Episodi

  • The Case of the Expedition Case: How a Fake Guide Fooled a Town

    The Case of the Expedition Case: How a Fake Guide Fooled a Town
    Oct 16 2026
    The Case of the Expedition Case: How a Fake Guide Fooled a Town

    A hard-shell expedition case worth more than a snowplow operator's truck sat upright against a guardrail at 4:00 AM on January 9, 2019, its foam undisturbed - and inside were forty-seven precision prints that would unravel a decade-long deception. How did a woman with training at a printing company manufacture a mountaineering legend that an entire mountain town accepted without truly looking?

    In this episode, we tell the story of how a case on a frozen road led investigators back through a sequence of jobs, public talks, and fake expedition photography to ask why suspicious details were ignored for years. What made a community trust a guide whose evidence was literally printed, not lived?

    Person: Crystal Cole
    Date: January 9, 2019
    Location: Ridgecrest Access Road
    Period: 2005-2009 (printing company employment)
    Event: Recovery of a hard-shell expedition case containing 47 precision prints

    - The case was found at 4:00 AM on January 9, 2019, upright against a guardrail.
    - Crystal Cole worked at a regional printing company from 2005 through 2009.
    - The recovered photographs numbered 47 precision prints with composited images.
    - Cole began writing a column called "High Marks" for a local outdoor publication after moving to Renner Falls around 2010.
    - At a January 2017 fundraiser slide talk, an observer noted her skin lacked the asymmetric high-altitude sunburn pattern expected of someone who had spent days above 5,000 meters.

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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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    22 min
  • A Flashlight Falls and Exposes a Doctor Who Never Existed: The Diane Wagner Case

    A Flashlight Falls and Exposes a Doctor Who Never Existed: The Diane Wagner Case
    Oct 15 2026
    A Flashlight Falls and Exposes a Doctor Who Never Existed: The Diane Wagner Case

    A hidden folder dropped from a ceiling panel, revealing a complete set of forged medical credentials - diploma, residency certificate, DEA card and state license - all belonging to a woman who had been treating patients for two and a half years. How did a fabricated doctor gain trust, perform clinical work with normal pregnancy outcomes, and stay undiscovered until a flashlight nudged a ceiling tile?

    In this episode, we tell the story of what happened at Lakewood Reproductive Medicine and the sequence of events that followed the discovery, including how staff adapted to clinical gaps and which credentials were falsified; can a small clinic’s procedures and assumptions explain how deception lasted from 2012 to 2014?

    Person: Diane Wagner
    Location: Lakewood Reproductive Medicine, Calloway, Ohio
    Date: December 11, 2014
    Period: 2012-2014
    Staff member: Jason Sullivan, age 38

    - A folder fell from a drop-ceiling panel on December 11, 2014 and contained a University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine diploma dated May 2009.
    - Diane Wagner had been treating patients at Lakewood for two and a half years before the folder was found.
    - Wagner purchased a diploma and related documents from an online novelty credentials vendor in January 2012.
    - Jason Sullivan noticed copied medication orders and identical textbook answers within six weeks of Wagner’s arrival in 2012.
    - Wagner had completed two years of pre-medicine at a community college before withdrawing in 2007 and then worked three years as a medical receptionist.

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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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    21 min
  • The Dry Folder That Unraveled a Woman's Ten-Year Fake Life

    The Dry Folder That Unraveled a Woman's Ten-Year Fake Life
    Oct 14 2026
    The Dry Folder That Unraveled a Woman's Ten-Year Fake Life

    An impossible detail - a bone-dry manila folder found under an open underpass after nine hours of rain - started a chain that exposed a decade-long fabricated identity built around a country that doesn’t exist. The folder held a laminated ID, a two-page personal history, and a document in an unidentifiable language; could one dry folder really unravel a whole life of professional acclaim and apparent compassion?

    In this episode, we follow the factual trail from a morning discovery to the revelation that the refugee nation on the documents, Alduria, is nowhere to be found in international records. We trace Cynthia Schmidt’s path from Decatur, Illinois to a rising role at Bridgepoint Resettlement Services and ask how someone with an invented past gained such trust and responsibility.

