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  • She Walked Out at 6:15 - Found Tied, Alive Six Days Later

    She Walked Out at 6:15 - Found Tied, Alive Six Days Later
    2026/07/28
    She Walked Out at 6:15 - Found Tied, Alive Six Days Later

    A woman who never missed a volunteer shift left her house at 6:15 and vanished; eleven seconds of doorbell camera footage later showed a white van with blue curved lettering, and six days after that she was found alive, bound by tape on the roadside - how did a single laminated ID badge become the clue that broke the case?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Amy Schmidt’s disappearance and survival, the eleven‑second video of a white commercial van, the match to a local service company, and the forensic detail that investigators say proved decisive - could one deliberate act inside a dark van have saved her life?

    Person: Amy Schmidt
    Age: 62
    Date: Monday, October 3 (evening)
    Location: Harwick (reservoir loop, cul-de-sac)
    Investigator: Detective Curtis Wagner

    - Amy left home at 6:15 p.m. and her Honda Accord remained in the driveway with a cold engine two hours later.
    - A neighbor's doorbell camera captured an eleven‑second clip at 6:47 p.m. showing a white van with partial blue curved lettering and no visible plate.
    - Four callers responded to the public tip line; none provided a plate number or additional identifying details.
    - Brentwell Services had a seven‑month contract with a nearby clinic and used white fleet vehicles with blue lettering matching the clip.
    - Technician Brian Holmes, 44, logged six unauthorized extra visits to the clinic of 40-80 minutes each in a blind‑spot alley visible to the reservoir loop.

    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 Paper Cup That Bought Her Life: Basement. HELP. KF

    The Paper Cup That Bought Her Life: Basement. HELP. KF
    2026/07/27
    The Paper Cup That Bought Her Life: Basement. HELP. KF

    Fear and resourcefulness collide in a small Illinois town: a paper cup bearing the words "BASEMENT. HELP. KF." sat on a hardware-store window ledge at 5:47 AM on September 9, 2019 - the tiny clue that would lead to a woman found alive after nine days underground. How did a cup placed on a dark storefront become the single thread that unraveled a calculated abduction?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a Saturday night ride home to a locked storage room forty feet from Hollen Road, outlining the clues that led investigators to a familiar local business and its owner, and asking how routine actions - a morning inventory query, a neighbor’s smell, a spare key - became pieces of a survival story.

    Person: Karen Fisher
    Date: September 9, 2019
    Location: Hamilton's Ace Hardware, 214 Hollen Road, Graybend, Illinois
    Status: Found alive after nine days in captivity
    Person: Gregory Hamilton

    - At 5:47 AM on September 9, 2019 a paper cup with "BASEMENT. HELP. KF." was observed on the interior window ledge of a closed hardware store.
    - Karen Fisher, age 24, was held in a nine-by-eleven-foot storage room with a six-inch ventilation grate for nine days.
    - Karen accepted a ride at approximately 11:15 PM on August 31, 2019 from Gregory Hamilton, owner of Hamilton's Ace Hardware.
    - The store’s point-of-sale system recorded an inventory query for battery-powered lanterns at 4:53 AM on September 1, 2019 while the shop was closed.
    - A neighbor, Chris Albright, smelled warm-cooked food near the east alley door of Hamilton's Ace Hardware just before 7:00 PM on September 5, 2019.

    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
  • Locked Shed, Two Women: One Walked Out, One Never Returned

    Locked Shed, Two Women: One Walked Out, One Never Returned
    2026/07/26
    Locked Shed, Two Women: One Walked Out, One Never Returned

    A woman left a bar at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2011 and never texted that she made it home - her car was found the next morning with the engine off and headlights still burning. Twenty-two days later, investigators discovered a locked property seven miles away with a handwritten message that began with a name and ended with four words: she is still alive - what did that note mean and who did it point to?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Jennifer Riley’s last night at Millhouse Tap through the early investigative steps, witness reports, and the discovery on the locked property that reframed the case - what connections between the gray Chevrolet Express van, the lone witness, and the handwritten message changed everything?

    Person: Jennifer Riley
    Date: August 3, 2011
    Location: Harwick
    Case: Missing person found linked to locked property
    Investigator: Detective Kevin Patterson

    - Last confirmed time Jennifer was seen leaving Millhouse Tap: 8:50 PM.
    - Jennifer’s age at disappearance: 48 years old.
    - Jennifer’s workplace commute distance: 40 miles each morning to the east.
    - Time Patricia called Harwick Police to report Jennifer missing: 9:40 PM the following evening.
    - Days until discovery on locked property: 22 days.

