I’m Melissa Jeltsen, an investigative journalist based in Brooklyn.
I host What Happened to Her, a weekly podcast from iHeartMedia that digs into stories of violence, abuse and survival. Some weeks it’s a multi-part investigation; others, it’s a standalone story, a conversation with an expert, an update on a past case, or something from my own life.
Listen to past seasons:
Season one, “What Happened To Sandy Beal,” centers on a woman who was training to become a cop in the 1970s before her mysterious death.
Season two, “What Happened To Libby Caswell,” explores the role of domestic violence in the death of a woman in Missouri in 2017.
Season three, “What Happened To Talina Zar,” revolves around a woman who went missing during the coronavirus pandemic, and the internet sleuths who rallied to find her.
Season four, “What Happened in Nashville,” covers the sudden collapse of a fertility clinic, and prospective families are left to pick up the pieces.
I’m also an investigative reporter covering where gender, the criminal justice system, trauma and reproductive rights meet. I’ve written for Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan and others.
I was the recipient of the 2015 Newswomen’s Club of New York award for reporting on mass shootings and domestic abuse. My 2016 profile of Lorena Bobbitt helped to inspire an Amazon docu-series re-examining her case. My feature story on police officers who abuse won the 2018 Writers Guild award for digital news.