Episodes

  • The Wedding Guest Who Signed Mitchell Hale - Your Brother

    The Wedding Guest Who Signed Mitchell Hale - Your Brother
    11 Oct 2026
    The Wedding Guest Who Signed Mitchell Hale - Your Brother

    The thought that chills: a wedding registry signed by "Mitchell Hale - with love, your brother" turned up inside a sealed, water‑bloated envelope pulled from the Sassafras River; the name matched Frances Simpson's father and a birth record but Frances had always been told she was an only child. How did a supposed sibling, born April 3, 1989, vanish from a life everyone believed they knew?

    In this episode, we follow the paper trail from a Tuesday morning trotline find to county birth records and the stunned discovery Frances made when she inspected the registry she had kept for nearly a year. What does the birth certificate for Mitchell Warren Hale reveal about Frances's family story?

    Person: Frances Simpson
    Date: June 14, 2019
    Event: Envelope recovered from Sassafras River containing wedding registry
    Person: Mitchell Warren Hale
    Date: April 3, 1989

    - The envelope was found by Lauren Fisher on June 14, 2019 while checking trotlines in the lower bottoms of the Sassafras River.
    - The wedding took place in June 2018 at the Clover Crossing VFW hall with forty-one guests listed on the registry.
    - The recovered registry sheet contained forty-one known signatures plus one additional signature reading "Mitchell Hale - with love, your brother."
    - Frances Simpson's father was Warren Alan Hale, who died of a stroke in 2012 when Frances was twenty-two.
    - County birth records returned a single matching entry: Mitchell Warren Hale, born April 3, 1989 at Calloway Regional Hospital to Warren Alan Hale and Nadine Joyce Hale.

    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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    22 mins
  • The Daughter They Buried on Paper: Finding Celia Ann's Grave

    The Daughter They Buried on Paper: Finding Celia Ann's Grave
    10 Oct 2026
    The Daughter They Buried on Paper: Finding Celia Ann's Grave

    A buried secret surfaces in a cemetery deed, a labeled photograph, and a single typed hospital document: a baby named Celia lived for three days and was recorded as an unnamed stillbirth in October 1967. How did a father buy a grave in March 1967, a mother keep a photo inside a white envelope for decades, and an infant's name survive only on the back of a picture?

    In this episode, we follow the discovery process as an executor unpacks estate boxes, reads a two-page letter in her father's block print, and pieces together hospital and cemetery records to answer what happened to the child called Celia and why the family kept her hidden for more than fifty years.

    Person: Nancy Fitzgerald
    Person: Wallace R. Hargrove
    Date: March 3, 1967
    Event: Cemetery plot purchase for $11.50
    Document: Millhaven County General stillbirth record filed October 1967

    - A county surveyor, Robert Patterson, found a headstone inscribed "Celia Ann Hargrove, 1968, Beloved" at Calverton Rest on May 14th.
    - The burial plot deed was purchased on March 3, 1967, one year and eight months before the stone's date.
    - A typed county document from October 1967 listed "unnamed female infant, stillbirth."
    - Nancy Fitzgerald discovered a white envelope containing a black-and-white hospital photograph and two handwritten pages while sorting her parents' estate.
    - Wallace bought the plot in cash for $11.50 after doctors informed him in February 1967 that the pregnancy was high-risk and the infant was unlikely to survive.

    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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    23 mins
  • A septic contractor drops a box, and thirty-six years of silence fall out with it

    A septic contractor drops a box, and thirty-six years of silence fall out with it
    9 Oct 2026
    A septic contractor drops a box, and thirty-six years of silence fall out with it

    The discovery of a cardboard box beside a septic tank shattered decades of ordinary quiet: a 1983 phone bill with 312 calls to one Renner County number and a child's drawing labeled "Nadine, age six, 1961" fell onto the yard. Who was Nadine Weber, and why did Lloyd Vaughn place that box against his house for thirty-six years?

    In this episode, the story follows Christine Weber as she sorts her great-grandfather's estate and uncovers a thread that connects a hundred phone calls, a 1983 marriage record, and a long-hidden family link-what began as routine estate work becomes a search for answers about Nadine and Lloyd.

