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  • She Walked; Dogs Said Otherwise - The Tanner River Jacket Mystery

    She Walked; Dogs Said Otherwise - The Tanner River Jacket Mystery
    Jul 29 2026
    She Walked; Dogs Said Otherwise - The Tanner River Jacket Mystery

    Cold morning air held a secret: a 26-year-old woman found alive in frost wearing a man's canvas jacket "four sizes too large," and a tracking team whose dogs followed a scent that made a right-angle turn as if the woman had been carried. The jacket matched a father's description down to a taped cuff before anyone showed him a photo - so why did the dogs indicate she wasn't walking, and who gave a hypothermic 73-year-old a fleece jacket the afternoon before he was found? Which of these impossible details explains what really happened?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Melissa Schmidt's last logged check-out at 2:15 p.m. to the search-and-rescue operation that began at dawn, mapping the scene spots, the wildlife-camera evidence, and the canine tracking behavior that rerouted the search into the Tanner drainage. How do the jacket, the dogs' pivot, and a stranded rancher fit into one unfolding question?

    Person: Melissa Schmidt
    Date: November 12-14, 2011
    Location: Tanner drainage / Turk's Saddle / County Road Nine, Dellard County, Idaho
    Status: Found alive in frost; missing for 36 hours
    Person: Walter Hines

    - Melissa Schmidt was 26 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighed 122 pounds.
    - Melissa logged out of the Fish and Game office at 2:15 p.m. on November 12, 2011 and the wildlife camera recorded a single frame at 2:57 p.m. showing a wolf, not Melissa.
    - The overnight low temperature held at 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
    - Search-and-rescue was activated at 6:00 a.m. on November 13; dogs picked up Melissa's scent immediately then made a sharp right-angle turn toward the Tanner drainage.
    - Walter Hines, age 73, was found with moderate hypothermia beside the creek wearing a fleece jacket reportedly given to him the previous afternoon.

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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 Eleven Cairns: How a Perfect Line Led Him Astray

    The Eleven Cairns: How a Perfect Line Led Him Astray
    Jul 28 2026
    The Eleven Cairns: How a Perfect Line Led Him Astray

    A county surveyor found eleven pale quartzite stone towers in a straight line spanning eleven miles of roadless wilderness, made from nonlocal stone and aligned to a bearing of 172 degrees with less than two degrees deviation - and at the far end, a man was missing. Who built that perfect line, and how did it collide with the disappearance of an experienced, beacon-carrying hiker?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline and fieldwork that unfolded after Darlene Mitchell's discovery and the Gallatin County search that began when Neil Christensen reported his brother missing; we cover the discovery of the towers, Richard Christensen’s planned route and habits, the tracking dog’s puzzling behavior, and the first campsite - and ask how these pieces fit together.

    Person: Richard Christensen
    Date: October 11, 2019 (signed trail register at 6:52 AM)
    Location: Ridgeback Creek trailhead / Ridgeback Shelf, Gallatin Highlands, south-central Montana
    Event: Discovery of eleven stone towers by Darlene Mitchell on October 14, 2019
    Status: Richard did not return by expected date October 16, 2019; search initiated October 17, 2019

    - Eleven stone towers found in a perfectly straight line across eleven miles, bearing 172 degrees ±2 degrees.
    - Towers were two feet tall, made of pale water-smoothed quartzite not native to the area.
    - Darlene Mitchell discovered the first tower on October 14, 2019 and followed them for two miles before calling her supervisor.
    - Richard Christensen signed the Ridgeback Creek trailhead register on October 11, 2019 at 6:52 AM, planned to return by October 16, 2019.
    - Tracking dog Pepper located a scent moving south, then sat at a creek bank refusing to cross, indicating the scent split or doubled back.

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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.
  • Boot on a Locked Car, Dogs Howling at a Whispering Shelf

    Boot on a Locked Car, Dogs Howling at a Whispering Shelf
    Jul 27 2026
    Boot on a Locked Car, Dogs Howling at a Whispering Shelf

    A dry hiking boot, upright and laces tied, sat on the hood of a locked gray Toyota Camry after a night of rain-while its owner was found seven miles up the trail with one bare foot and no memory of placing it. Cadaver dogs gave sustained alerts to a bare granite shelf and searchers logged sixty-three pages before the report concluded the cause of the boot placement was "undetermined." How did a teacher who always called when plans changed end up seven miles away with her boot on a locked car?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from the moment Kelly Wright left for a solo overnight hike to the search-and-rescue response that unfolded when she did not return. You will hear what the parking lot looked like, why experienced coordinators treated the alerts as serious, and why the final SAR line-"Cause of boot placement - undetermined"-keeps the mystery alive.

