logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
50m 45s

Episode 187: Gary Wayne Puckett, Part 1

Alexis Linkletter, Jac Vanek
About this episode

On September 23rd, 1997, a 52-year-old woman named Alice and her golden retriever vanished from the Cedar River trail outside Kent, Washington. Alice’s husband and daughter retraced her steps and searched for her… later learning that they may have encountered her killer on the trail. Soon after, authorities realize the attacker is not only a registered sex offender, but could be connected to other violent crimes in the surrounding area. In episode 187, Jac, Alexis, and Billy deconstruct the curious case of Gary Wayne Puckett, and the trail of errors that set him free.

🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon:

patreon.com/thefirstdegree

📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree

🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee

👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree

 

Up next
Yesterday
DEEP DIVE: THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW
This week we’re deep diving into Matt Rife buying Ed & Lorraine Warren’s haunted house (AND the Annabelle doll WTF?!), Dave Franco x Luigi Mangioni, Radioactive Wasps, and the woman who is crashing out on tiktok from falling in love with her psychiatrist, and WOO BOY is it a ride ... Show More
50m 30s
Aug 6
Episode 363: Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, Part 2
Even with a young mother and her toddler missing, investigators don’t seem to push for answers. Instead, they accept her boyfriend’s version of events and ignore glaring red flags. For years, Jennifer Wix’s family is left to fight for the truth on their own, chasing leads and con ... Show More
49m 21s
Jul 31
KILLING TIME: EEL OSMOSIS
You asked, we delivered! Killing Time is back (for a limited time only) and our very own Jared is back to guest host with us. Things got weird pretty fast. We’re talking Katy Perry & Justin Trudeau going on a first date, Orlando Bloom punching Justin Bieber, Cheesecake Factory vs ... Show More
53m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
The Doomsday Murders: Lori and Chad Daybell
In early 2020, the story of Lori Daybell and her new husband, Chad Daybell, hit national news. They’d seemingly fled to Hawaii while two of Lori’s children were missing, leaving a wake of mysterious deaths and attacks behind. The public and authorities pressed for answers, hoping ... Show More
41m 38s
May 2022
Episode 197: Marie "Lisa" Peak, Part 2
In December 1975, Lisa Peak helps authorities bring down John Carmody, the head of a sex trafficking extortion ring. By September 1976, Lisa, now 19 years old, is starting to move on with her life. She moves into the dorms for her sophomore year at Wartburg College in Waverly, Io ... Show More
54m 37s
Oct 2019
Episode 61: Serial Killer Roger Fain
On the morning of June 28th, 1999, Darlene Anderson failed to show up to work. Darlene always showed up to work. After a massive search, police made an awful discovery that led them to believe that she may have crossed paths with a serial killer. On episode 61, Jac, Alexis and Bi ... Show More
1h 28m
Oct 2024
Case 301: Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian
*** Content warnings: Child sexual assault, child murder *** In 1986, two pre-teen girls from Tacoma, Washington, were abducted and murdered mere months apart. Both Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian were attacked, sexually assaulted and killed after cycling to a public park. Th ... Show More
1h 18m
Mar 2024
Episode 5: “Grace Doe: Shauna Garber”
With the discovery of a second young female murder victim just over the Missouri border, 20 minutes away from where Dana Stidham’s body was found, a new suspect seems to be playing cat-and-mouse with law enforcement. Phelps drills down and compares the similarities in the cases—a ... Show More
48m 1s
Sep 2024
MURDERED: Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian
When a 13-year-old Tacoma girl disappears on a bike ride in her local park, the community rallies to find any trace of her. But investigators can’t ignore similarities to a murder of another girl in another park nearby. Is the same killer responsible?Instructions for GEDmatch Sou ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2025
Talking Dateline: A Walk Through the Woods
Blayne Alexander and Andrea Canning catch up about Andrea’s latest episode, “A Walk Through the Woods.” In 2017,  two middle schoolers, Libby German and Abby Williams, were found murdered in the woods on the outskirts of Delphi, Indiana, near an abandoned railway bridge. For year ... Show More
22m 20s
Jan 2025
Episode 639: The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt
On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days later, investigators discovered Melissa’s car abandoned in the Bowling World parkin ... Show More
52m 11s
Apr 2025
Who Killed Emily Pike? No More Stolen Sisters
On February 14th, 2025, 14-year-old Emily Pike’s dismembered body was found in garbage bags in a remote part of an Arizonan forest. This discovery came about three weeks after she had gone missing. Not only was this a horrible crime committed against a child, but Emily was also a ... Show More
1 h
Nov 2024
Verdicts in both the Delphi murders trial and the case of a murdered Minnesota mom. Plus 20 years on, Keith Morrison talks about Scott Peterson.
Listen to this week's episode of the Dateline: True Crime Weekly podcast with Andrea Canning. After nearly 19 hours of deliberation, there is a verdict in the Delphi murders trial ending a seven-year saga in the small Indiana town. In Minnesota, the man accused of murdering a 26- ... Show More
28m 3s