Podcast
Unravel
Hosted by ABC Australia · EN
What Became of Jack? — the latest season of Unravel, the ABC's award-winning investigative true crime podcast series.
27-year-old Queenslander Jack McLennan had been relaxing, drinking beers at a picnic spot, when his mate said he looked away, and when he looked back, Jack had vanished. Jack was fit and healthy, and even though he'd just been through a break-up, he seemed positive. But now, Jack was missing, and strange clues began to surface, hinting at his last movements. With online theories about the case spreading like wildfire, ABC journalist Rob Burgin sets out to investigate. Has there been a crime or not? He traces the fragments of that night through a web of small Queensland towns, where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows something, but no one can agree on what became of Jack.
Previous series of Unravel cover various investigations into crimes and crime-related topics, including solved and unsolved murder cases, missing persons, forensic analysis, gangland crimes, love scammers, con-artists, drugs, terrorism, Neo-Nazis, and miscarriages of justice — all investigated by some of Australia's best reporters and people who know the story best.
In Season 7, Blood on the Tracks, award-winning Muruwari and Gomeroi journalist Allan Clarke spends five years investigating the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of 17-year-old Gomeroi teenager, Mark Haines. In 1988, just outside of Tamworth in country New South Wales, a freight train hits Mark's body lying across the tracks. When the rail worker stops the train and gets out, the scene doesn't add up. The tracks divide Tamworth in two. An Aboriginal community on one side, a largely white population on the other. Some will say it was a suicide and others a murder. Despite the strange evidence found at the scene of his death, the family feel like they're being ignored by the police. An inquiry finds no answers, and the mystery is left to fester, causing division and suspicion in the town. Allan's reporting helps to spark a resurgence of interest in the case that sees the file reopened, a review launched, a reward announced. As Allan gets closer to the truth, the story ends with a revelation no one was expecting, and the thirty-year-old mystery finally begins to unravel. Blood on the Tracks won a Walkley award for Coverage of Indigenous Affairs. This series was re-published with a bonus episode due to updates and advances in relation to the case.
In Season 6, Mr Big, journalist Alicia Bridges investigates a disturbing recording of a man admitting to a murder. She finds herself in a world of lies, gangland and subterfuge, where very few things are as they seem. Her reporting leads her deep inside an international controversy, to a world of secrets that powerful institutions don’t want revealed.
In Season 5, Firebomb, Crispian Chan investigates what really happened after his family’s restaurant went up in flames in 1988. He was just a kid when Chinese restaurants were being firebo...
37episodes
Episodes
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Blood on the Tracks | BONUS The Inquest Findings
2w ago00:29:00Summary readyAfter almost forty years, two inquests and because of one family that never gave up, the Coroner has finally delivered her findings into the death of Gomeroi teenager Mark Anthony Haines. Journalist Allan Clarke has spent close to a decade investigating Mark's death. His Walkley Award-winning coverage for the ABC reignited public attention on the case and helped drive it to this final inquest. Allan reflects on the findings and what it means to reach the end of a story he's carried for so long.
Summary08 What Became of Jack? | BONUS Behind the scenes
3w ago00:17:30Summary readyJournalist Rob Burgin breaks down his approach to investigating What Became of Jack? with Stephen Stockwell, host of the ABC's true crime podcast, "The Case Of."Stocky asks Rob about the challenges he had reporting the story, what he thinks of the evidence, and what's next for the people at its centre.
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07 What Became of Jack? | Two cars
3w ago00:33:30Summary readyA new theory emerges from tip-offs coming in to ABC journalist Rob Burgin. Rob investigates two cars spotted at Ficks Crossing the night Jack McLennan disappeared, hoping it might lead him to an understanding of what became of Jack.
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06 What Became of Jack? | Duke Speaks
Jun 2200:45:00Summary readyThe last known person to see Jack alive finally breaks his silence. Chris Duke speaks in detail for the first time, laying out his version of what happened the night Jack McLennan vanished and revealing new details about Jack's last known moments.
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05 What Became of Jack? | Whispers
Jun 1500:41:00Summary readyJack’s mum gets a shocking tip-off from a scared community member. With the rumour mill in overdrive, ABC journalist Rob Burgin tries to decipher what’s true and what’s not about the disappearance of Jack McLennan.
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04 What Became of Jack? | The Wondai house
Jun 800:32:00Summary readyOne of the last places Jack was seen was a house in Wondai. Rob goes there, despite being told the people inside that night have links to the region's darker side, to investigate why Jack visited that night and what happened after he left.
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03 What Became of Jack? | The dark side
Jun 100:32:00Summary readyRob retraces Jack's final hours via CCTV footage and meeting people who saw him in his last days. He also learns about another item found in Jack's wallet that reveals a different side to what went on that night. And finally, ABC journalist Rob Burgin gets a call through to the last known person to see Jack alive, and he agrees to speak publicly for the first time.
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02 What Became of Jack? | The breakup
May 2500:35:06Summary readyThe day he vanished, Jack moved his stuff out of Carlee's place. They'd just broken up. Carlee hasn't spoken publicly about what led up to that day or why she called police twice in the days before Jack disappeared — until now. She thinks Jack's disappearance is suspicious, but tells ABC journalist Rob Burgin how speculation, rumours and aggression have flooded the vacuum of information around what happened to Jack.
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01 What Became of Jack? | Vanished
May 2500:35:06Summary readyWhen Jack's mate turns around, he's just… gone. Vanished. His mate says that's how fit 27-year-old Jack McLennan disappeared from a bush picnic spot 3 hours from Brisbane. But when searchers discover a trail of baffling clues, suspicions begin to deepen among friends and family. They start questioning what this is — it doesn't seem like the average missing person's case to them. Could it be murder? Is it someone who's just gone missing? ABC journalist Rob Burgin picks up the case, determined to find out what became of Jack.
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INTRODUCING — What Became of Jack?
May 1100:02:08Summary readyWhen a fit young man disappears from a picnic spot, leaving a trail of strange clues behind him, a community begins to suspect the worst. The belongings he leaves behind are discarded in a way that seems nonsensical, and to some, even sinister. Is he missing, has he left town or has there been a crime? Concern turns to suspicion and online speculation as weeks turn into months, with no sign of Jack. Now, ABC journalist Rob Burgin investigates what became of Jack, tracing the fragments of that night through a web of small Queensland towns, where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows something, but no one can agree on what became of Jack. Coming soon, What Became of Jack?: the latest season of the ABC's award-winning true crime podcast, Unravel. Follow or favourite to be notified when the first episode releases.CreditsHost and reporter: Rob BurginProducer and fact checker: Jake MorcomSupervising producers: Alex Mann and Yasmin ParryTheme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley CadellSound design and additional music: Emrys CroninExecutive producers: Tim Roxburgh and Eric GeorgeHead of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
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