Episodi

  • Tide Numbers Scrap: How a Cereal-Box Code Saved a Kidnap Victim

    Tide Numbers Scrap: How a Cereal-Box Code Saved a Kidnap Victim
    Aug 1 2026
    Tide Numbers Scrap: How a Cereal-Box Code Saved a Kidnap Victim

    A tiny four-inch square torn from a cereal box, pushed through a crack at the base of a boat hull, carried a binary code and a tide table that led police to a missing teacher. The scrap was found at Calloway Marina on November 4, 2011 - and it would be the key to locating Mark Tucker. How did those numbers point investigators to the exact boat and the timing that saved his life?

    In this episode, we tell how a routine service call and one technician’s habit of photographing evidence connected a locked bicycle at Linden Prep to a forty-two-foot boat less than three hundred feet away, and how a tidal analyst decoded the cardboard to answer the question that began the case.

    Person: Mark Tucker
    Date: November 4, 2011
    Location: Calloway Marina
    Event: cardboard with tide table and binary code found
    Status: missing person linked to boat

    - Scrap size: approximately four inches square torn from a cereal box.
    - Discovery time: photographed by Debra Griffin after arriving at 7:14 AM.
    - Bicycle found: at Linden Prep at 8:00 AM, locked and helmet hanging.
    - Distance: boat was moored less than 300 feet from where the bicycle stood.
    - Analyst ID time: tidal analyst Robert Ames identified the tide-table format the following morning.

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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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    19 min
  • The Green Ruler: How a Surveyor Wrote His Escape Without Light

    The Green Ruler: How a Surveyor Wrote His Escape Without Light
    Jul 31 2026
    The Green Ruler: How a Surveyor Wrote His Escape Without Light

    A retired surveyor reappeared on a cold gravel shoulder holding a translucent green child's ruler that left a red crease across his palm-after five days missing and a locked car found six-tenths of a mile away. That small ruler became a forensic map that sent one man to prison for thirty-two years; how did Bruce Powell write his escape without light, pen, or certainty anyone was looking?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Bruce's last known errand at a hardware store to the gaps in surveillance footage and the white panel van tied to appliance repairman Wayne Mason, asking how a route that does not appear on ordinary maps factors into what happened to Bruce.

    Person: Bruce Powell
    Person: Wayne Mason
    Location: Clement Avenue hardware store to Riverside Lanes overflow lot (0.6 miles)
    Date: disappearance began on Wednesday in October (five days before discovery at 5:52 AM Tuesday)
    Status: Wayne Mason serving 32 years; Bruce Powell found alive

    - Bruce Powell was found standing at 5:52 AM on a Tuesday morning holding a translucent green child's ruler with a red crease across his palm.
    - Bruce had been missing for five days before the jogger Lisa Hill located him and he asked her to call his daughter.
    - Bruce's car was discovered locked and undamaged in an overflow lot at Riverside Lanes, six-tenths of a mile from the hardware store where he last was seen.
    - Surveillance between the hardware store and the bowling alley contained roughly ninety seconds of missing footage covering the six-tenths-mile window.
    - A white panel van linked by a partial plate and logo to appliance repairman Wayne Mason was captured in three frames on Clement Avenue and later matched to tire impressions at a dead-end gravel access lane.

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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
  • Locked Below: The Tuesday Routine That Led Norman Carlson Underground

    Locked Below: The Tuesday Routine That Led Norman Carlson Underground
    Jul 30 2026
    Locked Below: The Tuesday Routine That Led Norman Carlson Underground

    Cold condensation on the outside of a cast-iron grate told a meter reader that warmth was coming from below - and that small, four-second decision to stop saved a life. A twenty-six-year-old named Norman Carlson spent eleven days underground, keeping time by Tuesdays and tapping a sardine-tab against a joist; how did a routine Tuesday breakfast turn into a locked basement with a person inside?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of actions, timelines, and physical clues that tie Norman’s disappearance to a basement door listed on a city permit, and we follow the trail from his last confirmed sightings to the evidence that finally suggested someone was being kept inside. What did the permit reveal about that door, and why did a repair ticket for a broken camera matter?

    Person: Norman Carlson
    Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009
    Location: Vance Street parking garage / Caldwell Street corridor / Kowalski Garment Care basement
    Status: Missing and later found underground in a soundproofed basement
    Detective: Gary Barnes

    - Norman left the Blue Hen diner at approximately 7:15 a.m. after finishing two poached eggs, wheat toast, and black coffee.
    - Norman’s phone connected to a cell tower at 7:22 a.m. and never connected to another tower afterward.
    - An attendant saw a white commercial van with its engine running parked on the east level for 20-25 minutes the morning Norman disappeared.
    - A renovation permit from spring 2009 listed a basement door sized 6 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 8 inches with an exterior locking bar.
    - The east-side camera on the Vance Street parking garage had been out of service since mid-August despite a submitted repair request.