    Person: Lloyd Vaughn
    Date: April 11, 2019
    Event: Phone bill found with billing period October-December 1983 listing 312 calls
    Person: Christine Weber
    Date: December 2018 (Lloyd's death at age 81)

    - The cardboard box sat next to a septic tank on Pittard Mill Road for 36 years before April 11, 2019.
    - The phone bill found inside covered October through December 1983 and listed 312 calls to a single Renner County number.
    - The calls on the bill began December 3, 1983 and ended December 29, 1983, a span of 26 days.
    - A child's drawing in the box was labeled "Nadine, age six, 1961" and had been kept for 58 years.
    - Christine Weber, age 23, hired genealogical researcher Peggy Aldman in late April 2019 after discovering the box.

    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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    22 mins
  • The Woman Who "Died" in 1983-Her Family Was Lied To

    The Woman Who "Died" in 1983-Her Family Was Lied To
    8 Oct 2026
    The Woman Who "Died" in 1983-Her Family Was Lied To

    A woman who was officially dead appears in a 1983 school photo taken six weeks after her reported drowning - and a single index card postmarked September 1984 bears her handwriting saying only, "I am well. Please don't. - D." Who signed the death certificate, why no relative viewed a body, and what did Diane Mercer mean by "Please don't"?

    In this episode, we follow how a plain envelope and a casual school picture set one woman on a path through death certificates, property records, and family shoeboxes to confront a thirty-six-year-old family story. What Pamela Taylor uncovers about the name on the death certificate, the vanished landlord, and Diane's own notes forces a new question: was Diane really dead?

    Person: Diane Mercer
    Date: February 1983 (reported death)
    Location: Hollow Fork Creek
    Person: Pamela Taylor
    Document: Death certificate (identified by Douglas Hatch)

    - Diane Mercer was reported pulled from Hollow Fork Creek at age 24 in February 1983.
    - The school photograph was mailed in early March 2019 and shows a woman matching Diane in the background.
    - Pamela Taylor was 38 in 2019 and worked as a title examiner in Crestfield, Kentucky.
    - The death certificate lists the manner as undetermined and names Douglas Hatch, described as Diane's landlord, as the identifier.
    - A shoebox held an index card postmarked Harlan, Kentucky, September 1984 with Diane's handwriting: "I am well. Please don't. - D."

    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 mins
  • She Left a Locket on the Doorstep: The Dorothy Price Secret

    She Left a Locket on the Doorstep: The Dorothy Price Secret
    7 Oct 2026
    She Left a Locket on the Doorstep: The Dorothy Price Secret

    Fear and curiosity collide when a silver locket appears perfectly placed at the base of a mailbox post in Harlow Falls - its chain coiled beneath it, as if set down by careful hands. The photograph inside shows a woman who will link three people who never knew they were family; why would someone leave that single object instead of a letter, and what did it mean to the people who held it?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the discovery of the locket to the revelations it carried across decades, following Dorothy Marsh’s secret, the daughter she surrendered, and the two sons who never knew they shared her. How does one small object reframe a lifetime of silence and choices?

    Person: Dorothy Marsh
    Person: Pauline Henderson
    Person: Donald Fitch
    Location: 44 Ashton Terrace, Harlow Falls, Indiana
    Date: February 8, 2011

    - A sixteen-year-old paper carrier named William Harris found the silver locket in the snow on February 8, 2011.
    - The locket lay at the base of a mailbox post at 44 Ashton Terrace with its chain coiled neatly beneath it.
    - Donald Fitch, who had run Fitch's Pawnshop on Meridian Street for 22 years, paid William Harris eight dollars for the locket.
    - Dorothy Marsh was born around 1926 and gave birth to a daughter, Pauline, in 1952 in Renslow; the baby was surrendered for adoption the same day.
    - Dorothy and Pauline met nine times between 1998 and 2001, and Dorothy gave Pauline the locket in autumn 1999.

    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 mins
  • A Frozen Folder Reveals a Family's Hidden Child: The Marcus Bishop Secret

    A Frozen Folder Reveals a Family's Hidden Child: The Marcus Bishop Secret
    6 Oct 2026
    A Frozen Folder Reveals a Family's Hidden Child: The Marcus Bishop Secret

    Cold evidence in a snowdrift exposed a biologically impossible fact: a pediatric form dated from 1993 lists a dead child's blood type as AB while his mother Donna and sister Teresa are both type O. That two-letter entry survived a house fire, three decades of silence, and a grandmother's locked attic-so what did those blue-ink initials really mean for a family that thought it had already survived the worst? Who will they hold accountable for the truth?

