Clue Awards Reveal 2026 Nominees; Jeffrey Epstein Survivors to Be Honored and Former ‘Dateline’ Reporter Chris Hansen Will Host (EXCLUSIVE)

Former “Dateline NBC” personality Chris Hansen, who now hosts “Takedown with Chris Hansen,” will host CrimeCon‘s 2026 Clue Awards. The annual event, which takes place Saturday, May 30, at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace as part of the three-day CrimeCon convention, recognizes true crime content in TV, film, podcasts and publishing. 

CrimeCon announced this year’s Clue Awards nominees on Thursday, and also revealed that Jeffrey Epstein survivors Jena-Lisa Jones, Haley Robson and Courtney Wild will receive this year’s Crimefighter of the Year honor. Jones, Robson and Wild are also being recognized for their work in The Survivors, Inc., which focuses on supporting sexual assault survivors.

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Also, the Clue Awards has announced the 2026 finalists for its “America’s Greatest Detective” award, presented by Law & Crime: Tara Augustin and Alyson Dupouy (Maryland’s Montgomery County PD detectives who contributed to solving the Leslie Preer cold case); retired Las Vegas Metro PD Sgt. Jenn Benjamins, who founded law enforcement training company Covert Blue LLC; and South Carolina’s Richland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Vicki Rains Pearson, recently featured in the Netflix doc “Missing: Dead or Alive.”

Clue Awards presenters include “On Patrol: Live” analyst Tom Rizzo, “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker and crime scene investigator Sheryl McCollum, among many others.

Past Crimefighter of the Year honorees include The Black & Missing Foundation, The Gabby Petito Foundation, “America’s Most Wanted” creator and NCMEC co-founder John Walsh, and the families of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, along with Lt. Jerry Holeman and Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland. 

Here are. the 2026 Clue Award nominees:

TV: Outstanding Docuseries

• “Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders” (Stan, CNN, Netflix UK) Dreamchaser, Den of Martians and Fifth Season
• “Girl on the Run: Hunt for America’s Most Wanted” (Hulu) Plum Pictures and ABC News Studios
• “Death of a Showjumper” (Sky) Walk on Air Films and Sky Studios 
• “Amy Bradley is Missing” (Netflix) Ample Entertainment
• “Betrayal: Under His Eye” (Hulu) ABC News Studios and Glass Entertainment Group

TV: Outstanding Episodic Series

• “Feds” (Investigation Discovery) Orit Entertainment and October Films
• “Desert Law” (A&E Network) Twenty Twenty Productions
• “24 Hours in Police Custody: Murder is No Game” (Channel 4) The Garden Productions
• “On the Case with Paula Zahn” (Investigation Discovery) Scott Sternberg Productions, Inc. and Weinberger Media
• “The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher” (Oxygen True Crime) Wolf Entertainment, Alfred Street Industries and Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group

TV: Outstanding Scripted Series

• “Dark Winds” (AMC) AMC Studios
• “Paradise” (Hulu) 20th Television
• “Reasonable Doubt” (Hulu) 20th Television and Onyx Collective
• “RJ Decker” (ABC) 20th Television
• “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu) 20th Television

Podcast: Outstanding Docuseries

• “Burden of Guilt” Glass Podcasts in partnership with iHeart Podcasts
• “Hunting the Bogeyman” Perfect Cadence
• “Blood is Thicker: The Farris Wheel” 48 Hours (CBS News)
• “Shipwreck” Audible and Sugar23
• “Betrayal” Glass Podcasts in partnership with iHeart Podcasts

Podcast: Outstanding Episodic Series

• “48 Hours: Post Mortem” 48 Hours (CBS News)
• “True Crime Recaps” Jellysmack and Trendly
• “Lawless Planet” Audible
• “One Minute Remaining” Mashed Pumpkin Productions PTY LTD
• “Mind Over Murder” Another Dog Productions and Absolute Zero Productions

Outstanding Documentary Film

• “My Father, the BTK Killer” (Netflix) Campfire Studios
• “Night in West Texas” (Theatrical) Myths of Monsters, Naked Edge Films and Texas Monthly
• “Prince Andrew: On Trial” (Channel 5 / True Royalty) Good TV
• “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish” (Netflix) Campfire Studios in association with Terminal B TV
• “Ruby Red Handed: Stealing America’s Most Famous Pair of Shoes” (Hulu) Committee Films in association with ABC News Studios

True Crime Book of the Year

• “Something Big: The True Story of the Brown’s Chicken Massacre” (Post Hill Press) Written by Patrick Wohl
• “Expert Witness” (Grand Central Publishing) Written by Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess
• “Out of the Woods” (Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing) Written by Gregg Olsen
• “Injustice Town” (Pegasus Books) Written by Rick Tulsky
• “Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter” (Pegasus Books) Written by Troy Hillman

People’s Choice: Creator of the Year

• Annie Elise (“SERIALously,” “10 to LIFE”)
• “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” – Nancy Grace
• “Crime Weekly” – Stephanie Harlowe, Derrick Levasseur
• “Courtroom Confidential” – Joshua Ritter
• “The Prosecutors” – Alice LaCour, Brett Talley