{{Short description|Former FBI criminal profiler and criminologist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Use American English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Candice DeLong | image = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|7|16}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = <!--{{Death date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|1950|7|16}}--> | occupation = Criminal profiler <br/> TV series host <br/> television personality | years_active = 1978-present | spouse = John Raymond DeLong (divorced){{citation needed|date=March 2021}} | children = 1 | known_for = Host of Investigation Discovery programs ''Deadly Women'' and ''Facing Evil with Candice DeLong'', Discovery+ program ''The Deadly Type with Candice DeLong'' }} '''Candice DeLong''' (born July 16, 1950) is an American former FBI criminal profiler<ref name="CandiceID">{{cite news|url=https://press.discovery.com/us/id/talent/delong-candice/|title=Candice DeLong (Discovery ID bio)|work=Discovery.com|access-date=March 15, 2018|archive-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414184859/https://press.discovery.com/us/id/talent/delong-candice/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and bestselling author.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Killer Psyche|url=https://wondery.com/shows/killer-psyche/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Wondery - Feel The Story|language=en-US}}</ref> DeLong was the lead profiler in San Francisco, California, and worked on the Unabomber case.<ref name="CandiceID" /> Currently, she hosts the Investigation Discovery programs ''Deadly Women'' and ''Facing Evil with Candice DeLong'',<ref name="CandiceID" /> the Wondery podcast ''Killer Psyche'',<ref name=":0" /> and the Discovery+ program ''The Deadly Type with Candice DeLong''.<ref name="DeadlyType">{{cite web|title=The Deadly Type with Candice DeLong|url=https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/the-deadly-type-with-candice-delong|access-date=2022-07-30|website=Discovery+|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Early life== Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, DeLong is the daughter of a building contractor father and a homemaker mother.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews">{{cite news |last=Nguyen |first=Lan N. |date=June 28, 2001 |title=Former FBI agent Candice DeLong talks law and order in her new book |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2001/06/28/straight-shooter-former-fbi-agent-candice-delong-talks-law-and-order-in-her-new-book/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=New York Daily News}}</ref> Growing up, DeLong stated that her father had told her to choose a practical career.<ref name="CandiceBackground">{{cite news|url=https://www.thenewsherald.com/2009/11/19/on-the-front-lines-fbi-profiler-had-high-stakes-career/|title=On the front lines: FBI profiler had high-stakes career|date=November 20, 2009|last=Blum|first=Andrea|work=The News Herald}}</ref> Before entering the field of criminal profiling, DeLong worked as a psychiatric nurse at Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="CandiceBackground"/> However, by the time she was 28 years old, she was a divorcee with a young son.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/> Wanting a new career, DeLong went to Quantico, Virginia, in 1980 to attend the FBI training academy. She was one of seven female recruits.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/> DeLong worked in the FBI's Chicago office after graduating from Quantico.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/> DeLong stated that she used humor to ease tensions while working.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/>
She claimed that her three career goals were as follows: "to be involved with a high-profile national criminal, I wanted to apprehend a serial killer, and I wanted to rescue a kidnap {{sic}} victim alive."<ref name="CandiceBackground"/>
==Career== In 1982, DeLong became involved in the investigation of the Chicago Tylenol murders, in which seven people died from potassium cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.<ref name="CandiceBackground"/> Although no one was ever charged in the poisonings, the incident led to new packaging for over-the-counter medication and federal anti-tampering laws. Regarding the incident, DeLong stated that "You can thank the Tylenol killer for the fact that it now takes a blow torch to get into a bottle of Tylenol."<ref name="CandiceBackground"/>
In 1995, DeLong was one of the three handpicked FBI agents to mastermind the manhunt for the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/> Kaczynski had sent 16 bombs over a 17-year period to target areas, killing three people.<ref name="CandiceBackground"/> After his 1995 capture in Lincoln, Montana, DeLong wrote that "he only cared about two things — his little quarter-acre of property and killing people."<ref name="CandiceBackground"/>
