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  • The blaze-orange vest draped on the fence post rerouted the search

    The blaze-orange vest draped on the fence post rerouted the search
    2026/09/11
    A blaze-orange hunting vest appears draped on a fence post at the Prentiss Tract with no footprints in the frost - how did that expose them?

    The blaze-orange vest draped on the fence post rerouted the search

    In this episode, the team follows the first seventy-six hours of a search for Linda Johnson after a hunting vest is found inexplicably placed at a tract boundary. We describe the terrain, the initial leads, and the decisions that shaped the early hunt - what questions did that vest raise about where the search should go?

    Person: Linda Johnson
    Date: February 11, 2019
    Location: Prentiss Tract, Harwick County, Tennessee
    Event: Seventy-six-hour search across two hundred acres
    Person: Jennifer Reynolds

    - Wade Marshall spotted the blaze-orange vest draped on a fence post eleven yards into open farmland with undisturbed frost around it.
    - Linda had entered the tract at approximately 6:10 a.m., hunted the Prentiss Tract solo for nineteen seasons, and did not return by her 6:45 p.m. pantry shift.
    - Search and Rescue coordinator Jennifer Reynolds activated the team; Terry Boone entered before full light with two trained search dogs.
    - Stand A (80 yards from the access trail) was checked and empty; Stand B (480 yards deeper) held Linda’s rifle propped on the ladder, safety on and unfired.
    - The terrain included a 140-foot descent into the Siler Branch drainage, frozen creek mud, dense cedar thicket, and limestone outcrops that altered tracking and scent patterns.

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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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    22 分
  • The cracked phone that fell and led them up the ridge

    The cracked phone that fell and led them up the ridge
    2026/09/10
    A cracked phone lies in frozen mud at a berry site while a mother and her four-year-old vanish into the ridgeline-how did that phone expose them?

    The cracked phone that fell and led them up the ridge

    In this episode, we follow the timeline and decisions around Diane Baker’s disappearance from a Harlan Creek berry site and the strange clues left behind. The story pieces together GPS pings, search-team logs, and the odd physical evidence that redirected the search up a remote ridge; how did a fallen phone become the thread that led them toward Bowman Saddle fire tower?

    Person: Diane Baker
    Person: Cody Baker
    Date: January 14, 2019
    Location: Harlan Creek State Forest, Bowman Saddle ridgeline
    Event: Last GPS ping of Diane’s phone at 2:14 PM; cracked phone found face-down in berry-site mud

    - Diane was a habitual, deliberate solo mother who left no note and took a familiar winterberry route in January.
    - Searchers had a confirmed last phone ping at the berry site and a bloodhound that locked scent uphill then refused to cross a creek.
    - Diane’s phone was found at the exact 2:14 PM timestamp, cracked and half-buried in mud as if it had fallen.
    - The Bowman Saddle fire tower had a hasp-style latch down with the padlock on the outside, and no duplicate key had been cut.
    - Diane knew the ridgelines intimately and was dressed and equipped for cold, yet her path ended at a locked tower inaccessible by marked trails.

    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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    22 分
  • The tent peg that ripped his tibia and trapped him

    The tent peg that ripped his tibia and trapped him
    2026/09/09
    A woman lost on a locked road finds a winter campsite in a closed burn zone - a tent and one detail: could it explain why a backpacker couldn't walk out?

    The tent peg that ripped his tibia and trapped him

    In this episode, we follow how a careful, methodical backpacker ended up immobilized deep inside a six-year wilderness closure and how routine patterns - a weekly board game, a parked truck, a locked gate - shaped the search that followed. What did that tiny campsite detail reveal about his final weeks?

