On the morning of Tuesday, December 20th, 2011, 39-year-old Monica Riordan left her workplace at Pobal on Holles Street in Dublin. By nightfall, she had vanished. Originally from Finglas and living in Navan, Co. Meath, Monica was seen several times throughout Dublin city centre that day. CCTV captured her movements as she appeared increasingly disoriented and distressed, making multiple emergency calls and walking alone through the Docklands in cold, wet conditions. Her mobile phone was later found near the Grand Canal, and weeks later her handbag was recovered from the River Liffey. Despite extensive searches, Garda appeals, and tireless efforts by her family and colleagues, Monica was never found. In this episode of Radio Espial - True Crime, we reconstruct Monica Riordan’s final known day through a detailed timeline — tracing confirmed sightings, public appeals, investigative efforts, and the inquest findings — while keeping the focus on facts, compassion, and the unanswered quest...
The mysterious death of Elisa Lam remains one of the most infamous and misunderstood true-crime cases of the decade. In January 2013, 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam vanished while staying at the notorious Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. When she failed to make her daily check-in call home, a missing persons investigation began—but what followed would ignite a global firestorm. When the LAPD released elevator CCTV showing Elisa behaving erratically—pressing buttons, hiding, stepping in and out of the elevator as if reacting to something unseen—the internet exploded. The video went viral overnight, spawning conspiracy theories, online sleuth communities, accusations, and global speculation. Everyone believed they knew the truth. Three weeks later, Elisa’s body was discovered in a rooftop water tank after guests complained of discoloured water and low pressure. Her death became the centre of lawsuits, media sensationalism, and endless online myths—all while the real story bec...