    Person: Kelly Wright
    Date: September 6-8, 2019
    Location: Dunmore trailhead, Garnet Range
    Status: Subject recovered, outcome favorable
    Search documentation: 63 pages

    - The boot was upright with laces tied and completely dry despite a night of rain that soaked every surface in the lot.
    - Kelly Wright was a 32-year-old seventh-grade earth science teacher from Hartfield, Idaho who had been missing since Friday and was found seven miles up the Dunmore trail.
    - Two cadaver dogs, Pepper and Scout, gave independent alerts; Pepper sat and held an alert on a bare granite shelf for four minutes.
    - Kelly's gray Toyota Camry was parked in the gravel lot, locked with windows intact and no confirmed footprints around the vehicle.
    - The final line of the search-and-rescue report reads: "Subject recovered, outcome favorable. Cause of boot placement - undetermined."

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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 Dry Index Card: How Jean Vanished From Caldwell Peak

    The Dry Index Card: How Jean Vanished From Caldwell Peak
    Jul 26 2026
    The Dry Index Card: How Jean Vanished From Caldwell Peak

    A single dry summit register card sat on a soaked knee in a forest where everything else - Jean Wilson's jacket, hair, the soil, the spruce bark - was saturated with August dew; that one dry card became the central mystery of a seventeen-hour disappearance in Granger County wilderness. How did the card remain dry after a wet night outside, and where did Jean go during those missing hours?

    In this episode, we lay out the timeline, the physical evidence, and the unanswered statements recorded by rescuers and witnesses, and we follow the ledger of notebooks, registers, and first-hand accounts that frame the question at the heart of the case: what happened between 1:47 p.m. and 6:45 a.m.?

    Person: Jean Wilson
    Date: August 10-11, 2011
    Location: Caldwell Peak, Granger County wilderness
    Status: Case closed administratively; anomaly unresolved
    Witness: Chris Fenwick (saw Jean at summit at 1:47 p.m.)

    - Jean signed the trail register at Sable Meadow at 5:52 a.m, on Monday, August 10.
    - Jean signed the Caldwell Peak summit register at 1:47 p.m., 4,300 feet above sea level and 7.5 miles from where she was found.
    - Seventeen hours elapsed between Jean signing the summit register and being found on the ground at 6:45 a.m. the next morning.
    - Jean carried two one-liter water bottles; both were found empty beside her the following morning.
    - Jean's headlamp was on medium, batteries fully dead; that model on medium runs approximately eight hours, leaving about two hours unaccounted for in total darkness.

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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.
  • Sentry Peak's Beacon: Why the Light Was On When She Vanished

    Sentry Peak's Beacon: Why the Light Was On When She Vanished
    Jul 25 2026
    Sentry Peak's Beacon: Why the Light Was On When She Vanished

    A bright emergency beacon flashed in full daylight over Sentry Peak the morning a seasoned Forest Service lookout disappeared, though that light was only supposed to run at night; the tower’s door was latched from the outside, boots were neatly lined under the cot, dishes stacked, and the logbook’s last entry at 9:14 PM was written in an unfamiliar blue ink-so why was the beacon cycling and where did she go?

    In this episode, we walk through the timeline and concrete scene details from that morning, revisit the last written entry and who noticed the oddities, and follow search-and-rescue and investigative leads as they try to reconcile a methodical woman’s routine with the baffling discrepancies left behind-what sequence of small, explainable errors and deliberate actions could produce such an unresolved disappearance?

    Person: Crystal Wagner
    Date: July 11, 2019
    Location: Sentry Peak lookout tower
    Age: 46
    Investigator: Terry Davis

    - Beacon panel was set to continuous operation though it was supposed to run on an overnight timer.
    - Logbook's last entry time-stamped 9:14 PM on July 10 and written in blue ballpoint ink.
    - Crystal’s usual Pilot G-2 black pen was missing from its slot; a leftover blue pen was later found in a desk drawer.
    - Tower door was latched from the outside and Crystal’s trail runners were gone while her heavy boots remained under the cot.
    - Satellite communicator was powered off and the emergency beacon was still flashing at 7:42 AM when paper carrier Alice Rogers noticed it.

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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.
  • Warm Boot, Double Knot: How Michelle Came Back Missing Memories

    Warm Boot, Double Knot: How Michelle Came Back Missing Memories
    Jul 25 2026
    Warm Boot, Double Knot: How Michelle Came Back Missing Memories

    Warm, buried, and tied-searchers found a size seven coral trail runner at mile marker eleven that felt as if someone had just taken it off; the laces were pulled tight in a double knot though the last person to tie them had left only a single knot. What happened in the nine days between a limping hiker and a boot dug out of winter gravel, and who tied that knot?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from Michelle Simmons leaving the Pelham County animal shelter to the discovery on Forest Road Seven-Echo, tracing witness accounts, search-and-rescue evidence, and the unresolved question of how that boot came to be double-knotted.

