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  • The Upright Hearing Aid: Clues That Framed a Murderer

    The Upright Hearing Aid: Clues That Framed a Murderer
    2026/09/10
    The Upright Hearing Aid: Clues That Framed a Murderer

    A single beige hearing aid stood perfectly upright on a footbridge railing in Halverson Park - an object that could not have fallen out of an ear with its custom-molded silicone dome. That tiny detail contradicted the most obvious theory and became the thread that slowly unraveled what happened to Michael Zimmerman; who placed it there, and why, is the question that refuses to let go.

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events from Michael Zimmerman's last confirmed movements to the discovery of the hearing aid and the clues that complicated the case. We follow the locked car, the cell-tower ping at 9:11 p.m., and the witness sightings that challenged the first assumptions about motive and perpetrator.

    Person: Michael Zimmerman
    Age: 61
    Location: Alderton, Ohio
    Event: Missing four days before scheduled civil trial testimony
    Item: Behind-the-ear hearing aid with custom-molded silicone dome

    - Michael worked thirty years as a billing coordinator at Crestline Logistics and was pushed out about two years before he vanished.
    - Michael was scheduled to testify the morning after he disappeared in a civil wrongful-termination trial connected to billing irregularities.
    - A gas station camera recorded Michael at 7:48 p.m. on Tuesday - the last confirmed image of him alive.
    - Michael’s phone pinged a cell tower near Halverson Park at 9:11 p.m. the same night, then went dark with no further activity.
    - The hearing aid, costing more than $3,000 and fitted seven months earlier, was found standing upright on a wooden railing four days after he disappeared.

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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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    15 分
  • The Wallet in the Bathtub: How David Vanished Between Mileposts

    The Wallet in the Bathtub: How David Vanished Between Mileposts
    2026/09/09
    The Wallet in the Bathtub: How David Vanished Between Mileposts

    A wallet upright in a dry bathtub held $63, a Tennessee driver's license and two debit cards while its owner vanished forty-three miles away; the wallet's discovery and a freshly-scuffed padlock near Milepost 52 began a trail that seemed to erase a man from sixteen miles of uninterrupted track - how did David Barrett get off a train that made every stop?

    In this episode, you’ll hear the timeline from the morning David Barrett left home to the moment his phone stopped pinging towers and investigators found the wallet in Pelham, and the same padlock scuff that suggested someone exited the rail corridor by a maintenance gate - what connection ties the padlock, the mileposts and the bathtub wallet?

    Person: David Barrett
    Date: July 10, 2019
    Location: Conley Regional Rail corridor (Milepost 38-47) and Pelham (wallet found)
    Status: Missing
    Investigator: Detective Michelle Armstrong

    - David Barrett was 24 years old and worked as a parts coordinator at Arden Supply in Harwell, Tennessee.
    - At 7:42 AM David was captured on a station camera at Harwell Central with a gray canvas bag; at 7:49 AM he texted supervisor Patricia Lund he would arrive in Bascom by 9:00 AM.
    - The train departed on schedule, made seven documented intermediate stops, arrived Bascom at 8:51 AM, and David was not on the train when it arrived.
    - David’s phone went offline at 8:12 AM with the last tower ping in the Milepost 38-47 corridor; the signal stopped abruptly rather than fading.
    - A dark brown bifold wallet containing $63 cash, a Tennessee driver’s license and two debit cards was found upright in the center of a dry bathtub in a house that had been vacant since spring, forty-three miles from where David vanished.

    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
  • Driverless Combine, Cold Coffee: Where Lauren Bell Walked

    Driverless Combine, Cold Coffee: Where Lauren Bell Walked
    2026/09/08
    Driverless Combine, Cold Coffee: Where Lauren Bell Walked

    A combine idling alone through the night, a familiar white diner-style mug pinned a stack of Lauren Bell’s handwritten farm papers to the driveway - and Lauren gone from the property she’d managed for 23 years. The machine’s GPS shows it drove six hundred feet across the south field at 8:47 p.m., stopped for 22 minutes, then returned; where had Lauren gone in that window?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline laid out by neighbors, a part-time worker, and the detectives: the last confirmed sighting at 4:30 p.m., the overnight GPS track, and the morning discovery that began the search. What could a moving machine and a cold cup of coffee reveal about a disappearance on a familiar farm?