    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
  • Shed, Sneaker, Signal: How She Outsmarted Her Abductor

    Shed, Sneaker, Signal: How She Outsmarted Her Abductor
    2026/07/26
    Shed, Sneaker, Signal: How She Outsmarted Her Abductor

    A lone sneaker with a strip of torn fabric knotted through the lace and a message written on it was the only clue that led rescuers to a woman locked in a shed less than a hundred yards away; how did Tracy Richardson, with no paper, no pen, and no phone signal, manage to design a rescue using only the things in the shed? What did she calculate about light, sound, and placement to make sure someone would notice?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the last routine Friday at Hendrick Feed and Seed through the morning the utility worker spotted that sneaker, explaining what happened in the parking lot, how Tracy measured time by a narrow strip of daylight, and the single choices she made that created a discoverable signal.

    Person: Tracy Richardson
    Age: 32
    Location: Whitmore Road / Tanner Basin
    Event: Found after 36 hours locked in a shed
    Object: Single sneaker with torn fabric and writing

    - Tracy was missing for more than 12 hours before the first welfare call was logged at 9:15 a.m.
    - She had been held for 36 hours in a shed with a concrete floor and a strip of daylight the width of two fingers.
    - Tracy maintained a daily insulin routine for her cat Buster for four years with no exceptions; a neighbor with a spare key checked on the cat.
    - Gary Wagner, 44, a Bauer-Sims sales representative, visited Hendrick Feed and Seed every three to four weeks for two years and left in a white company truck the Friday Tracy disappeared.
    - A utility worker at 6:41 a.m. on Tuesday spotted a single upright sneaker on gravel with torn fabric knotted through the lace and writing on the fabric.

    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 Grate, The Bottle, and the Wednesday Call That Saved Her

    The Grate, The Bottle, and the Wednesday Call That Saved Her
    2026/07/26
    The Grate, The Bottle, and the Wednesday Call That Saved Her

    A dry prescription bottle wedged in a dew-specked sidewalk grate held a two-inch by nine-inch strip of paper grooved with twelve words: Julie Brown, 53, Whitfield Terrace, please hurry. Someone had placed it after dawn, someone who could not afford to be seen - how did that tiny message become the only trail out of a house where nothing was ransacked and a dinner sat half-eaten?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the Wednesday morning call Julie never made to the discovery at her bungalow and the clues investigators found that morning; what began as a missing-person report becomes a pattern that will link other disappearances, and the question remains: who learned to open a door without touching the lock?

    Person: Julie Brown
    Age: 53
    Date missing: June 4, 2015 (reported June 5, 2015)
    Location: Whitfield Terrace, bungalow at Whitfield Terrace
    Toxicology: chloroform confirmed

    - A prescription bottle was found at 6:15 AM on June 9, 2015, wedged in an iron sidewalk grate and completely dry despite dew on the grate.
    - The paper inside the bottle measured roughly 2 inches by 9 inches and contained 12 words including name, age, address, and the phrase "please hurry."
    - Julie made a reliable Wednesday call at 6:50 AM to her friend Pat Steger, a routine she kept for years and failed to make the week she disappeared.
    - Inside Julie's house on June 5, 2015, her car was in the driveway, reading glasses on the kitchen table, wallet in her purse by the front door, and her phone on its charger in the bedroom.
    - The laundry-room back door had fresh parallel scratches on the lower hinge consistent with a flathead screwdriver and hinge pins worked free from the exterior, while the push-button lock remained engaged.

    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 Dry Shoe in the Rain: The Alice Quinn Abduction

    A Dry Shoe in the Rain: The Alice Quinn Abduction
    2026/07/26
    A Dry Shoe in the Rain: The Alice Quinn Abduction

    The dry sole of a single tan walking sneaker on a rain-darkened garage roof stopped a meter reader cold on May 14, 2019 - a shoe that led police to a woman found alive inside a padlocked garage after seven days. How did a routine visit to a garden supply store on May 4 turn into a weeklong abduction with GPS trails, doorbell footage and a dark blue truck mapping her movements?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the May 4 garden-store encounter through the discovery on May 14, laying out the timeline, the witnesses, and the investigative details that connected a part-time employee to Pallister Street; what exactly showed how the abductor planned and followed Alice Quinn?

