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  • The Dry Boot on Route 9: How One Detail Unraveled Three Murders

    The Dry Boot on Route 9: How One Detail Unraveled Three Murders
    2026/07/26
    The Dry Boot on Route 9: How One Detail Unraveled Three Murders

    A dry work boot sat upright on a metal utility box after two days of rain - everything else within a quarter mile was soaked. That single impossible detail tied together three remote workers found dead along Route 9 and raised one question no one could answer: who placed the boot, and why would that one act undo years of overlooked deaths?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline of events from the morning Jessica Collins found the boot to the discoveries that followed, and we track the one lead that kept gnawing at investigators - the man who claimed to be a propane technician. Could the same service worker link Valerie Graham, Travis Polk, and Angie Ferris?

    Person: Valerie Graham
    Date: May 4-6, 2012
    Location: Decker Flats labor camp and a drainage culvert three miles north on Route 9
    Cause of death: Strangulation
    Investigator: Detective Clifford Morris

    - At 6:47 AM on May 6, 2012 Jessica Collins found a single work boot upright on a metal utility box behind Unit 14.
    - Two days of rain had soaked gravel, grass, and mud within a quarter mile, but the boot was completely dry.
    - Valerie Graham was 44, worked for Ridgeback Field Services as a pipe-inspection technician, and was last seen leaving Margot’s Roadside Diner after 11:44 PM on May 4 (receipt time).
    - Dennis Ware filed a missing-person report on May 5 after finding Valerie’s truck in the lot and no note in the housing unit.
    - On May 16 a highway crew found Valerie’s body in a drainage culvert three miles north of camp; medical examiner Dr. Patricia Odum determined time of death as the night of May 4 and cause as strangulation.

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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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    23 分
  • The Mile Marker Photograph: How Four Backpacks Exposed a Killer

    The Mile Marker Photograph: How Four Backpacks Exposed a Killer
    2026/07/25
    The Mile Marker Photograph: How Four Backpacks Exposed a Killer

    A child's rocket-print backpack left on a highway berm, a single tan size-seven flat beside it, and a sealed pregnancy test inside - small ordinary things that exposed a pattern across central Kansas. Four women, four rest areas, and four sealed pregnancy tests tucked in cartoon backpacks connected by one toll-plaza photograph - how did these mundane objects become the thread that unraveled a killer?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of discoveries and the objects found at each scene, tracing how a jogger's call and a detective's attention to the backpack's contents led investigators toward a storage unit and an unseen pattern. Could a dentist's phone number folded inside one bag be the last ordinary thing that broke the case?

    Person: Tammy Schultz
    Date: April 9 (morning)
    Location: berm at exit 181 off I-135; body recovered six miles south of Calloway rest area
    Case: four women linked by cartoon backpacks and sealed pregnancy tests
    Event: toll-plaza photograph that helped connect the cases

    - Orange child's backpack with a cartoon rocket ship found on the berm sixty yards past mile marker 181.
    - Inside that backpack: a sealed pregnancy test and a folded slip of paper with a dentist's phone number in Tammy Schultz's handwriting.
    - Tammy Schultz was 28, worked as a dietary aide at Broadview Regional Medical Center in Hutchinson, and had been saving for dental work.
    - Lisa Farrow, 31, had her car at Milepost 204 rest area on I-35 and was found in a creek bed three miles east with a green cartoon backpack containing a sealed pregnancy test.
    - Christine Dahl, 26, was found near Milepost 147 rest area on I-70 with a red cartoon backpack nearby and a sealed pregnancy test inside, and Robin Alvarez, 24, had disappeared nine months earlier with five more backpacks later found in a storage unit.

    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
  • Dry Fishing Gear, Warm Cat: How a Quiet Town hid a Killer

    Dry Fishing Gear, Warm Cat: How a Quiet Town hid a Killer
    2026/07/24
    Dry Fishing Gear, Warm Cat: How a Quiet Town hid a Killer

    The dry fishing gear found in a flooded crawlspace, a diabetic cat with a laminated care card, and a dead retired teacher whose kitchen light never came on - how did someone leave a house with no signs of forced entry and still tend to the cat? What single detail tied the silent neighborhood to a deliberate intruder?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of discovery and the physical evidence that puzzled the first responders and detectives, from meter reader Norman Vogel's find to Kenneth Thompson's forensic folder, and ask which of those concrete details points to who could enter, act, and leave without a trace.