DeLong, a member of the Child Abduction Task Force in San Francisco, California, stated that the greatest day of her career was when she was able to rescue a nine-year-old boy, a kidnapping victim who had been given crack cocaine and been forced to participate in child pornography. After learning of the abductor's whereabouts on a train in San Diego, California, the boy was saved.<ref name="CandiceBackground"/>
Following DeLong's July 2000 retirement from the FBI, she published a book entitled ''Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI''.<ref name="CandiceID"/> In the book, she discusses the criminal profiling process and how she helped solve high-profile cases.<ref name="CandiceID"/> DeLong also dedicated a chapter in her book to personal safety, stating that "Prevention can be as simple as a deadbolt lock on your house."<ref name="CandiceDailyNews"/>
In the early days of the investigation of the disappearance of Laci Peterson, DeLong stated in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ''Good Morning America'' that Laci's husband Scott Peterson was speaking about Laci in the past-tense, even though her body had not yet been discovered.<ref name="CandiceLaci">{{cite news|url=http://www.lacipeterson.com/whatshappening/page08.html|title=Making the Rounds|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202032249/http://www.lacipeterson.com/whatshappening/page08.html|archive-date=February 2, 2007|access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref> She was criticized by Scott's supporters for saying that a pregnant Longview, Washington, woman who had appealed to a store clerk for help could not have been Laci Peterson because the woman claimed to have been kidnapped.<ref name="CandiceScott">{{cite news|url=http://www.factbites.com/topics/Laci-Peterson|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406095622/http://www.factbites.com/topics/Laci-Peterson|title=Laci Peterson - Factbites|archive-date=April 6, 2012|access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref>
After the acquittal of Casey Anthony in the death of Caylee Anthony, DeLong told the Huffington Post that the prosecution must have offended the jury, because the amount of circumstantial evidence should have been enough to convict Casey.<ref name="CandiceCasey">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/casey-anthony-trial-verdict_n_890173#23_prosecution-offended-the-jury|work=Huffington Post|first=David|last=Lohr|title=Casey Anthony Trial Verdict: NOT GUILTY Of First-Degree Murder (UPDATE)|date=July 5, 2011}}</ref>
DeLong currently hosts two programs on the Investigation Discovery Network: ''Deadly Women'' and ''Facing Evil with Candice DeLong''.<ref name="CandiceID"/> She serves as a subject-matter expert on ''Deadly Women'', offering her professional opinions about the women profiled on the show. On ''Facing Evil'', DeLong has profiled Jennifer Reali, Jennifer Hyatte, Susan Grund, Belinda Van Krevel, Patricia Olsen, Celeste Beard, Dawn Silvernail, Ashley Humphrey, Jill Coit, Rachel Wade, Shirley Jo Phillips, Tyonne Palmer, Jennifer Bailey, and Melissa Vanover from the inside a prison, discussing the women's motive for murder.<ref name="CandiceShows">{{cite web|url=https://corporate.discovery.com/discovery-newsroom/investigation-discovery-sinks-teeth-into-season-tw/|title=Investigation Discovery's Annual "Black Widows Week" Sinks Its Fangs Into Season Two of "Facing Evil" With Candice DeLong|work=Discovery.com|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref> DeLong also has a podcast on Wondery titled "Killer Psyche", and has been a frequent interview guest of Ronn Owens on the San Francisco Bay Area radio station KGO, and on Fox News.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nolasco |first1=Stephanie |title=Former FBI criminal profiler Candice DeLong on how 'Dr. Death' case haunted her: 'I was terrified' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/fbi-criminal-profiler-candice-delong-wondery-killer-psyche-dr-death |access-date=2 October 2021 |work=Fox News |date=July 31, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Nolasco |first1=Stephanie |title='Deadly Women' host Candice DeLong says few are 'born evil,' believes there are more undiscovered female killers |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/deadly-women-candice-delong-season-13-female-killers |access-date=2 October 2021 |work=Fox News |date=August 22, 2019}}</ref> Her latest program, ''The Deadly Type with Candice DeLong''<ref name="DeadlyType" /> on Discovery+, explores some of the common psychological types found among killers.
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Delong, Candice}} Category:1950 births Category:American criminologists Category:American non-fiction crime writers Category:American television hosts Category:American women criminologists Category:American women television hosts Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Category:Law enforcement officials from Chicago Category:Law enforcement officials from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Living people Category:Offender profiling Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American women crime writers