nowhere near where she’d left or her destination. Was Karen a victim of a predator passing through? Or was a former Sheriff with a dark side responsible… and maybe that’s why this case has never been solved?

It was Memorial Day, 1985, when fifteen-year-old Tyra Garcia slipped out the front door to a neighbors house, saying she’d be gone for only a few minutes. No one expected those minutes to stretch into hours… and then days. And no one could have imagined that 40 years later, the case would still be unsolved. Especially when the answers seem to be right in front of us. Because there are two very compelling suspects that were barely investigated by law enforcement back then. Despite the fact that one matched a suspect composite sketch. And drove the same kind of car she was last seen getting into. And even when it’s found out that the bedspread her body was wrapped in was similar to one missing from their hotel room, little was done to find out what happened. Is it too late for answers? The current investigator would say no way. And he, along with a forensic scientist, are on a mission to find out what happened to Tyra and who is responsible.

Charles' bold suits and charismatic personality made him stand out. He was also a man who liked money — earning it, flashing it, and spending it. And trying to untangle Charles' different threads of income – and what may or may not be connected to his death – has kept investigators busy for decades. Especially when some of that income was almost definitely under the table.

When 73-year-old Margaret Reimann was murdered in her garage while getting ready to leave for church in 1986, everyone immediately started pointing fingers at one particular relative. And in the investigation that followed, detectives uncovered a decades-long family feud, grudges that had been festering for years, and questions about just how far someone might go when there’s money on the line. But almost four decades later, new DNA testing pointed them in a completely different direction. And now, the case is hotter than it’s ever been.

Today we are bringing you stories from a slightly different side of true crime: stories about people who live by deception. Individuals who don't just tell lies but become someone else entirely. From Audiochuck and Campside Media, this is Chameleon. Each week, host and journalist Josh Dean unravels a new case that pushes the limits of human deception. Stories of imposters, shapeshifters, and master con artists who have turned illusion into a way of life. The first episode dives into the unbelievable story of Rafaello Follieri, the charming con artist who fooled everyone from Hollywood to high society. He swept a famous actress off her feet, claimed ties to powerful politicians, and convinced investors he was on a mission to save the Catholic Church’s finances.

In 1975, 27-year-old Norris Evans was found brutally murdered in her Rochester home while her children were upstairs. The crime was shocking, but the decades of silence that followed may be even more haunting. Now, her children are breaking that silence in search of the truth.

In the Summer of 2004, Shelby Wright, along with his computer, disappeared, never to be seen again. Over two decades later, Shelby’s grandparents and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office are still looking for answers.

In the summer of 1982, Susie Timmons was discovered stabbed and beaten in a vacant lot north of downtown Rochester, NY. Investigators have spent nearly four decades trying to solve her murder.

Darnell Smith’s family never expected him – a pastor’s son and an ambitious student – to get killed in a hail of gunfire. For a young man without even a whisper of a criminal record, no one would have expected his life to end in such a violent way at the age of twenty. But Darnell Smith’s death became entangled in a world his family was never a part of — and left investigators scrambling to unravel what would soon become a neighborhood nightmare. For more than a decade it seemed like there was no hope for justice… but when our reports went to visit one of the crime scenes … they may have stumbled upon the key to solving this case. Listen to the first-ever in-depth coverage of Darnell Smith's case only on The Deck.

When the body of Robert Mitchell Jr., a “gentle giant” and towering presence in Rochester’s bar scene, is discovered burning in a public park, detectives don’t know what to think. As rumors swirl and leads dry up, the case grows cold… until a witness comes forward with details so specific, only someone close to the crime could know them. Now, nearly a decade later, investigators believe they know who killed Robert… But proving it in court is another story.

During the Yakima Police Department’s annual Christmas party, the news of 62-year-old Jerene’s murder shocked every officer and their plus ones. Jerene’s house was known for its security cameras – there were so many that you basically couldn’t enter the property without being filmed.

Twenty-two-year-old Ron Harnish was murdered on the streets of San Diego in December 2006. Almost 19 years later, the police and Ron’s own mother believe they know who’s responsible. But proving it has been a challenge, and the people they are after are as violent as it gets.