    Person: Janet Kowalski
    Date: March 4, 2009
    Location: 14 Cordovan Street, Pelican Reach, Terrebonne Parish
    Cause of death: Asphyxiation
    Evidence: Dry fishing gear in crawlspace with no moisture penetration

    - Norman Vogel discovered a rod, reel, gaff hook, and sealed dry bag under the house while reading meters on the morning of March 4, 2009.
    - It had been raining for three consecutive days and the crawlspace showed standing water in two of four quadrants while the gear sat bone-dry.
    - Janet Kowalski was 54 years old, a retired reading specialist, with 312 handwritten notecards found in her home.
    - Milo, her 13-year-old diabetic cat, had a laminated feeding card and a neighbor had a copy of his care instructions.
    - Deputies found Janet inside with no signs of forced entry, her purse and car present, phone on the table, and Milo's food bowl washed and water dish full.

    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 Boot That Walked Away: How a Killer Vanished Without Prints

    The Boot That Walked Away: How a Killer Vanished Without Prints
    2026/07/23
    The Boot That Walked Away: How a Killer Vanished Without Prints

    A size seven blue-and-white ski boot, buckles fastened and liner bone dry, stood upright on an access road with a barcode linking it to the missing woman-yet there were no footprints leading away. The boot was rented in her name, paid in cash on the same day she was last seen; how could an object appear without a path, and who left it there?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a routine clinic visit to a chilling discovery and two unexplained deaths, laying out the sequence of events that raised questions about who could place a boot and vanish. What connects the rental, the clinic staff, and the oddly unlatched truck found with its driver dead?

    Person: Sharon Watson
    Date: February 6 (rental and clinic visit)
    Location: access road behind Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
    Cause of death: strangulation
    Person: Douglas Farrell

    - A size seven blue-and-white ski boot with buckles fastened was found upright in snow on February 9 with no footprints leading away.
    - The boot carried a barcode showing it was rented in Sharon Watson’s name, paid in cash on February 6.
    - Sharon Watson was reported missing on February 8 and her body was found on February 12 in a creek drainage below Forest Service Road 114, cause of death strangulation.
    - James Osborne, age 51, checked Sharon in at Summit Sports Medicine on February 6 and handled equipment logistics with Peak Ready Rentals.
    - On February 22 Douglas Farrell, age 38, was found dead in his white pickup at a highway pull-off with the hood unlatched and the engine cold; medical examiner ruled asphyxiation.

    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 Inspector's Missing Notebook: How a Auditor Unearthed an Eight-Victim Killer

    The Inspector's Missing Notebook: How a Auditor Unearthed an Eight-Victim Killer
    2026/07/22
    The Inspector's Missing Notebook: How a Auditor Unearthed an Eight-Victim Killer

    A woman walking her dog found a turquoise-ringed right hand under an industrial tarp weighted with a hydraulic fitting - the body had been concealed for eight to fourteen days. A missing field notebook and a series of cleanly removed payroll pages across multiple mining camp binders hinted at a pattern that linked dead women to one name; how did an auditor follow those small absences to a killer?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries laid out by an industrial safety investigator and the law enforcement processing of a recovered body. The episode traces where the notebook was missing, which records were cleanly removed, and how the auditor connected those gaps to the same name found across multiple camp logs - could those erased pages point to a single perpetrator?

    Person: Tammy Draper
    Date: January 2019
    Location: Kettle Creek Nature Corridor, Garfield County, Nevada
    Person: Jeffrey Young
    Case: missing field notebook and six binders with removed payroll pages

    - Tammy Draper, age 38, disappeared sometime in the second week of January 2019 and was later found under a secured tarp at Kettle Creek.
    - Tammy kept a paper field notebook documenting every site visit; the notebook was missing from her truck and home when her body was processed.
    - Jeffrey Young, a 51-year-old senior investigator for the Nevada Division of Industrial Safety, found cleanly removed payroll intake pages at multiple mining camp binders.
    - Young photographed empty binder rings and camp spine labels after finding missing payroll pages for weeks preceding victims’ discoveries, including Debra Solis at Harrow Flat.
    - Across six camps, one name-Mark Harrison-appeared repeatedly in remaining records such as sign-in logs, equipment assignments, and crew transport rosters.

    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 Loyalty Card: How a Casino Reader Exposed a Serial Killer

    The Loyalty Card: How a Casino Reader Exposed a Serial Killer
    2026/07/21
    The Loyalty Card: How a Casino Reader Exposed a Serial Killer

    A dried casino loyalty card tucked inside a size ten brown oxford led investigators from a creek to a man who had been inside Sunrise Peaks Casino every time a regular vanished; three retirees were later found drowned with blunt-force trauma-how did a loyalty card survive eleven days in the water and who kept using those cards after the victims were gone?

