Town file
West Wendover, Nevada
West Wendover, Nevada (Elko County, Nevada) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 383, "The Brutality Of Strawberry Shortcake" (27 April 2023). In March 2011 Micaela Castanzo, known to everyone as Mickey, was a sixteen-year-old at West Wendover High School in West Wendover, Nevada, a small casino town on the Utah border in Elko County.
- Town
- West Wendover
- County
- Elko County
- State
- Nevada
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 383
- Approximate location
- 40.740, -114.079
Episode 383 / 27 April 2023 / 159 min / full
The Brutality Of Strawberry Shortcake
""This is West Wendover, Nevada... Far eastern Nevada... this is in Elko County"" about 0:05:13
The case: Murder of Micaela 'Mickey' Castanzo (March 2011). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Population
- 4,517
- Median age
- 29 and a half
- Median household income
- $41,890 a year
- Median home value
- $247,200
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,280 a month
- Cost of living
- 97.4
- Religious
- 40.5%
- Property crime
- ▲ about 20% high
- Violent crime
- ▲ more than double
History, in brief
- West Wendover began to develop in the 1930s and 1940s when legalised gambling came to Nevada. about 0:06:55
- William Smith founded a small cobblestone service station as a rest stop for travellers crossing the desert between Utah and Nevada; the site is now the Wendover Nugget. about 0:07:47
- The Wendover Nugget held the record for the oldest continually operated gaming licence in Nevada for 66 years, until December 2001 when the former State Line casino and hotel came under new ownership. about 0:08:07
- In the 1970s and 1980s it became a small resort town with more casinos, hotels and a golf course. about 0:08:26
- In October 1999 the US Department of Transportation moved West Wendover out of the Pacific time zone, making it the only part of Nevada legally in the Mountain time zone. about 0:09:38
- In 2019 West Wendover's first recreational cannabis dispensary opened and people from Utah swarmed there to buy weed. about 0:10:06
The reviews read out
4 stars
"A lifelong resident says the casinos are beautiful, especially from a mountain top, but it is a very small town with little for teenagers to do, the closest hospital is two hours away, everyone knows everyone, and it will eat your dreams alive."about 0:11:05
3 stars
"Casino paradise with no attraction other than the casinos and nothing for anyone under 18, perfect for the easy casino life."about 0:13:11
3 stars
"Little to no crime and a lovely community."about 0:13:50
3 stars
"A small casino town, perfect for a quiet out-of-the-way place, where most jobs are teaching or casino work and the largest grocery is Smith's."about 0:13:59
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Lucin, Utah43 miles
- Elko, Nevada89 miles
- Washington Terrace, Utah114 miles
- South Salt Lake, Utah114 miles
- Eureka, Utah117 miles
- Perry, Utah117 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.