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  • She Was Found Upright in Mud: Nine Hours Against the Tide

    She Was Found Upright in Mud: Nine Hours Against the Tide
    2026/09/10
    She Was Found Upright in Mud: Nine Hours Against the Tide

    A dead-white camera bag sat perfectly upright, fourteen inches below the surface of a tidal channel on the Oregon coast - a waterproof bag that should have floated but did not. Inside were two camera bodies, four lenses, a spare battery and a tide chart with 6:30 circled twice; how did the owner vanish while her gear stayed motionless in the mud?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the morning of June 10, 2019 through the first searches and discoveries on Callow Flats, laying out the physical clues found on scene and the questions they raised about where she went and why. Could the tide, the mud, and a single circled time be the only traces of what happened?

    Date: June 10, 2019
    Location: Callow Flats, Oregon coast
    Person: Tracy Thorpe
    Car: 2012 Subaru, white, broken right rear taillight
    Equipment value: roughly $4,000

    - The bag was found upright and still, fourteen inches below the surface of a tidal channel.
    - Inside the waterproof olive-green bag were two camera bodies, four lenses, a spare battery and a tide chart.
    - The tide chart had the time 6:30 written and circled twice.
    - Tracy had been on the flats alone since roughly 4:30 a.m.; low tide that day was about 2:17 a.m.
    - At 9:40 a.m., her white 2012 Subaru with a broken right rear taillight was found at the Callow Flats access road with the engine 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
  • Left Boot on the Rock: 55 Hours Alone, One Fractured Ankle

    Left Boot on the Rock: 55 Hours Alone, One Fractured Ankle
    2026/09/09
    Left Boot on the Rock: 55 Hours Alone, One Fractured Ankle

    Fear and focus collide in the thin air: a lone mountaineering boot stands upright on dry granite twelve feet above a creek, laces neatly tied and not a single scuff on the upper - while fifty-four-year-old Kelly Bishop is moving through timber on one foot with a fractured ankle, alone for nearly fifty hours. How did a boot travel farther than anyone expected, and why was no one looking where she actually was?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the morning Philip Wallace found a boot on Forest Service Road Seven to the fifty-five hours Kelly Bishop spent alone after fracturing her lateral malleolus, and we map how a permit that listed the wrong camp shifted the entire search-and-rescue effort. What errors and invisible channels led rescuers away from the place she needed them most?

    Person: Philip Wallace
    Person: Kelly Bishop
    Date: May 8, 2019
    Location: Sennett Range / Calder Creek / Forest Service Road Seven
    Event: Left boot found upright on rock; solo climber with fractured ankle

    - Boot location: twelve feet above the waterline on dry stone with no mud on the sole and no scuff marks.
    - Victim age and experience: Kelly Bishop, 54 years old, climbing since age 26 (nearly 28 years).
    - Summit and route details: Sennett Range elevation 11,200 feet; Notch Flat camp at ~10,100 feet; standard return trail six miles with two creek crossings.
    - Injury specifics: fracture of the lateral malleolus (outer ankle) heard as a crack; swelling visible within an hour.
    - Timeline: permit filed May 8, 2019 listing Talbot Meadow Camp (~8,000 ft) but Kelly ascended to summit by 11:47 AM and changed plans without updating permit, leading to a 55-hour solo ordeal.

    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 Survived Six Days - But Whose River Knew Him Better?

    He Survived Six Days - But Whose River Knew Him Better?
    2026/09/08
    He Survived Six Days - But Whose River Knew Him Better?

    Cold and calm, the river kept him alive and betrayed the search: after six days in fifty-two degree water Randy Keller’s strike-anywhere matches were bone dry and he sat eating watercress under a limestone overhang - how did the river both preserve him and hide him? Which part of the floodplain’s logic explained dry matches and a six-day delay by a trained search team?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline and choices that shaped Randy Keller’s six days alone on Cullen Fork and consider the river conditions, equipment list, and search response that left key questions open: how did his gear survive yet his map and paddle vanish, and why did it take six days to find a 22-year-old college student three miles from a county road?

