Some of the people connected to the nation’s most talked-about criminal cases and documentaries are coming to Indianapolis this summer as part of the live “Crime Unfiltered” tour.
The tour stops June 18 at the Old National Centre Egyptian Room, bringing together individuals whose lives became the focus of national headlines, documentaries and online conversations surrounding true crime.
The event is led by investigative journalist and executive producer Alysia Sofios alongside criminologist and Purdue University Northwest professor Nicky Ali Jackson, Ph.D.
Jackson, an Indiana-based criminologist, is the founder of the Center for Justice and Exoneration Network and has spent much of her career studying crime, victimization and wrongful convictions. Organizers said her work examining both criminal cases and the human impact behind them made her a natural fit to guide the live discussions featured throughout the tour.
Her work and leadership in Indiana have also earned statewide recognition, including the Sagamore of the Wabash and the Torchbearer “Heart of Indiana” Award, two of the state’s highest civilian honors.
“As host of Crime Unfiltered, Dr. Jackson serves as both guide and guardian, creating space for context and emotion while ensuring these conversations remain grounded in ethical storytelling,” organizers said in a release.
According to organizers, the live event is intended to give audiences a deeper look into the personal experiences behind several of the country’s most widely followed criminal investigations and documentaries.
Among the featured guests is John Ramsey, whose daughter JonBenét Ramsey was killed in 1996 in one of the country’s most well-known unsolved murder cases.
“My daughter was the most important thing in my life,” Ramsey said in a statement. “And the only way this chapter closes for my family is if we find who did this to her.”
The event also includes Nichole Schmidt and Tara Petito, family members of Gabby Petito, whose 2021 disappearance and death drew national attention as millions followed the investigation across social media and news outlets.
“Gabby was just a normal girl with dreams like every other young person,” Schmidt said. “If sharing her story helps even one family recognize warning signs or avoid what we went through, then her voice is still making a difference.”
The lineup also features Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, whose 2015 kidnapping case became the subject of the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare.” Authorities initially questioned whether the kidnapping had actually occurred, publicly comparing the case to the fictional plot of “Gone Girl” before later confirming the crime was real.
“When I was finally released, I hadn’t even had a chance to catch my breath before my life was taken from me again by accusations repeated across the media,” Huskins said. “People believed a story that simply wasn’t true.”
Quinn said the tour allows audiences to hear directly from people whose stories were filtered through headlines, documentaries and public speculation.
“Millions of people watched our story unfold,” Quinn said. “But there’s always a filtration between what actually happened and what people hear. This is a chance to talk about the reality of living through it.”
The event will also include speakers featured in Netflix’s “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish,” which became one of the streaming platform’s most watched documentaries in 2025.
The documentary examined a years-long cyberstalking campaign targeting Shawn Licari’s family that investigators later connected to a member of the family itself. Licari and relative, Melissa Perry, are scheduled to appear during the Indianapolis stop.
“What happened changed our lives in ways I never could have imagined,” Licari said. “It’s one thing to watch a story like this in a documentary. It’s another to live through it.”
Also appearing on the tour is Sean Ellis, whose wrongful conviction case was highlighted in the documentary series “Trial 4.” Ellis spent more than two decades in prison after being convicted in the killing of a Boston police officer before his conviction was later overturned.
“When you spend twenty years in prison for something you didn’t do, it changes how you see everything,” Ellis said. “If my story helps people understand how easily the system can fail, and why fighting for justice matters, then telling it is worth it.”
Jackson said the event focuses not only on the investigations themselves, but also on the lasting impact public cases can have on the people at the center of them.
“These are the people behind some of the biggest headlines in crime,” Jackson said. “This tour gives audiences a rare opportunity to hear the humanity behind those headlines. It’s something you can only truly understand when you hear their voices directly.”
Additional tour stops include Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. Organizers said more cities are expected to be announced later this year.
Tickets for the Indianapolis stop are available through crimeunfiltered.com/home#tickets.
Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
Hanna Rauworth is the Health & Environmental Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper, where she covers topics at the intersection of public health, environmental issues, and community impact. With a commitment to storytelling that informs and empowers, she strives to highlight the challenges and solutions shaping the well-being of Indianapolis residents.
