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  • The Shoe in the Snow: How 43 Winters Finally Gave Up Edward Ford

    The Shoe in the Snow: How 43 Winters Finally Gave Up Edward Ford
    2026/09/11
    The Shoe in the Snow: How 43 Winters Finally Gave Up Edward Ford

    Cold asphalt and three inches of fresh snow surrendered a dark brown oxford, size 10½, with the initials E.A.F., thirty-one years after a man vanished; what does a single shoe, upright on a county road, finally tell us about a life that stopped on January 13, 1988? Who set the shoe down, and why did the ground start giving Edward Ford back after 43 winters?

    In this episode, we trace the chain of small, exact details that tied strangers and specialists together: a shoe found on January 9, 2019, a bowling bag missing from an apartment, a sixteen-pound monogrammed ball in an abandoned trunk, and a DNA match born of a commercial kit upload-how did those pieces converge on one man’s fate?

    Person: Edward Allen Ford
    Date: Last seen January 13, 1988
    Location: Aldrich Avenue apartment; shoe found on shoulder of county road in Sable Township on January 9, 2019
    Event: Bowling bag found in trunk of 1984 Chevrolet at Millside Grill parking lot, January 1988
    People: Sisters Barbara Coe (age 81 in 2019) and Shirley Novak (age 77 in 2019)

    - The shoe was a dark brown oxford, size 10½, found standing nearly upright in three inches of fresh snow on January 9, 2019.
    - The shoe had three initials stamped in faded gold on the heel lining: E.A.F.
    - Edward was last seen on January 13, 1988 and was 43 years old at that time.
    - The canvas bowling bag Edward kept was missing from his apartment on January 14, 1988 and contained a dark green 16-pound bowling ball monogrammed E.A.F.
    - The bowling bag was found eleven days later in the trunk of a 1984 Chevrolet abandoned at Millside Grill, 32 miles from Edward’s apartment, with the car key in the ignition and Edward’s wallet under the driver’s seat.

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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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    18 分
  • The Dry Bag on the Pole: Why Did Someone Climb Eleven Feet?

    The Dry Bag on the Pole: Why Did Someone Climb Eleven Feet?
    2026/09/10
    The Dry Bag on the Pole: Why Did Someone Climb Eleven Feet?

    Cold, damp weather, a canvas duffel wedged eleven feet up a utility pole and bone-dry inside after two days of December rain - that single impossible detail kept the case from making sense for over thirty years. Who put the coat, paperback opened to page 112, and a single gold hoop earring up that pole, and how does it connect to a waitress who vanished the night her car was left running with the keys in the ignition?

    In this episode, we walk through the facts left in the file and the new cold-case work that reopened the investigation, following the trail from a diner parking lot to a drainage culvert four miles away and to evidence that sat misfiled in a county refrigerator for decades. How did a dry bag become the key nobody noticed until 2017?

    Person: Amanda Jenkins
    Date: December 4-11, 1992
    Location: Ferris Creek Road, Harmon County
    Cause of Death: Strangulation
    Investigator who reopened case: Gary Keller

    - Amanda Jenkins, age 28, did not show up for work for five days after December 4, 1992.
    - Amanda’s car was found the afternoon after she vanished, parked on Route Nine with doors unlocked and keys in the ignition.
    - The body was recovered on December 11, 1992, from a drainage culvert on the south end of Ferris Creek Road, four miles south of Delmar's.
    - Time of death was established as the early hours of December 5, 1992; cause listed as strangulation.
    - A canvas duffel was found wedged eleven feet up a utility pole on December 9, 1992, containing a small wool coat, a paperback opened to page 112, and a single gold hoop earring, dry inside despite heavy rains on December 6 and 8.

    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 Postage Stamp That Cracked a 22-Year Strangulation Mystery

    The Postage Stamp That Cracked a 22-Year Strangulation Mystery
    2026/09/09
    The Postage Stamp That Cracked a 22-Year Strangulation Mystery

    A single lick-and-stick postage stamp, sealed for twenty-one years, held the DNA clue that finally answered how a woman was killed inside her own home with no sign of forced entry. Could a fragment of adhesive under a flag stamp identify the person who strangled Diane Schultz in 2001?

    In this episode, we follow the evidence trail from a lost business card and a ritual home routine to an overlooked stamp pulled from long-stored evidence. We trace how advances in DNA extraction turned a tiny three-millimeter adhesive sample into the pivotal lead that reopened a two-decade-old case.

