Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Skeletal remains found in 2004 are identified as a Birmingham man who disappeared in 1988 | Crime Alert 6AM 02.17.26

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Remains found in 2004 are identified as a Birmingham man who disappeared in 1988 Brazilian au pair receives 10-year term in the killing of Joseph Ryan linked to plot targeting a lover’s wife New Jersey man convicted in the deaths of his brother and family, then accused of setting fires to conceal the crime Minnesota shooting involving a Venezuelan man draws scrutiny as video evidence challenges ICE’s account See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Alert, I'm John Lemley. Investigators in Birmingham, Alabama, have confirmed that skeletal remains discovered more than two decades ago belonged to a man who vanished nearly 38 years ago. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office says the bones unearthed in 2004 have now been positively identified through advanced forensic genealogy as Brian Keith Bay. Bates, a 21-year-old who disappeared from his East Lake neighborhood on November 15, 1988.

Bates was reported missing after he failed to return home from a friend's funeral. His family had no further contact. At the time, authorities believed foul play was involved. The unidentified remains buried in a crawl space of a rental property sat in evidence for years. New DNA techniques, including genetic genealogy analysis, Applied last year ultimately yielded a match that linked the remains to Bates. An autopsy revealed Bates died of a gunshot wound to his head, and the coroner's office says his death is now being treated as a homicide. Law enforcement officials hope the breakthrough will revive leads in a case that has lingered unsolved for generations.

Thanks, John. For the latest, Crime and Justice News, go to crimeonline.com, and please join us for our daily podcast, crime stories. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In Fairfax, Virginia, dramatic sentencing in a chilling double murder case is capturing national attention. A Brazilian opere, Juliana Perez Mogolleinez,

was sentenced February 13th to 10 years in prison for her role in the 23 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Mugelanias admitted she helped her then employer and lover, former IRS agent Brendan Banfield, orchestrate an elaborate plot that lured Ryan a stranger to the Banfield home under the guise of a sexual encounter. Prosecutors say that once inside, Banfield stabbed his wife to death and Ryan was shot. Mugelanias later confirmed she fired a fatal shot as well. She initially faced more serious charges but pleaded guilty to Mugale.

manslaughter in exchange for testifying against Banfield at his trial. The judge rejected prosecutor's recommendation for a minimal sentence, instead imposing the maximum term, calling her actions deliberate and self-serving. Banfield himself was convicted earlier this month of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife and Ryan. He paces a mandatory life sentence without parole when he is formally sentenced in May. In one of New Jersey's most harrowing cases in years, a Monmouth County jury has convicted a man of killing his brother and four members of his brother's family, then setting fire to their homes in what prosecutors described as an effort to cover up the crime. 59-year-old Paul Canero was found guilty this week on multiple counts, including four counts of murder, aggravated arson, and weapons charges for the deaths of his brother, Keith Canero.

Keith's wife, Jennifer, and the couple's two children, ages 8 and 11. Prosecutors told jurors that the killings took place November 20, 2018, and were driven by a dispute over business finances. After killing his relatives inside their Colts Neck, New Jersey mansion, Canero ignited fires at both the family's estate and his own home in Ocean Township. seemingly to mislead investigators into thinking the deaths were victims of an arson-related tragedy. His defense appealed to jurors to consider alternate suspects, including a third brother they said may have had a motive. But after roughly five hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts. Canero faces a potential life sentence when he is formally sentenced in May. In federal law enforcement news, authorities are investigating allegations that immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, may have provided false testimony in a shooting incident earlier this year.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General has launched a probe into statements made under oath by two officers involved in a January 14th shooting of a Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Selis, Seles, Safer. video evidence cast serious doubts on the agent's account of the encounter. The probe is part of a larger pattern of at least five cases nationwide, where initial accounts by immigration and customs enforcement personnel were later contradicted by video recordings. In some instances, officers initially claim individuals acted violently toward agents. Later evidence showed the suspects posed little apparent threat. In the Minnesota case, felony assault charges against two Venezuela nationals were dismissed when video did not support the assertion that the men attacked an officer. Similar video evidence has challenged official narratives in shootings in Chicago and other cities,

raising questions about transparency, use of force, and accountability within federal immigration enforcement. Federal investigators say they will pursue any evidence of perjury or misconduct in connection with these incidents. Thanks, John. For the latest, crime injustice news, go to crimeonline.com, and please join us for our daily podcast, crime stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.