    In this episode, we follow how a found medical form set off calls between a county deputy and a clerk, led a 24-year-old daughter to the Varner Street substation, and forced a family to confront whether Marcus Bishop was biologically theirs. What Teresa discovers standing at the counter reshapes everything she believed about her family.

    Date: January 9, 2019
    Location: Kellner Road, Maren County, Indiana
    Person: Marcus Bishop
    Age at death: 7 years old
    Event: Pediatric intake form lists blood type AB

    - The folder containing the pediatric form was found upright in frozen slush by snowplow operator Dale Gardner at 6:40 AM.
    - Marcus Bishop was born June 1993 and died in February 2001 from an accidental electrical fire.
    - The medical form’s blood type field was filled in with the two letters "AB" in blue ballpoint ink.
    - Donna Bishop and her daughter Teresa are both blood type O, which cannot biologically produce an AB child.
    - Frances Kowalski, the grandmother, kept the folder in an unlabeled attic box for 23 years and died in 2016.

    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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    22 mins
  • Neighbor Finds a Deed That Rewrites a Family: The Callahan Secret

    Neighbor Finds a Deed That Rewrites a Family: The Callahan Secret
    5 Oct 2026
    Neighbor Finds a Deed That Rewrites a Family: The Callahan Secret

    A county utility worker opened a meter box in Bracken County, Indiana on December 9, 2019 and found a 1961 land deed nailed inside - signed by Raymond Arthur Callahan "also known as Raymond Arthur Briggs." How did a deed folded into a metal box for nearly sixty years point to a hidden child and a family address that appears on a death certificate decades later?

    In this episode, we follow how a neighbor’s photograph, a quick search of the Bracken County Register of Deeds, and a death certificate pulled from 1994 begin to change everything a family believed about itself. What did the deed and the death certificate reveal, and who in the family already knew?

    Person: Raymond Arthur Callahan, also known as Raymond Arthur Briggs
    Date: June 1961 (deed); December 9, 2019 (discovery); December 1994 (death certificate)
    Location: Bracken County, Indiana; Millhaven (address on death certificate)
    Event: 40-acre family conveyance deed found folded and nailed inside a meter box

    - The deed was folded twice and nailed to the interior panel of a meter box with a single roofing nail.
    - The deed transferred a forty-acre parcel from Raymond Arthur Callahan to Sylvia Briggs and was classified as a family conveyance.
    - The deed was dated June 1961, seven years after Raymond’s 1954 marriage to Marie.
    - The 1960 census listed a child named Carl Briggs as a dependent in Sylvia Briggs’s Bracken County household.
    - Raymond’s 1994 death certificate listed Dennis Callahan as the informant and gave a Millhaven address associated with the Briggs Family Trust.

    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 mins
  • The Bible That Revealed a Daughter Hidden for Fifty-Eight Years

    The Bible That Revealed a Daughter Hidden for Fifty-Eight Years
    4 Oct 2026
    The Bible That Revealed a Daughter Hidden for Fifty-Eight Years

    Fear and astonishment meet at the edge of a rainy road: a run finds a waterlogged Bible with handwriting visible from ten feet away, and inside is a note naming a daughter no living family member had ever been told existed-why did that message wait fifty-eight years to be read? Who wrote the deliberate marginal entry in the Gospel of Luke, and what did an eighty-one-year-old man's judgment keep secret for decades?

    In this episode, we follow how a dental hygienist found a rain-soaked King James Bible in November 2019, how that book was returned to the Stewart family, and how a single marginal note changed everything for three generations; what happens when a family discovers an unacknowledged child in their own record?

    Person: Patricia Stewart, age 64 in autumn 2019
    Person: Margaret Dunbar, deceased before 1990s (mother of Patricia)
    Person: Dale, Patricia’s son, age 32 in 2019
    Date: early November 2019 (Tuesday morning)
    Location: Canfield Road, Merritt Township, Dekalb County, Indiana

    - Julie Powell, a dental hygienist, found the Bible on a Tuesday morning during a six-fifteen run, three miles east of Route Nine.
    - The Bible was a black leatherette King James printed 1951 with family records on the front endpaper listing eight births and six deaths.
    - The marginal note read eight words, followed by an address and a church name, and named "Celia, born August 1961."
    - Patricia, Gene, and Dale reunited to open the forwarded Bible on a Monday after a deputy called and Dale drove 3.5 hours on the second Saturday of November 2019.
    - Harold Dunbar died in 1978; Gene was born in 1951 and was ten years older than Patricia.

    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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    22 mins