Nobody Should Believe Me Podcast Season 6 Reveals Hidden Family Crimes in Rare Disease Community

True crime meets emotional reckoning in the highly anticipated sixth season of Nobody Should Believe Me. Hosted by acclaimed author and investigator Andrea Dunlop, the series returns with a devastating exposé into a decades-long case of Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) involving the McDaniel family. This new season is not just a story of familial betrayal—it’s a searing indictment of systemic failure across healthcare, nonprofit governance, and the legal system.

Cover art for Season 6 of Nobody Should Believe Me podcast showing shadowy Southern home and haunting silhouette.

The story centers on Lisa McDaniel, once lauded for her work at The Guthy Jackson Foundation—a respected nonprofit dedicated to rare disease awareness. But behind her angelic public image was a sinister truth: she had a past conviction for poisoning and suffocating her infant daughter, a fact hidden from public knowledge for years.

Through interviews with family members, investigative journalism, and psychological analysis, Dunlop and her team peel back the layers of secrecy that allowed this Southern Gothic tragedy to fester for decades. At the heart of it all is Mishelle Roberts, Lisa’s brave daughter, who chose to speak out, breaking a silence rooted in fear, loyalty, and manipulation.

🧩 Podcast Background: A Legacy of Investigative Brilliance

Since its debut, Nobody Should Believe Me has built a reputation for exploring rare forms of abuse with journalistic integrity and emotional nuance. Andrea Dunlop, who is also an author and advocate, launched the podcast to shine light on MBP—a form of child abuse in which a caregiver exaggerates, fabricates, or induces illness in another person, typically a child, to gain attention or sympathy.

Previous seasons explored similar cases, blending survivor testimony with expert insight. The podcast has resonated globally, not just for its shocking subject matter but for its compassionate storytelling and commitment to justice.

🏠 The McDaniels: Southern Charm with a Sinister Secret

Lisa McDaniel, by all outward appearances, embodied the role of the loving Southern mother. Charismatic, articulate, and fiercely devoted to her son Collin—who she claimed suffered from a rare illness called Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO)—Lisa cultivated admiration in rare disease communities. Her 12-year tenure as Director of Patient Advocacy at The Guthy Jackson Foundation only solidified her saintly image.

But this façade masked a disturbing truth. Lisa had been convicted of felony child abuse for poisoning and attempting to suffocate Mishelle—her own daughter—when Mishelle was just a baby. The conviction, while serious, was kept quiet, never appearing on public-facing materials and somehow overlooked during background checks.

⚖️ Hidden Crimes, Legal Evasion

How does someone with a conviction for child abuse ascend to a trusted role in a healthcare nonprofit? That question fuels much of the outrage that listeners and experts alike feel after hearing Season 6.

Andrea Dunlop meticulously explores how Lisa’s criminal past evaded detection. Whether due to clerical oversight, sealed court records, or deliberate misrepresentation, Lisa’s employment and influence went unquestioned for over a decade.

Records obtained for the podcast indicate that Lisa was charged with felony child endangerment and later convicted, yet she was still able to serve as an advocate for children with NMO. That irony isn’t lost on Dunlop—or on the families now calling for better nonprofit governance and accountability.

🧠 Munchausen by Proxy: A Medical and Psychological Primer

MBP is one of the most misunderstood forms of abuse. Often, the perpetrator is seen as over-attentive, rather than malicious. The reality is far darker.

Symptoms of MBP can include:

Fabricating symptoms or medical records
Inducing physical harm to produce illness
Doctor shopping and medical manipulation
Emotional coercion and gaslighting of the child

In Lisa McDaniel’s case, her ability to fabricate Collin’s condition not only gained her sympathy—it positioned her as a subject-matter expert, granting her access to vulnerable families across the country.

💔 Mishelle Roberts Breaks the Silence

After years of silence, Mishelle Roberts chose to come forward, allowing Dunlop to tell the full story for the first time. Her courage in the face of manipulation and trauma is the emotional spine of Season 6.

In gripping interviews, Mishelle describes her childhood of gaslighting, fear, and conflicting realities. She shares how she began to piece together the truth as an adult, and what finally pushed her to speak out. Her voice, raw with emotion but steady with resolve, is both heartbreaking and empowering.

“I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t explain it until I was much older,” Mishelle says in Episode 1.

🧬 The Collateral Damage: Collin and the Forgotten Siblings

While Lisa focused her energy on Collin’s supposed illness, the other children in the family were left to navigate emotional chaos. Dunlop’s reporting reveals a fractured family unit—one where trust was a rare currency, and fear was the norm.

Collin’s current condition remains uncertain, but Season 6 poses difficult questions: Was he ever truly ill? What role did Lisa’s coercion play in his treatment? And how many medical professionals unwittingly enabled the abuse?

🚨 Systemic Failures: Healthcare, Law, and Nonprofits

Lisa’s ability to evade detection wasn’t just a failure of background checks—it was a failure of the entire system:

Healthcare Providers failed to connect the dots between Munchausen symptoms and Lisa’s behavior.
Nonprofit Governance structures lacked oversight, allowing someone with a felony record to manage patient advocacy.
Legal Authorities sealed or failed to adequately disseminate Lisa’s criminal history.

Experts interviewed in the podcast call for stricter policies around vetting advocacy leaders, especially in sensitive medical spaces. Suggestions include mandatory psychological screening and deeper criminal background checks.

🧠 Why Rare Disease Communities Are at Risk

Dunlop warns that the rarity and complexity of diseases like NMO make them prime environments for MBP perpetrators to thrive. With little awareness, doctors may defer to parent accounts. Tight-knit patient communities may mistake manipulation for passion.

The podcast urges medical and nonprofit organizations to:

Develop MBP training for staff
Establish safe reporting channels for whistleblowers
Require third-party verification for medical claims

📢 The Call to Listen and Learn

Season 6 of Nobody Should Believe Me is now available on all major podcast platforms. It launches with a haunting first episode and continues with weekly installments that unravel the McDaniel case layer by layer.

This season isn’t just about one family—it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when charm and deception go unchecked in systems designed to protect.

Listen, learn, and share. Because believing survivors can be the first step to stopping abuse.