The BEST Episodes of People Magazine Investigates
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Oct 20, 2021
Network: Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery and People magazine partner to re-examine some of the most high profile crime cases in recent history. The one-hour series brings viewers tales of betrayal, buried secrets and unsung heroes, ripped from the pages of one of the nation's top weekly magazines. These stories transcended news and became part of pop culture, revealing shocking twists, new evidence, and unexpected resolutions. Interlaced within every episode are exclusive interviews with People's journalists, archival footage, re-creations, and firsthand accounts by those closest to the investigations.
#1 - The Hollywood Ripper
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 26, 2021
When Ashley Ellerin is found murdered in her Hollywood bungalow, police zero in on the Hollywood heartthrob she was supposed to have a date with the night she was killed. The case takes a shocking turn as detectives realize Ashley is not the only victim, and discover they are on the hunt for a serial killer. The assailant's victim count grows until one woman manages to fight back so fiercely that he leaves behind critical blood evidence. But will they be able to finally catch him?
8.67 #2 - Red Christmas
Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired May 31, 2021
On December 10, 2003, police receive a mysterious 911 call at a home in the tony Walnut Estates in Mansfield, Texas. Police are dispatched to investigate and when they enter the home they encounter a horrific scene: the bloodied bodies of homeowners Rick and Suzy Wamsley. The couple was highly regarded around the neighborhood and thought to have the perfect family life so detectives are left with a big question mark: Who and why would anyone want to kill the Wamsleys? When detectives launch an investigation to find out, the myth of the Wamsleys' perfect life begins to unravel. It turns out underneath the polished exterior, there are deep, dark secrets.
8.67 #3 - The Price of Fame
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired May 10, 2021
In the spring of 2001, former child actor and Baretta star Robert Blake just married Bonny Lee Bakely, the mother of his new baby girl. The couple are out to dinner in Los Angeles when Bakely is murdered in the passenger seat of the couple's car, execution style. Blake seems devastated, but as police investigate, they uncover a tale of a troubled marriage of convenience and a fight for custody that may have led to one of Hollywood's most infamous murders.
8.26 #4 - Blood Ties
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired Apr 19, 2021
On a snowy night in January 1980, college student Helene Pruszynski disappears after reaching her final bus stop. When her body turns up in a snowy field, police launch a long and frustrating investigation that pushes family and detectives to the brink of hopelessness. Their hope is revived when they discover that cutting edge forensic genealogy may hold the key to finding Helene's murderer.
8.25 #5 - Little Girl Gone
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired May 3, 2021
In the summer of 2003, the Iron Range of northern Minnesota is a peaceful community where parents let their kids play outside on their own without a second thought. But when five-year-old LeeAnna Warner vanishes without a trace, investigators do a deep dive into the quaint community and realize that some of the familiar faces in the neighborhood may be hiding some disturbing secrets that may never fully be uncovered.
8.24 #6 - A Crimson End
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired May 17, 2021
When a woman is found dead in her historic house on Horseshoe Lake, police chase her killer to the water where he drowns. But when the body is recovered, people are shocked to realize this story started 25 years earlier when two other family members were found murdered by the same man.
8.22 
#7 - Bible Belt Massacre
Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired Jun 7, 2021
Two days before the new millennium in the rural town of Welch, Oklahoma, Danny and Kathy Freeman are found dead after a neighbor spots the family trailer engulfed in flames. Police soon determine their cause of death was not the fire, but a gunshot. The case adds another layer when it is discovered that the Freeman's daughter Ashley and her best friend Lauria Bible are nowhere to be found. Nearly two decades later, police finally discover what happened to them, the truth is almost too dark for words.
8.13 #8 - The Delphi Killer
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 12, 2021
A quiet rural town is rocked when two middle-school girls go on a hike and are later found murdered. But when police discover one of the girls may have recorded her killer with her cellphone, the race is on to find the mysterious man.
8.09 #9 - Nine Years in the Shadows
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired Dec 23, 2019
In 1988, a young woman is found murdered in her Modesto, Calif., home, leading police to investigate the strife and infidelity in her marriage; a surprising witness eventually comes forward.
8.03 #10 - Highway of Horrors
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired Mar 22, 2021
College student Tammy Zywicki vanishes in 1992 after her car breaks down on the highway. Family and friends scramble to find her, but when her body is found 500 miles from where she vanished there are very few clues pointing to her killer. Police struggle with dead-end leads and suspects who don't pan out. New DNA technology promises to finally crack the case decades later. As her family clings to the last of their hope, the fear is that it may be too little too late for justice.
