Episodi

  • A Stranger's Blood Carries a Mother Home: The Sandra Holt Reunion

    A Stranger's Blood Carries a Mother Home: The Sandra Holt Reunion
    Aug 12 2026
    A Stranger's Blood Carries a Mother Home: The Sandra Holt Reunion

    A single line in an adoption file - "the mother had not survived the delivery" - convinced Sandra Holt for twenty-two years that the woman who birthed her was dead. A faded white bassinet found in a storage unit and a rare blood type registered in a reunion database would eventually reveal that the record was wrong; how did a wrong sentence erase an entire reunion for decades?

    In this episode, we follow the chain of small, exact details that connected a fourth-grade teacher who logged every insulin dose for her cat with a sixty-one-year-old woman who had never stopped wondering. Listen to how a donation at a Portsmith blood drive and a database entry - not a DNA match - reopened a life-long search and raised the question: what happens when an official record lies about your origins?

    Person: Sandra Holt
    Age: 44
    Event: Bassinet found in storage unit 32 on Ackerman Industrial Road
    Blood type: AB-negative
    Person: Constance Speer

    - The bassinet was found at 7:42 AM on a Tuesday morning in November 2019 in storage unit 32.
    - Sandra Holt was born in the spring of 1975 and was 44 years old in autumn 2019.
    - Sandra recorded insulin doses for her twelve-year-old cat Pepper every morning at 6:15 for four years without missing a day.
    - Sandra registered AB-negative blood type, Crestfield Regional birth hospital, and Portsmith region in a regional reunion database after 2016.
    - On November 2, 2019, a 51-year-old surgeon, James Fleming, donated blood at Portsmith General that entered the regional blood bank system.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    23 min
  • A Stranger Writes Her Name: The Reunion of Julie Ramsey

    A Stranger Writes Her Name: The Reunion of Julie Ramsey
    Aug 11 2026
    A Stranger Writes Her Name: The Reunion of Julie Ramsey

    Fear and hope collide in a single handwritten name: a retired postal worker recognizes Nadia Ramsey’s cursive in a public log and calls a woman who has recorded 411 leads on a legal pad for twenty-one years. How did a flyer kept in a kitchen drawer and a single signature trigger the reunion that had eluded months of international searches?

    In this episode, you will hear the sequence of events that connects a walk-in assessor’s log, a missing-persons flyer, and decades of Thursday-night tracing work, and how one phone call changed everything-what happened next?

    Person: Julie Ramsey
    Person: Nadia Ostrova
    Date: October 2014
    Location: Assessor's annex on Briar Road
    Event: Bruce Brooks calls Julie Ramsey after recognizing handwriting

    - Julie has kept a legal pad with 411 numbered, dated entries of leads and contacts.
    - Julie was seven years old in summer 1997 when her mother put her into a transit corridor with nine children.
    - Bruce Brooks found the name "Nadia Ramsey" at 10:47 AM on a Tuesday morning in October 2014.
    - Bruce called Julie at 10:51 AM after finding a missing-persons flyer he had kept for approximately two and a half years.
    - Nadia Ostrova had been living on Sycamore Terrace since 2002, about eleven minutes by the river route from Cresthollow.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    21 min
  • A Dog Finds Her Bag: The Pelayo Wreck Reunion

    A Dog Finds Her Bag: The Pelayo Wreck Reunion
    Aug 10 2026
    A Dog Finds Her Bag: The Pelayo Wreck Reunion

    A dog named Biscuit uncovered an olive-green messenger bag in the mud of Lake Ardeen that had sat hidden for nearly thirty years, stitched with a Chilean port authority sticker and labeled "T. Erickson, Cabin fourteen"-a link to a 1989 ship fire that left two passengers unaccounted for. How did a personal bag from the MV Pelayo end up in Minnesota and what mistake kept Tracy Erickson recorded as missing for decades?

    In this episode, we tell how the bag's discovery led a Duluth resident to recognize a name, and how that connection reopened a thirty-year story of survival, lost documents, and misfiled repatriation records. Can one object's reappearance rewrite a long-settled maritime record?

