Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Just days after Nancy Guthrie vanished, a fake Bitcoin ransom scammer tried to exploit her family’s worst nightmare. Five months later, on July 2, Derrick Callella, a 42-year-old man from Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty after prosecutors said he sent Bitcoin-related ransom messages to Nancy Guthrie’s family after she vanished and after an earlier ransom demand had already been made. Derrick Callella is expected to receive 5 years probation, not prison, when he is sentenced on Sept. 10.

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by former homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy, author of The Book of M...

The Nancy Guthrie case just got even more confusing, as the FBI is now pushing back on reports that every alleged ransom note tied to Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother was fake. Reuters reported that FBI sources believe all of the ransom-related messages are bogus, but TMZ’s Harvey Levin says his FBI contacts are telling him something very different: that some of the original ransom demands may still be considered potentially legitimate. 

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the chaos over the Nancy Guthrie ransom notes, the FBI’s new statement saying...

Alex Murdaugh is heading back to court for a new murder trial in 2027, and one overlooked piece of evidence could become a major problem for prosecutors: unknown male DNA found under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernail. 

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the latest pretrial hearing in the Murdaugh murders case with Peter Tragos, host of The Lawyer You Know, including the defense’s argument that Alex Murdaugh’s orange jumpsuit and shackles could poison the jury pool before the retrial even begins, why mystery male DNA under Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernail may get new a...

A critical new detail in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping mystery may help explain why investigators have been taking the first ransom note so seriously. According to new reporting from CBS, the first ransom note received on February 2, 2026, included a highly specific detail about Nancy Guthrie’s Apple Watch: that it had a white band and was on the floor of Nancy's bedroom. 

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by Crime Junkie Breaking News Reporter, Brianna Whitney, who has seen the wording of the ransom notes and shares what stood out to her, inc...

The person who has repeatedly contacted TMZ claiming to know the identities of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers is now making an even bigger claim: that he has video of Nancy with the “main guy” on what may have been the last day of her life. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the latest alleged ransom communication, the new Bitcoin demand, the claim of a hidden phone containing video, photos, names, addresses, and information about two people allegedly involved in Nancy’s kidnapping. Digital forensics expert Heather Barnhart joins Ashleigh to explain what investigators can learn from ema...

Mackenzie Shirilla’s mother, Natalie Shirilla, is speaking out after Netflix’s The Crash reignited outrage over the deadly 2022 Ohio crash that killed Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. Mackenzie was 17 years old when prosecutors said she deliberately drove into a brick wall at 100 miles per hour, killing her boyfriend and friend. She was convicted in a bench trial and sentenced to 15 years to life, but Natalie insists the public still does not know the full story.

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by Chris Cuomo, who sat down for an exclusive interview with...

The Nancy Guthrie case just took another disturbing turn after new reporting revealed the chilling words allegedly sent after the 84-year-old Tucson grandmother vanished: “Hello Savannah. We have your mother, Nancy.” In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the latest Nancy Guthrie ransom note details, including the alleged apology, the claim that Nancy “perished shortly after she was taken,” and the bizarre phrase that she was “buried with nature.” Ashleigh is joined by retired homicide detective and Cold Case Foundation director Chris McDonough, who weighs in on why the ransom notes may not fit a typical kidn...

The 39-year-old Lexington, South Carolina personal trainer vanished after being seen at Planet Fitness and was later found dead in a wooded area near a bridge. Now, the autopsy results are in, but instead of answering the biggest question, how did Elena die, they’ve left the case wide open. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the strange timeline before Elena disappeared, the bizarre Ring camera video from days earlier, the possible EMS dispatch involving a disoriented woman, and the new autopsy update showing no obvious trauma, no clear cause of death, and no final man...

A stunning new report is raising disturbing questions in the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Savannah Guthrie, after sources say an old ransom note claimed Nancy was dead and “buried with nature.” In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the unbelievable new reporting around the alleged ransom notes, and the claim that Nancy may have died shortly after she was abducted. Ashleigh also speaks with TMZ’s Harvey Levin, whose team received early communications in the case and worked with the FBI as investigators tried to trace the people behind them. Harvey reveals what T...

Chilling New Details: A body has been found in the search for missing Lexington, South Carolina woman Elena Moore, but the coroner says there was “nothing obvious” at first glance. We've also learned that Elena Moore’s husband spent 14 years as a local deputy before becoming a private investigator. Police said early in the investigation that he was not a person of interest. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by Sergeant Vicki Rains, who was featured in Netflix’s hit true crime docuseries, Missing: Dead or Alive? Rains served for more than 20 years in law enfo...

