As a child, I loved reading mystery and thriller books. It wasn’t so much about the content, but rather the element of surprise. These books always kept me on my toes. I was always so determined to figure out what was going to happen next, to solve the puzzles. The thing about these books was the fact the plots were never the same. There wasn’t really a way to predict the plot; it was just a matter of time until you got enough clues to piece everything together.
Over time, I found myself only reading mystery/thriller books and the occasional fantasy book. This developed my interest in writing stories with plots similar to the books I was reading. It sucked me in so deep, but I didn’t mind. I don’t really remember how old I was, but I know I was in school when I learned about true crime. Of course, I knew about crime in general, but I’m talking about the pure interest for it, the way people wrote or made shows about it. I always disliked horror shows/movies which was probably why I didn’t know much about this world. Although it somewhat piqued my interest, I didn’t think much of it.
It wasn’t until I read a book series called The Naturals, that my love for true crime began, I just didn’t know it yet. This series is about a girl named Cassie who has a talent for reading people. In addition to Cassie, there are other people with talents similar to her’s such as lie detecting, emotion reading, profiling, and being a skilled sketch artist/map creator. These children get recruited by the FBI to solve cold cases. This was my first experience reading something with these plot concepts. I was very nervous/unsure about the idea, until it came to the point where I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t know exactly why I was so intrigued; it was just drawing me in, and I felt the need to dive deeper.
I think the hardest thing at the time was the fact that I didn’t really know anyone that had the same interest as me. My family and friends hadn’t ever really mentioned those interests. My parents were more into comedy and romance, so they were definitely off the list. Also, it felt weird actually discussing the cases they discussed or any of that stuff in general. How was I supposed to explain this to people without sounding crazy? Of course, I continued reading more mystery books/series, but that was the extent of my true crime obsession.
It wasn’t until this past summer, when I finally gave in and listened to my first podcast. As far back as I can remember, my younger cousin has always loved true crime. I always wanted to know more but was too scared to dip my feet in the water. I think for me, it was the fear of getting judged, and the fact that I didn’t want people to think I was insane for listening to crime podcasts.
I don’t remember the exact day, but I do remember just getting sick of watching anime on my phone. I wanted to be able to do other things while I listened to something. I decided to search for a podcast, and I clicked the first thing that popped up on my screen. The podcast was called Crime Junkie. I picked the newest episode and gave it a listen. At first I was totally hesitant to do so, but it didn’t take long for me to change my mind. I fell in love with them within five minutes. I thought the cases were so interesting. I was just so blown away at the fact that I had spent so much of my life not listening to them.
Listening to them gave me a variety of things. They educated me about the unfair justice system and the issues surrounding racism and police brutality. I’ve heard many stories of families being poorly treated or not listened to. It’s hard not to think about the amount of people that could have been saved or situations that could have been prevented if authorities had just heard the families out. It made me realize how unfair life can be, and the difficult process of making sure that the families get the help and access to resources that they needed. There are so many stories where one of the victim’s family members had to investigate the case on their own because the authorities wouldn’t. Another huge issue is the fact that typically before you can consider/report a person missing, you must wait 24 hours. There are a few things with that, anyone under 18 must follow this rule, but if the person is over 18, there isn’t much police can do. This is because once you are an adult, you don’t have to tell your parents about your whereabouts. I bring this up because again, it makes it difficult for families to get help since if the person is older police might not believe it’s a big deal.
After hearing many stories, it dawned on me that there needs to be change. There are so many families out there that just want their family member(s) back. I hope by writing about these topics, you will be inspired to listen to a podcast and help solve a cold case.
Something else I want to mention in order to explain why these podcasts are so important to me, is because they help me as a writer. As much as I do enjoy listening to them, the reason I find them so interesting is because of how crazy the stories are and the inspiration it leads me to. I’ve always been into psychology and how the brain works. Although I admit I’m not the best with terminology, I have a decent grasp on concepts. Over the years, my interest has been piqued by the way people interact and the way we move through life. One part of true crime that I dig into is the way the minds of the people who commit the crimes work. I often wonder what leads people to these impulses or urges to doing unreasonable things. But, I think most importantly, we should be focusing on ways to prevent these things. Many times, after listening to a podcast, I have ideas or inspiration for scenes or lines in a poem. It helps me develop my characters as well as I learn more about different worlds. I enjoy trying to solve cases as I find myself spending five or six hours in a row listening to them, it really just opens up another world for me.
In college, I discovered many people that love true crime as much as me. It gave me ways to connect with people I hadn’t before. It also gives me something to do when I have free-time to unwind. I really plan to dive deeper in my true crime podcast journey and hope to someday use the inspiration the podcasts give me to create a story of my own in order to raise awareness. I also really encourage giving them a listen if you have Spotify. Ashley Flowers and Britt are the host of Crime Junkie. They are the sweetest people and are wonderful story tellers! Ashley also has a second podcast called The Deck where each week there’s a discussion about some of the coldest cases in history. In hopes of helping solve them to give justice to the families. I think it’s so cool because it gives families platforms to share their stories and to maybe even get additional information about what happened. It makes me hopeful that maybe one day we will not have as much crime, but we have a long way to go before those changes can happen.
Listening to these podcasts have also given me resources about how to defend myself and what clues to look for if I feel that I’m in an unsafe situation. I think it’s sad that we still have to know those things, but that maybe one day society will change for the better. I believe that we can empower each other and help spread awareness as well as resources.