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  • The Car Seat in the Pines: How a Note Unraveled Mossgate's Secret

    The Car Seat in the Pines: How a Note Unraveled Mossgate's Secret
    2026/07/26
    The Car Seat in the Pines: How a Note Unraveled Mossgate's Secret

    A single rear-facing infant car seat, every label razored away and cable-tied to a ziplock with an index card that read "SHE IS SAFE. SHE LEFT ON HER OWN," was left roughly sixty yards inside the fence line of a property called the Mossgate Renewal Center - positioned so a county surveyor would find it. Who placed a deliberately anonymized message where it could be discovered, and why was the identity stripped from the seat?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from the morning a surveyor found the car seat through the five-week unraveling that followed, tracking the people, documents, and routines tied to Mossgate and the note that changed everything. What does the car seat, the crossed-out departure dates, and the Clarity Survey reveal about control inside the compound?

    Person: Sharon Hunt
    Date: April 9, 2019
    Location: Mossgate Renewal Center, Calloway County, Arkansas
    Person: Kelly Harris
    Person: Wade Adams

    - The car seat was found approximately sixty yards inside the fence line of Mossgate.
    - The index card inside the ziplock bag contained four words in block letters: "SHE IS SAFE. SHE LEFT ON HER OWN."
    - Kelly Harris was twenty-two years old and arrived at Mossgate in the first week of April 2019.
    - The Transition Record binder logged twenty-three guests between January and April 2019, with eleven departure dates crossed out and rewritten.
    - Patricia Solano arrived in late February 2019 with her seven-month-old daughter and was scheduled to leave March 23, which did not occur.

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    © 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
  • The Sneaker in the Dry Well: How Tammy Vanished Inside a Cult

    The Sneaker in the Dry Well: How Tammy Vanished Inside a Cult
    2026/07/25
    The Sneaker in the Dry Well: How Tammy Vanished Inside a Cult

    A size four white canvas sneaker, laces double-knotted and marked "T. Duncan, 1997," sat at the bottom of a dry well casing sixty feet above the water table for nearly two years-found by a well technician who photographed it before she touched it and then called the sheriff. How did a woman who walked the same three-mile route every morning and deposited one of her childhood shoes in a well vanish into a group that collected tens of thousands in shared funds and locked members' phones away?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that led Tammy Duncan from her Cutter Street walks and steady job to living on a ninety-acre Pettifer Road property with the Compact of Renewed Waters, the practices of the group under leader Wayne Keller, and the discovery that reopened questions about control, money, and communication inside the commune. What did the sneaker represent to Tammy, and why was it left undisturbed for so long?

    Person: Tammy Duncan
    Location: Pettifer Road farmhouse, Aldine, Missouri
    Person: Wayne Keller
    Event: Discovery of sneaker by Karen O'Connor in second week of March 2019
    Amount: Brenda Kowalski transferred approximately $60,000; Tammy contributed around $11,000

    - Tammy left her Cutter Street house every morning at 6:15 and walked the same three-mile route for eleven years.
    - Tammy was thirty-seven when she relocated to the Compact of Renewed Waters in March 2017 with two bags.
    - The Compact's Pettifer Road property was a ninety-acre lease arranged with landlord Douglas Pettifer.
    - Phones were collected and stored in a lockbox in Keller's room; mail was handled by Keller and five of Tammy's nine letters to her sister were never sent.
    - Karen O'Connor photographed the sneaker and called the non-emergency sheriff's line after finding it while certifying the water supply.

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    © 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
  • Frozen Chair, Hidden Folders: How a Cult Stole $308,000 and Lives

    Frozen Chair, Hidden Folders: How a Cult Stole $308,000 and Lives
    2026/07/24
    Frozen Chair, Hidden Folders: How a Cult Stole $308,000 and Lives

    A retired postal worker found a manila folder dry and a pale yellow chair placed upright on a frozen pond, with two sets of footprints that walked away - and inside the folder were records that would link a small self-help circle to more than $300,000 siphoned from vulnerable members. Who carried those files to the pond, and why leave them intact for discovery?

    In this episode, we follow the story from a library flier to a Dennison Avenue meeting room and a storage unit in Medina to trace how a man calling himself Todd Walker built trust, formed "Clarity Circles," and redirected members' money into a sole proprietorship; how did careful bookkeeping and small monthly "stewardship contributions" become a $308,000 loss for people like Sharon Harrison?