    Person: Cynthia Schmidt
    Location: Harlan County, Ohio
    Event: Dry manila folder found at 6:14 AM after nine hours of rain
    Organization: Bridgepoint Resettlement Services
    Claim: Identity listed as refugee from Alduria (a country not registered by UN or State Department)

    - The folder was discovered at 6:14 AM on a Tuesday in November 2019 under the Braddock Street underpass.
    - It had been raining since 9 PM the previous night, yet the folder was bone dry.
    - The folder contained a laminated identity card, a two-page personal history, and a document in an unidentifiable language.
    - Schmidt worked at Bridgepoint from 2009, became admissions lead within two years and associate director within four years.
    - Alduria appears in no United Nations registry, no State Department country list, and no academic database of recognized or unrecognized entities.

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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 min
  • The Laminated Lie: How a Meter-Reader Unraveled 11 Years of Fraud

    The Laminated Lie: How a Meter-Reader Unraveled 11 Years of Fraud
    Oct 13 2026
    The Laminated Lie: How a Meter-Reader Unraveled 11 Years of Fraud

    A wet Tuesday in October 2017 and a too-thick laminated card on Orviston Court exposed a decade-long deception that let a woman serve as an elementary principal with a fake doctorate for eleven years. The card bore an embossed state seal, a photograph, and an expiration date of 2021-but its uneven edges and consumer lamination hid a lie that had been rewritten at least three times; how did so many routine checks miss it for over a decade?

    In this episode, you’ll hear how a meter-reader’s instinct led to discoveries about falsified credentials, the small audits and sticky notes that almost stopped the fraud, and the unexpected ways a school’s effective programs complicated accountability. Can procedural oversights and human trust explain how a forged doctorate went undiscovered while students and staff benefited from genuine educational work?

    Person: Jennifer Slater
    Person: Beverly A. Russo, Ed.D. (listed)
    Person: Jeffrey O'Brien
    Person: Marcus Delaney
    Location: Dunmore Elementary, Calhoun Falls

    - The laminated card was found on a Tuesday morning in October 2017 on Orviston Court.
    - The card listed an expiration date of 2021 and showed a state seal embossed in the lower corner.
    - Beverly Russo had been principal at Dunmore Elementary for eleven years and arrived in Calhoun Falls in October 2006 at age 22.
    - Dunmore Elementary served roughly 340 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
    - A payroll audit in fall 2015 flagged Beverly’s doctoral accreditation as not appearing in the standard accreditation database.

    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 Laminated Lie: How a Fake Continental Table Badge Fooled Columbus

    The Laminated Lie: How a Fake Continental Table Badge Fooled Columbus
    Oct 12 2026
    The Laminated Lie: How a Fake Continental Table Badge Fooled Columbus

    A laminated press credential dated September 2019 turned out to advertise a magazine that had folded in July 2018 - and that small rectangle of plastic became the first hard evidence in a five-year deception. How did a woman with two unsigned freelance pieces and a craft-store hologram tape convince Columbus food media she was a Continental Table correspondent, and why did so many who nearly exposed her let it go?

    In this episode, we tell how a found badge led to the unspooling of a long con, tracing Rachel Mitchell’s rise from restaurant expediter to a reputed Midwest correspondent, and asking how social access, plausibility, and a single real connection allowed the lie to flourish. What happened between a conference badge kept in 2015 and the discovery in 2019 that finally cracked the story?

    Person: Rachel Mitchell
    Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
    Event: Badge found on September 4, 2019
    Publication status: Continental Table closed in July 2018
    Blog readership: about 400 weekly readers at Plate and Place

    - The laminated credential bore an issue date of September 2019 despite Continental Table having closed in July 2018.
    - Rachel Mitchell attended a food-media conference in spring 2015 and did not return the press badge she received at registration.
    - Two freelance pieces submitted by Mitchell appeared unsigned under "our Midwest desk" and she was paid for them.
    - Plate and Place, Mitchell’s Columbus food blog, had a readership of around 400 people on a good week.
    - An events coordinator named Patrick Yuen sought credential confirmation in 2018, and a PR manager named Diane Kocher searched Mitchell’s byline in 2016 and found no name attached.

    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
  • He Taught for Eleven Years Using a Dead Man's Name

    He Taught for Eleven Years Using a Dead Man's Name
    Oct 11 2026
    He Taught for Eleven Years Using a Dead Man's Name

    A quiet Oregon trail revealed a laminated teaching credential that had somehow stayed completely dry after three nights of rain - a small detail that exposed eleven years of identity theft and a man living as a dead teacher. How did a fabricated Oregon Department of Education card, yellowed at the corners, keep a deception intact for over a decade, and what finally made it unravel?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from a Tuesday morning discovery on Briar Notch Ridge in August 2023 to the classroom where investigators confronted a man marking quizzes. The episode covers the forged credentials, the life Terrence Bodine built as "Scott M. Adams," and the moment the missing card set a long investigation in motion: what questions did the system never ask?

