Episodi

  • He Hung His Thermals in a Tree - How He Stayed Alive

    He Hung His Thermals in a Tree - How He Stayed Alive
    Aug 22 2026
    He Hung His Thermals in a Tree - How He Stayed Alive

    Cold fear tightens the chest: a man’s frozen thermals hung eight feet high in a spruce, arms outstretched, no footprints beneath and no fire for forty-four hours - how did he survive in minus seventeen Celsius and wet clothes? What one decision in the first twenty minutes kept him alive?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a December morning when a twenty-two-year-old skier signed a trail register and set off alone, through the moment he fell through river ice at Harrow Bend, to the improvised choices that let him live - could the same actions save you in similar conditions?

    Person: Robert Turner
    Date: December 9, 2019
    Location: Harrow Bend, Blackthorn River, Aldermoor service road
    Temperature: minus seventeen degrees Celsius
    Distance planned: 26 kilometers

    - Thermals (charcoal wool-synthetic top and bottom) were hung from a black spruce at roughly eight feet off the ground with arms extended.
    - No footprints were found in the snow beneath the suspended clothing at the discovery site.
    - Robert left the trailhead and signed the voluntary register at 08:05 noting the full Blackthorn Loop, clockwise, 26 km.
    - GPS watch recorded Robert at Harrow Bend at approximately 10:47 and then stationary near the far tree line after going through the ice.
    - He survived roughly forty-four hours after falling through thin ice created by a thermal spring without a fire or an emergency kit.

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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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    20 min
  • She Wrote "Road Cut" - Surviving 11 Days Beneath the Blaze

    She Wrote "Road Cut" - Surviving 11 Days Beneath the Blaze
    Aug 21 2026
    She Wrote "Road Cut" - Surviving 11 Days Beneath the Blaze

    Smoke and heat turned the southwestern sky the color of an open wound as a lone lookout scribbled "Camino cortado. No salgo." in her log - the road out was gone and she stayed. How did Nicole Weber survive eleven days in a steel tower with a 340-gallon cistern, surface temperatures over 1,400°F nearby, and no immediate rescue?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline recorded in Nicole's logbook, the restricted access that delayed search efforts, and the small orange diary found two miles from the expected location. What details locked into place at the end to change everything the searchers believed?

    Person: Nicole Weber
    Date: November 5, 2019
    Location: Pineward Fire Lookout Station, Garnet National Forest
    Supervisor: Ray Aldrich
    Search coordinator: Terry Brooks

    - Nicole had twelve years in the lookout program and four seasons at Pineward, Torre Siete.
    - Pineward's cistern held 340 gallons and Nicole estimated consumption at roughly 2 gallons per day.
    - The Harlow Mountain fire grew from 400 acres to 3,000 acres by midnight on November 5, 2019.
    - Surface temperatures in the northeast quadrant later measured exceeded 1,400°F on the night of November 7.
    - A small orange-covered diary was found trapped in a burned pine branch two miles from where investigators expected.

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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
  • She Capsized, Not Lost: How a 61-Year-Old Outsmarted a Lake

    She Capsized, Not Lost: How a 61-Year-Old Outsmarted a Lake
    Aug 20 2026
    She Capsized, Not Lost: How a 61-Year-Old Outsmarted a Lake

    Cold, precise, and counting seconds, a 61-year-old civil engineer survived 38°F water and a four-knot glacial current by turning method into action - but how did she keep moving when the shore kept sliding away? Will her training and a single-handed bowline be enough to explain how she reached land?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a morning utility worker’s 7:40 a.m. discovery of an upright kayak on a county road to the search-and-rescue response and the survivor’s own logged notes and actions; we trace the physical conditions that created a four-knot current and the decisions Heather Lane made - what exactly saved her life?

    Person: Heather Lane
    Age: 61
    Location: eastern arm of Hatchet Lake, Farrow access
    Water temperature: 38 °F
    Current speed: roughly 4 knots

    - At 5:50 a.m. Heather logged "Eastern arm, Farrow access, five fifty a.m. Water looks fast. Current unusual. Going anyway. Back by nine."
    - A utility meter reader found a yellow kayak upright in the road at 7:40 a.m., paddle clipped and bow rope tied to a road sign, with the waterline 40 feet behind.
    - The bank between the road and lake was 4 feet high and there were no tire tracks, ramps, ATV trails, floods, or skid marks.
    - Heather had logged over 40 kayak trips on Hatchet Lake over six years in a green spiral notebook kept in her Subaru glove box.
    - After capsizing, Heather estimated she had 12 seconds before cold shock would impair controlled breathing and fought the current for roughly 20 minutes before conditions changed.

