Track down the longest running fugitive in American history with ‘My Fugitive’

Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios presents “My Fugitive,” an 8-part documentary and true crime podcast. The episodes tie secrets together to determine what happened to the longest-running fugitive in American history, Howard Mechanic.

Host Nina Gilden Seavey was interested in this story since she was a child. It was not unusual for her home near Washington University to be searched or intently watched by police. Her father, Louis Gilden, was a civil rights attorney in St. Louis, Missouri. At this time, Louis became of interest to the FBI in the city’s climate.

One night, a riot erupted at Washington University in 1970 and an Air Force building burned to the ground. As a result, campus activist Howard Mechanic is accused and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Howard flees and stays on the run for over 30 years. Louis represented Howard, and he yearned to know what happened to his client.

Nina, Emmy award-winning documentarian and filmmaker, wanted to further investigate. Nina inherited her father’s curiosity of the case. Piles of evidence are uncovered and she is brought to a Cold War spy ring and a government coverup. There is also a link to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

Many questions arise. Why is St. Louis the only place where student protestors get federally charged? Did the FBI ignore certain pieces of truth? This whole story sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it is verified by Nina’s evidence.