As an investigative journalist and author for true crime, I’m committed to immersing myself in the cases you care about.
To locate the site where nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard was allegedly killed by her own mother, I drove into the canyonlands of Utah and searched through the brush. (Doug Kari)
Many purveyors of true-crime content report on the cases from a distance. They package news stories and other people’s work into a presentation that they hope will induce you to click.
During the migrant crisis in 2018, I ventured into Mexico to investigate firsthand. (Doug Kari)
There’s nothing wrong with curating case materials and presenting them effectively – that’s part of what I do too. But my preferred approach is to cover a case by adhering to four self-imposed tenets of immersive true crime.
1. Visit the scene
When reporting on a criminal case or missing person investigation, there’s no substitute for boots on the ground. That’s why I try to visit the scene myself, even if doing so means undertaking a long or arduous journey.
A few days after Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her home in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, I flew to Arizona and visited the site both day and night, speaking with neighbors and broadcast news reporters. (Doug Kari)
Searching for missing Vietnam veteran Bob Wildoner meant following a rough dirt road across a snow-choked mountain pass and descending into a remote desert valley. (Doug Kari)
To immerse myself in the Aurora Phelps case, I flew to Arkansas and spent two nights in the same hotel room where she allegedly drugged and robbed her first victim. The FBI has identified eleven possible victims, at least three of whom Aurora allegedly killed. (Doug Kari)
2. Interview people
Two very different interviews: A woman who served time for killing her abusive boyfriend and the former deputy, now a county sheriff, who investigated the case. (Doug Kari)
To understand what happened in a case, it’s important for me to talk with people who have firsthand information. Watching broadcast coverage or social media videos isn’t enough.
After a fertility clinic in Palm Springs was bombed by an anti-life activist, I rushed to the scene so I could see the aftermath and interview people. (Doug Kari)
3. Do in-depth research
In-depth research means more than just searching online. It includes digging for documents and information that may be hard to get, and gathering images that help bring the case to life.
After Whisper Owen and her baby Sandra disappeared while on a nighttime trip through California’s Central Valley, I had a strong hunch that they ended up in a canal. Although I didn’t find them myself, I spent days searching canals, including the same canal where a scuba diver later discovered Whisper’s submerged car. (Doug Kari)
Investigating the mysterious deaths of Barry and Louise Berman meant searching for and ultimately locating the remote site where their bodies turned up. (Doug Kari)
4. Try to find out why
Immersive true crime includes more than who-what-where-when-how. Those five elements are important, but it’s also critical to seek a full understanding of why the crime happened or a missing person disappeared.
In the case of missing traveler Hannah Kobayashi, which generated international media coverage, I became so deeply immersed that ultimately I journeyed to Mexico to help bring her home. Here I’m in a taxi south of the border on my way to meet Hannah. (Doug Kari)
In the D4vd case I visited crime scene locations including the Hollywood tow yard where the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered in the trunk of D4vd’s Tesla. (Doug Kari)