    Person: Terrence Bodine
    Person: Scott M. Adams (deceased)
    Date: August 2023 (card discovery)
    Date: Fall 2012 (teacher began at Ridgecroft Middle School)
    Location: Briar Notch Ridge trail

    - The card was found dry after three nights of late-summer rain on Briar Notch Ridge.
    - The laminated card bore the name SCOTT M. ADAMS and an Oregon Department of Education certification number.
    - Terrence Bodine taught sixth-grade social studies at Ridgecroft Middle School starting in fall 2012 for eleven years.
    - The real Scott Adams died in April 2011 of a cardiac event in Dunnville, Oregon, at age fifty-three.
    - Bodine was born in fall 1961 in eastern Idaho, had one year of community college, and a prior fraud conviction for forged employment records.

    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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    14 min
  • She Faked a Life to Heal Broken People: The Connie Bowers Case

    She Faked a Life to Heal Broken People: The Connie Bowers Case
    Oct 10 2026
    She Faked a Life to Heal Broken People: The Connie Bowers Case

    A laminated counselor ID found dangling from a trotline half a mile into the woods launched a small-town shock: a woman who ran a grief practice for twenty-two clients had no verifiable credentials and had been living under a borrowed name. How did a lapsed license number, a printed certificate, and stories about a dead brother and a mentor create trust strong enough for strangers to bring their darkest moments into a second-floor office-and why did it take two years for anyone to pull the thread?

    In this episode, we tell what happened in Canfield, Missouri, from the morning the badge was found to the months when neighbors and a chamber-of-commerce attendee noticed inconsistencies. You will hear how Connie Bowers built a practice from public records and grief books, who first grew suspicious, and what remained unresolved about the people she counseled.

    Person: Connie Waite (known in town as Connie Bowers)
    Location: Canfield, Pettis County, Missouri
    Date: July 8, 2011 (badge found)
    Clients: 22 people
    Occupation claimed: Licensed Professional Counselor

    - The badge was found at 6:00 a.m. on July 8, 2011, hanging from a guide cord at Sutter's Pond.
    - Connie moved to Meridian Street in spring 2009 and was 24 years old while she told locals she was 27.
    - Within three weeks of opening, she had four clients; within six months she had twenty-two clients.
    - She previously worked 14 months at an insurance claims office in Springfield, Missouri, reviewing hundreds of accidental death and serious illness files.
    - A chamber-of-commerce mixer in October 2009 prompted Bruce Green to search the graduate program she cited and find no record of her name, leading him to watch her for 22 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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    21 min
  • Three Weddings, One Folder: The Man Who Married Three Women in a Month

    Three Weddings, One Folder: The Man Who Married Three Women in a Month
    Oct 9 2026
    Three Weddings, One Folder: The Man Who Married Three Women in a Month

    A misfiled marriage license behind a cattle-fence deed revealed three marriage ceremonies to the same man all within one calendar month-found by a county surveyor at 11:48 AM on a Tuesday in June 2019. How did Robert Allen Ford maintain three separate lives across counties, with three engagements and a manila folder in a detached Farwell Road garage waiting to finish the job?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Ford's arrival in Addison in fall 2015 through three meetings and engagements across different counties, and the clerical error that exposed him; what patterns in his movements and documents ultimately led to discovery?

    Person: Robert Allen Ford
    Date: June 8, 2019
    Location: Farwell Road, Addison, Teller County
    Event: Three marriage ceremonies within one calendar month
    Occupation (claimed): Retired structural engineer

    - A county surveyor, Debra Gallagher, found a misfiled marriage license at 11:48 AM on a Tuesday in June 2019.
    - The Teller County ceremony was scheduled for June 8, 2019, with groom Robert Allen Ford.
    - Ford arrived in Addison in fall 2015 at age 46 and rented a two-bedroom house with a detached garage.
    - Ford met Susan Mack in September 2018 and they were engaged by March 2019; Susan was 39 and a paralegal.
    - Ford had three phones confirmed by carrier records and made weekly 12-22 minute calls every Wednesday at 5:45 AM to a prepaid number.

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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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    25 min