Episodi

  • Nine Days in a Ditch: How One Scratched HELP Changed Everything

    Nine Days in a Ditch: How One Scratched HELP Changed Everything
    Aug 20 2026
    Nine Days in a Ditch: How One Scratched HELP Changed Everything

    The first sight was six-inch letters carved into frost: HELP DAY 9 - scratched from inside a truck window with a flat-head screwdriver after nine days alone in a ditch. How did a routine timber check turn into a nine-day survival ordeal where a meter reader found a man who had been marking time and tallying days from inside his own cab?

    In this episode, we tell what unfolded from March 1 to March 14, 2019: who Paul Owens was, how his truck kept a record of his confinement, and the small improvisations that kept him alive until Ryan Gallagher discovered him. What choices did Paul make to survive, and what concrete clues did the truck and the scene leave behind?

    Person: Paul Owens
    Date: March 1-14, 2019
    Location: Sill Road, near Callum Range, Prentiss County
    Finder: Ryan Gallagher
    Occupation: Finish carpenter

    - The letters on the driver's-side window were six inches tall, carved with a flat-head screwdriver into frost to read "HELP DAY 9."
    - Paul Owens was forty-four years old and lived in Dellard, a town of about six thousand people in Prentiss County.
    - He left Dellard at 7:30 AM on March 1 and was found on March 14, meaning he spent nine days in the truck.
    - Rescue workers found nine vertical scratch marks carved into the interior door panel arranged as three groups of three.
    - His truck contained a 30-gallon fuel tank, two bundles of cedar shingles, a 5-gallon bucket of deck screws, a half-empty box of granola bars, a jug of methanol-based windshield washer fluid, and an emergency foil blanket.

    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
  • Left Alone at Sea: How Nancy Survived 72 Hours on an Upside‑Down Hull

    Left Alone at Sea: How Nancy Survived 72 Hours on an Upside‑Down Hull
    Aug 19 2026
    Left Alone at Sea: How Nancy Survived 72 Hours on an Upside‑Down Hull

    Fear of being found too late is immediate: a 28-year-old liveaboard, an armed but silent emergency beacon, and 72 hours clinging to an overturned hull twenty miles offshore - how did she keep breathing until dawn? Search and rescue logs now span nine volumes; what single choice put her outside every expected search area and left her alive to be seen two days later?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the morning Nancy left Pensacola to the moment she was spotted off the starboard bow, laying on an upturned sailboat hull, and ask how preparation, omission, and quick thinking combined to turn a likely tragedy into a survival story.

    Person: Nancy Tillman
    Age: 28
    Vessel: Cass (Hunter twenty-seven, built 1987)
    Date first sighted: February 9, 2021 at 07:42
    Distance offshore: 20 nautical miles

    - Emergency beacon on chest was armed and silent after two days at sea.
    - Mast failed at 02:20 on Sunday, February 7, causing the mast to go over the starboard side.
    - Nancy had been living aboard the Cass for nearly three years and held a United States Coast Guard captain's license.
    - She altered course near the continental shelf to avoid crab trap buoys, pushing roughly 20 miles offshore and did not update her float plan.
    - She spent approximately two hours after the mast collapse working by feel with a broken wrist to loosen each terminal at its deck fitting to stop the mast from opening the hull.

    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
  • Five Days, One Bottle: How Sharon Outlived the Canyon

    Five Days, One Bottle: How Sharon Outlived the Canyon
    Aug 18 2026
    Five Days, One Bottle: How Sharon Outlived the Canyon

    Cold certainty, inch-by-inch survival: a fifty-four-year-old librarian stretched 650 milliliters of water into five days in a slot canyon, drinking as little as three ounces a day while sheltering in a rock alcove-how did a routine nine-mile loop turn into a five-day fight for life?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of facts that led Sharon Osborne into Arista Wash and kept her alive until rescue, from the unmarked social trail she took to the decisions she made about water and shelter-what choices bought her those extra days?

    Person: Sharon Osborne
    Age: 54
    Location: Arista Wash, eastern Duskwall canyon system
    Date: January 4-9
    Item found: single orange sneaker in a dry pothole

    - Sharon left her driveway at approximately 6:50 AM on January 4 carrying a daypack and a one-liter Nalgene.
    - She reached the canyon floor with about 650 milliliters of water after drinking one third on the descent.
    - The unmarked social trail she took descended roughly 600 feet in less than a quarter mile.
    - She rationed water to about three ounces per day while sheltering in a south-facing alcove.
    - A dog named Peso found an orange sneaker in a dry pothole on the morning of January 9.

