Darlene A. White
For more than four decades, Crime Stoppers of Michigan has played a key role in solving crimes throughout Detroit and beyond, and now a brand-new podcast will offer a voice for those who have lost loved ones to violent crime.
Andrea Isom, a former Channel 7 reporter, will produce and host “Missing, Murder and Mayhem,” a podcast that premieres Friday at www.missingmurdermayhem.com and focuses on solving crimes.
“(On the podcast) we’re not just covering crime, but all aspects of it,” Isom said. “It is not just the act; it is the aftermath that often gets ignored. In the news, we cover the story and then there is the aftermath that we do not get to.”
“Missing, Murder and Mayhem” allows listeners to help solve real crimes in the community and receive cash rewards for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
“Crime victims are a big piece of this unsolved mystery,” she said. “Crime Stoppers does such a good job wrapping their arms around these people and not only giving them access to big ways to get their stories out, but tangible things like support systems for families in children.”
Crime Stoppers, a nonprofit organization, has bridged the gap between the public and law enforcement by providing resources, communications and community support to families affected by crime. The organization encourages citizens to safely “SPEAK UP” about crime, abuse and animal abuse in communities and schools.
The organization is funded by corporate donations, faith-based organizations and law enforcement agencies, companies that sponsor annual events, individual donors and Crime Stoppers’ $5 a month club. Crime Stoppers serves Wayne, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair and Washtenaw counties.
Isom says she has always been attached to the mission of Crime Stoppers “because it matters.”
“When they asked me about the podcast, I immediately said, ‘yes’ as of yesterday,” she said. “Let us bring these cases to life whether they are new, old, cold — whatever they are — they gotta be solved. They need to be, so we thought this would be the best way to do it without putting a one- or two-minute time cap on families. Let’s allow these families to tell their story.
“Obviously, we want to help solve the crime, that’s first and foremost, because we want to get the perpetrators off the streets and get them help. Whether that’s mental help, change redemption, prison or reform. There is so many ways to tackle all of this, so we need to do that.”
The first episode goes live on National Gun Violence Awareness Day and will feature the unsolved murder of Kevin Wheeler, a father, son, brother, scholar and youth pastor who was gunned down in his car just days after July 4, 2020.
“We need to let these families know they are heard,” Isom says. “Something so traumatic happens to you and people just forget about you that’s another layer of trauma and we can’t we do that.”
People always ask what they can do to help victims of crime and Isom says the answer is simple.
“What you can do is show that you care,” she said. “It easy for victims to get isolated, so let them that you care by sharing a podcast, share a tweet, share an Instagram story, to help these families get justice.”
Daniel DiBardino, Crime Stoppers president and CEO, said he hopes the podcast helps solve crimes.
“This podcast will give everyone an opportunity to pick up a phone and report what is it that they know anonymously to Crime Stoppers and by doing so, it reduces the opportunity for an individual to continue to commit crimes,” he said. “The only way crime can proliferate if we keep turning our heads and do nothing about it.”
The CSM tip line (1-800-SPEAK-UP) allows people to anonymously report information about a crime. As an incentive, tipsters can receive a cash reward if their information leads to an arrest. A cash reward of up to $2,500 is paid for an unsolved homicide, hit-and-run fatality, or endangered missing person. A cash reward of up to $1,000 is paid for all other crimes. Tips can be submitted in two ways, call 1-800-SPEAK-UP or visit www.1800speakup.org.
In the last five years, Crime Stoppers has received more than 38,000 anonymous tips from the public and has awarded more than $592,450 in cash rewards to anonymous tipsters.
This podcast really matters, Isom said.
“I want people to know that there are people out there that really care,” she says. “It is not about money. It is about community. It really is. The awareness day is important because it must be. We are all an incident away from it being us. People think crime is in one corner of a community. Crime is everywhere. We could be the next grieving family on a poster or passing them out.”
Isom added that gun violence is solvable.
“People always say how do we stop the violence and the answer is to make different choices,” she stated. “Do not pick up the gun, and do not engage with someone in that way. We must change the narrative of that. Conflict is going to happen but resolving it should never end with you picking up a gun and using it.”