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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
  • Locked Room, Hidden Notebook: How Denise Wrote Her Own Rescue

    Locked Room, Hidden Notebook: How Denise Wrote Her Own Rescue
    Jul 29 2026
    Locked Room, Hidden Notebook: How Denise Wrote Her Own Rescue

    Panic and method meet in a single spiral notebook found in a church donation box-its first line pressed three pages deep: "I AM ALIVE. PLEASE CALL THE POLICE. MY NAME IS DENISE WHITAKER." How did a woman trapped inside a locked room deliver that plea into a box that was then driven away from the scene of her own captivity, and who noticed it just seven minutes later?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries from a Kroger surveillance frame to a worn ledger and a donated box, tracing how one notebook became the bridge between two disappearances and what investigators learned when they followed its details. How did Denise describe the place she was held, and what chain did her writing set into motion?

    Person: Denise Whitaker
    Date: Tuesday, August 8
    Location: Ridgecroft Lane (residence); Kroger on State Route 61 (last footage)
    Person: Nancy Bennett
    Person: Detective John Quinn

    - The notebook was found at 7:15 a.m. on a Tuesday morning by Nancy Bennett in a donation box at First Redeemer Lutheran Church.
    - Nancy Bennett called 9-1-1 at 7:22 a.m., seven minutes after finding the notebook.
    - The first line of the notebook was printed in block letters and indented three sheets below: "I AM ALIVE. PLEASE CALL THE POLICE. MY NAME IS DENISE WHITAKER."
    - Denise Whitaker was forty-eight years old and worked as a civil engineering office clerk in Mount Gilead, Morrow County.
    - Kroger security footage captured Denise exiting the store at 6:13 p.m. on August 8, carrying groceries; the frame’s left edge showed a white pickup truck with a broken right-side mirror.

    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 min
  • She Walked Out Alive: How Sandra Outsmarted Her Captor's Basement

    She Walked Out Alive: How Sandra Outsmarted Her Captor's Basement
    Jul 28 2026
    She Walked Out Alive: How Sandra Outsmarted Her Captor's Basement

    Barefoot and one-shoed at 4:40 a.m., Sandra Dempsey had been missing for 32 days before a delivery driver found her walking the shoulder of County Road 14 - her left wrist swollen and moving as if she intended to keep going. She survived in a basement for almost a month and spent 18 days manipulating a painted-over window latch with a bent bracket to create an escape - how did she engineer that rescue while being held only twelve miles from volunteers who had searched the same preserve?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Sandra's disappearance on July 8 to her recovery on August 8, following phone pings, search logs, property records and Sandra's day-by-day work on the window latch. What decisions and missed signals let her captor hide her twelve miles from the active search, and how did Sandra turn a stack of old service manuals into the tool that freed her?

    Person: Sandra Dempsey
    Date: Missing since July 8, 2019; found August 8, 2019
    Location: Basement on Millstone Pike, twelve miles from Cassidy Preserve searches
    Volunteer: Howard Callahan, 44, maintenance supervisor, walked Cassidy Preserve on July 11
    Event: Phone went dark at 5:52 p.m. on July 7 at Millbrook and Sycamore

    - Sandra was missing for 32 days before being found walking barefoot at 4:40 a.m, on August 8.
    - Her phone stopped pinging towers at 5:52 p.m. on July 7 at the intersection of Millbrook and Sycamore.
    - Sandra worked the painted-over basement window latch for 18 days using a bent support bracket from behind service manuals.
    - Sandra turned 31 in July 2019 and lived in Weston County her whole life.
    - Howard Callahan logged a thorough search of the eastern sector of Cassidy Preserve on July 11 but did not report finding anything.

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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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    19 min
  • She Vanished In Plain Sight - Found Alive, His Secret Trail Revealed

    She Vanished In Plain Sight - Found Alive, His Secret Trail Revealed
    Jul 27 2026
    She Vanished In Plain Sight - Found Alive, His Secret Trail Revealed

    A woman's shoe snagged on a fisherman’s trotline, and inside was a rubber-banded note written in the dark: BAKER. ERICKSON. ROUTE 9 - a clue that led to Nancy Baker pulled alive from a storage unit after six days. Who left that shoe and why was the unit only the middle of a larger plan?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Nancy Baker's last confirmed sighting to the discovery on Route Nine, tracing the subtle preparations at her home and the early clues that pointed investigators toward a hidden trail of movements. How did small, overlooked details - an oiled gate, a moved storage bin, a misaligned drawer - become the map that revealed what happened to Nancy?

