Unresolved: A True Crime & Mystery Podcast23 Sep 2025

The California Medfly Attack

"State officials have probably noticed an increase as well as an unusual distribution of Medfly infestation in Los Angeles County since March 1989. This was no coincidence."

The Mediterranean fruit fly, better known as the medfly, is about as unassuming as an insect can get. But the pest, native to sub-Saharan Africa, comes with enormous stakes. The medfly can infest more than 200 plant species, proving to be a nightmare for farmers everywhere. For farmers in California, though, they're an existential threat. That's why state officials treat every sighting like a five-alarm fire.

California has been fighting medfly invasions since the mid-1970s, throwing everything at them in an attempt to save their billion dollar agricultural industry. But in 1989, a strange outbreak of medflies were reported in Los Angeles and Orange counties. They appeared in clusters, as if they'd been placed there on purpose. Before long, a mysterious group calling themselves "The Breeders" claimed responsibility for this act of eco-terror...

Research & writing by Amelia White

Hosting, production, and additional research/writing by Micheal Whelan

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

If you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or Producer

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved-a-true-crime-mystery-podcast--3266604/support.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(459)

The Vela Incident (Part Two: ... Or Nothing)

"I have never been able to get rid of the thought that [the 22nd September event] was some sort of joint operation between Israel and South Africa."At 00:53 Coordinated Universal Time on September 22n...

30 Sep 57min

The Vela Incident (Part One: Alert 747)

"There was indication of a nuclear explosion in the region of South Africa, either South Africa, Israel using a ship at sea, or nothing."In May 1969, Vela 6911 had been launched into the upper atmosph...

27 Sep 58min

Jeffrey Merriweather Jr.

"At this point in time, all I want is what’s left of my son and put him to rest."On 22 June 2019, skeletal remains were discovered behind an abandoned house on Pecan Drive, in southwest Atlanta, parti...

23 Sep 32min

Vadim Kruglov

"When you get stabbed in the manner that he was, you're going to be out in seconds."On the evening of 30 August 2025, tens of thousands of people gathered around a seventy foot wooden figure that was ...

19 Sep 32min

Preview: Seattle's Pitting Epidemic

This is a preview for an Unresolved bonus episode, available for those that support the show on Patreon. If you'd like to listen along to this and other Patreon Exclusive bonus episodes, become a supp...

17 Sep 2min

Frauke Liebs

"Perpetrator and victim drove out almost daily in the late evening hours in a vehicle and later returned."In the summer of 2006, Germany was hosting the World Cup. Cities and towns throughout the coun...

5 Sep 39min

Chelsea Small

"He actually shot her twice. He didn't need the second shot. But he did it anyway."November 12th, 2013 was supposed to be Chelsea Small's day off. The 30-year-old single mother of two worked at an Adv...

28 Aug 34min

"Tom Johnson"

"You just don't think that kind of thing can happen to people you know."At 1:30 in the morning on 24 October 1992, Jeremy Rolfs and Heather Uffelman loaded an Apple Quadra 950 into their car and set o...

22 Aug 48min