    In this episode, we present the sequence of events, evidence recovered, and the investigative steps that connected the loyalty-card scans to a single casino employee, culminating in the question: could the card reads at the east buffet kiosk reveal the killer's pattern?

    Person: Philip Tate
    Date: December 7, 2011
    Location: Sycamore Fork
    Cause of death: Drowning and blunt-force trauma to the posterior skull
    Employee: Edward Rafferty

    - A size ten left brown leather oxford was found in a catfish trotline on Sycamore Fork eleven days after December 7, 2011.
    - Philip Tate's laminated casino loyalty card, number 7741009BR, was pressed dry against the inner sole of that shoe.
    - Tate's loyalty card was scanned at the east buffet kiosk at 7:22 p.m. on the night he left the casino at 6:48 p.m., a 34-minute gap.
    - Three victims (Philip Tate, Deborah Crane, Gerald Huber) were all regulars at Sunrise Peaks, all last seen leaving the casino parking lot in early evening, and all later ruled homicides.
    - Casino door logs show employee Edward Rafferty clocked out at 7:15 p.m. and scanned back through a maintenance door at 7:22 p.m, on Tate’s disappearance night.

    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 Unlisted Passenger: Train 7714's Secret Seat Number 14

    The Unlisted Passenger: Train 7714's Secret Seat Number 14
    2026/07/20
    The Unlisted Passenger: Train 7714's Secret Seat Number 14

    Danger hides in plain schedules: an olive-drab military box stamped TRAIN 7714 / CREW ONLY was buried forty yards from the rail, containing a missing woman’s wallet and a cracked phone - yet the official manifest shows no record of her. Who was the unlisted seat fourteen and how many disappearances tie back to slow-order position seven?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery, the paperwork contradictions, and the railroad records that point to a pattern of unnamed passengers and timed stops; the episode covers the buried box, the conductor logs, and the cluster of missing-woman reports - could a routine slow-order be the stage for something far more deliberate?

    Person: Gail Cook
    Date: November 2011 (discovery)
    Location: scrubland forty yards from rail bed, Halloran County
    Train: 7714
    Seat: 14

    - The box was found four inches below soil, forty yards from the rail bed, on the private side of a chain-link fence.
    - George McCarthy, a 53-year-old county surveyor, called the sheriff at 8:47 AM after finding the box on a Tuesday morning.
    - Inside an olive-drab padlocked box labeled TRAIN 7714 / CREW ONLY was a canvas tote with a wallet, keys, ChapStick, and a cell phone with a shattered screen.
    - Gail Cook’s driver’s license showed she was 24 in the photo and had been missing for more than a year when the box was discovered.
    - Conductor logs over 31 months showed six instances where the log listed one more passenger than the official manifest, each extra as "Seat 14 - cash, no name given," on routes passing slow-order position seven.

    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 Septic Tank Watch: How a Clean Timepiece Broke a Killer's Silence

    The Septic Tank Watch: How a Clean Timepiece Broke a Killer's Silence
    2026/07/19
    The Septic Tank Watch: How a Clean Timepiece Broke a Killer's Silence

    A stainless steel wristwatch, spotless and face up on a concrete baffle inside a septic tank behind Cabin Nine, defied chemistry: nothing should emerge cleaner than it went in. That watch turned a two-year-old missing-persons file into a reopened investigation - but who could have left such a pristine object in a septic tank, and why?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from Carl Cooper's disappearance in July 2017 to the discovery of the watch by septic technician Norman Larsen on October 4, 2019, and the bureaucratic trail that delayed action. What detail in maintenance logs and invoices finally tied the tank to the time Cooper vanished?

    Person: Carl Cooper
    Date: July 22, 2017
    Location: Arrowhead Pines Resort, Lake Carver
    Person: Norman Larsen
    Event: Watch recovered October 4, 2019

    - Carl Cooper was 49 years old during the summer of 2017 and had rented Cottage Fourteen for six consecutive summers.
    - Cooper was last seen leaving the Lakeview Grille after paying his bill at 9:17 p.m. on July 22, 2017; his car was missing but his kayak remained on the rack.
    - The septic tank behind Cabin Nine was pumped out of schedule in July 2017, with the invoice signed by maintenance contractor Leon Schmidt.
    - Leon Schmidt had occupied Cabin Nine each July in exchange for repairs and lived in Morganfield during the off-season.
    - Norm Larsen, who had been pumping tanks along Lake Carver’s east shore for eleven years, found the stainless steel wristwatch in the tank on October 4, 2019; lab analysts noted the watch was unusually clean.

    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