The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - Introducing: Denise Didn't Come Home

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

Smoke Screen is now The Binge Cases - new name, same home for thrilling true crime stories. Catch the new season, Denise Didn’t Come Home, on October 1st. Karen Falasca last saw her 15 year old sister Denise on July 14, 1969, when they parted ways not far from their Bergen County home.  The next day, Denise’s body was found strangled next to a cemetery.  For almost 50 years, Karen searched for her sister's killer. In Denise Didn’t Come Home, host Anthony Scalia gets pulled into the search and discovers a shocking and unexpected truth. Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes, all at once, all ad-free as soon as they drop. Visit The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘subscribe’ or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So, if you feel comfortable, I'm ready to start recording. Okay, I'm ready. This is Karen Falaska. When I first met her, she told me a story. A story about the last time she saw her older sister, Denise. I was just a starry-eyed 13-year-old. Everything Denise did was just amazing to me. And I remember that night very, very clearly.

It was a hot summer night back in 1969. Karen was 13 and Denise was 15. They left home together to catch a bus. We got to the corner and she told me she had to go do something. She said, don't follow me. And I said, please stay with me. Denise walked off into the night. And that's when Karen saw a car approaching.

And she noticed the driver staring at her. He was like the devil himself. He scared me. I saw him, and I stepped forward, and I made an aggressive move to get him away from me. And I always wondered if I just sent him straight to Denise. This is your metropolitan area report. The body of a teenage girl found strangled in Saddlebrook, New Jersey yesterday was identified this morning as that of 15-year-old Denise Velasca of Closter, New Jersey.

Nobody knows what happened. She was murdered. And brutally murdered. The thought was some stranger, some psycho killed her. The police tried to solve Denise's murder, but that investigation went nowhere. It's like, well, we don't have any leads, we don't have any clues, and unless someone confesses, we're stumped. I said, okay, if you're not going to do it, I'm going to do it. For almost 50 years, Karen Falaska searched for the man who murdered her sister. And then she got a little help from one of the least likely people I could ever imagine getting involved in a murder investigation. Me.

Together, we talked to everyone who was involved with her sister's case. We knew we had a sexual predator, a serial killer that was out there almost on a daily basis. We learned everything we possibly could about the night Denise was killed. Oh my God! Oh my God! The girl's going to be murdered. And eventually, we even talked to the man

who killed her. I'm the only one that knew exactly what happened. You hear there's no such thing as the perfect murder. Well, that's not true. Because I had a lot of perfect murders. From Truth Media and Sony Music Entertainment, this is Denise Didn't Come Home.

Coming October 1st to The Binge. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Podcasts.