Crime Stories

Tad Cummins’ defense against charges he kidnapped 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas appears to be that he was only helping his student run away from home. The former teacher appeared in court Monday, asking a judge to send him home to Tennessee so he can fight the charges. Nancy Grace discusses the latest details of Cummins’ plan to disappear with the girl. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Members of a California commune rejected Tad Cummins for membership and instead alerted police they suspected he was the Tennessee teacher wanted for kidnapping a 15-year-old student. KDRV-TV reporter Mike Duffy joins Nancy Grace and Alan Duke in this episode to discuss details of how Cummins tried to hide in a remote community but was caught when neighbors became suspicious. We also learn victim Elizabeth suffered severe emotional trauma but is home with family. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Fugitive Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins was nabbed in Northern California and 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas was rescued from his clutches. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke talk to the 15-year-old’s family lawyers about the great news and with psychologist Caryn Stark about what the ordeal means for the child. You’ll also hear the full news conference detailing how it ended in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Former NFL Patriots’ star Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell five days after a jury found him not guilty in two murders. Prison officials say he hung himself with a bed sheet, although his lawyer suggests it could’ve been murder. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the tragic life and death of a once promising football superstar in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Midlothian, Texas, police still have “persons of interest” in the Missy Bevers murder probe, but they are keeping key evidence a secret for now, Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson says. The chief breaks a 6-month silence about the case on the first anniversary of the fitness instructor’s death in this episode, telling Nancy Grace and Alan Duke why investigators have been so “judicious” in what they make public about the shocking murder inside a church. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Whoever murdered Missy Bevers inside a Texas church is still unknown and at large despite video recorded before and after the brutal attack a year ago. Security cameras captured the murderer walking the church hallways, carrying the hammer used to bludgeoned Bevers to death as she arrived to conduct a sunrise fitness class April 18, 2016. If investigators are close to catching the fitness instructor’s killer, it is a closely guarded secret. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Fort Worth, Texas, police found no signs of a forced entry at the pool house where Molly Matheson’s mom found the 22-year-old college student strangled to death on April 10, 2017. No suspects have been identified in the killing, which happened in a quiet neighborhood blocks from the Texas Christian University campus. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the Texas murder mystery in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

George and Cindy Anthony have suffered through unbearable torture as the parents of Casey Anthony. They give their most revealing interview yet about their thoughts on their daughter in “Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery.” Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss what they say in the Investigation Discovery’s series in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

The unexpected discovery of DNA on clothing recovered from clothing worn by murdered Debbie Randall could lead to the person who killed the 9-year-old girl in 1972. Debbie was kidnapped from her Marietta, Georgia, neighborhood and found 8 miles away 16 days later. Cobb County Cold Case Detective Morris Nix tells Nancy Grace in this episode that the DNA is helping to close in on a suspect. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

A trial nears for Angelika Graswald, the woman accused of murdering her fiancé by pulling a plug on his kayak during a Hudson river outing. Prosecutors say Graswald wanted to end their troubled relationship and collect on a $250,000 life insurance policy. Defense lawyers say it was an accident and her confession was coerced by cops. Nancy Grace & Alan Duke discuss the case in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Our Crime Stories team has worked for months uncovering new information and taking a fresh look at old evidence in the search for answers in the mysterious disappearance of Chase Massner. We now ask you to help by raising questions about what you’ve heard so far. Nancy Grace and the team discuss those questions in this 6th episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Ashley Morris Mullis vanished from her Muncie, Indiana, home in September 2013, leaving behind an infant daughter and two sons. Don Morris has spent every weekend since handing out flyers and asking for people to help find her. This is despite his belief that his daughter and the man he suspects killed her are both dead. The father’s refusal to give up is fueled by his love for his young granddaughter, who is now living with the widow of his daughter’s boyfriend. Nancy Grace talks to this grieving dad about this shocking and complicated case. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio…

Elizabeth Thomas’ father is asking a court to force witnesses to disclose everything they know about how Tad Cummins plotted to make the high school freshman his wife. Cummins, 50, is one of Tennessee’s most wanted fugitives after allegedly running away with his young student. This episode looks at revelations from a new court filing by her family. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