    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 min
  • She Moved Four Miles: How a Runner Outsmarted a Desert Search

    She Moved Four Miles: How a Runner Outsmarted a Desert Search
    Aug 19 2026
    She Moved Four Miles: How a Runner Outsmarted a Desert Search

    A racing bib, four safety pins, and a brown smear of blood hung six feet up a creosote bush-placed twelve feet from the road and three miles west of the official search area. The missing runner, Rebecca Clark, left three deliberate signals and survived nine days with a broken ankle, but why did every team read them wrong? What single misread shifted the search away from where she actually waited?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from Rebecca's last GPS ping to the moment her signals were finally discovered. You will hear how her training, field skills, and small survival actions shaped nine days in the Mojave-and ask whether standard search protocols missed the one clue that mattered most.

    Person: Rebecca Clark
    Age: 26
    Event: Ridgecrest Endurance Marathon
    Date: September 5, 2011
    Injury: lateral malleolus fracture (right ankle)

    - Rebecca left the marked course at mile 19 and stepped 22 degrees northwest off the route at approximately 2:00 PM on September 5, 2011.
    - Her GPS watch sent its last location ping at 2:17 PM, two miles northeast of the Caldera Ridge junction.
    - She traveled approximately four miles west-northwest from that last GPS ping before stopping beside a sandstone shelf.
    - She had roughly 12 ounces of water, two gel packets, a space blanket, a headlamp, a notebook, and a pen when stranded.
    - On the afternoon of September 6 she tied six inches of orange flagging tape ankle-high to a creosote branch; it was found by Walt Ybarra on September 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 min
  • The Ice Axe, the Wrong Side of the Mountain: 5 Days Alone

    The Ice Axe, the Wrong Side of the Mountain: 5 Days Alone
    Aug 18 2026
    The Ice Axe, the Wrong Side of the Mountain: 5 Days Alone

    Cold, deliberate signals can be the difference between rescue and oblivion: an ice axe stood perfectly vertical at 7,000 feet with a serial number that tied it to a missing climber, but the search went to the wrong side of the mountain - how did one ten-second decision create a five-day gap between being seen and being saved?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events over five days in the Ashford Range, from the discovery of the axe on August 9, 2011 to the realization that the search teams were searching the wrong side, and explore how Beverly Hunt’s private plan diverged from what others were told and where she actually crawled-what did her sketched route conceal?

    Person: Beverly Hunt
    Date: August 9, 2011
    Location: Ashford Range, eastern face talus field at 7,000 feet
    Status: Missing (reported August 8, 2011)
    Event: Ice axe found upright with serial number matching owner

    - At 7:42 AM on Tuesday, August 9, 2011, Pamela Stevens’ dog stopped at an ice axe planted blade-down in a crack between granite slabs.
    - The axe was photographed in place at 9:15 AM by Todd Aberle, then lifted and checked beneath the collar to reveal a serial number.
    - By 10:00 AM the axe serial number identified the owner as 48-year-old Beverly Hunt, reported missing the day before.
    - Beverly Hunt had sent a text on the evening of Friday, August 5 saying she would be back Saturday and see Walt Ingram Tuesday, but she did not return and a missing person report was filed on Monday, August 8 at 11:00 AM.
    - Beverly had a hand-drawn sketch of an unnamed, unmapped route folded in her shirt pocket and had left the Crestline topographic map inside her pack.

    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
  • Dry Tide Chart, Wrong Direction: How Four Vanished From Bent Cape

    Dry Tide Chart, Wrong Direction: How Four Vanished From Bent Cape
    Aug 17 2026
    Dry Tide Chart, Wrong Direction: How Four Vanished From Bent Cape

    Fear tightens when a life raft turns up miles inland with a dry tide chart marked "200 ft, 270°" - a notation that could only have been written before a boat ran itself onto rocks. A two-word radio transmission sent search teams the wrong way across ninety square miles; why did a seasoned crew run hard toward shore in worsening seas, and what does a dry chart in an estuary reveal about those last hours?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a July 7 departure across the Dellport bar to the discovery of a wrecked hull at Bent Cape and a flotation vest in Alder Slough, and we lay out the physical clues that reshape where and how the search should have been conducted. Which single entry in a waterproofed fuel log rewrote the search grid and pointed straight to a grounded vessel?