    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
  • At six twenty in the morning on a Tuesday in December

    At six twenty in the morning on a Tuesday in December
    Aug 17 2026
    At six twenty in the morning on a Tuesday in December

    Cold, precise, and impossible: a shoe standing upright in Talbot Reservoir led to a fifty-hour survival story about a 23-year-old ultrarunner who treated pain like data. How did a broken tibia, a bent pole, and nine miles of commitment zone terrain become a deliberate plan to keep moving - and why did nobody report a drowning?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events from the shoe found at Talbot Reservoir through the Coliver Hundred race, the moment of injury at mile fifty-five, and the rediscovery of altered equipment that changed the search. What choices did Carol Stein make that reframed where teams looked and what she needed?

    Person: Carol Stein
    Age: 23
    Event: Coliver Hundred ultramarathon
    Start time: 4:00 AM on Saturday, December 14
    Temperature at start: 8 degrees Fahrenheit

    - A fisherman named Larry Novak found a shoe standing upright in the open channel at Talbot Reservoir at 6:20 AM on a Tuesday in December.
    - Carol Stein had completed seven 700-kilometer ultramarathon races in two years prior to this event.
    - The Coliver Hundred race started at 4:00 AM on Saturday, December 14 with 43 runners entered.
    - Carol passed the Copper Spring checkpoint at mile 40 at 11:14 AM, 47 minutes ahead of projected pace.
    - At 11:47 PM on Saturday she fell at mile 55, breaking her right tibia and then fashioned a splint from a collapsed trekking pole and a neoprene arm warmer.

    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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    17 min
  • Left Behind at 8,900 Feet: The Wrong Smoke That Saved Her

    Left Behind at 8,900 Feet: The Wrong Smoke That Saved Her
    Aug 16 2026
    Left Behind at 8,900 Feet: The Wrong Smoke That Saved Her

    Cold, high-altitude isolation turned into a calculated signal: burnt plastic fused to a stainless mixing bowl, a wire animal crate warped by heat, and six propane canisters all pointing west at 9,000 feet - but the beacon that should have guided rescuers lied by 1.1 miles. Who left that deliberate smoke and how did those specific objects become the only clues that could bring help?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events at an 8,900-foot base camp in the Finch Wilderness Tract after an emergency evacuation left cook Julie Ward alone. We describe the evidence left in the fire ring, the failed satellite communicator that reported coordinates 1.1 miles off, and the decisions Julie made as batteries died - could those melted clues become her only chance at rescue?

    Person: Julie Ward
    Location: Ironback massif, Finch Wilderness Tract
    Date: November 6-13 (base camp established November 6; evacuation November 12; alone November 13)
    Event: Emergency evacuation and failed GPS beacon
    Status: Six crew evacuated by helicopter; Julie remained alone

    - A stainless steel mixing bowl roughly 12 inches across was found warped by intense heat with melted polypropylene fused to its interior.
    - Six propane canisters were arranged in deliberate line a few feet from the fire ring, all pointing due west.
    - The satellite communicator locked GPS coordinates that were 1.1 miles southwest of Julie Ward’s actual position.
    - Julie keyed her VHF radio on the hour until she had burned through half the battery and then rationed remaining power.
    - Base camp had been established on November 6 at roughly 8,900 feet; the helicopter evacuated six crew members on November 12, leaving Julie behind.

    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
  • She Carved Time in Stone: 56 Hours Alone in Redwall Slot

    She Carved Time in Stone: 56 Hours Alone in Redwall Slot
    Aug 15 2026
    She Carved Time in Stone: 56 Hours Alone in Redwall Slot

    The thought of being trapped in a shoulder-width slot canyon with water rising silently is every canyoneer’s worst calculation: a retired civil engineer carved fourteen marks into Permian limestone, one every thirty minutes, while 11 feet of flood rose around her in total darkness - how did she survive 56 hours alone? What did those chisel marks record that changed everything?

