About this episode

This episode explores the shocking case of Sylvia Likens and the community's failure to intervene during her abuse.

Some crimes are so shocking that they force us to ask a question that seems impossible to answer. Not 'Who did it?' We know who did it. Not even 'Why?' Though we'll spend this series trying to understand that. The question is this: How did an entire neighborhood watch a teenage girl disappear in plain sight? Over three months in the fall of 1965, dozens of people entered a small house on East New York Street in Indianapolis. Children played there. Teenagers gathered there. Neighbors stopped by. A minister visited. Police responded to the home. A public health nurse knocked on the door. Yet sixteen-year-old Sylvia Likens remained trapped inside…starved and tortured.  By the time anyone finally listened, it was too late. Sources: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/likens-looking-back-indianas-infamous-crime-50-years-later https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2013/10/24/sylvia-likens/3178393/ House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying - John Dean Torture Mom: A Chilling True Story of Confinement, Mutilation, and Murder - Ryan Green, 2018. The House from Hell: The True Story of Gertrude Baniszewski, Genoveva Ortiz, Sea Vision Publishing, 2024.&nbsp…

More episodes of Once Upon A Crime

• Before Bali: The Untold Story of Sheila von Wiese-Mack · July 20, 2026 · 45 min
• The House on New York Street: The Sylvia Likens Case, Part Two · July 13, 2026 · 36 min
• TRAILER: The House on New York Street, Part 2 · July 11, 2026 · 2 min
• TRAILER: The House on New York Street: The Sylvia Likens Case · July 5, 2026 · 1 min
• The Tragedy of Sylvia Likens: A Two-Part Series Preview · July 3, 2026 · 1 min
• Marie Hilley: The Woman Who Became Her Own Twin · June 29, 2026 · 52 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Once Upon A Crime podcast page.