Sex Trafficking and Murder on the Road with Frank Figliuzzi

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23d ago 59:23

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It sounds like an episode straight out of Criminal Minds. The FBI’s Highway Serial Killers initiative hunts for long-haul truckers behind at least 850 murders of mostly female sex trafficking victims along our nation’s highways.

Today’s guest is Frank Figliuzzi. Frank was the FBI’s Assistant Director over Counterintelligence. He served 25 years as an FBI Special Agent in assignments across the country. As the head of all espionage investigations, Frank frequently briefed the White House, the DNI, and the Attorney General. For the past seven years, Frank has been a national security analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He’s the author of a national bestseller, The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence, and now Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers.

Show Notes:

[1:30] - Frank shares his background and what his role was in the FBI for 25 years.
[3:52] - His most recent book is Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers and is about the FBI’s Highway Serial Killers initiative.
[5:57] - These cases go back several decades and remain unsolved.
[7:13] - Trucking is a crucial part of our society, but there are different types of truckers and some are more likely to commit crime.
[9:12] - The success of the initiative really relies on local police departments.
[11:13] - Frank describes some of the things he learned from experts in street-level human trafficking.
[14:27] - Frank gives examples of some of the things he did for research.
[15:53] - The type of trucker that Frank is most concerned about are the ones with very little interaction with other people.
[17:21] - There is more security and tracking of truckers in more corporate organizations.
[18:44] - The corporate job is less attractive to someone who is motivated to commit crime.
[20:03] - Frank was amazed at how high tech trucking is these days and the brains needed to understand it all.
[23:03] - Frank describes his experience as he shadowed a trucker and immersed himself in the lifestyle.
[26:43] - The number one profession for serial killers is a trucker. What is it about the job? Does it attract killers or make killers?
[29:17] - Most people think that people they know would never be a victim of a crime like this.
[31:06] - Human trafficking is most commonly initiated by someone the victim knows.
[32:56] - Get rid of the notion that this can’t happen to your family. That’s dangerous in and of itself because you’ll never see it coming.
[34:40] - Connecting with potential victims has moved online.
[37:57] - Trafficking victims are often victimized more and treated like criminals themselves.
[40:01] - What are the similarities between crime scenes in many of these cases?
[42:42] - The 850 unsolved cases only account for the ones that are known.
[43:46] - There is an organization called Truckers Against Trafficking (T.A.T.). Frank explains what they do and how they help.
[46:48] - Technological advances are making a huge difference, particularly in DNA.
[49:19] - These crime scenes are the worst Frank has ever seen even after his 25 years in law enforcement.
[52:40] - Sometimes, a victim’s name is not known for many years if at all. It is hard to track the solve-rate of these crimes.
[55:12] - There are DNA testing organizations that work with police departments.

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