    Person: Lauren Bell
    Date: June 13-14, 2011
    Location: south field and Bell property, near Aldenmoor, Illinois
    Status: missing as of morning discovery
    Case: GPS movement of combine showing 600-foot drive with 22-minute stop

    - The combine’s GPS logged movement beginning at 8:47 p.m. on June 13 and returned after a 22-minute stop.
    - Lauren Bell had run the 230-acre farm alone for 23 years and was 48 years old at the time.
    - Marcus Webb last saw Lauren at about 4:30 p.m. on June 13, standing near the combine and waving as he left.
    - Cheryl Campbell discovered the running, unmanned combine at 7:42 a.m. on June 14 and called 911 at 7:44 a.m.
    - Lauren’s wallet and phone were found on the kitchen counter, and coffee had been made and gone cold.

    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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    16 分
  • He Placed Her Shoe Upright-Why Marie Never Returned That Morning

    He Placed Her Shoe Upright-Why Marie Never Returned That Morning
    2026/09/07
    He Placed Her Shoe Upright-Why Marie Never Returned That Morning

    A single green canvas shoe sat perfectly upright on a storm drain with a clean sole and a double-knotted lace 63 hours after Marie went missing-placed there deliberately on a street she never ran. Who walked Marie to Hendrick Street and why did he return to set her shoe like a marker?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline of Marie Schultz’s last documented morning, the discovery of the shoe on Hendrick Street, and the investigative threads that that lone detail pulled tight: a partial license plate, a boot print, and a jailhouse conversation. How did the shoe change the course of the missing person inquiry?

    Person: Marie Schultz
    Age: 31
    Date: May 7, 2011
    Distance from apartment to shoe: 0.3 miles
    Time missing when shoe found: 63 hours

    - The shoe was found upright on a concrete storm drain lip on Hendrick Street on Tuesday morning, May 10.
    - The shoe was a left canvas sneaker, size 7, with a double-knotted lace matching how Marie tied hers.
    - Marie’s running log recorded a 2.4-mile circuit since 2008 and never included Hendrick Street or Pryor Street.
    - The National Weather Service recorded 49°F at 6:45 AM on May 7, the time Marie left her apartment.
    - Marie’s green composition notebook was open on the table with May 7 dated and time and temperature filled in, but the post-run notes left blank.

    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
  • Dry Purse, Flooded Ditch: The Impossible Clue That Broke a Case

    Dry Purse, Flooded Ditch: The Impossible Clue That Broke a Case
    2026/09/06
    Dry Purse, Flooded Ditch: The Impossible Clue That Broke a Case

    A bone-dry tan leather purse was found wedged between cypress roots in a flooded riverbank on April 19, 2014 - everything within twenty feet was mud and still dripping, except the purse. That impossible detail led investigators from a missing-person call about Brenda Lynn Lynn to a single repaired brass clasp that only her daughter would recognize; how did that clasp become the thread that unraveled the case?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from Brenda finishing her shift at Piney's Diner and disappearing after being seen leaving the Hitchpost Diner on April 17, 2014, to the discovery of her purse in Sutton Fork the next morning and the identification that shifted the inquiry; what exactly did that dry purse prove and where did it lead investigators?

    Person: Brenda Lynn Lynn
    Date: April 17-19, 2014
    Location: Sutton Fork riverbank, Larkin, Louisiana
    Status: Missing (car left in parking lot, purse recovered)
    Case: Purse identified by repaired brass clasp

    - Brenda worked at Piney's Diner for eleven years and left her shift at 2:30 p.m, on April 17, 2014, planning to attend a 7:00 p.m. bourré game.
    - Security footage from the Hitchpost captured Brenda standing and walking toward the road at 6:47 p.m, on April 17, 2014, purse in hand.
    - Two customers, Warren and Patricia Ogle, saw Brenda speaking with a heavyset white man aged 45-55 between approximately 6:00 and 6:15 p.m. that evening.
    - Craig Zeller found the tan leather purse at 6:40 a.m. on April 19, 2014, dry and intact against a dripping cypress root while the surrounding bank was muddy and flooded.
    - Inside the purse were a Louisiana driver's license, a Mastercard, $41 in cash, a ChapStick, a grocery receipt dated April 16, and a small spiral notebook; notably, there was no phone.

    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 Yellow Cap and the Perfectly Broken Fin: Staged to Mislead

    The Yellow Cap and the Perfectly Broken Fin: Staged to Mislead
    2026/09/05
    The Yellow Cap and the Perfectly Broken Fin: Staged to Mislead

    A yellow silicone swim cap stood upright on the wet sand at Pelican Flats with a single yellow training fin tucked directly underneath it - the right fin snapped in a perfectly straight line, the left fin nowhere to be seen. Someone had deliberately arranged the scene to look like an accident; why stage those impossible details and what were they trying to make witnesses remember?

