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The Gamer Who Was Left Alone

At 10 p.m. on January 31st, 2012, a 23-year-old man named Chen Rong-Yu walked into an internet café in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The café had a front counter where a cashier would check you in and sell snacks and…

The Night Talia Met the “Pelicaras”

At 6:30 p.m. on July 29th, 2023, 15-year-old Talia Deila Diaz stood just outside the back door of her house, staring into the thick, shadowy rainforest that made up her backyard. She lived in a tiny, isolated village in Peru—right…

The Cockatoo That Solved a Murder

On the evening of December 24, 2001, 48-year-old businessman Kevin Butler was in the kitchen of his Dallas, Texas home, preparing food for a Christmas party he planned to attend the following day. As he focused on the task, he…

The Sting: How a Murderer Was Tricked into Confessing

One evening in late 2003, a 22-year-old man named Michael Bridges sat in the stands of a professional hockey game in Calgary, a major city in Canada. As he stared out at the rink, waiting for the players to file…

The Incredible Tale of a Detective Dog… and a Shocking Twist

On the morning of August 30th, 2001, a middle-aged police sergeant named Alan McGregor drove with his partner, Officer Mark David, toward the Huron National Forest — a sprawling nature preserve in northern Michigan. The two officers were headed there…

The Tragic Death of Wade Steffey: A Purdue University Mystery

At 7:20 p.m. on Friday, January 12th, 2007, 19-year-old college freshman Wade Steffey walked into Ford Dining Hall, one of five dining halls on Purdue University’s campus. Purdue, a prestigious university in Indiana, is well known for its excellence in…

The Dark and Dangerous World of Saturation Diving

Something most people don’t know is that you can’t just strap on scuba tanks, dive down to any depth, and then shoot straight back up. That would be a fatal mistake. The air in scuba tanks is compressed and typically…

The Tragic Story of John Harter at Kings Island

In the early 1980s, John Harter was the classic athletic, popular kid at his high school in Delaware, Ohio—a relatively small town just outside the state capital. But unlike the typical stereotype of high school jocks as arrogant bullies, John…