When demolition workers entered a vacant home in Rochester, New York, they expected asbestos—not a crime scene. But hidden inside was the body of 44-year-old Jaklyn Baccoli, a woman whose final moments were marked by unimaginable violence. As detectives dug into her life and the days leading up to her death, they uncovered a tangled web of addiction, survival, and street rumors—and a potential suspect with a story full of holes. But what they don’t have is enough to close the case. And someone out there still knows the truth.

When 19-year-old Valaine left her Salt Lake City apartment and walked to class one spring morning in 1977, her carefully planned future was full of promise. And though she was in a time of transition and had recently ended an engagement, Valaine knew even this temporary disappointment just brought her closer to the life she dreamed of…a life full of family and rooted in faith…a life her ex-fiancé couldn’t give her.  What Valaine didn’t know that morning…what she couldn’t have known…was that the postcard-perfect future she envisioned for herself would be stolen from her in the cruelest of ways.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Andrew “Andy” Moore's murder. 26-year-old Andy was killed in September 2000 while sleeping in his San Diego, California, apartment. The scene left behind was confounding to detectives; the weapons are missing, odd items displaced but not taken, and the one thing "stolen" from Andy shows up not too far away from the crime scene a month later. So what was the motive? Who would want to kill this fun-loving young man? And did a hidden passage in his apartment building allow his murderer to escape unnoticed? Although his cold case has remained a mystery almost as long as Andy had been alive, a new detective believes they could be close to a break, thanks to new technology. Listen to the first-ever in-depth coverage of Andy Moore's case only on The Deck!

On October 3, 1995, Patricia Allen was asleep on her couch when she was stabbed once so precisely that it nearly cut her heart in half. So begins one of the most mysterious homicide cases out of Yakima, Washington. With no shortage of suspects – including a woman who some believe wanted to become Patty – this case is truly stranger than fiction.

In 1995, Marisa Patti met David Mabrito on the beach in Oceanside, California – it was love at first sight. Twenty-three years later, he would be found responsible for the brutal murder and desecration of 39-year-old Jodine Serrin in her own bedroom. In the wake of the solve, Marisa and her son were left on their own to figure out how this man they loved, trusted, and built a life with could have committed such an unthinkable crime. Today, they’re still trying to make sense of it all. Marisa’s story is one we rarely get in true crime: a raw, unflinching look at what it means to live in the aftermath – not just for victims' families, but for the ones closest to the killer. On Crime Junkie we walked through every detail of Jodine Serrin’s case that led police to her killer: David Mabrito. Make sure you’ve listened to that episode, MURDERED: Jodine Serrin, before you start this one.

Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez walked out of the duplex she shared with her family in Odessa, Texas, on Aug. 2, 1985, and seemingly vanished without a trace. Her sister-in-law watched Mary head in the direction of a local bar after fighting with her husband, who they knew as Arnuldo Mendez. Mary had asked her sister-in-law to watch her 5-year-old daughter, Virginia, while she went out, but she never came home. For nearly 40 years, her family wondered whether she’d walked away from her life and children…or if something bad had happened to her. It wasn’t until a young cold case detective stumbled across her long-lost case file and started digging that clues in a decades-old mystery started to be unearthed.

When Lawrence was reported missing on January 10th, 2010, he didn’t exactly vanish without a trace. Between mysterious phone records and strange theories from a recluse who lived in an isolated trailer park , police had a good idea what his last movements were and with whom he interreacted – and specifically, they honed in on two people who seemed very suspicious in the wake of his disappearance. But they need more than suspicions to make their case. And detectives are sure that someone out there knows what happened to the man they still call “Lost Larry.”

On a summer night in 1993, 19-year-old Gregory Fickess had just gotten out of his car in downtown Rochester when he was jumped in a seemingly unprovoked, fatal act of violence. A case with no motive and few cooperating witnesses is tough to get very far. But when detectives find out that one of the few cooperating witnesses they did have dies… suddenly… and under strange circumstances… it seems like one more sign that the theory they do have might be right. And they just need a little help from you getting this over the finish line after three decades.