    Person: Douglas Favre
    Date: July 7 (departure) and July 14 (vest found)
    Location: Bent Cape; Alder Slough; Dellport bar
    Event: Two-word radio transmission; discovery of flotation vest and tide chart
    Status: One dead, one missing, one clinging to life, one aboard wrecked hull

    - The flotation vest recovered July 14 contained a tide chart showing a penciled depth of 200 feet and a bearing of 270°.
    - Alder Slough's deepest point is barely 12 feet, yet the vest arrived there after traveling 11 miles from the Mira Jean's position.
    - The Mira Jean crossed the Dellport bar at approximately 6:40 a.m. and was running southwest toward grounds 18 miles offshore.
    - Phil Navarro's green-cover fuel log shows engines at near full throttle for 60 to 90 minutes between noon and the last radio transmission at 6:47 p.m.
    - Search teams were focused on a 90-square-mile ocean grid centered on a noon position in 210-foot water while the vessel was actually grounded in 80-90 foot water near Bent Cape.

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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 min
  • The Pink Sneaker on the Basalt: How a Mother Vanished

    The Pink Sneaker on the Basalt: How a Mother Vanished
    Aug 16 2026
    The Pink Sneaker on the Basalt: How a Mother Vanished

    Heat and distance turned a routine roadside breakdown into a nightmare: a size five pink sneaker, bow tied neat, perched four feet up on basalt eleven miles from the nearest paved road - and no child, no second shoe, no tracks at the rock. How did a woman who left her daughter in a shaded car and walked sixteen minutes to call 9-1-1 vanish so completely that only a single child's shoe seemed to explain what happened?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the morning discovery to the moments on the highway and the car that died, laying out each decision and mismatch of visibility that left Angela Russo effectively hidden. What small turn, what overlooked detail, might explain why a mother disappeared after doing what any parent would do to protect her child?

    Date: June 14, 2017
    Person: Angela Russo
    Person: Mia (daughter), age 8
    Location: near Opal Springs, Mojave fringe, Kern County
    Time: engine died at 11:22 AM; 9-1-1 call at 3:31 PM

    - A contract surveyor, Eugene Hensley, found a size five pink sneaker on top of a basalt outcropping at 6:42 AM.
    - The sneaker was the right foot, with white laces tied in a neat bow, placed four feet above the desert floor.
    - The rock was eleven miles from the nearest paved road and the relay tower that gave two bars at the highway shoulder.
    - Angela and Mia left Bakersfield at 7:10 AM; the car engine died at 11:22 AM after being driven about a quarter mile down a dirt access track.
    - Angela walked sixteen minutes to the highway, called 9-1-1 at 3:31 PM, and when responders reached the shoulder she had already turned back toward the car - but in the wrong direction.

    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
  • Buried Alive 48 Hours: The Glove That Stood Upright

    Buried Alive 48 Hours: The Glove That Stood Upright
    Aug 15 2026
    Buried Alive 48 Hours: The Glove That Stood Upright

    A single wool glove was found standing upright in forty feet of untouched snow, thumb raised like a signal - and that lone oddity pushed a rescuer to freeze with a charge of dread. In May 2019 a seasoned biology teacher and mountaineer vanished beneath a Washington mountainside; could a glove tell the story of what happened in the hours after the slide?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events leading up to and during the avalanche burial, the methods Melissa Hayes used to survive without her pack, and the moment a caller described the glove that changed everything - could that detail point to where she lay under the snow?

    Person: Melissa Hayes
    Date: May 10-11, 2019
    Location: Dearborn Creek spur, Washington Cascades
    Event: Avalanche burial lasting approximately 48.5 hours
    Rescuer: Melvin Webb

    - Melissa left Dellwood on the night of Friday, May 10, 2019 and began her ascent at 5:40 AM on May 11.
    - The temperature at the trailhead the morning she started was 17 degrees Fahrenheit.
    - The avalanche released at 11:17 AM: a 220-foot-wide slab, 18 inches deep, running 400 vertical feet in under 30 seconds.
    - Melissa was carried roughly 180 feet down the slope and buried with a roughly bathtub-sized survival pocket and a 4-inch air gap to her face.
    - She had a hand warmer, a headlamp, and a small folding knife in her right jacket pocket; she used the knife to carve breathing space and removed her right glove around hour twelve.

    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 min