Breaking: A body matching Elena Moore’s clothing was found in a wooded area after newly obtained surveillance video showed the missing 39-year-old walking near Old Cherokee Road the night she vanished. Elena Katherine Moore disappeared in Lexington, South Carolina after she was last seen leaving Planet Fitness on Whiteford Way on June 11, wearing an olive-green zip-up hoodie and black athletic pants. Police later obtained surveillance video showing Moore walking through the Publix parking lot at 100 Old Cherokee Road around 9:17 p.m., still wearing the same clothes. Days later, investigators say a tip helped lead them to a search ar...

Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona home more than 135 days ago, and investigators have released almost nothing about what happened to the 84-year-old grandmother. But now, a new cybersecurity report on so-called “wrench attacks” and “proxy target attacks” has raised a disturbing possibility in the case: was Nancy taken not because of what she had, but because of who she was connected to? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the new report, the brutal rise of crypto-related kidnappings and torture-for-password crimes, and why Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says the task force is aware of the r...

Anna Kepner was found dead under a bed on a Carnival cruise ship, and now the 16-year-old stepbrother who shared that cabin with her has been sent to jail. Timothy Hudson, the 16-year-old accused in the death of Florida cheerleader Anna Kepner aboard the Carnival Horizon, has been ordered into U.S. Marshals custody after prosecutors pushed to have him detained. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh walks through the newly unsealed court documents, the cruise ship surveillance timeline, the phone evidence, and the DNA details prosecutors say are central to the case. Former Florida State Attorney Dave...

A chilling new tip has pushed the Nancy Guthrie case across the border and into one of the darkest possible search areas yet. After 131 days with no sign of the missing Arizona grandmother, a volunteer search group in Nogales, Mexico says it received a specific anonymous tip claiming Nancy Guthrie may be buried near Mariposa, an area where searchers have previously found 25 unmarked graves. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the new Mexico search, the anonymous tip, the 25 unmarked graves, the Pima County response, and then sits down with Dr. Tracy “Trace” Sargent, a fore...

Breaking: Brian Hooker is refusing to cooperate in the suspected murder investigation into his missing wife, Lynette Hooker. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh breaks down the latest turn in the Bahamas case and sits down with famed criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos to talk about what it means when a husband at the center of a suspected murder probe refuses to cooperate with investigators. Brian says Lynette “bounced” off the back of their dinghy in the Sea of Abaco, but the Coast Guard has now searched key areas tied to his timeline, taken possession of the ding...

Brian Hooker has been spotted in Michigan, far from the Bahamas where he said he would never leave without Lynette. After weeks of questions about where Brian went after Lynette Hooker vanished in the Sea of Abaco, Brian was seen at a Sierra store in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his daughter Rosie. Ashleigh also breaks down reports of Brian’s movements through California and Oregon, including the family connections that may explain why he has been bouncing from place to place while Lynette’s family is still waiting for answers. Then, Lynette’s father Dan Shepherd and stepmother Kathy sit down w...

Lynette Hooker’s mother, Darlene Hamlett, and her husband Bill sit down with Ashleigh after the latest search in the Lynette Hooker suspected murder investigation, reacting to the dinghy now in Coast Guard hands, the evidence turned over by Bahamian police, and the new route information that appears to blow up Brian’s story about drifting helplessly across the Sea of Abaco. Darlene and Bill also reveal what they know about a secret “off-the-grid” cabin tied to Brian’s family and deliver a chilling warning to Brian Hooker and the people around him: watch your back.

Brian Hooker say...

Law Enforcement: "He's F*cked" | No remains were found in the search for Lynette Hooker, but sources say the Coast Guard still left the Bahamas with evidence that could be devastating for Brian Hooker. After three days of sonar, drones, divers, and Maggie the cadaver dog searching the Abacos, the Coast Guard did not recover Lynette’s remains. But this suspected murder investigation is far from over. Sources say the trip was “well worth it,” with investigators securing Brian and Lynette Hooker’s dinghy, receiving critical evidence from Bahamian police, and identifying key pieces that were not where Brian’s story sa...

Exclusive New Video: Coast Guard teams are now searching northwest of Lubbers Quarters Cay and Marsh Harbor near an abandoned boat harbor as the hunt for Lynette Hooker expands across land and sea in the Bahamas. CGIS investigators, divers, an ROV, and Maggie the cadaver dog are all part of the effort in the Sea of Abaco, with the new search areas tied to Brian Hooker’s timeline, his GPS data, and the growing questions around the night he says Lynette “bounced” off the back of their dinghy. Sources confirm the Lynette Hooker case is now being treated as a susp...

Sources confirm the Lynette Hooker case is now being treated as a suspected murder investigation, and the search is zeroing in on new areas tied to Brian Hooker’s timeline, GPS data, and the story he has told since the night Lynette "vanished." The Coast Guard is returning to the Sea of Abaco with a dive team, CGIS investigators, an ROV, and Maggie the cadaver dog. And now, new details from boatyard surveillance video are raising even more questions about Brian’s behavior the morning he says he washed ashore without his wife.

