CrimeCon 2026

Part 1: On October 1, 2017, what began as a night of country music at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas turned into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. From the 32nd Floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, gunfire rained down on thousands, ultimately leaving 60 people dead and hundreds more wounded. This year, CrimeCon is presenting 2 sessions that feature eyewitness accounts from the officials who ran toward the danger and investigated this tragic event.

In this powerful, first-ever 2-part session, Det. Kenneth Mead, SWAT Officer Levi Hancock and Officer Ashton Packe recount the evening of the attack, as gunfire erupted over the crowd. Officer Ashton Packe recounts the chaos on the ground, the confusion, the radio traffic and immediate realization that this was no ordinary call. SWAT Officer Levi Hancock will walk you through the tactical response and rapid deployment to the 32nd Floor of Mandalay Bay, where there were tense moments in the silent hallway outside Room 32-135 before explosive charges were prepped and deployed. Det. Kenneth Mead reveals decision-making under pressure and offers a minute-by-minute investigative look at the coordination and psychology into the investigation.

In this unprecedented second session on the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, we shift from the breach on October 1 to the aftermath. Det. Kenneth Mead provides an inside look at how law enforcement reconstructed one of the most complex crime scenes in American history, breaking down what investigators uncovered in the days and weeks that followed.

Officer Ashton Packe shares how officers processed the chaos in real time, while SWAT Officer Levi Hancock walks through how the tactical response unfolded. Det. Mead also explores how behavioral threat assessment and forensic psychology played a pivotal role in the effort to determine motive, including insight from interviews and the interrogation of the suspect’s girlfriend.

Together, the three officials confront the human toll of the tragedy — survival, resilience, trauma, and the lasting impact on first responders, the community, and the nation. This session is not only about what happened, but what changed in the areas of response, recovery, and prevention.

Two days. One city. One of the most pivotal moments in modern American history — examined through raw firsthand accounts, unflinching honesty, and hard-earned insight.

Two missing toddlers, six people gone, a mysterious group called the “University of Cosmic Intelligence,” and families still desperately searching for answers: this is one of the most unusual and troubling missing persons cases investigators have faced in years.

When children vanish under suspicious circumstances, investigators race against the clock. But in this case, detectives believe secrecy, coercive control, and extreme beliefs are standing in the way of finding the truth.

Go behind the headlines with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for a closer look at the disappearance of Missouri toddlers Malaiyah Wickerson and Ashton Mitchell, their mothers, and others believed to be connected to the “University of Cosmic Intelligence.”

Moderated by Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC’s Director of Communications, this powerful session brings together the people closest to the case: Cartisha Morgan, Malaiyah’s grandmother, who continues living this nightmare every day; Det. Sgt. George Ervin, the investigator trying to unravel the disappearances; and Mike King, a respected expert on cult behavior, coercive control, and religious criminality.

You’ll hear firsthand how investigators are navigating unpredictable behavior and complex belief systems while trying to locate missing children and what it’s like for families left searching for loved ones who seem to have disappeared into another world.

This is more than a case overview. It’s a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how missing child investigations can collide with fringe groups and manipulation tactics investigators don’t often encounter. If you’re drawn to the cases that leave even experienced detectives struggling for answers, this is a session you won’t want to miss. 

Join former Orange County, California Deputy District Attorney, author, and ABC News contributor Matt Murphy as he uses AI to bring a little-known case back to life.

In August 2006, one man was killed and four others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Costa Mesa, California. The case received little media attention — never becoming the subject of a podcast or documentary — yet Murphy was still tasked with prosecuting the shooter and seeking justice for the victims.

Using AI-generated imagery, Matt has recreated the timeline, the suspect, the victim, and the victim’s family to shed new light on a case he believes deserves far more attention.

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