    Person: Tracy Erickson
    Event: MV Pelayo fire and sinking on September 16, 1989
    Location: Lake Ardeen, Minnesota (bag found); sinking ~40 nautical miles off Chilean coast
    Date: Bag found early September 2019; Pelayo departed September 14, 1989
    Status: Tracy found alive after ~11 hours adrift; recorded as missing in Chilean casualty list

    - Biscuit the dog found the bag on a Tuesday morning in early September 2019 in a drainage ditch along Lake Ardeen.
    - The messenger bag was olive-green waterproof canvas with a Chilean port authority sticker and an interior label reading "T. Erickson, Cabin fourteen."
    - The MV Pelayo sank approximately 40 nautical miles off the Chilean coast after a fire started in the early hours of September 16, 1989.
    - The Pelayo carried 31 people: 22 crew and 9 passengers; 19 survived and 12 were reported lost or missing initially.
    - Tracy Erickson was found by the Peruvian vessel La Constancia about 11 hours after the fire with a broken collarbone and second-degree burn on her left forearm, but her name remained recorded as missing on the Chilean casualty list.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    24 min
  • Father Finds Missing Daughter Through a Quilt: The Frances Reynolds Case

    Father Finds Missing Daughter Through a Quilt: The Frances Reynolds Case
    Aug 9 2026
    Father Finds Missing Daughter Through a Quilt: The Frances Reynolds Case

    A single child's sock, threaded onto a trotline in Cutler Creek and untouched by water, was the first physical clue found two years after Frances Reynolds vanished - and it matched an item missing from her glove compartment. How did a hand-stitched quilt pattern, photographed seven minutes before she left her great-aunt's house, become the key to finding her?

    In this episode, we trace the sequence of events from the July 26, 2017 phone call to the discovery in August 2019 and explain how a distinctive Bear Paw quilt block led investigators back to Frances. What did that corner photograph reveal that no catalogue or surveillance could?

    Person: Frances Reynolds
    Date: July 26, 2017 (last seen)
    Location: Route 9, four miles from Norma's house, Doverfield area
    Event: Photo of quilt corner taken at 7:51 PM; phone call at 8:03 PM lasting 4 minutes 12 seconds
    Item: White child's cotton sock with yellow duck found on Gary Morgan's trotline in first week of August 2019

    - Frances photographed a single corner Bear Paw quilt block with a half-inch contrasting sashing at 7:51 PM on July 26, 2017.
    - The phone call to her brother Nathan began at 8:03 PM and lasted exactly 4 minutes and 12 seconds.
    - Her Honda Civic was found the next morning pulled onto the gravel shoulder of Route 9 with purse on the seat and phone face-down, battery dead.
    - The distinctive quilt variation (half-inch contrasting sashing) existed only in quilts made by Evelyn Crane and recalled by family, not in any catalogue.
    - A white child's cotton sock with a yellow duck, missing for two years from Frances's glove compartment, was found threaded on a trotline in Cutler Creek in the first week of August 2019.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    23 min
  • The Tin Box That Reunited Two Families After 67 Years

    The Tin Box That Reunited Two Families After 67 Years
    Aug 8 2026
    The Tin Box That Reunited Two Families After 67 Years

    A sealed ammunition canister hidden on an abandoned Nebraska farm held a 67-year-old photograph and a modern note that finally linked two families across an ocean. The photograph bore a November 1952 inscription in Walter Novak’s handwriting and a second Korean inscription added later - who wrote it, and why was it buried for decades?

    In this episode, we follow how a county surveyor found an olive-drab ammo canister wired to a cedar post and how Walter Novak’s granddaughter, Lauren Taylor, unwittingly left the message that led to contact. The episode covers the discovery, the items inside the tin box, and the unanswered question about the second inscription on the photograph.

    Person: Walter Novak
    Person: Lauren Taylor
    Date: November 1952
    Event: Ammunition canister discovered on July 2, 2019
    Location: Nebraska farm eastern fence line

    - The tin canister was wired chest-high to a cedar post and was olive-drab U.S. military issue.
    - Lauren left a piece of printer paper with seven words and her phone number inside the canister in March 2019.
    - Dean Cole, a county surveyor and 19-year Army veteran, found the canister on July 2, 2019 and opened it the same afternoon.
    - The photograph had Walter’s handwritten note: "November nineteen fifty-two. He saved my life. I don't know his name."
    - The photo also had a second Korean inscription in different ink and handwriting, folded independently and added later.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    23 min
  • She Was Presumed Dead - He Carved Her Name Into Stone

    She Was Presumed Dead - He Carved Her Name Into Stone
    Aug 7 2026
    She Was Presumed Dead - He Carved Her Name Into Stone

    A retired mountain guide carved Kathleen Gallagher's initials into a creek-stone eleven days after an avalanche that declared her dead - then her phone rang forty minutes later. Kathleen had been declared dead twenty-five days earlier after a June avalanche left no body; how did a lodge door left ajar, a cracked window, and missing crackers on a shelf become the loose threads that tied her disappearance to a call no one expected?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline and the people who noticed what others dismissed: a volunteer missing her weekly shift, a lodge worker who found a back door open by four centimeters, and a guide who survived an avalanche yet asked first about his partner. How did each overlooked detail point to where Kathleen actually was?

