Mystery, Crime, & Detective Audio Shows
Paul Jack Fronczak and Tracey Hastings investigate the 1964 kidnapping of baby Paul Fronczak, the identity of foundling Jack Rosenthal, and the disappearance of Jack’s twin sister Jill.
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About The Show
🍿 FORMAT
Podcast
✨ TITLE
The Fronczak Files
🌎 GEOGRAPHIC BASIS
United States
✅ SHOW STATUS
Ongoing
⏳AVERAGE DURATION
Varies
Host
🧔🏻 HOST(S)
Paul Jack Fronczak and Tracey Hastings
🌈 HOST Gender
Varied / Mixed
🎙️ DESCRIPTION
Two Hosts, Hosts + Guests
ℹ️ BACKGROUND
Advocate / Activist, Survivor / Family
Style & Genre
🎩 SENSE OF FORMALITY
Mostly Formal
Content type
Historical Crime / Mystery
📢️ APPROACH TO COMMENTARY
Case-Focused / Minimal Chat
👐 METHODOLOGY
Advocacy / Awareness, Archival Audio, Evidence Focused, Personal Account, Personal Investigation
🔔 TONE
Emotional, Respectful, Serious, Suspenseful
👻 PARANORMAL ELEMENTS
No
Synopsis
Description
The Fronczak Files is a true crime podcast dedicated to solving DNA mysteries, reclaiming lost identities, and sharing stories of missing and exploited children. It’s co-hosted by Paul Jack Fronczak and Tracey Hastings, and it grew out of Paul’s own remarkable story: in April 1964, a woman disguised as a nurse took a one-day-old infant from a Chicago hospital room, and the resulting search became the largest manhunt in the city’s history. The case went cold for decades, and the show traces the ongoing effort to find answers about identity and justice, tangled up with the related mystery of a man named Jack Rosenthal who was abandoned as a child, and the disappearance of Jack’s twin sister Jill.
Beyond Paul’s own case, what started as his personal investigation has grown into a broader mission to help other people uncover the truth about their origins, using genetic genealogy and DNA analysis on other cold cases of missing or abandoned children. The team includes a lead genetic genealogist, a lead historical researcher, and an audio/video editor, and episodes combine historical investigation, DNA science, and emotional reunion stories. The show is now several seasons in — it’s currently airing Season 4 as of mid-2026 — and episodes range from deep dives into individual cases (like helping an abandoned newborn track down her biological parents) to team discussions laying out theories and suspects in the original Fronczak kidnapping.
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