Best Missing Persons True Crime Podcasts
Best Missing Persons True Crime Podcasts: Bear Brook, The Deck Investigates and The Teacher's Pet lead our ranking of 24 shows, scored for binge factor.
Missing persons podcasts document some of the most emotionally devastating cases in true crime. These shows dig into disappearances that were dismissed, ignored, or inadequately investigated — and often bring new evidence to light. These are the most highly-rated missing persons podcasts in our database.
24 podcasts, ranked by binge factor
Bear Brook
True crime fans fascinated by forensic science, DNA technology, and cold cases with a genuine scientific payoff.
The Deck Investigates
Audiochuck's deep investigation of cold case homicide victims featured on playing card decks distributed to prison inmates.
The Teacher's Pet
True crime fans who like journalism-driven investigations with massive real-world impact; anyone fascinated by domestic crime and institutional failure.
Your Own Backyard
Listeners who want investigative true crime with real-world consequence and single-minded, passionate focus from a creator who refused to let a case die.
Charlene: Somebody Knows Something
The Crime Desk revisits the 2003 disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes from Blackpool — a case that still has no resolution.
Death in Ice Valley
True crime fans who love cold case mysteries with an international dimension; people fascinated by forensic identification and the stories hidden in unidentified remains.
Someone Knows Something
True crime fans who value empathy, journalistic integrity, and collaborative investigations conducted alongside the victim's own family.
Trace: Murder in the Rainforest
ABC Australia's investigation into the mysterious 2001 disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian outback.
True Crime South Africa
South Africa's flagship true crime podcast, hosted by award-winning journalist Nicole Engelbrecht — the country's most popular true crime show even against international competition.
Valley of Shadows
Pushkin traces how the 1998 disappearance of a deputy sheriff exposed the Mojave Desert's meth epidemic and a corrupt police force covering it up.
We Call Her Emma
Tortoise Investigates and The Observer trace how a high-achieving west London woman ended up at the centre of the Emma Caldwell case.
Five Miles From Home
Keith Morrison and Dateline investigate the disappearance of high school junior Micaela Costanzo on her way home from track practice in a small Nevada casino town.
Going West
Daphne Woolsoncroft and Heath Merryman cover haunting disappearance and murder cases twice a week, building one of the genre's deepest back catalogues.
Ladies Who Crime
Feminist true crime podcast covering cases that disproportionately affect women, hosted by two women.
LISK: Long Island Serial Killer
Dedicated ongoing coverage of the Long Island Serial Killer investigation, which began in 2010 with the disappearance of sex worker Shannan Gilbert.
Southern Shadows
Community-focused true crime podcast sharing victim stories to raise awareness in Southern communities.
Black Girl Gone
True crime fans who want to actively counter 'missing white woman syndrome'; advocates for Black women; anyone who believes all victims deserve equal media attention.
Casefile True Crime
Listeners who prefer documentary-style narration with high production standards and zero filler; purists who want the facts and nothing else.
Cold
True crime fans who appreciate methodical investigative journalism and are prepared for deeply upsetting content involving family violence.
Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad
True crime listeners who want to be active participants rather than passive audience; fans of forensic investigation and DNA genealogy; those who followed Paul Holes in I'll Be Gone in the Dark.
RedHanded
True crime fans who want their listening to come with critical analysis of gender and power; UK and Ireland listeners; anyone who feels the mainstream genre ignores social context.
The Lady Vanishes
A journalist and a daughter search for answers about a missing Australian schoolteacher
They Walk Among Us
UK listeners who want their own true crime podcast tradition rather than American-focused shows; international fans who want well-crafted British perspective on crime.
To Live and Die in LA
True crime fans who enjoy investigative journalism with a strong sense of place and cinematic atmosphere; listeners who followed the Up and Vanished active investigation format.
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