    Person: Alice Quinn
    Date: May 7, 2019 (last confirmed sighting); May 14, 2019 (discovery)
    Location: Pallister Street, Kellerton, Ohio; 42 Breckenridge Lane (garage)
    Person: Brian Roberts
    Person: Detective Marie Doyle

    - Alice Quinn was 44 years old in May 2019 with a birthday in June that would have made her 45.
    - Lauren Collins, a utility meter reader, found a dry left-foot tan walking sneaker double-knotted on the roof peak of the detached garage on May 14, 2019.
    - Alice Quinn was last seen outside her home on May 7, 2019 at approximately 5:50 AM by neighbor Paul Egan and reported missing by her daughter Cassie by 7:45 PM the same day.
    - Brian Roberts worked part-time at Tillman's Garden Supply since October of the prior year and assisted Alice on May 4, 2019 asking about bone meal.
    - Doorbell camera footage and witness Doug Vance placed a dark blue Ford Ranger on Pallister Street on three separate mornings before May 7, with a partial plate matching Brian Roberts.

    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
  • Volunteer Finds a Hidden Note That Saves a Kidnapping Victim: The Lisa Slater Case

    Volunteer Finds a Hidden Note That Saves a Kidnapping Victim: The Lisa Slater Case
    2026/07/26
    Volunteer Finds a Hidden Note That Saves a Kidnapping Victim: The Lisa Slater Case

    A volunteer cleaning a self‑storage unit found a cereal‑box strip pressed to metal with words scratched in lip balm: "HARGROVE DEPOT RD UNIT 14 ALIVE APRIL LISA SLATER." Five days had passed since Lisa vanished, and that hidden note-written on a cot in the dark-became the only thing that kept her alive. Who had planned this months in advance, rented a unit with cash, and forced a woman to carve a lifeline no one expected to find?

    In this episode, we walk through the timeline from Dellwood routines to the discovery at Hargrove Self‑Storage, describing how habits, a false friendship, and a rented unit intersected with Lisa's disappearance. How did a neighbor become a captor, and how did a tiny message turn the tide?

    Person: Lisa Slater
    Date: April 3-8, 2019
    Location: Dellwood, Ohio / Hargrove Self‑Storage Depot Road
    Person: Donna R. Johnson
    Investigator: Detective Michelle Weaver

    - Lisa Slater was 28 years old and visited her grandmother every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
    - Donna R. Johnson moved into the lower unit at 47 Norfield Street in autumn 2018 and paid rent in cash.
    - Johnson rented Hargrove Self‑Storage unit 14 three weeks before the abduction and paid 90 days of rent in cash.
    - The hidden note read "HARGROVE DEPOT RD UNIT 14 ALIVE APRIL LISA SLATER" scratched in what appeared to be lip balm on a cereal‑box strip.
    - Security footage showed a dark green Subaru Forester idling in Creekwood parking lot for nine minutes before leaving; Lisa’s gray Honda Civic remained parked and locked.

    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 Dry Notepad: How a Dog Found Her Secret SOS

    The Dry Notepad: How a Dog Found Her Secret SOS
    2026/07/26
    The Dry Notepad: How a Dog Found Her Secret SOS

    A frantic, dry notepad found by a greyhound after two inches of rain held five words written in present tense: "I am alive." The note named a gray Dodge cargo van with a cracked rear left taillight and a partial plate starting HV - but the woman who wrote it had been missing for six days. Who planned this disappearance weeks in advance, and why did someone count on a stranger's dog to find the message?

    In this episode, we walk through the timeline from the last confirmed sighting on March 4 to the discovery on March 11, detailing the evidence found at the scene and the investigative trail that followed the call to the parks department; could a preload phone purchase and a corrugated-van fingerprint point investigators to a prepared abduction?

    Person: Michelle Crawford
    Date: March 4-11, 2019
    Location: Garnet Trail / Alderman Street / Renfield Avenue, Portsmith
    Investigator: Detective Mark Wilson
    Evidence: Canvas tote bag with spiral notepad, repeating corrugated ridge, textile fibers, dark gray foam fragment

    - The notepad was dry after four days and two inches of rain in Portsmith.
    - The handwritten note included: "He drives a gray Dodge cargo van. Rear left taillight cracked. Plate starts with HV. My name is Michelle Crawford. I am alive."
    - Michelle was 54, worked 11 years as a billing coordinator at Dunbar Climate Systems, and called her daughter every Tuesday and Thursday.
    - A prepaid phone call on January 14, six weeks before the disappearance, asked Parks Department for exact Garnet Trail route and proximity to Alderman Street parking.
    - Surveillance showed a man buying two prepaid phones at a store in Greer, 12 miles from Portsmith; one phone's call is recorded, the other's history was never recovered.

    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