    Person: Nancy Baker
    Date: June 8-14, 2011
    Location: Cantle River / Route Nine / Paulding Township
    Investigator: Detective Ruth Lawson
    Witness: Frank Seidel

    - June 14, 2011: fisherman Randy Armstrong found a pale blue women's sneaker size 8 on his trotline containing a 3x4 inch brown paper note.
    - The handwritten note inside the sneaker listed three words and a number: BAKER. ERICKSON. ROUTE 9.
    - Nancy Baker was pulled alive from a storage unit on Route Nine at Cantle River Road after being held there for six days.
    - Last confirmed sighting: June 8, around 6:00 p.m., when colleague Marie Voss saw Nancy get into her Subaru Outback; at 6:41 p.m. Nancy's phone went offline.
    - At the Subaru found on Denton Road the next morning, the driver's door was unlocked, Nancy's purse remained on the passenger seat, and her phone was 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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    16 min
  • The Whistle, the Bells, and Twelve Days Locked Alone

    The Whistle, the Bells, and Twelve Days Locked Alone
    Jul 26 2026
    The Whistle, the Bells, and Twelve Days Locked Alone

    A methodical nurse disappeared from a lit parking spot; her unlocked car, phone on the console, and bowling bag left behind suggested no struggle - then a white panel van appeared on nearby footage for nine minutes. Twelve days later she would use a nail, a scrap of material, and sounds - a factory whistle, a freight train, and church bells - to map the world outside her walls. How did Monica turn those noises into a route to survive and signal for rescue?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the parking lot at Fenton Lanes through the organized searches and the joint task force response, and we trace how Monica Underwood recorded and used ambient sounds to make a precise plan to communicate her location. Could sound alone point the way to a trapped person?

    Person: Monica Underwood
    Age: 44
    Event: Disappearance on May 3, car found May 4
    Location: Fenton Lanes parking lot; storage building on Pardoe Spur Road
    Volunteer: Vernon Wallace, 51

    - Monica’s car was found May 4 with doors unlocked, phone on the center console, bowling bag in the trunk, and no sign of struggle.
    - A white panel van was captured on camera next to Monica’s car between 9:52 PM and 10:01 PM - a span of nine minutes.
    - Monica heard a factory whistle twice daily at 6:00 AM and 4:30 PM, the same pitch and duration each time.
    - She logged a west-facing low freight train sound roughly the same time each morning, indicating she was north of the main rail corridor.
    - Church bells rang at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM from the southeast, allowing her to triangulate three fixed directional anchors.

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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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    16 min
  • The Watch in the Mud: How Cheryl Outwitted Her Abductor

    The Watch in the Mud: How Cheryl Outwitted Her Abductor
    Jul 25 2026
    The Watch in the Mud: How Cheryl Outwitted Her Abductor

    A pale blue Timex Weekender with the back scrawled "C. PERRY - ALIVE - INSIDE" was found deliberately placed in mud at the edge of a gravel lane, and it led deputies to a woman who had been missing for nine days. Who engineered that single clue to survive ten days inside a locked hunting cabin - and how did Cheryl turn a disappearance into a rescue?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from Cheryl Perry's last text at 5:58 p.m. to the discovery at 8:47 a.m., tracing the small observations and decisions that changed everything. What do a neighbor's memory of a white pickup and a cracked watch in the mud reveal about planning, trust, and survival?

    Person: Cheryl Perry
    Date: April 4, 2019 (last text timestamp 5:58 p.m.)
    Location: Hartwell Pike gravel lane, Dunbar County, Illinois
    Person: Robert Hensley, age 47
    Event: Watch found and 911 call at 8:47 a.m.; deputies found Cheryl inside ten days after disappearance

    - Cheryl Perry was 29 years old and had worked at the Dunbar County assessor's office for three years.
    - The watch was a cracked pale blue Timex Weekender with the case back marked "C. PERRY - ALIVE - INSIDE."
    - Rebecca Olson called 9-1-1 at 8:47 a.m. after spotting the watch crystal in the mud on April 14.
    - Deputies found Cheryl in a hunting cabin off Hartwell Pike, conscious, dehydrated, with a hairline fracture in her left wrist, after she had been inside for ten days.
    - Surveillance showed Cheryl walking to a white pickup on Cutler Street and getting in at approximately 5:58 p.m, with no visible struggle.

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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