    Person: Leon Cox
    Location: Seco Ridge Wilderness, Harwick National Forest
    Date: December 6, 2017 (final journal entry)
    Status: Missing person report filed December 9, 2017
    Event: Closed-area camping inside a burn perimeter with a closed tibia fracture

    - Leon was a 47-year-old mechanical drafting instructor from Medford who ran a weekly Tuesday board game for four consecutive years.
    - He parked at a legal trailhead 4.1 miles from his intended camp, then walked into a closed Seco Ridge burn zone and made an intentional, well-sited campsite.
    - Investigators dated the campsite to October-November 2017 using carbon traces from his fire ring, suggesting he’d been there for weeks.
    - On December 5 he missed board game night for the first time in four years; on December 6 he wrote “Leg is bad. Staying put tonight.” and stopped writing.
    - Gloria Vogel found the tent in February on a road that had been padlocked for six years, and one small campsite detail in the case file remains unexplained.

    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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    22 分
  • A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead deer led searchers to Nicole

    A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead deer led searchers to Nicole
    2026/09/08
    A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead mule deer, tagged "Nicole," sits eleven miles from where her boot prints stopped - how did that expose her?

    A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead deer led searchers to Nicole

    In this episode, we trace the sequence of decisions, evidence, and anomalies surrounding Nicole Reyes’s disappearance to map how searchers followed leads through the Cascades. Which pieces of physical trace and human action created the baffling eleven-mile gap the team had to close?

    Person: Nicole Reyes
    Date: November 10-13
    Location: Ridgeback Fork, eastern Cascades
    Person: Kevin Odell
    Event: Coat found on dead mule deer

    - A volunteer search team found a buttoned wool peacoat on a dead mule deer with a handwritten name tag reading "Nicole."
    - Nicole filed a trip plan for a three-night Ridgeback Fork loop and left a detailed care schedule for her rabbit, Hendricks, before leaving on November 10.
    - Tracking dog Cass picked up scent at Nicole's car then stopped and sat at Ridgeback Fork junction, refusing to follow the southbound planned route.
    - Boot impressions consistent with Nicole’s boots headed north from the fork into broken, thick upper drainage for about forty yards before disappearing.
    - Kevin Odell had a spare key, knew her route, called search and rescue on November 13, and his phone records placed him in Sacramento during Nicole’s absence.

    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 cairn line that lured her nine miles from safety

    The cairn line that lured her nine miles from safety
    2026/09/07
    A line of cairns leads a lone hiker nine miles from her car into roadless Oregon wilderness - how did that expose her?

    The cairn line that lured her nine miles from safety

    In this episode, we follow the timeline of Frances Sanders’ disappearance into the Ridgecut Wilderness and the baffling pattern search teams uncovered. What decisions, skills, and odd clues shaped those eleven days, and which question matters most now?

    Person: Frances Sanders
    Date: October 5-14, 2019
    Location: Ridgecut Wilderness, Harlow National Forest, eastern Oregon
    Occupation: School librarian; former land surveyor
    Item found: Daypack at mile 2 (waterproof shell, water filter, emergency blanket)

    - Frances parked a gray 2014 Subaru at Sutter Creek trailhead and walked into the roadless wilderness alone.
    - She had a decade of professional surveying experience and still carried a baseplate compass in her pack.
    - For four years she called her son every Wednesday at 5:45 a.m.; that call did not happen the week she disappeared.
    - Search teams found her daypack intact at mile two, with survival gear deliberately left behind.
    - On October 14, teams mapped eleven identical five-stone cairns, each about one mile apart, set in a dead-straight line leading north into the backcountry.

    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 half-signed trailhead entry that rerouted the search

    The half-signed trailhead entry that rerouted the search
    2026/09/06
    A woman signed the Coldtack trailhead, left a half-signed entry that rerouted the search for Marcia Hayes-how did that partial signature expose them?

    The half-signed trailhead entry that rerouted the search

    In this episode, we follow the timeline and evidence gathered after Marcia Hayes left the Coldtack trailhead and vanished in Saguaro Rim National Forest. We lay out the ridge register, the Pale Granite Shelf finds, weather and scent data, and the decisions that redirected search grids-what misread moment tilted the day past the point of return?

