Épisodes

  • The Dry Shoe in the Flood: How a Routine Walk Killed Her

    The Dry Shoe in the Flood: How a Routine Walk Killed Her
    Oct 11 2026
    The Dry Shoe in the Flood: How a Routine Walk Killed Her

    A single navy shoe stood upright in two inches of floodwater yet was dry inside - a concrete, impossible detail that would unravel a routine walk and a hidden corpse forty feet away. How did a size seven left pump end up perfectly upright and dry in a flooded drainage channel, and who carried it there?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery that reopened a missing-person case and the investigation that followed, tracing Marie Wright's habitual Thursday route, the broken gate at the Starlight lot, and the evidence that led investigator Donna Harris to question a careful alibi. What did that dry shoe reveal about the night Marie disappeared?

    Person: Marie Wright
    Date: May 31, 1954 (missing), June 3, 1954 (shoe found)
    Location: Starlight Motor Picture lot, eastern fence drainage channel
    Investigator: Donna Harris
    Witness/Discoverer: Kenneth Reed

    - The shoe was a left navy pump, size seven, low-heeled, standing upright in two inches of standing water.
    - Marie Wright signed out from the Red Cross chapter house at 8:55 PM on Thursday, May 31, 1954, and did not arrive home.
    - Sandra Wright reported Marie missing forty-eight hours after she failed to return.
    - Three days of continuous rain had soaked the Starlight lot before the shoe was found on June 3, 1954.
    - A body was found forty feet from the shoe, hidden under a tarpaulin in a storage shed behind the projection booth.

    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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    24 min
  • The Candle in the Empty Collar Works: Who Hid Carol Vogel?

    The Candle in the Empty Collar Works: Who Hid Carol Vogel?
    Oct 10 2026
    The Candle in the Empty Collar Works: Who Hid Carol Vogel?

    A lit candle left on a woman's handbag in an apparently vacant collar factory - burning for hours in a building whose lock had been broken for weeks - turned a routine missing-persons call into a nine-day riddle. Why was Carol Vogel wrapped in three layers of the factory's own collar cloth and hidden inside a sorting bin while her weekly pay remained in her coat?

    In this episode, we lay out the facts discovered between May 9 and May 17, 1923, and follow the trail of physical evidence, witness logs, and a detective's methodical work to ask the central question that keeps the case open: who carried a communal candle and Carol Vogel's handbag into the empty Collar Works, and why?

    Person: Carol Vogel
    Date: May 8-17, 1923
    Location: 412 Orchard Street (Prospect Collar Works), Millhaven, Ohio
    Investigator: Detective Ralph Brown
    Residence: 34 Clement Street boarding house (Agnes Mott)

    - At 8:15 AM on May 9, Randy Anderson saw a white wax taper burned down roughly one third on top of Carol Vogel's brown leather handbag in the Collar Works loading bay.
    - Carol Vogel left Hartwell Pressing Company at 6:15 PM on May 8 and failed to return to her boarding house; her weekly pay was still folded in her coat pocket when her body was found.
    - The lock on the Prospect Collar Works had been broken for weeks prior to May 9, and the building had been officially idle since early in the year.
    - A demolition worker found Vogel's body on May 17 after lifting three neatly folded layers of tight-woven cotton drill cloth in a deep wooden sorting bin on the factory's second floor.
    - The brass candle holder matched an item from the communal sitting room at 34 Clement Street, confirmed by Agnes Mott when Detective Ralph Brown showed it to her.

    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 min
  • The Analyst Who Found a Lie: Murder, Jars, and a Missing Satchel

    The Analyst Who Found a Lie: Murder, Jars, and a Missing Satchel
    Oct 9 2026
    The Analyst Who Found a Lie: Murder, Jars, and a Missing Satchel

    Cold bones, a cracked lantern smelling of kerosene, and a satchel that vanished for eleven days before turning up stuffed with fourteen labeled jars - the surface explanation was accident, but every precise detail points to deliberate concealment. Who benefited from a falsified assay that lifted Consolidated Ridgeback Mining shares 14%, and could Rachel Powell's missing satchel hold the evidence that turned an accident into a calculated crime?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Rachel Powell’s discovery at Ridgeback Gulch to the moment Deputy William Zimmerman opens a brass-framed satchel marked R.P., revealing a shipment-style packing and a set of sample jars that contradict the coroner’s quick ruling. What did Rachel notice in the assay ledgers that made her write “check original submission weight against vault record” and never finish it?

