Confidential and Dangerous: The Andrew Sadek Case

Crime Salad

BLACKCAT | Realm

True Crime

4.4 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Andrew Sadek was a 20-year-old college student at North Dakota State College of Science when he disappeared from his dorm in Wahpeton, North Dakota. Weeks later, his body was found in the Red River. His death was ruled a suicide, but the circumstances surrounding it have continued to raise questions. In this episode of Crime Salad, we examine Andrew’s case and the broader risks tied to confidential informant agreements, including the pressures placed on young or first-time offenders and the lack of consistent oversight and safety. For Andrew’s parents, the fight has been endless. Was enough done to protect him? Who should be held accountable? Please share Crime Salad! Share a positive review on Apple, and check out our cool merch crimesaladpodcast.com FÜM: Head to tryfum.com/SALAD and start building a better habit today. Get a free gift with your Journey Pack when you use our code SALAD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In southeastern North Dakota, farmland stretches for miles while the Red River marks the borders between two states.
0:12.6	Towns like Wapiton are known for tight-knit communities and college campuses filled with young people starting their futures.
0:20.6	But sometimes the places that feel safest are the ones least prepared for what happens when
0:26.1	things go terribly wrong. It doesn't start with a hardened criminal or a violent lifestyle,
0:31.9	but a 20-year-old college student who was quiet, nerdy, and a farm boy who liked bowling, fishing, and helping his parents
0:39.3	raise cattle, a boy who vanished from his college dorm in the middle of the night.
0:45.4	But this wasn't just a missing student, and what happened to him has never been fully explained.
0:51.1	Over the years, his family has fought to search for answers that they've never been given.
0:56.0	This is another story about confidential informants and what happens when young people are put into dangerous positions, with no one to take responsibility after the worst happens.
1:07.0	Andrew Saddick walked off campus on May 1st to 2014, and he never came back. My name's
1:15.3	Ashley. And I'm Ricky. And this is Crime Salad. Andrew Saddick was born on November 22nd in
1:23.0	1993 in Valley City and raised just outside the small town of Rogers on his family's cattle farm in rural North Dakota.
1:32.9	He knew wide open land, long winters, early mornings, and a lifestyle built on hard work and self-reliance.
1:41.8	Andrew grew up helping raise the cattle, learning responsibility early and spending
1:46.6	much of his time outdoors. His family described him as quiet and shy, a reserved kid who didn't
1:53.3	draw much attention to himself. But he was also very smart, especially when it came to electronics.
2:00.3	Andrew had a natural talent for technology. He
2:03.3	always tinkered with devices, and he could understand systems in a way that came easily to him.
2:09.7	And outside of that, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, working on hobby cars, and spending time on
2:14.6	the farm. Andrew knew pain from an early age.
2:18.9	In 2005, Andrew was just 11 years old.
2:22.6	His brother was tragically killed in a grade crossing accident.
	...

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