Podbit · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
On July 30, 1985, 8-year-old Nicole Morin left her 21st-floor Toronto penthouse in a peach swimsuit to meet her best friend at the building pool. Security cameras had been bought but weren't scheduled for installation until the next day. She made it to the lobby — and then vanished completely.
Where this was said
At 44:20 · chapter starts 39:50
The case never sat right with investigators, and over the years their focus turned increasingly toward Penny herself. Her account shifted between interviews: first she said she woke at 7 AM to find Antoinette's bed empty; in a 1994 FBI interview she said she heard the knock herself around 3:30–4:30 AM and told Antoinette to answer it, then waited 30 minutes until her daughter never came back. In that same 1994 session, she admitted to FBI agents that she knew who was coming and that she and a man she named as Emo — Emiliano Gardella — had discussed a plan beforehand. Gardella had given the 9-year-old flowers three times in the days before she vanished. Penny failed an FBI polygraph. Detective Marty Escobedo said years later he was confident Penny knew who had taken Antoinette. Yet the FBI, despite believing she was involved, never charged her. In April 1987 — about a year after Antoinette disappeared — a 40-second call reached the Gallup Police Department from a girl claiming to be Antoinette; an angry male voice cut in demanding to know who said she could use the phone, the girl screamed, and the line went dead. It was caught on tape and never confirmed. Penny listened to it on repeat and said: 'A mother knows, and I know that was her.' Penny died in 1999 without ever seeing her daughter found. [1] — Host "Antoinette — Penny admitted prior knowledge to FBI: In a 1994 FBI interview, Penny Cayedito admitted she knew who was coming for her daught…" 41:00
In a 1994 FBI interview, Penny Cayedito admitted she knew who was coming for her daughter and that she had discussed a plan with a man named Emiliano Gardella beforehand. A year after Antoinette vanished, a 40-second call to police featured a girl claiming to be Antoinette — then an angry man cut the line. Penny listened to it on repeat and said: that was my daughter.
In a 1994 FBI interview, Penny Cayedito admitted she knew who was coming for her daughter and that she and a man named Emo had discussed a plan beforehand.
In April 1987, a 40-second call reached Gallup Police from a girl claiming to be Antoinette; an angry male voice cut in, the girl screamed, and the line went dead.
A man used ChatGPT as a de facto lawyer, sharing self-incriminating details in his chats. When the transcripts were subpoenaed, the judge ruled no attorney-client privilege applied and admitted the chats as evidence against him. AI first passes are useful — treating AI as your counsel is dangerous.
CIA operative Edwin Wilson armed Muammar Gaddafi with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4 hidden in barrels of mud and flew them to Libya himself. He was sentenced to 52 years and served 12 in solitary. He was also a founder of the same arms network Oliver North contracted for the Contras.
Kim Dotcom's legal nightmare had nothing to do with copyright infringement. He donated to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange — and the US government charged him under RICO statutes, seeking 186 years in prison as payback.
More than a decade after his indictment, the US is still trying to extradite Kim Dotcom from New Zealand — even after he suffered a stroke. He cannot be convinced the authorities are on his side; only the legal process, run by his lawyers, keeps him free.
The illegal wildlife trade and the drug trade aren't just parallel industries — they actively overlap. Smugglers force-fed cocaine to boa constrictors to evade customs, packed drugs beneath layers of live animals in crates with spitting cobras on top, and exploited the chronic under-resourcing of US Fish and Wildlife inspection teams.
Mario Tabraue was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking. He served 12. Nobody — not even the DEA agent who put him there — knows why he got out. That agent, Larry Lovelace, now lives in rural West Virginia with a gun within reach every night, still expecting retaliation.
Anson Wong from Malaysia was the Pablo Escobar of the global reptile trade, supplying rare animals — including Komodo dragons — to buyers across the world. He was caught in a sting, extradited to the US, and served the longest wildlife crime sentence at the time. The animals seized from him went on to stock some of America's biggest zoos.
Zelig Williams landed a role in Hamilton at just 19 while still in college — a rare achievement in a world where most Broadway dreams die young. By 28 he was a veteran ready to mentor the next generation, until he disappeared without a trace on October 3, 2024.
Season 5 of Dateline: Missing in America brings six new unsolved mysteries. The show is explicitly asking listeners to engage — because a detail someone remembers might be the break investigators need.
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