    In this episode, we follow the logbook and the ledge: the episode covers the timeline from the October 10 trailhead sign-in to the storm that flooded Redwall Slot, the narrow ledge where Rhonda Armstrong spent 56 hours, and the rescue response that followed. How did training, tools, and a ritual Wednesday call shape the search and the outcome?

    Person: Rhonda Armstrong
    Date: October 10-14, 2019
    Location: Redwall Slot, Permian limestone, Juniper Bench trailhead four miles from parking
    Event: Flash flood from a storm two and a half inches on a plateau 38 miles northeast
    Duration: Fifty-six hours isolated on an 18-inch-wide ledge

    - One hiking boot found on a locked green sedan hood; laces double-knotted, sole caked in reddish-orange clay.
    - Rhonda left the trailhead register on October 10 and planned a three-day loop with planned exit October 12.
    - Storm dropped 2.5 inches of rain on a basin 38 miles away, unseen in local forecast that showed 0% precipitation.
    - Water rose 11 feet in six minutes inside the narrows, reaching an 18-inch-wide ledge where Rhonda climbed.
    - Rhonda made 14 horizontal chisel marks into the ledge, one every 30 minutes, recording about 9 inches of vertical change.

    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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    17 min
  • She Tied a Square Knot - Survived 31 Hours Alone in Gibraltar Strait

    She Tied a Square Knot - Survived 31 Hours Alone in Gibraltar Strait
    Aug 14 2026
    She Tied a Square Knot - Survived 31 Hours Alone in Gibraltar Strait

    A grey foam block led rescuers to a square knot and the knowledge that someone was alive after vanishing into one of the world’s most dangerous shipping corridors - but how did she survive thirty-one hours in 14°C water with no flare, no radio, and no witness? What deliberate choices kept her alive when the Levante’s motor failed and the eastward set began to steal her toward Morocco?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from pre-swim planning to the moment the escort vessel’s propeller seized, describing the swimmer’s training, decisions in the water, and the environmental forces at play as the central question: could preparation and “metabolic patience” beat a two-knot current and a mechanical failure?

    Person: Jessica White
    Date: September 12, 2019
    Location: Strait of Gibraltar, entered at La Atunara fishing harbour
    Observer/Handler: Marcus Vail aboard the Levante
    Water temperature: 14 degrees Celsius

    - Swimmer age: 26 years old at time of disappearance
    - Training duration: 14 months of structured open-water preparation
    - Time of escort motor failure: approximately 06:37 on September 12, 2019
    - Observer underwater duration clearing rope: roughly 11 minutes, resurfacing ~06:48
    - Distance gained while swimming hard after motor failure: 50 meters in six minutes

    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
  • Left for Dead, Found by a Bottle: How Karen Mapped Her Rescue

    Left for Dead, Found by a Bottle: How Karen Mapped Her Rescue
    Aug 13 2026
    Left for Dead, Found by a Bottle: How Karen Mapped Her Rescue

    A sixteen-year-old found an orange-capped water bottle snagged on a root with a hand-drawn, topographically accurate map inside, rendered in blackberry juice and ash - a map made by someone who had never stood in that drainage. How did Karen Graham survive six days with a fractured arm and no satellite communicator, and who really put that bottle where a paper route kid would find it?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Karen Graham's disappearance, survival, and the rescue that almost failed, following the clues in her training, equipment, and the single map that led searchers - and questions - back to the Fenwick Range. Could a mind trained to read terrain from a bike frame reconstruct a route detailed enough to be rescued?

    Person: Karen Graham
    Age: 48
    Location: Vestal; Fenwick Range
    Event: Six-day survival after slide and wrong descent
    Item found: Water bottle containing hand-drawn map

    - Karen left Vestal at 4:30 AM and did not bring her satellite communicator because it was on the charging dock at home.
    - The storm dropped the temperature 22 degrees in under 40 minutes and produced sideways hail during the climb near mile marker 28.
    - A slide moved 40 yards of embankment, turning the planned descent into a rubble field of wet clay and fractured shale.
    - Karen removed her rear wheel, strapped the bike frame to her back, and secured the bike at mile marker 28 before searching for the road.
    - At 7:42 AM on a Friday morning a sixteen-year-old on a paper route found the bottle with the map in the root ball of a fallen tree.

    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