    Person: Sharon Harrison
    Person: Todd Walker
    Location: Dennison Avenue house, Garfield Heights, Ohio
    Location: Medina UPS Store box
    Event: Folder and chair found on frozen pond at Sutter Flats nature preserve

    - Chair found 30 feet from shore on a frozen pond with a dry manila folder on the seat.
    - Sharon Harrison volunteered at the YWCA for 11 years before missing her Tuesday shifts after joining the group.
    - Todd Walker was 54 years old in 2017 and claimed training at the Ashford Institute in Vermont.
    - Approximately 20 regular participants attended the Dennison Avenue sessions by spring 2017.
    - $200 monthly "stewardship contributions" were withdrawn from Sharon Harrison's checking account and deposited into an account belonging to a sole proprietorship tied to a Medina UPS Store box.

    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 Chair on the Highway: How a Cult Quietly Took Faber

    The Chair on the Highway: How a Cult Quietly Took Faber
    2026/07/23
    The Chair on the Highway: How a Cult Quietly Took Faber

    A wooden chair placed in the center of a frozen highway, a folded white shirt on its seat, and no footprints leading to or from it - discovered at 9°F, forty minutes before dawn, with thirty-one people still locked inside Sutter Ranch a quarter mile away. How did a residential community formed from ordinary conversations and a single $4,000 payment become the setting for that chair on January 19, 2011?

    In this episode, we trace the arc from a Tuesday diner conversation to the gated bunkhouses of Sutter Ranch, following the people, the fees, and the small violences that formed a closed world. What choices and structures turned attentive listening and an “Alignment Fee” into something that left one person walking away before dawn?

    Date: January 19, 2011
    Location: Sutter Ranch, approximately 60 miles southwest of Faber, Nebraska
    People: 31 residents inside Sutter Ranch when the chair was found
    Person: Earl Peterson, age 23 when he joined in spring 2009
    Event: Payment of $4,000 called the Alignment Fee

    - The chair was found on County Road, sixty miles southwest of Faber, Nebraska at 9 degrees Fahrenheit before sunrise.
    - Thirty-one people remained inside the gates of Sutter Ranch roughly a quarter mile from where the chair sat.
    - The chair bore a folded white dress shirt and showed no footprints or thaw beneath its legs, indicating it had been placed there at least four hours earlier.
    - Earl Peterson paid $4,000 as the Alignment Fee three weeks after an orientation dinner and moved to Sutter Ranch in May 2009.
    - The Aligned Living Foundation purchased the 412-acre former cattle ranch in 2007 at roughly forty percent below its previous value.

    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
  • The Lunchbox Receipt: Proof of Starvation Inside a Cult's Camp

    The Lunchbox Receipt: Proof of Starvation Inside a Cult's Camp
    2026/07/22
    The Lunchbox Receipt: Proof of Starvation Inside a Cult's Camp

    The sight of a child's plastic lunchbox upright in snow with thirty-one handwritten index cards inside turned a routine plow run into the first clue of something far darker: each card read, "I am learning to deserve my food." Who left a dry lunchbox in snow with no footprints, and why did one woman later call it a receipt rather than a plea?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery at 4:52 a.m. on December 9, 2014, the contents of the lunchbox, and the weeks that followed inside a locked 63-acre former children's camp. We trace how a seemingly benign community group led to strict rules like the earned nourishment policy and the ledger entries that raised doubts-so what did Dawn Hensley find in the foundation's records that changed everything?

    Person: Craig White
    Date: December 9, 2014
    Location: Pinecroft access road
    Event: Thirty-one handwritten index cards found in lunchbox
    Topic: Earned nourishment policy

    - The lunchbox contained thirty-one index cards dated from February through December 6, 2014, each reading "I am learning to deserve my food."
    - The lunchbox was found at 4:52 a.m. between tire tracks in snow with no footprints and the box itself was dry.
    - Pinecroft Renewal Foundation purchased a 63-acre former children's camp in June 2010 with a main lodge, eight cabins, a dining hall, a craft building, and a small lake.
    - Norman Simmons arrived in late 2008, claimed a master's degree from Carlow-Denning University dated 2001, and began hosting Renewal Circles.
    - Dawn Hensley moved into Pinecroft in June 2010, was one of the first seven residents, managed the foundation's accounts, and noticed monthly transfers of $2,400 labeled "N.S. Personal."

