Mini Pines - The Maury Island Incident

Bound By Assumption - Part 2

The investigation into the murders of Jennifer Bastian and Michella Welch had already spanned decades. Detectives had followed leads, families had endured years of unanswered questions, and an entire community had learned to live with the possibility that the truth might never be known. Then everything changed. In Part Two of Bound by Assumption, Dan and Bekah follow the investigation through the breakthroughs that finally transformed these cold cases. From groundbreaking DNA analysis and genetic genealogy to the shocking discoveries that forced investigators to rethink everything they thought they knew, this chapter reveals how persistence, science, and a refusal to give up ultimately brought answers to two families who had waited more than thirty years. Along the way, you’ll meet the detectives who refused to let these cases die, the families who never stopped fighting for justice, and the unexpected twists that turned one of Tacoma’s most infamous mysteries into something no one saw coming. This is the conclusion of the story of Jennifer Bastian and Michella Welch. New episodes premiere every Sunday night at 8 PM Pacific Time. Keep your eyes open and your footsteps light, because in the pines, the truth never stays buried.

Mini Pines - The Maury Island Incident

The Maury Island Incident It’s the summer solstice, 1947. A man named Harold Dahl is out on a salvage boat in Puget Sound when six enormous, doughnut-shaped objects appear in the sky above him. One of them falters. Debris rains down — burning the hull, injuring his teenage son, killing the family dog. And the morning after Dahl tells his story, a stranger in a dark suit shows up at his door, knows exactly what happened, and tells him to stay quiet. That stranger is, by most accounts, the very first Man in Black. But that’s only where this story starts. Because the other man in it — Dahl’s business partner, Fred Crisman — turns out to be one of the strangest figures in postwar American history. A man who spent twenty years drifting through the weirdest precincts of the American century: secret caves, shell companies, a far-right radio show broadcast under a fake name. And then, in 1968, a New Orleans prosecutor investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy subpoenaed him by name. The same Fred Crisman. The Maury Island man. Today we’re going out on the gray water near Tacoma — to the UFO case the Air Force called the dirtiest hoax in flying saucer history, and the one thread you can pull that somehow connects the Men in Black to Dealey Plaza. Mini Pines is a single-host narrative podcast for people who like their stories unhurried.

Bound By Assumption - Part 1 - The Story Of Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian

For decades, the murders of Jennifer Bastian and Michella Welch haunted Tacoma, Washington. Two young girls. Two bicycle rides. Two families left searching for answers. And for more than thirty years, investigators believed they were looking at a single mystery.   In Part One of Bound by Assumption, Dan and Bekah examine the disappearances that terrified an entire community, the massive search efforts that followed, the heartbreaking discoveries that changed countless lives, and the decades-long investigation that seemed destined to remain unsolved.   As detectives Gene Miller and Lindsey Wade revisit the evidence, new forensic technology begins revealing answers investigators never thought possible. But the deeper they dig, the more they realize that some of the assumptions surrounding these cases may not be as solid as everyone once believed.   Join us as we trace the stories of Jennifer and Michella from the summer of 1986 through the breakthroughs that finally began to crack open one of the Pacific Northwest’s most haunting cold case investigations.   New episodes premiere every Sunday night at 8 PM Pacific Time.   Keep your eyes open and your footsteps light, because in the pines, the truth never stays buried.

Crimecon 2026 Experience

CrimeCon 2026 was an experience we’ll never forget.   This week, Dan and Rebekah take a break from the case files and pull back the curtain on their trip to Las Vegas for CrimeCon 2026. From Nancy Grace’s opening remarks and discussions about the Gabby Petito investigation, to meeting victims’ families still searching for answers, this episode explores the people, stories, and moments that left a lasting impact.   We’ll talk about the creators we met, including our favorite booth from Shirley You Can’t Be Serious, the powerful work being done by Ring True Co. to support survivors of human trafficking, and why the lack of Pacific Northwest representation reinforced our mission to keep telling the stories of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.   We’ll also discuss meeting listeners, seeing industry heavyweights like Wondery and True Crime Garage, hearing from advocates and families, and what we learned about the true crime community as a whole.   Sometimes the most memorable part of true crime isn’t the cases themselves—it’s the people who refuse to let those stories be forgotten.   New episodes premiere every Sunday night at 8 PM Pacific Time.   #CrimeCon2026 #CrimeCon #TrueCrimePodcast #ShadowsInThePines #NancyGrace #SteveGoncalves #GoingWest #ShirleyYouCantBeSerious #RingTrueCo #TrueCrimeCommunity #PacificNorthwest #PNWTrueCrime #LasVegas #PodcastLife #VictimAdvocacy #MissingPersons #CitizenSleuths #GabbyPetito #TrueCrimeFans #CreatorRow

Mini Pines - The Loneliest Road to the Stars — Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway

The Loneliest Road to the Stars — Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway   What if the most famous alien highway in America has been hiding its biggest secret in plain sight?   This week on Mini Pines, we travel Nevada’s mysterious Extraterrestrial Highway—a lonely stretch of desert road forever linked to Area 51, Bob Lazar, UFO sightings, and the legendary Black Mailbox that became a pilgrimage site for believers from around the world.   But beneath the stories of flying saucers and government secrets lies a far stranger truth.   Long before UFO hunters gathered under the desert stars, something really did arrive from space. An ancient cosmic impact left one of the largest craters in North America buried beneath the Nevada desert, and most travelers drive directly through its remains without ever knowing it.   Join us as we explore the history of Nevada State Route 375, the rise of the Area 51 phenomenon, the curious story of the Black Mailbox, and the astonishing geological evidence of a visitor from the stars that changed this landscape forever.   Sometimes the greatest mysteries aren’t hidden in the sky above us.   Sometimes they’re buried beneath our feet.   New episodes of Mini Pines and Shadows in the Pines premiere every Sunday night at 8 PM Pacific Time.   Follow, rate, and share the show, and remember:   Keep your eyes open and your footsteps light, because in the pines the truth never stays buried.