Spring Break Murders

Revealing the untold stories lurking beneath the sun-soaked surface of the most popular holiday destinations. Found brutally murdered on their holidays - students and young people are the collateral damage.

In 2001, Lynsie Ekelund, with partial paralysis, secretly went to San Diego for spring break, leaving her worried mom, Nancy, back home.

Twenty-one-year-old Kanako Ohyama is found dead in New Orleans. Police use her journal and photos to uncover the truth behind her murder.

Harris County, Texas. In March 2017, 19-year-old In Tynesha Stewart studies civil engineering at Texas A&M University and returns home to Houston to see family and friends on Spring Break. She also has big plans to attend a Beyoncé concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with her friends. But Tynesha never shows up for the show. The search begins, and with the help of the leader of Houston's New Black Panthers, they identify a suspect, uncovering the details of Tynesha's murder.

Matamoros, Mexico/Brownsville, Texas. In March 1989, 21-year-old Mark Kilroy had been talking about Spring Break with his friends since the start of the fall semester. A pre-med junior at University of Texas, Mark couldn't wait to travel to South Padre Island, Texas for some sunshine and fun. But the morning after partying in the border cities of Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico, his friends realize Mark has vanished. Two months later, a trail of evidence lead investigators to a remote region of Mexico where Mark was one of a dozens victims of ritual satanic sacrifice and cannibalism.

Wahoo Bay, Oklahoma. In May 2006, 18-year-old Jarret Clark doesn't return home from a comping trip with friends. Wahoo Bay campground in Oklahoma offers the spring break crowd both beauty and privacy. Which makes finding reliable witnesses difficult, and his parents don't believe the story the other campers are telling. When his body turns up it appears as though he may have simply wondered off and drowned as reported, but the autopsy is inconclusive. It will take the Clark families relentless push for justice unearth at the facts that a Jarret's assailants hoped would stay hidden within the woods.

Oranjestad, Aruba. Solved, October 2023. In May 2005, 18-year-old Natalee Holloway takes a Spring Break trip to Aruba with her girlfriends to celebrate their last year of high-school. During a night of fun and partying at a beach bar, Natalee and her friends meet a few young men who match the girls' spirit of fun. As the night wears-on, the group splits-up. Some head back the hotel, while others stay out for more partying. When Natalie's friends wake-up in their hotel the next morning, Natalie's not there. Local authorities can't find her either. So, Natalee's family calls in the FBI. After five years of rumors and false leads, investigators finally piece together the grim truth of what happened to Natalie that night: she'd been murdered and the crime covered-up. In the end, the FBI brings her killer to justice.