エピソード

  • Forty Years in a Septic Tank: The Bennett Femur Breakthrough

    Forty Years in a Septic Tank: The Bennett Femur Breakthrough
    2026/07/25
    A human femur discovered inside an abandoned septic tank reopened the Bennett disappearance after forty years. Modern DNA testing identified the remains and exposed a critical detail investigators had overlooked: the tank was serviced only days after Bennett vanished.

    In this episode, we reconstruct the final timeline, the disputed records, and the forensic breakthrough that transformed a missing-person case into a homicide investigation.

    Person: Margaret Bennett
    Date: October 18, 1984
    Location: Bennett farmhouse
    Status: Remains identified after forty years
    Breakthrough: DNA recovered from the femur

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 分
  • The Door Ajar at Midnight: Hairs, a Coffee Cup, and a Killer Revealed

    The Door Ajar at Midnight: Hairs, a Coffee Cup, and a Killer Revealed
    2026/07/24
    An apartment door left ajar, a half-finished cup of coffee, and several unidentified hairs were the only clues investigators recovered after a woman was found murdered inside her home. For decades, the evidence produced no answers—until modern DNA testing connected the hairs to a man who had never appeared in the original investigation.

    In this episode, we reconstruct the final hours, the overlooked evidence, and the forensic breakthrough that finally revealed the killer.

    Evidence: Unidentified hairs and a coffee cup
    Status: Cold case solved through DNA
    Breakthrough: Genetic testing identified the suspect

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • The Freezer, the Glasses, and a 27-Year-Old Secret Revealed

    The Freezer, the Glasses, and a 27-Year-Old Secret Revealed
    2026/07/23
    A pair of eyeglasses discovered beside an abandoned freezer became the only physical clue in a murder investigation that remained unsolved for twenty-seven years. When detectives reopened the evidence, modern DNA testing revealed that someone close to the victim had concealed the truth from the beginning.

    In this episode, we reconstruct the final hours, the freezer’s unexplained movement, and the forensic breakthrough that exposed a decades-old secret.

    Evidence: Eyeglasses and biological material
    Status: Cold case solved after twenty-seven years
    Breakthrough: DNA linked the evidence to the killer

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 分
  • The Dry Mug Mystery: How a Coffee Clue Broke a Cold Case

    The Dry Mug Mystery: How a Coffee Clue Broke a Cold Case
    2026/07/22
    A completely dry coffee mug stood beside a rain-soaked crime scene, suggesting it had been placed there after the storm began. For years, investigators dismissed it as meaningless—until fingerprints and DNA recovered from the handle identified someone who had denied being near the victim.

    In this episode, we reconstruct the final hours, the contradiction hidden in the weather timeline, and the forensic clue that finally broke the cold case.

    Evidence: Dry coffee mug
    Status: Cold case reopened
    Breakthrough: Fingerprints and DNA identified the suspect

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 分
  • The Freezer Note: How a Malachite Ring Unmasked a Killer

    The Freezer Note: How a Malachite Ring Unmasked a Killer
    2026/07/21
    A handwritten note taped beneath an abandoned freezer and a missing malachite ring became the central clues in a murder that remained unsolved for decades. When the distinctive ring appeared in an old photograph, investigators connected it to someone who had denied knowing the victim.

    In this episode, we reconstruct the final timeline, the hidden message, and the overlooked piece of jewelry that finally unmasked the killer.

    Evidence: Freezer note and malachite ring
    Status: Cold case solved
    Breakthrough: The ring linked the suspect to the victim

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分
  • The Frozen Swab That Finally Fingered a Killer: Dunmore 1992

    The Frozen Swab That Finally Fingered a Killer: Dunmore 1992
    2026/07/20
    The Frozen Swab That Finally Fingered a Killer: Dunmore 1992

    A dry barn coat buttoned to the throat, a single blunt-force blow to the back of the skull, and a frozen evidence swab that waited 31 years in cold storage-what did that untouched cotton swab know that everyone else missed? Who stood over Melvin Armstrong and buttoned his coat after death, and why did the crucial smear on a flat stone go untyped for three decades?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Melvin Armstrong’s last day on December 10, 1992, through the discovery of his body on December 11 and the handling of evidence that sat frozen until a forensic genetic genealogist reopened the file. We trace the unanswered questions about how his truck ended up three-quarters of a mile from Hester Park and what finally changed after a technician sealed the second swab in February 1993.