    Person: Diane Schultz
    Date: November 14, 2001
    Location: Cresson Park drainage ditch; home on same street
    Case: Unresolved strangulation for twenty-two years until reanalysis
    Evidence: American flag lick-and-stick postage stamp sealed in evidence envelope

    - Diane Schultz was found strangled on November 14, 2001 at 6:41 a.m. in a drainage ditch less than two miles from her home.
    - Diane was last seen alive carrying groceries at around 6:15 p.m, on November 11, 2001 by neighbor Ted Parrish.
    - Detective Harold Wick worked the case for eleven years and retired in 2012 with the file unresolved; he died in 2019.
    - The postage stamp was an American flag series 2001 issue, sealed in an evidence envelope for twenty-one years until 2022.
    - A 3-millimeter section of adhesive was selected from the lower left corner of the stamp for DNA extraction using protocols developed by Meridian DNA director Priya Khatri.

    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 Sneaker, The Tarp, and the DNA That Waited 30 Years

    The Sneaker, The Tarp, and the DNA That Waited 30 Years
    2026/09/08
    The Sneaker, The Tarp, and the DNA That Waited 30 Years

    A severed foot in a size seven white canvas sneaker, a canvas tarp weighed with eight landscaping bricks, and a male DNA profile that sat untouched in a police freezer for three decades-how did a single piece of evidence outlive every lead and every suspect? What finally bridged the gap between that freezer and an arrest forty years after the suspect's birth?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Amy Armstrong and the sequence of events from her last shift to the discovery at forty-one Mercer Lane, following the investigation kept alive by Detective Frank Solis’s notebooks and the dormant DNA sample that ultimately changed everything. How did a technology that did not exist in 1993 become the key to a thirty-year-old case?

    Person: Amy Armstrong
    Age: 22 years old
    Date: October 6-9, 1993
    Location: forty-one Mercer Lane, Harwick, Mettler County
    Detective: Frank Solis

    - A white canvas sneaker, size seven with a faded pink stripe and lace still tied, contained a human foot found on October 9, 1993.
    - The rest of the body was under a canvas tarp weighted by eight landscaping bricks placed at measured intervals.
    - The ankle amputation was postmortem and made by a pruning saw with a single clean stroke.
    - A male blood DNA profile from the tarp was entered into Harwick Police evidence and remained in the freezer for thirty years.
    - Detective Frank Solis opened the case on October 10, 1993, wrote seven notebooks over four years, and retired in 2007.

    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 Watch on the Shelf: How a DNA Swab Broke a 40-Year Murder

    The Watch on the Shelf: How a DNA Swab Broke a 40-Year Murder
    2026/09/07
    The Watch on the Shelf: How a DNA Swab Broke a 40-Year Murder

    A clean Timex watch, brown leather band and perfectly ticking, sat upright on a bare shed shelf forty yards from a partially buried body - a deliberate image that baffled investigators for four decades. How did a decades-old touch DNA swab from that watchband finally point to the missing answer?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Scott Sanders and the scene Amanda Boyd found on September 11, 1983, follow the two-decade-plus work of Detective Dennis Pryor, and trace how a consumer DNA upload and a forensic genealogist connected a nurse to a long-cold piece of evidence. Who left the DNA on the watchband, and what did that small trace reveal about the night Sanders died?

    Person: Scott Sanders
    Date: September 11, 1983
    Location: Calvary Lutheran Church grounds, Ridgecroft, Indiana
    Investigator: Dennis Pryor
    Match: Claire Pruitt (predicted 2nd-3rd cousin)

    - The watch was described as a Timex with a brown leather band and unscratched crystal, still keeping perfect time when found.
    - Scott Sanders was 38 years old and had been sober for two years at the time of his death.
    - Sanders’ body was found partially buried under a collapsed compost fence about forty yards from the shed.
    - A touch DNA swab from the watchband remained in Carver County evidence storage for nearly forty years before being profiled.
    - Claire Pruitt uploaded consumer DNA results to GEDmatch in 2023, and a forensic genealogist’s August 2023 upload produced a match within 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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    18 分
  • The Coffee Cup That Convicted a Killer: Frances Wilson's Last Purchase

    The Coffee Cup That Convicted a Killer: Frances Wilson's Last Purchase
    2026/09/06
    The Coffee Cup That Convicted a Killer: Frances Wilson's Last Purchase

    A single sixteen-ounce paper coffee cup survived roughly twenty-five to thirty years buried in a water-collecting depression and led investigators to a death that had gone cold for nearly three decades. How did a paper cup keep its logo and structure in Indiana clay long enough to link a records supervisor’s last noted purchase to her partial skeleton - and who did it point to as the killer?

    In this episode, we follow the discoveries and documents that tied Frances Wilson’s final days to an unlikely piece of evidence. We cover the notebook entry, the roadside car with a flat tire and no spare, the trail discovery by Rachel Holmes, and the question of how that cup survived long enough to be tested and used in the case.

