Cold case podcaster returns to Ohio to investigate homicide of 8-year-old girl

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – After recently investigating a homicide in Marysville, a true crime podcaster from Florida has returned to central Ohio to dig into the 2006 killing of an 8-year-old girl.

Melissa Sandberg did not expect to come back to Ohio for the second season of her podcast “Dog with a Bone,” but when she received a tip about the homicide of Mackenzie Branham and read up on the case, she felt compelled to investigate. 

“It just really pulled out my heartstrings of this 8-year-old girl still seeking justice,” Sandberg said. 

In April 2006, Branham died in a fire at her mother’s residence in Jeffersonville, which the mother shared with her live-in boyfriend. The blaze was determined to be arson. Both Branham’s mother and the boyfriend escaped unharmed. 

Over the 19 years the case has remained unsolved, Branham’s father and community members have raised concerns about the integrity of law enforcement’s investigation. A now-deceased sergeant who responded to the fire was the brother-in-law of Branham’s mother’s boyfriend, and Branham’s father has questioned how officers handled pieces of evidence. A 2018 petition even called for the removal of the Fayette County sheriff over the case. 

“There were mistakes that happened in Mackenzie’s case,” Sandberg said. “Everyone in the community is aware, the investigating office is aware of mistakes that were made, but I do know that mistakes can be rectified.”

Sandberg has flown to Ohio twice so far to conduct her own investigation. She said she visited the crime scene, along with interviewing the sheriff, a firefighter who responded to the scene, Branham’s relatives and community members. 

She will detail her findings in the second season of “Dog with a Bone” and plans to publish the first episode in early September. From there, an episode will be released once a week. 

Before looking into Branham’s case, Sandberg investigated another case out of central Ohio. She dug into the homicide of John Burnside, 32, who was found dead in his Marysville home with a plastic bag taped around his head in December 1993. This marked the first season of her podcast, which she says has racked up 56,000 listens since its release last September.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cold case investigator, homicide investigator, and so this is really me able to live out my dream, but more importantly, it’s able to give victims a voice,” Sandberg said.

After Sandberg began to look into the case and reach out to different law enforcement agencies, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation decided to review Burnside’s case. Sandberg provided the information she found to the BCI’s Cold Case Unit. The agency told NBC4 it is still reviewing the case.

Prior to starting her podcast, Sandberg examined cold cases for more than three years. More recently, in 2022 and 2023, Sandberg was part of an independent group of investigators who brought new leads to law enforcement in the suspicious death of a West Virginia woman named Judith Petty.

While Sandberg spends a lot of her time investigating cold cases, she also has a full-time job in the healthcare industry. 

“I work 40 hours a week and then I come home and I investigate, so after long days of work and two kids, I come home and I’m making calls,” Sandberg said. “I’m interviewing people, I’m writing, I’m recording. It is another full-time job, basically, that you don’t get paid for. It’s really because you have a drive.”

The episodes on Branham’s homicide will be released on platforms that stream podcasts, such as Apple and Spotify. Updates on the new season can be found on the podcast’s Facebook page. 

Anyone who has information on Branham’s homicide may message Sandberg through the podcast’s Facebook, and/or contact the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office at 740-335-6170.