Podbit · Dateline NBC
Mickey Costanzo called her family every 15 minutes. When she went silent, the whole town of West Wendover turned out to search. They hoped she was alive. They suspected she wasn't. Her body was found buried in a shallow grave in the desert.
Where this was said
At 33:20 · chapter starts 30:00
Keith Morrison joins Andrea Canning to discuss 'Five Miles From Home,' his new podcast series revisiting a case he first covered for Dateline in 2013. The case centers on Michaela 'Mickey' Costanzo, a 16-year-old track star and aspiring writer from West Wendover, Nevada — a five-casino outpost at the edge of the desert. Mickey was beloved by her close-knit family and the entire town, known for calling home every 15 minutes to report her whereabouts. When she went silent, the town mobilized immediately, fearing the worst — and finding it. Her body was found buried in a shallow desert grave. Morrison describes the case as Shakespearean: a childhood friendship between Mickey and Cody that briefly flirted with romance before Cody fell hard for his future fiancée Toni, all set against the backdrop of small-town teenage dynamics. Morrison draws parallels to a Victoria, British Columbia case later dramatized as 'Under the Bridge,' where teenagers killed a classmate for reasons no one could fully explain. The podcast's finale features a jailhouse interview with Toni Fratto, who describes being too terrified to flee, believing she would be killed as the only witness [1] — Keith Morrison "Keith Morrison returns to a case he first covered in 2013 — the murder of teen track star Mickey Costanzo in a tiny Nevada casino town. It …" 30:00 [2] — Keith Morrison "In the finale of 'Five Miles From Home,' Cody's then-fiancée Toni Fratto describes being too terrified to flee, believing that even driving…" 35:00 .
Keith Morrison returns to a case he first covered in 2013 — the murder of teen track star Mickey Costanzo in a tiny Nevada casino town. It has obsession, jealousy, a love triangle, and a jailhouse interview. Morrison calls it Shakespearean, and he's not wrong.
The podcast 'Five Miles From Home' is set in West Wendover, Nevada, a small desert outpost with 5 casinos near the Utah border.
Cody, the central male figure in 'Five Miles From Home,' was described as 6-foot-6 and planning to join the Marines after high school before events unraveled.
Michaela 'Mickey' Costanzo was known to call her family every 15 minutes to report her location; when she went silent, her family immediately knew something was wrong.
In the finale of 'Five Miles From Home,' Cody's then-fiancée Toni Fratto describes being too terrified to flee, believing that even driving away would only make things worse. She feared she'd be killed as a witness.
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