0:02

I was like, promise me, you're going to call me back, and

0:04

she said I promise and click.

0:06

That was it.

0:07

That was the last I spoke to her.

0:10

In twenty seventeen, Libby

0:12

Caswell was found dead in a motel

0:14

room in Independence, Missouri. She

0:17

was twenty one years old, a young mom

0:19

working hard to get by. The police

0:21

investigation.

0:22

Was brief, this is not a promicide.

0:25

This is a suicide.

0:27

But Libby's mom doesn't believe the official

0:29

story.

0:30

I thought, well, they must have missed this fingernail.

0:33

It wasn't till much later, and I thought, why would

0:35

they not search the car.

0:38

She assembled a team of experts who

0:40

looked at the evidence and think Libby

0:43

was murdered. We have a term called

0:45

JDLR, which means just don't

0:48

look right. Libby's case stands

0:50

out in my mind and keeps you awake

0:52

at night.

0:53

Sooner or later, somebody talks.

1:00

My name is Melissa Jelson. I'm

1:02

a reporter who covers violence against women.

1:05

On season two of my podcast What

1:07

Happened To I take a closer look

1:09

at Libby Caswell's life and death.

1:12

She was just like a gright

1:15

happy person. Libby don't

1:17

get me and said Nathan, I don't know. Something

1:20

just seems off right now. I've

1:22

spent the last year talking to Libby's friends

1:24

and family, uncovering details

1:27

of her life and the secrets that

1:29

may have endangered it.

1:31

I knew she was doing something, but she just wouldn't

1:33

admit it to me at Birst and

1:35

so I was like, you

1:37

know, kind of like what did he just hit

1:39

her?

1:40

She told me like she was done, Like she's done

1:42

going back and forth, and now she's finally going to do

1:44

what she needed to do for her. This

1:46

is a podcast about the systems that are

1:49

supposed to help women, but don't.

1:52

We have very strong stereotypes

1:54

about the ways that victims of domestic

1:56

violence are supposed to act.

1:58

I think the law is set out to punish

2:01

families.

2:01

Those agencies are failing

2:03

to do the right thing, And it's

2:05

about one mom's search for justice.

2:08

She started advising me, get your records,

2:10

get your stuff together, because

2:13

this is going to be the fight of your life.

2:28

Join me on a journey to uncover

2:31

what really happened to Libby Caswell.

2:34

Everyone deserves to know the truth and if

2:36

there was something that was not right

2:38

and someone should be held accountable,

2:41

Somebody dropped the ball. The medical

2:43

examiner ruled Libby's death undetermined.

2:47

They go, what do you mean they undetermined?

2:49

I wish I could go back in time and go

2:51

stay with her at that hotel.

2:54

It was crying, and I said, and I was like,

2:56

man, what happened.

2:58

If this was a powerful

3:00

woman with status, this case would

3:03

have been resolved by now and the killer would

3:05

be in jail.

3:06

But Libby Caswell didn't have status.

3:08

What happened to her is

3:11

unknown, and it's something

3:14

that I need to know.

3:20

Listen to What Happened to Libby Caswell

3:22

starting November two on the iHeartRadio

3:25

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

3:27

you get your podcasts