In 2007, 15-year-old Carly Ryan had a boyfriend, an internet boyfriend that she had never met.

An internet boyfriend that she had never met that didn't actually exist.

Carly was catfished by a much older online predator,

and he tricked her into leaving the safety of her home where he killed her.

But Carly's death is now saving lives. But Carly's death is now saving lives. Welcome to 10-minute murder, brief and bingeable true crime.

I'm Joe, the host, and thank you for joining today.

And I know you're excited, at least I hope you're excited about the podcast today.

Like your mom gave you $20 to go nuts at the Scholastic Book Fair, almost that excited. That's how I hope

you are. So I'll get to the story in just a moment. But first, be sure that you are subscribed

if you are a new listener to 10-minute murder. Connect with me on social media to see the visuals that go along with the episodes, nothing gross and nothing graphic, but I posted it all there on social media. I've been in touch with the government just to let you know, and they said that if you show the clerk that you're following this podcast on Facebook and Instagram, they'll give you a big discount on gas. Now, that last part may not be true, but it's worth a shot.

Okay, now to today's story.

In January 2007, 15-year-old Carly Ryan was expecting a very special guest to arrive at her birthday party in Melbourne, Australia.

It was the father of her boyfriend, Brandon Kane, who was a 19-year-old musician from Texas who had recently moved to the country with his family.

Carly was beyond excited. At this point,

she and Brandon had been an official couple for months, but there was just one thing that made

them maybe a little bit different than most young couples. Carly and Brandon had never actually

met in person. They'd met through websites like MySpace, back when that was a thing, and another

site called VampireFreeks.com. I don't know. I've never heard of that, but they also talked there.

They'd been talking for months before eventually becoming an official boyfriend and girlfriend.

Carly's mother, Sonia, was keeping an eye on her daughter's online activity.

She would check in every now and again and just take a quick look at their conversations,

especially because Carly had told her that she thought she was in love with Brandon.

...