Welcome Zoe Rosenthal to TheColdCases.com Team

We're Expanding and Building a Legit Media Organization

We’re Growing: Welcome Zoe Rosenthal to the Team

Something I’ve been wanting to say for a while now: we’re building a real media organization.

Not just a newsletter. Not just a passion project. A legitimate outlet dedicated to cold cases and true crime — built on rigorous journalism, real data, and accountability to the victims and families who deserve better than sensationalism. And today, I get to introduce the newest member of that team.

Meet Zoe Rosenthal

Her name is Zoe — like “Joe” with a “Z,” not “Zoey” (she’ll appreciate you knowing that).

Zoe comes to us with credentials that, frankly, made the decision easy. She holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Crime Analysis from Boston University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration with a minor in Juvenile Justice from Missouri Southern State University, an Associate Degree in Law Enforcement, and a Certificate in Criminal Law. While at Missouri Southern, she earned the Outstanding Criminal Justice Graduate Award in 2019.

But degrees only tell part of the story. What makes Zoe stand out is what she’s done with that education. Her professional background spans legal drafting in criminal defense and personal injury law, and case analysis for the Missouri Children’s Division — real-world experience inside the criminal justice system, not just writing about it from the outside.

She specializes in transforming complex crime datasets into clear, compelling narratives. If you want a preview of what she brings to the table, her article “Motives of the American Serial Killer: Data-Driven Analysis of Motives and Patterns” published on Obscurix is a strong example of her work — precise, evidence-based, and genuinely engaging. You can read it here.

She loves deadlines. She’s a perfectionist. And writing has always been her passion. We’re lucky to have her.

Where We’re Headed

Bringing Zoe on is part of a bigger vision I want to be transparent with you about.

We are building a real media organization around cold cases and true crime — one that takes the investigative and journalistic standards of legacy media seriously, and applies them to cases that have been forgotten, mishandled, or simply never given the attention they deserve.

That means expanding the writing team. It means deeper investigations. It means holding agencies accountable with data-backed reporting rather than speculation.

And one day — hopefully sooner rather than later — it means original documentaries on Substack TV, which is now a real thing. The ability to bring video storytelling directly to our audience without gatekeepers is something I’m genuinely excited about, and it’s a direction we’re actively working toward.

None of this happens overnight. But it is happening.

Thank You — Truly

None of this would be possible without you. Every subscriber — free or paid — is part of why this community exists and why it keeps growing. I don’t take that lightly.

To our paid subscribers: you are directly funding work like Zoe’s. You’re the reason we can bring on talented journalists, go deeper on investigations, and build toward the larger vision I described above. It genuinely means everything.

If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading to a paid subscription, I’d be grateful if you’d consider it now. It helps more than I can express — not just financially, but as a signal that this kind of work matters and is worth supporting. Every paid subscriber makes it easier to do more of it.

Thank you for being here. Welcome Zoe. And stay tuned — we’re just getting started.