The Podcast

On October 11, 2022, Avi Bernstein and her two sons leave Honolulu on a sailboat captained by Donald Lang. Eleven months later, Lang returns alone. He says another vessel picked up the mother and her boys in the middle of the night while he slept. The FBI finds inconsistencies in his story, but they have no reason to detain Lang, who then then disappears again. The search for Lang takes a dramatic turn when he is located in a remote coastal town in British Colombia and arrested on three counts of lewd conduct with a minor under sixteen and a sexual battery of a minor. Captain Donald Lang remains in custody, but the mystery remains: What happened to Avi and her sons? Was this a planned disappearance? An accident at sea? Or something more sinister?

They went for a hike and never came home. Strangers find Mary Cooper, 56, and her daughter, Susanna Stodden, 27, dead on Pinnacle Lake Trail in Washington State. They’ve been shot in the back of the head. Was this a random attack or were they targeted? The investigation can’t identify a single suspect and the case has grown cold, leaving their family grieving, with no answers. Can you help solve this mystery? If you have any information about the murders of Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden or about anyone who frequented the Pinnacle Lake Trailhead in 2006, please contact the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office at 425-388-3845 or click the Tips button.  

Joey LaBute, 26, disappears after leaving a bar in Columbus, Ohio. Three weeks later, fishermen find his body in a local river. But he didn’t drown. He was dead before he went into the water. And he left behind two cryptic clues: In a call, he told a friend he was “driving” but he wasn’t in his car. And his final text was a string of strange letters that could have been a clue to who killed him. Can you make sense of the text? If you have any information that could help solve the mystery of Joey LaBute’s suspicious death, you can contact the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-4545 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 614-461-8477 or click the Tips button.

Loraine “Lori” Lynn is found slumped over a farm tractor with her head submerged in a pond on the family farm. Police say it was a tragic drowning accident. Lori’s family believes she was murdered and the death scene was staged. And they set out to prove it. The medical examiner eventually supports their theory, and the case is ruled a homicide. Who staged Lori’s death to look like a tragic accident and why? If you know anything that could help — a memory, a detail, something you heard — contact the Liberty Township Police Department at (330) 539-9830, or click the Tips button. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.    

Nick Cordova, 40, is at work, FaceTiming with his kids when two men suddenly burst in and execute him at point blank range. Nick’s wife, Alysha, frantically calls 911, but it’s too late. It doesn’t look like it was a robbery gone wrong. Nick’s business partner is an eyewitness to the murder. And there’s a clear video of one of the killers at a gas station within minutes of the murder. So why hasn’t this murder been solved? Nick’s family wants answers. Maybe you can help. Maybe you can help. If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of Nick’s killer, or about the men in the red truck, or the person seen lurking outside Nick’s office, please contact the Gilbert Police Department or click the tips button, or call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377) or the Gilbert Police Department at 480-503-6500.