    Person: Randy Keller
    Date: April 8-15, 2014
    Location: Cullen Fork, Tillson Access ramp to Grainger Road bridge
    Status: Rescued after six days; lost right ring fingertip to infection
    Topic: Solo canoe capsize and survival in cold spring floodplain

    - River gauge rose from 4.8 feet on April 8 to 6.1 feet by the evening of April 9.
    - Randy was 22 years old and a junior at Marten College, studying environmental science.
    - He carried a mesh bag with a notebook, knife, three ibuprofen, and eleven matches in a ziplock; the matches were dry when found.
    - He lost eleven pounds during six days and had a core temperature of 95.4°F at the hospital.
    - The canoe was found with the mesh bag still clipped to the bow and the paddle, dry bag, and laminated map missing.

    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
  • She Bolted Her Watch - Trapped Alive in a Grain Bin for 14 Hours

    She Bolted Her Watch - Trapped Alive in a Grain Bin for 14 Hours
    2026/09/07
    She Bolted Her Watch - Trapped Alive in a Grain Bin for 14 Hours

    Fear tightens like grain: a seasoned grain-storage pro bolted her watch to the bin wall at 6:18 AM and was buried mid-thigh twelve minutes later, conscious and calm for nearly fourteen hours-how did a missing four-inch plug and a series of assumptions let her stay undiscovered less than a quarter mile from her truck?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline of that morning and the facts that framed it, from the watch bolted at chest height to the moment she was pulled out at 7:22 PM, asking how experience and routine intersected with a cascade of small oversights that left her trapped so long.

    Person: Connie Vickers
    Date: March 7, 2011
    Location: Ostergaard family grain bin, Renner County, Kansas
    Duration: approximately 13 hours 50 minutes trapped
    Finder: Neil Coleman

    - At 6:18 AM Connie bolted her watch to the corrugated steel wall through the center link with a quarter-inch hex bolt.
    - Twelve minutes after bolting the watch, a four-foot-wide collapse in the northwest quadrant let her drop mid-thigh into compacted wheat described as "concrete that hadn't hardened yet."
    - The horizontal auger shaft she grabbed was about twenty feet long and four inches in diameter, and its outer wall end was missing a plug.
    - Two employees arrived: Troy Ables at 7:03 AM saw Connie's truck and assumed she was at the farmhouse, and Ken Briggs had previously logged the missing wall-end plug as non-critical.
    - Connie was extracted at 7:22 PM, and the bolted watch was still running with its crystal fogged from the inside when Neil Coleman found it the next morning.

    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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    15 分
  • She Launched Into a Trap: How a Missing Beacon Almost Killed Her

    She Launched Into a Trap: How a Missing Beacon Almost Killed Her
    2026/09/06
    She Launched Into a Trap: How a Missing Beacon Almost Killed Her

    Danger hung in cold wind and a missed piece of gear: a satellite communicator left charging eight miles away turned a routine paragliding flight into a 72-hour fight for survival on a limestone plateau. How did a single orange harness, a stranger with binoculars, and a helicopter that almost turned back decide whether she would disappear forever?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events on February 8-11, 2019 that left Erin Gardner stranded, describe her skills, preparations, and the mistakes that mattered, and ask what saved her despite the odds.

    Person: Erin Gardner
    Date: February 8-11, 2019
    Location: Creston Shelf, Sawthorn Highlands, central Idaho
    Hours flying: more than 2,000
    Injury: swollen left ankle inside boot after landing

    - Erin launched from the north rim of Creston Shelf at 4:20 PM on February 8, 2019.
    - The satellite communicator was left plugged in and charging in her car, eight miles away.
    - Her planned landing at Millhaven was 23 miles southwest of the launch site.
    - She had 19 years of paragliding experience and logged flights in a notebook.
    - Gordon Miller spotted and photographed an orange shape on the upper plateau at 7:15 AM on February 11, 2019, while looking for birds.

    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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    15 分
  • The Yellow Fin That Saved Him: Alone, Hypothermic, 40 Meters Down

    The Yellow Fin That Saved Him: Alone, Hypothermic, 40 Meters Down
    2026/09/05
    The Yellow Fin That Saved Him: Alone, Hypothermic, 40 Meters Down

    Fear tightened with every line: a bright yellow swim fin stood upright in open water for nearly four hours, 60 yards off a dock, marking a missing diver lost three nautical miles away - how did one fin become the single clue that saved a man’s life?