    Person: Rachel Powell
    Date: April 3, 1893
    Location: Ridgeback Gulch, Copperhead Falls, Colorado
    Case: Missing satchel containing fourteen glass sample jars
    Event: Consolidated Ridgeback Mining shares rose 14% after assay report

    - Rachel Powell was 28 years old and a junior analyst at the Tallow Street Assay Office.
    - The coroner Ira Mossback ruled her death an accident within hours on April 3, 1893.
    - Rachel’s satchel (brass frame, double buckle, gold-leaf initials R.P.) was missing for eleven days before being found wedged in a clay ledge on April 14.
    - Inside the satchel were fourteen cork-stoppered glass jars, each labeled with depth, grid reference, and date.
    - Consolidated Ridgeback Mining’s reported assay led to a 14% increase in its share price after the office’s outgoing report.

    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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    23 min
  • Locked Grease Pencil: The Card That Tied Two Murders Together

    Locked Grease Pencil: The Card That Tied Two Murders Together
    Oct 8 2026
    Locked Grease Pencil: The Card That Tied Two Murders Together

    The sight of a laminated index card clenched in a dead man's fist-marked "STAND BY - LIVE" in black grease pencil-linked a radio station boss to a string of violence across two bodies and years of unnoticed theft. How did a routine station cue card, a drift pin wrapped in a shop rag, and missing equipment invoices point investigators to a single technician?

    In this episode, we tell what happened inside WKRL on the night of March 10 and how the discovery beneath Transmitter Building B unfolded into a case that connected two murders and missing parts; what role did a transmitter technician's access play in the crimes?

    Person: Dale Young
    Date: March 11, 1934 (body found)
    Location: Transmitter Building B crawl space, Dunbar Falls, Nebraska
    Person: Steven Williams
    Person: Frank Odell

    - Dale Young was 54 years old and had run WKRL for nine years.
    - The index card found in Young's left fist read "STAND BY - LIVE" in black grease pencil.
    - Steven Williams was 29 years old and had worked as a transmitter technician for eight months.
    - The station log showed a four-minute unrecorded window during Frank Odell's transmitter check at approximately 9:50 p.m.
    - Sheriff Dennis Bennett opened the satchel containing an iron drift pin on March 24, 1934, and its dimensions matched the wound at the base of Young's skull.

    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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    23 min
  • The Second Stamp: Why Laura Burke's Passport Returned After Death

    The Second Stamp: Why Laura Burke's Passport Returned After Death
    Oct 7 2026
    The Second Stamp: Why Laura Burke's Passport Returned After Death

    A passport was stamped twice at the same border station, three hours and eleven minutes apart-even though Laura Burke had crossed once at 9:47 a.m. and was already dead when the second stamp was applied. The second violet stamp, a surrendered passport policy, a missing cosmetics case later found eleven miles away, and a body deliberately concealed raise one central question: who planned to use Laura Burke’s identity, and why was her document returned to her corpse?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline and the physical evidence found by investigator Kelly Hayes as she pieces together the movements, objects, and records connected to Laura Burke’s death. What Hayes uncovers about the passport stamp, the cosmetics case, and the photographed strip forces us to ask how identity became worth more than a life.

    Person: Laura Burke
    Date: February 9, 1944
    Location: Drover's Notch border station
    Status: Deceased (manual strangulation)
    Investigator: Kelly Hayes

    - Passport crossed Drover's Notch at 9:47 a.m. and again at 1:02 p.m., stamps three hours and eleven minutes apart.
    - Body of Laura Burke found February 11 face-down between annex wall and equipment locker with a canvas tarp laid over her.
    - Purse on body contained $11 and an untouched ration coupon book; passport was in inner breast pocket, pressed flat.
    - Declared at 9:47 crossing: a tan leather cosmetics case with brass clasp and initials "L.B."; the case was missing from the body.
    - Cosmetics case recovered February 16 at Emmett bus depot’s lost-property bin, containing a half-used coral lipstick, folded handkerchief, and an uncut strip of passport photos noting a five-and-dime booth and an El Paso studio.

    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 min
  • Ring of the Rail Spur: Why Heather's Gold Seal Killed Her

    Ring of the Rail Spur: Why Heather's Gold Seal Killed Her
    Oct 6 2026
    Ring of the Rail Spur: Why Heather's Gold Seal Killed Her

    A gold signet ring found on a bare hand in nine-degree January light tied a woman’s death to a land scheme that had been plotted months earlier; the ring’s reversed R was not jewelry but a recorded receipt that transferred her property without her informed consent. How did a ring made by a local silversmith become the hinge between a staged transaction and Heather Underwood’s body four blocks from home?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the evening Heather left choir practice to the discovery of her body and the filings that followed, laying out who knew what and when. What exactly did that signet ring represent on paper, and why did it make murder look like ledger work?

