Lovers

In November 2012, freshly divorced auto shop manager Dave Kroupa thought he was navigating the casual dating scene in Omaha, Nebraska until one short relationship ended and the stalking began. For the next three years, the messages grew more violent, more personal, and more terrifying, all coming from a woman who refused to let him go. But as detectives dug into the case, they uncovered a truth that forced Dave to confront a chilling possibility: the nightmare stalking him had been much closer than he ever imagined.

Orange Park felt like a safe, sunny Florida neighborhood. On October 19, 2009, seven-year-old Somer Thompson walked home from Grove Park Elementary, a route she knew by heart. She was a gentle little girl who loved animals and gave hugs freely. But somewhere between school and home, Somer vanished—leaving her family with police radios, rising fear, and the horror that she might never come home.

Julie Jensen was found dead in her bed on Lakeshore Drive in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Next to her was a glass of water, two pill bottles, and no signs of a struggle. She’d been sick, and tormented for months by obscene letters and calls that started after a brief affair with her former boss. Police once warned him to stay away. Now, years later, she was dead, raising the question of whether her past had finally caught up with her or if something even closer to home was involved.