8.00 #11 - Flight Risk
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired Apr 5, 2021
Kelsey Berreth, a young mother and pilot, was last heard from on the morning of Thanksgiving 2018. Her fiancé is worried she may have harmed herself after a stressful year. But when police discover blood in an unusual place, they begin to unravel a bizarre story of love, jealousy, and a murder that goes far beyond what anyone in law enforcement could have imagined.
8.00 
#12 - Killing Field
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired Jan 1, 2018
After a young couple goes missing, detectives find a clue leading them to a strange storage container in the middle of 95 acres, and what's inside unlocks the secrets of a monster hiding in plain sight.
7.85 #13 - Somebody's Watching
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired Nov 5, 2018
After a fire chief's wife's burned body is discovered, an autopsy reveals she died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the arson investigation turns into a hunt for her killer.
7.83 
#14 - Connecticut Horror Story
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Nov 27, 2017
One summer night in 2007, the Petit family is woken up by two strangers in their quiet Connecticut home; suddenly, these four family members find themselves being held hostage and in a fight for their lives.
7.77 #15 - Oklahoma Horror Story
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired Jan 6, 2020
Right before Thanksgiving, two masked gunmen reportedly invade a couple's home and kill the husband; with few leads, police use ballistics, forensics and neighborhood gossip to solve this cold-blooded murder.
7.74 #16 - The Freeway Phantom
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired Nov 25, 2019
In the early 1970s, Washington D.C. is terrorized by a cunning killer who abducts and murders six young African American girls; police and the community are outraged by the serial killings that target young children in their own neighborhoods.
7.74 #17 - Jenner Beach Murders
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired Mar 29, 2021
In the summer of 2004, Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen are working as councilors at an outdoor Christian adventure camp in Northern California They decide to head down the coast for a weekend getaway, but when they fail to return to camp Sunday evening, the camp staff become very concerned. A search ensues and police discover the couples' bodies at Fish Head Beach, in Jenner, California. As police begin investigating the double homicide, they discover the killer has left no clues and little evidence. Over the succeeding days, weeks and years, Sonoma County Detectives investigate a group of suspects as they relentlessly search for the killer.
7.71 
#18 - My Father, the Serial Killer
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired Jan 15, 2018
In 1980, Tim Hack and Kelly Drew go missing from a small Wisconsin town, then their bodies are found in a field; a woman comes forward nearly 40 years later to help solve the so-called "Sweetheart Murders'' of Hack and Drew.
7.70 
#19 - Shallow Grave
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Nov 20, 2017
When a young family vanishes from their Southern California dream home, friends and family are left with dozens of unanswered questions; authorities suspect they fled the country, until an unlikely source uncovers the truth.
7.66 #20 - Memphis Blues
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired Dec 9, 2019
NBA basketball player Lorenzen Wright goes missing outside of Memphis, Tenn., then his body is discovered in the woods, and investigators find out this case is far from a slam dunk.
7.66 #21 - JonBenet: The Untold Truth
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired Dec 19, 2016
An examination of the JonBenét Ramsey murder case. The 6-year-old beauty pageant winner was murdered in her family's home on Dec. 26, 1996. Included: whether she was killed in a kidnapping-gone-wrong, by a home intruder or by one of her own family.
7.64 #22 - Vanished
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired Nov 11, 2019
So-Cal surfer and tech entrepreneur Chris Smith dreams of making a tidy sum of money and surfing off into the sunset; it seems as though his dreams have come true, but all is not as it appears.
7.64 
#23 - Golden State Killer
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Nov 6, 2017
In the 1970s a serial rapist is on the loose in northern California; then, as his reign of terror over the community wanes, police discover he isn't just a serial rapist, he's a serial murderer and he's been killing people all over California.
7.64 #24 - Fallen Angels
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired Nov 26, 2018
A 12-year-old girl goes missing on her way to school in Oregon City, Ore.; the police investigation offers little in the way of leads, then a second girl disappears.
7.64 #25 - In the Name of Love
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired Dec 12, 2016
The 1995 murder of a 16-year old girl in Grand Prairie, Texas, goes unsolved for nine months, when a game of truth-or-dare leads to a startling confession.
7.63