    Person: Heather Underwood
    Date: January 9, 1883 (body found)
    Location: Setter Creek, Barlow Flats
    Person: Craig Farrell
    Event: Farrell-Kessler Grazing Company brand registration filed December 29, 1882

    - Heather Underwood was thirty-eight and had been a widow since summer 1881.
    - Heather walked four blocks home from choir practice on January 7, 1883, and did not arrive.
    - Curtis Hansen’s pointer dog first locked on frozen mud forty feet south of the sandstone outcropping before finding the body.
    - Craig Farrell, age thirty-one, commissioned a gold signet ring with a reversed capital R in November 1882 from silversmith Art Noonan.
    - Farrell filed an affidavit on December 29, 1882 claiming Heather’s two sections of grassland were unencumbered, with Margaret Kessler named as co-partner.

    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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    23 min
  • The Lacquered Box: How a River Clue Unmasked a Quiet Murder

    The Lacquered Box: How a River Clue Unmasked a Quiet Murder
    Oct 5 2026
    The Lacquered Box: How a River Clue Unmasked a Quiet Murder

    A lacquered black box with a red crane floated in the Sacramento River on the morning of December 9, 1926, yet its interior was bone dry and contained a perfect, unsmeared English receipt dated the night before - a single contradiction that would undo the official cause of death. How could a box spend hours in the water while a receipt inside stayed crisp, and who would forge an order to frame a quiet widow?

    In this episode, we follow the documents, the shop ledger, and the stubborn clerk who would not accept the official explanation. You will hear how a river-recovered box, a forged receipt, and a mismatched order paper force the question: was Diane Barnes’s death natural, or was someone engineering evidence to hide murder?

    Person: Diane Barnes
    Date: December 9, 1926
    Location: Sacramento River / Sixteenth Street / Canton Alley
    Case: Receipt found inside lacquered box
    Role: Marcia Padgett, Records and Evidence Clerk

    - The lacquered box was pulled from the Sacramento River at 6:45 AM on December 9, 1926.
    - Inside the box were forty-seven wrapped parcels of dried plant material, each labeled in Chinese.
    - A handwritten English receipt dated December 8 named Lum and Sons Herbal Remedies on Canton Alley; the ink was crisp and unsmeared.
    - Henry Lum confirmed the handwriting style but showed an order book whose ink color (cool blue-black) differed from the browner ink on the river receipt.
    - The original delivery note carried on December 6 matched Diane Barnes’s handwriting but was written on different paper than she normally used.

    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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    24 min
  • The Wax-Sealed Intake: How Connie Cooper's Form Exposed Harrowgate

    The Wax-Sealed Intake: How Connie Cooper's Form Exposed Harrowgate
    Oct 4 2026
    The Wax-Sealed Intake: How Connie Cooper's Form Exposed Harrowgate

    A rain‑soaked patient intake form, sealed in paraffin wax and wedged between granite blocks, survived nine days of Maine downpour intact - and named Connie Cooper, age 24. Who walked the surveyor’s route to guarantee discovery of a document that revealed a funeral coach and a death recorded at the Harrowgate Institute, and why was the form sent to be found?

    In this episode, we tell the episode’s central narrative from the discovery at the stone wall through the linkages in Portland and at Harrowgate, laying out how a preserved intake form and a few small observations set off an inquiry into the institute’s practices; what did one sealed sheet force the town to confront?

    Person: Connie Cooper
    Date: November 14, 1907
    Location: Pembrook Cove, Maine
    Institution: Harrowgate Institute
    Occupation: Costuming and alterations employee at Arthur Pell’s shop

    - The intake form was found between two granite blocks on November 14, 1907 after nine days of continuous rain.
    - Connie Cooper was 24 years old and had a savings account containing $340 left by an uncle in August 1907.
    - Connie Cooper stopped picking up her bread roll at 7:50 AM after October 28, prompting no formal missing person report.
    - Arthur Pell, Cooper’s employer and first cousin to Dr. Dennis Dalton, signed commitment papers without consulting Cooper’s housekeeper Agnes Noonan or coworkers.
    - Connie Cooper arrived at the Harrowgate Institute on November 5, 1907 and the discharge field on her form was later filled in as “Recovered. Deceased.”

    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 min