Join host Garry McCarthy as he sits down with Cook County Sheriff’s Department Commander Jason Moran to explore the chilling, patient reality of high-profile cold cases. Discover how Moran reopened the infamous John Wayne Gacy investigation to bring long-awaited answers to families stuck in a cruel limbo, moving beyond the media headlines to uncover the true nature of modern forensic detective work.

The dialogue moves deeply into the psychological and procedural reality of cold case work, beginning with a candid debate on why terms like “closure” and “justice” are dangerous illusions for grieving families. Garry opens up about his own profound personal loss—losing his daughter to fentanyl—to underscore why finding definitive “answers” is the only true anchor for a family stuck in limbo. The two law enforcement veterans trade stories about what draws a person into the dark world of investigations; Moran recounts transitioning from a 22-year-old patrol cop who simply needed to know what happened after he submitted a police report, while Gary shares gripping reflections from his NYPD days, including the fallout of the Mollen Commission corruption scandal and his father’s dangerous post-WWII assignment tracking the mob on New York’s riverfront docks.

Beyond the Gacy investigation, Moran details the harrowing reality of the 2009 Burr Oak Cemetery case. Dubbed part of the “Cook County X-Files,” this massive investigation exposed an unbelievable institutional low where cemetery employees systematically disinterred hundreds of bodies from a historic Black cemetery, dumping the remains in an unmarked back field to resell the plots for profit. Moran describes the mass-disaster style forensic operation required to navigate the commingled remains and the delicate execution of proving desecration while managing the grief of affected families.

00:00 Why “closure” and “justice” are dangerous myths for victims’ families

05:17 The exact moment a patrol cop chooses the gritty path of detective work

10:49 The brutal procedural reality of why cold cases get shelved

13:25 Hitchhikers and hippies: How the 1970s landscape bred a golden age of serial killers

20:56 Reopening Gacy: The shocking truth about the “open” status of a closed case

25:11 The DNA hit that changed human identification forever

28:43 Exhuming the pauper’s field: The blind hunt for the nameless eight

31:31 An unexpected flood: How 150 families cracked open non-Gacy mysteries

35:12 The Burr Oak Scandal: Uncovering an all-new low in the death care industry

43:47 Inside the real-life Cook County X-Files

49:56 The final word on the nobility of wearing the badge

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