The first 4 episodes introduced you to Stephanie Cadena, Chase’s mother, and Brad Clement, the friend who was the last known person to see Chase before he vanished 3 years ago. The person you have not heard from yet is Amanda Massner, Chase’s wife. This is unfortunate, since, Brad said some pretty bad things about Amanda when Nancy Grace confronted him in episodes 3 & 4. We still hold out hope the Amanda will talk to us directly, but until then, we can let you hear what Amanda said in the first weeks after her husband went missing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. V…

Tucson police confirmed a body found in a remote area last month was Isabel Celis, the girl snatched from her bed and missing for the past five years. The break in the case was not "happenstance," according to the police chief, but he wouldn't give details about how the child's remains were found. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the dramatic developments in the case, which Nancy has covered closely for years. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Stephanie Cadena never met the last known person to see her son Chase Massner because detectives asked her not to contact Brad Clements. But as Massner's disappearance is handed off to the cold case unit, Nancy Grace arranges for the mother to surprise the key witness in an effort to get answers. This 4th episode takes you inside the motel room the morning it happened. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Fugitive teacher Tad Cummins and kidnapped student Elizabeth Thomas shopped for food at a Oklahoma City Walmart two days after they disappeared from Columbia, Tennessee, according to newly-revealed security camera images. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss with Jason Whatley, the lawyer for Elizabeth’s family, what the photos tell us about where Cummins may have taken the 15-year-old girl. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Brad Clements has been pummeled by social media speculation since he's the last known person to see Chase Massner before he vanished on March 27, 2014. Amateur detectives questioned his story, suggesting it’s changed over time. Just as the probe is turned over to a cold case unit, Nancy Grace knocks on Clements’ door in an unannounced visit. This third episode of our series presents what happened after she walked in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

A former student of Tad Cummins shares a song the Tennessee teacher once serenaded her with. Dastiny Parrish tells Nancy Grace how Cummins courted her several years before he allegedly kidnapped 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas. The prosecutor in the kidnap case also speculates the teacher has taken the student to Mexico, where he may be posing as a church missionary. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

Three years after Chase Massner vanished, his grieving mother calls on Nancy Grace to help find answers. Cobb County, Georgia, police are turning the case over to a cold case unit, but Grace tracks down key witnesses to retrace the Iraq War vet’s last known steps. She shares what she is finding over the next weeks in a special “Crime Stories” series. Nancy visits with Chase’s mom in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

The lawyer for Elizabeth Thomas’ dad tells Nancy Grace about “disturbing” new details suggesting the 15-year-old girl did not want to go with Tad Cummins. The former high school health teacher had an “extreme dark side” only being discovered after he allegedly kidnapped the girl, attorney Jason Whatley says. Grace talks with the family’s two lawyers about the search for Cummins and the hope he’ll let the child go in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

The disappearance of Chase Massner on March 27, 2014, has stumped police and devastated the Iraqi War vet’s family. As the probe is handed over to a cold case unit, Nancy Grace leads her own investigation at the request of Chase’s mom. She shares what she's finding over the next weeks in a special “Crime Stories” series, starting with episode 1 on the 3rd anniversary of Chase’s vanishing. (music by audionautix.com) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

The Tennessee teacher now on the run with a freshman student frequently gave the 15-year-old girl back rubs and held hands with her at school, according to the lawyer for the teen’s father. There is a nationwide lookout for Tad Cummins, 50, wanted for aggravated kidnapping of Elizabeth Thomas. Nancy Grace interviews attorney Jason Whatley in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

A prosecutor offers new clues suggesting Elizabeth Thomas did not leave voluntarily with former teacher Tad Cummins. The 15-year-old told her sister “if I’m not back by six o’clock tonight, call the police or come looking for me,” District Attorney Brent Cooper tells Nancy Grace. “My biggest fear is that she had changed her mind about going with Mr. Cummins and that she expressed that to him and he took her then forcefully,” he tells Nancy in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article

While Elizabeth Thomas’ father complains he was never told a teacher was romantically involved with his daughter, it’s revealed Tad Cummins’ wife works for a high-ranking school official. Police fear the teacher and the 15-year-old girl may be hiding far away from their Tennessee hometown. They reveal Cummins had search the web for info on marrying a teen. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke look at the latest in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. View the full article