How True Crime Took Over
The public's obsession with true crime is not new, but the genre has exploded in popularity in recent years as it's become far easier to access. It's on TV at all hours and available in various forms on nearly every streaming platform and podcast network. It has even expanded into multiple sub-genres that have created huge stars, like the comedy-true crime podcast My Favorite Murder. The juggernaut podcast catapulted comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark to fame, fortune and a permanent association with finding the jokes in gruesome murders.
Then there's social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok that allow anyone to upload almost anything they want, whether it's speculation on a current case or a deep dive into an unsolved mystery from 100 years ago. Some are simply telling stories, and some are attempting to solve what detectives so far cannot. Others are bringing stories to light that otherwise might never have been widely known about, hoping for new leads.
Gabby Valente, known online as Gabulosis, has just under 200,000 followers on YouTube. Her videos come out weekly and typically focus on crimes that are older than 20 years. She started in 2016 by covering famous unsolved murders and missing persons from Old Hollywood, but her content has shifted.
"Over time, I received requests to cover other older cases, and not just of people who were well known in the public eye," she tells A&E Crime + Investigation. "Eventually, I was reached out to by family members of victims who wanted more attention on their loved one's case. There are countless families out there wanting their words to be heard and they've been let down many times by law enforcement agencies."
Valente takes those requests seriously, and many of her videos promote fundraisers to help families hire private investigators or pay for genealogy work. Her goal is always to help in whatever way she can.
"Some people have the opinion that regular people—'armchair detectives'—shouldn't share such serious topics without professional experience," she says. "But sometimes that's the only way this information gets out there and money gets raised."
When possible, Valente interviews family or friends of victims to share the details of cases with her, but when that's not an option, she relies on newspaper archives and websites like The Charley Project, the Doe Network and other databases of missing or unidentified persons. She has occasionally been successful with FOIA requests for government records, which she says is often the most helpful resource. Perspective and empathy are also vital to her storytelling.
"With every story I cover, I try to approach the case the way I would want someone to approach the case of one of my own family members: with care, respect and compassion," she explains. "There are many cases I've covered where the subject matter is genuinely difficult to talk about. There have been times when I've sat at my computer and cried while researching a case or gotten emotional while speaking on the phone with victims' families. But as difficult as those moments can be, I remind myself that these victims deserve to be remembered, and their families deserve to have people listening."
One of the hardest parts, she says, is knowing that sometimes there's nothing she can do to help, no matter how much research she does or how many people she calls. But sometimes her hard work is rewarded, like when a family member declined to talk to her about their missing loved one. She made a video on the case anyway and was touched when they reached out after watching.
"They told me they were sorry they hadn’t spoken with me beforehand because they felt my video was one of the most respectful and truthful portrayals of their loved one’s case," Valente says. "That meant a lot to me, especially knowing how hesitant they had become in talking about the case."
True-Crime Influencer Controversies
YouTuber Eleanor Neale, host of the Outlore podcast, faced backlash in late 2025 when she announced a live true crime tour in the U.K. "We're gonna analyze criminal cases, look through evidence and debate suspects," she teased. "It's what we do best around here."
Commenters and fellow YouTubers criticized her for profiting off of horrific events and disrespecting the families of murder victims, which is a critique that Kilgariff and Hardstark have also faced, along with myriad other complaints. They've been called out for primarily featuring stories with white victims and failing to fact check, while their "Murderino" fandom and tagline "Stay sexy and don't get murdered" leave a bad taste in many mouths. The podcast—which has also gone on tour—positions itself as a way for women to deal with their anxieties over the threat of being murdered, but that hasn't stopped some Murderinos from thinking they can solve real-life crimes.
Compared to Neale's 2.87 million followers or My Favorite Murder's high of 35 million downloads per month, Valente's following is modest, but dedicated.
"Sometimes I really enjoy having the smaller community I do," she says. "I have created a following that includes people that I feel genuinely care for these cases and want to help."
That said, she still has to contend with negative comments that come with putting yourself out there online, and with many people’s negative opinions of true-crime content creators and salacious, clickbait headlines. True-crime influencers often tend to get lumped together, regardless of their actual content.
Kate Crane, author of the memoir What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane?, told A&E Crime + Investigation earlier this year that as the daughter of a missing father, true crime makes her "uncomfortable."
"It desensitizes people," she says. "I really feel that there's a segment of the true crime fan base that does not understand there are differences between fact and fiction, particularly around ethics…In real life, there's an ethical minefield of people whose lives have been forever affected by the fact of the crime."
Can True Crime Influencing Be a Career?
That "ethical minefield" is something Valente is acutely aware of.
"In any line of work, there are always going to be people who aren’t doing it for the right reasons, but I can say there are absolutely people in this space who genuinely care about the cases they cover and the people at the center of them, and truly want to use their platform to help," she says. "People even form negative opinions of creators who include brand sponsorships in videos, not knowing that many of us use those sponsorships to raise more money for fundraisers.
"Everything is subjective and sometimes it's difficult to determine the exact line between advocacy and exploitation, but I think a lot of it comes down to intention, respect and remembering that these aren’t just stories or cases—they involve real people, real families, and real lives."
The problem, according to Valente, is that it's extremely hard to make a living on ethical true crime that doesn't rely on sensationalism and clickbait to get clicks.
"If your overall goal is to make money, I definitely don’t think you’re in it for the right reasons," she says. "And you will most likely be very let down by the outcome."
While Valente says every case she covers means a lot to her, she names the following as specific cases she will never forget:
