Join Law&Crime”s Dan Abrams as he uncovers how the nation’s top detectives cracked down and solved some of the most elusive crimes.

Brilliant detective work has fascinated, educated and entertained people for ages. Yet, the people who perform this amazing detective work on a daily basis are rarely recognized outside their locality. To change that, leading legal and true crime network Law&Crime will present its third annual America’s Greatest Detective Award at Crime Con 2025, a title awarded annually to recognize the most complex investigative work done by teams or individuals working in or adjacent to law enforcement.

For the third year in a row, Law&Crime’s team has carefully selected three nominees from across a wide range of investigative professions. Now we’re inviting our audience members to vote on who they think best deserves the title of America’s Greatest Detective.

This year’s nominees include: Sgt. Julissa Trapp (Anaheim, California, Police Department) for work on the case of serial killer Steven Dean Gordon and accomplice Franc Cano; Ofc. Jeffrey Babauta (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) for his 2-½ year sting operation into the world of underground alligator poaching; and Sgt. Matthew Vartanian and Det. Andrew Houghton (Elgin, Illinois, Police Department) for their resolution of the 42-year-old cold case of Karen Schepers, through which they launched the innovative cold case podcast series Somebody Knows Something.

Law&Crime’s Dan Abrams will host the America’s Greatest Detective panel at Crime Con, as well as present the winner at the 2025 CLUE Awards on Sept. 8, 2025.

From the three nominees, America’s Greatest Detective will be named based on the adjudication of a specially nominated panel composed of Law&Crime executives, partners and law enforcement experts.

Sgt. Matthew Vartanian joined the Elgin, Illinois, Police Department in 2008, after falling in love with a career in law enforcement through an internship in nearby Geneva. Following many years of working in special investigations, gathering intelligence on gang-related crimes, Vartanian moved into a new role with the cold case unit in May of 2024. Since then, Vartanian has been promoted to sergeant of the patrol division in June 2025. In his new role, Vartanian will continue to offer his dedication and expertise to the Elgin community in crisis and tactical response, criminal apprehension, evidence collection and more.

Det. Andrew Houghton has been a police officer in Illinois since 2007 and has been with the Elgin Police Department since 2012. Det. Houghton previously worked as a patrol officer and an evidence technician before becoming a detective in 2013. He also served as an affiliate investigator with both the Illinois Attorney General’s Office & The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces from 2014 through 2024, where he specialized in crimes against children and internet-related crimes. He has been a member of the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force, which assists area agencies with major crimes since 2021, and was assigned as the first full-time detective for the Elgin Police Department’s cold case unit in May 2024.

In October 2024, Vartanian and his partner, Houghton, reopened the case of Karen Schepers, a 23-year-old resident of Elgin who went missing after a night out with coworkers in April of 1983. After launching a podcast in order to generate vital tips from the community, Vartanian and Houghton were able to successfully locate Schepers’ car and remains in the Fox River in March, providing a major break in a case that has haunted Elgin for 42 years.

Vartanian’s podcast with Houghton, Somebody Knows Something, serves as an exceptional model for trailblazing investigative work by allowing the public to listen along – and offer crucial, never-before-heard information – in real time. With a new addition to the team, Detective Chris Hall, the podcast will continue to seek out new leads on additional cold cases in Season 2.

To quote Vartanian on the duo’s inspiration behind the initiative: “We’re cops, we’re not podcasters; we have no experience in this at all. Then we took a step back and thought objectively and open-mindedly and realized this could be a really powerful tool for us as law enforcement to generate public interest again and get these cases back out there.”