Bombshell arrest in cold case murder of baby left in Phoenix airport
Release Date: 02/23/2024
New details and 911 calls in Mercedes Vega murder case
True Crime Arizona
The newly released incident report and 911 calls from the day 22-year-old Mercedes Vega’s body was found in a burning car reveals new details about what was seen on the freeway that day in April 2023. We learn who made the 911 call, what he saw from the road, and what kind of car she was found in – a car that was not hers. Mercedes Vega was shot, hit, and eventually burned alive after going missing from her Tempe apartment complex. Mercedes’s case remains unsolved. Her parents discuss the new details we learned from the report, their frustration with investigation, and share their...
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Who killed teen horse trainer Rachel Hansen?
True Crime Arizona
On June 4 2022, 19-year-old Rachel Hansen woke up to a stranger in her Gilbert, AZ apartment. The suspect shot her, then left, and Rachel later died at the hospital. The teen had been working for years as a horse trainer and had just moved into that apartment after living on a ranch. Nearly two years later, her murder remains unsolved, but her parents feel two odd circumstances in the days leading up to her death weren’t properly investigated.
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Movie armorer from Arizona sentenced for ‘Rust’ movie set death
True Crime Arizona
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer from Bullhead City, AZ, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for an involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was the cinematographer on the movie ‘Rust’ starring Alec Baldwin, when in 2021, a prop gun the actor was rehearsing with on set had a real bullet inside instead of a fake one. When Baldwin fired it during the scene, the bullet struck Hutchins and killed her. We hear what was said at the sentencing hearing during victim impact statements, and why the judge delivered scathing remarks in the courtroom. Alec...
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Phoenix Suns Superfan Mr. ORNG Arrested for Child Sex Crimes
True Crime Arizona
The high school basketball coach and man famously known for his “Mr. ORNG” character at Phoenix Suns game has now been arrested for soliciting sexual videos and pictures from teen boys. According to police, 37-year-old Patrick Battillo asked male students at the school he coached at to send explicit videos of themselves via Snapchat, in exchange for money. Another teacher at the high school as arrested for hindering the investigation after telling Battillo the police were at school so he could leave before they could question him. True Crime Arizona host Briana Whitney describes the...
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911 calls & police report released in the death of Preston Lord
True Crime Arizona
Queen Creek Police released 42 minutes of 911 calls from the Halloween party where 16-year-old Preston Lord was fatally beaten on October 28, 2023, including the desperate call when people on scene were trying to save his life before police arrived. They also released more than 1,100 pages of the police report. True Crime Correspondent Briana Whitney, chief investigative reporter Morgan Loew, and senior producers Mac Colson and Cody Lillich discuss and analyze the new and notable information, including who allegedly hit and stomped on Preston Lord, which suspects incriminated themselves on...
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Pro basketball player confesses to murder of girl on vacation
True Crime Arizona
Chance Comanche was a well-known name in Arizona—a former University of Arizona basketball player that had gone on to play in the professional NBA G-league. Comanche was in Las Vegas in December 2023 for a basketball tournament, when he and his ex-girlfriend were the last ones to see Marayna Rodgers, from Washington state, alive. As detectives searched for Rodgers, the investigation led to a trail of hidden text messages, thousands of dollars, a Rolex watch, and a disturbing jailhouse confession.
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Arrests made in the murder of Preston Lord
True Crime Arizona
Months after Preston Lord died after being beaten at a Halloween party, multiple suspects, including several teenagers, have been arrested and indicted for first-degree murder and kidnapping. True Crime Correspondent Briana Whitney, investigative reporter Morgan Loew, and Arizona’s Family anchor Nicole Crites analyze how prosecutors got to these charges, the shocking new information that was revealed in their first court appearances, what Preston Lord’s family and the community is saying about the arrests, where we go from here with this case, and the other cases related to the alleged...
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Bombshell arrest in cold case murder of baby left in Phoenix airport
True Crime Arizona
In 2005, a baby girl was found dead in the women’s bathroom trash can at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The medical examiner rule she was suffocated, and lived just 24 hours. She became known as “Baby Skylar.” For nearly two decades, police had no idea who the baby’s mother was, or why she was killed. Now, detectives have found and arrested 51-year-old Annie Anderson of Washington state for first degree murder; the baby’s own mother. How they found her so many years later, her checkered past in Washington, and what a detective says “divine intervention” may be the reason Baby...
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The First Female FBI Agent in the Behavioral Science Unit
True Crime Arizona
She’s analyzed the behavior and words of serial killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ed Kemper. She’s received videos from one of the most famous cult leaders to live. She trained Jodie Foster for her role in The Silence of the Lambs. She helped investigate where the 9/11 plan was hatched and who the bombers were. And she brought a new sense of empathy and intelligence to the behavioral science unit at the FBI. This is the story of Jana Monroe, the first female agent who ever worked in the FBI’s behavioral science unit. Told in her own words with experiences unimaginable, she...
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Gilbert Goons, Brass Knuckles, & Families Break their Silence
True Crime Arizona
Host Briana Whitney and Arizona Family reporters Alexis Dominguez and Casey Torres dive into and analyze the latest string of developments in the East Valley teen violence investigations, including an exclusive interview with the parents of a suspect in mutliple assaults, a teen victim's fight for change in Arizona law, and the community fallout from the Gilbert police chief's first press conference. UPDATE: We also discuss the three new arrests that happened during the recording of the episode.
info_outlineIn 2005, a baby girl was found dead in the women’s bathroom trash can at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The medical examiner rule she was suffocated, and lived just 24 hours. She became known as “Baby Skylar.” For nearly two decades, police had no idea who the baby’s mother was, or why she was killed. Now, detectives have found and arrested 51-year-old Annie Anderson of Washington state for first degree murder; the baby’s own mother. How they found her so many years later, her checkered past in Washington, and what a detective says “divine intervention” may be the reason Baby Skylar was ever found at all.