This is the story of the last day of 17-year-old Quanice Hayes’s life. It involves a police department that says they have no good way of deciphering between real guns and fake ones, and a family still searching for answers.
Crime
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Story
Stewards of the Blood
One California woman tries to understand the code of honor that young men live by in blood feuds.
Posted inEditor's Pick
How ‘Cops’ Became the Most Polarizing Reality TV Show in America
What one of TV’s longest-running reality shows says about race and our relationship with the police.
Posted inStory
The Encyclopedia of the Missing
She keeps watch over one of the largest databases of missing persons in the country. For Meaghan Good, the disappeared are still out here, you just have to know where to look.
Posted inUncategorized
Longreads Best of 2017: Local Reporting
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in local reporting.
Posted inReading List
Longreads Best of 2017: Crime Reporting
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in crime reporting.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
No Más Fantasía
What happens when you’re sentenced to life in prison as a teenager, then released 19 years later and sent to a place that’s supposed to feel like home?
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Third Life of Richard Miles
Richard Miles spent 15 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The state of Texas compensated Miles for his wrongful conviction, but life after vindication has come with its own set of challenges.
Posted inQuotes
Wherever You Go, There You Are. Charles Manson is There, Too.
Do we carry pieces of our younger selves with us, even as we grow and change?
Posted inEditor's Pick
The True, Twisted Story of Amityville Horror
No one place has made as deep an impression on American pop culture as the notorious Long Island home, site of a terrible murder and the basis of scores of books and movies.