    Person: Kathleen Gallagher
    Person: Pete Harmon
    Date: June 1, 2014 (avalanche)
    Date: June 26, 2014 (stone placed in garden at 9:00 AM)
    Location: Rimrock Valley Lodge (door found open) and Cutler, Montana (creek behind Pete's house)
    Status: Kathleen declared dead after six-day search; later contact received by Pete

    - Pete Harmon carved "K. A. T." into a stone he pulled from his creek bed after eleven days of work.
    - Pete set the carved stone in his garden just after 9:00 AM on June 26, 2014; his phone rang forty minutes later.
    - The avalanche released on approximately June 1, 2014, at an elevation roughly 600 feet below Harlan's Tooth ridge.
    - Search-and-rescue ran for six days and recovered one crampon, one trekking pole, and a section of rope that failed mid-line from abrasion.
    - On approximately June 10, 2014, Gloria Stevens found the Rimrock Valley Lodge rear door open by four centimeters and photographed it before reporting it.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    23 min
  • The Missing Vowel That Kept Two Siblings Apart for 22 Years

    The Missing Vowel That Kept Two Siblings Apart for 22 Years
    Aug 6 2026
    The Missing Vowel That Kept Two Siblings Apart for 22 Years

    A single misspelled vowel on a 1997 immigration document left two siblings searching the same country for decades and kept a 32-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman from finding each other for 22 years-how could one letter do all that? Who finally noticed the tiny curved descender on a blurred name and what did it unlock?

    In this episode, we follow the tangled paper trail, the solo searches at a diner booth, and the discovery at a reservoir that reopened the question: how did a clerical change from Molina to Miller and Molena make reunion nearly impossible?

    Person: Beverly Miller, age 26
    Person: Andrew Molena, age 32
    Event: Bag found at Heron Flats Reservoir on May 11, 2019 at 5:40 a.m.
    Date: 1997 naturalization document with blurred surname
    Volunteer: Thomas Kowalski, retired postal worker, page 47 of batch

    - A birdwatcher named Eugene Marshall found an olive-green canvas tote bag at 5:40 a.m. on May 11, 2019.
    - The bag contained a Pennsylvania ID card for Beverly Miller showing age 26 and an address in Scranton.
    - Claudia arrived in the United States in spring 1993 and changed Molina to Miller on her paperwork.
    - Beverly spent two hours each Saturday searching immigration databases at Patsy’s diner and paid $300 in 2017 to a genealogical service that failed to deliver.
    - A 1997 naturalization card’s second vowel was blurred; Thomas Kowalski spent 20 minutes examining the descender on that letter.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    22 min
  • Teacher Finds Her Lost Student After 11 Years: The Hannah Adde Story

    Teacher Finds Her Lost Student After 11 Years: The Hannah Adde Story
    Aug 5 2026
    Teacher Finds Her Lost Student After 11 Years: The Hannah Adde Story

    Grief and hope collide in a single penciled plea: "Hana, please" was written and waited eleven years before being pushed through a mail slot, and that small note would become the hinge between a volunteer teacher and a student lost to paperwork. How did a single-letter spelling change bury a child's trail for more than a decade, and could one teacher's stubborn record-keeping undo it?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from a transit camp classroom to a scholarship review meeting, tracing the moments when records, caseworkers, and funding decisions redirected lives and severed contact. The episode covers the volunteer teacher's notebook entries, the closure of Halverson Transit Camp, and the late rediscovery that raises the question: who kept searching, and why did it take eleven years to reconnect?

    Person: Laura Parker
    Event: Halverson Transit Camp closure
    Date: April 2019
    Location: Granton, Wisconsin
    Case: Name transliteration error

    - A 15-year-old named Scott Peterson found an envelope at Granton Community Foundation at 6:40 AM on a Tuesday in April 2019.
    - Laura Parker taught ESL at Granton Community High School and had held the position since 2012.
    - Laura first met Hana when Hana was eight years old at Halverson Transit Camp in summer 2008.
    - The camp closed in October 2008 after a federal funding restructure, and Hana was transferred to a facility in Iowa.
    - An Iowa caseworker filed Hana's name with one-letter different transliteration in 2009, causing record mismatch for eleven years.

    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.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    22 min