    Person: Melvin Armstrong
    Date: December 11, 1992
    Location: Hester Park, Dunmore, Pennsylvania
    Case: Unresolved murder turned cold; evidence frozen for 31 years
    Investigator: Raymond Shuster (lead detective, retired 2004; kept the case file until his death in 2014)

    - Melvin Armstrong was 62 years old when Michelle Zimmerman found his body just before 6:30 a.m, on December 11, 1992.
    - Michelle Zimmerman discovered the body in the lower meadow between two oak trees during her usual running route.
    - A technician pressed a second cotton swab against a distinct smear on the flat stone beneath Armstrong and sealed it in February 1993, then placed it in cold storage.
    - The second swab sat frozen and was never typed for 31 years before a forensic genetic genealogist requested the sample.
    - Melvin’s truck was found on December 14, 1992, parked about three-quarters of a mile from Hester Park in an ungated municipal lot with no cameras covering it.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    17 分
  • The Stamped Letter That Hid a Killer for Thirty-One Years

    The Stamped Letter That Hid a Killer for Thirty-One Years
    2026/07/20
    The Stamped Letter That Hid a Killer for Thirty-One Years

    The sight of a sealed, stamped envelope beneath a corpse would haunt Ohio for three decades: Valerie Jenkins, 24, was found under a blue tarp in a side yard on November 9, 1991, with a sealed letter addressed to her mother tucked beneath her body. Who put Valerie there - and why had a routine weekly letter never reached the mailbox - remained unanswered until frozen DNA and a distant genealogy lead decades later; what exactly tied the undelivered letter to the person who left the tarp?

    In this episode, we tell how a weekly mailing ritual, a patched blue tarp, and an unmailed Sunday letter became the central clues in a cold case that stretched from Dayton to western Pennsylvania, and how a frozen DNA sample and a genealogy saliva submission eventually reopened the question: who carried that tarp and why?

    Person: Valerie Jenkins
    Date: November 9, 1991
    Location: Drover Street side yard, Kellerton
    Status: Deceased; body found under blue plastic tarp
    Age: 24

    - Valerie Jenkins was a 24-year-old graduate student in library science found dead beneath a blue plastic tarp on November 9, 1991.
    - A sealed, stamped envelope addressed to Valerie’s mother was pressed underneath her body and had not been mailed.
    - Valerie wrote and mailed letters every Monday as a ritual; the last letter Dorothy Jenkins had was postmarked November 2, 1991.
    - The blue tarp had a long tear repaired with gray duct tape, a distinctive patch that remained unmatched for 31 years.
    - A frozen DNA sample and a woman in western Pennsylvania who sent saliva to a genealogy company eventually contributed to solving the case decades later.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 分
  • She Lifted the Lid and Found a Man With One Boot: The Norman Novak Case

    She Lifted the Lid and Found a Man With One Boot: The Norman Novak Case
    2026/07/20
    She Lifted the Lid and Found a Man With One Boot: The Norman Novak Case

    The freezer in a small church annex held a folded body wearing one brown work boot; the other boot would not be found for decades. Thirty-one years passed before investigators could begin to answer how a 48-year-old man with no enemies ended up struck once in the back of the skull and placed in that locked freezer - who had the access and the trust to do it?

    In this episode, we tell the facts of what happened: the last confirmed sighting on the evening of October 11, 1991, the discovery on October 14, 1991, and the questions that haunted detectives for years after. What chain of small choices and missed traces left Norman Novak dead in a place with no signs of forced entry?

    Person: Norman Novak
    Date: October 14, 1991 (discovery); last seen October 11, 1991
    Location: Maple Hill Community Church annex, Caldwell County, Ohio
    Age: 48
    Vehicle: 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity found October 16, 1991

    - Norman Novak worked at Tri-State Agro for 17 years and kept a personal ledger tracking billing discrepancies.
    - Christine Thompson, a 62-year-old volunteer with a key, discovered the body at approximately 8:40 AM on October 14, 1991.
    - Medical examiner recorded a single blunt-force blow to the posterior skull with no sign of struggle or restraint.
    - Novak’s gray 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity was found on October 16, 1991, at a pull-off 0.7 miles from the annex with doors unlocked and engine off.
    - Detective Philip Ostrowski focused on Dennis Holt, a 41-year-old part-time handyman with prior assault charges who had worked at the annex and whose key status and alibi were unresolved.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 分