    Person: Michelle Simmons
    Date: June 14-19
    Location: Coldspring Trail and Forest Road Seven-Echo, Pelham County
    Status: Missing for four days before boot discovery; case spans nine days in the high country
    Search coordinator: Megan Tillman

    - Michelle Simmons was 28 years old, 5'4" and 130 pounds.
    - She left the shelter at 10:17 AM on June 14 and signed the trail register at 8:41 AM for an ~11-mile north ridge loop.
    - Dennis Prada encountered Michelle at ~2:15 PM, wrapped her right ankle with an elastic bandage, and relaced her boot with a single-knot pattern.
    - Chris and Anne Fowler saw Michelle sitting on the trail at ~3:45 PM about two miles from the trailhead; her right boot was off and the ankle was swollen, and she declined help.
    - At 7:52 AM on June 19, Richard Henderson found a warm, dry women's right trail runner (size 7, faded coral) buried in gravel at mile marker 11; the laces were tied in a tight double knot.

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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.
  • The Signal in the Culvert: How a Beacon Led Her Home

    The Signal in the Culvert: How a Beacon Led Her Home
    Jul 25 2026
    The Signal in the Culvert: How a Beacon Led Her Home

    A steady 457 kHz pulse - the universal avalanche-transceiver tone - was heard echoing from a corrugated culvert at 6,200 feet while the nearest snowpack was 1,300 feet above; what was broadcasting an avalanche beacon from a dirt drainage pipe, and how did it become the key to finding a missing backcountry skier? Who was sending that signal, and why had no one thought to look there?

    In this episode, we follow the search for a missing skier and the unexpected clue that changed everything. You’ll hear how routine equipment checks, a pared-down gear decision, and a lineman’s curiosity converged to answer the question left by the pulsing tone in the culvert.

    Person: Crystal Fleming
    Date: May 7-14, 2019
    Location: Vanner Cirque / Sill Creek drainage, Hollenbeck Range / Forest Service Road Seven-Bravo / Ridgecrest, Idaho
    Event: Missing backcountry skier and subsequent search
    Status: Signal detected in culvert led to breakthrough after seven days

    - Crystal Fleming was 56 years old in May 2019 and had skied backcountry terrain in central Idaho for 20 years.
    - The tone heard in the culvert was a 457 kilohertz pulse repeating every second, the frequency of avalanche rescue transceivers.
    - The pulse was detected at 6,200 feet elevation while the nearest recorded snowpack was 1,300 feet higher.
    - Crystal’s truck remained at the Sill Creek trailhead on the evening of May 7 with an orange emergency bivy bag and extra layers visible on the back seat.
    - Alan Weaver heard the pulsing signal while inspecting a transmission line on Forest Service Road Seven-Bravo on the morning of May 14, 2019.

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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.
  • He Walked Down a Mountain He Couldn't Possibly Have Walked Down

    He Walked Down a Mountain He Couldn't Possibly Have Walked Down
    Jul 25 2026
    He Walked Down a Mountain He Couldn't Possibly Have Walked Down

    A composition notebook, sealed in plastic and written in freezing temperatures, was found wedged beneath a trailhead kiosk miles from where a missing hiker with a fractured leg was last known to be - the final entry stops mid-sentence. How did Randy Sawyer, injured above 7,000 feet and immobile in subfreezing nights, get that notebook to the trailhead?

    In this episode, we present the sequence of events, search operations, and the puzzling physical evidence gathered between April 9 and April 16, 2019, to explore the unresolved movement that baffled search-and-rescue teams. Can the field notes, boot prints, and a single fire ring explain who - or what - moved the notebook down the mountain?

    Person: Randy Sawyer
    Date: April 9-16, 2019
    Location: Harrow Creek trailhead and Pelton Shelf, above 7,000 feet
    Status: Missing; fractured left fibula and bivy shelter found on Pelton Shelf
    Coordinator: Amanda Mueller

    - The notebook was found at 6:15 AM on April 14, 2019, wedged beneath the log retaining wall at the Harrow Creek trailhead.
    - Temperature had dropped to 28°F three nights prior to the notebook's discovery; pages were still legible inside a clear plastic bag.
    - Randy Sawyer left his truck at Harrow Creek trailhead on April 7 with keys in the wheel well and a written itinerary under the windshield wiper.
    - A signal fire with fresh ash and a single size 11 boot print was found on the northeast boulder field edge of Pelton Shelf by volunteer Frank Odum.
    - Bloodhound Hector tracked scent 2.1 miles along the main Harrow Creek trail and stopped at a granite slab and rocky ford where the scent abruptly ended.

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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.