This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

It is not intended for children.

Listener discretion is advised. Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

It's a new year and I'm looking forward to turning the page for a fresh start,

like I know probably many of us are.

I've also been looking forward to sharing more interesting

true crime cases with you that I've either recently stumbled upon or that have been in my archive

for some time. This year I'll be doing something a little different now and again, starting with this series.

Periodically, I'll be sharing with you a true crime mini series with multiple episodes that follow

one case or criminal.

For example, some cases such as those involving serial killers,

or criminals who continued their nefarious activities for years or even decades before being

identified and caught often cannot be done justice in just one episode.

These types of cases I've decided to tackle as a mini-series. This episode will feature the first one of these

mini-series. On this first episode of 2021, I will be sharing a case that happened here in California

over two decades ago, but it's one of those

cases that has haunted me since I learned about it.

I remembered very clearly the photo of a dark-haired little girl who smiled out from a missing poster with her two front teeth

missing. She looked like any other little girl, just leaving the stage of early childhood, shedding

her baby teeth and becoming a grade schooler.

That promising time when parents begin to nurture their children's talents and interests

by signing them up for dance classes, attending their

...