    In this episode, we walk through the morning timeline, the physical oddities at the beach, and the household clues that shifted the case from a presumed drowning to a staged disappearance. How did a bent strike plate, paint chips, a missed insulin feeding, and a car seat pushed three inches beyond habit fit together?

    Person: Cynthia Dempsey
    Date: March 13-14 (morning events)
    Location: Pelican Flats Beach; Mercer Lane residence
    Status: Missing; body not recovered after two-day search
    Case: Corren County Sheriff's Office investigation

    - A land surveyor, Gary Allen, found the yellow swim cap at 7:00 AM and called the sheriff’s office at 7:14 AM on March 14.
    - The right training fin found under the cap had a clean, straight-line break consistent with a blade or rigid edge, not wave damage.
    - Witness Kevin Farris saw a figure in a yellow swim cap enter the water between 6:10 and 6:20 AM on March 13.
    - Cynthia’s cat Pickwick, age 17 and diabetic, was not fed at 5:30 AM on March 13 as usual, indicating Cynthia did not return that morning.
    - Cynthia’s white Civic was recovered at Pelican Flats with the driver’s seat pushed approximately three inches back from her normal setting.

    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 Coat on the Ice: How a Photo Unraveled a Killer

    The Coat on the Ice: How a Photo Unraveled a Killer
    2026/09/04
    The Coat on the Ice: How a Photo Unraveled a Killer

    A size-small wool coat buttoned to the collar was found centered on a frozen retention pond with four inches of undisturbed snow around it and no footprints approaching or leaving - and sewn into the lining: Marie Duncan. How did a coat with a name on it end up on solid ice with no opening beneath it, and what did a single photograph reveal about the man who had been watching her?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the last ordinary traces of Marie’s life - her voicemail, her routines, her apartment - through the discovery of the coat and the investigative threads that led to a photograph. What connection did a silver Dodge registered to Terrace Green Services and a man named Douglas Rafferty have to the coat on the pond?

    Person: Marie Duncan
    Date: February 14, 2021
    Location: Millgate Commons retention pond
    Person: Douglas Rafferty
    Vehicle: Silver Dodge pickup registered to Terrace Green Services

    - Coat found by John Romano at 6:50 AM on February 14, 2021, on the ice of a retention pond
    - Four inches of undisturbed snow surrounded the coat in every direction with no footprints
    - Interior lining tag of the coat had "Marie Duncan" written in black marker
    - Marie left a 1 minute 40 second voicemail on February 11, 2021; first 11 seconds sounded worn but the full message ended with a request for coffee creamer
    - Douglas Rafferty, age 43, had been driving the silver Dodge down Millbury Road every Tuesday and Thursday evening for two months

    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
  • He Walked Away From A Running Truck: Nine Minutes Unexplained

    He Walked Away From A Running Truck: Nine Minutes Unexplained
    2026/09/03
    He Walked Away From A Running Truck: Nine Minutes Unexplained

    A truck driver left his rig at a Nebraska rest area with the engine still running, a warm coffee cup on the console, and his coat hanging inside - in eleven-degree weather he walked away without it. Surveillance, a smeared license plate and a six-minute phone call made eleven days earlier become the only threads in a disappearance sealed by nine minutes of footage: what exactly happened in those nine minutes?

    In this episode, we trace the timeline from Michael Simmons’s last recorded words at 11:20 p.m. to the discovery at 7:15 a.m., laying out the concrete evidence that led investigators to focus on a dark pickup and a call from an acquaintance. How did a routine rest stop turn into a case defined by a deliberately obscured license plate and an unexplained absence?

    Person: Michael Simmons
    Date: January 9, 2014
    Location: Kessler Flats rest area, Interstate 80, Nebraska
    Age: 54
    Event: Last seen with engine running and warm coffee in cab

    - At 7:15 a.m. on January 9, 2014, road worker Brian Farrell found Michael Simmons’s semi with the engine running and a warm paper coffee cup on the center console.
    - The outside temperature was 11 degrees Fahrenheit when the cab was found empty and the coat remained hanging on the rear hook inside the cab.
    - Michael’s last dispatch call was at 11:20 p.m. on January 8 to dispatcher Karen Oswald, who reported he sounded “normal tired.”
    - Surveillance at the Cozad Pilot recorded a dark F-250 arriving at 11:07 p.m., idling at the canopy for nine minutes while Simmons paid, then leaving less than 60 seconds after Simmons returned to his rig.
    - Forensic lab confirmed the F-250’s license plate had deliberate mud smear, rendering only three of seven characters recoverable.

    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