    Person: Frances Wilson
    Date: August 16, 1993 (notebook entry); August 14, 2022 (discovery)
    Location: Sycamore Loop trail depression near Harker's Mill Pike, Parlin County, Indiana
    Status: Remains identified September 2022 by dental records
    Case: Partial skeleton recovery with paper cup evidence item 47

    - Frances Wilson was 61 years old in summer 1993 and had retired in 1991 after 26 years as a records supervisor.
    - Her expense notebook entry on August 16, 1993 lists: "Coffee. Summit Grounds. One dollar and seventy-five cents. Tank of gas."
    - On August 19, 1993 Connie reported Frances missing after Frances’s blue Buick was found with a flat rear tire, keys in ignition, purse on the front seat, and no spare tire.
    - On August 14, 2022 Rachel Holmes found a partial human skeleton scattered across roughly 40 feet and a 16-ounce Summit Grounds paper cup half-sheltered by tree roots.
    - The paper cup was entered as evidence item 47 and noted as unusually intact with a legible logo despite an estimated 25-30 years in a water-collecting depression.

    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 Shoe in the River: How a Missing Note Unmasked a Killer

    The Shoe in the River: How a Missing Note Unmasked a Killer
    2026/09/05
    The Shoe in the River: How a Missing Note Unmasked a Killer

    A single white canvas sneaker stood upright in four inches of the Saulter River at 6:00 a.m. on July 9, 1991 - right foot, size seven, laces loose but tied, and no footprints nearby. Twenty-four-year-old Erin Sharp slipped a dated note under her neighbor’s door on July 7 saying she’d be home that evening; she never returned. Who moved her car into an empty parking space and why did a DNA profile sit unidentified for decades?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Erin’s dated note and her parked Honda to the cold file that haunted Detective Ray Mabry for years, tracing the clues that lingered in a small town and the unanswered question that kept investigators awake: how did one misplaced shoe help close a case after twenty-eight years?

    Person: Erin Sharp
    Date: July 7-9, 1991
    Location: Dunbar, Crale County, Missouri
    Status: Body identified; cause of death manual strangulation; case cold then reopened
    Detective: Ray Mabry

    - The sneaker was discovered at 6:00 a.m. on July 9, 1991, standing upright in four inches of river water.
    - Erin Sharp was 24 years old and worked the afternoon shift at Dunbar Farm and Fleet; she fed Pepper the rabbit at scheduled times 6:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
    - Erin slipped a handwritten, dated note under neighbor Agnes Dill’s door on July 7 asking her to feed the rabbit and stating she would be home late.
    - Erin’s 1988 Honda Civic was found parked in assigned space 14, which had been vacant for six weeks, instead of her usual space 9.
    - A male DNA profile from the rape kit was recorded and stored in the evidence freezer but did not match anyone in databases or interviews at the time.

    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 Envelope Buried Thirty Years That Broke a Cold-Case Wide Open

    The Envelope Buried Thirty Years That Broke a Cold-Case Wide Open
    2026/09/04
    The Envelope Buried Thirty Years That Broke a Cold-Case Wide Open

    A surveyor's boot snagged on a loblolly pine and unearthed a burgundy handbag that had been held in place by roots for exactly thirty years, containing a sealed, unmailed envelope addressed to Barbara Crane and written by her missing sister Cheryl Hoffman. The sealed adhesive had preserved whatever was inside for three decades - but what secret did that untouched envelope hold that every investigator missed?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery and the people tied to Cheryl Anne Hoffman’s disappearance: the county surveyor who found the bag, the detective who kept the file, neighbors who remembered a backyard garden and an unsecured back gate, and the envelope addressed but never mailed - could the contents finally point to the person investigators suspected all along?

    Person: Cheryl Anne Hoffman
    Date: last confirmed sighting June 14, 1989
    Location: Elm Fork Road, Dunbar, Georgia
    Person: Detective Arthur Voss
    Item: sealed envelope addressed to Barbara Crane

    - The handbag was found at 9:17 AM on June 14, 2019, exactly thirty years after Cheryl’s disappearance.
    - Cheryl turned 47 in March 1989 and lived in a two-bedroom house on Elm Fork Road.
    - Cheryl’s weekly ritual was a phone call at 10:15 PM every Wednesday with her sister Barbara in Macon.
    - A check stub dated May 1989 shows Cheryl wrote $220 payable to “T. Rice - lawn.”
    - Neighbor Roberta Finch remembered Cheryl’s garden from the view of her kitchen window and the back fence had a hook-and-eye latch that could be lifted from the outside.

    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