True crime fans aren’t happy with one detail about Max’s Taken Together

While Max’s Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? brings attention to the case and has reignited discussions, there’s one detail about the documentary that hasn’t gone down too well. 

The new true crime docu-series dropped on Max last week, centering on the 2012 abduction of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and her eight-year-old cousin, Elizabeth Collins.

Months after they went missing in Evansdale, Iowa, their bodies were found by hunters in Bremer County. To this day, the case remains unsolved. 

As well as delving into the various theories, suspects, and those close to the girls, Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? examines the investigation carried out by the authorities. 

While many viewers agree the three-part docu-series is a compelling watch, true crime fans have taken issue with director Dylan Sires’ decision to look at other cases as potential leads. 

One of those is a theory put forward by Elizabeth’s dad, Drew: that Michael Klunder was responsible for the murders. Klunder was previously considered by investigators, having committed similar offences. 

Less than a year after Lyric and Elizabeth went missing, Klunder kidnapped two girls: 12-year-old Dezi Hughes and 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard. After Dezi escaped and notified the authorities, Klunder murdered Kathlynn before killing himself. 

Taken Together also looks at other cases with possible links to the perpetrator, including child sex abuser Jeff Altmayer, who was arrested in 2016, and the 2017 murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German in Delphi, Indiana. 

However, with nothing more than circumstantial evidence, the investigation is no closer to identifying Lyric and Elizabeth’s killer. And a number of viewers felt the docu-series spent too much time on these theories. 

In a Reddit thread about Taken Together, one wrote, “I watched it. It was good, but I wish they just focused on Lyric and Elizabeth. I get why they made the connection but didn’t feel necessary. I would’ve liked to explore the family theory more. I really hope this case gets solved.”

A second agreed, “My thoughts exactly. There were points where I zoned out and came back and thought I had started another documentary completely.”

Another went into more detail on IMDb, writing, “The first episode ends with a second double kidnapping that is implied to be related to the first. The second episode focuses on this kidnapping only to have the police ‘rule out’ the perpetrator. 

“The series slogs along before it then decides to try to connect this tragedy to the Delphi murders 400 miles away (another red flag). Once again, this turns out to be a nothing burger. 

“Finally, it ends with one of the fathers and the filmmaker declaring that maybe it was the second double kidnapper after all. 

“While this could allegedly be possible, they base their information on two ex-cons with conflicting stories that, at best, ‘prove’ that the second double kidnapper came to Evansdale once. Hardly a smoking gun.

“Investigations do, admittedly, have lots of false leads and roads that go nowhere. That is a fact of these cases. But… there’s no need to devote over 20+ minutes to discussing the Delphi case when they already know that the cases have no connection to one another. 

“At the outset, the filmmaker stated that he took over 300 hours of footage. While I applaud him for taking it down to three hours, there was still more fat to be trimmed.”

A fourth commented, “Unfortunately this is one that could have been one episode. Maybe two. They really drag it out for what ultimately isn’t much different than where they would have been without it. They also pivot to something that is ultimately completely unrelated.”

Nonetheless, Taken Together is still a compelling watch, and one that raises awareness about a case that is as fresh today for girls’ loved ones as it was when it began.

As said by another viewer, “It was good. Done well. Heartbreaking to relive. More questions than answers again now.”

Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? is streaming on Max now. For more true crime, read about what happened to Lou Pearlman, Melissa Witt, and Phil Spector.