Ready to give Toups a tr...

Exclusive Coast Guard video shows the moment Soulmate was intercepted at sea, 40 miles off the coast of Florida, after Brian Hooker’s boat left the Bahamas and headed back toward the United States. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the newly obtained video of the Coast Guard stopping and seizing Soulmate, the 46-foot sailboat Brian and Lynette Hooker lived aboard before Lynette vanished in the Sea of Abaco. Ashleigh also digs into the new trouble for Brian Hooker, including GPS data, the dinghy’s alleged movements, the watch evidence, and the growing questions about what...

New GPS data tied to Brian Hooker’s movements after Lynette Hooker vanished has triggered a major new development in the Bahamas investigation: a potential Coast Guard dive search in the Sea of Abaco and DNA collection from Lynette’s immediate family. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the latest reporting in the Lynette Hooker case, including the new GPS data, the search areas now under scrutiny, missing gear from Soulmate, and why investigators may be closing in on whether Brian Hooker’s account of drifting for hours in the water can hold up.

H...

Soulmate is gone, and that may be the biggest signal yet that the Lynette Hooker case is moving into a new phase. The 46-foot sailboat Brian Hooker shared with his missing wife has now been moved from the Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale, after investigators spent days treating the vessel like a crime scene, removing items, bagging evidence, and keeping the boat under scrutiny. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield discusses growing questions around Brian Hooker’s timeline, and the stunning claim that he waited more than 14 hours before calling Lynette’s mother afte...

A damning new photo shows the water near Soulmate looking eerily calm at the very time Brian Hooker claims his wife, Lynette Hooker, “bounced” out of their dinghy in rough seas and vanished into the Sea of Abaco. In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the image that may blow a hole straight through Brian’s “angry seas” story, along with the new questions surrounding the dinghy, the electric motor, the missing battery telemetry, the FLIR camera on Soulmate, and the latest search areas in the Bahamas. Brian Hooker has not been charged with a crime and is presumed innocent.<...

Brian Hooker told the world Lynette “bounced” off the back of the dinghy and vanished in the Sea of Abaco, but now a boatyard security guard’s account is raising new questions about the story Brian told in the first hours after she disappeared. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the latest contradictions in the Lynette Hooker case, from the 7 p.m. timeline problem to the dry bag mystery, the flare discrepancy, the alleged 9-hour drift, and the new questions surrounding Soulmate, Starlink, Gemini AI maps, scuba gear, dive weights, and Lynette’s Apple Watch. I...

Haunting New Clues: Brian Hooker says Lynette Hooker vanished on April 4, 2026, after “bouncing” off the back of their dinghy in the Sea of Abaco. But the clues aboard Soulmate, the 46-foot sailboat anchored near Aunt Pat’s Bay, may raise much darker questions. This episode digs into cameras aboard Soulmate, possible Blink camera footage, Apple Watch and Starlink questions, power logs, apps, engine data, scuba tanks, dive weights, dumbbells, and what the Coast Guard Investigative Service may be looking for after the CGIS raid at Fort Pierce. As the search for answers in Lynette Hooker’s disappearance continues, the biggest...

A witness says they heard a “massive splash” near Soulmate around 9:30 p.m. the night Lynette Hooker vanished, and now one of the first rescuers on scene is raising major questions about Brian Hooker’s story. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks with Jim Todd of Hope Town Volunteer Fire & Rescue, one of the first people to pull Brian Hooker onto the rescue boat after he reportedly washed up in Marsh Harbour. Todd breaks down the new timeline details, the flare reports, what allegedly happened near Soulmate, and why Brian’s claim that he tried to get h...

Federal agents just turned Brian Hooker’s floating home into a crime scene. Exclusive photos and videos show Soulmate, the 46-foot sailboat Brian and Lynette Hooker lived on, taped off at Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce as federal agents boarded the vessel, searched below deck for hours, and removed evidence in bags. Brian says Lynette “bounced” off the back of their dinghy and vanished in the Sea of Abaco, Bahamas. But if this happened in the dinghy, why is Soulmate now being processed like a crime scene? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the Coast...

Exclusive video and photos show Coast Guard Investigative Services, CGIS, agents removing equipment, sealing items into evidence bags, and processing the boat after crime scene tape went up around it. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down why the CGIS search of Soulmate could be a major turning point in the Lynette Hooker investigation, including possible digital evidence and onboard systems that may reveal whether Brian and Lynette ever made it back to the boat.

