It’s the middle of the night. Crystal Lake, Illinois. A house is on fire. A neighbor breaks in and saves a baby from the flames … but as firefighters head in to put out the inferno, they discover the body of a popular teenager inside the bathroom–and a murder inquiry begins. Welcome to a bonus feature here on the Crossing the Line feed. I come across all sorts of stories while researching books, TV series, and my iHeartMedia podcast, Paper Ghosts, in addition to the ideas you send me. A lot of them grab hold of me emotionally—especially the victims stories and the ordeal their families go through. My empathetic nature is to want to cover them all. Yet a good number of the cases, for myriad reasons, don’t fit into the model for a more complete CTL episode. So I wanted to create a sub platform to showcase some those stories, as well. That said, thank you for supporting Crossing the Line, which has allowed me to produce this new expansion of the brand … Once or twice per month, maybe more, I’ll present a 15 to 20 minute episode, covering murder and missing person cases, and other interesting crimes I think you’ll want to hear about—but maybe more importantly, cases that give us a deeper understanding of the crimes and scumbags who commit them. Sign up for your free Patreon account here, where I’ll be streaming “live,” sending out newsletters, dropping an exclusive limited series podcast later in 2025, and posting other content you won’t get anywhere else. Visit www.crossingtheline.biz to contact investigative journalist and host M. William Phelps, get more information about the show, updates to cases, and more. And don't forget to subscribe to Phelps's #1 hit podcast PAPER GHOSTS, now in its fourth season, wherever you get your favorite shows. M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 46 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications1, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter and has executive produced and starred in over 350 hours of true crime television. All of which gives him a confluence of expertise and experience to bring to true crime fanatics. Phelps grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now splits his time between Tolland County and N. Stonington, CT. In July 2017, he published his definitive, 10-year project about Happy Face Killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer. **For mental health assistance or to get help, please visit the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI website or call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640, or email
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