    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 Nine-Seat Dinner: How a Co-op Became a $14M Lie

    The Nine-Seat Dinner: How a Co-op Became a $14M Lie
    2026/07/21
    The Nine-Seat Dinner: How a Co-op Became a $14M Lie

    Trust freezes in a farmhouse with a white fondant cake set for nine and not a single guest - nine people thought they owned a rural property together, but public records show one man held all the power. This episode centers on how an LLC supposed to unite neighbors turned into a secret transfer that left nine investors empty-handed: who signed the filed document a month before anyone closed on the deed?

    In this episode, we tell how the Linden Compact formed, what the operating agreement promised, and the moment members discovered a different document had been filed with the state - could the co-op have been undermined before it began?

    Person: Jerry Lawson
    Person: Janet Burke
    Event: Deed closed in February 2010
    Date: Filing with Tennessee Secretary of State in January 2010
    Case: Linden Compact LLC

    - Nine households planned to pool funds, each contributing between $18,000 and $35,000.
    - The operating agreement contained a 60-day exit clause on page eleven of a 15-page document.
    - The deed transferred to Linden Compact LLC in February 2010 with nine signatories.
    - A different LLC filing that named Jerry Lawson as sole managing member was submitted in January 2010.
    - Letters to members arrived in October 2010 showing envelopes opened and resealed with mismatched tape.

    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 Box in the Amphitheater: Confessions That Toppled a Cult-Leader

    The Box in the Amphitheater: Confessions That Toppled a Cult-Leader
    2026/07/20
    The Box in the Amphitheater: Confessions That Toppled a Cult-Leader

    A sealed cardboard box labeled "ARCHIVAL SCORES - SEASON FOUR" appeared on a locked amphitheater stage with fresh tape and dry cardboard at 6:40 a.m. on March 14, 2019 - inside were pages of handwritten and typed confessions from members of the Carver Consort. Who left those transcripts where anyone could find them, and why did they arrive just as the group's founder was about to be arrested?

    In this episode, we trace how Thomas Morris built the Carver Consort in Millhaven, Ohio, how routine musical practices concealed something darker, and how a single discovery forced private disclosures into the open. What role did the recorder on Morris's desk play in turning rehearsals into revelations?

    Person: Thomas Morris
    Organization: Carver Consort
    Location: Millhaven, Ohio
    Date: March 14, 2019
    Event: Box of transcripts found on amphitheater stage

    - The box was discovered at 6:40 a.m, on March 14, 2019 on the outdoor amphitheater stage.
    - The box was labeled "ARCHIVAL SCORES - SEASON FOUR" in black marker and sealed with fresh tape.
    - The amphitheater gate had been padlocked since November but the cardboard inside was bone dry.
    - Thomas Morris founded the Carver Consort in 2017 and was 44 years old at that time.
    - Wendy Patterson joined in 2017, was 49 years old, and moved into the warehouse with four other members by autumn 2018.

    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
  • Jar 47: The Tooth That Unraveled a Fake Healer's Church

    Jar 47: The Tooth That Unraveled a Fake Healer's Church
    2026/07/20
    Jar 47: The Tooth That Unraveled a Fake Healer's Church

    A sealed canning jar containing a human lower molar was found wedged against a ceramics building on September 9, 2011 - numbered 47, deliberately set apart from thirty-one other numbered jars in a locked refrigeration unit. Who placed jar 47 outside the compound, and why was one tooth separated from a ledger that logged thirty-one participants and dozens of extractions?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery, the people involved, and the paper trail that links a converted church camp and a man calling himself a naturopathic physician to a string of dental extractions recorded in a green ledger. How did a wellness seminar, a nonprofit called the Terrain Institute of Ohio, and a single jar prompt an investigation that exposed a pattern of tissue tithing and unverified credentials?

    Person: Rebecca Riley
    Date: September 9, 2011
    Location: Callum, Ohio
    Event: Discovery of jar 47 containing a preserved human tooth in saline
    Case: Thirty-one jars and ledger entries linked to the Terrain Institute of Ohio

    - A utility meter reader named Rebecca Riley found a sealed glass canning jar with a preserved human lower molar behind a ceramics building on September 9, 2011.
    - The jar's lid bore the number 47 in permanent marker, while thirty-one jars numbered 1 through 32 were later found inside a refrigeration unit on the property.
    - The refrigeration unit jars each contained a tooth or bone fragment preserved in saline and matched to session files in a recovered green ledger.
    - Paula Powell signed up for an eight-week wellness program for $900 in March 2009, moved onto the compound by February 2010, and lost approximately $19,000 while undergoing two extractions called tissue tithing.
    - The Helmholdt Institute of Naturopathic Sciences, the German credential Mark Stevens claimed, does not exist according to checks by two German academic registries and a licensing board.

    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