
In November 1993, the mutilated corpse of a woman, later identified as Renée Bergeron, was found on a dirt road near Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama. The crime scene was horrific with Bergeron’s body left nude, drained of blood, and decapitated. The case garnered little attention and the investigation eventually went cold.
Now, nearly 30 years later, former police officer and sex crimes detective Sarah Cailean endeavors to find out what really happened to Renée Bergeron and bring closure to her family.
Follow Cailean’s journey into this case with the new ID original podcast WHY CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT AMANDA’S MOM?, premiering Wednesday, February 22, with new episodes dropping weekly, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Over the course of eight gripping episodes, WHY CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT AMANDA’S MOM? features Cailean, who is currently serving as a special investigator for the Mobile County (AL) Sheriff’s Office, revisiting Bergeron’s murder by retracing the steps taken by investigators nearly 30 years ago.
With support from the Sheriff’s Office to dig into how the case was approached in 1993, Cailean uncovers holes in the original police investigation which leads her to new evidence and surprising suspects. These revelations lead to unexpected new theories…Known as the serial killer's highway among criminologists, would that mean Bergeron was the victim of a calculated, pathological killer? Would a misidentification during the initial coroner’s examination of her body indicate something much more mysterious about the way she lived? Finally, does a local man who came forward with a blind tip in the weeks following Bergeron’s murder have the answer to the crime now, decades later?
Join Cailean as she digs further into these theories and brings her recorder along for every interview, analysis, and discovery.
THE LATEST INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY ORIGINAL PODCAST
WHY CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT AMANDA’S MOM?
UNEARTHS NEW EVIDENCE, THEORIES, AND SUSPECTS IN COLD CASE

PHOTO GALLERY
BERGERON CASE FILES


Amanda and Renée, 1993





Dr. Ann Burgess, pioneering researcher in forensic psychology and criminal profiling

Renée and Amanda, Christmas

Renée and her boyfriend




Renée with family member and baby Amanda



Renée

Renée

Renée and her dad, Ray


Reward poster, misidentifying Renée as Maria


Amanda and Renée, Winter 1992




I-10 Service Road, November 14, 1993

I-10 Service Road, November 14, 1993



Grassy slope of I-10 Service Road, the body obscured by the sawgrass





Renée (left) and her best friend Leigh Ann


Sarah and Captain Paul Burch of the MCSO

I-10 Service Road in Theodore today

Suspect