    Person: Marcia Hayes
    Date: September 8-9, 2017
    Location: Coldtack trailhead; Pale Granite Shelf, Saguaro Rim National Forest; elevation 7,240 ft
    Event: half-signed trail register entry; red 32-ounce Nalgene bottle photographed at 11:24 AM Saturday
    Status: search-and-rescue operation with cadaver dog alerts logged as inconclusive

    - Marcia signed the Coldtack trailhead at 6:14 AM, noted a nine-mile out-and-back and a 3:00 PM return time.
    - At 6:51 AM another hiker signed the register, and between those entries a partial second signature in matching pen pressure was started then crossed out.
    - A county surveyor photographed Marcia’s full, sealed red Nalgene on bare granite of Pale Granite Shelf at 11:24 AM Saturday with no footprints nearby.
    - Two trained cadaver dogs alerted sharply six feet from the eastern lip of the shelf, then scent vanished within twenty yards; a deer carcass was later found four feet below the lip.
    - USFS weather station data from 2.3 miles east logged conditions Friday morning that were not received by the SAR team until Saturday evening, after grids had been run for over twelve hours.

    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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    22 分
  • The headlamp that ran until the batteries died and left her lost

    The headlamp that ran until the batteries died and left her lost
    2026/09/05
    A woman with a fresh headlamp and full kit is found alive three miles from where dogs lost her scent - how did that headlamp expose her path?

    The headlamp that ran until the batteries died and left her lost

    In this episode, we follow the search for Connie Sheridan and the puzzling discoveries that framed her disappearance in the Cascades. The story traces the timeline, the search tactics, and the single detail that refocused every theory - but one question remains open.

    Person: Connie Sheridan
    Date: August 9-11
    Location: Ridgeback Peak area, Cascades (Sutter Gap trailhead to Coldwater Fork drainage)
    Status: Found alive with mild hypothermia
    Item: Headlamp purchased August 6, found fully discharged

    - Connie signed the Sutter Gap trailhead register at 6:45 and left a clear day plan to summit Ridgeback Peak with a fully packed bag.
    - Search dogs tracked her scent northeast up through timber to a granite shelf four-tenths of a mile below the summit, where the trail ended and scent disappeared.
    - Teams ran organized grid searches, standard drainage routes, and summit corridor sweeps over ten hours without finding her.
    - Robert Underwood found her seated against a downed ponderosa eighty yards from the road, three miles from the last scent marker, with one boot missing and worn sock on the other foot.
    - Her pack was intact with two full water bottles and an unopened emergency bivouac; her headlamp, fitted with batteries bought August 6, was completely discharged.

    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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    22 分
  • The single leather boot that led rescuers off the trail

    The single leather boot that led rescuers off the trail
    2026/09/04
    A single leather boot on a Plumas National Forest trail points rescuers toward a missing fire lookout-what happened to her?

    The single leather boot that led rescuers off the trail

    In this episode, we follow the early hours of a disappearance in the Plumas National Forest and the unusual traces that guided the search. What did a lone boot, a locked lookout, and a nine‑oh‑two log entry reveal about where Wendy Marsh went - and what happened in those missing hours?

    Person: Wendy Marsh
    Location: Plumas National Forest
    Date: August 8-9 (evening of August 8 to morning of August 9)
    Event: disappearance of a fire lookout
    Evidence photo: single leather boot photographed by Gail Vogel

    - Gail Vogel photographed a hummingbird and later found, centered in the frame, a single upright leather boot with laces tied and toe pointing back toward the trailhead.
    - Wendy Marsh, a forty‑two‑year‑old with eleven seasons in the lookout, radioed an eight forty‑seven PM check‑out but has no memory of writing a nine‑oh‑two PM log entry or of the following fourteen hours.
    - The fire lookout was found locked from the outside with Wendy’s truck parked as usual and no sign of her at the tower the next morning.
    - Pete Calloway, the district road maintenance supervisor, saw a thin smoke column northeast of the tower around nine PM and was the last person known to have spoken with Wendy that day.
    - Search and rescue arrived at the trailhead July-sorry, August ninth morning with twelve volunteers, two dog teams, and coordinator Dale Ferris, beginning a grid search for a disoriented subject moving down the trail.

    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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    24 分