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

This episode contains explicit language. It is not intended for children.

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

This month I detailed the crimes of one predator who plagued Northern California in the years

1999 and 2000.

Seven-year-old Zana Fairchild disappeared on her way to school in Vallejo, California, in December

of 1999.

Eight months later, another Vallejo grade schooler was also snatched off

the streets of Vallejo. But 8-year-old Mithy Sanchez saved her own life when she was able

to outsmart her abductor and escape 48 hours later.

You can hear both of those cases detailed in episodes 192 and 193.

Curtis Dean Anderson was identified by Mitzi Sanchez and brought to justice.

While he sat in jail awaiting trial, the remains of Ziana Fairchild were discovered in the

Santa Cruz Mountains by a road construction worker,

which brought a grim end to a 14-month search for the little girl.

Anderson had bragged about kidnapping Ziana to jailmates and also

Tauna's family and reporters whom he attempted to extort in exchange for

information.

Anderson would eventually confess to the kidnapping and murder of Zianna Fairchild after detectives,

sheriff's investigators, and FBI agents collaborated to build a case against him.

Anderson received a sentence of over 300 years in prison for the murder of Ziana and the kidnapping of Mitsy Sanchez.

Two years after he began his sentence, Anderson, who had been in poor health for some time, would die in prison.

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