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A major new development in the disappearance of Lynette Hooker: the U.S. Coast Guard has seized Soulmate, the 46-foot sailboat Lynette shared with her husband, Brian Hooker, after it reportedly left the Bahamas and was intercepted offshore on its way back to the United States. Exclusive photos and video show the boat being towed into the Coast Guard station in Fort Pierce, Florida, where it is now in U.S. custody as part of a criminal investigation. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down how Soulmate left Marsh Harbour after weeks on a mooring...

BAT OUT OF HELL: Exclusive pictures and videos show Soulmate fleeing the Bahamas five weeks after Lynette Hooker vanished. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the stunning new movement of Soulmate, the sailboat Lynette shared with husband Brian Hooker, after it was seen leaving Marsh Harbour and heading west toward the United States. Ashleigh also reveals new photos and video from the Sea of Abaco, including eyewitness sightings near Whale Cay, as Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, and mother, Darlene Hamlett, continue fighting to find Lynette and bring her home. 

The D4VD case just exploded with the first clear look at what prosecutors believe happened to 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez before her decomposed body was found in the front trunk of David Anthony Burke’s Tesla. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the disturbing new prosecution timeline, including allegations involving chainsaws, a kiddie pool, a body bag, a shovel, Amazon purchases, text messages, and the chilling evidence prosecutors say may point to motive and cover-up. Former California homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy joins Ashleigh to explain why the case took months to charge, what th...

Brian Hooker told the world he would never stop searching for his missing wife, Lynette Hooker, but witnesses in the Bahamas are now telling a very different story. In this episode of Drop Dead Seious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down what Brian was allegedly doing in the days after Lynette vanished from the Sea of Abaco, including new witness accounts that he was seen hanging around the Conch Inn while others searched the water for his wife. We also dig into the timeline from Abaco Inn to Marsh Harbour, the Soulmate yacht still sitting on its mooring ball, the strange questions...

Did Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker actually make it back to their sailboat, Soulmate, the night she vanished? In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down a stunning new development in the disappearance of Lynette Hooker in the Bahamas: multiple witnesses reportedly saw flares coming from the Hookers’ sailboat before 9 p.m., even though Brian has claimed he and Lynette never made it back to the boat. Ashleigh also reveals new surveillance video from Lubbers Quarters, looking across the Sea of Abaco toward Elbow Cay and the area where Soulmate was anchored, raising fresh questions about Brian’s timeline, the dinghy rout...

Brian Hooker’s past with AT&T is raising new questions in the search for his missing wife, Lynette Hooker. In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield digs into new claims about Hooker’s alleged GPS tampering history, his tech background, and whether he may have known far more about phones, Wi-Fi, Starlink, and emergency communications than he initially let on. We also sit down with Blaine Stevenson, a sailor and friend of Brian and Lynette Hooker.

Blaine Stevenson: https://www.youtube.com/@SailingCameo

A newly uncovered photo from the Abaco Inn may show one of the most important pieces of the Lynette Hooker timeline: the dinghy Brian and Lynette Hooker reportedly used on their final night together. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down haunting new pictures and clues from the night Lynette Hooker disappeared in the Bahamas. Ashleigh is joined by Lynette’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, and Karli’s boyfriend, Steve Hansen. Karli responds to recent comments from Brian Hooker’s new attorney, and delivers a powerful new message to Brian Hooker as the search for answers in the Ba...

A haunting new clue in the disappearance of Lynette Hooker is putting the yacht timeline under a microscope: the Apple Watch she was seen wearing the day she vanished ended up back on the Soulmate. In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the mystery of Lynette’s Apple Watch, the new photo from the day she disappeared, and the questions it raises about Brian Hooker’s account of what happened in the waters off the Bahamas. If Lynette was wearing that watch before she vanished, how did it get back to the yacht? 

Lynette Hooker is still missing in the Bahamas, and now there is a bombshell new photo from the last day she was seen that shows a critical detail: Lynette appears to be wearing her Apple Watch. In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down why that image could matter, speaks exclusively with one of Lynette’s closest friends, Rachel Shaw. We also take a closer look at the dry bag at the center of Brian Hooker’s story, including a demonstration from the YouTube channel SailingCameo showing how those bags actually float.

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Lynette Hooker is still missing in the Bahamas, and now there are exclusive new photos that could tighten the timeline from the last night she was seen. In this episode, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down a newly obtained image showing Brian Hooker walking toward the dock from the Abaco Inn, without Lynette by his side, carrying the yellow dry bag that has become a key detail in this case. We also reveal new photos and video from that same night showing the rough conditions on the Sea of Abaco and the wind that may help explain what was happening in...

Exclusive new photos from Lynette Hooker’s last night alive show are raising serious questions about Brian Hooker's original story that he told investigators. 

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