    In this episode, we follow the dive and the moments before and after the incident to show what happened that morning and why a single propeller strike on a three-millimeter tether changed everything; what exactly severed the line and how did it leave Dennis breathing through the impossible hours that followed?

    Person: Dennis Hoffman
    Date: January 9, 2019
    Location: Gulf of Mexico, north ledge near Meridian Shoals
    Age: 26
    Visibility/Water temperature: Visibility excellent; water 68°F

    - At 06:10, a 14-year-old named Linda Long spotted a yellow swim fin standing vertical 60 yards offshore.
    - Dennis entered the water from Meridian Shoals ramp at 05:18 with target depth recorded as 38 meters.
    - His tether was a 3 mm braided line, 10 meters long, attached to a 6-liter blaze-orange dive float.
    - An unidentified vessel estimated 18-24 feet and traveling 20-30 knots severed the tether by propeller, according to marine equipment specialist Doug Paige.
    - Dennis’s personal best freedive was 44 meters and he had logged the morning’s conditions as “visibility excellent, one atmosphere calm.”

    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
  • She Walked Out of Minus-22 Wearing Birch Bark and Nothing Else

    She Walked Out of Minus-22 Wearing Birch Bark and Nothing Else
    2026/09/04
    She Walked Out of Minus-22 Wearing Birch Bark and Nothing Else

    Cold so absolute it should have killed her: thirty below air, ninety seconds in icy water, and forty-eight-year-old Crystal Sawyer walked out of the Pembrook State Forest wearing strips of birch bark as clothing - but how did she survive fifty-five hours alone with a broken leg and no gear?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the moment Ruth Slater saw a woman at the tree line to Crystal’s hospital arrival with a core temperature of 94.1°F, reconstructing what Crystal did in the critical hour after falling through the ice and asking whether this was improvised survival or something she already knew how to do.

    Person: Crystal Sawyer
    Date: December 4, 2019
    Age: 48
    Air temperature: -22 °F
    Core temperature at hospital: 94.1 °F

    - Crystal was alone in the forest for 55 hours and walked the last 2 miles on a broken leg.
    - She fell through the frozen Pembrook River and was in the water for less than 90 seconds.
    - She left her green hatchback at Pembrook State Fuel Stop after driving 1.25 miles in, then skied from the shoulder of the road.
    - Her ski boots cracked from the cold, poles were lost, and she had no radio, map, or emergency beacon.
    - Her improvised clothing included overlapping strips of birch bark, cattail fiber stuffing, cedar-bark bindings, dead grass wrapped from knee to ankle, and bark mittens laced with pine needles.

    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
  • Trapped 22 Days: How a Clear Jar and a Torn Logbook Saved Him

    Trapped 22 Days: How a Clear Jar and a Torn Logbook Saved Him
    2026/09/03
    Trapped 22 Days: How a Clear Jar and a Torn Logbook Saved Him

    The fear of being cut off with no help is immediate: a spotless two-piece canning jar on a charred railing held a folded torn logbook page that began, "if you are reading this and I am not here, start with page forty-one." How did a clean jar and a damaged notebook become the only link between a man trapped at 6,400 feet and the outside world, and who almost never found him?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that left a look‑out isolated for twenty‑two days after a fast-moving wildfire destroyed the only access road, and we follow the clues that led rescuers to him. What choices, equipment limits, and near-misses shaped his survival and eventual discovery?

    Person: Terry Walker
    Date: October 28, 2014 (arrival) - November 19, 2014 (discovery)
    Location: Station Nine, Arroyo Bench, Merna River drainage, central Nevada
    Status: Found alive in cab after 22 days
    Event: Arroyo Bench Fire caused road loss and tower isolation

    - The jar was photographed at 7:52 AM on November 19, 2014 before anyone touched it.
    - Terry arrived at Station Nine just before noon on October 28, 2014 and planned to leave by 4:00 PM the same day.
    - Fire winds reached sustained 22 mph with gusts to 38 mph, and the fire started about three miles south of the station.
    - He drove his truck roughly 60 yards north of the tower base to use it as a partial radiant heat shield during the fire.
    - The emergency cache contained approximately six gallons of water and four days of emergency rations.

    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