Lost: The Story of Salvador Alvarenga

Lost: The Story of Salvador Alvarenga

Author: True Crime Campfire February 6, 2026 Duration: 57:34
In a lot of ways, the world is smaller now than it ever has been. With a few clicks of the mouse, I can watch a live camera feed of Sydney harbor, or read a newspaper from any country I can think of. Just five hours in an airplane can get you from the US to Europe, and pretty much anyone on the planet can listen to a couple of nerds like us on a podcast. But, obviously, the world is not in fact shrinking. It is still just as vast and potentially perilous as it was in the days when no one knew what lay on the other side of the ocean, and all it takes to bring that home is to lose connection to our world of technology and information. Our story is about a man’s unimaginable journey through the ocean wilderness, driven by nothing but his wits and his will to survive.*Registration is now open for CrimeWave 2.0! Visit crimewaveatsea.com/CAMPFIRE to get your discount code for $100 off your cabin and a private meet-and-greet with us! The cruise is Feb. 8-12, 2027.Sources:Jonathan Franklin, “438 Days”Time Magazine: https://time.com/4154458/castaway-sued-cannibalism-allegations/The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/04/castaway-story-backing-from-mexicanFollow us, campers!Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfirehttps://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/Facebook: True Crime CampfireInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=enTwitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfireEmail: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.comMERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gather round the True Crime Campfire with Katie and Whitney, where the stories are dark but the atmosphere is surprisingly warm. This isn't your standard procedural recap; it's a narrative journey into the human condition, exploring societal undercurrents and the strange, often forgotten corners of history through the lens of true crime. You can settle in for a long, chilling tale with their first season, a deep dive into the bizarre case dubbed The Puppet Master and the Prince of Darkness. Or, if you prefer your mysteries in weekly installments, their second season serves up a new stranger-than-fiction story with every episode. What makes this podcast so compelling is the balance struck by the hosts: their meticulous research provides a solid foundation, while their natural chemistry and well-timed comic relief make even the most complex cases accessible and strangely welcoming. The storytelling is seamless, pulling you into each twist without sensationalism. It’s the kind of show that makes a long drive disappear or turns a household chore into an immersive experience, proving that the most haunting stories are often those told with a human voice and a thoughtful perspective.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

True Crime Campfire
Podcast Episodes
Left Where God Could Find Him: Amish Serial Killer Eli Stutzman Pt 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:51
Comedian Simon Amstell said, “If you are somebody who is going to at some point be revealed as not like everyone else, then to be in an insular community is a problem.” Here Amstell was discussing how it felt growing up…
TCC LIVE on the Crimewave Cruise! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:06
Last week, we did our first-ever live show on the Crimewave true crime cruise! We covered three cases, a sort of "sampler platter" to give new listeners an idea of what kind of stories we usually tell on TCC. Case 1 is t…
Crown Fools: Two Notorious Cases from the UK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:00
We tell a lot of wild stories about crimes that happened right here in the States—but it’s worth noting that our cousins across the pond are misbehaving just as badly. Y’know, same crimes, different accent. Today we’ve c…
Sleeping With the Enemy: The Murder of Bill McLaughlin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:38
It’s hardly a revelation that physical attraction can cloud judgment. It’s one of the oldest traps in human nature—that spark of chemistry that overrides caution, turning common sense into background noise. For most peop…
The Price of Love: The Murder of Franklin Bradshaw Pt 2 (Final) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:03
In part one of this story last week, we learned about Utah millionaire Franklin Bradshaw, who over the years had gained both a stupendous fortune and a strained relationship with some of his family—in particular with his…
The Price of Love: The Murder of Franklin Bradshaw Pt 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:23
All the money in the world can’t buy peace of mind. Family life, with its jealousies and rivalries, carries the same pressures no matter the size of the bank account—but when wealth is measured in millions, those pressur…
Swindles and Sacraments: A Story of Deception and Belief [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:11
The Buddha said, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense." Ignore that advice, and you might find that you're cloud…
Not Today: Amazing Stories of Survival [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:48
We deal with a lot of real-life horror stories, and because it’s real life, they’re often chaotic and cruel. Justice might ultimately be served, but more often than not, the victims are already cold in the ground. If som…
The Man Who Wasn't There: The Murder of Shannon Mohr [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:05
If there’s one constant in the kind of people we cover, it’s this—they’re liars. Con artists trying to scam their way into money, murderers denying their crimes, spouses with secret affairs, liars, all of them. This week…
Stooperheroes: A Grab Bag of Unlikely Avengers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:26
Most of us grew up loving superhero stories. My favorite was always the X-Men. I liked the idea of these people who were born with mutations that initially made them targets of bigotry or fear, then harnessing those diff…